《Hunter Or Huntress》


 The Offer

    Chapter 1: The offer


    Tom was sitting there, glaring at his screen, working at yet another stupid task to slave away the hours. ¡®Why did they need an engineer to resize a fucking water pump mount from imperial to metric, isn¡¯t that what a drawing department was for?¡¯ He sighed to himself, At least he was getting paid well, even for this simple job.


    After having sent the revised files for review by the client, Tom leaned back and stared longingly out the window. The weather was fair, if a bit cold this afternoon, with hunting season about to start this weekend. He wondered if any of the boys would be up for an early morning this Saturday.


    The picture of him and his home guard buddies stood in the window. A few of them he had gone through the army with, others probably had joined the home guard just to get to play with guns. Well, he couldn''t deny that a day at the range with friends was always fun and the yearly exercises were usually also a great time. They were volunteers after all, and so were the people running the show. In short, it was a lot like being a soldier, but without most of the hardships. He enjoyed it a lot. In fact, the time he spent with those guys was some of the best in recent memory, but that wasn''t saying much.


    Not much exciting had been happening in Tom¡¯s life after the army. He had finally made use of his engineering degree he¡¯d taken to become an officer, and tried settling down. In many ways, it had been a success. He earned a decent pay, but he had been through many jobs. Production manager, drawing department, RnD, he had even worked on a damned oil-rig. But none had managed to keep him hooked for long. It was simply too boring, even if the job was otherwise difficult and or stressful, it still got repetitive.


    He always managed to get stuck in the monotony of the job. Sometimes it took weeks, other times months or years, but it always happened. He was almost always decent enough at the job, attacking the problems with determination and discipline. He even got promoted a few times when he managed to stick around long enough. And yet here he was. Back in his home office, doing freelance work again. He had often done this in the past between jobs. It made ends meet and kept him sort of busy.


    He missed the old days, even if his life had been on the line. Still, at least he''d felt alive. He had tried too many things to list in an attempt to recapture the feeling of being in a firefight. But so far nothing had come close. Not hunting, not parachuting, not even car racing. He felt like an old man in the middle of a midlife crisis, and he was only 37. ¡®Well, what can you do except keep going? At least if some of the boys come over it would be a fun few hours in the outdoors,¡¯ he thought to himself. He picked up the phone to ask in group chat if anyone was up for a little hunting.


    A smooth, soft voice spoke from behind him. ¡°You know, if you really want to live an exciting life you¡¯re gonna need an exciting place to do it.¡± Tom stiffened in his chair and slowly turned around to face the man behind him, but there was no one there. As the voice spoke again it had moved behind him again. ¡°Come on, you know you don¡¯t want to waste away the few years you have, sitting here, staring at a screen and waiting for something interesting to happen!¡±


    Where was this voice coming from... wait, he had his headset on and was listening to music, how could he hear this guy so clearly? This didn¡¯t make any sense! And what on earth was the voice talking about?


    ¡°Show yourself! What makes you think you can just come into my house?¡± demanded Tom, now standing and looking around. Once again the voice came from behind him, even as he turned to look at it. ¡°I am sorry, truly, but I can¡¯t exactly knock on the door, now can I? As for showing myself, well that isn¡¯t really possible either; see, I¡¯m not there.¡±


    ¡°Well, who and what are you supposed to be then? Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m just talking with myself! Right?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t you worry, you''re not that crazy... yet. Though it does feel like you are slipping in here. As for what, I¡¯m not gonna tell you.¡±


    ¡°So I am guessing you wormed your way inside my head? Well, this is just fucking marvelous! What do you want?¡±


    ¡°It''s more like what do you want? See, I¡¯m here with an offer for you. I want to run a little experiment. I¡¯m working on a little project of mine, and I require a guinea pig.¡±


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    ¡°And you think I¡¯m just gonna jump at the chance to be your test subject? Apparently, I¡¯m not the crazy one here,¡± Tom proclaimed, a bit of indignant anger in his voice. This was getting really weird, really fast. What the hell was going on?


    ¡°Well yes!¡± the voice answered. Tom thought it sounded quite condescending. ¡°You don¡¯t thrive in this environment, you need something new and different, you need experiences, and you have what I¡¯m looking for.¡±


    ¡°And what exactly would that be?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are combat and survival trained, healthy and educated, so you will hopefully survive long enough and have the ability to make an impact.¡±


    ¡°What in the ever flying fuck are you talking about, and what do you mean ¡®hopefully¡® survive?¡¯¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m offering is to send you to another world for the purposes of seeing what would happen. I have long pondered the scenario and written many hypotheses, but I honestly don¡¯t know what will happen, so I will have to try it.¡±


    To Tom, the voice was beginning to sound excited, possibly too excited, especially for something ¡­ someone...? sure someone contemplating his possible death.


    ¡°And in return for satisfying my curiosity, you get to go to the world of your dreams. Well, at least as close as I could find.¡±


    ¡°So you want me to leave everything, to go somewhere I know nothing about, on the request of a voice in my head, just because you think my life sucks?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± the voice answered, as if it was the most obvious conclusion in existence.


    ¡°Jesus fuck man, you don¡¯t think much of me do you?¡±


    The voice sounded almost hurt. ¡°What do you mean? I already outlined why you are perfect for the job. You have almost no immediate family, and only a few friends, and the family you do have left...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare bring up my mother! I get your point already.¡± Tom interrupted the voice


    ¡°So you will do it?¡±


    ¡°No? Why would I trust you? Besides, how do you even plan one getting me anywhere?¡±


    ¡°Well, I could just send you against your will, though I would rather not.¡±


    ¡°Send me? As in poof?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡± The voice sounded deadly serious, which sent a cold shiver down Tom¡¯s spine. This was beginning to look like a hostage situation. Not that that was entirely new to Tom, but still, it sucked, a lot. The thought that he might just go poof and end up somewhere he probably didn¡¯t want to be wasn¡¯t exactly comforting.


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to go? Will you just do it anyway?¡±


    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t wanna do that. Remember, I found you because you had nothing to live for here.¡±


    ¡°Are you even aware of how not nice that sounds when you say it like that? In that case, I think my answer is no. I don¡¯t trust you and I don¡¯t see why I should, now go away.¡±


    ¡°Will you at least allow me to show you?¡±


    ¡°Could I stop you if I wanted to?¡± Tom let out, sighing a bit.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Well fine then, this should be good. You are aware I still don¡¯t think you are real, right?¡± Just as Tom finished his sentence, a small dot flickered into existence in the middle of the office. It quickly started expanding, until it was a little under a meter in diameter. It was slightly oval in shape, and wind poured through it into the office. It was like being on top of a skyscraper in rough weather as his eyes looked through what he assumed was a portal (because why not?) in the middle of his goddamn office. He just stood there and glared, ¡°Well fuck me I guess!¡±


    The scene that greeted him was like something out of JC¡¯s Avatar mixed with Lord of the Rings. Tall spires stood atop floating islands! Honest to God floating islands! In the sky soared what looked like enormous birds, though he could not see what kind. Judging by how his day was going, they were probably dragons or something. With a whoosh of air, the portal moved with far too much speed to comprehend. Tom was flung across the room as the wind hit him. He scrambled back to his feet despite the pain of just having been flung into a wall. His eyes locked back on the portal, it now showed a massive forest.


    ¡°This is roughly where you will end up. I can''t tell you exactly where because, to be honest, I don¡¯t know where you will end up. Also, I won''t tell you about the world, you¡¯ll need to figure it out yourself. It¡¯s all part of the experiment!¡±


    As the portal snapped shut with a thunderous crack, Tom stood dumbfounded. He had just seen a glimpse of an honest to God fantasy world, like in the movies and books he¡¯d enjoyed so much when he was younger.


    ¡°Do you agree?¡±


    ¡°If I go, will I ever get to return?¡±


    ¡°Not until the experiment is complete, but in time... maybe.¡±


    ¡°What are your terms?¡±

 Preparation

    Hunter or Huntress Chapter 2: Preparation


    ¡°What are your terms?¡± Tom¡¯s words rang out, silence hanging in the air for a second.


    ¡°Well,¡± the voice answered gleefully, ¡°you will need to prepare yourself for anything. Creating a portal capable of transport will be a costly affair, but cheaper the weaker the veil is. And with the next convergence being in a little over a week¡¯s time, I think you better get started...¡±


    As evening rolled around Tom sat at his trusty computer once again, but gone was the boring work, replaced with a dozen Google searches and webshops. He honestly didn¡¯t know why he agreed to this. It was a stupid idea, but he had had plenty of those in the past, and they had honestly led to some of the greatest moments in his life. That being said, this was by far the worst one yet.


    He could bring whatever he wanted, but he had to be mobile in any terrain he found himself traversing: that meant no large vehicles. Besides, the fuel would likely have to be homemade in the future, so fuel economy and off-road mobility would be paramount. The quad bike he used to get around the property would be perfect with a few modifications of course. With a trailer, it could carry several hundred kilos of cargo and enough fuel for over a thousand kilometers offroad. If he hadn¡¯t found civilization by then he was pretty fucked anyway.


    But what to bring? He needed to think not just short but also long term, far longer than he ever had to before on any trip. A laptop, power banks, solar charger, kinetic lamp, weapons, and lots of ammo. But what happened when the ammo ran out? ''Homemade is back on the menu then,'' he mused. That meant black powder, so anything semi or full auto was out of the question; it would just foul up the action, even if he could get it to run. But he still wanted stopping power in spades and a decent fire rate. Marlin it was then; you could never go wrong with a lever gun. That was probably the best gun he owned anyway. A shotgun would be a good idea too, even if it was just for hunting purposes, and if it came to it he could always chop the end off for some close quarters boom boom. He had owned an over-under he had had since he was 15, his first gun in fact and a gift from his father. It would serve once again.


    He would want a pistol too though, and the same ammo concerns applied. ''Ahh what the hell might as well go full cowboy. Big ass revolver it is.¡¯ He thought, chuckling to himself a bit. He had always wanted one, but he hadn¡¯t had much reason to get one before now. To hell with it, why not two? Any real cowboy carries at least two guns, besides what if one broke? Content with his self-justification he placed his order for two Ruger Redhawks in 44 magnum. No use skimping on firepower when you had no idea what the target would be. As he leaned back in his chair he mused to himself that even if this was going to go horribly wrong, he would look awesome until the end.


    As the days went by, things started arriving: the bits he needed to convert the quad bike to run on alcohol for when the petrol ran out, various electronics, survival tools, food and water, containers to put everything in... All was loaded onto the quad and its nifty new little trailer. Even as he worked, Tom was still wondering if he had completely lost his mind, but to be honest he didn¡¯t care. This was exciting, even if it was all a delusion, it was better than sitting around pretending everything was as it should be. No this was right, it was what he wanted to do, it was going to be awesome, and thrilling, with so many challenges, all different. Honestly, he couldn¡¯t wait for the day now.


    It was probably for the best he had only been given a little over a week to prepare. The list was becoming longer and longer with every day. As he was packing the waterproof chest he had gotten off eBay from a boating guy, he began to wonder what his chances of actually getting to use Calister¡¯s Materials and Engineering. Or the calculus books for that matter. Still, he had been instructed to make ready for the long haul and to make an impact on this world. If math and science couldn¡¯t do it, what chance did he have? It dawned on him that the people of this world might not even be able to read and write, or maybe they were even more advanced than him. If so this would just be dead weight and a lot of it too. His little library was around 30 large books and a few smaller ones by now, most either from his own collection or borrowed from the local library. It wasn¡¯t like they could come after him for not returning them anyways.


    It was a strange collection of science, history, and fiction, even if the merit of bringing a fantasy book to a fantasy world was a bit dubious. But a good story is worth its weight in gold, right? Ohh right, money. What would they use for money? What could he bring that would be valuable to them, an alien people? Paper? Salt? Well, he was already bringing those, but a bit extra wouldn¡¯t hurt. Perhaps spices and fine liquor, yeah that seemed smart.


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    As his thoughts wandered he began worrying about the physical attributes of the locals. Would they be human? Maybe not; was he going to be dealing with full-blown aliens? Or perhaps old fashioned fantasy? How would he communicate? He added a note to look into getting a book on communicating with primitives.


    What if they were so massive and armored that not even a rifle would do the trick; what if there were real dragons there? He didn¡¯t exactly have access to the base armory anymore, and even if he did it would be hard to explain to the boys just why he needed to borrow a recoilless rifle or a SAM launcher for recreational purposes. Even if it could blow a hole in a dragon. No, he would have to make do with small arms. Besides, he would not be able to bring much ammo for such a weapon, or replenish it once fired, and what good would it do if he couldn''t carry it along with the rest of his gear? He was already bringing more guns than one man could reasonably carry.


    Besides, if there were dragons there, wouldn¡¯t he want to tame one or make friends? Riding a dragon was up there with the wildest of childhood fantasies and who doesn¡¯t like flying? He added a note to get something on animal training, just in case. Besides, he might be the one who is physically superior. That was a funny thought: superman with a rifle. Tom chuckled to himself a bit as he entertained the thought, continuing his prep work.


    As the day of reckoning drew near, Tom sat down one evening and wrote a note. Not that he wanted to, but if he wasn¡¯t coming back the least he could do was try and assure anyone who cared that nothing catastrophic had happened, even if it wasn''t true...


    ¡°To whomever may end up finding this, know that I¡¯m fine, I just couldn¡¯t bear the monotony anymore. I needed to get out of here. So I have gone to a place of wonders beyond measure, where I might again find life exciting and challenging, even if just for a while. Don''t worry, I¡¯m not insinuating I shot myself, trust me I¡¯m fine where I have gone. I know it sounds weird but don¡¯t bother trying to find me, you won¡¯t. This is what I want, and I''m not changing my mind anytime soon. One day I might return. So keep a chair free, just in case.


    Tomas Jensen¡±


    He folded up the piece of paper and laid it on his desk where it may be found in time.


    The next morning Tom got up early. ''Do I have to do this?'' he thought to himself as he got ready. Yes, he did. It would likely be the last chance he got, and even if it didn¡¯t sit right, he would hate himself in the future if he didn¡¯t. Breakfast in hand, he walked out to the car, a nice older BMW 3-series, and as he got in the melancholy hit him. This was maybe the last time he would drive a car, damn... He liked tearing up the backroads every now and again.


    On route to the nursing home, he stopped off for some flowers. ¡®Red. She liked red, if she could still remember, that was.¡¯ As Tom sheepishly knocked on the door he squared his shoulders, took a breath, and waited. He stared down at the flowers, wondering how much she would remember today. ¡°Who is it?¡± came the familiar frail voice from inside. ¡°It¡¯s Tom. I¡¯ve got a present for you.¡±


    There was a bit of commotion from inside, and after a short while the door creaked open. ¡°I think I know a Tom. Who would that be?¡± his mother replied as she stared up at him with a quizzical look in her eyes. Tom shed a tear. She had remembered something at least, that was good.


    ¡°Oh my goodness, how pretty they are. Are those for me? Oh you handsome young boy, come in, come in, would you like some tea, or coffee maybe?¡± As Tom walked in behind her he quickly dried the tear away.


    ¡°Coffee please, three sugars,¡± he replied as he replaced last week¡¯s flowers in the vase on the table and sat down. ¡°So, how¡¯s your day going?¡±


    After that, it was the usual routine of him trying to help explain as much as he could about what had been going on. The voice in his head, the royal family¡¯s visit to the town in a few weeks, the weird portal, that Aunt Agustina had a son (yes he had pictures and he was very sweet), the many preparations for his trip. Yes he was, in fact, her son, and yes he knew he had grown big.


    On and on it went, just like always. He stayed as long as he could today, but by afternoon she had started getting worse. She was forgetting even what they had talked about just minutes before. He knew that was it for the day. This may be the last time he saw her, but she couldn¡¯t take it any longer, it was just getting too much. So he made his excuses, gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead, and said his goodbyes with a heavy heart.


    On the way home he sobbed most of the way; he knew she would not be getting better, and soon she would be gone too. It wasn¡¯t fair, she couldn¡¯t fight it. It would just get worse and worse until one day¡­ He couldn¡¯t bear to be around when it happened. Dad had taken a toll on him, he wouldn¡¯t go through it again. Besides, she wouldn¡¯t even know he wasn¡¯t there for her in the end.


    It just felt like an excuse even if the argument was sound; it was wrong. He just couldn¡¯t bear the thought of trying to comfort his dying mother while she would hit him and shout at him because she believed he had broken into her apartment, as dad had done. No, this is for the best he thought. They are professionals at the care home, they were specialized in dementia, they would do a better job than him.

 Departure

    Chapter 3: Departure


    The preparations were complete, and everything was here. From the book on wilderness farming, with accompanying small seed bank, to the reloading equipment, to the second-hand Russian NV goggles and clothes for any weather imaginable. All strapped to the Polaris 570 sportsman and its trailer. The little vehicle would be his trusty steed and home probably for the foreseeable future. To say he was nervous was a damned understatement, but if anything he was even more excited. He was fully kitted in his old uniform and he looked like a damn action hero. He had bandoleers of 45-70 around his neck like fucking Rambo, twin revolvers, and a belt full of .44 magnum, and rifle in hand. The short-dot scope and long rail attachment made it look pretty tacticool too.


    As the whole circus rolled out into the courtyard of the small country house, Tom was pretty proud of himself, even if he couldn''t stop thinking about the sheer amount of boom currently in one place. The 6 jerry cans strapped to both the bike and trailer didn''t help his fears, though the combined 138 liters of petrol should see him through at least 2000 kilometers on decent roads, even with a trailer, and he hoped around half that on off-road trails. He had packed 3 weeks worth of food and 1 worth of water. He should have plenty of time and range to find civilization... if it exists that is. He still hadn''t decided if he had over or underprepared, though honestly under probably wasn¡¯t possible in this situation. What if he had missed something? It was statistically certain he would be cursing himself for something he forgot at some point in the future, but there was not much to do about that now.


    ¡°Well I see you have been busy.¡±


    Tom stiffened for a short moment at hearing the voice before relaxing again. That was pretty difficult to get used to.


    ¡°You said I should prepare for anything, so I did. Now is it time to get this party started or what?¡±


    ¡°You sound a lot more enthusiastic now than you did a week ago, shame to waste the motivation. Let''s get started. It should be fairly simple. On my mark, you charge the opening. It will only be open for a short while, ohh, and be sure to hit the middle. We don¡¯t want any part left behind, now do we?¡±


    ¡°Certainly not. Guessing I should duck too, huh?¡± Tom mounted the quad bike and fired it up and it purred like a kitten. As the familiar dot appeared a few meters in front of him it quickly grew to around 3 meters in diameter this time and descended into the ground a bit. The weird voice sounded in the back of Tom¡¯s head, ¡°You better get going now.¡± He jammed the throttle, powering into the unknown, kicking up dirt and gravel. As he hit the portal, he got the feeling he was being one hell of an idiot this time.


    The feeling of passing through whatever that portal thing was certainly wasn¡¯t enough to sell him on the idea that this was, in fact, a smart move. It felt like running through an ice storm in his underpants while being hit by rocket exhaust from behind. As his vision went white and he gasped in pain, he squinted and held up his hands, shielding his eyes from the bright white light for a second before his vision returned. The pain faded just as fast as it had arrived, but he still felt like shit. Coasting to a stop in the lush undergrowth of a seemingly grand forest, he fell off the Quad Bike. He just managed to pull down the bandana he had for his mouth before puking on the ground as he thought to himself, ¡¯Well this isn¡¯t the most auspicious arrival ever.¡¯


    He felt like he had been through a washing machine; his head was spinning as he tried to get to his feet. He could barely make it onto all fours, swaying from side to side. In the end, he just crawled away from the puddle he had made and rolled over onto his back, staring up into the treetops. As he looked up he suddenly felt pretty damn small. The trees looked like giant redwoods only they had leaves? Huge leaves in fact. And they stretched for what seemed like forever up into the sky. ¡®god that must be a hundred meters at least¡¯ He thought to himself as he kept staring. Around him smaller trees were scattered loosely in between the tall monsters, those seemed to like fairly normal trees though. He recognized a few birches and an oak here and there. ¡®Okay,¡¯ he thought to himself, at least some of the flora seems familiar. That''s good, not completely alien.¡¯


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    As he laid there admiring the view of an alien sky through the treetops of an alien forest, his head slowly stopped spinning, and as he moved to get up he felt the thickest soft moss he had ever felt beneath his hands, it was almost like foam. ¡®Well, sleeping is going to be comfortable at least,¡¯ he mused to himself. Getting up, he was still a bit unsteady on his feet as he looked around. The scene was truly breathtaking. It was definitely a forest but not dense like one would expect. It felt almost like being inside a huge hall, with trees and bushes scattered loosely around the place. It felt open and airy; it was kinda weird actually. You shouldn''t look a gift horse in the mouth though, and this terrain would make travel a lot easier than he had feared. Maybe he should have brought a 4x4 instead anyway¡­ Oh well, no turning back now. As he began to walk around a bit, curious as he was, he noticed his steps were lighter, a lot lighter. Everything was. His backpack felt like there was almost nothing in it.


    As he made an experimental jump, he went way higher than he would have expected ¡°The gravity?!¡± he exclaimed. As he landed he took another jump, this time pushing off with all that he had, and he made it more than a meter off the ground in full combat gear! Of all the things he had been expecting this was not on the list. He thought to himself, ¡®Right I¡¯m gonna need a game plan here first and foremost, bearings.¡¯ There was no way he could climb one of the giant trees, even if gravity was on the light side, and the forest floor seemed flat, so there wouldn¡¯t be a vantage point. He pulled up his compass and blank map book. To his relief the compass seemed to work well enough; it was at least pointing in a direction. He marked down a point on the brand new map of who knows where. ¡°First explorer Tom Colombus coming through,¡± he laughed to himself.


    With that, it was time to get moving, even if it was pretty as all hell here, there wasn¡¯t much of interest around. Picking west, he set off into the unknown, his trusty steed thumping along at a decent lick. The lighter gravity didn¡¯t do traction any favors, but that is what four-wheel drive is for. As the hours rolled by the scenery didn¡¯t change much. He found a watering hole and spotted his first piece of fauna, a rabbit-looking thing, drinking in the far side of the little lake. The thing had little deer antlers though. Tom was sure he had heard about something like that, even if he couldn¡¯t remember what the little buggers were called. Besides, it quickly scampered off, likely scared by all the noise. He stopped for a cold refreshing drink and a lunch break, spending the time admiring the terrain, trying to work out what time of day and season it was. His watch claimed 12:34, and the sun seemed high in the sky so it wasn¡¯t off by too much. As he sat for a while and continued to admire his surroundings he thought, ¡®Perhaps this was a good idea after all.¡¯ He marked the little lake on his now very detailed map, containing a whole two points of interest and a line between them which marked course and distance. Then he packed up to continue moving.


    As the hours went by and the light began fading, Tom made camp for the day near one of the massive trees. He set up his little tent and dug a small fireplace. He was gonna enjoy his first evening in an alien world with the small amount of fresh food he had brought, specifically steak. As he settled down he found himself staring into the now dark and gloomy forest, listening to the woods. All the weird sounds had been drowned out by the sound of the quad bike. Now he had the time to appreciate just how alien the soundscape was here. There was a little bird song and a bit of rustling here and there. Some kind of colorful hedgehog came barreling along the forest floor at one point, probably looking for an evening snack. A strange cooing echoed between the trees, probably another bird of some sort. It sounded almost hauntingly beautiful, almost like the sound Tom would expect to hear from a ghost singing opera. As he tucked in for the night he laid his rifle beside him, just in case, and wondered just what this place had in store for him.


    As morning broke and he got himself ready for the day, Tom thought to himself, ¡®I should do some exploring on foot if I want to see what kind of wildlife this place has to offer besides weird rabbits and Hedgehogs.¡¯ As he packed for the day he grabbed just his weapons and a backpack with what he would need if he ended up camping out for the night. His spirits were high as he checked his compass. He was going to be heading north today to avoid doubling back when he went west again later, but as he pulled out his compass to take a bearing, the little red tip for north was nearly lined up with the westward course he had been taking yesterday. ¡°What!?¡± he shouted at the uncaring forest, thoroughly confused and glaring at his compass. How could this be, had he fucked up yesterday?

 Fight or Flight

    Chapter 4: Fight or Flight


    Tom sat back down contemplating what exactly had gone wrong. If he couldn¡¯t trust his compass maintaining a direction would be incredibly difficult especially in a forest. He elected to run a little experiment to test his compass, he cleared some ground, set down the offending item, and marked north in the dirt, with a 0, set a timer for 1 hour on his wristwatch, and made ready to entertain himself.


    He spent the day checking on the compass and his immediate surroundings, he found some berries and tried one to see if they were poisonous, so far nothing bad had happened, and it had tasted fine if a little sour, so he guessed not, first alien fantasy food, hehe. The compass readings were however troubling, the needle had been moving seemingly randomly throughout the day. the deflection had maxed out at 41 degrees! But there was no telling if even that deflection could be counted on. At this rate, it would be completely useless. As he sat pondering this development and the predicament it caused, he heard a branch snap to his left, he looked up to see a young deer, though not quite? It had too many markings. A black and white stripe ran along its back, and it still had the white dots of a fawn. its legs were longer too, as it almost seemed too slender and even for a deer, almost like a big Bambi? The two stood there for a moment glaring, the deer elected this was a dangerous situation and scampered off through the woods in long bounding leaps of over 10 meters! It was extraordinary to watch. it was moving fast too, faster than any deer he¡¯d ever seen.


    As Tom stood there for a while, mouth half agape contemplating the wildlife, his belly rumbled in protest to only receiving one berry for lunch. Might as well put the rifle to use, he thought, as long as I don¡¯t stray too far from the camp it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. With that, he set out to tail the deer, from a distance. The large trees, resulting in such relatively open spaces there would be plenty of easy shots. it only took about 30 minutes, to track down the deer, Seemingly not having run far, not judging him too much of a threat apparently. Well, that was about to be a costly mistake, he wondered what something so delicate looking might taste like? As the crack of a rifle rang out in the forest, echoing between the trees, the deer tensed setting off into a stumbling, run. It didn¡¯t get far, the shot hit square in the shoulder blade, turning the heart and other vital organs to mush, and staining the ground in a spray of blood, honestly, this gun was overkill for this, but it was what he had brought.


    The deer tasted just like deer, fine if a little disappointing it hadn¡¯t been some kind of magically delicious, but it made a good diner with the addition of some powdered mash potato, and some of the many spices he had brought with him, for trade purpose. There was meat for quite a while leftover too. The compass had continued to veer around within the previously recorded maximum deflection from normal. As Tom hit the sack for the night, his mind was racing, what could cause a compass to veer like that, it was almost like a weather vane blowing in the wind¡­ ¡°God damn it!¡± the loud protest seemingly falling on deaf ears. "I¡¯m on one of those floating islands I saw and it¡¯s not staying put, fuuuuck!"


    The next morning tom butchered the deer, to the best of his ability, even if it really should have had time to hang a bit longer than a night, it was still food and he should really be rationing the stuff that could last indefinitely. With that, he mounted the trusty quad and set out to try and keep a direction the old fashioned way. If it was the whole place moving not even the sun or moon would be useful, not that either was easily spotted through the canopy. So paths and lining up trees would have to do. As the hours went by he was making progress he thought, at least he had not yet had any Deja Vu moment¡¯s, and a little after lunch he¡¯d found what seemed to be the foot of a small mountain or cliff. As he looked up it seemed tall enough to reach above the canopy. This was an opportunity he couldn¡¯t miss, as he needed a vantage point desperately.


    So once again he left his trusty quad behind. Luckily rope and basic climbing equipment were among the things he had packed for the trip. It wasn¡¯t a very difficult climb either, not terribly steep and with plenty of handholds, and the low Gravity sure didn¡¯t hurt. though it did seem like an awfully long way, by his reckoning at least 100 to 120 meters to the top. he had left his rifle behind, it wasn¡¯t easy to climb with it over his shoulder. he did brink his small backpack though, with some food and water.


    He had made it no more than 20 meters up before he starting hearing the wingbeats, combing from behind him! He turned to look and was confronted by ghastly looking, winged creatures. it had two legs and wings like a bat with some pretty scary claws on all of them too, its leathery skin was a reddish black, 4 front-facing eyes crimson red and it had a long tail with a nasty looking spike at the end. And he was facing multiple of the buggers. With wings spanning nearly 4 meters, it wasn¡¯t exactly small either, even if the creature itself seemed about his size. As the first one came in tail first looking to stab him, he dropped down into the rope harness, falling a few meters, causing the creature to overshoot. He drew a revolver, but even as he was taking aim, the next came screeching in skewering him in the side of his abdomen, just under his vest. It latched on to the cliff with its wing claws and went to bite at his face. He just managed to bring up the gun under its chin and blew its head to pieces, covering himself in much of the gore in the process. The stab in the gut hurt like hell and he screamed out ¡°Well Fuck you too!¡± as the now limp monster went tumbling to the ground.


    Looking up he saw the first one going at the rope, he brought up the gun to fire, but his arm struggled to move, it felt like it was stiffening up! He and the creature raced to finish their tasks he felt the rope give way, just as he got the gun on target. The shot went wide with the lurch of the rope snapping, and he clipped the thing in the wing. Now falling he thought to himself, this wasn¡¯t quite how he had planned this trip to end, struggling to come to terms with the fact he probably just died. As he fell a third creature swoop in and stabbed him again this time in the thigh, and latched its claws around his waist, and heaved to carry its quarry away. As Toms body finally succumbed to the second dose of the poison he stiffened up completely looking at the ground, he swore he heard more of the things chittering to each other in some weird guttural tone, where were they going, and was that shouting coming from behind him?


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Being a huntress was about awareness and stealth, you had to track your target and spot it before it noticed you, so having your target sneak up on you instead, was a mark of disgrace for any hunter. Yet that was what appeared to have happened to them. Sapphire and her hunting party were resting on the small clifftop they had so often used to rest, and have midday snack, and were lazily catching what heat they could from the midday sun. The surprise had been total as Sapphire rushed to her feet at the sound of the thunder crack! but it was a perfectly clear day, and it had come from below? Fengi shouted out claiming she had heard what sounded like shouting coming from further down the cliff? there was definitely something going on down there. as they all scrambled to pack their things away, Dakota took the lead ¡°On me¡± bellowing out in her signature commanding voice.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    As the five-strong hunting party dove off the side of the cliff, racing towards the commotion bellow, Sapphire readied her bow. Another loud thunder crack sounded, it was definitely coming from further down the cliff. As they broke through the canopy they were confronted by 5 vargulfs, seemingly already turning to flee. ¡°look¡¯s like they''re running¡± shouted Esmeralda ¡°well don¡¯t let them¡± replied Dakota, the Queen of the hunt taking the lead and pulling out of the dive to give chase through the woods, bow at the ready. Looking back at the cliff where the noise had come from, Sapphire saw what looked like a rope dangling from the cliff face, and one vargulf already on the ground with another following close behind it, tumbling to its inevitable doom. ¡°They grabbed someone I think, there are two dead beasts and a cut rope back there ¡±she shouted out to the others. ¡°well then we better catch them, if nothing else I wanna know who has been wandering around in our back yard¡± replied Dakota ¡°what kind of maniac goes climbing this far into the woods¡± Jackalope Piped up ¡°and how did he get here¡± Esmeralda added.


    As the hunters gave chase their initial dive did buy them some ground, those bastards were quick though at least in a straight line, but the lead vargulf did seem to be carrying something. though Sapphire couldn¡¯t tell what it was exactly, most likely the unlucky climber, and probable moron, though he had killed two already? ¡°lead guy¡¯s got the cargo¡±


    ¡°Try not to kill it I have questions¡± Dakota shouted in response


    At least the weight it was slowing it down a bit Sapphire thought. As the huntresses gave chase firing at the trailing vargulf¡¯s, who was trying to protect the one carrying their precious cargo. whatever it was the bastards wanted it badly, enough to risk their own skin too.


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom could hear the now seemingly even more agitated squawking of the creatures, as they were clearly being chased by something, the sounds coming from behind them were muffled by the air, so he couldn¡¯t make out much other than there was something back there. That is when they had started taking fire. Okay, it was only arrow fire but that could mean only one thing. There were civilized people giving chase! This could be very good or very bad, but going by his current situation anyone trying to kill the monster bat things, were good guys in his book. The monster ducked and dived through trees, desperately trying to make distance, while avoiding getting shot. It was doing well so far, if not for the paralysis, gut wound, and incoming arrows, Tom would have thought the ride thrilling, with all its speed and acrobatics. As it was he was starting to get concerned about what would happen if one of the arrows hit its mark. the ground seemed an awfully long distance away...


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire tucked in her wings rolling through a cleft tree trunk, she felt the thrill of the hunt, she was right on them and they would not be getting away this time. As she let loose arrow after arrow one finally flew true, hitting a vargulf in the back, it screeched in pain, the crimson streaming from its back, she could almost taste it in the air, flicking out her tongue. As it began to slow from the pain, Dakota put another shot into it hitting a shoulder joint, the vile Creatures rightwing buckled and it fell to the ground with a thump, screaming all the way down. One down 4 to go.


    Despite the success, the speed was taking a toll on the hunters, Sapphire panting heavily already, and Fengi had begun to lose ground, being the youngest among them. Vargulfs were no joke in a straight line. they wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up much longer, not at this speed. it would be a shame to only get 2 though, even if whatever was being carried off had already taken another 2 today.


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was not too pleased to see the results of what an arrow hit had done to the airworthiness of one of the monsters, that currently constituted his ride. He began frantically trying to work out what he could do in this situation, why didn¡¯t he bring the parachute from the trailer, ¡°goddammit!¡± he proclaimed stunned for a second that his mouth had started working again. Apparently, this stuff wasn¡¯t very long-term? He began struggling to move his limbs and slowly started making progress, making sure not to lose the grip on his beautiful new revolver still clenched tightly in his right hand. The creature seemed too preoccupied to notice its quarry beginning to wiggle, the same however could not be said for the nearest of its companions, Tom heard screeching from behind him and it sounded as if it was getting closer fast. Forcing his arms to obey and bent down despite catastrophic pain from his abdomen, grabbing the gun with both hands he took aim as best he could. Looking back he saw the tail spike of yet another creature coming straight at his face, on sheer reflex he pulled the trigger, and by some kind of miracle blew the end of the tail clean off, and missed his own foot by millimeters.


    Now though, his ride seemed to have noticed its cargo was awake, tightening its grip on his stomach and shaking him violently, he couldn¡¯t just shoot it that would doom him to a slow death by falling, and he was being flailed around far too much to do any precision shooting even at this range so he drew his knife with his offhand and tried his damndest to land a stab on the body of this thing. It was an awkward situation, almost like trying to hit somebody on your back.


    Tom squirmed in the creature¡¯s claws trying to land a hit, he nicked the thing a few times but nothing that managed to do more than scratch its hide. This isn¡¯t going brilliantly he thought to himself, fighting through the pain, on the adrenalin high. Apparently, the creature agreed, as it rounded one of the large tree trunks it circled back heading straight for their pursuers. the g-forces in the turn were not to be sniffed at and Tom found himself struggling to raise his head to see. As it came around Tom look up just getting a glimpse of something white and blue streaking towards him, as the creature threw him at its pursuer, Shiii, was all he managed to think before impact.


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire had flinched at the sound, as a flash of fire burst out from under the lead vargulf, the blast had taken the tail off one of the following beasts with it! What was a magic user doing on the ground in the middle of their hunting grounds!? They needed to get it alive she thought, it might be a spy or some other nefarious thing.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± exclaimed Jackalope.


    ¡°Magic I think¡± Esmeralda added helpfully.


    ¡°Tell you what if you¡¯re the one to catch it I¡¯ll let you ask first, now get it¡± Dakota ordered letting loose another arrow at the wounded vargulf that was seemingly too preoccupied with finding its tail, dropping it too with a shaft to the neck.


    Sapphire had managed to close the range with the lead vargulf, it clearly struggling with its now moving passenger. Turning to flank it around the grand oak, as she rounded the huge grand oak, what greeted her wasn¡¯t the clean shot she had been hoping for, instead, she got a face full of whatever the blasted creature had been carrying, she had been tricked by a Vargulf?

 Close Encounter

    Chapter 5: Close Encounter


    As Sapphire just managed to pull up enough to avoid the hit breaking her neck on impact, the hit still knocked the air out of her though, and she felt ribs cracking, it was a deep disorienting pain as she wondered what had just happened to her. She was not that high in the air and would be dropping fast. The thing that had hit her clung to her and was shaking her by the shoulders shouting at her, it seemed very distraught, what a weird language, She thought. Before snapping back to her senses and drawing breath again, it hurt like hell, her cracked or broken ribs, protesting loudly. Her training took over, any real flyer knew what to do when things went wrong, as tucked in her wings and used her tail to counter the spin they were currently in. She was heading straight for the ground and it was a lot closer than she had remembered. Cursing the seconds she had lost in the daze she flared her wings trying desperately to pull up, the thing clinging to her sure didn¡¯t help the weight was too far forward, damned thing! It was going to get them both killed. Though if she was without wings in a crash dive, she would probably be clinging to the nearest thing that could fly too. That was little comfort though, she had been too slow to react and the creature wouldn¡¯t move, despite being told they were gonna hit! At least the clinging creature would hit first, she thought angrily.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom admitted things weren¡¯t going great on his little trip. he''d been kidnaped, gored in the gut, poisoned, shaken like a dog''s toy, used as an air to air missile, and was now heading for the ground clinging to a half-unconscious dragon looking thing, at least it had begun to wake up around halfway down. the impact must have knocked it out and was now seemingly fighting not to turn into a pancake on impact with the ground. He couldn¡¯t see how well that particular battle was going from his current position locking over its neck hanging on for dear life. He soon got his answer as he slammed into the ground, back first the hit knocked the breath out of him again. They rolled across the ground, dirt and moss flying everywhere, he heard cracking bone and screaming. He had added his own voice to the choir when his right shoulder was knocked out of its joint, causing him to finally lose his grip on his ad-hock transportation method, he led out a gasp for air as the world began to blacken around the edges


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    As sapphire came to, she was on the ground, the pain was immense, she looked up to see Esmeralda looking worried at her with a grimace on her face, ¡° noo, noo that is not supposed to look like that. ughhh¡±


    the older huntress shuddered looking at her. When she tried to move she was meet with sharp pain, from her right-wing and leg protesting the movement, besides her badly bruised chest. Forcing herself to sit up with a grunt she inspected the damage, her right-wing was utterly broken with pieces of bone sticking out, a torn membrane, and several broken digits. Ohh nooo, she thought to herself, her spirits sinking, she would be grounded for weeks at best if not months, and when she looked down she found her shin broken too! apparently getting stuck in an awkward angle during the tumble. So she wouldn¡¯t be walking either, marvelous! But at least she was alive, that was quite the fall. she looked over to the crash site to see the thing sitting up with one of its hands in the air, seemingly not ready to pick another fight. Dammit, she thought she would have loved to pay him back for her busted wing, or perhaps have one of the others do it for here, current condition and all. As Jackalope came over and proclaimed ¡°ouch you don¡¯t look brilliant¡± all she could do was stare at her, with the sort of indignant rage reserved for people who didn¡¯t know when to shut up. ¡°How many got away¡± she demanded ¡°Two not bad all things considered, we got the one that so graciously knocked you out of the sky ¡± Jackalope seemed quite pleased with the result ¡°yay I have been avenged¡± not a grain of amusement in her tone.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was not sure if his situation had improved much following the crash, he was down one gun and his knife, he hurt like hell, and was now staring at a drawn bow. He had raised his hands the best he could despite his less than fully functional arm, and sitting up to look at his captor/savior? they were dragon-like for sure, but no taller than him, well with the horns maybe a little, they were humanoid just like him, but with wings on their backs, they were all a white-ish silver color varying a little between them, horns were dark blue almost metallic looking, with a lighter blue to turquoise ish color running down their neck and chest, along what seemed like interlocking plates? Big scales he guessed, they were wearing light armor of some description, though it looked more for show than practicality.


    the armor consisting of what he could best describe as a tiara breastplate that stopped above the midriff for some reason, grieves, and gauntlets, and a skirt of what looked like thick dark blue leather plates. they all carried bows and some sort of big dagger or shortsword. The metal part of the armor had a White enamel-like finish to it, with copper, silver, and gold inlay. It was all very intricately made too, all in all, they looked quite dapper, he thought. They were very slenderly built, but more like an Olympic runner than anything else. It didn¡¯t hurt of course that they even looked quite feminine. They just screamed high-speed flying.


    The one looking at him and not pointing a bow at him spoke in a guttural tone it almost sounded like Russian he thought, the voice was feminine too though. As he pondered if he had just been rescued/captured by flying dragon amazons, it dawned on him he was being held at bow point. By people, he couldn¡¯t talk with, and that locked decidedly militaristic, if stylish. Well, this complicates things, as he pointed at his ear with his good hand, and shook his head ¡°I can¡¯t understand you¡± the one talking just facepalmed, followed by throwing her head up towards the sky and letting out a long sigh, seemingly about as pleased with the situation as Tom as, it/she? turned to talk to the Injured one.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°It can¡¯t speak properly¡± Dakota sighed turning to Sapphire ¡°how are you feeling Saph¡±


    ¡°To be honest, not brilliant and I¡¯m not gonna be flying or walking anytime soon¡± Sapphire replied sounding defeated.


    ¡°accidents happen to be honest I haven¡¯t seen that maneuver before it was quite well done, the way it used the tree to hide its trap¡± Dakota said sounding as if she was already working to use the new tactic to her advantage.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you found my crash educational,¡± Sapphire replied indignantly, as she further inspected the damage. it would need to be set and braced before the natural healing started, and they were quite far from home and it hurt like hell. ¡°I think that weird thing could help, it seems to know some magic?¡±


    ¡°let''s try and find out,¡± Dakota said looking back at the thing that had downed her best flyer.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom had begun looking around he had counted 5 dragon people, he really needed a better name for them than that, he thought. The one he had ¡®ridden¡¯ on his way down, it did not look great, the wing was definitely busted, leg was fucked too. He wondered what they were gonna do now, when the leader he believed, it certainly had more gold than the others on her armor? Looked back at him and pointed at the injured one, with a very demanding look in its eyes and muttered a single word in its language, Tom took it to mean fix or something like that. He hadn¡¯t brought anything besides a basic first aid kit, but hey least he could do was try and help. He nodded and got up and tried to walk over to a nearby tree only to be stopped by the one still pointing a bow at him, he pointed at his shoulder and grimaced as if to indicate pain then at the tree. The dragon thing looked quizzical tilting its head before backing away a bit to let him reach the tree. Tom had tried the procedure before, that didn¡¯t make it any more comfortable of course. Reseating his shoulder by slamming it into a tree, was painful but on the third try, he had managed it. With a loud pop and a shout of satisfying pain he regained the use of his arm, his guard seemed alarmed by the act and had moved to stop him right as the joint slipped back into place, reaching out its hand but seemed to realize what had been done and quickly retreated drawing its bow again. Tom stumbled over to the wounded dragonette, yes dragonette, not quite a dragon but pretty close, it would do, for now anyway. He removed his backpack, and took out the first aid kit, and set to work.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he knows healing magic, that looks like healer¡¯s supplies, and it seems quite hurt too¡± Esmeralda¡¯s input was as always appreciated if often quite obvious. Still better than nothing, and the materials looked to be of excellent quality. as the creature worked its fingers seemed so soft and delicate, they were warm too, if not for the pain here and then it was actually quite comfortable. it didn¡¯t have claws either, which was nice. but it was still only healing supplies so Dakota Would have to lend a hand, even if she wasn¡¯t that capable of a healer she could at the very least close a wound to prevent infection.


    It was at times like these Sapphire regretted Nunuk had gotten too old to go on hunts, her spellcraft would have been greatly appreciated. Looking at the thing currently working on her wing, she realized its clothes were soaked through with blood, the green and black cloth it wore had done well to hide the fact ¡°if you want to question this thing he needs attention that doesn¡¯t look good, I¡¯ll live for now. also, I think it''s bleeding red?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was in the middle of working out a splint for one of the small digits that ran down the wing when suddenly, he had been pulled away and laid down on his back, not quite sure what to make of the situation he raised his hands again only to have his shirt lifted revealing the damage to his gut, as he struggled to get a closer look at the damage. It looked quite bad he thought it could have been worse though, the creature¡¯s claws had almost managed to enclose his waist when carrying him and so had only made scratch marks and some small punctures, rather than digging in. His vest had also taken some of the pounding, even if the stinger had hit below it because why not? At least his captors seemed interested in his survival, which was nice, seemingly quite worried by the damage. One had begun applying pressure to the wound, a surprisingly large amount of pressure at that. Another brought him his first aid kit. He grabbed the kit and got out the disinfectant and applied it liberally to the wounds.


    When he had tried to apply bandages though they stopped him? The leader had come over and began chanting, as his eyes widened and his lips curled into a smile, he practically screamed inside himself, THEY GOT MAGIC, OHHH HELL YEAH. It only seemed to knit together the skin though, the pain was still there, still very useful against infections he thought to himself.


    As he got up with a groan, his guard drew their bow at the ready, he really needed to make friends here he thought, these were the first people he had met after all, and he certainly wasn¡¯t in fighting shape. Stumbling back over to his backpack, his thigh still hurting like hell, he got out some trail mix, and jerky and offered it to one guarding him. It seemed the youngest, with mostly copper inlay in its armor and the leathery skin being closer to white than silver. ¡°Food¡± he went, watching it lowered its bow and carefully took the item¡¯s looking at them quizzically. Tom got out another bag of trail mix and opened it pouring out a few pieces of nuts and dried berries into his hand and eating them. The Dragonette followed suit, inspecting the bag closely, it looked quite pleased by the taste, once it got the content¡¯s out. two of the others had come over to try the snacks immediately. That was a good sign, at least he had something to barter with on him.


    He took out a pair of painkillers to take the edge off and offered one to the wounded dragonette along with some water, it seemed more interested in the bottle though saying something in its alien tongue and bowing her head. He showed himself eating the pain killer, and it followed suit washing it down with some of the water. The leader had continued to work on the injuries, sparing a Squinted look at Tom now and again, like she was trying to figure him out.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°hey girls he¡¯s got food, nuts and berries I think don¡¯t recognize any of them though, and this looks like dried meat of some kind¡± as Fengi took a bite of the strange meat, her eye¡¯s flared ¡°how does that taste so good?¡± The childlike wonder of her voice got the attention of Jackalope and Esmaralde fairly coming over to try the snacks. She was left sitting there pouting while Dakota worked, wing broken, leg broken, and now the others were harvesting the reward from the guy she had practically saved? Not fair.


    There was wide consensus that this guy knew how to make snacks, that was for sure. Next, he took out a dark green bottle and walked over to Sapphire, and gave it to her, ¡°thank you?¡± she had responded bowing her head slightly looking at the strange bottle, it was not metal or glass that was certain, but she had no idea what it was, it didn¡¯t look like skin or leather either, at least none that she knew. Was it medicine? The stranger reached over and unscrewed the top for her, no cork or cap? He gave her a small bead, he took one similar himself, looking at her expectantly, that must be medicine, she ate the thing and drank.


    It was nice clean water and the bead didn¡¯t taste of anything, strange medicine she thought, that stuff was usually horrid, though the bottle was even more interesting. He then pulled out some sort of rectangular object wrapped in a very thin strange material, it was very colorful too, almost like silk. As he ripped it open revealing a small bar of what looked like grain stuck together, she nearly winced, it had looked so pretty! He handed it to her and made an eating motion. As she put it in her mouth it was nice and crunchy, and sweet! there was honey in it!! Normally that would be reserved for feasts and celebrations. And he just had some in his pack, and gave it away!? did he even know what that was worth? Perhaps he was grateful for the rather ungraceful ride down. ¡°he¡¯s got honey too!¡±

 Diplomacy

    Chapter 6: Diplomacy


    The food experiment had gone well, Tom thought. Everything had been well received. Lucky for him he had bought snacks for the climb. The muesli bar had been an especially big hit; maybe they had a sweet tooth? After the wounded one had spoken out in surprise, the others looked like they practically demanded to get a piece from it. He had taken out another one for them to share, since it seemed only fair the one responsible for saving his ass got one for itself, especially since it hadn¡¯t been entirely voluntary¡­ The food had done the trick though, and tensions seemed to have eased. They didn¡¯t seem hostile just weary of him, so he probably wasn¡¯t a hostage, probably... With that, he thought it time to try to get to know his rescuers a bit better.


    He had started with the classic, pointing to himself and saying ¡°Tom¡± and looking expectantly at the dragonettes. It didn¡¯t take long for them to figure it out. They seemed smart enough he thought to himself. Apparently, the one who had saved him from death by pancake was apparently called Ulhartiki, at least he thought so. Their language was very weird and guttural. She had pointed at a small dark blue gem embedded in a thick blue leather necklace around her neck, and then at herself. It locked to Tom like a sapphire, so Sapphire then. A nice name, he thought. ¡°Sapphire,¡± he had responded, pointing at the gem. She chuckled a bit at this. His language probably sounded just as funny to her as hers to him.


    The leader had pointed to herself and proclaimed ¡°Dakota.¡± She had then proceeded to point at the rest of the group in turn. ¡°Fengi, Esmeralda, Jackalope.¡±


    ¡°Jackalope!?¡± Tom had exclaimed, tilting his head to try and indicate confusion. He knew that one, it was that little rabbit thing with antlers. How did he know that word? He made a gesture at the one who was apparently named Jackalope and made antlers and squatted down. It had given a little laugh at the display and nodded, so there were words that were the same? Dakota did also sound familiar, like something to do with Indians, but he wasn¡¯t sure. Speaking of which, Dakota had looked at him very quizzically at his discovery of a common word. The names also sounded feminine. He certainly couldn¡¯t imagine a guy named Sapphire. Jackalope maybe, but for now he concluded he had been rescued by magical flying amazon dragonettes. Saying it sounded like an old comic from the 60. This was insanity on a level he hadn¡¯t dared expect.


    The one who had been guarding him, called Fengi apparently, had offered some food of her own, an eclectic collection of dried meat without much flavor, some tough chewy roots, nuts he didn¡¯t recognize, and some kind of drink in a horn. It tasted very herbal and woody, almost like pine or spruce. He didn¡¯t exactly appreciate the taste. It seemed like a weird beer or something; there was alcohol in there too, not much though a few percent tops. One more thing they had in common, he thought. This was good, since he had brought a few bottles of rum and whiskey for trading purposes. Good alcohol had always been worth something through human history.


    But he had more pressing matters at the moment than the local culinary specialties. He needed to get cleaned up, as he was still covered in gore, though the dragonettes didn¡¯t seem to mind. And he should really get a proper doctor or something similar to look at his gut wounds; those things could be nasty even if it was now sealed. He was no medic, so he didn¡¯t know much about how to fix people besides keeping them alive for long enough to get them to the proper medical personnel. He began wondering if he could get them to take him back to his quad bike. As he looked at them, he would not have deemed them capable of lifting someone like himself or Sapphire, at least not for long, but gravity was weird here, and if not for the few seconds unconscious, it seemed like Sapphire would have succeeded in avoiding the ground? He just hoped they didn¡¯t leave him here. He had no idea how to find his way back to the bike.


    As he stood there lost in his own thoughts for a moment, he snapped back to attention. It was clear that decisions were being made without him, and he had no idea what they were planning. ¡®Well, this is no good,¡¯ he thought to himself. He managed to get the attention of Fengi and tried making mountain gestures with his hands, and pointing to his backpack, and then around on the ground as if to indicate more backpacks. The dragonette seemed to get the message and joined the discussion with the others. Before they decided to leave though he wanted to find his gun and knife. They couldn''t have gone far.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    The creature had introduced himself as Tom. Huh, that almost sounded like the nicknames they used for each other. It was a most peculiar being, Sapphire pondered, it was clad from head to toe in fabric, and it even had gloves and boots on? Was it so squishy it needed the protection? It had no scales, sure, but the thin fabric had done little to protect it from the vargulf¡¯s attacks. Then there were the colors: green, black, and some browns. Dirty colors, not a very proud being clearly, but the patterns were intricate, and most of its clothes shared the design. Some weird form of artistic expression, or perhaps a symbol of a family? It looked like it would blend in well with the forest though, so perhaps it was for practical purposes? If she was stuck on the ground she wouldn¡¯t mind remaining hidden, she thought. It did also have what looked like crests on its shoulders and breast. Maybe clan or family crests, or perhaps nation? It also had a weird helmet that didn¡¯t cover the face at all? ¡°I think it¡¯s a soldier.¡±


    Dakota turned her head to Sapphire. ¡°And what would a soldier of a seemingly far away land be doing here? I don¡¯t recognize anything on him, so it must be very far from home.¡±


    Jackalope joined in, ¡°And how exactly did he get so far from home? He definitely can¡¯t fly.¡±


    ¡°Somebody ferried him here?¡± Esmeralda added, helpfully.


    ¡°And why would anybody ferry a soldier who can¡¯t speak our tongue across the world to run around on the forest floor?¡± Dakota was clearly not convinced.


    As the others continued to bicker, Fengi got out some of her own snacks and gave them to the creature, along with some of her spruce beer. It seemed thankful, though its face did look funny when he tried the beer. Fengi chuckled. ¡°Seems the beer wasn''t a hit.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°It hardly seems hostile. What if he ended up here by accident?¡± Sapphire added from the stone she had been placed on. ¡°And why was he climbing up to us?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he was sneaking up on us?¡± Jackalope retorted.


    ¡°In the middle of the day? By climbing up a cliff? If that is true it would be crazy enough to still be trying to kill us.¡± Sapphire was struggling to find a reason why it was out here. It didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°So what now?¡± Esmeralda said, getting to the core of the problem, as usual.


    At this point Fengi piped up again, ¡°I think he wants to go back to the cliff. It looks like they have more stuff there, and they are looking for something too, seems they dropped it.¡±


    ¡°How could he have more stuff back there? It could hardly carry much more if it is out trekking alone?¡± Dakota did not sound convinced.


    ¡°Maybe he has more honey back there, maybe he has a cart or something?¡± Jackalope concluded, sounding very excited about the prospect.


    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll go back, not like it''s in the wrong direction. I don¡¯t think we''ll make it home tonight anyway so might as well camp on the cliff. We are gonna bring him home with us. Maybe Apuma will know what it is.¡± There was a collective sigh from the group as it dawned on them they would be switch carrying two people and camping under open sky tonight.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    It seemed like they had come to a decision, as the leader, Dakota, shouted out to him, making him look up from his searching. He winced a bit as he did so; the painkiller had helped, but it didn¡¯t take everything. Dakota folded out her wings, beating them a bit, then made a mountain with her hands and pointed back the way he thought they had come from. Well that¡¯s good news. Now I just need to find my damn gun. As she approached him, she started showing him her foot and grabbed her own shoulder. He guessed she was showing him how he would hold on? Before she got any further, he held up his finger and drew his other revolver, pointing at it, then around on the ground, and then his empty right leg holster. Dakota seemed nonplussed about the fact he had lost one of his precious guns, so he pointed it at a tree and said boom, making the recoil motion with his arm. She tilted her head at this. She held out her hand for the revolver, quite demanding Tom thought. He unloaded the weapon and handed it to her. She inspected it closely before looking back to him with a quizzical look, head tilted almost comically now.


    Tom wasn¡¯t really sure it was a great idea to teach them how a gun worked, but he was pretty sure it was either that or leave the other one behind. He walked over to where the wounded one was sitting. It wouldn''t be fair to leave her out of it. Dakota said something to the others, and they gathered around. She handed him back the revolver, and he began to show them how to load the weapon. With a round in the chamber, he gestured for them to plug their ears. All except the one called Jackalope held their hands over their ears; she instead made some kind of snarky remark he guessed. He couldn¡¯t understand it after all. He took aim at a nearby small tree and fired, the shot ringing out. They all flinched, and Jackalope was now clutching her ears. By his reckoning he had just learned a few new swearwords, their ears were apparently more sensitive than his. Made sense, they were larger, and their shape didn¡¯t lend themselves well to being plugged. They were long, rigid, and pointy, like small horse ears almost?


    As he walked over to the tree the others followed, Jackalope still yammering. They gasped when they saw the hole straight through the narrow tree trunk and the carnage done to the other side. Dakota was suddenly very keen on finding the missing revolver, ordering the others to go look for his gun. It didn''t take too long to find the items. First, his knife was found and brought to Dakota, who inspected it. She ran her fingers down the jagged teeth on the backside of the knife, and rubbed a bit at the powder-coated steel. She then drew her own knife. It was a long slender blade, more like a dagger really. It looked very finely made. The handle looked like it was made from ivory, with a gem in the pommel. She compared them to each other all while talking with the others. Tom guessed they didn¡¯t have treated steel like this.


    After a while she gave Tom back the knife as the one who had been guarding him earlier came jogging over with his gun. She was holding the weapon very carefully after having just witnessed what it could do. As Tom took the gun he quickly inspected it. No apparent damage, what a relief. He looked at Dakota and nodded. She continued where she had left off with the instructions.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire sat on her rock feeling useless. She couldn¡¯t walk without help. Dakota had gone over to try and explain to their new acquaintance how to properly get on the wing when being carried. It was a maneuver they had practiced many times for just this kind of situation. But trying it with a complete newbie who couldn¡¯t even speak their tongue seemed like a recipe for disaster. They couldn''t afford another downed huntress, or they would have to walk home.


    When Dakota had tried to explain to him what he was supposed to do, he had just waved them away, apparently more concerned with a thing he had lost. She sighed. This was already a long day for her, and Dakota was right that it was getting late. If they had to stop at the cliff and teach this thing basic aerial maneuvers first, then they would not be getting home today. That is when the guy had come over with a shiny piece of metal in his hands. Dakota explained it was what he had used on the vargulfs?


    Sapphire couldn''t tell how that lump of metal was supposed to kill a vargulf. ¡°Must be magical, gather ''round, I think he¡¯s gonna demonstrate,¡± Dakota said. Sapphire craned her neck to get a better look as he started to fiddle with the thing. It was clearly more than a block of metal; it had many moving parts to it. He took out a metal cylinder of what looked like brass and placed it in a slot. It fit perfectly, such craftsmanship! He then put the slot thing back to where it had started, pointed at a tree with it, and motioned to cover their ears. She did so. The thing spat flame out the end in a quick flash. The sound was deafening this close, startling Sapphire. Jackalope had, of course, not covered her ears. ¡°I''m not afraid of a little thunder,¡± she had proclaimed smugly. Followed by ¡°What the fuck is that thing? Aoowww, I can¡¯t hear shit right now.¡± Sapphire sighed again. Some people never learn.


    Fengi had helped her hobble over to the target tree. From the front, all you could see was a little hole, but on the back, a chunk the size of her fist was missing! That would kill almost anything she thought, and there had been room for 6 of those brass things! And he apparently had 2 of them. She gulped and made a mental note to treat Tom with more respect going forward. He had been very kind, giving her medical aid and honey. And he apparently had the capability to kill all of them. So it likely wasn¡¯t out of fear he had been kind. ¡°The vargulf must have gotten lucky and surprised him.¡± The others nodded in agreement, all seeming taken aback by the weapon.


    Dakota had quickly gotten them back on track, leading the others in searching for the lost items. It hadn¡¯t taken too long for them to find both another similar metal thing and what was clearly a knife made from black steel? What was it with this guy and dark colors? If he hadn''t been so friendly Sapphire might have taken him for a servant of the dark and put a shaft in him. The items had been returned after a quick inspection by Dakota, being very careful with the fire-spitting thing. Then the instructions on how to switch carry had continued.

 Airborn

    Chapter 7: Airborn


    The instructions were hard to follow, with the language barrier and all. But as far as he could tell, he would need to run as fast as he could. Then one of the dragonettes would swoop down and pick him up, get some altitude, and then put him on the back of another one? But what did that have to do with her foot? It was fascinating to look at, double-jointed with long clawed fingers at the end. It was almost like a human foot, if it were longer and only stood on its toes.


    Dakota seemed to sense his confusion and called over Jackalope and Fengi, saying something before waving them off. Jackalope took to the sky with a running start, and after a short while she swooped back around. Meanwhile, Fengi had begun running with her wings tucked in, holding out her arms. It looked rather goofy, Tom thought, watching intently. Jackalope came swooping down and grabbed Fengi''s arms with both her arms and legs, pulling up and lifting them both into the air with a few strong beats of her wings. It looked easy enough, Tom thought. Dakota had then taken off, taking a running start herself.


    Circling around for a bit, Dakota eventually came up Below Jackalope, Fengi being lowered gently onto her back on her back. It looked like quite a dainty operation, and Tom was starting to wonder if this was a good idea. But it made sense, he would get tired pretty fast if he had to carry someone in his arms for very long, even if they were half weight here. As Sapphire broke out into a snicker, he noticed he was standing mouth agape and his savior had been watching him stare at the personal air show he was receiving, clearly finding his reaction funny. ''Oh, like you didn¡¯t just stare slack-jawed at my revolver a minute ago,'' Tom thought, regaining his composure.


    As the flying trio came back down, Dakota looked expectantly at Tom. He had never been afraid of flying, but recent experiences hadn¡¯t been brilliant. He steeled himself, straightened his back, and nodded. This was his ticket back to his carefully planned and packed supplies and a very kind gesture too. The running part would suck, though, since he had been stabbed in the thigh recently. And how exactly were they planning on getting Sapphire airborne?


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    The demonstration seemed successful in getting the stranger to grasp the operation, even if he looked like he had never seen somebody fly before. Sapphire had always found it funny to see kids staring up at the fancy flying, but a fully grown being showing the same reaction was downright hilarious... Wait, was it a kid? The being turned to look at her, clearly noticing her earlier snickering, and she looked down apologetically. It didn¡¯t seem like a child. It had continued to fight all the way here, and it hadn''t cried during the treatment of its wounds. It had barely whimpered, in fact. Perhaps it really had never seen someone fly before?


    After the demonstration, the others had come down again to prepare for departure. With the healing session, searching, demonstration, and diplomatic niceties, it was beginning to get late. They wouldn''t make it much further than the cliff, so they would make camp for the night there. If their guest had camping supplies that would make things easier too.


    Getting airborne wasn¡¯t easy when you couldn''t run. She had piggybacked on Dakota, then Jackolope had swooped down to pick her up and placed her on Esmeralda''s back. Their guest¡¯s ascent had been a bit more eventful, with a missed swoop by Jackalope and some difficulty getting positioned on Dakota''s back.


    ¡°This thing just won¡¯t stay still, and be warned he¡¯s quite heavy.¡± jacky had warned before dropping it off.


    ¡°Geez, you don¡¯t say. Could you take his backpack off at least?¡± Cam the reply, Essy shaking her head as Saph snickered a bit.


    Esmeralda and Sapphire had continued to circle while watching. It was clear even from this distance the other two were struggling with their passenger as Jacky tried to get the backpack off him mid-air..


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely a man,¡± Esmeralda had suddenly said.


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°Look at him, he''s ooh so very uncomfortable laying on her back.¡± Well Essy was good at reading people that was for sure, and Looking closely yeah that totally fit the bill. Normally the boys were eager to train with the girls as soon as switch carrying was on the board. He wasn¡¯t a dragonette though, so that probably explained his reaction. Sapphire let out another little giggle as he clambered onto Dakota after losing balance for a second. ¡°He¡¯s like a little kid, did you see the way he was gawking when they were demonstrating?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he has no clue what is going on.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    While this definitely beat his last flight, the pain and terror had been replaced with extreme awkwardness and only slight fear of death. At least the thick leather skirt would spare him the ultimate embarrassment if it should happen. And Dakota seemed very professional about it, if a little grumpy. She did strike him as the stern leader type, so that wasn¡¯t much of a surprise. Besides, to them this was probably like a fireman''s carry basically. It had taken some time to get situated, and Jackalope had taken his backpack, with some difficulty. Perhaps he was a bit on the heavy side for this. ''Fat arse,'' he cursed himself. He had gotten a little out of shape with his collection of desk jobs, but he tried to keep fit at least.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Once they had gotten ready, they had climbed up over the canopy ever so slowly. This was Tom¡¯s first look at the horizon of this strange place. They weren''t far above the treetops, but he could still see for miles around. As he scanned the horizon looking for points of interest, he couldn¡¯t see the end of the forest, but scattered around were holes in the canopy. They probably contained lakes as well as a few rocky cliffs much like the one he had found, but they didn¡¯t seem to be heading for one. Was it beyond the horizon? How long had the chase been going on for? Perhaps he had lost track of time while paralyzed? They were definitely going slower this time too, so it would take a while to get there.


    As he started to get used to the feeling of gliding along while laying on top of someone, with the occasional wing beat keeping them aloft, he began wondering how fast were they going? He honestly could not tell, though judging by the wind perhaps 60 or 70 kph. Fast enough for him to pull down his goggles. The chase through the woods had been more like motorway speeds, that was probably close to full speed for them, he thought.


    After a little over half an hour, Dakota shouted out to the others. She was breathing quite heavily now, and her wingbeats were getting slower too. Jackalope and Fengi had come over, with Fengi grabbing Tom and placing him on Jackalope¡¯s back. Dakota then proceeded to move Sapphire to Fengi after catching her breath for a bit. The aerial switcheroo seemed like an efficient way of solving the problem of endurance Tom thought. Even if the discomfort had now returned, Jackalope wasn¡¯t quite as professional with her cargo. Shortly after taking possession, she decided to test if Tom was scared of flying, and started doing acrobatics. Rolling around and making a few small dives, Tom put his arms around her chest and tried to hold on with his legs; for once he had had enough excitement for one day, but she clearly hadn¡¯t. Jackalope in fact seemed very pleased, giggling like a schoolgirl at her passenger''s terror. Tom resigning to try and avoid encouraging her by relaxing what he could. That only lead to more violent maneuvers though as she clearly tried to scare him again.


    After a few minutes of fun, Dakota had come over and given her what sounded like a few stern words. Sapphire had chimed in too, though she sounded more encouraging to Tom''s ears.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Stop fooling around, you''re wasting wing beats,¡± Dakota had gone over to put an end to Jackalope¡¯s little game.


    ¡°Let her have some fun, we''re almost there anyway,¡± Sapphire had joined in.


    ¡°Well her passenger doesn''t seem to be having fun. In fact, it looks quite painful for him,¡± Dakota had retorted.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll stop jeez,¡± Jackalope didn¡¯t seem pleased about her fun being taken away. But the guy hadn''t had a great day this far, and if Sapphire was right this might be his first time flying without being in something''s claws. So perhaps they should go easy on him for now.


    It didn¡¯t take too long before the cliff was in sight. They would camp for the night and set out again tomorrow. They would be making the journey in several hops. With only two flyers per load, they couldn''t stay on the wing for that long and would have to take rests.


    As they approached the cliff and made ready to land, their passenger had started acting up. ¡°I think he wants to go to the bottom,¡± Jackalope had shouted out.


    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll swoop down and see if there is anything there,¡± Dakota had agreed after Toms continued to point down.


    As they came down there was something weird looking down there, besides the rope which had been secured at various points going up the cliff.


    Landing was a lot easier: you just flew down close to the ground low and slowly pulled up to vertical. The flyer would hit the ground running, with the passenger going for a piggyback. Fengi and Sapphire pulled it off perfectly, the young flier was a natural after all. Tom and Jackalope got down just fine, though Tom made some weird noises. Perhaps Jacky had dived in a bit steeply, probably getting payback for her lost fun from earlier, and the loop certainly wasn¡¯t necessary. After Jackalope had come running to a stop, it took a while for him to realize they had stopped and get off, leading to much laughter and giggling from the others.


    They had quieted down quickly, though, as Tom had run over to the thing. It was some kind of weird cart... Well, it definitely had wheels. 6 of them in fact. How would such a thing steer? And there was nothing to pull it either, was it magical too? Or had the draft animal simply run away?


    ¡°What is that?¡± Jackalope had questioned, looking more perplexed than ever.


    ¡°No clue,¡± Esmeralda answered.


    ¡°Well, he was certainly right about having more stuff,¡± Fengi pointed out.


    Their passenger... guest... prisoner? Sapphire honestly wasn¡¯t sure anymore, gleefully ran over to the strange cart and hugged it, seeming extremely pleased he had made it back here. He began pulling out different things, most of which Sapphire didn¡¯t recognize. Some were clearly boxes with meat in them? Well if he was sharing, they would at least eat decently tonight. Then he had just started handing out things to them! ¡®Well, guess that question is answered,¡¯ Sapphire mused, happily at the thought of a warm meal tonight.


    As he continued to rummage through his stuff he brought out a silk bag in the same green and black pattern he was wearing. He sat down and put his hand over his head. ¡°Thank the gods, he has a tent.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be cursed right? It has black on it?¡± Essy questioned, sounding slightly weary.


    ¡°Nothing bad has happened yet, but feel free to sleep in the cold,¡± Jacky countered as she fiddled with one fo the see-through meat boxes.

 Camping

    Chapter 8: Camping


    They had made it back to the cliff and all his things were still here, ohh there is a god, he had thought as he hugged his precious little quad bike. This meant food and shelter too, which was nice, since the Dragonettes seemingly had neither, besides some snacks. Perhaps they hadn''t been planning on sleeping out, that at least meant, their home was less than a day away, well, flying at least.


    He got out some fresh clothes and used some of the water from the little barrel to finally get washed off somewhat. They had at least had the decency to pretend like looking away while he put on his fresh clothes. Even if he was certain they were trying to get a glance out the corner of their eyes. Well, he was probably as alien to them as they to him if not more. He wondered if they had stories about humans here like there were stories of dragons back home?


    After he had begun handing out the containers with the deer he had shot the day before and the tent he had brought along with other camping supplies. Dakota got the gist and started ordering the others about. Sapphire was taken up to the top of the cliff, it seemed they still wanted to sleep up on the top. Well, there wasn¡¯t much he could do to stop them. Besides, they knew more about this place than he did, so there was probably a good reason.


    It was a little difficult setting the tent up on the clifftop with no dirt and all, but he had managed it with a little help and some big rocks. It would be a bit cramped with 6 people in it but not too bad. everything he had taken out was meticulously inspected after he was done using it, the tent and food boxes seemed especially interesting. They had probably never seen plastic or nylon, and yet could still relate to it. His fire steel had caused quite the stir too, wood for the fire having been brought by Fengi. He had to confiscate the steel from Jackolope after she kept making sparks with it, he couldn¡¯t have her wearing it out already.


    The meal he made had gone over very well to it seemed, he had taken the opportunity to test some of his different spices on them, chili hadn''t been a hit, but almost everything else had gone over well. When he had brought out a box of hard candy for dessert there he honestly thought they were gonna eat his hand! So he had hastily given them another when they were done with the first. Sweet tooth well and truly confirmed!


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was starting to wonder if this day was stranger to her or the guy they had rescued when Tom had started pulling out boxes and bags of things. It was clear he was prepared to camp out for quite a while, he had freshly hunted meat, some sort of magic fire starter, a tent made of silk, spices of many kinds, and the best thing Sapphire had ever tasted. He had called it candy, it was like a hard solid chunk of pure sweetness and fruity too! Apparently, you just sucked on it rather than crushing it, probably to make it last longer. Even Jackolope did as she was told and didn¡¯t break it. It had been heaven and he had given them two! Each! How rich was this guy?


    When it had been time for bed he had given her a kind of sleeping bag, it was made out of the same dark green and black silk as the tent. This pattern must mean something it was on nearly everything he owned?


    She had gotten in it very carefully as not to scratch it with her claws, it was so warm, and comfortable, she had felt as if she was sleeping in the middle of the day in summertime. As she curled up inside, sleep came quickly. She was excused from guard duty for her injuries, and Dakota had thought it more than fair that Tom, being kind of their host now and being injured too, be excused as well.


    The next morning Sapphire was up first, the nice sleeping bag warming her up much faster than any of the others lying around the tent, but Tom was already up it seemed? She couldn¡¯t get out without help though so she just laid there thinking for a while, how had he gotten here? And how was he so well prepared, rich, and yet seemed to have no clue what he was doing? It was a very contradictory conundrum.


    When Esmeralda had finally started to stir, she punched at the chance to get some fresh air, it was warm in the tent, but it wasn¡¯t very large and the air was getting quite¡­ stale.


    ¡°Hey you up yet Esy¡±


    ¡°Yeahhh I guess so what is it?¡±


    ¡°Think you can help me get out of this thing?¡±


    ¡°Sure hang on¡± Esmeralda was clearly still not quite up to temperature yet, but she got up and helped her out of the delicate prison cell. With her friend helping she hobbled outside, it was a cool morning outside, the sun was barely up yet. She almost wanted to go back in the warm tent, to be honest. Tom was sitting on a rock writing in a book it seemed, perhaps taking notes on what was going on.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Morning¡± She tried he looked up seemingly not having noticed them come out ¡°Godmorgen¡± he answered, what a weird language. She guessed he had returned the gesture, or perhaps asked how she was doing, she couldn¡¯t tell. But he seemed happy enough when she and Esmeralda had walked over to the fire and sat down she winced. The pain was even worse today when she moved, it was getting unbearable!


    He seemed to notice and came over with another of the small beads, he had given her yesterday and the water bottle. Maybe it was for the pain? That would make sense it hadn''t hurt this bad yesterday.


    She took the bead but politely drank from her own waterskin instead, she didn¡¯t need to take everything he had after all. After that he had shown her the book he was writing in, it seemed to be some sort of map, the saddest map she had ever seen, but definitely a map. It had four locations scribbled on it with lines going between them with a weird script under them. One seemed to be the cliff¡­


    ¡°This guy is a moron Esy¡±


    ¡°What did he do now?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    As morning broke Tom was up bright and early, the same couldn¡¯t be said for his traveling companions though. Every last one of them had slept in. When he had gotten up he relieved Fengi as the guard. He had just sat down staring out over the horizon wondering just what he had gotten himself into. At least things seemed to be improving, if he was correct they were bringing him home, for what reason he did not know, though he hoped he had made a good enough impression, as to it not be some nefarious purpose. Besides, they seemed very friendly and even quite jovial, at least some of them.


    He wouldn¡¯t mind staying with them for a while, if he could, he had no doubt they would be exciting for quite a while. What kind of culture and architecture would people that can fly come up with? How technologically advanced were they, and what about magic. They clearly had some, but what could it do? Besides, it was hilarious to see how they reacted to some of the things he had brought with him, and if there were more where they came from he could carry on getting those reactions for some time to come. He chuckled at the idea of showing them their first movie, that was gonna be glorious.


    As he got out his map book to note down what he could see from her to the best of his ability, ¡°mel''nakit¡± coming from Sapphire who had apparently woken up along with Esmeralda, ¡°good morning¡± he retorted assuming that was what she had said. As they walked over it was clear Sapphire was in quite a bit of pain. He got out the painkillers he had put in his pocket and handed her one, cursing himself, he had had three already, and he forgot to give her some, not cool.


    After that, he showed her his map, to see if she could perhaps show where they were going. She turned her head and went ¡°Nomeno sthyr ui vi malai¡± sounding as if she had just lost all hope for him.


    Esmeralda had answered, ¡°svabol tira jaci tir jaka¡± sounding a little perturbed. Tom would need to start practicing those sounds, he thought to himself, wondering if he could even produce them without wrecking his throat. Now was not the time though


    Tom knew his map wasn¡¯t great, but this seemed a little extreme, he then held out his compass to see if they knew what it was, no luck apparently. Well shit. He had resorted to just point in various directions hoping they would catch the meaning, after tilting her head a bit Esmeralda pointed nearly due west according to the current north at least. That was something at least.


    The others had slowly joined the world of the waking, as the sun rose in the sky. Tom had made a quick breakfast and they packed up the camp in no time, being grabbed by shoulders Tom was flown back down again, he could get used to this kind of VIP treatment. As he was packing the quad bike, Fengi had even been kind enough to take down his rope for him, even if it was cut into two pieces now. The Dragonettes had gathered around as he finished packing seemingly waiting in anticipation to see how the thing was supposed to move. Oh, this was just the kind of moment, he wanted.


    He had made a space on top of the big watertight chest and put down his roll-out mattress there and gestured for Sapphire to lay down. Then he got on and turned the key.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    With a very good breakfast done and the camp packed, they had all gathered around the strange cart. Tom had made a place for Sapphire to lay down, she reluctantly got onto the cart and waited. Tom had mounted the smaller front part of the cart, it was clearly some kind of seat with bars for one to hang onto. And the thing had started Purring loudly? or perhaps it was a snarl, she wasn¡¯t quite sure. The others had taken a step back. And then it had started to move on its own?!


    Tom made a short lap around showing off it seemed, he even straightened out for a short bit and the thing accelerated, as the snarling grew louder, before coming back round in front of the others.


    They all stood there awestruck looking at it, this was the largest magical thing any of them had ever seen, only stories of legend told of enchanted items of this size! No wonder he had been happy to see it again. As she recovered from the shock primarily by watching all the dumb faces her friends were making, not to mention Tom laughing his ass off at their expense this time. She glared at them from her little throne grinning from ear to ear at their faces.


    ¡°seems there will be no need to switch carry today¡±

 Speed Freaks

    Chapter 9: Speed Freaks


    As Sapphire laid down on her moving throne bed she was quite content with the situation. Sure it was quite noisy and a bit bumpy at times, but she was moving without doing a thing, it wasn¡¯t that fast though. It seemed like it was mostly the terrain''s fault though, whenever Tom found a smooth bit he would speed up a bit, so maybe it could go faster, perhaps he was just worried she would fall off? The others had seemed pretty jealous that she got to ride the magic cart, but it had given them the opportunity to actually do some hunting, that was why they had come out here after all. Esmeralda had stayed though, just in case something happened, besides they needed a flyer to navigate. Fengi needed the practice and Dakota wouldn''t let Jackalope near Tom¡¯s things without supervision. She tended to be quite hands-on, and that could be a problem when you didn¡¯t know what anything did.


    Esmeralda had found her place sitting behind Tom on the front part of the cart with her arms around him, Saph was sure she was enjoying her turn making the poor guy uncomfortable. She even rested her head on his shoulders and giggled when they went over bumps. It was definitely working too.


    ¡°Look Saph he is almost as red as Shiva''s furnace now¡± Esmeralda was indeed enjoying herself, Sapphire concluded


    ¡°Doesn''t that mean rage in soft-skinned species?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s embarrassment for this one, wueee¡± Esmeralda giggled as they went up a small berm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t wear him out just yet. He is being extremely kind after all¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know it¡¯s just so funny, besides what else am I supposed to do? this isn¡¯t going very fast, we might not even make it back today¡±


    ¡°You could sing us a song?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    As they drove through the woods, Tom thought to himself this wasn¡¯t as bad as yesterday, he had had girls on the back of a bike before. But personal space didn¡¯t seem to be a concept the Dragonettes shared in. Judging by their shared giggling, they were trying their best to torture him¡­ brilliant.


    After a while, she began singing. It was a dainty tune, seeming quite happy and idyllic, her vocal range was pretty good too she could definitely sing. Though when she switched to a deeper tone it caught him of guard a few times. Sapphire wasn¡¯t singing along just humming a bit, so he guessed Esmeralda was the designated musician of the group. I wonder what kind of musical instrument they have. He had only brought his father''s harmonica, he couldn¡¯t really play anything else, so it would have been dead weight he thought. His father had taught him a few tunes on it but it wasn¡¯t like he could play while driving.


    He knew plenty of songs though even if he was a terrible singer, but that was why he had brought speakers. When she finished one of the little songs, he decided to try out. I can see clearly now. This got another from Sapphire and stunned silence from Esmeralda clearly trying to work out what was happening. She started joining in a little on the chorus after a while. It sure helped get the time to pass and when he got to walking on sunshine even Sapphire gave it a go. They couldn''t¡¯ quite hit the nuances of English their mouth wasn¡¯t really made for it he thought, the resulting accent was hilarious though.


    Every once in awhile Esmeralda would go up to get her bearings, and guide Tom where he needed to go. So far it had gone swimmingly, and around lunchtime, she had come down with the others in tow. Watching as Tom put on Walking on sunshine again, Dakota just stood there staring, Jackalope broke out laughing and Fengi started dancing. With Sapphire and Esmeralda trying their damndest to sing the chorus. Tom had a mini-breakdown at that point at the scene in front of him, joining Jackalope in laughing his ass off.


    They had made a quick camp and had the leftovers prepared this morning. Their appetite wasn¡¯t quite as bad this time around, perhaps they weren''t used to three meals a day? Well, that might suck in the long run he thought. They had made quite the dent in the deer he had shot though. But they had brought back some fresh kill, another deer, a few of the Jackalope things, and a large green and red bird, that looked a bit like a goose.


    Tom had helped load all the meat onto the quad bike, with the deer on the front cargo rack, and Sapphire being surrounded by smaller animals. She looked like a prized trophy on display. Space was coming to be at a premium, even if the suspension wasn¡¯t having any troubles, on account of the gravity here. There wasn¡¯t much more room.


    They had continued on for an hour or two, before reaching the edge of the forest, it had just ended? Like poof no more trees. It gave way to open plains, and rolling hills, mostly grassland. Well, at least he could navigate in this terrain much easier not to mention go faster. It was clear to him from the grumbling sounds Dakota had made at lunch, that she wasn¡¯t entirely happy with the progress made so far.


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    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Apparently, Esmeraldas singing had given Tom an idea. After she had finished a song, he had stopped and got out some metal box thing, from the big chest she was lying on. After fiddling with it for a while it had started playing music! There were instruments singers and everything coming out of the little box!? Sapphire was honestly starting to wonder what the limit would be to what Tom had with him. What else was hiding in the chest she was currently lying on?


    The music was fun and happy, much like Esmeralda¡¯s songs. After a while, she had even joined in, thanks to Tom she wasn¡¯t the worst singer present for once. The face on the others, when they had returned to a moving musical orchestra in the middle of the forest, was worth singing for. Even if she had tried and failed to keep a straight face and sing at the same time.


    Tom had then gotten out the food, again and dug in. Seeming just as hungry as usual. Maybe it was because he was wounded? He didn¡¯t look like a glutton, so that must be it. The others had gone out to hunt again hoping to catch a bit more small game on the way home. So it was just them and Tom had put the music back on again. Even if it was slow she could get used to this.


    They had finally made it out of the forest shortly after the food stop, and with fresh meat on board. Even if they would be a day late, at least they would be bringing food home as promised, and a new friend. Her suspicions about the cart had been proven correct. When tom had gotten out onto the grassy plains, he had sped up to near flying speed! This was slow for flying but still, it was quite thrilling doing this speed on the ground. She had always enjoyed going low and fast but this was different. It had also gotten a lot bumpier and she did wince every once in a while when they hit a bad bump.


    ¡°wuhuuu, now we are moving¡± Esmeralda had cried out.


    They were moving fast for just under an hour before the keep had come into view ahead of them. They had pulled to a stop to wait for the others. After a short while, Sapphire had spotted them heading for them from behind. Tom had gotten off taking another weird thing with him. They had let him go about his thing and turned to welcome the others back.


    ¡°So where have you been? We have been waiting for you¡± Sapphire said grinning from ear to ear


    ¡°Oh cut the crap will you, why weren''t you going this fast before? Dakota had answered. Clearly, not pleased the ground-bound cart had outdistanced her.


    ¡°Terrain¡± Esmeralda had added informatively


    ¡°As soon as we got out of the forest he sped up. I think it might be able to go even faster, the front part is pulling the rear and I think he is worried I might fall off too¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting this thing is as fast as flying?¡± Dakota tried sounding stoick, but there was a hint of incredulous in her voice if you knew where to look for it. ¡°Also what is he doing now¡±


    ¡°looking at the keep with a kind of telescope I think¡± Esmeralda on point as usual


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    The others had joined them again out in the open, but for the time being Tom was occupied. This was the first building he had seen here and it was dead ahead, so chances were good it was the destination. He had brought out the binoculars to get a closer look, it was a tall stone construction seemingly built into/on top of a rocky outcropping. It looked like a Stone keep, with tall towers, it was quite big, certainly bigger than what 5 hunters needed. It looked very defensible too, being on top of a big rock and all. Although he wasn¡¯t sure how important that would be if the enemy could fly too?


    The Dragonettes had been discussing something quite heatedly he thought, Jackalope especially had seemed almost hyper, she had been pointing at the quad bike too? Did she want to ride along for a while? He couldn¡¯t see a problem with that.


    Then Dakota had come over and started doing hand gestures?


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had seemingly been more interested in the keep, trying to ask questions, but Dakota had just ignored him. He seemed to get the message Dakota was trying to convey pretty quickly, once he gave up trying to ask. He at least started smiling and nodding, perhaps he was just as much of a speed freak as Jackalope? The rules were simple to keep it fair for Tom. A Simple race from one point to another, with Fengi being the starter and the others the finish line.


    Tom had unhooked the rear part of the cart and removed some of the cargo from the front part, and left it with the others. He, Fengi, and Jackalope had then gone a fair distance away, Fengi had ridden along on the back with Tom, wanting to try too.


    With the racers in position, Fengi had given the signal and they were off.


    Tom took an early lead with Jackalope beating hard to get into the air and up to speed. It was clear that the weird cart could accelerate fast from a standstill, she could hear it even at this distance the tone was higher too.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    It hadn''t been entirely fair to have Jackalope start on the ground but Tom knew he needed a head start, they were definitely faster on the top end. He would struggle to do 100 Kph on this terrain, even if it was very nice flat grass, this was a utility ATV, not a racer. But so far he was winning and by quite a bit. Unfortunately, it was first to the finishing line, rather than having to stop at the finishing line he thought. Surely he must have the advantage in brakes too?


    As Tom looked back he saw, Jackalope had gotten going surprisingly quickly and was bearing down on him. She wasn¡¯t more than two or three meters above the ground and looked like an eagle hunting a mouse, eyes looking at him. Those green eyes, ohh she was a predator alright. ¡°Well that''s bloody unnerving,¡± he said to himself, hunkering down to try and get what speed he could. 90 Kph, 95. he wasn¡¯t gonna get much more out of this thing, and if he was right the Dragonettes did 100+ easy. he was more than halfway through and he still had a lead on her.


    It wasn¡¯t enough though, there had been less than 50 meters left when Jackalope had made it past him, going at quite the pace, and she seemed to still be accelerating too and doing well in excess of 130 at this point. Well dammit, that was great fun though.

 Showing off

    Chapter 10: Showing Off


    Even if Racing a valuable quad bike running on limited fuel again wasn¡¯t the best idea, it had been a blast. Tom had never raced something that flew before let alone a person going under their own power. Jackalope had taken the victory most graciously, meaning she had launched into a series of celebratory acrobatics and came down looking like a football fan whose team had just scored. She had started shouting what Tom believed were obscenities and gloating. Well deserved Tom thought to himself, he would be over the moon too if he had just outrun a quad bike on foot, and he couldn¡¯t stop himself from getting carried away in her celebrations, sitting on his bike laughing his ass off. Despite losing he still felt like a winner...


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire had been on the edge of her seat. It had been a close race, much closer than any of them had anticipated. How something on the ground could move like that and still be able to pull such a heavy trailer, was astounding.


    It was like it was half oxen and half deer. Jackalope had done it though, and was celebrating in the usual fashion, she could pull quite the maneuvers this time around, nothing like what Sapphire could do of course. She was the finest flyer on the whole damned island, well she had been¡­ She felt a little disheartened as she remembered she would not be up there on her own wings for weeks. When jackalope finally set down she walked around strutting like she owned the place


    ¡°Sooo? Who is still the fastest thing around, I am, I am, oh yes I am¡± the celebratory dance, seemingly was too much for Tom as he broke out laughing.


    He seemingly hadn¡¯t taken the loss too badly, then he set off again? Apparently, he thought he should try and copy Jackalope. They all turned to look and even Jackalope fell silent, if only for a little bit. ¡°What is he doing?¡± Jackalopes'' question was met with quite a few tilted heads.


    ¡°Is he trying to dance with it¡± Fengi had questioned


    ¡°I think he is trying to copy you Jacky¡± Dakota said cheerily.


    Sapphire stat on her perch head tilted too, the magic cart couldn¡¯t just go fast, it could do acrobatics on the ground too, Groundobatics? no that sounded stupid, Fengi was right dancing, yes, he was dancing with it. Spinning it around kicking up dirt, and making a lot of noise. It was clear that the moving came from the wheels turning not some kind of force pushing it along? Tom got the thing up onto two wheels too, both the back ones and the side! It looked both brutish and graceful at the same time. It was clearly a kind of celebration like Jackalope had performed. When he returned he seemed extremely pleased with himself too. Letting out a hew of weird words, probably still trying to copy Jackalope.


    He had gotten off and walked over to Jackalope and given her his hand to shake and patted her on the shoulder, she had shaken his hand the picked him up and ruffled his hair.


    ¡°Oh, so you think you can show off when I win huh?¡± This prompted a little yelp from Tom, his gut clearly not enjoying the treatment. Jackalope quickly put him back down again ¡°Sorry,¡± she said sheepishly, before going back to ruffle his hair,


    ¡°Oh my gods it so soft¡± Tom seemed to take it in good spirits, taking a deep breath and straightening up again, the smile returning to his face, as Fengi came over to touch too, ¡°but it so thin and airy¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    After His little celebration, Jackalope had clearly decided she had a new friend, and picked him up in a hug and gave him a nuggie, his gut protested loudly at the squeeze, it had already gotten quite sore from the racing and showing off. She had put him down quickly though when he had let out a little yelp. She said something that sounded like an apology. She had then gone back to touching his hair almost immediately though. It was apparently very interesting too, well they didn¡¯t have hair so that sort of made sense? Coming to think of it if he was the only human here what kind of animals had hair like Humans? horses and maybe some apes, huh?


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    Fengi too had come over to touch, and Esmeralda had followed close behind, this was weird, he felt like a dog being petted. At least Dakota had held her curiosity at bay, and well Sapphire couldn¡¯t walk by herself. The little exchange had been brought to an end when Dakota said something, the others had seemingly agreed and begun taking to the sky, Tom guessed it was time to get moving again.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Will you stop fiddling with him, we should get moving now that you had your little race¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah but I wanna ride on the cart this time¡± Jackalope was already getting on, prompting Tom to hastily make his way over, probably scared she would set off without him. A valid point Sapphire thought. Dakota and Esmeralda had helped hook up the rear part of the cart again.


    They hadn¡¯t been going for long before jackalope decided this was not as much fun as she had hoped, they weren''t going nearly as fast as during the race. So she set about making her own fun because of course she had to. Sapphire sighed as Jackalope began experimenting with folding out her wings, feeling the air flowing over them


    Tom had seemed alarmed at first, then seemingly started smiling. He was apparently familiar with the concept of rapid boredom. He had pointed to the piece of rope Fengi had taken down earlier and then to som metal pipe on the backend of the cart front cart? Jackalope figured out the meaning before Sapphire, and quickly snatched the rope before Sapphire could stop her, this wasn¡¯t gonna end well she was sure of it.


    With the rope tied in place, Jackalope had folded out her wings and taken to the air while they were moving with a single wingbeat. she was holding on to the other end of the rope and was now flying like a kite.


    ¡°This is bloody brilliant¡± had come down from the now airborne, jackalope, as she began letting out rope climbing higher.


    ¡°What are you doing¡± Dakota had come over demanding


    ¡°Gliding isn¡¯t that obvious? no need to do anything I can just hang here forever¡±


    ¡°That is actually kinda smart¡± Dakota had to admit,


    ¡°I wanna try,¡± Fengi had piped up, already grabbing on further down the rope.


    ¡°This is nice¡± Esmeralda added, quick to join the flying circus they had become


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had to admit it was kinda hilarious to have a string of living kites dragging along after him.


    Sapphire had just shaken her head at the display, she didn¡¯t seem pleased. Perhaps she was jealous? Well, it was probably annoying to see her friend having fun where she couldn''t. That is when a gust of wind hit from the left.


    So with the rear of his quad bike now being lifted into the air by 4 dragonettes that hadn¡¯t sensed a need to let go, Tom wondered if perhaps this was what Sapphire had been thinking about. With the wind blowing them to the right they lifted the rear wheels clean off the ground and jackknifed the quad and the trailer causing it to roll over, well shit...


    _______________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What the hell did you do that for?¡± Sapphire shouted at the others now in considerable pain having landed on her broken wing, at least she hadn¡¯t got caught underneath. Tom had jumped off and landed in a roll almost as if by instinct. It looked like this wasn¡¯t the first time he had tried something like this.


    ¡°Woops¡± was all Jackalope had gotten out.


    ¡°Sorry¡± Fengi had followed up sheepishly, with Esmeralda and Dakota diving down to help.


    ¡°Anyone hurt¡± Dakota had questioned clearly worried


    ¡°Landed on my damn wing again, but otherwise no¡± Sapphire had answers biting in the pain.


    Tom had quickly gotten back to the cart and it stopped the noise it was making and had then gone over to Sapphire to try and help. He had gotten her back up and sat her down. Her wing would need to be reset, but the leg splint had held.


    ¡°Well, it was a good idea¡± Jackalope had said clearly trying to defend her actions,


    ¡°But badly executed¡± Dakota had snarled back, ¡°what if she had gotten caught underneath


    ¡°Well, how was I supposed to know we could lift that thing. It looks so heavy?


    ¡°Yeah, but you were four pulling¡± Sapphire interjected.


    Tom had given her another of the strange beads. She graciously accepted they seemed to work wonders for the pain. Jackalope and Fengi helped Tom get the cart back on its wheels, it seemed undamaged by the tumble and the cargo was mostly where it should be.


    ¡°Hey, at least this thing is tougher than you are Saph¡± Jackalope had let out, seeming to realize her mistake as she turned to look at Sapphire. Sitting on the ground glaring at her, with the kind of look reserved for people who just never seemed to know when to shut the fuck up!


    ¡°Ehhh heh, sorry Saph¡± she let out sheepishly.


    After the accident Jakolope had been banned from further experimentation and would be flying for the rest of the way. Jackalope didn¡¯t seem to think this was fair, But Fengi and Esmeralda weren''t about to start an argument with a furious Sapphire and Dakota seemed to be on her side too. Besides they were being let off the hook easily. So might as well not draw any unwanted attention.


    With Sapphire back on the cart, they had continued the journey home, and with the speed, they were setting it wouldn¡¯t be long, they could already see the keep clearly in the distance.

 The Keep

    Chapter 11: The Keep


    Approaching the keep Tom started to make out a few small buildings around the base of the cliff, alongside what appeared to be animal pens and fields. The buildings looked like stables or storage houses to him, so the people probably all lived in the keep. As they got closer a horn sounded, Dakota had gone on ahead, with Fengi coming down indicating for Tom to stop.


    Dakota returned with two others both clad in armor seemingly more suited to actual battle than what the girls he knew were wearing. It at least covered most of their bodies even if Tom would still describe it as light, mostly cloth and leather with a few reinforcing plates here and there. It wasn¡¯t nearly as ornate either.


    They had landed and inspected him walking around while the others talked. They didn¡¯t seem openly hostile but they were definitely on edge, all this most likely being a bit much to take in. After a few prods with the blunt end of a spear and a raised tone from Dakota, they had flown back up to the keep. So this place has guards, seemingly at least a few people, and judging by the farming it¡¯s not a temporary residence either? Not a bad place to start he thought to himself.


    The 4 remaining dragonettes had stayed with him as he drove down a small road made between the fields and a small lake. Fengi jumped on the back again and rode along. There were 4 people tending to the crops and animals that Tom could count. A few children running around too. Of course, everyone stopped to look at the weird thing coming through, and Sapphire let out some embarrassing sounding noises and tried to hide behind her good wing. One of the farmhands, clearly an older male had a bit of a laugh at her expense, seeming not to be worried by the stranger coming through. Fengi and Sapphire had chatted a bit, and sapphire had come out of hiding again.


    As Tom pulled up at the base of the big cliff that apparently constitutes the foundation for the Keep, he looked up in awe, it was as tall as a damned cathedral. Even if the cliff added a few dozen meters, it was still near 80 meters tall on its own! Low gravity and flying workers clearly make going tall easier he guessed, imagining the endless flights of stairs going up. It would be a lot of trips if he didn¡¯t want to leave everything down here. Being flightless suddenly sucked a lot more than he had thought it would.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Balethon and Unkai had given them some grief upon their return. They were a day late, had a wounded and some weird stranger with them. After some protest, Dakota had simply told them to go get anyone important and be done with it. It was not their place to refuse her so they had snapped to it.


    As they approached everyone had stopped to look at them. Sapphire wasn¡¯t normally opposed to being the center of attention, but being carried home with a broken wing wasn¡¯t something she wanted to be known for. And she felt weird, sluggish, she thought, she had tried to pinch her arm and hadn¡¯t felt a thing ¡°damn this stuff is strong¡± she had said


    ¡°What is?¡± Fengi had questioned turning around on the seat to face her.


    ¡°This medicine Tom has given me I can¡¯t feel a thing¡±


    ¡°Sure that is safe¡±


    ¡°Well he is taking it too just don¡¯t let me fall asleep okay¡±


    ¡°Uhhh okay¡± Fengi answered clearly not comfortable with the situation


    Raulf had greeted them as soon as they were within earshot. ¡°Oh hi welcome back, the hunt went well I see¡± The old man clearly amused, there would be stories about this in the future, she thought to herself. Not sure what to do about it. For the time being, she would concede to hide in shame


    ¡°Oh come now Saph, it¡¯s not that bad you will be flying again in no time¡± Fengi tried cheering her up.


    ¡°I know, but this is still embarrassing, and I feel sick¡±


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    ¡°Oh now you''re just being facetious you are riding home on a magical cart sitting on a treasure trove of who knows what, how can that be embarrassing¡±


    Sapphire conceded the point and came out of hiding, even if she wasn¡¯t pleased with the situation. The rocking motion of the cart didn¡¯t help how she was feeling either.


    They had pulled up the foot of the keep, Tom was sitting on the cart staring at the Keep. Fengi had helped her off, as Dakota came back down with Balethon and Unkai. ¡°They want to see our guests right away, also they are not pleased with making them worry about us.¡±


    ¡°Well, what should we have done? We couldn''t spare someone to go tell them now could we, what if we needed to get everyone airborne?¡± Fengi objected, trying to ready her defense in case what Dakota said was true.


    ¡°I take no responsibility for what happened,¡± Jackalope had been quick to add.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t, you never do¡± Dakota seemed consigned to her fate of having to endure this on herself.


    ¡°Old reliable¡± Jackalope sounded almost proud at the statement


    ¡°Ugh, why do I have to deal with you¡±


    ¡°Ohh you love me and you know it¡±


    ¡°Right¡± Dakota snapped ¡°let¡¯s get everyone up to the greeting hall. You two, guard this cart nobody touches anything on it, it isn¡¯t ours, and it might be capable of killing us all.¡±


    The two guards stiffened nodded and looked perturbed at the weird cart, ¡°Should we put it further away, mam?¡±


    ¡°You shall not touch it, am I clear?¡±


    Crystal clear ma''am¡± Satisfied her orders were in fact going to get carried out, Dakota took to the sky, ¡°Well follow on then, you get the heavy one, Jacko, since I love you so much¡±


    ¡°Ohh come on! No fair¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    While Tom had stood there staring, Dakota and the Two guards had returned, words were exchanged, and from what he could gather Dakota seemed to have some authority here. That would make things easier he thought. As Jackolope snapped her fingers in front of him, and started making hand gestures too fast to follow, and beating her wings, ¡°Ohh, right, up.¡±


    Tom nodded and Jackolope took to the sky and came swooping back around, he ran like hell, and soon, he was airborne again. At least this means I don¡¯t have to take the stairs this time, my thigh still hurts like hell running like that. He took the opportunity to look out over the keep¡¯s grounds. There wasn¡¯t much to see apart from the field small lake and pens, it was quite idyllic though.


    He had been put down on an open platform kinda like a helipad if a bit rectangular, that stuck out from the side of the Keep, it had a big wooden door with metal bracing that opened upwards, currently open into an internal area about the size of the pad itself. Sweet a hangar he had thought to himself. It was empty though, and what would they need a hanger for in the first place?


    There was a welcome party waiting for them, a few more guards, two important-looking people in the middle, and a few others around including a few more children. The two in the middle looked like a male and a female and seemed quite old, both being nearly completely silver in color. two of the guards looked a bit more important too.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Ohh so this is our guest you spoke of, I''ll give it to you. He looks weird, where did you say you found him?¡±


    ¡°In the claws of a small pack of vargulfs, mom,¡± Dakota answered promptly back straight looking ahead.


    ¡°Ohhh and dear Sapphire you got yourself quite hurt this time, did you hit a tree or something¡±


    ¡°No mam our guest was thrown at me mid-air," Sapphire said she was getting worse her head was spinning hard now,¡± I think I need to go lay down I don¡¯t feel well¡±


    ¡°Huh that''s a new one, quickly now get inside I shall be with you shortly, Fengi help her out will you?¡± As the two hobbled off Nunuk turned her attention back to the new guest¡±


    ¡°Soo, you aren¡¯t from around here are you?¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t understand you mum¡± Dakota interjected


    ¡°Is that soo, well, in that case, we might as well bring him inside, Apuma we have need of your skills. Rachuck if you wouldn¡¯t mind escorting them¡±


    ¡°Right then, you go and see to Sapphire I shall prepare for this one¡± Apuma answered turning to leave gesturing for Tom to follow


    ¡°Our guest took a wound to the gut he will need attention too I think,¡± Dakota interjected


    ¡°Well I need some time to prepare anyway, I promise not to make a mess. In the meantime, you should take a look at our guest then¡± Apuma sounded playful as always even in his old age.


    ¡°You better not or you are sleeping on the floor tonight, I''ll take a look at our guest too. If he was wounded like that though, perhaps we should let him rest for the night too¡±


    ¡°His name is Tom, and I think he would appreciate a bit of rest,¡± Dakota said, almost sounding apologetic that she had failed to mention the information.


    ¡°I see, you look like you have been through it too, go get some rest. I guess we will hold on till tomorrow.¡± The old woman said, turning to lead the way inside.


    As Sapphire was taken to the infirmary, she sighed a sigh of relief, she was home safe if not entirely sound but her wing and leg would get tended to properly. Nunuk had started by checking everything had been seated properly. All was gonna be fine, if a little boring being grounded was no fun, you couldn''t do much except get in the way.

 Trouble In The Corridors

    Chapter 12: Trouble In The Corridors


    Tom had been brought into what seemed like a large bedroom, with multiple beds and chairs, and laid down. Sapphire had been placed in the bed next to him, so he guessed it was like an infirmary of sorts, okay that is good. After a short while, the old lady had returned with two assistants and what seemed like herbal supplies. Perhaps he really should have brought the medical kit up with him. Was he at a witchdoctor or something?


    She had started on Sapphire. Well, at least that gave him an opportunity to watch first, it seemed the old woman was primarily checking that everything was as it should be. She had started glowing faintly with the same faint light as Dakota''s hand when she closed his wounds. Maybe she was sensing if something was wrong? That sounded handy. When she had finished with Sapphire, she let her two assistants apply the herbs along the scarring left by the wound closing, combined with bandages and fresh splints to keep everything in place. Okay, so it definitely wasn¡¯t like a one and done kind of thing, shame that would have been awesome. More like magical surgery he guessed.


    She had moved over to Tom and started the same procedure asking Sapphire a few questions while working. She seems to be concentrating a great deal. It took quite a lot longer than with Sapphire too, perhaps working on someone, not your own species didn¡¯t help. Her brow had furrowed more than once. Tom was desperately hoping it was out of concentration rather than worry. A worried doctor was never a good thing.


    When the procedure was complete, he too was bandaged where the wounds were, even if they looked more like scars at this point. Must be something to help speed the process, hell it might be magic too, thought Tom inspecting his wounds. Afterward, the lady had talked with Sapphire for a while then made some gestures at Tom and the bed, accompanied by a raised finger.


    He guessed he was supposed to stay in bed, he could do that for a while...


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Nunuk had seen to Sapphire''s wounds and assured her she was going to be fine, though she warned her against accepting more of Toms medicine it was apparently incredibly potent. The bone would take a while to heal, but with crutches and a better splint, she would be walking tomorrow.


    Tom, however, had been a more close call thing, he had started showing signs of infection, it seemed an intestine had ripped slightly, probably due to excessive activity. She had managed to treat the infection, but he would be bedridden for at least a week. Before she would allow him to move around by himself, as to not risk another tear.


    After a night''s sleep in a comfy bed, Sapphire had woken to Fengi softly shaking her awake.


    ¡°Good morning sleepyhead. We need to get you up, the others are getting impatient. I got your crutches¡±


    ¡°Well good morning,¡± Sapphire said looking around, no Tom¡­ goddammit. Had he gone to get something? or just not understood he was supposed to stay in bed.


    Fengi took her to the grand hall. Tom was indeed standing in the middle of the room looking bewildered.


    ¡°Ahh good of you to join us¡± Nunuk had called, sitting in her chair at the end of the grand table. ¡°Sorry for waking you up, but we felt we needed to get this done before our guest decided to go further exploring¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had gotten up early morning as usual, and decided that staying in bed was for the dead and dying. There was bound to be so much to explore her. Besides, he could just feign ignorance if it came to it. So he had popped a painkiller and gone exploring, he had gotten quite far too. Seemingly no one was awake yet, that was until he had opened the door to what was clearly a bedroom, full of children.


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    He had tried his damndest to close the door quietly but the mission was a failure. One of the little critters had woken up, seen him, and immediately started rousing the others and boy did they seemed excited, and sadly they looked to have just as many teeth as the grownups. He had no clue what to do in this situation, so he did the sensible thing he could think of and ran. So there he was, running down the hallways being chased by a small mob of flying lizards, they varied a lot in size with the smallest ones being a little larger than a house cat, up to some being around the size of an 8-year-old.


    This had proven sufficient commotion for a guard to notice, who went to inspect. The surprised guard had nearly drawn his sword, at the sight of Tom running towards him with children in tow. Tom for his part had elected to hide behind the guard, hoping he could control the children. This was apparently not so, the Guard had tried it seemed, but to little avail. The children had just stormed them both and were now crawling all over Tom, asking questions tugging at his ears and hair. One damn near got out one of his revolvers, another did manage to get the knife out and ran with it. Luckily this was when Esmeralda had arrived on the scene, and she was not in her usual calm friendly demeanor. Tom was honestly scared for a moment until it became clear he wasn¡¯t the target.


    Esmeralda had come down on them like an angry mother at the supermarket, and the children nearly fleed, before lining up in a row, and received a very stern talking to by Tom¡¯s reckoning. The guard for his part had stood there doing his best to look like a disappointed father. Esmeralda had taken the children back to the dormitory. Leaving the guard and Tom to stand looking at each other. After a bit of staring, Tom had let out a whistle of relief and smiled, this prompted another signature head tilt, from the guard who gestured for him to do it again.


    Well, no harm in that, Tom had thought and began to whistle the melody from expendables, he knew that one by heart. The guard had just continued staring, mouth slowly coming agape. Until Esmeralda had returned and then started speaking rapidly to her.


    She had turned to look at Tom who just let out another little whistle. She had just started giggling again, apparently finding this hilarious too. Why though? of course! with a snout like that, they couldn¡¯t whistle. Oh, he was such a muppet... Well, might as well have some fun with this. As she laughed he began doing his best songbird impression. When the guard tried to asking him something or just generally doing hand gestures at him, he would just look confused and whistle some more.


    Esmeralda had caught on rather quickly and began trying to match the tones with her voice as if to communicate with him that way. To the clear and utter bewilderment of the poor guard. After a minute or two of this, they had both broken down laughing at the poor guy''s expense. Esmeralda¡¯s laughter had cut off abruptly. Tom turned to see a distinctly not amused looking old lady standing behind him.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What did he do this time?¡± Sapphire had let out


    ¡°He defied his doctor¡¯s orders to stay in bed, woke the children along with most of the rest of us, gave one of them a knife, and managed to convince Kokashi he is a songbird¡± Nunuk had answered directly seeming more than a little tired.


    ¡°Ehhhh, I¡¯m sorry, what?!¡±


    ¡°Esmeralda, can you make him do it again?¡± Nunuk gestured with her hand at Esmeralda who made some bird flapping gesture at Tom with her hands, who answered with the sweetest bird song.


    ¡°You''re joking! What can¡¯t this guy do¡± Sapphire had exclaimed, laughing a bit, it hurt this time though, she kinda wished she could have another of Toms beads.


    ¡°Well, speak properly, for one thing, Apuma you''re up. Show us why I love you¡± Nunuk had answered slyly if still a little tired sounding.


    ¡°Right away bring him over here I prepared the circle already¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had been waiting in the big hall for some time, but slowly people had started to arrive, and sit down at the far side of the big horseshoe table, all looking at him. The table ran along the walls of the quite sizable hall. Tom counted around 40+ seats and that was with a big open space in the middle Damn¡­ though it seemed not all were in use, at least not currently.


    Sapphire and Fengi had been the last to arrive bringing the count to around 20 present. He had been moved to an inscribed circle by the older male and been instructed to sit down, so he did. Sitting in front of the old Lady who had healed him, she seemed to be in charge here, judging by the elevated chair.


    Then the older male had then begun chanting. As his words rang out, they became twisted and weird sounding, almost blurry Tom thought, He started feeling dizzy, his eyes losing focus for a bit, by now it was just noise coming from around him until he heard a voice again?


    ¡°Hello anybody home?¡±


    ¡°Uhh hello?¡± Tom had answered.


    ¡°Arh, good, we may begin, you just need to stay within the circle and this should work for a while at least¡±


    ¡°Uhhh begin what exactly¡± Tom¡¯s head was still spinning he was glad he was sitting down that was for sure.


    ¡°Questioning of course¡± As Tom¡¯s eyes snapped back into focus, he saw the old male dragonette standing in front of him.

 Interrogation

    Chapter 13: Interrogation


    ¡°This feels strange, but uhm hi¡±


    ¡°Wait, hi, I can understand you. Ohh, this is awesome, this must be magic right?¡± Tom got very excited at the prospect of actually being able to ask questions.


    ¡°Yes this is a translator''s circle currently translating your words, to ours and vice versa¡± the old man had clarified before stepping back.


    ¡°Well hello,¡± It came from the old lady ¡°You shouldn''t be getting out of your bed when healing you know that right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I wanted to take a look around, before you guys woke up.¡±


    ¡°And why would you feel the need to snoop around alone?¡±


    ¡°I kinda got bored,¡± Tom really wanted a better explanation but none came to him, unfortunately, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No matter you only managed to hurt yourself in doing so, speaking of which you took quite the pounding before Dakota found you if I¡¯m correct.¡±


    ¡°You could say that yes. It was a rough start, the buggers nailed me twice with that tail thing¡±


    ¡°Why, you are a tough little bastard. How long were you out?¡±


    ¡°Wait you took two doses¡± Dakota interjected, ¡°but you were back fighting in no time?¡±


    ¡°Uhmmm yeah is that bad?¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s just, we would be laying there for hours with two stabs?¡±


    ¡°Well, Sapphire didn¡¯t need as many painkillers as I expected, correlation maybe?¡±


    ¡°What are painkillers and why did you give them to Sapphire?¡± The old lady interjected glaring at Dakota, seeming to not pleased to be cut off.


    ¡°Well it''s a medicine against pain and she was in pain so¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahh the beads she talked about, I would rather you refrain from giving any of my people more of your medication, it seems to affect us differently, she was getting quite sick.¡±


    "I see." Tom suddenly got quite a bit smaller Sapphire thought, clearly not happy with the news "I think the dosage might have been too high she got two yesterday. I usually take 3 or 4 though."


    ¡°I see. Now before we go on I am Lady Nunuk Bizmaty and this is my keep. You have met my Daughter Dakota and her four huntresses. The kind gentleman standing before you is my husband Apuma, to your right is my son Rachuck first in command of the guard and your left is Anchor, second in command of the Guard here. Seated around you are most of the People of this keep. And you are?¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m Thomas Jensen, just call me Tom, ex-army, I guess ex-Mechanical engineer and explorer now come to think of it, huh.¡±


    ¡°Well, first of pleasure to meet you, second where are you from, and thirdly what is a Mechanical engineer and what army?¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m from a country called Denmark, which is in Europa on a plan¡­ world called Earth, but as far as I have been able to figure out I¡¯m no longer in that world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I follow.¡± Nunuk seemed extremely skeptical, and there were much head-turning and squabbling among the rest of the people present.


    Then Apuma interjected, ¡°You¡¯re saying you are not just from far away, where you''re from doesn''t exist here?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is one way of putting it.¡± Tom scratching his neck, looking at the floor.


    ¡°How did you get here then and what are you¡± Nunuk had demanded.


    ¡°I was sent, I believe via magical transportation of some kind, I was given the offer by a stranger promising a life of adventure in a world I could only dream of. I agreed, packed my things, and ended up here.¡±


    ¡°As for what I am we call ourselves Humans, to your earlier question, a mechanical engineer is a person who designs machines.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Huh¡± Was all Sapphire had managed to get out. Their guest was from another world entirely. It certainly provided a good explanation for why he knew so little yet seemed well prepared. As the questioning continued Apuma had started to take over, being the resident expert on lore, and the like. Apparently, Tom was from a world where there was no magic?!


    ¡°But nearly everything he owns is magic¡± Fengi had burst out.


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    ¡°Is that so?¡± Nunuk said turning to Tom


    ¡°It¡¯s not magic, it''s technology and machines, we don¡¯t have magic. My guns use explosive powder to fling metal at my enemies, my quad bike burns fuel to move, my music box¡­ uses tamed lightning and metal circuitry to power it.¡±


    ¡°What is a quad bike?¡± Nunuk had asked looking at Sapphire.


    ¡°It''s a cart that moves by itself, quite fast too, we raced it against Jackalope.¡±


    ¡°And I won.¡± Jackalope quick as always when it came to flaunting her success.


    ¡°Okay then, so you don¡¯t have magic and yet you can tame lighting and fire, how can that be?¡±


    ¡°Well soo, you, you have metal right? Forging is a way of taming fire, my people have just found more uses for it, you will probably master lighting too in time.¡±


    ¡°Right, this doesn¡¯t sound like something we can figure out quickly. So, let¡¯s say I believe you. Why are you here and what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I''m an explorer looking for new things and experiences, and as far as I¡¯m concerned I''m in a place full of new. So if possible I would like to stay, at least for a while.¡±


    ¡°Okay then, Dakota tells me you are a friend so you may stay, but you won¡¯t be staying on our good graces. You will have to pull your weight, do you think that is possible?¡±


    ¡°I believe I can do more than that your highness.¡±


    ¡°Lady Bizmaty or mam will do it gets formal enough in here already.¡±


    ¡°Uhm not to put a damper on things but he won''t he be back to not speaking our language once he leaves the circle?¡± Dakota had interjected.


    ¡°Yes, that is a problem. For the time being, I¡¯m guessing we will have to school you, you may add that to the debt of gratitude you owe my daughter for saving you.¡±


    ¡°I just wanna say, thus far Tom has been extremely friendly, he has shown us many new things and shared what he had with us. I¡¯m certain having him stay will be of great reward in the long run.¡± Dakota spoke up again.


    "No need to worry Dakota, I''m not gonna kick him out."


    ¡°Uhh, right I guess I better go get my things then?¡± Tom had asked tentatively.


    ¡°Not just yet. Anyone within this keep is sworn to defend it and those that call it home. I would have you take this oath if you are to stay here. You said you have been in the army before?¡±


    ¡°Yes mam, I was Danish army, combat engineer, rank lieutenant, and volunteer in the home guard.¡±


    ¡°An officer even, well, in that case, the oath of the guard will do I think, sounds like you have experience in the area too with this Home guard.¡±


    ¡°That seems fair enough.¡± Tom didn¡¯t really know if this was a good idea, but he guessed it would earn him some more friends and a warmer welcome here. And so far his bad ideas had yielded better than 50/50 odds of success so why not. Besides, he did want to stay here for a while at least. Not like a few words couldn¡¯t really hurt anyway.


    ¡°Recite after me.¡± Nunuk had stood up and walked in front of Tom placing her right hand on her chest ¡°I solemnly swear, to uphold the good name of this keep and the name of Bizmati. I shall stand in the defense of my keep, against any that would seek to harm it or those who call it home. I shall perform my duty by the will of my Lord or Lady and always remain vigilant in my duty. I shall not seek to do harm to that which I have sworn to protect. For such would be my undoing.¡±


    Tom had recited the Phrase as best he could, it took a try or two but he got it in the end. Sapphire was stunned, the old lady really knew how to keep her cool. All that seemingly impossible information being thrown at her, and she just extracted an oath from the situation!? Well, new guard I guess, she thought to herself.


    ¡°Well with that I believe you should get some rest, my husband will take you through another session or two like this so we may learn and explain a thing or two.¡± Nunuk continued. ¡°Until then you should get some rest. I¡¯ll come around again to check you didn¡¯t worsen your situation again.¡±


    ¡°Not to be rude but what about my quad bi¡­ cart, you really shouldn¡¯t touch it before I can show you how it works.¡°


    ¡°We will leave it be for now, don¡¯t you worry. From what Dakota has been telling me you have brought some dangerous things with you. Besides we do not steal from one another.¡± Nunuk had glared a bit at Tom as if to emphasize her point on that last one. Best keep my fingers to myself he thought.


    ¡°We will talk more tomorrow. With you in your bed this time!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The circle around him that had been glowing slightly, faded, Apuma looked pretty tired, Tom though stumbling a bit. Being caught by Dakota. This was clearly quite demanding on the old man. He would still need to learn the language as quickly as possible then, this could not be relied upon.


    He had been returned to the Infirmary by the two guards with him and laid down. After a short while, Sapphire had joined him along with the rest of the Huntresses. They had spoken for a while. Tom managed to get Esmeralda''s Attention making a gesture of a box and started humming a melody. She smiled widely at him clearly getting the message.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, that was a lot to unpack¡± Dakota had started as they made it towards the infirmary.


    ¡°He is is even weirder than we thought¡± Esmeralda had added.


    ¡°And even crazier too, imagine just being like, I don¡¯t like it here anymore I¡¯m just gonna leave everything and not be able to come back maybe ever.¡± Jackalope had a point, and it clearly didn¡¯t sit well with her. She had lost her home when she was little, the thought of willingly abandoning it was probably hard for her to handle.


    ¡°And he claims he doesn''t know magic, I mean come one that is absurd¡± Fengi had chimed in clearly not believing the stories they had just heard.


    As they entered the infirmary Tom was already there looking at them as they entered.


    ¡°Well, he is both the weirdest and kindest stranger I have ever met. So I think he might be telling the truth¡± Sapphire had concluded. They had continued to discuss what exactly they were to do, he needed to learn Draconic, stay in his bed and they needed to store his things somewhere. For now, though he was stuck here with Sapphire. ¡°I might as well get started with him, let''s start with yes, no, and other simple things. Hey, where are you going Essy?¡±


    ¡°He wants the music box!¡± Esmeralda said running out the door.


    Right. Of course, he did. At least this shouldn''t be a boring stay, Sapphire thought to herself. ¡°How am I supposed to keep him in bed for a week anyway."


    ¡°Make him want to. He clearly wants to learn so be interesting.¡± Dakota had said sounding a bit too sassy Sapphire thought.


    ¡°Very helpful, maybe we can get him some more toys from his qvuat cike¡± the word was hard to pronounce, and it didn¡¯t sound quite right, she began to wonder if he even could speak their language? she certainly found his hard.


    ¡°You make him sound like a kid in need of entertainment.¡± Dakota had pointed out.


    ¡°Well, how would you describe him?¡± Jackalope clearly finding the comparison apt.


    ¡°This is gonna be a long week.¡± Sapphire sighed, laying down at last.

 Pancakes

    Chapter 14: Pancakes


    Tom had spent damn near 2 decades on a school bench and now he was back at it. It did help pass the time though, as it was clear that he was not allowed to leave his bed without supervision, and that he should move as little as possible at all times. Apuma and Nunuk had come to him for his next Translation sessions, they had exchanged as many questions as time would allow.


    Yes, indeed he was on a floating island. The keep had been here for hundreds of years. Lady Bizmati was in charge here, and she was, in turn, a vassal of the king of somewhere, names didn¡¯t translate well. He would be treated as a member of the keep for as long as he held his oath, and hunted down and killed if he broke it¡­ okay then, could have mentioned that. He could work with it though.


    They had asked many questions about the things he had brought, his weapons, and anything else they could think of. The weapons especially seemed to interest the Lady, but Tom had refrained from explaining too much. He wanted to be sure giving these people the concept of firearms was a good idea. It hadn¡¯t been hard to keep things vague. They were on a timer after all. about 20 minutes was all the Apuma could muster at a time. For his part Apuma was more interested in where he came from, Tom had managed to convince him that was a subject for more than 20 minutes of discussion though.


    Sapphire had taken it upon herself to teach him the basics of Draconic while he was bedridden. She could hobble around on her crutches by herself now, and so slept in her own room. But there clearly wasn¡¯t much for her to do, with the others being busy most of the time. All the other huntresses came by to say hi at least a few times a day though. Esmeralda had brought him his speaker, he had his backpack with him so he had a few power banks, but he would need the solar chargers before long. Still, it was good fun watching the others listen to new kinds of music for the first time.


    Sapphire was clearly a fan of the more fast-paced action variety, she had taken right to Two steps from hell, it probably helped there weren''t any lyrics to try and understand. Esmeralda liked to be happy and upbeat, and she loved it if there were bits she could sing along to, even if she had no idea what was being said. Come to think of it that was true of humans too, so not that weird. Dakota was into metal, The Warrior Song had really clicked with her it seemed. Jackalope had taken to Rock and roll, and a bit of metal too. And Fengi just loved anything with a dance beat. It was really rather funny how music transcended language, Nunuk and Apuma had been very curious about the speaker but seemed content that it wasn¡¯t dangerous, after a short inspection.


    As the days had gone by, people had come to visit. They had introduced themself, talked with Sapphire for a bit, some brought small gifts too. All looked curiously at Tom, some had stayed for a while to listen to the music before Sapphire had shooed them out and continued her lessons.


    Their language was a strange one. You used your throat for most of the sounds rather than the mouth, his had gotten quite sore during the first few days. He guessed he would get used to it. But for now, it was really quite painful. He had tried to teach Sapphire a few words of English, as it would be the most useful Earth language for her to learn, after all. She struggled to produce some of the sounds though, resulting in a truly hilarious accent. She had seemed impressed he spoke multiple languages already, even if none of them were useful in the given situation. All that work for nothing he thought to himself¡­


    The whole sleeping less thing was also getting annoying, there was nothing to do in the early hours of the morning. After 3 mornings of doing nothing, he had decided it was time for another expedition. He had been brought breakfast every day, even if it was more like a brunch by his time scale. It usually consisted of boiled whole eggs, bread, roast meat, and a few vegetables. He was gonna make breakfast today though.


    Finding the kitchens wasn¡¯t hard, but the fact there was nothing sweet there did hinder his plans to make pancakes a little. They loved sweet things so much but had nothing sweet? must have eaten it all he thought to himself.


    They had plenty of meat, eggs and milk though. He found some smoked meat that he sliced as thinly as he could manage to try and make bacon. The cooking process was complicated a little by the whole open fire thing, but he was used to camping so not too much trouble.


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    He used the bacon to make bacon pancakes. They came out pretty good if not quite the real deal, the meat wasn¡¯t cured and very gamey. It would do though. He then set about making scrambled eggs, with bacon in it too of course. If he had just had his stuff he could have made this so much better, but in the end, his supplies were limited, so this would be the way at some point anyway. Besides if he was cooking for 20+ his stuff wouldn¡¯t last long.


    As he was working mumbling a little tune to himself, he had become completely lost in his work. Somebody cleared their voice in the doorway. He froze as if that would help him in his current situation, then slowly looked up to see one of the guards that had first come out to meet them and Fengi standing looking at him.


    ¡°Hungry?¡± Fengi had asked, looking quite accusative.


    The guard said something to him. Tom thought he could make out ¡°steal¡± in there, and the guard didn¡¯t seem happy, oh nooo...


    ¡°No, breakfast.¡± He tried sounding as innocent as he could, gesturing at the large plates of food. ¡°Breakfast.¡±


    The guard searched him and found nothing that wasn¡¯t supposed to be there, even if he took the chance to look at some of the things he found, clearly not understanding what they were.


    ¡°You just cooked for us?¡± Fengi sounded more quizzical now he thought.


    ¡°Yes, Pancakes¡± Fengi tilted her head at the odd word and tried to emulate it ¡°cancakes?¡±


    ¡°yes¡± Tom handed them each a hot bacon pancake and crossed his fingers, so far his food adventures had been a success.


    Judging by Fengi¡¯s pupils he had succeeded once again. She held up her finger to her mouth ¡°No say, now follow¡± Tom nodded and followed Fengi out the kitchen, looking back at the guard already going for the second pancake. Well, that went well, sort of... he mused as he got back in his bed, and Fengi closed the door leaving.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had taken to the schooling well. It was clear he was used to being a student. From what Sapphire had gathered during the week he had spent most of his life learning! They had managed to get greetings done, and simple things like asking for something. They had started on numbers, at least he had seemed to use the same counting system as them, with just the names being different. There had been some confusion with the ones between teen and twenty but they had figured it out. He also talked about something called percentages which Sapphire didn¡¯t understand, he had left the subject for now though.


    Tom for his part had started trying to teach her a bit of English. Sapphire had thought it was his mother''s tongue, but as they spoke over a delicious breakfast made by Fengi and Balethon. They had gotten to the subject of his home country. Apparently, they spoke a language he called Danish. She had questioned him on how many languages he knew. He had answered five?! Sapphire had gone to find Apuma When she learned this.


    Apuma was also enjoying his share of the funny flatbread with meat and had nearly fallen off his chair when Sapphire told him. He was loremaster of the keep, an accomplished scholar, and educated in the capital. Yet he knew only three. When he had tried to ask Tom how many languages he knew existed he had answered hundreds, so there was clearly still some work to do on the numbers.


    It was an arduous process to teach the human, his endurance was damn near frightening. He would go on for hours, listening intently. Trying to formulate sentences and asking questions. Sapphire was equal parts impressed and despaired, her head was sore after just the first day. But the more the guy learned the more he tried to teach her in return. Even if most of it was impossible to understand it was fascinating, to be learning about a different world. Apparently, he came from the countryside and grew up in a small town. Later he had studied in a massive city with over a million people in it. Sapphire could hardly comprehend what a city of a million people must look like. If that is Tom had gotten the numbers right this time.


    Besides Apuma had to stop the daily sessions they were getting too expensive. The materials for such rituals were not cheap, and only available through trade. So for now Sapphire was the main way of communicating with Tom. When Tom was feeling better it had been decided he should join Apumas classes with the children. There he would learn the alphabet as well as more complicated things like grammar, so Sapphire just had to focus on vocabulary and pronunciation.


    When he was considered fully recovered he would join the guard. They had figured out that Tom didn¡¯t sleep as much as they did, so he would be well suited to standing guard. And judging by the fact he didn¡¯t carry a sword or spear, there was a good chance he had no clue how to use one. That just wouldn''t do.


    Following their great breakfast, Fengi and Balethon had been charged with making breakfast twice a week from now on, it had spurred some protest. But they refused to tell their secrets on how they had made the first one. Sapphire had a growing suspicion she knew why that might be and made a note to try at least to check on Tom as soon as she got up from now on.

 Back To School

    Chapter 15: Back To School


    Sapphire had been helping out in the kitchen and was making her way back to her room to rest a little. when she opened the door she found that in preparations for his first class, Tom had stripped himself of all harmful or delicate objects. And he had put it all in Sapphire''s room, without permission... Needless to say, she wasn¡¯t pleased with this. What had been more disturbing was that the door had been locked, and was locked again when she returned, so locks apparently didn¡¯t slow him down much either. It didn¡¯t look like he had touched anything at least just left his things in a neat little pile. In the middle of the room¡­


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    This was a weird feeling, he was about to start school again. His first experience with starting school hadn¡¯t gone brilliantly. He had been a weirdo for much of his life, especially in the backwater school of his hometown. He hadn''t played sports and was more interested in cars, tanks, and books about science fiction and fantasy. As he made his way to the library where Sapphire had shown him the class would be held. He couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was going to be even weirder this time. Why did the thought of being bullied by someone he could squash with ease bother him so much? Or perhaps it was the fact he had technically broken into a woman¡¯s bedroom, but with their pathetic locks, it was hardly more difficult than just opening the door. But he had needed a safe space for his things, and he was yet to get a place to sleep himself, so far he had stayed in the infirmary, but that couldn¡¯t last and he certainly couldn¡¯t store his weapons there.


    As he stood in front of the door to the library, he heard some way too exciting-sounding noises coming from behind him. He had learned enough Draconic to make out ¡°Big friend¡± as he turned a single kid was already in a running leap for him. The kid was about the size of a small dog, not the smallest he had seen but still pretty small. It latched onto his leg and hugged tight, it was quite possibly the cutest thing he had ever seen. The eyes and ears were oversized, the wings were too small so it probably couldn¡¯t fly yet. As Tom stood there pondering what the correct action was in this situation the door opened behind him. ¡°Feeling happy.¡± It had come from behind him, at least Tom thought that was what had been said.


    he turned back to see a bemused looking Apuma in his long dragging coat, white-ish gray and blue as was clearly fashion around here. Apuma was quite a bit shorter than Tom around 165 cm without the horns which came up to about eye level. He looked almost like a Grandpa welcoming Tom into his house, even if Tom didn¡¯t have a clue how old the guy was. The kid let go and sprinted inside and Tom followed after, well this didn¡¯t feel like bullying, he thought to himself.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Sapphire laid in her room pondering what to do with all the time she now had on her hands, she found herself bored out of her mind. There was simply nothing for her to do, she couldn¡¯t even clean with her crutches. She had elected that the most interesting thing she could do was watch Tom try to fit into a class of children. That ought to be good fun she mused and made her way towards the library. Besides, she would like some payback too after all.


    The scene that greeted her more than met her expectations. Sitting on the ground with his legs folded, he was the largest being in the room, he had two kids in his lap, and one on his head. All eyes were pointed at the board, where Apuma was currently going through the alphabet.


    ¡°So? what¡¯s the topic for the day.¡± She said, all eyes turning to her as she let her presence be known. The answer was a mixed cacophony of kids trying to greet her, tell her to be quiet, and explain what they had been learning. Apuma had just let out a sigh, resigned to the fact this it would take some time before he could continue.


    Tom had looked a bit worried, and Sapphire had served him with a look that indicated he was right to worry. He had just pointed to one of the kids in his lap as if he wasn¡¯t guilty of whatever crime he was being accused of. Or perhaps he was worried about the kids? Hard to tell.


    ¡°Thought I might as well drop in, to see how the old man is treating you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not that old!¡±


    ¡°How old?¡± Tom had joined in


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a mere 92 why thank you.¡±


    ¡°Old.¡± Tom had gone in response, too much amusement of a few of the children, who also joined in telling the world just how old they were. Kiran who was currently perched on top of Toms¡¯s head had let out ¡°I¡¯m three, I am big.¡± Prompting Tom to pick Kiran up in his hands and bring him down in front of his face, looking quizzical ¡°Three?¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom Kiran has just started he is just over three years old.¡± Apuma had clarified.


    ¡°Grow fast.¡± Tom had just answered. Then put Kiran back on his head, seemingly perfectly content with the passenger.


    ¡°I am big, yay warm soft.¡± Kiran had let out upon being set down again into Tom¡¯s hair.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Sapphire had said, seeming to remember something, ¡°I don¡¯t recall ever getting the chance before.¡± She hobbled over and ruffled Toms¡¯s hair ¡°So soft!¡± Looking at all the children with a fiendish smile on her face. This had seemingly been the excuse half of the classroom was waiting for as they all came running over to touch Tom¡¯s hair.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Not again... Tom¡¯s hair was once again under attack, this time by a group of excited children, led by a trained Aerial huntress, he didn¡¯t stand a chance. He wondered if this was her way of punishing him, for putting his things in her room, without the key¡­ yeah that seemed likely.


    She had at least tried to prevent the little ones from pulling too much on his hair. Even if it wasn¡¯t entirely successful. In his hour of need, Kiran had proven a valuable ally, defending his nest fiercely. Tom had gone for a fighting retreat focusing on keeping enemy ground forces from climbing up using his height advantage, with Kiran picking up the slack. The strategy had failed when Tom hit a step and fell over backward, after some rolling on the floor while being swarmed by enemy combatants. Kiran had been forced to surrender his position. With all positions overrun and currently in the hands of the children Apuma had stepped in, to restore order.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was lying on his back laughing like a maniac when Apuma had stepped in and put a stop to the games before someone got hurt. Sapphire couldn¡¯t blame the old man, it had been a spectacular fight, little Kiran had acquitted himself with valor she thought. It was clear that quite a bit of Dakota had gotten through into him. Even at that age, he showed no fear.


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    ¡°This is supposed to be a classroom, not a sparring ring.¡± Apuma had gone around the room, getting everybody back to their places. "By the gods behave yourselves for once. Well, Saph if you are gonna so rudely interrupt my class, you might as well make yourself useful. What about a story to get everyone to calm down.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can do that.¡± Sapphire made her way over to a chair sitting down and getting comfortable.


    "Yay real story!" Kiran let out, prompting an overly hurt look from Apuma.


    ¡°Let''s go with the little deer in the woods today, shall we?¡± The children were quick to quiet down in anticipation of the story to come. Even Tom seemed to understand what was going on and turned to Sapphire.


    ¡°Once upon a time there was a young deer bounding through the woods with its mother. It was a happy little deer, hopping around without a care in the world. While playing around it had spotted a little jackalope, the little deer had chased it hoping to make a new friend. As the two bounded through the woods, the jackalope found a hole and hid from the little deer, for it didn¡¯t want to play. The deer was sad, it had hoped to make a new friend to play with. As it looked around, it could not see where it was. For it hadn''t been here before. It couldn¡¯t see its mother either.¡±


    ¡°Ohh nooo¡± it came from little Kiran


    ¡°The little deer began running through the woods again calling out, searching, for it had lost its mother. It did not know where it had lost her. It had just been playing and suddenly she was gone!¡± There was much gasping and murmuring from her audience.


    ¡°The little deer had searched and searched all day but it found no sign of its mother. The little deer had gotten very sad and laid down, not sure what to do. Its mother always knew what to do, but it couldn¡¯t find her¡±


    ¡°It laid there for some time, not knowing what to do, trying to think. Until it noticed it was getting dark soon. The little deer had gotten up in a big hurry trying to find a place to hide for the night. Its mother had always told it, you needed to hide at night. For that is when the wolves come, both big and small¡±


    Sapphire thought she had done a quite good job of building a sense of suspense. As she looked around most of the kids seemed to be on the edge of their seats. Some of the youngest even hid behind someone larger, a few had chosen Tom of course, and Kiran had crawled down into Tom¡¯s arms now and was listening intently eyes wide.


    ¡°The little deer found a little bush to hide in, it thought it was safe for the night, that no one would find it. But sadly it was mistaken... For as the night drew on the wolves caught the scent of the little deer, and followed it to the little bush¡±


    ¡°The little deer heard snarling in the night and knew it had been found. Its little heart sank with dread for it knew the wolves would kill it.¡± Kiran let out a little snarl and Tom, seeming absent-minded, began petting the young dragonette, as if to calm him down.


    ¡°The little deer turned to run, it came out of its bush and ran as fast as it could, bounding through the wood. But it could hear the wolves running behind it, catching up, getting closer. The little deer was already tired having searched all day for its mother. As the wolves howled a terrifying howl into the night. Aawuuuuuuu... The little deer began to cry as it ran, it just wanted to find its mother, and now it was going to get eaten. It just wasn¡¯t fast enough to get away.¡± Anatashi, one of the young girls hiding behind Tom began to cry too. Resulting in Tom reaching around to put her in his lap, and starting to pet her as well.


    ¡°But as the deer ran, it heard a mighty ROAR,¡± Sapphire did her best to sound fearsome as she roared at the children. Even Tom seemed taken aback by this, she mused to herself. Trying her best not to giggle.


    ¡°The roar came from above, and a strange being came down in front of the little deer. The little deer froze, looking at the bright green eyes looking down at it. The wolves had come running, yapping and howling through the night. But with a swift strike from the being, the first wolf had gone running into the dark, squealing like a little piglet.¡± There was much rejoicing among the children, Kiran letting out the cutest little roar.


    ¡°As the other wolves circled them, snarling at the little deer and the strange being with bright green eyes. They yapped and howled at the two, trying to scare them. Then a pointy stick had hit one of the wolves in the side. The little deer, jumped with glee, as the wolves howled in pain, and they all went running out into the night. Not to be seen again.¡± More rejoicing had come from the children. Some of them trying to sound like a scared wolf, while others laughed.


    ¡°The strange being with the bright green eyes had smiled at the little deer and told it to run off now. For it still needed to find its mother. And so the little deer ran through the wood once more, calling for its mother, and the very next day, the worried mother had found her little deer. Having looked everywhere for it. To this day the little deer still looks to the sky trying to catch a glimpse of the being with the bright green eyes. And every once in a while, it sees a pair of wings flying high above the trees...¡±


    the kids had all let out little roars of approval and beat their wings little. Tom had begun smacking his hands together, seeming to have enjoyed the story too. It earned him some strange looks until he stopped looking around realizing no one was hitting themselves. He had said something to himself apparently a tad confused.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had done his best to try and follow the story, but it was damned hard, but he had gotten the gist of it. He squinted hard at sapphire, he wondered if that story was entirely made up or not. The roar certainly seemed real enough, she sounded more like an angry tiger than a person. Also, clapping was apparently not a shared cultural trait, that was quite, awkward.


    Little Kiran and the girl who had started crying halfway, were now both in his lap, curled around each other, seeming quite content with the world. Tom had quickly learned the fact that he was warm all the time was very comfortable for the cold-blooded dragonettes. Tom had never actually had much to do with kids. He was an only child and had not felt the need to be a play uncle before. So when the little critters had become upset, he didn¡¯t really know what to do. Besides who is to say human children and little dragonette respond the same.


    So he had begun petting them like you would a cat or dog, it had seemed to work, and even after they had calmed down, they were remarkably okay with it. So he had just kept going. It was a weird experience to be sure, both funny and relaxing. Now though he found himself with two sleeping dragonettes in his lap, and Apuma was apparently intending to get back to the lesson. Sapphire had just moved to a different chair over in a corner and was watching him gleefully. What to do, what to do?


    He couldn¡¯t wake them up, that would be like moving a sleeping cat, not allowed, wait, is that racist? Or speceist¡­ Goddammit!


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well someone has gotten comfortable I see?¡± Apuma glaring at Tom clearly amused


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Had been Tom¡¯s response


    ¡°Well, you''re not the one sleeping in my class now, are you? perhaps we should make you tuck them in at night, you seem quite adept. I couldn''t get Kiran to sleep that quickly if I tried especially after one of Sapphire''s little stories.¡±


    "I think your inadvertent efforts are more effective anyway Apuma" Sapphire piped up getting up to move to a chair in the corner.


    "Hey, that isn''t called for! Just because my stories come from books doesn''t mean they are boring in the slightest."


    Tom had tilted his head at this probably not understanding everything that was being said.


    ¡°Child, care¡± Sapphire had clarified. Tom looked downright horrified at the realization ¡°Ohh come now that isn''t a bad job, perhaps you would rather be stuck on breakfast duty?¡±


    Tom seemed to consider for longer than Sapphire would have thought before answering ¡°Me, nanny?¡±


    ¡°Well if it is a nanny''s job to help look after children then yes. Besides, you need a place to sleep.¡± All eyes had turned to look at Tom to see if they would all be getting a new sleeping buddy


    Tom had been silent for a long while longer before nodding. ¡°Okay.¡± And with that, the class was back into chaos. It had at least woken up Tom¡¯s two sleepy charges, and after a few minutes of running around Apuma had gotten the class back into order with a bit of help from Sapphire and Tom.

 Tom The Nanny

    Chapter 16: Tom The Nanny


    Tom had thought he would have to help with the children, which he was perfectly okay with. They were cute and all, but apparently, he was going to be sleeping in the big room with all of them¡­ Well shit. That wasn¡¯t entirely what he had in mind when thinking about getting a place other than the infirmary.


    He really needed a place to store his stuff. All his things had very graciously been flown/carried up for him and placed in the big hangar space. Most likely so he wouldn¡¯t start going up and down the stairs all the time to grab things. Nunuk was still very adamant he move as little as possible after all.


    His quadbike had been moved to one of the barns for the time being. So he just needed a private room to unpack in. That was apparently a big ask though. Sapphire had just answered you needed to respect privacy to get privacy¡­ Oh, come on!


    So there he was lying down in a room full of kids, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do now. From what he had gathered, once Nunuk deemed his wounds were fully healed he would start training with the guard. That sounded fun and all, but he guessed that meant training with a sword, shield, and arrow. That was probably smart though, just in case he needed to defend himself with the locally available means. Besides he had yet to decide if he wanted to impart weapons technology on them. Though it seemed inevitable that if he taught them about machining and chemistry they would figure it out themselves in time. He just didn¡¯t want to jump the gun on that point.


    He still needed a place to keep his things, currently, he didn¡¯t even have a weapon on him trusting that everything was going to be fine, that didn¡¯t sit quite right with Tom, Sure he was probably in the safest place in the keep but what if¡­ he had no clue what kind of dangers were out there. There were guards posted 24 hours a day though so something definitely he thought to himself.


    He decided on bringing his little lockbox into the kid''s room, stuffed with a revolver holster and ammo, along with a flashlight and knife. that would have to do he thought to himself.


    During the following days, he had been doing as much conversation with the kids as he could, hoping the old saying you need to hear the truth from kids and drunk men held true. It had proved sort of correct, he had learned a lot about how things worked here. The huntresses were the main source of meat during the spring, summer, and autumn, the animals they kept were for the winter. With their diet being primarily meat they got through quite a few animals. The female warriors formed the huntresses with the males making up the guard, though everyone here was combat trained to an extent, like a militia he guessed.


    The huntresses and guards would help out with odd jobs when not on duty. Like when Fengi and that one guard caught him making breakfast, it was apparently their turn to do so. And they hadn¡¯t even said thank you.


    The kids also confirmed what he had begun to suspect. The women were all a bit larger and stronger flyers. The men were smaller but still sturdily built, coming close to matching the women in sheer strength. Their society was also dominated by females, thus making Dakota the current heir to Nunuk, or Lady Bizmati ¨ªf one was being formal.


    Kiran was apparently Dakota¡¯s son, she had cared for him herself for the first year plus the time on the nest which sounded to be like half a year. So they were born as eggs, interesting. After the first year, Kiran joined the kids in the nursery. School started when you were 3 and lasted till you were 10. Then you would join part of the keep to learn a profession. Damned quick process Tom thought, even if they didn¡¯t learn much besides what they needed in their day-to-day lives. Besides the school was more like a kindergarten with classes. According to one of the older kids, if you wanted to pursue a more formal education, you had to leave for one of the larger cities, as Apuma had done. Apparently, Dakota had a smaller sister currently in the capital undergoing such education.


    Tom had asked how old they get. One of the older kids had heard the tale of an old lady who was over 140 years old. This was apparently rare for them though, so a bit longer lifespan Tom had concluded not too much though, it made sense with them being cold-blooded after all.


    Kiran wanted to be a guard when he grew up. The second in command of the guard, Anchor, was his father after all, so why wouldn¡¯t he want to? When Tom had said he was going to start training with the guard soon, Kiran had insisted on coming along, going as far as to not let go of Tom''s legs till he promised.


    Tom had continued his questioning of the kids, Dakota had two sons Kiran and Holdey who was a bit older. Holdey wanted to be a blacksmith the little guy seemed like a pyromaniac to Tom so yeah that fit, he needed to check out the blacksmith he thought. The little girl who had started crying during storytime was Esmeralda¡¯s daughter, Anatashi she was called. She and her brother were both 4 years old, and seemed very gentle, just like their mother.


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    One big family then Tom had concluded. he wondered how they got around the whole sweet home Alabama situation but that wasn¡¯t really a conversation to have with kids he thought. He had been a nanny for a few days by now, and it honestly hadn¡¯t sucked as much as he had feared. No diaper changing they were remarkably tidy, and he was otherwise occupied for both his lessons with Sapphire and extra lessons with Apuma.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom¡¯s condition improved Sapphire had started showing him around the keep and introducing him to everyone properly. Right now they were standing outside the smithy waiting for the door, Sapphire having knocked.


    ¡°Smith?¡± Tom had asked


    ¡°Yes Tom, smith¡±


    Shiva had opened the door looking down at the two of them. Jackalope''s mother was easily the largest of them all, and with a broken horn a missing eye, and a wooden leg, her wide shoulders gave her quite the presence. Tom did a double-take of the intimidating-looking woman.


    ¡°Sooo. Now it''s my turn to meet the stranger?¡± Shiva said seemingly amused by the unexpected visitors.


    ¡°Hi I¡¯m Tom¡± Tom went in his best Draconic holding out his hand


    ¡°Hi¡­ Shiva¡± She took the hand after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    ¡°Sapphire, you''ve been teaching him?¡±


    ¡°Well me and Apuma, he is learning quickly, but there is still quite a while to go. May we come in, I think he wants to look around¡±


    ¡°Uhh sure, does he know not to touch hot things¡±


    ¡°Yes yes hot bad¡± it came from Tom seemingly impatient to get inside.


    ¡°Okay then, follow on in¡± Shiva seemed surprised he had followed the conversation at least somewhat.


    Tom had immediately started going around looking at everything, and was writing things down in a little booklet, even if the thing was made of the finest paper Sapphire had ever seen, he didn¡¯t seem worried in the slightest about bringing it to a blacksmith. For her part, she had just given up trying to understand Tom¡¯s way of valuing things.


    ¡°He''s almost like the world''s worst spy, he can certainly write though.¡± Shiva mused. ¡°Find anything interesting?¡±


    ¡°Human use, long old¡± Tom¡¯s amateur Draconic clearly being pushed to its limits ¡°No use no now¡±


    ¡°I think he just called your equipment old fashioned.¡± Sapphire sounded a bit worried about the reaction to such an insult.


    ¡°Well aren''t you rude little bastard,¡± Shiva said with some merriness to her tone, ohh thank the gods, she won¡¯t beat the shit out of him yet, Sapphire let out a little sigh of relief.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The smithy was much like Tom had expected, a large open forge, and several rows of hand tools. Shiva was apparently the smith/craftswoman around here. She was also the largest dragonette he had seen so far, standing near 2 meters tall, without counting the remaining horn, which added at least another 20 cm in height. She wasn''t thin or lanky either. With that eyepatch, pegleg, and broken horn, she looked more like a buff pirate than a blacksmith. She reminded him a little of Jackalope but she was much older, he placed her around 50 to 55 so that was probably more like 75 he guessed.


    The kids had said Sapphire was 31 years old. But he had no idea if a year was as long here and he would put her in her early twenties. He decided against asking the smith her age though, she had already seemed to take offense at him calling her tools old.


    As he looked around he started making plans, if he was going to make anything useful he would need a workshop. While this place lacked a few things, it was a good starting point. Besides they had some wind-powered automation, driving the forge bellows. Fit for expansion he thought.


    ¡°What metal, have?¡± goddammit these sounds were hard to make, but she seemed to understand well enough. She waved him to follow and walked out into a small storage room, hidden behind a curtain.


    There were several small metal bars on shelves, as well as broken tools, weapons, and armor, there was even an instrument or two in the little room.


    At first glance, Tom could see steel and cast iron mostly. There was a little of what looked like bronze, lead, tin, and a single brass horn. No precious metals though, they would probably be somewhere else, but he knew they had copper, silver, and gold at least. But seeing the selection did heighten his spirits, they had the most common metals. He hadn''t been expecting to find aluminum or something like that anyway. Brass was very important though, and it was in the scrap pile so maybe not that expensive either. But judging by the size of the metal bars, metal was expensive around here, they looked to a pound or two each. He had been hoping for a big stack of large ingots but thinking back that had been quite wishful thinking.


    He had asked for the names of each metal and written it down as best he could in English letters, he hadn¡¯t got started on writing Draconic, he barely spoke it yet. To be honest, he felt like a tourist on a guided tour with some locals¡­ At least Shiva seemed to find it interesting to learn what her metals were called in other languages.


    With a list of tools and available materials in hand, he could start planning. His first priority should be machine tools, he thought. He needed a lathe and a milling machine first of all. That was gonna be quite the project in and of itself and they clearly didn¡¯t have the materials for it. Not to mention some way of making large castings, the current facilities were clearly designed for forging instead of casting. Those were problems for later though, for now, he needed to focus on learning rather than teaching. Maybe he could get started on figuring out the supply situation.

 Knowledge

    Chapter 17: Knowledge


    The next few days went by without much excitement, with the routine of lessons with Sapphire, Apuma, and the kids took up most of the day. The mornings he had begun spending preparing for the lessons, attempting to read a few books Apuma had lent him, it wasn¡¯t of much use yet though since the alphabets were completely different, and he didn¡¯t understand anything really.


    Hence he had elected to start going through his own books instead, for the time being at least, to see if he could find something useful. He hadn¡¯t read most of them so he figured he might as well get familiar. When he had been walking back to the dormitory, Sapphire had caught him. She had asked to see it and he obliged her, she then promptly asked where he had that gotten book from? He answered he had brought it, and when he made it clear he had quite a few books she had told him to wait there, leaving in a hurry.


    So there he was standing in a corridor with a book while she hobbled off on her crutches to go somewhere? Why was she even up this early, nobody else was? And why was his book such a big deal? Oh yeah, he hadn''t mentioned he brought books with him... Well in that case chances were good she was going to get Apuma, this could be fun.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire had managed to catch Tom in the early morning hours even if he had been nowhere near the kitchens. ''No matter'' she thought this was much better Tom had been carrying a book claiming to have retrieved it from his pile of stuff. She had questioned him on what kind of book he had, and he had answered that it was farming? ''Strange choice for morning reading'' she thought, but no matter. She had asked to see the book, it was all written in the same strange script she had seen him write before. The pages too were impossibly thin and so pure white and shiny. And there were beautiful drawings that looked just like the real thing, she couldn''t even begin to comprehend how one would paint something like that.


    Sapphire had asked if he had more books and he answered yes, around 30! Tom''s Draconic had reached a point where she believed that number. So she had gone to get Apuma as quickly as possible. She had tried to do it quietly so as not to wake Nunuke. The plan had immediately failed when Apuma heard why he should get up. If the loud exclamations of ¡°What!¡± and ¡°Are you sure!¡± didn¡¯t do the trick him jumping on the bed at conformation definitely did.


    ¡°What in the god''s names do you think you are doing?¡± It had come from the other part of the bed from a very tired and annoyed sounding Nunuke.


    ¡°He brought books! My dear, he brought books from another world! I must see them quickly now Sapphire, where do you say he is now?¡±


    ¡°Geez go look at your books then, just don¡¯t wake me up before breakfast again understood?


    ¡°Yes yes, I have work to do, see you sweetheart¡± Nunuk had answered in a sort of indignant ¡°harumph¡± and rolled over on her other side.


    Tom had been patiently waiting for them and had led them to the greeting hall where his stuff was being stored for the moment. He had made his way to the big chest Sapphire had been laying on and opened it. Inside was a lot of things Sapphire had no clue what was, a lot of black strings, weird boxes, and other shapes made from stranger materials, and what was very clearly a small library of books. All made like the one he was carrying. Tom had taken one of the books and handed it to Apuma


    ¡°English¡± Tom had gone handing it over


    ¡°Ohh my god Sapphire you weren''t joking, look at the pages so thin and delicate!¡±


    ¡°I think that is a book on his language, he said English that is what it¡¯s called, or maybe he¡¯s just saying it¡¯s in English not sure.¡±


    ¡°Well that will surely be handy, look at that drawing, so life-like¡±


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    ¡°You should see the one he was holding that was even crazier. It looked like the real thing rather than a painting or drawing¡± Sapphire gestured at the book Tom had been carrying, he handed it over. Sapphire delicately found a page showing a plant or some kind of flower ¡°Look you almost can''t tell¡±


    ¡°Incredible, how would you make that?¡±


    ¡°picture¡± Tom had gone in English, beginning to ruffle through the big box bringing out a weird looking small box ¡°I take you, picture¡± Tom stepped back a bit and there was a flash of light. Apuma who was busy with the books gave a flinch, Sapphire too was startled by the flash of light. Tom just laughed a bit and walked back to them.


    ¡°See, you¡± he held up the little box, and on the backside was now a perfect painting of Sapphire and Apuma from a moment ago.


    ¡°How, is that not magic, come on Tom it must be¡± Sapphire did her best to sound skeptical, but even if it was magic it was still amazing. The pictures as he called them in the books were actually real things then, huh. must have been a lot of work judging by the size of the book.


    ¡°No magic¡± Tom insisted


    ¡°I, I... I don¡¯t even know where to start,¡± Apuma admitted.


    ¡°English¡± Tom repeated pointing at the book in Apumas hands, ¡°I teach when say good. You too?¡± he said looking to Sapphire


    ¡°Yes, YES, of course, besides you have already started with me.¡± Sapphire had never learned another language before. But one had to be the first, and she might just end up as one of the only people in the world who knew it, that was quite something. Apuma wasn¡¯t just for show, knowledge was power after all.


    ¡°Thank you, Tom. That is very generous of you, I humbly accept. Might I ask, how is this made?¡± Apuma held up the book and pointed to the pages.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Tom had gone looking at Apuma,


    ¡°Yes Tom, accept teach¡± Apuma realizing he had overreached Tom¡¯s limited understanding. "How made¡± he went, holding up the book.


    ¡°Printing Machine. Big thing of metal and tricky¡± Tom was clearly trying his best but the fact that their language probably didn¡¯t have words for half of what he was talking about didn¡¯t help the poor guy.


    ¡°Right¡­ I''m not sure I understand¡± Apuma had to admit


    ¡°Hmmm... show¡± Tom had started looking through the books again.


    Sapphire had set the book down and started turning pages, looking at the pretty pictures, when she stopped on one of a weird big green and yellow thing. It almost reminded her of Toms quad bike but it was massive, and pulling something large and metal. It was plowing!


    ¡°Tom, what that!?¡± she exclaimed pointing at the picture


    ¡°Tractor¡± Tom had answers after taking a quiet look ¡°pull things. See, farmer¡± he pointed to a big glass box on the back of the beast, and sure enough there was a human sitting in there.


    ¡°Apuma that thing is scary! Look, it''s pulling so many plows, at once and it''s huge. It must be as strong as a dragon if not stronger! And they are using it for farming!? and look at the glass so pretty, and... round?¡±


    ¡°Tom Tractor normal?¡± Apuma had asked


    ¡°Yes yes have thousands¡± he answered nonchalantly


    This time it was Sapphire''s turn to go unsteady on her feet.


    ¡°Thousands?¡± she asked seeking to clarify


    ¡°Yes, in Denmark. In world, Millions¡± Tom seemed perfectly serious of a little nonchalant about the fact Sapphire thought.


    Now she just sat down looking into the distance. Contemplating how much farming an army of dragons thousands-strong could manage,


    ¡°Tom, how many people home?¡±


    Tom pondered it for a moment, seemingly not knowing the number in draconic or perhaps he was unsure. In the end, he just wrote down a long series of zeros with a seven at the front. and went ¡°in-world¡± and did a hand gesture as if to indicate thereabouts.


    ¡°Ohhh my Goods! Apuma what is that¡±


    ¡°Seven billion.¡±


    ¡°Tom how many in Denmark?¡±


    Tom wrote down a smaller number.


    ¡°Five and a half million¡± Apuma had gone sounding very somber.


    That was insane. How could there be so many people!? The capital was home to a hundred thousand maybe two hundred at most. They had done some questioning, to try and find out more. Tom claimed there were cities with over 10 million people in them and some with near 30 million. that was likely more people in one place than Sapphire believed existed in total!


    ¡°Tom. What kind of army?¡±


    Tom had frowned at the question but still obliged


    ¡°In world millions, many machines too¡±


    Sapphire was just staring into the distance, well at least he hadn¡¯t answered billions, to be honest millions was low compared to the number of people he had been talking about, it was still more than anything Sapphire even heard fairytales of, it was insane. She was imagining ranks upon ranks of soldiers stretching as far as the eye could see.


    ¡°Can they come here?¡± she had let out deep in contemplation


    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry¡± Tom had answered matter of factly


    ¡°Well, that is something at least.¡± Apuma was standing stiff trying to process what he had just heard, and Sapphire was just looking into the middle distance. They would have to tell Nunuk about this. Tom seemed a little sad and confused by the response, but it looked like he was adding up the pieces as well.

 Big Plans

    Chapter 18: Big Plans


    Nunuk had not been pleased with what they had found out, even if they assured her Tom was adamant his world could not come here by force. He had been transported by a weird entity, not of his world.


    Sapphire couldn¡¯t blame her though, knowing there was a force out there that outnumbered this entire world by orders of magnitude while on peace footing! Was deeply unsettling. In the end, she had settled for if this was true, there wasn¡¯t anything they could do about it. But she had a guy that knew the secrets of such an army and she would be damned if she didn¡¯t make the most of it.


    Nunuk had Apuma draw up another Circle to make the discussion easier. For the first time though Tom hadn¡¯t been willing to cooperate entirely.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I will not teach you the means to kill any who stand before you. I will teach you things that will help people and make their lives better not destroy them, at least not yet.¡± Tom had said


    Nunuk had been going at him hard for a while now, it was clear she had the scent of just what some of the things Tom knew could theoretically do. Tom hadn¡¯t been ready for this conversation. He was still trying to work out what was a good idea to share at this point.


    ¡°Better weapons would make defending against the evils of this world so much easier and save countless lives.¡± Nunuk had protested.


    ¡°Only if evil doesn''t have them, if they do then you are just killing faster.¡± was Tom''s reply. Her point was valid he thought, but he didn¡¯t want to teach her how to wipe out her rivals, Besides what if they are all racist here, he hadn¡¯t seen a non-white Dragonette yet, if that even existed? He needed to know these people a lot better before imparting that sort of knowledge.


    ¡°Why would we give our enemies our new weapons that would be stupid¡± Nunuk clearly found the argument ridiculous.


    ¡°In time they will get them, they always do. In my world, we always try to have better weapons than our enemy. The result? We now have weapons that can wipe out millions of lives in a blink of an eye and leave the ground poisoned for thousands of years! I will not go down in history as the one who set you down that path. I WILL NOT!!¡±


    There was silence in the grand hall, his little outburst clearly having caused quite a bit of thinking to be undertaken. The ramifications of what he was talking about clearly were not lost on those in the room.


    ¡°Why would you make something like that?!¡± Fengi had asked, seemingly horrified, rightly so he thought, she should be.


    ¡°Because nobody wants to die for nothing, and if destruction is certain you will not go to war. We call it mutually assured destruction. No major country has been in open war with each other since the invention of such weapons. Nobody dares! We call them nukes, sometimes also referred to as weapons of mass destruction. They are as far as we have gone down the road of weapons and destruction, but the principle applies to all. Better weapons only result in more death and destruction in the long run. Never peace and prosperity. That is achieved through economics, cooperation, and technological progress.¡±


    Tom felt like a preacher of the rapture, but he didn''t see the alternative. He needed to convince these people he knew best what was smart to give them and what was not.


    ¡°What will you have us do then? If you start giving us all these other things you talk about, how will we defend them? Others will come to try and take it if they deem it worth the effort.¡± Nunuk had a point, of course, somebody would come looking in time. Nothing stays secret forever. Nor was this supposed to be a secret he was supposed to change this world after all, not just this island.


    ¡°I haven''t figured that out, that is why I didn¡¯t seek this conversation yet. I don¡¯t have an answer, but it is beside the point for now anyway. I wouldn''t be able to make anything special with your current facilities. That will need to be the first priority no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Right then, you speak of needing things, what might those be?¡± Nunuk seeming to accept this was all she was getting for the time being.


    Large quantities of metal, for the production of manufacturing machines. We are talking about a LOT of metal. I don¡¯t know what metal is worth to you but I¡¯m guessing it ain''t cheap?¡±


    ¡°You would be correct in that assumption, it is quite valuable and we don¡¯t make it ourselves, only shape it. How much do you need?¡±


    ¡°Tons I think. At least a few hundred kilos to make some basic machines if I¡¯m creative with the use of other materials.¡±


    ¡°There is no way we would be able to afford that, not to mention the cost of transporting it. I doubt we even have that much metal here total!¡± Nunuk was clearly baffled by the request as if she couldn''t comprehend what he would need so much metal for.


    ¡°I believe I have a plan for that. Sugar seems to be very valuable to you, yes?¡±


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    ¡°What is sugar?¡± Nunuk¡¯s tone shift was tangible, she was clearly not sure where this conversation was going but was simply allowing him to get on with it.


    ¡°It''s like honey powder but even sweeter.¡± Tom clarified. ¡°Your huntresses have had a taste already, the candy I gave to them was melted sugar with fruit flavor.¡±


    ¡°So like honey of sorts, yes that is very valuable, about the price of silver per weight. Bees are very dangerous, many who collect honey die in the process! The ones who are brave enough to do it are few and far between and they demand considerable pay. That makes it incredibly hard to acquire. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Because I brought the means to grow sugar.¡±


    ¡°Please elaborate¡± Nunuke was clearly very intent on this new development, as she leaned forward almost in anticipation, Tom thought.


    ¡°I brought seeds for a plant called sugar beets, they are easy to grow and contain a large amount of natural sugar. You boil them down and render the liquid till you get a hard crystal, you then crush that into powder, and voila sugar. It won''t be pure but it will still be as sweet as any honey.


    ¡°You know how to grow honey!?¡± It came from the gentleman that had caused Sapphire to hide when they arrived. ¡°I would say impossible but you seem to take that lightly.¡±


    ¡°Well, where I come from sugar is as cheap as bread so yeah.¡±


    This was when Apuma fainted either from exhaustion or the information dumped on the poor guy. Dakota had been there to catch him at least. There was a lot of commotion in the grand hall with people bickering and pointing. Nunuk had just sat back down in her chair contemplating what to do with this information.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure what to make of herself, Tom had just told her his people had the ability to kill on a scale she had never even dared have nightmares about and he was so scared the same would happen here, he wasn¡¯t sure what to do?! And now they were apparently contemplating becoming sugar farmers? Also, the sweets Tom had given them were considered cheap where he was from? Well, it explained why he had given them out so freely back then.


    What was going to happen now? At least it sounded like Tom wouldn¡¯t be able to do much just yet, he needed many things to get started. Also, why did he want to start here, he could just go to the capitol and find someone who could get him what he wanted. She didn¡¯t reckon that would be hard with some of the things he had brought. Was it because he couldn¡¯t fly? He was technically stranded here for the time being. She decided to bring it up with Nunuk in private at some point.


    For now, the lessons had just become a lot more important. These translation sessions could not continue so Tom needed to learn Draconic fast. It wouldn¡¯t hurt either if he could teach them English too, so they could read his books. Even if there were things he wanted to hide from them.


    Tom was clearly willing to share what he thought was safe with them, but Nunuk didn¡¯t appreciate being told what she could and couldn''t have, it was a difficult position to argue following what Tom had told them though. Besides, it wasn''t like they could easily force him if they wanted to.


    They had continued asking questions of Tom after Apuma had been taken to go lie down for a bit.


    Apparently, Tom¡¯s plan was to plant these sugar beets in spring, then they would be ready in autumn so that gave them nearly a year before any results. It seemed he believed it was currently autumn. That caused some confusion, but eventually, they convinced him it was in fact mid-spring, so they should probably get going.


    So that is how pretty much the entire keep found themselves working to make a new field in record time, too many protests from some of the participants naturally.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just put the weird magic fruits in the ground and be done with it?¡± Jackalope had protested.


    ¡°Because we want them to grow as big as they can get.¡± Raulf clearly enjoying their misery.


    ¡°But earth is earth. This is just to get us all dirty¡± Jackalope clearly wasn¡¯t buying it.


    ¡°Ohh just you wait, you haven''t seen dirty yet¡± the chuckle and wide smile on the guy made Sapphire realize she should go find something else to do before they got to whatever he was thinking about.


    Shortly thereafter she heard some considerable moaning from Jackalope followed by a high-pitched whine as she was closely acquainted with how you fertilize a field by falling over with the wheelbarrow. Fengi had begun laughing receiving a handful of the manure to the face for her trouble. She proceeded to run around screaming until Esmeralda came over with some water to wash it off.


    Tom had cracked a laugh it the scene


    With all hands helping working in shifts and Tom getting out the quadbike to set a new world record for plowing, they had a hastily prepared field ready by evening, ready to be sown tomorrow. Even if the fencing still lacked.


    Sapphire had to admit, it was impressive to watch Tom work. He just didn¡¯t seem to get tired as they did. Even Raulf, who was used to this type of work, had to give up trying to keep up. And that was while being told by Nunuk to slow down quite regularly. Sapphire was starting to understand why he needed more food than them at least.


    They had agreed on planting only half of the sugar beat seeds Tom had brought, in case something went wrong. He had shown Raulf the selection of seeds he had brought. The farmer had been speechless, so many things he had no idea what was. They had agreed they should try as many different things as they could in small patches, to see what would grow here and what wouldn''t.


    Tom had been consulting the book Sapphire had been looking in regularly, it was clearly so kind of manual of how to farm. It was quite clear after all, this was not one of Tom¡¯s areas of competence, even if he was good at digging drains and holes.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, this wasn¡¯t entirely how Tom had imagined the enlightenment project was supposed to start, but it did the trick. Farming was the key to both money and fuel apparently, so might as well start there. Even if it was a shame sugar was worth this much, it would in turn make alcohol-based fuel incredibly expensive. Not even considering the distilling process.


    But if he was sitting on the world¡¯s main supply of both, and the world''s only machine shop. Price wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem, though Nunuk¡¯s words were weighing heavily on his mind. As soon as they began trading in this stuff people would notice. And with the kinds of wealth simply growing silver could generate, they were looking at some serious incentive for people to come knocking. They would need equally serious defenses. Those would be expensive though so they need to buy time. Maybe that was a problem for the locals Tom thought. This was a keep, after all, it was clearly meant to be defended against considerable forces. Why was that? what were they expecting to fight? Tom suddenly became acutely aware he was sworn to defend the keep he was currently working to turn into a massive target¡­ Shit.

 No Pushover

    Chapter 19: No Pushover


    It had taken a few days but the sugar beet field and a wide assortment of other smaller patches had been prepped and sown. It was going to be interesting to see if plants from home would grow here, Tom thought. Most of the plant life seemed familiar, and only slightly different, strange pretty flowers, the big ass trees in the forest, and he could swear the grass was greener here too.


    But for the time being, they could only wait, this was one of the reasons Tom had never really been one to deal with plants before, they just took too long. That was where Raulf came in though. He was apparently head of farming around here, with the dragonettes mainly being mostly carnivorous, much of their farming was done to provide animal feed rather than people food. They did eat some greens though. Judging by the children, that was something they weren''t pleased about but it was apparently necessary to stay healthy. The adults didn¡¯t seem too bothered, so maybe a learned trait.


    Tom had instructed Raulf to the best of his ability with the help of the book on survival farming, as to how to care for the different plants. Raulf hadn¡¯t seemed surprised by anything so Tom believed it was probably fairly routine stuff. Plants were plants after all, only so many ways to tend them.


    With the farming project well underway, Tom had gotten back to his studies, though now it had become a more even split between them teaching him, and Tom trying his best to explain as much as possible to them. Nunuk had even visited a few times to see what they were doing. The lessons with the children being the exception, of course, little Kiran wasn¡¯t ready to know about that sort of thing yet. He and Tom had become quite good friends though, they were about on the same wavelength when it came to speaking and little Kiran showed no fear of anything, so Tom didn¡¯t scare him in the slightest. Not that the other children were afraid of Tom, but they had a healthy wariness.


    Tom had given the little bugger one of his sweets just to see how he would react, the results had been explosive, Tom had failed to account for the fact Kiran probably weighed about 8 kg tops and here in low gravity, it was more like 4-5kg. the little dude had hit the ground running and kept going for nearly 30 minutes. Good news though, he apparently set a new record for youngest dragonette in the keep to learn to fly without assistance when he had sprinted off the tall set of stairs leading down into the grand hall from the sleeping areas.


    Esmeralda had some fairly stern questions afterward and didn¡¯t seem to buy that Tom had managed to teach the little one, apparently flight training was supposed to happen when you turned five¡­ whoops. He had held up a candy and pointed at Kiran, it seemed to click for her after that. She just facepalmed and went to fetch Nunuk, most likely to have her give the little one a once over.


    She had left along with the other huntresses to go on a hunt not long after the little incident According to Sapphire, Dakota had tried to convince Nunuk to let her bring either Tom or one of his guns on the hunt. Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure, it had been quite the charade of gestures, words, and even some grunts and handshaking. They realized he wouldn¡¯t just give up his weapons right? It seemed Dakota had been unsuccessful though, so no matter.


    They had only been away for the day and returned with two deer. They were fiercely efficient hunters, Tom thought. Sure, a human hunter could probably manage the same with modern equipment but they used a bow and arrow, not a compound bow either¡­ Note to self look into making a compound bow, he wrote down in his little notebook. Being able to cover vast distances and pounce with impunity from above clearly had its advantages. The fact that nothing ground born could outrun them was probably helpful too. But hey fresh deer tonight then, sweet, Tom mused to himself.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The evening Dakota and the others had returned from the successful hunt around the common meal, Dakota had spoken up


    ¡°Even if we don¡¯t have trouble hunting for our food I would like to see how Tom hunts. We know he hunted a deer for himself before we found him. I would like to know how.¡±


    ¡°Judging by how he is dressed I think he sneaks up on the target¡± Sapphire had added.


    ¡°Such underhanded tactics?¡± Kokashi had questioned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he cares that much about honor, just look at how he is dressed¡± Rachuk clearly wasn¡¯t impressed with Tom thus far. It made sense he was a man of honor and duty above all. From what Sapphire had gathered Tom was friendly but he hadn¡¯t really had the chance yet.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t really gotten the chance to show his true colors yet. He''s been doing farm work and school for Pete''s sake how could he.¡± Sapphire had interjected


    ¡°Well, maybe he should get a chance then.¡± Rachuck was clearly playing at something Sapphire thought.


    ¡°What have you got in mind? You can''t exactly have a sword fight with him yet, he¡¯s not fully recovered¡± Nunuke seemingly having caught wind of the conversation and decided to join in.


    ¡°Oh come now, we all saw how he worked in the fields. Besides, what makes you think his kind doesn¡¯t heal faster? It sure seems like it.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to test him anyway, judging by Dakota and her huntresses his weapons would make him more than a capable warrior.¡±


    ¡°A warrior without honor can¡¯t be trusted. Besides, I haven''t seen any of these weapons in action. And by the sound of it, all you have seen was him hitting a tree. Not very impressive in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t deny you have a point, but what do you want? A demonstration?¡± Nunuk had asked


    ¡°Don¡¯t you? Besides, I want to see him in honorable combat, see what our guest is made of. You made him take the oath of the guard, which technically puts him under my command. I want to know what my warriors can and can¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess I do but I will not have you beating seven bells out of him.¡±


    ¡°Me, fight?¡± it had come from Tom seeming very confused having clearly tried and failed to follow the conversation


    ¡°Yes hmmm¡­ Play fight.¡± Nunuk had tried


    ¡°Bang bang?¡± Tom had gone pointing his finger into the distance, probably trying to mimic his weapons.


    ¡°Yes, Tom bang bang, and...¡± Rachuck added as he walked over, drawing his sword handing Tom the blade. Tom immediately went to work examining the piece, testing the edge, and admiring the craftsmanship.


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    ¡°Very pretty. Don¡¯t know use¡± Tom said looking apologetically


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to use a sword? at all!?¡± Rachuck was seemingly taken aback by this. Sapphire had considered that quite likely, Tom hadn¡¯t carried a blade beside his small knife, so why would he know how to use a sword?


    ¡°Human no use no more, old weapon¡± Not again, Sapphire thought, fingers crossed Rachuk would take it in as good a spirit as Shiva had.


    ¡°Why stop?¡± Rachuck had questioned seemingly not grasping why anyone would drop using swords.


    ¡°Not effective, I kill before you see me¡± Tom had answered.


    ¡°You fight like a coward, and can¡¯t even defend yourself when it gets tough?¡± Rachuck was starting to sound quite accusatory and Tom clearly didn¡¯t seem too happy with the situation looking to Sapphire for help.


    ¡°Think about it Rachuk, if you have weapons that can destroy cities why use swords?¡± Sapphire did her best to sound reasonable even if she deep down found the statement wrong.


    ¡°To defend your honor of course, and to defend yourself in battle, you can''t always just run away and shoot from afar. Besides Tom here can¡¯t even fly so how would he get away?¡±


    ¡°Fight close too¡± Tom had gone, surprising Rachuck.


    ¡°How you have no sword, not the knife surely¡±


    ¡°No. Use gun¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right then there he was standing on what was clearly a small archery range with a little sparring ring. With nearly the entire keep watching him, he had managed to convince Shiva to bring two old broken chest plates. He had gotten a few, kind of half-rotten, cabbage things from Raulf, seemingly not having kept well over the winter. Along with some pieces of loose wood, they would make up the day''s targets.


    He had recruited Jackalope and Fengi to help him set up some targets, but for now, everything was still here in the training field. Rachuck had seemed extremely skeptical of the arrangements but hadn¡¯t protested yet.


    ¡°Ready. What show?¡± Tom had started off.


    "Defense against me¡± Rachuk had gone drawing his sword. That was not the response Tom had been hoping for. How would he do that without killing the man? He knew the sword was a blunt one but still metal.


    ¡°No no, not kill not¡± He really wasn¡¯t good enough at this yet ¡°not allowed¡±. Tom began backpedaling and dodging the incoming swings, it was clear Rachuk was going easy on him at least.


    ¡°Stop running and fight, are you a coward?!¡± Right then, nothing for it, the sword was blunt so this would only hurt. Tom reversed from his little backpedal and stepped forward, he caught the incoming swing on his right shoulder then wrapped his arm around the blade locking it in place. The pain was quite substantial but it worked, Rachuck had clearly not expected him to go on the offensive. Tom pushed forward placing his forward foot behind Rachuck¡¯s left leg hoping to trip him.


    Rachuck had clearly been overconfident but he was skilled too, and the whole double-jointed leg made it easy for him to avoid the trip. Tom was trained to an extent in hand to hand combat, but this dude had most likely been training for most of his life, and he still had a hand free. So he just punched Tom in the face and opened his mouth to snarl at Tom.


    Tom quickly became aware of just how many teeth were in range of his face and elected to do something about it. So he used his off hand to draw his revolver and stuffed it in Rachuck¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°YOU DEAD!¡± He shouted. Then he pulled the revolver back out and fired into the sky as if to illustrate his point. There was silence on the field until Tom let Rachuk¡¯s arm go again, moving his shoulder to try and get rid of the pain. He could do with some actual armor if that was going to become a common occurrence.


    ¡°Now show how dead!¡± Tom turned from the captain and took aim at some of the pieces of wood. He fired three shots in quick succession at three targets, they were large targets so not too hard to hit. Then he took a shot at the breastplate with the cabbage thing inside and stuff went everywhere.


    Rachuck flinched noticeably at that one. Tom then holstered his revolver and went over to collect the breastplate and presented it to Rachuck who just stood there staring. The others came over to have a look as well.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After Tom had finished putting Rachuk in his place he had opened fire on the targets he had set up. Sapphire was shocked he could shoot that quickly. No bowman alive could have matched that rate of fire and when he took a shot at the cabbage, pieces had gone everywhere! He had brought the breastplate back to show the little hole going in. The weapon had just punched straight through the metal!


    Then he whistled at Jackalope and fengi. They came running over, handing them two remaining cabbages and the breastplate, he had clearly told them where to put them before as they took to the sky flying downrange. Fengi had gone out to about what Sapphire would consider maximum bow range and placed the first cabbage, but Jackalope had continued out to over double that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure about this, his rifle had yet to be re zeroed for this strange gravity and he had no clue how lower gravity would affect long-range ballistic. Nor did he know exactly what gravity was here, but he had made a guess and adjusted as best he could.


    Besides, he could zero on the first target until he got it sort of right. He picked up his rifle and kneeled chambering a round.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire just wondered how he could even point the weird one-handed weapon accurately enough to hit something that far away. That is when Tom had picked up the long strange metal stick she had seen him walk with. Wait, was the big stick a weapon too!? But the little one had blown straight through a breastplate! ¡°Ohhh. far away targets¡± she just said earning a look or two from around her.


    With a thunderous crack, Tom had fired at the first target, the cabbage had instantly exploded, pieces going everywhere. It looked like it had been dropped from one of the towers, this weapon was clearly even more powerful! Tom did a motion causing a metallic sound and one of the brass cylinders had come out of the weapon. it was quite a lot longer than the one he had shown them before. He then fiddled with the weapon for a little while and took another shot. The clang of the breastplate was heard again.


    Then Tom did some more filling, made the motion again, and shot at the far target, apparently missing. Well, that was comforting, at least he could miss... Tom made the motion again, fiddled some more, and took a second shot, this time scoring a hit and more cabbage went flying. He picked up the brass cylinders and got up.


    ¡°That how I fight, you very dead,¡± Tom said, sounding very unimpressed, as he walked back past Rachuck.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The little test had been a success at least out to 250 meters ish, just going half on the adjustments seemed to work close enough for elevation adjustment at least. He would need to do some testing out beyond that, it would be more than worth the ammunition. He would need to set up some more accurately ranged targets for that thought. Little Kiran had apparently managed to wrangle his way free and came running over.


    ¡°Big boom! What that¡± Tom had picked the little one up putting down his rifle


    ¡°Rifle¡±


    ¡°Ricle¡± Kiran trying his best and sounding even more adorable for the attempt,


    ¡°Yes Kiran Ricle¡±


    ¡°You beat Rachuk, he dead!¡± Kiran was sitting wide-eyed staring up at Tom as if he was meeting Batman or something.


    ¡°Yeah, but no fair, he no gun¡±


    ¡°You have a gun, you win!¡± it would seem Tom had just been elevated from a comfortable nest, and friend with sweets to a personal hero. He didn¡¯t quite know how to handle that...


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right I see¡± was all Rachuck had managed following the display. Sapphire did feel a little sorry for him, as he stared out at the ruined targets probably contemplating what would have happened if he had been on the wrong end of that and just how close he had gotten.


    ¡°What is that Tom?¡± Sapphire had gone, hobbling over pointing at the long metal stick.


    ¡°Rifle, this revolver¡± Tom had held up the smaller one-handed weapon Sapphire was familiar with, but the long one was clearly even more powerful, and had a very good range. He hadn''t struggled much to hit a target beyond what she considered possible with a bow, and she was without a doubt the finest shot here. Well, she had been the best, Tom seemed destined to take that title now.


    "Tom how far hit¡± Dakota had gone.


    ¡°Double that. With effort, maybe more¡± ¡®So yeah¡¯, Sapphire thought to herself, Tom was now the best shot in the keep. Dammit¡­ she had worked so hard for that, she even learned magic to help guide the shots. She was starting to understand Rachuck a bit, he must feel fairly shit knowing he was just bested in hand to hand combat by someone who had never even held a sword and now she was outshot by someone who had never held a bow...

 Recruit

    Chapter 20: Recruit


    If nothing else, Tom¡¯s little demonstration had earned him a wary respect from everyone, especially Rachuck who almost seemed a little timid after his near-death experience. Nevertheless, it had clearly also convinced Nunuk he needed to start his time with the guard, even with his reduced sleep schedule, his day was starting to get quite full. But doing something that wasn¡¯t intellectual in any way would be a nice change of pace.


    So now he was making his way to the armory where he was supposed to meet Rachuck, he had all his combat gear, and Kiran riding along, of course, Tom had promised to bring him along.


    ¡°We go fight¡±


    ¡°No Kiran, no fight! Learn'''' Kiran was clearly excited, Tom wasn¡¯t sure if the guard would let the little one stay, but if not there would surely be trouble he thought. Kiran might be three, but damn he had spirit.


    As Tom opened the door he found five dragonettes waiting for him including Rachuck, Anchor, Balethon, and Kokashi. The last one introduced themselves as Herron. Tom knew there were two more but they were likely sleeping following their turn on the night shift.


    ¡°Hi, nice to meet you¡± Tom had been practicing his greetings, even if he had met most of them before, it was the best one he had.


    ¡°Welcome Tom¡± Rachuck straightened, looking more like a proper soldier. He walked over giving Tom his hand and pointed to a table in the middle of the room ¡°equipment¡±


    Sweet! Tom thought, so far everything he had seen the dragonettes use had been high quality handmade. As he made his way over to the table it was clear though this was more like training equipment, there was a one-handed sword, it was of the same general design as the others he had seen. It had a straight double-edged blade that tapered at the tip, clearly meant for thrusting into an opponent. The blade was dented and a bit discolored, clearly having been extensively used and repaired many times before. There was a belt scabbard for it, along with a hodgepodge of random armor pieces.


    ¡°We not know what fit,¡± Rachuck had explained as Tom was examining the various pieces.


    He had begun testing out a few things. The gauntlets looked like they might fit, along with the shoulder pads, Tom had no clue of the proper terminology. The breastplate too, but he was wondering if it would be smart, to replace his existing armor.


    ¡°Have this¡± he went, taking off his vest, pulling out the ballistic plate in the carrier. ¡°Stop rifle¡±


    The dragonettes had gathered around inspecting the piece. ¡°Small¡± Kokashi went, picking up the plate and placing it in front of his chest.


    ¡°But strong¡± Tom tried to assure ¡°No stop bullet¡± he went knocking in the breastplate


    ¡°But stops sword or arrow¡± Rachuck had retorted,


    ¡°True, uncertain¡± Tom had gone holding up the two pieces of armor.


    ¡°Hold things, help hide¡± he concluded taking the vest, ¡°need, camouflage, other¡± Tom didn¡¯t know what the draconic was for that one.


    ¡°Make better hide¡± he went trying to explain, pointing at the shiny pieces of metal then to his green and black pattern uniform.


    ¡°You want to smudge pure and beautiful steel?¡± Balethon clearly didn¡¯t like Tom¡¯s suggestion, they must really like pure things. Come to think of it, they wore white when they could, their armor was shiny. ¡°Ohhh, like shiny!¡± Tom was feeling quite proud of figuring that one out until he looked down at himself, ¡°Arh¡± was all he''d said. ¡°Sorry home if soldier shiny die quick¡±


    ¡°Why would clean armor kill a soldier¡± Rachuck was clearly puzzled by this


    ¡°Easy to see, easy to shoot¡± Rachuck seemed to understand rubbing his chin for a while.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Sapphire sat in the kitchen helping with that evening¡¯s dishes along with Balethon, the guard had suddenly burst out at her.


    ¡°He wants to deface our armor Saph! Cover it with paint¡±


    ¡°Well, he does seem to take the whole color scheme very seriously, even his sleeping bag has that strange pattern¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, he brought paints for himself too, he smeared his face in black and green warpaint! He looked like something you should kill on sight¡±


    ¡°If he is your enemy I think you are correct in that statement. you saw his little demonstration.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he claimed on his world you hide when in battle. Otherwise, you die. He does not fight with honor, even from a distance. It seems no one from his home does.¡±


    ¡°Would you, with weapons like that?¡±


    ¡°No I guess not, but he isn¡¯t home! We need to convince him to fight like a proper warrior, otherwise what happens if¡±


    ¡°If some vargulfs attack¡± Sapphire interrupted ¡°They won¡¯t care. Besides, Nunuk would never allow him to go off to fight a war or something, she needs him here.¡±


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    ¡°But still he showed us how his people fight, they dig holes in the ground and mounds of dirt to hide behind. We can¡¯t have him do that, even against beasts of the night. If anyone finds out we will be branded as cowards!¡±


    ¡°I think any observer would be more interested in how the beast just fell over dead in front of them, to be honest,¡± Sapphire tried her best to be reassuring, But the guard had a point, perhaps they should find out if Tom could fight with honor.


    ¡°I hope you are right,¡± Balethon concluded, getting back to his washing up, but clearly not convinced.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had become abundantly clear to Tom that everything he knew about warfare was abhorrent to these people. They seemed more show fighters than soldiers in his eyes by now.


    They didn¡¯t want to get their armor dirty, they didn¡¯t want to hide from an enemy, and they seemed very fond of duels, and formation fighting.


    Well at least if the same was true of the enemy Tom wouldn¡¯t have much of a problem dealing with them. But his concerns about what would happen if the bad guys, whoever they might be, got their hands on firearms had only grown. They honestly seemed like the kind of people who would consider ranks of muskets a good idea. ¡®Jesus Christ¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    They had also begun training him in sword fighting, with and without a shield. At least they were competent in that regard. The fact Tom had no clue what he was doing probably helped though. He was being tossed around like a play doll in the ring, Rachuck, in particular, had been ruthless. Tom thought that was fair following what he had done to the guy. Still, the swords hurt like hell even if they were blunted.


    Tom had managed to fit some of the odd armor pieces mostly to his arms, which were seemingly similar if a little broader than the dragonets. It helped a lot with the pain, as he was hammered again and again, by his far superior opponent. He had begun to figure out the basics though, the painful crash course was a good teacher.


    He brought up his blade again, settling back into the stance Kokashi had shown him in-between bouts. Kokashi had taken it upon himself to teach, the guy seemed friendly. Tom had answered in a whistle a few times, prompting a smile from the guard, Tom wasn¡¯t gonna let the guy forget he thought he was a songbird anytime soon. That had simply been too hilarious.


    Tom and Rachuck began circling each other, eyeing each other, Rachuck seemed to be breathing heavy. Tom was getting a little winded but not too bad, Tom elected to try and tire his opponent rather than beat him outright. He began circling faster, switching direction moving forward to the point Rachuck took a swing, only to retreat tempting Rachuck to follow him.


    It wasn¡¯t elegant, but as he yielded the initiative Rachuck eagerly took it, clearly trying to prove just how much better he was. Tom was constantly on the defense by now, constantly retreating, trying his best to maintain the range. Rachuck was clearly enjoying his show of superiority, he could herd Tom around as he pleased.


    Tom got ample use out of his shield, even if Rachuck still got a swipe through every now and again. If this had been a real fight he was likely dead. That didn¡¯t matter though, this was a training duel, and more to the point this was now a battle of attrition. Rachuck had taken his bait, the constant offense and sword swinging had taken its toll. The guard began to slow and just as Tom thought he was about to call for a break, he went on the offensive. Tom couldn¡¯t match the guard in speed or skill, but Rachuck was obviously tiring and beginning to slow. Rachuck still managed to parry every thrust Tom made but gone were the swift counters, which had caused Tom so much pain at the start.


    Tom kept up the constant barrage, still being careful not to leave his own defense off too badly, even badly exhausted, Rachuck still managed to get pretty close to landing a hit a few times, but so did Tom. With every parry the Dragonette was getting more tired heaving for breath by now. Tom was sweating hard and panting, but without the ability to sweat Rachuck must surely be overheating badly. Tom got his answer as the Dragonette finally started losing his composure and dropped to his knees, leaning his hand gasping for air. Tom walked up and placed his blade on Rachuck¡¯s shoulder with a little tap.


    ¡°You, dead¡± there was silence from the guards before Kiran burst out ¡°Yay Tom!¡± and made a small celebratory growl.


    It took a while and some water before Rachuck returned to his senses, clearly having been pushed far beyond what seemed like a good idea to Tom¡¯s mind at least. He felt a little bad about that, but it wasn¡¯t like he could have won fairly, and the guy hadn¡¯t called for a break.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Rachuck had demanded.


    ¡°Endurance¡± Tom had tried shrugging. His limited vocabulary bitting him for this one ¡°see wet¡± Tom held up his arm to show it was covered in sweat. ¡°cool¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t pour water on yourself, how are you wet?¡±


    ¡°Sweat¡± Tom tried in English, he had no clue what the Draconic would be for that. ¡°make water¡±


    ¡°You make water to cool you down? I.. whatever.¡± Rachuck was clearly accepting his defeat at the hand of the distinctly inferior swordsman.


    ¡°You, still better¡± Tom had tried, the dude didn¡¯t deserve to be this down about it, he had killed tom at least a dozen times if not more, Tom had only managed the one after all.


    ¡°No he dead¡± Kiran had joined in from the table where he had taken up residence.


    ¡°I got him one¡± ¡°he got me many, he better¡± Tom had protested the little dragonette seemingly not agreeing, curling back up. ¡°He dead¡±


    ¡°We need to train you¡± Rachuck had gone, ¡°Anchor your turn¡±


    Well shit, thought Tom. Sure he could beat one of them in endurance, but he was outnumbered five to one and it looked like his own tactic was about to be used against him...


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was back at doing the dishes, it was one of the few jobs she could help with. Today it was Kokashi''s turn to help her.


    ¡°You should have seen it, he just kept going. He drove Rachuck to the point he just fell over from exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Then Anchor went at him and he just tried the same stunt again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m betting that went well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Anchor just ran him into the ground and hammered him till he could hardly move.¡±


    ¡°Yeah he is good, old Anc, doesn¡¯t like playing by other''s rules,¡± Sapphire said giggling.


    ¡°But still the guy kept going, it was almost like the pain just spurred him on. He just kept coming. Eventually, he even started to tire out Anchor. Tom even managed to wrestle him to the ground one time, putting him in an arm lock on the ground. He might look weird but he is strong.¡±


    ¡°That is almost unsettling to think about. Well, I guess you got your answer to whether he can fight with honor then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, in the end, Rachuck had to call off the fight before they killed each other. I don¡¯t know if I would call it honorable. Tom fights to win, anyway, he can. It was an awesome spectacle though.¡±


    ¡°You do know it¡¯s not very nice telling me how awesome something was, that I couldn¡¯t come down to see.¡±


    ¡°Why n... Ohh right. Stair sorry¡­ Get Tom to carry you down, he takes the stairs anyway.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes I honestly don¡¯t know if you are joking or not.¡±


    ¡°Why is that? Afraid you are too heavy?¡± That last one was both deliberate and uncalled for Sapphire thought, as Kookashi stormed out the kitchen with flying cutlery trailing close behind.


    ¡°Come back here arsehole! I¡¯m not finished with you!¡± Ohh, he was going to pay for that, she thought. Looking back at the still unfinished dishes he had left her with...

 Meeting

    Chapter 21: Meeting


    The day after Kokashi''s little insult, Sapphire had been sitting in her room, practicing the English letters Tom had shown her when Jackalope had opened the door.


    ¡°We are having a meeting down in the armory¡±


    ¡°About what? And why do I have to go down all those stairs?¡±


    ¡°Nunuk¡¯s orders, come now¡± Well, there was no arguing with that, so off she went, still on her crutches.


    Jackalope helped her down the stairs and shushed her when she tried to ask what was going on. Something was up, that much was clear, she was beginning to speculate on just what this meeting was going to be about. Not a very hard question to answer but still, why the secrecy?


    As they made their way into the armory, Nunuk, Shiva, all the guards, and the other huntresses were all present. It was a little cramped in here with this many people, but it would do.


    ¡°Excellent, we are all here,¡± Nunuk started. ¡°I¡¯ve called you down here to discuss our newest addition, while he is occupied with Apuma and the children. It has become clear he is both exceedingly useful and very dangerous. He also seems to believe that he knows best what he should share with us and what not to. I don¡¯t like that one bit. So far he has been nothing but friendly, but I wonder what his goals are.¡±


    ¡°From what my son tells me Tom does not fight with honor, he fights to win even in a training flight. I wonder just how he would act, with a mentality like that, if it comes to the real thing. Therefore I have decided we need to be a step ahead of him, rather than trying desperately to keep up. We need to be ready for what he might try next.¡±


    ¡°That is all well and good mother, but how do you plan on doing that? So far he has been exceedingly unpredictable and he seems to have no shortage of surprises.¡± Dakota had a good point, so far Tom had hit them with surprise after surprise.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to know what he will show us next, we need to be ready for what he will do next. He has brought both considerable material wealth and priceless knowledge with him. We cannot allow that to slip through our fingers. He seems friendly, but we know little of his loyalty. If he decides to cut and run, we can¡¯t let him.¡±


    ¡°You want to take him prisoner!?¡± Fengi sounded quite upset. Rightfully so Sapphire thought, they had invited him as a guest to their keep and he had even taken an oath to defend it!


    ¡°No, I want to be ready in case he breaks his oath to this keep and I want to learn as much from him as possible before that might happen. If he does not run, he will be a valuable ally. If he does, he will prove an informative prisoner. If we cannot capture him we cannot let him escape in case his knowledge falls into the wrong hands.¡±


    ¡°Not a very honorable plan if you ask me. Preparing the assassination of an ally is more than a little underhanded¡± Jackalope was clearly not pleased by the idea a hint of spite in her tone.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not, but he is too valuable and dangerous to risk. We must do our utmost to earn his respect and friendship, but always be ready to strike if it proves misplaced. Sapphire, you have been spending the most time with him, do you think he will run?¡±


    ¡°Honestly I¡¯m not sure, he said he wanted to stay because it was exciting here, and that can¡¯t last forever. But he is talking about projects that will take years at least. I can¡¯t work out if he intends to stay that long though, or if he just intends on teaching us how to do it. We could just try and ask him?¡±


    ¡°No, that would make it clear we do not trust him. Hmmmm¡­ I want you to figure out as much as you can about him. Get him to trust you as much as possible, get him to confide in you if you can. If nothing else, he might let you know if he is doing something mayor before time. Also, everyone, I don¡¯t want you to teach him anything about magic, show him a bit, just enough to pique his interest. If interesting things are what is keeping him here, we might as well save a trump card.¡± Nunuk was clearly set on trying to do this covertly, Sapphire hoped that was in case it proved unnecessary. Else this could get ugly


    ¡°Yes Ma''am, not a problem. But isn''t that basically the same he is doing to us?¡± Sapphire answered diligently.


    ¡°It most definitely is, that would make it an excellent bargaining chip in the future. He seems exceedingly curious and if his world has no magic I¡¯m willing to bet he wants to learn. Now Rachuck, I want you to figure out how he fights and how to best take him down if need be, We have seen his weapons but we need to know if has more surprises. Train him well, but leave gaps to exploit. Just in case we find ourselves fighting him instead of alongside.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum, from what I can tell, overpowering him in close combat wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem, especially with a numerical advantage. If he has his weapons though, it will be extremely dangerous but possible, he seems unwilling to engage us. During our first little training fight, he didn¡¯t seem willing to fight at all. That could prove useful, if only for a short while.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted. Sapphire, I want to know at what times of the day he keeps his weapons on him and where he stores them. Ideally, we would know he is leaving long before he decides to do so and capture him in his sleep. But just in case we need a plan, Rachuck, that plan is your job.¡±


    ¡°You are seriously considering taking a friend out in his sleep for the crime of considering leaving the keep!¡± Fengi was clearly outraged at the fact. ¡°He has done nothing thus far except be nice, with the exception where you challenged him to hand to hand combat and you didn¡¯t even give him a sword!¡± she continued, pointing at Rachuck.


    ¡°Where he retaliated by pointing a weapon at my face that would have taken it off!¡± Rachguck countered. ¡°You should have seen his fight with Anchor, I honestly thought he was going to bite, he is relentless and hardly seems to tire when fighting. He might not know how to use a sword, but he is clearly a soldier nevertheless .¡±


    Anchor added ¡°And a soldier of an army that hides from the enemy only to strike from the shadows at that, but when you get him into a corner he fights like an animal, not a warrior. I honestly didn¡¯t know if he would stop when Rachuck told him to. He is strong too, and quite heavy. That makes him dangerous if it comes to grappling or fist fighting.¡±


    ¡°So exceedingly useful, exceedingly dangerous, and possibly unstable. Marvelous...¡± Nunuk said with a sigh. ¡°Do as I have told you and we will have to see what happens. Tom must not know about this, for all intents and purposes we are the best of friends. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Understood¡± it came more or less in unison from the assembled dragonettes.


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    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this was all for nothing,¡± Sapphire said, turning to leave.


    ¡°Yep,¡± Jackalope seemingly quite perturbed by the discussion.


    ¡°It better be, I doubt we will live if it¡¯s not.¡± Fengi stormed out clearly upset.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a quiet day for Tom, well as quiet as what was essentially dragonette kindergarten could be. It had started with Fengi coming to find him sitting in the library studying, so as not to wake the kids. She had been trying very hard to look as innocent as possible, almost pleadingly at him.


    ¡°Cancakes?¡± She went, Tom stifled a laugh into a chuckle answering


    ¡°Ohh so you want pancakes¡± in English to the apparent annoyance of Fengi


    ¡°Help make cancakes. Please¡± She held up her hands in a praying motion.


    ¡°Okay. You, owe, me¡± He went trying to make it as clear as he could. Fengi nodded, seeming a little perturbed if still relieved at the fact she now owed him a favor for the price of learning to make pancakes. Tom just chuckled to himself following her out into the kitchen.


    It had not been a difficult job, Kokashi was already in the kitchen getting the fires going. Together they quickly had a few plates put together, even if the sort of bacon seemed to have a tendency to disappear from the plates.


    After his little morning adventure, he had classes with Sapphire, she was beginning to teach him writing, at least on the most basic level, while continuing to work on his speech. Apuma had dropped in and they had worked a bit on their English too. It was a funny situation going back and forth between teacher and teaching but it worked quite well. They were starting to pick up on a few things even if their accents made it equal parts difficult and hilarious. The main focus was teaching them to write though, so they could start learning from the books he brought rather than just him.


    Following his private lessons, it had been time for another lesson with Apuma and the kids. Today¡¯s subject had been history, it was hard to follow when much of it didn¡¯t make any sense still. But he was getting the gist at least, it seemed to be about their pantheon. They clearly had many gods, some good, some evil.


    There was a god of war, glory, and honor, and judging by the children¡¯s reaction they were positively familiar with that one. There was a god of the sun, harvests and the like, one of nature, healing, and the hunt, one of fire and crafting and so on. All very Fantasy, Tom thought. He had never been terribly religious before, the idea of praying for one¡¯s life before you went out on patrol didn¡¯t make much sense to him. The other guys were likely praying for his death anyway, and that hadn¡¯t worked so far, even if they had gotten quite close.


    He began wondering if the gods here were different than back home, what if they actually did something here? He couldn¡¯t help but notice the two people he had seen perform healing, were both huntresses, even if Nunuk was now a bit old. Maybe they were priests of sorts? He would have to figure that out at some point, and why the others didn¡¯t have healing, else he thought they would have used it. What if he could learn magic, that sounded awesome! He began noting down as many gods as he could from Apuma¡¯s teachings along with their associated aspects.


    After the lesson, it was time to go back down to train with the guard. He was still sore as hell from yesterday. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be more sparring, maybe archery practice, or something else. Sapphire had met him upon exiting the classroom and had begun asking him about what they had been learning about today. As they walked and talked, Tom had answered ¡°Gods, magic¡± Sapphire seemed to stiffen for a moment before continuing on. Strange Tom thought, maybe he wasn¡¯t supposed to have figured that one out yet?


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Why, Apuma!? Why would you teach him about magic? Sapphire thought to herself. As she continued her questions, it at least sounded like Tom had not been taught anything about how magic works, he had just been told about the gods. Sure, magic was imparted by the gods and Tom had somehow seemed to realize this. Dammit, it would be so much harder to keep him from figuring this stuff out if he couldn¡¯t put two and two together. But mastering even simple magic took talent and years of training, so there probably wasn¡¯t anything to worry about. At least not for the time being.


    She had taken Kokashi''s advice, no matter how rudely it had been delivered, and asked to join Tom for his day¡¯s training. She needed both to spend time with him and get to know him as well as she could.


    ¡°Stairs?¡± he had looked questioning.


    ¡°Help?¡± Sapphire had responded trying her best to copy Fengi looking big-eyed at Tom. This better work or she would look like such an idiot.


    ¡°Uhmmm okay¡± Tom had answered, seeming a bit uncertain. Oh, thank the gods, he was at least susceptible to that she thought.


    As they were making their way down the stairs Sapphire was developing second thoughts about this. Tom had slung her over his back and around his neck. It was not exactly graceful, in fact, she was fairly certain she looked even more like an idiot right now. Mercifully Tom apparently agreed, before they turned the last flight of stairs, he put her down gently, then picked her up in his arms instead. It was a lot more graceful and more comfortable too for that matter.


    At the bottom of the stair, they had turned towards the training fields, but Tom hadn¡¯t put her down. Okay then¡­ As they rounded the corner Sapphire thought she might as well put on a show, she was supposed to gain Tom''s trust, after all. Might as well show off, especially for Kokashi that old buffoon. She put her arms around his neck and readied her most sly grin. Judging by the staring Kokashi and Heron, the mission had been successful. Anchor just let out a chuckle shaking his head.


    It seemed they intended to go a bit easier on Tom today, the training dummies were out and they had a wide variety of weapons. As they took Tom through various different stances and demonstrated on the dummies, Sapphire watched from the side. He did indeed seem quite clueless, and definitely unrefined. She was decidedly unimpressed in fact, he was supposed to be a soldier after all. He did just keep going though, far longer than she would expect and without breaks and when he took brakes it was mostly just to gulp down large amounts of water. He also started getting wet? She thought she had seen that before when he was working in the field, that must be why he needed so much water then.


    ¡°Hey, Rachuck. Why is he getting wet?"


    ¡°He called it sweating yesterday, says it keeps him cool, don¡¯t know how it works just seems to happen.¡±


    ¡°Huh that''s new, sounds useful though."


    ¡°Aren''t most things with this guy?¡±


    ¡°Touche¡± She could see how something like that was useful, once they were up to temperature they could maintain it with physical activity. If Tom was always hot, the activity would make him overheat, that only made sense. They would too of course with excessive exercise in hot environments.


    ¡°Hey Tom!¡± she shouted out. Grabbing his attention, ¡°Remember I told you Kokashi called me fat?¡±


    Tom stopped to look at her for a second and Kokashi flinched.


    ¡°Would you mind showing if you have learned anything from these savages?¡±


    ¡°Fight Kokashi for you?¡± Tom had answered seeming a little puzzled.


    ¡°Yeah teach him¡± She replied trying her best to sound cheerful.


    ¡°Not sword?¡± Tom had asked, seeming to sigh a little.


    ¡°You choose¡± Sapphire went pointing to the stand of various weapons with a smile.


    ¡°Sure¡± Tom went lumbering over to the stand looking at Kokashi ¡°Hey Kiran, What use?¡±


    ¡°Big hammer¡± The little kid answered, laying on a table near sapphire, he loved to just lay and watch


    He looked back and forth between Kokashi and the selection of arms, before picking up a small warhammer and shield. ¡°Hammer time.¡±


    ¡°NO no no!¡± Kokashi went, sounding quite panicked. ¡°I¡¯m not getting into a fight with him armed with a fucking hammer. No way!¡±


    Tom seemed to shrug before putting the hammer back down, raising his fist ¡°Old school?¡± He went tilting his head. This should be both fun and interesting, Sapphire thought, Tom didn''t have claws of any kind. Even if the combatants were not usually allowed to use them in training, or bite for that matter. She would like to see if Tom had some alternative ways of fighting unarmed Rachuck seemed to agree on this, likely wanting to know how Tom would fight if caught without his weapons.


    ¡°You heard him, Kokashi. unarmed, no biting, no scratching, understood? Tom respected surrender!¡± Rachuck seemed very adamant on that last point, Sapphire wondered just what he had done to Anchor to warrant that.


    ¡°Kicking?¡± Tom had questioned, clearly to the dismay of Kokashi.


    ¡°Yeah sure why not¡± Rachuck had answered, resulting in a sly little grin from Tom


    ¡°I want you to know I hate you for this, Saph¡± Kokashi let out in defiance before he made his way to the ring.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a scared little mouse, you even got your armor on!¡±


    ¡°Harumph.¡± It came from Kokashi, clearly not pleased with what was about being a test subject.

 Fisticuffs

    Chapter: 22 Fisticuffs


    Right then, unarmed combat. Kokashi wasn¡¯t allowed to use his claws or bite, but he had decent armor, including a helmet, chest plate, greaves, gauntlets, and leather almost everywhere else. Punching was gonna hurt like hell Tom thought, so grappling was most likely the way to go, especially when the dragonette couldn¡¯t use his fearsome maw.


    Tom had undergone some basic hand to hand combat training, and even done a bit of martial arts when he was a kid. Not to mention the odd brawl of course. But he wasn¡¯t exactly skilled in any of it. He was also used to using his knife when it came to close quarters. As the two combatants circled each other, Tom lunged at Kokashi, barreling at his opponent¡¯s shoulder forward and bent low. He needed to get in close, punching would do jack shit against steel and padding.


    Kokashi responded trying to dodge to the side, apparently not quite expecting that response. He was quick though, managing to clear Tom¡¯s charge. Kokashi made quick use of Tom''s little miss calculation, grabbing him from behind, trying to get his arms around Tom''s throat. Kokashi was a bit lighter than Tom despite his tail and wings, the 10 cm lacking in height didn¡¯t help the poor guy either as Tom grabbed Kokashi¡¯s arm and bent forward lifting him off the ground. Then he put all he had into a leap up and backward hoping to squash the dragonette beneath him.


    One thing Tom had forgotten was that his target had wings, as he pushed them both airborne, Kokashi seemed to realize what he was trying to do and flared out his wings, stopping the rotation and preventing him from being squashed. Instead, Tom simply landed on his feet again slightly confused as to what just happened. Tom elected to try and wrest the bugger off instead, Tom grabbed the dragonettes arm bent over forwards twisting to the side, trying to lift the dragonette over his shoulder and throw him to the ground. This time Kokashi¡¯s wings didn¡¯t save him and his lower stature and weight really bit him as he went flying to the ground landing face-first on the ground.


    Tom was quick to take advantage, grabbing a hold of a wing and putting his knee on Kokashi¡¯s back, twisting until the dragonette slammed the ground with his free arm indicating surrender. Tom had honestly not been expecting to win that, maybe it was because Kokashi had been expecting a fistfight rather than a grappling brawl. As he helped the dragonette to his feet, he gave him a pat on the back ¡°Sorry¡± it had sounded quite painful when Tom twisted the wing.


    ¡°Aowww¡± Kokashi had gone looking at Tom accusingly. Tom had just patted him on the back a bit more not quite sure what else to do. He was fairly certain the petting approach wouldn¡¯t be effective here.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    She had been curious how Tom would go about it having no claws in the first place. It seemed he simply got around the problem by not bothering to try, instead going for grappling his target to the ground. She glanced at Rachuck who was clearly taking mental notes, he didn¡¯t look too pleased but not surprised either. She had not been sure what to expect, they usually fought with claw and talon, you couldn¡¯t do that in a training fight but you still usually emulated the style, punching and kicking at your opponent.


    ¡°So how many rounds before you say you''re sorry?¡± Sapphire had shouted at them following the quick scuffle.


    ¡°Ohh I¡¯m not done with him yet, that fucking hurt!¡±


    The two combatants continued their brawl, it couldn''t really be called a fight, it only took seconds and they were back on the ground, where Tom''s higher weight and the fact he didn¡¯t have fragile handholds on his back gave him a considerable advantage. Kokashi did manage a win or two, mostly when he managed to outmaneuver Tom quickly and get him in a locked position from where he couldn¡¯t escape. His attempts to fight regularly most often ended with Tom grabbing hold of an arm and using it to force Kokashi to the ground. Kokashi then tried some kicks which ended when Tom managed to grab Kokashi¡¯s leg and hurled him at the fence surrounding the arena. To much discomfort of those watching, except Kiran, because of course, it was clear that in his eyes Tom could do no wrong


    ¡°Wooow.¡± The little dragonet exclaimed.


    ¡°No aowww! Are you kidding me!¡± Kokashi trying his best to get up onto all fours, coughing up a little blood.


    ¡°Kick hurt, Sharp¡± Tom just went as he walked over to help the dragonette up, pointing at his clawed feet. As Sapphire looked closer she could indeed see some of Tom¡¯s clothes had been ripped and there were bits of crimson in the sand.


    ¡°No claws, Kokashi¡± Sapphire had shouted out. ¡°Now say you¡¯re sorry and I, might! Tell Tom to let you go.¡±


    ¡°Oh you are just being the worst today.¡±


    ¡°Say it!¡±


    ¡°Hell no, it was funny!¡± Kokashi clearly needed additional convincing, luckily she had just the ting.


    ¡°Tom! Hammer next¡± She could see Kokashis face turn dour at the prospect.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tom smirked a little as he made his way over to the weapons rack. Sapphire was fairly sure he had caught on to what was going on by now.


    ¡°Yay, hammer time!¡± Little Kiran chirped up, clearly excited.


    Rachuck just smiled a bit shouting out. ¡°I say soldier, you are surprisingly committed to that joke. Sure this is wise?¡±


    ¡°Oh gods no, sorry Saph oh I¡¯m so very sorry! Please I want to walk tomorrow too¡± Kokashi sounded quite genuine, Sapphire thought, even fairly scared.


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    ¡°Okay then, Tom no hammer¡± Tom just stopped and nodded at Sapphire, then he went about inspecting his clothes.


    ¡°Broken¡± he concluded, ¡°Need fix.¡± Well she couldn''t argue with that, besides this would have to do for the day, he was already beaten bloody and Kokashi was even limping a bit. Perhaps a bit much for calling her fat she concluded, but they had learned a lot too.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The day following the impromptu hand-to-hand combat training Tom was even sorer, his entire body ached, Nunuk had seen to his cuts, they weren''t more than skin deep. Kokashi clearly hadn¡¯t intended to cut him, it was simply not really avoidable when kicking with a large taloned foot. Some of those things were the size of knives, Tom shuddered.


    He really needed an armor upgrade. his uniform was not meant to deal with that. He had gotten his hands on some pieces that seemed to fit earlier but he really needed something more covering. That night when the children went to sleep he got out the pen and paper, he had some tailoring to do


    He laid out his specifications, resistance to light cuts but he didn¡¯t want something too bulky, ideally, that would be cloth armor something like a gambeson, but the only cloth he had seen so far was a few robes, like the one Apuma and Nunuke used¡­ oh right, likely imported, they didn¡¯t have any sheep after all. Well fuck, and he was fairly sure he hadn¡¯t brought cotton. Why hadn¡¯t he, that would have been so useful? Too late now. They did have plenty of game leather though, and judging by the armor he had seen they had something thicker than deer too, or maybe that was laminate? He would have to find out.


    He would be cooping his greaves and look into getting his hands on something for his upper arms. we would need to incorporate his vest too. The ballistic plates were too good to leave out. He also needed his bandoliers of ammo, both his thigh holsters. The sword he had been given was in a belt scabbard, he needed to join that to his revolver ammo belt somehow. The helmet was a point too. His own was good but it needed face protection. The guards all had helmets that came down over their snout to defend from the front side and top, even if their chin was exposed.


    Some sort of metal face mask then, preferably something that he could flip down when he needed it. That would interfere with his helmet mount though, he had his regular goggles too, they were plexiglass and meant to take a beating. So maybe he could make do with just a lower face mask which he could strap on. Taking a hit to it would hurt like hell but it might save his ass.


    He spent the evening and most of the next morning working on his design, he had always liked drawing even if he wasn''t that good at it. The result looked weird though, almost like you had slapped some knight armor onto a marine. That wasn¡¯t entirely inaccurate but still. The next day he convinced Sapphire to take a look at his designs. She seemed very interested in asking questions and giving criticism. Then had come seemingly the big question. ¡°What color?¡±


    Tom had shrugged ¡°Green, Black?¡±


    His answer had not pleased her even if she had tried to hide the fact. Tom had heard them refer to the colors he wore before and it hadn¡¯t been positive. He really needed to know what the deal was with them and colors he thought.


    ¡°Why you white blue?¡± Sapphire pondered the question for a bit, most likely trying to find a way to articulate the answer for him.


    ¡°White is pure, Blue is me¡± Well that sort of made sense, they did bleed bright cobalt blue, where he was crimson red.


    ¡°What green mean?¡± He could guess, but hey might as well be sure.


    ¡°Deceit, poison¡± She had gone in response. Oh, he had guessed nature, right. Shit...


    ¡°What black mean?¡± He didn¡¯t have a brilliant feeling about this one, but hey you might get lucky


    ¡°Black is opposite white, Corruption, evil, impurity,¡± Oh dear, Tom thought. That explained a few things. He needed to be creative here, even if it was bullshit he really didn¡¯t want to be painted white and well, red he guessed? He would never be hiding anywhere again. Not to mention looking like a damnd British redcoat or something, fucking ridiculous.


    ¡°To me, green nature. To me black night, shadow¡± She seemed to ponder that for a minute


    ¡°You are of nature and shadow?¡± She didn¡¯t seem to quite get his answer, but hey she hadn¡¯t called him on his bullshit.


    ¡°No nature, shadow hide from enemy, else I die¡± She gave him a sideways glance, clearly not convinced.


    ¡°Not here you don¡¯t.¡± Well shit, she was sort of right but it would suck a lot to not be able to hide and sneak up on someone.


    ¡°I no fly, I no sword!¡± he protested he really didn¡¯t like the idea of being covered in white just to prove he was pure.


    ¡°You of keep, you will be pure.¡± well then he better revise his designs then...


    ¡°some white good? or all white?¡± he really hoped they wouldn¡¯t be making him throw all of his clothes in a tub of bleach or something. She seemed to ponder this for quite a while. Far too long for Tom¡¯s liking at least.


    ¡°Some will do, besides white difficult. Shiny good too¡± Ohh excellent he just needed to shine, fucking marvelous. Part soldier part disco ball. As he pondered what she had said. White was difficult but wasn¡¯t blue like one of the most expensive colors in old times, he could swear he had heard that somewhere.


    ¡°Sapphire, how make blue?¡±


    ¡°We are blue,¡± she said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.


    ¡°Don¡¯t understand, make blue leather?¡±


    ¡°Blood is blue, it¡¯s easy¡± She seemed far too okay with what she had just said, they were talking about being white good, and pure. Yet they were dyeing leather with their own blood!


    ¡°Wait. Blood!¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are blue¡± She clearly found this completely normal. Holy fuck they were wearing clothes stained in their own blood.


    ¡°Wait, this your blood?¡± Tom went pointing at some of her leather armor.


    ¡°White is pure, blue is me.'''' She had apparently seemed to grasp that Tom was more than a little disturbed and sounded a tad quizzical. That was so fucking metal! Wait, would they make him do that too? Could his blood even dye like that? He hadn¡¯t thought about the fact the color was so vibrant, it looked like it was made with a very strong dye. Bloodstains must be a pain here if it dyes like that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think my blood color good and when dry go brown¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    What did he mean his blood didn¡¯t color it was bright red?! But she did remember when he had bled in the arena, the blood had started going dark rather quickly. If true that would be a problem though, he couldn¡¯t wear anything of someone else. The whole point was that the armor was you. But having him turn up in dark brown wouldn¡¯t do either. People would think he was a slave or something worse. She would need to ask Nunuk or Apuma about this. If they had visitors, Tom would either need to be presentable or hidden, else he would likely have to keep his current colors and then explain it away.


    ¡°Will go ask later. Tom what blue and white mean¡± Tom seemed quite hesitant to answer that one looking away and mumbling something under his breath


    ¡°Tom. What mean?¡±


    ¡°Blue, ocean, sky. White, purity, and¡­ surrender.¡± Sapphire wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do with that, Surrender. really! Why did white have to be the color of the coward to Tom? Well, at least it seemed Tom didn¡¯t wear black to show he is evil, though she really hadn¡¯t been expecting as such. Still, this was gonna be a problem.

 Fashion Sense

    Chapter 23: Fashion Sense


    ¡°What do you mean white is surrender and peace?¡± Nunuk clearly finding the news quite troubling. Sapphire had gone to talk with her and Apuma in their room about the little problem she had been discussing with Tom.


    ¡°That is what it means to him, a white flag is their symbol of surrendering. Though they also see white as a symbol of purity. It sounds like their peacekeepers, whatever that is, use white too. So that is something at least.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s not like he believes wearing white shows you have surrendered.¡± Nunuk seemed to be relieved at that at least.


    "No, I don¡¯t think so besides he seems to grasp that here things are different here, he was more disturbed that we use blood to dye our leathers. He honestly seemed terrified for a moment when I told him. ¡±


    ¡°What, he finds blood repulsive why?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, to be honest. He didn¡¯t seem to be when treating wounds, or being treated for that matter¡±


    Nunuk let out a sigh ¡±He just keeps getting weirder. Okay then so what about his colors?¡±


    ¡°He claims green is Nature and black is night and shadow, he wears them so they will help him hide from his enemy¡±


    ¡°So he admits it is because of cowardice?¡± Nunuk didn¡¯t seem to buy that, tilting her head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it can be called cowardice if the alternative is certain death. They must just fight differently from us. He swore his clothes were his old military uniform too.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, but we can''t have him running around like this in case of visitors, there should be a trader coming by within a week or two.¡±


    ¡°What about formal robes?¡± Apuma added


    ¡°He is a guard, not a scholar.¡± Nunuk rejected ¡°you don¡¯t run around with a sword on your belt either¡±


    ¡°His own idea was to modify his existing stuff. I think his problem is with being seen, not any color in particular. White is just easy to spot on the ground¡± Sapphire could understand Tom¡¯s point of view and did her best to relay it.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just drape some proper clothes over him?¡± Apuma questioned, it would sort of work Sapphire guessed.


    ¡°Sure, that will have to do. Sapphire, make sure his armor ends up having at least something bright even if it is just blank steel, to be honest, I don''t want to spend the time and effort on making enameled armor for him if he doesn''t even want it. Maybe we can just convince any visitors he bleeds green, then we don¡¯t have to bother with his existing clothes, black is a problem though. Try and see if you can work something out with him.¡±


    ¡°We could just claim what he was saying, that it represents night. Maybe say he worships the moon or something."


    ¡°Sure that will do, we just need an excuse if it comes to it, we need him to like us anyway. Go along now, sounds like you have work to do.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Soo¡­ he was allowed to keep most of his kit, as long as he used some polished steel, that wasn''t too bad and they could just be quickly smeared if necessary. He needed the weight anyway to try and compensate for the gravity. He could already start to feel his legs beginning to atrophy, the fact he had been doing next to no activity prior to starting with the guard most likely didn¡¯t help. He should really start working out too, now he thought about it. And they hadn¡¯t made him dye the leather in blood after he convinced them the result would likely turn brown, which was nice.


    With that, the days had continued more or less as usual. With Tom spending the morning and evening working on his little design. He didn¡¯t know much about how to make armor or tailoring for that matter. So he had been consulting with Sapphire and Shiva to get some input, they both seemed confused that he wanted releasable weights on his armor. Sapphire relented after a while and Shiva just found it funny, clearly believing she was working with a crazy person.


    Shiva for her part had jumped on the armor plating idea, chain mail was clearly a lot more work than she wanted to put into this, and she had a sizable supply of stuff that nearly fitted. So both his arms would be covered from wrist to shoulder by individual plates with padded backing and fastened on with leather straps. Leaving out anything on his chest and modifying the pauldrons, to prevent interfering with shouldering his rifle. He would be making use of his vest at the same time to help with carrying stuff. He had gotten greaves, earlier and along with oversized metal knee pads and steel tipping of his boots that would constitute leg armor. This seemed to satisfy the whole purity thing at least for now. Though Sapphire had threatened to get him a white tabard and some white leather to make belts and the like. Anyway, those could be swapped out for actual battle without much effort and they didn¡¯t seem to have any at the moment.


    After he had presented his final design to Nunuk she seemed pleased enough and had approved it. Shiva had gotten right to it, mostly just modifying existing stuff she had lying around. Nunuk, Sapphire, and Esmeralda had gotten to the leatherwork right away as well. They even did it in black, apparently brown was repulsive, and blue not allowed. They seemed to have settled on selling his use of black as having something to do with the night and the moon? Sure he could roll with that. So all in all that had been easier than he had thought it would be. It would look quite dapper too he thought.


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    It had taken over a week to get everything done, but it was so worth it. As he stood admiring himself in the mirror in Nunuk¡¯s room. He thought he looked like a knight who had been introduced to the wonders of modern warfare, clad in steel plate, camo, and black leather. With the black lenses in his goggles and new faceplate on, he looked quite intimidating. He needed to draw something scary on that faceplate too, such was tradition. Even if hiding would be harder now, he could scare the shit out of people, of that he was sure. He had his two revolvers still in their thigh holsters, with the thigh now reinforced by thick black leather, his blunt training sword now hanging on his off side from his belt of 44 Magnum. His bandolier of 45-70 was draped over his left shoulder and the trusty rifle in his hands.


    He smiled to himself then turned to the others


    ¡°So, what next?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire had to admit with his face covered and those dark colors. Tom in his new armor looked like something you didn¡¯t want to meet alone in the night. It didn''t help that she knew what those revolvers could do. Nevertheless, he was sufficiently presentable, he was a guard, after all, they just wore polished metal to indicate they were pure of heart. The White enameled armor she wore when out on the hunt, was not really suited to the constant sparring the guards indulged in to keep sharp. The coating would just crack and splinter. For sparring training, the huntresses would use some of the same training armor Tom had been given initially.


    The detachable weight was a weird addition though. Tom had claimed he was heavier back home. Sapphire couldn¡¯t quite understand what he meant by that, but lead was cheap so sure, why not?


    He had also started doing what he called exercising, it seemed like training but not for something specific. He would just lift heavy things, do what he called pushups, and other weird motions often with additional weight on him, and run around a lot. That had caught the attention of some of the guards. They had thought he was fleeing from something at first and rang the alarm bell. After that, everybody had been informed that seeing Tom running towards the keep didn¡¯t mean something was wrong or chasing him.


    He claimed it was to get stronger, which sort of made sense. Hard labor made strong people, but why waste the effort on doing something not worth doing in the first place? In the end, she elected to just leave the lunatic be, he was confusing enough already. Besides they were expecting the year''s first trader coming through any day now, so they had plenty to do. Tom¡¯s armor had been given top priority so he could be somewhat presentable, but apart from that, they had been working hard to get what few leathers and other things they had ready for trading.


    With Tom around and her injured, they hadn¡¯t gotten nearly as much done as they would have hoped but such was life. Besides, by the sounds of things they could expect some changes on that front fairly soon. Tom¡¯s little sugar experiment looked set to change that on its own in fact.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After Tom had received his new armor, Rachuck had apparently decided he was fit for guard duty. Even if Tom was fairly sure that was just because it meant less for them to do. His training clearly wasn¡¯t complete. They had given him an actual sharp sword though, and a fairly nice one too. It wasn¡¯t gem-encrusted or anything like that, but it had a nice hilt of what seemed like ivory and it was very well polished. He could even see his reflection in the blade, very sharp too. He wondered if swords were kind of like a traditional armament, they had other weapons in the armory, but didn¡¯t seem to carry them? He would need to ask at some point. Having one was awesome though, so maybe that was why?


    They had given him alternating morning and evening shifts, which kind of sucked. At least he had been spared from night duty on account of his ongoing classes. Still, it was a lot of time wasted just staring out into the nothingness. They had warned him a trader was apparently due to arrive any day now. He didn¡¯t really know what to expect from that. Sapphire had then gone into how he should behave around it/them, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure. Apparently, Tom was a traveler from a distant land, who had come here to honor an ancient debt by a lord Joakim hence why he was so weird and dressed strangely. Tom got to pick the name much to his amusement. He worshiped nature and the moon rather than any gods. and wore appropriate colors for that worship


    When he had asked what the trader looked like she had just beaten her wings a bit and made a gesture indicating something large so he guessed a massive flying creature of some kind? That would make sense if they were trading between islands, and they certainly didn¡¯t have any roads leading out of the keep.


    The prospect of seeing whatever that thing was, was exciting at least, even if it wasn¡¯t much comfort as he was sitting on top of one of the towers late one evening. It was pouring rain and the wind was howling, he had gotten a nice thick pelt to help keep warm. The sun was about to set and with the thick cloud cover and rain, it was almost dark out. The wind was picking up and it was starting to get uncomfortable. It looked like it was going to be a very stormy night. He had donned his old Russian NVG¡¯s just in case, even if he wouldn¡¯t turn them on unless necessary.


    As he sat contemplating just how miserable this was, he heard a gut-wrenching roaring screech out in the dark. He quickly sprang to his feet, looking out into the semi-darkness.


    ¡°What the fuck was that!¡± he exclaimed to himself, he had been told to wave a torch or something about if the trader came when it was getting dark. Was that the trader he had heard? Why would they be out in such weather, did they just not care?


    He elected to start ringing the bell, hoping somebody who knew what on earth, wait what was this place called? Screw it Tom thought. Somebody better get up here and tell him what was going on and what he was supposed to do about it. As he rang a lightning strike hit something out near the horizon and he swore he saw the silhouette of something truly massive, at least if he had estimated range correctly. His heart sank a little it fits the description but Jesus fuck he didn¡¯t want to be wrong! Luckily it didn¡¯t take long before Jackalope stuck her head up the trapdoor.


    ¡°What is it?¡± She seemed winded likely having run up the stairs.


    ¡°Big fly thing, roar. Don¡¯t know¡±


    ¡°I heard the roar! What is it?¡± She seemed a bit confused, which probably wasn¡¯t a good sign if she hadn¡¯t recognized the roar.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know!¡± He really didn¡¯t know what the heck he was supposed to do, so he was relieved when she climbed up to join him looking out. Even if she clearly couldn¡¯t see any more than he could. Then the roar sounded again, Tom squinted, that sounded familiar he thought.


    ¡°Help!¡± Jackalope went. Oh shit! That was what it was! Tom hadn¡¯t recognized the sound, it was fucking draconic! But it was so far away the sound was all distorted, or maybe the creature was just speaking differently. No matter, it was apparently a friend and in need of help. That was better than a flying death monster coming to kill them all.


    ¡°Help How?!¡± He half-shouted through the howling wind at Jackalope.

 Air Rescue

    Chapter 24: Air Rescue


    As Jackalope pondered the question of just what they should do, Rachuck stuck his head up the trap door.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Trader in distress!¡± Jackalope had answered, Tom really had no fucking clue what one should do in this situation. He had his flashlight with him so he turned to the two others


    ¡°Lights yes, no?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Rachuck had answered quickly. Tom turned on the flashlight pointing it at where he had seen the shadow. It didn¡¯t do anything except light up the pouring rain, but surely they could see it even in this weather.


    ¡°Goods, that shines bright¡± Rachuck had gone after looking a bit curiously at the light source ¡°I¡¯ll go get the others ready¡± and with that, he went back down the trap door.


    ¡°Why out in storm?¡± Tom had asked Jackalope,


    ¡°I Don¡¯t know, surprised by it maybe?¡± She said with a shrug, even if Tom was fairly sure that was a false calm in her voice. The roar came again, it sounded completely alien he thought, closer now too. He looked to Jackalope who seemed to peer out into the dark intently as if trying to see.


    ¡°What mean?¡± Tom had tried


    ¡°He in pain¡± She had just gone, he guessed that was not the actual meaning, more like it was roaring in pain. That wasn¡¯t good, his heart sinking a little more. What if the thing he had seen was fighting the trader? Or what if there was something even larger out there fighting what he had seen?


    the two of them stood there peering out into the dark until Kokashi stuck his head up.


    ¡°What is going on?!¡± The guard was clearly startled having heard the roars


    ¡°The trader is hurt, we¡¯ll go meet the others in the greeting hall and go help this guy. Tom give him your light!¡± Jackalope was clearly taking command of this situation, apparently not content to stay here. Tom wasn¡¯t sure if that was good or not but he wasn¡¯t gonna start arguing. He handed over his flashlight and showed Kokashi how it worked. Then Jackalope grabbed him and hauled him over the side. Without warning him they would be taking the quick way down.


    That was quite the experience. As she clutched him in her arms and rolled backwards over the edge like a diver. Falling for a bit before folding out her wings, he let out a surprised scream, she didn¡¯t seem to care though. The wind did its best to try and take her and they did get dangerously close to the wall, but she did at least seem to know what she was doing. they came around to land on the big platform, the door had been opened. Most of the others were scattered around getting their equipment ready.


    ¡°We need to go now, they are fighting something!¡± She shouted out coming into land.


    ¡°We heard, we are leaving. Get in line¡± Dakota shouted back


    ¡°Should we bring Tom?¡± Jackalope questioned


    ¡°Can you carry him in this weather?¡±


    ¡°You know a little weight helps in storms¡± Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure he wanted to volunteer for this, but it didn¡¯t look like he was getting much choice in the matter.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t little but sure. You can drop him on the trader he can fight from there. Don''t try and fight with him on your back. Now let¡¯s get moving already!¡± She went around inspecting that everyone was fit for a fight and instructing them where to go.


    With that, the Huntresses set off into the night along with Rachuck, Balethon, Anchor, and Herron. Unkai and Kokashi being left behind to hold the keep. Tom quickly got rid of the extra weights and got a piggyback on Jackalope. She ran off the edge folding out her wings to pull out of the resulting dive. That was one hell of a feeling just jumping out into the black unknown on someone else''s back.


    He had gotten his old NVG¡¯s turned on now, they would restrict his vision but he couldn¡¯t see shit without them in these conditions. He wondered if the dragonettes could or if they were just planning on following the sound?


    As they flew on into the grey night, being pounded by the cold rain and being thrown around by the gusting winds, he wondered just how long Jackalope could keep this up in such weather. They were flying hard, not the leisurely cruising from last he had been up here and she was clearly groaning with effort already trying to keep up with the others.


    The roaring continued growing ever more desperate sounding and more frequent, but also closer. The odd lighting strike lighting up the sky. It damned near burned Tom''s eyes out when that happened. Then his goggles started to make out shapes ahead, there was one massive one, and many smaller ones darting around it. He shouted at Jackalope.


    ¡°Target slight right and up¡±, she seemed to acknowledge turning slightly. ¡°Target dead ahead¡± He confirmed


    ¡°Tom can see them!¡± She shouted out to the others. ¡°Form up around me!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any protesting as the orders were passed on, every one forming up in a wedge formation with Jackalope in the center.


    ¡°How many?¡± Jackalope tried asking. It was almost impossible to make out, the range was maybe a kilometer and closing fast, it almost looked like a dogfight around the big creature, with flyers weaving around each other.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Many, maybe 10 to 20¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± was all he got in return Before she repeated it to the others.


    As the range closed, the wind howling in Tom¡¯s ears, it became clear the smaller flyers were also fighting each other, maybe an escort or something for the big one. Speaking of the big one it was the size of a flying school bus, and the wingspan looked to be around 30 meters! it was fucking huge Tom thought.


    ¡°Small ones fighting. Who friendly?!¡± Tom shouted at Jackalope. Before he got his answer Esmeralda roared out, her voice far louder than he thought possible? It almost seemed to echo through the storm.


    ¡°Fight or flee, it matters not, you lose tonight!¡± This seemed to get a response from the smaller flyers, some breaking off and turning to intercept the new enemy. Giving out weird screeching screams as they came, they sounded like banshees or something. Tom could swear he also heard cheering so that was something at least. Those screams were damned creepy sounding though.


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    As the formations collided Tom could see they were dragonettes too. Armed and armored at that. Jackalope dived out of the way of one coming straight for them. Grunting out in effort as she worked to regain the lost altitude.


    ¡°Hang on buddy, I¡¯ll drop you off.¡± Tom didn¡¯t like the sound of that but it was clear that she would stand little chance in a dogfight with his fat ass onboard. She pulled out of her dive going straight for the giant creature. Tom heard screeching coming from behind them, he strained his neck trying to get a look.


    ¡°One following¡± he shouted out, Jackalope swinging her head around to look. That long neck sure was useful for this kind of thing, Tom thought.


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡± It came from Jackalope, Tom didn¡¯t like the sound of that either. What to do? she couldn¡¯t outrun or outmaneuver it. So it would need to be removed.


    ¡°I try hit!¡± he finally went, having considered as Jackalope began trying her best to shake the pursuer, trying to crawl around on someone''s back, going motorway speeds on a roller coaster track at night, in a storm was probably the stupidest and most exciting thing Tom had ever tried. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was just scared to the point he couldn''t register it, but for the most part, he found it thrilling.


    ¡°What are you doing, stay still!¡± Jackalope demanded, clearly struggling with the shifting weight.


    ¡°Sorry, need to turn around.¡± It was a damn awkward process but he managed it without falling to his death, so all good in his book.


    Still laying down on Jackalope''s back, he pulled his revolver and began firing at the bastard chasing. The hard maneuvering made it damn near impossible and his target wasn¡¯t exactly cooperating either. After four misses with the target getting closer and closer. Getting to within a few meters, the fifth shot finally hit. There was an ear-piercing screech, and the pursuer fell back into the darkness from whence it came.


    ¡°Got it!¡± Tom shouted triumphantly.


    ¡°Thank the gods, now get back round now!¡± Jackalope demanded, Tom could feel she was losing altitude, with too much weight too far back. He quickly made it back into place, now that she wasn''t pulling quite as insane maneuvers.


    She was breathing heavily, the chase had clearly taken its toll on her and his little stunt hadn¡¯t helped.


    ¡°I need you off¡± She was beating hard trying to climb back up to the battle now above them. She came up below the massive creature. It was definitely reptilian in nature, but Tom didn¡¯t have the time for detailed analysis, there was something that looked like heavy netting running along the belly of the beast. Jackalope came around to match speed. He holstered his gun and grabbed hold.


    ¡°Good luck soldier¡± She shouted up at him as he started pulling himself up.


    ¡°Good hunting!¡± he went, as she dropped away beneath him, he was damn glad he had started doing pull-ups right now. He started climbing across the creature''s belly hanging from his arms.


    As he dangled there he heard the massive creature roared out, ¡°One¡¯s on my belly get it off.¡± The entire thing seemed to vibrate and his hands felt like he was riding a dirt bike going flat out.


    ¡°NO NO! friend friend!¡± Tom desperately tried shouting out in his most convincing draconic. While attempting to clamber up the side of the beast. As Tom looked up he saw a face looking back, clearly, a dragonette. Even if the goggles it wore and generally terrible weather made it a bit difficult to distinguish. It was wearing a thick coat too rather than armor.


    ¡°What the hell are you supposed to be¡± The Dragonette seemed either repulsed or scared. Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure. Granted Tom did look like the bogey man at the moment.


    ¡°Tom, here to help¡± He tried shouting out.


    ¡°My gods, you are ugly¡± The dragonette responded.


    ¡°Hey, not nice.¡± Tom clambered up the side of the beast, and the dragonette held out a hand to help him up.


    ¡°Sorry, Vulzan glad to have you, welcome aboard.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye captain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no captain?¡±


    ¡°Oh, never mind. Who kill?¡±


    ¡°Anyone dark you dingus. Wait, are you dark?¡± the dragonette stepped back putting a hand on a short sword at his side.


    ¡°Oh right. No, not underneath, just like hiding¡± Tom lifted up his goggles pointing to his exposed face, he couldn''t see color with those on after all. The dragonette before him was white like the ones he knew.


    Vulzan seemed to relax taking the hand of his sword. ¡°Right then, keep my back clear will you?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing¡± As Tom sat down into a crouch on the giant beast''s back, he looked around. Finally having a moment to think. Giant reptile, flying along... He was on a fucking dragon! ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± he exclaimed.


    ¡°What is wrong with you! This isn¡¯t funny¡± came the reply from Vulzan. Right, whoops... ¡°Arc! I think our passenger is crazy and he looks very weird!¡± There was definite worry in his voice.


    ¡°Worry about it later, we need all the help we can get!¡± came the response bellowing out from the dragon. It sounded like he was standing on the most powerful base he had ever heard, the whole creature vibrated. Damn, that was some voice.


    Tom began scanning around for targets, drawing his other revolver, The rifle wouldn''t be best served here he thought, he could barely make out the dragons wingtips in the darkness.


    After a moment Fengi came flying up over the dragon''s back from behind with a strange dark looking dragonette in tow.


    ¡°Heads up¡± She went, passing him in a blur.


    It looked as if one of the dragonettes had taken a bath in some ashes or something. Tom raised his revolver and snap fired at the thing, and it screeched in pain as the round took it in the gut. Not a killing blow, Tom thought but it was out of the fight for sure.


    ¡°What the hell was that¡± Vulza shouted at Tom.


    ¡°My boomstick¡± he just replied grinning. He was so glad he had practiced that line in draconic.


    ¡°Well Arc, at least he is as dangerous as he is ugly¡± Vulza shouted at the dragon. Who just responded with a groan. As Tom looked around he could see why. There were deep gashes and arrows sticking out of the poor creature all over. They had clearly been at this for some time.


    That is when another dark one had swooped down from above and fired an arrow at Tom¡¯s back, He felt the clink of it hitting the backplate in his vest and shattering. Thank god that thing was finally useful. As he turned to shoot the bastard that had the audacity to shoot him, it was already gone.


    He glanced around for a moment before turning back, only to be faced with another one diving in. Spear braced and ready for impact. He just managed to dodge enough for the spear to graze past his ribs, drawing blood, he winced in pain. The impact of the dragonette slamming into him forced him over backward, landing on his back. The dark one then opened its mouth trying to snap at his throat, Tom managed to work a knee up under the bastard holding it at bay with his left elbow against its throat.


    Both its clawed hands sank down into his shoulders trying to pull itself down to land a bite. It was like a wild animal almost as it just kept snapping with its mouth. It hurt like hell but he still had a hand free, and it just so happened to have a revolver in it. He put the gun against the creature''s chest pulling the trigger twice, pulping the dragonette''s insides. As it slumped over him dead as a rock, Vulzan came rushing over helping Tom get the thing off him.


    ¡°You okay there!¡± The dragonet seemed concerned, if quite scared.


    "Fine, fine¡± Tom wasn¡¯t really fine, that near-miss hurt a lot, and those claws had done a number on both his shoulders. Then the dragons spoke up again in its deep rumbling voice.


    ¡°Hang on¡± Tom didn¡¯t ask any questions and hunkered down, grabbing some of the leather harnessings.


    The massive dragon dove down, dropping a few meters. Tom hung on for dear life, while Vulzan seemed unfazed still standing just holding on to a strap. Then he heard a scream followed by a crunching sound and silence.


    The dragon rumbled seeming quite pleased with itself ¡°Scratch another one.¡±


    That sounded like a fairly horrible way to go. Tom thought to himself guessing the dragon had managed to make use of one of those massive clawed legs.


    ¡°Scratch one more¡± Vulzan echoed, sounding a little too cheerful, to Tom¡¯s ears.


    Then there was another screech of pain as they both looked up, another of the dark ones came plummeting past, its wing broken. Tom heard Dakota laughing somewhere above. Followed by Esmeralda¡¯s loud roaring voice ¡°You better run now, we¡¯ve got you outnumbered.¡±


    Tom wondered if that was a ruse, or perhaps they really did. They had killed a minimum of five so far. There were some really creepy screaming sounds coming from around him, as he put his goggles back on, peering through the pouring rain. He spotted some flyers turning to disengage. He sighed a sigh of relief and turned to face Vulzan again, holstering his revolver. He had so many questions about what was going on, was he really on a dragon, could it spew fire. Oh, so many things to ask.


    As he turned at the dragonette opening his mouth to start speaking. The guy had a horrified expression on his face? Tom began to tilt his head as he noticed the dragonette razing his hand to point behind him?


    Then he felt a pair of talons dig into his shoulders again. Ohhhh, not again...

 Not Again

    Chapter 25: Not Again


    As Tom went flying he thought to himself, he really needed to work on situational awareness. There might be a storm raging, and the wind howling to the point of making him half-deaf, but three times in as many minutes was too often to be surprised from behind. His assailant was yet another dark-colored dragonette, it seemingly didn¡¯t care for carrying him off though. Instead, it just threw him clear of the dragon as it made its way out of combat. Really! it didn¡¯t even bother with a monologue he was just chucked into the dark.


    So now he was falling through the sky flailing his arms around screaming like a little girl. He had come here to feel alive again, on that front he had to give the mysterious voice credit, mission fucking successful. He had no clue how high he was nor which way was up or down. He was spinning wildly though, that much he could figure out.


    He had been parachuting before, so he stretched his arms and legs out and backward to stabilize his fall, that did the trick and he leveled out. He couldn¡¯t see the ground but then again he probably wouldn¡¯t until right before he hit. He wondered just how high he had been and if anyone would be able to catch him. Why didn¡¯t he bring his parachute, even if the arrow to the back would have fucked it up anyway, that was still stupid. This was the second time he had needed it. This whole situation was stupid. As he plummeted, swearing at himself, he heard a hasty wingbeat trailing after him.


    As Dakota grabbed hold of him, she did not seem pleased.


    ¡°Could you at least try and watch you back.¡± Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure how to respond to that, he had not volunteered for any of this, and had generally no clue what was going on. So he really didn¡¯t think she was being fair, even if he had fuckedup considerably this time.


    As she began pulling up, Tom started having flashbacks to the last time this happened, only this time he couldn¡¯t see because of all the rain hitting his face and he didn¡¯t have his regular goggles on account of the Nightvision set dangling from his helmet. He did think he saw something shiny though, and the exclamation of ¡°Ohh!¡± from Dakota kinda resigned him to his fate. This was gonna suck a lot.


    That is when his legs hit the water of the small lake, lady luck had so generously placed beneath him. Dakota let go and curled into a ball, skimming on the surface a few times before coming to rest. He face-planted into the water like a newbie on waterskis. The entry hadn¡¯t been graceful but it wasn¡¯t terminal velocity either. That was something at least, as he trod water, feeling sore all over. He checked his stuff and to his amazement, it seemed he had everything, even his rifle was still swung over his back.


    It felt weird swimming in lower gravity, buoyancy was reduced accordingly but his strokes could propel him further out the water, it sort of compensated for all the stuff he was wearing, even if he was beginning to doubt his decision to go with plate for the arms.


    As he pondered the physics of the situation, he heard the gurgling screaming coming from Dakota. She was thrashing around in the water. maybe she had broken something on impact? Tom began to swim over as fast as he could manage in his ungainly equipment. As he came closer he could hear Dakota beginning to cough water, she was clearly not doing well, could she not swim?


    He finally made it over to find her with her head under and in a state of panic, if she couldn¡¯t swim he really couldn¡¯t blame her for panicking, it was dark, stormy, and pouring with rain. Plus she had just fallen out of the sky, literally. Tom knew drowning people were dangerous, a panicked individual could easily end up killing their rescuer as well. He knew from his swimming lessons when he was little, that he needed to get a hold around her arms and chest from behind. That way she couldn¡¯t grab him in turn. Seeing which way she was pointing was a bit of a challenge though in the near-zero visibility conditions. As he saw her shoot up to the surface again, water pouring from her mouth, arms flailing and wings trying to beat. He decided he better do something even if it was stupid.


    He grabbed her by one of the flailing arms, pulling her in. She didn¡¯t seem to understand what was going on and tried to grab a hold of him to push herself up. Tom grabbed her offside shoulder and yanked as hard as he could, ripping himself free of her grip. He wrapped his arms around her as she struggled and tried to scream, nothing but water and gasping sounds came out though.


    Tom thought she must be fucking terrified as he kicked hard to keep them both above water. Now he was stuck with a half-drowned dragonette in steel armor, carrying irreplaceable weapons, in the middle of a lake, at night, in a storm And he had no clue where the shore was. The rain and wind did give a direction. He angled so the wind would help push them along, hopefully in the right direction.


    ¡°Now, now, it''s all gonna be fine, my turn to savior, you make it, all is fine¡± Tom tried his best to sound calm and reassuring. Despite his own heart rate being through the roof, and his body feeling like he had been beaten up in a back alley.


    Dakota continued coughing and heaving for air, apparently not quite done yet. That was good at least, she also seemed to stop struggling, instead just focusing on trying to breathe now he was keeping her head above water.


    As he swam he heard Fengi flying overhead calling out


    ¡°Where are you! Dakota!! Tom!!!¡± She sounded terrified, on the verge of tears Tom thought


    ¡°Down here, both here¡± He shouted back up


    ¡°Tom!¡± came the reply, sounding like she was ready to charge down and hug him.


    ¡°Where, land?¡± Tom had no idea where he was going just trying to use the wind as a guide.


    ¡°Over here follow me¡± She replied, ¡°We need to get you out quickly!¡± That didn¡¯t sound good, was there something nasty down here. Tom really didn¡¯t need to have a lake monster to deal with on top of all this.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Going¡± Tom replied, trying to get what little speed he could, kicking towards the shore.


    ¡°Hurry you are gonna freeze¡± Fengi shouted down sounding a little panicked again. Wait, was that it? Cold water and they had been flying in the cold rain and wind. As he turned his attention back to Dakota, her breathing was slowing down if only a little. He hadn¡¯t noticed trying to get to shore. And her lungs were already half full of water, this was really not good.


    As Tom redoubled his efforts Esmeralda and Rachuck came down following the shouting.


    ¡°We need to get her out of there¡± Rachuck demanded seeing the situation¡±


    ¡°But how we can¡¯t just lift them up¡± Fengi protested


    ¡°Just grab Dakota, she''ll freeze to death¡± Tom shouted up demanding. It was cold down here, but he would be fine for a while, it was spring after all.


    ¡°But Tom¡± Fengi tried getting cut off


    ¡°For Christ sake get her out, I¡¯m fine¡± Tom shouted up


    ¡°We need a run-up, Tom!¡± Esmeralda clarified, ¡°we can¡¯t hover¡±. Well, that was just marvelous, Tom thought. This damned weather probably didn¡¯t help either.


    ¡°Right then, old fashioned way, get blankets and fire onshore¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Came the reply from Esmeralda


    ¡°How far to shore Fengi¡±


    ¡°A few hundred meters or so,¡± Fengi shouted back down. Tom¡¯s heart sank, that would take forever swimming at this speed! Dakota had been in just a few and was already beginning to show signs of shutting down.


    Most of the coughing had stopped no she was just wheezing for breath, lungs clearly flooded


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die here¡± She sounded terrified and clearly crying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, all fine¡± Damn he wished he was better at this godforsaken language right now. Dakota just started crying and coughing, trying to draw breaths.


    ¡°Not like this. Not like this please!¡± she was trying to shout but simply didn¡¯t have the air for it.


    ¡°We need something that can float, Rachuck! Now!¡± Tom shouted up more of the others had shown up circling watching helplessly. Rachuck began ordering people about trying to get something together.


    ¡°You fine, no problem, all is fine¡± Tom tried his best to calm the dragonette, he wouldn¡¯t let himself lie again he continued swimming for the shore. He needed to get her out of the water.


    The massive dragon had come swooping down over them bellowing out in its booming voice


    ¡°Where are they? I can¡¯t see them.¡±


    ¡°Do you have something that floats? If so throw it in!¡± Tom shouted up not sure if the beast could hear him


    Rachuck was quick to seize that idea though. Heading after the massive beast. As they came around again they dropped a big wooden crate into the water which seemed to float.


    Right, time for the Jack and Rose maneuver, Tom thought to himself. Swimming slowly over to the crate.


    ¡°Dakota, Need your help, get on box¡± Tom Crossed his fingers Dakota was still conscious enough to understand what his pidgin draconic meant. As he tried to push her onto the big crate. She grabbed on trying to pull herself up but the crate just rolled over.


    ¡°Hold on box!¡± Tom tried sounding as stern as he could muster, he was honestly starting to panic too right about now.


    Dakota just sobbed in reply and leaned her head against the box. She grabbed on to some rope serving as a handle on the box. Tom swam to the other side letting her hang on by herself and dived. He then swam up as hard as he could, breaking the surface and grabbing onto the crate, pulling it down with him, trying to roll it.


    ¡°Come on din fucking lorte kasse rul!¡± shouted out as he pulled down for all he was worth, He was exhausted too by now. It hadn¡¯t exactly been a quiet night. As he heaved the crate finally rolled over, as his head went under all he felt was a relief. That stupid idea had actually worked. Now he just needed to push the box to shore. As he came up he saw Dakota lying in the water having let go of the rope.


    "Nej du kan lige v?ge p? at d? p? mig! Jeg lyver ikke igen!" He continued. He dived again going deeper this time, he swam hard for the surface and shot up onto the crate grabbing hold of Dakota''s arms, he dragged her now unmoving body onto the side of the crate holding her by the wrists. He yanked her up using his own weight to try and counterbalance. As he leaned back over the edge of the crate it began to roll, bringing Dakota out of the water.


    As he went back into the freezing water, he let out a cheer of celebration, he fucking did it. Then he just sat there in the water, he was utterly exhausted and still far from the shore. He at least had a crate to hang onto now. He could just swim for the shore. He could hear the others shouting from above, but he couldn¡¯t make it out. There was still coughing and wheezing sound coming from Dakota. He just followed the sound of Fengi too tired to think about anything else right now.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he swam, but for it seemed like forever. Just keep on kicking he thought to himself, you don¡¯t lose till you give up. Just keep on kicking. Just keep on kicking. Hey, he had turned into Dory, Just keep on swimming, just keep on swimming. He let out a little chuckle at the absurdity of that. Was he finally starting to lose it completely, how could he find this funny!?


    But he kept kicking, if Dory was gonna save the day so be it, just keep kicking. When he finally felt someone grab onto the crate and start pulling, he was too exhausted to do anything more than just hang on as he was pulled along.


    He felt the mud beneath him as he was dragged out of the water and laid on the grass next to the shore. Herron standing over him looking down at him.


    ¡°I fight to win¡± Was all he got out before he passed out smiling as he did so, shivering as if his life depended on it. Which it might actually.


    He came to a bit later, lying next to a fire wrapped in a blanket, he was still on the ground though. His teeth were chattering like a madman and he could feel his jaw hurting from the effort. He was outside still but it was dry here? As he looked up he saw a massive wing stretching over him, He could hear the rain drumming on the membrane.


    ¡°Huh, neat¡± He let out, turning to look around. He saw Dakota also lying next to the fire wrapped in blankets, Nunuk currently sitting over her, concentrating it seemed.


    Tom tried sitting up to get a look around. As he got up he was tackled by Rachuck.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you.¡± He blurted out seeming very upset as he hugged Tom. Tom concluded it was crying season, for he could swear the captain was sobbing too.


    ¡°For what?¡± Tom had retorted trying to sound snarky, while chittering, trying his best to smile at Rachuck


    ¡°Oh, you crazy bastard you know for what.¡± Rachuck said, pulling back, giving Tom a bump on the shoulder.


    ¡°Returning the favor, still one down.¡± Tom said, trying to chuckle ¡° rather not do again though. How she?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s too close to call, I don¡¯t know¡± Nunuke spoke up ¡°I must say it is damn lucky you are apparently part fish too.¡± She sounded quite serious


    ¡°What are her chances?¡± Tom asked tentatively.


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t know.¡± Nunuk retorted, going back to her still lifeless daughter.


    Rachuck broke the following awkward silence¡°How about you, you okay? I have never seen somebody be in the water that long, not at this time of year anyway¡± Rachuck glanced at Tom, peering out from his bundle of furs and blankets.


    ¡°Yeah, I be good. Just little cold."


    ¡°Understandable¡± Rachuck went with a chuckle, whipping away the tears.


    ¡°You think she live?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she is tougher than me that¡¯s for sure. The others are outside, we wanted to give you a little peace and quiet. Come out when you have warmed up again.¡± With that Rachuck walked out under the wing leaving the three alone.

 Old Memories

    Chapter 26: Old Memories


    Nunuk broke the silence ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should thank you or scolded you¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t blame,¡± Tom said, teeth still chittering, looking down ¡°That second time now your daughter at that.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, but she chose to save your sorry ass and when she needed you in return. You didn¡¯t let her down, at least I hope not. That was very honorable, there might be hope for you yet. Judging by the state you were in when we dragged you out it wasn¡¯t easy either. Even if you are part fish¡±


    ¡°Well, I no fish¡± Tom said, chuckling a bit. Then going dour ¡°Thank you¡±


    ¡°I would appreciate it if you stop trying to kill my huntresses though¡± He couldn¡¯t argue with that.


    ¡°I try. Promise¡± As Nunuk laid down her head on her lifeless daughter, Tom couldn¡¯t help but feel like this wasn¡¯t going to be a happy ending after all. It was almost like she was in a coma and she hadn¡¯t returned to consciousness with heat. She may end up stuck like this, that was not acceptable, even if she lived. What she needed was a boost, a jump start if you like. Perking up he went. ¡°I got idea!¡± and stormed out into the rain as well as he could, wrapped up in furs and blankets.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The news hadn¡¯t been good, when Esmeralda had returned alone she told the others to get blankets, furs, and things for a fire. Apparently, Dakota and Tom had fallen in the big lake to the north. The water was ice cold and the lake was deep.


    Sapphire had begged Shiva to take her, as everyone scrambled to find the necessary things. She eventually relented, carrying Sapphire to the makeshift camp set up under Archeon''s wings. The venerable old dragon, owing them quite a bit after that rescue. Sapphire had arrived just in time to watch Tom approach the shore pushing Dakota on a crate. The others had waded out into the icy water to help him out. They ended up dragging him out of the water along with the crate he had managed to get Dakota onto. Whereupon he fell asleep on the grass almost immediately.


    Nunuk insisted he would be fine, he just needed to warm up she thought. So they had stripped him of the wet clothes and wrapped him in furs and blankets and placed him beside the fire.


    Dakota was in far worse shape, she was barely breathing and only Nunuk managed to even find her heartbeat. Her lungs were full of water, which they needed to get out somehow. They had resorted to holding her in the air, head downwards. The sheer amount of water that came out staggered Sapphire. She wouldn¡¯t have considered what she saw possible to survive. But then again there was every chance it wasn¡¯t


    They had then wrapped her up too, along with some hot stones from the fire, trying to get her back up to temperature. After that Nunuk had ordered them to leave her alone, only Rachuck and Anchor had been allowed to stay. It was clear the old lady didn¡¯t know if her daughter would make it through the night.


    As they sat waiting Tom had come hopping out, still wrapped up in the furs and blankets, teeth clattering wildly, but he looked excited. Was this good news? Then he demanded a stick and began drawing on the ground.


    it was a weird symbol, just across on a circle? Wait, she had seen that before, on his little bag with healing supplies.


    ¡°Big one go get now!¡± He demanded. Esmeralda, Fengi, and Jackalope were back on the wing before he finished the sentence, having figured out what he was after. The stuff he had given Sapphire was potent, maybe it could even bring back someone from the brink of death. Sapphire allowed herself to feel a little hopeful again.


    The round trip only took about 10 minutes. The others returning with everything they could find with that symbol on it, from Tom''s little pile of stuff. In the meantime Tom had managed to re-wrap his little cocoon, so he could sort of walk. He looked like an idiot but he didn¡¯t seem to care whatsoever.


    Tom began going through stuff till he found a little glass bottle with what looked like a yellowish liquid in it? And a small glass tube with a piece of metal at the end?


    ¡°Bingo¡± he exclaimed, clearly excited, almost giggling in fact.


    He then rushed back to Dakota, the others following behind, eager to see what the crazy human was gonna try next. Nunuk wasn¡¯t pleased by the disturbance but relented to the excited Tom.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom kneeled down next to Dakota opposite of Nunuk, Showing the old lady the syringe he had gotten, along with the small vial of adrenaline he had. He had kept this stuff for ages since his time in the army and replenished every now and again. Or perhaps a little more often than that, but you never knew when it would come in handy. It could brighten those dull nights too, even if it had been quite a while since he had last needed that.


    ¡°Adrenaline, it help¡± Tom tried, Nunuke seemed more than a little skeptical.


    ¡°What does it do?¡±


    ¡°Give boost¡± Tom knew that wasn¡¯t the best explanation. Nunuk looked down at her daughter, still only barely breathing and not responsive. Clearly concerned.


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    ¡°Low dosage¡± Nunuke agreed, Tom agreed on that. Following Kiran and Sapphire¡¯s experiences with the stuff he had brought, he would start with a quarter dose. He just crossed his fingers this wouldn¡¯t instantly kill her. From his fights with the guard, it did seem they produced adrenaline, fingers crossed it worked the same way.


    ¡°Quarter¡±, Tom said nodding. He drew out the adrenaline and stabbed Dakota in the thigh.


    Nunuk seemed very surprised but the quick motion prevented her from stopping him ¡°what did you do?¡± She exclaimed clearly distraught.


    ¡°Injection¡± Tom went, he was really hoping this wouldn¡¯t kill her or there would be hell to pay.


    Tom then began to pump on Dakota¡¯s chest, he needed to get the blood flowing. Nunuk cried out ¡°what are you doing? Stop!¡±


    ¡°Pumping blood necessary¡± Tom just kept going. He wasn¡¯t gonna lie again dammit.


    Anchor came over, pulling Tom off Dakota by the shoulder


    ¡°What did you do!¡± He shouted at him. The others watched from around, clearly very upset Shaking Tom ¡°What did you do to my wife!¡±


    Nunuk arched down trying to hear a heartbeat, clearly concentrating intently as everyone held their breath. Dakota took hers.


    As her eyes shot open, pupils dilating, she got up with a start nearly knocking Nunuk over in the process, she began violently looking around hyperventilating, she almost seemed to vibrate.


    ¡°wha, what? Water dark cold so cold¡± Everything clearly rushing back to her ¡°Where am I, what happened? Why am I burning! Where is the fire!¡± She was clearly completely out of it. As she began to look around her eyes looked like a cat ready to pounce.


    As Anchor let go of Tom, Tom just picked up the little glass bottle and kissed it laughing. Good old adrenaline. Good thing he hadn¡¯t gone for a half dose though. He had never seen somebody react like this before.


    As Dakota tried to grasp what was going on, she looked at her mother and wrapped her arms around her, beginning to cry uncontrollably into her shaking badly.


    ¡°I was gonna die mum, I was gonna die! What is going on!? Where is the water!?¡±


    ¡°Now, now little one. It''s all right, mother is here. The water is long gone.¡± Nunuke consoled her daughter who just kept sobbing.


    The others gathered around to look but gave the family some space. Rachuck went to console his sister, Anchor just gave Tom a hug instead. Well, at least the dude stopped shaking him, was all Tom could think. Staring around at the scene, not quite sure what to do now. The big guy let Tom go, going over to his wife instead to help.


    ¡°What was that stuff?¡± Jackalope came over, asking curiously, glancing at her still crying commanding officer.


    ¡°Adrenaline¡± Tom just answered and shrugged. ¡°Military Drug¡±


    ¡°You just keep coming up with surprises. Got any more of that?¡±


    ¡°Came prepared¡± Tom just chuckled. ¡°Won''t lie again¡± Oh why did he say it that time. Goddammit


    ¡°Lie?¡± Sapphire went from behind him. Tom shrank, ¡°long ago, no talk.¡± He just knew this was gonna come up again late now.


    ¡°You lied to us? You promised no lies.¡± Sapphire continued sounding equal parts confused and accusing.


    ¡°No, not you¡± Goddammit him and his stupid mouth, fuck it might as well get it over with. Just like visiting the therapist back home. Get it done, move on. He¡¯s done it many times, this was no different.


    ¡°I promised friends long ago, Everything gonna be fine. They all gonna be fine, No one gonna die! It was lie.¡± Tom sagged down almost curling up into a ball. It had been too long since he had last gone through this.


    ¡°It was not fine, none were fine, Vigo die first, then Jack, then Sam, then Morten they all died. Just because, I in truck and they on truck. Bleed to death, one by one. Nothing could do.¡± It all came rushing back to him now. He was back in the crater the IED had created. Trying desperately to save his friends who had been blown to pieces. Those things were his responsibility.


    ¡°They all died! I lie to all!¡± It was finally time for Tom to join the crying party, as he just broke down where he sat, bawling into the blankets. He remembered all too well what followed. The convoy had come to a halt, everyone else dismounting to take up positions and then they just sat there while his friends died.


    He felt Sapphire sit down beside him ¡°I not even scratched!¡± As she wrapped her arms around him bringing him in he just continued sobbing, ¡°Then ambush came. They kill Smith too. So I kill them!¡± Tom¡¯s voice turned hard. The others just held the line, taking shots of opportunity. Cowards the lot of them.


    ¡°I kill them all! We had adrenaline, I used. We had machine gun, I used. We had grenades I used¡± His jaw clenched at the memory. He had a truckload of equipment literally and his commanding officer was dead. Now it was their turn. He started by lobbing grenades wildly then he grabbed Morten¡¯s machine gun and went for it. Sprinting into the surrounding buildings. He hunted them with a vengeance, killing anyone he found.


    He felt Sapphire stiffen a bit as he continued ¡°I kill till no one stood, I Hunt till no one ran. Fire, reload fire, Reload. I shoot till barrel melt! They kill my friends, I kill them!¡± Tom held up his right hand removing the glove, shoving the scarring from where he had held the MG3 by the barrel firing from the hip. he didn¡¯t even remember the pain, just the smell of bacon ¡°I used all. Fight till could no more. Click Click Click¡± He remembered his despair when his gun finally ran dry, he had used every belt the squad had carried, and both spare barrels. He was hit multiple times and bleeding, but the enemy had fled. He had collapsed to the ground, closing his eyes for the last time he had hoped.


    ¡°They shoot me too. I lay bleeding, I die with friends I thought, as should have. Just like friends. But no! I wake up safe. In hospital. Alone! Not fair!¡± He just shouted out at the world and returned to crying. ¡°Not fair!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire just sat there not sure what to do. She had no idea what half the things Tom were talking about were, the sobbing didn¡¯t help with his broken Draconic and quite a bit was clearly English or something else. It was clear he had been through some hard times before though. He hadn¡¯t lied to them. He just couldn¡¯t bear the thought he might have lied to Dakota telling her she would be okay.


    The rest of the little camp just stared at Tom, even Dakota had snapped back to reality for a moment. Seeming to realize just what Tom had gone through to save her.


    The guy had not just cracked. He had snapped like a twig and gone on a rampage to avenge his fallen friends. Hoping to die beside them and he had failed in his task. Saphire just kept hugging the crying human not sure what else to do. Fengi and Jackalope came over to join in. folding their wings around the little ball of misery. As he tried punching the ground and screamed out in anger at his past failure. Sapphire was honestly afraid he would break his hand or something.


    ¡°But this time you didn¡¯t lie, you didn¡¯t lie Tom¡± Sapphire repeated hoping to calm him down. It did seem to do the trick after a while. Then either that or he was too exhausted to continue, as he just returned to sobbing.


    ¡°No. Will not again, never again.¡±


    They sat in silence Dakota had come to her senses still clearly terrified and on the verge of tears. She was complaining about the burning sensation in her body and just how sore her lungs were. She was still acting as if she was beside herself with excitement, even if that was clearly not the case.

 Home Safe

    Chapter 27: Home Safe


    Everyone had waited till the patients were up and about again, and seemingly stable. There had been some worry when Tom had told them adrenaline only worked for about 15 minutes. Dakota had collapsed after nearly an hour of hyperactivity, finally falling asleep, but she seemed stable. She did claim she managed to hear the color purple but and tasted her mother''s voice when she woke up again. Tom told them that sort of thing was normal. Sapphire just sighed, though Jackalope seemed to find it hilarious. This stuff was clearly not meant for anything except emergencies. She had never seen medicine work like that before. Most things she knew weren¡¯t potent enough to kill you. That was clearly not the case with Tom¡¯s stuff.


    When Dakota had woken up propper, they had packed up the camp. Tom along with those too injured to fly had climbed aboard Archeon to make the quick hop home. There were a few injuries spread around, Esmaralde had a nasty cut on her leg, and Fengi had taken an arrow through the wing membrane and all of the remaining escorts had suffered to various degrees, but all in all, they had gotten off lightly. That seemed in part at least due to the fact Tom had drawn so much attention standing on the middle of the dragon''s back, firing his booming weapons. Even if he needed to work on keeping his back clear, it had been very helpful.


    He had also been responsible for 3 out of 7 kills alone, with one going to Archeon¡¯s little snatch trick, Dakota getting one before the whole water incident, and two more going to Archeon''s escorts. They had started out 7 strong now there were just 4 left. Not counting Vulzan, Archeon¡¯s navigator.


    Archeon himself had also seen better days, it had been a bitter fight to get her. As they landed back at the greeting hall the light of the torches made it clear just how wounded the venerable old dragon was. Some wounds were still dripping bright blue. Those who were able to, set to work trying to fix what they could. The groans of pain from arrows being removed and wounds being cleaned could be heard long into the night, echoing through the keep.


    Tom and Dakota were taken to the infirmary along with Esmeralda, Fengi, and the escorts. Even if only to have their wounds treated and washed. Some of the escorts would be here for a while though, having suffered quite a bit. One had an arrow embedded deep in his shoulder, another was missing the lower part of her leg.


    Tom, for one, definitely didn¡¯t need to be in a horde of kids right now and so stayed in the infirmary. He had calmed down at least, but he just seemed distant as if he wasn¡¯t really there. He had been having nightmares waking up in the night screaming and crying. Combined with Archeons groans of pain it had been a rough night for all.


    He had slept through most of the next day along with most of the other wounded. When she had gone to check if he was in a state to join them in the grand hall he was nowhere to be found though. Sapphire found him sitting in a corner of a corridor with Kiran in his lap. He was just sitting there bobbing his head while petting the little guy, who was fast asleep, clearly lost in thought. She thought he might be meditating or something.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    This had been a very bad day, nearly died again, arguably twice, nearly killed Dakota. Things that shouldn''t be dug up were back on the surface. Even if Tom had gotten off with only a few minor scrapes and claw wounds, he knew he was beaten up in other ways. Sleep had not come easy despite needing to lean on Kokashi to get into bed. When sleep came, Tom wished it hadn¡¯t. It had been years since the nightmares had stopped being so vivid, he still got one every now and again. But not like this. He shot up in the night several times, dripping with cold sweat frantically calling out to people who were no longer there. It was hell and it just wouldn¡¯t stop.


    To Tom¡¯s eternal embarrassment a guard had been posted to keep watch over the wounded in case any of them got worse during the night. Kokashi had looked like he was ready to draw his blade when he was subjected to the display. At least the other wounded slept like rocks. The poor guard didn''t even know why Tom was behaving like he was. Better to keep it that way, Tom was not going through that charade again. At least he left Tom alone after being reassured everything was fine.


    Apuma had been more surprised than anything, coming over to check up on Tom, and refusing to just let him be. What the hell, might as well pass the time. It wasn¡¯t like he wanted to go back to sleep.


    ¡°Apuma, you have bad dreams?¡± Tom opened


    ¡°Sometimes, we have visions every now and again?¡±


    ¡°Future?¡± when he said visions did he mean li


    ¡°Sometimes yes, others we don¡¯t know¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± So both then?


    ¡°You''re having bad dreams then I imagine?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, bad past. Scary¡±


    ¡°At least it not a warning of something bad about to happen,¡± Apuma said with a chuckle, clearly trying to cheer Tom up.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s something,¡± Tom thought about that one for a bit. That must be even worse knowing something bad will happen at some point. ¡°Vision sound terrible¡±


    ¡°They can be good too. But yes, it can be a terrible burden¡±


    ¡°You have bad visions?¡±


    ¡°No, not for many years.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Happy for you.¡± Tom was almost as happy there weren''t any signs of impending doom. Even if he worried about what it would take for them to get such a vision. Apuma¡¯s daughter got about as close to dying this night as possible.


    They had continued small talking for a bit until Tom finally dozed off again. Even if the nightmares didn¡¯t go away, startling Raulf around early morning. Tom really hoped this wasn¡¯t gonna be a trend for long.


    When Tom woke up again he found it to be nearly afternoon. The others were still lying around and Jackalope was standing guard.


    ¡°Good morning. Good to see you can sleep when you need to¡± Tom wasn¡¯t sure if he found her happy go lucky attitude comforting or grating today. It wasn¡¯t about to change though, so might as well live with it.


    ¡°Good morning, powerhouse. Wings ache?¡±


    ¡°A little, that chase was damned hard work you know, especially with you clambering around like a curious child.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah I know. I killed, all good¡±


    ¡°All good¡± Jackalope echoed, cracking a smile, which vanished again quickly ¡°How about you, are you good?¡±


    Tom pondered what to say to that one for a moment ¡°Been worse¡± It wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Come now big guy, you did great. No one else here could have pulled that off¡± The smile returned to her face, even if Tom was fairly sure it was a facade this time. Tom still let out a chuckle.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t do great, they got behind 3 times. I Did shit¡±


    ¡°If you stand in the middle of them, they chose where to hit you from¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes I know¡±


    ¡°How did you not freeze or drown in the water? ¡±


    ¡°Humans can swim, you learn too I¡¯m sure and warmblood remember. But still got close damned cold.¡±


    ¡°Damn cold indeed,¡± she replied


    Tom could still feel the shivering even if he was more than warmed up by now. He needed to get up and moving, the bed held too many bad memories for the moment. Jackalope didn¡¯t seem to protest just moving to try and help him. He stumbled a bit but it seemed the resting had mostly done its job, as he got his balance with only a little help. He felt lethargic and sore, but that was hardly surprising.


    He had gone to retrieve his headphones, he needed to lose himself for the time being. As he entered the greeting hall, he was faced with the massive dragon he had fought to defend yesterday. It really was the size of a bus or something like that, thanks to the tail it even longer. Four legs and back-mounted wings he noted, staring up at the slumbering creature. Classic European dragon then.


    It was covered in scales that looked thick but it all still interlocked beautifully, not many sharp edges or hard protrusions. From this distance, it looked more like snakeskin, than the weird rocky skin Tom had thought of when thinking of dragons. It was the most wondrous color too, the scales shone like they were polished, and they seemed slightly transparent. They were a deep cobalt blue even though the hue varied a bit, being a lighter shade on the belly and deeper on the back. The claws were onyx black and were about as long as Tom''s forearm.


    It seemed to be sleeping for now though, so best not disturb it. Tom went over to rifle through his things, looking for the headphones and a mobile phone.


    As he was rummaging through the crates, he felt a tug on his trouser leg and turned to see Kiran looking up at him. The little guy was doing his best puppy eyes today. Tom just tilted his head.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Heard you sad¡± Oh come now, that wasn¡¯t fair. He was sure someone was to blame for this.


    ¡°Come here little bugger¡± Tom picked him up and gave him a little ruffle.


    ¡°Who told?¡±


    ¡°The others talking, sounded worried¡±


    ¡°Well how can be sad when you so cute? Come, want to show you¡±


    Tom had found a quiet corner and sat down with the little one. Getting earbuds in Kiran¡¯s ears had been a bit of a challenge so he went for the headphones and a splitter instead. Then he just got out some of the music he had put together for this over the years. As he sat listening with Kiran finally at peace everything was gonna be just fine.


    He didn¡¯t know exactly how long he sat there, going through track after track, Kiran eventually fell asleep, So Tom took the headphones off of him. Tom chuckled a bit. It was good the little guy didn¡¯t understand any of the lyrics otherwise there would have been a lot of questions.


    He might have dozed off a bit too, or maybe Sapphire had just been sneaky. He did a bit of a start when she poked him.


    ¡°What are you two up to now Hmm¡­?¡±


    ¡°Sleeping and listening¡± Tom replied, gesturing to Kiran


    ¡°Listening to what?¡± Sapphire sounded quizzical, her tone was soft most likely trying to comfort him.


    ¡°Sit down, I show '''' She did so. Looking at Tom with something between a worried and excited gaze.


    ¡°Tom queued up Flight Of The Silverbird, remembering she liked Two Steps last time. Then got out the headphones again. It was a bit of a struggle with her large long ears and it didn¡¯t look too comfortable. But it seemed to work alright.


    As the song began she just looked ahead, jaw opening slightly, then looked back at Tom seeming incredulous.


    ¡°An even smaller music box?¡±


    ¡°Kinda¡± Tom answered, tilting his hand back and forth. They sat there listening to the different songs. After a while, Sapphire spoke up.


    ¡°You seem distraught, anything I can do to help?¡±


    ¡°No this not now. I deal just need time¡± Tom hoped that was true, in the end, it would be. The question was just how long it would take this time.


    ¡°Wanna go meet our guest or do you need some more time?¡± She sounded very gentle, clearly doing her best not to pressure him. But what was he doing sitting here, there was a freaking dragon in the hangar. Distractions had always helped, there was a reason he was so keen on exciting experiences after all.


    ¡°Nah, have questions. Let¡¯s go¡± As Tom got up, Kiran let out a distressed sounding squeak.


    ¡°But comfy¡± the little guy protested, getting a chuckle from both Tom and Sapphire.


    ¡°I know, sorry, we go see guests now¡± Tom apologized


    ¡°Oh, say hi to Archeon?¡± ¡°The little guy perked up again. Who could blame him it was a dragon after all.


    ¡°Dragon called Archeon?¡± Tom questioned


    Sapphire had clarified for him. ¡°Yes, he is an old friend of the keep, he has been passing through for as long as I have been here, most likely quite a bit longer than that. He and Vulzan have been partners for quite a while as traveling traders."


    ¡°How long you be here?¡± That was news to Tom he just thought she was born her or something


    ¡°Since I was 17 here from the capitol. I had moved there when I came of age at 15, there wasn¡¯t really a spot for me back home.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever been back home?¡±


    ¡°Once, that was years ago, I did meet one of my sisters in the capital not too long ago¡±


    ¡°You go there often?¡±


    ¡°Somebody usually goes once or twice a year, for errands. We usually take the kids to every few years¡±


    ¡°Huh, wonder what that is like?¡± Tom had heard about this capitol before, judging by the sound of it, it was almost like they only had one city. It was nice to learn a bit more about Sapphire. Leaving home so early was rough though, but maybe that was normal here.


    ¡°It is an amazing place, all the grand buildings, and towers, I¡¯m sure you would enjoy the royal guard and the palace. You might get to see it one day if you want to?¡± That would be fairly awesome, even if it was just the visit. Tom was very aware that going to a place like that, he would likely no longer be in control of anything. Here he was able to put his foot down on certain matters and they seemed to respect it. Better to keep it that way.


    ¡°Would love to one day, but much to do here.¡±

 New Arrivals

    Chapter 28: New Arrivals


    As the trio made it to the grand hall, they found Vulzan and two of his remaining guards sitting at the table opposite Nunuk, talking over a drink and some snacks.


    As they entered, Vulzan was quick to notice them and got up to greet them, hand outstretched. The guy was now in linen clothes, finely made it seemed, perhaps they had just been under the thick coat.


    ¡°Ah, so you are the strange one who decided to be a hero yesterday, I must thank you that was quite the display¡± Well, he was certainly cheerful for what had happened yesterday, Tom thought.


    ¡°Uhmmm, Hi, yeah I guess?¡±


    ¡°Vulzan, if you wouldn¡¯t mind, Tom is not so familiar with our language yet. Just take it slow, you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh certainly, now Tom. Don¡¯t be so shy man, I''ve never seen somebody use fire magic like that, and I have seen quite a bit.¡± What did he do now, lie or tell the truth? Best to lie, that way he didn¡¯t say too much. The others could correct him if they believe this guy should know the truth.


    ¡°Oh not that hard, practice makes perfect.¡± Tom firmly crossed his fingers that it was good enough. At least he didn¡¯t have his weapons on him.


    ¡°I see. Where did you receive such training? You say you are experienced, have you fought in many wars?¡±


    ¡°Home. Uhm, very far away. Just one war¡±


    ¡°My good sir, I travel far and wide. Far away is closer than you think on dragon back¡±


    ¡°Denmark?¡± No need to lie more than necessary, Tom thought.


    ¡°I stand corrected it seems. Where is this Denmark, I¡¯ve never heard of it¡±


    ¡°Far north, Next Sweden, Norway, Germany¡±


    ¡°I must say I''m stumped, how did you get here?¡±


    ¡°Tom traveled by magic means, though not under his own power¡± Sapphire interjected.


    ¡°Oh, I see. That would explain a few things¡± Vulzan replied. ¡®Thank you, Sapphire, I owe you one¡¯. Tom thought.


    ¡°I have been assured your clothing does not reflect your personality, I must say after yesterday I¡¯m inclined to believe it. I¡¯m guessing where you are from it''s normal to be dressed like this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, uniform. We fight for moon and nature¡±


    ¡°I see, most peculiar. Anyway, glad to meet you Tom¡± Vulzan turned back to Nunuk and continued the negotiations, it seemed they were going over what the keep had to sell for the moment.


    ¡°Shiva, I believe you talked about acquiring metal for one of your projects, yes?¡± Nunuk started.


    ¡°Yes, I was lacking copper, tin and steel, and some zinc too. Or just brass so I don¡¯t have to make it. A bit more lead won''t hurt either¡±


    Oh those clever bastards, Tom thought to himself. Well they had talked about this, they couldn¡¯t afford the amount he needed, but perhaps he could get started on a few projects.


    ¡°I have some yes, that is quite the shopping list though. I have quite a bit of steel, and a few of the others, what do you need brass for?¡± Tom thought the merchant sounded a bit confused, but that was hardly surprising ¡°How much do you need?¡±


    ¡°How much do you have?¡± Nunuk answered coyly.


    ¡°About 120 gold''s worth, but along with the other supplies you needed, don¡¯t mind me asking but how are you planning on paying for that? You haven''t exactly had a good start to the year? ¡± Tom had no clue how much 120 gold was but it sounded like quite a bit.


    ¡°I seem to remember you were quite interested in my grandmother''s sword at some point? For that, I would take every ounce of metal you have, our other supplies, and those fine bottles of wine you were showing off. And 300 gold!¡± There was silence in the hall.


    Tom looked around confused, before turning to Sapphire and whispered in her ear. ¡°That seems bad?¡±


    She answered in a hushed tone. ¡°Yes, she would never sell that, it has been in her family for generations. It''s an enchanted blade, I don¡¯t even know what it would be worth.¡± Was she planning on selling a priceless heirloom so he could make a lamp or a shitty pistol? Also, a magic sword, that warranted investigation. He couldn¡¯t let that happen.


    ¡°Lady Bizmati I object, Lord Joackim and by¡­ length me. Owe you big debt. Debt earned by that sword. Can¡¯t allow you sell¡± Nunuk looked a little uncomfortable, seemingly forcing a smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry it is for the best, Tom. Besides, you are here to serve the keep, not pay for it.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t allow. May speak in alone with you?¡±


    ¡°Sure not a problem, if you wouldn¡¯t mind Vulzan, I¡¯ll be back shortly¡± Nunuk got up and Tom walked with her down the stairs to the kitchen.


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    ¡°Tom, you do not need to do this.¡± Nunuk protested


    ¡°Neither you. I brought things of value, Don¡¯t sell what is priceless. for my projects¡±


    ¡°Tom, what you bought is priceless! My grandmother¡¯s sword was made here, another may be made.¡±


    ¡°Not all I brought priceless. I thought need things for trade here, my money no work here. Spices, alcohol finest there is¡±


    ¡°That might work actually¡± Nunuk seems surprised he had thought about that.


    ¡°Stuff with dragon though?¡± Tom wasn¡¯t sure going to open boxes in front of the giant murder lizard.


    ¡°Make a show of it, if Vulzan thinks it''s all very exotic he might pay more, just don¡¯t show him anything too strange okay?¡±


    ¡°uhmmm¡­ I try¡± Tom was fairly certain he could convince that guy his stuff was exotic, it was after all. But what to show and what to hide? As they walked back up Tom spoke up.


    ¡°Vulzan follow please, have things to show.¡± There was murmuring in the crowd and some worried looks here and there, this was not going entirely to plan so far.


    The resulting procession followed Tom and Nunuk out into the greeting hall where they were greeted by a very awake dragon looking down at them. Tom¡¯s heart skipped a beat, being looked down at by a literal monster of myth and legend was more than a little unnerving.


    ¡°So. From what I heard you are supposed to be crazy, ugly, and dangerous?¡± The dragon greeted him


    ¡°Ohh. Hi, I¡¯m Tom and uhm¡­ Sorry?¡±


    ¡°Well hello, Tom. I am Archeon pleased to meet you and don¡¯t you worry. Nothing to be sorry for little one, I believe that is Vulzan¡¯s duty.¡± The voice was sonorous like before but turned down in volume. It did shoot a look at Vulzan who just held his hands up apologetically.


    ¡°He did look damn scary okay, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No worry, I dressed scary¡± Tom tried


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I have seen somebody like you before. I overheard your little conversation with Vulzan, seems you are quite far away from home¡±


    ¡°Yeah quite far. You''re very big, never seen¡­ big one before¡± The dragon chuckled a bit, and Tom felt the bass. This was surreal, he thought.


    ¡°Never seen a dragon? You are far from home.¡± Archeon tilted his head at Tom. Just like the dragonettes, that looked very strange. Funny even, he seemed friendly enough too. ¡°Anyways, it sounded like you brought some things from this far away place you wished to trade?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, I find¡± Tom jogged over to his pile of boxes taking note quite a few things had been moved around, likely when the others had looked for the medical supplies. He would have to check everything later. He had brought a few bottles of nice rum and whiskey and a few glasses of spices.


    ¡°You drink strong alcohol?¡± He asked, looking at Vulzan.


    ¡°Well yes, it''s not often you get to enjoy it, but from time to time.¡± That was good at least, he knew the dragonettes of the keep had that beer-like stuff and he had seen a few barrels of what he thought was ale. He hadn¡¯t asked if they had any actual liquor.


    ¡°Then this will interest,¡± Tom said pulling out a bottle of very fine whiskey. ¡°maybe finest you ever seen¡± Vulzan picked up the bottle with interest, what is this?


    ¡°Don¡¯t know your word, we say Whiskey very, good very old¡±


    ¡°How old¡± Tom looked at the bottle ¡°18 years¡±


    ¡°My gods that is an old bottle, but I have no clue what Wiskay is¡± I will give you it looks very fine and the label. Is that silver?¡±


    ¡°Yes, only little¡± Well Tom wasn¡¯t gonna be explaining it wasn¡¯t actually silver, but one shouldn¡¯t look a gift horse in the mouth.


    ¡°What you say is worth?"


    ¡°I don''t know to be honest. If anything, this should go to a collector I think. You say it''s from your home?¡±


    ¡°Yes, uhmmm city of Stauning. Very famous for whiskey bottle worth weight in gold¡±


    ¡°Worth its weight in gold! You must be joking.¡± Well, he was lying a bit, but it was very good whiskey, and possibly the finest bottle in this world at least.


    ¡°No joke. We put silver on label for good reason¡±


    He did bring his little flask with him he believed that had some sort of whiskey in it. Perhaps a taste test was in order. He retrieved it from his backpack, taking a sip. That was whiskey alright. He presented the flask to Vulzan.


    ¡°Whiskey, regular stuff, not fine, but still whiskey. Have taste.¡±


    ¡°You are most generous I must say,¡± The dragonette took a sip of the flask


    ¡°Wauh I say. That is quite potent, huh¡± It didn¡¯t look to Tom like the guy was a regular drinker. ¡°But I¡¯ll grant you that is very fine stuff, the bottle is even better?¡±


    ¡°Ten times the price, so yes¡± That was a blatant lie, but what the hell.


    ¡° I¡¯ll give you 40 gold for the bottle¡± that sounded like a lot of money to Tom, but nowhere near enough. If he held true to the worth its weight in gold, he guessed it should be more like a 100 or maybe a 150 gold.


    ¡°No can do. Nunuk how many you say¡±


    ¡°you claimed it is worth its weight in gold, so 150 sounds reasonable¡±


    ¡°Not happening. That is insanity¡±


    ¡°May I see metal. For reference.¡± Vulzan had said he had 120 golds worth of metal that would give Tom a reference point.


    ¡°Reference? You don¡¯t use gold to trade?¡±


    ¡°No. Have coin from home I show. You get metal.¡± Why he had brought his wallet Tom wasn¡¯t sure. Force of habit maybe, he would be careful to just take out some coins though, the driver''s license might spark some questions. Vulzan waved a few of the dragonettes over and Archeon shifted so they could get at a big crate hanging from his harness.


    There were quite a few metal bars all nicely arranged and sorted on little shelves in the crate. Tom guessed there was maybe 200 kilos of metal in total, mostly iron or steel. All in those little ingots maybe around a kilo each


    ¡°Back home worth 1 bottle¡± Tom knew that wasn¡¯t true whatsoever, there was metal here for maybe 300 dollars with most of it being steel. The brass and copper was most likely worth more than the rest combined. He did still have the spices too for the rest of what Nunuk wanted.


    ¡°I show you something else¡±


    ¡°As Tom returned with the little box of glass jars, Vulzans eyes went wide¡±


    ¡°Are those what I think they are¡±


    ¡°Spices¡± Tom retorted triumphantly


    ¡°What kinds¡± Vulzan was clearly trying hard not to sound too excited if falling somewhat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know your names. Many you not know, I think¡±


    ¡°This is incredible. How did you get them out of the south?¡± That was interesting news Tom thought, another note for later.


    ¡°Money and power¡± Tom rubbed his fingers together and smiled at the merchant. He was playing this guy hard. It was mostly from the local supermarket, but hey it was all for a good cause.


    ¡°What will you take for this?¡± Vulzan was clearly excited. What would something like this be worth he wondered? Might as well make use of the locals.


    ¡°What you say¡± Tom went looking at Nunuk and the others, Apuma had made his way forward to have a look.


    ¡°If I know you, Tom, these are most likely the finest spices I have ever seen, I wouldn''t take less than 100 gold per glass, but I don¡¯t know them all. Is that anon pescis?¡± he was pointing to the small glass of saffron Tom had brought


    ¡°Saffron¡± Tom went ¡°Extremely expensive¡±


    ¡°That sounds about right to me, and it certainly looks the part. Tom that alone is worth hundreds of gold. May I¡±


    ¡°Of course¡± Tom picked out the small glass unscrewing the top.


    Apuma sniffed the contents. ¡°Yep that is saffron alright¡± Bingo, well that should more than do it. Time to bring out the inner Jutlander and do some haggling.


    ¡°So Vulzan, what you got?¡± The dragonette looked stiff as if trying to process just what he was going to do now, then looked back at Archeon who was watching intently.


    ¡°Lockbox it is then.¡± Archeon answered, cracking a smile.

 Trade Opportunity

    Chapter 29: Trade Opportunity


    As vulzan retrieved the sturdy-looking box Tom wondered just what goodies might be hiding in there, more magic stuff? He would pay quite a bit for something magic, even if it was just to study. The box was chained around one of Archeon''s legs, they clearly didn¡¯t want anybody scampering off with it. The box itself looked quite impressive, it was full metal construction with an elaborate lock.


    As Vulzan turned back to Tom pulling a key out which looked very fancy, even if Tom could see it was clearly just a fancy fork key. He could have that thing open in seconds. Unless it was magical?


    ¡°Vulzan? Is box magic?¡±


    ¡°You are a clever one aren¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Key not very good, something else keep safe¡±


    ¡°You mean besides the very big dragon?¡± Vulzan answered with a smirk. Yeah, Tom would have to give him that. A dragon was an excellent deterrent system.


    Vulzan inserted and turned the key, there was a loud click and he lifted the lid. Tom strained his neck to look inside.


    There were quite a few coins inside, mainly gold and silver. There was some folded up cloth, a bit of jewelry, a very nice dagger, and some glass bottles, with very colorful liquid in them.


    ¡°Those magic drink?¡± Damn this language anyway, those looked an awful lot like potions to Tom, the jewelry was familiar too, most of the dragonettes seemed to enjoy some self-decoration, especially the huntresses. Nunuk and Apuma also carried quite a bit.


    ¡°Yes Tom, we call them xiisnarni. I have a small selection. Are you familiar with them?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. have healing?¡± It wasn¡¯t wrong, but hey magic that was awesome.


    ¡°Well no sadly, those are always a crowd favorite. I do have one against poisons and the like. Apart from that, I have strength, stamina, fire breathing,¡±


    ¡°Fire breathing¡± Tom echoed, now it was clearly his turn to be flabbergasted. How would something like that even work? Breathing fire when you weren''t fireproof did seem like a bad idea. Were dragonettes fireproof?¡± ¡°How survive?¡±


    ¡°Yes fire breathing, I¡¯m guessing if you don¡¯t have dragons you don¡¯t have that where you are from. The potion protects you from fire for the duration as well so you don¡¯t get burnt. It only lasts about a minute¡± Tom turned to look at the massive head hovering above the conversation


    ¡°You breathe fire? Just like in the stories¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t, I am of the storm. I breathe lightning obviously¡± Well fuck. Tom just might need to reconsider the arms program a bit. It seemed like this place had access to substantial firepower already.


    ¡°Huh, That is something. Wait, was you breathing lightning yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Why yes, one of them was stupid enough to give me a clear shot¡± The massive dragon let out a Purr? Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure, it sounded happy though he was definitely smiling.


    ¡°Well he has bad day¡±


    ¡°That he did,¡± Vulzan chimed in seeming eager to continue. ¡°Anywho, I also have this one¡± He held up a bottle of deep blue liquid ¡°I have never found a buyer for it, but you might just fit the bill. It is allegedly a potion of water breathing, it was given to me by a student who made it as a project not considering nobody would want it. Judging by your escapades though, I would say you might find a use for it.¡± That certainly seemed useful, Tom had tried diving before but elected not to bring any equipment, well apart from the swim mask, that was useful for many situations.


    ¡°How long last?¡±


    ¡°About an hour I think.¡±


    ¡°You think?!¡± Tom didn¡¯t like the sound of being stuck a hundred meters below and suddenly starting to breathe water.


    ¡°It was made by a student and I don''t know how much it has been tested, if at all. Besides, it has definitely not been tested on someone like you. I would advise caution¡± Fair enough but still, there was only one so it wasn''t like he could give it a dry run.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ interesting but dangerous to use. What else got?¡±


    ¡°Well I have some nice jewelry, this excellently made dagger, and a shimmering cloak¡±


    ¡°Shimmering?¡±


    ¡°It changes color and texture based on your wishes. Observe¡± Vulzan donned the fine cloak which looked like a sort of black glitter color at the moment. Kinda like those cheap wizard cloaks, kids got for Halloween. As he put it on it took a moment and it turned to a bright white. The others seemed to gasp, Tom just looked intently, was this the solution to his little camouflage problem?¡±


    ¡°May I try?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. Just wear it on your body and think cloak color out loud to yourself and then picture what you would like¡±


    Tom donned the cloak he did as instructed, and the cloak turned a clear blue. It worked for humans, he could use magic, Oh fuck yeah! He didn¡¯t let his excitement show, just a nice smile and a nod.


    ¡°Very clever,¡± Tom tried again, this time thinking of his camo pattern and the thing responded beautifully. Oh this was amazing, he had adaptive camouflage and formal robes all in one ¡°Can it be resown¡±


    ¡°Well yes, it''s just the fabric that is magic. It will remain so¡± Oh yeah, this was gonna stay here for sure


    ¡°Very good, what worth?¡±


    ¡°I would take 250 gold for it¡± Ouch, that was expensive. Tom wondered just what Nunuk¡¯s sword could do and what it was actually worth.


    ¡°Hmmm I like potion of fire breathing, water breathing, cloak, and things Nunuk said. What total?¡±


    ¡°That is quite the shopping list I must say. Let me see, the water breathing I will give you for 20, 80 for the fire, 250 for the cloak, 120 for metals, 75 for other supplies and Nunuk had about 85 in goods to sell. You did do us one hell of a favor yesterday tough. I''ll say 400 for the lot. That is an exceedingly generous offer¡±


    Right 400 gold. That sounded like saffron and the bottle of whiskey. ¡°I give you half of saffron, half of curry, and a bottle of whiskey. Throw in some coins from homeland, keep as tokens¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°I say 200 for the spices and 80 for the bottle I would like to see the coins though, that sounds interesting¡±


    Tom got out the handful of coins he had on him and presented them.


    ¡°What are they made of? That looks like silver but are those brass?¡± oh shit yeah that was nickel they didn¡¯t have that. best to just say steel.


    ¡°Not silver, steel and yes it¡¯s brass¡±


    ¡°But that is hardly worth anything?¡±


    ¡°Correct, but look so detailed, can¡¯t be faked¡±


    ¡°You base your currency on the fact people can¡¯t make fake coins? I''ll give it to you. They look like they were made by a jeweler but why brass and simple steel?¡±


    ¡°Cheap. Gold silver is useful don¡¯t waste on coin¡±


    ¡°That is an interesting take on it¡± Vulzan was clearly very confused. Tom couldn¡¯t blame him.


    ¡°I give some, sell to collector or keep, up to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much but it still doesn''t make the total if you want everything. I can leave out the potions and we got a deal¡±


    20 gold for some change, that was one hell of a deal, but he wanted those two potions quite badly. Another bottle would do it. That would leave him with just two left tough. It was clear if he wanted to get proper drunk around he would need homebrew. Unless they had a lot of beer


    ¡°What you guys say?" looking back at Apuma and Nunuk. They just seemed shocked. Shit, did he just show them he had brought a ton of money and not told them, whoops?


    Apuma finally answered. ¡°That is a very fine cloak, Vulzan is right to ask such an exorbitant price. Even if I think he is underpaying a bit for some of your things, they are for all intents and purposes of another world after all¡± Apuma did a wink on that last part, Tom took it to mean the cover story was working.


    ¡°I throw in rest of curry, that¡¯s it. ¡± Tom held out his hand, he really didn¡¯t like curry and the dragonettes clearly were not fond of spicy, so why not?


    Vulzan stood mulling the offer over for a while clearly doing some math. ¡°alright, deal, but only because of what you did yesterday¡±


    He reached out his hand to shake and Tom took it. Tom had no clue if this was a great deal or not, but he got some interesting things in exchange for some stuff he didn''t need. Besides, it didn¡¯t sound like traders came through often. So it wouldn¡¯t hurt if Vulzan decided he needed to return with more cool stuff sooner than planned.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was once again speechless, Tom had just gone up to purchase the most expensive wares Vulzan had as if it was nothing. Sure it wasn¡¯t the kind of money she had never seen before but it was still a lot and he still had quite a bit in those boxes. The two had continued arguing a bit with Vulzan wishing to purchase more of Toms''s spices. Tom seemed unwilling to part with them just for gold though. He was clearly holding out for some more interesting things. Or perhaps he wanted to be more sure of what it was worth before selling.


    Nunuk had just observed the proceedings, Sapphire still couldn¡¯t believe she had tried to sell her grandmother''s sword. That blade had won the keep for her family way back when. Was she trying to show gratitude? Or perhaps she just gambled that Tom would produce something even more valuable with the materials? Or maybe try and by his loyalty in a roundabout way? Whatever it was she wasn¡¯t telling. At least not here.


    It would appear that the sudden job of negotiating a trade deal had brought Tom back to reality, he seemed almost back to normal now. Well, as normal as the Human had ever been, whether that was true or just a facade Sapphire couldn¡¯t tell. It was rather likely a facade she thought.


    By Sapphire''s reckoning. The mood in the keep was one of false joy. Darklings had attacked a trader on route to their keep and the trader had suffered losses. That was a dire thing indeed, they needed traders to come after all. The thought of having darkling so close possibly even on the islands was unnerving, to say the least.


    This needed a resolution Vulzan had clarified they were hit before they even reached the island. The resulting running battle had lasted for hours with the attackers coming in and then retreating to rest, then returning again and again. This meant they must have a place to go and rest in between battles that could follow Archeon. Vulzan had feared it would be another dragon of some kind but nothing showed up. He theorized it may be a smaller dragon or something else not willing to risk Archaeon¡¯s wrath. For all of Archeon¡¯s might, there was little he could do against a swarm of darklings and so they had harried them relentlessly.


    Vulzan believed they had been after the lockbox apparently trying more than once to get at it but the chains had held. Vulzan did not believe their number to be more than 16 initially with 7 now downed and most of the others likely wounded. They couldn¡¯t attack the keep with numbers like that at least, but they still needed to be found and eliminated. Especially whatever was allowing them to rest while traversing the skies.


    For now though, it was time for celebration. They had dead to honor and a trader to welcome. Nunuk even managed to coax Dakota out of bed even if she spent most of the evening just sitting in silence. Vulzan had brought out a cask of ale as a thank you for the rescue. Along with their own stores, it made for more than enough to go around. Of course, Jackalope saw an opportunity to cheer everyone up a bit.


    ¡°Hey listen up everybody. I think it is only fair that the first human ace of a battle receives a toast for their deeds. To Tom!¡±


    ¡°To Tom, first human ace¡± echoed around the room. Despite the rather somber events of the previous day, the room was beginning to get rather merry. Even if Tom looked quite perturbed by the attention.


    ¡°Ace?¡± He asked Sapphire when the room quieted down a little again


    ¡°The one who scores the most kills in a battle. You got three, Archeon claimed two and captain Tyborg another two, he was the one with the missing foot¡± Sapphire grimaced a bit at that last one. Even if it wouldn¡¯t hurt in the air he would at best be hobbling around on a piece of wood for the rest of his life.


    ¡°Huh, we have aces back home, they fly fighter planes. Ace is a title you earn by getting five air kills. So if count Vargulf I ace¡± Tom seemed to chuckle at the realization.


    ¡°But you can¡¯t fly?¡± How did they have aces if they couldn¡¯t fly? unless...


    Tom looked around for a bit taking notice of Vulzan and his escorts. ¡°Machines can, We call them planes. Fighter plane is fastest thing in the sky, go faster than sound!¡± He replied. Sapphire just needed a minute for that one, of course they had figured out how to make flying machines. They could build mechanical dragons for farming by the million, but faster than sound, She didn¡¯t even think sound had a speed? She would need to question him further on that one when it was more private.


    ¡°Hey Jackalope, humans have aces too back home.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°He claims once you kill five in the air you are an ace forever¡±


    ¡°Well, that is quite different?¡± Jackalope moved down a few seats and sat opposite of the two. ¡°That makes me an ace too, let''s be honest even Fengi is by that metric. It doesn''t sound very hard to do? What¡¯s the point then?¡±


    ¡°Back home is hard. In air life measured in minutes, everything go so fast. Back in old war was a big battle in the air. Battle of Britain, new pilots lived only about half-hour in air before shot down. They defended home island for months outnumbered, alone. They did it, it was victory.¡±


    ¡°Half an hour?!¡± Sapphire, jackalope, and Fengi broke out. ¡°That is terrible¡± Sapphire continued. She couldn¡¯t believe that if he really meant that soldiers were only expected to live half an hour. the table grew a little quiet at that.


    ¡°Yes, it was hard battle, leader of Britain say ¡±Never before, so much owed by so many to so few...¡± Tom got a little somber for a moment before cheering up again. ¡°but that is old and not here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are quite right. Nevertheless, they sound like they deserve a toast. What were they called?¡±


    ¡°RAF, Royal Air Force¡±


    ¡°To the brave warriors of the Royal Air force¡± Jackalope let out triumphantly, ¡°May they be remembered forevermore¡± Tom started chuckling a bit at the situation apparently finding it funny? before readying his own glass.


    ¡°To the RAF¡± He went, downing a sizable portion of his drink. ¡°What about your history, got any good battles?¡±


    ¡°I think you need Nunuk for that one, she is the war veteran after all¡± Jackalope answered.


    ¡°She is?¡± Tom seemed surprised as he looked over to the old Lady.


    ¡°She has fought in two, yes, one lasted over a year¡± Sapphire interjected.


    ¡°She was apparently bloody good too. Usually, she doesn''t like talking about it too much, perhaps if you get her drunk enough though¡± Jackalope continued.


    ¡°Could probably be arranged¡± Tom answered like he was actually considering the option. Wait, what was he planning?


    ¡°Now that is a good idea¡± Jackalope turned to look around at the others besides Tom sitting at the table. ¡°Our guest does seem to be quite tough, perhaps we should find out just how tough his belly is?¡±


    ¡°Why am I not surprised this was coming? Jack, he is still weak from that little swim yesterday and he was literally screaming at ghosts through the night¡± Tom looked down at the table after that last comment, much to Sapphire''s dismay.


    ¡°Well, ale is medicine for the soul is it not?¡± Jackalope said grinning, getting up, and walking over to the head table where Nunuk, Apuma, Vulzan, Shiva, and some of the guards were sitting.

 Drink Drink Drink

    Chapter 30: Drink Drink Drink


    Jackalope had gone to talk with Nunuk at the head table resulting in a sly grin on the old lady¡¯s face. Vulzan seemed keen too, getting up to help Jackalope and the two scampered off. Nunuk got up and called out to the hall


    ¡°Anyone who thinks they can outdrink the toughest bastard here, please make your way to the center. We shall be testing our new brother at arms¡±


    There was a substantial amount of cheering. It wasn¡¯t often they got to let loose like this but they had earned it, besides it was partly at least on Vulzan¡¯s bill. A table was placed in the middle of the room, Vulzan''s cask being placed at one end much to the trader¡¯s dismay. The guy had apparently been hoping they would at least start with one of their own.


    The contestants lined up on either side of the table: Tom, Nunuk, Jackalope, Anchor, Rachuck, Shiva, Raulf, Kokashi, Herron, and even Vulzan lined up. The trader was clearly keen to at least get some of the ale he had brought out. They were gonna need more than one cask though with this many contestants.


    Sapphire stayed out, she might be competitive as hell but she knew from experience she could not hang with Jackalope in this field. Not to mention Shiva. It was good to see Nunuk still giving it a go. She might be getting on a bit, but she wasn¡¯t done yet.


    Mugs were filled and Apuma took up position at the end of the table shaking his head. ¡°May the waste of good ale commence. Bottoms up! And may the gods have mercy on those who will clean up afterward.¡± This was gonna be a mess, she gave the old man that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, okay then a feast. Tom wasn¡¯t gonna argue with that. They ate well here, but he had yet to see any real festivities. They were apparently welcoming the trader and honoring the dead all in one. About as good an excuse as any, Tom concluded. He could see now why the greeting hall and grand hall were right next to each other. A large hatch over the doors leading out to the Greeting hall had been opened with the outer door shut. Letting Archeon''s head inside. A whole hog on spit had been brought out for the dragon. Tom caught himself staring quite a few times at the massive dragon looming over the festivities. He did bring his meal back into the greeting hall to eat though, sticking his head back in once he had finished.


    That was about when Jackalope had come up with the plan for a drinking contest. Getting smashed hadn¡¯t been on Tom¡¯s list of plans for the night, but he wasn¡¯t gonna pass up the opportunity to partake in this cultural event. It had nothing to do with the fact he was quietly confident following what had happened when the dragonettes had tried some of the stuff designed to affect him. Besides this was a matter of not only national but racial pride. He was representing the whole of humanity¡­ In a drinking contest.


    It dawned on Tom as he sat there, that all this time he was representing humankind and he hadn¡¯t thought about it until they challenged him to a drinking contest¡­ Thank the lord he hadn¡¯t become a diplomat. With this newborn appreciation for the importance of what was going to happen next, he started eyeing up his opponents.


    Shiva and Jackalope did both have him beaten in mass, but if they could only handle half the alcohol of a human this would be a walk in the park. The ale being served was by Tom¡¯s estimate fairly normal. Maybe 4-6 % so not the weak stuff Fengi had given him way back when. On Apumas signal they had all gone for the bottom.


    Tom wasn¡¯t the first to finish, not even close, but he wasn¡¯t last either. Slightly surprised he looked around, most of them were just pouring it down, not swallowing gulps or anything like that. just open mouthes and then a full-on waterfall. There was quite a bit of splashing from that method though. He had always wanted to learn how to just pour it down, but so far all attempts had ended poorly. No matter, he was in for the long haul here. It did seem a bit like cheating though that so much ale simply missed.


    The mugs were refilled and Apuma repeated the command ¡°Bottoms up¡± and they all went back in. The mugs were perhaps a little under half a liter so not too bad but still at this pace Tom wouldn¡¯t last long.


    It was clear though that not all at the table were just as hardcore as Nunuke or Shiva, Vulzan was already starting to take his sweet time. Though Tom couldn¡¯t figure out if that was more to enjoy the ale. Jackalope was sitting opposite of him and she showed no sign of slowing down and she was eyeing him intently, it was clear who her target was.


    Besides him were Kokashi and Rachuck, they were keeping up well too. The full mugs were passed around Wiperna and Fengi had taken the responsibility of working the cask and they were going at it like pros. ¡®Thank God I don¡¯t have to teach them to pour a drink right¡¯ Tom mused to himself attacking the third mug of ale. It was a good thing this stuff wasn¡¯t very heavily carbonated or Tom would have been in trouble already, but so far so good.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well so far most were doing, as usual, Shiva and Jackalope taking the lead and mostly fighting each other with Nunuk putting up a valiant effort. Tom wasn¡¯t a fast drinker, but slow and steady could win a race after all. Sapphire was wondering just how the human would react to getting drunk if he could even.


    On the third mug, even Jackalope and Shiva had to slow down, taking a few breaks between gulps Tom was also beginning to slow down as well but still keeping pace with the others. It looked like Kokashi and Rachuck were both trying to battle the human having seated next to him once the fourth mug was finally passed around, they both struggled to get to the bottom.


    As per the rules contestant had 10 minutes to get their drinks done, Vulzan had already dropped out on the fourth. Kokashi and Rachuck were out on the fifth, clearly sensing this wasn¡¯t going their way. With Herron just about managing it, much to the dismay of his fellow guards. Anchor put him in his place though managing to get the sixth down as well but calling it there, Raulf tried for the seventh but failed. By now all the contestants were taking their time. They were approaching the one hour mark, the first few mugs going quickly.


    Archeon had made a comment about how Vulzan really didn¡¯t put on much of a show and how next time he would just put everyone in their place. Sapphire would happily admit she quite wanted to see a dragon drinking contest, as long as she wasn¡¯t paying for it. By now the cheering had begun urging the remaining contestants on. They were down to Nunuk Jackalope Shiva and Tom. So he had the title of toughest male drinker at least, Sapphire mused.


    Esmeralda was doing her best to keep the kids over in their corner, but her limp from the cut didn¡¯t help. In the end, she had just given up clearly annoyed no one else had tried to help out. But Sapphire couldn''t very well do anything about it. She was still on her crutches for a while longer, Tom was occupied and well, it wasn''t like it would hurt anyway.


    As the seventh mug was going down, the crowd was starting to pick favorites, Tom was receiving quite the backup with Kiran now leading of course. Sapphire elected to join in, if nothing else he might beat Jackalope, that would do for her. The eighth mug proved too much for Nunuk leaving just Jackalope, Shiva, and Tom.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom¡¯s hopes that this was gonna be easy were long gone now, as he stared down into the eighth mug of ale. At least they seemed to be struggling as well, he had done something like this before, but they were remarkably quick about. This one would mark around 4 liters in about one and a half hours. He let out a burp as he went back in on Apuma''s order the crowd cheered. He couldn¡¯t help but notice the kids were now also taking part in the chanting. Even Archeon had added his considerable voice to the choir.


    It had been a struggle but the eight one went down, with Shiva finishing before him and Jackalope just about managing it before the deadline. She looked hammered by now leaning on the table but still had her eye¡¯s looked on Tom not blinking. Tom was feeling fairly drunk by now, even if it would need more time to properly kick in. The ninth mug was passed around, if he made ten he could claim to be the first to drink a knighthood on another world. That was about as good a reason as he had ever had.


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    The ninth proved too much for Jackalope as she coughed halfway through ale going everywhere. She put the mug back down looking sick. Tom was struggling by now, even if it was more of a space in the belly situation, for now at least. As the tenth was brought up he went.


    ¡°back in mye homeee, the is tradition! Drink 10 mug oefe beer one sittinmng, and you becomesk Knight¡± He lifted his glass to Shiva ¡°Sk?l! For a knighthood¡± and went about his duty.


    ¡°Sk?l¡± rang out as Shiva lifted her glass once more. She struggled but she did manage it just about. Tom seemed to be getting the better of her, He had never done this so quickly but then again there were a lot less bubbles in this stuff.


    As the eleventh mug was brought out they both took a while staring at each other. They both knew this was likely to be the decider. ¡°To those who can no longer join us¡± Apuma went, ¡°aye¡± Tom answered, Shiva just raising her mug silently. As he drank he had to fight to keep it flowing, he was at the end of his rope and he really didn¡¯t want to puke. As he became lost in thought focusing on not being sick, he just kept the ale flowing, this one was for all of humanity.


    The last of the mug trickled down his gullet. Slamming the mug down he saw Shiva still struggling before she slowly tipped over backward and the mug still held high. Hitting the floor with a thunk. He just broke out laughing at the sight as the crowd cheered, then forgot he was sitting on a bench as he tried to lean back in turn mimicking the procedure with another thunk.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was done, that was just too hilarious, not only had Tom beaten the best drinker she knew, he had ended with a flourish. Well, if you could call it that. The hall had been filled with raucous laughter and cheering as he fell over. As he laid there staring up into the ceiling, he just held up his empty mug in triumph and went. ¡°Sk?l!¡±


    As the evening wore on most of the contestants quickly gave in to the alcohol wandering about completely sloshed, Jackolope even managed to fall asleep in the middle of bragging. Tom too was clearly heavily affected, but he seemed to be having a blast even if he had reached the point of complete nonunderstanding. Sapphire thought several languages were involved by now, but to be honest she had no clue. The kids had been put to sleep as this was clearly going to be quite the night.


    Dakota had retired following the drinking contest. Sapphire did feel quite sorry for her even if she had never been much for partying she was clearly not well. Tom had tried to teach Fengi some kind of dance, which she clearly found very amusing. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but laugh either as Tom clearly had no idea what he was doing. Esmeralda and Kokashi had made their way over probably to point and laugh, but before long he had them lined up, holding each other''s shoulders. He was singing something which the others were trying to mimic to Tom''s evident enjoyment.


    After fooling around for a while he left the group, coming over to Sapphire seeming either worried or puzzled, eying her leg and wing still in splints. Judging by the motions he was making he seemed to be trying to work out if he could carry her while dancing.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going dancing if that is what you plan on asking.¡±


    He seemed to understand, as he ran off he gestured for the others to go over to Sapphire. Curious at what he was planning now they did so. He returned a short while later with two small beakers of some kind. He revealed some dice stored within one of them. They were very fine dice, not that Sapphire hadn¡¯t sene dice before she even had some. They used dots to show the numbers rather than runes though so there was that.


    ¡°I think he wants to a play game¡± Sapphire let out cheerfully


    ¡°This should be fun watching him explain a game in this condition¡±


    ¡°We play Meyer!¡± Tom clarified. This should be good Sahppire thought.


    The game had proven simple it was based on deception and memory. Sapphire had been quite confident once she had worked out all the rules. Not that there were many. In Tom¡¯s condition, he was bound to be an easy opponent. Jackalope had fallen asleep again during the explanation. But they had a few people at the table who weren''t too drunk. She admired Tom¡¯s ability to explain the game while drunk even if he was clearly struggling with the draconic.


    After a few tries and some demonstrations, everyone who was still awake felt confident they understood the game. The game was a drinking game much to Sapphire¡¯s dismay but no matter she was seated next to Tom and there was no way he would come of better of the two.


    As the game wore on Sapphire had to reevaluate her standpoint Tom was clearly winning out of everyone. She couldn¡¯t wrap her head around just how he was still this good at a game about deception while completely drunk. Just how good was he actually when sober she wondered, feeling slightly worried about Nunuk¡¯s plans. He had brought out his little flask of whiskey for when anyone suffered a loss to a Meyer. She got the chance to have a taste more than once. That was definitely strong stuff. It was very good though not like some of the stuff Raulf had tried making that one time.


    When they finished the game, Sapphire too was feeling quite unsteady on her feet. Dammit, she really didn¡¯t need to slip on the now wet floors and break her wing again. She along with a few of the others made their excuses heading off to bed and with Esmeralda¡¯s help, she managed it without any further injuries.


    It had been quite the night already. Tom though was apparently not quite done, Jackalope had woken up again seeming a bit clearer in the head after her nap. The two had wandered off to gods know where Sapphire was too tired to bother by now.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom woke the next morning he had a splitting headache, he could remember most of the night before, which he found quite impressive. He had defended his honor in the drinking contest taught them, Meyer, and even got them to dance to Volvo B18. Even if he couldn¡¯t bring out the music on account of Vulzan.


    As he moved around he was quite sore and found he had slept on the floor. Okay, so maybe he didn¡¯t remember everything after all. More concerning was that he was currently using the sleeping Jackalope as a pillow. He got up with a start which his head rewarded him for by hurting even more. As he looked around trying to take note of the situation he was in the smithy of all places? Shiva was sitting sleeping in a rocking chair in the corner.


    That combined with the fact he was still fully clothed did mostly assure him he hadn¡¯t done something too stupid last night. He was dirty too, his hands were black with soot and coal dust. Just what had they been up to in here?


    He slowly got up to look around and on the table, he found paper complete with smudged fingerprints and coal dust. But that was most definitely an attempt at a technical drawing of some kind. Inspecting it closer his head still throbbing that looked an awful lot like a flintlock mechanism¡­


    ¡®Oh, you absolute fucking idiot!¡¯ Tom winched why had he¡­ god dammit. Looking around further he found a mortar and pestle surrounded by all too familiar ingredients. But where had he found sulfur, and was that white stuff really saltpeter? No, it couldn¡¯t be, could it?


    The others were still sleeping, so he might as well find out if drunk science had produced black powder. He mixed the ingredients pounding them together carefully. The resulting fine powder would do, he poured it out onto a wooden chopping board which had clearly been used for testing the night before.


    As he used the striker from the forge to try and light the powder nothing happened. It would appear not. What was this white stuff then? It smelled horrible. Wait, oh god no! Not fucking guano, dammit drunk Tom! He tried desperately to clean his fingers on his already very dirty clothes. At least his drunken self had forgotten that stuff needed a little basic refining before it was usable. But if that sulfur was good enough, this could maybe work. Well then, back to that same argument again. Do or don¡¯t? If he was being honest he wasn¡¯t fooling anyone, they would figure this out eventually. It wasn¡¯t like he could teach them chemistry and not expect them to figure this out on their own.


    But should he teach them right now? They didn¡¯t seem like bad people to him. He didn¡¯t know much about the rest of the world though.


    This was not the sort of mental discussion to have when this hungover. Besides, it was a little late now and that huge dragon in the hangar did seem to point towards that this world had things more dangerous than a dude with a rifle. For now, he would just relax, it wasn¡¯t like this had actually worked. That is when the door swung open revealing Esmeralda followed by Fengi, Kokashi, and a few of the others who hadn¡¯t gotten too drunk last night. He heard Sapphire call out in the back ¡°So did they or didn¡¯t they?¡±


    Tom just stood there like a deer in the headlights staring at Esmaralde who was clearly looking him over ¡°Didn¡¯t, I think. Though I have no clue what they have been doing¡± She sounded almost disappointed but curious at the same time.


    The rather unwanted guests started filling into the smithy and Esmeralda inspected the ingredients on the table.


    ¡°Have you been doing alchemy¡­ While drunk?¡± she sounded more incredulous than questioning and Tom just nodded holding his hands over his ears. This many people made too much noise this early in the morning, or well whatever time it was.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Fengi questioned holding up the paper drawings. Well now the decision was most definitely made, might as well roll with it. ¡°Gun¡± just answered. The stunned silence was bliss for his poor head. Somehow though, that seemed to wake Jackalope up. ¡°What the fuck are you all doing here, this is my room¡­ wait no. Why am I here?¡± Jackalope was clearly still suffering from last night''s drinking.


    ¡°You and Tom apparently decided to start building weapons while drunk in the middle of the night¡± Esmaraldea tried


    ¡°Awesome, what did we make? I¡¯m so tired it better be good.¡± Was the response from Jackalope. Esmeralda just sighed, shaking her head.


    ¡°You tried making a gun, I think. Nobody tells Vulzan! That is an order, okay¡± There was nodding from the crowd.


    ¡°Yeaah! A gun... Wait what?¡±

 Under the Table

    Chapter 31: Under the Table


    Tom had not proven much help, apparently, he couldn¡¯t actually remember what they had done last night. He didn¡¯t seem drunk anymore, it was like he was sick if anything his head hurt that was certain, But he had assured Sapphire nothing was wrong, so who was she to judge?


    They had woken Shiva up. It seemed she was capable of remembering a bit more of the night¡¯s activities. Apparently, Tom had begun questioning how you were supposed to fight a dragon. Shiva had tried her best in drunk as she was, to explain you often needed either another dragon, some very heavy siege weapons or you would have to go for death by a thousand cuts.


    Tom had then exclaimed it would be so much easier to just use a canon. Of course, this sparked the interest of both Jackalope and Shiva and before long they had coaxed the human into telling them what a cannon was, including the stuff he called black powder, needed to fire it. Then Tom had tried to explain how that worked, given up, and elected to try and show them instead.


    They had taken charcoal from the forge that stinky bird shit fertilizer Raulf had insisted on acquiring and sulfur from Apuma''s alchemical supplies. When asked how they had gotten their hands on the sulfur Shiva had looked to Tom for a second, who just looked bewildered. Right then even when drunk locks were not a problem.


    They had mixed the ingredients, but evidently, it hadn¡¯t worked. Perhaps because nobody involved had been even close to sober. The three had been left to sleep off the worst of it and clean up the mess they had made, while the others went about dealing with the mess from the night before.


    As they left, Fengi made her opinion clear on the matter


    ¡°Here we were thinking Jackalope finally found somebody crazy enough for her and we found them making weapons in the smithy with her mother instead. I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    ¡°Hadn¡¯t Tom made it quite clear he didn¡¯t want to teach us how to make weapons?¡± Kokashi was sounding as confused as usual when it came to Tom.


    Sapphire joined in. ¡°Well, he has either changed his mind or was too drunk to remember. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Jackalope dared him to do it if I¡¯m honest. Besides, it¡¯s not like it worked.¡± The others were at least moving slow enough for her to keep up, even if it wasn¡¯t exactly graceful.


    ¡°Do you think he can get it to work though?¡± Kokashi chimed in.


    ¡°I have no idea what he was even trying to do¡± Sapphire admitted, ¡°but it seemed to involve fire and that strange powder."


    ¡°Think it¡¯s like flash powder or something?¡± Rachuck added. He had a point there. if they didn¡¯t have dragons they might have come up with an alternative.


    ¡°Maybe, but it didn¡¯t look like he was trying to set fire to the place.¡± Kokashi seemed to ponder that one.


    ¡°The drawing was weird too, it didn¡¯t look anything like his guns. I think it was just a part of it.¡± Esmeralda added.


    ¡°Do we have any flash powder?¡±Sapphire asked that might be useful for Tom if he was set on playing with fire.


    ¡°Maybe we don''t exactly use that stuff regularly, but I¡¯ll go check. Vulzan will definitely have some blitz powder though maybe that will be useful to¡± as Kokashi ran downstairs the group made it back to the grand hall, there was quite a bit of cleaning up to do. For once Sapphire was happy she was still on her crutches.


    ¡°isn¡¯t that stuff incredibly dangerous,¡± Fengi asked


    ¡°Sure it is when dry you just store it wet for travel¡± Rachuck clarified


    ¡°Vulzan will be here for some time, no rush let¡¯s find out what Tom is planning first.¡± Esmeralda concluded ¡°For now there is work to do. I swear if Jacky wasn¡¯t still too drunk to stand I would make her do most of this.¡±


    ¡°That sounds familiar¡± Fengi added with a sigh.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right okay, they knew at least somewhat what firearm was now, and depending on how much Jackalope and Shiva could remember, they had the rough recipe for black powder. This was once again not how Tom had imagined this would go but what the hell. Perhaps he should just roll with it?


    The scoreboard of bad idea=great result was still holding up. Besides he had literally been sent here to change the world. he sat in the corner trying his best to come up with excuses for his actions, for quite a while his head still pounding. He had tried to go back to sleep but the headache put a stop to that. So he just sat there, eyes closed half asleep when he opened them to the sound of something moving.


    He was greeted by Jackalope¡¯s face far too close for comfort sitting staring into his eyes.


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    ¡°Good morning¡± He tried


    ¡° I¡¯m cold¡± was all he got in response, she didn¡¯t seem quite awake yet or maybe she was still wasted from the day before.


    ¡°Hi cold, I¡¯m Tom¡± Why did he say that? Why did he say that! She just stayed there staring blinking a few times appearing to process what he had just said.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re hot¡± She finally went then grabbed him by the shoulders pushing him to the floor. Tom was not quite sure what to do here, She was undoubtedly pretty and all, but Jesus Christ he wasn¡¯t exactly ready for interspecies romance. He had weapons technology to ponder and an evil hangover.


    He was dealing with a trained killer that had him beaten in both strength and natural weapons. Not to mention she was drunk. Best to just lay still and hope this all blows over. Hopefully, she would just go to sleep again.


    Then she proceeded to curl up next to him folding her wings around him, letting out some contented sounding grumble, and seemingly falling asleep immediately.


    Huh, so that had been literally hot¡­ Pheew. Well, she had been sleeping on a stone floor maybe she was actually just quite cold. This wasn¡¯t the most comfortable situation ever though. He was wrapped up on the floor like he was in a sleeping bag and there were sharp talons right next to his head jutting out from the top joints of her wings. He had already learned with the children that goggles were a good idea, especially at night. His eyelids weren¡¯t tough like leather after all. Perhaps he should start wearing them at all times?


    He wasn¡¯t sure how long he laid there not wanting to move, aside from the talons this wasn¡¯t too bad. It had been a while since he had any luck with the ladies back home. Even if this wasn¡¯t exactly the same thing, it was still rather nice. She was cold though nearly as cold as the floor in fact.


    He had just begun to enjoy the situation he found himself in, when he heard a loud raucous laughter coming from Shiva, apparently having woken up by now.


    ¡°Well, I see you got comfortable! What are you a hot stone or something¡±


    ¡°Kinda¡± Tom had to admit


    ¡°Shit that sounds nice actually¡± the laughter vanished replaced by contemplation


    ¡°No, this is my hot stone¡± Jackalope protested apparently not sleeping quite as much as she let on.


    ¡°Uhm, I have an opinion too¡± Tom tried.


    ¡°No, hot stone¡± Jackalope was clearly still rather drunk Tom thought. Shiva couldn¡¯t be much better off¡­ this was gonna be embarrassing he felt.


    ¡°Well sir hot stone, it would seem you are a goblin in a free fall¡± Tom didn¡¯t even want to ask what that meant, but he would guess shit out of luck was an accurate analogy.


    ¡°But since you are awake mind explaining just what you were trying to do and why it didn¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°Uhm.. well I believe drunk Tom thought that fertilizer was Saltpeter. It isn¡¯t, but I think I can make some with it.¡±


    ¡°Right, so it should still be possible?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, I think so¡±


    ¡°Excellent, you are gonna help me make one of these cannons¡± Okay then, that sort of settled the deal. She could remember more than him about last night for sure. Tom had the feeling Shiva was not one to be messed with either. Actually making a cannon wouldn¡¯t be that hard if he could get the powder for it of course, But what good would an old muzzleloader do against a flying dragon, you would never hit the thing.


    In an ambush maybe it could work, also what did she need to kill a dragon? It was several times larger than an elephant and those scales looked tough as old boots. Maybe a really big rifle would do the trick? But without modern powder that would be anemic at best. He needed a long barrel, large caliber, for the shot weight at least, and he didn''t have any machining tools whatsoever¡­


    That meant no rifling, no breech-loading, and no tight tolerances.


    ¡°Why need canon?¡± Tom knew quite well that the answer to that one was because why not, but hey.


    ¡°I need to kill a dragon of course¡±


    ¡°Uhm Archeon?¡±


    ¡°What no, of course not. I have another dragon that must die for what it did¡± Tom felt Jackalope tighten her grip around him for a bit. Okay, this was a family matter then.


    ¡°Not sure I wanna ask why, but...¡±


    ¡°We lost our home, Tom. We lost it to that piece of shit traitor. Nunuk fought in the defense of our keep, but against a rogue dragon with all the help he wanted, there was not much one could do. She helped those who could to escape and offered us a place here afterward, I took her up on the offer.¡±


    ¡°I see, what you mean rogue dragon and what kind of help?¡±


    ¡°The dragon was a fire-breather called Rhashan. It had decided that an incursion from the south by the bugs was the perfect opportunity to have some fun. So it offers its services to a doetna and he receives a small army of darklings to help him out.


    ¡°Uhm sound quite bad¡±


    ¡°Tom, do you even know what you were fighting two days ago?¡±


    ¡°Bad dragonettes?¡±


    ¡°No Tom, corrupted dragonettes. Corrupted by a doetna. Most likely at least, we call them darklings. A doetna is a hideous beast, not that I have ever seen one, but the stories of those who have are haunting, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°Corrupted?¡±


    Jackalope spoke up now ¡°It just needs to breathe on you to turn you. Every darkling was once a noble warrior or just some innocent person hiding. Piece of shit.¡±


    ¡°Darkling make more darkling?¡± Tom was really hoping this isn''t some kind of zombie situation.


    ¡°No, they are made by a master and slaved to them we think. Though it is clearly possible to change the master afterward. Unfortunately, a doetna has way more than just darklings at their command, almost anything living and thinking can be corrupted.¡±


    ¡°Corrupted dragon?¡±


    ¡°It has happened but we think that has to be either voluntary or while the dragon is young. Otherwise, they appear able to resist the effects. Still every now and again another one is found, so it must be possible to make more.


    ¡°Making a cannon not sound like bad idea anymore¡± In fact, it sounded like Nunuk¡¯s protest of trying to defend against all the bad things of this world was a more sound argument than Tom had thought. He just had to tell them about nukes so they wouldn¡¯t question him¡­ I¡¯m an idiot, Tom concluded to himself.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± Shiva let out.


    ¡°I just wanna see a big boom¡± Jackalope added.


    ¡°Big boom indeed,¡± Shiva concurred.


    There was a content vibe to the room as the two dragonettes continued to half-sleep the effects off. Tom¡¯s headache was even starting to recede somewhat. Perfect timing, he had a lot to think about. He still didn¡¯t have what he needed for machine tools. He might be able to put together a lathe but that would leave him with precious little leftover metal.


    The alternative was just making a cast smoothbore muzzleloader. If it needed to kill a dragon something like a 6 or 8 pounder might do the trick. But that would still only give a single shot in a fight. Maybe two if they got very lucky. If his recent experience was anything to go by that is.

 How To Befriend Your Dragon

    Chapter 32: How To Befriend Your Dragon


    Sapphire had watched the others go about the cleaning from a chair, much to their annoyance. Vulzan had come out to join them along with the two of his guards still fit for a fight, despite some minor wounds. They had been mostly done when Tom had come in.


    ¡°Uhm, is Nunuka awake?¡± There was a shared look around the place until Sapphire spoke up


    ¡°No, Apuma came out a few hours ago. She is still in there.¡±


    Rachuck spoke up ¡°Yeah, she is either sleeping or staring at the loft, wondering when it will stop spinning.¡± Sapphire was glad on Rachuck¡¯s behalf Nunuk wasn¡¯t here right now, but he was most likely correct.


    ¡°Uhm talk later then¡­ Need help?¡±


    Whatever had been affecting Tom earlier seemed to have mostly vanished and he took to the work without complaint, if a little slower than usual. Once the Halls were again clean and orderly, he had come up to Vulzan looking like a kid about to ask for a snack.


    ¡°Uhm. Am I allowed to talk with Archeon?¡±


    ¡°What is it with you and thinking so little of yourself? Obviously. We are traders, after all, most of our job is talking. Well, my job at least. If you are looking to make friends just don¡¯t be an arsehole and you should do grandly. Besides what makes you think I decide who he can and can¡¯t talk to?¡±


    ¡°Oh sorry, thank you¡± Well at least Tom was being very polite even if a bit excessively so. Sapphire wondered if they had dragons where he was from, he seemed to recognize the concept of dragons and even had a word for them in his language. So they must, but he claimed they didn¡¯t?


    Might as well follow him to see what he got himself into and maybe learn something.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was making his way to the greeting hall, pondering just what he was planning to do there. He wanted to make friends, because well, how awesome would that be? He also wanted to know how to kill said friend. Tom wasn¡¯t sure just how best to go about those conflicting objectives. When he entered the greeting hall he saw the outer door had been opened so Archeon could stretch out a little more and catch some sun. It was already late afternoon, the day could hardly be described as wasted though. Not that that was of any import now. He needed to figure out how to have a conversation with a dragon. It couldn¡¯t be staying for too long so he better learn what he could. Tom was also guessing that if he ever wanted to leave this place, dragonback was the most likely solution. So friends first he thought to himself.


    As he pondered this he didn¡¯t realize he had already been noticed while standing there like an idiot.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you want to ask something?¡± ¡®Whoops¡¯ was all Tom thought, as he tried to come up with something witty to say, perhaps a joke or something, what would work in draconic?


    ¡°Oh, Hello Sapphire Well met. I do hope the wing is doing well¡± Archeon interrupted Toms thinking


    ¡°It will be fine just a few more weeks that is all¡± She replied


    ¡°Ahr good to hear. Now Tom, if you aren¡¯t going to then I will. When we first properly met you asked whether I breathe fire as in the stories. You claim to come from a place that has no dragons and you have never seen one. How do you have stories of us?¡±


    Okay, Tom could work with that. Storytime, no problem.


    ¡°Old myths and legends, Some believe there were dragons once, most believe we just made you up. We have many kinds of dragons.¡±


    ¡°Kinds you say, as in fire, storm, ice, and so on?¡± Archeon seemed curious, Tom thought, good start.


    ¡°Yes and no, we have lot more than that. Dragons without wings, dragons of the sea, kind dragons, evil dragons, big ones, small ones. Clever dragons, and dragons that monsters¡±


    ¡°Well, you certainly have a bright imagination, I''ll give you that. What am I then?¡± Could he say European dragon, was that even right? Screw it, it wasn¡¯t like the internet was here to bash him for getting it wrong. When in doubt, fall back on DnD.


    ¡°You are blue European dragon, remember story which say blue dragon use lightning, have a big central horn on snout, love dessert and evil, so two out of four¡±


    ¡°Now that is hilarious, that would look ridiculous. But for old myths that isn¡¯t half bad. It seems a bit quaint to just call somebody evil because of their color though¡± Don¡¯t mention the darklings, Tom. Don¡¯t mention them, no need for a race war.


    ¡°No, is just story though, makes it easy just go, those are bad¡± Tom made a pointing gesture out while trying to remain calm and collected, so far so good. He did need to learn something though.


    ¡°Shiva told about evil dragon, a red one, you know?¡± Tom asked tentatively


    ¡°Yes, I know of him, the insolent little welp. Now he would fall under your quaint definition of evil, he killed and burned for fun. Many reds enjoy the thrill of battle, that is why you find so many of them in the army or as mercenaries, after all. Many of my kind are obsessed with honor and glory, even purity much like your hosts here, even if they are a little laxer than most, being this far out. Rhashan was different though, he didn¡¯t care as long as could kill, he was happy. So he made deals that would allow him to kill as much as possible. To feel the thrill of it.


    Yet he was a coward, once things got tough he ran like a scared little kid, leaving his slaves behind to buy him time. I think he still lives, though I¡¯m not sure¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Uhm yeah, Shiva ask me to help fix that¡±


    ¡°You want to kill a dragon?! I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s gonna be hard to answer that one without being insulting, but you and what army?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t take army to make it hard for you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.. careful now, but no that is true. It wasn¡¯t like I could see the bastards or outrun them with whatever was following us, giving them a place to rest. Besides, in weather like that if I were to let loose I would just kill as many of my escorts as the enemy.


    ¡°Yeah, true, sorry. I have favor to ask. May I measure you?¡± Tom was crossing his fingers for the best


    ¡°What exactly are you planning on measuring?¡± The dragon didn¡¯t sound opposed, just cautiously curious Tom though.


    ¡°Armor thickness, dimensions, soft points¡±


    ¡°You want to learn how to kill me?¡±


    ¡°No no, not you, been asked to kill Rhashan I must try¡± Tom was really hoping duty and honor would buy Archeon over to the idea.


    ¡°Fine then, besides if you wanted to kill me I believe you would have tried when I was more wounded¡± Tom stopped at that, yes the dragon had been very wounded with gashes deep enough to stick his arm in, but as he inspected him there was nothing but scars now. Rapid healing was a factor too then.


    Tom brought out the measuring tape and calipers, in the hope, it wouldn¡¯t be strange enough to cause questions. From the front of the dragon''s chest to the center where he guessed a heart would be was nearly 2 meters of muscle flesh and bone. Not to mention the plate-like scales. He had no clue how hard they were, but measuring at the exposed edges where they overlapped, they looked to be at least 50mm thick and possibly more towards the center. When Archeon moved they did flex though, so not rock hard, but who was to say with a magic dragon that breathes lightning. They may be tougher than steel.


    Where the thick plates didn¡¯t cover there was just thick leathery skin and smaller scales. He had seen first hand it was pierced with relative ease by arrow and blade. The sheer bulk of him made him mostly immune towards serious damage by that method though. Tom theorized the wings might be taken out like that though. There must be important tendons running right beneath the skin around the wing joints.


    It was a shame he didn¡¯t have a skull to look at, he would like to know if his rifle had a chance of piercing it. He guessed not though, even with the few high powered FMJ rubber tips he had brought, he didn¡¯t fancy his chances. Repeated fire to the side or back might do the trick though, it was only leathery skin there and if he missed the ribs the result should be rather nasty organ damage. Even if it wouldn¡¯t be immediately fatal, it might do with enough rounds being pumped in. The unarmored parts of the neck might do as well.


    ¡°Out of curiosity, how would you try and kill me if you were to try?¡± Archeon asked looking on curiously. He couldn¡¯t say gun, Vulzan had claimed he used fire magic, so why not.


    ¡°Need to down first then use fire magic to pierce unarmored parts, destroy inside little by little let bleed to death. Maybe take out breathing¡±


    ¡°You sound like a remarkably nasty little one, still it might work if you can get me on the ground. Sounds worse than arrows even if they sting quite a lot that¡¯s for sure. Vulzan was quite impressed with your abilities, how would you plan on staying alive for long enough though? If you were trying to kill me, I wouldn''t just let you hang on or hide behind a wall now, would I?¡±


    ¡°No, I need fight from hiding, wear you down¡±


    ¡°Well, you aren''t a dragonette in disguise then, that much is for sure. Tell me Tom, is that how all of you fight?¡± Not again, what was the right answer here? Let''s lean on the nature thing that sounded like a great idea.


    ¡°We let nature and night hide us from enemy, then we strike with surprise and disappear again.¡± Tom was quite pleased with his explanation it was rather neat yet vague enough.


    ¡°And yet when you came to my aid you elected to stand on my back surrounded by enemy combatants in the middle of a storm? You must be remarkably bad at hiding if that was what you were trying.¡±The dragon sounded like it found that rather funny. Fair enough Tom thought it wasn¡¯t like he and Dakota almost died as a result. It hadn¡¯t been brilliant but what was he supposed to do then.


    ¡°Not really my element. Don¡¯t know how to fight in the air¡± That wasn¡¯t even a lie, he had no clue what he was supposed to do up there.


    ¡°Well let me give you some advice then. It is rather hard to hide up there so you might wanna figure out something else. Unless you can find someone equally crazy and capable to watch your back.¡±


    ¡°Yeah noticed, didn¡¯t go that well, messed up in the end. Kinda got screwed¡±


    ¡°See, now that I find curious, just last night you were celebrated as the ace of the battle, and yet here you are. Looking back and you are not happy with the result and even blaming yourself. I¡¯m not saying you are wrong to do so, but most people I know would be thrilled. Why aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°Too much luck, got very close. That is not acceptable. Must do better.¡± Tom hadn¡¯t thought about it like that. He had an unfair advantage and yet he had come close to losing it all. That wouldn¡¯t do, even if he didn¡¯t really know what to do about it if there was a next time.


    ¡°So is that why you are taking measurements then? I mean really?¡±


    ¡°Sorta, I guess¡± Tom admitted, ¡°Must, learn to do better, Must learn enemy.¡±


    ¡°I think Vulzan is onto something with you. you truly are different. You told me how you fight, but why do you do it? ¡±


    Why did he want to know all this? Tom was starting to get worried, he had wanted to be the one asking the questions here after all. Archeon was starting to get too curious. Well, the old motto would have to do.


    ¡°Fight for what is worth fighting for. I fight for what is behind me¡± Tom replied.


    ¡°But you are here to fulfill a debt by a lord of some distant land and yet you claim you fight for the sake of what you are defending, not honor or glory? How long have you been here?"


    Tom had to think about that one for a while. How long had it been, a few weeks at least, had it been a month? It couldn¡¯t be much more than that.


    ¡°Month I think¡±


    ¡°And you are already willing to put your life on the line and fight for what is worth fighting for as you call it?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. Likely would have done so the day I got here, if necessary. There kids here, families I must fight. didn¡¯t know what you were, but families went so I fight¡±


    ¡°Had I asked one of my guards they would have gone, for duty, honor, and glory or something like that. I¡¯m guessing, even if they would be fighting for the people here too. Even if they might not admit it ¡± Tom thought the dragon was starting to sound excited? The dragonettes certainly hadn¡¯t been, when he told them all this. Should he just ride this train he wondered? Why not, Archeon seemed to be agreeing so far. What quotes did he have that worked in draconic?


    ¡°There is honor in serving, if not in fighting. A soldier fights for what needs defending even if not his¡± Tom was beginning to sound like a preacher for the Iraq war, but it seemed to be working as there was silence for a moment before Archeon responded.


    ¡°Noted. I think I might have somebody you need to meet before it¡¯s too late. I will take that up with Vulzan though.¡± Oh no! What had he now gotten himself into? He just wanted to make friends with a dragon that was all. Hopefully, this wasn¡¯t somebody too important.


    Sapphire just shook her head looking at Tom.


    ¡°Well it seems you both managed to make an impression I think¡±


    ¡°Now just because I don''t agree with you people''s way of doing things all the time. Doesn''t mean you get to take that out on Tom¡± The dragon replied


    ¡°You just make it sound like all we care about is dying in battle or something like that. Might I point out we have saved Tom¡¯s life twice now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes I¡¯m just saying it¡¯s nice to meet someone who seemed to understand the gravity of fighting. rather than seeing it as a sport¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a sport it is our duty we must defend our home and it would seem Tom agrees on that point¡±


    ¡°Best defense can be a good offense¡± Tom added shrugging his shoulders.

 Get Up

    Chapter 33: Get Up


    Sapphire had gone to try and lure Nunuk out of bed for dinner only to find the door ajar, she politely knocked and waited outside without answer, she peeked inside and was met with an empty room.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    She hobbled back down the corridor knocking on all the doors.


    ¡°Come in¡± was the answer from Dakota''s room. Of course, why hadn¡¯t she thought of that? She was greeted by Nunuk sitting on the bedside with her sword in her hands. Dakota laying on the bed staring up into the ceiling.


    ¡°Is this a bad time?¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry, it''s as good a time as any,¡± Nunuk answered, getting up turning to face Sapphire, the old lady sounded somber, Sapphire thought.


    ¡°Dinner''s almost ready, will you be joining us?¡±


    "Sapphire, if you wouldn¡¯t mind I think she needs somebody other than me for a while¡± Nunuk walked past Sapphire giving her a pat on the shoulder, leaving her with Dakota. Sapphire hobbled over to sit on the bedside.


    ¡°Not feeling so well, I take it?¡±


    ¡°Saph, why was I so scared?¡± She sounded almost depressed, Sapphire thought


    ¡°You were drowning in an ice-cold lake in the middle of a storm? That sounds scary to me¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t, he was so calm. How could he be so calm?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe he loves the water? Didn¡¯t you hear him scream most of the way down? You weren''t scared then¡±


    ¡°Well I had a job to do, I had to catch him, he wasn¡¯t making it otherwise, now was he?¡± Dakota sounded a bit irritated now.


    ¡°I think you just managed to answer your own question there old girl. You were scared in the water because you couldn¡¯t do anything, Tom was scared in the air because he couldn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, I heard him laughing while he swam, he was laughing Sapphire and when we got out Nunuk said it damn near killed him too, he was so exhausted he couldn¡¯t crawl let alone stand. And you heard him afterward, he was scared too, incredibly scared. Maybe even more scared than me. He laughed in the face of death. I couldn¡¯t even keep calm? I damn near drowned us both.¡±


    ¡°Well first off, Tom was the one who got you both into that mess. And secondly, you heard him, he wasn¡¯t scared of the water, he was scared of having lied to you, he made that very clear. Thirdly, did you see how he broke down afterward? He might have been laughing, But he sure as hell wasn''t happy if that is what you think.¡±


    ¡°And now he is back on his feet and I¡¯m just lying here, unable to sleep or even relax. All the while my mother tried to sell our ancestral blade for some metal bars. And who comes along to save the day again? He hasn¡¯t even been here a month, Sapphire, yet he is outdoing us all!¡± She sounded angry by now, Sapphire knew Dakota could have a temper but this wasn¡¯t directed at anyone else.


    ¡°So that''s what this is about then?¡± Sapphire went in a stern voice. ¡°You have found a new person to compare yourself to, so you can justify feeling bad about yourself¡± Sapphire had seen this before in Dakota and she would be damned if she let her get away with feeling pity for herself.


    ¡°Wah? No!¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I got you now, we''ve been through this all before. You are seriously suggesting that a buffoon who managed to crash twice in a month, despite not being able to fly. Who got defeated by a bunch of children also twice. And made a complete fool of himself standing staring at an old Dragon like a kid seeing the outside for the first time. Is seriously putting you in such a bad mood you won¡¯t even get out of bed!¡± Sapphire knew she was laying it on thick, but this just wouldn¡¯t do.


    ¡°But he...¡±


    ¡°He would most likely be ashamed if he knew why you are lying here, but I doubt he has figured it out, yesterday he asked if we are all afraid of water or if we could swim! He even offered to try and teach you how to swim when I said no. So now you better get up before I go tell him you have accepted that offer.¡± Dakota looked somewhere between stunned and defeated as she lowered her head.


    ¡°Then why was my mother trying to sell that blade? You know what it means and who was supposed to inherit that responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. What did she tell you?¡± Sapphire had been stumped by that decision. Dakota had a point there she admitted to herself. There must be an explanation though. ¡°She had a debt to pay and she was hoping he might, in turn, reward us with weapons far beyond a blade¡± Sapphire didn¡¯t even believe that herself really.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°But why didn''t she ask me first! Or even Tom for that matter. She pinned our family''s heritage on him, and you tell me I shouldn¡¯t compare myself to him? She clearly did!¡±


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want that responsibility? Maybe she is looking for a way to avoid forcing it on you?¡±


    ¡°I said I didn¡¯t know if I would be ready for it! But it will be years before I had to be, but if she sold it I would never even get the chance.¡±


    ¡°Nobody is ever ready. At least, anyone who claims so isn¡¯t. You told me that yourself. But did she at least tell you why?¡±


    ¡°She said it was just a sword, that another would be made long before it was time, or found and bought it¡¯s not like it¡¯s a one-off. She was sorry she didn¡¯t ask me first though. I mean, sure she is right, but that doesn''t make it right what she did.¡±


    ¡°Well people make mistakes you might hold your mother in high regard but nobody is perfect. And hey, Tom certainly isn¡¯t He tried making a gun while drunk last night. So maybe the next weapon of the keep won¡¯t even be a blade.¡± Sapphire tried to sound happy, she needed to get her friend back on her feet after all.


    ¡°You''re kidding, right? he actually did that, did it work?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t succeed no, but he did try I swear¡±


    ¡°Did he just forget he swore not to do that or did change his mind?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, both by the sound of it. He was not happy with himself this morning but Shiva said she just needed to tell him some scary stories to get him to keep at it. apparently, you can scare him like you would a little kid¡±


    ¡°Not Kiran you won¡¯t.¡±Dakota let a smirk creep onto her face, progress Sapphire thought. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll grant you he isn¡¯t the smartest then.¡± Dakota continued


    ¡°He apparently went beyond even what he had brought too. He talked with Shiva about a weapon capable of killing a dragon in a single shot. Come now that is something I want to see, even if my ears probably won¡¯t thank me.¡±


    ¡°What could do something like that?¡± Dakota questioned


    ¡°He called it a cannon. I have no clue what that is though.¡±


    ¡°As long as he does not start blowing traders out of the sky.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that would be bad. Speaking of which he apparently hit it off quite well with Archeon the two had a chat for a while. He even let Tom measure him up and answered questions on how to kill a dragon so that was quite something to watch.


    And hey last night he tried to dance with Fengi. That was truly hilarious. He Didn¡¯t have the faintest clue how to do anything. After that, though he did manage to beat most of us in a game of deception while so drunk he could hardly speak.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you think he is actually smart or an idiot?¡±


    ¡°I honestly have no clue, he seems so contradictory. He is kind though but we knew that. As long as he doesn¡¯t figure out Nunuks little scheme. Actually coming to think of it he might not even mind that much.¡±


    ¡°Yeah let¡¯s hope so. If he can kill dragons there isn¡¯t much that could stop him.¡± Dakota agreed


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was back to watching the kids while the others prepped dinner. He had gotten quite used to this by now the little buggers would run around play games ask stupid questions. He would do his level best to keep them entertained and out of trouble. Right now his translation abilities were being put to the test as he tried to tell a children¡¯s story to his miniature audience.


    As story time concluded with a lot of bewildered kids trying to figure out what a spider was, some arguing it sounded like a hamir but much smaller. Others if rain could really wash you away? Kokashi had entered asking Tom to come out and talk for a little while.


    ¡°I heard you liked playing with fire?¡± the guard went sounding enthusiastic. once the door had been closed.


    ¡°Uhm yes¡­¡± Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure where this was going.


    ¡°I think you are gonna like this then¡± Kokashi produced a small metal tube with a cork in it ¡°Flash powder¡±


    Okay, now the guard had Tom''s attention, did they already have explosive powders?


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A small spark and poof¡­ you get a fireball that grills everything. Even a little of it makes a good distraction. Mix it with oil and you get a sticky substance that burns great. We use it for firebombs¡±


    Okay then, magic napalm powder. That would be useful, Tom thought. Also, they had firebombs, why hadn¡¯t he been shown that? I wonder what else might be locked away, he thought to himself.


    ¡°Incredible! How is made?¡±


    ¡°Its dried fire dragon spit,¡± Kokashi replied seeming quite proud of himself


    ¡°Sounds expensive?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sort of, not too bad though, many dragons make the stuff as a side profit.¡±


    ¡°You said fire dragon, what about other dragons¡±


    ¡°Well, storm dragons make blitz powder, that stuff is dangerous as hell. Usually, we store it wet so as to not risk it going off. Acid dragons can make a dry powder that is safe to handle, add water then it can eat steel! Poison is well... just a very nasty poison. Frost dragons make blizzard powder, it¡¯s also known as powdered winter, it freezes anything it touches once you add water.¡± Kokashi was clearly enthusiastic on the subject.


    Tom just stood there for a moment pondering that, here he was trying to make black powder and they had what sounded like lightning in powder form. Why hadn¡¯t he thought of that, there was magic here after all. That meant magic materials of course. ¡°Does Vulzan have?¡±


    ¡°Blitz sure, otherwise there is sort of a ready supply on hand. I checked our stores, we had a few tubes of flash powder. Apuma said he had a bit of the acid, not much though. I don¡¯t know if he has anything else on hand.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then I want blitz powder, sounds fun, how expensive?¡±Tom thought Kokashy had a rather smug face at the moment, he apparently enjoyed being the one holding the cards for once.


    ¡°A small flask of the thick syrupy stuff should run you about five silver, maybe a little less if you are handy¡±


    ¡°Can be done. How much for a really big boom!¡± Tom gestured to the tubes of flash powder Kokashi was holding.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ well, a full tube would kill us both instantly, I think?¡± Kokashi suddenly looked a bit more apprehensive of what he was holding, Seemingly having gotten caught up in the moment. ¡°Just ask Nunuk or Rachuck before you start using it, okay? It''s not exactly cheap.¡± The guard handed them over very carefully. There were maybe between 50 and 100 grams in each by Tom¡¯s estimate. It sounded like it was potent stuff though.


    ¡°Okay I do that¡±


    This opened up so many new possibilities, he would need samples. It sounded like he might already have access to three out of the five which would be amazing. And if this blitz stuff was essentially magic lighting and apparently unstable, that would be very useful. Perhaps he should have a crack at magical alchemy before deciding on what to do next.

 Big Promises

    Chapter 34: Big Promises


    Sapphire had finally managed to get Dakota on her feet, it had taken a while. In the end, repeating the threat of swimming lessons combined with promising to bring everyone to her bedroom had gotten the recovering huntress on her feet. On the walk down the corridor, Sapphire could see her straightening her back and fixing her posture.


    Sapphire didn¡¯t know if she was happy to see her put the effort in or sad to know she had to. Hopefully, something would come along to take her mind off things, there were certainly plenty of candidates. When they made it down everyone was already eating, she found Tom sitting next to Vulzan clearly discussing something. She just hoped he wasn¡¯t doing something too stupid.


    As they sat and ate, Nunuk threw a few knowing glances over at them, she had clearly found out what Tom had been up to as well but didn¡¯t want to broach the subject. For now, she was just making small talk with Dakota, Apuma seemed to have a go at cheering her up as well.


    Tom was discussing various items and materials with Vulzan, he was very interested in blitz powder it seemed. Vulzan had asked why and Tom had simply responded he had never seen anything like that before. Sapphire knew perfectly well why the human wanted the stuff, but well he wasn¡¯t actually lying. Well, she didn¡¯t think he was unless he had been lying about a great many things.


    As their little discussion had continued Sapphire couldn¡¯t make up her mind whether Tom was lying or not. Something as simple as membrane leather being able to stretch a great deal seemed to astound Tom. How could his people have such incredible things and not know how to make proper leather? Was he playing dumb?


    When the subject had turned to magic items, Sapphire started to doubt him even more, he knew a lot about magic stuff for someone who claimed to know nothing. Then again for everything he guessed right, there was a wrong too.


    The notion that you could have a rod just stick in place had caught her attention, even though the bag which was bigger on the inside seemed like a bit of a stretch.


    ¡°Have you ever seen an item like that?¡± Sapphire joined in, curious to see how he would react.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ No.¡± Tom had answered, sounding a little uncertain looking at Sapphire with a head tilt ¡°just thought it be awesome¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll grant you I would pay a lot for a bag like that. I''m no master of the arcane, so I have no idea how that might be done¡± Vulzan added.


    ¡°How you make them magic things?¡± Tom had questioned the trader


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know that either to be honest, but I believe you take either inherently magic materials or enchant an existing material and then mold the inherent or traped power within to suit your purpose. Your cape, for instance, I don¡¯t know the specifics but I know they need lacewing thread to make it.¡±


    ¡°What is lacewing?¡± Tom had then asked predictably.


    ¡°Tom, do you know what a butterfly is?¡± Sapphire tried.


    ¡°Yes,¡± He answered. At least they had something that could fly back home.


    ¡°It¡¯s a special butterfly with color-changing wings. It''s very pretty.¡± Sapphire clarified.


    ¡°Sounds pretty,¡± Tom had echoed seemingly in thought, probably trying to imagine what one might look like.


    ¡°But anyway, Arc told me you two had a talk¡± Vulzan interjected.


    ¡°I must say I¡¯m surprised he thinks this highly of you already. I mean, I know you put in quite the first impression but still. Anyway, I think it is a splendid idea. Though I¡¯m fairly sure we will have to consult Nunuk first. Besides, there are no guarantees the kid will go of course¡±.


    Sapphire Looked to Tom he just seemed perplexed at what Vulzan had said. Was Vulzan sending his kid here? She didn¡¯t even know he had any, and why her of all places? They couldn¡¯t teach a kid much here. And surely Vulzan could afford the send his children to a fine school, in a big city somewhere.


    ¡°Is someone coming here?¡± Tom had questioned


    ¡°Well yes, didn¡¯t he tell you¡± Vulzan questioned


    ¡°He just said I meet someone¡±


    ¡°Oh in that case. Arc old boy, get your head in here!¡± Archeon slung his head through the open door looking down at the table.


    ¡°What is it now? Have you made promises you can¡¯t keep or have you made any on my behalf?¡±


    ¡°Well no, of course not. I just thought you needed to be the one to tell everyone about that little plan of yours¡±


    ¡°So the latter then. I only said I would ask him, but fine.¡± The dragon turned his head towards Nunuk sitting in her high chair ¡°Lady Nunuk, I would like to formally request permission that your keep become the first deployment for my oldest son Jarix.¡±


    There was silence in the room for a moment. Sapphire just put the fork back down looking around at the others, all either trying to be polite, frozen, or staring at Archeon. ¡°I have come to the conclusion that he is in need of some tempering following the hardening he has received at the academy. I believe your keep will be able to provide it.¡±


    Nunuk stood up looking bewildered even if Tom had made the unexpected a little more common around here, this was still a lot ¡°I humbly accept, of course, that is a great honor but shouldn¡¯t he be sent where he is needed?¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if that happens he will just charge off and get himself killed the first chance he gets. I believe he needs to learn as Tom so eloquently said it. What is worth fighting for and you just so happen to have a darkling problem. A fine excuse in my eyes. Not to mention someone who might be interesting enough to keep my son around for long enough to take a liking to the place. At Least I hope so¡± The massive dragon now turned its head to Tom along with much of the room.


    ¡°Uhm... wha¡­¡± was all Tom had gotten, looking somewhere between terrified and utterly confused.


    ¡°You think you can handle that soldier?¡± Vulzan added with a jovial slap on the back. ¡°I warn you he is as rambunctious as they come¡±


    Sapphire wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do with herself. A dragon stationed here at their keep! A dragon of the royal guard no less. This was incredible, Sapphire had dreamed of joining the royal guard since she was a little girl. That was why she had gone to the capitol way back when. She hadn¡¯t made the cut, she was just a huntress after all. She had come to the city alone hoping talent would do. Without a war on though, they hadn¡¯t needed a street girl from a backwater keep to fill the ranks. They had plenty of noble sons and daughters who came with both equipment and powerful connections to choose from.


    Esmeralda just let out a puff of air as if she was exhausted, Sapphire could feel that too. This was a bit much.


    ¡°We are gonna be working overtime for the rest of the year aren''t we?¡± Esmeralda then went. Sapphire hadn¡¯t thought of that part. Oh, this was gonna suck a lot too.


    Jackalope had just taken another drink of water seemingly still a bit dehydrated from the evening before even if her head appeared to have cleared up again. ¡°Can¡¯t he hunt for himself?¡±


    ¡°If you can convince him, Sure.¡± Vulzan added merely ¡°But he is a warrior, remember. He has spent the last decade training to fight and he is raring to go. So if you get him to hunt deer I would be mightily impressed.¡±


    ¡°You better get that wing fixed Saph¡± Jackalope just concluded before going to get more water.


    Tom was looking around a bit worried as if he had done something wrong¡­ Oh right, the whole secret thing that was gonna be a problem. Sapphire just hoped Dakota wasn¡¯t gonna take this too badly.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh my god, what had he done? They would be sending a dragon from whatever the royal guard was, it sounded very important though. And Tom was supposed to teach him manners? What the fuck? What had he gotten himself into? He couldn¡¯t figure out if this was the best thing ever or the worst. It sure as fuck messed up his plans though. He wondered if he was supposed to be like Vulzan. He and Archeon seemed extremely close, that would be pretty sweet.


    Apuma then spoke up ¡°It is my understanding that a dragon of the Royal guard sometimes comes with a contingent of warriors. Will this be the case?¡±


    Archeon answered ¡°That is only the truth for the older, larger members, Jarix is as of yet not capable of carrying more than a few people. In combat, he supposed to fly solo to better make use of his speed. I don¡¯t know if he will bring someone along. He is allowed to if he wants, I believe."


    "But as I said, I will only be asking him to please do this and try to persuade him. I cannot force him nor will I try to do so.¡±


    ¡°Perfectly understandable, will we be accountable for the pay? I¡¯m not familiar with how deployment is handled if we aren''t the ones requesting it?¡±


    ¡°He will be paid by the guard, but you will be expected to provide comfortable living conditions in exchange. This isn¡¯t a warzone after all. His equipment is also to be maintained of course¡±


    Well, at least Tom hadn¡¯t doomed them to financial ruin, he was guessing actually paying for the deployment of a dragon trained for war was not cheap. Tom wondered what sort of equipment a warrior dragon would have, would he be armored? That certainly had the potential to mess with his plans for how to kill one but he would have to see.


    ¡°Uhm when is coming?¡± Tom asked tentatively.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you for sure, I know his final exams are in a few weeks. I intend to witness them, after that. I don''t know. The trip here is only a little under a week if you fly straight here."


    Tom better get back to his studies then, he had a lot to learn and maybe not much time before he had something else to worry about.


    After the meal, Tom had gotten dressed up in his armor, holstered his weapons, and made ready for another night on guard duty. He did want to have a talk with Nunuk or someone about what was going on and if they thought he was doing the right thing or if this was bad. For now, though, Nunuk and Apuma were locked in conversation with Archeon and Vulzan and he had a job to do at least the extra long nap meant he was more awake than usual.


    As he sat peering out into the darkness, He contemplated the day''s events. Things were moving faster than he had planned right now and he didn¡¯t feel in control at all. It was all very exciting but something horrible was gonna happen sooner rather than later it always does.


    After a few hours, Nunuk stuck her head up the trap door looking around to check if they were alone. Satisfied that was the case she got up and closed the hatch behind her.


    ¡°Lady on deck¡± Tom let out trying to performing their salute.


    ¡°Haha very funny.¡± Nunuk responded ¡°If you are gonna pull that stunt at least stand at proper attention


    ¡°Not very good at standing on toes ma''am¡±


    ¡°Yet another shortcoming.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m trying¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. You''ve been trying very hard.¡± Tom couldn¡¯t quite work out if the old lady was happy or not at that statement.


    ¡°I¡¯ll grant you, I have never before been in this situation. You have been extraordinarily kind, entertaining, and even brave. One might even call you honorable, if not for your general way of going about things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as compliment¡±


    ¡°Tom, I have no clue what is happening right now. I have reigned this keep since my mother died. that was over fifty years ago Tom, I don¡¯t know if that is a long time where you are from but it is here. And I have never had this many things to do."


    "In the past two days, you managed to become the ace of your first proper battle, beat Shiva''s decade long streak in drinking, save my daughter from certain death, stop me from making a big mistake, blew the feet out under one of the most confident traders I know. Secure the friendship of a venerable old dragon I have known for decades while asking him how you are supposed to kill him."


    "At the same time, you put my daughter¡¯s life in jeopardy, damn near killed yourself, stole my husband''s sulfur supply while drunk, and used it to try and make a weapon capable of killing a dragon. I can¡¯t figure out what is going to happen next Tom and I don''t like it."


    ¡°Not much help, I don¡¯t either¡± Tom just answered shrugging, it was quite the list he admitted.


    ¡°Well, first of all, we need to tell Vulzan and Archeon the truth about you. I¡¯m not playing games of deception with a member of the royal guard. Do you still wanna try and keep a low profile?¡±


    ¡°I think so. I try and convince them not talk too much. We need be ready before anyone comes looking¡±


    ¡°Right then, I think you need to do that part. You managed to make friends with the old guy while measuring him up for a killing blow after all. Vulzan¡¯s guards still aren¡¯t airworthy, Dashu is walking again but it will be a while before Tyborg is ready to leave so you have time.


    On that whole killing a dragon front I must ask you, what exactly are you planning?¡±


    ¡°Need to experiment, Kokashi found Flashpowder and Vulzan has Blitz stuff. I try and see what do. Also try to make proper black powder, not the drunk failure. After that, I don''t know. Need more metal for both tools and good cannon. Much to do¡±


    ¡°Sound like you plan on going through with your little project then. I was hoping on that, I think I need to show you something then.¡±


    ¡°But guard duty?¡±


    ¡° I¡¯ll send someone up to replace you just come to my quarters when you are relived¡±


    ¡°Okay can do¡± Tom wondered what she had in mind, maybe the sword? It sounded important after all, so maybe?

 Old Reliques

    Chapter 35: Old Reliques


    Herron had come up to replace Tom not long after Nunuk had left him.


    ¡°So you got out of guard duty then,¡± Herron asked, seeming nonplussed about it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come back later don¡¯t you worry¡±


    ¡°Hehe yeah, I¡¯m sure, don¡¯t mind having a favor in your court.¡± He didn¡¯t sound convinced but he didn¡¯t seem bothered either so oh well. Tom liked the guy, he was chill.


    Tom made his way down the tower and into Nunuk''s and Apuma¡¯s room. He knocked on the door and was invited inside. There he saw the old Lady and Dakota standing in front of a large cupboard of sorts. It was very finely decorated, with carvings and the like painted white and blue as was much of importance around here.


    ¡°So you had something to show me?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, yesterday you prevented me from committing a grave mistake. I thank you for that. It seems only fair you get to see what it was you saved and why it is so important.¡±


    Nunuk moved over and opened the large cupboard inside which revealed a sparkling set of armor, unlike anything Tom had yet seen. It was full plate from tip to toe and absolutely beautiful. With detailed engraving and hammered out patterns in the steel which shone like a mirror. It was smooth and elegant, interlocking plates seemingly flowing into one another, it almost looked form-fitting in fact.


    Instead of chainmail, it used little metal scales to cover the neck and other weak points. the scales and Many of the trimmings were made in the same deep cobalt metallic blue of their horns. As Tom looked closer, there were tiny runes carved into them. It looked like something straight out of the legendary items list of a fantasy game.


    ¡°Oh my, that¡¯s pretty¡±


    ¡°Why thank you. This is my armor, my mother¡¯s armor, and my grandmother''s armor. One day it will be my daughter''s armor. And so will this sword¡±


    She pulled out a pure white scabbard, again with blue trimmings in leather this time though. The hilt was that same ivory stuff he had seen on some of their other weapons, complete with gems in the pommel and center of the crossguard. She presented the hilt to Dakota who drew it out. The blade was very thin, Tom thought, and it looked more like silver than steel.


    ¡°Tom, this is a Talon blade. It is forged from a metal called arcanvyth and is more than a little magical. It is the symbol of who rules this keep and has been for over a century. Following what we had been discussing I believed it would make a suitable source of income to get you started. It would go to a collector in the capitol who wasn¡¯t allowed to sell it then I would buy it back later.


    You have done much for us already and promised much more. I was hoping this would help your efforts bear fruit more swiftly. I¡¯m sorry Dakota, that was a stupid idea.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry mum I get it. Though I¡¯m still mad you didn¡¯t even ask first¡±


    ¡°I wanted it to be a kind gesture. He did save your life, some could argue twice. I was wrong though and I am truly sorry.¡±


    ¡°No harm done had spices¡± Tom tried to lighten the mood a bit. Magic armor and sword made from magic steel, might as well just call it mithril it fit the description fairly well after all.


    ¡°For the record, that is coolest armor I ever saw. Back home be worth fortune. Is magic too?¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s worth a fortune here as well and yes it is heavily enchanted. It too is mostly mithril construction it is nearly impossible to dent and even scratching it would be a hard thing to manage. Not to mention it negates impacts and helps weather both heat and cold¡±


    ¡°Holda k?ft¡± Tom let out not thinking.


    ¡°Pardon?¡± Nunuk retorted pulling a smile, Dakota just smirked


    ¡°Sorry. Incredible, you would be nearly impossible to kill¡±


    ¡°Well not impossible, but it helps a lot¡±


    ¡°Why not use it?¡±


    ¡°Until Dakota decides she is ready to take over the responsibility of the keep, the armor is mine. I¡¯ll fight to defend the keep just as everyone else but my days of going out in aerial melee are behind me.¡±


    That seemed like an awful waste to Tom, but if such was the tradition then so be it.


    ¡°What about sword?¡±


    Dakota answered, juggling the blade around a bit. ¡±Well it is lighter and sharper than any normal blade, stiffer too despite being so thin. Raise your blade¡±


    Tom hesitated for a moment before drawing his blade. He had just gotten it he didn¡¯t feel like losing it already. ¡°Okay, what now?¡±


    ¡°This¡± Dakota swung the blade and as it reached Tom¡¯s blade it went a little transparent and passed right through his blade, he barely felt the sword move at all. She brought the blade back and it struck his sword this time, knocking it to the floor. Tom being too surprised to remember to hang on to his sword.


    ¡°Incorporeal at will, most don¡¯t see that one coming¡± Dakota let out with a smirk.


    ¡°A sword you can¡¯t parry¡± Okay, that was just cheating in Tom¡¯s book. He loved it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hard blade to master but if you manage it you will be the deadliest warrior on the field.


    ¡°But don¡¯t you use bow and knife?¡± Tom questioned, surely this would be better spent on Rachuck.


    ¡°Yes, but as I am the future lady of this keep, I¡¯m trained just as much in using the blade. I¡¯m not just a huntress after all.¡±


    She better be Tom thought to himself he hadn¡¯t actually seen Dakota with a sword yet but there had been a lot to do since he got here, maybe she just didn¡¯t have the time.


    Tom had spent some time inspecting the equipment, it was clear there was a truly ridiculous amount of runes cut into both the sword and armor, all very small. The ones in the blade itself were very hard to actually see, if you held them in darkness you could even see them glow faintly though. Not great for stealth, but Tom guessed if you had kit like this you didn¡¯t worry about something like that.


    The craftsmanship was truly next level too. The stuff the dragonets had was all well made aside from some of the junk in the armory but this was just too perfect. He was guessing magic was involved on that front as well speaking of what was this magic mithril metal.


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    ¡°What is mithril?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°it¡¯s a magic metal made from silver and steel using some kind of arcane smelting process. I don¡¯t know the specifics. It¡¯s not like we can make it ourselves.¡± Nunuk answered.


    ¡°Guessing very expensive¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah and very hard to work¡± Dakota added.


    Yeah, that made sense Tom thought to himself, pondering what was before him. did metal alloys act differently here? if so he might have some trouble. or perhaps it was the magic forging they had talked about. but then what made this stuff special. why not just enchant steel.


    Nunuk and Dakota both turned their heads looking perplexed as if they heard something. Then a bell started ringing frantically and it was coming from down below?


    ¡°What do?¡± he turned back to the two, pulling out his revolvers to check if they were loaded.


    ¡°That''s the kitchen bell, they are inside. Dammit Herron! Dakota help me with this will you?¡±


    ¡°How did they manage that?¡± Dakota questioned.


    ¡°How should I know!¡±Nunuk replied sharply ¡±Well Tom time to see you on the ground then, Go say hello.¡±


    Tom gave a quick salute turning to leave frantically loading the Marlin as he ran. How had they gotten inside without being noticed? The windows here were narrow slits you couldn¡¯t get through. There was a fucking dragon in the greeting hall and the door would be closed at this time anyway. That left the stairs and the small platform at the base of the keep where the stairs went down from. That door was locked and barred by now though. They couldn¡¯t have come from the towers or he would be fighting them right now.


    As Tom made his way down the stairs to the bedrooms he heard the crackle and bang of electricity, he concluded somebody had made their way into either of the big halls. There was shouting coming from below as he sprinted down to the next level.


    He found Apuma ushering a group of children up the stairs to the upper bedrooms.


    ¡°What going on!¡± Tom demanded


    ¡°I don''t know they must have gotten in the lower door. I don''t know how.¡±


    ¡°How many!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, but quite a few I think Archeon just persuaded them to stay below the halls¡±


    Tom got around the old man and ran down the stairs with Esmeralda, Jackalope, and Fengi coming up the other way.


    ¡°Go get gear. I buy time¡± They needed their weapons and some armor wouldn¡¯t hurt, but with a dragon in the greeting hall how did they plan on getting up to the next level? Besides, what were they trying to achieve here? Sapphire came hobbling along with Wiperna helping her out, she wouldn''t be much use in this fight. At least they hadn¡¯t caught her.


    He made it to the small balcony overlooking the grand hall. He could see Archeon''s head sticking through the big hatch and he did not seem pleased. On the far wall, he could see two big burnt blue splotches likely the source of the big bang from earlier. In the hall, most of the able dragonettes were to be found minus those going to get their gear. Only some of them were armed, the armory being on the lowest level.


    As they stood there it was clear the enemy wasn¡¯t gonna try coming out again. Tom didn¡¯t like this, they were up to something. He needed to buy time for the others to get ready but it seemed the enemy was doing the same.


    ¡°Do we attack or wait!?¡± Tom tried


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how many there are. We are waiting for now¡± Shiva replied.


    Vulzan was looking rather nervous, Tom thought, He had his blade drawn and his two remaining guards that were not down in the infirmary by his side.


    ¡°What they want?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that either!¡± Shiva snarled back at him.


    Herron came charging down the stairs but where was Kokashi? He had been the other guard on duty tonight.


    One by one the Huntresses and guards began filing in as they waited. Nothing happening, the tension was killing Tom, why were they just standing here? Why was the enemy doing the same?


    ¡°Can we go now?¡± Tom tried again. He really didn¡¯t like the idea of letting the bastards get ready for them. By now though they most likely already were. Finally, Rachuck came down in full kit and started demanding to know what was going on. He did not seem pleased by what he heard.


    ¡°Headcount!¡± he shouted out. Tom¡¯s heart sank a little had they been taking prisoners. What if they were already getting away? was this a hit and run? He kept quiet for now though as everyone tried to figure out who was here and who wasn¡¯t. Kokashi was missing along with Vulzan¡¯s two bodyguards luckily most had been in the upper levels getting ready for bed. Those in the kitchen had managed to escape being followed by the two who were now decorating the wall courtesy of Archeon. The dragon had retreated to cover the greeting hall ensuring nobody came up that way.


    Then Apuma had burst back down the stairs.


    ¡°We are missing two kids!¡± Oh no they don''t, Tom thought, checking he had one in the chamber.


    ¡°That you are and three wounded guards¡± Came a male voice shouting from the stairs leading down to the kitchen. ¡°And unless you want that to become permanent I recommend handing over the relique¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± Was Rachuck¡¯s response. ¡°We don¡¯t have a relique at least none that is your''s, scum!¡± Rachuck sounded genuinely confused by this Tom thought.


    ¡°Not you dipshit! Vulzan! You know what you got.¡± All eyes turned to the trader who just went from a slight silver to white chalk in color shrinking down.


    ¡°The, the knife¡± The trader stammered. ¡°All this... for a knife¡± The trader sounded mortified.


    ¡°Well in that case handing that over shouldn¡¯t be a problem now should it. If it¡¯s just a little knife?¡±


    Was that what this was all about? Some little Mcguffin they wanted that Vulzan had. Oh, Tom would have some strong words after this. Unless the others beat him to it. Judging by some of the looks around the room they just might.


    Then Rachuck spoke up ¡°Might I ask what it is since it has ended up in my keep¡±


    ¡°No you may not!¡± came the reply from down the stairs.


    ¡°If you won''t tell me then I can only presume it is too dangerous to give to you.¡±


    ¡°Fine then, It is a religious artifact stolen from my home a long time ago¡± Yeah, Tom didn¡¯t buy that walking up to Rachuck talking into his ear ¡°No, it isn¡¯t¡±


    Rachuck looked a bit surprised by the gesture but nodded.


    ¡°Well, then I see no problem in that. I want to see your prisoners though. Vulzan, bring the knife will you.¡±


    Vulzan hurriedly scampered off into the greeting hall.


    ¡°You seriously think I am going to walk out in front of a storm dragon willingly?!¡±


    ¡°You know as well as him that he can¡¯t kill you without killing the prisoners too. Now quit stalling and get up here you coward.¡±


    ¡°Fine but you know the deal, you try something, we kill them all.¡±


    ¡°Yes I figured¡±


    Up the stairs came 5 darklings 3 holding prisoners. Kokashi, Vulzan¡¯s captain Tyborg and the other escort Dashu. No sign of the kids. The last two darklings flanking a figure clad in very fine armor. It was black as pitch with gold or brass trimmings. He was holding a metal shield and a sword. His skin was as black as his armor and the eye a deep red, a stark contrast to the faded dead eyes of the darklings. He looked like a bonafide cartoon bad guy, Tom thought. This wasn¡¯t the time for bad jokes though. Tom had considered just firing immediately but where were the kids?


    For now, he was kneeling barrel trained on the one with a knife at Kokashi¡¯s throat. What Tom wouldn¡¯t give for a squad of rifles right about now.


    Tom heard Vulzan come running back in ¡°here it is¡±


    Rachuck replied, ¡°Thank you, now let''s hear what your plan is here?¡±


    ¡°Simple, I take the relic, leave the heavy ones, take the kids, and leave them at the edge of the islands as insurance that you don¡¯t follow us. If you do decide to follow us we keep the children. Not too convoluted."


    Tom wasn¡¯t buying that one either he knew opening fire would mean death for all but maybe one or two. He looked around to see Fengi, Esmeralda, Jackalope all pointing bows at the intruders. No Nunuk or Dakota though, maybe the old Lady had a plan.


    ¡°Just how gullible do you think I am?¡± Rachuck replied, Thank god, Tom thought, he had been worried for a second there that Rachuck actually believed this guy.


    ¡°Well, would you prefer we just start cutting throats?¡± The lead figure replied.


    ¡°It would give us an excuse to end you in short order¡± Shiva added baring her teeth.


    ¡°Oh come now, I know you people, you won¡¯t let me just execute a kid. If the little one is right this guy named Tom certainly won¡¯t. He said you were different. Looking at you sorry lot I''m guessing that would be you.¡± The figure leveled his blade at Tom.


    Tom heard a deep growl coming from Anchor behind him


    ¡°You touch my kid, I¡¯ll make sure your body is never found!¡± They had Kiran then. Why did it have to be him?


    ¡°Oh we have found the daddy as well, okay then big guy, what are you gonna do about it¡± Was this guy still stalling or just enjoying himself. Tom could honestly not tell and he was not happy with either option. He was certainly mocking them


    ¡°No prisoners are leaving this keep¡± Rachuck stated. ¡°you may take your knife and go, never to be seen again.¡±


    ¡°Well, how am I supposed to ensure you won¡¯t just kill us the second you have your prisoners then.¡±


    Maybe you should have thought about that before coming here genius, Tom thought to himself. Tom certainly had no intentions of letting the bastard go now.

 Rainbow Six Keep

    Chapter 36: Rainbow Six Keep


    A weird scream echoed out in the keep, clearly another darkling, it didn¡¯t come from either of the halls though. It was from beneath, quite far down to by the sound of it. Tom guessed Nunuk and Dakota had made their move then. The figure looked confused for a split second, then angry as he started to bellow orders. A split second was all that Tom needed. He had held his sights on the one holding Kokashi and pulled the trigger. The crack of firing the rifle indoors filled the hall, blowing the brains of the target all over the wall. Everyone around him flinched, but Tom didn¡¯t have the time to feel sorry for their sensitive ears right now.


    He cycled the action and took aim at the lead figure. His priority was to ensure that guy didn¡¯t order Kiran''s execution if it wasn¡¯t already too late now. With the scope on 1x, he could target with both eyes open. He quickly brought the gun on target and sent another round thundering into the chest of the lead figure. Only to be rewarded with a resounding *ping.* He couldn¡¯t even see a dent at this distance, the round had just smashed itself to pieces on impact. The figure looked to Tom, sneering before turning to run back down the stairs being followed by the two flanking him. Tom ran the action again and fired into his back with the same result.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Tom exclaimed, ¡°I¡¯ll kill that bastard!¡±


    The darkling holding Captain Tyborg took two good arrows, one to the neck and one in the eye socket. Damn, they were not messing around with those things. Even if they had been a bit slow to react.


    But the arrow going for the other escorts'' captor bounced off its helmet. The darkling just threw the escort to the side and charged at captain Tyborg, sword held high. Tom ran the action and nailed the charging darkling in the upper chest and it collapsed on top of the captain.


    Tom got to his feet sprinting for the stairs, frantically trying to load his rifle as he ran. He needed to get to Kiran right now.


    How was Tom planning on killing this guy if his rifle didn¡¯t do the trick? Thinking back to Nunuk¡¯s armor it wasn¡¯t fully enclosed, it would be a matter of hitting the weak spots, places not covered by plate then, that would be a tall order.


    He charged down the stairs coming face to face with one of the darklings who had been flanking the bad guy, Tom just fired two from the hip. He didn¡¯t have time for delaying actions. Coming down to the corridor the doors were all closed. Would Kiran be in one of the rooms? The sound of fighting was still coming from beneath. Perhaps Dakota and Nunuk had tried to cut them off? In that case, he might be trying to escape. Down then, Tom concluded. He half jumped down the next set of stairs to the level that housed the smithy, again there was nobody here it would seem. That combined with the fact they had snuffed out the lights were starting to freak Tom out. Why hadn¡¯t he gotten his NVG¡¯s repaired immediately!? There had to have been quite a few of them, otherwise, this mission would have been certain suicide and now they were hiding and waiting for him in the dark.


    He stood there for a second trying to see into the dark pondering where they would have gone when he heard a clack of claws on stone. Tom turned, bringing the rifle down to the hip. The darkling already had its sword out and lunged at him having hidden under the stairs. He pulled the trigger blowing a hole in the thing¡¯s abdomen. but the sword continued its arc down for his neck. He did his best to duck the swing hitting his helmet glancing down into his neck.


    The leather bracing for the pauldron took most of it but the blade still drew blood. The creature roared at him. Tom let go of the rifle, bringing up his left arm to try and hold the beast back from cutting further into his neck while he drew the revolver with his right and put two more rounds into the thing''s chest for good measure.


    That was of course when he heard a door open behind him, accompanied by a few of those hissing screams he had heard in the last battle. Changing tactics he instead grabbed the creature''s arm with his left and used his greater weight to pull it over backward into a tumble, kicking it in the stomach with his right foot sending it flying into its newly arrived companions.


    Low grav certainly made it easier to be an action hero, Tom thought as he laid on his back watching the three darklings stumble to the floor. He rolled over onto his belly and took aim at the two currently fighting to get their dead or dying comrade off them, waiting for them to succeed. As they got up he rewarded them with a round to the face each.


    He didn¡¯t have time for laying on the ground. He needed to get to the chief a-hole now. Getting up, he slammed another round into the rifle and holstered the revolver drawing a fresh one. He looked around again, more thoroughly this time, no one in sight then came faint shouting from down below.


    ¡°Stop hiding behind chattel you fucking coward and fight me!¡± Nunuk was clearly getting into the spirit of things then.


    He could also hear footsteps coming from behind him as Anchor made his way down the stairs, Tom had nearly taken the guy¡¯s head off in surprise.


    ¡°You okay?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°Yes yes, need to get down now Nunuk!¡± Tom just replied making his way to the next set of stairs, going down a bit more carefully this time. This horror show was playing some serious tricks with his nerves.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take point¡± Anchor stated, running ahead. Tom heard fighting coming from above now too, swords clashing and more of those horrible screams. Looking back he saw Jackalope getting down the stairs as they were going down the next set.


    ¡°The fuckers are just hiding, keep your eyes open¡± Jackalope shouted at them from down the hall.


    Tom didn¡¯t pay her any mind, he could attest to that himself. As he followed Anchor down the stairs his heart was pounding. This was taking too long. Was the arsehole already at Nunuk and where was she exactly?


    Anchor kept a good pace, moving with shield up and sword at the ready, as they made it down to the last level they could see the pitch-black corridor, Tom knew the armory door was at the end. He checked under the stairs for targets but found none. Coming back around to look down the corridor a Darkling fell from the ceiling onto Anchor¡¯s back. It didn¡¯t even have a weapon, it just clawed at the armored guard trying to bite and scratch him, it looked wounded already as well. Tom brought up the revolver but couldn¡¯t get a clean shot with Anchor moving around trying to shake the thing.


    ¡°Get this thing off me!¡± Anchor demanded desperately.


    Tom just charged the two of them shoulder checking them both to the ground. The darkling decided this warranted switching targets, trying to turn to hiss at Tom, releasing Anchor. Tom rewarded the creature with a round straight down the throat. With predictable results.


    He moved to get help Anchor back up, as the guard got to his feet he pushed Tom towards the wall just fast enough for Tom to see a spear come flying past in front of him. Followed by an annoyed sounding screech from further down the hallway. Tom couldn¡¯t see the piece of shit responsible through the darkness but it could clearly see him. ¡°Hold them back¡± came the familiar voice followed by the door slamming shut.


    He hid behind Anchor who brought up his shield and advanced down the corridor. Jackalope made it down the stairs, Esmeralda following closely taking up positions behind Tom, bows at the ready. With back up, Tom switched back to the rifle.


    ¡°So you think you get to have all the fun?¡± Jackalope added, sounding confident as ever.


    ¡°Not funny¡± Tom just answered in a plain tone this seemed to shut her up for the moment.


    As they advanced Tom made out a pair of eyes in the dark. He stepped to the left and fired. The muzzle flash lit up the room enough to make out the target for a split second along with three others he hadn¡¯t seen. There was a thunk of a body hitting the floor and Anchor hitting the deck clutching his left ear. Followed by the sound of screeching lunatics and pounding clawed feet as the others charged down the hall. Jackalope and Esmeralda both fired into the darkness. Tom running the action as fast as he could there wasn¡¯t time for precision fire here as he fired blind. Only two came out of the darkness. Tom hit one in the shoulder, it stumbled but kept coming he fired again but missed. Jackalope saved his ass, putting one into its leg causing it to stumble. Tom quickly took advantage, finishing it off.


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    The last one was still coming and Esmeralda¡¯s shots had done little to slow it down despite finding their marks. As Tom ran the action again the creature lunged for him. He pulled the trigger to a resounding click, his eyes going wide.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Was all he managed to get out as he tried bringing the rifle up to defend himself. The darkling leaped over Anchor who was still dazed on the ground and brought a small warhammer around wide. The swing hit his upper arm penetrating the plates with the sharp spike, it hurt like hell, but Tom remained standing. The shield bash that followed did the trick though, knocking him over backward Into Jackalope. The creature landing on top of him pinning his right arm between them. The pain was immense and he wondered if he had just had both his arms broken. It sure hurt like it.


    The darkling closed its jaws around his head as he stared into the maw of the beast and he could hear it squeeze his helmet creaking. Tom admitted it now, he was fucking scared. His right arm was stuck between the two and he fumbled for his revolver with his left hand. Not able to get to it, having landed on his left side. He felt the pressure on his skull growing and starting to hurt a lot. He resorted to try and punch the thing in the face to little effect.


    He could hear Jackalope swearing a lot of new interesting words he had yet to learn. Then he heard a blade slide through flesh and the creature went limp. Its jaws still locked on his head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t like it in here¡± He cried out, trying not to sound as panicked as he was. And was rewarded by Esmeralda prying the darkling of him and rolling it off to the side. He just laid there for a moment staring up.


    ¡°Thank you¡± He let out in a meager voice, Jackalope reaching down a hand to help him up.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t done yet. Get up!¡± She retorted in her usual brash confidence, pulling. him to his feet. His hand hurt like hell but it still appeared to work. Looking around, Anchor was still clutching his left ear, clearly not pleased.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Tom went, not having considered what firing right next to the guy¡¯s ear would do.


    ¡°That hurt a lot¡± The guard replied, sounding very unhappy.


    ¡°We haven''t got time for this guys!" Esmeralda went, taking the lead running down to the door, slamming against it


    ¡°And it¡¯s locked because of course, it is!¡± She shouted at the door in frustration.


    Jackalope looked to Tom with a knowing glance having seen first hand how to deal with locks. He was busy reloading his revolvers as fast as he could.


    ¡°No time for that" Tom went to Jackalope, shouldering his rifle and taking aim ¡°Step back!¡±


    Esmeralda complied, looking worried. Once they were all well clear Tom fired at the hinges, blowing them to pieces. He really needed his shotgun for this, but he had more protection than normal, so he crossed his fingers no fragments found anything too important or hit someone they shouldn¡¯t on the other side.


    He stepped back and put one through the lock as well. Taking a few steps back he took a running kick at the door. It didn¡¯t budge at all, but he heard groaning from inside.


    ¡°They are holding the door shut¡± It came from within, clearly Dakota. She sounded out of breath Tom thought.


    ¡°So what are you gonna do now huh? You are surrounded without escape¡± It came from the room again. Nunuk this time and she sounded very tired.


    ¡°Not if I can get through you I¡¯m not¡± the familiar voice answered.


    Right then, time to burn some ammo Tom thought stepping back reloading the rifle and shouldering it. He just hoped there wasn¡¯t anything he cared about on the other side. He let rip firing into the door at chest level firing as quickly as he could run the gun. The noise was deafening even for him and the flashes really messing with his vision. He heard unnatural screaming from inside the room and saw blood leak out under the door. With all six shots spent he drew a revolver and gestured for Jackalope to join him. Together they charged the door shoulder first.


    As they hit, the door creaked and finally gave way, opening to an armory covered in blue blood. Up against the door leading out, Dakota and Nunuk stood back to back, Dakota facing a darkling and Nunuk the figure in black. On the floor lay two mangled Darklings having been torn to pieces, by the fusillade. In the corner stood a further three Darklings, two holding Anastasi and Kiran with blades at their throats. The room was strewn with corpses all having been cut to pieces. Entire arms severed and plates sliced open helmets split with broken faces inside. Clearly the work of Nunuk.


    The one in black had clearly done a number on the lady, blue blood dripping from his sword. He himself looked clean. Nunuk on the other hand was not standing straight and in pain, The fighting having taken quite the toll on her.


    ¡°What? How?¡± the figure exclaimed, turning away from Nunuk for a split second looking at Tom and Jackalope. Nunuk took advantage, lunging at her opponent, looking to run him through. The figure reacted swiftly though, catching the attack on his shield knocking it aside, looking back to his opponent.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t¡± The lunge had left Nunuks right side wide open as the black figure brought his blade back in. The wounded Nunuk was too slow to counter as he drove his blade up under Nunuks armpit piercing through her armor runes burning bright on both her armor and his blade, it was a nasty cut. Nunuk roaring out in pain.


    ¡°Mother!¡± Dakota screamed out before having to parry an incoming swing.


    Tom took aim at the back of the bastard¡¯s tail. There was a bit of protection at the root of it but the rest was only lightly covered. He fired, scoring a penetrating hit on the first shot.


    The figure stepped back his turn to roar in pain. Turning to face Tom just in time to look down the barrel of Tom''s revolver. The armor had a relatively weak-looking neck and eye holes of course, that would have to do, Tom thought. As he began firing both hands clutching the revolver. He advanced into the room while firing, the first round bouncing off the top part of the helmet. The second hit at the base of the neck right above the chest plate just before the figure managed to raise his shield. It went through. The figure let out a gurgle and dropped its blade clutching its neck. The third went wide, the fourth struck high on the neck also going in with the fifth hitting him square in the throat. The figure slumped to the ground eyes wide, blood leaking from its mouth.


    The darklings in the corner just looked at him as if waiting to be told what to do. The one fighting Dakota seemed to keep at it, Jackalope rushing to help out her beleaguered friend.


    The figure sputtered coughing up blood trying to say something. Tom had a good idea of what that might be as he dropped the spent revolver drawing the other one. three targets six shots, make them count, he thought to himself. Turning to the ones in the corner.


    ¡°Kill kiehd.. kids¡± The figure gurgled out.


    As Tom lined up the gun taking aim at the one holding Kiran. The range was no more than a few meters but Tom was shaking badly by now. His heart rate through the roof, adrenaline pumping and he didn¡¯t have time to steady himself. He fired the first shot as the darkling held up the screaming Kiran as if to protect itself, readying a knife to do its gruesome duty. The shot hit the wall right above the shoulder. Tom fired again as fast as he could get the gun back on target. The shot scraped past Kiran''s cheek plunging into the chest of the darkling¡¯s center of mass. Tom fired again, slightly higher. That had been way too close. Putting the third round through the creature''s eye, dropping it dead, knife clattering to the floor.


    As he turned to the other darkling holding Anastasi he fired high again, careful not to hit the kid. The shot went high and hit the wall. He felt Anchor coming past him charging the third darkling who was moving towards Kiran now. Esmeralda let out an ear-piercing scream as the knife slid into Anastasi¡¯s chest. It was loud enough to make Tom¡¯s eyes lose focus staggering him. It clearly affected even the darklings, the one holding Anastasi clutching its ears, dropping the kid.


    Tom struggled to make out his target through the sort of mental haze affecting him. Anchor had tackled the third one and was rolling around on the ground with it. Tom had brawled with the guy before, he could handle himself. As his sight cleared the one who had held Anastasi was clearly coming back to its senses as well bowing down, going to confirm the kill. Tom let fly with every round left, perforating the Darkling like a range target. It staggered but still standing letting out a deafening screech. None of the shots had hit anything immediately fatal.


    Tom set off at a sprint, closing the distance as fast as he could, feet hammering at the ground bringing the blade up to run the bastard through. The darkling didn¡¯t even seem bothered by him, still concentrated on the little Anastasi, who was trying to crawl away despite her bindings and knife lodged in her chest, leaving a deep blue trail behind her. Crying as only a child could.


    Tom slammed into the darkling driving his sword through its gut, shoulder checking it into the wall hard enough he felt bone cracking. The creature screeched in pain looking up to him. Tom grabbed it by the snout with his left hand forcing its head against the wall exposing its throat then he let go of his sword and drew his knife slicing it open in a spray of blood. Satisfied it wasn¡¯t getting back up he turned to Anastasi lying on the floor still crying. Why did it have to be the two youngest? It wasn''t fair.


    Esmeralda came running over, tears streaming from her face.


    ¡°No No No No¡± bending down to pick up her choking kid.


    The was a bone-shattering snap as Anchor got his arms around the third dragonettes head and twisted, dropping it dead to then rushing to pick up Kiran who was lying crying on the floor. Jackalope and Dakota had managed to corner and kill the last of the darklings in the room, leaving only the sound of crying kids hanging in the air.

 Intensive Care

    Chapter 37: Intensive Care


    The knife was in deep, maybe 20 cm or more. Anastasi was only a little older than Kiran, maybe 4 or 5 Tom couldn¡¯t remember right now. She was Esmeralda¡¯s youngest and not even a meter tall. Blood was pouring from the wound, but Esmeralda clearly knew not to pull out the knife. Instead, applying pressure to the wound. Still, this wasn¡¯t gonna end well, Tom knew that. He could hear the kid struggling to breathe, a punctured lung most likely. The knife was a long thin dagger-like weapon and it had cut through her entire abdomen and into her chest. There was nothing to be done.


    Looking around in a daze he saw Dakota having rushed over to her mother who was sitting against the wall. Her armor was stained with blood and gore, some of the more decorative features beaten to shit. Dakota looked to be trying her best to keep the old lady awake, tearing off Nunuk''s helmet to get to her.


    Tom just couldn¡¯t, not right now he couldn¡¯t deal with this as he just sat down in a corner looking at the carnage around him, as others started rushing in. Fengi, Herron, and Rachuck came as well. Followed by Vulzan a bit later. They were talking, shouting, and bickering all of them tending to wounded. Tom just sat there looking at Esmeralda holding her daughter, shutting out the noise. He knew what came next. As did Esmeralda savoring the last moments with her kid who slowly stopped responding, closing her eyes. Why did there have to be this much crying, looking to his right Dakota was clearly trying her best to save her mother, hand glowing while Jackalope and Rachukc worked to get the armor off her.


    Why did this have to be this way? Tom wondered as he sat there why did this happen? Was it because of him? Was it Vulzan? had Kokashi been sleeping on his post, what about Herron he hadn''t seen or heard them coming. What if he had missed them before being relived. How had they gotten in?


    Looking up he saw Unkai trying to look him over, Tom looked down but didn¡¯t see anything wrong really, sure his arms hurt and he was bleeding a bit from a few scrapes and the hole made in his left arm''s armor.


    ¡°Go help them¡± he pushed Unkai off ¡°I¡¯m fine¡± He seemed to get the message, going over to Esmeralda but there was nothing to be done there. Anastasi was long dead by now, even if the kid was a decent healer he couldn¡¯t perform miracles. Unkai went over to Nunuk to lend a hand helping Dakota out as best he could instead.


    That stubborn old goat better make it Tom thought. Dakota didn¡¯t deserve to lose her after what she had been through the last few days.


    Tom got back to pondering the question of what had happened, who was to blame. He got up his body aching, looking down he could see he clearly wasn¡¯t as unscathed as he thought he was, having left a big red stain where he sat. Touching his neck his hand came back red. It was just cut, it didn¡¯t matter right now. He walked over to the door to inspect it, it was almost undamaged. It looked like it had just been opened. The door was supposed to be locked and barred at night, the bar was lying on the floor perfectly intact.


    ¡°Someone let them in¡± Tom went looking at the door. He turned to the figure in black lying on the floor. It would appear the bastard hadn¡¯t actually drowned in his own blood yet. As the figure looked at him still clasping his throat lying very still, Tom knelt down on his chest bringing up the knife.


    ¡°Can you still talk?¡± he questioned. There was nothing but a strained gurgle in response.


    ¡°Esmeralda? Could you come over here, bring that¡± Tom pointed to one of the revolvers lying on the ground. Those things really didn¡¯t deserve to be dropped like that but they were sturdy after all. As long as he didn¡¯t drop his rifle.


    The grieving mother looked up with a gaze hard enough to cut diamond as she handed her kid over to Rachuck, picking up the revolver. Tom held out his hand for the gun and she handed it over.


    Tom emptied the weapon and loaded a single shot, cocked back the hammer, and released the safety. ¡°Your kill, go for the eye¡± Tom went, handing off the weapon.


    Esmeralda knelt down on the black figure pushing the barrel into the eye of the figure snarling like a tiger and pulled the trigger.


    ¡°You killed my Kid monster!


    The body gave a jolt then was perfectly still.


    Tom picked up the other revolver and reloaded. He still had a target left somewhere and he had a good idea who it was. Rachuck and Vulzan came over to Tom before they got the chance to ask questions or make demands. Tom went ¡°We have traitor to find. Bar door and follow¡± he went, turning to leave.


    Tom walked out the armory at a brisk pace gun held at the ready, he didn''t care for any more surprises in these corridors. None presented themselves though. As they climbed up the levels they saw Shiva, also badly wounded, and Balethon trying to tend to her.


    Tom entered the grand hall to see Kokashi and Tyborg placed on tables being cared for by Apuma and Sapphire. Sitting in a chair watching the proceedings was Dashu. Tom holstered his gun walking up to the guy standing in front of him. The bastard didn''t even have the decency to be helping out, despite being practically unscathed.


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    ¡°Bad conscience?¡± He questioned the dragonette, who looked up with a start.


    ¡°Uhm what do you mean?¡± He answered in a false calm.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they kill you?¡± Tom demanded.


    ¡°I, I guess they wanted the captain more, I¡¯m fairly new here¡±


    Vulzan interposed himself now ¡°Tom what exactly are you going at here?¡±


    ¡°You run, you die¡± Tom stated pointing to Dashu, turning to walk over to Kokashi lying on a table.


    ¡°You alright there buddy?¡± Tom asked the wounded guard. It was clear Kokashi had the shit kicked out of him.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll live, I suppose I should be glad they wanted prisoners¡±


    ¡°Very¡± Tom answered coldly ¡°They were let in the door. Kokashi, we have a traitor¡±


    ¡°Why would we let them in¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t. Where was Dashu, do you know?¡± Tom needed proof for what he was planning on doing next.


    ¡°Well he wasn¡¯t in the infirmary I was having a chat with Tyborg about his time as a mercenary. I thought he had gone for a walk. He had been lying there since they got here, so who could blame him.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, friend¡± That did the trick as Tom turned back to Rachuck and Vulzan.


    ¡°Traitor needs motivation. We didn¡¯t know about fancy knife only you and escorts did. Traitor, one of you. Only one of you not accounted for at time. Tyborg in infirmary, you and two others in the grand hall.¡± Rachuck¡¯s face turned into an angry scowl turning to walk back to Dashu. Vulzan just stood there looking at Tom.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I didn''t know I swear.¡± Vulzan went desperately trying to apologize. Tom believed the trader. Unless he was the best dragonette he had yet to meet when it came to hiding his feelings, he had no clue he had brought a traitor along. Besides, why would he be the traitor he had the thing they wanted.


    ¡°I believe you, soon I will know for sure.¡± Tom walked by the stunned trader who just looked around the hall then up to Archeon¡¯s head who was again hanging over them. ¡°What did we do?¡±


    Rachuck was standing opposite Dashu staring him down.


    ¡°You stand accused of treason against the people who hired you and of aiding the enemy to enter the home of those who gave you shelter and care. How do you plead.¡±


    ¡°I, I didn¡¯t do anything. I was just walking around when they came. I couldn¡¯t run or fight, I could barely walk.¡±


    Tom drew his revolver flipping it around in his hand and whipped the guy on the side of the head with the butt. Sending him sprawling to the floor.


    ¡°Rachuck what is the punishment for guilty?¡± Tom asked


    ¡°Death¡± Rachuck answered plainly


    ¡°Excellent. Listen up¡± Tom stood over Dashu looking down ¡°You will die yes, but I will make you wish for death. It will be a reward, for telling me what I want know¡± Tom was doing his best to sound as unrestrained as possible, not hard following what he had just seen. And he had the guy to blame now.


    Rachuck seemed taken aback a bit but didn¡¯t budge or say anything.


    ¡°Wha no you can''t¡± Dashu stammered out.


    ¡°Get me some rope¡± Tom demanded, Apuma came over with some looking worried.


    ¡°What are you planning on doing Tom¡±


    ¡°What we do to child killers¡± Tom answered grimly.


    ¡°No, no don¡¯t tell me¡± Apuma went pale stumbling a bit.


    ¡°Father you better get down there, mother needs you too¡± Rachuck added. Apuma set off running down the stairs as fast as he could.


    Tom knelt down in order to start tying up Dashu being met by a fist to his faceplate. It hurt like hell but the faceplate did its job.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just do this to me I didn¡¯t do anything, you aren''t allowed. Who do you think you are?¡± Tom just kicked him in the face with his steel-tipped boot, sending teeth flying.


    ¡°Your worst nightmare¡± Tom grabbed him by the shoulder flipping him over and began tying him up, with Rachuck''s help it wasn¡¯t hard.


    ¡°Tell Shiva I borrow smithy,¡± He said to Rachuck grabbing Dashu by the horn and began dragging him off. There was no need to be gentle. Tom did consider switching to his feet for going down the stairs but elected not to. Dashu would need a clear head for what was to come.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire stood next to Kokashi tending his wounds looking at Tom as he dragged Dashu off down the stairs. She had never seen him be cruel before. He was now though, she was a tad scared of what he was planning on doing. Rachuck came over again looking at her.


    ¡°How are they doing?¡±


    ¡°They will be fine, only a little banged up. He got the worst of it¡± She gestured to Kokashi on the table who looked at Rachuck.


    ¡°Who did they kill?¡± Kokashi¡¯s voice was quivering, clearly having heard Tom call Dashu a child killer.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, old friend,¡± Rachuck answered, laying his hand on Kokashi''s chest. ¡°We lost Anastasi¡±


    Kokashi just broke down crying as Sapphire took a step back from the guard. They had failed, they had lost a child. Only yesterday there had been celebration and joy, earlier today they had joked about Tom and Jackalope¡¯s escapades. How could this happen?


    Vulzan had gone to talk with Tyborg about the situation they were now in. The two were clearly trying to figure out how this had happened. Sapphire made her way into listening range.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t get it. It was just a knife. It wasn¡¯t even that expensive. Why did they want it so much¡± Tyborg protested.


    ¡°Not to mention, I had the thing for months now?¡±


    ¡°Maybe someone recognized it at Bartelion?¡± The captain answered.


    ¡°Maybe, but why didn¡¯t they just buy it then?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t someone try?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, but he wasn¡¯t even close to affording it. He tried stealing it afterward too, come to think of it. Even if it was a sorry attempt¡±


    ¡°Maybe he told someone he shouldn''t have¡±


    ¡°But why would that lead to Dashu betraying us? He¡¯s been with us for over a year, he seemed like a good kid?¡±


    ¡°Damn if I know, I think we will soon though. I don¡¯t know what that Tom guy is. But he bleeds red so most of that wasn¡¯t his. And the noise, It sounded like Arc was loose down there. let''s just hope he doesn''t kill Dashu by accident¡± Sapphire shuddered at that. She had seen Tom sad and scared before and she knew anger well enough. The way he had just dragged Dashu off, that wasn''t fury, that was hate.


    ¡°I saw how the corridors looked down there he ripped them apart, I¡¯ve never seen anything like it¡±


    This was when Fengi came up telling them to get down to the infirmary. There were more wounded to tend to including both Dakota and Nunuk. Who was apparently in very bad shape.

 Picking Up The Pieces.

    Chapter 39: Picking Up The Pieces.


    As Sapphire made her way back to her room she heard Vulzan and Rachuck speaking in the greeting hall, she elected to go over and join in.


    ¡°He said he was paid to give out location to somebody using this¡± Vulzan held up a small little earring ¡°The guy in black had one that matched. Whoever wants that knife wants it badly.¡±


    ¡°And just what am I supposed to do about that Vulzan? You saw what he was wearing, these aren''t just thugs or thieves. That armor alone is worth a fortune to anyone dumb enough to put it on.¡± Rachuck replied.


    ¡°Yes I know I¡¯m trying to work that out. I mean it might be possible he was the only one who knew about the knife?¡±


    ¡°If you are wrong there is a good chance there will be a town crier somewhere announcing either the destruction of Bizmati keep or the death of an unfortunate trader.¡± Vulzan didn¡¯t seem very happy with that scenario, biting his lip.


    ¡°Could we just give it to someone and be done with it?¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy, we have no clue what it does¡±


    ¡°Then send it to someone who does know?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are the guy with the connections here, have any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Originally I was going to take it back to a collector I know. All things considered, the Royal guard might be the best bet actually. If it is as dangerous as we think it is, it should be locked away or destroyed safely."


    ¡°On that, we agree but you are down to three guards and we can''t spare anyone if we are going to be repelling attacks like this in the future.¡±


    ¡°We should leave as soon as possible. I believe we have shaken pursuit for the moment. I am ready for the wing if I have to.¡± Archeon joined in.


    ¡°I just hope we have shaken pursuit for long enough to get to the capitol. On the bright side, this should also prove an excellent incentive for sending Jarix here. Even if I am starting to question your choice of mentor¡± Vulzan added.


    ¡°What did he do?¡± The dragon asked thoughtfully.


    ¡°He tortured Dashu with water making him feel like he was drowning. It didn¡¯t even take him half an hour to get him to tell everything I went down to have a look. He had been beaten to shit too, wing broken teeth missing. Sure, Dashu might not be the strongest of stomachs, but he knows we will kill him for this. Half an hour with Tom and he preferred death. He didn¡¯t even want to talk to me¡±


    Rachuck looked blank for a moment and the dragon curled his head around to lay on his forelegs.


    ¡°That is concerning, Rachuck have you ever witnessed Tom being cruel before?¡± Archeon asked.


    ¡°No never. There is a reason we let him watch the children. He¡¯s like a big kid playing with them normally.¡±


    Sapphire walked up adding her thought to the conversation. ¡°I have never seen him like this. I have seen him angry but when he dragged Dashu off, there was no fury in him, just hate. That was scary, to say the least. I know he loves Kiran and cares deeply for the kids. I¡¯m pretty sure that did it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure he won¡¯t suddenly decide I¡¯m to blame for this?¡± Vulzan questioned. She could understand that sentiment. Most of the time he had seen Tom, he had been either fighting like a demon, drunk, or having a mental breakdown. The single day of sort of normal didn¡¯t count for much.


    ¡°No, he won¡¯t. Besides, I think he has a better bead on you than you think¡± Rachuck tried calming the trader down. Sapphire really hoped that was true, if Tom suddenly decided Vulzan was to blame she was not sure what would happen.


    ¡°What is that supposed to mean, bead on me?¡± Vulzan questioned.


    ¡°He might still sound like a child but I reckon there is a good chance he is the smartest one here. You''d do well to remember that.¡±


    ¡°Well he has studied for most of his life¡± Sapphire added. ¡°If I remember right some 20 years and he is only 37 after all. Not to mention in a game about deception he beat us all while drunk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡± Vulzan went cautiously.


    ¡°Anyway, it is more than high time some of us got to bed. I and Herron will take the first shift. Vulzan, if you wouldn¡¯t mind helping out...¡±


    ¡°Of course, that is the least I can do.¡±


    ¡°Get some rest Saph, you will be next up to watch the wounded."


    As Sapphire''s shift went on watching them she couldn¡¯t help but feel useless. There had been a desperate fight trying to save the kids. Tom had once again proven himself more deadly than they had ever imagined and she had just run away with the children. As she sat there feeling sorry for herself she heard Tom start stirring again, maybe another of his bad dreams. She did feel sorry for him on that front. She did wonder if he had a good one too every now and again. She hoped so, the real world was proving rather sad for the time being.


    He stopped after a bit and everything was quiet again. ¡°What do now Sapphire?¡± Right then, he was awake after all.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t hunt them down if there are more, we have too many wounded. Vulzan is planning on departing for the capitol as soon as possible, taking that damn knife with him and maybe securing some help. In the meantime, I think we¡¯re safe up here.¡±


    ¡°Supplies?¡± Tom questioned rightfully so.


    ¡°Not much, it is still only spring, we haven¡¯t worked up our stores yet.¡±


    ¡°Hold the fort then, okay. We know help will come?¡±


    ¡°They will come I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Uhm Sapphire, guy in black had fancy armor and sword. Can we use?¡±


    ¡°The sword maybe, but don¡¯t touch that armor, that¡¯s lich plate¡±


    ¡°Lich?¡± Tom sounded taken aback by that, wait did he understand that one too? ¡°Lich like dead guy but not dead?¡± Okay Maybe not entirely Sapphire concluded.


    ¡°No not really, it¡¯s like a bargain you make with a Doetna, you serve them much like the darklings except you can still think and act like normal. If you don¡¯t, things get painful. In return, you are granted this fine armor, a powerful blade, and most likely some troops to command.


    They have been given many names, darkling lords, black knights, hell guards. They are pretty much all either arseholes or insane, since well if they don¡¯t do as they are told, you get the idea.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Think we got arsehole,¡± Tom stated.


    ¡°You can say that again. Tom, what did you do to Dashu? I mean he wouldn¡¯t just admit to something like that?¡±


    ¡°Don''t you have torture?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, whipping branding beatings sure, it is often used as punishment for committing a crime¡±


    ¡°There is problem then, you use only pain¡± A shiver ran down Sapphire''s spine at that.


    ¡°What did you do to him then if it wasn¡¯t just pain¡±


    ¡°Made him fear. I took hope, I think he shit himself, in fact¡±


    ¡°But Tom how could you do that to someone?¡±


    ¡°He killed the child, children are holy above all. Killing a child is unforgivable. He is no longer a person. He will die anyway no?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fairly sure he will yes, we will throw him into hell¡±


    ¡°Sorry what?¡±


    ¡°You know of the edge, tie him up and throw him in¡±


    ¡°And you say my way is bad?¡±


    ¡°You die on impact it¡¯s just falling, one last thrill before the end, all things considered, he might not even deserve that joy.¡±


    ¡°You guys are crazy,¡± Tom stated. What is down there anyway?¡±


    ¡°The ocean of course, what, you don¡¯t have an ocean?¡±


    ¡°Yes we do, but no flying islands¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Where is the land then?¡±


    ¡°Along the water, of course, think of our ocean as very very big lakes¡±


    ¡°I guess I can imagine that¡±


    ¡°We use them to get around make big uhmm what is called, big thing that floats¡±


    ¡°A tree?¡±


    ¡°No like big cart but for water¡±


    ¡°Why would you want that¡±


    ¡°Travel on water is easy¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you say you could fly¡±


    ¡°We do that too, but move large things use water and land, flying is hard and expensive¡±


    ¡°Right I¡¯m guessing moving one of those tractor things by air would be a challenge after all.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can fly those if want to. Use a lot of fuel, very expensive, waterway cheaper. In English called Ship¡±


    Sapphire tried playing with the word ¡°shit, shaick, shicke¡± dammit, another of those lip sounds, perhaps it should be Esmeralda trying to learn to speak this weird language. Tom appeared to find her struggling, amusing this time, did he just make her say a rude word? god dammit Tom.


    ¡°Have a picture?¡±


    ¡°I think so. I show you later, be warned ships are very big¡± Sapphire thought for a moment what would it take to make Tom say that, she shuddered at the thought. There had been a bit of an awkward silence before Tom broke it again.


    ¡°Sapphire, what if Dashu not guilty?¡±


    She paused to consider that for a moment.


    ¡°You said it was him and he confessed, right?¡±


    ¡°I forced him confess. What if wrong?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know whatever you did to him. But I hope he is guilty, otherwise...¡±


    ¡°You kill me?¡±


    ¡°You''re in Bizmati-Keep, it would be up to Nunuk. But there would be severe consequences yes¡±


    ¡°There should be¡±


    Tom had turned over and refused to talk further. Sapphire just let him be, she really hoped he had been right. Not only would they have to punish him for what he had done if he wasn¡¯t. She wasn¡¯t sure how he would take it. He had seemed so friendly, sharing his riches teaching them laughing with them helping where he could. And in the blink of an eye, he had turned into a demon, killing and torturing.


    It was clear it had to do with Anastasi even if she wasn¡¯t gonna push the subject with him. She just wondered what it would do to him if he had done this to someone who didn''t deserve it.


    ¡°You better be right¡± She whispered out hoping he was already asleep.


    As she sat in the dimly lit room her thoughts were running away with her, why had she been so useless. Two battles and she had done nothing. A kid was dead and she had done nothing. She felt like a piece of shit, of all the things she could be, why did it have to be useless? There wasn¡¯t that long left before she could walk again, maybe even a little bit of light flying. If there was a next time she would be ready, she swore it.


    Jackalope had swung by to say hi at one point, Sapphire wondered why she hadn¡¯t been asleep, she just answered she had helped clean up? Sapphire had been too tired to question it, welcoming the company.


    They chatted for a bit as Jackalope went around, pausing at Tom before going off to bed. Sapphire fell back into thought. Tom had made quite the mess, no he had butchered his way through the enemy. She had trained to be in the guard, then to become a huntress and a damn good one at that. Perhaps she had found a new teacher, if she could kill darklings like Tom could she would never be useless again. She would be one of the most feared warriors in the kingdom. Now wouldn¡¯t that be a sight for sore eyes?


    Perhaps she could even get the royal guard to beg her to join them. And then she could say ¡°No. You had your chance.¡± What she wouldn¡¯t give for that moment. She played out the scenario for herself, oh how sweet that would taste. It would mean learning to fight like Tom and judging by what she had seen he didn¡¯t just fight differently. He thought differently too. That would be a hell of a challenge, but maybe just maybe it would be worth it.


    When Tom stirred again the sun was starting to rise, Sapphire was tired. The few hours she had gotten before starting her watch, were a poor substitute for proper sleep. Not long after Fengi had come to replace her and the two had wandered off, Sapphire contemplating another nap after this.


    The three had chatted for a bit before Tom elected to go have a chat with their prisoner, perhaps give him some water in the normal fashion. Sapphire had followed along, she wanted to see just what Tom had done down here.


    As they walked the scene was gruesome, there was blood and guts sprayed everywhere. Corpses were still littering the place, so apparently Jackalope hadn¡¯t done much cleaning.


    Tom looked around dejectedly, it was clear he wasn¡¯t happy with what he saw. He walked over to a corpse, its neck having been torn to pieces and knelt down.


    ¡°Sapphire, do they feel?¡±


    ¡°They screech in pain if that is what you mean.¡±


    ¡°I mean really feel, are they alive, can they think?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure, somewhat it seems. They can make decisions, if they have their orders they will try and do it best they can¡±


    ¡°So they not just animals then¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what they are exactly to be honest, except tragedies. They are all people who have been lost. I¡¯m not sure if it is better to kill them or not to be honest¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope they don¡¯t remember old times then¡± Tom went, getting up.


    ¡°Lets¡±


    They had made their way further down and the carnage just continued. Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure if she should be awestruck or horrified. The smell was starting to set in. They needed to get this place scrubbed down today.


    As they arrived at the armory, Sapphire saw that there the carnage was on another level, though the bodies had been moved already. The black knight hadn¡¯t been touched though, and Tom walked over to the knight and knelt down.


    ¡°Okay if touch?¡±


    ¡°Yeah just don¡¯t put the armor on, maybe leave the blade be too¡±


    Tom took off the helmet of the knight and went about inspecting his ears. He had a lot of earrings and other little pieces of jewelry. Tom inspected them all before taking one and pocketing it. Sapphire guessed the earring matched the one he had found on Dashu. Well if nothing else that did seal whether he was guilty or not.


    Tom went back up to the smithy, he stopped in front of the smithy door, pausing for a moment with his hand at the doorhandle before going in. There Dashu sat in a chair apparently asleep. He looked beaten up but not as bad as Sapphire had imagined, then she remembered Tom¡¯s mention of water torture.


    Tom knocked his boot against a table leg a few times.


    ¡°Good morning¡±


    There was no response from Dashu. Not surprising Sapphire thought, it was early morning, after all, still a little cold, even in here. Not to mention sleep might have come rather hard for Dashu.


    Tom walked over and grabbed him by the horn and wiggled a bit. This got the desired response as Dashu woke up looking around, eyes coming to rest on Tom clearly scared, lowering his head.


    ¡°I found earring¡± Dashu seemed to shrink into himself


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lie, I swear no more water. Please¡± Sapphire was shocked by the reaction. She had never tried being drowned but it really didn''t sound pleasant. Dashu¡¯s Reaction only Strengthened her belief.


    ¡°I think you did a little, but no matter¡± Tom didn¡¯t sound angry as Sapphire had suspected, more thoughtful in fact and what did he mean Dashu had lied?


    ¡°How much did they pay you?¡± Dashu was clearly not willing to answer the question.


    ¡°If you want to live tell truth, remember?¡±


    ¡°20 gold¡± That was a lot of money, Sapphire admitted but seriously, she could feel her blood boil. He had sold the lives of his comrades for a mere.


    ¡°20 fucking gold!¡± She burst out, catching herself. Tom just shook his head at Dashu, straightening back up to his full height.


    ¡°You gotta be kidding¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry okay. I didn¡¯t know they were gonna come attack us¡±


    ¡°But they did, and you still open door¡± Tom responded.


    ¡°You selfish little piece of shit¡± Sapphire added.


    ¡°What do you think they would do if I didn''t huh? I didn¡¯t know they were darklings before the attack I swear.¡±


    ¡°They threaten you, didn¡¯t they¡± Tom went, holding up the earring.


    ¡°Of course they did.¡± Tom just shook his head.


    ¡°You are idiot, selfish, coward may the gods have mercy on your soul¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t seem angry anymore, just disappointed. Why wasn¡¯t he angry? This was despicable, she looked to the sorry excuse for a dragonette as Tom turned to leave.


    ¡°It will be a long way down traitor¡± Dashu just began crying. She expected little less from a coward like that, even Anastasi had more of a spine than this guy. As she turned to follow Tom she smacked Dashu in the face with her tail. He didn''t even bite her or shout back, what a failure. She would have loved the excuse.

 Fingers In The Cookie Jar

    Chapter 40: Fingers In The Cookie Jar


    The two had made their way back up to the grand hall. Tom had clearly seen enough for the time being. They turned towards the greeting hall, Sapphire guessed he wanted to go get his music like last time something horrible had happened.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at ships, take mind off things¡± He sighed out as they made way towards the greeting hall.


    ¡°Sure, why not¡± Sapphire was more in the mood for a nap or a go at Dashu, to be honest, but if it helped Tom then so be it. Getting him back on his feet was a priority after all. Not to mention he was a lot more pleasant company when not in this foul of a mood.


    As they entered they found Vulzan sitting on one of the big boxes in Tom¡¯s pile. Archeon appeared to be asleep. Vulzan though was sitting and fiddling with something.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Tom went, clearing his throat. Vulzan snapped his head to look at him, freezing like a deer in the headlights. ¡°Looking for something?¡±


    ¡°Oh good morning Tom, yes I think I might have misplaced something, terribly sorry¡± The trader quickly put down the item getting to his feet. He looked terrified, Sapphire thought. After yesterday''s conversation, he might just be seeing his life flashing before his eyes right now.


    ¡°Found something interesting?¡±


    ¡°No no, I just¡±


    Tom turned his head as a smile spread across his face. Sapphire was slightly unnerved by that, she believed she had worked out how to read Tom¡¯s expressions and he didn¡¯t look maniacal or anything like that. She just hoped she was right.


    ¡°Come now I won¡¯t hurt you, promise,¡± Sapphire thought Tom sounded sincere enough. Vulzan though clearly struggled with working out if this was good or bad.


    ¡°I take it, you figured it out then?¡± Tom continued.


    ¡°Uhmm, figured what out?¡± Vulzan answered nervously.


    ¡°That I¡¯m not from here obviously. No need worry, me and Nunuk agreed to tell you the truth.¡±


    ¡°No, I was just... Wait, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not from here, Vulzan.¡±


    ¡°I got that you were from a far off place called Denmark. You said so already.¡±


    ¡°No, not far off, not here at all. Another world entirely¡± Sapphire just let Tom roll with it for now hopefully the part about Nunuk was true, otherwise, he might have finally lost it.


    ¡°But why lie about that?¡±


    ¡°Don''t want people coming snooping yet, we have plans. Agreed we couldn¡¯t keep secrets from Jarix so tell you truth first. We discuss later for now. What you found?¡±


    Vulzan appeared lost in thought for a moment, he did stop shaking at least and looked down at the thing he had been fiddling with.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know, some kind of toy I think¡± Tom walked over and Vulzan backed off.


    ¡°Ahr my compass. It points north at all times, for navigation¡± Tom picked it up and handed it to Vulzan. The trader looked at the little thing for a moment before taking it up and turning it in his hands.


    ¡°So that is what it does. Why haven''t we thought of enchanting something like that before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no enchantment¡± Tom replied, ¡°nothing I have is.¡±


    ¡°Come now, that¡¯s just preposterous¡± It would seem that was enough to break Vulzans terror, at least for the moment.


    ¡°No, my world has no magic of any kind. No magic, no dragons, no floating islands, no dragonettes¡± At that Vulzan''s stare just went blank and Tom began laughing. Slapping the trader on the back resulting in a weird squeaky sound, which just caused Tom to laugh even harder.


    Sapphire was fairly sure he was putting on the facade again. There was no way he was actually happy right now. Come to think of it, what if it was always just a facade? She looked worriedly at the laughing human. He didn¡¯t seem to notice though.


    ¡°But seriously, don¡¯t rummage around. Some things very delicate, others very dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. No worries¡± Vulzan piped out, still staring at nothing. ¡°But you use fire magic?¡±


    ¡°No magic, I use guns.¡± Tom held up one of the revolvers to show Vulzan. ¡°No magic¡±


    ¡°I thought that was like a wand to channel through. Didn''t you have two?¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck right, gave to Esmeralda¡± Had Tom let her use one of his guns? Make that another reason for Sapphire to get him to like her. She wondered what using one would feel like, maybe that was all there was to it. The key to how he was so good at killing. Well, that seemed silly now she thought of it. Of course, it was, she had seen what his guns could do.


    Tom then continued ¡°She''ll be fine, I only gave her one shot for black knight thing. Anyhow Sapphire wanna show you ships. Vulzan, can wake Archeon?¡±


    ¡°Uhm sure, I think he wants to hear this.¡±


    Tom got into the big box and pulled out one of the books he hadn¡¯t let them take to the library. ¡°Only have one book with ships in it. Naval history book talks about building ships, civil and military and how they used.¡± So that was why he hadn¡¯t given them that one, military technology, made sense. She wondered if that rule was going to change as well.


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    Archeon stirred with a resounding ¡°What?!¡± clearly not pleased with being woken up. Vulzan launched into a rambling explanation, conveying what he had been told. Archeon tilted his head a few times, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Impossible, he¡¯s lying.¡±


    ¡°Nope¡± It came from Tom in response. ¡°Can¡¯t use magic, haven''t got any, at least not from home.¡±


    ¡°But your weapons and fire magic?¡±


    ¡°Not magic is chemistry. Now come here have things to show you.¡± Tom opened the book and started paging through it before finding something he liked.


    It took some time to explain the pictures to Vulzan and Archeon, but Sapphire picked up some of the slack. Tom seemed to find it funny she was now explaining rather than him for once.


    ¡°This is a small ship.¡± He laid down the book to show something. Sapphire couldn¡¯t work out what it was, it was in the water though and floating. It was white with a big piece of cloth hanging from a tall pole. She could see people on it, so it wasn¡¯t that large. It was the most beautiful pearl white as well there was even some blue fabric on it.


    Tom was clearly greatly amused by their reactions, the dragon straining to bring its head down to look at the small picture as Tom held the book up.


    ¡°Now this is big one¡± Tom moved a few pages bringing up what looked more like a building in the water and pointed to a little black dot ¡°see, that is a person¡±


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Sapphire exclaimed. That thing was several times the size of the keep, and it floated? and moved?!¡±


    Vulzan just sat staring in disbelief.


    ¡°Tom, how many people are on board that thing?¡± Archeon asked, seeming skeptical.


    ¡°Oh, this is cargo ship, not many crew maybe 30? don¡¯t know. Big passenger ship carry thousands¡±


    Sapphire snapped back to reality after that one ¡°Don¡¯t worry they can¡¯t come here¡± trying to comfort the trader, she was afraid the guy was about to have a nervous breakdown.


    ¡°Lucky us¡± Vulzan replied awestruck and Tom just giggled.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind just laying down on that thing and ending up somewhere else¡± Archeon concluded ¡°We dragons never get carried anywhere¡±


    Sapphire couldn''t argue with that. Then a shot rang out in the keep. Tom was instantly on his feet gun drawn looking around.


    ¡°Where was that?!¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Outside I think?¡± Sapphire answered. But why, had Esmeralda gone outside alone after yesterday? Surely not, Sapphire thought. dread running down her spine.


    Tom was already running for the door winch clearly set on getting out


    Vulzan running over to help.


    ¡°Need door open¡± it came from Tom clearly trying to work out how to work the winch.


    ¡°Did Tom shoot Vulzan?¡± it came from Fengi having made her way up the stairs.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t shoot it came from outside¡± Sapphire answered


    ¡°Then who. Ohhhh¡± Fengi replied looking thoughtful.


    ¡°Oh, what?!¡± Sapphire demanded


    ¡°Well Essy had his gun, but I think she gave it to Jackalope, she said she would hand it back though.¡±


    ¡°Dammit Jacky!¡± Sapphire shouted at no-one in particular. Why could that woman not stop touching things?


    Unkai and Herron came rushing down the stairs apparently having been on guard duty ¡°Is someone hurt?¡± they both went in unison.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, Jacky stole Tom¡¯s gun, I¡¯m guessing she wanted to try it out. Help with the door will you¡±


    ¡°Can do¡± Unkai replied, as the two ran over to help. they quickly got the door open enough for all of them to go under it, running outside. Sapphire was just left staring at Archeon who was clearly not pleased.


    ¡°Damn this stupid door.¡± The dragon protested


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    With Fengi giving a piggyback the group took off in the usual style of just running off the platform. Tom almost felt bad for the thrill that gave, there better not be another body at the end of this. If it was Jackalope then she had no clue how to use that weapon, hopefully, she hadn¡¯t just shot herself in the head or something.


    They circled around the keep looking for the source of the shot, and sure enough down at the archery range there was a little white silhouette on the ground. As they closed in it was moving at least so that was good.


    As they came down there was Jackalope alright, and she was sitting clutching her hand¡­


    ¡°Goddammit girl¡± Tom let out, as they came running to a stop. The huntress looked at him, head tilted and a weird sneer on her face.


    ¡°Why did it hurt me?¡±


    ¡°Because you have been an idiot Now let''s have a look at hand.¡± A quick inspection revealed This was a classic case of ''mind the cylinder gap'' it would seem.


    ¡°Right then Jackalope. Or maybe I''ll call you moron from now on¡± Tom scolded the huntress.


    ¡°You¡¯ve broken two fingers and got some nasty powder burns. Might not lose them though.¡± Jackalope looked horrified at the insinuation she might just have lost two fingers. ¡°Your thumb is badly burnt too but not in as bad shape.¡±


    Tom walked over and picked up the revolver from where she had dropped it. ¡°This is a weapon, It is dangerous, okay. Not a toy!¡± Jackalope just looked down at her hand and then to the ground.


    ¡°Sorry, I just wanted to try¡±


    ¡°Then I recommended you ask.¡±


    Tom inspected the weapon opening the cylinder all six rounds loaded, two spent, so one was the one Esmeralda had used.


    ¡°Where did you get bullets?¡±


    ¡°Took them from your belt when you slept. I¡¯m sorry¡± Really? And they had been so keen about him stealing. Would he need to start locking all the dangerous or fragile things away now?


    ¡°Your damnd lucky you didn¡¯t kill yourself or someone else.¡±


    ¡°But you let Esmeralda use it and it didn¡¯t hurt her¡±


    ¡°And I was watching to make sure it didn''t,¡± Tom clarified.


    ¡°Oh, sorry¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah only you hurt, it¡¯s fine. Oh look the cavalry¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s cavalry?¡± As Jackalope looked up to see Herron and Unkai descend upon them her ears dropped like a sad donkey.


    ¡°I heard you can¡¯t keep your fingers to yourself¡± Unkai went touching down.


    ¡°No, she can¡¯t. Hands hurt need fix," Tom clarified, holstering the stolen revolver.


    ¡°Oh that looks nasty, what did you do?¡± Unkai asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, when I fired at the target over there it just hurt a lot, I dropped it and my hand looked like this.¡± Unkai began inspecting the wound with care. Tom knew next to Nunuk he was the best healer around here. Well, Dakota was the only other one to his knowledge and she wasn¡¯t really that good it seemed.


    ¡°What is this black stuff?¡± Unkai questioned. ¡°And how did this happen.¡±


    ¡°Gun powder burn, she held the gun wrong.¡± Tom clarified.


    ¡°But I just held it just like you did.¡± Jackalope insisted.


    Tom sighed, moving back over. ¡°No, you didn''t. I¡¯m guessing you held like this¡± Tom brought up the revolver and unloaded it. He then held the revolver with both hands but his off-hand clutched around the barrel leaving two fingers right next to the cylinder gap.


    ¡°See this gap? Hot air comes out when shot, that what hurt your fingers¡±


    ¡°Some air broke my hand?!¡± Jackalope didn¡¯t seem to buy that.


    ¡°Yes air under pressure, that sends bullets at enemies¡± Jackalope just looked like a big question mark looking at him.


    Unkai continued his inspection. ¡°Jacky, why is your nose bleeding too?¡± Tom looked and indeed, there was a small cut on the front of her nose square in shape, looking suspiciously like the front sight post.


    Tom just shook his head ¡°You hit yourself in the face too, impressive.¡± Tom gave a bit of a chuckle.


    ¡°Hey, this is not funny. It broke my hand¡± Yeah she was right, Tom just found it funny the first person in this world had learned to respect recoil. And he just needed something to cheer him up today dammit. He didn¡¯t want to think about yesterday, about Anastasi. Just how close he had come to killing Kiran by accident.


    ¡°No you right let¡¯s get back up¡± he went, shaking the thoughts off for now. There was work to be done after all.

 Penance

    Chapter 41: Penance


    Jackalope had received a stern talking to by Apuma, being the oldest Bizmati currently standing, he was in control of the keep. Even if he was clearly not in the mood for dealing with this, Sapphire could understand that. It had been a very shitty day yesterday.


    Combined with hurting her hand and being laughed at for hitting herself in the face, that seemed like sufficient punishment. Sapphire knew she wouldn¡¯t learn anyway, she never did.


    They still had a great many wounded, some in very bad shape. Unkai was still not sure if Nunuk was going to recover from this. Tom¡¯s trick with the glue had worked well enough, but she was still very weak. Tom had suggested giving her blood from either Dakota or Rachuck but scrapped the idea claiming he needed to know what kind of blood they had. Blue hadn¡¯t been a sufficiently accurate response, apparently. He had turned to one of his books before deciding she needed water.


    ¡°We have been giving her water. She''s had plenty to drink.¡±


    ¡°Not water to drink, water in her blood special water though¡±


    ¡°Can you make some?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, if get wrong she dies. I have some for humans" There were worried looks exchanged around the room.


    Tom continued reading in his book with many of the others looking to each other. How would she get it in if not drinking it?¡± Fengi had finally asked.


    ¡°Needle and drip bit like Dakota only more and just water¡±


    ¡°Why not just give her some of what Dakota got then?¡± Fengi continued.


    ¡°Only last short while and might kill her afterward¡± That didn¡¯t sound like a good plan, also just how dangerous had it been to give that to Dakota?


    ¡°Oh¡± Fengi replied.


    ¡°Treatment says blood and crystalloid solution, saline should work. But this is for human, don''t know dragonette.¡±


    ¡°Have idea Jackalope need your hand for test.¡±


    ¡°But I just got it bandaged¡±


    ¡°Take off, need your wound¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°You have the freshest wound, best for test.¡± Tom cut her off before she could finish. Getting up to go get something he returned with the medical bag again.


    ¡°Need to know if this hurts or not¡± Jackalope looked very uncomfortable as Unkai delicately peeled part of the bandage off. Tom opened the bag pulling out a small bag which was sort of see-through?


    ¡°I need right temperature. Open mouth" Jackalope did as instructed and Tom placed a little white stick under her tongue. Jackalope just sat there mouth agape looking around at the others who were by now all watching intently. There was a beeping sound from the stick and Tom pulled it out.


    ¡°24 interesting. No need to warm then¡± Sapphire had no clue what was going on, 24 what? and why was that important?


    Tom brought the bag back out fiddling with it he squirted some of the liquid inside right onto Jackals wound, she flinched a bit but looked surprised.


    ¡°Does it hurt?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No, not at all¡­ Not even slightly¡±


    ¡°Okay, then I need you to be brave, one more test. Need you to not blink¡±


    Tom held the bag over Jackalope¡¯s eye who was clearly very worried, Sapphire was damned happy she hadn¡¯t been selected for testing duty. Fengi held her friend¡¯s hand trying to help comfort.


    Tom dripped a few drops directly into Jackalope¡¯s eye, she flinched a little but again it didn¡¯t seem to hurt. Tom tilted her head at her expectantly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hurt, It didn¡¯t hurt at all. What is that?¡±


    ¡°Saline and we may continue¡± Tom handed the bag to Rachuck and closed up the big bag, bringing it all along.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right then, hopefully, the fact that the saline hadn''t hurt even in an open wound meant they had the same blood salt level as him. Fingers crossed this would help then. Why hadn¡¯t he thought about it last night though, it was so obvious the old Lady had lost a lot of blood. Anyway, she was still with them, so better late than never. He got Rachuck to hold the bag up high attaching the hose getting out a needle.


    He had no fucking clue what he was doing here. He wasn¡¯t even qualified to do this on a human, he had just bought all this stuff before leaving thinking it might come in handy. He had washed his hands first then used alcohol to clean her arm, all very professional looking. Even if it seemed they were capable of dealing with infection rather easily with that magic. Nunuk didn¡¯t need more problems right now.


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    He had seen doctors often put these things in the arm so why not try that. According to the book he needed to hit a vein for this. He put on the turner clip and started feeling around. The thick skin made it rather tricky but he did eventually find what he thought was a vein.


    ¡°This may hurt¡± He clarified receiving only a grunt from Nunuk who was only sort of awake. As he stabbed her arm with the needle there was clear concern from the group. Even a little gasp from Fengi. Tom wasn¡¯t sure what they had been expecting was coming next but oh well.


    Blood didn¡¯t start squirting everywhere so at least he hadn¡¯t hit an artery. It did look like the needle was in but he really wasn¡¯t sure. It was the best he was gonna get though. He hooked up the bag and bled the line before hooking it up.


    As he opened the little valve the liquid began flowing. Tom nodded it all seemed to be going to plan. He wondered how much a dragonette should get but. One bag was probably a safe bet after just how much bleeding she had been doing last night. He just hoped that would do. He didn¡¯t have much of this stuff, even if he could make more if he needed to. He would need to save the needles and resterilize them though.


    ¡°Think it''s working¡± Tom went looking around. They all looked rather confused.


    ¡°Uhm Tom how does water in the blood help?" Apuma had questioned.


    ¡°Helps make more blood I think¡±


    ¡°Also we need to fix glue wounds¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    You think? You think this helps!?


    Sapphire was not sure if this was a good idea. Anymore she really hoped that book of his was as good as Tom thought and that this would work for dragonettes. It was definitely becoming clear Tom was no healer even by his people''s standards.


    Sapphire had no clue if this was safe, he was literally putting water straight into Nunuk¡¯s blood, maybe it wasn¡¯t safe. That was why he had been so cautious with testing on Jackalope. Even if she had a hard time working out what putting the stuff in Jackalope''s eye had to do with anything.


    His superglue had done its job, he claimed it was only supposed to be temporary.


    Whatever had been preventing the healing from taking hold had seemingly abated as Unkai went to work cleaning up the wounds and sealing them properly one by one. Now it was just a matter of hoping Tom¡¯s weird water worked.


    Tom had insisted on staying to watch if anything happened. So possibly he had his doubts as well. Sapphire remembered when he had used the ¡®syringe¡¯ she believed he called it on Dakota. That had apparently been very dangerous, she just hoped his luck would hold. She was exhausted though and went off to some well-deserved sleep. She got Fengi to promise to come wake her up before Dashu¡¯s trial, she would not be missing that. Afterward, they would be giving Anastasi the burial she deserved.


    Fengi had done her duty and woken Sapphire after a few more hours of sleep, the trial was about to begin. Time to make Dashu know the consequences of his actions. Even if he most likely already knew it.


    The trial had been the standard procedure Dashu had been dragged out into the center of the grand hall to be surrounded by the ones he had wronged, at least those able to leave the infirmary. Getting a hold of a defender had been a challenge but Vulzan would have to do it. Apuma didn¡¯t want to deal with Dashu. The old man wasn¡¯t cut out for this sort of thing. That meant Rachuck would be the attacker. Tom was just sitting watching from a corner, keenly watching everything with interest.


    The fact Dashu had already confessed meant this was mostly to uphold tradition.


    ¡°Dashu Flaxen, you stand accused of treason against the free trader Vulzan Hanori and the people of Bizmati-Keep. First count of selling information to the enemy, second count of breaching our keep''s defenses letting the enemy in our door. Your selfish actions have brought death and destruction to both parties including the death of an innocent child. How do you plead?¡±


    ¡°I did it, but I didn''t know this was gonna happen. I claim innocence by ignorance to the first count and innocence by forceful persuasion to the second count¡±


    Somebody had been thinking this over, Sapphire thought. Slimy little worm, but it was clear he was expecting a fair trial like in the big cities he had doubtlessly grown up in. He was in their keep now.


    ¡°You bargained with the enemy, yet you claim innocence?"


    ¡°I bargained with an old man in an alley, not damned black knight¡± Dashu protested.


    ¡°And when the darklings came you continued to aid said, enemy.¡±


    ¡°They knew who I was, my family is spread all over the kingdom. They threatened to go after them if I didn''t do as I was told.¡±


    Really was that his defense, he thought betraying his employer by selling out his employer wasn¡¯t that bad after all. Then he had weighed his family against theirs.


    ¡°So you sold our family instead, to save yours¡± there was no response from Dashu ¡°Even if you did not wish for the consequences, your actions led to the death of three escorts employed by Vulzan and a child of this keep. Do you find that acceptable?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I wanted this to happen?¡± Dashu tried desperately.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Rachuck replied coldly.


    ¡°You are found guilty on both counts of treason, on admission of guilt. Even if you were too stupid to understand the consequences of your actions at the time. That excuses neither action nor the consequences, and frankly, I don¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t know what was going to happen. You just didn¡¯t care.¡± there was real spite in that last line Sapphire thought.


    ¡°Sir please I know I did something terrible, just don''t kill me, please. I wanna see my friends, my family again.¡±


    ¡°And I want my daughter back,¡± Esmeralda shouted out from her seat.


    Sapphire could see Vulzan looking rather tense, he had lost three friends to this guy and now he was expected to defend him. The trader was doing honorably not joining in the accusations in Sapphire''s opinion.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t wanna die please sir. Please! That is all I ask for, I¡¯ll do anything!¡±


    ¡°Clearly.¡± Rachuck was not impressed by the display it would seem. Besides, the law was clear on the subject. ¡°Tie him up, gag him and blindfold him. I''ve heard enough. The sentence is death by eternal fall. You will be allowed to write to your family and other acquaintances to explain your fate and attempt to seek their forgiveness for your actions. Your execution will be early tomorrow."


    ¡°No please sir, Please! I beg of you! Tom, you said they would let me live!¡± a few heads turned to Tom who just walked over to Dashu.


    ¡°I said I ask them to let you live and where I am from, you would live. I made no guarantee¡±


    ¡°Then ask them please, you owe me that!¡±


    ¡°Oh kind sir Rachuck, would you let live?" Tom sounded almost mocking, clearly not intending for this to be a serious request.


    ¡°No, I will not," Rachuck replied, seemingly not bothered by the plea.


    ¡°Sorry¡± Tom went leaning back in his seat. Sapphire smirked at him, He wasn''t sorry, even slightly.


    Dashu was tied up and taken away. The conclusion was forgone so there wasn¡¯t much in the way of surprises. Not that this was something that happened often, Sapphire had only once before witnessed a trail in the keep, when some bandits had tried to raid them. That had been much the same. Traitors, murderers, rapists, and other such scum pay the ultimate price, such was the law. He would be making a final flight like Anastasi, he would just be going the other way.

 Send Off

    Chapter 42: Send Off


    Sapphire had helped as best she could to prepare for the evening''s ceremony. Everyone did their part. A fine meal was prepared. Tom even brought out some of his things to add something special to the little girl''s memory. It was a fine meal indeed, but it also marked some of their last supplies of fresh food. They would need to begin hunting again soon, there wasn¡¯t much leftover from the winter. And they only had two airworthy huntresses at the moment.


    The mood over dinner had been somber, they had swapped tales of the little girl''s escapades, there had been some careful laughter at the funnier of the stories. Four years old, not a lot of time to get to know a person. But she had been a little spark of life in the keep from the day she was born. Always running around being a little goofball, even if she was rather easy to scare.


    She had managed much in that time, both mischief and joy. From the time she had found some of her mother''s jewelry and been chased around the keep by Esmeralda to get it back, to getting her hand stuck in a jar of dried berries and needing to be freed after being caught red-handed.


    In a way it was nice to know the little girl would live on in the memories of those who loved her, she deserved no less. Sapphire could only hope Dashu would be forgotten in time. He would receive no such ceremony, that much was for sure.


    Then Tom had brought out his camera. Now that Vulzan and the others knew the truth he didn¡¯t have to worry about what he could show anymore. Apparently, he had taken some pictures of the kids just like he had of Sapphire. He had even taken a kind of picture that moved, there was sound as well. He called it a movie. It wasn¡¯t much but to Esmeralda and Kokashi it clearly meant the world. Their little girl running around playing once more. It was beautiful. The kids loved the little memory too. Clearly remembering the day in question, it had been no more than a week ago.


    Kiran didn¡¯t enjoy it though. The experience had been tough on the little guy. He had been quiet and kept to himself only curling up with his mother, father, or Tom much of the time. Sapphire just hoped he was still young enough he would have trouble remembering this in the future. He had been such a brave little dragonette, surpassing even his mother or father. He needed to stay strong for just a little longer.


    As they exchanged stories and memories of the lost, Tom had continued to entertain the children as best he could. Freeing Esmeralda from her usual duties. He was good at it too. Sapphire was happy to see him playing with them, he looked at peace there. She had been thinking about how Tom acted around the kids. It was clear he meant what he had said, they were sacred to him. Even now he was doing his best to protect them from the terrible nature of this evening. Sapphire just hoped he was as happy as he looked playing with them, he deserved to be.


    She could see Vulzan clearly keeping an eye on Tom whenever he could. Hopefully, Tom was going to be able to win the trader back over, to believing he was in fact a kind soul at the core. Even if he was one you shouldn¡¯t get on the bad side of. Or at least not between him and the kids.


    Archeon had been harder to read for Sapphire, the dragon hadn¡¯t seemed particularly worried after their initial discussion about Tom¡¯s actions. She didn¡¯t pretend to understand dragons though, she had rarely done more than exchange pleasantries with one after all.


    The funeral had taken place on the platform that evening as the sun was setting. A large fire had been constructed at the edge and Anastasi placed atop it. Everyone was gathered around the fire to say their final goodbyes, only Nunuk had not been able to attend, still too weak to get out of bed. Some held back their tears, others did not, Esmaralde was crying in Kokashi''s arms for much of the ceremony, the guard doing his absolute best to keep a straight back and taking the responsibility of lighting the fire.


    It was a beautiful evening with the setting sun clear and bright, as the fire began to take hold they all gathered to sing a few songs for the little girl. They started with a lullaby, one Esmeralda had often sung for her at the bedside. Today may be the last time she would sing it. Tom had looked on but not joined in, clearly not comfortable with trying to sing in a language he could barely speak. He had started humming along after a little bit. They just stood and sat, watching the fire slowly burning, the sun setting in the distance singing their songs.


    Tom''s song</a>


    After a while, Tom brought out a little metal thing and sat down at the edge looking out into the encroaching darkness. Then he began playing a simple little tune on what was apparently a kind of instrument. It was a sad melody, almost haunting. Sapphire could feel the hurt in the song, it was the sound of a broken man playing.


    When he had finished his little song. Esmeralda went to sit beside him, they didn¡¯t speak. He handed her his little flask and she took a sip handing it back to its owner. The two sat there for a moment before Esmeralda started to sing again.


    she began to match the tune in the gentlest voice she could manage. Tom looked at her for a moment before answering by resuming to play, matching her in a serene duet. It was beautiful to listen to. Sapphire hadn¡¯t even known Tom could play, he certainly couldn¡¯t sing that much they had learned back in the forest. But he didn¡¯t miss a single tone. He played with practiced precision yet still with deep emotion. She swore she could see his eyes tearing up, as he played the sad melody.


    Kokashi just stood by the fire, staring at the flames, head held low. He had been the guard roaming the halls and corridors, and he had been sitting chatting with Tyborg when his little girl had been snatched. Sapphire wasn''t sure if there was much he could have done, but she was sure the guard was blaming himself for the loss of his precious little girl. Wrongfully or not.


    Rachuck and a few of the other guards had come over to give him a pat on the back. They weren¡¯t stupid, they knew just as well as Sapphire what was going through Kokashish head right now. Eventually, Kokashi had left them going inside, perhaps not being able to hold the facade any longer.


    Fengi and a few of the others joined in to the chorus of Tom and Esmarald¡¯s song as the two figured out the kinks. It was a somber scene, but it was beautiful too. As the night began to set Kokashi came back out joining in with his little violin, It had been a while since they had heard him play, but he still managed to keep up. It wasn¡¯t a hard melody after all.


    They sat together watching the embers being carried off on the wind into the clear night sky, glowing like little stars. All to the sound of her mother singing alongside the people who had loved her. Fly free little girl, fly free. We¡¯ll see you up there one day.


    The next morning there had been an odd atmosphere in the keep. They just got up and went about their work almost in silence, some smiled at each other, some looked furious, others just kept solemn. They had a grizzly task to perform. But Sapphire couldn¡¯t wait, there would be justice today, sweet justice. Dashu had been collected by Tom and Fengi who brought him to the greeting hall, It had been a while since Sapphire had been to the edge. There wasn¡¯t much to do out there, after all, Except admiring the view.


    Archeon would take those who could not fly, leaving just Nunuk and Unkai behind. Despite the clearly treacherous times, they found themselves in, they would all be going. Sapphire would have been fine with just cutting off his head and be done with it, but tradition must be upheld.


    Both the huntresses and guard geared up in full attire. Armor having been hastily cleaned and polished as much as was possible. Bows strung and swords sharpened. Even Sapphire and Dakota were kitted out for combat, despite the ridiculousness of the thought, but an honor guard of Bizmati-keep would not be found waiting.


    During the flight she was glad they had gagged the traitor, he was clearly attempting to plead with them all the way there. Luckily he had spent much of the night writing letters under Tom''s watchful eye so he was tired to the point of exhaustion, the constant pain he was still in from the broken and untended bones likely didn¡¯t help him either. Good, Sapphire thought, he didn¡¯t deserve to be at peace after all.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


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    The funeral had been one of the more serene experiences Tom had ever had. It was beautiful. The fact that it had been the clearest evening he had seen in a while had helped a lot, but still, it was a nice way to go. They apparently believed the winds would carry the embers and ashes up into the heavens where they would stay forever looking down from the stars. Tom wasn¡¯t gonna argue, it wasn¡¯t like human religion had much bearing here. For all, he knew they might even be right.


    The plan for Dashu was apparently the exact opposite. They were currently standing at the edge of the island following the roughly 20-minute flight. Was it not for the reason they were here, he would likely be making flat earth jokes right about now. The wind was howling and quite cold even, Tom reckoned it must be rather uncomfortable for the dragonettes here. So they were likely seeking to be done with this as quickly as possible.


    Dashu had been placed on the ground still tied up, then his wings had been thoroughly broken by Vulzan, Rachuck, Kokashi, and Esmeralda with clubs. Tom felt a little bad he had already done them in earlier but now there was no hope of the dragonette ever flying again that was for sure. Then he was fitted with a net of sorts and weighed down with rocks. One rock for each person he had wronged so quite a few by the time they were done.


    His gag and blindfold had been removed apparently so he could see his doom approaching and repent for his sins all the way down. It was a very literal way of going about it. At least he would likely die on impact, but Tom was beginning to understand why the dragonettes really didn¡¯t like water. It was literally hell to them.


    He wondered just how far down there was, out of curiosity he had crept up to the edge to look over. It just kept going, it looked like miles. There were clouds beneath them in fact. Well, that explained the occasional fog in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. They were going through a cloud, literally. He did spot something dark blue, which must be the ocean, in between the clouds. He had no way of judging distance but it looked rather far away as in kilometers away. Note to self then, don¡¯t fall off ever. Tom wondered just what was actually keeping the island in the air. He would have to ask at some point, they might just know.


    Tom looked to the horizon, clouds obscured much but he swore he could actually see the curvature. So he was on a planet then, that was something. He wondered if the dragonettes knew what a planet was. Probably not, considering they thought of heaven as literally up. No other islands had been in sight though much as he tried to spot them. The cloud cover obscuring them even if there were any.


    Tom had nearly jumped off when Anchor had poked him on the shoulder to get his attention. They were about to begin. Tom was fairly sure if not for the seriousness of the situation there would have been giggling, they weren''t scared of the edge after all.


    The actual act of execution had been a short one. Dashu was marched up to the edge with the Honor guard flanking him and his crimes were repeated for all to hear. Dashu for his part was just quite seeming to have accepted where this was going. He was struggling under the weight of all the rocks not to mention his lack of sleep and general poor condition. He was a sad spectacle to behold. He was allowed to give his last words before his eternal fall, as the dragonettes called it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±


    Tom did feel a tug in his stomach, as a hard kick to the chest from Rachuck sent Dashu stumbling over the edge with a scream. He was a traitor and a fucking moron, but did he deserve to die? Was he a good person who was just too weak and stupid to do the right thing, or had he just managed to get Tom to think that? A worm or a weakling? They would never know.


    His scream could be heard for a while as he fell before fading into the howling wind. A few of the dragonettes stood looking as he fell. Tom Wasn¡¯t gonna join them, that was a bit much even for him. He caught himself feeling sorry for the guy even after what his treachery had caused.


    He tried to recall the memory of playing with Anastasi for comfort. That soon brought the memory of the fight to save her into his head instead. The sight of that innocent little girl crawling towards her mother trailing blood.


    No Dashu had this coming and Tom would have to make sure this didn¡¯t happen again. He didn¡¯t just have to defend himself anymore. He had kids and friends to protect now. The keep would need to be defended at all costs.


    After the execution Archeon had taken them back to the keep, he would be departing shortly for the capitol. Tom made sure to go through all of the trader''s supplies before they left. Vulzan did indeed have five jars of blitz gel as they called it. The powder form was considered too dangerous to store in large quantities so gel it was. He also had 3 more tubes of flash powder. The total came to about 10 gold. Vulzan didn¡¯t even bother taking the payment claiming with the amount of pain he had brought with him there was no way he could. Tom reckoned it had something to do with him being caught redhanded earlier but no matter. Free was free after all.


    He guessed the trader was going to be making a killing on this trip anyway. Even if Tom had no clue what losing guards would cost him. At the end that wasn¡¯t his concern. Vulzan hadn¡¯t been willing to part with any of the potions on just goodwill though. Tom elected he didn¡¯t need them, he had all the ingredients he wanted that the trader had. Besides, who knew what the next one might bring. Best to keep some merchandise on hand.


    The somber mood hadn¡¯t left the keep they still had many wounded to varying degrees, Tom himself was damn happy their healing magic was this effective at dealing with cuts and small punctures he had acquired. Nunuk had responded well to the saline solution, Tom was debating whether to give her another bag. In time this was one medicine he could produce himself after all. The old lady did seem to be stable and slowly improving, so he elected to not risk it. Even if they could really use her skills for the healing work.


    The wounded escorts had gone with Vulzan and Archeon, betting on the fact they would be able to outrun any pursuit on the way back home, combined with not taking any of the more common routes. Tom just hoped the duo was right.


    Esmeralda and Fengi had left to go hunt the plains pretty much as soon as they had returned to the keep. Tom was planning on giving them a hand one day. With only two huntresses, they wouldn¡¯t be able to carry any prey back with them if they had his fat arse along though. So a big haul with the quad was the way to go in his mind. Besides they could use some more wood for the fires, he might just break out the chainsaw for them too then, that should be fun.


    He would have to see about that when he was more fit for a fight. For the time being, cleaning work made up most of the first few days. It would take a while for things to get back to normal around here after this string of rather disastrous days.


    He needed to make good on his promise to make something go boom as well. He had the feeling it would be in his best interest in more ways than one to do so. Even if Jackalope had stopped giving him shit following the revolver incident, Shiva was relentless. He had made a promise and she would see him fulfill it.


    He was still in quite a bit of pain. The wounds were all sealed but they still hurt like hell when he stretched. Alchemical work wasn¡¯t very strenuous though and he had dropped his weights for the time being. So black powder experiments it was.


    Getting the guano fertilizer refined had been a simple if smelly process. The only thing that kept Shiva from kicking him out of the smithy was the promise of success. So this had better work, he didn¡¯t want to be going up and down all those stairs every day to get some work done.


    Tom did still have his other duties, being both the one awake for most of the day and sort of combat-capable thanks to his weapons. He was on guard duty daily and sometimes twice. Combined with the time spent with the children, his working hours were limited. Even if his lessons had been put on hold for the time being.


    After a few days and several tries, he managed to make some saltpeter of sufficient quality to make something go puff. He had excitedly found Shiva and before he knew it he had a bit of an audience in the smithy. This would be embarrassing if it was another dud, but he had tested it already so fingers crossed.


    He poured a bit out onto the wooden cutting board he had ruined during his first drunken attempt. It took a few tries with a flint and steel but eventually, he was rewarded with a nice poof and a lot of smoke. There was a bit of oohing, from the crowd as Tom turned to them looking proud.


    ¡°Was that it?¡± Jackalope then went. ¡°You said it would go boom like your rifle." She sounded like a kid who had just discovered Santa wasn¡¯t real.


    ¡°In confined space, yes, I show you. This is what supposed to do when in open¡±


    Tom could understand the confusion, they had expected a boom after all. Shiva looked like she had just received a gut punch.


    He got out a revolver cartridge and disassembled it, being careful to save the powder, replacing it with his homemade black powder. It should really be granulated first but it would have to do.


    ¡°Time for proper test fire¡± he made his way down and onto the small platform outside the doors to the armory.


    ¡°Shiva, you do the honors,¡± Tom went, preparing the weapon for her and showing her how to hold it. Making a point to look at Jackalope as he did. Shiva had just lost two fingers on her left hand so one-handed would have to do it. With a black powder charge and the fact, he was certain Shiva could bench press him in earth gravity without breaking a sweat. He wasn¡¯t too worried.


    Shiva picked up the gun holding it one-handed in a straight arm and pulled the trigger. There was a soft but satisfying boom and a large cloud of white smoke.


    ¡°Now that was more like it! Smokes a lot though.¡± Shiva concluded coughing a bit, she did sound pleased though.


    ¡°Yeah problem with black powder is smoke, not as good, but it works¡±


    ¡°Well, you did it, Tom, what now then you only have three guns?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°I have four, but not now have much to learn, I need to try dragon powders, I also have ideas for your bows.¡± Sapphire seemed to perk up at this? Oh, he got it. One gun up for grabs. Like it was going to be that easy for them.


    ¡°Why do you want to make a bow now? You just got the stuff you said you needed to make the cannon.¡± Shiva questioned


    ¡°You are good with bows, and guns are hard to make and need machines to make good one. I have much to do though, I need time¡± He had settled on not wasting the precious metal on making a simple cast smoothbore. He wanted something better, especially in the rate of fire department.


    A compound bow should make a nice first step in the weapons program though.

 Experimentation

    Chapter 43: Experimentation


    Over the next few days Dakota had gotten back to her feet properly, she was still sore and needed time to fully heal but she was up and about. Tom had tried to give her a pat on the back for what she and her mother had managed. If not for them The enemy would likely have escaped. She had pulled a smile but not answered him turning to her mother.


    ¡°It was her idea, she wouldn¡¯t let them run.¡±


    Nunuk was still bedridden and would be for some time, she was properly awake much of the time by now and improving slowly. Dakota spent most of her days caring for her mother and resting herself. The old lady was clearly not done yet. Even if she would be carrying a few more scars and probably some new aches and pains to go with them.


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy getting old¡±


    Tom Himself too was slowly doing better as well. He was still sore as fuck, but it was nothing he couldn¡¯t handle as long as he didn¡¯t do something too strenuous. He had discussed the two incidents of thievery with Rachuck.


    He apologized profusely especially at the fact Vulzan had gone through Tom¡¯s things, which clearly didn¡¯t sit well with the captain of the guard. He even asked if Tom wanted to press charges. Tom just waved him off, he had checked and the trader hadn¡¯t actually stolen anything, he had just been curious after all. Jackalope¡¯s escapades had Tom worried though, she could have killed herself or someone else. Tom stressed that if they started fiddling with something they didn¡¯t know what was, they could either break an irreplaceable piece of equipment or seriously hurt themselves.


    They had agreed they needed to figure out something better for storing Tom''s things. After some arguing, they had settled on clearing out the crafting hall across from the smithy. It had mostly been used for storage and things that needed tanning, drying, curing, and the like. It would become Tom¡¯s little home away from home even if he was still sleeping with the kids. It would take some time to clear out and they had other things to worry about, but hey, he finally had a room. Even if it did smell of curing leather.


    Tom had noticed walking around the keep with Rachuck they did have quite a few empty rooms in fact. Mostly some bedrooms and storage rooms. But still, there was a lot of space here. Even the Dragonettes didn¡¯t know how old this place was, so it sort of made sense. His request to get an actual bedroom had been denied. Apparently, because he had been doing too good of a job with the kids. Normally they would have shifts to look after them morning and evening. Now they only needed to do it when Tom was on guard duty.


    He didn¡¯t mind though, he didn¡¯t particularly feel like being alone with his thoughts right now, he would much rather have the children to keep him occupied. Even if someone had half-eaten one of his sketches of the chuck for the lathe. He swore he would find the culprit one day.


    He had done his best to make the most of the days, his joint child watching technical drawing sessions had been a great success. Sapphire had joined it too, she might learn a thing or two and the kids enjoyed watching the pretty pictures. He and Sapphire would throw a story or two in there as well, all in all, it had been quite fun. He had begun with explaining the concept of the compound bow and drawing up some schematics hoping Sapphire along with Shiva could make that happen without too much input from him. His main project though was trying to design a lathe using the bare minimum of metal, as well as coming up with a way to drive it. Sure they had some wind power for the forge but that wasn¡¯t gonna cut it for this.


    He had begun experimenting with the powders. The flash stuff was clearly a powerful incendiary, even a few grams had been enough to take Tom''s eyebrows off and singe his beard. It was literally like a fireball going off. The real magic had come when he had mixed it with his homemade saltpeter. 75% saltpeter to 25% flashpowder to start with. He was damn glad he had only tried the tiniest of amounts. The result was a powder that exploded with a crack even in open air. He had high explosives!


    The stuff even seemed stable to impacts, the slightest spark would spell disaster though. Sapphire seemed more than a little worried about what he had managed, while Jackalope had laughed a little too maniacally for Tom¡¯s liking. Shiva had just observed silently with a scowling on her face grin. Following that, the three dragonettes had followed him around whenever he was experimenting


    Jackalope and Shiva were eager for another boom while Sapphire was worried he was going to blow up her home by accident. A fair concern to be honest. She did seem to have taken a bit of a babysitter role as of late in fact. He guessed she was either worried about him or bored.


    Tom had tried to appease all parties by going through some safety instructions on dealing with dangerous substances. Not that he really knew much, but he could sound official so that would have to do. They had nearly half a kilo of the stuff after all and that was before mixing. That may be enough to bring down the keep. Sapphire had clearly been horrified by this and even Shiva had calmed down at the thought of just how wrong this could go.


    He had begun playing with the mixture resulting in an altered burn rate. With 50/50 it seemed to be just subsonic. It was possible then, that this stuff could replace proper gunpowder. And here he had been excited about making black powder.


    He did reckon it would make one hell of a muzzle flash though. Even the small samples he had tried resulted in something more akin to a Hollywood explosion than anything he knew.


    The really interesting stuff was this blitz gel though, he had stuck the electrodes in from his multimeter in it for curiosities'' sake. There was a current there and it wasn¡¯t small either. On his first test, he got over 10 volts. That was a heck of a lot from a single cell. He made sure to treat the stuff with greater care from then on, he didn¡¯t feel like electrocuting himself by accident.


    He had made a little jig with some crude copper plates suspended in a clay pot hooked up to a short circuit with a big iron ingot. He then took the entire contraption out to the landing platform not wanting to go down the stairs. Using some wires and string went about the experiment from a safe distance. This stuff was considered extremely dangerous after all. He had urged Sapphire to come along despite working on the bow at the time. She needed to see this.


    The surface area seemed to determine amperage with the distance giving the voltage. As he moved the plates closer and closer together the voltage kept climbing to around 50 volts and over 10 amps. The ingot he was using as a short had even started to warm up a little. That is when the whole contraption blew up in a bright flash and thunderous roar. Tom and Sapphire had just dived for the floor as pieces went flying. His ears were ringing and he was even half-blind for a while. At least it hadn¡¯t cracked the stone of the platform.


    They soon had a lot of company coming to see what had happened, the alarm being sounded from the tower Balethon believing they were under attack again. After a lot of promises, everything was fine, sort of at least. People had gone back to their duties. Some seeming a little, scared others just disgruntled at the disturbance.


    Sapphire¡¯s hearing had taken till the next day to fully recover, perhaps he should think about some dragonette ear protection for the future? While Tom hadn''t expected an explosion it wasn''t exactly without use either. Even if he should really build a test rig that used less of the precious gel. That stuff wasn''t cheap after all. Not to mention the safety concerns.


    The next test used only a tiny amount but with it smeared across the electrodes, the result was as expected higher voltage but the same amperage. He had tried to run it down to see if he had gotten his hands on eternal energy here, unfortunately, after about 5 minutes it too had exploded with more of a pop than a bang though.


    It took a few tries all ending in a pop of sparks and a flash of light before he considered it might just be overheating. He devised yet another test this time suspended in water. Sure enough, after a while of discharging, the water began steaming, but no explosion this time. It took over an hour at 500 Watts initially, even if the power began dropping off rather quickly towards the end. That was still around 0.5 kWh from something the size of a mobile phone. No LiPO ever made could come close to that, even if the discharge rate was quite slow by comparison. He tried to recharge the gel to no avail so it was a one-time deal but still one hell of a deal. He had used around 20ml for the little experiment so that meant nearly 25kWh per liter of the stuff, that was incredible. He would need to map out how to get reliable voltage from it but this would solve his power problems when it came to recharging with ease. It might even be capable of driving something more than a laptop.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After the execution it hadn¡¯t taken Tom long to get back into the swing of things, he worked with a purpose now unlike Sapphire had seen before. When he had arrived it seemed almost like he was doing this all for the fun of it, which may have been true. He did claim so after all when he arrived. Now though, he was working every chance he got despite technically still being injured. He had tried to explain to them what he was doing whenever he got the chance, but to be honest, she hardly understood any of it and when she didn¡¯t he just kept going.


    What she did understand was when something exploded, horribly. Though Tom didn¡¯t seem to mind he just noted down the results from the experiments and kept on working. The blitz gel in particular had him captivated like a child with a new toy. He talked about it like it was extraordinary even by his people''s standards, yet he hadn¡¯t actually made it do anything other than heat up a chunk of metal and explode seemingly at random. So to say Sapphire wasn¡¯t exactly convinced was an understatement.


    The more time she spent with the human the more she started to figure out how he functioned. He needed this. He needed the work and the challenges. Just like Dakota needed validation she was good enough, and Jackalope needed something she wasn''t allowed to do. Sapphire had come to realize Tom was actually happy. He wasn¡¯t pretending, he was just not thinking about the bad things.


    She did envy him a little for that, it must be nice to just shut out the bad stuff. Although it didn¡¯t sound that healthy to her. Not that she knew much about people that was sort of Esmeralda¡¯s specialty and she was certainly not in the mood to try and help Tom, she needed to tend to herself first of all.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Sapphire had just elected to watch him work trying her best to understand what he was doing. Judging by his excitement the blitz gel was important to him so it must do something, even if she couldn''t understand it for the life of her.


    The rather non-standard lessons with the kids had been informative though. The weird bow design he had given her didn¡¯t make any sense either but he claimed it was amazing. He had also insisted on using metal bow limbs for some reason. Her Shiva and Jackalope had gotten to work on it even if Jackalope couldn¡¯t do much with only one good hand for the moment.


    Shiva was a little better off, she had lost her pinky and index fingers on her left hand blocking a sword strike during the battle. They had been properly amputated and the wounds sealed and bandaged, making the hand usable again.


    ¡°Com one Jacky can''t you even hold a pair of tongs? And you call yourself my daughter"


    ¡°Hey I¡¯m not the one who got my fingers chopped off by forgetting how to use a shield¡±


    ¡°Shut up would you, We all know the only reason you still have yours is blind luck. Now get on the bellows, slowly we need a deep temper if this isn''t going to snap in our faces.¡±


    As they worked she tried to copy Tom, letting her get drawn in by the work. The friendly banter did help, she didn¡¯t feel useless here. Even if Shiva often tried to make her think that. Sapphire knew the old smith well enough to know she was just having fun at their expense, she didn¡¯t mind. She was helping.


    The design was a mess of bowstrings, very weirdly shaped metal pulleys and those absurdly short bow limbs mounted to a wooden center section. They looked almost like crossbow limbs, Sapphire remembered having seen some in from her time in the capitol. The weapon of a moron who couldn¡¯t shoot. But this was no crossbow that was for sure. Tom swore this would be better, if a little heavier than their bows, so they kept at it.


    For the woodwork they had to turn to Kulling, he wasn¡¯t pleased to be told what to do but the threat of Sapphire telling Shiva who had lost her favorite hammer last year did the trick. The woodworker had done a fine job making the center section for them. He did have a lot of experience with bows after all. For the bowstring Sapphire had to join a few of their ready-made ones together, again it wasn¡¯t pretty but it should work well enough.


    It had been difficult to do, but this wasn¡¯t her first bow, she had a lot of experience. The first set of pulleys had been rejected by Tom when Shiva had just made them round assuming the drawing to be inaccurate. Their strange shape was apparently very important and delicately designed. When asked why Tom had just answered mathematics. It had taken quite some time for Shiva and a wide variety of swearwords but she had succeeded in getting very close to Tom''s drawing.


    The bow limbs and the wooden body he had been happy with though, Sapphire just hoped this was worth the effort. The finished bow had been ready after just over a week''s work, a rather impressive feat Sapphire thought. It was a little crude looking but it should work. It was much shorter than any of their bows but still quite a bit heavier, it was still manageable though. The handle and weird little sight was a nice touch,


    Tom had been excitedly watching as they strung it up for the first time. As sapphire pulled out the bow it felt normal enough if quite heavy on the draw. That was until she drew it out fully. The bow limbs were flexing alarmedly but it seemed to hold at least for now.


    The big thing though was just how light it became. Sapphire stared in wonder at the weapon. She could hold it with ease?! As she brought it back forward the bow came back to full strength. The jolt surprised her and pulled her hand forward. Shiva and Jackalope had a bit of a snicker, she had looked like a complete novice. That didn¡¯t matter though this was amazing.


    ¡°How does it do that?¡±


    ¡°The pulleys," Tom answered pointing to the weird wheels, Sapphire pulled out the bow again watching them as they turned. She didn¡¯t understand what they did, but it was clear they were doing something.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it but I like it.¡± This would be a game-changer for sure.


    ¡°Yeah math is weird but it¡¯s always right. Unless you make mistakes of course.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get what counting has to do with it either but sure. Hey Shiva, try this it out¡±


    The smith pulled out the bow with the same surprised expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s so light, like a kid''s bow, and yet not? Bravo Tom.¡±


    Tom did a bit of a chuckle, clearly happy they liked his little invention.


    They had taken it to the firing range immediately to try it out. Most people caught on to that something was happening and came over to watch. Sapphire had gotten the honor of the first shot. Her splint made her a bit unsteady on her feet but no matter. She had drawn the bow back and demonstrated to all just how easy it was to hold at the ready. She nocked a regular arrow and let it fly the bow fired beautifully sending the arrow rocketing downrange. It was a bit higher than Sapphire wanted so she gave it a bit of a nudge in-flight guiding it home. The arrow landing in a bullseye on the first shot, embedding itself deep in the target. There was much cheering that their finest markswoman still had what it took even with a brand new weapon.


    Tom was clearly impressed but didn¡¯t question it, seemingly not having noticed the little trick, god she was good.


    She had tried for distance. This was the heaviest draw she had ever fired but thanks to it going light at the end she didn''t struggle too much. As she released the arrow shot downrange, arcing beautifully through the air. They didn¡¯t have a target that far out but the arrow went out to at least 500 meters. Not bad at all, not that she could hit anything reliably at that distance the target and arrow would be too hard to see after all. It would still make it easier for closer targets with such a fast-flying arrow.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The girls had done well on their bow, it didn¡¯t look pretty but he was confident they could fix that by themselves now that they knew how it worked. For his part, he had been continuing the alchemical experiments mapping out, burn rates for his explosive powder, as well as trying to dry small amounts of the blitz powder. Apuma had started taking a more active interest in his work. The old man did have some experience with alchemy that much was clear. Even if he had mostly been working with herbs, medicines, and compounds for magic rituals.


    He had a few good pointers for Tom about some of the materials, the first batch of the blitz powder had been incredibly sensitive, Tom had just hit it with a light tap from a screwdriver and puff. It wasn¡¯t an explosion as such more like showers of sparks and an electrical crack. A bit like a powerful Vandegraf generator with some magnesium thrown in. The big kicker had come when Apuma told him that was normal for fresh gel they usually let it sit for at least a year before drying it if they needed any in powder form.


    Tom reasoned this could be because the gel discharges over time. All other kinds of batteries did so it only made sense after all. He tried discharging a small amount of gel by around half. Then went about drying it. The result was a fairly stable powder that could be handled. It had taken a sizable whack from a hammer to get it to go off. Even so, the result had made Tom''s ears ring and even blinded him slightly, so still plenty of oompf.


    He did the math. He had incendiary, high explosives, gunpowder of sorts and this stuff might be able to take the place of primer powder. He had everything he needed to make ammunition and even something much nastier if he wanted to. How the dragonettes hadn¡¯t figured out how to put this stuff in a metal tube with a bullet in front of it he didn¡¯t know, but hey, their loss was his gain. The only problem he had was the lack of anything truly slow-burning for fuses and the like.


    He had gone about drawing up plans for a simple cast for making replacement bullets. They had plenty of lead so that was not much of a problem. A small punch to make the primers out of the thinnest copper plate Shiva could manage to hammer out was next on the list. This, along with the reloading jig he had brought should see him able to replace at least most of the ammo he spent. In a 50/50 mix, he had enough flash powder for over 300 rounds. If he wanted to start making ready to use explosives, he would need to get more of this stuff. But for the time being, this would do nicely.


    By now It had been a little over a week since Vulzan''s departure, and things were returning to normal with more and more of the dragonettes returning to their duties. It was amazing to watch how injuries that would take several weeks or months to heal naturally only kept them in bed for days, a week or two tops. Even Nunuk had taken her first walk again. She was still limping and clearly in pain but she was walking. Tom was back to using his weights and not feeling too bad at all in fact. He had even started his workouts again. Broken bones were seemingly the only thing that still needed lots of time even if they could accelerate the process. Jackalope''s hand was gonna be useless for a while, but Sapphire would be coming off the crutches sometime next week.


    His little drawing sessions had continued even if there was getting more and more history mixed in. Apuma had even joined them on Sapphire''s insistence. The lessons with the children were also continuing but without Tom for the time being there was too much to do and too little time. To make up the difference Sapphie was spending as much time with him as she could now, running him through their language while they worked.


    It was a nice way of going about it, he really needed to expand his vocabulary after all. The time with the kids was as enjoyable as ever, even if he often found the room a little more empty. There had been more than one instance of kids breaking down crying at where Anastasi had gone. Kiran was affected more than most. He had gotten a lot quieter, sometimes not wanting to play with the others and just sitting by himself. Tom had done his best to try and cheer the little guy up, even if he deep down felt Kiran had every right to what he was doing.


    There had been many evenings of working on designs with him on Tom''s lap. Tom had tried to apply his own way of dealing with the trauma, namely distraction. Music, pictures in his books, and of course as many stories as Tom could come up with. Esmeralda had tried to help out with the kids as she usually did but found it hard to handle when the subject turned to Anastasi as it often did. Add to that, she and Fengi were the only huntresses currently capable of hunting and she didn¡¯t have the time either. This meant Wiperna had to cover for the Esmeralda on child duty. The farm woman was kind, if quite stern. Even more so than Esmeralda could be if the kids got on her bad side. It had quickly evolved into a good cop bad cop scenario with children coming to Tom to ask permission for just about anything.


    That did complicate the dangerous experiments involving high explosives and liquid lightning somewhat. Trying to console a kid who had their favorite toy taken by someone else while wearing whatever protective gear Tom had managed to cobble together holding unstable magical components, had been a challenge. Having Sapphire tag along much of the time did help though. She could often keep the kids away from the more perilous work.


    Work on designing the lathe was progressing too. It was a challenge to be sure, he wanted the thing to be able to cut everything from a gun barrel to a steam-engine cylinder. And he only had a limited supply of metal and sand casting to do it. He really just needed a huge lump of brass, but iron and steel were by far the most common materials around. At least the forge was sizable and they did have some sort of crucible, which they used for making cast-iron things such as pots and pans.


    He had settled on making the body out of forged runners with the cast-machinery sliding along it. Shiva had looked skeptical about making something like that by hand, especially keeping it straight. Tom had to concede that point. He needed some kind of milling machine to do this right, and he needed a lathe to make a milling machine. It was sort of like an eternal spiral. He had seen the smith work though, she was skilled in the extreme. The literal decades of experience clearly showing. She would have to do her best. The result would hopefully be good enough to make both a milling machine and in turn a better lathe in the future.


    As for driving the thing, he had begun to consider a crude electric motor. It would be expensive to run but it should work. He had no clue what to do otherwise short of building a steam engine which he really needed the lathe for. Not to mention a lot more metal. He still had four and a half jars of the blitz gel giving him around 4.5 liters. By his reckoning that meant over 110 KwH of power. Enough to run a small lathe for days on end.


    And with some luck, he might have another fuel source incoming. According to what Archeon and Vulzan had said that was still weeks if not a month or more away though. So for the time being he might as well get started with what he had.

 Food On The Table

    Chapter 44: Food On The Table


    Dakota had been in a foul mood one morning and gone to sit by herself during breakfast. What little time Sapphire had gotten to spend with her leader over the last week, she had felt tense and quite stressed.


    Sapphire decided she needed to know why for this just wouldn¡¯t do. Things had been improving around the keep. If the occasional explosion had more than a few of them on edge for much of the day. But her mother was doing better and no one had had any complications with their recoveries. Likely thanks to her and Unkai¡¯s efforts. So why wasn¡¯t she cheering up the worst was over after all.


    Sapphire had gone over and taken a seat next to her friend hoping to at least figure out what was troubling her.


    ¡°So? You look like someone stole your meat?¡±


    ¡°Ha Ha very funny. If we aren''t careful someone just might.¡±


    ¡°Now what is that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°We are expecting a dragon, our supplies of conserved food are still very low from winter, we are far behind on stocking up again and we only have two huntresses fit to hunt¡± Dakota looked to Sapphire before picking up a slice of the bacon they had started making most mornings after Fengi¡¯s miraculous idea in the kitchen. ¡°And here I am the queen of the hunt. Stuffing my face full of yesterday''s kill.¡±


    ¡°You know it won¡¯t be long before you are flight worthy again, you just need to be careful for the time being. Besides, it''s still weeks before Jarix might come here at the earliest estimates. He might not even be coming, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yes I know, but it''s not like I can count on not having to feed him. And what happens if those bastards come back and put us under siege huh? We wouldn¡¯t last a month right now. With a dragon make that two weeks tops¡±


    ¡°Well better do something about it then¡± Sapphire looked down to her plate of food. There was an easy answer she just wanted to hear Dakota admit it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sending the men on a hunt if that is what you are suggesting. I¡¯m not that desperate.¡± Well, Dakota was proud and in all the years Sapphire had been here it had never been necessary to admit they had failed in their duty. That hadn¡¯t been what she wanted her friend to say though.


    ¡°Well we do just so happen to have someone who is not really a dragonette, does he count?¡±


    ¡°He is already looking after our children standing guard, undergoing lessons, giving lessons, and making weapons for us. You seriously want me to ask him to go out hunting as well. Besides he is a man unless you have forgotten. They protect our home and we provide for it and he has done more than his share of both already.¡±


    ¡°Well, are you sure though, he might be able to squeeze a bit more into his day, or he could skip guard duty or something for a day, surely that won¡¯t hurt too much? Why don¡¯t you ask him? I''m sure he won''t mind. Not to mention we have no clue how they go about it where he is from. Consider it a cultural experience.¡± Sapphire was doing her best to sell this idea, not only was she certain Tom on the hunt would be rather effective. She was fairly sure he wouldn''t mind doing it either.


    Dakota for her part just looked at Sapphire not seeming very pleased.


    ¡°What are you playing here?¡± Okay, perhaps Sapphire had tried a bit too hard.


    ¡°Well, we haven¡¯t seen or heard how his people go about hunting. You might even learn something"


    ¡°You just want to put another name above me on the kill count, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°No of course not, besides he isn¡¯t a huntress so he''s not going on the board now is he? You could also just ask him to haul the kills back with that quadbike thing. It would save a lot of time¡± Sapphire could see Dakota thinking that one over, they did spend most of their time hauling the kills back and forth, especially when there were just two of them, meaning one big kill per trip.


    ¡°Well there¡¯s the point he isn¡¯t a huntress now is he.¡±


    ¡°Then make him one¡±¡¯


    Dakota facepalmed at that one. ¡°Your kidding, right?¡±


    ¡°Call him a hunter instead he isn¡¯t a dragonette so why should the rules apply to him. If I know him he wouldn¡¯t care if he broke the rules anyway. As long as we don¡¯t get mad at him. I think he will even lie about being part of the huntresses if you ask him to.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll ask him, just don¡¯t tell Nunuk or Apuma, not before I tell them at least. The last thing I want is a lesson on my duty to my keep right about now and for the records I think this is humiliating.¡± Dakota clearly wasn¡¯t happy with this and Sapphire thought she might not even do it, in the end. She just didn¡¯t want to keep discussing it.


    ¡°Hey if anyone is getting that talk, how do you think she is treating Rachuck after he let a damn black knight through the door?¡± Sapphire said with a serious look in her eye.


    This gave another thoughtful expression in Dakota as she looked to her brother who was sitting with most of his guards, having gathered around Kokoashi, seeming to do their best to cheer him up a bit. Their spirits sounded high enough even if it was just for the sake of their friend.


    Sapphire looked back to where she usually sat and saw Esmeralda Fengi and Jackalope sitting. Fengi helping Jackalope cut some food for her. It was a pitiful sight, the once-proud huntresses sitting sulking, and hand-feeding each other in silence.


    ¡°Come on, a team doesn¡¯t eat at different tables." Sapphire went getting up, Dakota reluctantly joined, going over to the others. They hadn¡¯t talked much but it was still nicer to have everyone together at least. Sapphire did her best to try and liven up the mood a bit. It was clear both Esmeralda and Fengi were tired, Dakota was already in a bad mood and Jackalope was clearly busy feeling sorry for herself.


    Normally Sapphire would have likely joined them in feeling useless, but looking at the sorry lot they had become she instead elected to try and cheer them all up a bit. She could see Tom sitting with the children this morning already playing games with them something about patting your head while rubbing your stomach. Even Kiran was trying hard to master the maneuver.


    Sapphire caught herself almost trying to do it before turning back to the table. Tom had taught her a card game while with the children, they had even managed to adapt it to work with their cards so might as well give this femhundrede a test run. Apparently, it was Danish for five hundred. Tom had insisted on using the danish name for some reason though.


    Jackalope not being able to hold the cards and use her fork at the same time did complicate things a bit. Not everybody''s head was in the game to start with, but with some effort they got it to work. It was a simple card collecting game and before they knew it they had cleared the table of the plates to make space for the cards they had gathered. The first round had gone to Sapphire, her previous experience giving her a clear advantage. Fengi had managed to get the second round though, sneakily stealing two of Sapphire''s Jokers. Slowly everyone had gotten into the swing of it, and before long there were smiles at the table again.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Sapphire felt damn proud of herself. She might not be up for helping out with the hunting just yet, but she could still help them in other ways.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was having another of his joint design and explain sessions with Sapphire and Apuma and a few kids of course. He was explaining the concept of gears to them which inevitably had evolved into a bit of a math lesson. Sapphire didn¡¯t seem able to do much more than addition, subtraction, and a bit of multiplication and division. That was apparently the curriculum around here. Just what they needed in their day to day lives and nothing more. Apuma was quite a bit more skilled even if Tom had lost him when he had tried anything more than the most basic of formulas and equations. Okay then, math class was gonna have to become a thing. Dakota had joined them giving a greeting and walking up to them at the board.


    She had stopped looking bewildered at the blackboard tilting her head. Apuma had tried to draw up an equation in draconic numbers to see if it could be done, the result was alright but Tom was still convinced his numbers would be much easier when it came to more advanced stuff. As the other three discussed why a gear ratio should always be uneven. Dakota finally spoke up


    ¡°14¡± Walking up to the board and noting it down ¡°That wasn¡¯t so hard¡±


    Granted it had been a fairly simple matter of finding x in a simple equation. But still, Sapphire hadn''t managed it.


    ¡°That¡¯s my girl¡± Apuma had looked up, giving Sapphire a push to the shoulder. See, I told you it wasn¡¯t that hard.


    ¡°Oh come on, that¡¯s not fair¡± Sapphire had just answered sounding defeated. Raising her arms in the air.


    ¡°You done this before?¡± Tom questioned looking to Dakota


    ¡°Well, I heard you talking for while figured I just needed to put the right number where the cross is to make it true.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are correct," Tom said skeptically, she hadn¡¯t been here for long enough to hear that. Had she been listening outside the door? ¡°You here to join us?¡±


    ¡°Not entirely¡± She looked to Apuma for a second before turning back to Tom. "Would you mind taking a short walk with me?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, you keep at it, I¡¯ll be back." Tom went looking at Apuma and Sapphire. ¡°She needs to learn this¡± Sapphire just gave an annoyed sound looking back to the board.


    Tom had followed Dakota out the library into the corridors where the huntress had turned back to face him as the doors closed.


    ¡°Tom I need to ask you a favor¡±


    ¡°Okay? Fire away¡± Not entirely unexpected, Tom thought.


    ¡°Would you mind going out on a hunt with Esmeralda and Fengi, they need a hand to keep up¡±


    ¡°Sure, would love to,¡± he answered enthusiastically. ¡°Wanna come along, will be bringing the quadbike, might get some wood too I think¡±


    Dakota looked a little taken aback, before seeming to calm down again


    ¡°I take it Sapphire was right then, it¡¯s no big deal to you is it?¡±


    ¡°Why would it be, I love hunting¡±


    ¡°You hunt back home?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, just for hobby, we don¡¯t need to hunt."


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you farm all your food then."


    ¡°Correct¡±


    ¡°But males hunt where you are from then? You haven''t held the tradition of the provider?¡±


    ¡°Uhm back home is reverse, men provide, women stay home. That is old school though, some places still do it like that. Getting less popular by the year¡± Tom did his best to look apologetic and shrugged.


    She just stared at him for a while as if trying to decide if he was lying or not. Then turned away thinking it over for a while before answering.


    ¡°Okay then¡­ so you go out of the home to hunt and provide for your home?¡±


    ¡°Well I go out and work to earn money to provide for my home, so yes¡± Tom shrugged again.


    ¡°And the women stay at home to defend it from intruders¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t really need to defend our homes, from anything, but in olden days they would stay home yes¡±


    Dakota was lost in thought for nearly a minute thinking hard on something. Tom didn¡¯t interrupt though. He was fairly sure Dakota was doing her best to figure something out here. Even if he didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡°Well then Tom, since you are apparently a hunter, you care for the children like a mother and are actually closer to us in size and strength. I guess that sort of makes you a woman here. That would make you eligible for joining the huntresses as a proper member. Not just going along to help for one day¡± She sounded genuinely thoughtful even a bit happy at the conclusion, Tom thought.


    It was his turn to look a bit strange now though, the fuck did she mean sort of a woman? They were bigger and stronger than the males here, so he guessed it was a compliment in a way, but still, really? Did she want him to cross-dress as well? Realizing what this might lead to sent a shiver down his spine.


    ¡°Okay¡­ So what now?¡± he tentatively asked, crossing his fingers it wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    ¡°Might as well do it by the book. You are going to be inaugurated by Nunuke to join my huntresses, much like you were into the guard. Wait, that might be a problem.¡±


    Dakota paused for a moment thinking


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out, but you will do it? No conditions, no buts or ifs, no demands at all¡±


    ¡°Well I would like to not have my things stolen while I¡¯m gone, but sure, I¡¯d love to.¡±Tom could see that first comment hit hard, perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have said that.


    ¡°Right of course I¡¯ll go take this up with mother then¡± Dakota seemed more than a little confused as she wandered off. Tom for his part just stood there for a second not sure why she had been so surprised he hadn¡¯t protested. Maybe this was considered taboo here? No matter, back to the lesson at hand. He walked back into the room, to a Sapphire looking to the blackboard where Apuma was trying to explain the equation again.


    ¡°Hey Sapphire, Dakota wants to make me a huntress,¡± He said with a grin. Sapphire seemed to recoil at this, turning to look at Apuma who just looked puzzled doing the signature head tilt.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry what?¡± Apuma had questioned. Oh shit, wasn¡¯t he supposed to say yet? Or was it that taboo to send a man hunting?


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well on the bright side Sapphire didn''t have to worry about keeping a secret, but still, that was possibly the shortest-lived secret she had ever been a part of. Apuma had clearly noticed her reaction turning to look at her


    ¡°Why would she do that?¡± Oh, right then she hadn¡¯t told the old man anything then. For a lore keeper, he was not much good at taking note of a situation.


    ¡°Well, we are running a bit low on food at the moment and only have two able huntresses, soon to be three when Dakota is ready again. So I might have convinced her getting Tom to lend a hand wasn¡¯t a bad idea¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she said I was sort of already a woman, not sure what she meant by that¡± Sapphire had to try really fucking hard not to burst out laughing at that, bringing up both hands to clamp her mouth shut. She was already imagining Tom in a leather skirt with just a breastplate on, oh and the crown.


    ¡°Hey, not funny! I¡¯m, wait¡­ would macho mean feminine here?¡± Tom questioned. His argument clearly falling apart in his hands as he struggled to work that out.


    ¡°Sapphire just mad you are more girls than she is." Kiran joined in sounding very supportive of his big friend.


    Okay, that was beyond what Sapphire could handle, she began cry-laughing at the absurdity of what was going on still trying to clamp her mouth shut. Apuma just sat back down not sure what was going on.


    Tom for his part apparently decided to play along with it, going over and picking up Kiran. He would do anything for Kiran after all. Apparently making fun of himself to help get the little guy out of his shell was on the table too.


    ¡°Yeah Kiran¡¯s got it, I¡¯m the most and best girl of them all¡±


    ¡°NO! That is Shiva¡± Vigon helpfully pointed out, causing Sapphire to laugh even harder.


    ¡°No Tom beat Shiva, he the best girl.¡± Kiran had argued back. Beginning a room-wide discussion on whether the fact Shiva and Jackalope were both taller made them more feminine than Tom, or if the fact he was more dangerous was more important. Not to mention the difference between being the best and most girl.


    Even Apuma joined in now laughing at Tom¡¯s misfortune as the poor guy just stood there resigned to his fate. Eventually sitting down with his head in his hands, clearly having gotten a bit more than he bargained for.


    That was of course when Esmaralde had stuck her head in to drop off the rest of the children before she and Fengi were to be heading out on their second trip of the day. She froze for a moment at the scene in front of her not understanding what was going on.


    ¡°Essy is more girl than Tom too, she can fly," Turinia argued, sounding very confident in herself.


    ¡°Men fly too,¡± Kiran retorted, not yielding an inch. It was good to see the little guy was coming back out, he was just as staunch in Tom¡¯s defense as he had ever been.


    ¡°But Tom can''t. Can he? Can Tom fly now?¡± Holdey had asked, sounding confused, running in to join the discussion.


    ¡°Dakota decided Tom is woman enough to join the huntresses¡± Sapphire got out between breaths to help fill in the confused Esmeralda. She was panting under the strain of laughing that hard for this long, this was just the best thing ever. From between her fingers. Sapphire could see Esmeralda crack up at the realization of what was going on adding another laugh to the choir.


    ¡°She did what?! Oh, wait till Kokashi hears about this.¡±


    ¡°No don¡¯t tell him please¡± Tom pleaded with her.


    ¡°Kokahi agree Tom is best girl¡± Kiran stated, helping Tom¡¯s case immensely.


    Tom was taking being ridiculed this much rather well in her opinion. Still, she was not gonna let this one go for a very long time.

 Tom The Huntress

    Chapter 45: Tom The Huntress


    It had taken a few days for Dakota to get Nunuk to agree. Apuma had tried figuring out if someone was allowed to join both the guard and the huntresses. In the end, the fact that it wasn''t mentioned anywhere, what the case for nondragonettes was, had closed the deal. Even if Apuma was still a little grumpy they had stopped his searching on the third day. Sapphire had gotten off her crutches and was walking about again even if she was not allowed to fly yet, instead doing various exercises with her wings to try and strengthen them again. She did still need to be careful with her leg though.


    Luckily they had agreed he didn¡¯t need to do any cross-dressing. His current equipment would do. Even if they were again fussing over the lack of white. He had elected to just wear his fancy new cape for once turning it white, which seemed to satisfy them. He did still want to get that thing resown into something, but there wasn¡¯t enough fabric to make a full uniform. The cape was long enough to mostly wrap him up in so it seemed best utilized like that for the time being.


    They had insisted that he needed some jewelry though as much as possible in fact. Every huntress was supposed to show off just how well their keep was doing apparently since they were often the ones out and about. So against his wishes, he had gotten out some of the few pieces he had brought for trade purposes and donned them.


    This had clearly been insufficient so he had been forced into borrowing a few pieces from the other huntresses. They even made him wear a modified version of the weird tiara thing they all had in copper. Apparently, it signified his rank within the huntresses. He guessed that made him whatever was above recruit. Fengi too was wearing a copper one after all and she was clearly a fully-fledged member.


    When Tom had tried to protest against the quickly growing amount of jewelry, Sapphire had just gone. ¡°You need to be the best girl don¡¯t you? or was it most?¡± He had damn near smacked her for that one. As the whole room started laughing. It would seem everyone had that particular story retold in detail.


    As he stood in Dakota¡¯s room getting kitted out. He felt like he was the victim of a girls night only everyone around him was armed and trained killers. Judging by the fact he was now the most blinged-out figure in the room they all found it hilarious that he found it this uncomfortable. At least they hadn¡¯t made him shave or do something with his hair. That whole situation had clearly stumped them since, well, they didn¡¯t have any.


    They had tried to tie it up though, in the end, Fengi had figured out how to make two very simple ponytails. She claimed it looked a bit like their horns. When Esmeralda had asked if they had anything they could use to die it with, He had threatened to shave himself bald. He was just happy they didn¡¯t have any makeup. He elected he needed to make sure he didn¡¯t teach them about that particular invention ever.


    He ended up looking like the gayest medieval reenactor he had ever seen or heard of. He honestly didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry as he marched out in front of Nunuk sitting in her high chair. There was a lot of cheering and hooting from everyone assembled to watch the proceedings. Especially the guard who clearly found it hilarious to watch him decked out like this. Kokashi appeared to nearly fall over laughing.


    Kiran just turned to Holdey ¡°See I told you so!¡±


    The old lady still looked haggard, sitting in her chair. She even still had some bandages on. Tom had asked if Dakota couldn¡¯t just have done it in her place. But Nunuk had refused point-blank. She could walk so she could take his oath. The offer of doing it in the infirmary hadn¡¯t worked either so here they were.


    It was supposedly going to be much the same deal as when he had been inducted into the guard when he first came here. He was to swear another oath of fealty to the Bizmati family and the keep as a whole.


    He had been instructed on what to say this time. The last one had been a bit of a mess, magical translation, general confusion, and all.


    ¡°Tomas Hansen, on account of the fact your people do not align with ours on matters of gender roles or physical characteristics. You have been deemed eligible to join our huntresses. In light of recent events, my daughter has seen fit to request your immediate addition to her ranks. I have elected to grant her this request. Do you accept the responsibility of joining our Huntresses under my daughter¡¯s command?"


    ¡°I do my Lady." Tom felt more like he was at a wedding and he was the fucking bride. Nunuk¡¯s breathing was heavy and she was clearly in pain even from speaking. Better to just get this over with.


    ¡°Very well, I will have you recite the oath of the huntress then.¡± Nunuk stood the effort clearly painful as she winced. Why couldn¡¯t she just have stayed in bed? As she began, placing her hand on her chest. Tom doing the same echoing back the sentences one by one.


    ¡°Repeat after me.


    I solemnly swear, to show the good virtue of this keep and the name of Bizmati.


    I shall provide for my keep and hunt far and wide for it and those who call it home.


    I shall take to the wing by the will of my Lord or Lady and always hunt the prey that they require of me.


    I shall not seek to keep my spoils from those who I have sworn to serve. For such would be my undoing.¡±


    They really hadn''t been that creative with these, Tom thought. That was pretty much the same one as last time. Still, he was apparently now sworn to defend the keep and go to war for it if he understood this correctly. If an enemy could be classified as prey at least. Also keeping the spoils of his work was apparently his undoing. Were they communists or something?


    Following the swearing of the oath, there had been a short celebration, mostly just people congratulating Tom. He guessed this would normally be a big day for someone. Looking at the other huntresses he did feel like he had cheated or something. But they were the ones who had asked him so not much to do about it. Besides they were all clearly finding it hilarious so he could play along.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right then, that had neatly solved the problem of bringing Tom on a hunt. Even if Sapphire could see Fengi was putting a false smile on for the inauguration. Maybe she was just tired though, the last few days had been multiple trips a day after all.


    She had worked for years to become good enough to get her crown. Tom just had it handed to him. Tom was a lot older than Fengi though and Sapphire herself had been accepted after just a short year as a trainee. It wasn¡¯t like Sapphire didn¡¯t feel Tom deserved it and he was certainly deadly enough to warrant it, but still, it did take the air out of the celebrations, that this wasn¡¯t really a big day like it usually was.


    Luckily Tom didn''t seem to mind they weren''t holding a feast in his honor like they usually did. In fact, he looked like he was ready to be done with it the moment he walked out into the hall. He had protested loudly at the fact they had decked him out in as much jewelry as they could get their hands on. It was a shame his ears weren¡¯t really made for earrings.


    They were so soft and floppy, and he couldn¡¯t move them more than a little wiggle. He had protested loudly at the notion of poking holes in them too, so maybe they were very sensitive. The hair had been a challenge, he had a combe to straighten it all out from the usual mess. He clearly considered this sufficient and they had no clue what you could do with hair like this. Fengi sort of fixed the problem with some string making two long strands which looked a bit like floppy horns if you squinted very hard. Esmeralda had a bit of fine silver chain they tied into the hair. It looked weird but it would have to do.


    In Sapphire¡¯s opinion, it was still the best Tom had ever looked. The armbands and necklace were a fine addition and rings hadn¡¯t been a problem. His crown wasn¡¯t bad either, Shiva having hastily modified one to fit his head. He was starting out as a copper obviously which technically made Sapphire his superior. She would make sure to rub his face in that one at some point.


    Following the swearing-in and short celebrations, she had gone up to Dakota to discuss just how uncomfortable Tom clearly was at the whole situation and suggested a plan. A fiendish smile was all the reply she needed from Dakota. This should be fun.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Dakota had gotten up onto a chair to get everyone''s attention.


    ¡°Seeing as we have a new huntress or perhaps I should say hunter among us, I would like to know just what I have been given to work with. We shall depart immediately. Sapphire, you ride with our newest addition. We make for the plains¡±


    It had taken a second for Tom to realize just what that meant as he looked down at all the jewelry he was carrying and shook his head despairingly.


    Tom had gotten his weapons including the fourth gun he had been talking about. Following the discovery he had brought another one, there had been rumors running rampant in the keep. Mostly people discussing if they could manage to get it off him somehow and what their plan for doing so was.


    Sapphire for her part was playing on it being her to receive the privilege, she did think of herself as Tom¡¯s closest friend with exception of Kiran of course. It looked different from his rifle, it was just as long if not a bit longer. Looking at the end of what he called the barrel for whatever reason. It had a much larger hole, was this even more powerful than his rifle? If so why hadn¡¯t he used it and what would happen if he fired it. She had heard Jackalope and Esmeralda¡¯s tales of how his revolver had felt like they were kicked in the hand.


    Jackalope had of course not been ready for it resulting in the face smack. It would make sense if a more powerful gun kicked harder. So what would this do then? On second thought, perhaps Jackalope could be allowed to test fire it first just to be sure.


    They had mounted up, on the quad bike, Sapphire sitting behind him. He had insisted on bringing the trailer and a few other items, she guessed he was planning on doing a lot of hunting today. Perhaps to make a good first impression.


    They had traveled fast by ground standards, but the others still had to wait for them a bit every now and again. Jackalope had come along too despite not being able to fire her bow. She was not going to miss Tom¡¯s first hunt, she made that clear.


    On the way, Sapphire had finally given in to her curiosity.


    ¡°Tom, what is this other gun you brought? It looks a lot different¡± Tom had slowed down a bit so they could talk more easily.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shotgun, It fires many little round balls in at once. Great for birds and small things¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s not just a bigger one, also why does it have two barrels? The other ones only have one.¡±


    ¡°No, the rifle is actually more deadly at least at range. A shotgun is only really effective to maybe 30 meters, but that is pushing it. As for two barrels it has two shots. Then you have to reload yourself.¡±


    ¡°I see so it¡¯s like for some who can¡¯t hit anything?¡±


    ¡°More like things which are hard to hit but sure, whichever way you look at it.¡±


    ¡°But why not make it like your rifle so it has many shots?¡±


    ¡°Well back home you are only allowed to have two shots, remember hunting is a hobby mostly¡±


    ¡°So you deliberately made your weapons worse to make the hunt more challenging?"


    ¡°Yep."


    ¡°You''re crazy, but why would you bring a weapon here which isn¡¯t as good as you can make it?¡±


    ¡°It was the one I had. Besides, there are a lot of weapons out there that are better than mine. I''m just not allowed to have them. They are for the army only.¡±


    ¡°Wait, your weapons aren''t used by the army? What do they have then and you said you were in the army¡±


    ¡°I was army once. Not anymore.¡± Tom appeared to think over his response for a bit before answering


    ¡°They use rifles which fire faster. You have seen when I shoot I have to load the next round, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah you move the lever thing back and forth and it spits out the metal cylinder¡±


    ¡°Army guns do that themselves, they fire as long as you hold down the trigger. Bang, bang bang. A machine gun can fire hundreds of rounds in seconds before reloading. Assault rifle usually 30¡±


    ¡°I see." She had just replied. She needed a bit of quiet time for that one again. He had talked about weapons that could destroy cities, so of course, they had this kind of thing. It had just been so abstract. A weapon that fired itself with the power of Tom¡¯s rifle. She could understand why they felt the need to hide if that was a normal weapon to them. The amount of death that could cause.


    Jackalope had come down alongside, perhaps wondering why they had slowed down.


    ¡°Has it gotten tired or something?¡± Tom responded by speeding back up again. It wasn''t much further to the tree line. As they crested a ridge they could see a herd of large red deer in the far off distance not far from the edge of the forest. They didn¡¯t hunt red deer that often as it was a lot of work to get them home. sometimes they would herd them back home to make the trip shorter.


    Tom had warned them that his quad bike used fuel which he could not yet replace even if he had brought quite a bit of it. He had still wanted to go near the woods though for some reason so this seemed like as good of a target as any. Tom pulled to a stop getting out the binoculars seemingly agreeing with her.


    The others had come down seeing as they had stopped. Dakota walking up to them arms crossed


    ¡°So then Tom, I¡¯m guessing you have found a target, how do you wanna do this?¡± Dakota had questioned


    ¡°Aren''t you the leader?¡± Tom replied, seeming a bit confused.


    ¡°This is your first hunt as a true huntress, you are in charge today.¡± Sapphire knew that was a blatant lie, but hey, it was a good excuse. Fengi had raised her hand for a moment as if to ask a question before Esmeralda lowered it back down. Tom didn¡¯t seem to notice though.


    ¡°Well back home I need to sneak up on them on foot. I have not tested my rifle beyond 250 meters so that is max. I would like to get closer though.


    ¡°You want to slowly walk up to them and hope they don¡¯t run away?¡±


    ¡°Not much else to do, can''t outrun them and can''t fly¡± Tom gestured to Dakota. "I have a gun and some grass to hide in¡± Tom looked down at some of the jewelry and walked about a bit, he nearly rattled as he walked. All except Dakota had a bit of a snicker.


    ¡°Okay then, anything you want us to do, except watch?¡± Dakota asked, still sounding serious. Sapphire admired her for keeping a straight face, she was certainly struggling. He was so keen on hiding for his first hunt and they had covered him in polished metal.


    Tom seemed to have a brain wave at that though, his face lighting up as he thought for a second.


    ¡°Can you herd them?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Okay then, there he was in the middle of a grassy meadow a bunch of red deer a little over a kilometer away, apparently not bothered by the fact they were here. Also, he was now in charge of this hunt for some reason. His first idea had been sneaking up on the herd and picking one off at long range. The deer here likely had never been hunted from the ground, at least at this kind of range and never with a rifle. So he was confident it should be an easy hunt. All the bling might be a bit of a problem though.


    That idea clearly hadn¡¯t gotten much traction though. Damn these expectations. That is when Tom had realized he was not alone here now was he. He was in charge, so he had a squad of airborne and mostly combat-able dragonettes at his disposal.


    He began explaining the concept of ambush hunting. They clearly knew how to herd a flock of animals, they claimed to use it to keep them in the open and sometimes herd them closer to home. The whole lying and waiting thing was not something they had tried though. It took some convincing, but they had put him in charge after all so ambush it was.


    He and Sapphire would lie in wait. Sapphire with the new bow and him with his rifle. While the others would herd the deer towards them picking up any targets of opportunity. It was a large herd, they could take quite a few animals without hurting it too badly and they needed a large haul after all. So might as well go for broke.


    Dakota had decided to stand off to watch from the sky not feeling up for joining in the herding yet and she was curious just how this would work. Jackalope, Fengi, and Esmeralda would be doing the herding then. Jackalope might be down a hand but there was nothing wrong with her wings.


    The group had retreated to behind the hilltop and the dragonettes took to the sky climbing away from the herd so as not to spook them. They then circled high around the herd coming at them from the forest, just cresting the treetops. Tom was crouching on the top of the ridge with his binoculars. Keeping an eye on the herd.


    The sight of the huntresses descending down, shouting and roaring had the desired effect. As one, the herd turned to run away from the threat. Tom was gonna have to trust the huntresses to keep them together and going in the right direction as he ran back down to Sapphire. It wasn¡¯t like he could do anything except wait after all.


    They both crouched down sitting at the ready, Sapphire having an arrow nocked. The wait was excruciating. It had been a while since Tom had been hunting, he liked hunting. This was fairly different from the quiet stalking procedure he was used to though. It was a bit like having dogs and handlers pushing through a section of forest driving animals towards them. Except this was a big herd of stampeding red deer.


    As he held his breath he could hear the dragonettes making as much noise as possible just like he had told them to. The herd came up over the top about at the same time as he got a Lion King flashback. Perhaps this hadn¡¯t been the best idea. He got to his feet taking aim at the lead animal. Back home this would be considered reckless or perhaps downright idiotic. Not to mention poor sportsmanship, but this was a matter of food not sport. He just hoped that they would veer off and not just plow right through them.


    Sapphire fired first letting an arrow fly hitting the lead animal in the throat dropping it rolling to the ground. Tom followed up with a shot to another one square in the chest. The large deer panicked splitting up to either side of them, some stopping to go back over the ridge. The results were perfect flanking shots galore. He did beat her to the follow-up shot putting down another deer with a fine shot to the shoulder blade. It had stopped for a moment turning to go back the way it came.


    Sapphire landed a shot on a large buck. The shot was perfect once again right in the neck. Tom was beginning to suspect she was some sort of magician with a bow. She had only had the thing for a few days after all. For his part, he bodged the third shot, as the deer began coming around the two of them. Blowing off a leg with a low shot. They were splitting up nicely and they each turned to go back to back. He heard Sapphire loose another arrow behind him as he was forced to put another one into the one he wounded. He didn¡¯t want it getting away missing a leg after all that would just be too cruel.


    As the herd opened the distance on them he loved his rifle. That was 6 deer by his count, they needed time to process the meat after all. No use killing more than they needed not to mention what they could carry. He turned to Sapphire as she loosed another arrow hitting a bounding deer in the back of the head. He swore he could see the arrow turn before it hit the target. That was an insane shot the deer bounding from side to side at more than 50 meters. With a damn bow!


    ¡°There, I win¡±

 Don鈥檛 Tell Lorax

    Chapter 46: Don¡¯t Tell Lorax


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well following Sapphire''s crushing victory in the competition she hadn¡¯t informed Tom they were having. They had gone about picking up their kills. That is to say, she had reminded Tom her leg should still be treated with care while he fetched the quad bike and waited for the others to help him out.


    The remaining huntresses had come down as the herd ran off towards the forest, split and confused. They had everything they needed for today after all so no need to give chase. They had helped Tom load up the catch onto the quad and trailer. It was a lot of meat with two deer on the bike itself and the remaining stacked up on the trailer. Tom muttered something about cleaning as the blood ran down the machine.


    This had been one of the quickest hunts Sapphire could remember. Sure, stumbling on a herd out in the open was lucky but it happened from time to time. The red deer weren''t really that afraid of them after all, they were used to being left alone most of the time.


    They had gotten good at driving the smaller deer out of the woods over the years so she could see this tactic working with them as well. The problem was transport, Sapphire didn¡¯t know how many trips Tom had fuel for. Nor if that was all this quad bike thing needed to keep working.


    Sapphire had been very pleased with her performance. Firing from the air was a lot more tricky than standing on the ground and today had felt more like target practice than an actual hunt. Tom though had still managed to miss a shot as he had needed to put two shots into the same target. It felt good to be back out here and actually be beating Tom at something.


    Dakota had been pleased too. This was the largest amount of meat they had ever downed in such a short amount of time and they would be able to bring it all home with them. Even if there would be a lot of work preparing the meat for storage and such, it was still looking to be a very good day.


    Sapphire could see the glint in her leader''s eyes though, Sapphire guessed she took a little pride in Tom being outdone for once. Dakota was the one who had trained her after all. Even if she had since outgrown her teacher, Dakota still took pride in how well Sapphire had turned out. It was good to see a smile back on her face which Sapphire thought was genuine at last.


    As the wagon Tom insisted on calling a trailer for some reason, was loaded, it became clear he wasn¡¯t done for the day. He claimed he was going back with all the meat and would then be returning for wood. Sapphire couldn¡¯t see anything wrong with that they needed to restock firewood which needed to dry before winter so why not. Some planking and the like wouldn¡¯t be bad either, it might even warm up Kulinger to Tom¡¯s rather unorthodox ways of going about things.


    They had been expecting to be hunting the woods for hours if not the entire day so there was plenty of time left in the day after all. Sapphire had mounted up with Tom again as they set off back home going a little more slowly this time. The catch had been secured with some rope but still, it wouldn¡¯t do to drop something.


    Their reception had been one of surprised faces, Rachuck in particular, had come down to see if something was wrong since they were returning so soon. He had been delighted at the news the food problems were solved at least for a while.


    It had taken a lot of hands to unload the catch and they all went about preparing the carcasses to be hung up. They would need to hang for a while to age before skinning and butchering could begin.


    Tom had tried to clean up his bike with some buckets of water and wet rags, trying to get most of the blood off, it had mostly worked though there was still clearly some work to be done. Sapphire volunteered to go back out again on the little wood cutting expedition and so they saddled up again.


    Raulf, Kulinger, and Wiperna would be coming along to help Tom out. They had brought out the axes and saws which they had loaded onto the quad bike. Sapphire had kinda expected to see Tom bring out some kind of supersaw or maybe a thing that could take down a tree by looking at it. Saws would do though. Normally woodcutting was tedious in the extreme from all the flying back and forth with the heavy packs. They would be spared that at least.


    She might even get around much of the manual labor if she played her cards right. A nice relaxing day out and about, that didn¡¯t sound too bad to her. The trip to the woods had gone without a hitch, the craftspeople not being anywhere near as used to fast-flying long distances at speed meant Tom had a much easier time keeping up.


    Once they made it to the woods Tom had asked Kulinger to pick a tree he wanted. It had taken a while but in the end, he had found a fine-looking cedar. It was a fine straight tree. Sapphire sighed a bit internally at how much work it would be to cut it up. She might need to look out for her leg but she would have a hard time getting out of saw duty.


    Tom had just nodded ¡°A fine tree, let¡¯s bring it down¡±. Raulf and Wiperna were already getting out the big two-person saw.


    ¡°Think, we need to have a little race. Kulinger, pick another one. First team to have their three cut up and ready to go on trailer wins.¡±


    Great, she guessed they were gonna have to try and keep up with the dude who fought Rachuck to exhaustion and then proceeded to do the same to Kokashi. ¡°You against me¡± Wait, did he plan on doing it himself, against all four of them? If so, they might just stand a chance.


    Tom got out one of the smaller saws they had brought for trimming the branches. He couldn¡¯t be serious. She had thought he would time them or something with the fancy watch he was always wearing.


    ¡°Ready¡±


    He was apparently serious then. They got ready, Raulf and Kullinger brought up the saw waiting for the signal. She would go with Wiperna when they were halfway.


    Tom raised his hand and went ¡°Go!¡± dropping it. Then he calmly went over to watch them work dropping the saw with them. Was he really that confident? Oh, she would make him pay for that. She had never been much of a lumberjack, but everyone helped out where they were needed around here. So she was no stranger to using a saw.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Payback time, if you were gonna race do it properly. Tom believed Sapphire needed a little humbling not to mention this Kullinger guy needed to be introduced to the finer points of a proper saw. The thing they had brought reminded him more of something out of an advert for some rugged Canadian lumberjack.


    They had set off at a decent pace, Sapphire seemed rather confident in the beginning, but as he just stood there watching she got more and more confused at why he wasn¡¯t doing anything. When they had made their wedge and were about halfway through they switched, Sapphire and Kulinger taking over. Tom though just kept admiring the work being done.


    The woodworker just shook his head at Tom not saying a word. Raulf though had something on his mind for him.


    ¡°Well, are you just gonna stand there and admit defeat? Or are you waiting to get the saw?¡±


    ¡°No I have a saw, I better get going you are doing very well¡±


    Sapphire didn¡¯t even look up, she was trying her best to keep up with Wiperna. She was a bit used to this kind of work after all. Not to mention Sapphire might not be in the best shape at the moment, not having done much hard work the last few weeks. He just hoped she wouldn¡¯t hurt herself trying to keep up. He walked over to the trailer and got out the chainsaw.


    A look of understanding washed over Raulfs face Kulinger just held out his arms accusingly. They likely had a good idea now why Tom was so confident now.


    Tom walked over to his tree and got on the goggles. He couldn¡¯t really wear his gloves on account of all the rings he had been forced to wear at the moment. He did bring up the faceplate though. He gestured to the two paying attention to hold their ears and they did so immediately.


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    Then he ripped the cord a few times, the saw coming to life with the satisfying *ring ding ding* of a good two-stroke. Sapphire and Wiperna recoiled at the noise, getting their saw stuck in the tree. Sapphire looked over, only now realizing what Tom had fetched. Tom could swear she almost looked horrified as she turned back to her work urging Wiperna to go faster now. Damn, she was competitive, but okay then Tom would give her a race.


    He just chuckled a bit, getting to work cutting a wedge in the tree. He was no stranger to forest work, he had lived in the country much of his life. He owned a small patch of forest after all. It didn''t even take a minute to bring down the tree. The dragonettes did beat him to the felling, but the race was to ready pieces not just dropping the tree.


    All four Dragonettes set to work getting rid of the branches using the small saws and axes they had brought. Tom just went for a leisurely stroll up and down the tree debranching it with ease. All except Sapphire regularly looked up to see how he was getting on. She just kept her head down and worked.


    Even with four people they had only just finished with the branches when Tom shut down the chainsaw having cut the trunk into trailer-sized lengths.


    ¡°Need a hand?¡± He went walking over. He knew he was being a bit of an arsehole but hey it was a race after all.


    Sapphire looked utterly defeated, dropping the axe she had been holding. She was panting like crazy as she pointed to him with a weak arm.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair¡±


    ¡°Neither is racing me when I don''t know it¡± Tom replied with a smile. ¡°You look rather tired?¡±


    Sapphire didn¡¯t look impressed with him as she bent down, hands on her thighs exhausted. The other dragonettes didn¡¯t look nearly as winded, so Tom guessed Sapphire hadn¡¯t quite gotten the team commitment she wanted. There was a clear interest in the chain saw though, so Tom brought it up to show.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh come now, she hadn¡¯t cheated on the hunt. At least not badly. This though was just plain unfair. There was no fucking way they could have kept up with that thing. And the noise, the thing screamed like a wounded animal that just wouldn¡¯t die.


    Tom had shown them the saw and even given them an introduction to how it worked. It apparently used a metal chain driven in the same sort of way as his quad bike just much smaller. After telling them how to use it safely he had even let them use it to cut their own log into pieces. Sapphire was just happy Jackalope hadn¡¯t come along that would likely have ended poorly.


    Using it had felt awesome though, it just ate the wood like it was nothing. The noise, the smoke, the smell. She felt ready to charge screaming at the enemy with swinging like a maniac after just a few seconds. She loved this thing! Tom had seemed a little worried as she stood there laughing with a maniacal expression. As she got back to her senses, she quickly calmed down handing the saw back to him apologizing. She had almost turned into Jackalope for a second there. Wiperna had reacted in a similar way, though without the maniacal laughter likely conscious of it after Sapphire''s little outburst. Raulf made a comment about what this would cost to buy and Kullinger had nearly not wanted to give it back. Tom had taken it all in stride, after getting the saw back from Kullinger at least.


    She did feel a little embarrassed by the outburst. It was just so awesome though. The fact this wasn¡¯t even confirmed this wasn¡¯t even a weapon amazed her. Sure the same could be said for a woodaxe or a big hammer, but still, she wondered what would happen if you got into a sword fight with the thing. As she stood there daydreaming about cutting an enemy to pieces. The others began loading up the trailer. This was work she could be reasonably excused from so she went to sit down on the quad bike. Watching and listening to the forest, there was complete silence now, it did make her a little sad.


    She did like the sound of the forest, all the little signs of life. The silence was eerie, it did give the forest a serene nature to it though like she was looking at a painting. Or perhaps a picture like the ones Tom took. She leaned back on the comfortable seat putting her arms behind her looking into the tree crowns to see if she could spot any birds. Even though they had likely all been scared off by the noise. She had been inside for way too long, despite the lack of life this was so much better.


    There was a flash of light which surprised Sapphire enough it made her jolt, her hand slipping behind her as she fell over backwards off the quad bike. As she laid there she could just hear Tom laughing and a few of the others snickering a bit. She slowly raised her head back over the seat to look at them. By now they had all turned their attention to her, Wiperna and Raulf laughing, Kullinger was just shaking his head. There was another flash from the thing Tom was holding.


    ¡°The fearsome huntress in her natural habitat. Avoiding work.¡± He went with a wide grin on his face.


    Sapphire just lowered her head back down again and sat back against the quad bike. Ha, ha very funny. She was rather glad he couldn¡¯t print those images out. Even if it had been a bit sad he couldn¡¯t give Esmeralda a picture of Anastasi. She bet she had looked like an idiot.


    Tom had let her sit for a bit before coming around.


    ¡°Oh come now the first one was good¡±


    He showed her the little box he was holding, it looked different to the camera he had shown her. The screen as he called it was bigger though it was smaller. The picture though was beautiful. She had seen herself in a mirror many times but never like this before. Tom handed her the little thing for her to admire, she looked damn good.


    Lean and mean just like she was supposed to. Mouth slightly agape, teeth straight and sharp. Even if she had lent Tom a bit of her jewelry she was still nicely kitted out. A beam of sunlight coming down through the treetops behind her making her horns shine like metal. The necklace she had won back in the capitol polished, the gems almost glowing with the reflecting light. Her shining white chestplate had a few spots of dirt on it from the earlier labor, she didn¡¯t mind though. This was what a huntress should look like.


    ¡°I take it you like it then¡± Tom was clearly a bit too cocky for his own good at the moment.


    ¡°Well, it suits me a lot better than you. That¡¯s for sure¡±


    ¡°Hey you put it one me¡±


    ¡°True, but you had to look somewhat presentable. Perhaps it¡¯s you we should be taking pictures of, to make sure you never forget just how good you can look when you have to.¡± She jested getting to her feet, coming up to eye level with him ¡°But when it comes to looks though I certainly got you beat for best girl¡±


    Tom seemed to take it in good spirit ¡°I¡¯m fabulous and you know it¡±


    He flicked his hair turning to go back to help the others with the last of the logs. She did feel slightly cheated, she couldn¡¯t do that. She only had the little tufts of blue-dyed fur used to decorate part of her crown. Still, he lacked horns and his teeth were a joke. She had seen longer canines on newborns. Not to mention he looked like he got hit in the face with a frying pan when he was little.


    It did make him strangely adorable though, he looked so innocent and harmless. Nothing could be further from the truth she knew that. Still, it was rather funny.


    As the other got to work loading up the trailer she had another look around, she heard a bit of bird song returning here and there. In fact, there was starting to be quite a lot. She could see birds start to fly in amongst the canopy of the heavenoak. That was rather strange, they certainly were not hiding down here and they were still making a fair amount of noise.


    She began scanning around to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary. Lowering her gaze to ground level. This was not entirely normal. She swore she spotted something move between the far-out trees.


    ¡°We aren''t alone¡± She called out to the others.


    Tom dropped the log he had been carrying Kullinger was a bit slow to notice causing him to fall over with it swearing. Tom jogged over to Sapphire, looking worried


    ¡°Good or bad?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know yet, there was something moving between the trees over there¡± she pointed to where the movement had been, all eyes turning to look.


    ¡°You have sharper eyes than most, huntress¡± Sapphire looked to the others who were all still looking to where she had pointed. She knew telepathy when she heard it, even if she hadn¡¯t actually tried this before.


    ¡°Uhmm, Hi¡± She tried thinking ¡°Can you hear me too?¡±


    ¡°Clearly enough, would you mind explaining what that god awful noise was?¡±


    ¡°Ohh, right, that was my friend in all the jewelry and green¡­ and black¡­¡±


    ¡°He made that noise? But he is still standing. What is he and why is he black? I wouldn''t take Lady Nunuk for one to align with creatures of the dark?¡±


    ¡°No no, it was an item of his that made the noise, and he is perfectly pure of soul. He has proven so multiple times already. He has killed many creatures of the dark in fact¡±


    ¡°I see, so he is dangerous too?¡± Oh shit, not good, not good. The others had looked to her, seeming curious at her worried expression. This was damn tricky to do. She heard a bit of a giggle in her head, damn mind games.


    ¡°Well so are we, after all, I¡¯m Sapphire silvered Huntress of Bizmati-keep. May I ask who I am talking to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Kalestine, your leaders haven''t told you who allowed you to hunt my woods?¡± Oh shit indeed.


    ¡° I must say it¡¯s an honor to be speaking with an equneora¡±


    Tom waved his hand in front of Sapphire, she just brushed him aside holding up a finger to her mouth signaling him to be quiet.


    ¡°Your friends seem to be getting a bit anxious.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t done this before, no Tom I¡¯m not stuck¡± wait did she speak or think that part?


    ¡°I see, would you please make sure this dangerous creature doesn''t try and kill me on sight?¡±


    ¡°Oh certainly, he would never. We have him care for the kids back home.¡± That had worked well with Vulzan who knew, it might do the trick again.


    By now all attention had been turned to Sapphire as they tried to figure out what was wrong with her.


    Out from behind a tree not even 10 meters away walked the most stunning white equneora. Sapphire had never seen anything other than drawings of one before. It was beautiful, she could even see how the flowers grew and bloomed where it trod. ''Just like the stories'' she thought.


    ¡°Now everyone, be very calm, we are perfectly safe, just don¡¯t draw your weapons okay? And please Tom be very respectful.¡± She did her best to be reassuring despite the fact she could feel her heart pounding. ¡°Now turn around slowly.¡±


    The equneora just stood there patiently as they all turned to look. Kullinger fell to his knees Wiperna and Raulf just bowed deeply. Tom stood there dumbstruck and just held up his hand pointing.


    ¡°Unicorn¡± Not the best start, Sapphire thought, as she winced. At least he hadn¡¯t been scared of it that was good.

 Otherworldly Encounter

    Chapter 47: Otherworldly Encounter


    That was an honest to god unicorn just standing there looking at them. Sapphire had seemed rather strange for the last few minutes. Had she just seen it and froze? The others had bowed to the creature, Kullinger downright falling to his knees. Tom guessed this was something very special to them then. He could see that being true. He bowed down himself before the magical creature.


    ¡°So you are the ones who disturbed my woods?¡± Tom looked to the others who looked to him in turn with worried expressions on their faces. He guessed they all heard that then... Shit. Mind games it was then.


    He elected to speak so the dragonettes could hear him and stop him if he did something too stupid.


    ¡°Sorry, didn''t know making much noise was bad. Didn¡¯t know you existed, to be honest¡± Tom tried looking at the ground to seem innocent.


    ¡°Are you aware of how many creatures thought something truly terrible was happening here? That thing you used, they had never heard anything like it! I almost thought a dragon had crashed here or maybe even something worse.¡± The voice sounded somewhere between worried and annoyed to Tom¡¯s¡­ brain he guessed?


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s a chainsaw. I won¡¯t start it now, but here it is¡± he walked over picking up the saw from the trailer presenting it to the unicorn. it walked closer inspecting the saw.


    ¡°What is that smell, it¡¯s horrid¡±


    ¡°Oil and burning I think, it¡¯s a little hot right now¡± Tom just hoped the next question wasn¡¯t what it had been burning.


    ¡°Ew¡± It went, backing off ¡°please put it away¡± Tom did as instructed, putting the saw into its box closing and latching it. The unicorn was clearly looking him over while he did so.


    ¡°Yes you fit the description the deer gave¡± It sounded thoughtful to Tom ¡°I¡¯m guessing it was you and Sapphire here that scared the deer so half to death earlier then?¡±


    Sapphire spoke up to ¡°Yes we wanted to see how Tom would hunt he is new here. I do apologize if we scared the animals too much¡±


    ¡°No it''s fine, that is the deal after all. You keep the woods clear of tainted beast and worse. In return, you are allowed to hunt here. Within reason.¡± There was a bit of pressure on the last sentence. It gave him a little headache in fact.


    ¡°We have been unable to hunt for a while now. We needed to get back ahead of schedule, so we thought bringing Tom along was a good idea¡± Sapphire replied.


    ¡°Hmpf. Well, I guess you have been going a little lighter than usual as of late. What would be preventing you from going though? I have heard no tales of the stupid wars you so enjoy¡±


    ¡°Two darkling attacks, Tom arriving, and a trader coming by¡±


    ¡°Darklings in my forest? Why was this allowed to happen!?¡± The pressure was increasing in Tom''s head, it was getting rather painful by now.


    ¡°They followed the trader here. He was carrying some sort of dark artifact without knowing it. They attacked him on the way, we intercepted. Then they attacked our keep a few days later.¡± Tom could tell Sapphire was also under the effect of the headache as she winced back squinting her eyes.


    ¡°Why were they allowed to come here? That is your job!¡±


    Sapphire had been extremely soft-spoken till now, she clearly held a great deal of respect for the unicorn, but this was unreasonable, they had done everything they could. So he elected to join in.


    ¡°They were assaulted by a force from far away. They fought them off at night, in a storm. The enemy got reinforcements including a black knight, which I''m told is rather nasty. The enemy took hostages and still they fought them and they won. This time not allowing any to escape or even live. They have done well.¡±


    The unicorn turned its gaze back to Tom, it was rather hard determining the emotions of a horse''s face. There wasn¡¯t much there, to be honest, he just hoped that hadn¡¯t been another mistake.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know you, stranger. Why should I value your opinion? I don¡¯t even know whether you should be allowed in my woods yet.¡± It didn¡¯t seem angry, even it felt like it clearly found itself as the superior being here.


    ¡°For the record, I was sent here not told anything. Secondly, if you want your forest clear of nasties, I killed quite a few. Thirdly they killed a child I was supposed to care for!¡± Tom was almost shouting in the end. ¡°So I can assure you, I will kill any I find¡±


    The unicorn took a small step back. Then appeared to look at him closely, he felt kind of like a tingling sensation for a moment.


    ¡°You may not be lying, but DO NOT! use that tone with me.¡± Okay, that hurt a lot. Jesus what a migraine.


    ¡°Okay, can do that¡± Tom rubbed his temples a bit after that one.


    ¡°I guess you can¡¯t keep them from setting foot on the island after all. You are certain no one got away?¡±


    ¡°Those who did we are confident returned for the second battle. To our knowledge, we wiped them all out there.¡± Sapphire joined in, thanks, girl. ¡°The presence of a dragon of the royal guard has also been requested in case this was not the last of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you will have to spend even more valuable lives to feed that hungry beast?¡±


    ¡°Most likely yes¡± Sapphire admitted bowing her head.


    ¡°Uhg, fine, the deal is clear after all. As for that noise... Judging by the trees it had to do with cutting them down, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is correct, it¡¯s a saw¡± Tom answered


    ¡°Dammit... well then, I don''t believe I¡¯m allowed to tell you to not use it. It doesn''t look like it did anything other than scaring the animals and ruin two perfectly good trees. Yet more voices to ignore I guess¡­ just marvelous¡± The unicorn was sounding more like an annoyed telemarketer by now, Tom thought.


    ¡°Carry on if you must then. I guess I owe you for killing a dark knight after all. That could have been bad. Who killed it?¡± All faces turned to Tom who stood there slightly uncomfortably.


    ¡°Esmeralda did, to be honest, I just put him down¡±


    ¡°So what you landed a lucky blow to him? I don''t smell an ounce of magic in you. Even if you cover your shoulders in something once so precious¡± Oh right, butterfly cloak, note to self might be offensive to hippies. Before he could answer Sapphire interrupted


    ¡°Tom is a formidable warrior despite him not utilizing magic. Trust me when I say, he may very well be the most dangerous thing I''ve ever seen fight¡±


    ¡°Hmpf, then you know little huntress, but as long as it¡¯s dead I¡¯m happy. He claims to have killed quite a few during, I¡¯m guessing he is referring to the battle?


    ¡°Tom alone scored 15 kills during the two battles.¡±


    Kalestine turned her head between Tom and Sapphire a few times eye narrowing. Tom getting the same tingling sensation as before.


    ¡°Why aren''t you lying, surely you must be lying?¡±


    ¡°14, one might have survived the first battle. I think there was around 30 total right?¡±


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    ¡°30 yes led by a dark knight and please you blew out its guts at altitude it didn¡¯t survive that¡±


    Tom didn''t know horses or well, unicorns could shiver. He did now though, it almost did a little dance in place.


    ¡°My apologies, ugh the thought of that much taint in one place. Blessing be upon my forest¡­¡± It even did a little neigh, it was almost adorable ¡°But you are no creature of magic? You can¡¯t have killed that many, what are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m human and sorry to disappoint, You can tell if I''m lying right?¡± Tom didn¡¯t let it answer, he just stated the truth as far as he knew it ¡°I killed 14 darklings and a dark knight. Am I lying?¡± The tingling sensation returned, it was a rather strange sensation.


    ¡°You aren''t... I guess you are as dangerous as she claims then. You may traverse my forests, as long as you stick to the deal I struck with the dragonettes¡±


    ¡°Pardon my ignorance, but what deal?¡±


    ¡°I told you already, keep the forest clean and you may hunt here.¡±


    ¡°Right Thank you, sorry if I¡¯m being rude but you have a name?¡± Tom asked


    ¡°Kalestine¡± The unicorn had turned away and wandered off. It turned, going behind a tree trunk, and did not come out the other side.


    ¡°Huh, neat¡± he didn¡¯t really know what else to say, to be honest, was that a teleport? I must be, at least sort of. Then he heard the voice again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what a hippie or a telemarketer is and I¡¯m not going to ask, but call me something like that and I shall make you regret it.¡± Oh¡­ whoops.


    Sapphire seemed to almost deflate once Kalestine was gone.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that was amazing or terrifying. By the gods¡± She let out a long sigh as she sat back down.


    ¡°Guess you have unicorns too¡±


    ¡°Unicorn?... oh right. Well, yes. They watch and guard the forest, they can¡¯t be everywhere and they don¡¯t like killing, so they leave that part up to us.¡±


    ¡°Did you just shout at an equneora? Are you insane or something!¡± Kulinger shouted at him, clearly very upset. ¡°They have killed people for less!¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t being fair, don¡¯t seem that grateful either,¡± Tom thought most of all, it had sounded like a hippy annoyed at the fact the world didn¡¯t agree with them on how it should work. It had appeared to see reason in the end though. So hopefully it wouldn¡¯t be causing any problems in the future. The apparent murderous tendencies were a bit alarming though.


    ¡°Crazy then, that¡¯s just brilliant, he¡¯s crazy of course he is. The guy who runs around blowing things up and cutting up trees like they are twigs is utterly insane.¡± Kullinger went, turning away making large hand gestures. So much for getting that guy on side then.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him¡± Sapphire tried, sounding dismissive. ¡°He takes the whole beings of the forest rather seriously¡± Right then the woodworker was fond of wood things, made sense.


    ¡°Well, that was quite something.¡± Wiperna went hitting Raulf hard on the back ¡°And you said we would never see one again.¡±


    ¡°Not sure if this was how I envisioned it, but no arguing we saw one,¡± Raulf replied, seeming a little star-struck.


    ¡°Should have taken a picture¡± Tom added. He had even brought his phone along for it. Still, he had gotten two good ones of Sapphire, he really should start taking more in fact.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    So that had been a wild ride on the emotional spectrum. She had met a unicorn for the first time and it had not been pleased with her. Even if it was sort of grateful for the forces they had driven off. She had been told stories about their kind since she was a little girl. Noble creatures, the purest of the pure, but utterly unforgiving.


    Somehow she was a bit disappointed, even if she should probably be relieved. They had done everything they could. It wasn¡¯t like they had been slacking, in fact, they might have done more for the forest this spring than they sometimes did in a full year. Perhaps Tom was right, it hadn¡¯t been fair. Still, the others were gonna be so jealous they had met a unicorn and lived to tell the tale.


    The others had finished loading up the logs, everyone needing a minute to catch a breather following what had just happened. It was curious that Tom knew what these were as well much like with the dragons, she guessed it was the same reason too. Even if she couldn¡¯t figure out how they had gotten this close with their stories.


    They had waited for a bit watching the forest, almost hoping Kalestine would return, though of course, nothing happened. Had she done so it most likely wouldn''t have been for a pleasant reason anyway.


    They mounted up on the quad bike setting off back home, Sapphire looked back a few times, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of the forest guarding, but to no avail. They rode back over the plains going slower again due to the heavy trailer. She started wondering if he would let her try to drive for once, it was rather boring sitting back here when they were just bumbling along.


    She had spent quite some time on his quad bike by now and she had studied how it seemed to work. It was clear the handle he was holding onto was for steering. His right thumb used a little lever which made it go faster. There was a stick for forward, back and a third thing she didn¡¯t know. The levers on the back of the handle were for slowing down. All in all, It didn¡¯t seem too difficult.


    ¡°Tom, may I try?¡± She had asked as they were making their way, over a flat section of meadow. He seemed to ponder it for a moment. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll be careful¡±


    ¡°Sure why not?¡± Yes! This was going to be awesome.


    He pulled to a stop. He got off and started explaining the controls to her. She pretended she hadn¡¯t already figured most of them out already. She had guessed correctly with the additions of the key and start button. The key made sense, you wouldn¡¯t want somebody to just steal this thing, she could only begin to imagine what it was actually worth.


    He got on behind her putting his hands on her shoulders. Haven¡¯t changed a shade have you? She mused to herself.


    ¡°Right then, start off slowly and not turn on hills we don¡¯t want a flip. Oh and don¡¯t look up or you take my eyes out¡±


    what did he mean... Oh, the horns obviously duh. Anyway, she could manage that no problem. She put the lever forward, which apparently put it in gear. She could remember him talking about gears. It had been a bit boring but if it made this thing move she loved gears.


    She slowly pushed the little lever forward and released the brake lever and they began moving, she was driving. She was quite possibly the first dragonette to ever drive. Sapphire Rayland, the daring pioneer. She had gone slowly like he said, experimenting with the steering while they were on flat ground. She had tried rolling over with this thing once before and it hadn''t been a pleasant experience, so she took it slow. They were not moving much faster than walking or maybe a light jog as they moved along.


    Once she was comfortable she tried picking up a little speed. They had a heavy trailer with them so it wasn¡¯t too fast, but she did to get up to a decent speed. The others had of course come down to see why they were going even slower all of a sudden.


    ¡°Look I¡¯m driving!" she had shouted up at them. This was awesome, the seat was comfortable and she didn''t have to do anything strenuous. It was good fun too and when you were just going along it wasn''t even that loud. She just hoped Tom would let her drive the remainder of the way back. Jackalope would be so Jealous.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let the lunatic drive, then we might get home before dark¡± Kullinger had shouted down.


    ¡°Would you shut up for a minute¡± Wiperna snapped back at the woodworker ¡±Is it hard?¡±


    Sapphire looked up to her getting a yelp from Tom as she felt her horn hit his head.


    ¡°Shit, you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no problem for once you missed something. You need to look at the road¡± Well she wasn¡¯t to blame for being the best damn archer there was. Still poking his eyes out might not be the best acknowledgment of her skill.


    ¡°Right sorry¡± she looked back ahead ¡°It¡¯s not that hard really, you just have to be careful¡±


    ¡°And look where you are going¡± Tom added.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Jackalope near it then¡± Raulf joked.


    As they drove he gave her tips and tricks along the way. She wasn¡¯t used to having to read the ground for anything other than wind currents and the like. Picking the right route up a hill was clearly an art form in its own right. Then there was avoiding anything that looked wet. Tom nearly had a sixth sense for it, it seemed. She just couldn¡¯t figure out what patches of ground were good and which hid a mud pit.


    When she had argued though and gone through something he said to avoid they had gotten stuck almost immediately. The rear wheels spinning helplessly kicking up dirty brown water onto the both of them.


    ¡°Ahr yuck!¡± Was this its way of getting back at her for being a bad driver? Wait¡­ was it mad at her¡­ could it even get mad at her? Better safe than sorry so she tried patting it a bit. Tom always seemed to pat anything when he was unsure of how to calm it down so why not ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±?


    Tom seemed to find it greatly this amusing. He then proceeded to pat her on the head.


    ¡°Now now, not to worry, I¡¯m sure she will forgive you¡± He was giggling quite a lot, was he taking the piss with her, or was it actually a girl? The patting was rather demeaning though, bent her head over backwards looking at him. He did seem rather unnerved by that leaning back.


    ¡°You do know I¡¯m not Kiran, Right?¡±


    ¡°Nope, you¡¯re Sapphire¡± He went before putting a finger on her snout ¡°Boop¡± He then proceeded to get off in a hurry.


    She pondered that one for a bit. What was boop? and was the quadbike a girl? If so, what was its name? After Tom confirmed she wasn¡¯t about to chase him down for that, he cautiously told her to get off for a moment and as she stepped off into the mud, she could feel the soft soggy grass between her talons. She could get why it was mad here, mud was unpleasant and cold and it got in between her toes. She could use something like Tom¡¯s boots right about now.


    He had gotten on and shown her a little button which he pushed. When he gave it throttle as he called it, all four wheels were spinning. With some jiggling and a bit of a push from her, he got it free and drove it to the top of the hill.


    ¡°Practice makes perfect, try again.¡± She had thought that would be it for driving, but apparently not.


    He had let her drive all the way back home and by the end of it, she was going almost as fast as he was. She had eventually asked if she, referring to the bike, had a name. He giggled a bit at that.


    ¡°Polaris I think will do. It even says so on the front¡± That was actually a rather nice name. A bit more inspiring than Tom or Tomas she guessed. Perhaps it was just him who had a boring name back home. Sapphire was fairly sure she would have been bullied with a name like Tom.


    Maybe she needed to pay more attention when he was teaching about his alphabet, there was a lot of writing just about everywhere on most of the things he owned after all. She wondered if his rifle had a name too?

 Pony Rides

    Chapter 48: Pony Rides


    ¡°Guess who¡¯s driving now?" Sapphire had shouted out with genuine glee in her voice as they rolled up on the keep. He was happy she was enjoying herself. She had even been rather good at driving. She was careful enough and hadn¡¯t done anything stupid or reckless. Even if she had needed to learn to avoid soggy ground when pulling a heavy trailer uphill.


    In hindsight letting Sapphire drive all the way up to the keep might have been a mistake though. On their return, they had quickly been surrounded by all those who had been working on the deers. They had nearly finished them all with only one not yet strung up. Jackalope in particular had come running over at a flat sprint as soon as Sapphire shouted out to them.


    ¡°I wanna try, I wanna try¡± Tom could see where this was going. At least he had Sapphire to hide behind for the moment.


    ¡°We all know what happened the last time you tried one of his toys, in fact, your hand still looks rather broken and you need both hands to drive it.¡± Tom would at best describe Sapphire¡¯s disposition as one of smug superiority at the moment. Tom had suspected they had a bit of a rivalry going on, they were pretty much the same age after all. He would remember that.


    Others had quickly come up to them as well, all wanting a go too.


    ¡°Can I try please?¡± Fengi had tried employing her best puppy dog eyes. Damn, she was alarmingly good at that. Sapphire had tried it once on him to some effect, but Fengi was next level, their eyes were larger than humans too and those ears they could just flop around at will. This was so not fair.


    Tom just once again put his faith in Sapphire, leaning around to put her between him and Fengi, he would have a hard time saying no, that much was certain.


    ¡°What do you say, Tom, can she? I mean look at those eyes¡± Dammit Sapphire, here he let her drive all the way back and then she stabbed him in the back like that.


    He just leaned to peer around Sapphire looking at the younger dragonette. How could he say no, she was so fucking adorable.


    ¡°Okay... disconnect trailer and only short runs. Fuel is valuable.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Fengi went with a fist pump jumping into the air a bit.


    ¡°Ohh come on!¡± Jackalope just held out her arms, clearly not happy with this.


    ¡°Well what can I say Jackalope no stealing, you know that just as well as everyone here¡± Sapphire reprimanded her.


    Tom wasn''t gonna say anything to that, he didn¡¯t really have the right to, after where he had gotten some of the ingredients for his experiments. That didn¡¯t make it untrue though. Perhaps this was a fitting punishment for Jackalope after all.


    Herron was there too by now and politely raised his hand. ¡°Can I try too?"


    ¡°What about me, can I try?¡± Unkai added in.


    Right then, this was a losing battle. Might as well admit defeat.


    ¡°Tell you what, tomorrow everyone gets to try okay? Day is running out." Might as well get it over with in one go after all and the sun would be setting soon and he didn¡¯t want them riding around in the dark for their first try.


    The resulting expression on Jackalope could best be described as total defeat as she went off to sulk somewhere. He did feel a little bad for her. She had already received a broken hand and a broken ego after all. Fengi¡¯s ears drooped a bit though.


    ¡°Did you really see Kalestine?¡± Esmeralda asked as they went about unloading the logs.


    ¡°We did. Never seen a unicorn, that was amazing¡±


    ¡°Damn you are lucky¡±


    ¡°As in, it didn¡¯t kill us, or we got to meet it?


    ¡°Kinda both I believe, was she pleased?¡± Right then perhaps Kullinger wasn''t that overbearing after all. Also" she", good to know.


    ¡°Sort of, she didn¡¯t like our hunting, or wood chopping, especially not my saw. You know, kinda noisy¡±


    ¡°Well judging by the fact you are still here it couldn''t have been too bad¡±


    ¡°Nah she was happy we dealt with the darklings¡±


    ¡°She should be¡± Esmeralda¡¯s voice went a little hard at that, a clear departure from her normally very warm and calm voice.


    ¡°I did wonder if you brought some kind of wonder saw. Did you at least beat Kullinger at something?¡±Fengi joined in.


    ¡°Yeah he beat the lot of us, Wiperne clarified.


    ¡°Show off¡± Esmeralda added. Yeah, that was probably true.


    They were moving the logs into a building that apparently served as a joint sawmill and wood drying facility. He proceeded to park the quad bike in the shed he had been given for it. Being careful to take the key with him this time. He had a feeling someone might decide to ¡®borrow¡¯ it if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    What would this whole unicorn business lead to? Most of them had clearly either never seen one or if they had it was very very rare. They were supposed to be magical as fuck right? The telepathy and teleportation shenanigans backed that up for sure. He would have to ask Apuma for a full rundown at some point.


    That evening he started taking inventory. He had started out with 138 liters of petrol by his estimates after the trip yesterday he had around 90 left. The two trips to the woods had cost around 5 liters each. So he could do that quite a few times. Still, he needed to think about fuel production rather soon. If he could get that up and running he might even be able to let the dragonettes use it when they went hunting or gathering.


    Making a still wouldn¡¯t be too hard. They had strong alcohol even if it was rare, so stills were a thing here. He just needed one capable of making very pure alcohol. He had brought plans for some, he had been counting on making his own fuel from the start after all. Maybe that would be their next little project now the bow was complete. Not to mention it could make something more potent for the next time they were having a drinking game. He wondered what would happen if he tried to drink Shiva or Jackalope under the table with homemade moonshine or vodka.


    As for ammunition he still had a lot left. Even if he had been going through his supply faster than he had been expecting, especially revolver cartridges. He would need to test the flash powder stuff he had made in a gun at some point. He had taken to calling it boom powder. He just hoped it wouldn''t live up to its new name too much. He really didn¡¯t want to blow up a precious gun. If he could get away with it he wouldn¡¯t be trying that until he had a locally produced weapon to test on.


    There had been a lot of talking at the evening meal. The kids of course also wanted a go. Tom had to put an end to their hopes on that one. Though he might give them rides at some point. Again it would be hard to just give Kiran a ride and not the others. Thinking about it, it was rather hard to figure out why they were this keen on trying something that could drive along on the ground kinda slowly. They could fly for Pete¡¯s sake. He guessed it was just a new thing or maybe vehicles were just appealing in general.


    There had been a lot of talk about the encounter with Kalestine though, some were amazed they had met her when basically destroying her forest. Some seemed a bit mad Tom had dared to shout at her, others mad she hadn¡¯t been more grateful for what they had done. It was a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. Still, the end result had been mostly amenable to all, so hey that was good.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had agreed to let everyone try to ride the quad bike. While Sapphire was a bit annoyed that meant she was no longer the only one who had done it, she was still the first and the one who has driven the most. That would have to do. Jackalope was still not allowed to try on account of her hand, so there was that.


    During breakfast she could see people glancing at their table regularly, they were clearly excited. Tom hadn''t let them use any of his equipment to start with, now he had let them use both his chainsaw and quad bike. For most though, this would be the first taste of the wonders he had brought, outside of some of the food of course.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    When Jackalope found out Tom had a screaming saw which ate trees and that they had all been allowed to try it, her mood got even dourer. She was really down on her luck as of late. Sapphire knew it would be short-lived though, Jacky always seemed to spring back from just about anything. Still, she had stolen a weapon and hurt herself in the process. They really needed to get her to stop doing things like that. So it wouldn''t do to take pity on her now.


    Tom for his part had come over to sit with them rather than the children. He wanted to discuss brewing alcohol with them for some reason. She had let him know that was Raulf and Wiperna¡¯s department. They had been toying with brewing ale for years after all. The result wasn¡¯t that good, but it did the job alright.


    ¡°Why do you need to make beer anyway? Haven''t you got more important things planned?¡± She had questioned


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to be making beer. I wanna make fuel and maybe some strong spirits, to sell¡­ or drink¡±


    ¡°You are gonna teach us to make liquor?¡± Jackalope had perked up at this it seemed. Sapphire didn¡¯t know much about brewing, but she had figured out the strong stuff was rather expensive especially if it was any good.


    ¡°If we want to. For fuel, I need pure alcohol, but lesser strength would be possible. I was kinda hoping to get you all to make the equipment I have much to do. I¡¯ll help of course¡±


    Okay then you could brew fuel, that did help lift Sapphire''s spirits a bit, she did feel a little guilty for encouraging Tom to waste his precious fuel after all. Also, his quad bike, that miracle of, technology as he called it, ran on alcohol? The stuff he put in it didn¡¯t smell like any alcohol she knew, but why would he lie? Maybe it could run on many things, but what did he mean pure alcohol? Their beer wasn¡¯t tainted in any way, she was sure of that.


    ¡°When you say pure alcohol, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°As close as I can get. Do you remember percentages?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, how could I forget you have numbers for bits of numbers. What was wrong with parts I say.¡± Tom chuckled a bit at that.


    ¡°Oh just you wait, it gets worse. Beer is usually around 4-7% Whisky might be 40-50%. I want 96%¡±


    Jackalope poked Sapphire on the shoulder with her good hand. ¡°That sounds like a lot, but what does it mean¡±


    ¡°Around double the strength I think?¡±


    ¡°You can make liquor twice as strong as your whiskey!?¡± Jackalope had exclaimed, looking back to Tom before getting up onto the bench, Sapphire didn''t even try to stop her ¡°Mom, Tom can make something twice the strength of his whiskey!¡±


    ¡°What! That liquor he brought?¡± Shiva had shouted back across the dining hall. This got the attention of Raulf as well.


    ¡°What does he mean? How do you make this whiskey anyway?¡±


    Tom looked around a bit bewildered, before looking back to Jackalope shaking his head.


    ¡°We need to make a distiller, don¡¯t worry it¡¯s not that bad, but will use most of our copper, we might not even have enough in fact. If we do so we are not able to make lathe yet. we need copper for bearings.¡±


    ¡°I have no clue what those are but they sound important?" Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°Guns and more boom, or fuel and alcohol¡± Tom clarified.


    Sapphire could see the existential crisis in Jackalope¡¯s eyes as she tried to work out what was best. In the end, she just sat down, clearly in deep thought head resting on both hands.


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out¡± Tom went. While the lathe was clearly very important to him. The thought of being able to use the quad bike to help haul things seemed like a worthy trade-off.


    ¡°What would you need to make the fuel?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°Anything with starch or sugar in it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what starch is but we don¡¯t have sugar yet you know that.¡±


    ¡°I know, starch is found in grains like what use for making your beer¡±


    Jackalope perked up at this again ¡°Mom he can make it out of hog feed too!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not getting any of my hops if it¡¯s not going to be drunk¡± Raulf added to the shouting match. This should be interesting, Sapphire concluded no matter how he went about it.


    She had only tried something like that a few times. Mostly back in the capitol, so she had likely tried it more than most of the people here. During the feast held following Vulzan''s arrival, she had gotten a few small sips from Tom¡¯s little flask. It warmed all the way down, that was such a pleasant experience. If that was going to become normal around here she was so ready.


    The promise of trying to drive had soon overruled the excitement of getting locally made liquor. As soon as Tom got up announcing he was going down to get ready Fengi picked him up and ran out the door with him. Likely eager to be the first to try.


    ¡°What the. Hey, I can walk you know!¡±


    The look on Tom¡¯s face had been one to savor as he was carried off. It was a damn shame she didn¡¯t have a camera so she could return the favor from yesterday. Sapphire had gotten up to follow even if she apparently needed to take the stairs alone this time. She couldn¡¯t wait till she was allowed to use her wings properly again. Then Esmeralda had poked her shoulder.


    ¡°Wanna trade a lift for some tips?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had gotten them all gathered around the bike to begin teaching them all at once. He reckoned that would be a lot easier as he had more than 15 eager dragonettes standing before him. He felt like an employee at a county fair or something. It sent back horrid memories of working in customer service back when he was a kid. At least he wasn¡¯t expected to scam everyone present today.


    Fengi had been a bit disappointed her kind gesture hadn¡¯t resulted in an immediate ride. Tom had promised she would be going first though, to try and make up for it. The feeling of being carried off and then being told to hold on tight didn¡¯t sit well with him. He felt like a princess being carried off. They were dragon-like after all... Perhaps he was a girl around here after all?


    Anyway as his demonstration drew to a close he set about getting them through the dragonette quad bike experience he had gotten going here. Fengi had of course been first up. She took to it well if perhaps even more cautious than Sapphire, he had set up an easy course around some of the buildings with a few obstacles for them to avoid. They would each get three laps, he didn¡¯t want to waste all day doing this and fuel was a valuable resource after all. Still, this should only cost a few liters.


    As the trips carried on, that was more than worth it, everyone who came down to try seemed to have enjoyed themselves. There had been a few mishaps of course. Kokashi had hit a bucket, panicked, and jammed the throttle. Tom only just managed to get his hand on the gas before they slammed into the chicken coop. There had been some panicked yelps of surprise at that one, followed by laughs at the guard¡¯s expense.


    Esmeralda had done very well, judging by the fact she knew about the four-wheel-drive button, Tom guessed Sapphire had been helpful. Dakota had seemingly tried to overcompensate for something going a bit too fast at the beginning. He didn¡¯t go too hard on her, for it, even if he had to tell her to back off the throttle a bit. He suspected she was always trying to prove something since she didn¡¯t strike him as reckless otherwise.


    Rachuck had seemingly not gotten quite surprised at just how good the brakes were managing to lock up the front wheels during a turn, so when he let go of the brake the quad bike shot sharply left throwing him off. That one too had scored some laughter from the crowd.


    The winner of quad bike driving mishaps went to Shiva though. She had gotten off to a very good start. as the laps went by she actually started getting some good speed, she was doing well. Until she learned what oversteer was when she got on the gas on the way out of a corner and spun it flipping over. That had sort of been Tom¡¯s fault she had been doing so well, he didn¡¯t consider that wouldn¡¯t continue to be the case.


    No injuries were had though, so no harm done. A few others had come over to help get the bike back on four wheels, and they had carried on trucking. Jackalope sat looking on from the stairs but wandered off again after a while. That was just a sad sight. Tom thought. If there was anyone who would have enjoyed this it was her after all.


    That just wouldn¡¯t do she didn¡¯t deserve it I Tom''s mind all she was guilty of was being a bit too curious for her own god. when everyone had their turn. He pulled up to Shiva and asked her to fetch her daughter. She pulled a bit of a sly smile.


    ¡°Oh, you big softy.¡± She hit him on the shoulder surprisingly firmly ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go get her.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t long before he spotted a dragonette running off the platform further up diving down at a rather alarming rate. The only thing preventing her from doing a proper superhero landing was the wounded hand and extra joints in her legs. As Tom looked at her he suspected she might actually have been crying a little bit. Oh now he felt like a right arsehole, still, it would make this even sweeter.


    ¡°Now, you can''t ride because of your hand, so next best thing then, Get on¡± He had been going around this course at a snail''s pace for far too long now. Besides, he felt the need to show off a little too. ¡°Arms around my waist and hold on tight, you lean with me as we turn or this is going to hurt¡±


    She jumped on using her wings to propel her up onto the seat, Tom was once again glad he had his goggles on as a wing claw came past his face missing only by a matter of centimeters. She landed with a thunk behind him.


    ¡°Ready?¡± He felt Jackalope hunker down, her arms squeezing around his waist, this should be fun. Not to mention it might give Jackalope a point in her little rivalry with Sapphire. That was just a bonus though.


    He locked the front wheels and pinned the throttle kicking up dirt and stones into the faces of those dumb enough to stand behind the bike. He had learned during his last bout of showing off that the lower gravity actually helped a lot with balancing work, you sort of had more time to react.


    As he came off the brake he leaned back, Jackalope mimicking the motion and the front wheels came off the ground as he pulled a wheelie down the front straight.


    It was an easy little course but that just made it easier to go fast. Most of the surface was gravel and dirt with a bit of grass here and there, so he managed to get some very good slides going. He didn¡¯t feel like going for two wheel¡¯s in the corners with an inexperienced passenger onboard so this would have to do.


    The exclamation of ¡°Wuuu!¡± followed by cackling laughter from behind him confirmed that even if she wasn¡¯t driving, she was enjoying it regardless. Over the little hill, there was, they managed to get some air landing with a thunk. Resulting in yet another cheer from his passenger. She would only be getting three laps just like the others, so on the last one, he went for speed rather than showing off. He knew the simple course by now and went from slide to slide like a ballet of speed, the many years of practice when he was younger paying dividends. Even if this thing was a lot heavier and slower than his old racing machine. Having a passenger didn¡¯t help either obviously, but it was still a very respectable effort, he felt as he slid to a stop back at the start line.


    ¡°When my hand is fixed I¡¯m so beating you as at this¡±


    ¡°Sure you are,¡± Tom replied, sounding very convinced by her statement. thinking to himself ¡®Not in a million years girl. I might look like a gay knight but I still got this.¡¯

 Religious dilemma

    Chapter 49: Religious dilemma


    Tom apparently didn¡¯t realize what the result of rewarding Jackalope for stealing his gun was likely to be, Nunuk and Apuma had just looked at each other and sighed when they found out. Apuma had actually come to have a go on the bike. The result was the slowest moving dragonette Sapphire had seen since Fengi was put on pen cleaning duty for losing her knife that one time. Still, it was an amusing sight.


    Following recent events, Nunuk had called another little meeting this time with Tom attending and with far less secrecy. First on the docket was convincing Jackalope that being allowed to ride the quad bike didn¡¯t mean she was pardoned from her theft.


    Dakota had just shrugged, she was more than used to dealing with Jackalope, and in the end, they all knew she could be depended upon, not to mention she would always give things back once she had gotten to play with them, assuming she didn¡¯t break it of course. The usual fix of just letting her try out the thing she was eyeing, wouldn''t work here though.


    As such Rachuck and Nunuk decided to let Jackalope know that if she stole something from Tom again, they would be forced to make her pay reparation. Tom looked a little worried at this notion.


    After having confirmed she had no chance of actually paying for most of the things Tom owned. She slackearedly agreed to keep her fingers to herself. Sapphire just hoped the notion of being forever in Tom¡¯s dept would do the trick. Tom seemed happy with the arrangement, not to mention he had a locked room to put things in now.


    ¡°Tom, what was the revolver she stole worth back where you are from?¡± Esmeralda had asked.


    ¡°I paid 7000 danish crowns for it. I have no clue what that is in your currency.¡± right that was a bit of a problem she could see that. Nunuk seemed to take an interest in this though.


    ¡°What would a gold coin be worth?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have those, I¡¯ll check if I have value of gold somewhere, I can''t remember. A kilo of gold is worth a lot though, like three to four hundred thousand¡± yikes, those were some big numbers ¡°I weighed your coins, there¡¯s 150 coins in a kilo, so...¡± Tom pulled out the little thing he had used to take her picture in the forest and tapped on it a bit ¡°The revolver would be around three gold¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± was all Nunuk could say at that. Three gold, seriously! A weapon that could lay low a black knight and cut through darklings with contemptuous ease and it cost just three gold coins.


    ¡°Gold is very valuable to my people¡± Tom tried. He could say that twice. What Sapphire wouldn¡¯t give for a shopping trip in one of their big cities if gold was worth this much. She might even sell her necklace to them and buy a whole armory.


    ¡°a Loaf of bread worth around 20 crowns for reference so around 100 loaves of bread for one gold¡± She remembered paying around 5 copper for a loaf of bread in the capitol. right then time for some math. 100 copper in a gold coin so that was 20 loaves for one gold that made it 5 times cheaper, She was getting better at this. She still wanted to go shopping there. She wouldn¡¯t just be buying bread though that was for sure, she wondered what kind of clothes they could make?


    ¡°While the lesson on economics is very fascinating we do have other matters to attend to. Besides, I highly doubt you would take 3 gold for your revolver now would you?¡± Nunuk questioned


    ¡°Nope,¡± Tom just answered bluntly, which was understandable.


    ¡°Very well then, it has reached my ear you meet Kalestine. I hope your encounter was pleasant?¡± Sapphire knew Nunuk was perfectly aware of exactly how it had gone already. Wounded and weak as she was, there was no way she had let this slide during dinner or breakfast.


    Sapphire answered. ¡°She wasn¡¯t too pleased with the noise we were making, the large amount of deer we killed, the fact there might be a dragon on the way, or the fact there had been darklings on the island¡­¡± That was a bit of a list of grievances come to think of it. ¡°But she was very pleased that we managed to repel the darklings, not to mention kill a dark knight. So she conceded we had done our duty as best we could. She even gave her blessing for Tom to traverse her woods.¡± Sapphire did her best to try and sound optimistic on the last parts. Even if the list of good was a bit shorter she did feel it more than made up for being a little noise to kill a dark knight.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, though I must admit I had hoped for a bit of praise following those battles. However, she was never one for showing gratitude I guess.¡± Tom put his hand in the air like one of the kids in class. scoring a few headshakes around the room.


    ¡°Yes, Tom¡± Nunuk went in her best mom voice.


    ¡°They can teleport and read minds right?¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom, they can¡±


    ¡°Is it also true, unicorn blood can cure death? Oh and what about the horns?¡±


    There was complete silence broken only by Herron dropping a knife he was playing with. Tom visibly recoiled clearly figuring out that hadn¡¯t been the smartest thing to ask. How could he even ask that? They weren¡¯t just some prey!


    ¡°Didn¡¯t mean kill, just like I did with Nunuk only blood and going out instead of in¡±


    Nunuk leaned forward in her chair, eyes narrowed ¡°You better.¡±


    ¡°There is no higher crime in our book of laws than to harm a unicorn. They are the embodiment of a pure soul, the noblest creatures this world has ever spawned. Not to mention our deal with them has stood for centuries if not millennia. To threaten them is to threaten our entire people.¡± Apuma joined in.


    ¡°Understood, didn''t want to kill¡± Tom tired before being cut off by Nunuk


    ¡°Nor will you attempt to steal its blood to satisfy your curiosity¡± A clear point in her voice.


    ¡°Not that he could if he wanted to¡± Dakota joined in sounding a bit more reasonable¡°It¡¯s not like she would just give you some, so you would have to hurt her to get it. That will not be allowed to happen.¡±


    By now Tom had his arms up in the air ¡°No didn¡¯t mean to hurt her, just curious that¡¯s all¡± Sapphire was beginning to wonder just how like Jackalope Tom was turning out to be. She had seen that particular maneuver more than once before. Still, she prayed this was a promise he was going to keep. There was nothing worse than having to hunt down a friend, she did like him after all.


    The hall settled after a bit, at least Kullinger hadn¡¯t been here Sapphire thought. That would have a real shit show.


    ¡°Sorry, didn''t mean to kill you know.¡± He did look genuinely sorry to Sapphire. It was clear to her he had more questions, it wasn¡¯t likely he was going to ask them now though.


    Nunuk seemed satisfied her point had been made as she leaned back in her chair with a bit of a wince.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    That had been a fairly extreme reaction, he had suspected they really liked the unicorns, but still. He hadn¡¯t witnessed such hostility from them directed at him, that was a bit of a wake-up call. Don¡¯t go around asking someone if the blood of their holy creature would cure death. It was a bit like the most extreme version of asking an Indian if they served beef he guessed. It didn¡¯t matter though it wasn¡¯t like he could get a hold of any.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The conversation had continued on the point of what preparations needed to be done to make ready for Jarix¡¯s possible arrival, as well as how Tom¡¯s projects were coming along. In the end, the plan was for them to start work on the distillery right away. Meanwhile, he got to work on what parts of the lathe he could. For starters, he would be focusing on the motor to drive it. If he couldn¡¯t get that to work he would need to start over anyway.


    They would hold off on making more bows for now, at least until the distillery was completed. That suited Tom just fine, he was kinda hoping Sapphire could use the time to work out if there was any way to improve the bow to better suit their needs.


    Shiva seemed a bit perturbed by the amount of work in her immediate future. She had just gotten started on recycling the armor and weapons of the darklings that were too badly damaged or poorly maintained to warrant restoring. She had been soothed a bit by learning Tom needed time to work out designs for everything first before she was expected to start hammering out the large amount of plate needed.


    All in all, the meeting had been a rather unpleasant experience. He would have to be a bit more careful in the future. He was starting to get to terms with their rather different take on religion. It was clear that just because they didn¡¯t sing songs or do much praying, didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t religious.


    With the rather unpleasant experience dealt with, things had carried on as before. Tom was back to working his duties, the kids of course had a lot of questions concerning Kalestine. They had clearly all heard stories before so Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to say. He described her for them and tried to liven up the story a bit for their sake. He didn¡¯t want to add besmudging the name of a god or holy creature to the list. He did give in to the demand to try and draw her, he just hoped the typical Danish luck when it came to drawing religious figures didn¡¯t bite him in the ass on this one.


    He had started with the distillery, that was something they could likely figure out by themselves once he got them going. Luckily for him, he had brought some designs that he had obtained totally legally before departing. It wasn¡¯t like copyrights or patents were a concern here anyway. He had brought both digital and analog thermometers as well, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about that particular bit of mental gymnastics for the time being.


    Still, he needed to figure out a way of heating very smoothly and accurately if he wanted something more than just high proof spirits. He went for a water bath with a stirrer in it. That way you could pour in a bit of cold or hot water if to adjust the temperature with a fire providing most of the heating. He did also consider trying to make methanol from some of the wood they had chopped down. The challenge of making an engine run on that stuff was just not worth it in his book though.


    As for all the deer, the huntresses were hard at work salting and drying the meat for long term storage. Tom had no clue how they made salt this easily with the ocean being a fair ways down, but it was apparently cheap. Their supplies of salt had also recently been refiled following Vulzan¡¯s visit as part of the supplies they had wanted. They also smoked a substantial amount of meat. Mostly turning it into little snacks or thin strips.


    The skins were set to cure in vats in the tanning hut, being the building furthest away from the keep. Tom had never tried curing leather before, but he had heard it would stink. He was not disappointed. He had gone down to ask Esmeralda if she knew where Holdey¡¯s toy wooden dragon had gone. As soon as he had made sure she didn¡¯t know he had bolted for the door. Good god, that stank.


    In other news, his joint design/storytime class was now consisting of just as many adults as children. In the end, he made a deal with Apuma to start holding science classes every other day for the adults. That way he could actually take care of the kids and manage a bit of design work.


    Raulf in particular had enjoyed when he set about explaining the distillery he was planning. It was clear the farmer was a bit of a beer enthusiast, but the thought of being able to make this whiskey clearly intrigued him.


    Tom had settled on making a reflux still. Shiva had managed to convince him she could make the tanks and pipes out of steel. She was an armorsmith, after all, so he believed her. He just hoped the thing wouldn¡¯t rust on them. He didn¡¯t have what was needed for stainless steel and copper was also limited. Shiva had questioned him extensively on what stainless steel was. So he went about another round of explaining.


    The notion of steel which didn¡¯t rust resulted in a fresh round of accusations of Tom not admitting to knowing magic. since that apparently sounded like Mithril to her. He had convinced her in the end that it was just a matter of alloying in a lot of chrome. She had of course immediately demanded to know what chrome was. That one stumped him for a bit before he tried to explain it was another kind of metal. The fact they didn¡¯t have any and that he didn¡¯t really have any idea where to get some was a bit of a bummer.


    That had inevitably evolved into her demanding to know how many metals Tom knew about. The amount of joy and sadness the old smith went through was almost heartbreaking. The notion of there being so many metals she never even knew about and having her hopes smashed by Tom admitting he had no real way of making any of it locally, was almost too much to bear.


    In the end, he resorted to making the next science class about metallurgy. Hopefully, they could figure out something useful for her after that particular disappointment.


    The still had been a rather simple task to design since he was basically stealing the whole thing. His new workshop proved the perfect place to get out the laptop for the first time with the door locked, of course. He didn¡¯t need to explain this one yet. He got out the files and started copying them down by hand for Shiva to start work. There were naturally also other things on the laptop, it had been a while after all.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had only taken Tom a few days to produce a set of plans for the distillery. An impressive feat she thought judging by the detail of them. She knew he didn¡¯t sleep as much as them, but she was starting to worry if he was getting what he needed. If he was tired she couldn¡¯t tell though, so it was probably nothing to worry about.


    He had explained it on the blackboard during science class. It was actually a rather simple device for once. Even if the fact alcohol boiled at a lower temperature than water was news to her. The notion things could get colder than freezing and not freeze was a bit of a brain turner too. As with so many other things she just accepted it as the truth and worried about what she needed to understand. She had long since given up trying to understand everything.


    Shiva seemed to be of the same mindset, only worrying about what she needed to know to make all the metal components. Raulf and Apuma though kept on trying to understand what Tom was on about, leading to a lot of sidetracking. More than once the girls had to put a stop to them, so they could get back on topic. It didn¡¯t help Tom was more than willing to just keep talking. Still, it was easier to stay awake for this than his classes on math.


    Dakota and Apuma had taken her place on that front. She instead spent that time either working around the keep or covering for Tom as a nanny. From what she figured out, they were making a lot of progress rather swiftly, she hadn¡¯t seen Apuma this stressed in years. In fact, she even caught him looking through papers at dinner once.


    It would seem Dakota was cheering up a bit too, even if she did complain a bit about Tom being too good at math for it to be natural, not to mention the odd rant about things not making sense. when she had shown Sapphire the problem she couldn¡¯t understand Sapphire had just chuckled nervously. She had no clue what she was looking at apart from the symbols being English that was. It would appear Tom won the argument over what to use then.


    Unlike with the bow, there wasn¡¯t much for Sapphire to do when it came to making the distillery, it was mostly metalwork. So she elected to sharpen up her skills a bit instead. It was only another week before Nunuk had promised her she would be allowed to use her wings again after all. Besides she wanted to get in a few more shots with her new bow. Tom had given it to her after all and didn¡¯t seem too concerned with who used it, so she might as well claim the privilege.


    She had spent an afternoon on the range with the guards as they were doing their training. She could of course outshoot them all even with her regular bow but with this, it was child¡¯s play. They had of course all been allowed to have a go, all being astonished by how easy it was to shoot, even if some of them struggled to draw it. Unkai in particular didn¡¯t have the draw length to get to the easy part, which was a little sad.


    The funny thing though was that once it was drawn out it was easy, so she would just help them with the hard part and then they could get to shoot a much heavier bow than they had any chance of on their own. She did promise to ask Tom to design a more man-friendly version in the future with a bit of a snicker. Needing help to draw your bow was not a brilliant way of going about it in combat after all.


    The only bummer was that her old bow made of its finely bleached and dyed wood was a lot prettier than this weird contraption. Perhaps she should be the one to receive the first proper one as well. Tom had called this one a prototype, after all, it apparently meant not quite finished but good enough. There was something cool about having the first one ever made of something though, perhaps she could get this one spruced up instead.

 Homebrew

    Chapter 50: Homebrew


    To Tom the days were just flying by right now, so much to do and all of it rather exciting stuff. The fact they didn¡¯t know what a weekend was simplified things a bit, even if the fact they just worked in seasons rather than months was a bit of a mind fuck for Tom. He didn¡¯t even keep track of what day it was anymore, he didn¡¯t feel the need. He was working every chance he got anyway so why bother.


    Shiva and Jackalope had gotten to work on the distillery, it shouldn''t take the smith too long to put that together. Once again Tom had convinced her that it didn''t need to be pretty. She had kept true to her word of making it mostly out of steel, it was a beautiful piece of work. She just complained that she wasn¡¯t allowed to spend the time to remove all the hammer marks and small dents. Tom just thought it added a bit to the general aesthetic. It looked like something you would find in a forest making moonshine. The important part was that every gram of saved copper could go into bearings, cables, and wires for the lathe.


    The solder had been a bit problematic, they had a hard solder used for jewelry and weapons and the like. It was silver-based though so rather expensive, not to mention hard to work with.


    They used lead solder for the windows, but tin was apparently really valuable and Shiva only had a tiny amount of it in storage. Luckily when Tom had cleaned out Vulzans supply of metal there had been a single bar of tin in there. Still, it would have to be used sparingly. That was a bit of a pain in the ass. Tom had hoped he wouldn¡¯t need to use lead for too many things, but it was not to be.


    The original design had called for a copper honeycomb extrusion in the reflux tube which was obviously impossible for them to make. In the end, Sapphire and Raulf had taken to soldering small hand forged strips of copperplate together. The result was something that hopefully came close even if it had cost them much of the Tin to make. It was a bit janky but it only had to cool down the vapor as it rose so he hoped it would do.


    By now it was mostly up to Shiva, who got to work on the water jackets while Raulf figured out the stove for it. They only needed Tom to answer a few questions and lend a hand here and there, so he got back to work on the lathe.


    He had started pulling late nights to make the progress he wanted. The time with the kids wasn¡¯t really that productive after all. He had never been that much of an electro engineer, but he knew the basics and he had a few drawings of some dc motors with him. He hadn¡¯t thought he would be working with electric engines this quickly though so his information was a bit limited. Still, it should not be a problem to just scale up and modify some of the stuff he had drawings for.


    He did get a bit of a scolding from Esmeralda one day when she found out he had fallen asleep in the workshop instead of with the children. He was fairly sure she had gone easy on him though for some reason.


    Getting Kulinger to give him some of the linseed oil they used for wood treatment had been a bit of a challenge, though the promise Tom had brought the seeds to start making it locally did win out in the end. He was betting on the hardening oil being able to act as an insulator for the coils. He had no clue if it would work but in his mind, it should. Then there was the matter of the copper wire itself.


    He had no doubt he could make it thin enough and the length would just be a matter of starting with a big enough bar and drawing it out multiple times. It would just be so tedious. In the end, he found the solution in where he was the most bored during the day, guard duty.


    He designed a simple rig that could be moved around that way it could be placed up on top of a tower so whoever was on guard could be cranking wire through, he was a damn genius. The idea didn¡¯t sit well with Rachuck who argued it would be rather distracting after all. In the end, Tom had won though upon presenting Rachuck and Dakota with the math of how long it would take to make enough wire for the motor.


    So that was how he had ended up with a set of plans for what should be a small 2KW electric motor and the tools to hopefully make it happen. It wouldn¡¯t run the lathe very fast or allow him to take deep cuts, but it might just be good enough to make something better. Plans in hand he had gone to drop in on the others and lend a hand. Not to mention seeing where they had gotten to.


    The still was aways from being complete but work was progressing at a brisk pace. It was actually starting to look like a still by now as the contraption stood in the center of the room. As he had begun explaining the wire drawing bench to Shiva. Sapphire had come in to grab him.


    ¡°Hey, Tom up for a little trip?¡±


    ¡°Uhh sure just need to show Shiva this¡±


    ¡°Tom you have been working day and night for over a week. You need to relax a bit¡±


    ¡°We went on the hunting trip, a few days ago that was timeoff. Now Shiva I have little drills, do you think¡±


    Tom leaned over the table to show the smith the tiny holes diminishing in size. As he leaned over though he felt something move on his head?


    *Thunk*


    ¡°Oh, hi Kiran. Sorry¡±


    ¡°But I was sleeping¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, I¡¯m sorry. Look back up you go. There now, nap time continues. Anyway, so this is¡±


    ¡°Tom that was over a week ago, have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?¡±


    ¡°Not since you all decided to make me best girl for a day¡± Tom replied in a chuckle going back to the papers.


    ¡°You should, your eyes are red with what I presume is blood, not to mention the weird color beneath them.¡±


    ¡°The kids sometimes wake me up, it¡¯s no big deal¡±


    ¡°No holdey I¡¯ll pick you up in just a second¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got something to show you¡± Sapphire then went.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A surprise, now come on¡± Sapphire grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him off. He wondered what she might have to show him, this certainly wasn¡¯t normal for her so it must be important.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was glad most of the work on the big distillery thing was Shiva¡¯s responsibility, not to mention Raulf and Wiperna being eager to lend a hand on the project. Tom''s ideas to put the guards to work sat well with her too. They never did anything when on duty apart from sitting staring off into the distance anyway and it meant she didn¡¯t have to do it.


    Tom though was turning out to be seemingly addicted to the work, he just kept on coming up with more things that needed doing and he was already trying to combine jobs to save time in the day. It had almost become the norm to see him with Kiran or another kid in one hand and tools or paper in the other.


    Today was no exception as she found him in the smithy. Kiran perched atop his head, Holdey trailing behind asking to be picked up as well and rolled-up parchment in his arms. The sight of Tom¡¯s beautiful white paper getting smudged with coal dust had driven Apuma up the wall, so he had handed over what parchment he had, for Tom to use instead. While she admired the work ethic she was getting worried he was pushing a bit too hard. It almost seemed like he felt responsible for their safety following the rather disastrous encounter with the darklings.


    She could understand why of course but still he shouldn¡¯t, it was bad enough to keep Dakota from trying to save the world single-handedly. Even if Tom might actually stand a chance she doubted it could be done in weeks or months, so he might as well calm down a bit. It had nothing to do with the fact Nunuk had finally cleared her for doing a bit of flying.


    It took a bit of convincing, Shiva having more questions for him didn''t help, but eventually, she managed to drag him off, Jackalope following along smiling, she already knew the plan after all. He had been babbling all the way about making copper not conduct electricity. She was fairly sure he wanted copper because it did conduct that stuff, but she didn¡¯t care. She had burnt her brain out trying to understand all those different things the world was apparently made from, so she had no desire to try and figure out what he was on about this time.


    They had dropped off the kids on an unsuspecting Unkai who was washing the floors at the moment. they didn¡¯t even make it to the end of the hall before they heard Kiran go ¡°Tom could do it better¡± From behind. Sapphire wondered just how Tom achieved the status of could do no wrong with Kiran even though Tom had not even noticed the kid asleep on his head.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Dakota had been waiting with the rest of the huntress in the greeting hall. Kokashi even managed to get out of kitchen duty since Fengi got off as well and had apparently decided to tag along. Sapphire didn¡¯t mind, it might give her someone to beat after all. She was allowed to fly, but she still wanted to go a little easy on the maneuvers. It had been far too long though since they got some training done and she was well and truly sick of being down here all day.


    She had needed a bit of help to finally get the splint off her wing. Dakota examined the breakpoint, there was a little knot of bone as was expected but you could hardly see it. Sapphire had been a bit worried it might look weird but there was nothing to be seen. Finally being able to flex the fingers in her wing after so long and the feeling of being able to stretch her wings out all out the way. It was pure bliss. She walked around on the big platform flapping them around a bit testing if everything felt like it should. She hadn¡¯t broken a wing since she was a kid so it was a little scary, but everything seemed in order. Tom apparently believed they were going on a trip as he had run off and fetched a backpack from his things strapping it on tight.


    She could see how he would get that impression, they were not in armor and they hadn¡¯t done any training since he had gotten here after all. So perhaps it was time for a little showing off even if she wasn¡¯t ready for anything too crazy. Fengi had apparently gotten bored with Sapphire testing out the winds. She walked up to the edge and did her best stumbling impression as she fell off, making sure to scream as she fell of course


    Tom predictably panicked running up to the edge. Yelling ¡°Fengi!¡± As he stood there peering off he appeared to realize he had been tricked. They all had a good laugh at that one.


    ¡°Very funny, careful or I take you swimming one day¡± He held up an authoritative finger to them.


    ¡°And how are you planning on doing that¡± Jackalope retorted ¡°we ain''t the kids you know¡± There was a shared laugh among them. Tom though just looked at them before cracking a smile.


    ¡°This worked last time.¡± He went, as he just leaned over backwards. dropping off the edge. ¡°Yahoo!!!¡±


    They all looked at each other for a split second before the mad dash towards the edge. Sapphire was fairly sure he had snapped completely now. Why would he do that after having nearly died twice from that? The others rushed off the edge diving after the lunatic.


    There was no way Sapphire was ready to try and catch him, so she just stood there dumbstruck. She hadn¡¯t even managed to talk with him about the fact she thought he was putting too much pressure on himself and that he needed to trust them a little more. Seemed like it would be necessary though, perhaps it was the other way around in fact.


    She snapped out of her little daze as Jackalope shouted out from below.


    ¡°What the fuck is that!¡± followed by mad cackling laughter which was clearly Tom. She walked up to the edge and looked down. Tilting her head at what she saw. There was a big green piece of cloth gliding through the sky with a laughing Tom dangling beneath it?


    The others were circling around him as he slid slowly through the air. She had to see what this was about, so she stretched out her wings and let herself fall forward. She felt the air catch as she flaired her tail pulling slowly out of the dive. The wind rushing past her snout, the freedom of choosing where she was going, ohh it was good to be back.


    Her moment had been spoiled a little by Tom¡¯s stunt, still, she could hardly blame him, Fengi had started after all. She tentatively beat her wings to maintain speed from the dive to catch up. Everything felt good so far. He wasn¡¯t going very fast so she didn¡¯t need to strain too hard to catch up. in fact, he was going so slowly they all had to circle around him unless they wanted to try and hover beside him.


    ¡°What is that¡± She demanded when managed to catch up


    ¡°Parachute! You should have seen your faces!¡± He shouted back, cracking another laugh at their expense.


    ¡°Well, the last few times you have fallen off it didn¡¯t end well,¡± Esmeralda added, in a slightly hard voice. Dakota shook her head shivering a bit at that and Sapphire could almost feel the gut-punch from way back when.


    ¡°Yeah I know¡± Tom seems to calm down a bit ¡°Anyway what¡¯s the plan¡±


    ¡°Well, we were gonna go through some maneuvers to try and dust everyone off on formation flying. Not sure now though.¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°How do you flap your¡­ wing?¡± Fengi had questioned.


    ¡°Can you go any faster?¡± Was Jackalope''s contribution of course.


    ¡°I can¡¯t and no not really¡± Tom clarified for them. Wait if he couldn¡¯t flap his wing¡­ thing, how would he climb or even maintain speed and altitude?


    ¡°Then how do you go up¡± Fengi continued


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡± ¡­ well it answered the question of how at least.


    ¡°You mean to tell us that you, the master of lightning, fire, and death, can¡¯t make something go up when flying!?¡± Jackalope added in sounding somewhere between incredulous and hysterical. Not exactly how Sapphire would have put it, but it got to the point.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah,¡± Tom replied.


    There was more than one smack as they all collectively facepalmed at the stupidity of that. Then they all broke into various levels of snickering and laughing at the absurdity of that statement. For all their brilliance this was the best Tom¡¯s people could do when not using huge machines? Now that was funny.


    "Look if I could fly I would have done so before. This can glide and prevent you from going splat. It¡¯s good!¡± He had tried to defend himself. That was a good point, though the ground was approaching rather quickly so it likely wouldn¡¯t be a very long glide either.


    ¡°I wanna try and push him.¡± Fengi declared, sounding excited. ¡°Is it okay if I hang on to you?¡±


    ¡°Sure just don¡¯t get stuck in the strings¡± Sapphire¡¯s attention turned to the dozens of little strings attaching what was clearly no ordinary backpack to the big cloth wing about him. It seemed so intricate. And delicate. Was he sure this was smart?


    ¡°Are you sure that is safe?¡± Sapphire had questioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s built for my home gravity, we¡¯re fine¡± Well if he said so. She still didn¡¯t understand the notion that things were somehow heavier where he came from though.


    Fengi circled around a few times trying to figure out how to go about this. before deciding she needed to be hugging him. Sapphire could see the problem if she went for a piggyback, she couldn''t beat her wings to get the forwards, at least not much. Not to mention the mess of strings back there. She couldn''t just push since he was going too slowly and she couldn¡¯t go above him also on account of the strings. Sapphire thought about hanging onto Tom¡¯s legs. That might work but Fengi had clearly made her decision.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh, those faces had been so worth it, he had just wished there had been more of them there to gawk. Still, the keep wasn¡¯t that tall and even with pulling the cord almost immediately he still didn''t have much altitude. The low gravity did help a bit even if it also made him even slower. He was certain a mild headwind would see him standing still in the air. In fact, the parachute might just do the trick as a paraglider here¡­ He would need to look into that at some point.


    Fengi had decided to try and come aboard. He hadn¡¯t really thought about that, but sure why not. They knew what they were doing up here far better than him after all. It took her a while to figure out how to go about it, he had almost thought she had given up when she came up beneath him hovering backwards.


    It wasn¡¯t the most graceful maneuver as the two of them slammed together, Fengi not quite having gotten the closing speed right. Still, she had managed to hang on, even if he now couldn¡¯t really see where he was going now. She wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his shoulders.


    ¡°Let¡¯s fly then¡± She stated seeming to not have a care in the world about how she was sitting. Was this the latest addition in their quest to try and make him uncomfortable he wondered as she began beating her wings backwards. The result was a bit like pulling a pendulum as they were pulled ahead of the parachute and upwards.


    Of course, they came straight back down afterward having achieved little.


    ¡°Try again, have an idea¡± Tom went trying his best not to turn red. She beat her wings again and he loosened the guidelines as if trying to dive. The two sort of canceled out and they actually went forward.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s working¡± She did it again and he compensated. It didn¡¯t take much to maintain speed and altitude here and after just a few beats there were actually climbing. It was slow, but they were climbing.


    There had been some more laughter from the circling dragonettes


    ¡°Hey, Tom how does it feel to be dragged through the sky?¡± Kokashi had joined in, the guard having come along for some reason.


    ¡°Careful now, still lack volunteers for swim practice¡± The guard had just responded with a chuckle as he continued circling. Once they had gained a bit of altitude Fengi stopped beating.


    ¡°And now for the fruits of my labor¡±, She declared as she folded up her wings looking around at the view, her neck craning around. The chute was actually flying better now that it was closer to the loading it was meant for. He had dropped his weights back on the platform, after all, expecting some sort of flying to occur.


    ¡°Not a bad view¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s a good day for some flying, nice of you to join us¡±


    ¡°Well, sorta flying. Perhaps I should rig up a motor for this and actually fly.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡±


    ¡°Sure won¡¯t go much faster though¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame you''re more like a resting stop up here right now.¡±


    ¡°Tom the flying dragonette carrier¡± He let out a chuckle at that.¡± Not a bad idea¡±


    ¡°You sure? Sapphire said you are already working too hard.¡±


    ¡°Pfff, hard work never hurt anyone. Besides, it¡¯s fun¡±


    ¡°Well, this is fun too, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you that one, it¡¯s great fun. I love flying, not so keen on falling though¡± She giggled a bit at that one.


    The others eventually became tired of circling the slow-moving parachute and broke off beginning their little training exercise. Fengi gave him a bit more altitude.


    ¡°Gotta go, see ya¡± She went dropping off to join them just letting go and falling straight down twisting around midair and pulling out of the dive.


    Damn, they are good at this stuff Tom thought to himself as he admired the spectacle. His own little private airshow. The altitude Fengi had gained him didn¡¯t last forever though, eventually, Kokashi had come over


    ¡°Want another push or should I go get one of them for you?¡± the guard went cackling.


    ¡°Well, I would rather crash than accept one from you that¡¯s for sure¡± Tom had replied. Kokashi just laughed harder at that and swooped back around.


    ¡°Well I guess you going down then¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, just you wait till I get my hands on a proper aircraft. I''ll be the one running rings around you then¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait for that then. When will it be done?¡±


    ¡°If you''re careful you just might live to see it old goat¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not old. I¡¯m not even sixty!¡±


    ¡°Ha, old!¡± Tom just laughed out as he finally came down on the soft grass just outside the firing range. Kokashi had joined him down there landing rather more elegantly than Tom¡¯s little jog, followed by trying to bunch up the parachute. He would have to repack it later.


    ¡°Why do you even have that thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought it might be smart to bring it and I had it, so here it is. It¡¯s meant for jumping from really high up, then you free fall most of the way and use this to prevent going splat.¡±


    ¡°Just for fun¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that and armies use them to land soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡± Kokashi looked a bit puzzled by that. Tom guessed it was rather hard for them to imagine how humans fought. Actually, Tom started to wonder if they would even have ground battles here?


    ¡°Anyway airshow to watch¡± Tom went sitting down using the parachute as a backrest. He had been brought along to relax so he might as well for a bit.

 Acrobatics

    Chapter 51: Acrobatics


    The girls had put on one hell of a show, though according to Kokashi they were going easy due to Sapphire. They had gone about holding formations through various turns, rolls, dives, and climbs. They even played chicken with each other, Which apparently was a very useful maneuver for helping each other get someone off their tail. Tom guessed they would be going past each other, bows drawn ready to shoot down the ones chasing if it was for real.


    They had also dived down low and fast, pulling up at the last minute. Some of them were nearly brushing the grass with their chest, as they leveled out. Sapphire went a bit easy on that one, clearly worried about putting too much strain on her newly healed wing.


    As he sat and watched, the precision and agility they showed was incredible. He had heard pilots say you''re one with the aircraft, hell he had even said that about driving once or twice before. It wasn¡¯t likely he would be doing that again. This was taking that notion very literally.


    He had seen them fly before, quite a lot in fact, now though they were just showing off. The closest he had gotten to this was when Jackalope decided to try and scare him all the way back on his first voluntary flight. It looked more like they were dancing around the sky without a care in the world.


    They did loops like it was nothing and their turning circles were just outrageous when they were at low speed. They even played a kind of tag it looked like, he guessed it was a fair bit more serious when it came to combat, but still, it looked like a bunch of kids running around the sky.


    It was clear speed counted for a lot here. Still, Fengi did manage to give Jackalope the slip with a clever tight turn a few times. To the evident frustration of Jackalope, the older and larger huntress continuing to try and catch the small nimble Fengi. That had been quite good fun to watch. Tom gave them a round of applause for some of the more impressive maneuvers, he even got Kokashi to join in.


    ¡°Yeah, they are quite something¡± Kokashi interrupted Tom¡¯s little admiration session. ¡°Rachuck still sometimes tries to whip us up to that level. It¡¯s just not happening.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you¡¯re still better at it than me¡± Tom gave the guard a playful hit to the shoulder, being rewarded with a chuckle.


    ¡°I guess. Are you just admiring the show or trying to figure out how to shoot them down?¡±


    ¡°Admiring the show¡±


    ¡°What about if they were darklings?¡± What are you playing at here Kokashi? Tom thought to himself.


    He thought on it for a second though, switching from admiring the skill being displayed, to try and track targets. With all the maneuvering they were doing they weren¡¯t going that fast. Their movements were unpredictable and violent though. The armor they usually wore was not fully covering, and they also liked flying in close formation a lot.


    At least they were training that part quite a bit and he had seen them fly into battle with no more than a meter between wingtips. They needed to speak to each other after all, at least before the shit show started.


    ¡°Scattershot¡± Tom answered after a minute or two ¡°Blow them all out of the sky in a single shot. Maybe a few if you miss.¡±


    ¡°Hey, just because I thought you might be related to a songbird doesn¡¯t mean I will fall for anything, okay.¡± Tom just broke out his songbird impression again. It would take a long time before that one got old. ¡°You had me worried for a moment their dude¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t joking, not saying it would be easy. It''s a tricky shot with a very big gun. But it could be done. If they don¡¯t know what they are up against.¡±


    ¡°You can be damn scary, you know that right?¡± Tom just gave another bird whistle.


    ¡°You were the one who asked.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh, this was the life, up here soaring through the sky with her friends. No need to worry about what x was, or why the gears needed to be a weird size. Just freedom. She still had to be a bit careful though. She didn¡¯t want to lose this sensation again any time soon. They went through their formations and various maneuvers just like they used to. Even if they went quite a bit slower for her sake. She didn¡¯t care about that though. She was too busy enjoying every moment.


    She had become so lost in what she was doing she hadn¡¯t even noticed that Tom had landed and was sitting looking up at them with Kokashi. She felt quite sorry for him at that moment. He would never experience this. His people would likely never experience this. And yet there he was happy as could be staring up like a little kid. He even did that thing where smacked his hands together when they pulled off something he found impressive. It was clearly some form of cheering. She still didn¡¯t get why you would hurt yourself to show happiness or appreciation, but the effort was appreciated.


    They had made sure to stay overhead where he could see them, that was the least they could do after having brought him out here. Besides, it did feel kinda good to have somebody cheering you on even if you were just doing some training work. They were doing chasing maneuvers right now, Sapphire getting caught by everyone obviously.


    It had been so bad Jackalope had let Sapphire catch her so she could try to go after Fengi again. That had been quite humiliating. She couldn¡¯t even remember the last time she had to do that. She did still have tactics to work with though. Being the easiest target was never easy, but it was useful training after all. Perhaps it was time to try and play Tom for once and try some hiding?


    There were no convenient clouds anywhere to hide in nearby though so the bright midday sun would have to do. She spent the time Jackalope used chasing Fengi to get some altitude. It was a dirty trick but hey, she wasn¡¯t winning any other way. She was sure Dakota would forgive her considering her current condition. Speaking of which, where was their fearless leader?


    She began scanning around the sky, still, she couldn¡¯t spot her anywhere? Esmeralda was over with Fengi enjoying the show, but she couldn¡¯t find Dakota anywhere. Sapphire knew she too was still a little worse for wear even if she had mostly recovered over the last week.


    ¡°Somebody is having bright ideas?¡± really a pun? She didn¡¯t even need to turn her head to know who it was then.


    ¡°Now what would Apuma be doing up here?¡± Sapphire went in her most sarcastic voice. Dakota had learned much from her mother, but her sense of humor had, unfortunately, come from her father. ¡±Didn¡¯t take you for one to go hiding, oh fearless leader?¡±


    ¡°I am keeping an eye on the battle that is all¡± Really now? Simply observing was the excuse?


    ¡°Kinda far away though. What would you do if you were needed by your sisters in arms?¡±


    ¡°You mean Tom?¡± Sapphire had to laugh at that one. ¡°I could ask you the same, what are you doing up here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wounded and retreating¡±


    ¡°Bad direction to retreat then. Tag you''re it!¡± Sapphire felt a finger poke her shoulder as she sighed.


    Dakota rolled into a vertical dive. The older huntress continued to roll all the way down trying to keep Sapphire guessing as to when she would break off. Sapphire knew she couldn¡¯t risk pulling up along Dakota from a dive yet, so she didn¡¯t bother to follow her into it.


    Instead, she simply banked into a large spiral, keeping her distance, descending more slowly. When Dakota finally pulled up she had a good few hundred meters on Sapphire, but it was all altitude. Sapphire then pulled in her wings tight to her sides rocketing down attempting to end up above Dakota. The maneuver bought back most of the distance Dakota had made in the dive but didn¡¯t get her close enough to land a tag. Dakota was the golden huntress of the keep for a reason and she had seen it coming, no problem.


    In response Dakota rolled over pulling up hard in a downwards turn reversing back the way she had come, forcing Sapphire to overshoot. Sapphire had gotten so used to being able to turn harder than everyone, except sometimes Fengi. This was damn hard to do while trying to hold back.


    When Sapphire had gotten back onto Dakota¡¯s tail they were down to the same altitude and Sapphire was behind a few dozen meters at least. She wasn¡¯t even close enough to shout at Dakota that she had won. She wouldn¡¯t risk trying to catch her in a straight line after all. That was when Jackalope came up beside Sapphire holding a finger in front of her mouth.


    Sapphire just answered with a sly grin breaking off the chase. Pulling up, scrubbing some speed. She wasn¡¯t much for letting Jackalope win at anything, but she could make exceptions every now and again especially if it was fun. Besides Jackalope was supposed to be the one currently chasing right now, Dakota had just decided to have some fun. It was a shame she couldn''t hear what was said, but it was clear Dakota was rather surprised when she started hearing wingbeats behind her.


    She apparently didn¡¯t realize immediately she was being chased by Jackalope as she tried to put on more speed. None of them could win in a straight line against Jackalope, not even Sapphire on her best day could keep her off for long. The results were predictable and by the time Dakota figured out something was wrong, looking behind her. She had lost almost all her lead.


    Dakota pulled into a hard backing turn attempting to pull inside of Jackalope, who with her greater speed and larger frame would struggle to follow the turn, but Jackalope knew that. So instead she pulled up hard reversing direction and gaining some altitude on Dakota who by then had come around nearly three-quarters of a turn placing her a few meters beneath Jackalope.


    Jackalope then simply tucked in her wings and fell, good arm outstretched, nicking Dakotas tail as she went past. It had been a rather unusual display of tactical brilliance by Jackalope. Sapphire guessed it wasn¡¯t the first time Dakota had tried that one then. She would need to keep that one in mind for the future. She was in much the same position against Jackalope after all. Sapphire was usually the one doing the climbing though she was lighter than Jackalope so it helped if they were going upwards.


    She looked down to see Tom once again doing the hand smacking thing, it had been a good show on that they agreed. Dakota was wiggling her wings, rolling back and forth indicating they needed to get over there for a chat.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Not that sporting to get Jackalope to do the job for you?¡± Dakota went panting. The chase clearly having been a bit of a workout.


    ¡°She was the one chasing, did you forget? No use tiring myself out trying to do something I can''t¡¯¡±


    Dakota didn''t seem to have a counter-argument for that one, and Sapphire cracked a grin.


    ¡°I think we need a break, let¡¯s go down to the boys¡± Dakota went after sulking for a bit.


    Sapphire wasn¡¯t really tired yet since she wasn¡¯t going all out, but some of the others looked like they needed it following all the chasing. They all descended down landing in formation, only to find Tom had gotten the sketchbook out again and was explaining something to Kokashi.


    ¡°Really? Sapphire asked as she landed. ¡°You can¡¯t even stop working out here? Look at the weather, it¡¯s a beautiful spring day.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not working I¡¯m drawing it¡¯s fun¡± Sapphire craned her head in to look at what he was drawing.


    ¡°That doesn''t look like the scenery¡± It did in fact look like yet another machine of some sort. ¡®Not working my ass¡¯, she thought to herself ¡°That looks like work to me. You know I brought you out here to relax a bit, right?¡±


    ¡°Then why are you all panting? I¡¯m very relaxed right now¡± He wiggling his shoulders as if to get a bit more comfortable, leaning up against his backpack with a grin on his face.


    ¡°You''re just jealous,¡± Jackalope concluded. Not the kindest comment ever to someone who couldn¡¯t fly. Even if he could sort of glide Sapphire thought to herself looking at Jackalope with a disapproving face.


    Tom just shrugged ¡°a bit, that is what this is for.¡± Tom held up the drawing for all to see.


    ¡°It¡¯s some sort of flying machine,¡± Kokashi clarified. Sapphire switching to look at him face unchanged. ¡°I might have started asking questions¡± He went shrinking down a bit.


    ¡°You know what happens once you start asking Tom questions, Koko. He just keeps going¡± Tom looked like he couldn¡¯t figure out if he should be insulted he was apparently not part of the conversation in which he was the subject or if he should be laughing at Koko.


    Sapphire had picked up on that he did seem to enjoy some of the nicknames they used for each other, even if he hadn¡¯t started using them himself.


    ¡°Sorry I just asked him how he would plan on fighting darklings in the air. One thing led to another and we ended on how they fought in the air back home.¡± Sapphire looked back at Tom. They didn¡¯t need any more projects, they could barely keep up with what he was already doing.


    ¡°It¡¯s a jet fighter from back home, a Euro fighter to be accurate. I tried from memory so not perfect. One of the fastest things we ever built¡±


    ¡°Fastest thing ever, I''ll be the judge of that¡± Jackalope went walking over. She had a look at the weird drawing, Sapphire too was trying to figure out what exactly she was looking at. It didn¡¯t seem like there was any way that could fly. The wings looked like plates more than anything and how did it flap them? and such a weird shape, it looked more like an arrowhead to her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡± Jackalope finally concluded. Sapphire winced a little internally as Tom launched into another lengthy explanation. She did try and listen though and he was being a bit more basic than usual. Especially after Fengi asked how the wings flapped. Apparently, they didn¡¯t, the thing was basically gliding all the time being pushed along by two of what he called jet engines.


    She knew about engines, there was one in the chain saw and one in the quad bike. He had explained there were many kinds and this thing apparently had 2 jet engines with afterburners whatever that meant. It was huge too. Nearly half the size of Archeon by Tom¡¯s estimates and apparently this was a rather small plane. She had gotten a bit more used to the scale humans appeared to work on but still what would a big one look like?


    ¡°How fast is it?¡± Jackalope had inevitably asked, after a few minutes of explanation. Sapphire¡¯s mind went back to the feast where Tom had mentioned they had things that could outrun sound. She looked worriedly at Jackalope.


    ¡°Over two times speed of sound around 2500 kilometers per hour¡± Tom replied matter of factly. ¡°Or around 15 times faster than you. In a straight line.¡± At that one, he smiled a bit.


    Jackalope just froze with her finger held up and mouth slightly agape. It was rather hard to argue with that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you are still the fastest around here¡± Tom added with a chuckle at the stunned expressions around him.


    Dakota gave Jackalope a pat on the back. ¡°You''re faster than me that¡¯s for sure¡± Jackalope finally appeared to snap out of it.


    ¡°yeah, yes I got you good there. Are those the things you talked about at the feast? you know the battle of what was it¡­ brikan?¡±


    ¡°Britain¡± Tom went with a smile ¡±Yes and no, this is what they fly today. Back then though they were a lot slower more like 400 to 600 kilometers an hour¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s just crawling along¡± Jackalope replied. Doing a little hop and dance and sounding about as sarcastic as it was possible to do in Sapphire''s mind.


    ¡°Wait you said that big war wasn¡¯t too long ago. like 80 years right¡± Dakota questioned, sounding a bit confused. Sapphire could get why. That wasn¡¯t even a single lifetime, it was barely over half in fact.


    ¡°Yeah, thereabouts why¡­¡±


    ¡°You made your planes over three times as fast in 80 years?¡± It seemed to dawn on Tom why they found this impossible to believe as he looked up from the drawing.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Right yeah. We move quickly¡±


    ¡°You move quickly... Tom, how long ago did your people learn to fly?¡± Dakota asked, her tone shifting to incredulous.


    ¡°About a 110 if I remember correctly¡±


    ¡°You went from flightless prey to masters of the sky of 110 years?!¡± Dakota pressed on. Sapphire could see Tom did look a little miffed at that comparison.


    ¡°Hey, we weren''t helpless okay, the rifle is around 200 years old¡± What kind of insanity was this. 200 years... was that it?! The keep had stood for at least 700! It had been under Bizamti rule for at least 150. Meaning when Nunuk¡¯s grandmother took the keep Tom¡¯s people hadn¡¯t even learned to fly yet.


    ¡°Tom, any chance you can make one of those? like before I die¡± Jackalope went pointing at the drawing. She was sounding uncharacteristically cautious for once.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so¡± Tom admitted. ¡°Takes thousands of people decades to develop something like this and we lack everything. Not to mention the cost of building one.¡±


    ¡°Thank the gods,¡± Esmeralda added with a sigh Kokashi had perked back up again, realizing he wasn¡¯t about to get scolded for getting Tom started again.


    ¡°Well, your gun was like four or five gold. How bad could it be?¡±


    Tom pulled out the little black thing again, the screen lighting up as he tapped on it a few times.


    ¡°Just a moment¡­ 1.300.000 gold roughly¡­ Each¡± With that Dakota just fainted. None of them even managed to catch her standing stunned. Sapphire did feel kinda bad when she heard the thunk though.


    She knew Dakota helped Apuma with their finances around here. Nunuk had never been much for the numbers after all. That sum of money was likely more than would ever come through the keep, not just in their lifetime but for possibly millennia. They usually traded for around a thousand gold a year, but almost all of that would be to buy things needed around the keep. The rest often being spent on the occasional luxury good, like wine or nice clothes and equipment.


    Sapphire looked down at her necklace. It was probably the most valuable thing she owned since that armor technically belongs to the keep. Still, it was maybe worth maybe 50 gold tops... Was she poor? Tom caught her looking at the necklace and chimed in.


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad no one could afford to buy one themselves. We even have a saying, worth the tip of a jet fighter, meaning something ridiculously expensive¡± He did sound sincere, not even chuckling this time.


    It did make her feel a little better. It wasn¡¯t like it mattered anyway, still, maybe a job would be even better than that shopping trip she had fantasies about. Fengi beat her to the question though.


    ¡°How much money did you have back home?¡±


    Tom pondered that one for a bit.


    ¡°I have debt in the house still so technically negative¡± Fengi raised a finger opening her mouth to speak then seemed to think better of it, lowering the finger again.


    ¡°Dakota can you do that?... Oh... right.¡± They all looked down at their fearless leader still lying on the ground drolling slightly. They quickly got her sitting upright and started brushing her off. It took a little before she came back, so they had her mostly cleaned off when she did.


    ¡°Tom I would like to arrange a loan¡± She went in a groggy voice as she was coming back to her senses


    ¡°Sorry, my money doesn''t work here. Besides, I¡¯m technically in debt.¡±


    ¡°Right, you just borrowed some money before leaving. Kinda smart that.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t do that actually... Dammit, that would have been smart.¡± He looked a little annoyed at that revelation.


    ¡°Then why were you in debt? You haven¡¯t spent it on jewelry that is for sure¡± Sapphire asked. Tom rubbed his arm where they had put on the armbands, they had been a little tight after all.


    ¡°I took a loan to buy the house. It''s very normal for my people. The house is... was the most expensive thing I owed after all¡±


    ¡°What was that worth then?¡± Fengi asked again. She had always been interested in money, growing up alone did tend to do that to you. Sapphire could remember just how important every copper had been from her two years in the capital. Fengi had been born there after all.


    ¡°Tom thought about it for a bit. Around 6.000¡± He went looking a bit nervous.


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jackalope went scoring a slap to the back of the head from Esmeralda. ¡°Sorry, but come on that is a lot of money!¡±


    Sapphire couldn''t argue with that, still, it wouldn¡¯t change his position as the second richest person here. The keep itself was worth a fair bit more than that she was sure, so that title still went to Nunuk. Not to mention her armor and other things she had, be they passed down, bought by herself, or earned.


    ¡°If you are curious I usually made a bit more than 1.000 gold a year when I was working before tax. you pay taxes too by giving some to the crown right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah we do, once a year usually autumn the collector comes, we usually don¡¯t pay in money though. we give them supplies. It¡¯s much cheaper for us. That and the fact they can call us to war if necessary.¡± Dakota answered.


    ¡°That makes sense, sounds like how we did it a long time ago. Now though some of every gold I earn goes to my country, around half in fact.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s absurd¡± Fengi protested, ¡°half of everything you earn is taken? also, did you say 1.000 a year or ever?¡± She did sound a bit timid at that last point.


    ¡°How do you think we pay for jet fighters?¡± he replied with a smile¡°And yeah 1.000 a year, after-tax more like 500 though.¡±


    Fengi had a bit of a think about that one, still, it was clear she found the notion insane. 500 gold a year was crazy even if it was just half of what you had earned. They would be lucky to make 5 on a good year. They didn¡¯t really need any money, but it was the thought that counted. They got everything they needed from the keep after all. So it was mostly spent on jewelry or other trinkets and things, traders brought with them.


    That would make Tom some kind of noble at least and not one of a frontier keep like this one. That was capitol or mayor keep levels of noble. He didn¡¯t seem like one though, not at all actually. In fact, Sapphire had a hard time coming up with people she considered less like a noble. He had even helped and in fact, outworked them with both plowing and spreading manure. She even had a hard time imagining Nunuk agreeing to that kind of work. Not to mention some pompous prick walking about in gold-lined silks. It couldn¡¯t hurt to ask though and she was fairly sure Tom wouldn¡¯t min.


    ¡°Are you a noble of some kind then?¡± She was right. In fact, he started laughing a bit at that before he got it back under control looking a bit shamefully at them.


    ¡°No, not even close. I was an engineer, remember? Well educated sure and I had a good enough job, but still just a worker.¡±


    ¡°Any chance we could go to where you were from instead. I would like to try to be rich¡± Fengi added incautiously, a hint of dreaminess to her voice. Yeah, that job idea didn¡¯t seem so bad to Sapphire either right now.


    ¡°Not that I know of. I didn¡¯t just go here after all. don¡¯t you think some of all the things we are working on is gonna be worth a lot of money? Not even mentioning the sugar plan.¡±


    Fengi¡¯s ears perked back up at that Dakota just nodded sagely. Sapphire caught herself thinking about just some of the luxuries she had seen in the capitol. Silk clothes, magic swords, sweet foods. That last one might be happening in the not too distant future in fact. She couldn¡¯t help but feel rather lucky all things considered.


    ¡°Do you even get paid?¡± Tom then had asked, causing all heads to turn to Dakota.


    ¡°Well, sorta¡­ When the keep makes money we all get a share depending on rank. Besides it¡¯s not often we get to spend it on anything.¡±


    ¡°Like a pirate crew then.¡± there was silence for a moment as they waited for Tom to explain what a pirate was but he apparently decided not to.


    ¡°Sure¡­ I think. Anyway, we don¡¯t tend to make much out here. Leather and pelts are only worth so much and most of what we earn is spent buying the things we need, but can¡¯t make.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s about to change¡± Tom replied in an optimistic tone.


    ¡°Damn good thing Nunuk got you to swear those oaths. I can¡¯t wait to try sweets again¡± Esmeralda added. That had been a rather brilliant move. Sapphire didn¡¯t get the feeling Tom was wanting to depart anytime soon though. Nor was she certain an oath would in fact stop him.


    ¡°Well, while we are here. Kokashi, I am going to need a vow of silence¡± Tom then produced the little box of sweets from way back when.


    It took the guard a second before he figured it out and nodded eagerly. ¡°Complete silence, no problem.¡±


    They were just as good as she remembered, so sweet! It almost felt wrong to eat something that valuable, but if this was their future Sapphire was so ready.

 Overloaded

    Chapter 52: Overloaded


    They had savored the sweets one and all. He hadn¡¯t let them know he actually had a rather large box of them with him, this was just a little one good for taking with you. They were clearly a trade commodity though so best not to eat them all.


    After the little break, they had been wanting to get back on the wing, next up was apparently switch carrying. Dakota seemed to believe that since Tom was now technically part of the huntresses it would be smart to get that particular maneuver trained thoroughly. Tom didn¡¯t disagree, not to mention flying was great fun when it wasn¡¯t a matter of life or death. That had sort of been the norm though thus far so he was all for a change of pace.


    Sapphire hadn¡¯t partaken in this part though. Understandable, Tom thought. In the end, it had evolved into a kind of aerial hot potato as they took turns carrying and moving him from huntress to huntress. It was great fun. Especially when Jackalope decided to try and scare him again. This time though all he gave her were cheers beckoning her to go faster.


    She responded by pulling what kind of maneuvers she could manage with him on board. In the end, she had gone for a loop though that ended with a kind of awkward Looney Tunes moment at the zenith as she stalled before falling back down. It took a bit longer than Tom had hoped before she managed to roll into the dive and spread out her wings again. That one had managed to get an ¡°Oh shit!¡± out of him. The feeling of going weightless when you weren''t expecting it was rather disconcerting.


    ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work¡± Jackalope went, sounding more annoyed than disturbed by the failed maneuver.


    ¡°Yeah let¡¯s not try that one again¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, are you scared back there?¡± Oh come on, he was allowed to be a little scared up here, wasn''t he?


    ¡°Don¡¯t like dying that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t die, dipshit. Now let¡¯s try again¡±


    ¡°Hey. I haven''t had the best luck up here, remember?¡± Tom tried his best to sound like he wasn¡¯t terrified.


    ¡°That was all when things were trying to kill you. I ain¡¯t, now let¡¯s go¡± Well he was likely along for the ride whether he wanted to or not and her logic was sound. She began climbing, beating hard to get more altitude.


    ¡°Hang on then¡± She went rolling over, pulling down into a vertical dive. Okay, that should take care of the speed alright, Tom thought, as they rocketed downwards. He had no clue how fast they were going but his goggles were no longer optional, that was for sure.


    Jackalope tried to say something, he couldn¡¯t make it out though over the screaming wind. He just held on for dear life as she began to pull up. He had never really tried pulling G¡¯s outside of a roller coaster before, but he sure as shit was now. He could feel Jackalope fighting the weight too and he could see her cutting her teeth in a snarl as they came around.


    All he could do was hope she knew what she was doing as he held on, not that he really needed to being pressed down onto her back. He closed his eyes as passed the zenith again this time though they were almost going too fast he reckoned they were still doing well over a hundred as she began the dive picking up speed again. Once again the G¡¯s climbed and he even found himself struggling to breathe. She had done it though as they leveled back out again.


    They both needed a breather after that one. Jackalope broke the silence after a bit of gliding as the speed dropped off.


    ¡°See I told you I could do it.¡±


    ¡°You sure did. that looked painful though¡±


    ¡°Nah I¡¯m fine just a hard turn that¡¯s all¡± Tom wasn¡¯t entirely convinced by that but she had done it, there was no denying that. If there was a next time he might even enjoy it.


    As they glided, Fengi came alongside for a chat, Kokashi trailing behind.


    ¡°That was amazing Jacky!¡±


    ¡°Thanks there, the idiot didn¡¯t think I could do it¡±


    ¡°Well we all know that¡¯s a dangerous thing to say¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± He protested ¡°I just thought it was a bad idea.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Fengi. Would you mind taking him for a bit? getting a little tired.¡± Yeah, that loop had taken a toll, Tom was sure of that now.


    ¡°Sure should we put him on Kokashi?¡± She shouted over, looking back to the guard trailing behind her. He was likely not able to hear them at this distance though. Jackalope just laughed at that. And she did in fact sound a little pained.


    ¡°Has he even tried to lift Tom before?¡±


    ¡°No, but he was dumb enough to follow us up here, let¡¯s see what he is made off ¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡± Jackalope replied with a chuckle.


    Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure he was okay with this. He was all for experimenting but this seemed like a bad idea. Kokashi wasn¡¯t even the largest of the men, that title went to Anchor. Tom would put Kokashi at around 165 cm and maybe 60 kilos so not tiny either. Add to that the wings were also smaller and even a bit shorter in span in relation to the men as opposed to the women, equaled less dude and less wing area by for the amount of dude. That seemed like a bad combination to Tom.


    The fact that the dragonettes apparently found this funny didn¡¯t help Tom¡¯s confidence. Not to mention his parachute hadn¡¯t been repacked yet, even if still had the reserve this seemed needlessly risky.


    ¡°Is this a good idea?¡± He asked Jackalope.


    ¡°Pfff, no, it''s a brilliant one¡± Was the answer he got from her as Fengi grabbed onto his shoulders and thighs. Lifting him off.


    ¡°Uhmm¡­ are you sure about this?¡± He tried asking Fengi hoping for a different response.


    ¡°Of course, Esmeralda didn¡¯t pick a weakling, so relax.¡± She sounded confident at least. She dropped back to fly over Kokashi. Also, what did she mean pick?


    ¡°Hey Koko, your turn.¡±


    ¡°Uhm okay¡± The guard answered in a very uncertain voice. He likely had a good idea of what Tom weighed from the sparring practice. His lack of confidence didn¡¯t bolster Tom¡¯s either.


    ¡°Ready down there?¡± Fengi went moving to lower Tom down.


    ¡°Uhm, sure¡± Kokashi replied ¡°Why is it I have to do this again?¡± With that Fengi let go.


    ¡°Geez, okay... By the gods.¡±


    Those were not reassuring noises, but they were still flying. It was clear Kokashi was having to work hard just to maintain altitude though. The huntresses could glide for up to a minute between wing beats and still maintain altitude with Tom on board. Kokashi though was beating every few seconds and if Tom knew anything about their endurance that wasn¡¯t something he could do for very long.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Why are you so heavy?¡± Kokashi squeaked out between labored breaths.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not even in armor today and I have lost weight since coming here¡± Tom tried to defend himself. He wasn¡¯t sure it was true, but the beer belly had gotten smaller that was for sure.


    ¡°Uhuh... You still got those weights on?¡±


    ¡°Nope threw them off before we left¡± Kokashi¡¯s head slumped a bit at that.


    ¡°You''re doing great,¡± Fengi cheered him on. Flying alongside. ¡°I told you it wasn''t that hard¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Esmeralda had questioned, having come over to the little air circus. Followed by Dakota.


    ¡°Letting Kokashi prove himself.¡± Jackalope retorted


    ¡°Hey, this wasn¡¯t my idea¡± Kokashi replied.


    ¡°No, but you are doing great.¡± Fengi continued cheerfully.


    ¡°Thanks¡± Kokashi got out, breathing hard and clearly beginning to struggle. Tom wasn¡¯t a fan of the current situation. He felt a bit like a passenger on a plane with a dying engine. The fact the huntresses started going upwards, which must mean they were losing altitude didn''t help.


    ¡°You doing okay there champ?¡± Tom asked a bit worriedly.


    ¡°Yeah... I¡¯m, hmph, good¡± To say Tom wasn¡¯t convinced was an understatement


    ¡°Get him off before he drops¡± Dakota had ordered, she didn¡¯t seem too concerned more annoyed in fact. ¡°it¡¯s not fair on Tom anyway¡±


    ¡°Ohhh, come on let him have a try, we can just catch them if that happens anyway¡± Jackalope argued.


    ¡°Fine, you two better be ready to catch them then.¡± Dakota agreed. Tom was not entirely comfortable with that notion. He liked flying, not falling after all.


    ¡°You better, I don¡¯t wanna put more of you on the ground.¡± Tom tried shouting back up to them. The two of them descended alongside, following along. They did have a fair amount of altitude to use if it came to it.


    ¡°How long do you think he can hold it¡± Jackalope had questioned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, he¡¯s still going though¡± The two of them sounded more like they were watching some sort of sports event.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too hard Hubby!¡± Esmeralda added from above. Kokashi just held up an okay sign.


    He had kept it up for a few minutes struggling to maintain altitude. Climbing a bit and then starting to lose it again. The dude clearly had something to prove. Perhaps he didn¡¯t really feel like admitting defeat in front of all the girls.


    The end had been abrupt as Kokashi appeared to almost faint. Either that or he just gave up completely. His head slumped and the wings locked and he began to dive and rollover. Tom clinging on for dear life. The result of now having Tom dangle from his shoulders was being pulled into a vertical dive going straight for the ground.


    Tom wasn''t very pleased by this, screaming out ¡°What the fuck!¡± As they dived. He would have deemed Kokashi old enough to be past pushing yourself beyond what you could do just because there were girls present, but apparently not.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, it had been a fun, if rather pointless experiment to see how long Kokashi could keep the two of them airborne. Esmeralda dived down after them as he finally buckled under the load. Jackalope and Fengi were already there though, even if getting Tom to let go had been a bit difficult. He for some reason decided that clinging to an unconscious Kokashi was a good idea, Jackalope had managed to pry him off eventually though. Fengi grabbed Kokashi before he paid for overreaching himselfe.


    Sapphire and Dakota swooped down following them to the ground. They had ended up close to the small lake they got their water from, so perhaps it was time for another short break before they called it a day. Besides, Tom might need to stretch his legs after being used as dead weight for an hour.


    She had landed to find Tom mid discussion with Jackalope and Fengi.


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s normal to faint? That doesn''t seem very safe.¡±


    ¡°Well we don¡¯t get too hot up there when working hard¡± Jackalope had tried to explain


    ¡°So you just drop?¡±


    ¡°Well, you have to be an idiot or, trying to prove something to do it but yeah¡±


    Tom just shook his head at that. ¡°Remind me to never fly with just one of you¡±


    ¡°Sure there master of the skies¡± Jackalope laughed sarcastically.


    Sapphire sighed a bit, this had been supposed to be a relaxing trip for Tom. Still, it had mostly been so, hopefully, he had enjoyed Jackalope doing some acrobatics with him.


    ¡°If it makes you feel better you weren''t any lighter in that loop¡± Jackalope gave him a playful shove.


    ¡°Yeah okay, that was awesome¡± That was good to hear at least and Sapphire sighed a sigh of relief.


    They sat down in the grass getting out a few more snacks. It was hard work doing flight training after all. Kokashi in particular was out for the count for the moment lying across Esmeralda''s lap as she scolded him for being so reckless. It wasn¡¯t really his fault though, not entirely at least. They all knew well enough how that was going to go after all.


    After they had eaten for a bit Tom got up and walked down to the water, sticking his finger in it. Then he started taking things off? The parachute backpack thing, boot shirt it all came of. Sapphire just pointed to the strange sight and the others turned to look one by one.


    In the end, he just had the underpants covering his private parts. He turned back to look at them noticing he was now the center of attention. It didn¡¯t seem to phase him though.


    ¡°What, this isn¡¯t news to you¡± He went holding up his arms. ¡°I¡¯m going for a swim.¡±


    He waded aways out into the water before letting himself fall forwards into it with a splash.


    All of them except for Esmeralda and Kokashi ran down to the shore to see what the lunatic was doing. There was an awful lot of splashing and flailing about, but no screaming so all must be well. Sapphire couldn''t work out how he was managing to breathe, but he just kept going so he must be somehow, he swam a ways out into the small lake into what Sapphire assumed must be rather deep water, then he just disappeared!


    They all collectively gasped.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Sapphire let out.


    ¡°Did a demon grab him?¡± Jackalope added, sounding almost panicked.


    ¡°Is he dead?¡± Fengi asked, sounding like she was on the verge of tears


    ¡°No, he isn¡¯t¡± Dakota answered calmly ¡°He¡¯s diving, he did it that night too¡±


    ¡°But he can¡¯t breathe down there can he?¡± Sapphire had to ask. Tom could do some weird things, but he did seem to need to breathe just like them.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be up again shortly¡± right on cue his head popped back up again and sighs of relief could be heard along the shore. Dakota just shook her head disapprovingly. ¡°And I don¡¯t think there are any water demons in a lake right next to our keep either, Jacky¡±


    ¡°Right obviously. How bad was it?¡± Jackalope asked, seeming uncertain.


    ¡°It was the worst thing I have ever experienced¡±


    ¡°Does that include the time you...¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± Dakota cut her off


    ¡°It doesn''t seem so bad to me,¡± Sapphire added in Perhaps it did have to do with the happy idiot currently demonstrating, but it looked easy enough.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you go out and try?¡± Dakota replied dismissively.


    ¡°But it''s so cold isn¡¯t it?¡± Sapphire asked


    Fengi stuck a finger in the water. ¡°Not as bad here for some reason. Still cold though¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small lake, it gets warm faster¡± Dakota clarified.


    ¡°So I won''t die immediately, is what you''re saying?¡± Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°You could drown¡± Dakota just stated, sitting down to look out over the water.


    It took a while, but eventually, Tom came paddling back to shore. Looking at the spectators he had gathered.


    ¡°That was refreshing, anyone brave enough to try what we teach our children before they can walk?¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± Fengi let out in disbelief. Sapphire just looked at the smiling Tom to try and work out if he was lying this time. No sign of it though.


    ¡°So you''re saying we look like a bunch of children for not wanting to die?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°If it was dangerous we wouldn''t do it with the kids now would we?¡± Tom asked, sitting down in the water leaving his head above water. Sapphire didn¡¯t much enjoy being called a coward even if it was a little indirect. She looked at Jackalope wondering if the bundle of muscle had what it took to go into the water?


    ¡°Come on, it''s nice,¡± Tom beckoned, with a grin.


    Jackalope now turned to look at Sapphire, their eyes locking. Jackalope looked rather worried, Sapphire thought. Even if she was clearly trying to hide it, her eyes spoke the truth though. Sapphire trusted Tom and it was rather rare to get the opportunity to show up Jackalope for bravery. Her clothes were leather and hide, so no need to take them off. Besides they might help her a little with keeping warm. She started unbuckling anything loose or easy to get off, like her knife and the pouch of snacks hanging from her belt. She kept looking at Jackalope as she put a foot into the water, Jackalope''s brow furrowing.


    ¡°You would dare¡± Jackalope protested, clearly dismayed. ¡°No way¡±


    Sapphire just cracked a smile turning back to look at Tom, expression going stern. Okay, they did this with children. She could beat a child, no problem. It was just water, she bathed in it, drank it, and cleaned with it. She wasn¡¯t scared of something that normal and nothing had eaten Tom yet, so surely there wasn''t anything hiding in it. As she took another step into the lake she could feel the cold against her skin, that was a most unpleasant experience. She couldn¡¯t be in here that long then, even if it was warmer.


    The bottom was muddy and gross like a weird perversion of mud. It made her spine shiver as she took another step.


    ¡°There we go,¡± Tom encouraged. ¡°See it''s not so bad.¡±


    No you moron, she was just standing in the water right now. It was what came next she was worried about as she continued to wade out into the deeper water where Tom was standing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die okay¡± Fengi piped in from behind her.


    ¡°Thanks for the encouragement, Fengi, I truly appreciate it¡± She replied back.


    ¡°No problem¡± came the reply, sounding happy enough to confirm Sapphire''s sarcasm hadn¡¯t been noticed.

 Swimming Lessons

    Chapter 53: Swimming Lessons


    He hadn¡¯t actually expected any of them to go in. He had just wanted to make a little fun of them for not daring to do so. It had been abundantly clear that Dakota had not enjoyed the experience. Yet Sapphire apparently found the guts to try. Judging by the staring contest with Jackalope it was most likely to try and outdo her.


    Jackalope had not left the shore, looking on in dismay from a safe distance. As Sapphire made it out to where he was standing about waist deep. Fengi was bouncing around, hands fidgeting in her mouth clearly conflicted by what she was seeing. Even when she was scared she looked adorable, Tom mused.


    Sapphire hadn¡¯t taken any of her clothes off. Even if the leather likely wouldn¡¯t cause too many problems she would probably regret that when she got back out again.


    ¡°Right what now?¡± She asked. Tom thought on that one for a minute, he had never actually taught someone to swim before. Least of all a grown woman with wings. Still, it should be fun to try.


    ¡°I think It would be easiest for me to hold you while you try and swim. You need to go like this¡± He started trying to show her what to do with her arms and legs, teaching her when it was smart to breathe. He did a little demonstration too, swimming around her for a bit.


    ¡°Okay, doesn¡¯t seem too hard... It won''t hurt right?¡± Tom shook his head bemused and she did a little jump psyching herself up. ¡°Right, let¡¯s do this!¡±


    Tom held her by the waist as she slowly lowered into the water, he held her level for a bit so she could get a feel for the water. She was clearly tense, but she wasn¡¯t panicking yet, so that was good. She slowly tried doing breaststrokes as had shown her. He began walking with her through the water. He was still holding her up, but she was going forwards under her own steam. Even if it was catastrophically slow.


    ¡°You''re doing great, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really weird and cold, but not too bad¡± She replied with very false calm. She was keeping her head well out of the water using her neck. The result of course was that her torso was going down deeper forcing Tom to adjust his grip up higher. For someone used to flying she wasn¡¯t very good at keeping level that was for sure.


    ¡°Try and push upwards with your arms so you keep your head above water okay¡± She once again fumbled around a bit, splashing water everywhere but it did sort of work. Getting her to a sort of level.


    It was by no means graceful but she was afloat. She still had a very stern face on, clearly concentrating on what she was doing. In fact, she looked a bit like a retarded swan craning her neck like that. He tried his best not to laugh.


    ¡°Right that¡¯s good now the legs, that is the best way to go forwards¡± She started kicking harder and he could feel her starting to push forward with every stroke.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, keep going¡± He began to slowly let go of her. He could feel her go tense a few times, she even got her head below the water once. He helped her up again as she shook the water off. It didn''t take long before he let go completely, she was still going very slowly and by now mostly just trying to keep her head above water. He also just kept walking alongside, just in case.


    ¡°Behold, a swimming dragonette¡± He cheered, holding up his hands to show he wasn¡¯t helping, then gesturing to Sapphire.


    ¡°Eat it, Jackalope!¡± Sapphire added, sounding somewhere between determined and distracted.


    ¡°You go, girl!¡± Fengi cheered.


    Jackalope stood there looking dismayed, before apparently deciding this just wouldn''t do. She took off any loose items, took a deep if completely unnecessary breath, and marched into the water. She winced at the first step and did a kind of weird tiptoe walk as she made it out deeper still trying to hold her breath.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    She was swimming! She was actually swimming! She was the best! The whole keeping her head above water wasn¡¯t that hard. Even if she wondered how Tom managed it with his short little neck. Tom had sounded very proud and supportive even if the look on his face more than told her, he thought she looked ridiculous. She didn¡¯t even care if she did, no-one around here could swim.


    She hadn¡¯t quite decided if this was more awesome or terrifying though, but Tom was following along, so even if she messed up she wouldn¡¯t drown. She wondered just how far she had managed to swim, wait how deep was it? She tried to touch the bottom with her foot. She tried a few times until her head went under on one stroke, the cold water made her gasp. Which she quickly found out was a mistake as she breathed down the cold water.


    Tom pulled her out as she began coughing up water. No this was more terrifying. Definitely terrifying. She hadn¡¯t even been able to reach the bottom. She must have made it out way too far. As Tom held her up and let her get her breath, it did dawn on her that he was currently standing¡­


    ¡°There you go, get it out.¡± He sounded calm as ever ¡°If you want to touch the bottom you need to stand up, but practice makes perfect. Might need to teach you to tread water¡±


    Then she heard Jackalope letting out a burst of nervous laughter. So she had decided she could do it too¡­ Dammit.


    It was rare for her to not be laughing her ass off when Sapphire was in a position like this though. So she was clearly terrified too, possibly even more than Sapphire. Tom helped Sapphire back on her feet. Turning his attention to Jackalope.


    ¡°Well, well, well look who took her brave pills¡±


    ¡°You have those?¡± Jackalope asked, sounding a little hopeful.


    ¡°Sadly not.¡± Tom patted the disappointed Jackalope on her shoulder ¡°Anyway, so you wanna try too?¡± Then there was a splash as Fengi landed. She let out a screech upon entering the cold water and immediately looked like she regretted what she had just done.


    ¡°My gods that feels weird is it all this mucky?!¡± Sapphire could see her clawing at the bottom, it was a very strange feeling that was for sure.


    ¡°Well, that was an entrance¡± Tom went in surprise. Fengi snaped to attention looking at him.


    ¡°If they can do it so can I¡± She replied in a confident practiced voice. ¡°It won¡¯t hurt will it?¡± In a not so confident tone, her posture breaking as well.


    Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen that one coming, Fengi was usually not one to get caught up in her and Jackalope''s rivalry. Still, she had been first on this one too. Even if she was probably not going to be the only swimmer in the keep anyway.


    Tom had started teaching all three of them then. He started with getting them used to have their heads below water. That was most likely the least nice piece of training Sapphire had ever done. It took several minutes to convince Jackalope it wouldn¡¯t kill or hurt her.


    It was apparently supposed to teach them not to breathe underwater since they did struggle a bit with that. Well, it was hard not to gasp for air when something that cold hit your face genius, Sapphire thought to herself.


    ¡°You do this to your children!?¡± Jackalope questioned ¡°It¡¯s terrifying¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they laugh though, this is a game to them. Normally we would count jumping up and down before going under¡± He replied, sounding cheery. ¡°We also try and see who can hold their breath the longest¡±


    ¡°Your kids are fucking badasses¡± Jackalope added. Tom just laughed a bit at that.


    ¡°Well, they ain¡¯t scared of it, can¡¯t be brave if you aren''t scared¡± Sapphire needed to remember that one, for Dakota. It even made sense. ¡°What about the others, I¡¯m guessing Dakota doesn''t wanna try?¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t think so either and Esmeralda has a husband to tend to¡± Sapphire replied.


    ¡°How can¡¯t they be scared of this. What¡¯s wrong with them?!¡± Jackalope protested, clearly trying to stall before they were supposed to go back under. Tom though just started counting down again, to her evident dismay.


    ¡°3,2,1 deep breath¡± by the gods that was unpleasant. After having done the maneuver several times already Sapphire was more uncomfortable and less terrified. Nothing bad had happened yet after all.


    As she came back up Tom answered Jackalope ¡°Would you be surprised to know I¡¯m scared of heights?¡± Scared of heights? Well, it sort of made sense if you couldn¡¯t fly but still, Tom flew with them all the time?


    Fengi beat her to the question though ¡°Then why would you go flying with us?¡±


    ¡°Not scared of flying, just heights. Many humans have it. If I stand on a ledge I¡¯m scared to look down.¡± That was an odd arrangement. Sapphire wasn¡¯t really sure how it was possible to be scared of one and not the other. If anything flying was more dangerous than standing in a tall place.


    "So you aren''t scared when flying with us?¡± Sapphire asked.


    ¡°Well I wasn''t afraid of flying, coming here might have ruined that. Definitely afraid of falling now.¡± That one Sapphire could understand, he hadn¡¯t had the best luck with staying airborne. ¡°Besides a little scary is exciting in a way¡±


    ¡°Fuck yeah¡± Jackalope in the wheeziest voice Sapphire had heard in a long time. It was clear she wasn¡¯t here because she enjoyed it. Still, she was doing her best to keep up appearances.


    They had continued with the various exercises, it wasn¡¯t pleasant but the more they did them the less scary it became. His teachings appeared to be working then. Tom had taken Jackalope and Fengi through the same lessons as Sapphire where she learned what Tom called the breaststroke. There were apparently many ways to swim. One kind was plenty for Sapphire, being able to brag about being able to swim sounded awesome to her. One kind would do just fine for that.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    While he was going at Fengi Sapphire had Challenged Jackalope to a race, which she of course easily won, having had several more minutes to master the art of swimming.


    ¡°Eat my tail, Jacky!¡±


    ¡°Why am I not going forwards?!¡± came the reply from behind. He, he, she wasn¡¯t going to tell. __________________________________________________________________________________


    They had all done very well. They were clearly scared but after a while he had them splashing around under their own power, so he just kept watch on them. The dunking exercise did seem to have taken the edge off the fear, so perhaps it was time to see if he could get them to have a little fun. Sapphire and jackalope had already started racing so that was a good start. He wasn¡¯t gonna ruin their good mood though.


    The plan was simple. Go behind Jackalope and splashed water at Sapphire and blame Jackalope. It was quite possibly the oldest trick in the book, but it was in it for a reason.


    When the water hit Sapphire, she looked like she had just found a cockroach letting out a screech of surprise ¡°What the¡­ Jacky!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jackalope just managed to look up confused as the spray of water hit her, eliciting a very un Jackalope-like girly shriek from her.


    ¡°Oh, you are going down for that¡± As expected Jackalope immediately returned fire starting the water fight properly. They lacked proper technique but low grav combined with the fact that they were in great shape, especially Jackalope, sent the water flying all around. They of course managed to hit both Tom and Fengi doing so. The two of them looked at each other with a nod, teaming up.


    In the beginning, it was mostly shrieking and curses, but as they started to figure out how to shield their mouth and nose from the incoming water. Laughter began to spread, Tom was having a great time, currently pouring water onto Sapphire, Fengi following suit.


    ¡°Jackalope started it!¡± Sapphire protested at being hit from multiple sides, Fengi and Tom dutifully responded switching fire to Jackalope.


    ¡°No, I didn''t, you moron, you splashed me.¡± Jackalope tried to defend, realizing she was now outnumbered three to one she elected to try and even the odds charging at Sapphire. Running in water wasn¡¯t something they had been trained in though so she only managed to fall face-first into the water. It was only Tom laughing before he managed to stifle it, looking a bit guilty. Jackalope''s head soon came back out of the water though looking defeated.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t work.¡± She concluded, water running off her face.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s what you get for splashing water at me¡± Sapphire accused,


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it. I swear¡± Tom couldn¡¯t help but crack a laugh at that.


    Fengi looked to him with a quizzical look narrowing her eyes ¡°I think I found the guilty one¡± She said pointing at the laughing Tom. Like there was a need for theatrics, she had seen what he did.


    Jackalope''s head turned to look at Tom, an evil smile starting to show on her face. ¡°Oh you clever little bastard, come over here now!¡± That last order was almost barked at him, time to retreat.


    ¡°Time for some exercise!¡± Tom went running for shallower water. Judging by her first attempt, he was very confident of his chances of outrunning her especially if the waters were shallow. He didn¡¯t hear another splash though, instead, he heard the sound of unfolding wings... As he looked back he saw Fengi giving Jackalope a leg up, to give her the free space she needed to beat her wings. ¡®Well, that just wasn¡¯t fair at all¡¯


    After that, it was only a matter of seconds before Jackalope slammed into him with considerable speed. They both went in, with a big splash, water going everywhere. He had to commend Jackalope for the dedication, even if he was fairly sure he now sported a few new scratches and bruises. She had been utterly terrified to start with. Possibly the most scared in fact and here she was, trying to wrestle in the water.


    She was larger and definitely stronger than him. Not to mention a lot more experienced by his reckoning. But they were in the water now, this might be his only chance to actually win against her in a wrestling match.


    His hopes were rather quickly dashed after he found himself in a tight arm lock on the bottom, holding his breath, wondering just how he got there. Then she got a proper grip on him and hoisted him out of the water and clear of her head. He hadn¡¯t tried that in decades. Being lifted over someone''s head was something you did with small children. Just like his father used to do when he was little in fact.


    ¡°So, going to say sorry?¡± She asked him as she balanced him up there.


    ¡°Fuck no. This is great!¡± He couldn¡¯t see her reaction but he hoped it was a head-tilt followed by another of those incredulous expressions, that just never got old.


    ¡°Right I forgot, you''re fucking crazy¡± With a grunt of effort, Tom went flying. He couldn''t resist the urge to go ¡°Wuhuu¡± as he went in, this was turning into the best day ever. It had been a good toss too, but he wondered if she could do better? He got back up and turned back to Jackalope pretending to crack his neck.


    ¡°You know, now I¡¯m gonna try to make you do that again right?¡± She just shook her head, hunkering down, arms spread ready to greet him.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not surrendering to no man, that¡¯s for sure! Not even in water!¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m a huntress now. Remember?¡±


    ¡°Well come prove it then, rookie!¡± She roared out her challenge. She would likely have been scarier if she hadn''t been quivering with fear at playing a kids game mere minutes before. That did take most of the fire out of her eyes.


    She didn¡¯t need to say it twice though. He charged as quickly as the just below waist-deep water would allow. It was most likely the least terrifying thing she had ever seen so maybe that would help with her fear of water. This time he had a plan though.


    As he got close he dived in headfirst. He was gonna go for the legs. The water was murky following their initial struggle so he was confident she couldn¡¯t see him down here. So hopefully she would miss trying to grab him.


    He felt her clawed fingers try and get a hold of him, had she been willing to use those claws she would likely have succeeded. As it was though he managed to slip pas bumping into her legs and grabbed on. He brought his legs in under him and lifted with all he could muster, sending her sprawling onto her back with a splash. She spread her wings to try and stop the fall. That did manage to keep her from going too deep into the water.


    Tom was a little worried for a second as she began kicking with her clawed feet. Those things were more like what you would imagine on a raptor and the claws were ten to fifteen centimeters long each. He made sure to keep them as far away from his face as possible. In keeping her legs up high he did force her head underwater though, as she flailed around there were some gurgling noises. He tried turning her around so he could pin her down but the wings made that impossible. In the end, he let go. He didn''t want to ruin all the good progress she had made by keeping her underwater.


    She came back up with a splutter and a cough though it did seem she had avoided the worst of it. She didn¡¯t look like she was done though not even close in fact. Her eyes locked on what he guessed was about to be his very sorry arse. He tried to grab her legs again, but she managed to pull them back under her crouching down.


    Her eyes almost seemed to glow or even flicker as with a power full leap and a single beat of her wings she went sailing clean over him. Tom admitted he hadn¡¯t seen that one coming. Even in this gravity, he would be lucky to make much more than a meter of the ground.


    Looking up in amazement wasn¡¯t the best tactic though. As he pondered how much the extra joint in her legs had helped. He felt her grab him by the waist from behind and he once again went flying through the air. He hadn¡¯t been suplexed before either, even if he and a few drunk friends had once tried to do it to each other with very little success. As he pondered what had just happened he slammed into the water once again with a splash.


    He was fumbling around for a bit before he got his head back out of the water with a huge grin on his face.


    ¡°Are you done or do I need to teach you again?¡± Jackalope went looking down at his head held high.


    ¡°Again¡± was all he bothered to respond as he once again tried to charge her at a snail''s pace.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it hurt to get thrown like that?¡± Sapphire asked, she and Fengi having made their way over.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s great.¡± He replied enthusiastically.


    ¡°What the?! No, Fengi!¡± He heard a splash from behind and turned to see a laughing Fenig who had apparently just surprised a now very unamused looking Sapphire.


    The two of them went at it as Tom watched it didn¡¯t take too long before Sapphire got her revenge, getting a hold of Fengi by the thigh and shoulder spinning her around a few times before letting her fly. She actually got a fair amount of distance before hitting the water. Tom waited to see if Fengi was okay before turning back to Jackalope.


    ¡°Do that, do that¡± He went excitedly pointing to where Fengi had landed. Jackalope''s face turned to an incredulous grin as she shook her head.


    ¡°If you say so¡± she replied in a chuckle.


    ¡°Yuus!¡± Tom made his way over and she grabbed him. She took three full revolutions before letting go. The air time felt like several seconds to him as he went sailing through the air coming down on his back. That had been incredible.


    He had gone even further than Fengi. Looking back to where Jackalope was standing rubbing her hands. It had in fact been a truly ridiculous throw. How did she do that? He didn¡¯t even care, this was officially the best day ever. ¡°Again!¡±


    They kept at it for a bit, before they had all been suitably tired out. He even managed to beat Jackalope eventually having tired her out completely. He also tried to throw her as best he could. It was a rather pathetic effort by comparison, but she did go flying in the end. They were clearly getting rather cold though not to mention he had clearly pushed Jackalope as far as she could go for now. So he called an end to the first swimming lesson, feeling proud of what he had achieved.


    He did still have a little unfinished business with one of the participants though.


    ¡°You look so cold Fengi, wanna piggyback?¡± He asked, getting a look of somewhere between betrayal and annoyance from Sapphire and Jackalope.


    ¡°Sure, it''s so cold, how do you stand it?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s always warm¡± Jackalope helpfully informed her, in a tired and annoyed tone. If he was being fair she was the one who really needed a piggyback.


    ¡°Oh right of course¡± Fengi seemed even keener on a ride at that notion and she got on. ¡®Foolish girl, you have committed a grave error¡¯ Tom thought to himself pulling an evil grin at the other two. Before grabbing Fengi¡¯s legs, holding on tight so she couldn''t get off, turned and ran back out towards deeper water. She had ratted him out and today the price for betrayal was a going in the deep end.


    It took her a second to figure out what was happening, at least judging by the whining she let out eventually.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not that Good Tom stop I wanna go back.¡± She would get back in due time.


    ¡°Now remember. Deep breath, we¡¯re going diving. hang on!¡± The screaming stopped and her grip tightened. So he assumed she had done as instructed.


    He leaped forwards in as tall of an arc as he could manage. Once in the water he let go of her legs and began swimming down to maintain depth for a bit going along the bottom as she held on tight. He didn¡¯t know how long she could hold her breath so he pulled up rather quickly, surfacing. She was holding on for dear life but there wasn¡¯t any coughing, so it would seem the training had worked.


    He kept on swimming until he was fairly confident he couldn¡¯t reach the bottom anymore.


    ¡°So hows the ride,¡± He asked sarcastically


    ¡°You''re not being funny right now.¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m being Kokashi and I¡¯m getting so tired¡±


    ¡°No No No, you can¡¯t leave me out here¡±


    ¡°But you are too heavy Fengi, I can¡¯t do it.¡± Tom began slowing down the strokes, his head going beneath the water. After taking a big breath of course. He could feel her shaking his shoulders as they slowly settled in the water. She didn¡¯t let go though, even if she did get more and more violent with his shoulders. Eventually, she even bonked him on the head with her snout. Fine then. With a single stroke, he shot back out of the water and started swimming along again.


    ¡°Ahr much better, just needed a little break.¡± He actually got a chuckle from her at that. ¡°Not convinced then?¡±


    ¡°What would happen if you let me drown out here hmm¡­¡± That was a good point.


    ¡°Well better take another deep breath then, else you might.¡± He gave her a second to do it before he dived down deep, looking for the bottom. It wasn¡¯t much more than two meters down, still, it was rather deep for a swimmer this inexperienced so he pulled up after touching the mud coming back to the surface.


    There was a gasp for air from behind him as they surfaced. They really needed to work on that if they were to get any good at diving. He didn¡¯t think that was a likely scenario though, so who cared.


    ¡°How long can you stay down there? That was almost painful,¡± Fengi asked between labored breaths.


    ¡°Not too long, but longer than that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can. Please don¡¯t stay down there any longer¡± she replied in a pleading tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won''t when I need to go up, just pull my shoulders, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡± She replied in a very unconvincing tone.


    He swam around a bit more doing a few more dives trying to get her used to it and testing how long she could hold her breath. In the end, around 15-20 seconds was about it, which was rather poor. Especially when you were the passenger. He didn''t have any doubt Fengi was in great physical shape so perhaps that was just a dragonette thing. He had his fun though and began making his way back to shore, joining the others as they got out of the water.

 How I Grew Up

    Chapter 54: How I Grew Up


    Tom and the others had gotten out of the water all dripping wet and with big smiles all around. Even if they were cold enough their legs were wobbling under them. That had been a success beyond his wildest dreams.


    Kokashi was doing a lot better when they got back. He still looked rather worn out and was clearly not allowed to leave Esmeralda¡¯s lap yet. He was talking though so that was good.


    The girls quickly learned leather may not have been much of a hindrance in the water but it still got waterlogged and hence very cold when they got out, especially with a bit of wind thrown in.


    They were getting cold enough at this point they were actually starting to slow down. After standing still in the air dripping wet for a bit Fengi wasn¡¯t even making sense anymore. Him Esmeralda and Dakota helped them quickly strip off the wet leathers leaving them in just undergarments.


    Tom let them use his clothes to try and dry themselves off as best they could. Next time they should perhaps bring some towels. In this weather, he could manage with wet clothes for a bit once he had warmed up too, so it wasn¡¯t that big of a deal.


    Sapphire had caught him staring a few times and even posed for him with a grin, despite wobbling and struggling to hold her balance. Much to the amusement of the others who had seemingly also noticed his not so discreet staring. He just looked down a bit ashamedly, it was damn hard not to look though. Besides he was sitting in his underpants as well and it wasn¡¯t like they hadn¡¯t all stared at him.


    It was very weird to see girls without breasts at all. Their chests were just smooth, the wide scaly plates continuing down uninterrupted. They were just so definitely feminine though, everything else was there, thin slender neck, thin waist, wider hips. Their chests were deep too, most likely a result of all the extra muscles for the wings. in all, they were all well toned with muscle even if their thick leathery skin did well to hide some of it. That combined with the sleek snout, sharp teeth, claws, and those piercing eyes was all a little disconcerting. A dangerous kind of beauty, but most definitely beauty.


    They had sat down in a circle with the others to warm up and actually do a bit of the relaxing they had come down here for. The sun was still fairly high in the sky and the climate was very mild around here. Tom guessed the air temp was around 22 degrees and it wasn¡¯t that windy either which was rare.


    ¡°So then, how was the water?¡± Esmeralda asked delicately, looking at the three, slightly miserable looking dragonettes.


    ¡°Cold, Sapphire replied, but not bad actually. It doesn''t even hurt when you are thrown around while wrestling, that was great fun.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t even that hard to swim either¡± Fengi added.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you people haven''t trained swimming. You''re naturals¡± Tom added in. He had been genuinely surprised there hadn¡¯t been more problems with getting them out swimming. Even if they were clearly scared of it, to begin with.


    ¡°Well if you crash in the water that¡¯s usually it. We can''t take off from water anyway¡± Dakota added grimly.


    ¡°But you could swim to shore?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to just avoid going in.¡± She replied dismissively.


    ¡°Not that reliable though¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t¡± Dakota looked away ¡°So what. You want to start teaching us all to swim as well?¡± her tone was starting to sound a little irritated. So he should maybe be a bit more careful. He could definitely understand why Dakota wasn¡¯t a fan of the water after all.


    ¡°Not if you don¡¯t want to, but you clearly can do it¡± he gestured at wet ones. ¡°Might be useful¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not going in¡±


    ¡°Understandable.¡± Dakota just sighed looking off into the distance. He didn¡¯t really know what to say though. Luckily Sapphire and Jackalope saved them from an awkward silence by breaking into a discussion on who was faster in the water.


    Sapphire had apparently won the race, but Jackalope claimed she cheated. Since she herself had just finished Tom¡¯s basic training by then and was obviously faster now that she had mastered the breaststroke.


    They had sat around chatting and bickering for a bit, exchanging whatever stories they could come up with. Tom told them about some different water sports, swimming halls and the like. Including some memories of his childhood playing on the beach with his father.


    ¡°That''s why I thought it was so great to get thrown around. It was just like old times. For us, we only get to experience that when we are kids. So thank you, that was awesome.¡±


    ¡°No problem there big guy, you could just ask next time,¡± Jackalope replied in a softer than usual tone. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you try it again back home though? If you have these swimming halls are they only for kids? Surely they can¡¯t keep you from the beach?¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t that. We get too heavy. Unless I could find some insanely huge dude no one could do it. At least not like that.¡±


    ¡°While I appreciate the compliment, I¡¯m heavier than you and you managed to chuck me¡­ after a few tries... and not very far.¡± She did let that last one linger with a smug smile on her face. That was more than fair in Tom¡¯s mind, he knew she was strong but that was beyond what he had thought even her capable of, especially following the intensive flying they had just done.


    ¡°Remember everything is heavier where I come from. You can only jump half as high and you fall twice as fast. That is why I use the weights. I¡¯m used to being heavier¡± He could see the gears turning inside Jackalope''s head as she tried to figure it out. This wasn¡¯t his first attempt at explaining it but they clearly struggled with it for some reason ¡°Still you¡¯re a beast of a woman¡±


    She puffed out her chest a bit and straightened her back. ¡°Damn right I am. Keep going like that and I might not even beat your ass for trying to drown me¡±


    ¡°Hey, you put me on the bottom first and I let go. How was I supposed to win otherwise?¡±


    ¡°Fine you got me there, but it wasn¡¯t without reason I put you down there. You sly little bastard.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I got you good there. I honestly didn''t think that was going to work¡± He laughed a bit at just how well that had actually worked. That was normally the kind of maneuver you got caught performing and punished for by everyone.


    Jackalope just shook her head disapprovingly looking at him.


    ¡°Ohh come on it was great fun.¡± She snickered a bit looking off to the others.


    ¡°Yeah, that was a good time.¡±


    Tom sat thinking for a bit. He had one more thing he would like to try.


    ¡°Now since you were offering. I have another favor to ask. I wanna try and jump¡± Please that would be so awesome.


    ¡°What do you mean, jump?¡± Esmeralda questioned pulling Kokashi back into her lap as he tried to get up.


    ¡°Like, with the parachute?¡± The guard asked from the forceful safety of her lap.


    ¡°You know¡± Tom made a gesture with his hand going into the water whistling all the way down.


    ¡°You wanna crash into the water on purpose? From altitude?¡± Esmeralda continued, sounding like a disappointed mother.


    ¡°Sorta I guess, it¡¯s great fun¡± Esmeralda didn¡¯t seem convinced and Jackalope just looked like he had just asked her to kick him in the face.


    ¡°So I could just have dropped you?¡± Dakota asked, putting her head in her hands.


    ¡°Hey, we didn¡¯t know if there was water there or if it was deep enough, we couldn''t see anything. And from that height, I would still have gone splat I think¡±


    ¡°Right¡± Dakota went, shaking her head still in her hands. ¡°Useful to know for next time I guess. How high can we drop you from?¡±


    Right then, this one was his own fault. Now he really couldn¡¯t blame Fengi for making him a guinea pig earlier. He had done it himself this time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, my personal best was 30 meters back home, let¡¯s start there.¡± You could always go higher, after all, lower was a bit more tricky.


    Fengi held up her hand. ¡°How high is that?¡±


    ¡°Well, Jackalope is around 2 meters tall so 15 Jackalopes¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? As in absolutely sure? That is one hell of a fall¡± Sapphire questioned sounding very worried.


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna throw you to your death you know, that and I¡¯m tired as fuck already, not to mention freezing,¡± Jackalope answered dismissively a little hard on that last point. Fair point, he had already pushed here rather hard today after all.


    Tom looked around to the others with a pleading face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I can¡¯t carry you yet¡± Sapphire also dismissed him. Dakota didn¡¯t even bother to look at him and Esmeralda just hugged Kokashi with a worried look on her face.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it¡± Fengi piped up enthusiastically. ¡°But I wanna warm up first¡± That seemed perfectly reasonable to Tom.


    ¡°Awesome¡± He replied happily.


    ¡°Yes,¡± It came from Fengi as she scooted over in the grass and lay down over his lap looking at Jackalope and Sapphire, who were both clearly not pleased by the turn of events. Right ¡®warm-up¡¯ he got it. Back to serving as a water bottle.


    ¡°Oh so nice and warm¡± She let out from her newly found position of superiority. Damn, she was cold though. Uncomfortably so in fact. Tom was almost a little annoyed he didn''t have a thermometer, with him to figure out how cold... No, no, he was supposed to relax and he would do just that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    That had been incredibly good fun in the end. Sapphire had expected it to be an exercise in managing her fear for long enough to claim having learned to swim. The whole going under the water was very unpleasant, but the splashing around had been very good fun. Damn, she was cold though.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The wind chill really didn¡¯t help, she wished she had thought about that before going in. She wondered if she could get away with going over and hugging Tom for a bit, he was so warm after all.


    She had caught him looking when she got off most of her wet clothes, leaving the underwear obviously. She hadn¡¯t quite figured out if he just found the sight strange or appealing though. He had looked quizzical even if that quickly switched to ashamed when he was noticed. Such a lovable idiot. She wasn¡¯t naked or anything like that. He was sitting in his underwear himself crying out loud.


    She did wonder if she in any way looked like a human woman, perhaps that was the reason he looked so quizzical. Did she look strange to him? That was a stupid question actually. Of course she did, she was likely just as strange to him he was to her. She hadn¡¯t seen a human woman yet, but surely he had a picture of one. She would have to ask to see one at some point. Maybe that would clear things up.


    Besides she was certain she looked way better than them. From what Tom had told they stayed at home, well at least they had done. Now for some reason they didn¡¯t do that. He also said they were generally small like the male dragonettes. Sapphire imagined Jackalope scaled down to Unkai¡¯s height and gave a chuckle. That would be hilarious.


    She had listened to Toms¡¯ stories of his home, even if she had a hard time imagining most of what he was talking about, it was still interesting. The notion they made big buildings just to have pools of water to swim in was amazing. So much work just to have some fun. They apparently also had a fair few sports in the water, from racing to dance. Water must be incredibly important to them since they put such great effort into it.


    He had then gone into his childhood a bit, it was a very different story from what she was used to. One mother, one father, and kids, that was a family. They lived in their own house rather than together with others. It did sound a little lonely, but apparently, he spent time with other kids in school and they would visit each other regularly. That part did sound like what she had picked up about life in the cities.


    It sounded like a good childhood, the memory about playing at what he called a beach with his father, was clearly a happy one for him. She could see him smile even as a tear left his eye. She knew he didn''t have his parents anymore. She hadn¡¯t seen hers for over a decade. They should still be alive though, at least she hadn¡¯t heard any different. With the kind of money Tom was talking about, she might even be able to visit sometime.


    She was starting to grasp the notion of how it worked with things being heavier where he was from, it sounded odd though. She couldn''t understand why that would be and Tom didn''t seem to either. Or at least he wasn¡¯t willing to launch into a lengthy explanation about it. That alone brought a smile to her face. The mission had been successful, he wasn''t worrying about work right now. He was just enjoying life.


    Then he had come up with what sounded like the worst idea ever. He wanted to crash willingly, into the water from a considerable height. Sure it hadn¡¯t hurt to be thrown around a bit in the water, but this was something completely different. It was complete madness in fact.


    Even Jackalope wasn¡¯t willing to help him with that one. And she wouldn¡¯t risk trying to carry him into the sky on a freshly healed wing. She was damn cold though, she wondered if he was still warm after being in the water that long.


    That was when Fengi saw her chance to secure the hot stone making sure to let them know that yes he was indeed still nice and warm. Sapphire had looked to Jackalope who returned the gesture with a scowl. Clearly having had the same idea.


    If being this cold was going to become a regular thing, Sapphire might just risk asking Tom if he could make something to help keep warm. So Fengi better not hurt him too badly either.


    As they sat sunbathing continuing to warm back up, they all had in turn shared a few stories of where they had all grown up.


    Jackalope had spent the first 5 calm years of her life at Furlong Keep. It had been a smaller keep much like the one here. She claimed she couldn''t remember much, but Sapphire knew that wasn¡¯t entirely true. When the keep was ruined by Rashan, she had lost both her siblings and her father in the attack. So it was rather painful to think back on. Following that she had moved with here her mother. It had been a rather rough start, but she did have her mother and some of Dakota¡¯s younger siblings when growing up here.


    Esmeralda was born here back in the day, her parents both having died of old age by now. She did have an older sister in the capitol though she made potions and herbal meds for a living. She had quite a few happy memories of playing around the keep, including a few good ones of when Dakota was little.


    Dakota for her part was obviously born here. She and her brother Rachuck and two younger siblings who were still alive and two that weren''t.


    Tom hadn¡¯t pushed further on the fate of the others and Sapphire just looked at the lake. Maybe this wasn''t the best place to have this conversation.


    Tom had luckily picked up on her discomfort turning to Sapphire instead.


    ¡°What about you? You said you went to the capitol right?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was born in Vultcha Keep, one hell of a place you should see it one day. It¡¯s easily five times the size of ours. Still, they had too many mouths to feed and not enough for us to do. So I was sent on my way along with two of my siblings Haiko and viper. It wasn¡¯t a bad place growing up though, even if my parents were looked down at a bit for having ten kids when we were already too many.


    ¡°You have nine siblings?¡± Tom asked seeming very surprised


    ¡°Eleven actually. I was one of four. Haiko and viper are my big brother and sister and I have six younger siblings three of which I haven''t met, they came after I left¡±


    ¡°Damn... I¡¯m an only child¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s rather rare¡± It happened for sure, but still most couples would have two or three litters of one to three kids. Though four and even five did happen every now and again.


    ¡°Not to my people it isn¡¯t, we usually only get one at a time. Twins happen but it¡¯s rare¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ Then how are there so many of you?¡± Tom had talked about millions of people after all.


    ¡°We got really good at not dying I guess¡± Well that would do it she guessed.


    ¡°So do you like, live forever?¡± Fengi questioned. Tom chuckled a bit at that. Sapphire knew he was thirty-seven, but she had no clue how old that was for a human.


    ¡°No, not even close, I think you live longer actually. I¡¯m lucky if I reach ninety of our years and it isn''t summer yet, so years do seem similar.¡±


    There was a bit of silence following that.


    ¡°That is rather sad¡± Jackalope went doing her best to sound sincere and falling at it.


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s a lot better than when we used to live like you do. Then I would be at death''s door already¡± Tom said jokingly. The smile faded from him though as he looked around at them.


    ¡°Is that why you are in such a hurry, you''re afraid you''re gonna die before you''re done?¡± Sapphire did her best to sound sincere, hopefully doing better than Jackalope. That was such a short life.


    ¡°How long do you have then, now that you''re here?¡± Esmeralda added sounding very worried.


    ¡°No, No, relax. I have many good years left if something doesn''t get me first. Remember we didn¡¯t have healing and our medicine was¡± Tom did a sort of hand wave to indicate uncertainty. ¡°Not the best. Most of us died of illness or bloody battle of course.¡±


    ¡°There are Illnesses we can¡¯t cure. Or well, most healers can¡¯t at least¡± Esmeralda clarified ¡°still we can take care of most things.


    ¡°Then where do you all go?¡± Tom asked curiously


    ¡°Battle or corruption mostly¡± Dakota added coldly.


    ¡°Darklings then?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately yes¡± It was a well-known fact their fight to keep the islands pure was far from a safe job. Even if their little rock in the middle of nowhere did seem very good at escaping attention. Most of the time at least, considering the latest set of calamities to have befallen them.


    Tom didn¡¯t seem to like the slightly dark turn the conversation had taken and began asking Sapphire about her siblings. It had been a while since she had last reminisced about them. It brought back many good memories of running around the huge keep playing with the others. She had quite a few stories, even if most of the good parts concerned her siblings or and parents.


    Kokashi had eventually interrupted launching into his life story. Of how he was the son of a respectable clerk and a not so respectable mercenary. That had been a rather odd union. In Sapphire''s mind, it had also resulted in a rather odd child. He didn''t much appreciate that particular comment. Esmeralda had a good laugh at it though, so she must be onto something.


    He had retorted by listing off some of his siblings and what they were doing, which to Sapphire¡¯s eternal annoyance included his big brother who served in the royal guard. He knew damn well that was just because of his father¡¯s connections and had nothing to do with how skilled he was. As Kokashi went on Tom had eventually asked Fengi how she had managed life in the capitol.


    Fengi didn¡¯t answer immediately, Sapphire knew she was rather ashamed of her childhood. Eventually, she let out a sigh and began her story though.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know either of my parents, not really. I was told my mother tried to raise me alone but, she was killed before I could even remember her. At least that¡¯s what they told me. I grew up in an orphanage. It wasn¡¯t too bad, we all played together in the orphanage. Even if other kids didn¡¯t really want to.¡± Her ears dropped quite a bit at that last part.


    Tom just grabbed her shoulder and gave her a bit of a jostle ¡°And look at what those kids missed out on. Idiots every last one of them.¡± He got a sad chuckle for that one.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Sadly we didn''t learn much there. It didn¡¯t help that I wanted to fly either so I didn¡¯t care much for Leika¡¯s blackboard, that and it was so damn funny when she tried to chase os in that wheelchair¡± Fengi just shook her head almost cry laughing. It was more sad than hysterical though.


    She eventually kicked me out after she got too tired of me.


    I got some friends I used to fly around with after that. Most of them the not so wanted variety. Not the nicest people either. A few of them even became mercenaries I think. I didn''t want to kill people though. I just loved flying with friends, and for fun. That and we sometimes took something tasty.¡± She smiled a bit at the end there. ¡°Never got caught either. Well not until I tried for that damn apple¡± She looked to Esmeralda.


    ¡°Yeah, that wasn¡¯t the best idea you ever had¡± The older huntress responded ¡°You¡¯re damn lucky I didn¡¯t decide I needed that apple. Being quite possibly the thinnest girl I had ever seen might have helped a little though. I honestly thought you were a boy at first¡± Esmeralda looked around at the others as if to emphasize her point. There was a bit of a shared chuckle at that. They all knew the story after all. Well, all except Tom.


    ¡°Raised on the streets by mercenaries and still sweet as a pie. That¡¯s impressive¡± He went with a smile. She just pushed his head away with a hand, rolling her eyes.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t let her innocence fool you,¡± Jackalope added. ¡°She can be just as tricky as you sometimes¡± Fengi stuck her tongue out at Jackalope at that little comment, before redoubling her smug face at where she was lying.


    ¡°Also I gotta ask¡± Tom went looking down at Fengi ¡°I have figured out most of you, but what kind of magic can you do?¡± They all looked around at each other a bit at that comment. Had they really been that obvious? Sapphire thought she at least had done a very good job of hiding her particular talent. Okay maybe not that good of a job, but Esmeralda had been singing all the time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet actually,¡± Fengi admitted


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tom went clearly thinking on that one for a bit. ¡°Is it like an age thing?¡±


    ¡°Well either that or I just suck at it,¡± Fengi replied, trying to sound optimistic. Sapphire had been around her age when she started to figure it out. Still, she had been a little late to notice so it wasn¡¯t common to not have at least figured it out before you turned twenty.


    Tom clearly continued to ponder that one, as they tried to stealthily look to Dakota. Sapphire guessed they didn¡¯t have to follow Nunuk¡¯s order about magic anymore considering how things had been going. Still, she wasn¡¯t sure and they hadn¡¯t been told otherwise.


    Dakota also seemed to be pondering the proposition, finally shrugging and turning to him.


    ¡°Well, what can we do then?¡±


    ¡°Easy you can heal, Esmeralda can change her voice, Jackalope can use it to get stronger I think¡± Jackalope hit her thigh at that one.


    ¡°Dammit, I knew I shouldn¡¯t have thrown you that far¡±


    Tom just gave a chuckle continuing. ¡°And you Sapphire can control arrows. That last shot was just impossible¡± So she had been found out. At least he only thought she could do it with arrows though, not to mention he was only half right on Dakota.


    ¡°What can I do?¡± Kokashi had asked trying once again to get up and once again being denied. ¡°Oh come on!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know either, magically bad jokes?¡± Tom replied in a poorly disguised snicker. being joined by most of them. Sapphire had to admit that was a good one.


    ¡°I would have you know I can hear just about anything in fact. And yes that includes what you are saying to yourself down in the workshop late at night. I do hope the kids weren''t in there for that?¡±


    They all turned to a mortified looking Tom as he stared at Kokashi. ¡°They were all soundly asleep and in another room¡±


    ¡°Including Kiran?¡±


    ¡°Definitely asleep¡±


    ¡°Good, I don''t think my beautiful wife here would appreciate them learning those particular words. I might not know what it meant but it didn¡¯t sound child friendly¡± Esmeralda looked to Tom with very narrow eyes clearly trying to decide if this was something she needed to do something about.


    Tom just laughed nervously looking away scratching his neck. ¡°Yeah, I think I would agree with that.¡±


    Then most of them just started laughing at the poor guy¡¯s misfortune. Sapphire knew damn well, you couldn¡¯t say a thing while Kokashi was awake without the risk of him hearing it if he wanted to. Perhaps Tom shouldn¡¯t have learned that one just yet.


    ¡°S? m? jeg jo hellere holde mig til noget i ikke forst?r¡±


    They looked a bit strangely at him following that particular set of noises.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t understand me you can''t spy on me. At least not too much.¡± Tom then went pointing his fingers at Kokashi with the thumbs in the air.


    ¡°I hardly understand you in draconic most of the time,¡± Kokashi responded. Sparking laughter all around. Tom just raised his hands and shoulders pulling a face as if he had been greatly offended.


    ¡°Still it is rather draining to do, so it¡¯s not all the time if that is what you¡¯re worried about¡± Kokashi went with a wink. Sapphire just wished she knew how much he usually did it and for how long he could. Esmeralda did often seem to know more than she should about people.

 Deep Dive

    Chapter 55: Deep Dive


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    That had been a bit more emotional than he had expected. He did feel rather sorry for a few of them. Jackalope having lost so much. Fengi never having had much in the first place. Sapphire who hadn¡¯t seen any except one of her siblings or parents in the last decade. Still, all of them had been able to produce something happy from their childhood. So they had focused on that as much as they could.


    It had been nice to learn a bit more about them. In fact when he thought about it by now they almost all seemed to know more about him than the other way around. He really needed to do something about that. He was in a different world and surrounded by locals. Yet he had spent every waking moment learning what he needed to get by and teaching them about his home.


    He had started probing them for what they were willing to tell him. Sapphire had been very forthcoming mostly going into details about her home and time in the capitol. Her two older siblings had both become escorts for traders while she had tried and failed to get into the royal guard. Then she tried sports. She had even done rather well apparently that fancy necklace she wore was a victory prize for something called tonsalra.


    It sounded almost like an aerial agility course where you scored points. Flying through rings, timed runs, hitting targets, that sort of thing. Apparently that was how Dakota originally found her, Sapphire had decided she wanted a place to call a proper home other than the city. She put up a posting for if a keep could use her preferably as a huntress. It sounded almost like a job application for joining a family which was a bit odd to Tom, but it had clearly worked.


    He reckoned that would be a sight to see one day. What a surname too, Rayland. Sapphire Rayland. It sounded more like the lead singer in a rock or metal band to him. Him figuring out what exactly they were all capable of, had seemed to open the floodgates somewhat as they all went into what they could do and why they thought they could do it.


    It was an interesting proposition. they all believed that what they could do tied to what they were experienced at. Esmeralda had always liked singing, Jackalope relied on her strength for as many things as she could get away with. Dakota had worked hard under her mother to develop the skill.


    Healers were for obvious reasons extremely important and sought after. resulting in the practice of trying to train one being rather common.


    He didn¡¯t even need to guess at what Kokashi could do, the dude just told him. In fact, he was so eager to tell as much about himself, a few of the others gave him a bit of a stink eye. The whole situation with him basically being a surveillance operative wet dream complicated a few things though. He should probably check if Kokashi was on night guard if he decided to break out the laptop again for example.


    He had hit the mark with all his guesses though. Sapphire had even shown she could actually lift a small stone and move it around a bit. They had a weird word for it of course. Tom just decided to call her Telekinetic. Even if it was rather weak that was a proper superpower, healing was too but still, that was so cool. The sun had begun to get lower in the sky and they needed to get back in time for dinner.


    He managed to coax Fengi up, reasoning she should be warmer than the others by now and they were getting ready to depart. He wondered what kind of talent she might develop. Would he maybe develop something when he was here? That would be sweet! He couldn¡¯t make his mind up on what though¡­


    He was still going through possibilities when he found himself dangling beneath Feng, as they soared above the lake. This was likely the most daredevil thing he had ever done willingly and he was so excited that even the magic stuff would have to wait. He felt more like a bomb about to be dropped on target than somebody about to jump.


    He had explained in detail to Fengi this was all about speed, specifically the lack of it. If she just dropped him doing a hundred he would smack into the water and skip like a stone likely breaking a few bones or worse. Since there was no way she could hover with him on board, she would need to pull up vertically. to slow down and stall, then release him when they started falling. She would start hovering now that his fat arse wasn¡¯t on board anymore and Tom got the chance to do the most awesome dive ever.


    It was essentially a reverse dive-bombing, he thought it was a brilliant plan. Fengi though had been a little worried, but she agreed in the end following multiple reassurances it would be fine.


    Fengi came down low, skimming across the water going as slowly as she could manage with him on board and then pulled up to vertical. The resulting attitude was a bit more than Tom had anticipated so he just begged the lower gravity wouldn¡¯t make him go splat. By his estimates, this was more like fifty rather than thirty meters so it was still going to hurt quite a bit no matter what.


    The fall was excruciatingly long, he had no way of knowing just how long it was but it felt like an eternity. At home, the fall would be like a hundred-meter jump in terms of air time. The thought of just what he had gotten himself into crossed his mind, along with questions like, how deep was the water, was the bottom soft and was Fengi technically street criminal?


    He rocketed down like a spike with considerable speed slamming into the water with a huge splash. He guessed the water spout must have been impressive in this gravity. The water depth though was not quite what he had hoped for as he hit the soft muddy bottom both his legs sinking in deep. At least it hadn¡¯t been rocky.


    It was still a rather unfortunate situation though, as he started trying to wiggle them out of the mud. It didn¡¯t help he couldn¡¯t see anything thanks to the muck he had kicked upon impact. Perhaps water breathing should be his magic thingy. He guessed it wasn¡¯t a matter of making a choice and boom there you go, as helpful as that would have been right now.


    It took him nearly thirty seconds to get his legs free. With his heart pounding his and lungs starting to burn as he went for the surface. Careful to use slow controlled strokes. No use rushing you should stay calm at all times when underwater. Just like father said. That had been one hell of a scare though. He needed to be quicker on slowing down next time. Or find some deeper water.


    He broke the surface to find Fengi circling above looking very worried.


    ¡°That was fun¡± He went, pretending like nothing was out of the ordinary as he tried to hide his heaving for breath.


    ¡°How deep did you go!?¡± Fengi asked, sounding equally worried and baffled.


    ¡°Found the bottom, you went a little high there¡±


    ¡°Sorry I didn''t mean to. Did it hurt?¡± Tom was a little sore after the hit, he had been slightly off-kilter as he came down.


    ¡°Only when I hit the water. Don¡¯t worry, it was fun. Thank you!¡± He would likely be feeling that one tomorrow, but it had been worth it. Even if he didn¡¯t feel the need to try again at this depth.


    ¡°He¡¯s okay¡± She shouted back to the others who were standing on the shore. Jackalope and Sapphire had even waded out into the water a little. Oh, that was adorable. The most incompetent rescue operation ever launched and it was for him. He laughed a bit as he started swimming back towards shore. No reason to tell them how close that had been.


    Fengi started to circle around him as he swam shouting down to him


    ¡°That was amazing, the water even hit me!¡±


    ¡°Not bad for little old me¡±


    ¡°You are neither and you know it¡±


    ¡°Hey just because I''m too fat for little puny Kokashi doesn''t make me that big¡± He did his best to sound insulted, clearly not convincing her.


    ¡°Hah! You aren''t fat, you''re big-boned.¡±


    ¡°Well, why use me as the dead weight then? If I¡¯m so heavily built?¡±


    ¡°Well he skipped kitchen duty to come along, that means he¡¯s gotta participate. Jackalope is heavier too and you know it. Would you call her fat?¡±


    ¡°Not if I wanna live.¡±


    ¡°Besides you had your parachute¡± She replied as if that would have solved everything.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t, it needs to be repacked¡±


    ¡°Ohh¡­¡± Was all the response he got. Perhaps he should have made that point clear, he thought to himself.


    When he got back out he was of course wet again, along with most of his clothes which had been used as towels by the girls. He too was getting a cold by now that the sun¡¯s heat was starting to fade. Dakota had called it a day. sounding a little grumpy, Tom had managed to tire out three of her huntresses enough to render further flight training pointless. so with that, they made for home.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    She insisted he rode with her back though. She argued that Esmeralda was kinda occupied with a now recovered Kokashi Which she refused was indeed recovered and the other three had done more than enough hard work for today. It was hardly more than a jump home anyway.


    ¡°Did you do that on purpose?¡± Dakota asked him as soon as they were properly airborne. Had he touched her inappropriately or something?


    ¡°Uhm sorry Did what?¡±He tried, sounding apologetic.


    ¡°Show me up in front of them all of course!¡± Her tone was a rather hard one. Right the swimming obviously.


    ¡°No, I didn''t think they would go in¡±


    ¡°Why did you beckon them all in then?!¡± Yeah, she was mad, no doubt about it.


    ¡°To tease them a bit. I thought you were all afraid of water¡±


    ¡°Water is dangerous to us Tom, It kills¡­ Regularly.¡±


    ¡°It kills my people too and there are humans who are afraid of water as well. It just how it is¡± He felt her change direction as they approached the keep going to circle it instead¡±


    ¡°And yet you let children play in it?¡±


    ¡°Fire kills too, you still use it for cooking¡±


    she replied with a displeased grunt. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t get it,¡±


    Tom thought for a bit as they came around the keep.


    ¡°No, I think I do. You¡¯re a leader, you need to set an example¡±


    ¡°Pretty hard to do that when I keep getting outdone all the time¡±


    ¡°Come on being afraid of water isn¡¯t that bad, not even for my people¡±


    ¡°No, but not being brave enough is!¡± Right, that was true, but to claim she wasn¡¯t brave enough was absurd. He was silent for a bit thinking over what to say, here she just kept circling so he guessed she wanted an apology or something. She wasn¡¯t getting one though.


    ¡°I remember someone charging through the darkness, in a storm, in the middle of a battle. To save me once again from going splat. Now if that someone was a coward they would have just given up and let me drop. If they were even a little bit of a coward they would have let me go once they figured out they were going to crash."


    "Now if they were deadly afraid of water and knew they were going to crash into water at night in a storm at speed, and they still didn¡¯t let go? Then that someone has to be the bravest person I have yet to meet! Was that you? Or someone else?¡±


    Tom really hoped his ridiculous accent hadn¡¯t ruined the speech too much. He was rather proud of how it had turned out in the end.


    ¡°Coming from the one who charged down into dark corridors with a dozen darklings waiting for him¡± her tone softened up a bit, so it must have sorta worked.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t bravery that was stupidity¡± Tom clarified for her, even if it had worked that had been a very stupid thing to do.


    ¡°And swimming through said storm dragging the one who failed to catch you along the way¡­ and why did you have to laugh¡± Ohh right, dammit dory!


    ¡°Sorry, thought of a kids story about a fish, which only knows to just keep swimming¡±


    ¡°A kids story!?... You were in a life or death situation and you wasted breath laughing, at a kids story!¡± Okay, he could see her point, but he had believed her to be unconscious at that point.


    ¡°I never claimed to be that smart okay!¡± He did get a laugh for that even if he couldn''t decide if it was more maniacal or incredulous.


    ¡°Not that smart... You''re kidding right!? You know more than any scholar I have ever heard of, and my father is one!¡±


    ¡°Smart and knowing a lot is not the same. I have done many stupid things. I¡¯m even keeping track to see how many times the stupid things go well.¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s stupid and you do it anyway?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ an old saying goes, If it¡¯s stupid but it works It isn¡¯t stupid¡±


    ¡°What kind of a saying is that. It even manages to contradict itself!¡±


    ¡°But it works¡± She sounded like she was going to try and argue with that for a second before thinking better of it.


    ¡°If you think I¡¯m the bravest then you are definitely the craziest¡± she finally replied with a shake of the head.


    ¡°Crazier than Jackalope?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Definitely!¡± Well, the anger was gone even if she just sounded baffled instead now.


    ¡°Damn...¡± She was probably right, but still.


    With that, she had come around to the landing pad, where the others were getting a few odd looks on account of the still-damp clothes. Tom being dripping wet did appear to shift curiosity to him and Dakota.


    ¡°What have you lot been up to?¡± Rachuck demanded looking at the two of them inquisitively.


    ¡°Tom decided to go for a swim, those three elected to join him and I think they are all crazy.¡± Dakota stated matter of factly ¡°You can get off now Tom, the wet clothes have managed to make even you cold¡±


    ¡°Right sorry¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Everyone wanted to know what it was like to swim. Judging by their faces more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. Sapphire enjoyed the attention though, well as soon as she got on some dry clothes on she did.


    At dinner Herron, Balethon and Unkai had all come over to have the tales of the day recounted in detail. Balethon and Unkai pretty much took turns telling them how brave they were. This resulted in a rather annoyed Dakota who was clearly sick of listening to the two of them.


    ¡°If you two knuckleheads are trying to get them to propose to you, I suggest you find out who is the brave one first. Or they will¡± Sapphire tried to suppress a chuckle at that. The two guards turned to face each other. One short chest-puffing contest later, they had achieved exactly nothing. Well except looking hilarious.


    Then Jackalope got involved.


    ¡°Are you telling me this is the best this keep has to offer? A pair of posturing chickens? I might just try to keep Herron awake for long enough to hear my proposal then¡± Esmeralda damn near choked on her drink at that one.


    Sapphire joined in ¡°And what happens if a water demon invades, huh? Are you gonna run away or hide behind us?¡± She did try to not sound quite so mean.


    ¡°What, you mean Tom?¡± Fengi added with a laugh


    The despair on their faces was rather evident at the prospect that they could either admit defeat or face their peril. The staring contest continued even if it looked more like they were finding out who was less of a coward, rather than the bravest now.


    ¡°Yeah I thought not¡± Jackalope concluded, with a smirk of superiority ¡°Go have a chat with Tom and the kids, you might learn something¡±


    Slack earedly the two of them departed, Herron kept his seat though having stayed out of that whole proceeding. He just shook his head a bit with a smug smile.


    ¡°Well that was underwhelming¡± Jackalope concluded.


    ¡°Well, you were rather hard on them. Don¡¯t forget you''ve only known how to swim for a few hours¡± Sapphire went in a bit of a chuckle.


    ¡°I can swim, they can''t,¡± Jackalope replied, seemingly unconcerned. ¡°Besides that wasn¡¯t the point. Those two just love showering with praise, but when they need to man up look what happens¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we should just carry them off in the night, one by one and teach them to swim,¡± Fengi asked, not seeming to realize just how horrible that would be for someone who had no clue what was going on.


    ¡°No, you will not!¡± Dakota stated in no uncertain terms. Perhaps a bit harder than necessary. She had warmed up a bit following the conversation she had surely had with Tom while circling the keep. Still, joking with water wasn¡¯t clever around her.


    Tom was at the kids'' table yet again clearly doing his best to relay the day''s experiences. Judging by how most of them were hiding under the table he had reached the swimming lessons. Even Kiran was hiding for this one even if he looked more like he was trying to protect his friends. Tom looked quite disheartened at his crowd''s reaction, so she elected to go over and lend a hand.


    He was apparently attempting and failing to tell some sort of children''s story though. Rather than the day¡¯s swimming lesson as she had been expecting.


    ¡°But why can¡¯t the blue demon remember?¡± Holdey had asked from under the table


    ¡°She¡¯s not a demon, she¡¯s a fish and her name is Dory okay¡±


    ¡°Dory the blue demon,¡± Vigon replied from under the table, voice shivering. He was really getting too big to be doing that, he barely fit under the table anymore. It only made it funnier that Kiran was standing in front of him, fangs bared, seeming ready to defend his much older friends.


    ¡°Come on, she¡¯s just a fish looking for her parents. That all¡± Tom tried without success, the defeat clear in his voice.


    ¡°Fish?¡± Sapphire questioned. That was definitely an English word.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what you call them, things that live in the water¡±


    ¡°Easy, water demons¡± That wasn¡¯t a difficult one.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call fish demons. They''re small and cute. Quite tasty too." At that particular comment, there were a lot of distressed noises from under the table.


    ¡°Right of course you eat terrors of the deep. Do you just eat them when they are tiny or do you think it''s fun to hunt them?" Sapphire honestly wasn¡¯t surprised still to eat something that foul.


    ¡°Most fish don''t get that big, maybe like this size tops¡± Tom held up hands to show. That wasn¡¯t very large. Nothing like the water demons and sea monsters of legend.


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna pretend to know more about water than you, but isn¡¯t that just a baby?¡±


    ¡°You eat babies too?¡± Turinia stretched out from somewhere.


    That situation had taken a while to resolve. Ending with Tom swearing he would catch a fish someday so he could prove they tasted good and them all hoping he would fail for once. Sapphire had heard of people being forced to eat demon when times were hard. though it was often seen as an act of desperation.


    The story seemed rather important to Tom and she eventually convinced him to try using something other than what they used for horror stories to tell it.


    With that small modification, the tale of Nemo, Marlin, and Dory had been a lot more successful. It was a rather sad yet still heartwarming story if a little long. What a tragedy to be born not being able to remember anything and poor Nemo being taken away like that when so little.


    Fengi had come over in the middle of storytime and taken Sapphire aside to talk. Nunuk had agreed with Dakota¡¯s call on telling Tom some more about their magic. He had mostly figured it out himself anyway. Sapphire was a little baffled by Tom¡¯s reaction upon being told they would no longer be keeping secrets on their magics.


    Down by the lake they had told him they hadn''t wanna tell him to keep an ace against him if they needed it and he hadn¡¯t even flinched. She figured he might have figured that part out too though. He had done the same though and she had a feeling he still had a few aces left. Once they told him he had free reign, he predictably got out the notebook seeming very excited and did the rounds noting down what everyone claimed they could do.


    He had gone through the list with Sapphire and Apuma during their language session the next day. Sapphire knew what everyone could do, it was something you were proud of after all.


    ¡°And Herron said he could also see through walls which a quick test using a door concluded was false. Anyone I missed?¡±


    ¡°No that should just about cover it.¡±


    ¡°Right then, so a few repeats. How good is Dakota¡¯s sight?¡±


    ¡°She once read a book from across the grand hall¡± Apuma replied enthusiastically.


    ¡°Damn¡± He noted a bit more down in his notebook. ¡°I heard what Esmeralda''s voice can do first hand... can Rachuck heat up others or just him?¡±


    ¡°Just him, he tried with Kullinger once, he still complains about his shoulder after that,¡± Sapphire answered.


    ¡°Right, I see¡± more noting was done.


    "Could he heat a thing?¡±


    ¡°I think so? Much easier to just use a fire though¡± Apuma responded seeming to ponder the question a bit.


    ¡°Noted¡± He really didn''t need to say that it was more than clear everything would be. Sapphire felt almost as if they were under scrutiny for some offense.

 Flying Lessons

    Chapter 56: Flying Lessons


    Sapphire spent her days flying as much as she could get away with running errands and carrying stuff up and down. It was clear to her she had lost some strength not using her wings for that long and needed to get back into shape if she wanted to get back on top. It was almost like she had come back out of winter again. The sight of her going up and down with small loads had apparently been a sorry one. As both Unkai and Balethon were suddenly quick to offer assistance.


    She denied it, of course, she wasn¡¯t looking for their pity or skip out on her work. The two of them apparently took that to mean. I am diligent in my duty¡¯s and will not ask for you to do them for me. Since they started trying to do it all anyway just without asking her.


    She had also managed to talk Apuma and Nunuk into letting her continue flight training with Wiperna¡¯s kids ahead of schedule. This was their first year and they had been so close to their first flight when Archeon had arrived. It hadn¡¯t been hard to convince them, she was possibly the most skilled flyer they had and she didn''t have anything better to do other than carry lumber and fertilizer around, not to mention she had helped before.


    Esmeralda was a little miffed about Sapphire taking that responsibility since she was usually the one who stood for flight training. She was still needed for hunting though. Nunuk had refused to let Sapphire join them for a proper hunt yet, citing she likely wouldn¡¯t be able to restrain herself. That comment had stung a little, mostly because she knew it was at least partially true.


    She wanted to feel the rush of hunting down prey again, the sensation was almost addicting. she could take to the sky when she pleased now though. That freedom alone had her in a better mood than she had been in a while. The fun and games of teaching the kids to fly would have to do though.


    Esmeralda was promised she would be staying in charge of the kids who had already taken to the sky to continue their training later. That was really the job Sapphire had wanted, but they wouldn¡¯t be starting with that until summer rolled around. That way the new flyers could join them, not to mention they didn¡¯t have anyone other than Sapphire to spare for the moment.


    Of course, Kiran was absolutely furious she wouldn¡¯t let him join flight training. Protesting fiercely, that he had already flown and the others hadn¡¯t. Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure you could call that exercise in not crashing down the stairs flying though. Still, the rules were clear, you start flight training the year you turn five and he would only be turning four until autumn.


    To her delight, Tom had agreed to join them, at least for some of the lessons. The fact he could sort of fly was an excellent excuse and it provided a sort of happy medium for Kiran as they both sat together going through the lessons. The two were pretty much inseparable at this point. Tom even managed to make some ear and eye protection for Kiran for when he was working on something dangerous. Much to Esmeralda and Dakota¡¯s despair. Wiperna and Raulf of course also dropped in to see how their kids were doing whenever they could.


    The first few lessons had primarily concerned proper conduct when on the wing, to brush them up again in preparation for their first flights. Right of way, proper takeoff and landing procedures, different hand and wing signals. It was all rather boring stuff even Sapphire admitted that. Getting Turinia, Worpock, and Calhoun to all sit still at the same time and listen up was quite the struggle even with Tom¡¯s help. The only student she had that appeared to take it seriously was in fact Kiran. Although she guessed his show of interest was just because Tom clearly found it fascinating too.


    To try and break up the boring stuff, she had them running around on the ground wings spread out mimicking basic maneuvers, as well as standing on the ledge leaning into the wind. Letting them feel it with their wings. Tom particularly enjoyed when they held the kids up running around with them pretending to be flying while the kids told them where to go. Tom even managed to talk Sapphire into letting Kiran try that as well.


    She had hoped Tom would take the time to relax some more rather than become the assistant teacher, but when she looked back that had been a fool''s errand. The lessons had proceeded more or less as she had expected even if she of course still had both Tom¡¯s language and science classes to attend herself.


    She found all the teaching and learning exhausting. Even more so than the hauling work she was doing. Yet Tom was doing better by the day. How he managed that she had no idea, but perhaps he had slowed down a bit. Being told repeatedly by most of them that even they could see he was pushing too hard must have done the trick. Gone were the bloodshot eyes and it was rarer to see him half running through the corridors looking at paper.


    It didn¡¯t take more than a week before it was time for their first flights. She made sure Wiperna and Raulf were available to help out, so they could witness the moment. It was a big day after all. They then took up the kids carrying them beneath them and let them feel the wind under their wings properly for the first time. When she thought about it, it was actually rather similar to how Tom had taught her to swim.


    Tom and Kiran had been watching from the ground as one by one the three kids were allowed to glide for a bit without assistance. It would take quite a while before they would be flying under their own power but you had to start somewhere. She had helped out with flight training before but it was still something special to witness someone''s first true flight. There were a few stumbles but that¡¯s why they were ready to catch them.


    Once the first day of gliding training had been completed that had been it for Tom and Kiran though. It wasn¡¯t nice to rub the little guy¡¯s face in it too much that he wasn¡¯t allowed to fly yet. And Tom had plenty of work to do now that Shiva had finished the distillery. He had been teaching them about electricity for the last few days and something called an electric motor. which he was planning to build.


    Sapphire had hurt at the end of every explanation. But since it was in a way a bit like the engine that powered some of his other things, she had done her best to understand. She knew what a magnet was but she had no clue lightning could make magnets that could turn on and off. She was just happy she hadn¡¯t been put to work drawing out the copper wire for it. Had it been a few weeks ago she just might have.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The flight lessons had been a fun little distraction and they weren''t that long either, he could perhaps even consider it cultural enrichment. That and Kiran hadn¡¯t shut up about it for two full days had sort of sealed the deal. Now that the kids were airborne they would be leaving Sapphire to it. Kiran''s enthusiasm had boiled off after it became clear he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to try even with Tom¡¯s assistance in persuading Sapphire.


    Since Tom managed to scrounge together some ear and eye protection for Kiran it hadn¡¯t been a problem to find something to take the little guy¡¯s mind off flying. Work had begun on the first parts of the electric motor in earnest and further experimentation had yielded good results for the fuelcell that would power the thing. with only a small explosion occurring once.


    Now though it was finally time to see if this fancy Turbo-Yeast he had bought for fuel making had done the trick. Even if drinking it was likely a bad idea it should work wonders for this. The fact that the mash was made of pig feed, leftover from winter also didn¡¯t help. The package had said up to 20% alcohol though so it should do great for this kind of stuff.


    The old grain had been easy to malt since some of it was already going. it would be some truly shitty tasting alcohol that came out of this, but for fuel that wasn¡¯t really a concern. Convincing Raulf and Wiperna to let him use the fermenting vat for his foul concoction had been almost as tricky, but the promise of making them a better one had done the trick. They would need two if they were to make both fuel and drink anyway. Fuel came first though.


    Once Shiva had declared she would have the still done within a week Tom had brewed up his pig feed concoction and filled the vat. Raulf had made sure to keep some of the precious yeast alive for the next batch. That way they didn¡¯t spend all the dried stuff Tom had brought. The fermentation process had taken agonizingly long, despite it bubbling furiously.


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    Shiva had actually completed work ahead of schedule. The still was a work of beauty despite Tom¡¯s insistence on keeping it rough and functional. The fact he had been spending less and less time in the smithy over the last week had let Shiva do as she pleased. Now that he knew what her little trick was she didn¡¯t bother trying to hide it anymore either, so that had likely been a factor as well.


    The way she could just smooth out metal was just not fair. What kind of bullshit power was it to just rub your hand on a surface to polish it in seconds. Had he been a machinist he would just have put down his tools and walked out. Sure she needed to dip her hand in oil first, so she did not rub the skin off eventually, but what he wouldn¡¯t give to be able to do that.


    The fact he hadn¡¯t even questioned how she managed to polish those bow limbs to perfection in a day did speak to a fair amount of tunnel vision on his part. Everything else on that bow had been rough and ready, except those damn bow limbs. That should have taken days with the kind of equipment she had. He had a feeling she could do more than just polish and remove some scratches though.


    It took a few days of begging and pleading to get her to properly show off, what she could do. She had taken two small copper plates leftover from the reflux tube. Pushed them against each other end to end and over the course of nearly an hour fused the two of them together. It was a painfully slow process but it was still so damn cool. He could hardly even find the seam afterward, that¡¯s how smooth it was!


    The effort left her weak on her feet and seemingly a little dizzy. Not too exhausted to handle the compliments Tom threw at her on just how cool that was though. She did have a tendency to look a bit scary but with a proud smile on, she looked a lot nicer. More like a kid¡¯s show pirate than the true murderous kind.


    They had wanted to set up the still in the shed where the vat was to make the process easier. In the end, though it had ended up in Toms workshop on his insistence. He didn''t want to leave something that valuable outside the walls of the keep if he could help it.


    When the concoction had stopped bubbling they fired up the still for the first time for a trial run. They slowly raised the temperature, building the fire under it. The system of adding hot or cold water to the water jacket around the boiler worked surprisingly well, keeping the temperature within a degree or two. The first round was completed in a few hours at around 80 degrees, at the runoff. In an attempt to try and refine the foul mash. The result was a nice clear solution which the hydrometer said was roughly 50% alcohol not bad for a first effort. When he wasn¡¯t looking, Shiva, Raulf, and Wiperna had decided to have a taste. Their attempt at subterfuge being quickly ruined by the rampant coughing that had resulted in.


    ¡°So how bad was it?¡± Tom went, using the voice usually reserved for naughty children.


    ¡°What kind of drink is that!? It burns!¡± Raulf replied, in a distressed tone


    ¡°Technically I think that would be moonshine, but as I said it¡¯s not for drinking¡±


    ¡°I thought you didn''t want us to. That¡¯s just as foul-tasting as the mash was smelling!¡± Wiperna followed up. Tom just chuckled a bit. Shiva had just done her best to remain stoic but her face betrayed her great discomfort and she did reluctantly cough a little too.


    They were in the middle of setting up for the second run to hopefully get it up to something approaching fuel levels when the bell started ringing from the tower. They quickly poured some water on the fire and scrambled for their things. Not counting Tom¡¯s explosive mishap the alarm hadn¡¯t been sounded for over a month by now. Tom just hoped it was good news or at least neutral for once.


    He was already in the workshop where his equipment was stored these days so he set to work gearing up. He even got on the cloak just in case it was nice company. It might be Jarix after all. The others all made for the armory to grab what they could.


    ¡°To battle, To battle!¡± Kiran roared out as he was taken off his current perch on Tom¡¯s shoulders, So tom could get on the vest and armor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope not¡± Now let¡¯s get you with the others.


    ¡°I wanna fight!¡±


    ¡°But you''re not going to, now come on¡± He picked up the over-excited three year old and sprinted for the door.


    As he made his way up the stairs to the hall hoping to find someone who knew what was going on. Rachuck came down the other way, already in full kit.


    ¡°Three big targets approaching in formation, possibly all dragons! Please tell me you made something you haven''t told me about yet?! preferably something that goes boom.¡± Tom was really hoping to hear a less panicked tone, as he responded with a nervous shrug and a shake of the head.


    ¡°Sorry nope, might have made fuel though¡± Well some of all that fancy powder might do the trick but he hadn¡¯t made any grenades or anything like that.


    ¡°Fuck! and Dakota ain''t back yet. Get up there then I¡¯m going to the armory. Move it, guardsman!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir¡± Tom almost felt like he was back in the army for a moment there as he rushed up the stairs.


    Entering the hall he was greeted with dragonettes running around frantically. Some going to get their gear, others returning in battle kit. Esmeralda, Fengi, and Dakota had all been out on the hunt and not due to return till early dusk, which was still hours away. Nunuk was up standing on a table ordering people about. He heard the outer gate slam shut as she turned to him.


    ¡°Tom get your ass up to Herron in the tower bring your telescope thingy. See if you can tell what we''ve got. Kokashi follow and report back¡±


    ¡°Yes mam, I¡¯ll go get it¡± Tom responded turning to Kokashi


    ¡°Kokashi take him, will you? Meet me up there¡±


    ¡°Right, of course¡± Tom handed off a fuming Kiran, clearly not happy at not being allowed to come along for this. Such was life though.


    Back down he went then. He grabbed the binos, looking about for a bit he took the belt of shotgun shells and the 12 gauge as well. If this went south it might just be Herron¡¯s lucky day. The dude might be the calmest dragonette Tom had yet met, so he hoped that made him the least likely to be trigger happy too.


    He ran back up the stairs once again. Nothing like being winded before a possible fight to the death, he thought as he made his way up. Thinking about it, what fucking chance did they stand against three dragons anyway. He really hoped Jarix had just decided to bring some friends along even if Nunuk had said that was highly unlikely. Still, he could hope, right?


    When he finally got up the tower, throwing open the hatch he was faced with a very nervous-looking Herron. That in itself was fucking terrifying. Kokashi was also there, already scanning the horizon.


    ¡°What we got?¡±


    ¡°Three dragons far out¡±


    ¡°Where are they?¡± Herron pointed to the horizon, the weather was clear with only sporadic clouds. Tom could just about make out a group of dots, in the distance, that were moving. He couldn¡¯t make out colors at this range though.


    That was one hell of a spot for Herron even if he had used the spyglass. It did help, but it had rather poor magnification. That''s what the binos were for though so he brought them up on max zoom. Trying to find them.


    ¡°How the hell did you manage to spot them that early?¡± There was a moment of silence before Herron answered trying to sound apologetic.


    ¡°That wire thing was just even more boring than just scanning the horizon with the spyglass so¡­ I did that instead¡± Well at least he was honest about it. Still, Tom hadn''t expected the wire drawing bench to increase guard efficiency around here.


    He finally managed to find them coming in below a cloud catching their wings against the white of the sky behind them ¡°One big blue, one smaller blue¡­ he glints in the sun so I guess armored or just very shiny... One very big red one also in armor I think¡­ Jarix and Archeon with a friend?¡± He questioned lowering the binoculars. He couldn¡¯t be sure at this range though but that glint could be polished metal and they did seem to enjoy that around here.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope so. It won''t take them long to get here at that speed¡± Herron replied still sounding worried. Tom handed the binos to him. He struggled a bit with looking into them thanks to his snout, but he managed. ¡°I can¡¯t tell who they are, the front one looks fancy though. Definitely in armor¡± he went after a bit of looking.


    ¡°They should easily see the keep from that distance. And Archeon knows where it is too. Why haven''t they rolled a flag out yet?¡± Herron then continued.


    ¡°Flag?¡± Tom hadn¡¯t been told about no flags?


    ¡°To let us know who they are. Did no one tell you that?¡±


    ¡°Archeon didn¡¯t use a flag?¡±


    ¡°They were in a fight, in a storm, at night!¡± Right duh, still, why hadn''t they fucking told him about that ¡°I¡¯m not sure they¡¯re friendly.¡± Herron continued. In that case prep for the worst hope for the best.


    ¡°If not, pay attention.¡± Tom unslung the shotgun from his shoulder and the two guards'' eyes went wide.


    ¡°This is a shotgun. It fires a cloud of small steel balls. It won¡¯t hurt a dragon. Unless maybe if you are right next to them... I think¡­ possibly. But it will rip a dragonette to shreds at maybe thirty meters.


    ¡°You would let me use it?¡± Herron asked with awe in his voice.


    ¡°Oh Saph and Jacky are gonna be so pissed,¡± Kokashi added.


    ¡°If you shut up and listen. Kokashi, go tell the others for fuck sake.¡± The response was immediate, Herron snapping to attention and Kokashi realized he had shit to do, stumbling down the trapdoor. There wasn¡¯t time for chit chat. Even if Tom was hopeful everything was going to be just fine.


    He went about showing how to load and fire the shotgun, how the safety worked, and so forth. It wasn¡¯t a difficult thing to use and Herron seemed to grasp it without too much trouble.


    As Herron worked on properly shouldering the too long weapon, Tom¡¯s mind raced. Perhaps Vulzan had made such a killing on those bottles and spices he just wanted to pick up some more. Yeah, that would do it, but who was the big red one? Goddammit, that meant doing the whole foreign dude thing again. What was it his imaginary lord''s name was again? Right, Sabaton. Lord Joackim of Sweden. He chuckled a bit at his own joke, Herron just looked at him worriedly at that.


    ¡°You really are crazy¡±

 Incoming

    Chapter 57: Incoming


    Sapphire gave a quick prayer to any gods that would listen, what were they going to do? They had three huntresses out and about and three dragons coming in. Sapphire really hoped they were indeed friendly. They had never been attacked by a dragon in all of her years, in fact not even in all of Nunuk¡¯s years. Still, they didn¡¯t even have landing facilities for three dragons. Archeon and Jarix alone would be a tight squeeze and the red dragon that was incoming was apparently even larger if it was indeed Archeon and Jarix.


    Maybe Jarix had brought along a friend to witness his first deployment and the red one wasn''t actually that big. If it was even larger than Archeon and wearing armor they were dealing with a true beast of war and likely a veteran of countless battles. What could bring a dragon, like that to their backwater keep? The answer to that just might be even more terrifying, so she elected to not dwell on that part.


    Tom had told her to cross her fingers for luck whenever he tried one of his experiments, it made it rather hard to get her armor on, but she did it anyway. Normally when preparing for battle you would be getting hyped up putting your equipment on. She just felt like she was preparing to look presentable before going to heaven. If they were hostile they didn¡¯t stand a chance. Especially not if they had escorts with them, which would be more than likely.


    She had been taking care of the children while Tom worked on the distillery thing with Shiva and the others when the bell rang. She had herded them all into the library with Apuma, where he could keep an eye on them for her. She just hoped it wasn''t the last time she got to see them all.


    She reported down to the grand hall with her new bow ready to fight. They wouldn¡¯t even be trying to intercept them. They were to barricade the doors and wait for them to attack first. Rachuck would be taking the armory and may the gods help them. Tom had the tower, not that he knew that yet. Kokashi had been sent back up to tell him and lend a hand.


    The rest of them would be trying to hold the halls. Nunuk wasn¡¯t in her armor nor was she fit for any sort of fight. If only Dakota had been here she might have been allowed to use it, since it would never fit Rachuck.


    Then Unkai and Kullinger had come down carrying all the pieces. ¡°Looks like the old lady is set on dying in battle,¡± Jackalope said Trying to joke. Jackalope still only had one good hand so she couldn¡¯t use a bow. She had grabbed a warhammer instead. She wasn¡¯t much of a swordswoman, but brute force did go well with a hammer.


    ¡°Sapphire get over here!¡± Nunuk had shouted out from behind her. She turned running over to see if there was anything she could help with.


    ¡°Get that off!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but¡­¡±


    "Get it off I said, you''re the only one here it will fit for Pete''s sake¡± Sapphire stood stunned for a second. That Nunuk would even consider that.


    ¡°Yes ma''am!¡± She got off the armored skirt and breastplate as quickly as possible, handing her crown to Unkai. They began helping her don the armor. She had tried some of the armor the guards used for training and even done a bit of sparring in it for fun. It was a little similar, but she had never really fought nor even been trained in how to fight, wearing something like this. Nor was she ever supposed to for that matter.


    And she was expected to fight dragons in it¡­ She was going to die. Perhaps she should have let Kiran fly, at least she would have gotten to see it then.


    When they were in the middle of doing up the chestplate Kokashi came stumbling back down the stairs.


    ¡°Flag of the royal guard! The idiots forgot to roll it out¡± Oh thank whoever would care to listen, Ishan would wait a while longer.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°But why are there three of them?... And Who¡¯s the red one?¡± Tom asked the clearly baffled Herron.


    ¡°How should I know? We were just expecting Jarix¡± Herron was back to his usual calmer self. An impressive feat considering they still had a giant red dragon clad in enough metal to solve their problems for quite a while.


    ¡°Your sure they aren¡¯t fucking with us?¡±


    ¡°You think it¡¯s a trick?¡± Herron didn¡¯t seem convinced. He brought up the binoculars ¡° That looks like Archeon though. You think he would be part of it?¡± No, that didn''t seem right.


    ¡°You sure it¡¯s Archeon?


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a trader alright, he''s covered in crates.¡± That would have to do.


    ¡°I wonder where they are going to land though. Hopefully, they aren''t going to be staying long¡±


    Well, they should know before too long, they were making good speed and no more than two minutes out.


    it didn¡¯t take too long after Kokashi had left before Balethon stuck his head up the hatch and climbed up. By now Tom didn¡¯t need the binoculars anymore. He had only seen the one dragon but that did look a bit like Archeon alright.


    ¡°Should we head down?¡±


    ¡°Nah. Not until they land we need to know what''s up¡± Herron was already leaning on the shotgun like a true professional. Tom cleared his throat a bit, and he snapped back to attention.


    ¡°The barrel doesn''t point at anything you don¡¯t want to destroy, do you not like your face?¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡± Herron went, bringing the gun up to hold like Tom had shown him.


    They stood and stared while the wedge formation of three came around the keep setting down where they could between the buildings down on the ground. That was definitely Archeon and that was Vulzan on his back along with a few more dragonettes including a now peg leg equipped captain Tyborg.


    The big red one had quite the entourage too. A quick count gave 7 dragonettes all in full armor and 3 in what looked more like fine common clothes.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The younger dragon which Tom assumed must be Jarix had only two passengers. who clambered off but remained by Jarix''s side. The ones in armor from the red dragon formed a line of six in front of their dragon and stayed there. The dude who appeared to be in charge based on the fanciness level for their armor going with the common clothed people.


    They met up with Vulzan and Tyborg, the rest of Vulzan¡¯s guards remaining with Archeon.


    ¡°What is going down there¡±


    ¡°I have no clue¡± Herron just went looking down. Then Kokashi stuck his head back up


    ¡°What are they doing?¡±


    ¡°You tell me look¡± Tom went pointing at the rather scary collection. Kokashi got up and looked down studying them all for a bit.


    ¡°Well, those three aren''t royal guards that''s for sure. That must be Jarix and possibly some ground crew. Vulzan likely hired some new guards to make up the numbers... Shh, they are speaking¡± Tom went quiet as a mouse and Herron leaned up against the wall.


    Kokashi seemed to concentrate deeply and Tom could once again see that flickering in his eyes. He wondered if that was for dramatic effect or just a part of it. Knowing Kokashi both were perfectly possible. After a bit, his ears dropped.


    ¡°Uh oh¡­ The guy in the robes there¡± Kokashi pointed at the groups of people seemingly not figuring out there was no way Tom could figure out who he was pointing at. ¡°His last name is Flaxen and he ain''t happy¡± Arh shit...


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Following confirmation, they were about to have esteemed visitors rather than a fight for their lives they quickly got Sapphire back out of Nunuk¡¯s armor. She had been allowed to wear a set of genuine Enchanted battle armor. One of legends too. Well, she mostly wore it. She hadn¡¯t even gotten the helmet on in fact, but still, that was a show of trust she would not soon forget. Neither would Jackalope of course she would make sure of that.


    Now though activity was equally as frantic as everyone was scrambling to try and make the place look presentable. The outer door was slowly cranked open and Kullinger sent downstairs to inform Rachuck of the situation.


    Sapphire looked around, everyone was clearly geared for battle rather than appearance. Not even Nunuk was that presentable right now. This might be the most embarrassing visit they had had in a long time.


    Then Herron just had to make it worse as he came down to inform them somebody named Flaxen was here and they weren''t happy.


    ¡°Right then, they wish to challenge our trial. Sapphire, Jackalope as presentable as you can manage, please. Herron, get the two down from the tower.¡±


    Rachuck made it up the stairs just in time to receive her attention. ¡°Rachuck, get your guards in order, they wanna challenge our ruling I think. Get the tainted armor and the blade I¡¯ll go get the earrings.


    ¡°Yes, mother. Unkai with me!¡±


    Sapphire was left standing there a bit confused at everything that was going on.


    ¡°Do we prepare a meal or something¡± she tried asking


    ¡°That can wait. Actually, go help Herron with Tom, try and make him as presentable as possible but keep him out of sight for now¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡± She replied, turning to go up the stairs. How was she supposed to make Tom presentable for what sounded like a full delegation from the capitol in a matter of minutes?


    As she went up the others came back down the other way. She explained Nunuk wanted Tom hidden for the moment and looking as best he could. Not sure what else to do she took them to her bedroom, to see if they could figure something out.


    ¡°Uhmm didn¡¯t I look god enough last time? Have the cloak now too¡± Tom questioned


    ¡°Last time was a trader we knew well, and you did manage a good first impression.¡±


    ¡°Vulzan called my hideous when first saw me I think¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ A good second impression then. This is a delegation from the capital likely angry that we executed Dashu so you need to be on your best behavior and go for a good first impression this time.¡±


    ¡°Right got it.¡±


    ¡°First of all, lose the boots, they¡¯re ugly. Go barefoot¡±


    ¡°But..¡±


    ¡°Just do it¡±


    ¡°Fine¡±


    ¡°Get the helmet off, where is your crown?¡±


    ¡°Children¡¯s bedroom¡±


    ¡°Right Herron, fetch¡±


    ¡°Right away¡± Herron left the room at an uncharacteristically brisk pace. Perhaps even he was excited today¡­ was that Tom¡¯s shotgun he was carrying?¡±


    ¡°You gave him your shotgun! But why him!?¡±


    ¡°He was standing next to me, and dragons were coming¡± Tom answered in a shrug. Sapphire didn¡¯t even try to hide her scowl as she let her ears hang. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sorry. He didn¡¯t get to shoot it¡± Tom tried to cheer her up.


    She just scoffed and got back to work. At least he had all his armor on already.


    ¡°Can you do something with your hair, it''s going everywhere and it¡¯s brown.¡± It really was a mess


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    What kind of nightmare was this, the badass warrior woman had turned into a grumpy hairdresser who was also stressed enough to out-compete with the Greek economy. Why was it they kept changing their mind on whether he looked good enough, couldn¡¯t they just set a bar and be done with it?


    ¡°Uhm, don¡¯t think so, maybe do what Fengi did¡± He had no clue how to do his hair. He rarely even combed it. Sapphire had seemingly not figured out pulling on someone''s hair was rather painful or maybe that was his punishment for letting Herron have the shotgun. Granted she was likely used to skinning anything that had hair, but still.


    ¡°Ow, that hurts a lot you know¡±


    ¡°Sorry, not sorry, there we go... Two sorta shitty horns. Now get those boots off¡­ The under boot things too.¡±


    Why did it have to be his boots? The keep had stone floors and she didn¡¯t even let him keep his socks on for god''s sake. He didn''t much enjoy having freezing cold feet. Not to mention they hadn¡¯t been washed since the lake. If only he had brought a pair of white socks.


    ¡°Oh my god they smell, why do your feet smell that bad¡± She even backed off, holding a hand over her snout.


    ¡°Long time in boots,¡± Tom just answered half-heartedly. Come on, it wasn¡¯t that bad. Even if Kiran had attacked them one night while he slept, believing them to be some sort of foul creature... Maybe he should bathe a bit more. Damn dragonettes and their no sweating.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for a bath, dammit Tom they stink.¡± She did sound genuinely frustrated at that.


    ¡°Sorry, they just do¡±


    She just let out a deep sigh. ¡°Right we need to get some jewelry on you. What have I got.¡±


    She began to look through drawers getting out what lose stuff she had and began the process. Herron had returned with Tom¡¯s crown. just as she finished with the last things she had.


    ¡°This just won''t do. Herron, get Jackalope. She had some extra stuff too.¡±Herron noded and departed again with a little less urgency this time.


    ¡°I¡¯m not looking like that in front of important people!¡±Tom protested, he knew full well where this was going.


    ¡°Ohh yes you are. Now let''s go we likely don¡¯t have long.¡± Herron was back in a matter of seconds but with Nunuk in tow instead.


    ¡°By the god that is a miserable sight¡± The old lady let out. Tom couldn¡¯t help but agree.


    ¡°Is that all we got?¡± No not like that.


    ¡°It¡¯s all I got,¡± Sapphire replied in a huffed tone. The Lady wrinkled her snout a bit ¡°The others are out, well except Jackalope. Whom I sent Herron to go get!¡± shot Herron a look that might be fatal to someone.


    ¡°Tom you have my permission to, borrow! The Jewelry the other lent you. I trust you can figure out the rest?¡± Oh goddammit, also he did feel a bit insulted at the pressure being placed on borrow.


    He just looked at her with a contemptuous scowl. ¡°One mustn¡¯t steal¡±


    ¡°Belay that, I¡¯m ordering you instead. Now snap to it!¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am¡± He replied in the tone of a kid ordered to clean their room. The next few minutes were spent breaking and entering into all the other huntresses¡¯ bedrooms.


    ¡°You need to make locks next¡± Sapphire had commented after he popped open the third door in a few seconds. All he was using was his multi-tool and some bent wire. These things were jokes, just a keyhole, and a gate to prevent a key from opening the wrong door.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡±


    The haul had luckily been a bit smaller on account of the others wearing some of what he had borrowed last time. Why did he have to do this was his main thought, as Herron and Sapphire tag-teamed him with shiny stuff. It took a while, but they had managed to get him up to a similar level of gayness as last time.


    ¡°Right, that will have to do. Stay behind us we will look ahead where they all are they must have gotten up here by now. Nunuk doesn¡¯t want them to see you yet and do try and smile at least your teeth are white¡± Sapphire went finishing up


    Jesus okay he got it.

 Negotiations

    Chapter 58: Negotiations


    Where were they? Sapphire had rounded the corner with Herron to find an empty Grand hall and a quick check confirmed they weren''t in the greeting hall either. She walked up to the edge as confidently as she could manage, peering down. There they were, three dragons and more than a dozen dragonettes, all standing opposite Nunuk with the others all lined up behind her in rank and file.


    She trotted back to where Tom was hiding inside.


    ¡°They¡¯re down below, stay here we will come get you, or all come up here, okay? So stay out of sight just for now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go hide¡± Tom replied in an annoyed tone. She felt almost like kids trying to trick the adults, but if anyone knew how to hide it was Tom. Even if he had once again been made as unstealthy as possible and he didn¡¯t seem thrilled by the prospect.


    Sapphire and Herron walked out onto the platform looking as stately as they could manage before dropping off the ledge taking to the wing circling down to where the others were discussing.


    Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen a dragon of the royal guard since she was in the capitol 5 years ago and this was no young recruit like Jarix. It was in fact a huge red dragon, heavy-set, barrel-chested multiple scars, and even some fairly nasty-looking old injuries. It had spines missing and a cracked and broken left horn to boot.


    It was wearing more armor than she had ever seen on a dragon and it was beautifully decorated. If that was enchanted armor it was likely worth more than the keep. On its back, over its haunches, was mounted a single light ballista as well, pointed rearward. She had heard of the practice for use against a chasing target.


    His escorts were also all royal-guard both male and female. They were clad in various kinds of armor and all held different weapons, in fact, they seemed like a rather varied bunch. Looking at the shoulder markings though. It couldn''t be¡­ What was a full squad of veterans doing here!? That was insanity.


    And that dragon. Sapphire had never seen a dragon look old before, nor did this one. But it was covered in scarring and the closer she looked the more she found. He had to be a veteran of countless battles and possibly centuries of service!


    She wasn¡¯t sure if she was excited to meet them or sour at the fact they had rejected her way back when. She was definitely scared of why they were here though. If they were about to defend the killing of a traitor against someone who could bring an escort of royal guard veterans out here, this might be a very bad day.


    The residents of the keep were lined up behind Nunuk standing at attention. Even the kids were there, all crowded around Apuma, who was actually standing with his back straight for once.


    She touched down alongside Herron with as much grace as she could manage, walking to join the line beside Jackalope.


    ¡°I see tardiness is another quality of your subjects, Bizmati¡± The lead robed figure spat out with evident distaste. ¡°You didn¡¯t even have a welcoming committee and then you proceed to come dropping in willy nilly. Disgraceful.¡±


    ¡°And terrible manners one found in yours. Not to mention bad memory¡± Nunuk retorded unfazed.


    ¡°And what do you mean by that, might I ask?¡±


    ¡°You failed to roll out your flag. How were we supposed to welcome strangers?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps your scouts are about as useless as yourself. We arrived under flag as per protocol.¡± the robed figures replied lifting her snout and looking to the side.


    Jackalope leaned over to whisper to Sapphire ¡±Like hell they did.¡±


    ¡°Anyway your inadequacies aside. Do you expect me to believe that my cousin Dashu, who has served as a trained member of the citizen¡¯s militia, member of the Free trader¡¯s and long-serving escort of said traders betrayed all of his oaths and aided a DARK KNIGHT in entering your keep?¡± Long-serving my arse Sapphire thought to herself. From what Vulzan said he had been with them for a few years and the guy hadn¡¯t even turned thirty yet.


    Sapphire studied the robed figure as best she could, it would appear to be a woman even if she was a little on the small side, but her temper betrayed the truth. She wasn¡¯t wearing any weapons, at least not openly. Her robes were fine white silk with silver and blue trimmings bearing embroidered symbols Sapphire didn''t recognize. Her horns had silver plating hammered over them at the tips with gold chain and jewelry hanging from them. She looked stinking rich.


    ¡°As I stated he was originally deceived into thinking he was dealing with mere common scum and villainy. Only following the first battle did he become aware darklings were involved. Following that encounter, threats, and promises of revenge should he not do as ordered, combined with his weak spine, made him cooperate.¡±


    ¡°Preposterous! He...¡±


    ¡°During his trial, he stated he feared for the safety of his family. Judging by the escort you brought along perhaps he was even dumber than we thought. Or are you in fact incapable of defending your family?¡± Nunuk was clearly not taking shit from anyone today. Sapphire did wonder whether that was a smart move in this situation though.


    ¡°A trial held where his defender was the one he was supposed to have betrayed. That is no trial, Bizmati, that is a travesty!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to find impartial parties when you betrayed everyone within a day''s flight.¡± Nunuk retorted in a forced calm.


    ¡°Then why would you proceed with such a trial. Have you no concept of fairness in law!?¡± The woman gave no such courtesy, it was perfectly clear she was absolutely furious.


    ¡°We had everything we needed to condemn him. He confessed to his crimes, we found evidence he had been communicating with the enemy, and it explained the enemies actions perfectly.¡±


    ¡°What is this evidence you speak of? I want to see it immediately and how did you manage to make him confess? He had no reason to give you a confession!¡±


    Nunuk snapped her fingers and Rachuck came up with the earrings and the helmet of the Litch plate.


    ¡°This is a set of enchanted earrings that allow for communication. My husband tested them himself, they are not cursed and are indeed still functional. Here is the helmet of the knight in question and his sword. The sword is indeed cursed, so please be careful.¡± Nunuk was trying to sound cordial, Sapphire though could hear the contempt clear as day.


    The lead armored figure came up to take the helmet. She was a little shorter than Jackalope, but still an imposing figure. Her armor was silver trimmed with three golden bands on her shoulders marking her as a colonel.


    Sapphire leaned over to Jackalope ¡°What in the god¡¯s will is a colonel doing out here?¡±


    Jackalope just shrugged ¡°How the fuck should I know. I didn''t even know she was a colonel¡±


    ¡°I must say fighting off an attack of this size after they breached your gates is quite a feat, not to mention you only took a single casualty. How did you manage such a thing?¡± Her voice was calm but inquisitive. The colonel pointed to Vulzan and Tyborg ¡°From their account you have a very powerful warrior amongst your number. Where is he?¡±


    ¡°Tom is currently waiting for us to make our proper acquaintance. He is not of our kind, so we thought it best to avoid any misunderstandings.¡± Nunuk Replied in a much more respectful tone bowing her head slightly.


    ¡°You''re hiding the means to attack us! The arrogance of such an action!¡± A male robed figure shouted out.


    The colonel just sighed. ¡°Lady Bizmati would you mind getting him down here so all parties may have peace of mind¡± Well at least the colonel didn''t seem like an angry arsehole. In fact, she sounded a bit annoyed if anything. That likely meant she was here under orders rather than of her free will. That was honestly even scarier to Sapphire.


    ¡°Jackalope would you mind?¡± Nunuk went, turning back to them.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am, right away¡± Jarix did seem to take an interest in that as his head turned to follow Jacky as she departed.


    ¡°He can¡¯t even fly? What sort of man is he?¡± The angry woman spat out.


    ¡°No he can¡¯t and to address the earlier screaming, Tom is a dangerous fighter, but I hardly think he¡¯s capable of downing a truly legendary dragon and a squad of veterans like what you seemed to think necessary to bring to visit a frontier keep.¡± Nunuk sounded more than a bit condescending, it was a good point though. This was a terrible waste of veteran warriors that could surely have been put to better use elsewhere and did she know the dragon?


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    ¡°A frontier keep that had possibly fallen to corruption and one can never be too careful. You never know what might be hiding out here.¡± Had Jackalope still been there Sapphire would have expected her to call the robed woman a coward. And what did she mean fallen to corruption?


    ¡°I assure you we''re very much still here and doing just fine. There have been no attacks since Vulzan''s departure.¡± Apuma tried, sounding as diplomatic as he could manage. Head bowed low.


    ¡°You expect that to reassure me, if you had already fallen, darklings wouldn¡¯t need to knock now would they?¡± The sheer arrogance of that insult. To insinuate they had fallen to corruption while standing in front of her, Sapphire felt her fist clench up involuntarily.


    ¡°Are you accusing me and my keep of being lacking in purity? Sapphire met the unicorn Kalestine not even two weeks ago, as did Tom in fact, and a further three of my number. Do you think the great Kalestine would not have done something if we had turned?¡± Nunuk stated with a fair amount of malice in her voice.


    That sparked a discussion on who had just insulted the will of a unicorn with those statements, which carried on for a bit till the colonel seemingly got tired of listening to it.


    ¡°Not to interrupt the shouting match but was this you Lady Bizmati?¡± The colonel held up the helmet showing the dent where Tom¡¯s revolver had bounced off.


    ¡°No that was Tom¡¯s doing, he was the one who downed the cursed creature in the end,¡± Nunuk replied. The colonel turning back to inspect the damage with a curious look on her face.


    ¡°Speaking of the devil¡± Vulzan went, in a clearly forced optimistic tone, looking up at Jackalope coming into land.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right, so he had been left in an empty keep once again dressed up like a drag queen knight, except now he was without his boots too and his feet needed a bath. He had found a window slit that overlocked the proceedings below and they appeared to still be discussing. He sighed looking down at himself, he looked like a clown and he was supposed to meet some, apparently, very important people.


    Perhaps he had some time to make a few final adjustments. Well first of his cape. Sapphire had wanted it plain white, but he had a better idea. They did use their blood to dye things so by his deductions, he should be using red anyway.


    One quick memory challenge later he was draped in one of the oldest flags still in service complete with gold embroidered Danish royal insignia because fuck procedure. He looked more like a rich football fan in his eyes but there was no way they could complain about this, and more importantly, he didn''t look like a human pretending to be a dragonette.


    A quick sprint down to his stuff and some digging yielded his old rank tabs and insignia. With the pauldrons it couldn¡¯t go on the sleeves, so the vest would do. It wasn¡¯t like proper procedure mattered anyway, wearing these again was technically illegal. He slapped them on. If these were military people it might help a bit.


    He pondered switching out his tiara thing for his battered helmet. Shiva had managed to straighten everything out, but the paint was still chipped and cracked though. He elected to keep the tiara and the jewelry. Surely it was there for a reason following the debacle of getting it.


    As he looked through his things he cursed his already cold feet. He had even had his boots modified so they would be more appropriate. He had a pair of sandals with him though, those might do. As he was going to put them on he heard Jackalope shout out from above.


    ¡°Where the fuck are you hiding, come on the bitch wants to see you.¡± Okay, that wasn¡¯t entirely how Tom had expected to have their guests described.


    He got on the sandals in a hurry and made his way up the stairs again. ¡°Coming¡±


    He made it up the stairs to see Jackalope pacing back and forth.


    ¡°Why did you hide in the basement and what is that?¡± She went pointing at him.


    ¡°Me¡± he replied, spreading his arms out.


    ¡°Funny. Heads up the lead lady in the robes is a bitch and likely out to get us, so be nice. Oh and the one in armor is a colonel so don¡¯t insult her please.¡±


    ¡°So don¡¯t call her a bitch?¡± he asked. Jackalope just did the finger guns at him like he had shown her, looking down a bit annoyed at the still bandaged left hand. Swearing a bit under her breath before looking up.


    ¡°You¡¯ll make a diplomat yet, now come on.¡±


    They took off running over the edge circling down to the procession below. Tom didn¡¯t have the best feeling about this. He was fairly sure this was the first time he had heard of possibly important diplomatic talks being carried out by a dude in sandals wearing a flag as a cape. He made a mental note to add this to the list of stupid ideas.


    Jackalope swung into land and he got off, hitting the ground running. Smooth he thought to himself. He was getting better at this, when he remembered the ride was over at least. He trotted over to join the line beside Jackalope and Sapphire.


    Sapphire had a sort of pained expression looking at him before turning back to face their oposition. There was a fair amount of gawking from every new face all staring at him. He had sort of expected that, the one Jackalope thought was a bitch appeared unfazed though as she went to speak Nunuk beat her to it.


    ¡°Thank you, Tom. Now since you ordered us all out here shall we get on with it?¡± The robed lady looked very annoyed at being talked over, as she replied.


    ¡°Well, your little keep is hardly spacious so we thought we would spare you the embarrassment of running out of chairs.¡± The robed woman spat. ¡°But let¡¯s ¡®get on with it¡¯, gods how uncivilized.¡±


    Right then, bitch first class identified. What kind of a comment was that? It wasn¡¯t even true, they could all have been seated in the grand hall, even if it might be a little tight and not counting the dragons of course.


    This was who he had been dressed up to impress? First impressions weren''t his strong suit, but she was truly terrible. Nunuk and the bitch, had engaged in what was best described as verbal warfare for several minutes. The keep¡¯s dragonettes and himself growing more and more irritated by the moment just looking on in silence.


    The one in the fancy armor just stood there, seemingly more interested in Tom and the others than the two arguing. The subject appeared to be that Dashu¡¯s trial hadn''t been good enough for the bitch and she didn¡¯t believe the judgment was correct. The fact they had evidence and witnesses in both Vulzan, Tyborg, and Archeon. Didn¡¯t seem to faze her. She also claimed he would never have confessed to such a crime since he had been instructed to never do so.


    That comment drew the attention of the one in the fancy armor. ¡°Did you tell him that or is this a general thing in your family lady Flaxen?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s common sense that if accused of a crime you shouldn¡¯t confess before a trial.¡± The bitch replied as if even a child should know that. The colonel just huffed, looking back to Tom. ¡°He would never have done such a thing.¡±


    ¡°He was persuaded to do so,¡± Nunuk replied.


    ¡°You tortured my sweet cousin!?¡±


    ¡°I tortured a traitor¡± Nunuk continued ¡°Colonel Hashaw, what is the proper procedure for obtaining information from captured enemy combatants?¡±


    ¡°Extract the required information by any means necessary of course.¡± She replied drawing an evil grin.


    ¡°My cousin was no traitor and he was most definitely no enemy combatant.¡±


    ¡°He infiltrated my keep, under the guise of a friend and misused our trust to let the enemy in our door. He was second only to the knight himself in terms of damage done to my keep.¡±


    ¡°He would do no such thing!¡±


    ¡°You said so already, you pompous prick! Yet he fucking did now, didn¡¯t he!?¡± Jackalope finally snapped. The bitch looked like she had just been smacked in the face as she took a step back, hand on her chest in shock.


    ¡°How dare you speak to your betters like that huntress! Have you no clue who I am!?¡± Tom wasn¡¯t sure if the fury in her voice was more show or if he should be ready on the draw, but the woman appeared to be spitting with anger at this point.


    Shiva managed to shut Jackalope''s mouth before the reply came, which judging by her expression would not have improved the situation.


    ¡°Hashaw, would you take the word of such undisciplined savages over that of a city warden?¡± The colonel turned to the by now nearly manic looking woman.


    ¡°Colonel Hashaw... And I believe your judgment may be impaired at the moment. I require that you calm down before I¡¯m willing to join this discussion¡± Tom knew military folk dealing with bulshit when he saw it, though that was a rather impressive display of self-control.


    ¡°You!¡­¡± The woman looked almost like she was going to strike the armored woman for a second raising her hand. The armored one just stared her down raising an eye ridge stom guessed. In the end, she thought better of it.


    ¡°Now then¡± The armored woman started turning away from the bitch.¡° I believe proper introductions are in order now that we are all here. The remaining ones aren¡¯t going to be joining us correct?¡±


    ¡°Correct, they aren¡¯t expected back for a while yet¡± Nunuk clarified in a much more respectful tone.


    ¡°Very good. I am Colonel Hashaw, that fine gentleman behind me is Baron and that lot is his crew.¡± Tom nearly let out a snicker at that one. He looked about at the dragonettes of the keep who were all staring like they had seen a ghost or something.


    ¡°We have been in charge of overseeing the training young Jarix here, who has managed to meet or exceed all expectations placed upon him and as such has recently joined the ranks of the royal guard proper.¡± Hashaw looked around for a bit with a satisfied smirk. Tom guessed she was reveling in their expressions. He just tried not to smile too much. The Red Baron, seriously. What were the fucking odds?.


    ¡°As you are likely well aware, Archeon has requested his son¡¯s first deployment is to your keep. Following the recent escalations in hostilities in the area, we have elected to consider that request. However, following accusations of criminal behavior, it was decided the truth should be known before the request could be granted.¡± Hostilities in the area¡­ was it not just them or were they the area?


    ¡°Did I forget anything, old boy?¡± She went, turning back to look at the large red dragon.


    ¡°I think that about covers it,¡± The dragon answered in a deep calm rumbling tone. He sounded even rougher than Archeon and kinda raspy too, almost like he was a smoker. It sort of made sense in a weird way, being a fire-breather and all. Tom wondered whether lightning or fire would be rougher on the throat.


    ¡°Very good, Lady Nunuke, I will require any evidence in your possession, as well as all eyewitness accounts to be given under oath. A thorough inspection of your keep would also be appreciated.¡± Hashaw continued.


    Oh shit, Tom thought at that last one.


    ¡°Of course, do you require lodging for your crew and... passengers?¡± Nunuk responded.


    ¡°Let the kid and his father take the greeting hall. They might not be seeing each other again for a while. If you have a few extra tents I wouldn¡¯t mind though¡± Hashaw looking to the bitch for a split second.


    ¡°I will have what we got sent down for you.¡±


    ¡°Excellent that can wait though. Lady Flaxen I strongly recommend you take a rest before we return to deliberations. This part does not concern you.¡± The furious woman looked like she was going to launch into another tirade before backing off with a huff, walking over to Baron with her companions in tow.


    ¡°You.¡± She went pointing to Tom, walking over to him ¡°We need to have a talk. Jarix, come on over boy, you wouldn¡¯t shut up about this guy all the way here. Even if he looks ridiculous and was possibly involved in a terrible accident at some point,¡± She looked at him with a pained if not very genuine expression. ¡±ouch. And Vulzan You said he was very modest?¡± She gestured at Tom. Her voice was somewhere around sarcasm and laughing at a bad joke.


    You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡¯ Tom thought to himself. All that to impress an angry bitch and a soldier that doesn''t care.

 Proud Warrior

    Chapter 59: Proud Warrior


    ¡°So you are some kind of strange coward soldier... yet not a coward either?¡± Jarix questioned. His voice is not quite so bassy as the adult dragons. From what little Tom had figured out about dragons from his limited sample size, Jarix was a strapping young dragon. He was even sleeker than his father and looked like he could probably make a more than fair top speed.


    He did carry a bit of armor, it was very limited though, consisting of a massive helmet and some protection around the long neck, shoulders, and wing shoulders. Unlike Baron, there was hardly a scratch to be found on him. Sleek blue scales running, shining all over him and he was currently sitting like a dog, head rolled over to a full 70 degrees, looking at him. With a face like he was inspecting a mouse that had been squashed in a fascinating way.


    ¡°Doing something smart that seems cowardly does not make you a coward. Some may think hiding behind a shield is cowardly. Is it?¡± This wasn¡¯t exactly what Tom had envisioned when he had this discussion in his head to prepare. Jarix might be young but he was still fairly sizable and Tom felt a lot smaller than he was comfortable with right now.


    ¡°I guess not, but if you run to a bush, then you run from the enemy. How are you supposed to fight them then? You just sit there looking stupid and they can just go around¡±


    ¡°If you can kill the enemy from that distance it doesn''t matter.¡±


    ¡°Like with a bow¡± Radexi added in. The young lad served as Jarix tender, he seemed full of life if a little young for an assignment like this. Tom wouldn''t put him a day over 18. Judging by the shine of Jarix scales he was doing a fine job though.


    ¡°Tom, a dragon does not concern themselves with measly arrows when in a fight.¡± Zarko replied, ¡°That¡¯s what the escorts are for and if we run, those escorts are gonna kick the bucket.¡±


    Zarko was much more to the point and Jarix¡¯s navigator. She held the rank of second lieutenant being a freshly commissioned officer who was to serve with Jarix for hopefully many years to come.


    ¡°Death by a thousand cuts is still death, but point taken. Besides, you can¡¯t hide in the sky like you can down here. That¡¯s not what I¡¯m...¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, enough about hiding. Is it true what father said, that you charged and killed a dozen darklings alone in the dark!?¡± Jarix questions excitedly. Tom was still struggling with figuring out how his exploits were that impressive to a dragon. Zarko didn¡¯t give a shit, and Radexi listened more as if Tom was an old man telling war stories.


    ¡°I only killed ten,¡± Tom protested trying to not get a several-ton murder lizard to have the zoomies.


    ¡°Whoaa!¡± Came the response from Jarix, much to Tom¡¯s dismay.


    ¡°I thought you were the one to kill the dark knight as well?¡± Hashaw questioned, sounding very interested. The colonel had been observing mostly, only providing limited input after making her initial observations on how strange she believed he looked.


    ¡°He let Esmeralda finish the bastard off¡± Jackalope added.


    ¡°Ahr, A noble deed for a grieving mother. My condolences. I must ask though, how you managed that¡­¡±


    ¡°Ohh you killed him with your fire magic right? I would have just fried him alive¡± Jarix interrupted, enthusiasm unfazed. Feet tapping like an excited dog which made the ground shake a little.


    Tom looked to Jarix for a moment then to Sapphire then Hashaw. What was the correct response to this?


    ¡°How did you put a dent in his helmet with fire? Surely you would burn through or leave a scorch mark, though fire would normally just cook him alive inside?¡± The colonel went answering for him. The nonchalant delivery made it sound like she had quite a bit of experience on the subject so Tom wasn¡¯t going to challenge it.


    ¡°Uhm. I use this magic staff to channel the fire into a shot¡± He unslung his rifle from his shoulder presenting it. ¡°It¡¯s enchanted¡± He was a genius.


    ¡°May I see it?¡± Hashaw questioned seemingly curious yet matter of factly. Tom guessed no wasn¡¯t really an option.


    ¡°One second¡± He unloaded the rifle before handing it over while under the watchful gaze of Hashaw.


    ¡°Thank you¡± The colonel replied with clear doubt in her voice. She went about examining the rifle in detail, clearly fascinated by the scope on it. ¡°I¡¯m not going to pretend I know what this is¡­ Why does it have a spyglass on it?¡±


    ¡°For when the enemy is far away¡±


    ¡°Good thing we rolled out the flag in the end then.¡± The colonel joked. ¡°The warden didn¡¯t want to alert you who we were before arriving. She claimed this keep had fallen already and should be treated as a hostile location and thus not be given warning. She even reassured us she had received word of darklings roaming the keep. I¡¯m starting to get tired of her reassurances though."


    ¡°Sounds to me like she¡¯s a lying bitch¡± Jackalope added in an uncharacteristically hushed tone.


    ¡°I have orders though, an investigation is to be carried out and any guilty party prosecuted. I trust there won¡¯t be any problems with that?¡±


    ¡°Of course not colonel¡± Nunuk replied with a small bow. More like, figure out every secret you can and report back, Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°If you find any of my things, please ask before touching, some may be dangerous or fragile.¡± Tom tried. The last thing he needed right now was a broken piece of valuable equipment.


    ¡°As long as you do not attempt to hide anything from me. I shall heed your advice.¡± Hashaw replied in a harder tone. Tom knew a warning when he heard one.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    That was Baron. The fucking Baron! And he had come to Bizmati Keep to look for traitors and corruption. Sapphire had never been in a more conflicting situation between most awesome day ever and most terrifying day ever.


    Sapphire did believe the colonel looked a bit perplexed when Tom didn''t react to the name. She hadn''t clarified for him though so Sapphire just kept her mouth shut. She had plenty to wonder about, such as how they would react to all of Tom¡¯s things. There were still many things which he hadn''t even told them about. She just hoped he would cooperate like he said he would.


    Then there was Jarix. She had dealt with a young dragon once before back in the capitol. That one had been headstrong, arrogant, a know it all, and general pain in the ass not to mention a cheat when it came to her travel fare. Jarix at least seemed more excited than anything else. Though the line of questioning soon revealed why. He had bought the story of Tom¡¯s heroic action, bow, string, arrow, and quiver. So now he was eager to have this mighty warrior follow him into glorious battle.


    It was clear Tom was struggling with trying to keep the young dragon happy while trying to water down his expectations. Jarix though appeared stuck in his ways, continuously dragging the subject onto matters of battle, trying to discuss tactics and strategy. Not to mention get every story out of Tom that he could. It didn¡¯t help that Hashaw was decidedly on Jarix''s side in the discussion. She was clearly interested in Tom¡¯s combat prowess and listening intently to every word.


    Then a rumbling voice came from behind, as Archeon joined the discussion.


    ¡°Now kid, remember you are here to protect this keep. Not to go chasing after the first thing you see.¡±


    ¡°Yes, dad. You told me so a dozen times already. I am not just gonna sit here hiding now am I?¡±


    That was new to Sapphire, seeing a dragon use such excessive head movements, sultry tone, speaking back to a parent... Oh gods no. He was like a moody teenager! Tom also seemed to pick up on this as his shoulders sagged a bit, looking a tad defeated. What chance did Tom have if Archeon couldn¡¯t even demand his respect?


    ¡°And thanks to you, I now have a powerful warrior to help me prove once and for all, what every test and even the Baron himself has said. I shall become one of the most feared blues in our history. Our enemies shall tremble and fall before me!¡± Sapphire just swallowed once. Well, at least they wouldn¡¯t need to convince him to help them defend the keep.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Archeon clearly seemed distraught by the show of bravado. Looking down to Tom.


    ¡°You think you can help him?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I need someone to keep my back clear. I don¡¯t have the escorts I need for that!¡± Jarix added excitedly. Sapphire concluded the two dragons didn¡¯t have the same kind of help in mind.


    Tom got a few centimeters lower at having two looming heads over him staring him down. And Sapphire was once again very happy not to be in his shoes.


    ¡°I can try.¡± He responded in a very meek tone. The colonel gave a bit of a snicker.


    ¡°Awesome! with a fire mage to watch my back I don¡¯t even have to worry about some sly bastard getting behind me when I go for the kill.¡± Jarix went in an enthusiastic tone.


    Tom looked horrified at that, turning to look around at the others with an almost panicked expression. Archeon was clearly not much happier either.


    ¡°I really hope you''re right son, I like you a lot better than your memory,¡± Archeon added in a sad tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Arch, he¡¯s gonna be fine. This keep has stood for centuries without real interference from us, why should there suddenly emerge something that could kill a dragon out here?¡± Hashaw added, sounding distinctly not worried.


    ¡°There was exactly that, not much more than a month ago, colonel. I just hope these fine people can save my son like they saved me if it comes to it. Unless of course in your endless brilliance decide they should all be put to death for defending their keep against a traitor.¡± He turned to back off from the conversation, taking to the wing with a running leap making for the greeting hall. Leaving a rather lost looking Vulzan behind, along with a rather awkward silence.


    Jarix didn¡¯t let the silence hang for too long though ¡°Why doesn''t he believe I can do anything, Vulzan? I have passed every test, I have done everything I¡¯m supposed to. I have trained with the best and yet¡­ He doesn''t think me capable of even surviving a stay at a frontier keep in the middle of nowhere?¡± His tone had shifted dramatically, sounding genuinely hurt. Sapphire could see why, but what the hell was Volzan supposed to do about it.


    ¡°No, no it isn¡¯t that. He¡¯s just afraid you won¡¯t think something is dangerous enough to worry about that is all.¡± Vulzan tried, clearly doing his best to calm down the agitated dragon. A noble effort in Sapphire¡¯s mind, not very effective though.


    ¡°And what about you huh?¡± Jarix looked to Tom. ¡°You don¡¯t think I can do it either do you? That I need to hide like a coward to survive while you go charging off like a hero? You''re the size of my foreleg if that, and you think I need protecting? While you don''t!? ColonelWhat do you make of my father¡¯s little hero?¡± Hashaw looked over Tom once again in an inquisitive gaze before walking up to and circling him.


    ¡°Armor is tested so that¡¯s something. Though why you feel the need to cover yourself in every trinket you could find is beyond me, are you a man or a woman?¡± she was sounding rather sarcastic to Sapphire, which was not how she remembered most of the royal guard she had encountered before.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Man¡­¡± Tom went in an annoyed tone, she knew that damn well.


    ¡°Show me your sword.¡± Tom looked at the colonel with an angry scowl before drawing the blade.


    ¡°When did you last do that?¡± Gods, that had likely been a month actually. What little sparring practice he got was with the training swords not his own.


    ¡°The last time I saw a darkling¡± He answered truthfully feeling proud of that save.


    ¡°Did you kill with it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ran it through the one that killed Anastasi¡±


    ¡°Very good. What does that bar mean?¡± She poked him on the chest at where he had hastily stuck his old rank on.


    ¡°Lieutenant in the Danish army¡±


    ¡°Well, I do remember hearing you were an officer. So, lieutenant then, do you think you can handle him? Cause I¡¯m not quite sure.¡±


    Tom hadn¡¯t been having the best day. He had been dressed up, insulted, laughed at, treated as a weird outcast that they didn¡¯t even wanna admit to having, and now he was being treated as a god damn collectible by a suicidal teenage dragon. Not to mention being belittled by a colonel who had no fucking clue about who or what he was. Brilliant.


    Fuck it if he wasn¡¯t gonna act as some gun turret to try and save Jarix reckless ass, but he did want a sweet ass dragon around not to mention he did seem like a good kid. That and he did seem to quite like Tom. So he took a step forward.


    ¡°Right so you want a fire mage as your pet then. Well, I¡¯m not it. I will help you only once I¡¯m satisfied you''re worthy of fighting alongside. Until then, I¡¯m your teacher! Passing my course will not take muscle or fighting skill. It will take compassion, love, care, and brainpower. You are a killing machine, a living weapon, but if all you want to do is fight, then that is all you are and that I will not fight alongside.¡±


    ¡°Your talking very loudly for someone in lightning range, you call me...¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t scare me kid I can see your throat from here and I play with that stuff in your mouth for fun. I saw how your father was harried, let me assure you, if it weren''t for us you would be an orphan right now.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it¡± Jarix replied with an indignant raising of his head. Tom held up a hand with a raised finger.


    ¡°If you let me though, I will teach you the ways of my people mainly because I think it would be fucking awesome, not to mention great fun.¡± Jarix looked at Tom with a curious expression at that turn. ¡°But you will learn more than war and battle from me. It will be a lesson in life. All of it. Whether you like it or not. You have ''till the children go to bed to decide, the first lesson will be in the grand hall tonight.¡±


    Tom turned to the colonel before Jarix could respond. She looked a bit curious at the sudden shift in tone ¡°Colonel Hashaw you and your crew are allowed to join, though spots for dragons may be limited. Your passengers are not welcome. I will be extracting an oath of secrecy from any who attend, including you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get to order me about, soldier.¡±


    ¡°Correct and neither do you since I don¡¯t serve in your army. It was an offer, who knows you might learn something.¡± Hashaw looked at Tom for a second as if trying to figure out what to say about that.


    ¡°What would a lousy lieutenant who can''t even hold a sword have to teach me? I''m a veteran of hundreds of battles. I have fought for decades.¡±


    ¡°Excellent then it¡¯s a while since you learned something and no I can¡¯t teach you how to hold a sword better, but there is much more to teach than that. The offer is open. Now I believe you have a keep to inspect so we can be done with this corruption nonsense and get on to more important things because frankly, I don¡¯t have time for this.¡±


    ¡°We do indeed. Sargeant Kolinky!¡± She shouted out, one of the six standing crew running over, ¡°I want these people swept for traces of corruption. Especially this guy, taste him if you have to¡± She went, tapping Tom on the chest. She then walked over to Nunuk. What the fuck was that supposed to mean, taste, Tom wondered slightly worried.


    The sargeant apparently had the ability to sense corruption or something, since they used him like a sniffer dog on all of them. Of course, the problem was a few of them had been carrying tainted and cursed artifacts which he could apparently smell. With some more arguing, it was decided they would go nowhere near the artifacts and be screened again tomorrow. Tom was pleasantly surprised to learn he was in fact clean somehow.


    The bitch had rejoined apparently figuring out they were back to investigating. She of course attempted to make use of the situation accusing those with a hint of taint on them of being traitors and in league with the enemy. The colonel shut her up though with a threat of leaving her on a barren rock if she didn''t fix her tone.


    Following that, the sweep of the keep had proceeded without further delay. They went through everything and did so thoroughly. They hadn¡¯t even gotten halfway done by the time Dakota, Esmeralda, and Fengi returned to the shock of finding their keep basically in the middle of a police raid with the army out front.


    Tom had ended up just following the colonel wherever she went. Being asked to answer a shit ton of questions both while eating and while searching, many of which he didn¡¯t really want to answer. Like why they had a distinctly unsafe amount of flash powder and blitz gel and the many odd bits of machinery. One of the officers even recognized the distillery for what it was prompting even more questions.


    At least they hadn¡¯t asked about the funny crops or most of his electronics since they were apparently boring He did end up spending 5 minutes demonstrating a zipper to them though. The other royal guards were clearly impressed by many of Tom¡¯s more showy things such as flashlights. Hashaw though appeared unfazed by most things, she was in fact mostly interested in Tom¡¯s weapons and Sapphire''s new bow. The books had been a major sticking point too.


    ¡°Well, where might we find one who can read this English then¡± Hashaw questioned, clearly pissed she was looking at a stack of books with only Tom''s word for what was in them.


    ¡°I¡¯m all you got¡± Tom replied with a smug smile.


    ¡°Besides wouldn¡¯t you be able to sense if they were, like, tainted or corrupted?¡±


    ¡°In theory yes. If I can¡¯t have the books then I will take the plans for that bow.¡±


    ¡°You wanna steal my things?"


    "No, I wanna protect my people against potential danger, and those books are a possible danger. So I will trade more protection for less threat¡± Oh you little¡­ big bastard. He could hardly refuse that, he had wanted to use the bow design as a bargaining chip later though.


    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss that later in the meantime just sniff the books will you¡±


    Sergeant, more work for you¡± Hashaw responded with a slight smile.


    When they found the quad bike though even the seemingly unbothered Hashaw stood speechless. They all fell for the fact it was in fact an enchanted item like the dragonettes had originally believed. Even the bitch was actually silent at that. From what Sapphire and the others had told him the quad bike would likely be worth thousands if not tens of thousands of gold if it had been an actual enhanced item.


    ¡°How did you acquire this?¡± Hashaw questioned, still slightly awestruck.


    ¡°It was given as a gift to me for my service¡± That was another lie but she didn¡¯t look like she was paying much attention to him at the moment.


    ¡°I have never seen anything like it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s quite something for a lowly lieutenant to own, it¡¯s fast too and can pull a heavy trailer, it can even plow¡±


    ¡°You would use it¡­ for farm work?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it is mine and I do what I want with it. It has lights too¡± Fuck yeah, Tom thought to himself. Even she was more concerned with the marvels they were seeing than asking pointed questions, perfect.


    They had finished the inspection just before the kids were to be sent off to sleep. In other words, the deadline was up. He made his way to the greeting hall to find the two blues arguing. Not that he needed to go to the hall to hear that of course, it had been a pretty much constant back noise for a while and they clearly were not making much headway.


    He walked in pretending not to have heard them.


    ¡°So Jarix made a decision yet?¡± the young dragon turned to face him, not looking too pleased, having just come out of an unfinished argument.


    ¡°If you expect me to pledge myself to you then no, but I would like to attend your lesson and keep my mouth shut.¡± Tom looked at him with a bit of a strained expression. could have been better could have been worse. It would seem his hero status had taken a hit.


    ¡°Very well, same rules as the others. Archeon, I don¡¯t know if you can both get your head through¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Tom, besides Baron might want a little company too sitting down there with those terrible people.¡± Tom did his best to nod sagely.


    ¡°You do you, I¡¯ll need a short while to get ready, the others are getting the chairs ready¡± He just hoped none of them was going to attack the wall or something.

 Gods of death

    Chapter 60: Gods of death


    Right okay, Tom had just decided to play who¡¯s more important with a dragon and a colonel, and somehow if not won then at least come out on equal footing. Even Nunuk had just let him go about his escapades instead of focusing on making sure lady Flaxen didn¡¯t do anything malicious. Sapphire hadn¡¯t gotten the opportunity to ask what it was Tom was planning for the evening since he had spent the rest of the day with the colonel.


    She had overheard him make abundantly clear about the seriousness of the oath they had to swear if they were to be allowed to witness whatever he had planned. Not even Nunuk would dare threaten a colonel, Tom though seemingly had no such reservation. He made it very clear she would be hunted down and killed if she broke the oath.


    Sapphire couldn¡¯t understand why he would let the colonel attend if he was that worried about her speaking about it when she returned. He took it very seriously though so he must have a reason.


    So now she found herself sitting in the grand hall all the tables moved and the chairs facing the far wall. He was working with some of his things and when questioned he had just answered that he didn¡¯t even know how this worked so don¡¯t worry about it.


    That was more than a good enough reason for Sapphire as she took her seat, wondering what it would take to make Tom not understand something. Perhaps he just didn¡¯t want to explain it.... Yeah, that was more likely.


    When everyone was seated and Tom finished fiddling, he turned to them all.


    ¡°I think that should do it. Now eyes up here please. You have sworn that none of what you''ll see here tonight will be shared with anyone outside this room."


    ¡°You are about to witness a piece of my people¡¯s history, what you are about to see is a clever Illusion called a movie, so I stress none of this is real, it happened a long time ago, we are just watching so it is perfectly safe. I will tolerate no drawing of weapons, general attacking, or bursts of lightning,¡± He went, looking to Jarix.


    ¡°I will stress though you are about to see a lot of death, likely more than most of you ever have, so if you don¡¯t like seeing blood you might wanna leave.¡± Tom looked around for a second as if any of them was going to leave, they had all seen death at some point. Though the notion Tom apparently thought it necessary to warn them did disturb Sapphire a little.


    ¡°What exactly is he playing at?¡± Sapphire whispered, leaning over to Fengi.


    "No clue, he''s acting weird and why is his cloak up on the wall?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately this is all in my native tongue and I haven¡¯t had time to make a written translation. I will stop the movie to explain some things every now and again.¡±


    Jackalope leaned in to join the whisper. ¡°Well, he¡¯s got me excited that¡¯s for sure¡±


    Tom sat down with one of the strange boxes that he had brought and his face was bathed in bright light. Sapphire couldn¡¯t see what he was doing but shortly thereafter part of the wall covered by the cloak lit up.¡°Whoaa¡± came from Fengi and Sapphire¡¯s mind went back to the video of the kids playing. Oh, this should be good.


    ¡°What you are about to see is a tale of war, it starts with one of the most famous battles ever fought in my people¡¯s history, known as the D-day landings. This happened approximately 75 years ago during the second world war. American troops landed on the north coast of France to launch a counter-invasion to take back the country from the Germans to return it to its rightful owners, the French people. In other words, the guys in the water are the good guys. I must stress this battle was considered a success despite the forces suffering catastrophic casualties.¡±


    They were gonna see how his people fought! Sapphire looked to the others who were all doing the same looking back and forth with wide eyes. She snapped a look at Hashaw who was sitting with her squad on their own row of chairs. She looked more curious than excited, then again she likely had no idea what was coming.


    Tom got back down to the box and the white lights shifted to a nice picture of some blue light. Something was happening even if Sapphire had no clue what, as things moved about, there was a little white thing flying around for some reason as well it was hard to keep track of it. after a bit, Tom chuckled a for some reason, the new things started showing up.


    Eventually, a new picture came up with a lot of text, all in English she guessed. Then came the video like Sapphire remembered it was a bunch of wet men that looked a bit like Tom, they were clad in all green though with those ridiculous looking helmets on and appeared to be in a box in the water for some reason.


    Some appeared to puke for some reason as they were sprayed with water. All in all, it was a weird spectacle that went on for a while. Then there was a shot of a wheel turning rather fast as a door opened downwards and, OH MY GOD!!


    There were shrieks of alarm and gasps from all around the room, Sapphire even heard Jarix hit his head on the ceiling as he tried to pull it back. ¡°What the fuck is that!?¡± Jackalope let out in alarm


    Sapphire''s jaw just dropped, what was happening!?


    Then the movie as he had called abruptly shifted to show what was causing it. It was some kind of weapon clearly, like Tom¡¯s, but it was firing so fast. It was spewing death like nothing Sapphire had even dreamt of.


    The movie played on as they slowly quieted down, so much death there must have been at least 20 people in that metal box thing, had any survived? Somehow since they then jumped over the side into the water to get away from the torrent of death. She actually saw people drown as they struggled in the water. She looked at Dakota, she had her hands over her eyes, head held low.


    After a bit Tom the movie stopped and Tom got up. ¡°That was a machine gun. Before you ask Colonel, no I do not have one.¡±


    Nunuk raised her hand very politely. ¡°Yes ma''am¡± Tom replied pointing at her.


    ¡°Who is fighting the... amecain?¡±


    ¡°Germans¡±


    ¡°Other humans?¡± There were evil humans then, Sapphire thought.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tom admitted in a sad tone, Nunuk took her hand back down again. There was a bit of solemn silence. Wars between people happened, of course, but they were rare and mostly small. One of the main duties of the royal guard was to stop such things before it got out of control.


    The movie continued, as the ones in green struggled to get off the beach trying desperately to find a place to hide, yet they moved forward. Towards that insane weapon, as the picture got wider you could see there was not just one boat but many and there were also many of these machine guns. It just went on and on into the horizon.


    This was insanity, she flinched at a loud boom as something exploded and a man went flying. Fengi scrambled for Sapphire''s hand clutching it tightly. She held her breath for a moment to see if he would get up but the image shifted to someone else immediately, she guessed not.


    Fengi let out a distress sounding squeak. Burying her face in Sapphire¡¯s chest.. Sapphire just stared at the carnage struggling to comprehend it all. Jackalope leaned forward, mouth open, eyes wide, looking more amazed than anything.


    She silently cheered for the ones with the red crosses on their helmets just like Tom¡¯s medicine bags, they were clearly trying their best to save who they could. They sounded so calm and collected, as they worked as if not even caring about where they were and what was happening. ¡®Come on you can do it, hang in there buddy.¡¯ Then a shot landed and it was all over. The Medic she believed Tom called them, broke down screaming at the Germans for what they had done. Sapphire felt his pain, why, why had they shot a wounded?


    Luckily Fengi hadn¡¯t looked up yet, as Sapphire did her best to comfort her, keeping her head buried for the time being, hopefully the worst was over soon. From above came a whimpering sound like she had never heard from a dragon. She looked up to see Jarix staring desperately at the screen fidgeting back and forth like he had to do something.


    His eyes were more panicked than furious to Sapphire, he looked so helpless. The mere notion that a dragon could be helpless was unnerving to Sapphire.


    Tom had stopped the movie looking at all of them. ¡°Let¡¯s give everyone a minute.¡±


    Fengi was sobbing softly but mostly the room was silent. Sapphire looked back to the colonel, she appeared to be discussing with her people, clearly shocked at what they had seen. Dakota had held up her hand during the break from the carnage.


    ¡°Why would they walk into that? It¡¯s certain death!¡± She sounded like she was between sorrow and rage, at the insanity they had seen.


    ¡°They had no choice. Everything was fortified and this was the weakest part.¡±


    ¡°That is the weakest!¡± Esmeralda let out in alarm, clutching her snout horrified.


    ¡°Sadly yes, 5 beaches were attacked, 4 went okay, this one is Omaha beach, it did not, but they had orders, as does any soldier. Take the beach at any cost and so they did." Tom looked very pointedly to Jarix at that last remark.


    ¡°How many died in the battle?¡± Hashaw asked coldly


    ¡°Over two thousand.¡±


    ¡°How many landed?¡± she continued


    ¡°40.000 total, we just saw the first wave though¡± There was a bit of silence, as she thought on that.


    ¡°Wave?¡± she asked, not understanding. Sapphire had to agree, what did he mean by wave?


    ¡°They were gonna batter those defences to rubble by any means necessary if that meant continuously assaulting them until the defenses broke then that was going to happen."


    ¡°They were going to throw an entire army at the Germans just to break the defences... on a beach!?¡± Tom pondered that one for a bit, before seeming to realize something.


    ¡°Oh no 40.000 isn¡¯t an army to us, they had two divisions with some support elements thrown in here and there. And a battalion of rangers, that is who we are following. The invasion army numbered over two million. That was why they needed to secure the beaches. So they could land the real army. Because if they didn''t, the Germans would just throw them back into the sea with a counter-attack.¡± The insanity of such a tactic, Sapphire thought to herself.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Bu¡­ but¡­ HOW!¡± The colonel objected. She of course hadn''t been told just how many humans there are.


    ¡°There are a lot of us and when we go to war as in really, go to war, we don¡¯t send some hand-picked highly-trained elites like yourself. We send everyone that is able and not needed at home. This was just one front. In total, some believe the number of soldiers that fought in the war was around 70 million. 11 million of those died.¡± The colonel just sat back down at that. She clearly had a lot to think about. Vulzan fainted and fell off his chair.


    ¡°11 million dead!?¡± Dakota objected. Sapphire just shook her head and clutched Fengi a little tighter. She couldn¡¯t even comprehend how many that was.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Tom replied with sorrow in his voice. ¡°Have you all seen enough?¡±


    ¡°Do they win? Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°They do in the end, yes¡±


    ¡°Then I haven''t,¡± She stated, folding her arms.


    Tom looked around at the room to see if anyone was getting up. None did. Sapphire leaned down to Fengi whispering to her.


    ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to go?¡± She felt Fengi¡¯s grip tighten on her.


    ¡°No, I wanna see the Germans pay.¡± She replied looking back up.


    ¡°Agreed¡± It came from Jackalope next to them.


    With that, Tom had let the movie continue. The soldiers fighting must either have been the bravest Sapphire had ever seen, or downright suicidal. There were explosions going off all around and killing left and right, but they just kept on pushing. They made it to the sand wall, then the cliffside, and even up it. Fighting with fury and determination all the way.


    And in the end¡­ they did it. They actually did it! The Germans ran. They ran for their lives. The battle appeared to have been won, as they were shown the running Germans and the Americans coming to terms with what had just happened. There were grown men crying and shaking. Normally Sapphire would have called them cowards, but after that... She had never seen bravery like it. It was bordering on insanity in fact. They were shown the countless dead littering the beaches. The water red with their blood those metal boxes they had arrived in sitting empty and useless. With that, Tom stopped the movie again.


    ¡°I will not show you the rest as you wouldn¡¯t understand what they are saying and this was the end of the battle for the beach. But as I said, this was a victory.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right then, that had certainly been effective. He had been expecting a forest of hands or maybe a cacophony of questions, but there was silence upon seeing the end of the scene. Looking at Jarix, the dragon was certainly shocked, actually he looked ready to cry. Might as well work while the iron was hot then.


    ¡°Jarix. Earlier you called me and my people coward soldiers, do you stand by that statement?¡±


    ¡°No... I do not¡± The dragon answered in the quietest voice Tom had yet heard from one. Tom smiled solemnly and nodded a bit.


    ¡°I don¡¯t hold it against you, you didn¡¯t know. Colonel tell me have you ever seen a battle like this?¡±


    ¡°No, never. I have seen many die, some in horrible ways. But never like that, never that many.¡± Tom definitely had her full attention, her voice was still quivering even.


    ¡°Most of these men had been in the army for a few months at the most, only a select few veterans among them. They were not trained professionals like yourself. They were regular people, the one we followed was a school teacher, a bit like Apuma, in a way. Many had never even held a weapon before joining the army.¡±


    ¡°You cannot ask that I do not warn our people of this. Such an army would destroy us!¡± Hashaw interrupted him. ¡°If that wasn¡¯t even your best¡­¡±


    ¡°I can and I will, because my people can¡¯t come here, I¡¯m not from this world colonel. I don¡¯t know why I was allowed to come here but some greater power decided to give me the opportunity. What you just saw is what I want to avoid. Not prepare you for.


    I¡¯m scared this might happen in this world. I don¡¯t know if it is possible to avoid it, but I want to try. The greatest peril my world ever faced was ourselves and we continue to do so every day. But here you face something greater and I¡¯m willing to help you face that threat. But only if needed and only if I believe it can be done without that happening.¡± he pointed to the screen still showing the beach littered with dead. The colonel was silent as she stared at him.


    "I am going to trust you to make that call for me, so I¡¯m gonna ask you to carry a burden. Should the need arise for what we just saw. For hell to be unleashed upon this world. Then you may return and I might¡­ Might! teach you how. Until then I will continue the slow and steady progress here, testing and learning all that I can.


    I want to try and use what my people know to give you a better world. Not that.¡± Tom knew he was laying it on thick, and not telling the truth entirely, he had no plans for not arming the keep in any way he could, but he needed time. Fingers crossed though come on, you damn old vet.


    ¡°How can you be so sure of this? You are here, why can¡¯t others come? We need to be ready!¡± goddammit you old goat.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of a human before?¡±


    ¡°...No¡± She replied in an uncertain voice.


    ¡°My people have never heard of a dragonette either, not even in myths and legend and we record everything. So in all likelihood, I¡¯m all you got and are ever going to get. Also if it comes to war you would have lost before it began on numbers alone not even mentioning weapons. We can field tens of millions of troops, you can''t. In other words, deal with the trouble in this world, not others.¡±


    ¡°You want to keep this all a secret unless it becomes necessary? Even the knowledge that we could be wiped out in a blink of an eye!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, because what purpose does knowing you might be wiped out serve? But I think you need to learn more about my people. I have just shown you the worst we can do. The ones in black, the Germans¡± He waited for a second to get a few nods from the crowd.


    ¡°What do you think happened to them after they lost the war.¡±


    There was a lot of murmuring as they looked back and forth between each other. He could hear talk of exterminating them, execution, even death by drowning was mentioned. He sighed a bit, they did tend to look at things in a very white and black way, literally in fact. so it wasn¡¯t surprising to him that mercy wasn¡¯t even mentioned.


    ¡°They became our good friends.¡± Tom interrupted their discussion with a slightly annoyed tone. ¡°They did what they did for a reason. They were a downtrodden and defeated people, who were driven to war, by the perceived injustices against them. With some truly evil people in charge who were of course dealt with.¡± No need to mention many of them got away... ¡°The ones fighting on the beach you were cheering the death of. Those were soldiers just like the Americans. Following orders like any soldier is supposed to. Like you are supposed to¡± Tom went pointing at Jarix.


    ¡°These days the Germans are steadfast defenders of peace, freedom, and law in my world. They are skilled engineers and build things used all over my world. They are also often amongst the first to offer aid, to countries who have suffered and they often don¡¯t even get anything in return.¡± That got him a stunned silence.


    ¡°So Jarix. The question for this first lesson is a simple one. Where was the honor and glory that you mention when talking about war?¡±


    ¡°That was no battle, that was a slaughter.¡± Jarix retorted defensively, clearly not willing to face what he just saw.


    ¡°You don¡¯t win slaughters, this is what my people refer to as a Pyrrhic victory. A battle won at great cost. Those men on that beach are considered some of the most honorable in our history precisely because they were slaughtered, yet they pushed through to victory.¡±


    ¡°But they were cut down in droves, achieving so little!¡±


    ¡°Yet together they achieved the impossible... This is your first lesson, so I will give you a hand. The honor lies not in what they did, but why they did it. Every soldier on that beach fought not for themselves or people they knew and loved, but for ones they had never met nor even seen. They fought for the very idea of freedom and peace. That is honorable. Letting your opponent get back up, or making feigned courtesies during battle isn¡¯t. Real honor lies in fighting for something honorable, not in fighting with honor.¡±


    ¡°As for the glory I have to disappoint you. Glory lies in victory. Returning home and receiving your praise, while you have to live with what you had to do to get there. Glory can¡¯t be found in battle and it never will. It is a reward for doing terrible deeds.¡±


    Jarix just stared at him in silence, clearly not able to come up with a reply to that.


    ¡°Colonel Hashaw, do you fight with honor or for something honorable?¡±


    ¡°We fight for these lands and their people, I would claim that unlike you we manage both¡± She was clearly on the defensive now, even if her sure-footed demeanor from earlier was gone. Well, Tom had just taken a shot at her way of life so that was probably fair.


    ¡°So you have never done something despicable like this? I have yet to see what Baron¡¯s breath can do, but I guess it might look a little like what happened to that German bunker.¡±


    ¡°Fighting with honor does not mean every act will be honorable.¡± She admitted with a pained expression, clearly not happy to concede that.


    ¡°Happy to hear you at least accept the fact. Now, what happens when your enemies all start having that sort of weapon?¡± Tom pointed to the screen.


    ¡°Then we do our duty and fight them with honor, and if necessary, we die with honor. If you are trying to convince me that your people are somehow more worthy of wielding such weapons then I must disagree.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that. In Fact, I believe you may be more worthy, but I don''t know. The problem is that with weapons development comes the arms race. Everyone racing to have better weapons, I think you need to see where that leads. What you just saw was from our second world war. Millions of humans died during that war, both civilian and military. It only ended when we developed a weapon so terrifying we don¡¯t dare go to war again.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    He had more, what could he possibly want to show them this time? As he had spoken Sapphire took the time to look around to the others, Dakota sat in shock, Fengi just looked like an emotional wreck, Esmeralda was clutching Kokashi''s hand seemingly hard enough that his pained expression wasn¡¯t due to the movie.


    ¡°Hey, Saph?¡± Jackalope poked her, seemingly giddy for some gods forsaken reason.


    ¡°Ever seen a dragon treated like a school kid before?¡± ¡®You have got to be kidding Jacky.¡¯


    ¡°No Jacky I haven''t.¡±


    ¡°What do you think he has that can top that?¡±


    ¡°Jacky you just saw thousands die.¡±


    ¡°Yes I know, but did you see that gun? It fired so fast¡±


    ¡°The biggest boom you are ever going to see¡± Tom replied without looking up. ¡°Hopefully you won¡¯t find this one funny¡± Sapphire just shook her head. Fucking hell, Jackalope.


    ¡°Sorry¡± Jackalope replied mutely. At least she had the decency to look ashamed.


    ¡°Right then, what you are about to see is a test detonation of a nuclear bomb. This weapon was used twice against the empire of Japan and marked the end of the war. The empire had sworn to fight to the bitter end, despite having no hope of victory. It was deemed that an invasion of their home islands would cost millions of lives and as such another solution was sought and found. You are about to witness death incarnate.¡±


    There was complete silence, Sapphire had no idea what she was about to witness, but Tom had not exaggerated yet when it came to weapons. ¡®Death incarnate¡¯ she repeated to herself, swallowing.


    There came an image of a very sandy hot place. Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen terrain like that before. It looked completely dead, so perhaps that was why they used it to test whatever this was. Tom had mentioned something he called a desert, perhaps this was it.


    They were shown some nice looking buildings and many weird boxy things, Sapphire didn¡¯t know what where. They were very colorful and pretty though, there were roads of pure black running back and forth as well. Choice of color wasn¡¯t really a concern right now though and what were those weird people standing all around?


    ¡°Those are empty buildings, inside mannequins just dummies meant to look like humans. This is a test to see what would happen if you hit a village. No one is about to get hurt, I swear.¡± That did ease Sapphire''s conscience a little, she had seen enough death for today.


    Eventually, they were shown the original image of the desert again and there was a flash of light.


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jackalope let out and there were some concerning sounds coming from Shiva, who clearly liked what she saw.


    Sapphire''s jaw just dropped. ¡®what was that, how big was it?¡¯ The buildings were torn apart like they were made of paper, the mannequins just disappeared! There was nothing left standing. The weird colorful things were thrown like when you kicked a rock for fun. It was carnage.


    Then came the image of the firestorm rising up into the sky like a giant tree, or maybe a mushroom. The village hadn¡¯t even been that close to the thing and it had just ceased to exist. The amount of death a weapon like that could cause was insanity. It could wipe out most of the capitol in one go!


    Tom once again stopped the movie, turning to look at them. Likely deeming they had had enough. Sapphire just sat there staring with a tear in her eye, she heard Esmeralda puke and Vulzan fall off his chair again behind her with a thunk.


    ¡°So Hashaw, will you keep your oath? or face that in your future or possibly your children''s future¡±


    Those who could turned to face the colonel. Who just stammered out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep my mouth shut.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, Jarix I¡¯ll let you sleep in today''s lesson we talk in the morning. Now you all know why I don¡¯t want to teach you more than you need when it comes to the art of dealing death. My people are too good at it. I¡¯m willing to make you better, but this must be avoided at all cost¡± Sapphire found herself on Tom¡¯s side for the first time when it came to weapons. She had no clue how a rifle would lead to that, but if it did she didn¡¯t want one.

 Beware the Ears

    Chapter 61: Beware the Ears


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    At Hashaw''s insistence, Baron had come up to watch the scenes as well, since he kinda had to know. Most of them had gone to bed, Sapphire had stuck around though to see the legendary dragon¡¯s reaction.


    Tom had agreed a Baron hadn¡¯t even seemed very concerned about the display of death he was being shown. Sapphire didn¡¯t even look at the movie, she just watched Baron. He asked questions about standard combat ranges, for far and how long they could fire. All in all, he was exceedingly calm. Only the Nuke as Tom called it got a reaction from him even if it was slight.


    ¡°I concur. This must not be allowed to become our future.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Now, I have one more thing¡±


    Tom then proceeded to treat them to a clip of their earliest aerial warfare concerning a very famous fighter ace which apparently shared Baron¡¯s name, even if this Red Baron wasn¡¯t actually the name of the one in the red plane. That had actually gotten a chuckle from the old legend.


    Tom had used that movie to try and convince Hashaw that humans could in fact fight with honor if given the chance. Going as far as to risk their lives to honor a dead opponent. Sapphire had to agree with him. This was about as honorable combat as she had seen, even if they fought a little strangely.


    It was fascinating to see the flying machines stumble around the sky. It had been almost laughable in fact, they looked more like kids trying to play catch than anything else. Sapphire had even chuckled a bit at their ineptitude, as had Baron. Hashaw just shook her head.


    The smile faded when one of the planes managed to ¡®catch¡¯ another. The result was a torn piece of wreckage falling out of the sky in smoke and flames.


    Tom explained it was called a dog fight, the objective was to get your plane pointing at the enemy so you could use machine guns to shoot them down, the same weapons they had used on the beach. Such an extreme mix of insane killing power and terrible flying. It wasn¡¯t very different from some of their own aerial battles though, at least in concept.


    Tom had explained that just like Sapphire had guessed, this was only a few years after they figured out how to fly. Apparently even taking to the sky in these machines was considered extremely dangerous, as they would often break and just fall out of the sky. Not to mention most of the pilots had either very poor or no training at all. With that in mind, they had done rather well in Sapphire¡¯s mind.


    It of course threw both Hashaw and Baron for a loop, as they struggled to figure out how everyone they had just seen had less flight experience than most young adult dragonettes. And flew machines built by people who barely knew what they were doing.


    When she made it into bed that night, Sapphire said a prayer. It had been a while since she had last done a proper prayer, but it seemed right to pray for those who had given their lives with such bravery. She had no clue if her gods were willing to smile upon those of another world or their descendants, but it was the least she could do.


    It had been a terrifying experience, but what an experience it was, She was exhausted yet couldn¡¯t sleep. She guessed a few of those images would trouble her for quite some time. Sapphire couldn¡¯t wait till he got out something a bit less dark like he had promised. Though she had been starting to enjoy the one about the red baron. It helped that they didn¡¯t talk while in the air, which was all Tom had shown them, so that had probably helped.


    He claimed that with some work he could make text come up, so they could read what they were saying. Even if he had yet to figure out how to make it write in draconic. Perhaps she would just have to put in some more effort with the English lessons.


    The next day the colonel had spent much of the early hours discussing with Tom, the Bizmati family, and Lady Flaxen. Judging by the now-familiar shouting and screaming, the lady wasn¡¯t happy with the news. Following that, lady Flaxen decided to start her own investigation. That meant Sapphire and Esmeralda found themselves assigned to keep an eye on her along with two of Hashaw''s retinue. As shit duties went this was just about the worst Sapphire could remember receiving.


    They made sure to keep a very close eye on her, following her wherever she went. Nunuk had expressed concerns they might have to face underhanded tricks aimed at turning the colonel against them. With Tom occupied, there were an awful lot of questions they just couldn¡¯t answer, and with every failure to answer, they suffered a verbal tirade from the woman.


    About the only nice thing, she had seen today was when they had passed the greeting hall to find Jarix and Archeon lying side by side and not even arguing. It would seem Tom¡¯s shock lesson had gotten through somewhat then.


    ¡°And what is this supposed to be?!¡± the Lady demanded of them, having found yet another thing. At least she hadn¡¯t touched this time following swords being drawn on the last occasion.


    ¡°A music box¡±


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Sapphire looked to Esmeralda before they jointly answered.


    ¡°We have no idea¡±


    ¡°By the gods you are useless. If you don¡¯t know it could be anything, dark magic, the depths of hell how would you know?¡±


    ¡°It plays beautiful music, not battle chants or demonic screeching¡± Esmeralda answered with a sigh.


    ¡°Sergeant, can you sense any evils within this artifact?¡±


    ¡°No ma''am¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even try. Don''t you think I can see whether you are doing your job or not?!¡±


    ¡°Everything was searched yesterday, including that and frankly I still have a headache after all that.¡± Sergeant Kolinky was clearly exhausted already he just like Sapphire had stayed up late. He had even fallen asleep during the discussions last night and today hadn¡¯t given him many breaks either.


    ¡°And yet you somehow didn¡¯t find anything besides a very large amount of artifacts no one seems to understand except that hideous looking thing. You don¡¯t find that a little strange?¡±


    ¡°His name is Tom¡± Esmeralda clarified in no uncertain terms.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care huntress.¡±


    ¡°You should¡± Maiko added, Maiko struck Sapphire as the kind of fighter who would throw sand in your eyes then throw a net over you for good measure. That was likely the reason he was still a corporal. Given the chance, she guessed he and Tom would get along famously.


    ¡°And why is it that, you lot all seem like he beat the shit out of you last night. With whatever it was that. I! wasn''t allowed to witness! If I didn¡¯t know better I would think you all a bunch of cowards.¡±


    ¡°Because let me make it clear, ma''am. If he wants you dead then you''re dead.¡±


    ¡°I have an escort of Royal guard veterans and the legendary Baron and a single malformed¡­ thing has gotten you scared! What kind of cut-rate scoundrels are you!?¡±


    ¡°Lady Flaxen, insult me again and I won¡¯t even try and stop him, is that clear?¡± Maiko responded, clearly done with her shit.


    ¡°Disobeying orders too I see, perhaps you should just be left here. You might fit in better.¡± The sergeant let out a deep grumbling sigh, putting his hand on Maiko¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Where to next?¡± The sergeant asked as calmly as could be managed. This was getting real old, real fast for Sapphire.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right then, have you had a chance to sleep on last night¡¯s lesson?¡± Tom went, as he strode out into the greeting hall, Colonel Hashaw and Nunuk on his heels. Finding Archeon and Jarix both there. It was a little tight for the two of them, but not too bad. Now that they were up against each other it was easy to see both similarities and differences. Jarix was considerably smaller, Tom guessed he was less than half the weight though the length was closer.


    ¡°I feel I must first apologize for calling you a coward, I...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, as I said you didn¡¯t know. Actually, before we continue, the walls might have ears here today so what say you to a quick flight before discussing more?¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay, may my father join us?¡±


    ¡°Most certainly, in fact, I insist on it¡± Tom went walking over to get off his weights. If he had learned anything it was that they didn¡¯t belong in the sky. He checked all the straps on his parachute, walking back over.


    ¡°What are those for?¡± Jarix questioned curiously.


    ¡°Helps keep me strong, they are just lead weights. No need to bring them flying though and this might keep me from going splat if I fall off. You coming Arc?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Vulzan saddle up.¡± The venerable old trader responded, mood seemingly greatly improved since yesterday. ¡°I must say, Tom, I was starting to have my doubts you could get through to him.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t alone, but this is a discussion for elsewhere. Permission to climb aboard Jarix?¡±


    ¡°Come on up you little strange thing¡± Jarix responded in a jovial tone. Low grav certainly helped with the ascent, but still, it was an awkward climb. ¡°A shame I can¡¯t use icepicks for this?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Radexi asked, clearly not understanding what those were.


    ¡°They are like climbing spikes, I don''t think it would feel nice.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh¡± Radexi responded realizing the implications.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t hammering spikes into me, that¡¯s for sure¡± Jarix stated.


    Tom managed though, swinging up to settle down. Looking back and forth he could see the spikes up here had been filed down and a few handholds could be found attached to the harness, so plenty of handholds. Radexi and Zarko though, sat squatting down like true Gopnik¡¯s. Tom elected to just sit down like he was on the ground and hold on for dear life. If it came to a meeting with the dulled spikes he was wearing armor after all.


    Luckily Nunuk had allowed him to ditch the ridiculous jewelry and get his proper boots on again. Combined with his helmet and goggles he was looking a lot meaner today. Even if the flag cape kinda ruined the look.


    ¡°Colonel I think Baron should join us for this¡±


    ¡°Agreed, See you up there¡± She replied jogging out to the edge dropping off.¡±


    ¡°Mind giving an old lady a lift Arch¡± Nunuk questioned walking over Dakota and Rachuck flanking her.


    ¡°Certainly, up you come. Archeon lowered his wing to let the three of them walk up it. Zarko and Radexi just snickered looking at Tom.


    ¡°Goddammit,¡± Tom went looking away. He felt like an apprentice in a machine shop going to fetch the left-hand screwdriver.


    ¡°No it was good to know you can climb, you never know when that might be handy¡± Zarko went in an extremely unconvincing tone.


    The sensation of sitting on something as it launched itself into the air was a new one. It felt almost like the world¡¯s least safe rollercoaster. Once airborne though it wasn¡¯t bad at all, the wingbeats were even slower than with the dragonettes. Even when climbing it was a much more slow and steady affair. He was glad he had the goggles and helmet as well for today since the wind was quickly getting very intense.


    ¡°Look at him, he doesn¡¯t have a clue does he?¡± Radexi shouted out.


    "No, he doesn¡¯t. Careful Jarix we have an inexperienced passenger¡±


    ¡°Hey, I have flown before,¡± Tom protested.


    ¡°On dragon back?¡± Zarko questioned, in the kind of sultry tone used for someone you were pretty sure was lying.


    ¡°Mostly dragonettes I admit. Did fight from Archeon''s back once. Didn¡¯t go that well though."


    ¡°Oh right, that was when you fell in the water¡± Jarix boomed out.


    ¡°Yeah not entirely my fault though, I got carried off.¡±


    ¡°Man not being able to fly gotta suck!¡± Radexi replied, clearly not considering just how true that statement was.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom just replied, trying not to sound sour. They had no clue how fucking lucky they were.


    ¡°Also, is this what you look like normally?¡± Radexi asked, gesturing to Tom.


    ¡°Minus the cape yeah mostly.¡±


    ¡°Why would you take that off, it looks good?¡±


    ¡°What do you think would happen if one of the guys yesterday had been wearing this?¡± To flapped his cape a bit for dramatic effect.


    ¡°Ohhhh¡± Right then, speaks before he thinks. Well, at least he was likely honest then.


    ¡°You should see me in full battle kit, perhaps I will come and scare you in the night, Sure gave Vulzan a scare that night¡± Tom chuckled a bit to himself at the terrified traders face.


    ¡°Jarix, someone is getting too confident back here,¡± Zarko shouted out.


    ¡°Roger That¡± ¡®Huh¡¯ was all Tom managed to think before Jarix folded up his left-wing and they rolled into a dive. Okay, this was very different than having someone to hold onto. Tom had just been holding onto a spike with one hand enjoying the ride. Now he was hanging from that spike, like some kind of Hollywood action movie.


    ¡°Jesus Christ! A little warning next time!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t get that!¡± Zarko retorted, Radexi just laughing at the spectacle. ¡°You either hang on or you fall off those are the rules.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t die if you fall off!¡± Tom tried reasoning.


    ¡°All the more reason to hang on then¡± Zarko replied very calmly if still shouting, to beat the wind. Tom guessed she could catch him if she had to. His expectations for Radexi weren¡¯t great though. Jarix finally finished his rolling dive pulling up, laughing as well.


    ¡°Sound like you are having fun back there?¡±


    ¡°Two of us are. I think it¡¯s time for a lesson of our own.¡± Zarko replied. Tom wasn¡¯t sure he liked the sound of that. Calling yourself a trained dragon rider sounded hella awesome, but he had a feeling this was going to get uncomfortable.


    ¡°Jarix next to the old man if you could¡±


    ¡°Can do¡± Jarix began beating hard for altitude again. Climbing up towards where Archeon was now soaring above. Behind them, Baron was taking to the sky as well climbing slowly.


    ¡°Lesson one you are always holding on to something even if we don¡¯t have to. Two, Jarix decides what happens. We can make suggestions, but he is flying and he is in command, your rank doesn¡¯t matter. Three, our problems are up here¡± She gestured above to the sides and behind. ¡°everything else is Jarix''s job.¡±


    That seemed easy enough, though hanging on for dear life and shooting was going to be a problem. One-handed with a pistol might be possible though. Damn them and their walking around not worrying. How were they supposed to worry about that though? Looking around Tom saw a pair of crossbows lashed to the armor at the wing shoulders.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s for bad guys behind us?¡±


    ¡°Correct, can you use one?¡±


    ¡°You know what I use,¡± Tom replied holding up a revolver.


    ¡°Right, of course. We there yet, or did you eat too much this morning?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten since the day before yesterday and you know it. I''m starving here.¡± Jarix replied.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll manage I¡¯m sure.¡±


    What a machine gun wouldn¡¯t do back here. Tom thought to himself ¡°I saw Baron had a ballista, why haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°This young strapping lad should be able to get behind most other dragons, Baron though might need a hand keeping them off his back."


    ¡°I see, makes sense¡± perhaps forward-firing then, or over the side broadside style. Then a turning fight becomes the objective rather than something to avoid.


    ¡°You look like you are making plans? Not sure I dare ask what they are after yesterday¡± Zarko asked


    ¡°Slap a good machine gun on him and just blow anyone out of the sky who gets close¡± Tom retorted.


    ¡°You wanna give me one of those death machines!?¡± Jarix went excitedly.


    ¡°I thought you promised the colonel you didn¡¯t have one?¡± Zarko questioned


    ¡°You know the deal. If I find you worthy of it. And no I would need to build it first. I haven¡¯t even gotten what I need to build, what I need to build it though.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re broke?¡± Radexi asked


    ¡°No not even close, traders just don¡¯t come by often.¡±


    ¡°Hey Jarix, think we could put in a supply order for some spares?¡±


    ¡°Might wanna take that up with Hashaw and Baron, but maybe¡± Oh he had military backing now. Tom hadn¡¯t even thought of that.


    They made it up to level with Archeon as Zarkon got up and took a walk over the wing crossing over, simply walking from wing to wing. ¡°Show off¡± Tom tried to taunt, being rewarded with a turn and bow from her before she continued to walk backwards.


    After a short chat, she came back over and Archaeon fell back. ¡°Right then, the chase is on. Hang on and don¡¯t be an idiot!¡± She shouted, grabbing hold of a handle with her clawed foot.


    ¡°Ohhh¡± Tom let out. That¡¯s what those were for.


    ¡°Heavy Hostile to our rear. Hard right!¡± Zarko bellowed out.


    ¡°Hard right,¡± Came the response from Jarix as he leaned hard into the turn. This time Tom was ready though, as he held on for dear life the lean did mostly mean he just got heavier rather than fall off. It was a hard turn and both the dragonettes crouched down. Tom just straightened his back with a smile, this was great fun.


    ¡°Hostile following turn¡­ not gaining¡­ falling back¡± Zarko continued, clever system Tom thought to himself she was basically spotting for Jarix then. Enemy six a clock sounded cooler though.


    ¡°Holding turn¡± Came the response from Jarix.


    ¡°Yeah, you got him¡± Radexi cheered, roaring in approval.


    Hey well if this was a flying lesson Tom didn¡¯t have a problem with it, this was awesome he thought, as he joined Radexi in cheering.


    ¡°The turn doesn¡¯t bother you?¡± Zarko asked.


    ¡°Girl, where I¡¯m from, you couldn¡¯t even fly, this is fairly normal¡± He replied with a laugh. this was heavier than back home, they might be pulling 2 G tops though.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    As they continued the turn Archeon finally gave up, pulling up hard doubling over. Tom guessed he wanted to intercept them as they came around the turn.


    ¡°Hostile going high and right. Reverse turn!¡± Zarko bellowed out.


    ¡°Reversing turn¡± Came the reply and they rolled over pulling into another hard turn.


    Archeon clearly figured out he was in a world of shit right as they came up behind and below him. He had just sacrificed all his speed for altitude and they were catching fast. As they approached he flaired up to vertical, beating his wings, coming to a dead stop trying to make them overshot. Watching a creature the size of a flying lory with several people on board pull a cobra maneuver at this range was quite the sight.


    ¡°Target dead to rights. Hang on¡± It came from Jarix as he too pulled up hard. Heading straight for his father at what Tom thought was a distinctly unsafe closing speed. As he closed he rolled over onto his back passing beneath Archeon only, meters to spare.


    ¡°That¡¯s a hit¡± He roared out as they passed Archeon who looked like he was standing still in the air. Radexi and Zarko both roared out in triumph. It hadn¡¯t been anywhere close to a fair fight and a distinctly swift victory. It was all in good fun though.


    They joined back into formation with Archeon as they continued to make way.


    ¡°Are you carrying cargo old man?¡± A very smug Jarix questioned.


    ¡°Hey if I had my escorts you wouldn¡¯t just get away with holding a turn like that and as a matter of fact I am.¡± Archeon retorted.


    ¡°What escorts¡­ the ones Tom shot down?¡±


    ¡°How did he manage to get that sprightly already, I thought you got him grounded for once Tom?¡± Archeon seeming not upset in the slightest at the outcome.


    ¡°Well you haven¡¯t got a big ass gun yet so I guess that''s why.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t give him that would you?¡± Jarix question concernedly.


    ¡°If it keeps you grounded in reality, then certainly.¡± Tom joked back. ¡°Hey, Arch how much can you carry?¡±


    ¡°Oh I dunno about three tons, maybe four on a good day¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty fucking big gun Jarix or a lot of them. I''d be scared if I were you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I can carry a big gun too. He¡¯s just a fat arse¡±


    ¡°Not pulling turns like that ya don¡¯t my little sparrow¡± Archeon retorted. Their ears must be excellent, Tom thought to himself. He could hear noises from the ones on Archeons back but couldn¡¯t make anything out at this range. The booming voice of the dragons carried well though.


    ¡°Now Tom, you said something about walls having ears, should we put down?¡± Archon questioned.


    ¡°Sure, I had some questions for you lot and a proposition for this one¡± Tom replied patting Jarix on the back. "Looks like The Red Baron has about caught up too"

 The Agreement

    Chapter 62: The Agreement


    They had set down on a flat section of grass with a rather lovely view, to discuss what might best be left unsaid in the keep. Baron had caught up just as they came into land. Jarix standing proudly clearly expecting praise.


    ¡°Congratulations kid, you outmaneuvered a laden trader within only just over a minute. Well done¡± The old warhorse sounded surprisingly sarcastic. Jarix face practically screamed, come on!


    ¡°No offense to you, Archeon¡±


    ¡°None taken,¡± the trader replied, looking to Jarix with a smirk.


    ¡°I still did it. He didn''t even get close to me.¡±


    ¡°Good he shouldn''t. Now, why did I need to come out here?¡± That was Toms cue


    ¡°Right, first of all, Jarix, made a decision?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do it. You get to be yet another teacher for me, and you have to serve as part of my crew in exchange.¡± He even cocked his head again, clearly proud of himself. You little sly bugger, it aint gonna be that easy.


    ¡°I¡¯m not royal guard, and I don¡¯t think I ever will be. So I¡¯m not sure that is even possible. But for as long as you''re here I would rather fight from your back than trying to hang onto Jackalope again, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    Jarix looked a little miffed about that but, what could Tom do really. Besides as awesome as professional dragon rider sounded, he had shit to do. With some finesse, it might be possible to get the best of both worlds though.


    ¡°So what... ¡° Jarix started


    ¡°I¡¯m technically sworn to the keep and Nunuk... I think, yeah that sounds about right. So as long as you stay here, it¡¯s all good. You need to know though, I do a lot more than just play soldier all day. Can you read and write?¡±


    ¡°I can read yes¡± Jarix held up a foreleg ¡°Writing is a bit of a problem. They can though¡± he continued gesturing towards Zarko and Radexi with his head.


    ¡°Right, I see.¡±Tom scratched the back of his head, really should have seen that one coming ¡°What was your routine before coming here? You know, everyday stuff¡±


    ¡°I would eat, sleep, train, relax, and¡­ that¡¯s about it.¡± Not a bad life Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Living in luxury I see. Well, I take care of the kids, experiment with dangerous substances, design machines this world has never seen, and some no world has ever seen, I hunt for food, I clean, I stand guard... I teach math science, English, and history. And now, I also need to teach you. Not to mention I do like having a bit of fun every now and again. Do you see the problem?¡±


    ¡°Do you sleep or eat?¡± Jarix questioned sounding genuinely curious.


    ¡°Oh sorry yes of course. Only sleep 6 hours a day though I would like to make that 8 once in a while the girls have been bugging me for a while on that front.¡±


    ¡°I like 12. Though I can go a few days without, just need to catch up later.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s handy... But anyway as you can hear, my day isn¡¯t really long enough to do all that. So I might need a little help.¡±


    Jarix tilted his head, as Radexi and Zarko looked at each other nervously. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I have to work too?¡± Jarix questioned in a disheartened voice.


    ¡°Oh yeah you do, in fact, that too will be an important lesson.¡±


    ¡°How do you get better at fighting from¡­ what do you want me to do?¡± He turned to his father instead ¡°Dad what kind of work can I do out here?¡±


    ¡°I want you to help make this a home for you. Homes can''t be bought, they must be made.¡±


    ¡°Sure you can buy a home. The keep would be very expensive but...¡±


    Tom held up a finger to stop him. ¡°That¡¯s a house, very different. A home is where you belong. So tell me, where do you belong?¡±


    "I lived the last 40 years at the training fields¡±


    ¡°Uhm sorry stupid question, how old are you?¡± Tom really should have gotten that out of the way earlier.


    ¡°85 why?¡± Tom turn for a head tilt as he looked to Archeon


    ¡°386 and going strong¡±


    ¡°A blue dragon usually lives into their six hundreds,¡± Vulzan added.


    ¡°Fucking cheaters,¡± Tom said with a smile shaking his head.


    ¡°Oh come now 150 ain¡¯t so bad¡± Archeon went in an apologetic voice. It wasn¡¯t like he could do anything about it.


    ¡°Try again with 90, though 80 is more likely.¡±


    ¡°Ohh¡± Archeon responded.


    ¡°How old are you then?¡± Jarix tried


    ¡°37 so a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°My latest teacher, the master of death is 37...¡± Jarix replied in disbelief. ¡°I was small enough to ride on your back then,¡± He said looking at Archeon.


    ¡°If a bit on the heavy side but yeah just about. Your father ain¡¯t no slouch when it comes to carrying things about after all¡± Well it was good to see some happiness in the little family at least. Yesterday had been rather depressing.


    ¡°Do you know how big you are, as in how heavy?¡± Tom asked, he genuinely had no idea. it wasn¡¯t like he had a set of scales big enough.


    ¡°Eight tonnes¡± Jarix replied with pride.


    ¡°Slow down there junior, I clocked in at nineteen at the last weigh-in.¡±


    Vulzan walked over whispering into Tom¡¯s ear.


    ¡°That¡¯s a mark of pride. Bigger is better of course. As long as you ain¡¯t fat obviously¡± A fat dragon now that would be a sight. Tom pictured a round Jarix struggling to get off the ground and snickered a bit.


    ¡°Thirty-six¡± Came the prideful reply from Baron, clearly extremely pleased with himself. He wasn¡¯t much longer than Archeon he did have a bit more wingspan though it seemed. He was a little wider built tough but really another Jarix just in muscle and thicker bones¡­ Fuck.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, you got something bigger where you''re from?¡± Jarix asked with a slight chip on his shoulder.


    ¡°Not that¡¯s alive¡± Tom shrugged palms upwards. ¡°Our biggest planes though are like 280 tons empty and they can carry over 350 tons¡±


    ¡°You''re joking¡± Archon went with disbelief and Barron looked like somebody had just taken a shit on his parade. That whole situation took a bit before they managed to get back on track. Sometimes he should just shut up, Tom thought to himself. The idea of a cargo plane being refitted as a personal dragon transport was hilarious though.


    ¡°Yes yes, I know you want one to try being carried again and no I can¡¯t just make one. Now, where were we¡­ Right, Jarix. I¡¯m gonna need you to help out where you can around here. Not just to save me what time you can, but because as I said, you need to know what¡¯s worth fighting for.¡±


    ¡°How does working help with that?¡± He asked, clearly not comprehending. ¡°Yesterday you were talking about fighting for the good cause?¡±


    ¡°Because the more you work on something the more you care about it. If you had two beds, one you just so happened to find and one you spent ages making yourself, which one would you be most upset if I set fire to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid Tom. The one I made obviously¡± Right okay maybe that had been a bit too on the nose. Tom honestly hadn¡¯t known what answer to expect from that one.


    ¡°Sorry, but the principle stands. The more time you spend working on the keep and with the ones who call it home, the more you are gonna care about it. It will become a true home.¡±


    Jarix looked a bit indignant at that cocking his head. "So what, I go hunting with them sometimes and?¡±


    ¡°We always have things that need carrying and that amount is likely to increase in the future. Raulf and Wiperna could likely use a hand too."


    ¡°And they are?¡±


    ¡°Farmers Jarix, I want you to help them with farming as well.¡±


    ¡°You want a dragon of the royal guard to haul logs and plow fields?!¡° Baron had finally interrupted. Clearly not believing what he was hearing.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°We were promised shelter and all necessities in exchange for risking our lives for your keep should it come to it.¡± Zarko joined in. She and Radexi clearly were not pleased either.


    ¡°And you will get them, but if you want me to teach Jarix as well. Then he and his crew¡± Tom looked very pointedly at Zarko and Radexi. ¡°Go through all my lessons. This one covers humility, companionship, teamwork, and the art of making a true home. Come on you¡¯re a fucking dragon Jarix, it¡¯s gonna be easy. It¡¯s also a great way to get everyone to like you in a hurry because I¡¯m gonna let you in on a secret.¡± Tom looked from side to side as if to check no one was there. ¡°No one likes hard work, they love having fun and relaxing and doing interesting things¡±


    ¡°He is a warrior dragon trained for combat over decades and I¡¯m not doing fieldwork, no way!¡± Zarko protested ¡°No royal guard should ever do so. We have more important things to do.¡±


    ¡°I do fieldwork, not sure if I¡¯m important though, but I am fairly sure he gets to decide what you end up doing¡± Tom went pointing to Jarix who was clearly in deep thought.


    ¡°This sounds more like you want a beast of burden to do all your shit jobs.¡± Jarix finally went, having pondered the strange proposition of having to do manual labor.


    ¡°Well, otherwise I have to do it. But remember what I¡¯m spending my time on. Do you want that machine gun or not?¡± That definitely got the young dragon''s attention. He nearly looked like he was going to spin around on the spot, his head coming down in front of Tom


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. But only if you promise you¡¯ll make me one.¡±


    ¡°Sure if you pass I¡¯ll be happy too. Do keep in mind I need time and materials for that and the ammunition of course... I¡¯m guessing you are gonna want a lot of that too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not poor¡± Jarix just replied, seeming very cocksure.¡± Neither is my dad¡°


    ¡°Hey, you aren¡¯t gonna be spending my money on whatever a machine gun is. Vulzan what is a machine gun?¡±


    ¡°The thing I told you about this morning¡± Jarix interrupted before Vulzan got the chance to answer. ¡°It¡¯s unlike any weapon I have ever seen. the humans had dozens of them¡±


    ¡°Well it can¡¯t be that expensive then¡±


    Well, Tom had managed to humble the dragonettes, so going for two.


    ¡°You said you aren''t poor. Do you receive wages?¡± He questioned looking at Jarix


    ¡°Of course on deployment, I¡¯m paid even more.¡± That made sense much like home, Tom thought. ¡°I think I¡¯m supposed to get 200 gold for this tour. Not to mention I don¡¯t have to pay for anything¡± Jarix looked to the colonel who just nodded clearly content to watch the exchange ¡°I¡¯m only supposed to stay until late autumn after all. Don¡¯t wanna get stuck here during winter." Tom had a feeling this might turn into a longer deployment than he was expecting. Still, that was plenty of time to work with.


    ¡°Not bad I made around 1000 back home in a year.¡± Vulzan spat out some water from a flask he had produced from under his coat.


    ¡°What did you do?!¡± Vulzan questioned.


    ¡°Engineer not even a very well-paid one. Still doesn¡¯t really matter here though. I can''t exactly find a bank from my home around here. Actually, if we used that bottle I sold you, as an exchange rate rather than gold, I made like 25.000¡± Tom laughed a bit. ¡°Back home that thing cost like 15 silver¡±


    ¡°But you said it was exquisite. I sold that to a noble!¡± Vulzan went, sounding a tad desperate at what would happen when that one was uncorked.


    ¡°Relax, that bottle is likely the finest in the kingdom. We make a lot more than good flying machines, our alcohol I excellent too. Thanks for the cloak though¡­ Out of curiosity what did you sell it for?¡±


    ¡°125 gold,¡± Vulzan admitted, looking a bit ashamed.


    ¡°Hah, I knew it! By that exchange rate, I made over 40.000 gold a year back home.¡± Oh, the look on their faces. ¡°And yes I did fieldwork back home too.¡± He went looking at Zarko ¡°I babysit, I plow the field and clean the workshop when I¡¯m done. I do the dirty work as does any self-respecting individual.¡±


    Tom held up the authorittative finger as he looked at the three of them. ¡°And you will too. That means all you three put in the effort to earn a place here like I have done.¡± Zarko and Radexi just looked at Jarix, who lowered his head all the way down again looking right at Tom like a cat with a toy, he was close enough to pet in fact. ¡®Mustn¡¯t pull a Hiccup, mustn''t pull a Hiccup'' Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°You are the strangest thing I have ever met and quite possibly crazy. You don¡¯t have to do a thing and yet you toil like you don¡¯t know if there will be food on the table tonight. I¡¯ll do it, but I want that machine gun¡­ And ammunition for it¡±


    ¡°Deal¡± This should be interesting Tom concluded to himself. Like he was gonna stop with a machine gun anyway. Always useful to keep some cards in your hand though.


    ¡°Out of curiosity would you be willing to sell one of these things?¡± Baron asked, Hashaw looking up with a bemused expression.


    ¡°No, they are not for sale, they must be earned.¡± Tom replied, putting his fist into his hips. ¡°remember yesterday''s lesson¡±


    ¡°Earned pfff. Well kid, looks like you got a once in a lifetime opportunity here¡± Baron relented. He didn¡¯t seem too upset. Tom guessed he had thought it was worth a try.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°No you may not take his books back to the capitol, they can¡¯t read them either. No one even speaks English around here let alone reads it.¡±


    ¡°Stupid girl don¡¯t you know that may be accomplished with magic¡± ¡®Stupid girl¡­ Girl! God fucking dammit I hate you,¡¯ Saphire fumed to herself doing her best to kill the lady by looking at her.


    ¡°You still aren''t allowed to steal his things,¡± Esmeralda added in.


    ¡°It is evidence, so of course I may take them¡±


    ¡°Sorry ma''am, you can¡¯t do that,¡± Latori added, having replaced Maiko following an emotional outburst while going through the food supplies. ¡®Thanks, buddy,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself.


    ¡°You little. Why are you siding with traitors!?¡±


    ¡°I am impartial, that is why we are here Lady Flaxen¡± Sapphire wondered why Latori hadn''t been given this position from the start, she seemed to have perfected the art of not giving a shit. Kolinky had claimed it had to do with her being a former escort to a noble family. Sapphire wondered if that meant all nobles were insufferable pricks? Nunuk and Apuma weren¡¯t though.


    ¡°Ughh! And I assume that if I ask you, sergeant, you¡¯re gonna reply that these have all been searched?¡±


    ¡°They have indeed¡± Koliky responded for at least the tenth time today.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like you''re wrong,¡± Sapphire added with a cocky edge to her tone.


    ¡°I will have you all painted as traitors, all of you!¡± The sergeant sighed stepping forward.


    ¡°I think we are gonna have to conclude your little investigation. You clearly aren¡¯t interested in the truth, you just want revenge where none is warranted¡±


    ¡°Not warranted! They killed my Dashu!¡±


    ¡°He was your cousin ma¡¯am, he was hardly yours in that respect. wasn¡¯t his father your mother¡¯s little brother or something?¡± Kolinky replied in a tired voice.


    ¡°Ohhh¡± Esmeralda went looking as if she had finally cracked a puzzle.


    ¡°You think murder is funny, huntress?!¡± The lady snapped at her


    ¡°No, I think incest is¡± Esmeralda just replied in a perfectly calm voice.


    Sapphire damn near got some spittle down the wrong throat at that. ¡®Oh, Essy you absolute beauty.¡¯ There was a bit of awkward silence before Lady Flaxen got her shit together following that accusation.


    ¡°I would never do such a vile thing.¡±She replied surprisingly calmy considering her previous behavior. Sapphire agreed with here on the last part of that sentence too. That was truly a vile thing to do.


    ¡°Of course you would. Such a young sprightly fellow, yet so weak of spine. Ripe for wrapping around your finger¡± Esmeralda continued pacing around the Lady like a predator. ¡°Good looking too. I wouldn¡¯t claim that is true of you though. I¡¯m guessing that is why you wear a robe a bit too loose for you, that and you are well past your prime. You do seem to have a lot of money though. Anyone here know what a Trader escort makes these days?¡± She went looking around at the others.


    ¡°First you accuse me of sleeping with a cousin then you call me an ugly old bag. Do you have a death wish huntress!¡± The temporary calmness was certainly gone now.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know 25 to 50 gold a year, maybe they do get most of their meals and shelter paid for after all,¡± Latori replied, still perfectly calm. Kolinky was clearly in a state of disbelief at what he was seeing. Esmeralda had no place challenging a noble like this.


    ¡°Then how come he had such a fine blade after only a few years of service? That thing looked expensive. It¡¯s in the armory if you want to have a look at it. I¡¯m guessing that was a gift of some kind.¡±


    ¡°A gift from his useless father, yes.¡±


    ¡°I think we need to find Tyborg, I wanna know more about this useless father who could afford a blade like that.¡± Sapphire had the evilest grin on her face at the panicked face on the Lady in front of her. Sapphire didn¡¯t believe a word of what she had said so far. Esmeralda though had one hell of a nack for things like this.


    ¡°We are looking through these heretical books, not meandering about. Now, what is this one about¡± She went, like they were gonna let her get off the hook that easily.


    ¡°Lady Flaxen, we require that you follow us¡± Koliky went in a calm but firm voice, gesturing towards the door.


    ¡°Fine, I shall indulge your weird fantasies about me and my cousin. I am not done with those books though, you lot follow along¡± She went to her entourage. That''s right bitch, your turn to come under scrutiny.


    They made their way to the dragon free greeting hall finding Tyborg in the middle of running his new escort through some basic drills. They had suffered rather heavily last time so there were a few new faces that needed to be worked in.


    ¡°Captain I require a moment of your time¡± Esmeralda went in her most flamboyant voice, as soon as she rounded the corner.


    ¡°Right, you lot, go, do something useful. Fire away Esmeralda¡± he replied turning walking to meet her.


    ¡°What do you know of Dashu''s father?¡±


    ¡°Never met the guy, seemed like a right prick though. The kid sometimes told of a less than perfect childhood you know.¡±


    ¡°I see, what about Dashu¡¯s sword, was that a gift from his father?¡±


    ¡°Hell no, he said it was from his extended family. Never wanted to talk about that though. Must be nice people to give away a blade like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not. Lady Flaxen why are you lying?¡±


    ¡°Are you insinuating I gave away a blade like that to a cousin? Gods I need a drink for that one¡± The lady produced a small very fine-looking flask and downed it. She even drinks pathetically Sapphire mused to herself. That was likely the finest of liquor and her face still contorted like it was some cheap crap.


    ¡°You dragged a squad of veterans and a legendary dragon out here to investigate his death, yes you did¡± Sapphire stated.


    ¡°You¡­ why would you give him that?¡± Tyborg questioned, clearly confused.


    ¡°Because they were fucking¡± Esmeralda replied loud enough to make sure everyone heard it.


    ¡°You little!¡± The lady went lunging forward trying to grab Esmeralda. Who for her part didn¡¯t resist letting the lady knock her to the ground clearly playing along.


    Kolinky and Latori moved over to the two of them taking their sweet time about it. Esmeralda who was by now just holding up her arms to shield her face from the random assortment of punches, giggled ¡°No stop you hurting me¡± Esmeralda went taunting her, add further insult to the lady''s already ruined honor.


    Sapphire did her best not to outright laugh. ¡®well that certainly did it¡¯ she thought to herself.


    ¡°Lady Flaxen I¡¯m gonna have to ask you to restrain yourself¡± Latori went, sounding like he was talking to a couple of fighting children.


    ¡°I¡¯ll rip your fucking horns off!¡± The lady screamed as she thrashed at Esmeralda.


    ¡°By the gods you''re pathetic, have you never fought in your life?" Esmeralda continued to taunt. The lady pulled back a bit reaching for her waist, then Esmeralda stiffened. "Ugh!¡±


    ¡°Essy!" Sapphire screamed out "You just stabbed Essy you fucking piece of filth! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Sapphire went drawing her knife.


    Kolinky and Latori ripped the Lady off Esmeralda revealing a short blade stuck in her gut. Perhaps luckily enough for Sapphire Tyborg managed to get in the way of her revenge.


    ¡°Now, now, no need for that, calm down now. Let¡¯s tend to her first¡± Faced with fighting her way to the bitch or helping Esmeralda, Sapphire chose the latter dropping the blade.


    ¡°You''re gonna be just fine. Where the fuck is Nunuk!¡± Sapphire went kneeling down beside Esmeralda.


    ¡°Out with the others¡± one of Vulzan¡¯s escorts replied.


    ¡°Goddammit, where is Unkai then!¡±


    ¡°Uhm.¡±


    ¡°Well, don''t just stand there, find him!¡± Every one of the escorts just scurried off in a big hurry at that.


    Right then, apply pressure and leave the blade in.


    ¡°How bad is it?¡± Esmeralda asked in a pained voice.


    ¡°Ohh it¡¯s hardly a proper wound¡± Sapphire assured her, fingers already covered in blood. Still, this wasn¡¯t anything they couldn¡¯t handle, now where the fuck was Unkai?

 Last Laugh

    Chapter 63: Last Laugh


    ¡°Where is she!?¡± Unkai went as he rounded the corner at a flat sprint.


    ¡°Here you dingus!¡± Sapphire shouted at him. For the gods sake, they were in the middle of the room kneeling over Esmeralda.


    He ran over as quickly as he could coming to a sliding halt. Not a bad looking maneuver in fact.


    ¡°Right what have we got?¡±


    ¡°She stabbed her in the gut¡± Sapphire stated matter of factly.


    ¡°I see, out you come.¡± The small dagger clanked to the floor as Unkai set about stopping the bleeding.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you¡¯ll live, gonna need to do this properly at some point though.¡±


    ¡°Properly?!¡± Esmeralda replied worriedly.


    ¡°Shhh, now, lay still otherwise this will end up looking weird.¡± At that Esmeralda laid perfectly still. There were cool scars and hideous scars. The latter was best avoided after all.


    Tyborg handed Sapphire the blade. It was a nicely made piece, finely decorated, even a bit of gold trimming. ¡°You expect this to kill a huntress?¡± She spat at the Lady who was currently being pinned down and in the process of being bound, to much protest from her three companions who had decided now was the right time to join in the discussion.


    They clearly thought some kind of injustice was being committed restraining someone for attempted murder. After Kolinky made it very clear that attempting to get in his way right now would be a very unhealthy idea, they resorted to just standing well clear, making accusations and threats.


    The lady though appeared to have calmed down, she didn''t even answer Sapphire, instead just looking at her with a fiendish grin on her face. Sapphire looked down to the dagger. It was covered in blood but the blade itself was rather unremarkable. She held it up and sniffed it. All she got was the blood of her friend, so she licked it with just the tip of her forked tongue.


    ¡°It¡¯s poison!¡± She screamed, spitting out foul concoction. ¡°Clean it, clean it!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, this is gonna hurt¡± Ukai went before he cut the wound back open. ¡°I need water now!¡± Several bottles and skins were quickly produced as they went about rinsing the wound as best they could. Sapphire just sat down beside Esmeralda to hold her hand.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?!¡± Shiva went, as she and Jackalope rounded the corner. ¡°She stabbed Esmeralda with a poisoned dagger¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Jackalope replied head snapping to the lady, making for her at a flat sprint. Shoulder checking Latori off her and grabbing her by the shoulders. She pounded her into the floor ¡°What did you use?! What did you use?!¡±


    It took a bit before Jackalope stopped shaking her enough to let her speak. ¡°Green dragon venom of course¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the old man, he''ll know right?¡±Jackalope went, getting up looking around in a panic. ¡°Now where is he?¡±


    ¡°What is going on down here?¡± Apuma went rounding the corner with a gaggle of kids on his heels.


    ¡°Oh, my word Essy.¡± He went, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation.


    ¡°Antidote for green dragon venom now!¡± Jackalope roared at him.


    His face almost went as white as the kids behind him as he turned to run back the way he came. ¡°Hurry, hurry out of the way!¡± Jackalope running after him.


    ¡°Did that bitch really manage to kill me?¡± Esmeralda asked Sapphire clutching her hand.


    ¡°No of course not, you''re staying right here, don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s as clean as I can get it¡± Unkai went, beginning to close the wound back up.


    ¡°Will that be good enough?¡± Tyborg questioned.


    ¡±You tell me, I have no clue how much you need to kill¡± Unkai replied in a disheartened tone.


    ¡°Where is Nunuk when you need her?¡± Sapphire sighed despairingly. Unkai looked a bit ashamed at that comment, but it was the truth, she would know. Sapphire just hoped Apuma did too. At least it wasn¡¯t Dakota who had been around, Sapphire doubted she could bear not being able to do more.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was feeling rather pleased with himself. They had secured a dragon for the keep, and convinced him to actually help out around here, they would be receiving a shipment of both raw materials, tools, and other spare parts from the capitol signed for by Hashaw. Even if the box said it was for Jarix. They also had two new hands to help out around the keep with everyday stuff, and with Jarix helping on the hunts they didn¡¯t even need the quad bike to haul things back and forth long-distance.


    Hashaw had also agreed to drop these ridiculous charges against them if the Lady hadn¡¯t somehow managed to dig something up while they were gone. They would be departing tomorrow or possibly the day after that and they were taking the bitch with them. All in all a very productive start to the day.


    The scene that greeted them as Jarix came into land though was an odd one though. Dragonettes were everywhere, some running back and forth Esmeralda was lying down and Layd Flaxen was also on the ground though she had two royal guards on her back keeping her down.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Jarix went in confusion as he struggled to find a place to land without squashing someone. Archeon ended up veering off to land on the ground along with Baron, his passengers disembarking mid-flight.


    The landing was less than gracious but they were down safe and sound. The same could not be said for Esmeralda. Tom had half fallen off Jarix doing a not so gracious stumble running over. Sapphire quickly explained the situation. A poisoned dagger what the fuck! How does one even treat that?


    ¡°Where is Apuma?!¡± Nunuk shouted as she touched down.


    ¡°Already on it¡± Came the reply. Well, that was something at least.


    ¡°You got something, Tom?¡± Nunuk questioned turning to him.


    ¡°What kinda poison?¡±


    ¡°Green dragon,¡± Sapphire replied. That didn''t sound good to Tom.


    ¡°Oh shit¡± Nunuk replied, turning away from Tom. That really didn¡¯t help his confidence.


    Jarix turned away slinging his head over the side¡°Green dragon poison antidote we got any!?¡± He roared down towards Baron.


    ¡°What¡­ Why?¡± Baron questioned voice carrying clearly


    ¡°Just get It up here NOW!¡± Jarix replied, turning back, closing the argument.


    Tom just stood there not sure what to do. He had never had to deal with poison before, apart from like, bee stings, or jellyfish. Those were annoying, not fatal though. Dakota and Nunuk had made their way to Esmeralda clearly doing what they could.


    What to do, what to do? He couldn¡¯t just look up how to treat dragon poison in anything other than a dnd book. The stuff might even be magical. Wait... if Jarix asked for an antidote there must be one. No way that bitch was brave enough not to have some then.


    ¡°Only a coward uses poison and cowards have a backup plan. Where is your antidote!?¡± He went kneeling down in front of her leveling the gun at her head.


    ¡°Haven''t got one, not anymore¡± She just replied with a sly smile.


    ¡°That little flask, you monster! You planned this!¡± Sapphire screamed out, clearly having heard what they were talking about. Oh, Fuck all kinds of duck.


    ¡°No one talks to me like that and lives¡± The bitch spat back at Sapphire.


    ¡°What is wrong with Essy?¡± Holdey asked, walking over, some of the escorts quick to shoo him away. they didn''t need to see this.


    ¡°Lady Flaxen, you just attempted to murder a close friend who I am by an oath sworn to defend. If she dies you die.¡± Tom stated as coldly as his rising temper would allow, pushing the revolver against her forehead cocking the hammer.


    ¡°I am a noble, you vile creature. Touch, me and you''re dead!¡±


    ¡°I highly fucking doubt that. You¡¯re less noble than a street rat, so let me make it very clear for you. I will fucking murder you, mount your head as a trophy above my door, cut you into little pieces and send you to the corners of this world, so your family may spend a lifetime trying to find enough of you to have a burial!¡± Tom had more than had it with this piece of shit. It would seem the lady barely even registered that threat, Kolinky and Latori both stiffened up though.


    ¡°Look around you, they will burn this keep to the ground if that happens.¡±


    ¡°You people have called me many things, terror in the night, master of death, legendary warrior, and a god of war. Believe me when I tell you I don¡¯t give a shit who you are and if I say so you die! Along with anyone dumb enough to stand beside you. Kolinky are you dumb enough to die defending a murderer?¡±


    ¡°Nope, she¡¯s all yours¡± He replied sounding like he was trying to hide a shiver. It would seem that the message even made it through that thick skull of hers as the smile finally faded.


    Tom got back up looking to Esmeralda. They were keeping her lying down and as calm as they could manage. The poison was likely well spread through her system already, but it might help a bit. She was also turning a sickly shade of green. It was slow, but around the ears, neck, and between her fingers, there was no mistaking it. It looked like she was rotting in front of them.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Unkai had brought some foul-smelling concoction, which they were force-feeding her. Kokashi had also arrived. Taking Sapphire''s place by his wife''s side, doing his best to comfort her. It was a miserable spectacle. Not again Tom thought, why did it have to be like this again?


    And he was just standing there like an idiot making threats at the stupid bitch. He could just shoot her and be done with it. Sure there might be consequences but who the fuck cared right now. He had been doing well with his teaching though, might as well have another lesson.


    ¡°Get her on her feet¡± He went. The two guards actually obeyed which was nice. Grabbing her by the shoulders getting the bitch to her feet. Arms, legs, and wings all tied up.


    ¡°Would you mind making her look at what she has done? You know like training a stupid kid not to do something.¡±


    The two royal guards looked to each other before nodding and bringing her over.


    ¡°You need a lesson in responsibility and consequences. Look at her! Look at what you did!¡± The lady gave a quick glance then looked back to Tom.


    ¡°Oh no... she must be unwell, someone should help her.¡± She taunted them.


    Tom pulled an uppercut from the floor sending his armored gauntlet up into her jaw with a cracking sound. The hit left her dazed and clearly struggling to get her bearings as she swayed. If she wasn¡¯t being held up by the shoulders Tom guessed that would have put her on her arse. Then he grabbed one of her horns and turned her to look at Esmeralda again.


    ¡°I said look at her! Not glance¡± It took awhile for the bitch to get back to her senses following what might have been the first proper hit to the face she could remember.


    ¡°She''s dying, so what? So did Dashu.¡±


    ¡°That is a mother of two used to be three, then your piece of shit traitor of cousin came by. On that note.¡± Tom turned her head to look at him then headbutted her, helmet first, in the mouth as she opened it to speak. The bitch screamed but Tom got what he wanted as it knocked a canine loose. ¡°There we go, matching set.¡± He went pocketing the tooth.


    ¡°What the fuck was that!¡± Hashaw demanded, coming in for a running landing. Not pleased by what she was seeing.


    ¡°I take a tooth from each murderer who comes to this keep¡± Hashaw glanced around quickly, her eyes landing on Esmeralda.


    ¡°You gotta be kidding me! Make room coming through.¡± The colonel borderline kicked some of the escorts out of the way who were too slow on their feet. Setting down next to Esmeralda opening a leather pouch she had slung over her shoulder, looking through the contents.


    ¡°Black scyther, drake bane, no, no, not god tears, there we go¡­¡± She produced a tiny corked vial of clear liquid ¡°Drink Huntress, for the love of the gods drink.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    They actually had an antidote. Oh, those magnificent bastards. Sapphire had stepped back to make room for the ones who actually knew what they were doing and Kokashi of course. She had only heard of what green dragon poison did to someone, actually seeing it was a horrifying experience. Esmeralda was practically light green by now and her breathing was slow and labored. She had stopped talking and she didn¡¯t even seem to be looking at anything anymore.


    They had to massage her throat to get the antidote down her throat. Then the waiting game began. Esmeralda had sputtered and was making noises. She also began thrashing about, so it was clearly doing something. Though Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure it was all good. Looking around she was clearly not alone in her worries.


    Sapphire knew that the antidote could save Esmeralda¡¯s life, but she had no clue if they had made it in time. It hadn¡¯t been more than a few minutes since she was stabbed yet there was no mistaking this was gonna be a close call. The concoction Apuma had whipped together was apparently supposed to give her more time. So for the second time In the last long while, she sat down to give a prayer. Pleading that they had been fast enough and for Ishan not to take her friend yet. There was no way Letho was gonna be getting Esmeralda¡¯s soul, but surely Ishan could wait a little longer for its just dues.


    Rachuck had suggested getting her kids, so they could say farewell to their mother. Kokashi had begged him not to, clearly holding back tears. It just wasn¡¯t fair that it was them again. First Anastasi and now this. Esmeralda couldn¡¯t even talk so it wouldn¡¯t have been much of a goodby anyway. Sapphire just sat down with her eyes closed focusing on her prayer. She felt someone sit down on either side of her, beginning to mutter as well.


    She could hear Tom continuing to force Lady Flaxen to watch, having made it abundantly clear that if Esmeralda didn''t make it neither would she. Hashaw might have something to say on that front, but Sapphire guessed there would be two bodies before the colonel got the chance to intervene.


    The sound of an armored gauntlet striking home could be heard with even intervals. Breaking the uncomfortable noises Esmeralda was making and the complaining screaming coming from Lady Flaxen. Sapphire added a plea to bar the skies of heaven should the Lady somehow find her way up there.


    As the sounds died down around her, it felt like the whole room was holding its breath only the murmuring of those in prayer could be heard alongside the struggling huntress for whom they were praying. The Lady even learned her lesson or was possibly unable to struggle anymore.


    Sapphire didn¡¯t know how much time passed, but it was an uncomfortably long wait. She just repeated her prayer again and again. This was a mother she wasn¡¯t done down here yet, she was a friend too and one who would be sorely missed. With time the sputtering was replaced with coughing and wheezing. Sapphire just kept praying, not sure if that was good or bad.


    ¡°Looks like you can put that away¡± Nunuk finally broke the silence. Sapphire dared to open her eyes to see a completely still Esmeralda, except for her chest moving up and down with slow breaths.


    ¡°That¡¯s good right?¡± Fengi cautiously asked.


    ¡°She¡¯ll live, yes,¡± Hashaw clarified. ¡°Tom would you please take the gun out of the lady¡¯s mouth.¡±


    Tom obliged, stepping back to give the others some room, as Kolinky and Latori dragged the lady away. It was clear Tom had been less than gentle with her face.


    ¡°Let her rest for now, then move her to the infirmary. I¡¯m going to see if Apuma has anything that will help further. Don¡¯t kill her yet.¡± Nunuk went, holding up an authoritarian finger, pointing to the lady. That would be damn hard not to do Sapphire thought to herself as she got up to see how Esmeralda was doing. The green was fading slowly and she was breathing steadily. It was clear this had not been an easy trip though.


    Rakshaza and Vigon had been allowed to come over. Esmeralda weakly holding each of their hands, as she struggled to speak. At Hashaw¡¯s instance, she relented. Instead, just weakly stroking each of them across the snout a bit.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mother is okay¡± Kokashi tried as the horrified kids started crying. ¡°She¡¯s gonna be just fine. The kind colonel helped her very much."


    ¡°No, I did not,¡± Hashaw replied, getting up. ¡°You two! How in the name of all that is holy! Did you manage to let a weakling of a noble get away with stabbing someone? With a poisoned dagger!¡±


    Kolinky snapped to attention and started explaining rapidly ¡°Esmeralda managed to grievously insult the lady, then lady Flaxen proceeded to try and fistfight a huntress. We just kinda let her. Esmeralda was even laughing at how useless she was. Then¡­ that happened.¡± He pointed to the knife currently in Dakota¡¯s hands. Sapphire didn¡¯t disagree with him. It had been hilarious to watch just how hopeless the lady was. Hard to find the situation funny now though.


    Hashaw rubbed her temples with her off-hand right one firmly placed on the pommel of her sword. ¡°You mean to tell me you let her attack and didn''t even try! To stop her¡­ Give me strength.¡±


    Koliky was well statured, tall, and muscular for a man. Right now though, he more closely resembled Apuma hunched over and head held very low. Latori didn¡¯t seem to be affected in the slightest though.


    ¡°Honor duels aren''t that uncommon, the lady¡¯s honor was insulted and she saw fit to defend it. The use of underhanded tricks aside., she was technically allowed to do that especially towards a non-noble. It was a considerable insult after all¡±


    ¡°Do please elaborate on this magic insult she came up with,¡± Hashaw continued in a pained tone.


    ¡°Well, Esmeralda appears to believe the Lady had very intimate relations with the young Dashu. Which led to why she is so¡­ convinced, that those who condemned him should be prosecuted.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Hashaw replied clearly not quite grasping the implications. So Sapphire endeavored to elaborate.


    ¡°She¡¯s an incestuous bitch colonel and that is all there is to it. This doesn¡¯t even concern family honor, ''cause they haven''t got any.¡±


    ¡°You sniveling little¡­¡± The colonel ended the Lady¡¯s emergent rant taking a page out of Tom¡¯s book backhanding her with her gauntleted hand. ¡°Shut up unless spoken to! Well, that certainly explains a few things¡­ You got proof?¡± Oh yeah, we do, Sapphire thought to herself.


    ¡°Well, she felt the need to lie about where Dashu¡¯s sword was from, claiming it was a gift from his father. Which we have discovered definitely isn¡¯t the case as Dashu claimed it was a gift from his extended family and refused to answer questions about it. Then there was her reaction¡­ not exactly calm, is it? Nor does the excuse of protecting her family¡¯s honor line make sense when her behavior the last two days is taken into account.¡± Hashaw looked at the Lady who was just about able to stand on her feet again, at this point.


    ¡°Lady Flaxen you are under arrest for attempted murder. Additionally, you are hereby charged with lying in front of a royal court, fabrication evidence to insinuate traitorous behavior, misleading and lying to members of the royal guard in the field, and breaking the rule of hospitality to the most extreme extent I have ever seen. While in my care!¡± Hashaw sounded furious, especially at that last point. This was not just a terrible stain on the Lady¡¯s honor but hers as well. ¡°How do you plead?¡± The lady just looked at Hashaw with a contemptuous gaze not saying a word.


    ¡°Very well, as stated you are under arrest as are your compatriots. Tie them up¡± Hashaw went gesturing with her hand at the remaining robed dragonets. They looked like they didn¡¯t have a clue what was going on. ¡°Lady Nunu... Dakota Bizmati. I would like to take Lady Flaxen before the royal court to which she lied. Is that agreeable to you?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely, do you require testimony?¡± Dakota responded with poorly restrained fury in her voice. Sapphire would have preferred they gave her a fitting send-off immediately.


    ¡°That would be greatly appreciated.¡± The colonel responded. ¡°Vulzan would your route happen to take you back to the capitol?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ no¡± The trader responded seemingly unsure.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Come on Vulzi, they want you to testify as well and Tyborg saw the whole thing didn¡¯t you?¡± Jarix pleaded.


    Vulzi, Sapphire thought to herself, that was adorable she needed to remember that one.


    ¡°Ohh right, sure we just so happen to be going that way anyway.¡± ¡®good man'' Sapphire thought to herself. She would hate to see the lady get away with any of this.


    ¡°Excellent, we can discuss the details later, first off. You lot tend to your friend and I¡¯ll take care of these disappointments¡± Hashaw responded.


    ¡°I¡¯m keeping her tooth¡± Tom stated, in a fierce tone. Sapphire guessed he had a very itchy trigger finger right about now.


    ¡°Sure I don¡¯t care. Just don¡¯t take any more souvenirs.¡± Hashaw dismissed him.


    ¡°Shame, could have used some white boots.¡± He replied, turning back to Esmeralda.


    Those who were not either tending to Esmeralda or keeping curious kids away set about tying up the three accompanying dragonettes and loading them onto Jarix. They would be placed under the watchful eye of Baron, who Sapphire guessed would be less than pleased to hear what had happened.


    Two of them were just silent, clearly not quite sure what to do in a situation like this. Or possibly having taken the Lady¡¯s wisdom of, don¡¯t admit to anything before a court hearing, to heart. The last one had been apologizing profusely, as damn well he should, Sapphire thought. They were all taken away by Jarix along with the Lady.


    Following that, Esmeralda had been moved to the infirmary, as carefully as they could manage. There she was fed more foul-smelling concoctions of Apuma¡¯s design. The improvement was a lot slower than the deterioration, but it was clearly working.


    Sapphire had been asked to recount the sequence of events for everyone and now that Esmeralda was clearly going to be okay, at least she would be eventually. They even had a bit of a laugh at just how absurd stabbing somebody in the middle of a large hall full of people was. Quite a few jokes were had at the lady¡¯s expense or the bitch as Jackalope had so eloquently named her with Tom¡¯s approval. The news that all charges against them were going to be dropped anyway did sour Sapphire¡¯s mood a bit. She really wanted Essy to get the credit for it after all that happened. Still, since they had gone from having their charges dropped to now having charges pressed against the bitch, it hadn¡¯t all been for nothing.


    Tom wasn¡¯t in a very good mood though, spending most of the time scowling at Esmeralda, even if he made it very clear he didn¡¯t believe she had done anything wrong. He had told them that Jarix had agreed to his whole teaching idea and joked that Shiva better fire up the forge cause she had the largest huntress crown ever to make.


    Even Esmeralda had chuckled slightly at that notion, even if she sounded quite pained doing so. Kokashi did his best to calm her down again before she hurt herself. Quite how Tom had pulled that off Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure, but having a dragon along for the hunts rather than just having to feed it would certainly help a lot. Especially if they were sending people to the capitol, to testify.


    When Tom had started asking questions like, if they had a pulling harness for a dragon, you know so Jarix could plow. Sapphire had damn near lost it, Raulf and Wiperna did. They all thought he had been joking. Sapphire had actually heard a story about a green dragon taking up fieldwork, as odd a combo as that seemed. But a blue dragon of the royal guard plowing fields. That was hilarious.


    When she found out he was actually serious she laughed even harder. Perhaps it was more of a nervous reaction following having yet another close friend cheat death by a far too uncomfortable margin, but damn that was funny to her for some reason. Dakota and Nunuk both confirmed it though¡­ This was getting weirder and weirder.

 Justice Expedition

    Chapter 64: Justice Expedition


    ¡°So, how are we looking back there?¡± Vulzan questioned looking at them. It had been five years since last she was in the capital, she might even get to see some of her siblings. The last time she had been there Haiko was trying to become a tavern guard and Viper was supposedly a trader escort now, so there was a chance she would see them both.


    ¡°Ready as we''ll ever be¡± Dakota retorted. It had taken some thought to decide who would be going. In the end, they had settled on Sapphire, Dakota, and Balethon.


    Dakota had demanded to go. Swearing vengeance on Lady Flaxen for attacking her childhood best friend, she and Esmeralda had practically grown up together. Nunuk and Apuma couldn¡¯t be spared due to Esmeralda¡¯s condition. With Jarix and Tom helping they shouldn¡¯t have much trouble with securing food though. That meant Sapphire had been allowed to go, since sending Jackalope really wasn¡¯t gonna do much good and Fengi would rather not go back.


    Rachuck had decided that Balethon was the best pick to send. Probably because there was no way of getting Kokashi to leave Esmeralda or their children. Dakota had wanted Unkai, but Rachuck claimed he needed his healer if things got rough while they were gone. Besides they did have Dakota if they ended up needing some emergency medical aid.


    So Balethon it was. Sapphire was at least hoping he would find someone other than her to shower with praise for some of the time. It was going to be a long flight and as much as she enjoyed being told how beautiful or awesome she was, there came a point where it just got repetitive. Looking around Vulzan''s escorts there were a few candidates to choose from, not to mention a few which were clearly eying Sapphire. She just crossed her fingers that they were less persistent than Balethon, there might even be a funny one among them you never know.


    ¡°Cargo secure¡± one of the escorts shouted back to Vulzan.


    ¡°Right then all good back here Arch¡±


    ¡°Very good, hang on then¡± Sapphire grabbed the thick netting running across Archeon¡¯s back as the dragon got to his feet and began running along, Baron had already taken to the sky. They were not in too much of a hurry though, Archeon was faster flying even with cargo on board, thanks to his sleeker frame.


    A considerable amount of that cargo had been left behind, which of course didn¡¯t hurt his speed either. Vulzan had of course seen his chance to bring in more metal for Tom and Jarix had managed to convince his father that they deserved a great price. The young dragon had even paid for much of it himself, to everyone¡¯s surprise.


    They took to the air waving at everyone who had come out to say goodbye. Sapphire did have a bit of a knot in her stomach, leaving Esmeralda, but both Nunuk and Apuma had promised that she would be fine. The trip to the capital would likely take them close to a week each way, and who knew how long they would need to stay in the capital. Sapphire had never had to attend a court hearing. She had only looked at the building when passing above it a few times.


    Jackalope and Fengi had come along either side of them to give a flying send-off.


    ¡°Good luck you''re gonna need it¡± Jackalope shouted jokingly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get killed,¡± Fengi had added in a slightly more worried voice.


    ¡°You first¡± Sapphire had retorted with as much confidence as she could muster. These were trying times, but damn if life had been this exciting in years.


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay in touch" Dakota shouted at them. Sapphire smirked looking at the new earring their fearless leader was wearing. Just because it had been in the service of evil didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be useful after all.


    Jackalope and Fengi both peeled off rolling into spinning dives, clearly trying to show off a bit one last time. Scoring a few shouts of approval from the escorts currently perched around Archeon. Dakota, Sapphire, and Balethon added in, those were two of their own after all.


    As Archeon continued to climb the keep was soon getting rather small behind them, Baron was dead ahead and getting bigger, it took a minute or two before they were up alongside. Archeon had offered to take point, but Baron had refused. He was both the larger and older dragon here and as such would fly as formation lead. Even if Archeon was better suited to break the wind for them.


    As they settled into cruising speed at a safe altitude above the ground, people started getting up and walking around a bit, setting down for a chat and a game or two. The three of them had just huddled together, they had gotten out the winter coats for this trip else they might very well risk freezing up from sitting still in this wind, especially if they hit bad weather. Right now though the weather was beautiful, with plenty of sun and only a few clouds.


    Sapphire wondered if she could get Dakota to spill the beans on what Tom had offered to Jarix. She had never even heard of a Royal guard dragon agreeing to plow a field. Hell, even those considered honest working dragons would be hard to coax into such a job. And he had paid for some of what was technically their supplies and that was definitely supposed to be the other way around.


    ¡°So, I heard Jarix agreed to pretty much be Tom¡¯s beast of burden. How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was quite the scene let me tell you. Tom got all philosophical again.¡±


    ¡°He managed to talk Jarix into it?¡± Sapphire replied in disbelief. Sure Tom had a bit of a silver tongue, but that was simply too much to believe. Dakota leaned over clearly trying to be subtle.


    ¡°He promised Jarix a machine gun, as well as fighting alongside him in defense of the keep.¡± Sapphire could see how that would do it. Kinda explained the dragon''s extreme generosity as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m allowed to know?¡± Balethon questioned, as he waited his turn. Only Vulzan and Tyborg had been allowed to witness the evening lesson. So they needed to be a bit careful about what they said. Tom had clearly been very determined not to let what was shown there become common knowledge.


    Dakota obliged, the look on his face became one of understanding.


    ¡°Whatcha talking about¡± one of the escorts questioned ¡°Something we are allowed to hear?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately not sorry¡± Dakota replied, in a stern yet apologetic voice.


    ¡°Nah I get it, that Tom guy has secrets to keep and I sure as shit ain¡¯t gonna be crossing him. Care for a game?¡± Why hadn¡¯t she thought of that, Sapphire cursed herself.


    ¡°Sure whatcha got?¡± Dakota replied for them.


    ¡°Come on over gonna play one-up¡± ¡®Oh no not the weird metaphor stuff¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. Still, it would help pass the time and she was bound to become bored with looking at the horizon eventually.


    They had gathered a handful of people on the centerline of Archon''s back. The netting helped, but this would have been easier to do on Barron. Some of the escorts were hanging down the sides of the dragon. They looked comfortable enough though, dangling from the netting.


    ¡°I am a kid I see the joy in everything¡± the one next to Dakota went, the game was already going then, brilliant.


    ¡°I am a nightmare, I prowl the dark¡± Dakota continued.


    ¡°I am a torch, I keep the darkness away¡± heh, that was easy.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°I am water, I drown the fire¡± ¡®ha suck on that one, Bale boy¡¯


    ¡°I am human I love water¡± the one next to Sapphire went, clever ¡®little bastard¡¯ the next one in line wondered for a bit.


    ¡°Da fuck beats him?¡± he went in a genuinely curious voice.


    Sapphire pondered a bit. The vargufl¡¯s had sorta managed it.


    ¡°Corruption?¡± one of the others went shrugging his shoulders looking at the trio from the keep as if they should know.


    ¡°No clue actually¡± Dakota finally replied. You got one Sapphire? thinking back there was one thing he had yet to manage with any sort of grace.


    ¡°Girls¡± Sapphire finally went. ¡°He¡¯s got no clue there¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hey, Shiva watch this¡± Tom took a sip of the first jar of finished fuel. The hydrometer claimed it was between 94% and 95% and that was good enough for Tom. ¡°I am Baron, I am mighty¡±


    It had been a while since Tom last tried this trick but it was always a party favorite, as long as you didn¡¯t do it indoors and especially near curtains... This was a smithy though so he was sure it would be fine.


    ¡°Shit! What the hell?!¡± Wiperna let out in alarm, Shiva just had a hearty chuckle.


    ¡°Oh yeah, it certainly burns alright. Doesn¡¯t even taste that shit anymore, nice and pure. Don¡¯t drink it though there might still be methanol in there.¡± Tom went putting away the lighter.


    ¡°Which is?¡± Shiva questioned, clearly expecting an explanation.


    ¡°Makes you go blind if you have too much, so just don¡¯t.¡± Shiva eyed the glass jar he was holding a bit.


    ¡°I will take your word for it.¡±


    ¡°On second thought, I should probably mix this with petrol right away¡± Tom had a feeling Shiva¡¯s word might not be so sound on this point. The annoyed twitch on her face told him he was probably right.


    Making what was essentially E85 would help a great deal with storage too, not to mention the bike would likely run a lot better on that, than pure alcohol.


    ¡°If you insist on drinking it, do try and take the stuff from the middle of the process, that should be mostly pure¡± A hint of a smile crept onto Shiva''s face as she crossed her arms.


    ¡°I insist.¡± Tom wrote of the afternoon¡¯s scheduled work on the engine housing as he doubted the smith would be much help then.


    Baron had departed that morning to transport the bitch and her accomplices back to the capitol. Hashaw had promised she would face some considerable punishment but didn¡¯t elaborate further. Tom has asked Nunuk and Apuma what sort of punishment would be expected for something like this.


    The answer had been a mixed bag. They were hoping that her position as a city warden was at the very least done for. There would also be reparations to be paid, both to Esmeralda and Nunuk. There was even a chance they could get something for what Dashu had caused if the judge was feeling vindictive that day. Nunuk was also hopeful that she would face prison time and if her family didn¡¯t decide to back her up, there was a good chance it would actually stick.


    Tom had hoped for something like taking her wings, but hurting a noble sounded a lot more tricky than it should. Then again it wasn¡¯t much better back home. The idea of buying your way out of jail had apparently made it through their rather strict honor code around here, which was a bit of a disappointment too.


    Judging by Hashaw¡¯s demeanor when she left, there was every chance some political favors were going to be pulled in the other direction too though. Dakota had gone along to try and make use of what connections they had, should it become necessary, as well as testifying of course.


    In other news. Esmeralda was also doing much better, though she was still resigned to the bed for a bit longer. Apparently the more rest she got the fewer lasting side-effects she would suffer. That poison was a truly vile thing. Tom knew of nerve-agents and things like mustard gas. This stuff seemed almost like it tried to eat you, in that sense, it was more of a chemical weapon than poison or venom as the dragonettes referred to it. That alone sent shivers down his spine. If he ever came across a green dragon he would make sure to keep his distance since anything that could survive having that in its mouth was bound to be bad news.


    Apuma had promised that Esmeralda would get back to her feet and make at least close to a full recovery. She would need to continue eating that foul-smelling stuff he had made though. For that, they had gotten a shopping list of things they needed from the forest. Since they were down to Fengi and a one-handed Jackalope, it had been decided it was as good a time as any to take their newest members on their first hunt and foraging expedition.


    Fengi and Jackalope had already departed, taking Wiperna and Zarko with them to help out. They were to start gathering up what they could find in terms of herbs and game. Then Jarix could just haul it all back and not have to sit around waiting for too long. Jarix hadn¡¯t objected though he seemed a bit skittish about letting Zarko go on ahead.


    Tom had brought up an empty fuel can and a full one and showed Shiva and Raoulf how to mix it. It wasn¡¯t a difficult procedure so he left them to it, crossing his fingers that they would still be able to see when he got back. Then he had grabbed his parachute and made for the greeting hall where Jarix and Radexi were already waiting.


    ¡°So ready for takeoff?¡± Tom went upon rounding the corner.


    ¡°Buckles are tight and checked,¡± Radexi answered in an optimistic tone.


    ¡°Do I get the special treatment or do you wanna see me try climbing again?¡±


    ¡°Come on up, that was funny though,¡± Jarix replied, lowering a wing. As Tom walked up he felt a little bad his boots weren¡¯t cleaner. It almost felt like there should be a welcome mat or something. Walking on the soft springy membrane was an odd sensation too. He felt more like he was walking on a bouncy castle than anything. ¡°Tom, you do know the way right?¡± Tom hadn¡¯t known Jarix that long, but that sounded like masked confidence to Tom.


    ¡°Sure been there and back quite a few times¡±


    ¡°Oh good,¡± Jarix replied in a clearly relieved tone.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, not much of a navigator?¡±


    ¡°Uhmmm¡­ no¡± Jarix replied in an uncertain tone.


    ¡°That''s what I and Zarko are for when flying. I¡¯m just a backup though.¡± Radexi piped up.


    ¡°Jarix, you¡¯re 85 and you can¡¯t navigate.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can¡­ just not read maps or stars... I don¡¯t know where I am right now okay¡±


    ¡°Zarko usually takes care of where we are going,¡± Radexi added, seemingly not concerned.


    ¡°Welp, I¡¯m the king of not knowing where I am around here so might as well get going.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that¡± Radexi agreed.


    ¡°Wait is that good or bad?¡± Jarix questioned clearly not reassured by that statment.


    ¡°Brought my compass we¡¯re fine¡±


    ¡°Whats a compass?¡± Radexi questioned.


    ¡°Always points north... Not that great on an island though, it likes to move¡± Tom had to admit


    ¡°ooohhhhh¡±


    ¡°Brilliant three people who don¡¯t know where we are and a magic thing that doesn¡¯t help here.¡±


    ¡°Relax, I have been to the forest a few times.¡±


    Jarix got up doing a bit of a jog in place as if hyping himself up. ¡°Okay off we go, hang on back there¡±


    Tom was starting to properly enjoy the feeling of going weightless as they dropped off the edge, then the first wingbeat caught them and they were flying.


    ¡°Okay turn right to two o¡¯clock¡±


    ¡°Uhmm what?¡± Jarix responded.


    ¡°Oh right, sorry, turn right to 060 degrees¡± There was more silence,


    ¡°You don¡¯t know degrees¡±


    ¡°I have no clue what you are talking about¡±


    ¡°Ohh¡­. Uhm, right a bit¡± Tom turned back to Radexi ¡°How do you say go over there?¡± Tom pointed to two o¡¯clock.


    Radexi squinted a bit ¡°Right turn one-sixth I think¡±


    ¡°That sounds very annoying to use¡±


    ¡°What would you say¡±


    We just go on, two three four five, o¡¯clock and so on up to twelve.


    ¡°Why twelve?¡±


    ¡°There are twenty-four hours in a¡­¡±


    ¡°Would someone tell me where we are going?¡± Jarix interrupted.


    ¡°Right sorry right turn one-sixth¡±


    ¡°Now that wasn¡¯t so hard was it?¡± Jarix replied going into a lazy right turn.


    ¡°My system is better you learn it one day¡±


    ¡°Sure it is, hours in the day and turning have so much in common¡± Jarix replied clearly not convinced by that fact, so Tom turned to Radexi instead.


    ¡°Hmpf, right so you see this thing, this is a watch or a clock¡±


    It took a while to explain the concept but at least it helped pass the time. They were discussing degrees when Jarxi interrupted the lesson.


    ¡°I see trees¡±


    ¡°Good, head for them. They see us coming I¡¯m sure.¡±


    They made for the tree line Tom and Radexi both peering out ahead trying to see if they could spot anyone on the wing.


    ¡°Hey, Tom why do you wear those google things in front of your eyes, you know they are black, right?"


    ¡°I¡¯m not made to go this fast, they hurt otherwise and they help with the sun too¡±


    ¡°Man you really suck at being up here¡±


    ¡°Hey remember I¡¯m the second most well-armed guy here and only by a little¡±


    ¡°Little, have you ever seen what I can do?¡± Jarix questioned clearly not believing what he was hearing.


    ¡°No¡± Tom had to admit


    ¡°We are here to hunt right?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah¡±


    ¡°Well, what do you say we do some hunting then? The quick way¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that is a good idea?¡± Tom replied Radexi just looked at Tom violently mimicking a ''Come on, man'' with his whole body. ¡°You know what sure, why not. Just don¡¯t wipe out an entire herd okay?¡± Okay, this had the potential to be really awesome.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, else the prancy white horse gets mad. I know, I have heard the stories¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Nunuk claim you met one?¡± Radexi asked Tom.


    ¡°I did and I agree she was quite annoying. She didn¡¯t even like my chainsaw.¡±


    ¡°Well, I already like your chainsaw for that reason,¡± Jarix replied. It would seem the reverence for the unicorns was a dragonette thing rather than a draconic thing.


    ¡°Oh you will, it made so much noise she had to come to check what was happening¡± Tom replied laughing


    ¡°Okay, now I love it¡± Jarix retorted. ¡°What does it do?¡±


    ¡°It eats trees¡± They both laughed a bit at that one.


    ¡°Oh I bet she hated that then¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna ruin the mood but do you see anyone?¡± Radexi interrupted. There was a bit of a pause as they started scanning around them again.


    ¡°You are sure they went to this part of the forest right?¡± Jarix questioned.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I think so¡±

 Uhm Who Is In Charge?

    Chapter 65: Uhm Who Is In Charge?


    ¡°I told you we should have brought someone who knew where we were going¡± Jarix protested as they flew along the forest''s edge.


    They had been at this for nearly an hour now and no sign of any dragonettes. Tom reckoned Jarix was fast even on the cruise Tom reckoned maybe 130 to 140 as they went along. Meaning they had likely covered over 80 kilometers already accounting for a bit of backtracking here and there. And yet they had found nothing.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense, could they still be on the ground searching for those herb things?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Look don¡¯t ask any of us, we have no clue¡± Radexi defended.


    ¡°Let¡¯s land for a bit before we get completely lost.¡±


    ¡°Okay then, go down low and circle back again, I¡¯m used to navigating by ground, let¡¯s see if we can find where we hunted those red deer.¡±


    ¡°Fine, at least that is more fun than this,¡± Jarix replied, clearly not very optimistic.


    Radexi and Tom took a shoulder each as they sat peering out ahead trying to spot something.


    It took a while but they finally came across a familiar-looking hilltop.


    ¡°There, left turn one eighth¡± They seriously needed to improve on this system.


    ¡°Left turn¡± Jarix replied, flying over the hilltop and sure enough there were the tracks left by his quadbike¡­ why hadn¡¯t they just followed those?


    ¡°Goddammit, I¡¯m an idiot. We could just have followed those tracks¡±


    ¡°What why¡­ what is that?¡± Jarix questioned.


    ¡°My quad bike, you¡¯ll see soon enough those lead home.¡±


    ¡°You really aren''t good at this are you?¡± Radexi added from behind.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I can''t fly that¡¯s my excuse. Well, we are where we are supposed to now. So where are they?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna get some altitude so they can see us.¡±


    Jarix climbed up hard, he was surprisingly nimble for his size and even seemed to be able to match the dragonettes for climb-rate. He wasn¡¯t even breathing hard from doing so either.


    ¡°Jarix targets two-thirds left. Is that them?¡± Radexi asked, pointing to the horizon. Tom strained to look. He did make out four dots on the horizon which seemed to be approaching. That was behind them though.


    ¡°Yep¡± came the reply from Jarix. ¡°Turning to intercept¡± It took a few minutes for the range to close but eventually Tom could make them out as well.


    As they reached each other the dragonettes turned to match Jarix''s direction, setting down on his back. All seeming a little winded, especially Wiperna.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop? We¡¯ve been chasing for kilometers." Fengi questioned setting down.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see you¡± Tom replied. Zarko looked less than pleased.


    ¡°Who was rear lookout?¡± Radexi and Tom looked at each other. ¡°For a teacher you sure suck at learning Tom and I expect better from you.¡± She went pointing at Radexi.


    Wiperna was still wheezing trying to catch her breath clearly not used to this kind of flying.


    ¡°Whu¡­ why are you so fast?¡±


    ¡°That is my job, who gave me such a kind compliment?¡± Jarix responded.


    ¡°Wiperna¡± She got out.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re the one whose fields I need to plow I think¡±


    ¡°This is a weird day¡± Wiperna went, giving up and just laying down.


    ¡°So you all look tired¡± Tom tried in as innocent a voice as he could manage.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡± Jackalope replied with her usual lack of tact standing proudly with of all things two jackalopes hanging over her shoulder. ¡®touche¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Well, that is good to hear¡± Zarko replied in a discouraging tone which achieved exactly nothing.


    ¡°Wanna race?¡±


    ¡°Uhh yeah,¡± Jarix replied as if that was the easiest question ever, which to his credit it might well be. ¡°Not with all you lot on board you are rather heavy you know¡±


    Tom looked around at the six people currently standing on Jarix¡¯s back while flying. Well, Wiperna was still lying down which didn''t really help with the space situation.


    ¡°Oh shut it Jarix it¡¯s good exercise,¡± Zarko replied


    ¡°I flew nearly a week to get here. I don''t need more exercise right now and my belly is full from last night as well.¡±


    ¡°Yesterday you were starving, now you''re overfed. Does a happy medium exist?¡±


    ¡°Fewer people on my back would do nicely¡±


    ¡°Oh, poor dragon who can¡¯t handle a few passengers¡±


    ¡°Really? How about I try and stand on you one day and see how that goes¡± They were clearly joking. Tom guessed they had known each other for a while. Based on what Archeon said, Jarix should be good for over a ton of cargo probably more. ¡°And I only said if I was going to race someone.¡±


    ¡°Uhm before any racing could we not get some hunting?¡± Fengi asked. ¡°Tom, could you do that trick you and Sapphire did again?¡±


    ¡°Sure I think Jarix has a better idea though.¡±


    There was a bit of a crackle, then a boom, that made everyone flinch, followed by a chuckle from Jarix.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I do.¡±


    Jackalopes excitement was both visible and audible as she cheered ¡°Best hunt ever. No offense Tom¡±


    ¡±Hell no I can¡¯t compete with a flying lightning cannon¡­ Not yet at least¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that irresponsible?¡± Wiperna questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a huntress, who has seniority here?¡±Zarko replied. It was at that moment Tom realized the catastrophic error that had been committed, as he turned to Jackalope who was standing there obliviously. The only silvered huntress present.


    As it finally clicked for her, she began cackling madly rubbing her hands together. ¡°Let''s get started¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was getting the distinct impression Baltehon was making this easy for her. Not once had she even had to go for something philosophical or even a metaphor. She didn¡¯t mind, but after a while, the game did sort of die a bit. She had learned the one to her left, was called Canabrera, she was a little older than Sapphire, only a few years though and they had gotten a decent conversation going.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    She even knew where Vultcha Keep was, apparently having made a few stops there in the past, having served with another trader who had elected to take some time off having made enough money for a while.


    Canabrera was one of the newly hired escorts following the bloody battle to reach Bizmati keep. After a bit, Canabrera brought out some dice in a little box with a glass lid. Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen one before. it was rather clever, even if you had to time the dice throws with the wingbeats to keep them from rolling around.


    Sapphire had never been a gambling person, but a friendly game was always good fun. She glanced over at Baron every once in a while. As much as she would like to berate the bitch all the way there she was fairly confident things were gonna be more entertaining over here. She wondered how they would manage with Jarix back home. She had never seen a dragon hunt before, Esmeralda would get him in line though she was sure of that¡­ Wait.


    ¡°Dakota!¡±


    ¡°What is it Saph?¡± Dakota replied, seemingly a bit confused at the sudden outburst.


    ¡°We left Jacky in charge of the hunt, with a dragon and Tom¡± Dakota developed a sort of deep thousand-yard stare. Not answering


    ¡°Ohh noo¡± Balethon added, shaking his head.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, surely it can¡¯t be that bad, she seemed friendly enough,¡± Canebrera questioned.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Target dead ahead, we¡¯ll break ¡¯em up for ya. Fengi, Wiperna with me. Wanna come Zarko?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine here, the boys need some oversight I think.¡± This was yet another in the long list of stupid ideas that might work. Tom should maybe have tried to take some more responsibility but Jackalope was in charge so any disasters were on her after all. IT didn¡¯t hurt that he really wanted to see how this lightning breath worked.


    ¡°Suit yourself, Geronimo!¡±


    ¡°Does she actually know what she is doing?¡± Radexi questioned.


    ¡°More than any of us I¡¯m afraid¡± Tom answered.


    ¡°She seems very sensible¡± Jarix added, sounding perfectly serious. Perhaps assessing people¡¯s character should be worked into the lessons Tom thought to himself.


    The three girls set about herding the deer away from the forest further into the open marshes. Jarix following behind from above so as not to scare them yet.


    ¡°Now Tom this is gonna be a steep dive. Make sure those goggles are secure and you hang on tight.¡± Zarko went in a serious tone. Tom had no clue how quickly an 8-ton dragon could dive but it was likely fairly fast, so he did as instructed. He moved to make sure he had both good foot and handholds.


    ¡°They¡¯re starting to split up now, here we go¡± Jarix pitched down pulling his wings in close to his sides as they began to fall. The sensation of being pulled down by Jarix was different from when Tom had flown with the dragonettes. They fell at about the same rate this was like holding onto an elevator with its cables cut. As the dive continued Tom guessed they were well above terminal velocity for a human. They had maybe 1.000 meters of altitude to scrub and Jarix didn¡¯t seem to mind falling most of the way in one go.


    Tom pulled himself close to Jarix lying as flat as he could manage the wind screaming in his ears. He had no clue how fast they were going, but he was fairly sure this was a new speed record for him in this world. Zarko and especially Radexi seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, even if Tom was unsure as to whether it was the dive or him providing the entertainment.


    As they approached the ground Jarix started to slowly extend his wings, but only by a little. Tom looked around fighting the wind to get a better look. He was making a kind of delta wing? As the young dragon started to pull up the familiar sense of G-forces returned it was a strange feeling when lying on top of something but it was no less thrilling. This was a proper rollercoaster.


    ¡°Wuuuhuuu!!¡± Tom let out in glee. Oh yeah, this was about as much fun as he had imagined as a kid.


    They came upon the herd of red deer they were still traveling at considerable speed. Tom strained to get as good a look as he could manage, looking over the side in front of Jarix¡¯s left-wing.


    He saw Jackalope off to the side, clearly positioned to get the best view she could as they came speeding by. Tom felt the hairs on his neck stand on end as the air around him almost started to crackle. The sound was more like that of a rail gun charging as Jarix inhaled it with a static electric whine that sent shivers down Tom¡¯s spine. Followed by a single bright streak of bluish light that looked more like a beam than a lightning bolt. It impacted the ground in a split second resulting in a bright flash with lightning arcing in every direction, even in the middle of that day it was perfectly visible.


    No long breath spreading the love around, it was like a single shot that hit the ground, followed by an echoing boom. Jarix hadn¡¯t even managed to hit one of the deer, but the electrical arcs could be seen spreading through the grass as they went by.


    Jarix pulled in a fresh breath letting out a sigh.


    ¡°Pheew, that oughta do it¡±


    ¡°Good shot, right on target¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Radexi added.


    Tom looked behind them to see, maybe half a dozen deer all lying legs in the air, the grass blackened all around the small crater in the ground. The three girls came circling down as the remaining deer bolted in a blind panic.


    ¡°Holy shit¡± Tom let out gawking. That was one hell of a weapon, and he had been worried about a damn machine gun.


    ¡°Try that on for size, mister nearly as well-armed as me¡± Jarix went in a sarcastic tone, scoring a short laugh from Zarko and Radexi.


    ¡°Not gonna argue with that. Though it would be more like a storm of lightning¡±


    ¡°Oh I can do that too¡± Jarxi clarified ¡°Spitting works great for ground targets though¡±


    ¡°You can say that again¡±


    They had come down next to the others taking a look at the damage, which was extensive. Jackalope was beside herself with excitement of course.


    ¡°That was awesome, look at them! I mean that one is a bit busted, but still, look at them!¡±


    Tom glanced around at the fairly singed looking deer, one clearly having been a bit close to the impact site. It was a disfigured mess hardly recognizable as a deer. He slid off Jarix to have a look around, inspecting the ground and the impact crater.


    ¡°You want that one Jarix? I mean it¡¯s already sorta cooked.¡± Jackalope then went. pointing at the chared deer.


    ¡°Eew no, I don¡¯t like raw meat, that¡¯s for savages¡±


    ¡°We can light a fire under it if you want¡± She continued


    ¡°No thanks,¡± Jarxi replied, clearly not thrilled with the prospect.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this cruel?¡± Wiperna had questioned, clearly disturbed by the scene. In hindsight bringing the resident animal lover along might not have been the brightest idea, they had ever had.


    ¡°I doubt a deer has died this quickly around here in a while. Well short of when Sapphire decides to show off, anywho we need to get these back to the keep.¡± Jackalope¡¯s answer sounding a tad annoyed at the part about Sapphire. ¡°How much can you carry Jarix?¡±


    Jarix took a step back looking at all the six dead deer. ¡°Five is no problem¡± He finally replied, looking at the mangled one Tom was now inspecting.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, soldier? Scared of blood?¡± Tom questioned


    ¡°No of course not. I¡¯ll take five, they look heavy.¡±


    ¡°I guess we will have to come back for the last one then.¡± Tom just stated, getting up.


    ¡°But my harness¡± Jarix pleaded. Tom had to admit it was very nice. Mostly made of the dark blue leather the dragonettes seemed to use for most things. There were some white pieces here and there though. Most of the handholds were polished metal too and there was even some engraving on parts of the armor plates.


    ¡°A soldier that doesn¡¯t want to get dirty? I have shown you what a soldier is expected to go through, does this look bad to you? Or do I need to get a mud bath going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take all six... think you can scrub it out?¡± Jarix went looking to Radexi with a pained expression on his face.


    ¡°Sure thing boss¡± Well at least Radexi was still positive.


    ¡°I¡¯ll grant you though it¡¯s a nice harness. Perhaps we should have something less nice made for things like this.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s mine though It was a gift from my mother.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but there is no use ruining it. It should survive a bit of blood though if it¡¯s as well made as it looks.¡± Jarix just let out a discontented grump as an answer.


    By the time they had finished carrying all the deer up and lashing them down securely, Jarix looked more like a medivac for a fictional deer army than a hunter on the job. It did the trick though and they were soon airborne, the girls having gotten the herb collecting done prior to their arrival.


    They had matched cruising speeds, the dragonettes flying under their own power with Jarix breaking the wind for them. It wasn¡¯t fair that he had to carry both everything and everyone, after all. They had tried to keep the mess to a minimum but still, Radexi would have his work cut out for him.


    They had set down outside the keep to begin the process of prepping the carcasses. Unkai and Herron had come down to meet them. In Tom and Esmeralda''s stead, they had been tasked with taking care of the children for at least some of the day. Judging by the crying and the two very weary faces that had been a tall order even for a couple of hours.


    ¡°Hey Turinia, how is it going?¡± Tom tried in his best diplomatic voice.


    ¡°Holdey bit me¡± Turinia let out sobbing a bit.


    ¡°Holdey! that isn¡¯t nice. Come here let me have a look at that.¡± Well, bite might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but there were actually teeth marks. Tom had struggled a bit with coming to terms with the at times slightly more violent tendencies of the dragonettes. This wasn¡¯t that bad though.


    ¡°But she took my bricks!¡±


    ¡°NO, I was playing with them!¡±


    ¡°If you keep fighting over blocks of wood, like this you are never gonna get those legos I talked about. Now come here¡± Tom picked up Turinia to try and comfort her.


    ¡°Now now, no harm done and you shouldn¡¯t take what isn¡¯t yours either. Would you two help them unload? I¡¯ll take care of this.¡± Raulf and Herron looked rather relieved at the prospect of physical labor so they must have had a rough time of it.


    ¡°Get yourself cleaned off Jarix and take some time off. There will be another movie tonight, a bit more fun than last time though..¡±


    ¡°Another movie?¡± Jackalope questioned excitedly.


    ¡°Yep two in fact, not about war though, but I think you are gonna like it.¡± Jackalope looked a little slack-eared, but Fengi and Wiperna definitely perked up at that.


    So with Kiran clambering up to his usual perched Tom went about the next duty of his day. Trying to figure out whose bricks had been stolen and by whom. Maybe he should just make more bricks for them. That would have to come after winding the coils for the motor though. He wondered if Shiva was still conscious enough to discuss that?

 Drinking, Shooting, and Balloons

    Chapter 66: Drinking, Shooting, and Balloons


    As it turned out hunting deer with a flying lightning gun was incredibly efficient. The only problem was the rather singed nature of the result. Only four of the hides didn¡¯t have substantial burn marks on them, luckily for Tom and the others, Jackalope had been in charge so she received the brunt of the verbal abuse from Nunuk for ruining such fine red-deer pelts.


    The result was that they were banned from hunting using Jarix¡¯s lightning breath. At least until they could come up with a way of doing it without destroying the valuable pelts. Then there was the matter that they really needed to hunt the woods rather than just the grasslands on the outskirts.


    Jarix was nimble enough to fly between the heaven oak trees but the regular trees in the undergrowth were off-limits and he would also need a clearing or a perch of some kind to land. They had secured a sizable amount of meat once again though so they had time to work with. Given that Jarix ate more than the rest of the keep combined, they didn¡¯t have much breathing room though, they were going to have to keep up the pressure. Tom had a feeling this was gonna put a dent in his ammunition supply then, ''cause he sure as shit wasn¡¯t learning to use a bow right now.


    He had bigger things to worry about, such as how to wind the rotor by hand in a reasonable time and how to keep Shiva from getting more than slightly drunk on his precious fuel. She and Raulf had been very merry when Tom had finally made it to the workshop. Kiran gratefully exchanging Tom¡¯s hard helmet for his soft warm hair. Turinia was also still in Tom¡¯s arms as he didn¡¯t trust her and Holdey was quite over their differences yet.


    ¡°Did you at least mix some of it?¡±


    ¡°Ohh yeah, we¡¯re halfway with the first metal can, jug thing¡± Shiva replied with a sly smile clearly feeling good right now.


    ¡°Great and how much have you drunk of that stuff ?¡±


    ¡°We made a jar in the middle, *Hiik*, taste okay when watered down,¡± Raulf replied seemingly proud of the fact. Tom had been planning on teaching them how to make proper whiskey but it would seem that wouldn¡¯t be necessary, the shittiest moonshine in history apparently did the trick.


    ¡°Wanna sip?¡± Might as well see how bad this stuff actually was. He accepted the small glass jar and took a small sip. It burned, but it had definitely been watered down, at least by half.


    That did upset his inner engineer a bit as he had worked so hard to make this stuff as pure as possible. Aside from tasting like half-strength medicinal spirits, it wasn¡¯t that bad actually. He had half expected to puke on contact, it just didn¡¯t really taste of anything. Hell with something to mix with it might even make a decent drink¡­ and Jarix had sorta solved their fuel problems for the time being, since they didn¡¯t need the quad bike.


    But they didn¡¯t have anything to mix it with, the only juice they had was that berry stuff they made themselves, of which there was preciously little. The children had gotten some during the feast for Vulzan last time.


    ¡°So wadaya think?¡± Shiva questioned as Tom stood there pondering.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯ll do for getting you drunk¡±


    ¡°And that is the important part¡± Shiva went pointing a finger at him. Tom just shook his head, she was right though it would definitely do that and more cheaply than the beer if they didn¡¯t use the purest of the resulting distillate. Maybe just keep the leftovers from the runs for drinking, that couldn¡¯t hurt¡­ much.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do you think we can grab a proper drink or two while we are there?¡± Balethon questioned. Playing dice had lasted almost an hour but now the general conversation was doing the trick.


    ¡°Sure these court things usually take ages. I would be surprised if we even get to the court within a week. Then they might have to go through several sessions for which we may or may not be required.¡± Dakota clarified for them.


    ¡°Sweet, think we got enough money to stay for that long though?¡±


    ¡°If you wanna get drunk every night no, but that is on your bill, I¡¯m paying for the tavern and meals though¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Sapphire asked, surprised. She had thought they would be splitting at least the meals.


    "Yup. Nunuk was feeling generous or perhaps more busy with figuring out how to get her claws into the bitch, I don¡¯t know¡±


    Sapphire had brought every coin she owned and now she could spend them as she pleased. What did she want to spend it on though?


    ¡°We need at least one good night out, come on girls, it will be fun.¡± Balethon tried in his most convincing tone. Sapphire didn¡¯t have a problem with that idea though.


    ¡°If it means you won¡¯t get drunk and cause a scene if we end up having to attend something more high class then sure. I¡¯ll indulge you.¡± Dakota replied, Sapphire knew damn well that Dakota didn¡¯t mind a good drink every now and again. So she guessed this was about making Baltethon believe they were doing him a favor.


    ¡°High class? Are you expecting some nobles to invite us to something?¡±


    ¡°We have friends too, Bale boy, might need to go see some of them. Don¡¯t forget you are talking with one right now¡±


    ¡°Never been to something like that,¡± Balethon admitted. During her time in the capital, Sapphire hadn¡¯t exactly been part of high-class society either. She had gone to a very nice ball after she won the championship, that had been quite the experience at the time.


    ¡°Sapphire, didn¡¯t your big brother work at a sorta normal tavern?¡±


    ¡°Yup, the Sweet Dragon¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a good place to start¡± Sapphire had never even seen the place, so she just crossed her fingers that her brother had a decent taste in establishments.


    ¡°A bit early to worry about that isn¡¯t it?¡± Cabrera joined in, clearly not having left the discussion entirely. ¡°That is an alright place though I''ve been there before. We still got day¡¯s worth of flying to do so we were wonderi...¡±


    Tirox stuck his head over Cabrera¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Wondering if you had any more stories about Tom¡± Tirox seemed like a very excitable fellow with even worse manners than Jackalope, he didn¡¯t seem malicious though, so that was something. ¡°You know... that you are allowed to tell¡±


    They certainly had a few they should probably avoid anything concerning weapons, Sapphire didn¡¯t quite know what they were allowed to say. There was the one where he fought Rachuck till he passed out.


    ¡°What about the one where he fell asleep on the floor with Jackalope in the smithy and we all thought they did you know what?¡± Balethon asked eagerly.


    ¡®Okay that one then, at least he would be the one telling it then¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. Then she noticed all eyes were currently looking at her, Dakota had scooted up beside Balethon looking expectantly at Sapphire as if to insinuate that she knew the story. ¡®Damn tactician and her quick thinking¡¯ Sapphire muttered to herself before beginning.


    ¡°Well, it all started with the feast following the battle, where we saved all of you.¡± never mind Sapphire had done diddly squat during that fight.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As they all sat in the grand hall Tom was fiddling with the projector. He had tried to make the computer write in something that looked like draconic symbols to no avail, hence he was still stuck with movies that made sense even if you didn¡¯t know what people were saying, or at least that could be easily explained. He had really wanted to show them We Were Soldiers or maybe Band of Brothers...


    In the end, he had gone for two movies. First was one for everyone to enjoy, kids included. Much to their delight. He had considered Wall-E but he wasn¡¯t feeling up for explaining space or being accused of heresy yet. In the end, he went with Up because who couldn¡¯t love that?


    Thinking back, that particular movie did have a darker opening than he had remembered as he was currently buried beneath every kid in the keep, all yammering about how unfair it all was. It was at moments like this he wished Esmeralda was up and about already. Most of the others were too busy asking about things like, what is a balloon why do they all look so weird, so not much support there either. In hindsight, he should also have explained animation a bit more thoroughly than ¡°Imaginary pictures that aren''t real¡±


    It got so bad a halt had to be called to proceedings while he went about explaining what an animated movie was, what the premise of the film was, what a car was, that yes they had running water in their homes and no he couldn¡¯t just use balloons to fly like the dragonettes because that would be impractical.


    ¡°But you could do it?¡± Fengi questioned


    ¡°Only if I find helium and rubber. Which are both of the things needed to make balloons and remember, this is just a story. It isn¡¯t real. Balloons can¡¯t lift much. I would need as many as the house just to lift me.¡±


    ¡°Then why does the house fly?¡± Raulf questioned.


    ¡°In a story, things don¡¯t have to be true, you can lie to make it more fantasti...cal. Kiran would you mind?¡±


    ¡°I fell off sorry¡± Kiran replied as he clambered up the front of Tom¡¯s face to his usual spot.


    ¡°So remember, most of what you see isn¡¯t how it is. We could make a movie like this where humans could just fly. That obviously won¡¯t work in the real world, now would it?¡±


    There were nods from around the room, Tom sighed a bit he hadn¡¯t expected this to pose so many problems. He had continued the movie deciding to let the movie do the talking for him and just not explain anything other than what was being said. The questions started dying down, soon the adults weren¡¯t taking it too seriously anymore and the kid¡¯s often not realizing when something was off. by the time they found the talking dog Dug Tom was happy to see laughter around the hall even if there were a few heads shaking here and there.


    They even really rooted for our unlikely heroes. He had almost feared they would side with Munzt being a hunter. There was more laughter and held breaths as Tom let the movie work its magic, they were all having a great time.


    ¡°Evil man can¡¯t fly, he too heavy¡± Kiran let out, sounding a bit too cheerful at Muntz¡¯s death.


    ¡°Good riddance, he wouldn¡¯t have survived an encounter with Kalestine¡± Wiperna concluded.


    No arguing there, Tom threw a slightly worried glance at Jarix. Maybe they too needed to worry about ending up in a Muntz situation on that front. Those were worries for later though right now they had a movie to enjoy. They had even cheered for Russell when he finally got his badge at the end. Then the questions started again, Fengi clearly not able to hold it in any longer.


    ¡°Tom I know the house wasn¡¯t real but was the big gray thing? It¡¯s like a flying building, that wasn¡¯t real either right?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. It''s called an airship and they did exist, they weren¡¯t capable of carrying that much stuff though. They were huge though¡±


    ¡°Were? Why did you stop making them?¡±


    ¡°They were expensive and dangerous. They liked to blow up.¡±


    ¡°That sounds bad¡­ why did you build them in the first place then?¡± Fengi did have a point that hadn¡¯t been the best sales speech, that didn¡¯t matter though it wasn¡¯t like he could make one anyway.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°They could fly. You could sleep in a comfortable bed and wake up somewhere new who doesn¡¯t like that . On that note, we need to get you lot of the bed it¡¯s already past your bedtime¡±


    ¡°Tom, can we get a dog like Dug?¡± Calhoun Tried in doing his best to be adorable.


    ¡°Not unless we find one, you can¡¯t make a dog¡±


    ¡°What about the collar thing, could we put one on a deer to make it speak?¡± Holdey added in very excitedly


    ¡°I¡¯m Afraid I¡¯m a bit to stupid to figure out how those collars work, sorry¡± There was a universal flattening of ears at that around the kids. Shiva just had a chuckle from the corner.


    ¡°Talking deer, that would be something¡± Well she wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Now come on we need to get you lot tucked in¡± Wiperna and Fengi helped herd the kids up to their bedroom for the night.


    There was the usual protest but in the end, they were all nice and tucked in. One advantage of dragonette children was that they were clearly a lot better at sleeping than human kids and with lights out it didn¡¯t take many minutes before the yammering died down being replaced with cute little snoring.


    For the adults, he had gone for something with more spectacle, racism, and most importantly more flying. As he sat back down at the table arranged so they could see the screen the title card came up ¡°Red Tails¡±


    ¡®This should be good¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    He did his best to explain the setting and what was happening in the ground scenes. They were familiar with WW2 so that helped. That and the fact that they were utterly mesmerized by the aircraft. There had been questions sure, but they were mostly what the planes could do and the movie did great at that part at least spectacle-wise. It almost managed to distract the experienced flyers from some of the maneuvers being pulled.


    The whole black human had been a whole new can of worms though. Tom had expected that and they needed to know. Still, there were a lot of uncomfortable questions. Tom elected not to answer and let the movie do it for him since that had worked so well last time.


    The fact they were more like a dark brown than the ashen gray black the dragonettes were used to helped a lot. The fact they quickly proved themselves pure of soul and damn effective combatants did win the dragonets over rather quickly though. It did also help that they were clearly all fighting similar judgments on screen. Tom even saw quite a few ashamed faces amongst his friends once they figured out the kind of life these people had and what they had gone through to fly. They had to fight for the right to fight. Unlike everyone else.


    They thoroughly enjoyed the fight scenes as he had expected, even the fatalities. They were a lot better at handling a plane with a guy being shot down it seemed they could more closely relate to that. It also helped that Tom compared the bombers to dragons. Jarix and crew of course had more than a few questions on those defense guns and Jarix had seemed a bit disappointed at their effectiveness.


    Tom had assured the young dragon that that was down to the planes going three or four times faster than any dragon could in level flight and that of course did make them very hard to hit. The results once they did hit were nothing to sniff at either so in the end, the dragon had seemed content with the weapons performance even if he was already talking of more than one gun now.


    Tom had tried to sell them the idea of bombs. Without much success though. Short of attacking a city or a keep he could see why. It wasn¡¯t like hostile dragonettes would just sit there and wait to be bombed after all.


    ¡°What about my father, I don¡¯t know where you would drop them, but he does like just cruising along nice and steady. You know nothing too strenuous.¡± Jarix snickered.


    ¡°Sure I don''t see why not. If you wanna hit with level bombing you need to be very steady.¡±


    ¡°What''s the alternative?¡± Zarko questioned sounding curious.


    ¡°Dive bombing¡± That got their attention. ¡°Basically you dive at a target aiming yourself at them like you''re gonna crash into them, then you drop your bomb and pull up. Rather simple really¡±


    ¡°I could do that,¡± Jarix concluded.


    ¡°And bring down a keep in a single run¡± Zarko added. ¡°it has been done with big rocks and things like that during sieges, but nothing like what those things are dropping.


    Tom could literally see the horror on Radexi''s face at having to deal with a dragon dive-bombing the keep. The poor dude wasn¡¯t having an easy time as of late and with the report of possible hostiles in the area, that hadn¡¯t improved.


    ¡°How would you defend against that Tom?¡± The captain asked, trying to sound professional and to his credit only failing slightly.


    ¡°Anti-air guns, and fighters. Not much else you can do¡± Tom admitted. ¡°Or build something that can survive the hit.¡±


    ¡°We sorta have fighters. We can¡¯t just rebuild the keep, soo¡­ what is this anti-air gun?¡± Tom sighed internally at the notion of adding yet another thing to his list of stuff that was likely never gonna be complete. He guessed he could put this one under cannon for Shiva though.


    ¡°I got a clip that will show both I think¡± It took a bit of searching but he did have Midway, that scene where they dive-bombed the carriers, unrealistic as it was, should do the trick.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a long while since Sapphire had last slept on dragonback. She did feel a little sorry for Arch and Baron, having flown through the night, but they wanted to make a small town by nightfall today.


    ¡°Good morning sleepy head" Tirox teased as Sapphire got up, instantly regretting the decision as she was hit in the face with the ice-cold wind. Laying back down she was sheltered behind Canabrera, who still appeared to be sleeping. ¡°Or maybe not¡± Tirox went again with a chuckle.


    ¡°Shuus, it¡¯s cold¡± Sapphire replied pulling up her bedroll tighter.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth¡± It came from Dakota who had apparently decided to take cover behind Sapphire during the night. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°Too early" It came from Balthon who was one notch further down the line, clearly not happy either.


    ¡°What do you think they are doing back home?¡± Dakota asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Probably nice and warm though¡± Sapphire responded.


    ¡°I take it you don¡¯t do much cold weather training?¡± Tirox responded in an obnoxiously optimistic tone. Couldn''t he just let them complain in peace? ¡°I was wondering, you''re Sapphire right?¡±


    ¡°Yup that¡¯s me¡± Sapphire replied in an annoyed tone. He knew that they had all introduced themselves already.


    ¡°As in Sapphire Rayland? The one who took the tonselra championship, what was that¡­ 15 years ago?¡±


    ¡°Yup to that one too¡± That was a new one, she couldn¡¯t remember the last time somebody had recognized her. Not that there had been many chances for anyone to do so in the last decade.


    ¡°No way, my sister played against you then!¡± Sapphire rolled over to look at him. He had her attention now.


    ¡°What was she called?¡±


    ¡°Nuory, she only made it to the quarter-finals where you knocked her out¡± Sapphire needed to have a think on that one it was a long time ago.


    ¡°I do remember she was pretty damn good too, what happened to her in the end, did she keep playing?¡± There was a clear ping of sorrow in Tirox at that one for some reason.


    ¡°Oh, she¡­ she died the next year competing, made it to the semis that year¡± Triox went, faultless optimism cracking under what was clearly a big loss to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that¡­ don¡¯t wanna pry but¡­¡±


    ¡°Hit a pole and broke a wing. Snapped her neck when she hit the ground, she didn¡¯t even scream¡± Triox replied with a shrug. ¡°Just a stupid mistake¡±


    Sapphire laid her head back down looking up into the clouds attempting to remember. She could remember the match against her well enough, she didn¡¯t have time to look at her opponent though. All she remembered was that it had been a close call. She had seen accidents as well, of course, that was the reason she took Dakota up on her offer. She didn¡¯t want to be next to be carried off the field.


    ¡°You''re not going back to compete again are you?¡± He sounded concerned, she guessed that was more than understandable.


    ¡°Nah never, those days are over. Besides I would be better at archery these days.¡±


    ¡°You a good shot then?¡± Oh, he had no clue how good.


    ¡°So good I wouldn''t be allowed to compete in most competitions,¡± Sapphire replied with a cocky smile and a chuckle. It was true of course, there wasn¡¯t much point in having her shoot at some target 100 meters downrange, that would just get real boring real quick.


    ¡°Udanti, got one who thinks she¡¯s a good shot¡± ¡®this might be good fun¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself getting up. The wind hadn¡¯t changed its mind about being so cold though so she laid back down again. No one else got up so she was clearly not alone in that decision.


    ¡°I heard you well enough, I¡¯ll whip her arse once we are on the ground don¡¯t you worry¡± It came from below, Sapphire guessed her challenger had slept in the belly netting then.


    Dakota rolled over to look at Sapphire. ¡°Destroy her¡± Dakota whispered, the two of them had a little competition for who could put on the most devilish smile.


    It had been another quiet day of flying. As the sun was starting to have an effect they passed Hookbill Gorge, which was quite the spectacle. Supposedly it had once been the home of a dragon calling himself Hookbill who would raid and plunder traders and keeps in the area. That was centuries ago but the name had stuck. The gorge itself was more like two mountains protruding for kilometers up into the sky. The cloud cover had obscured the bases so it looked more like two massive slender spikes that they flew between. Sapphire had almost expected something nasty to detach from the towering peaks and make a break for them but nothing happened.


    Vulzan had brought out another game for them to try. Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen it before it was apparently called jump claw. It was a small board where you would stick wooden pegs into the holes which made up the track. then a spinning wheel in the center was used to determine how far you could move. if you passed someone else''s peg they went back to the start. First to get all their pegs home won.


    It was a simple yet fun game, even if only four could play. That didn¡¯t mean you couldn¡¯t cheer the others on while you waited for your turn.


    They had made it to the small town of Ylditz before nightfall where Archeon and Baron could sleep and eat. They would set up a more comfortable camp with actual tents and a campfire. Lighting a fire on Archeon¡¯s back wasn¡¯t exactly possible but next to him while he slept was more than welcomed by the venerable dragon.


    It was an idyllic little town, buildings all strewn around the central keep. Sapphire put the population at around 150 maybe 200 so it was a lot bigger than their home and there was obviously safety in numbers. The keep could hold everyone in a pinch but for the most part, they slept in their houses.


    They had just about finished setting up camp on the outside of the little village and begun to go over the plan one last time. Udanti had come up behind them a few of the escorts following along at her heels.


    ¡°So archer girl. Ready for a spanking?¡±Udanti seemed very sure of herself, head held high and ear perked. Her tone was more teasing than malicious though, this was just a friendly competition. She was an older dragonette than Sapphire, probably somewhere between her and Dakota. ¡°I see you got a proper bow as well, afraid yours couldn¡¯t cut it?¡±


    Sapphire had been scheming with Balethon and Dakota to make this as fun as possible. For starters, she was holding Dakotas bow, with Baltheon hanging on to her real one Dakota made a quick getaway to get on with her part of the plan.


    There wasn¡¯t much prospect of interesting things happening so the archer''s duel was the evening''s only attraction apart from the local tavern so most of them were gathered around. Sapphire didn¡¯t mind a crowd though. Hashaw was currently perched atop Baron¡¯s head watching with interest.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t cry when you lose,¡± Sapphire replied confidently as ever.


    ¡°Wanna pick a target and go first or shall I?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you start¡±


    ¡°Very well¡± Udanti nocked an arrow in her bow ¡°Range to that tree with the cleft trunk. What do you say... 80 meters?¡±


    ¡°Yeah thereabouts,¡± it was a far target, Saph would give her that. ¡°What are we shooting over?¡±


    ¡°A round at the tavern?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    ¡°One in the center of the cleft and one in each branch,¡± she stated confidently. Then she drew and fired 3 arrows in rapid succession. She was almost as fast as Sapphire when it came to rate of fire and she hit her targets which was very impressive and every shot was perfectly centered. There was a good chance she used magic to guide them then. This just got interesting. She seemed very pleased with herself as she turned to Sapphire expectantly.


    ¡°Not bad, my turn¡± She might have hit, but she lacked flair, something Sapphire knew a thing or two about. It helped a lot when competing to be a crowd-pleaser, at least if you wanted a decent meal that night.


    Sapphire nocked an arrow in Dakota¡¯s bow, drew and fired normally using only the slightest hint of magic to land the arrow right in the center of the cleft, swearing a bit she didn¡¯t manage to break Udanti¡¯s arrow, that would have been awesome. Then she drew another and pretended to sneeze as she fired sending the arrow low skimming across the grass before it miraculously pulled up burying deep into the left branch. To much oohing and aahing from the crowd. Sapphire smiled a bit to herself as she continued her shenanigans.


    ¡°Oh, that was lucky wonder what happens if I¡± Sapphire loosed another arrow deliberately aiming high and doing her best to seem surprised by the shot. She then carefully guided it back down on target, landing squarely in the right branch. Three perfect hits.


    ¡°Gods dammit¡± Udanti protested, clearly not pleased. Sapphire was far from done though.


    ¡°Huh, would you look at that¡­ Baltheon real bow¡± Sapphire demanded switching tone, holding out her hand looking sternly at Udanti.


    Sapphire swung her hand above her head, that being the planned signal for Dakota who came flying overhead and began dropping four of the pieces of firewood she had borrowed from the pile for the campfire.


    Sapphire drew and fired in rapid succession nailing all four pieces, one by one. The power of her new bow ensured the arrows hit before she needed to send the next one. She might be good, but guiding two at the same time was still beyond her. By the time all targets were hit the first one hadn¡¯t even reached the ground yet. As the last of them came down Sapphire turned and bowed to her audience with a flourish.


    ¡°I told you she was good¡± Archeon went in a very serious voice. ¡°That¡¯s gonna cost you a beer.¡± Of course, the trader was more worried about the monetary costs, Sapphire mused to herself shaking her head a bit.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, she got any more of those pieces up there¡± Udanti questioned, Sapphire just nodded ¡°Very well¡± Udanti raised her hand doing the signal and Dakota came around again and began dropping more pieces.


    Udanti raised her bow and fired, hitting the first one, but she was slow on her follow up shot, spending time leading the target before firing. She was good, no question about that, but Sapphire was rather confident right now. The second shot hit as well but by the time her third left the bow, Sapphire had already finished. As Udanti took aim at the last target she didn¡¯t have time to lead it and she just fired early hoping for the best. The arrow went way high and Sapphire could see it starting to curve in flight, no doubt about using magic then. It wasn¡¯t enough though as the arrow went flying over the firewood and off into the woods downrange.


    ¡°Dammit¡­ You spend too much time practicing¡± Udanti conceded, she was gracious in defeat and Sapphire had to give her that especially after just having lost an arrow.


    ¡°What can I say? It¡¯s my job¡± Sapphire went, running a finger through the tuft of soft fur on her crown.


    ¡°What kind of bow is that though, that thing shoots like crazy¡±


    ¡°Oh this little thing.¡± Sapphire went brandishing her weapon ¡°It¡¯s just one of Tom¡¯s creations, in time he might sell you one.¡± That obviously caught both Archeon and Vulzan¡¯s attention. Hashaw too came over with her best archer, a quiet woman named Laetho, at least Sapphire thought that was what she was called, she hadn¡¯t actually said yet.


    After a short demonstration, as well as a personal best for Vulzan in terms of draw weight, he was ready to order a dozen already. Hashaw hadn¡¯t made an attempt to get her bow so she guessed Tom had agreed to her demand of receiving the design then. Hopefully, he had gotten paid for that.


    ¡°What about this one then surely more could be made¡± Vulzan tried in vain.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that and you know it. This is a prototype¡± Sapphire revelled in using the fancy word which no one except the trio from the keep understood. ¡°It means it is the first one ever and it¡¯s mine.¡± She stated proudly as she slung it over her back where it belonged, tapping it daintily.

 A Fine Art

    Chapter 67: A Fine Art


    The beer the tavern had wasn¡¯t much better than what Wiperna and Raulf had managed to brew up back home, but it was beer and it was rare to have that on a daily basis after all. Prices were also distinctly rural at only two copper per mug. It also helped that the first one was on Udanti.


    The tavern was cramped yet warm and that would do for Sapphire as they sat and exchanged stories with the locals. Some of them remembered Sapphire and they all knew Dakota. Since this was the closest town if you could call it that. Hashaw and her crew had not joined them, much to Sapphire''s annoyance, she would have liked a few good war stories.


    The locals mostly had some funny or odd occurrences since well not much happened around these parts normally. The most interesting thing they had to report was spotting a single large flyer escorted by a rather large formation of small flyers who had come past two days after the trio of dragons had left. Dakota had decided to call that one in using her fancy new earpiece. If that was bad news they needed to know back home. Nunuk had replied that they had not seen anything out of the ordinary even if Jackalope had persuaded Jarix to fry a small herd of deer.


    Sapphire guessed it was likely a joint effort, but still, she would have liked to see that.


    ¡°If we were the target wouldn¡¯t they have attacked though? At least after we all left?¡± Balaton questioned, as he gulped down more of the passable ale.


    ¡°Unless those bastards are waiting for more, like last time¡± Dakota replied, clearly not optimistic on the subject.


    ¡°If they saw Jarix go out today that would have been the perfect time though¡± Balethon retorted. "And if they have a dragon or whatever that was. It would have been a more than tough fight.¡±


    ¡°But could they win fast enough?¡± Dakota replied, clearly not convinced.


    ¡°You keep folk are always so self-centered¡± Udanti spoke up.


    ¡°Is that so, miss pretty good archer?¡± Sapphire replied with a smirk. Udanti seemed more than capable of handling a little teasing so might as well.


    ¡°What if you aren¡¯t the target, huh?¡±


    ¡°There is not much except frontier keeps this far out,¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°But there are more than yours. What about Hylsdal or Deriva?¡±


    ¡°Sure it could be but from this direction, you get to us first.¡±


    ¡°And you''ve proven a hard nut to crack.¡± Udanti replied dismissively ¡°And that is a mighty big forest you are all bordering¡±


    ¡°You think they are probing us?¡± Dakota replied, she sounded like she was considering the fact.


    ¡°Sounds like a very expensive way to gain access to the forest. We can¡¯t cover all of it. Hell, we rarely even see someone from another keep.¡± Sapphire added in. ¡°Could just be looking for fresh recruits¡± she continued in a dark tone.


    ¡°Don''t say things like that¡± Canabrera objected. ¡°That¡¯s horrible¡±


    ¡°Well, they weren¡¯t trying to corrupt anyone when we fought them, or if they were they sucked at it¡± Balethon added in.


    ¡°Could just have been another trader going for another keep¡± Sapphire interjected. It wasn¡¯t like they could do anything about it anyway. Unless they turned back tomorrow maybe and that was a very big maybe.


    ¡°No we always land here, there is no good resting place for a day''s flight in any direction¡± Vulzan joined in.


    ¡°So bad guys heading that way doesn''t have to be darklings though¡± Udanti added ¡°Could be brigands or something¡±


    ¡°Is that better?¡± Sapphire had to ask, genuinely curious. They all just looked at each other, no one having an answer for that one. Darklings were usually predictable especially if they didn''t have someone to order them about with them. Brigands though or maybe even hostile mercenaries was a very different thing though.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So what you are telling me is you basically just spit in a bucket and hope it doesn¡¯t blow up?¡± Tom couldn¡¯t believe they hadn¡¯t figured out a better solution to that problem.


    ¡°It¡¯s very rare for that to happen. I''ve only had it happen twice.¡±


    ¡°Why were you selling it anyway? You make a good salary.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s free money duh¡± Tom had to give him that stepping back nodding.


    ¡°Okay then, let¡¯s see it¡± Tom was very glad they were not in the keep for this experiment. Even if his plan of having Jarix do whatever he had to do to make the stuff wherever they went had taken a bit of a hit, considering the danger involved.


    Tom put on his goggles just in case and made sure Kiran was hanging onto him like a backpack, just like they had practiced for other dangerous experiments.


    ¡°Should I also spit on bucket?¡± Kiran questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Esmeralda would love it if you don¡¯t spit on the floor that is for sure but don¡¯t worry, yours doesn''t blow up. Now put the earmuffs on¡± Tom swiveled his head to check Kiran had done as instructed, not at all to see him with those goddamn adorable little earmuffs on. ¡°Okay Jarix, take it away¡±


    With that Jarxi gathered up a good size amount in his mouth and spat at the wooden bucket they had ¡®borrowed without asking¡¯. He pulled off the maneuver with the grace of an experienced bar goer hitting the bucket cleanly. Tom had closed his eyes expecting the whole thing to detonate but nothing happened.


    The result was about half a jars worth of the precious stuff, even if this looked a lot thinner than what he had bought. So he guessed it needed to be concentrated, it wasn¡¯t that far off though.


    ¡°Not bad, I gotta say being a dragon is looking very easy from my standpoint right now. That stuff was quite expensive."


    ¡°It is?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly surprised. ¡°I used to get a silver for that at most¡±


    ¡°I guess prices are different out here then?¡± Had Vulzan ripped him off?


    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to transport so traders demand a high price for it. Come by the training fields in the capitol and we will sell you a jar for a tenth of what a trader will.¡± Zarko clarified for him. That did make sense Tom guessed. ¡°What do you need that much for anyway?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good for many things. The¡± Tom held up his fingers to do some quotation marks in the air. ¡°''Magic boxes''. I used to show you the movies. They run on electricity.¡±


    ¡°They''re powered by lighting and show illusions¡­ and you still claim it isn¡¯t magic?¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t lied yet, so I just go with it¡± Fengi added, she and Jackalope caught wind of what they were doing and had come down to watch. Tom had a feeling Jackalope was hoping for another boom, and Fengi had just tagged along hoping not to do any work for a bit.


    ¡°No magic involved I swear. That thing I¡¯m making for building the guns, the lathe. That thing will run on electricity too. That¡¯s what I need this for.¡±


    ¡°So the more I spit in the bucket the faster I get my machine gun?¡± Jarix went excitedly.


    ¡°I guess. I mean as long as I don¡¯t run out I¡­¡±


    There was an ear-shattering explosion as the bucket turned to splinters in a ball of light following Jarix¡¯s second try which had apparently arrived with a bit too much enthusiasm. Jackalope, utterly surprised and of course closest to the bucket, was knocked on her arse with a yelp, clutching her ears. Tom did stumble for a bit and cursed himself for taking his ear protection off already, turning back relieved to see Kiran still had his on.


    ¡°Three times¡± Jarix admitted in a slightly shameful tone. ¡°Whoops¡±


    Two arms were extended into the air from the now prone Jackalope giving a double thumbs up ¡°I¡¯m okay. I think you might have burned my snout though¡±


    Tom just shook his head as she made it to her feet revealing a blackened spot on the front of her snout. She just looked at it cross-eyed touching it a bit which clearly hurt. ¡°Careful might mistake you for a darkling with a black spot like that,¡± Tom said, expecting laughter but got some distinctly judgmental looks instead. No darkling jokes then, okay.


    ¡°What?¡± Jackalope answered entirely too loud. ¡°My ears are ringing, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°Goddammit, Jackalope¡± Fengi went in a defeated tone. Tom made a mental note that the next one to receive ear protection would be Jackalope.


    Her hearing had mostly returned by dinner that day, and her snout was now bandaged up looking truly ridiculous. As they ate they were going over the progress made. It had been three days since the others had departed. They had gotten a warning from them that there was apparently supposed to be some bad guy in the area and they had something big with them. Jarix and crew had spent most of yesterday flying reconnaissance to no avail.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    With Zarko onboard as navigator, there had been no problems with figuring out where they were despite the unfamiliar terrain. The whole what is your magic shtick was apparently quite personal information so Tom hadn¡¯t asked her. He was guessing it had something to do with knowing where she was going though. He had seen her stuff on Jarix¡¯s harness and there was nothing except maps. No instruments of any kind unlike what Vulzan had.


    Following the little mishap, the plan of returning the bucket had proven difficult, Nunuk had just shaken her head at the whole situation without further comment so there was that. Tom guessed he wasn¡¯t the only one with a lot on his plate right now and it had been for a good cause.


    The motor was also coming along great. All the wire had been drawn and Tom was already spending his evenings winding the thing. Often telling good night stories at the same time, it wasn¡¯t a bad way to spend an evening. Distinctly not stressful. the linseed oil grout mixture he used for insulating was a sticky bitch until it dried though.


    As they sat eating he was pondering what his next lesson for Jarix should be, the working part so far mostly came down to help hunting and fly patrol. They were running out of spring though so if they wanted some quick-growing plants in the ground they needed to hurry.


    Kullinger and Wiperna had been put to work making a working harness for Jarix out of whatever they had lying around, Shiva getting the buckles done in-between the things for the motor and lathe. Following Archeon''s last visit they had secured a large amount of metal to work with and with the promise of more on the way it was looking like work hours were going to be the limiting factor.


    They really needed more hands around here, but it didn''t sound like that was likely to change anytime soon. With possible hostiles around, Rachuck definitely wasn¡¯t handing over any of his guards aside from their normal extra duties either. Speaking of which, tonight was Tom''s turn for guard duty. He sighed a bit, at least he could work on the motor up there.


    As he sat up in the tower winding away, periodically peering out into the darkness he wondered just what the fuck he had gotten himself into here. He was sitting in an by all accounts alien keep in a fantasy world wiring an electric motor and his biggest worries were making a decent man out of a teenager, manhours, and how fast crops grew. This was fucking weird, so alien yet so normal.


    Then the hatch opened revealing Unkai who was joint on watch tonight.


    ¡°So finished your round?¡± Tom asked as the younger dragonette clambered up.


    ¡°Yup everyone is sleeping and Jarix is snoring like you wouldn¡¯t believe¡± Tom gave a chuckle, yup the dragon was snoring. Alien yet normal par for the course these days. ¡°How¡¯s that thing coming along?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s gonna take a while longer, not too bad though, Shiva is gonna cast the housing tomorrow then it¡¯s time for the magnets.¡±


    ¡°I remember those things that magically attract each other? Like the ones in the compass.¡±


    ¡°Not magic but yeah that¡¯s magnets.¡± Unkai sat down on the bench next to Tom scratching his neck, something clearly on his mind. Tom just waited for him to get to the point. Up here there was plenty of time after all.


    ¡°Uhhm Tom I have a question.¡±


    ¡°Is it about how this thing works?¡± Tom went holding up the rotor.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s Fengi.¡± Tom turned to look at Unkai with a worried look. Unkai was a healer, after all, this could be bad.


    ¡°Something wrong with her?¡±


    ¡°No no, the opposite. It¡¯s just she does seem to like you.¡± Oh, Tom could see where this was going. ¡°And I was wondering if you could maybe give me some tips on getting her to like me a bit more¡±


    Of all the questions Tom could answer, how to woo girls was not one of them¡­ was it? He had always been shit at that back home. Did Fengi like him like¡­ like really like him? No that was not right she was over 15 years younger than him that would fly¡­ well she could, no, they were good friends.


    ¡°I gotta be honest, I have no clue there guardsman¡±


    ¡°But they all like you, is it just because you are weird? Come on dude don¡¯t tell me you got every girl here liking you by accident!¡± Unkai sounded quite distraught by the notion that Tom had succeeded without even trying. Great now Tom needed to cheer him up too. Could blame the guard though, Tom had seen them try their hardest quite a few times often with very little success.


    ¡°Uhhh, I don¡¯t know, just be friendly and helpful I guess. Oh and don¡¯t pretend you are better than them or that there is something they can''t do, that is very bad I think.¡±


    ¡°Is that all? I spent hours trying to come up with new compliments for her, I even got her flowers.¡± Tom thought for a bit. Well, he certainly hadn¡¯t given them flowers. come to think of it, what had he given them?


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have given them a compliment yet¡­ Well I told Sapphire she was a bloody good shot¡­ and Jackalope she was strong as all hell¡­ Esmeralda was the best singer I had ever met in person and Dakota was the bravest person I have ever met.¡±


    ¡°And Fengi?¡± Unkai tried expectantly.


    ¡°That she was the sweetest little girl I have ever met, despite everything that has happened to her.¡±


    ¡°But I told her that yesterday and she just sighed, well that she was the sweetest girl in the world¡±


    ¡°How many times have you told her?¡± there was an awkward silence as Unkai clearly tried to remember. ¡°There is your answer. I told her once, keep going and you seem like atry hard.


    ¡°Tryhard?¡± Fari enough that one was new to Unkai.


    ¡°Like when a child is pestering a parent for something.¡±Unkai visibly deflated at that comparison.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t come up with new ones, not really at least¡± really bro, you just keep trying the same ones again and again? Even Tom could figure out that likely wasn¡¯t a great plan.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, she¡¯s not stupid she knows what you think of her. Sound like you have made it very clear¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps don¡¯t treat her like she can¡¯t figure out you like her?¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t it seems.¡± Now hold on, that was different. ¡°Kokashi told us you had her wrapped around your lap down by the lake and the other girls were jealous. And now you claim you didn¡¯t know she liked you...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m warm and they were cold, same with Jackalope in the smithy I swear.¡± Unkai didn¡¯t seem convinced by that answer. ¡°How do you people even do that, you all seem to be running around trying your best to get them to like you. Do they just pick?¡± Tom honestly had no clue, he only knew some of them apparently got married somehow at some point.


    ¡°What no, I mean if Fengi asked I wouldn''t say no obviously¡± Unkai replied with a coy smile.


    ¡°What about Sapphire then?¡±


    ¡°Okay that would be fine by me too, but come on. Have you seen a more perfect woman? She''s so hot¡± Tom did admit she looked damn good. It really wasn¡¯t fair the huntresses spent almost every day walking around with a bare midriff. It was damn distracting.


    ¡°What about Jackalope then.¡±


    ¡°Nope, too crazy¡± fair enough. She definitely had upsides too though.


    ¡°She¡¯s strong as all hell, though, and she ain¡¯t scared of anything, funny too in her own slightly unhinged way¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, she can be great fun until she does something incredibly stupid and hurts herself or others.¡±


    ¡°I think you are scared of her because she could rip you in half.¡± Tom punched Unkai playfully on the shoulder. Unkai didn¡¯t strike Tom as particularly brave, he was dependable though.


    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t be, she is fucking scary.¡±


    ¡°Fengi isn''t¡± Checkmate. As predicted Unkai didn¡¯t have a comeback for that one. Tom just put on an evil grin.


    ¡°Well why don¡¯t you ask her then If you are so brave.¡± Unkai finally replied


    ¡°Only if you ask Fengi¡±


    ¡°No way I tried last Summer celebration, she slapped me¡± Unkai sounded properly hurt at that.


    ¡°Were you drunk at the time?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡±


    ¡°Was she drunk?¡± There was a bit of an awkward pause.


    ¡°Don¡¯t really know.¡± He finally admitted. Okay, so he had likely been very drunk then.


    ¡°Tell you what friend, I¡¯ll try and put in a good word, and in return, you just try to talk to her like a normal person. Not just praising her or trying to do her work for her. Just be kind and helpful then let¡¯s see what happens.¡±


    ¡°You would do that?¡± Tom guessed they were used to some competition, but sure why not.


    ¡°Sure I¡¯m kind to you¡± Tom replied in the most inappropriate voice he could manage, stroking the guard¡¯s thigh. Unkai looked a little strange, almost going stiff trying to process that. Before Tom broke out laughing at the poor guy, who reciprocated with a punch to Tom¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Damn you, you had me worried there arsehole.¡± Tom just continued laughing at how well that had worked. ¡°You¡¯ll do it though right?¡±


    ¡°Sure, can¡¯t hurt.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was official, Sapphire was getting really bored. They had run out of ground to play eye spy over an hour ago, and they had gone through every game they had onboard. She had taken to the wing just to do something, flying around, stretching her wings for a bit. They had been at this four days now and they wouldn¡¯t be reaching the capital today either because of that stupid storm they had to go around. Sapphire was damn glad she hadn''t signed up as an escort back in the day, this sucked.


    The other escorts didn¡¯t seem to mind though. She guessed they were used to it. A few of them were always on watch, the others were playing games or just sleeping the day away. Sapphire though was bored out of her mind, she was even considering trying to go through some of Tom¡¯s classes in her head. Her chances of her remembering something she had barely understood at the time were next to zero though. Maybe she should try to buy a book in the capital, just to have something to read on the way back. If only Apuma had let them take one from the library like she had asked.


    Sapphire had no clue if she could even afford a book, she had never bought one in her life. She guessed they were expensive though and she only had 8 gold and a few scraps with her. She set down on Archons back waking over to where Dakota was sitting talking with Canabrera.


    ¡°Dakota, why didn¡¯t we bring some of Tom''s stuff to sell in the capital?¡±


    ¡°We did. Also following our little agreement with Hashaw I don¡¯t think we are looking too bad this year. We hired Archeon to go right back to the keep, after all, that isn¡¯t cheap¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m almost jealous up here¡± Vulzan added in, apparently listening.


    ¡°Oh shush, you got paid handsomely¡±


    ¡°Of course, do you know how much stuff were you planning on having us carry back?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, that is up to Hashaw I think, she¡¯s the one signing for it,¡± Dakota shouted back.


    ¡°What do you need all that stuff for anyway?¡± Canabrera questioned. ¡°I heard it was mostly metal and alchemical stuff¡±


    ¡°Well more of those for starters¡± Dakota went pointing to Sapphire''s bow, ¡°and I think he has more surprises in store for us.¡±


    ¡°Then what did we bring to sell?¡± Sapphire asked, she hadn¡¯t seen them loading anything of note before departure? Dakota just smirked opening the pouch she had under her arm. Sapphire noted that thing hadn¡¯t left her side yet. Inside were sheets of paper¡±


    ¡°Ideas for the guilds, sold under royalty of course.¡±


    ¡°Sold with the authority of the king?¡± Sapphire questioned, that didn¡¯t make sense, there was no way they had that.


    ¡°No Saph, it means for everyone they make we get a small amount of money¡± Sapphire had to admit that was a very good idea.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say no weapons though¡±


    ¡°There are no weapons in here, all simple everyday stuff. They aren''t even that hard to make either, there''s a lighter for starting fires, those pencil things he uses for writing, the earmuffs he made for Kiran in big size, the compass is my favorite. Hashaw has the plans for the bow which is to be given to the royal guard as payment for all those supplies we are getting and a token of thanks for Jarix deployment.


    ¡°And Tom guy just gave you all that to sell?¡± Canabrera asked ¡°Just like that¡±


    ¡°Well most of the supplies are for him, but otherwise yeah¡± Dakota admitted.


    ¡°What does a girl have to do to get on his good side¡±


    ¡°Breathe, don¡¯t try to kill him or his friends, and not being an arsehole helps¡± Sapphire joked, it was true though. She had yet to see him be truly mean to anyone short of Dashu and the bitch. He even still treated Kullinger with respect following some of his unkind remarks.


    ¡°Whatever you do just don¡¯t get on his bad side, that is even worse. If you do you can ask Dashu when you get there why¡± Dakota added in a grim tone.


    ¡°Point taken¡± Canabrera went in a wistful tone. ¡°He might look strange but damn if I wouldn''t mind not having to work another day in my life¡±


    Dakota and Sapphire just looked at each other before bursting out laughing ¡°Oh you can keep dreaming on that front¡±


    ¡°What, not good looking enough?¡± She didn''t even seem offended to Sapphire''s surprise.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that, he works harder than anyone I have ever met¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°Huh? What an idiot¡± Well, in a way she was sorta right.

 How to Wash Your Dragon

    Chapter 68: How to Wash Your Dragon


    ¡°I look like a broke idiot,¡± Jarix protested inspecting his new harness. ¡°My other one was so much nicer¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, we worked hard on that¡± Wiperna protested. They had managed to slap it together in record time, Tom had to give them that. He guessed it was on account of having a dragon work the fields for them rather than having the team of oxen lumber along at a snail''s pace.


    Jarix had been digging irrigation ditches with his claws all morning for the new fields while they finished up the last things on the harness. They only had two of single furrow plows, one of them having hastily restored to a sorta usable state. Tom guessed this should be an exercise in patience rather than strength on Jarix''s part then, still, it would serve its purpose well enough.


    ¡°All good to go back here, whenever you''re ready¡± Raulf went, manning the old plow.


    With that Jarix began to pull and with hardly any effort the plow began to move along at a steady pace.


    ¡°Hey it¡¯s working, congratulations Jarix you''re plowing!¡± Raulf was perhaps a bit too excited about the achievement, Jarix certainly thought so as he let out an annoyed sigh.


    ¡°Can I go any faster?¡±


    ¡°Sure if you can manage,¡± Raulf replied. Tom just sat down on a rock and prepared to watch the fireworks as the eight-ton dragon put his weight into it.


    ¡°Oh shit, hang on Ralfy¡± Wiperna let out in alarm as she struggled to keep the plow in the ground. Raulf just hung onto the handlebars as he was dragged along behind it. Tom just sat there laughing beating his knee at the spectacle. Honestly daring a teenage dragon to go faster, the fuck did he expect?


    It didn¡¯t look particularly straining for Jarix either as he trotted along. The first two furrows were completed in record time, even if they were about as straight as Henry Cavill¡¯s fan base.


    ¡°Should I go faster next time?¡± Jarix asked, cocking his head, turning back to look at the two dragonettes. Wiperna currently inspecting the result of the run scratching the back of her head. Raulf just gave him a thumbs up and an enthusiastic smile.


    ¡°Sure I think we need to be smarter about it though¡± Oh this Tom gotta see.


    They brought Jarix and the plows around for the next run and Raulf got up onto his plow laying down on the handlebars, folding out his wings.


    ¡°You wanna ride the plow?¡± Wiperna asked in the sort of disappointed tone reserved for a husband with a bad plan.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Raulf replied clearly determined to try out his hare-brained scheme.


    ¡°You think it will work Kiran?¡± Tom asked the kid who was currently busy trying to plow using a stick in the dirt. The other kids were doing flight stuff with Apuma of all people. Predictably that meant they were in the library, learning about various maneuvers and important flyers through their history. Kiran had been very grateful to be rescued from that one.


    ¡°Of course Jarix is awesome, dirt isn¡¯t¡± He replied without looking up, as he struggled to get the stick to go deeper.


    ¡°Hey Jarix, you got another fan!¡± Tom shouted out.


    ¡°40 years of training, certified combat flyer and I get more praise for digging up dirt¡± Jarix responded dejectedly. Tom could see there was an upward curl to the corners of his mouth. ¡®yeah, playing in the dirt isn¡¯t so bad if you''re having fun¡¯ Tom thought to himself, pleased at how this was going.


    ¡°Well, if it is dirt that needs digging.¡± Raulf responded ¡°You ready sweetheart?¡±


    ¡°Sure why not¡± Wiperna answered, Tom gave her some credit for going along with the idea. He was a little sad they were still months away from the ability to make popcorn as he glanced at the corn plants who were not much more than large shoots yet. He could have used some for this.


    Jarix swiveled his head back to look at his two passengers. ¡°If you get hurt just scream then I¡¯ll stop¡±


    He got another thumbs up from Raulf and a worried look from Wiperna as the two dragonettes spread out their wings and made ready for the off. With that Jarix¡¯s hind legs dug into the ground once more and they were moving, to his credit, he did accelerate more slowly this time. The dragonettes used their wings as rudders to keep the plows going sorta straight. It was a truly ridiculous sight and it didn¡¯t seem that effective either. They were plowing though and that was all that mattered. The clock was ticking after all, so perfection would have to wait.


    As they came by where Tom and Kiran were sitting, Jarix was going at a slow trot, Tom guessed he would need to be sprinting to keep up. Even with the quad bike, they had been struggling to go that fast and that was with one plow.


    ¡°You go Jarix!¡± Kiran cheered as the young dragon came thumping past. The dragon even reciprocated with a deep nod of appreciation and a smirk to his newest fan. Tom almost felt the need to bring out the speaker with Sweet Home Alabama or something. In the end, he settled for taking a few pictures with his phone and a video of a hard-working dragon in the flesh. Damn, he wished he could have sent this to someone back home.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As they soared above the clouds Sapphire was peering over the side hoping to catch the first glimpse of their destination. They were finally here, at least Vulzan said so and he really ought to know. They should be able to see the city from here, but those damn clouds were in the way.


    Baron had begun their descent, Archeon following close behind. The two dragons searched around for a hole in the cloud cover for a while but found none. Barron continued to descend though, so soon they were in the middle of the clouds flying blind. That was always an uncomfortable experience, you really needed to be sure there wasn¡¯t anything coming the other way doing this and they were currently above the largest draconic city and possibly the largest city there was.


    Sapphire silently got ready to disembark in a hurry if it came to it, as they pierced the clouds though, they were confronted with the city in all its grandeur. In the center the royal palace was shining like a beacon of polished white marble, sitting atop the grand cliff in the middle of the city, its spires reaching for the clouds. She could see the cave entrances carved into the cliff all over its face, betraying the myriad structures within that served as home to most of the city''s large inhabitants.


    On the ground sprawling towers and buildings were strewn all around, a maze of walkways connecting it all together visible even from this range. It was a vast place, but Sapphire found herself reminded of Tom¡¯s words. They were kilometers up, but she could see from one end of the city to another. Apuma had claimed there lived maybe 200.000 dragonettes here. If what Tom had said about his home was true, their cities must stretch beyond the horizon.


    She shook the thought from her mind, no use in dwelling on that. It felt a little strange being back here again as it was. Before, life at the keep had been safe and secure, but part of Sapphire had longed for the adventure the capital had held. Once Tom had arrived though she certainly hadn¡¯t felt short on excitement. In fact, the capital held the promise of the familiar rather than the exciting for her now. She just hoped she got to see at least one of her siblings. She had also decided to send a letter back home. If she could find Haiko she might even get him to hand it off to someone from Vultcha Keep free of charge.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°So where are we landing?¡± Archeon bellowed out.


    ¡°Training fields are always clear, don¡¯t know about you but I wanna freshen up a bit before seeing anyone important,¡± Baron replied.


    ¡°Sounds fine by me¡±


    Sapphire had never been allowed onto the training field before. She had snuck in once or twice to watch the royal guard train, but this time it was official, That was something new. she wondered if anyone who had kicked her out back then were still around, looking a tad nervous at Dakota.


    ¡°Now everyone behave yourself, we are guests and you are in my care. Let¡¯s not have a repeat of Lady Flaxen here¡± Archeon went, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard on Baron¡¯s back. Sapphire smirked a bit. It was probably as close as they were gonna get to hear Archeon scold the lady but it still felt good to know he despised her too.


    As they approached a younger black dragon came up to meet them. He clearly recognized them though as he veered off before he even got close.


    ¡°Good to see Salto is still lazy as ever?¡± Archeon joked.


    ¡°Careful now, I trained him too¡± Baron replied also in a joking voice. ¡°And he still managed to figure out we weren''t coming to burn or blow up part of the city didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Well, how would he know that from a glance?¡±


    ¡°Cause if you''re flying with me you don¡¯t survive trying¡± Baron retorted, followed by a rumbling chuckle from the old dragon.


    They came in to land along the grassy fields on the outskirts of the city barracks and hangars strewn about the fields haphazardly. It didn¡¯t look like the home of the world''s most elite military organization, but this was for recruits and training after all.


    As they came down Baron set off at a slow walk heading for a group of buildings in a corner, his passengers remaining seated. Archeon quickly trotted up alongside once he made his own landing.


    ¡°What you got in mind, old sport?¡± Archeon questioned.


    ¡°First off, I haven''t been out of this armor in over two weeks and haven''t had a bath in three. Secondly, I don¡¯t want to be seen with that lady or her compatriots any more than necessary.¡±


    ¡°Splendid, are those facilities for visitors too?¡± Archeon asked expectantly.


    ¡°They are if I say so¡± Baron responded confidently. Archeon did a little excited jig clearly looking forward to that himself. Sapphire guessed being a trader there was rather long wait between baths.


    As Sapphire looked around there were easily two dozen dragons on station all looking at the newcomers. They made it to the collections of buildings, next to the giant sandpit where they could get dusted off first.


    The prisoners were ferried down from Baron¡¯s back and Vulzan set about directing the escorts to take off Archon''s harness and cargo for the bath. Sapphire, Dakota, and Balethon jumped down to take a look around.


    ¡°How many have been here before?¡± Sergeant Kolinky questioned, walking over, looking at the three of them. Only Dakota raised her hand.


    ¡°Right, so if you need it restrooms are in there, feel free to use the dust pit, and there is water over there if you want any. Oh and baths are in there too if you fancy it, this might take a while. Don¡¯t go anywhere other than that without someone accompanying you. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes sergeant¡± They all replied. Sapphire could use a warm bath come to think of it.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What do you mean you only got the lake?!¡± Jarix had done well, putting in hours worth of work in the fields as an impromptu tractor. He looked the part too, caked in mud and dirt.


    ¡°How else would you wash?¡±


    ¡°With warm water, obviously! It''s gotta be freezing in there.¡± Right¡­ how the fuck do you run a bath for an eight-ton dragon? ¡°Do you at least have a sandpit?¡±


    ¡°There is a bit of a beach down there too¡± Tom replied apologetically at the now distinctly miserable-looking dragon.


    ¡°You gotta be shitting me¡±


    ¡°Can dragons swim?¡± Tom questioned receiving an incredulous look from Jarix, who failed to answer.


    ¡°He likes water¡­ like a lot¡± Kiran tried to clarify.


    ¡°Fine then you get to wash this off. Radexi doesn¡¯t like water much if he can¡¯t reach the bottom¡­ or see his feet¡± That seemed fair to Tom, he wondered if he could become the first to ever use a dragon as a diving board? Did he need to find a brush or something?


    As it turned out Jarix had brought a very big brush, along with a rather large amount of cleaning supplies which were all under Radexi¡¯s supervision. Kinda like the most oversized set of toiletries Tom had ever seen. Still, even with the big brush, the process of washing a dragon in a semi-cold lake was a considerable task. It didn¡¯t help that the dragon in question was complaining all the while.


    ¡°No against the scales, not with them. You aren''t trying to stroke me, get the dirt out.¡±


    ¡°But before that was annoying¡±


    ¡°Yes that was my inner-thigh you... That¡¯s all soft in there¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m trying here¡±


    "Jarix you need your teeth brushed too by the way!¡± Radexi shouted from the safety of the shore.


    ¡°You really need to get him used to water¡±


    ¡°Have you tried, they really don¡¯t like it¡± Jarix responded


    ¡°Yeah, I taught three of the girls to swim,¡± Tom replied in a proud tone.


    ¡°... of course you did, about done back there?¡±


    ¡°Yup no more mud what¡¯s next then?¡±


    ¡°Drying then polishing of course¡±


    ¡°You sure that is a good idea you know what you are doing tomorrow right?¡± The look on the dragon''s face would seem to indicate no. As jarix stared at Tom with a mixture of dread and disbelief. ¡°We haven''t sown anything today¡± The expression shifted to one of defeat as Jarix let his head hang low.


    ¡°More mud work...¡± Tom did feel quite bad at that, still, this was what they had agreed to.


    ¡°Cheer up, if those bastards Dakota talked about show up, you¡¯ll get a chance to do your real job.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t know what hit them¡± Jarix responded decidedly unenthusiastically head still hanging low.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Nice warm bath over, Sapphire emerged to see Baron in the middle of being washed off using the suspended runner carrying water from the massive cauldron out to dump on the backs of the target. It was an impressive system that allowed for comfortable washing of just about anything, no matter the size. As a few able hands were hard at work brushing the old legend with soap, Archeon was laying in the grass waiting his turn still covered in sand.


    When it finally became the trader''s turn he looked about as content as Sapphire had ever seen him, as he ruffled his wings to get the water in under them. Hashaw had handed off Lady Flaxen to some of the guards who had come out to meet them. Sapphire just thanked her lucky stars she hadn¡¯t had to deal with her on the flight. Judging by Hashaw''s expression as the bitch was dragged away there was good reason for Sapphire to do so.


    ¡°Right then now that¡¯s been taken care of, I need to deliver a report on this whole shit show, and I think you need to find a place to stay. Correct?¡±


    ¡°We do indeed", Dakota responded, ¡°Gonna see if we can find a nice tavern¡±


    ¡°Very well, take Maiko with you then, so he can tell me where you end up staying, you will be summoned when you are needed. I do expect that to take a while though.¡±


    ¡°Thank you colonel.¡± Dakota replied with a respectful bow.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, don¡¯t thank me yet we still need to humble the Lady if you ask me¡± On that, they wholeheartedly agreed.


    ¡°What do we know of her family, will they try and interfere?¡± Dakota questioned.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know following the allegations, doing so could seriously harm their reputation¡±


    ¡°I thought that bird had flown?¡± Balethon added a twinge of humor in his voice.


    ¡°More than what has already been done then,¡± Hashaw responded, seriously. ¡°I will try and figure that out though, I want to know what I¡¯m dealing with here.¡± That was certainly encouraging, Sapphire thought to herself. The colonel spoke as if it was them against the Lady. She clearly took the slight against her quite seriously then.


    ¡°Do let me know if we will be dealing with too much interference, might have some people I need to talk with if that is the case¡± Dakota replied and the two of them exchanged knowing looks. Oh this bitch was going down.


    Following the bathing, Archeon had taken them to the free traders'' guild where he and his crew would be living for the time being. Vulzan had complained a bit about not being able to get any work done just sitting here for who knows how long, but as always he had been polite about it. It wasn¡¯t like he could go anywhere anyway. He was hired to take them back to the keep once this was over and he needed to testify in court along with them. Sapphire was still wondering what that had cost though.


    So there they were, three frontier dragonettes with bags over their shoulders standing in the middle of the main market plaza, one disinterested corporal of the royal guard tagging along and they needed to find the Sweet Dragon¡­ somehow.


    Maiko made it very clear he had no clue where it was, and when Sapphire admitted she didn¡¯t really know either apart from that it was within the inner city ring and possibly the south side, Dakota cursed slightly.


    ¡°Should have asked Canaberea to come along. No matter, how hard can it be to find a tavern? The escorts knew of it so it can''t be some hole in the ground¡­ I hope.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Sapphire replied, looking up at the myriad of towers and walkways hanging between them. It had been five years and this place was just as amazing as she remembered it. So much life, wherever you looked people coming into land or taking off on the central streets or climbing up and down the ladders and stairs to the different levels. She remembered a nice bakery somewhere on the fourth level of¡­ was it King''s Avenue or Royal Avenue¡­ ¡®dammit Sapphire¡¯


    ¡°Why not just ask?¡± Balethon questioned shrugging.


    ¡°No no, we will find it¡± Dakota replied as she strode forth the rest of them on her heels.

 How鈥檚 it Going?

    Chapter 69: How¡¯s it Going?


    Tom entered the infirmary to find the stricken Esmeralda, Kokashi still by her side. She was looking a lot better it seemed. Kokashi¡¯s perpetually worried expression was also gone.


    ¡°So, how are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage, thanks for letting me borrow the music box¡± She tapped the little speaker standing on her bedside table. She seemed a bit more lively too, the first few days even speaking had been hard on her. In fact, she seemed mostly back to her normal self if a little tired looking. Tom guessed she was only still in bed because Nunuk demanded it. He wasn¡¯t gonna question her on weird magic dragon poison though.


    ¡°Sorry for not coming by, kinda busy yesterday and no problem, that was the least I could do.¡±


    ¡°Heard you got the fields plowed, how did the sowing go?¡±


    ¡°I gotta say making furrows with dragon claws is a lot easier than with a hoe.¡± Esmeralda did chuckle at that even if it was a little weakly. Tom was a bit ashamed at that though, he really should have come by more often.


    ¡°Thought of something though, sorry I didn''t remember sooner, did Kokashi tell you about the movies?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes not just him, Rakshaza and Vigon haven¡¯t shut up about Dug and Kevin yet¡± She did sound like she was in good spirits, that was always good.


    ¡°You need to be careful with this. I did bring three, but this is the most precious thing I own.¡± Tom brought up one of the spare laptops he had with him. He knew these things weren¡¯t gonna last forever, but losing one would still be a big hit. Esmeralda sat up in her bed leaning against the wall, as she looked at the strange box on her lap.


    ¡°Tom you shouldn¡¯t wha¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say¡±


    ¡°Hey you''re borrowing it¡± Tom went in jest, of course, she knew that, ¡°Just be careful with it. They are quite fragile and don¡¯t get liquid anywhere near it.¡±


    Kokashi leaned in looking at it, tapping the keyboard a few times. ¡°So that is what you doing late at night. I was wondering what that sound was.¡± Nice reminder that things weren''t as private around here, Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Yes, this is a computer, more specifically a laptop because it sits on your lap... see.¡± He went, gesturing at the machine.


    ¡°Sure¡­ is this my lap?¡± Esmeralda questioned placing her hands on her thighs.


    ¡°Right sorry I forgot. yes, that is your lap¡­ Anyway. At its most basic this is a thinking machine. It can remember a lot of things, like books or movies. I don¡¯t have any books in Draconic or movies for that matter. I thought you could watch the movies we saw and then Kokashi can explain for you¡±


    ¡°Sure, I wanna watch those Red Tails again too,¡± Kokashi replied optimistically. ¡°You say it can remember. How much can it remember?¡± Boy how to answer that one?


    ¡°Well, in book form that box on your lap can remember more information than every book in the world I think.¡± There was a look of apprehension and a tinge of fear on her face.


    ¡°And you have kid¡¯s movies on it?¡±


    ¡°...yes, and drawings of things we need, pictures from my home and a lot of music. Just be careful with it and enjoy the movies okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just gonna pretend I understand what you are talking about,¡± Esmeralda went, confusion near total as she looked at it. ¡°Thank you for lending me something so precious, but¡­ how does it... you know¡­ work?¡±


    ¡°Right, first off¡­¡± Kokashi leaned in to get a better look as well, as he went about explaining how to use the marvel of engineering that was the computer.


    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t entirely fair on the two dragonettes but Tom felt like he was explaining the internet to a couple of grandparents. This was likely the most advanced piece of technology ever held by a dragonette though so they did have an excellent excuse.


    Still, figuring out how to double click on an icon shouldn''t have been that difficult. By now they could open a movie though, so that would have to do.


    ¡°Remember it¡¯s no kids toy either and whatever you do, don¡¯t let Jackalope have it¡±


    ¡°Certainly not. Thank you.¡± Esmeralda replied, seeming very excited.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, oh and the battery will last around 4 hours then it needs to be recharged like the spea¡­ music box.¡± Tom had put the two movies Kokashi had seen on the desktop for them.


    ¡°No worries. Now hubby, what do you wanna see first?¡±


    ¡°Definitely Red Tails¡± The guard responded a little sternly. Thinking back Up might have been a very poor choice for a couple dealing with a sick wife¡­ goddammit he was an idiot. He would have to do better for next movie night.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I keep telling you we should just ask for directions, come on he looks nice¡± Balethon went pointing at a street vendor selling different kinds of fried meat on sticks.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Maiko replied, electing that he was done waiting for them and went over to the stall, leaving them standing. A brief chat and two beef sticks later, one of which one was handed to Balethon, much to Sapphire''s annoyance and they knew where they were going.


    ¡°We were already heading down here anyway, we would have found it¡± Dakota protested.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡± Maiko clearly wasn''t impressed by them right now. They had gotten fairly close but must have missed it. The sun was getting lower in the sky so making out the signs was getting a bit tricky ¡°Isn¡¯t that it?¡± he went, pointing up to a dangling sign on the third level.


    ¡°Sure looks like it,¡± Balethon replied with false exasperation. Sapphire didn¡¯t care about the teasing though. She was already going up the stairs to the next level, it had been half a decade since she last saw a member of her family, she just crossed her fingers that Haiko would be here.


    She turned back to look at the others who were slowly following along ¡°Come on!¡± Dakota and Balethon did pick up the pace a little, even if Maiko was clearly content with his leisurely pace munching on his beef stick.


    As she made it up the stairs to the third level, looked to the door, seeing a single armored man standing guard outside and only sleeping slightly at his post.


    ¡°Haiko!¡± The man gave a start as he looked up and began scanning the crowd. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find her as she was already sprinting for him.


    ¡°Saph!¡± He just about got out before she slammed into him. ¡°Oomph. Happy to see you too¡± He just embraced her or at least tried as she lifted him off the ground. It had been way too long.


    ¡°Oh, I knew you would be here. How''s it hanging¡± She put him back down.


    ¡°Not too badly, got the job as you can see, it¡¯s nice and quiet most of the time. How about you, enjoying the quiet life in the countryside¡±


    ¡°Ha, if only. If anything, things have been too exciting as of late.¡±


    ¡°How come that be, all I heard from the patrons was a keep out east was attacked a month ago and nearly wiped out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was us. We were the ones doing the wiping out though¡± Haiko looked at her with a stunned expression for a second.


    ¡°But... What!¡± He finally exclaimed sounding almost angry, for a second before calming down. ¡°But there was a black knight wasn¡¯t there?... how many did you lose?¡±


    Sapphire''s expression changed to something a bit more pained at that, it hadn¡¯t been a clean victory after all.


    ¡°They killed a four-year-old. as a hostage¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡± he went, pulling her into a hug again. ¡°Wait, hostage, they got inside!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, last mistake they ever made¡± Sapphire''s companions made it up behind her, so she turned to do the introductions.


    ¡°Haiko, meet Dakota, my commander, daughter of my Lady, and a very good friend. Balethon, guard of the keep, and Maiko, corporal in the royal guard.¡±


    ¡°I remember you, Dakota, you were with Saph last time right?¡±


    ¡°That I was, pleasure to meet again¡±


    ¡°Likewise, and a royal guard, what are you doing here? It''s a pleasure of course¡± Haiko went looking at the corporal.


    ¡°Just here to report where they end up staying. If you gotta have a good drink I¡¯ll tell you a war story though." He went with a smirk.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure someone might, not seen you before either, Haiko, Saph''s big brother¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve heard of you alright.¡± Hands were shaken all around as they all stood outside the little tavern. It looked nice enough though.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have, now come on in. Draki! Mind covering for me, one of my sisters is here!¡± He shouted inside.


    ¡°No way! Sure bro.¡± Came the reply. As they went inside a very small male dragonette with a long pike over his shoulder came walking past giving Haiko a fist bump as they passed. Sapphire just had a chuckle. It was good to be back here again.


    The inside was mostly tables and chairs, with a single bar up against the far wall. There was a fireplace on the left wall and stairs leading up to the rooms above. There were a few patrons here and there, it wasn¡¯t cramped though, just cozy.


    ¡°Hey, Reiker got a room for my sister and her two friends?¡±


    ¡°Sure, we got plenty, how many do they want?¡± The man behind the bar answered.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take two¡± Dakota replied, Sapphire guessed the two of them were sharing them, not a problem.


    ¡°No problem, here you go, first two on the left. You want meals too?¡±


    Dakota looked back at Haiko, ¡°Can they cook here?"


    ¡°Oh yeah, chef''s amazing. If you go up with your things I''ll buy the first round¡±


    ¡°Very well, two rooms with meals. For at least a week, probably more.¡±


    ¡°Can do¡± the barkeep replied noting something down on a slate. ¡°That will come to 44 copper per night for the three of you.¡± That wasn¡¯t a bad price Sapphire mused to herself, she wondered if they were getting a discount right now.


    They went up to their rooms to dump the bags and get changed. They had been carrying those around for hours and they were still all in winter gear.


    ¡°Not a bad place it seems, almost worth the walk¡± Dakota went in jest as they got changed.


    ¡°Hey, it''s not my fault I hadn''t seen it yet. What now though?¡±


    ¡°I say we take the day off, you have a good chat with your brother and we drink Balethon under the table. Then we see what happens tomorrow, we should have plenty of time. You think our things will be safe up here?¡±


    ¡°If they''re not I¡¯ll break his neck¡± Sapphire replied jokingly.


    ¡°I totally believe you¡± Dakota replied sarcastically. ¡°Now let¡¯s see if we can get a war story out of the corporal, I¡¯m tired of hearing about daring trade runs where nothing happens apart from them getting chased for a bit¡±


    They made it back downstairs to find the three men already sitting at a table, two mugs standing ready for them.


    ¡°Right then, everyone''s here. So what brings you to these parts with a royal guard escort and for weeks no less¡±


    ¡°Legal matters, executed a traitor, some noble bitch didn¡¯t like it, she then stabbed my oldest friend with a poison dagger, so were are here to bury her in shit as deep as we can.¡±


    Sapphire could feel a few of the other tables switching their gaze to look at them. That was quite the opening.


    ¡°I see, did this have to do with you know¡± Haiko tried, clearly concerned about broaching the sensitive subject.


    ¡°Yeah, the traitor let them in our door. Was even dumb enough to confess¡±


    ¡°Only after he was given a few minutes with Tom¡± Sapphire added.


    ¡°Tom?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you need to meet him one day, he¡¯s awesome. Killed a dark knight like it was some annoying cretin¡± Balethon interjected. Well, they certainly had the attention of everyone now.


    ¡°He¡¯s a strange one for sure", Maiko added, sipping his drink.


    ¡°A dark knight, just like that?¡± Haiko questioned, clearly not quite believing it.


    ¡°Well, my mother and I had been dueling the beast first, not that we were winning¡± Dakota added in a somber tone, that had been a very close call.


    ¡°How did he do it, you don''t just¡­¡±


    ¡°Fire magic¡± Sapphire cut him off. ¡°He¡¯s a powerful mage, speaking of we should totally go see Linkosta, isn''t she still studying at the academy."


    ¡°She Sure is, you aren''t the only one who gets to see some long lost family on this trip,¡± Dakota added before taking a deep draught of the beer. This was some quality stuff unlike what they had on their way here.


    ¡°Oh come now, you were here last year too.¡± Sapphire objected. Dakota just kept the mug to her mouth looking at Sapphire with a sly smile.


    ¡°What about Viper, is she around?¡± Sapphire questioned, turning to Haiko.


    ¡°Don''t know to be honest. She is flying with the traders and has been for a while. I don¡¯t think she is right now, but if you''re here for a while, who knows, she might come by.¡± He replied with a shrug.


    ¡°Fingers crossed, you do look better when you smile,¡± Balethon added. Sapphire just shook her head a bit, raising her mug.


    ¡°To family reunions¡±


    ¡°To family reunions¡± They all echoed, even Maiko despite not really knowing anyone involved. Still, the beer was worth a cheer.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    With Esmeralda seen to, it was time for the day¡¯s hunting expedition. Unlike last time they were hunting the woods. Jackalope''s hand was also finally out of its bandage even if it still looked a little rough. She could shoot her bow in a pinch but Tom guessed that would be a rather painful experience. Her wings were perfectly functional though so he currently found himself sitting in a treetop with her, watching the forest floor below rifle at the ready.


    ¡°You seen anything yet?¡± Jackalope went impatiently. Feet dangling over the side.


    ¡°No, and I won''t if you keep making noise.¡± He could hardly be mad at her, she must be bored out of her mind right now. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that?¡±


    That got her attention as she shot up to look, clambering over nearly causing him to fall off the branch. ¡°What, where?¡±


    ¡°Well, if there had been anything there it would be long gone now. Calm down, or we won''t ever get anything.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just jump on my back and we take them at ground level, like a proper huntress.¡±


    ¡°''Cause I can''t hit anything when you are going flat out like that and you know it.¡±


    ¡°I can, Sapphire definitely can, even Fengi can.¡±


    "Well, you aren''t lying on top of someone trying to keep a long metal stick steady.¡±


    ¡°You think using a bow is easier?¡± Fair point, it was easier when you were the one doing the wingbeats though.


    ¡°No, clue haven''t used one since I was a kid,¡± There was a disgruntled sound as she returned to her branch and continued to dangle her feet over the edge. ¡°What about the others have they found anything yet?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, how should I know when we are just sitting here doing nothing¡±


    ¡°Fair point.¡± It took a lot more waiting before anything happened, Jackalope did eventually shut up though. Eventually, there was some actual rustling in the bushes below, as some massive beast came lumbering along.


    ¡°Jackalope what¡¯s that?¡± Tom went as quietly as he could.


    ¡°Huh, what¡¯s what?¡± Oh, she had fallen asleep, that explained the lack of noise, at least she slept light.


    ¡°Careful don¡¯t scare it. That big thing down there.¡± Jackalope slowly clambered over at least trying to be stealthy for once. Being white didn¡¯t really help her case, but she was trying.


    ¡°A Tirox, you know like the little energetic guy in Archeon''s crew. Those things are big and slow, supposedly great steaks too. I still think he was named for irony though¡±


    ¡°Or maybe hopefulness. Looks huge, can we kill it?¡± It looked like a huge ox that, might well be the size of a small rhino. ¡°How would we even get that out.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I bet Jarix could lift that if he really wanted to."


    ¡°You sure? Looks heavy. You think he would be okay with walking home?¡± Jackalope just stared at him like he was crazy.


    ¡°Tom, that would take until tomorrow you dumb fuck. I¡¯m sure he can fly with it though.¡± Taking Jackalope''s word for it probably wasn¡¯t the best idea, but damned if he knew what that thing weighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure though, shouldn''t we ask first?"


    ¡°And then it¡¯s gone when we get back. Just kill it, would you?¡± Well, Jackalope was still technically in command and he wasn¡¯t about to disobey an order, like that. The horns on that thing would make an awesome trophy too.


    Tom felt like some big game hunter stalking his prey as he hung over the side of the huge branch they were sitting on, taking aim directly on the creature''s neck at the base of the skull. The huge cow thing was just grazing merrily far beneath them. Giving him a clear shot straight down, ¡°Here goes nothing then¡±


    The shot rang out and he ran the action ready for a follow-up shot. He had hit his mark though as the beast tensed for a moment then collapsed in a heap on the ground.


    ¡°Nice shot dude, it just fucking died on the spot!¡± Jackalope went excited as always when things went bang. ¡°I always hate it when Sapphire does that, thinking she is better than everyone.¡± Tom chuckled a bit at her enthusiasm, he had sure hit his mark. It wasn¡¯t that far down though and not a small target either. Hardly a masterful performance.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, go get the others will you, I¡¯ll guard it in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°You got it,¡± Jackalope responded as she dropped off the ranch taking to the wing. As he sat there keeping an eye on the forest around him. It was all rather idyllic, if awfully quiet following the shot. Before he came here he might have been worried by the roughly one hundred meter drop, but now he was just chilling on a branch as wide around as an oil drum.


    It took a bit but eventually, Jackalope returned with Fengi and Zarko, he guessed Jarix was overhead with Radexi.


    ¡°How are we gonna bring that home, genius?¡± Zarko protested.


    ¡°There¡¯s a clearing over there for Jarix, drag it over there and off we go¡± Tom replied optimistically.


    ¡°He ain¡¯t gonna like this.¡± Zarko just responded before heading back up. The three of them just looked at each other shrugging for a moment.


    ¡°Why not, it¡¯s good exercise¡± Tom jested holding up his hands.


    ¡°You mean hard work¡± Fengi clarified with a smirk ¡°Let¡¯s go see what we got.¡±


    ¡°Yeah hop on huntress¡± Jackalope went chuckling giving Tom a playful punch.


    ¡°Haha very funny, miss broken hand¡±


    They circled down to the beast landing to inspect it. It was even bigger when down next to it. Tom wondered if Jarix really could carry this thing, jokes aside. It was likely gonna be a tight margin meaning a lot of breaks. At cruising speed they were still around two hours from home.


    He saw Jarix set down in the clearing, trotting over.


    ¡°Oh, you gotta be kidding me¡± He went in dismay looking at the tirox.


    ¡°Look at it on the bright side. There are some epic steaks in there¡± Jackalope tried, a noble effort to cheer him up, Tom admitted, as he looked at the dragon.


    ¡°Think you are up for it?¡± Zarko questioned, clearly not certain herself.


    ¡°Only one way to find out. Gods, this will be like basic training all over again. Wait, is that your plan here, am I going through basic training again?¡± Jarix went looking at Tom accusingly.


    ¡°It was just the first thing to come by¡­ sorry¡±


    ¡°How did you even kill it, there isn¡¯t a mark on it?¡± Jarix questioned, walking around the tirox looking it over.


    ¡°The little red dot on its neck¡± Tom replied. ¡°That''s the bullet hole, broke its neck in a single shot. Didn''t want to get our precious dragon dirty¡±


    ¡°Very thoughtful,¡± Jackalope added, trying her best to sound convincing. She was being remarkably helpful today. Or at least trying to be.


    ¡°Why thank you for caring. The gun you are making for me is even bigger than yours right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Tom replied proudly. ¡°We¡¯re going with fifty caliber for you¡±


    ¡°For the big machine gun then. Get the rope out¡± They did as instructed, as the dragon laid down next to the tirox and they began preparing lashings. Actually getting the tirox onto Jarix was a problem Tom hadn¡¯t really foreseen and it was too big to be dangling beneath him.


    In the end, the very much not graceful solution was to have Jarix lay up against it while they lashed the two of them together. Praying the ropes and harness would hold. With a heave of effort, the young dragon rolled over, dragging the tirox onto his back.


    ¡°By the king, that is heavy¡± It took a bit more work to get the load properly settled and secured, but with some delicate maneuvering and creative use of an oak tree it looked more or less good to go. It looked ridiculous but it might just work.


    ¡°Right then, wish me luck¡± Jarix went in a perturbed tone, as he shifted the load a bit. He would have to circle while climbing with a very heavy load to clear the tall heaven oak. Not to mention the act of getting airborne in the first place, with limited space available.


    ¡°Time to see what the royal guard are made of¡± Tom went, trying to encourage the dragon.


    Jarix backed up into the forest, for a run-up, before charging into the clearing at a gallop. Folding out his wings as he cleared the trees. With a powerful kick from his hind legs and a beat of those mighty wings and he was airborne. The second beat came only just in time to keep his feet off the ground as he began to lay into the turn clearly straining to hold it. He was gaining speed though so Tom guessed it was going well.


    ¡°You go Jarix you got this¡± Jackalope cheered, Fengi joining in.


    Then Radexi spoke up ¡°I just don¡¯t get why we didn¡¯t cut it into smaller pieces¡±


    They all looked at each other for a second. ¡°That might not have been a bad idea¡± Zarko finally admitted.


    ¡°You''re doing great!¡± Jackalope continued shouting, enthusiasm slightly dampened.


    Jarix was steady in the turn now and climbing slowly as he went around and around. ¡°Looks like we''re good,¡± Zarko added, still sounding a bit uncertain.


    ¡°I say we join him, get your stuff. Fen mind getting Tom airborne, or do you want the first leg?¡± Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°I got him, don''t want you to miss out on his company,¡± Fengi replied in a teasing tone. ¡®What was that supposed to mean?¡¯ Tom thought. As he looked to Jackalope she did look a bit uncomfortable before taking off climbing up ready to have Tom loaded on.

 Well This Is Awkward

    Chapter 70: Well This Is Awkward


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean? Miss out on my company?¡± Tom went as soon as Jackalope was airborne and out of listening range.


    ¡°Oh come on, she didn''t even leave you in the tree. Figure it out¡±


    ¡°She fell asleep¡± Fengi did seem to struggle with that prospect.


    ¡°Well, she certainly feels safe around you then¡± She finally piped up. Tom had to give her points for that one. Even if he was fairly certain Jackalope could sleep in the maw of a dragon as long as she was semi-confident of not becoming a snack.


    The two of them took off running with him dangling beneath her as they got airborne. It was almost routine by now. ¡°What about you, got anyone you fancy?¡±


    ¡°Careful now I think my hand is slipping¡±


    ¡°Oh come on. Unkai is crazy for you that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°That he is.¡± She just answered plainly. ¡®Uff buddy,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, still, a promise was a promise.


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s wrong with him? He¡¯s kind, steadfast, a healer¡­"


    ¡°And boring. Honestly, the amount of times he has called my eyes beautiful is absurd. He can¡¯t even dance¡± ¡®Well, shit.¡¯ Tom thought to himself. Could he fix that¡­ should he try? He couldn¡¯t dance for shit either. At least not sober¡­ ¡°What are you plotting down there? Wait he put you up to this didn''t he!?¡±


    ¡°Uhmm¡± Fengi just let out a deep sigh.


    ¡°He just never gives up¡± She sounded a tad defeated.


    ¡°You can¡¯t fault him for trying.¡± Could she? Apparently, she could, since her tone changed to one of disinterest.


    ¡°Oh no, here comes your ride¡± True enough Jackalope came up from behind settling beneath them, Tom was placed on her back gently as ever. ¡°Hey Jackalope, he loves you¡± She went as she let go and pulled up.


    Jackalope went stiff at that comment. The awkward silence ruled for an uncomfortably long while, Tom sure as shit didn''t want to break it given his current position. Of all the places he could be right now he was lying on top of her¡­ and couldn''t get off. ¡®Damn you Fengi¡¯


    ¡°She¡¯s taking the piss right?¡± Jackalope finally went, Tom really struggled to figure out if that was her joking tone or if there was a hint of hope in there. If so she was trying to hide it. Her confidence didn¡¯t seem to have taken a hit though. ¡®okay could be worse could be worse¡¯ he thought to himself.


    ¡°Uhmm... Well, I asked about her and Unkai, she apparently didn¡¯t like that and decided payback was in order, you know how it is¡± That wasn¡¯t false, he just hoped Jackalope¡¯s feelings were as tough as the rest of her. Besides, every dragonette who had seen him described him as hideous and he was fairly sure his personality wasn''t that good.


    ¡°Right, of course¡± Her demeanor didn¡¯t seem to shift at all, he had kinda expected her to be either relieved or sad at that answer. The awkward silence reigned once again. Tom looked to Jarix, searching for something to do right now. The young dragon was almost up to the treetops, but clearly working hard climbing slowly. Crucially he wasn¡¯t there yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s Sapphire isn''t it?¡± Jackalope finally went in a dejected tone. Oh yeah, he had hurt her feelings alright¡­ goddammit ¡°Just admit it and be done with it. I know you like her.¡± What had he done to deserve being in this situation he wondered. His instincts wanted to try and make a joke to get out of this, or just run. Probably not smart though, all things considered. That meant talking his way out.


    ¡°No no, Sapphire is a good friend, we¡¯ve spent a lot of time together and all that, not that we haven''t. Obviously.¡± He did his best to sound convincing, patting her on the shoulder. It really didn¡¯t help that he had no clue what he wanted to do right now though. Should he just try damage control? He had already pretty much agreed to ask Jackalope out or whatever their equivalent was around here.


    ¡°Oh come on, I¡¯ve heard how they talk about her, she¡¯s a damn prize. You¡¯d be an idiot not to want her.¡± Now she sounded genuinely hurt.


    Sapphire might be good looking, but so was Jackalope, hell all of the huntresses were borderline eye candy and she was quite a lot more fun. Not to mention she could toss him around like a doll and likely crush his skull between her thighs. And what kind of man doesn''t like a woman that¡¯s into guns and explosions. Fuck it, he liked her a lot, she was awesome!


    ¡°Hey Jacky,¡± Tom grabbed one of her horns and turned her head around so she faced him.


    ¡°What are you doing? Leave me alone.¡± She went annoyedly at her head being jerked around like that. He even spotted a tear in her eye.


    She did shut up when he did his best to kiss that still slightly burned snout of hers though. It was most definitely an awkward kiss and it didn¡¯t help that she clearly had no clue it was coming.


    ¡°What the fuck dude!?¡± Okay, maybe that was too forward then. ¡°I ain''t dying!¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh, what?¡± Perhaps he had misjudged the situation more severely than he had anticipated.


    ¡°You did that with Dakota, well I ain''t dying on you.¡± Her voice was downright quivering. ¡°I¡¯m not some weakling or a kid for that matter. Just give me a moment okay.¡±


    ¡°Uhm that was a kiss Jacky, not mouth to mouth,¡± Tom tried, he was in deep water right now or high skies more accurately. She turned back to look at him, oh she had tears in her eyes alright, he had never seen that with her. The expression did seem to switch a bit though as she stared at him.


    Tom could literally see the gears turning in her head, as they slowly clicked into place. ¡°Wait, is that like an affection thing?¡± She finally went. ¡®of course it is dummy, that couldn¡¯t be hard to figure out¡­ Wait, they didn¡¯t kiss?¡¯


    That did stump him quite considerably. Thinking back he had only seen them do that rubbing snouts thing like birds do. That did look rather funny, actually. She did seem to figure it out though as her eyes lit up.


    ¡°Really? I mean I know I¡¯m awesome and all¡± Now there was the Jackalope he knew and loved. Straight to bragging. ¡°Not like Sapphire could have taken you through that storm after all.¡±


    ¡°Or been that much fun at the lake¡± he retorted.


    ¡°Yeah I am pretty great aren¡¯t I?¡± She turned back to look ahead, she looked very content though. He guessed mission success then. He just sighed a sigh of relief that he wasn¡¯t gonna need the parachute.


    ¡°Humble too,¡± He added sarcastically. Jackalope nodded at that still beaming with pride, until she realized the sarcasm at least, then she scowled back at him. That was just too much for Tom as he broke out laughing at her expense.


    Tom knew Fengi was overhead, though he hadn¡¯t heard any snarky comments from up there. He just hoped that wasn''t another shit show to deal with. He couldn¡¯t worry about everything and right now, he was going to enjoy the ride as he embraced Jackalope, nuzzling his head against her neck. This was nice.


    They didn¡¯t say anything as Jackaople turned at a leisurely pace following Jarix. She fell back a fair distance though, Tom guessed she wanted a modicum of privacy.


    ¡°Tom I wanna ask a favor¡± She went after a bit.


    ¡°Uhm, sure thing¡± He really hoped she didn¡¯t just want something that went boom really loud. Though it was a distinct possibility.


    ¡°Would you mind pinching me?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡± He did so, grabbing a hold of the thick leathery skin on the side of her neck and gave it a bit of a pinch.


    ¡°Well, it hurts a bit so I guess I ain''t dreaming right now¡­ That thing you did what does that mean¡­ exactly?¡± She sounded very pointed on that last part, to Tom s ears.


    ¡°Well... That you really like someone¡±


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    ¡°How much exactly.¡± It would appear the usual confidence had vanished completely then.


    ¡°Jackalope I love you¡± he finally admitted, surely that wasn¡¯t open for interpretation


    ¡°Wuhuu¡± Jackalope went rolling over onto her back pulling up hard launching into a very characteristic set of slightly insane maneuvers. Tom just did his best to hang on as he got the goggles on. That response certainly wasn¡¯t open for interpretation.


    When she finally calmed down enough to fly level she was already panting even her breathing sounded excited though. Fengi predictably came down alongside. Tom really hoped he wasn¡¯t about to fend off a verbal assault from her.


    ¡°I told you he liked you, but no no. I must be crazy you wanted Esmeralda to let you know, cause she would know for sure.¡± Fengi went, snarky sarcasm off the chart.


    ¡°I know I¡¯m sorry, I just didn¡¯t believe it¡± her head snapped back around to look at him. ¡°You aren''t joking right?¡± Tom got the feeling if he said yes, he was gonna need the parachute, as a best-case scenario.


    He just kissed her again. She turned to look at Fengi mouth agape, beaming with happiness. Goddammit, she was hilarious. He turned to look at the grinning Fengi who was following along, he had been played at his own game. In fairness, they did seem a lot better at this than him.


    ¡°Well, that does make it hard to keep my promise to Unkai.¡±


    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Fengi asked, rolling her eyes, still smiling though.


    ¡°That if he dared to treat you like a person and ask you properly I would ask Jackalope¡±


    ¡°Sorry for ruining the surprise. Can¡¯t wait for the first part, but could you at least try and make him a bit more interesting.¡± Fengi replied clearly not thirled by the prospect.


    Tom pondered that one for a bit. How do you make a person interesting? Fuck it why not he had kinda already started and today was going very well so far.


    ¡°Sure I¡¯ll try.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Chug, Chug, Chug, Chug¡± The chorus rang out as Sapphire''s next unsuspecting target lost his round of darts against here. It was almost easy enough to make it boring. She did throw a shot every now and again, just enough to give him hope.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s official we have a new champion.¡± The barkeep shouted out, eliciting cheers all around. Sapphire was fairly sure he was called Reiker, everyone just seemed to call him Barkeep though and she was too drunk to care.


    There were a fair few people in here and she hadn¡¯t had to buy a drink, yet. All in all this was turning into an excellent evening. Maiko had left before dinner to report where they had ended up though Tirox, Canabrera, and Udanti had shown up, claiming they had nothing better to do with the evening.


    Her brother Haiko had managed to snake his way out of guard duty for the night so they could have a proper reunion. She walked back over to their table fresh drink in hand from her victory and sat down at the crowded table.


    ¡°You''re a dirty cheat, you know that right,¡± Haiko went, laughing as she sat down.


    ¡°No no, you misunderstand. I¡¯m very poor and need the drinks covered¡± She was slurring a bit and giggling profusely.


    ¡°If she can hit in that condition I say it¡¯s more than fair¡± Udanti defended her.


    ¡°Thank you, see she gets it¡±


    ¡°To the poor huntress then, with her silver crown¡± Oh that was right, she had been a copper last she was here, silly Sapphire. They raised their mugs in a toast. ¡°Till the boards do we met¡± cheered, echoed by the rest of them ¡°Till the boards do we met¡±


    Taking a good swig butting the mug back down, Sapphire took off her crown and put it on Haiko. ¡°There we go, a huntress just like Tom¡±


    "Don''t forget the jewelry¡± Dakota added laughing.


    ¡°And a damn handsome one at that¡± Haiko went, getting up and posing for them.


    Balethon was practically in Canabrera¡¯s lap and since he was still there, Sapphire guessed she didn¡¯t have to worry about him for the evening, either. All in all, this was going marvelously.


    ¡°Wait you made that guy a huntress?¡± Triox questioned incredulously.


    ¡°But he is so damn ugly¡±


    ¡°No, he isn''t¡± Sapphire protested ¡°He¡¯s just very weird looking¡±


    ¡°I really wanted to touch him, but was afraid he was gonna take my head off¡± Canabrera added, nuzzling Baltheon.


    ¡°I can report his skin is very soft, very warm, and wet when he has been working hard¡± Dakota went, their fearless leader seemingly also having gotten a bit of a buzz on.


    ¡°Yeah he¡¯s like a big hot water bottle¡± Sapphire added in, it was true too.


    ¡°Come on, his face looks like it has been smashed on or something, and his teeth look like a deer¡¯s¡± Tirox, clearly hadn¡¯t been convinced by their persuasive arguments.


    ¡°Well, he isn¡¯t a dragonette now is he?¡± Dakota clarified for him.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s exotic¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s got a winning personality¡± Dakota let out pounding the table laughing. They all had a good laugh at that.


    Sapphire turned to Haiko snatching back her crown. ¡°Anyone else come through besides Viper and me?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, mother was here last fall, along with a few faces from the keep. The year before that, Palak and Rosey came by¡± The stung a little, hearing of her littermates having been here. It had been so long since she had seen any of them.


    ¡°Why you are just living the dream aren¡¯t you? Getting to see the old gang now and again¡±


    ¡°Hay I ain''t the one living the life of adventure, it¡¯s mostly just standing outside trying to look welcoming yet intimidating.¡±


    ¡°You, intimidating!¡± Sapphire had to laugh at that, her big brother was many things but scary certainly wasn¡¯t one of them. ¡°You couldn¡¯t hurt a mouse if it ate your breakfast¡±


    ¡°Hey, just because I ain''t a bloodthirsty killer like you doesn''t mean I''m soft.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you once spend half your shift with an orphan girl on your arm, telling her stories¡­ you even fed her didn¡¯t you?¡± The barkeep spoke up clearly taking the piss.


    ¡°Being kind doesn¡¯t make you soft either¡±


    ¡°I can be kind too¡± Sapphire protested,


    ¡°How? When you demolish the competition less thoroughly?¡± Dakota went chuckling. Sapphire had a comeback for that but saying it wouldn¡¯t be very kind now would it, miss I¡¯m so miserable I can¡¯t get out of bed.


    They had continued well into the darkness until finally, Balethon collected the courage to ask Canabrera up to his room. Honestly, it was almost like he became timid when drunk rather than the usual opposite. Haiko invited them to come see his apartment sometime when he wasn¡¯t on duty, then made his excuses. Tirox and Udanti bade them good night and made for the free traders guild. Sapphire just hoped they were better at finding their way around here than her and Dakota. The two drunken huntresses staggered up the stairs arm in arm, to call it a night.


    ¡°Well, I would call that a good start to proceedings¡± Dakota went as they entered the room.


    ¡°Best first day ever, got to see the training fields from dragon back, and actually feel welcome, meet my brother, had a good night drinking. I could get used to this¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well don¡¯t it¡¯s not all going to be a pleasant breeze. Let¡¯s get some sleep¡±


    ¡°Fine, ohh fearless leader¡±


    ¡°Oh shut it¡±


    The two of them woke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on their door. Sapphire got up, still a little unsteady on her feet, the buzz not quite having worn off yet to go answer it. She opened the door a twinge, peering through the crack to see who it was.


    ¡°Good morning, why?¡± She just asked, at the rather official-looking individual standing outside.


    ¡°Good heavens¡± He exclaimed ¡°Uhm are you by any chance Dakota Bizmati?¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m Sapphire Dakota is sleeping¡±


    ¡°Oh right, sorry, may I come in? Are you dressed?¡±


    ¡°No, and uhm No not really¡±


    ¡°Well would you mind, I will be waiting in the meantime¡±


    ¡°Okay just a sec¡±


    ¡°What is a sec?¡± Sapphire sighed internally, she really needed to not use Tom phrases here, they were just so good through.


    ¡°Get up Dakota, we got a visitor¡±


    ¡°Tell him to go away, I need my beauty sleep¡± Dakota protested.


    ¡°Come on, he looks important, get dressed¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine!¡±


    It took them a bit to get to a presentable state but eventually, they opened the door. The man outside averted his gaze for a second before realizing they were properly dressed by now. Honestly, did he think they were so drunk they couldn''t put on clothes?


    ¡°Ahr, good I think I failed to introduce myself earlier. I¡¯m Theodor, pleasure to meet you¡± He extended his hand and the two of them shook it curiously. ¡®what¡¯s this all about?¡¯ Sapphire wondered. ¡°I¡¯m here to inform you that his royal highness king Lucius the seventh requests your presence at the day''s council meeting. Proceedings will begin following lunch. I was informed there were three of you though?


    ¡°Balethon is next door¡± Sapphire responded, stiff as a plank. ¡®What the fuck!¡¯


    ¡°Do try and make yourself presentable, it¡¯s my understanding that you won¡¯t necessarily be speaking before the king, but still¡± His face was one of clear disapproval as he looked them over.


    Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but feel a little ashamed. She didn¡¯t even have her armor on right now and she was speaking to a representative of the king. She turned to look at Dakota who was just staring at the little man, mouth hanging slightly open expression one of horror. She did eventually snap back into reality.


    ¡°Of course, we shall do our best. In the future maybe a little more warning?¡± She asked, switching to a pained expression on her face.


    ¡°Yes, I can see that. I trust you know how to find the palace?¡± Yeah, Sapphire could understand the low opinion right about now.


    ¡°Certainly, you just caught us at a bad time¡±


    ¡°Very good don¡¯t be late, oh, and here are your papers to get you in.¡± The man gave a polite if slightly pained smile handing over three small scrolls and turned to leave in a slight hurry.


    Once he was gone the two of them turned to each other. ¡°We''re going to go see the king. and the council¡­ while drunk!¡± Dakota let out, somewhere between ecstatic and horrified. Sapphire honestly didn''t know what to make of this situation. She had never even been up to the top of the cliff, let alone inside the royal palace. She knew Dakota had been there at once when she was a little girl.


    ¡°We need to get Balethon up¡± Sapphire stated. The two of them rushed over and started pounding frantically on the door, eventually, a very sleepy-looking Canabrera open staring at them with a distinctly unamused expression.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Get the dude up, he needs to go see the king!¡± Sapphire exclaimed. Canabrera just looked at them for a second before breaking out laughing.


    ¡°I gotta say you do have a sense for humor, sorry about calling you a bit dry last night.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t joking¡± Dakota went holding up the three scrolls. ¡°Get him up now!¡± Canabrera¡¯s expression turned to one incredulousness.


    ¡°Right of course¡­ Right away.¡± She shut the door, but it was clear there was frantic activity inside. ¡°Get up you lazy dog, get up!¡±


    The inn did have bathing facilities so they did their best to freshen up as much as possible a few of the staff kindly helping polish what parts of their equipment they had time for.


    ¡°What the fuck did you do to get summoned to a council meeting?"


    ¡°We have no idea!¡± Sapphire replied exasperatedly, adjusting her crown and earrings. She was damn grateful she had gotten that full bath yesterday, she just prayed you couldn¡¯t smell the beer on her from last night.


    ¡°That¡¯s as good as I can get it¡± Lola replied, the sweet young maid having done her best with Sapphire''s necklace.


    ¡°Thank you all so much¡± Sapphire replied, taking the necklace, they were out of time though. Not looking your absolute best was one thing but being late was an entirely different level of bad when it came to something like this. ¡°We need to get moving"


    ¡°Yes, let''s go¡± Dakota echoed, voice stern.

 Good Times

    Chapter 71: Good Times


    ¡°Yes we are here, by request of the king,¡± Dakota went, presenting the paperwork to the guards. ¡®There was a sentence I never thought would be applicable to me'', Sapphire thought to herself. It certainly changed the guard¡¯s tone, from ¡°Halt who goes there,¡± to ¡°By all means come on in should I carry something for you?¡±


    ¡°This feels very strange,¡± Balethon whispered to her as they were escorted through the gates from the landing platform into the Palace grounds proper. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this. Look there¡¯s fountains and everything.¡±


    ¡°Do try and restrain yourself Balethon¡± Dakota sneered at him. They were supposed to represent the keep and so far that hadn¡¯t gone brilliantly. Sapphire could still feel the alcohol making her a tad unsteady, not to mention messing with her eyesight. She was also trying really hard not to find the absurdity of this situation funny when she should probably be terrified of messing up.


    They had been assigned two female guards and a diplomat looking guy who would take them where they needed to go. The diplomat kindly took them through what they needed to know as they walked. Apparently, they were expected to take part in a light lunch followed by the meeting itself where they might be called upon to explain the situation at their keep. Sapphire didn¡¯t have any illusions as to whether they would be called upon. They wouldn¡¯t just call them up here if they didn¡¯t have a purpose for it, so Dakota was gonna have her work cut out for her.


    They were walking up to a set of massive double doors, guards posted outside. ¡°Here we are, The Council Building. Three guests for today¡¯s meeting,¡± their escorting royal guard stated. Sapphire had tried her best to pay attention as they walked. There was just so much to look at. She guessed that looking around at all the amazing buildings made her seem like a rural simpleton, who was seeing the city for the first time.


    The Council Building was located north of the main palace. She had hoped they would get to see the actual palace from the inside, but this was still amazing. The Council Building was a vast, squat building. Judging by the tall elegant windows there were four very tall floors inside. The massive doors swung open, revealing a massive corridor wide enough to let a grown dragon pass unhindered. The walls were polished marble as white as a newborn. There were even servants who wiped guests¡¯ feet as they entered. The floors were covered in thick, deep blue carpet. The sensation of walking on it was almost heavenly. Sapphire had never felt anything like it. The closest she had ever gotten was a nice grassy field.


    Their escorts remained with them as they went deeper into the grand building. Sapphire¡¯s eyes floated over the countless paintings and tapestries. She hardly recognized any of them. She guessed Apuma was cursing her for that. It was mostly dragonettes and dragons of note, there was the odd exception though. A unicorn here and a few different creatures she didn¡¯t even recognize there.


    ¡°How familiar are you with The Council members?¡± The diplomat asked. Sapphire guessed he was, in fact, some kind of usher.


    ¡°Last time I set foot on the palace grounds I was ten,¡± Dakota went in an apologetic tone.


    ¡°I see, well, I doubt you will have to address any of them without making your introductions first. Do try not to get it wrong though. If you''re uncertain as to who you are addressing simply refer to them as ¡®Lord¡¯ or ¡®Lady.¡¯ ¡± Dakota looked back at the two of them. Sapphire nodded, she could do that no problem. Hopefully, Balethon could remember that too.


    ¡°Thank you kindly. Also I do apologize for not being better prepared.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to apologize for. Circumstances are strained. I doubt you are the only ones poorly prepared for the day¡¯s meeting.¡±


    ¡°Did something bad happen?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°You mean, aside from several keeps, including yours, reporting Darkling sightings, some of them coming under attack from corrupted forces, and a detachment of royal guards sent to one going missing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry what?¡± Dakota interjected. ¡°How many keeps!¡±


    ¡°I apologize. I do not know the finer details, but over the past month or so I think 8 keeps have reported sightings. We know 2 have in fact fallen, the fate of a further two is still unknown. Those are just the attacks we know of. Though I cannot tell you why this meeting is being called since this is hardly new information to the king.¡± ¡®That certainly puts us being called here in a different light.¡¯ Sapphire thought. ¡°I believe you are here so we may determine if you were attacked for the same reasons since you were the first target to our knowledge. Am I right in saying you were attacked a little over a month ago?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is correct,¡± Dakota replied. ¡°5 weeks to be exact. They were after a dark artifact in a trader¡¯s possession.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure the council will be interested to hear what happened.¡±


    They were led to a large hall with finely decked tables,white table cloths, silver cutlery, and fine glasses were set and ready. People were standing around making conversation. Sapphire guessed there were between 40-50 people present with more arriving alongside themselves.


    ¡°You are seated over there next to the delegation from Kindal Keep. You will be called to the table when the food is ready. Restrooms are in there if you need them.¡± The usher bowed politely before leaving to do whatever an usher did apart from dealing with people like them.


    Balethon edged closer to Dakota, leaning in. ¡°You weren¡¯t joking when you said high society,¡± he tried to whisper, without much effect.


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t exactly what I had expected. Be on your very best behavior, do your best to act like the people around you, and we three stick together.¡± Sapphire could see Dakota frantically scanning the room, likely looking for someone she knew.


    ¡°Any luck?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°No,¡± came the perturbed sounding reply. ¡°We¡¯re on our own I think.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom and Jackalope were bringing up the rear keeping an eye on Jarix, who was beating hard just to maintain altitude. Tom was hoping he would make it to the edge of the forest. It was clear though they were gonna need a break at some point.


    Jackalope had been allowed to calm down for a few minutes following her outburst. She hadn¡¯t actually said anything apart from getting ready to speak a few times but saying nothing. Tom wasn¡¯t any better though, he had no clue what to say following all that. He was starting to wonder if this should go on the list of bad ideas... nevermind, it was definitely a bad idea. Could it work though? Eventually, she did appear to gather the courage to speak so at least he didn''t have to break the silence.


    ¡°Sooo uhhmmm¡­ Do I get to try the guns?¡± ¡®I should probably have seen that coming,¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°I guess, sure.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± came the timid sounding reply. Followed by more silence. ¡°Tom? What do you¡­ humans talk about with someone you like a lot?¡± How the fuck was he supposed to answer that one? Dammit, he didn¡¯t know shit about this kind of thing.


    ¡°That¡¯s one hell of a question Jacky¡­ Feelings I guess?¡± There was a bit more slightly awkward silence. He wasn¡¯t really sure if the feeling of uncomfortableness was coming from him or her, but it was definitely in the air.


    ¡°Well, you said ¡®I love you¡¯, so I guess ¡®I love you¡¯ too?¡± That was the least convincing, ¡®I love you,¡¯ Tom had ever heard. Her earlier outburst did lend it some validity though¡­ He guessed. Perhaps he needed to set an example... Oh boy. ¡®Remember Unkai, don¡¯t just tell her she looks good¡­¡¯


    ¡°Well, I like you because you are funny, and generally awesome.¡± Hey, that wasn¡¯t too bad.


    ¡°Aww... I like you because you''re brave, smart¡­ ohh and warm¡± She sounded quite proud of coming up with that, shuffling her shoulders. Tom just chuckled a bit.


    ¡°Jacky, you¡¯re 32, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever... You know, loved someone?¡± That question was followed by yet more silence before she timidly answered.


    ¡°I haven''t really been able to get it to work out. I did have a fling once¡­ didn¡¯t end so well¡± ¡®Well, at least that made two of them,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. He was hardly what you would call experienced on the subject. His past endeavors had mostly been the result of wild partying rather than anything serious. ¡°What about you?¡±


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    ¡°No¡­ not really¡± He admitted.


    ¡°That is fucking adorable.¡± Jarix then decided to add mockingly. ¡®Goddamn dragons and their stupid ears,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself.


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m badass, not adorable. That¡¯s Kiran¡­ or Fengi!¡± Jackalope replied in an irritated tone. Jarix just made an amused sounding rumble in reply.


    ¡°Try talking about the stuff you find interesting,¡± Radexi of all people then added. Tom added potential Kokashi hearing to the list of what he could do. Though it was more likely he had just figured out they were being a little quiet.


    ¡°Hey, Tom, where do you need to shoot Jarix to bring him down?¡± Jackalope questioned, voice turning to mischievousness. Well, that was better than awkward silence. More to the point, it was something Tom could answer fairly well.


    ¡°Base of the skull just like the tirox, alternatively you could pump his side full of rounds. It would be much slower though.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jarix protested. Head swinging around to look at them.


    ¡°We do need to get you some ear muffs though if you are gonna be shooting much. Can¡¯t have you going deaf on me.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that can happen?¡± Jackalope replied in a worried tone. ¡°I thought it just hurt?¡±


    ¡°No, you can lose your hearing forever and we can¡¯t have that, now can we?¡± He went grabbing a horn, rustling her head a bit.


    ¡°Hey stop it, or I¡¯ll poke you,¡± She replied with a joking threat.


    ¡°Joke''s on you, I have my goggles on.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t my fault you can¡¯t see shit otherwise.¡±


    ¡°That is true. How far till you get too tired to carry me aloft on those mighty wings of yours?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you weighed the same as Herron, days. Unfortunately, you have more in common with a tirox.¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me fat?¡±


    ¡°Nooo, just heavily built,¡± she replied, laughing at her own joke.


    ¡°See, there you go,¡± Radexi then shouted, though Tom thought that was directed at Fengi who was once again soaring above them.


    ¡®Perhaps it should be him rather than me trying to help Unkai,¡¯ Tom mused to himself.


    ¡°Hey, Jarix feeling tired yet?¡± Jackalope shouted out, looking at the dragon ahead of them.


    ¡°Nah not yet. How far is it?¡± Jarix replied. Tom reckoned he was trying to sound more confident than he was.


    ¡°Half an hour at most,¡± Zarko responded.


    ¡°If anyone calls me lazy after this I¡¯m zapping them¡± Tom could feel Jackalope tense up getting ready to speak. He just put a calming hand on her shoulder. In hindsight, he should have realized that would be insufficient.


    ¡°I''ll race you to the treeline; the last one there is a lazy ass!¡±


    ¡°Now Jacky no need to...¡± Tom started.


    ¡°You¡¯re on, love bird!¡± Tom was about to object, but he had kinda known what he was signing up for here. Why not? It couldn¡¯t go any worse than some time spent camping in the woods until Jackalope recovered. It might actually be educational as well.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s beat his ass,¡± Tom went, hunkering down.


    ¡°Hey, you''re not the one working her ass off here.¡±


    ¡°Well, I worked very hard for that kill on your opponent''s back. It¡¯s only fair I get a break.¡± He really hadn¡¯t, but it was the thought that counted.


    ¡°Is the parachute packed?¡± Jackalope questioned curiously.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Tom asked slightly perturbedly, feeling like he might need it. He instinctively checked where the cord was, just in case.


    ¡°Just checking,¡± Jackalope went, turning her head just enough to show the evil grin on her face. Yeah, she held all the cards at the moment. Tom just hoped her pride wouldn¡¯t lead to another Kokashi situation.


    The ¡®race¡¯ was not really much of an explosive start since they were already cruising. Jarix did put on some more speed though, Jackalope clearly struggling to keep up to stay in his wake. Tom had been in his current position enough times to recognize a tired dragonette when laying on top of one, and Jackalope had been doing some rather enthusiastic flying thus far. As good a time as any for an experiment then.


    ¡°Hey I wanna try something, now don¡¯t tell the others yet.¡± Tom began to rifle through his pockets, as stealthily as possible. He knew he had brought some candy along, for emergency peace offerings. They had saved his ass once before so he considered them essential equipment. It had nothing to do with his own sweet tooth.


    ¡°Keeping secrets already?¡± Jackalope replied, seemingly finding that amusing even if she was working hard.


    ¡°Here shhh,¡± He reached around to give her the candy. This stuff had worked wonders for Kiran, and they definitely loved the stuff. He wondered if he could get Jackalope a sugar high. As dangerous as that sounded.


    ¡°What¡¯s that? Ooh...¡±


    ¡°Remember, shush.¡±


    Jackalope just nodded in reply, opening her mouth. Tom had guessed she would just take it, but who was he to judge as he placed the candy in there. He had almost expected Jackalope to bite, it certainly felt like she was considering it.


    ¡°Dammit that tastes good,¡± She went, clearly trying and failing to be quiet. Now the waiting game began, he wanted to see what just one would do before he upped the dosage, so to speak. Kiran had only gotten half a candy, but he weighed three, maybe four kilos tops in this gravity, even if he was growing fast. That would put the equivalent dose for Jackalope at around five candies.


    It did feel like she perked up a little, though he couldn¡¯t decide if that was just from having something delicious to eat. So after a bit, he leaned into her ear. ¡°Want another one?¡±


    She turned her head around again to face him. Eyes darting around clearly searching for anyone who shouldn''t know. ¡°Pretty please?¡± She went looking at him, he guessed she was trying to imitate Fengi¡¯s signature puppy eyes. She wasn¡¯t really pulling it off though.


    Tom felt like he was in some kind of corny chick flick mixed with the dude from Mad Max pouring gas down superchargers, as he put another candy into that toothy maw.


    On the third candy the effect was becoming very apparent, she was picking up speed, wingbeats quickening. Her breathing was becoming more ragged though, much like Tom had expected.


    ¡°What is this stuff?¡± She let out between labored breaths, sounding almost incredulous.


    ¡°Candy,¡± Tom truthfully replied. ¡°Sugar does more than taste good. It would seem to work wonders for you people.¡±


    ¡°This is amazing. I heard Sapphire bitch about people using honey for competitions, but damn.¡±


    ¡°We are gonna need those sugar beets then. Might make you fast enough to catch Jarix,¡± Tom chuckled.


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t just given me... three of those things... you would be flying solo... right now... Maybe if I had another,¡± Jackalope replied in a suggestive tone clearly struggling for breath. She wasn¡¯t slowing down though.


    ¡°Hey, that''s not very nice. I believe that is called extortion where I¡¯m from.¡±


    ¡°Extorotikon,¡± Jackalope tried and failed miserably.


    ¡°No no, you nearly got it.¡±


    ¡°What the hell are you feeding her?¡± Zarko finally called out. Okay maybe they hadn¡¯t been that stealthy.


    ¡°Love and affection,¡± Tom replied grinning. Zarko didn¡¯t comment on that, though Tom sincerely doubted she had been convinced by it.


    ¡°Are you cheating back there?¡± Jarix called out. Clearly breathing heavily too. The dragon''s wing beats had slowed a little, though Tom wasn¡¯t sure if that was due to confidence they couldn¡¯t pass him or tiredness.


    ¡°No, my payload is just¡­ more useful,¡± Jackalope replied. They were maintaining distance for the moment or perhaps gaining a bit. Tom guessed that was likely due to the flying in Jarix''s wake though.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Jarix replied, though he didn¡¯t speed up. Tom guessed he was fairly well aware of his own endurance then since he knew Jarix could go faster. Even if he didn''t know how much that tirox was slowing him down.


    ¡°Just stay behind him, no use overtaking yet.¡±


    ¡°I have done this before you know.¡±


    ¡°With a dragon?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Tom conceded that she was probably the more experienced of the two when it came to flying though, so he respectfully shut up.


    The chase continued for a few minutes without any change in the situation. Radexi had fallen behind, though Fengi and Zarko were still keeping up. At the pace that they were making the edge couldn¡¯t be too far away, and the candy did seem to take a minute to work. ¡°Up for the last sprint?¡± Tom questioned, bringing out two more candies. She was definitely starting to show signs of fatigue again, which was hardly surprising all things considered. It wasn¡¯t like this stuff could last forever.


    He was a tad worried the sugar wouldn''t do its job in her fatigued state. His fears were fairly quickly dispelled though as she once again picked up the pace closing in on the now definitely slowing Jarix.


    ¡°So how¡¯s it hanging?¡± Tom questioned. Jackalope was currently too busy panting, so the least he could do was provide the sass.


    ¡°Cheating bastards,¡± Jarix got out, clearly struggling for breath. That gave Tom an idea.


    ¡°You never told me about your mother Jarix. She was the one who gave you your harness, Right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ it was a gift for... graduating¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡±


    ¡°Glira.¡±


    ¡°Is she a trader like your father?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ she¡±


    ¡°Stop it Jarix, he¡¯s playing with you,¡± Zarko cut him off. ¡®Dammit woman,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. He had felt damn proud of that trick. Jarix for his part swiveled his head around at the two of them with a sour expression on his face.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I do wanna hear about her at some point,¡± Tom tried. That had been a tad underhanded, he admitted. Jackalope for her part kept quiet, focusing on flying.


    The tree line soon came into view and he felt Jackalope try to pick up more speed. She was flying right through Jarix¡¯ wake, which clearly helped a lot since as soon as she made a break for clean air she got buffeted back, losing ground.


    Tom couldn¡¯t really see how she was going to win this. Even if she had been flying solo he guessed they were currently going faster than she could maintain in clean air and he knew how fast Jarix could dive.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Jackalope let out in a defeated tone. Tom did feel a little bad for just being a deadweight right about now. As they crested the trees Jarix went into a near-vertical dive, tucking in his wings. Tom knew from experience just how fast this was likely to get so he hung on tight.


    Jackalope tried to follow Jarix down. She was quickly losing ground though even trying to beat her wings towards the ground as Jarix pretty much just fell out of the sky, in front of them.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t gonna catch him,¡± Tom tried as they continued the dive.


    Jackalope didn¡¯t reply though she did pull up.


    As she slowed down for the landing she was clearly having trouble and mistimed the flare quite badly, resulting in them both hitting the ground with a light thunk coming to a sliding stop. Jarix was standing head held low, clearly spent as well. In fact, he looked ready to fall over, which he soon did. Rolling onto his side to get the weight off. Jackalope was not much better off. Tom got off her as soon as they were stationary again, feeling quite sorry for having her break his fall. It had not been too bad though and she was still breathing and looked fine, even if she was clearly spent for the moment.


    It took a bit before the others caught up, clearly not having been able to match either dive.


    ¡°Cheaters never prosper, how are you doing Jarix?¡± Zarko went as soon as she touched down.


    ¡°I feel like I could lay here for a week,¡± He protested. ¡°Could you please get me out of all this?¡±


    ¡®Please, yup, he¡¯s done.¡¯ ¡¯ Tom noted to himself.


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Fengi went, getting to work undoing the rope.


    Tom just looked down at the mess that was Jackalope laying in the grass in front of him.


    ¡°Come here,¡± He went, sitting down and picking her up into his lap. ¡°You''re damn right, Sapphire couldn''t have done that.¡± She did smile weakly at him, looking almost apologetic.

 Proper Proceedings

    Chapter 72: Proper Proceedings


    The three of them stuck together the best they could, Sapphire guessed they looked like scared prey to the more experienced guests. They had found a few delegations, as they were so grandly called, from other frontier keeps. They were currently discussing with those from Kindal Keep, if Sapphire remembered correctly. Not that she had any clue where that was aside from their new friends saying it was far out West.


    ¡°But what were they after?¡± Dakota tried again. She was met with the same confused faces, as the last people they asked.


    ¡°Nothing. As far as we know, they were spotted keeping an eye on the keep, we chase them away. A few days later they would return rinse repeat.¡± The gilded huntress leading their expedition replied. Sapphire would put her in the mid to late sixties, so older than Dakota, but clearly still in prime shape.


    ¡°So they never actually attacked you?¡±


    ¡°No, we struck first each time, didn¡¯t put up a fight either. We did manage to down one of their numbers the second time around. Then, after about a week of those chases, they finally stopped showing up.¡±


    ¡°We think they were looking for something but didn''t find it,¡± The guardsman on her flank answered.


    ¡°Well with us they found it,¡± Balethon interjected, in a perturbed tone. Sapphire didn¡¯t know what to make of this. Not one of the keeps present reported actually having been attacked. Yet at least two were gone, or at least nothing more than deserted husks now. The royal guard had managed to clear one of them, knowing there were Darklings present. The other keep in question though, no one had come back from. A much stronger force had already been dispatched to deal with that, but it was still dire news.


    The same usher who had led them in came over, clearing his throat.


    ¡°Food and refreshments will be served shortly. We shall have chicken for starters with a tirox roast as the main course and of course, the king¡¯s favorite, honey ice cream for dessert. You may take your seats over there. I do hope you enjoy the meal,¡± He went, bowing before moving to another group, and repeating the procedure.


    Balethon and Sapphire exchanged glances. Sapphire had always wondered what you ate in a place like this. She was expecting something special, though she had no idea what ice cream even was. She was so ready to find out though.


    They moved to their seats at a table a bit off to the side as they had expected. There were 11 people seated at the table representing 4 keeps. Looking around Sapphire couldn¡¯t make out any other frontier looking people so she guessed that was all who were present.


    Servants came out carrying large platters of food that looked like something from a story you heard as a kid. The smell was truly divine, even if she hardly knew what it was she was smelling. At the other tables, Sapphire could hear both serious talk and jokes being exchanged. At their table though, it was clearly mostly frontier people and they ate in silence, savoring the food. Sapphire had never had anything like this.


    They had chicken back home, but this was spicy. It almost reminded her of when Tom had tried to use some of his chili that one time. This didn¡¯t hurt though as that had. It just tasted heavenly. She was equal parts saddened and relieved the portions were not that large. She would likely have run out of space for the other courses if they weren¡¯t. They were offered both red and white wine to drink. At Dakota¡¯s instance, they were only allowed one glass for each course. Making do with water for the rest. They didn¡¯t really need any more booze in their stomach right now, turning down the king''s wine was likely a considerable insult though. It, of course, helped it was all of excellent quality.


    The main course was much the same being served with a rich thick sauce and some wonderful smelling vegetables Sapphire didn¡¯t even recognize, on the side. She had feared they would stand out as uncivilized savages in the face of such a meal, the rest of the table, though, was clearly in a similar situation. Every now and again she did catch someone turning to look at them from another table. Some of them shook their heads a bit, others seemingly found it amusing, but for once Sapphire didn''t care.


    Then the dessert was brought out. It looked like some kind of white clay almost, shaped into balls. It had a yellowish-white color and hardly smelt of anything. Taking a good sniff though, there was definitely honey in there and it was served with steaming hot tea for some reason.


    ¡°The king¡¯s favorite. Frost powder chilled honey ice cream with sweet lemon tea. Eat it slowly and remember the tea. It helps make the experience that much more exquisite. And wards off any negative effects,¡± The server informed them before politely bowing, stepping back.


    ¡°Magically frozen food?¡± Sapphire questioned. She guessed that was what ice in ice cream referred to then.


    ¡°Negative effects?¡± Dakota went, looking at her.


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t serve dangerous food would they?¡± Balethon added in, trying to be included. Sapphire just shrugged and looked around at the others at the table. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly safe, just take it slow,¡± An older male dragonette assured them. That was good enough for Sapphire, besides if this was a favorite of the king, it had to be good. She did wonder where he was, since she had kinda expected him to be present. She hadn¡¯t seen any sign of him though.


    She picked up the spoon to try and poke it. It was soft and velvety, just like some kind of very fine wet clay. She got a bit onto her spoon, looking at the others. They all got a small scoop before nodding taking a bite simultaneously.


    Now that was an experience. It was sweet, it was creamy, yet it was so cold. Sapphire was glad she hadn¡¯t taken a larger bite. She remembered the server''s instructions, picking up the cup of tea, taking a sip. As the nice warm liquid flowed into her mouth the cold instantly vanished being replaced with a pleasant sweetness. She could see why they thought this was a winning combination.


    They slowly ate the ice cream, sipping the hot tea intermittently, refilling from the large teapots placed on the table. One of the others, a younger-looking huntress, apparently got a bit too enthusiastic as she dropped her spoon pressing her hands to her head, gasping. A very painful expression on her face. Sapphire instinctively put down her spoon, staring at the unfortunate soul.


    The ones beside her were quick with the tea though, which seemed to alleviate the pain rather swiftly.


    ¡°Brain freeze!¡± Was shouted out from somewhere. Quite a few people apparently finding this funny, had a laugh at the poor dragonette, who shrank enough to almost hide under the table. Sapphire felt damn sorry for the poor girl as she returned to her own ice cream, being very careful not to go too fast. Being looked at because you were an odd one out was bad enough, but embarrassing yourself in front of this many important people was not a fate she wished for. This stuff was very good though.


    Eventually, she found herself wishing there was more of the delicious ice cream as she stared at the empty plate. It wasn¡¯t that she was hungry, very far from it. It had just tasted so good. They had been allowed time to sit and digest their meal for a bit as they waited for the slower ones. Mostly from their table, following the scare of humiliation.


    ¡°If everyone has finished their meal, we will move to the council chamber to begin the day''s proceedings. Lord Haldex will be our speaker for the day,¡± A very finely dressed female dragonette announced in a clearly magically enhanced voice.


    Everyone got up and started moving about, the members of their table being escorted by more ushers to where they would be seated.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It would appear the secondary effect of using sugar as a performance-enhancing drug had become apparent as Jackalope laid snoring in his lap¡­ loudly. Jarix was lying sprawled out on the ground, the tirox having been removed for the time being. They still needed to get that thing home in time to have it strung up, so they couldn¡¯t stay here too long.


    ¡°You know I was worried you broke her heart for a second there,¡± Fengi added, sitting down next to them.


    ¡°So was I, to be honest. I had no clue she even liked me. What are you even supposed to do in that situation?¡±


    ¡°Then why did you agree to that stuff with Unkai?¡± Fengi asked, sounding puzzled.


    ¡°He asked me to, thought it might be fun too, you know at some point. Why did you?¡±


    ¡°Because she kept complaining about it,¡± Fengi replied indignantly. ¡°It took a while to even get her to admit she likes you. Mostly she just went on about how annoying you and Sapphire were when you were spending time together. Didn¡¯t take much to figure it out though.¡±


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    ¡°But like, she hasn''t even tried to spend time with me short of work and if she had questions it was usually just about making things go boom?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t do much except work Tom¡­ At least not while we are awake¡­ I think it''s time for a lesson. Radexi! Close your ears, you too Jarix.¡± Fengi looked at the two until they at least feigned disinterest ¡°Tom, not everyone is comfortable with showing affection, some really suck at it.¡± Fengi pointed at the still sleeping Jackalope nodding. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s doing and if you break her heart or play with her, we will break you, okay? So be nice.¡± He had never heard her voice go hard, it was honestly a little scary. Of all the things Tom would expect to come out of Fengi¡¯s mouth, threats were about last on the list.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be nice,¡± He found himself replying almost involuntarily, pausing for a bit. ¡°Why would stop her from spending time with me though?¡± Fengi just looked at him like she couldn''t believe what she had just heard.


    ¡°Because she was fucking terrified you liked Sapphire,¡± She stated, going a bit slower than normal. ¡°and who are you always with when not at the smithy?¡± Tom had to give her that one, actually catching him without Sapphire around was not easy most days. Short of nanny duties of course.


    Fengi gave him a bit of time to think before continuing ¡°Remember the day at the lake, she gave it everything to try and impress you. I think her chest hurt for a week following that loop, not that she would show it of course. And why do you think she went into the water, huh? You and Sapphire having quality time together, that''s why. She couldn¡¯t stand it.¡±


    ¡°But, what about up on shore, I mean if anyone was having quality time there¡­¡±


    ¡°You were warm, and I don''t get to beat those two at anything normally¡­ And there is a big difference between playing in the water and curling up around someone.


    ¡°Well she did that though.¡±


    ¡°While drunk,¡± Fengi dismissed him. ¡°Honestly, have you never done something you didn''t dare do normally while drunk?¡± Tom¡¯s mind flashed over the hundreds of bad ideas involving alcohol in his past.


    ¡°Quite a few.¡±


    ¡°See. She likes you, but doesn¡¯t know how to show it so help her along a bit would you?¡± She sounded almost pleading to Tom by now.


    ¡°You think he¡¯s much better?¡± Zarko added in, crouching down inspecting Jarix harness for damage.


    ¡°Nope, that''s why I think this might work for once.¡±


    ¡°For once?¡± Tom questioned.


    Fengi gave him a bit of a scowl as she sat thinking for a bit before moving over to whisper into his ear.


    ¡°Do not say this to anyone, ''cause she will likely kill you if you do. Her and Balethon had a bit of a fling, it didn¡¯t go very well. He was all feelings and she well¡­ isn¡¯t, so he dumped her. She thought it was all her fault for being stupid. He didn''t really help matters calling her a shallow dimwit for not understanding what was going on. She did not take that very well.¡± Tom could only imagine the results of that insult. ¡°And I think she''s scared shitless of that happening again.¡±


    ¡®A girl that doesn¡¯t really like talking about feelings,¡¯ Tom thought. Rare for sure, in Tom¡¯s mind that was one hell of a perk though, he really didn¡¯t like that stuff. It was hardly surprising either considering who he was dealing with here.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say a word.¡±


    ¡°Good man,¡± Fengi replied, he almost expected her to pat him on the head. She just retreated back to her sitting spot in the grass though.


    ¡°Now what did you do to her? I''ve never seen that before¡±


    ¡°Remember Kiran''s first ¡®flight?¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t!¡± Fengi replied in disbelief ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Only five, a little at a time. Worked even better than I thought it would.¡±


    ¡°I certainly couldn¡¯t carry your fat arse that far, not to mention the speed she was making,¡± Zarko added. ¡°You gave her honey didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Nah, these,¡± Tom went, holding up the little box lightened as it was. ¡°Hard candy.¡±


    ¡°Is it like honey or did you just give your new... partner... drugs?¡± She replied in confused disbelief, looking up from the harness. Well, sugar was kind of like a drug Tom guessed, probably best not to say that though.


    ¡°It¡¯s like hard honey only better,¡± Fengi went before he could respond.


    ¡°Still a dirty trick,¡± Jarix interjected indignantly.


    ¡°Hey, you still won big guy,¡± Fengi retorted. Jarix responded letting out a satisfied grunt.


    ¡°Do any of you know how long she will be out?¡± Tom then questioned, looking at the still snoring Jackalope.


    ¡°An hour, maybe two, and she will be sore as hell when she wakes up,¡± Zarko responded, sounding like she knew what she was talking about.


    ¡°Well, she certainly got what she wanted then,¡± Fengi added. Tom just looked at her quickly.


    ¡°Which is?¡± Tom questioned raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Dammit, dude.¡± She replied, sounding very disappointed in him ¡°Do you know of another man in the keep who would have gone along with that?¡±


    ¡°Rachuck? Maybe Anchor?¡±


    ¡°Anchor is married, and do you seriously think Rachuck, of all people, would tolerate her for an extended period!? Prior to you coming here, she was already the reason for most of his headaches.¡± That was perhaps putting it harshly, though she was apparently finding the notion funny using excessive hand gestures and giggling all the while.


    He had to give her that, Rachuck did like to go by the books whenever possible, and Jackalope really didn¡¯t¡­ He was brave as could be though, not to mention tough. Not that that mattered if they couldn¡¯t stand each other of course.


    ¡°Fair points. What about Herron?¡±


    ¡°Would you describe him using words such as exciting, adventurous, or rambunctious?¡± Fengi replied sarcastically.


    ¡°No,¡± Tom admitted cautiously.


    ¡°Luckily you¡¯re both crazy, brave, and completely incompetent when it comes to girls. It¡¯s a match made in heaven.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Tom did feel like he should be insulted by that. She delivered it like a compliment though.


    ¡°Haha,¡± Jarix let out tauntingly, at Tom¡¯s expense.


    ¡°Last time I checked, you and Morina broke up following a dispute over sleeping spots. You are in no position to make fun of anyone,¡± Zarko replied coldly, eyes not leaving her work.


    Tom had to suppress a chuckle at that as Jarix looked like he was going to reply but then swung his head around to hide it from view.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire, Dakota, and Balethon sat at their assigned seats along the periphery of the large council room. Towards the far wall stood a small podium, where someone she assumed to be lord Haldex was standing.


    Everyone was seated though they were still waiting. She guessed based on the extravagantly decorated platform behind the speaking podium they were awaiting his majesty.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the doors swung open to the sound of marching footsteps as a full squad of royal lifeguards entered. She had seen them before accompanying the king through the city on special occasions. Their gilded armor shone like a mirror, silver, and platinum trimmings shimmering like starlight. In the center of the formation, His Majesty walked at a brisk pace making for the platform stopping to give a polite nod to the day¡¯s speaker, who bowed in return. The guards spread out through the room as the king sat down at his raised seat.


    He looked troubled, or perhaps just grumpy, she couldn¡¯t quite tell. It had been 15 years since last she had seen him back when the queen was on the throne. He wasn''t wearing his full royal attire, his crown not even present. Instead, he was clad in fine-looking blue and white silks with only a very delicate rapier at his side. If the rumors about his paranoia were true, then Sapphire was willing to guess those silks hid a Mithril chainmail or something of the like though.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± Lord Haldax started. ¡°Now for today''s meeting, we shall first be discussing the findings at Ullanor Keep. It has been confirmed that the keep has indeed fallen to the enemy, though it stood abandoned when our forces arrived. No sign of either the inhabitants or the original force sent to the keep.¡± There were gasps around the room, though many also seemed to fall into discussion. Sapphire guessed many had feared this to be the case then.


    ¡°As with Lokana Keep, there were no bodies left, so we fear the worst has indeed come to pass. Furthermore, evidence of heavy fighting was present throughout the keep. It would seem then that the inhabitants fought to the bitter end to defend their home, much like those of Lokana Keep.¡± Shivers ran down Sapphire''s spine at the thought. They had known they had a chance at least. She couldn¡¯t imagine being among the last standing knowing you were going to die.


    ¡°Any sign of artifacts like the ones mentioned at Bizmati Keep?¡± The King questioned, intently.


    ¡°No, Your Majesty, none. We have representatives from 4 keeps in total here today, three have reported skirmishes with corrupted forces, though only Bizmati Keep was themselves engaged and twice for that matter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard the report. What of their neighbors, Hylsdedal and Deriva, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°No word of anything being wrong Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but do we know they haven''t been attacked?¡±


    ¡°No we do not, your Majesty,¡± Lord Haldax replied in an apologetic tone.


    ¡°When is their next trader due?¡±


    ¡°I do not know that either, my king.¡±


    ¡°Kallos! Find out when a trader is due a visit. If it is more than a week, dispatch a messenger immediately.¡± The king was clearly not pleased with the current situation, Sapphire had to agree with him. Something was afoot.


    ¡°Right away my king,¡± An older, slightly fat-looking dragonette responded from one of the inner chairs before getting up to leave.


    ¡°Your Majesty If I may,¡± Dakota went, raising her hand.


    ¡°Who might you be?¡± The king responded looking straight at them, head resting on his right hand.


    ¡°Dakota Bizmati Your Majesty,¡± She replied, bowing her head.


    ¡°You may speak.¡± Dakota stood from her seat, back straight looking ahead.


    ¡°Following the battle for my home, we secured a set of telepathic earrings from the enemy. I could send word to my keep to launch an investigative party.¡±


    ¡°Very well, do so immediately. We must know where we are standing on this matter.¡±


    ¡°Right away Your Majesty.¡± Sitting back down she began fiddling with the earring before settling into the trance-like state it induced.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the ones accused of traitorous behaviour?¡± Another voice questioned, earning him an angry glance from the speaker.


    ¡°What are they doing in the council chamber then, this is outrageous!¡± Came another voice. Sapphire could feel herself shrink in her seat as more and more eyes turned to them.


    ¡°Silence,¡± The king went in a loud commanding tone.


    ¡°I have already received the report on that investigation, from Colonel Hashaw last night. They are no traitors, otherwise, they would not be here today.¡± The king then got to his feet looking around the room. ¡°In fact, they may be the only people who have had good news to give on this subject in the last month! According to the good colonel, they in fact performed above and beyond expectations. That is hardly true of many people in this room today!¡±


    ¡°We just got praised by the king,¡± Balethon went leaning over, his face ecstatic. Sapphire honestly didn¡¯t know what to say right now, as she looked back at him wide-eyed.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be on account of their pet warrior¡­ Tom was it?¡± Some important-looking individual questioned, sounding exceedingly annoying.


    ¡°What¡¯s a Tom?¡± Sapphire heard some of the other frontier people to her right question. ¡®Oh boy,¡¯ she thought to herself.


    ¡°Speaker, the report on the battle for Bizmaty keep if you please,¡± The king ordered, sitting back down.

 You Have a What?

    Chapter 73: You Have a What?


    ¡°Of course Your Majesty,¡± Lord Haldax replied, shuffling through sheets of paper before bringing one up.


    ¡°The battle for Bizmati Keep was fought over two engagements, an aerial intercept to assist the free trader Vulzan Hanori and the dragon Archeon who had been attacked while on route. Followed by a second battle to defend the keep against a renewed enemy assault.¡±


    ¡°During the first engagement, the enemy was routed into the night leading to no casualties on behalf of the keep, though the trader''s escorts suffered heavy casualties.¡±


    ¡°The second engagement was initiated when the confirmed traitor Dashu Flaxen unbarred the entrance door, letting the enemy inside unchallenged.¡± Sapphire did notice weight being placed on the ¡°confirmed¡± part of that. ¡°Darkling forces then proceeded to invade the keep, taking hostages. Due to the heroic actions of Lady Bizmati alongside her daughter, Dakota, the enemy was denied the ability to withdraw from the keep. The enemy forces were then destroyed utterly by a vicious counter-assault led by the warrior Tom.¡± The speaker sounded slightly confused at that last part and appeared to go over it again, before continuing.


    ¡°The reports stated that Bizmati Keep suffered only one casualty, that being the young child Anastasi, who was killed as a hostage.¡± The speaker gave a respectful pause before continuing ¡°The enemy forces present numbered at least 25 darklings commanded by a dark knight. 15 of which, including the Dark Knight, fell to Tom¡¯s hand over the course of the two battles.¡±


    Well, that certainly got the council riled up, Sapphire couldn¡¯t even hear what was being said down by the proper seats as most of the frontier people were busy, questioning what Tom was, or giving their condolences on the loss of Anastasi. Others begging them that something so dangerous should not be let inside the walls.


    The speaker tried in vain to restore order for nearly a minute before the king got to his feet.


    ¡°Silence!¡± The booming voice echoing throughout the room. That order was obeyed by all. ¡°Speaker, you have a report on this individual, do you not?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it,¡± The king stated, returning to his seat. The speaker ruffled through some more papers before producing a document.


    ¡°Report on the warrior known as Tom, full name Tomas Hansen. By Colonel Victoria Hashaw of the royal guard.¡±


    ¡°Visually Tom is soft-skinned and pale of colour, though he sports brown hair of considerable length on his head and face. His face appears squashed in with teeth much like those of a deer. He walks on two legs, has two arms much like our own, but is lacking wings of any kind. He is thus flightless.¡± That did lead to some surprised expressions around the council.


    ¡°Tom claims to have arrived from the far off northern country by means of teleportation, likely the result of an accident. Though such magics are rare in the extreme, I do personally believe his statement.¡±


    ¡°Tom is a former warrior of a far northern country known as Denmark, no records of this place are known. It is believed, due to Tom¡¯s exceptional resistance to cold, that this nation may well lie beyond where we are capable of safely traveling, hence the lack of information. Tom also possesses incredible physical endurance allowing him to work or fight for extended periods without tiring.¡±


    ¡°Tom is an exceptionally talented firemage who employs concentrated blast of fire to pierce enemy armor with seemingly little effort. These attacks have proven effective even against Lich plate armor. He has sworn multiple oaths of loyalty to Lady Bizmati, forgoing his previous master, Lord Joakim. When questioned, Tom stated that he could not return even if he wanted to and as such believes himself released from his former oath.¡±


    ¡°Tom¡¯s warrior prowess is surpassed only by his compassion. It is clear to me that he does not wish for conflict and in fact despises it. As such I do not believe he poses a threat to our kingdom or its peoples. He seemingly only fights to defend what he has come to treasure. Mainly, the people and especially children of Bizmati Keep to whom he has quickly grown attached and is treating as family.¡±


    ¡°Recommendation. Leave to his own devices, if necessary handle with utmost care, as a friend.¡±


    ¡° ¡®Teeth like a deer,¡¯ that¡¯s a little rough, isn¡¯t it?¡± Balethon questioned, not receiving a reply. Sapphire was busy gauging the response of the council.


    They were certainly rather quiet following that. It was clear to Sapphire that the majority of them had not heard of Tom before today, at least not in detail. There were a lot of confused faces, looking around and especially up at her. Sapphire got the feeling she was gonna be answering a lot of questions in the near future.


    Right on cue, a tall woman wearing robes, with what Sapphire recognized as the sigil of the Arcane Academy, raised her hand very politely.


    ¡°Lady Ishani, you have the word,¡± The speaker politely went, gesturing towards her.


    ¡°I wish to address Dakota Bizmati if that would be possible,¡± Sapphire looked to Dakota, who was still deep in trance likely conversing with Nunuk.


    ¡®Oh fuck me,¡¯ she thought to herself before standing up. ¡°Dakota is currently still conversing with our keep. Perhaps I can answer your questions.¡±


    ¡°To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?¡±


    ¡°Sapphire Rayland, silvered huntress of Bizmati Keep ma¡¯am. I have spent a fair amount of time with Tom on account of previous injuries.''''


    ¡°Very good. Tell me Sapphire, has Tom ever shown signs of either corruption or magics outside his usual purview of fire?¡±


    ¡°No ma¡¯am, the opposite in fact, He and I encountered the Unicorn Kalestine not too long ago, not even she could find fault with him.¡± That led to some surprised faces around the crowd, much to Sapphire''s delight. She doubted many of them could claim that, dwelling in a big city like this. ¡°He also seems unable to perform magic rituals of any kind nor even understand them fully.¡± That did seem to stump the lady for a bit, clearly pondering how to continue.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°What outward aggression? Has he perhaps attacked you, or snarled at you showing his teeth, things like that?¡±


    ¡°Not against anyone who didn¡¯t well deserve it ma¡¯am, in fact he routinely watches over the children.¡±


    ¡°You let some strange beast watch your kids!?¡± A voice sounded from somewhere in the crowd. Lady Ishani just flatly ignored the interruption.


    ¡°Reassuring news, I would request you visit the academy to discuss further. I would like more details of him to be placed on record. I do also have more questions, those may wait for your visit. I trust the earring in your possession could be used for a chat?¡±


    ¡°Its use is draining and I do not know if it works on Tom. We would be happy to oblige you though,¡± Sapphire replied, bowing respectfully. She was fairly sure rejecting that offer was not a possibility anyway.


    ¡°I would like the results of your labor as well, Lady Ishani¡± The king went as soon as Sapphire had finished.


    ¡°Certainly your majesty, back to you speaker.¡± Ishani replied sitting down. Sapphire sat back down aswell, with a strained sigh, she really hoped she hadn''t just agreed to something stupid.


    There was quite a lot of murmuring going on, though no one appeared to want to share their thoughts with the chamber as a whole.


    ¡°Thank you, Lady Ishani. The next point of proceedings are the skirmishes conducted by several of our frontier keeps of which three are represented here today. I request that you interrupt me should any of the information be inapplicable to your encounters.¡± The speaker went, holding up a fresh piece of paper to read of ¡°Forces numbering between 5 to 10 Darklings, spotted observing keep at distance for a period of one to two weeks. Enemy forces refused to engage and instead fled when challenged. Only to return continuing observation, even if casualties were inflicted. One keep reports attempting to lure the enemy out using an unarmed guard as a decoy, to no effect.¡± The speaker looked up expectantly at where they were all sitting yet no one spoke up. ¡±General Josu, you have the word.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, speaker,¡± The general went, getting up. ¡°Lords and Ladies of the council, it is clear our keeps are being scouted by the enemy. And whatever they are looking for they found it at least twice. As you are all well aware, the guard has thus far been unable to catch any of these darkling raids. This is in spite of sightings of said raiding parties coming in more frequently than ever. As of yet, we have been unable to determine the means by which they are avoiding us, yet they clearly are.¡±


    ¡°To attempt to combat this situation, it has been decided that royal guard deployment orders are no longer subject to review, fearing information is being leaked to the enemy.¡± That sparked a considerable amount of outrage as people got up to start protesting.


    ¡°Are you claiming there are traitors among us?!¡± ¡°How dare you make such an insinuation!¡± ¡°But how will we know where it¡¯s safe to travel?¡± were cried out in protest amongst many other demands and protests from the council. The king remained seated watching with what Sapphire would best describe as contempt for what was before him.


    ¡°Order¡­ order!¡± The speaker cried out, eventually getting the people to quiet down. ¡°General, you may continue.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Haldax. This is by royal decree and thus not up for debate. Furthermore, by my order, the capital¡¯s defenses are to be reduced by 3 squadrons, who will instead be moved to patrol duty of the middle and outer keeps. One squadron will also be taken from Bartelion and one from Cartahega, for the same purpose.¡±


    ¡°They are stripping the cities?¡± Dakota questioned seemingly to herself. Sapphire hadn¡¯t even noticed she had finished sending the message.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± Sapphire asked. It sounded bad, but surely it was good for the keeps?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If they aren¡¯t expecting the city to come under attack then I guess not. Might be a risk though.¡±


    ¡°I thought the king was supposed to be paranoid,¡± Balethon got out before Dakota managed to snap his mouth shut. Sapphire didn¡¯t comment, she agreed with him though. She had heard those rumors too during her time in the city.


    The notion of having their defenses stripped also resulted in a period of noise before the speaker managed to get the crowd back in line, with the assistance of the general trying to assure them that they were all perfectly safe.


    The speaker finally regained order and gestured for the general to continue. ¡°On the matter of Bizmati Keep. Based on the report you all heard, we have been unable to determine whether they were an isolated incident or not. Two distinct enemy units appear to have been involved, one being led by a Dark Knight. It is unknown at this time if one of these units was indeed a scouting party, though their numbers seem too high to suggest this.


    Based on the testimony of the free trader Archeon and his partner Vulzan Hanori, we believe they were the original target for at least one of these parties, specifically the dark artifact unknowingly in his possession. To ensure the survival of Bizmati Keep should the enemy return, a single young dragon with a minimal crew has been deployed to the keep to ward off further attacks.


    Once again the noise began as protests were made and defended against. No one seemed to agree on whether their keep had been the first target of the attacks that were currently plaguing the keeps, or whether this was an entirely isolated incident. There were accusations of exaggerated numbers, as well as just making this all up to secure a dragon for their keep.


    That did make Sapphire''s blood boil. They had lost a child and very nearly much more. These people were more concerned with whether Jarix was better spent guarding their sorry asses, here in the safest place she could imagine. Not to mention accusing her and the others of lying to the king and the royal guard.


    There were some supporters in the crowd though, much to her relief. A few were even calling for medals to be awarded for their actions, and the king had made his position very clear already. So she could hardly feel downtrodden right now.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°God that hurts.¡±


    Tom knew that if Jackalope was complaining then it was likely rather bad. He almost considered giving her a painkiller from the little medic bag he had packed for trips like this. Her system had already been through a lot though, so he guessed that wasn¡¯t smart.


    ¡°Can you fly?¡± Zarko just questioned, going over the lashing holding the Tirox in place.


    ¡°Sure¡­ Uhm I¡¯m sorry but¡­¡± She looked at Tom with the most genuinely sorry expression he had yet seen on her. She looked rather miserable in fact.


    ¡°No worries, you aren¡¯t my personal jet after all.¡±


    ¡°Jet?... Ohh, no I guess not.¡±


    ¡°You want him?¡± Fengi questioned, looking at Zarko.


    ¡°Sure, but if he tells me he loves me, I¡¯ll hurl him at the ground like an iIxankull.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± Tom had to ask. That was a new one.


    ¡°A metal ball you throw that goes boom. Honestly, I thought you were supposed to be good at that kind of thing,¡± Zarko replied, sounding distinctly unimpressed.


    ¡°Oh, a grenade! Yeah, we have those¡­ I should make some actually.¡± Predictably that made Jackalope perk up, ears going skywards from their previous slack position.


    ¡°That sounds like an excellent idea,¡± Fengi went with a pained smile, looking at Jackalope.


    With some complaining from Jarix, they eventually all got airborne, forming up in a wedge behind the dragon for the last leg home. It shouldn¡¯t be more than 20 minutes. Though it was 20 rather awkward minutes as he now laid on Zarko¡¯s back.


    There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with her. She just wasn¡¯t what you would call a conversationalist. Eventually, the silence became too much for him though.


    ¡°Did Radexi tell you about the degrees yet?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Seems like a lot of numbers to keep track of,¡± Tom waited a bit expecting a bit more than that, but he didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°It''s very good for fine course corrections though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is. I prefer just going where I need to go.¡±


    ¡°But how would you tell Jarix, what would that be¡­ one-fiftieth left or something.¡±


    ¡°I use my feet. Push with right foot we go right, push with left foot we go left, nice and simple¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Tom hadn¡¯t even thought of that option.


    Following that, the silence had reigned once more as they made for home. Jackalope was flying right behind Jarix, she looked almost like she was limping through the sky. Seeing her like this did give him a twinge of guilt. Thinking back to what Fengi had said, Tom really hoped she didn¡¯t feel like she had failed to impress him. She certainly didn¡¯t deserve that on top of the pain and losing. He would need to make sure that was the case. As they came into land, though, they were greeted by Rachuck, who was looking rather impatient.

 Revelations

    Chapter 74: Revelations


    It would appear that the interesting part of the meeting had passed, as they were currently discussing lowering taxation on animal husbandry to encourage more people to take to the countryside outside the capital. Nunuk had responded that she would have Jarix along with a few others on the wing by tomorrow morning. They had been thanked for their service by the king himself, in front of the entire council for it, not to mention they were getting paid too. That was not something Sapphire ever thought was going to happen in her life.


    ¡®Hired by the king,¡¯ she thought to herself. Sure, they had likely saved him a great deal of money on messengers, but still, that was something not many could claim.


    Now, though, she was quickly losing respect for the council, as she was now observing them bickering like children. It would seem they were almost equally concerned with tax rates as the city''s security. At least it was clear they would be allowed to leave when they made it to recess. She wondered if they would be allowed to walk about the gardens for a bit, taking in the sights.


    In here there were still plenty of things to look at, to pass the time. The ceiling was all one large painting, she guessed depicting the founding of the city or something, she didn¡¯t know. It was very pretty to look at though. The walls were also covered in more conventional paintings of what were likely important people. Not that she recognized anyone. Apuma¡¯s books had been rather light on pictures so it was mostly descriptions after all.


    Perhaps she should buy a painting for her bedroom. Maybe she could even get one made of herself¡­ no that would be a bit too egotistical. A nice scenery perhaps¡­ she had that out the window though. Perhaps some pretty buildings then; the palace would do nicely. There was a very beautiful painting of the city seen from above hanging on the wall behind the king. Something like that would be awesome.


    ¡°Very good, the rate shall be reduced to one-fifth of yearly production from the previous one-fourth. Thirty-two votes to twenty-one. We will reconvene following a short recess,¡± The speaker finally went. As people began to get up and move about, the usher who had shown them their seats, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, to escort them back out. Sapphire was honestly surprised by the little guy¡¯s stealth, even if she had been rather distracted at the moment.


    As they walked back out admiring the paintings, she wondered what would happen if Tom showed these people a picture. She grinned a bit to herself at that. She was in the wealthiest place she knew of and she had something that no one, not even the king, had. She had been photographed.


    Another finely dressed individual had come up to them on their way out carrying the formal invitations to the academy. They apparently still had to book an appointment. Dakota had taken the documents politely nodding though seeming confused. ¡®Oh fuck the trance thing¡¯ Sapphire cursed herself. They had forgotten to tell her that. Sapphire leaned in to whisper.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it we¡¯ll tell you about it later¡± Dakota just nodded looking a bit perplexed, pocketing the paperwork.


    The guards they were assigned to as soon as they left the building were apparently used to people like them, and graciously allowed all the frontier dragonettes to have a walk about the gardens. Escorted at all times, obviously. It was strange to see what was so undeniably nature bent to someone¡¯s will like this. Bushes cut into exact shapes. Lawns of closely cut grass and beds of flowers she had never seen before mixed with some they likely had growing up the walls back home.


    Not to mention, they were currently the center of attention for pretty much everyone. Even the royal guards escorting them seemed interested. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but puff out her chest a little. Following that report, she assumed they could say just about everything they wanted about short of where he was actually from and all his things. Being the center of attention in a place like this was a rather surreal experience.


    ¡°Not to pry or anything, but what does he do when not killing everything around him?¡±


    ¡°He watches the children and works like a mad man. Honestly, you should see him in the fields, it¡¯s amazing,¡± Sapphire responded in a cordial tone. They did need to put on a good facade after all. It wouldn''t do to be rude or seem too superior around here.


    ¡°What does he eat? Is it strange?¡± another asked, sounding a tad worried, yet curious.


    ¡°Vegetables mostly, he does like hog though,¡± Balethon went. Well, it was only fair the three of them shared the attention. Dakota didn¡¯t usually like that though so it did leave more for Sapphire and Balethon.


    ¡°Is he like some dumb creature that defends the children then?¡± ¡°Oh, like a pet?¡± The questions came from a male and female dragonette Sapphire didn¡¯t know. She sighed a bit at that.


    ¡°No, if anything he''s smarter than us I think,¡± she replied, trying not to be disrespectful. ¡°And if he heard you say that, I doubt he would be pleased.¡±


    ¡°He certainly put us to shame with mathematics,¡± Dakota added.


    ¡°He talks?... Like actual Draconic?¡±


    ¡°Sure, still has a funny accent though,¡± Balethon replied. That was true he could sound rather strange at times. Not to mention his throat did seem to get sore after talking too much every now and again.


    ¡°Look in the fountain, you can see the bottom,¡± Someone then went excitedly. Sapphire had to give him it was definitely a lot different than the lake water they had back home. It was almost the same shade of light blue as the scales running down her chest in fact. ¡°Almost like the swimming hall Tom was talking about,¡± Baleethon went, looking into the shimmering pool.


    ¡°Wait, he can swim!?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, he loves it,¡± Dakota replied, a sour twinge to her tone.


    ¡°You said he didn''t have wings. Do you carry him around all the time then?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, he mostly stays at the keep though,¡± Sapphire replied. ¡°Not to mention Jarix has taken a liking to him as well. That¡¯s the young dragon that has been stationed with us,¡± She clarified, trying her best not to sound too smug.


    ¡°Do you think he could kill a dragon?¡±


    ¡°Either that or he dies trying,¡± Balethon answered with a shrug. ¡°The dude just doesn''t run¡±


    ¡°I wonder what a city where no one flies looks like?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you could get anywhere. They must live in little communities that don¡¯t see each other.¡±


    ¡®Oh, if they only knew how wrong they were,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, content to let the other frontier folk discuss with each other on that one.


    ¡°If it¡¯s cold all the time, they might just use the snow to build or live under it? Perhaps underground entirely?¡±


    ¡°I think they would live in caves.¡±


    The three of them just looked at each other with amused expressions on their face. They weren''t gonna comment on that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You leave at first light tomorrow morning and that''s final,¡± Rachuck stated, looking at the rather ragged-looking hunting part. ¡°This is by order of the king!¡±


    Zarko and Radexi were standing at attention looking like soldiers at inspection. Tom though was wondering just why the fuck timing had to be such a bitch.


    ¡°Get some rest Jackalope, we will need you. The rest of you get that thing sorted in a hurry, we need to prepare.¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes, sir!¡±


    Rachuck set off at an official-looking fast jog, causing Tom to wonder whether this had all gone to his head a bit. It sounded mighty important though, ¡°by order of the king.¡± He wondered just what the fuck Sapphire and the others had been up to since they were taking orders from the king. They couldn¡¯t have been there for more than a day or two yet.


    Predictably, Jarix was beside himself with excitement, which did help with his work ethic, despite clearly being tired from the flight. With the big guy¡¯s help they got the tirox strung up to gut it in no time. Following that, Jarix had gone back up to the greeting hall to start going over his equipment.


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    Tom and Fengi set to work preparing the massive beast. They ended up having to cut it into smaller pieces just to get it onto the curing racks where it would need to sit for a few days. Jackalope had taken the order to get some rest as an excuse to watch the two of them as they worked. Predictably that didn¡¯t last long, before she decided Tom wasn¡¯t doing it right coming over to start demonstrating how to do it properly.


    ¡°You go right in against the bone here, remember to drag the blade, don''t push it. Now try again.¡± Tom did his best to try and imitate the movements she had been making. She just made it seem so easy though, not to mention her longer blade did help out quite a bit, compared to his much shorter hunting knife, when working on something this size.


    Jackalope apparently agreed, flipping her knife handing him her long sleek blade hilt first, with an encouraging head tilt. Tom wiped and holstered his own blade, taking the knife. It was lighter than he had thought, all the huntresses carried them, Jackalope''s didn¡¯t seem any different. He hadn¡¯t actually held one before though.


    He tried again with the longer blade. It was a lot easier to get into the nooks and crannies with it, even if it definitely took some getting used to.


    ¡°No, no, like this,¡± Jackalope went, grabbing his hand standing behind him as she began to guide him through it. Tom could hear Fengi snickering. He didn''t mind, this was definitely something he could get used to.


    ¡°How long have you been a huntress, Jacky?¡±


    ¡°Well I was coppered when I was 16, but I''ve been helping out since I was around 10,¡± She replied, sounding more like she was concentrating on the work at hand.


    ¡°No wonder you''re good at this then.¡± She did stop for a second at that, giving him a nudge with her snout, before continuing.


    Quite a few of the others came down to see the massive catch, earning them a fair amount of praise. Eventually, Jackalope let go, standing back to watch him work. Tom was wondering how best to break the news of him and Jackalope, or if he even should. When an overloaded Kokashi landed carrying Esmeralda. She immediately got off, walking over to them arms outstretched.


    ¡°Oh my gods, Jacky! That¡¯s amazing!¡± Jackalope looked more like a deer caught in the headlights than somebody happy to see Esmeralda, as the older dragonette hugged her. ¡°I must say. You¡¯ve gotten braver, or did he ask you?¡± Tom and Jackalope just glanced at Fengi who was looking very proud of herself. ¡°Fengi! That¡¯s not nice.¡±


    ¡®Goddammit,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, unsure who was to blame for this. Kokashi¡¯s damn hearing was likely involved though.


    ¡°Oh come on,¡± Fengi replied dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on?¡± Wiperna asked from where she was admiring the horns of the tirox. All the eyes around them turned to Jackalope, looking for answers. Some glancing at Tom curiously.


    As Esmeralda let go of Jackalope she appeared to regain her composure, standing tall raising her head again. ¡°I asked Tom if he liked me and he said ¡®yes,¡¯ of course.¡±


    ¡°Oh this should be good,¡± Herron added in an amused tone, as most of the people present just went quiet, looking at the two of them. Then Nunuk landed, looking very angry.


    ¡°Esmeralda! You are not supposed to be out of bed yet, what are you doing down here?¡±


    ¡°We have a pair of spring lovers on our hands!¡± Esmeralda replied excitedly, completely ignoring Nunuk¡¯s protest.


    It took Nunuk a second before she noticed Tom holding Jackalope''s knife. ¡°Oh no... Don¡¯t tell me.¡± Nunuk went, with a slightly horrified expression.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Fengi replied, still sounding proud of herself.


    ¡°Why of all times did you choose now for that?!¡± Nunuk exclaimed, seemingly ready to claw at her own face. ¡°For all we know we might be going to war tomorrow and you¡­ The gods give me strength.¡± Jackalope looked about ready to reply when she was cut off by Wiperna.


    ¡°Has anyone told Shiva?¡± She sounded slightly worried, to Tom. He gulped a bit at that notion, were you supposed to do that here? He really didn¡¯t fancy the prospect of pissing off the two-meter tall bundle of muscle with more hammers than he had candies. Even if he might have Jackalope to hide behind.


    ¡°Oh, go fetch her would you hubby?¡± Esmeralda went, still sounding extremely excited. Kokashi diligently obliged, taking to the wing in a hurry.


    ¡°No, wait not like¡­ this,¡± Jackalope went in vain as Kokashi took off.


    ¡°You know you can¡¯t keep this a secret from her, right? Besides I¡¯m sure she has already figured it out.¡± Fengi tried to reassure the distraught Jackalope.


    The ¡°WHAT!¡± that rang out from above them, would seem to suggest otherwise. Both Tom and Jackalope instinctively recoiled a bit at the exclamation. It didn¡¯t take long before the large frame of Shiva came diving down from the lower platform leading to the armory.


    She touched down hard, eyes flicking between the two of them without saying a word. Finally settling on Jackalope.


    ¡°What did you agree to?¡± She asked in a cold tone looking at her daughter. It was clear Jackalope was terrified of answering that question, though she did eventually rank her back, replying.


    ¡°I just asked if he liked me and he said ¡®yes.¡¯ Didn¡¯t agree to nothing.¡± Her usual confidence was still there, even if there were clear cracks showing.


    ¡°I believe the word used was ¡®I love you,¡¯ ¡± Fengi added looking at Tom. He was fairly sure he was red as a tomato right now. At that Shiva turned to look at Tom, raising a finger.


    ¡°If you are lying to her.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll break me, I got it, nooo worries,¡± Tom responded trying his best to match Jackalope¡¯s confidence.


    ¡°No,¡± She went leaning forward sneering, until she was nearly touching his face, ¡°I will fry you in butter and make a feast out of your ass and then chuck the remnants into the depths of hell itself.¡± Okay, Tom was officially scared right now. Her voice was calm yet incredibly threatening. To his surprise he found Jackalope interposing herself, pushing him a step back.


    ¡°You won¡¯t touch him less I say so!¡± Shiva¡¯s gaze seemed to switch between the two of them a few times before taking a step back, straightening back up to her full height.


    ¡°Just making sure he knows.¡± She replied, voice not much warmer.


    ¡°Do try to be nice Shiva.¡± Nunuk went, to Tom''s surprise. The lady hadn¡¯t exactly seemed pleased by this development after all. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for sentimentality or fighting right now. We all have work to do. Including you two,¡± She went turning to Tom and Jackalope. ¡°So get finished up down here, we¡¯re planning after dinner and you need to stay in your bed,¡± Nunuk chided pointing at Esmeralda.


    ¡°Fine... thanks for the movie by the way, it was great.¡± Esmeralda replied looking to Tom. Wiperna gave her a lift back up, to Kokashi¡¯s evident relief as he took off after them. Shiva also eventually backed off, after having stared at the two of them for a while longer, going back to her work.


    ¡°I will be watching,¡± she declared as she herself took off.


    ¡°That¡­ could have been worse,¡± Tom eventually went, looking to Jackalope.


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Jackalope replied, clearly not agreeing entirely with him.


    ¡°Well, how were we supposed to know about those other keeps?¡± Fengi replied. ¡°I think today has gone very well all things considered.¡±


    They had finished up the tirox as quickly as they could, Tom doing his best to keep up with Fengi as they worked. She was pretty handy with a knife too after all. Jackalope did lend a hand with some of the lifting work but other than that she continued watching him, correcting where necessary.


    They got it all finished in time for dinner and Tom handed back the knife.


    ¡°You''re gonna need one of these if you want to shoot more tirox, that''s for sure,¡± Jackalope stated as she holstered the knife.


    ¡°I say that¡¯s division of labor, I kill it you cut it up,¡± Jackalope didn¡¯t seem too impressed by that as she crossed her arms, there was still a smile on her face though.


    ¡°And carry you home, and out there and race a dragon while doing so, I think I did all the work today.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tom replied, bending down, putting his shoulder against her stomach, and lifting her off her feet.


    ¡°What the¡­ hey I can walk you know?¡± Tom ignored her halfhearted protest. Looking to Fengi with a grin.


    ¡°See you up there Fen.¡±


    ¡°See ya,¡± Fengi replied merely.


    Jackalope was quite a bit heavier than Sapphire, but Tom didn¡¯t have his weights on though so it was not too bad. Back home she might actually be around a hundred kilos with all that muscle and clocking in at around 195cm, not counting the horns. Here, though, no problem.


    ¡°You think they will let us both go with Jarix tomorrow?¡± Jackalope questioned as they were making their way up the stairs.


    ¡°I hope so. I need to keep an eye on our young recruit.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s older than us both combined isn¡¯t he?¡± Jackalope questioned, sounding slightly confused.


    ¡°Maybe, he still has a lot to learn though.¡±


    ¡°Do I need to as well?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, at some point probably.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get started with all that math stuff,¡± She did sound genuinely concerned. Tom just chuckled a bit at that.


    ¡°No, not math, I think you need to learn gun safety first of all. We don¡¯t want a repeat of last time now do we?¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I just wanted to try.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I clearly ain¡¯t mad, am I?¡±


    ¡°I guess not¡­ you are slow though, move it!¡± she went smacking him on the arse.


    ¡°Oh you want speed do you?¡± He replied, picking up the pace, making sure not to spare her from the jolting motion as he went up the stairs. She did make some very funny-sounding noises as his shoulder dug into her stomach with each stride. She didn¡¯t protest though. At least not until they made it up into the keep.


    ¡°Okay you can put me down now my steed,¡± Tom obliged, setting her down gently.


    ¡°Well all that carrying has me hungry, what about you?¡±


    ¡°Starving, let¡¯s go see if dinner is ready.¡±


    The two of them had taken seats next to each other at the huntresses table, rather than the usual arrangement of Tom sitting with the kids. That role was currently in the hands of Wiperna. Most of the guards had come by to congratulate them, or poke fun at them. It varied. The atmosphere was weird though, everyone felt on edge. Tom put it down to what they were supposed to be doing tomorrow, rather than him and Jackalope. Even if he had to admit that was a possible factor.


    Unkai had seemed anxious to Tom, perhaps he was wondering just what the fuck had happened today. Tom couldn¡¯t blame him, he hardly knew himself, really. He would need some alone time with the guard at some point, he guessed they could both need some advice after all.


    Jackalope had wolfed down her dinner, clearly not having lied about starving. He wondered if that had something to do with the sugar or just with how hard she had been working today. She did eat well most days, but this was abnormal even for her, she even matched him. The day''s course was a nice rich deer stew. As he poked at the side of beans he reminisced a bit about home. He did miss potatoes and pasta after all. The potatoes were on the way, but perhaps he should try to make pasta at some point. ¡®No, Tom, there is a war brewing, you just said ¡¯I love you¡¯ to a girl who loves explosions, and you are trying to start the industrial revolution while teaching a flying gun about life. Pasta can wait.¡¯


    ¡°You''re never quiet. Something wrong?¡± Jackalope questioned. Looking at him, as she licked the stew away from her face.


    ¡°Nah, everything''s fine. Just a lot to worry about.¡±


    ¡°I know right. They are totally gonna eat the best steaks while we¡¯re gone,¡± Tom chuckled a bit at that. Perhaps he was in need of a Jackalope lesson after all.

 It Gets Worse

    Chapter 75: It Gets Worse


    At the evening meeting in the grand hall, Nunuk laid out what they knew. Apparently they had received another message from Dakota concerning what had happened later in the evening. Two keeps were gone, maybe more, and they might be next.


    ¡°We should shore up the keep, not go hunting for them!¡± Tom protested. Rachuck nodded his approval.


    ¡°We already know there are supposed to be possible hostiles in the area. What if they are waiting for us to be weakened?¡± Anchor added in, clearly not pleased by the plan either.


    ¡°This is by order of the king, so it must be done,¡± Nunuk stated plainly. It was clear she was not gonna discuss this, as she leaned back down over the map of the island.


    Tom had seen the map of the island before. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure about the accuracy of it, since it seemed like on a hell of an island they were currently on, it was huge in fact. Nunuk had pointed out the two other keeps, named Hylsdal and Deriva. Those being the only other inhabited structures on the island. They were supposed to scout them both to see if anyone was home and if they were in trouble.


    They estimated around six hours flying to Hylsdal, with four between them. In the best-case scenario, they would scout them both and rest at Deriva, returning the following day. In case a keep was hostile they would not engage and instead move to the other keep, either warning them or scouting that one if they had yet to do so. It sounded simple enough, especially now that they had Jarix on hand. He could fly for days after all, when not loaded down with tons of meat.


    Tom really wanted to go. He hadn¡¯t seen another keep yet or even much of the island apart from the area around Bizmati Keep. Yet he was also concerned about leaving. In the end Jarix settled that matter for him, by demanding Tom accompany them in case they ended up getting chased by something nastier than a darkling. Tom just elected not to argue.


    ¡°Simple enough to do, if nothing is wrong of course¡± Zarko stated, currently in the process of copying down what she needed from the big map. ¡°We travel light so we can run rather than fight.¡±


    ¡°Very good, you got anything to add Tom?¡± Nunuk questioned.


    ¡°At Hylsdal can you see the keep from the tree line here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are right up against the trees if I remember correctly,¡± Nunuk replied


    ¡°Then I say we go in through the trees like we did hunting today. Jarix can land and we move ahead on foot to scout from cover.¡± Nunuk looked to Rachuck and Zarko, clearly asking for their opinions.


    ¡°What if they see you?¡± Rachuck went in a worried tone. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to run without Jarix if you don¡¯t have altitude.¡±


    ¡°If they are expecting us, they will have eyes on the sky that¡¯s for sure, likely not the ground though,¡± Zarko replied. ¡°I think it¡¯s smart.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that for Deriva though, unless you wanna wait for me to crawl a few kilometers across the plains.¡±


    ¡°Then we do it the old fashioned way there. We come in high and fast under flag. If they don¡¯t attack us, we''re good. If they do, then we use our speed advantage to outrun them.¡±


    ¡°What if they try and lure us in?¡± Tom questioned, they had clearly been more than capable of that kind of tactics during their last fight.


    ¡°Your call, Nunuk. If nothing happens should we investigate?¡± Zarko went, looking to the Lady.


    ¡°There might be survivors if they just came and left,¡± Fengi tried, optimism wavering slightly.


    ¡°If there are survivors, they are still fighting or they are hiding,¡± Nunuk replied.


    ¡°How would we know that without going inside though?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Kokashi could hear them perhaps,¡± Fengi added.


    ¡°I¡¯m staying here¡± Kokashi responded in no uncertain terms.


    ¡°I agree. Jarix, Tom, Zarko¡­ dammit Jackalope you''re going too. That way the two of you can carry Tom out if anything happens to Jarix, or you get separated.¡± Tom could see Jackalope do a miniature fist pump, clearly very pleased with that. He would be happy to have her if they needed to run, not to mention two days flying with Zarko might get rather dry.


    ¡°I say if a keep seems abandoned we get in close, make some noise, and make ready to run. Hopefully those inside would be able to answer,¡± Zarko stated, still working on her map copy.


    ¡°For all we know we might be the next target. I don¡¯t want you gone any longer than absolutely necessary,¡± Rachuck went, in a dark tone. He looked up, glancing around the room. ¡°It goes without saying that if there are darklings in these keeps then we are likely gonna be next, and if you don¡¯t come back I doubt we would survive something that could take either of them down. They¡¯re good people who know what they are doing. If they are gone, we need to worry.¡±


    ¡°Looks like Jarix gets to do his dream job then?¡± Radexi replied, looking up at Jarix¡¯s head looming above. Jarix had yet to say anything, his face expressionless.


    ¡°Which is?¡± Nunuk questioned.


    ¡°Saving the day, of course,¡± Zarko replied, being answered by an approving grunt from Jarix as he cracked a smile.


    She was right of course, Tom thought to himself. This plan would be damn near impossible if they didn¡¯t have Jarix. It was still risky though. They were leaving the keep dangerously undefended. Tom had agreed to leave the shotgun with Heron, much to Jackalope¡¯s dismay. The promise of teaching her how to properly use a revolver did seem to cheer her up though.


    ¡°Right then. So we have Tom, Jackalope, and you, Zarko,¡± Nunuk went in a questioning tone. ¡°You want Radexi too, or can you manage?¡±


    ¡°No, leave him here. He can handle a blade if he has to, we don¡¯t need any more weight, and I doubt we¡¯ll need flag signals. If so I¡¯ll just do it. Should we bring Unkai if there are wounded?¡±


    ¡°You probably should,¡± Nunuk admitted, clearly not sounding pleased about sending the healer. ¡°Can you manage, Rachuck?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make do, mum, I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s only for a couple of days.¡±


    ¡®Well then, this was certainly gonna be a strange first date,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. He was crossing his fingers Jackalope would be back on her feet by tomorrow, as she was clearly still sore as all hell.


    Nunuk then turned to Tom and Jackalope, with an uncomfortable expression.


    ¡°Tom, I trust you are staying with the kids tonight?¡± It took a second for Tom to figure out what was being insinuated.


    ¡°Oh, of course, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°And you go to bed early,¡± She went, looking at Jackalope. ¡°I don¡¯t want you looking like a nightguard tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Jackalope responded in a tone more akin to a kid being told they couldn''t stay up late. Tom seriously wondered if she had even caught on to what Nunuk was probably referring to?


    That suited him just fine though, since he hadn¡¯t even made it to considering how that might work. If it even could? All the kids said they were hatched either late summer or autumn. So did they have a... like a mating season or something¡­ Maybe it was him who had misunderstood what Nunuk meant?


    ¡®Goddamnit, I have no clue what I¡¯m doing,¡¯ he cursed himself.


    ¡°Tom, do you have anything to help out? Other than letting Heron borrow your shotgun. That is very generous of you, and I thank you,¡± Rachuk went, looking a bit strained.


    ¡°Might have an idea, I¡¯ll look at it tonight. I¡¯m gonna need you, Shiva. So I hope you don¡¯t plan on sleeping.¡±


    ¡°If I get to keep my eye on you, it will be my pleasure.¡± ¡®Okay still not friends, fair enough,¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The gardens had been truly amazing, even if Sapphire would have preferred to explore them in peace. They had even seen the crown princess going for a walk with what looked like friends of hers. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of envy looking at them as they passed each other.


    Who didn''t want to be a princess, after all? Total freedom to do whatever you wanted. At least she was fairly sure that was how it worked. The princess had been wearing a dress too. Sapphire had only tried that once before, for the banquet following her championship win, and that one she had to rent.


    It was such an odd garment, but it did look very nice. Looking around at the other frontier people she was pleased to note that she and Dakota were seemingly the best dressed amongst them, despite the rushed nature of their arrival. She put it down to Shiva¡¯s skills when it came to making some truly exquisite pieces of armor.


    Balethon looked a lot less impressive, his armor was more function than form after all. It was undeniably well made, though. The metal having a nice sheen to it, combined with the clear blue leather freshly waxed of course. They had eventually been led out to the landing platform where they had first arrived and were told politely to have a pleasant day.


    So now they found themselves standing at the city square taking a quick breather, following what had thus far been one hell of a day.


    ¡°So what now?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°Well, at some point we need to see Lady Ishain at the academy. Maybe we can see Linkosta too then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why is that again?¡± Dakota questioned, seemingly very confused.


    ¡°Uhm while you were¡­ out, we were invited to the academy to answer some questions by the lady. She also wants to ask Tom some questions using the earring.¡± Sapphire answered cautiously. They probably should have mentioned that when Dakota came back around.


    ¡°Oh this day just keeps getting better,¡± Dakota replied, sounding defeated. Sapphire was inclined to agree on that front. ¡°And we can hardly even deny her. Not if my sister is to have a hope of staying there. Dammit!¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a tomorrow problem. Haven¡¯t we done enough for today?¡± Baltehon replied.


    ¡°You want to go see the city, don¡¯t you?¡± Dakota replied in a tired tone.


    ¡°I was thinking the tavern.¡± Sapphire couldn¡¯t really fault him for that; they had just seen the most exquisite place the city had to offer after all. She was guessing he had an ulterior motive though.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t just want to get back to Canabrera now, would you?¡± Sapphire replied teasingly.


    ¡°I mean, I just got praised by the king¡­ that can¡¯t hurt my chances. I think she likes me.¡±


    ¡®Yep, there he goes again,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. At least that meant he wouldn¡¯t be pestering her for quite a while.


    ¡°Well, I need to report what we found out back to Nunuk. I don¡¯t know about you, but I''m tired as all hell after using that thing.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, you sleep it out, I get to hang out with Haiko, and Bale boy gets to hit on the girl who only wants him for her time on the ground.¡±


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    ¡°Hey! She likes me okay.¡±


    ¡®Yeah, but for how long,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself.


    It was perhaps more than a little unfair to have assumed they would be getting a quiet evening. When they entered the tavern they found Haiko busy bragging about his little sister, who was currently up seeing the king himself.


    Sapphire walked up behind her brother, who seemed none the wiser to her presence. ¡°We went to a council meeting, not an audience,¡± Sapphire went, in a slightly hard tone. Causing him to stop mid-sentence. Then she stepped up next to him sitting down. ¡°Though we did end up getting praised to high heaven in front of the entire council, as well as getting hired to scout two keeps who might be in pretty bad shape, by the king himself,¡± she continued switching over into happy banter, taking the mug of ale she suspected he had been bought to continue telling his story.


    ¡°Not to mention being invited to the Royal Academy,¡± Balethon added from behind. Sapphire guessed he was already looking for Canabrera, she didn¡¯t seem to be here right now though.


    ¡°Well you two enjoy telling the world how amazing you are, I¡¯ll be upstairs,¡± Dakota went, going up to the room. Sapphire saluted her with the newly acquired mug of ale before turning back to her new audience.


    ¡°So, how many in here have been inside The Council Building?¡± Sapphire started, looking around at the expectant faces. One guy did raise his hand though.


    ¡°It was a long time ago,¡± He replied in a meek tone. He lowered his hand again, as a few faces shifted to him


    ¡°Right so, you gotta hear about this. Today we got something called ¡®ice cream¡­¡¯ ¡±


    As tempting as it was to go for another night of partying, especially as she seemed to have no problem getting her drinks paid for, she should probably be heading off to bed. Dakota had come down for the evening meal and gone straight to bed. She had looked like she was ready to drop too.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ll be heading off,¡± She went, getting up from the table. ¡°I have a big day tomorrow as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, but we were just getting started. I¡¯ll buy you another round if that helps,¡± the latest dude who had been trying to chat her up went. She was done for the evening though.


    ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t do. See you around though,¡± she went climbing up the stairs. She chuckled at the sound of his mates having fun at his expense. ¡®what a day, wonder what they are doing back home?¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tom and Jacky sitting in a tree.¡±


    ¡°Nuzzling close as they can be.¡±


    ¡°Lovers sitting high in the tree.¡±


    Of all the problems Tom had failed to consider the result of eight kids learning you have a sort of girlfriend was not on the list either. He currently sat contemplating just how long it would take before the little buggers ran out of energy for the night. He had completely given up on the idea of going ahead with the lesson and boring them to sleep, like he had originally planned. Not even storytime seemed to work.


    Only Kiran didn¡¯t seem too riled up, instead walking over and looking up at him.


    ¡°You¡¯ll still sleep here, right?¡± he asked, sounding very concerned. Oh come on, how was he supposed to answer that one.


    ¡°Perhaps not every night, but I promise I¡¯ll be here sometimes. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Kiran replied, clearly not entirely happy with that answer. Tom had picked up Kiran doing his best to ignore the taunting kids, instead just sitting with Kiran giving him some head scritches. He was gonna be going further away from the keep than he had ever been tomorrow and perhaps going straight into the arms of waiting hostiles.


    I wouldn¡¯t hurt to give Kiran an extra scratch or two tonight. Did he even want to go? Sure it was going to be exciting, but what if it went wrong?


    That made something click for him. He had come here with nothing to lose. At least not much that he cared about. Leaving everything behind possibly forever and now... He was worried about leaving the keep for a couple of days, fearing he wouldn¡¯t be making it back¡­ ¡®How the hell did this happen?¡¯ he sat questioning himself.


    Not to mention, he had traveled to another world and then immediately settled down the first place he found. He hadn¡¯t even been off the island. Hell, tomorrow would be the first time he gets to properly see much of the island.


    ¡°It¡¯s a strange world we live in Kiran.¡±


    ¡°You the strange one,¡± Kiran replied, nuzzling in for warmth.


    ¡°If we were where I am from you would be the strange one, you know that right?¡±


    ¡°No, you strange, you like vegetables,¡± Oh come on now. He ate fifty-fifty tops, which was more meat than he was used to already.


    To his relief the kids eventually ran out of steam, it was getting late after all, at least for them. It was damn handy they didn¡¯t have the endurance of human kids, Tom thought as he tucked them in one by one. The fuzes should be dry now too so it was time to get to work.


    Shiva had protested fiercely, as per usual, but for once had agreed to not give a shit about how something looks. The result was a box of ten metal cylinders forged from scrap armor plates in a hurry.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s make some frag grenades.¡± Tom could see the old smith try to remain coldly indifferent. It was clear that she was struggling though. He had hoped this would serve as a bit of a peace offering. She was second only to Jackalope when it came to her love for explosions after all, and even that was a disputed topic. She didn''t seem happy or excited in the least though. In fact, she seemed on edge and tense, to him.


    ¡°Is it true, what she said?¡± Shiva went during a lull in the work, looking at Tom with a very cold stern face. ¡°You didn¡¯t offer her anything?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean by ¡®offer?¡¯ ¡± Tom tried carefully, not quite sure what she was insinuating. She took a step back putting down her tools, clenching a fist, expression going pained.


    ¡°Gods dammit did you buy my daughter with guns?!¡± She finally let out.


    ¡°What the fuck, no!¡± Was that why she had been angry? Did she think that¡­ ¡®fuck me,¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Nrrah!¡± Shiva went in an annoyed growl, turning away from him. ¡°I don¡¯t buy it. I just don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°She asked me, okay!¡± Surely she couldn¡¯t be serious, could she? ¡°Do¡­ do you think that¡¯s why?¡± Shiva¡¯s shoulders sagged a bit.


    ¡°I really hope not,¡± she replied in an angry tone.


    Tom looked down at the box of would-be grenades. Jackalope had seemed as genuine as he could imagine¡­ Then again, he knew she had cried over not being allowed to ride the quadbike¡­ or was that because he had denied her?


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Tom went, leaning against a table. Shiva then turned back to him, raising her hand to point at him.


    ¡°I swear I will bribe Kokashi with whatever it takes. If you try and get her to do something she doesn''t want to, I will know and you will not survive!¡±


    ¡°Jesus, I get it! Why do you all of a sudden think I¡¯m an arsehole!? What happens if she¡¯s the one doing the bribing, huh?¡± Tom didn¡¯t really believe that scenario, that was a horrible thing to say about her too. ¡°Sorry¡­ Just sort of slipped out.¡±


    She looked ready to scream in his face, instead walking over speaking in a low growling voice, ¡°My daughter is no whore!¡± There was venom in her voice, though clearly, she was worried about the whole keep learning of this conversation if they got too loud.


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t mean I like that. For god''s sake, I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s possible,¡± Tom tried to reply in a hushed tone, leaning further back over the table. Shiva just stood there staring at him. She looked ready to punch him for a second, face contorted, before she backed off, kicking a bucket across the room.


    ¡°Gods dammit I hate this!¡± Shiva let out, smashing a fist into a table for emphasis. She stood there for a second rubbing her face with the other hand. Apparently calming down a bit, shoulders sagging and head hanging low with drooping ears. ¡°If she tries that please¡­ I beg of you... don¡¯t.¡± Shiva sounded genuinely defeated at that. Did she really think that was a possibility? Now Tom felt even more shitty for saying that...


    ¡°I won''t, I swear,¡± He replied, getting back to his feet. ¡°She hasn¡¯t done so yet. We haven''t even talked about¡­ that.¡± He tried, attempting to cheer her up. It was true too, of course. Apart from Jackalope asking if she could try a gun, which was pretty damn understandable. Nor had she insinuated anything of the like, yet.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Shiva replied clearly not sure what to do either right now, still rubbing her face. ¡°Why is Itova so cruel today?¡± she questioned almost pleadingly.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ who?¡± Tom had to ask.


    ¡°Goddess of love, numbnuts,¡± Shiva went, turning her head to look at him like he was a fucking idiot. ¡°And she¡¯s an arsehole today!¡± Shiva continued, looking to the ceiling. Okay, Tom had to do something about this; it was getting ridiculous.


    ¡°I swear I¡¯m not gonna do anything like that, nor allow her that¡¯s just not right¡± He went, placing a hand on Shiva''s shoulder, which she immediately brushed off. ¡°Please, let¡¯s be friends about this. Fengi told me what happened last time. I won¡¯t do that, I swear. Hell, as Fengi put it ¡®I don¡¯t know what''s going on either.¡¯ ¡± Tom tried a bit of the chuckle at the end, hoping Shiva could see the absurdity of all this.


    Shiva just sat down on the floor shaking her head. ¡°I guess it¡¯s better than some escort or, gods forbid it, a mercenary getting their claws into her.¡± She went, voice calmer than before ¡°I wanted grandkids though,¡± she went with a sniff.


    ¡°Uhmm...¡± Tom went in an uncomfortable tone, not quite sure how to take that part.


    ¡°My threat stands. You do something or let her do something¡­ untoward.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll kill me and eat me,¡± Tom went, trying to sound sarcastic, despite that probably not being an empty threat.


    ¡°Guess I need to trust you not to be an arsehole then,¡± she went with a sigh. ¡°Fucking shit day. Let¡¯s make just those grenades and be done with it,¡± she continued, straightening up a bit, clearly still troubled.


    ¡®Fucking hell, what''s with this day,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he got back to work. It was already getting late and they had a lot to do.


    ¡°Right uhmm, where¡¯s the wax at?¡±


    The cylinders had been filled with the homemade Boom powder, which Tom had made from flash powder and saltpeter. He gutted some shotgun shells for the steel shot, throwing it in too for good measure. The outside was lined with nails secured with twine and wax. The homemade 5 second, or thereabouts, fuzes sticking out the top. Kulinger was likely going to be complaining about most of the keep¡¯s nails being gone, and even Tom had to admit this was extremely far from safe.


    Shiva had managed to fashion some protective caps out of lead. The spark free metal was likely their best shot at preventing premature detonation, even if using your teeth to pull it off was a definite no go.


    They had worked into the early hours of the morning, Shiva clearly being utterly exhausted by the time they were done, but they now had 10 Mad Max frag grenades to show for it.


    They were gonna bring four on the trip, leaving the remainder here. Tom had elected that they really should test one before lives depended on it. Everyone had gathered on the firing range the next morning to see the new weapon in action.


    ¡°That looks incredibly crude,¡± Zarko had commented. ¡°A proper grenade is a fine round ball. Are those nails!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, for more fragmentation. Cuts the enemy to pieces. There are more metal bits inside.¡± The horrified expression on Zarko¡¯s and quite a few of the others'' faces betrayed that this was definitely news to them.


    ¡°Now, first off you remove the cap, then you get your torch, lantern, lighter, or whatever. You hold it against the fuze it will light off throwing off smoke and sparks. Then you have 5 seconds, tops. Always assume less. I can¡¯t stress this enough, these are not reliable. So light them and throw them immediately! Then you need to take cover. This thing can hurt you from quite far away.¡± he looked around to emphasize his point, he certainly had the full attention of everyone present ¡°Now everyone get down on your belly.¡± To no one''s surprise, that order was obeyed as everyone got down. Jarix did look a little stumped at what to do though. ¡°You need to back off a bit... maybe¡±


    ¡°Uhm sure,¡± he replied in an uncertain tone, taking a fair amount of steps back.


    ¡°Very good. Jackalope would you like to throw?¡±


    ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± She replied, getting back up. Tom looked to Shiva, who looked rather displeased at that, it would seem she was currently too tired to protest though.


    ¡°Just hold it like this. I¡¯ll light it, then throw it as far as you can, okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure, as far as I can,¡± Tom wasn¡¯t sure if using Jackalope was a great or a terrible idea, she could definitely throw the furthest but she was well¡­ Jackalope, not to mention the talk with Shiva. Still, the look on her face was worth it. She was giggling like a schoolgirl. Even if everyone else looked a tad scared.


    He brought up the lighter and the fuze caught without a problem sputtering merely as it slowly began creeping up. Jackalope brought the grenade back and chucked that sucker for distance. Thinking back Tom should probably have considered the lower gravity as the grenade sailed off into the distance. He didn¡¯t even see where it landed as he got down on his stomach to join the others. Immediately getting back up again to get Jackalope to hit the deck as well.


    ¡°Get down, Jacky!¡±


    ¡°Fuck sorry!¡±


    The two of them hit the deck but nothing happened. He was almost afraid it might have gone out or broken on impact, when the *Boom* rang out as the flash of fire that the flash powder mixture created filled a considerable volume a fair distance away. That looked more like a grenade from a Hollywood movie; he could see the shockwave though, not to mention feel it. He guessed that anyone within 5 meters had just been cooked in addition to being blown up and shredded by shrapnel.


    ¡°Holy Shit!¡± Zarko let out in surprise. Tom had only just gotten to his feet when he was yanked off them again by an excited Jackalope who held him in close, nuzzling him with her snout before putting him down.


    ¡°That was amazing! You are amazing! Do I get one!?¡±


    ¡°You sure do,¡± Tom went with a slightly worried smile, last night very fresh in his memory.


    ¡°Yuss!¡± Jackalope went with a little skip, taking the grenade.


    ¡°That was no Ixankull,¡± Zarko then went, eyes wide.


    ¡°What''s the difference?¡± Tom had to ask, from the description they seemed fairly similar.


    ¡°It went ¡®bang¡¯ that''s what! Ours go ¡®foom¡¯ and make a large fireball.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you just use flash powder.¡± Zarko turned to look at him with an incredulous expression.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I call that boom powder. My own little secret recipe¡± Zarko turned back to the blast sight eyes wide with comprehension.


    ¡°What could it kill?¡± Rachuck questioned, peering out toward the distant crater.


    ¡°If you get it close enough, I think it might even kill a dragon, or at least give them a very, very bad day.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Tom,¡± The guard captain replied, sounding genuinely grateful.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ll make some good ones later.¡±


    ¡°Those are bad ones!?¡± Zarko let out. ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Girl, you need to get with the program around here,¡± Wiperna stated plainly. ¡°Things just sorta explode every now and again around that guy.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes they do,¡± Jackalope went, grabbing him by the shoulder for another short side hug, ruffling his hair.


    ¡°Hey, it was planned this time,¡± Tom protested from his current position. Gaining him some incredulous looks from Radexi and Zarko.


    All in all, Tom was rather pleased how this had gone. Even if he really needed a nap right now. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of excited dragon footsteps pounding the ground behind him.


    ¡°That was awesome! I have to ask¡­ Do they come in my size?¡± The clearly very excited Jarix questioned form behind him.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bomb, Jarix,¡± Tom just replied, turning around.


    ¡°Ohh right. I remember those¡­ can you make them too?¡±


    ¡°Uhmmm sure... Gonna be expensive as hell though.¡± Jarix did that, quite frankly, hilarious looking tipitap dance at that. It would appear the dragon has been sold on the idea of ¡®boom¡¯ then, Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t something like that just blow up the entire keep?¡± Unkai questioned, looking rather nervously at the box of grenades on the ground.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Tom had to admit with a nod, earning him some even more concerned looks from all around.


    ¡°There should be a building for storing this stuff then,¡° Rachuck added, clearly pondering the situation, rather than being terrified of it. ¡®Right then adding ammo bunker construction to the list,¡¯ Tom thought to himself with a sigh as he handed Zarko her grenade.


    ¡°And one for you,¡± he went, handing the very worried looking Unkai his grenade. ¡°Or maybe you would rather I carry it?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll take it. I ain¡¯t no coward¡± Unkai started snatching the grenade. ¡®Someone¡¯s trying to seem brave,¡¯ Tom noted to himself. Looking to Fengi, who was watching intently.


    ¡°Right then. Time for a scouting run.¡±

 Recon

    Chapter 76: Recon


    ¡°Ohh I remember that mountain. We slept in a cave there during a storm,¡± Jackalope went, pointing to the center peak of what looked like a miniature mountain chain. ¡°That was a shitty day.¡±


    ¡°I bet it was. Does it have a name?¡± Tom questioned, looking the mountain over.


    ¡°Can¡¯t remember,¡± Jackalope replied. ¡°Something beginning with ¡®hyrta¡¯ I think.¡±


    ¡°That should mark around halfway,¡± Zarko went, looking at her map book.


    ¡°Excellent, I can''t wait,¡± Jarix replied, clearly excited.


    ¡°You do know there is a very high chance we find absolutely nothing right?¡± Zarko went, in an indifferent tone.


    ¡°Oh they¡¯ll be there, I know it.¡±


    ¡°If they are, people likely have died. I would prefer if we aren''t hoping for that,¡± Tom stated. ¡®Honestly Jarix,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. It would seem there was still a ways to go with the young dragon¡¯s compassion. He had another lesson to conduct though. ¡°Right, Jacky I want to see you go through this thing again.¡±


    ¡°Sure, ¡° Jackalope replied, drawing the revolver from the borrowed thigh holster. Tom had been wondering if it would fit. It had only just done so, but it was on there nice and tight. ¡°Safety is on, weapon is loaded. Reloading; open cylinder and extract,¡± she went through the motions just like he had taught her, extracting the bullets and placing them into the little pouch she had found for storing them until a proper belt could be arranged. Then she proceeded to reload the cylinder before clicking it shut nice and gently.


    ¡°Very good. Bring it up to fire.¡±


    She responded, bringing the pistol up with both hands and peering down the sights. Tom was not much of an instructor, but he knew the basics. Jackalope''s form was on point, though, following their first attempts. He had been worried she would be afraid of the gun following what it had done to her hand the last time. If she was, he certainly couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Looks good.¡±


    ¡°I always look good,¡± Jackalope responded in a cocky tone, holstering the revolver again.


    ¡°Just a little banged up at times,¡± Zarko responded, mockingly.


    ¡°Scars are badass,¡± Jarix added in. ¡°You''re just jealous you don¡¯t have any good ones.¡±


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking, pretty boy,¡± Zarko fired back. She was right of course, Jarix was damn near pristine, even if a bit of the sheen had worn off. Likely the result of not getting the polish he had been talking about.


    ¡°Ohh, are we showing scars?!¡± Jackalope exclaimed. ¡°Well, you gave me one on my nose,¡± she went, stamping her foot a bit. ¡°Got this one when I hit a tree when I was 8... ohh, and Fengi shot me in the ass once by accident. I ain¡¯t showing that one though.¡± Tom had to suppress a giggle at that. ¡°That one was a varghulf stinger¡± She continued pointing to a neat scar across her belly. ¡°What¡¯s you got Zarko?¡±


    ¡°Mine are mostly sparring and training,¡± Zarko admitted. ¡°Some idiot tried to beat me up with a glass bottle in a bar once, got me across the shoulder.¡± There was indeed a sizable scar running down her left shoulder, Tom observed. He had thought it was a sword-cut or something. He could see a broken bottle do that though.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Jackalope questioned, looking at Tom. ¡°Ohh quite a few... I was shot a few times, you know when. Got this one cliff diving on vacation once.¡± He went lifting up his trouser leg.


    ¡°What''s a vacation?¡± Zarko questioned. ¡°And why did you jump off a cliff?¡±


    ¡°I gotta say even I think that sounds stupid when you can''t fly,¡± Jackalope added very thoughtfully.


    ¡°Oh right, a holiday is like, some time off from work. Where you can just go and enjoy things. I went traveling for that one. Went someplace warm to relax and have fun.¡±


    ¡°You jumped off a cliff... for fun?¡± Unkai questioned, clearly not buying it.


    ¡°Into water of course. There just wasn''t quite enough water. A bit like when Fengi dropped me in the lake.¡±


    ¡°Ouch,¡± Jackalope went with a grimace.


    ¡°Okaaay, Zarko do you get vacations?¡± Unkai asked, looking away from Tom the mad man.


    ¡°We get time off, sure. You know, if we¡¯re just sitting around anyway. How long is a vacation?¡±


    ¡°A few weeks usually, we''re paid too.¡±


    ¡°Then no, we do not,¡± She responded sounding slightly miffed, ears dropping.


    ¡°I would like to travel sometime. You know, go see the world,¡± Jackalope responded with a hint of dreaminess to her voice.


    ¡°Should have joined the guard then,¡± Jarix added. ¡°If they''d have you.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone can just get in because they are a damn dragon.¡± Zarko scolded him.


    ¡°Just because Sapphire wasn''t good enough doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not,¡± Jackalope stated confidently.


    ¡°Sorry, they care about money mostly. Unless there is a war on. Who knows, depending on what we find today your chances might be improving.¡±


    ¡°Hah, when we''re done with them, they are gonna ask me¡± Jackalope replied patting the revolver. Tom really wanted to repeat his earlier statement about not hoping for people being in trouble, but elected to shut up.


    There had been a few sights to see, the odd cliff, a forest lake here and there, and a few clearings of course. Mostly though it was the sheer scale of the forest that blew Tom away. It just kept going as far as the eye could see for hours.


    ¡°Why aren''t there more dragonettes here?¡± Tom questioned gesturing to the horizon. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of food down there, surely.¡±


    ¡°Well there isn''t much reason to come out here. It''s too far from the big cities to be profitable. Not to mention dangerous,¡± Zarko replied, matter of factly.


    ¡°We¡¯ve mostly been left alone,¡± Jackalope countered, scanning the horizon.


    ¡°Mostly yeah, when something like this happens you¡¯re on your own though. People just prefer to live either in the cities or close to them where we frequently patrol.¡±


    ¡°I see... Doesn¡¯t it get, you know... overpopulated?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Sure then we start sending more people further out. Some make it, some don¡¯t. Most of the success stories come from ones who go and take an abandoned keep. Surviving winter without one is no easy feat, not to mention the things that would rather have you stop breathing.¡±


    ¡°Or turn us black as coal,¡± Jackalope added, clearly causing Zarko and Unkai significant discomfort.


    ¡°Sounds like a really shitty way to die,¡± Tom replied. Honestly, they just send people out here and cross their fingers? Humans had done the same of course, so he could hardly blame them. It would appear this place fought back a little more than the wild west had though. ¡°Why not just make more keeps then if that works so well?¡±


    ¡°We do build new keeps every now and again, but that is expensive. Most people who can afford it don¡¯t really want to spend the money on something as unprofitable as a frontier keep,¡± Zarko replied.


    ¡°Or you could just beat the shit out of the previous owners like Nunuk¡¯s grandma,¡± Jackalope added. scoring a curious look from both Tom and Zarko, Unkai looking down a bit. ¡°Relax, they were evil¡­ I think. Or just really annoying, I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°Apuma said she was awarded the keep for her service?¡± Tom went, he was fairly sure that''s how it had been presented at least.


    ¡°Oh yeah, it was. That didn¡¯t mean it was empty though.¡± ¡®Oof¡¯ Tom thought to himself. Then again, might have been a Flaxen bitch or something like that. He wouldn¡¯t mind just taking where she lived.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire was feeling a fair amount of deja vu as she stood looking at the finely dressed individual outside their door. She was in quite a bit better shape today though. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for being a bit more restrained last night.


    ¡°I¡¯m here on behalf of the Flaxen estate to formally request that you retract your baseless accusations against Lady Flaxen.¡± Sapphire damn near stabbed the woman in front of her and asked her how baseless she felt a knife to the gut was.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°I think you want Dakota Bizmati for that question. You know, the noble daughter whose childhood friend your Lady stabbed with a poisoned blade.¡± Sapphire replied, with as much malice in her voice as she could muster.


    ¡°While I admit circumstances are most regrettable, I must insist that you retract these accusations, as well as refrain from making mention of them.¡± She was at least sounding calm and cordial rather than screaming all the time which was a definite improvement. ¡®Here we go again,'' Sapphire sighed to herself, stepping back.


    ¡°All yours, Dakota.¡±


    ¡°Your incestuous bitch of a Lady is neither esteemed nor innocent. I will not retract my accusation, and even if I did, I think you have more to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡± the person asked.


    ¡°The fact that she has managed to insult the royal guard as a whole, Colonel Hashaw and Baron in particular. Oh, and what more was it¡­ Lying to a royal court, attempting to falsify evidence, and making false accusations of treason in spite of knowing the truth.¡± Dakota stepped forward right into the face of the woman, looking like she was ready to snap at her throat.


    ¡°This is just in addition to attempting a murder. In my fucking keep! Of my friend! She is still sick in bed after a week! Had she managed to get away with all that, she might damn well have had us all executed as traitors too! So I reiterate for the slow-minded amongst us, I will not let that bitch go!¡± Dakota had damn near run out of breath near the end there, but Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile at the finely dressed woman, who was clearly rather terrified by now.


    ¡°Uhh, I am terribly sorry. I truly am, may I come inside so we¡­¡±


    ¡°No, you may not!¡±


    ¡°Right, of course, see uhm. See I¡¯m here to¡­ negotiate the terms for having the charges dropped.¡±


    ¡°We will not negotiate.¡± Dakota responded coldly.


    ¡°I must beg you to reconsider, the family has agreed that these charges must not be brought against us.¡±


    ¡°Then kick the bitch out,¡± Sapphire added, standing behind Dakota, arms crossed doing her best to look scary.


    ¡°But, she is the Lady of the household we could not¡­¡±


    ¡°Not my fucking problem. Now piss off,¡± Dakota went, pointing down the stairs.


    ¡°Would you not at least hear our offer?¡±


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± A still sleepy-looking Balethon questioned, stepping out of his room.


    ¡°Just someone who thinks they can buy our honor,¡± Dakota replied in a seething tone.


    ¡°No, I merely meant we might come to a¡­ mutual understanding.¡±


    ¡°Oh please. We¡¯re not that stupid,¡± Sapphire added.


    ¡°Well, what''s the offer?¡± Balethon asked. ¡®Really,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself disapprovingly.


    ¡°Why, no less than 500 gold to be paid in various goods.¡± She sounded very impressed with herself at that.


    ¡°Pfft that''s it?¡± Sapphire let out. Sure, that was a shit ton of money. About as much as the keep made a year after all. Still, Tom likely had several times that amount just lying around. Not to mention the countless things that were likely priceless in their own right.


    ¡°That is a very large sum of money, Huntress,¡± The woman stated, sounding slightly offended.


    ¡°Leave!¡± Dakota sneered at her, still pointing at the stairs and placing her other hand on her sword hilt. ¡®Maybe I should have brought a sword too,¡¯ Sapphire wondered to herself. That was certainly an effective threat after all.


    The woman did as instructed, turning away in a huff, trying to seem insulted despite clearly being scared shitless.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get some breakfast,¡± Dakota went, taking a deep breath easing up a bit.


    After eating they elected to spend the day going around the city. Dakota had some errands to run, and they needed to get that appointment at the academy. Once things kick off with the trial they might not have the time after all.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be crazy in there, don¡¯t you think?¡± Sapphire questioned as they were getting ready to head out. ¡°At the Academy I mean.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully Tom knows what he¡¯s doing. I don¡¯t think we will be the ones answering most of the questions after all,¡± Dakota replied, studying herself in the mirror.


    ¡°What about those Flaxen people, think they will try something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure of it. Just not sure what... What would you do if Nunuk was about to bring shame to us all, by being sentenced to something like this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have no idea... Break her out of jail perhaps?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s their reputation they¡¯re worried about, that makes it worse.¡±


    ¡°They aren''t gonna try and kill us, right?¡± Sapphire questioned, suddenly slightly worried.


    ¡°Unless they wanna try to assassinate Hashaw as well it wouldn¡¯t do them much good. She¡¯s the one pressing the charges, technically. So I think we¡¯re quite safe on that front. I¡¯m more worried about Tom.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you think they wanna kill Tom?!¡±


    ¡°No. I think someone might wanna know more about him. So please, do try to restrain yourself when bragging and we don¡¯t travel alone here. We can¡¯t lie to the council, but down here there is no telling who you¡¯re talking to.¡± Sapphire''s mind flashed back to telling about Tom¡¯s little swim with Dakota last night.


    ¡°No, I agree we should be careful.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°We should be coming up on Hylsdal soon,¡± Zarko went, peering out ahead.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s smoke,¡± Jarix stated. Tom sure as fuck couldn¡¯t see it though.


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s smoke alright,¡± Zarko confirmed.


    ¡®Oh come on.¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    ¡°Well someone¡¯s home then,¡± Jackalope added in, not sounding worried.


    ¡°Yeah Looks like chimney smoke. Let¡¯s go low. Skim the trees, Jarix.¡±


    ¡°Skimming the trees,¡± Jarix responded, descending down to as low as he dared. They would maintain this altitude for a while until they were close, then drop down under the canopy for the last leg. There had been no sign of fliers around as they made their approach, finally diving down into the trees at a small clearing.


    ¡°Time for an obstacle course then,¡± Jarix went as he began to weave between the huge trees, not slowing overly much in the process. There was a lot of space between them so it wasn''t too bad. Still, it was clearly more work than cruising. Tom almost started to feel a little sick from the constant banking. First one way, then the other, over and over again.


    ¡°Please¡­ help me,¡± Tom shot up at that.


    ¡°What the hell!?¡± he went. Looking around, the others had clearly heard it too. Shit, that was that mental speech again.


    ¡°Da fuck?! Uhm... Hello?¡± Jackalope tried, also looking around frantically along with the others. There was nothing to be seen though.


    ¡°On your left... please.¡±


    ¡°Left turn,¡± Jarix warned, banking into the turn.


    ¡°By the water,¡± The voice spoke again.


    It didn¡¯t take long before they broke a treeline, entering a clearing with a small water hole in the middle. Tom''s mind was screaming ambush at him as they entered the clearing at speed. He crouched down, unlatching his revolver just in case.


    ¡°Down there,¡± Jarix cried out, sounding troubled. As he went into a dive Tom scrambled to hold on.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡± Zarko let out in alarm.


    ¡°Where?¡± Tom demanded, drawing the revolver. Jarix came down hard, trotting over towards something; Tom managed to get to his feet, gun raised, to see for himself. By the side of the water, a familiar-looking white horse was lying down. Head near the water, horn missing and covered in what looked more like mercury than blood. ¡°Oh that can''t be good.¡±


    ¡°No no no no...¡± Unkai trailed off as he jumped down, sprinting over to the stricken unicorn.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± Zarko confirmed, sliding down herself.


    ¡°Jarix, keep an eye out, would you? This might be a trap,¡± Tom went as he himself jumped down. Jarix responded with a nod craning his neck to look around.


    ¡°Is it dead?¡± Jackalope questioned, as Unkai was frantically looking the unicorn over. Tom took a lap of the creature. He didn¡¯t know shit about unicorns, but this one sure looked familiar, even beaten to shit as it was.


    ¡°Not¡­ quit yet.¡± It sounded calm if strained until it laid eyes on Tom, who was currently wearing his helmet, goggles, and faceplate. ¡°What the! No not like this!¡± it pleaded, trying to get up. Tom instinctively raised his hands, taking a step back. It sounded female and it certainly looked like Kalestine to Tom.


    ¡°It¡¯s cool. I¡¯m the one who made a lot of noise. Noo, problems I won''t hurt you.¡± It did calm down again, looking at him with those emotionless eyes.


    ¡°You look like a demon,¡± she let out in a weak voice. That sounded like Kalestine alright, here to rescue her and she''s got the insults ready.


    ¡°Right, ohhh my gods. Bleeding, bleeding fist¡± Unkai went talking to himself clearly awestruck by the situation. He got to work frantically sealing up cuts. There were a fair few arrow-shafts embedded in her as well.


    ¡°What should I do?¡± Jackalope and Tom asked in unison, looking at each other for a second then turning back to the situation in front of them.


    ¡°Water. Please water,¡± Kalestine pleaded, Tom obliged, unscrewing his bottle, kneeling down, and letting her drink.


    ¡°Jackalope, help wash the wounds,¡± Zarko ordered, sitting down to help Unkai. She applied pressure to the wounds while Unkai worked.


    ¡°So uhm¡­ can you die? I mean, aren''t you capable of saving people,¡± Tom tried, slightly awkwardly.


    It took a bit before she answered. ¡°Yes¡± she replied, looking at him while she drank. ¡®I¡¯m not gonna say this can you hear me?¡¯ Kalestine nodded slowly in response. ¡®people might be very hurt where we are going, is it true your blood can save lives¡¯


    ¡°Only fresh¡± She responded. He looked at the others, how didn¡¯t seem to react so he guessed this was private. ¡®If we find any will you help them¡¯


    She finished drinking. ¡®Don¡¯t know¡¯ it was clear she was struggling, to do whatever she had to do to speak. Tom really hoped she meant she didn¡¯t know if she could, rather than whether she would.


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Zarko questioned, not being blessed with a reply. Which clearly annoyed her.


    ¡°Do you know if the keep is okay?¡± Jackalope tried.


    ¡°No,¡± Came the strained answer.


    ¡°I think she needs to rest,¡± Unkai went, giving a strained sigh as he moved on. ¡°This will hurt. I am truly sorry. Zarko cut it out.¡±


    ¡°Taking a knife to a unicorn, there¡¯s something you don''t do every day. I am truly sorry for this,¡± Zarko went, sounding like she didn¡¯t quite believe what was going on. She started to delicately cut out an arrow, going slowly and carefully. Kalestine didn''t take it very well, thrashing about on the ground.


    ¡°Stop! It hurts!¡± she went in a demanding tone. Tom had been expecting a headache, though nothing came. In fact, even in his head, she sounded weak and tame.


    ¡°We need to get them out,¡± Zarko protested. Unkai nearly froze, looking at the unicorn in horror. ¡°Jackalope, help hold her down, would you? And do your job, guardsman!¡± Unkai snapped back into reality and the two of them continued to work on the arrows, Jackalope holding down the unicorn¡¯s head.


    ¡°This feels heretical,¡± Jackalope protested as Kalestine fought against her. It was clear the unicorn was a spent force though, failing to put up much resistance.


    ¡°Now, now. It will be over soon,¡± Tom tried in his best nanny voice, hoping he wasn¡¯t just insulting her.


    ¡°The more you struggle, the more it hurts and the more you bleed,¡± Zarko observed as she and Unkai continued to work.


    Kalestine was clearly in great pain, letting out some very distressed neighing that almost sounded more like screaming.


    ¡°That''s one out. You¡¯re doing great,¡± Unkai tried, in an encouraging tone. It was clear he was struggling himself though. Tom guessed that working on what was sort of like a demigod, at least to him, was a rather stressful situation. Kalestine continued to thrash around for the more painful parts, but she did stop protesting the procedure.


    It took a while to get the arrows out, but they managed it. After that, it was mostly cuts and bruises and a rather nasty stab wound. She did eventually ease up a bit, breathing growing more steady as the most painful parts of the procedure were over.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± She finally went in a meek voice. Jackalope got off her and stood back up.


    ¡°See, there you go, good as new¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just come get us?¡± Tom questioned. Kalestine responded with a distressed whinney. Zarko lent over to him, and speaking in a hushed tone said,


    ¡°Her horn, Tom.¡±


    ¡®Well shit,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking at the broken stump. ¡®How does something like that even happen?¡¯

 That Can鈥檛 be Good

    Chapter 77: That Can¡¯t be Good


    ¡°Hey look, Saph, they have little figurines,¡± Balethon said from one of the market-stands. The three of them had been browsing around for a bit looking for anything interesting. Sapphire didn¡¯t know if she had been spoiled by Tom, but she couldn¡¯t find much she wanted and what she did want was way too expensive. The figurines Balethon had found were rather cute though. There were dragons, unicorns, even vargulfs and a pjeltor.


    Sapphire picked up the disgusting looking thing. ¡®why does it have to have that many eyes? and all those legs are just unnecessary.¡¯ All in all it gave her the creeps as she put it back. No way that thing was going on a shelf in her room.


    She had settled on wanting that small painting though, but as of yet hadn¡¯t found someone who had one she liked. She was also yet to find any books, though the lack of them at the marketplace would suggest they were well out of her price range, just as she had feared.


    They had already swung by the academy to see about getting that appointment. Sapphire had been a little surprised Lady Ishani couldn''t squeeze them in for another four days, but that at least gave the scouting team plenty of time to make it back.


    ¡°What about a hunting knife for Tom?¡± Balethon asked, having already moved on to the next stand where Dakota was, as Sapphire stood admiring the figures.


    Dakota picked up one of the merchant''s blades to inspect. ¡°Shiva can make it better and cheaper,¡± she went, not paying the offended looking merchant any mind. ¡°Might be back later for that though, very nice engraving,¡± she continued, pointing to a halberd hanging on the rear wall of the stall.


    Sapphire moved over for a look. It was definitely a finely made weapon. ¡°Think Tom could swing it?¡± Dakota questioned looking to Sapphire.


    ¡°Sure, he could, but would he like it?¡±


    ¡°Like it?!¡± The merchant broke out, clearly fed up with them insulting his stuff. ¡°This here is no mere lump of metal, it¡¯s the finest steel money can buy. No self-respecting individual wouldn¡¯t want this by his side.¡±


    ¡°Still only steel though,¡± Dakota replied. Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure irritating the merchant was the best strategy if Dakota wanted it, but what did she know?


    ¡°You ain¡¯t gonna find mithril out here lassy. That stuff is locked away where it¡¯s nice and safe. Not that you could afford such a weapon.¡±


    ¡°Out of curiosity, what would such a fine weapon cost me?¡± Okay, Sapphire guessed Dakota was actually bartering rather than just insulting the man then.


    ¡°I take twenty-five gold for a mithril blade.¡±


    ¡°Good to know. I might be in touch,¡± she went, walking off. Sapphire and Balethon turning to follow.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Sapphire asked as they walked.


    ¡°We might be doing some heavy shopping. I wanna know where the good stuff is, of course, and he didn''t have it.¡±


    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Balaton asked.


    ¡°A proper mithril smith, Tom wanted some ingots for a project. And a proper mithril sword is at least fifty, and that''s not even a great one.¡±


    Sapphire and Balethon just looked at each other for a second. ¡®I guess she''s expecting a lot from those drawings then,¡¯ Sapphire concluded to herself.


    ¡°Now let''s have a look at the list. We need an alchemist, an inventor, quotations mark ¡®not the crazy kind,¡¯ whatever that means¡­ paper... linseed oil, okay that should be easy¡­ Sapphire, can you remember why he wanted porcelain clay¡­ where do you even get that?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Kalestine had been given some time to come to her senses, the bleeding having been staunched and her thirst slaked. She was still clearly incredibly weak though.


    ¡°Mind telling us what¡¯s going on?¡± Tom tried again.


    ¡°Went to help the cutest little deer,¡± Kalestine finally replied, though she appeared to be struggling quite a bit. ¡°It was hurt and left behind¡­ I called him Bemy. When I arrived¡­ some big bastard thing hit me in the face and broke my beautiful horn!¡± She descended back into the distressed whinnying, which Tom guessed was either crying or some kind of tantrum.


    ¡°Broke your horn? Just like that?¡± Tom questioned incredulously. The dragonettes had told him stories of just how powerful a unicorn was supposed to be. And something just fucking broke her horn like that?!


    ¡°It¡¯s slapped me through a tree damn you.¡± Yeah okay that sounded bad. ¡°Such a fine oak too.¡± She continued.


    ¡®Da fuck is wrong with you?¡¯ Tom thought to himself. Slapped through a tree and she was more worried about the tree. Her head turned towards him as she let out a snort. ¡®Oh right, sorry¡¯


    ¡°What of the keep? Do you know if they are okay?¡± Zarko tried, crouching down in front of Kalestine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I can¡¯t hear it¡­ my beautiful forest¡­ so silent.¡± god good she sounded miserable.


    Tom poked Unkai and tried to convey, ¡°The fuck does that mean?¡± through facial expressions. Unkai responded with a distressed-looking shrug and shake of the head.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the horn,¡± Jackalope stated, looking at the two of them. ¡°No need to be sneaky, she can hear your thoughts.¡± Right, he really needed to get used to this.


    ¡°So there are bad guys around, you are very injured, and we have two keeps to scout, both quite likely in trouble. Where were you attacked?¡± Zarko tried again, clearly getting a little irritated by the lack of a useful response.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I went blindly.¡±


    ¡°Like a blind jump?¡± Tom questioned. ¡°You didn¡¯t know where you were going?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t go far, I can¡¯t hear the forest. I didn''t know where to go.¡±


    ¡°Right, so they are around here somewhere. Either we hide her or we bring her, your call,¡± Tom went, looking to Zarko and Jarix, who had trotted up behind her.


    ¡°She needs to rest,¡± Unkai interjected. ¡°I say we hide her.¡±


    ¡°Well, they do like to run,¡± Jarix added, looking down at them. Tom felt a little bit of cold indignation in the back of his mind. Kalestine didn¡¯t say anything though.


    ¡°So do we if we find anything today, big boy,¡± Zarko responded. ¡°We have work to do. Me, Tom and Jackalope will go to the keep. You two stay here with her, make her a hiding place.¡±


    ¡°Right let¡¯s go then,¡± Jackalope went, sounding enthusiastic, though she was looking rather worriedly at Kalestine.


    They had taken to the wing, Tom being juggled back and forth as per usual and ending up on Jackalope¡¯s back as they made for the keep through the trees. It shouldn¡¯t be far despite their unexpected early stop.


    ¡°We stick to the plan,¡± Tom went as they weaved effortlessly through the large trees.


    ¡°Yup. Go in on foot, let you get close enough to see things, then run like hell if they see us.¡±


    ¡°Right on.¡±


    It was a few minutes before the trees began thinning out and Jackalope went in to land. Tom jumped off, giving her a knuckle knock on the shoulder for good luck. Zarko putting down beside them.


    ¡°Right then, you stay behind me 10 meters minimum but keep an eye on me. If I run, wait for me to catch up,¡± Tom went, looking at the two of them unslinging his rifle and making sure it was loaded. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    He changed his cape to get as close to the forest floor as he could get and moved crouched down low. He could hear the two dragonettes following behind him, making a lot more noise than he would have liked. He guessed they weren''t really used to this sneaky thing yet. It was still a minute or two on foot to the edge of the trees where he could see through into open terrain. In front of him was a small valley. On the far side, a fair way to his left, stood a small keep.


    More precisely, the ruins of a small keep. ¡®Fuck me,¡¯ he thought to himself, bringing up the rifle to have a closer look. It was a bit squatter than Bizmati Keep and slightly smaller, but definitely a keep. It looked like the walls still stood like nothing was wrong, but the stone was scorched and most of the woodwork was either gone or charred to oblivion.


    As he scanned around there was no sign of life. The animal pens were empty, though most of the exterior buildings appeared unharmed. The smoke they had thought was from a chimney was trailing up from the keep itself, so something was still smoldering inside.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    He sat there scanning for a minute or two without spotting anything before he brought up his hand, gesturing the girls forward. Both of them slowly making their way up to him.


    ¡°Holy shit,¡± Jackalope let out, trying to be hushed but failing, quite badly. Not that it mattered at this range, nor did Tom blame her.


    ¡°Not much to save there,¡± Zarko added, sounding a bit too indifferent for Tom''s taste. That had been the home of around twenty people and kids, if Nunuk was right.


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t,¡± he retorted, in a dark tone. ¡°There''s still smoke, so it happened recently. Can¡¯t see anything moving, so I want a closer look.¡±


    ¡°What if they are hiding like last time?¡± Jackalope questioned, clearly not too thrilled with the prospect of going inside.


    ¡°Then we flush them out. You got that grenade for a reason.¡± Tom went patting her on the hip.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get the boys, then I say we start with a fly-by, they might just come crawling out of there.¡± Tom didn¡¯t like the mental picture of darklings crawling out of the burnt down keep. He had to agree that a fly-by was probably a better idea than simply walking over there though.


    They had returned in silence. This was the worst-case scenario pretty much. Now only the possibility of survivors remained. Jackalope was quite on the way back, Tom did his best to give her a hug as they flew. This was bound to hit very close to home for her after all. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°I''m fine... this happens¡± Yeah she wasn¡¯t


    ¡°It really shouldn¡¯t¡±


    ¡°No, but it does¡± She responded coldly. Tom elected to not pursue it any further. Instead trying to imitate that nuzzling thing they did, Which did get him a sad chuckle from her as they flew.


    Unkai and Jarix had managed to put together a small shelter by propping up some large branches against a tree. Kalestine had barely been able to get to her feet to walk over there, even with all of them helping her stay on her feet. She had refused the offer to have Jarix just pick her up though, so some pride remained.


    ¡°You will be okay, right?¡± Unkai questioned worriedly. He had asked to be left behind being denied by both Tom and Zarko. Tom was hoping Kalestine wouldn¡¯t be his last patient today, and Zarko was worried about leading the darklings back here if they returned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine at some point, not my first injury,¡± Kalestine replied, seemingly a lot calmer, not to mention more respectful, towards Unkai. ¡°But it was my first horn,¡± She continued, her voice cracking and switching into a kid ready to bawl. Tom was perhaps being a little hard on her; she had been messed up bad after all. If she said she would be fine then that was all he needed to hear. They had shit to do after all.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Sure, I have made the odd useful item here and there. Mostly I make my automatic horn polishing machines. They are all the rage these days.¡±


    As Sapphire looked around the very empty looking shop/workshop she was currently standing in she seriously doubted that. Still, this was pretty much the only guy they had found this far with a hope in hell of making Tom¡¯s inventions, and he was a part of the city¡¯s engineering guild. So far they had spent pretty much the whole day going from workshop to workshop. Everyone they had found had done large scale stuff like cranes, siege engines, and construction. This guy though seemed to have a knack for small stuff.


    ¡°I also made a wind-powered rotary washing line, so it will spin round when drying inside for quicker drying.¡±


    ¡°Why not just put the washing outside?¡± Dakota question, clearly not sold on the idea.


    ¡°What if it¡¯s raining, huh? Didn¡¯t think of that did you?¡± The slightly decrepit looking older man went.


    Though his appearance was messy, Sapphire didn¡¯t get the feeling he was necessarily poor. Looking around she could see plenty of expensive things, so she guessed he was the type that put it all into his work rather than himself.


    ¡°Well, mister Tink,¡± Sapphire shook her head a bit, she still didn¡¯t believe that was his actual name. He had insisted though, so fuck it. ¡°We don¡¯t actually want you to invent anything. We want you to make our invention. Before I show you, you will have to sign here,¡± she went, placing the piece of parchment on the table. ¡°This is called a nondisclosure agreement.¡±


    ¡°What does that do?¡± Tink asked, seemingly a little unwilling to sign something he didn''t know what was. ¡®Has some common sense then,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she watched.


    ¡°It means you can¡¯t go blabbing about what we are about to show you. Not that you would want to of course. You will want to keep these things between us, so you get to make them. Sanctioned by the guild of course.¡±


    Tink picked up the quill, signing the parchment ¡°Oh sure, nobody wants my designs anyway. They say they are too complicated to build. I say polliwog to that.¡± Sapphire glanced at Balethon for a second, who just shrugged clearly not knowing what that was either. ¡°What have you got in mind for little old me?¡±


    Sapphire looked to Dakota, who cracked a bit of a smile. ¡°Well, mister Tink. These,¡± she went, pulling up the satchel and taking out the designs for the lighter, pencil, and compass. ¡°This is a fire starter; a flick of the finger and your torch, pipe, candle, or whatever is lit. That is a writing implement that doesn''t need ink, doesn''t dry out, and can be kept in your pocket. And that is a small dial that always points north for navigation, using something called a naggnet,¡± Dakota went, standing back up crossing her arms, looking very pleased with herself.


    Looking back, Sapphire should maybe have been standing by to catch the inventor as he hit the floor.


    ¡°Ooh, ouch,¡± Balethon went as Tink¡¯s head bounced off the table on the way down. Sapphire just grimaced.


    ¡°My bad,¡± Tink junior went, walking over to his old man. The young apprentice looked to be in a lot better shape than his father, though he was still covered in a disconcerting amount of black smudges and oil. Sapphire helped to drag Tink into a chair as Junior went to get some water.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a sell,¡± Sapphire went, looking back at Dakota who looked like she felt a little bad about that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do we need the flag?¡± Jarix questioned as they were climbing up over the forest away from the keep. If there were enemy lookouts they didn¡¯t want to be spotted until they had a sizable speed and altitude advantage.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go get it out,¡± Zarko replied as she clambered down the harness on to Jarix¡¯s belly. ¡°Got it,¡± she went as Tom heard the weight line drop. It was a rather simple system. A lead weight on a rope with a flag attached towards the bottom. So they now had a nice big flag fluttering in the wind beneath them. If there were friendlies down there, they wanted the flag to avoid a repeat of what had nearly happened when Lady Flaxen came in.


    When the altitude was deemed sufficient, Jarix swung around still climbing, heading towards the keep. They would come diving down on top of it, hopefully provoking anyone inside to give chase. They were obviously betting on the darklings being dumb enough to do so, which Zarko seemed to believe they would be. Unless someone was telling them what to do.


    ¡°What, they can¡¯t think or what?¡±


    ¡°Oh, they can think alright. They just can¡¯t disobey and order. Imagine sending a squad of soldiers out for a week with only one set of orders. You are gonna make them pretty broad, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m mean sure.¡±


    ¡°So if they have been told to defend the keep, they will come after us if they think we are a threat to the keep,¡± she stated, clearly finding it obvious.


    ¡°Boom time?¡± Jarix questioned excitedly.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t hit the keep, go for the ground near it that should do,¡± Zarko responded. ¡°And only a little one, save it for later might need it.¡±


    ¡°Roger that,¡± Jarix responded. Jackalope poked Tom on the shoulder as she leaned over.


    ¡°What was it like to be on him when he did it last time?¡±


    ¡°It made the hair on my neck stand on end,¡± Tom responded, not figuring out the problem until he saw Jackalope''s slightly confused expression. Then she grabbed him, bending him over forward to inspect the back of his neck.


    ¡°Ohhh, they¡¯re so cute! Look Zarko, he has like little baby hairs back here.¡± Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure how best to react to this situation, so he just went with it. Her stroking the back of his neck was actually kinda nice, even if his current position was a little uncomfortable.


    ¡°Sure do,¡± he responded, accepting his fate. It almost reminded him of when he had first come here and they had taken turns to play with his hair.


    Unkai had then come over to join in, which was a little less okay with Tom.


    ¡°What are those for?¡± The healer questioned. Tom sat back up. ¡°No clue, but they can feel when there is electricity in the air, so that¡¯s cool.¡±


    ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t you say electricity was just weak lightning?¡± Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°Yupp.¡±


    ¡°You can feel lightning?¡± Zarko questioned. ¡°Not just hear it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I feel it all over. Neck hairs are just the most sensitive.¡±


    ¡°You are fucking strange you know that, right?¡± Zarko continued.


    ¡°He¡¯s awesome, you¡¯re just jealous,¡± Jackalope responded, clasping her arms around Tom, dragging him into an embrace.


    ¡°Nah, girl, you do you. Ready to dive yet, big boy?¡±


    ¡°Sure this should do, hang on.¡±


    Well, for once Tom felt very secure as Jackalope didn¡¯t let go of him, her feet instead clasping onto the hand¡­ foot holds?... Handles. Clasping onto the handles. The dive wasn¡¯t anywhere near as steep as what they had done before. Jarix did pick up a considerable amount of speed though. Tom made sure to tighten his goggles, just in case. Tom was almost worried Jackalope would let go to put her arms in the air. She held on tight though, perhaps a little too tight but he wasn¡¯t complaining.


    They eventually leveled out with the keep dead ahead. Tom felt the hairs on his neck and arms stand on end as the very recognizable whine of Jarix preparing to fire filled the air, followed by a sharp crack as the beam shot down towards the ground, impacting near the base of the keep in a shower of sparks and tendrils of lightning.


    Jarix pulled up, going left of the keep, wingtip coming within a few meters of it. As they climbed away all looking back down towards the keep getting smaller behind them, but nothing happened.


    ¡°Well that is both good and bad,¡± Zarko then went. ¡°I guess we are landing then. Go down and circle the keep for a bit, then come in for a landing. I¡¯ll get the flag back in¡±


    ¡°Roger that,¡± Jarix replied, banking over to dive back down the way they came. As they circled the keep, there wasn¡¯t a soul to be seen. Not even a scared animal fleeing. It was just dead. They kept circling for a few minutes, eventually setting down in a grassy meadow outside of all the smaller buildings.


    ¡°You stay at the edge, big guy, ready to go airborne right away. Tom, you stay up here,¡± Zarko ordered. Tom didn¡¯t have a problem with that plan. If they needed to get out in a hurry the last thing they needed was to have him along to worry about.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. Remember Jacky, finger off the trigger till it¡¯s time,¡± he went looking at Jackalope who was getting out the revolver.


    ¡°Locked and loaded,¡± She replied. Cheesy as that was Tom didn¡¯t smile; this was not a funny situation. Instead, he just nodded at her. ¡°Be careful okay, an arrow to the neck and you¡¯re dead no matter how awesome you are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful I promise,¡± she replied, jumping off.


    ¡°Do I get some words of encouragement?¡± Zarko questioned, clearly directing her question at Jarix.


    ¡°Uhhm... shoot first and don''t get shot.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, big guy,¡± She replied, jumping off too.


    ¡°Well fuck me I guess¡± It came from Unkai after a bit of a wait, sounding like he was trying ot seem cool.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Tom went without taking his eye off the keep.


    Zarko was carrying one of the crossbows, Unkai a sword and shield, and Jackalope had the revolver as well as a nasty looking warhammer by her side. All in all, they were ready for a fight, even if there were just three of them.


    ¡°Looks like we are on overwatch then, Jarix,¡± Tom went, getting the rifle ready.


    ¡°Good, that sounds so much cooler than lookout,¡± Jarix responded, walking up to the edge of the buildings.


    ¡°We aren''t here to be cool. This is a grave Jarix. And a lost home.¡± Jarix didn¡¯t respond, but Tom did feel the dragon sag a bit. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, let¡¯s just get everyone home safe okay.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right, I¡¯m here to prevent this¡­ not clean up the mess.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we didn¡¯t know, nothing we could have done. So we go one step at a time. Right now we need to know if someone made it¡±


    ¡°Roger that,¡± Jarix replied, clearly not letting go of the notion entirely. Tom couldn¡¯t blame him for it. At least there weren''t any bodies to look at.

 Hope Once Lost

    Chapter 78: Hope Once Lost


    ¡°How many do you think you can make?¡± Balethon questioned the older inventor.


    ¡°I... I have no idea. I need to take this higher up the chain. This is astonishing. How did you come up with all this?¡± Tink responded, clearly still awestruck.


    ¡°We didn''t, we are just middlemen,¡± Dakota answered for them.


    ¡°I suppose I don¡¯t get to meet the genius behind this then?¡± Tink responded in a slightly hopeful tone.


    ¡°Perhaps in time, but for now I¡¯m afraid not. He has too much to do already.¡±


    ¡°I understand, a mind like this must surely never be at rest.¡± Dakota and Sapphire just looked at each other with slightly pained expressions at just how accurate that statement was.


    ¡°What would you even sell something like this for?¡± He went, looking at the designs for the lighter.


    ¡°I say make the nobles pay a shit ton for it. Then, when they all got one, make them cheaply for everyone,¡± Dakota replied. ¡®Solid plan,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t even cost that much to make. It¡¯s so simple. You could make it out of gold though, that should jack up the price.¡± Sapphire was almost afraid he might drool on the precious pages, if anything he was being extremely careful with them though. ¡°I¡¯ll schedule a meeting with the craftmaster as soon as possible. Junior, go see if you can go find some of that nasty powder they used for the play. That sounds like exactly what we need.¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Junior replied enthusiastically as he bolted out the door.


    Sapphire shivered a bit at the notion that someone had agreed to be doused in a powder that made you look like a darkling. She guessed it was some desperate souls trying to please the higher-ups, hoping to get a proper role at some point. It certainly showed dedication, that was for sure.


    ¡°Now I have most of what we need. I¡¯ll get the rest, and put together some prototypes. Though I might need some time for that naggnet thing¡­ I can¡¯t believe that would work¡­ but I don¡¯t have anything that is, what did he call it, naggnetic.¡±Sapphire didn¡¯t blame him, it sounded like magic without magic being involved. Then again, that was applicable to most of the things Tom had brought.


    ¡°Yeah, he speaks weird,¡± Dakota replied dismissively. It wasn¡¯t their fault no one short of Esmeralda could make those stupid lip sounds.


    ¡°Maybe just the lighter and the dencil for now then,¡± Dakota went, looking down to the pages.


    ¡°That should do for now, yes.¡±


    ¡°Oh sure, those are amazing in their own right. I want some of those dencils immediately. And you say you can make the lines go away with that strange soft thing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he calls it a rudder.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that for steering with?¡± Sapphire questioned. She was fairly sure rudder in English was the thing ships used to steer, she could be wrong though.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say it the way he does, okay? We''re calling it a rudder. It makes corrections anyway, it¡¯s mostly right.¡±


    ¡°He also called it an eraser,¡± Sapphire added, Tom had definitely used that before.


    ¡°That sounds sinister. I vote for rudder,¡± Tink went, putting his hand in the air, being joined by Dakota. Sapphire just shrugged, she didn¡¯t care either way. Balethon eventually put his hand in the air, too, after Dakota stared a bit at him.


    ¡°That¡¯s decided then, the lighter, the dencil, and the rudder. I want you to make copies of these. I''m keeping the originals.¡±


    ¡°Of course, follow me,¡± Tink went, waving them along to another room full of parchments and drawing implements.


    It had taken until after sundown to get the plans and all the instructions for how to make it all copied over. It really didn¡¯t help that some of the stuff was clearly written by Tom. He really needed to work on his handwriting in Draconic. Tink Junior had returned with a small bag of the strange grey powder, which apparently turned everything it touched grey. Sapphire made sure to steer well clear of that bag. That stuff could likely get you killed in some of the less nice parts of town.


    Now though they were once again sitting at the tavern enjoying the fairly nice meal. They hadn¡¯t discussed prices with Tink, since this was likely going to be a deal stuck with the entire guild rather than just the lone inventor guy. Dakota had also told them not to talk too loudly about the sums of money likely involved. It was bad enough they had people lined up at the tavern asking for stories about Tom. They didn¡¯t need to be robbed as well.


    Sapphire didn¡¯t mind much, but she could see the problem. Besides, Haiko had gotten some of his friends to come over and say ¡®Hi,¡¯ so they sort of ended up with a shell of people around them who could keep the annoying ones away. It almost felt like the old days for Sapphire before she had left for Bizmati Keep. She had eventually grown tired of all the attention, but it was rather nostalgic to once again be the center of conversation in a tavern even if it wasn''t strictly her being talked about.


    Dakota had stayed with them tonight as well, so they all three ended up having a pleasant evening; Canabrera of course also showed up again to hang out with her new boy toy.


    ¡°Damn I¡¯m glad we could afford two rooms,¡± Dakota went as the two lovebirds retired for the night.


    ¡°I think he is too,¡± Haiko added in, bringing up his mug for a cheer. They hadn¡¯t been party drinking like the first night, just having a good time. That was all.


    Sapphire hoped they weren''t having too bad of a time back home. Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t find anything at the keeps, go home and go about things like normal. They had already been attacked twice this year. It would be pretty fucking bad luck if it happened again.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Anyone here?¡± Jackalope tried after they had been searching around for about ten minutes. Not finding anything. Not even a dead chicken. There were trails of animal blood around the pens, and the doors had been busted in using something very nasty. The thick metal-reinforced doors had been reduced to splinters on the lower level. The keep didn¡¯t sit high on a cliff-like Bizmati Keep, so it was possible someone could just have walked up with a battering ram and knocked them in. The massive claw marks on the stone would suggest otherwise though.


    ¡°Hello, we¡¯re here to help!¡± Unkai went, bracing his shield, but receiving no response.


    Tom and Jarix were holding positions at the edge of the buildings. Jarix facing away, ready to bolt, while also keeping an eye out for anything approaching. Tom was sitting on his back, rifle at the ready, keeping an eye on the dragonettes as they searched. Going inside had not been an option, the woodwork having collapsed into itself, leaving just the husk of the walls.


    ¡°Jarix, give it a go will you?¡± Zarko went before getting back to rummaging through one of the empty stables with the other two.


    Jarix swung his head around bellowing out, ¡°I am Jarix, dragon of the Royal Guard. We mean you no harm, please come out if you are hiding.¡± Tom just sighed, there wasn¡¯t a soul here.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s get moving, they might be scouting out the next keep. Maybe we can help them instead.¡± Tom went, reluctantly looking around at the devastation.


    ¡°Shhs!¡± Jarix demanded, head swinging around, ears perked. Tom did as instructed, going quiet as a mouse.


    The dragon turned around and began to walk in between the buildings, stopping periodically and clearly concentrating.


    ¡°Found something?¡± Zarko went, walking over. A hint of optimism in her voice.


    ¡°Quiet,¡± Jarix demanded, bringing his head down low to the ground, like the world''s largest sniffer dog. Eventually ending up right next to the keep. ¡°There you are,¡± he went, as he began digging.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zarko tried again.


    ¡°There¡¯s something making noise down there.¡±


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°They made a hidey-hole?¡± Jackalope questioned, coming over at a jog. Jarix didn¡¯t respond as he just kept digging, shoveling great big chunks of earth out of the way.


    ¡°Come on, where are you?¡± Jarix questioned, looking around a bit before continuing to dig. Eventually, the sound of claw on stone was heard as Jarx backed out of the hole panting, which was now at least two meters deep. Tom wanted to comment on just how effective a digger Jarix apparently was, but this was a lot more important. He still had a job to do, so he remained on Jarix¡¯s back looking around for signs of trouble.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Jackalope questioned, looking into the hole.


    ¡°It¡¯s cut stone that¡¯s what it is. Jarix we need to crack it open,¡± Zarko responded looking in, optimism in her tone.


    ¡°But what if someone is inside?¡±


    ¡°Not blow it up,¡± Zarko protested. ¡°Dig it out, man.¡±


    Jarix breathed deeply, moving around the big hole a bit inspecting it, before getting back to it. ¡°It looks like a tunnel or corridor. Why aren''t they saying anything?¡± Jarix questioned as he began to unearth what looked to Tom almost like an air raid shelter made out of stone, the tunnel leading out from the keep.


    It took a fair few minutes of digging to uncover the stone arch that made up the roof of the tunnel, but eventually they found the end.


    ¡°If anyone is in there, go towards the keep,¡± Jarix tried shouting at the bunker, not receiving a response.


    ¡°They should be able to hear us right?¡± Jackalope questioned.


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Zarko responded, looking at Jarix, expression turning worried.


    ¡°I swear I heard something. They must still be alive,¡± he went, a hint of desperation in his voice as he began clawing at the stone looking for a place to grab hold. The sound of claws scraping across stone was truly a horrible one, and Radexi was likely also going to be pissed that the time he put into sharpening and polishing Jarix claws was being wasted like this. Eventually, Jarix managed to get a grip on one of the keystones. He moved to get some better leverage before Tom felt him tense and strain under him. The stone sliding out slowly. ¡°Fuck that¡¯s heavy,¡± Jarix protested as the block came free and the arch crashed into the tunnel.


    ¡°Anyone home?¡± Jackalope shouted down the hole. Tom brought up the rifle. There was no telling whether it was friend or foe inside. No one came out though. ¡°Do we go in for a look?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we do. Keep an eye out for us,¡± Tom went, sliding down and taking off his goggles to make room for the NVGs. ¡°On my lead, I can see down there you can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Good luck down there,¡± Zarko replied. ¡°Remember, we need to hurry, sun''s getting low already.¡±


    ¡°Tom the tunnel rat, down we go,¡± Tom whispered to himself. ¡°Right you follow me, might want to keep your warhammer at the ready,¡± He went, looking to Jackalope who reluctantly holstered the revolver. Tom took a quick breath psyching himself up. There was a very good chance that this was not gonna be a nice experience.


    Before they could start descending a hand grabbed the side of the stone. A very young-looking dragonette dragged its head out into the stone, gasping for breath, shaking like it was freezing to death.


    Tom slid down the slope, Jackalope following close behind. ¡°They¡¯re alive!¡± she let out excitedly.


    ¡®Yes, but how many?¡¯ Tom thought to himself bleakly as his feet hit the top of the stone arch.


    ¡°Come on, buddy,¡± He went, grabbing a hold of the dragonette, it appeared to be a male. Tom guessed he wasn¡¯t much older than ten. The dragonette coughed and sputtered all while trying to hyperventilate as Tom lifted him up. ¡°Form a chain, get him up, and lie him down,¡± Tom went, handing the boy over to Jackalope who took him, handing off to Zarko further up the bank.


    Tom peeked inside, but couldn¡¯t see shit through the darkness. Flipping the NVG¡¯s down he was met with bodies lying on the ground and slumped up against the walls. Not one of them older than the one who had clambered out. Tom just froze staring at what was in front of him. ¡®They tried to save the kids¡­ I¡¯m gonna- No. Get them out, get them out, get them out!¡¯


    ¡°Jacky, I¡¯ll send them up, get them out and get them breathing!¡± Tom went, discarding his rifle in the dirt as he scrambled to get inside. The air was more stale than he had ever experienced, and it reeked. He rushed over to the first body, it looked to be a girl of around Anastasi¡¯s age, and she wasn¡¯t breathing. ¡°Take her, go go go!¡± She shouted at Jackalope handing the kid up going back for the next one.


    There were four more kids inside, and the smallest was younger than he had ever seen. Likely not even a year old yet. It was wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in a woven basket being clutched by one of the older kids.


    Tom took the basket, dragging the older kid along. When he returned she was still standing there looking at the girl, tears in her eyes. ¡°I said get her out! NOW!¡± She snapped to it, frantically handing the girl up to Zarko and turning back to take the boy as Tom handed him up. She made an involuntary gasping squeak upon seeing the baby as she took it, staring at it for a second before passing it on.


    The last two kids seemed to be siblings of maybe six or seven who were sitting wrapped up around each other. They looked like two drops of water, even entangels as they were. Tom picked them both up, carrying them to the hole Jarix had made. ¡°That¡¯s everyone,¡± He went, looking up to Jackalope, the light blinding him. He felt her take one of them as he held the kids up, then the other. With the last kid out, he turned back to see if the door led anywhere. He would shoot himself if he left one down here.


    There was a door at the far end, which he guessed led to a basement of some kind. Grabbing the handle it wouldn¡¯t budge. He ran at it, shoulder checking it with no success. He walked back to have another run when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder spinning him around.


    ¡°They aren''t breathing! Do something!¡± Jackalope screamed at him, shaking him by the shoulders.


    Tom glanced back at the door before turning back to Jackalope, his mind snapping back to what meager training he had in first aid. ¡®Enclosed space, fire nearby. CO2 poisoning and or asphyxiation. Give oxygen and assist breathing.¡¯ ¡°Same as with Dakota,¡± He responded to the distraught Jackalope, making his way past her to the entrance. He gave her a leg up and she held an arm up for him to grab. As he grabbed hold she pulled him up in one motion, catching him by surprise for a second.


    The two of them scrambled up the side of the hole, throwing dirt behind them. In the grass above, the six kids were laid out. The one who had crawled out by himself having crawled over to the youngest, bawling his eyes out.


    ¡°How many are breathing?¡± Tom demanded as he got out of the hole. The panicked expression on Unkai didn¡¯t bode well.


    ¡°One of the twins, the boy who climbed out, and the one who had the basket,¡± came the desperate-sounding response. ¡®No no no, right focus.¡¯


    Tom moved over to the girl he had dragged out first to demonstrate. ¡°Blow into their mouth and let them breathe out, then compress their chest like this,¡± he went, demonstrating the basic maneuver. ¡°Press hard, if something cracks keep going. Do not stop,¡± The others spread out between the kids trying their best to do as Tom had shown.


    Tom moved to the baby who the oldest kid was caressing with a hand, trying to say something while crying. Tom couldn¡¯t make it out nor did he have time to try. He picked up the little one, ripping off his helmet and putting his ear to their chest... nothing.


    He put his mouth over its snout and blew gently, filling its chest with air. After repeating it a few times, he put them on the ground and started to gently massage their chest as firmly as he dared. Trying desperately to coax some life into the little one. To his credit, the older kid seemingly understood Tom was trying to help, as he just sat there, on his knees, watching Tom work.


    ¡°Are they okay?¡± Jarix questioned, voice quivering at what he was seeing. Tom didn¡¯t answer, instead of giving the young one another few breaths before continuing. The little guy refusing to take a breath.


    Finally, a new cough was heard as the twin Unkai had been working on took a breath by themselves. Tom looked over to see Unkai hugging the kid like two old friends meeting again. ¡®Okay this will work, this has to work,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, returning to the little one. She was so tiny, hell he could probably make a nest on a laptop and she''d be perfectly comfortable.


    He kept just working away. ¡®Come on little one, come back to us you ain''t done yet.¡¯ The older kid didn¡¯t leave Tom¡¯s side, watching intently, his crying having subsided to a sob as he looked at the little one with all the love in the world.


    ¡°Come on sissy, you can do it,¡± he sniffed out. ¡®You better fucking live,¡¯ Tom cursed the child. Yet she stubbornly refused to breathe.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you live!¡± He heard Jackalope desperately scream out from behind him, he turned to see her still pounding away on the chest of the young girl he had gotten out first.


    He turned back to the little kid, he couldn''t press any harder or he would break her, she was so little, so fragile¡­ she was broken. Tom cursed his vision again, he could hardly see anything. He took a second to wipe his eyes, gloved hand coming away wet. ¡®Just keep going it will work.¡¯


    ¡°She will live right?¡± The older kid asked, clearly starting to cry again. ¡°She¡¯s doing good. You¡¯re doing good, sissy. You''re gonna make it.¡± Tom didn¡¯t respond, he didn¡¯t know what to say. He had no idea how long she had been going now. Nor when the girl had stopped breathing to begin with.


    ¡°He¡¯s doing his best,¡± he heard Zarko go from behind him, tone calm and soothing unlike he had heard from her yet.


    ¡®Do not make the promise, I mustn''t lie,¡¯ He heard Jackalope scream out again, in frustration, he could hear the pain in her voice.


    ¡°She¡¯ll live right! Please!¡± the older kid went again, nearly screaming at him, tears flying as Tom worked. More breaths, more compressions, more breaths, more compressions. Had this been an adult he would have been worn out by now. Eventually Zarko put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Tom, does she have a chance?¡± She asked very gently, leaving her hand on his shoulder. Tom looked up, glancing around. The sun was starting to hang low in the sky. The building''s shadows growing longer. He looked back down at the little girl. She didn¡¯t deserve this. To die like that. To die yet...


    ¡®No, she doesn¡¯t,¡¯ he had to force himself to think. His shoulders sagging as he leaned back covering his face. The older kid broke down crying delicately, running a finger along his little sister''s cheek, before planting his face in the ground and screaming as tears streamed down his face.


    Tom just clutched his hair, glancing around desperately. Unkai had taken over working on the girl. She wasn¡¯t gonna make it either. They had been too slow.


    ¡°You can fix it, right?¡± Jarix tried from overhead, voice filled with false hope. ¡°You fix things.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s dead, Jarix,¡± Zarko responded, getting to her feet, Jarix letting out a distressed whimper. She left Tom sitting there as he looked at the miserable scene. The twins were embracing each other looking at him, the boy with the basket buried his face in Unkai as he toiled to no avail.


    Tom stared back down at the baby, then picked her up, wrapping her gently in the blanket and placing her in the basket. ¡®We got four Tom¡­ we saved four,¡¯ he repeated to himself.


    The older kid finally looked up at him, tears still streaming, ¡°Where are the others!? Is there anyone one else!?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s mum ¡®n dad?¡± It came from the twins, it didn¡¯t sound like they hadn¡¯t quite grasped the situation yet, Zarko going over to them. Tom moved to the older kid, taking him into an embrace. Tom probably needed it as much as the kid did.


    ¡°I''m so sorry, little guy. I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯m so very sorry.¡± The kid buried his face into Tom, sobbing softly. ¡®He knew; he had known for some time,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. That was just the last bit of hope. Tom patted him on the back for what fucking good that would do.


    ¡®Two dead kids, and four who got damn close. Dead kids. Why did it have to be kids... Kalestine!¡¯

 How Does That Even Work?

    Chapter 79: How Does That Even Work?


    Tom¡¯s head shot up. ¡°Kalestine! We need to get them to Kalestine!¡± He shouted out at the others. Heads turning to face him.


    ¡°Tom, we can¡¯t hurt a unicorn,¡± Zarko replied despairingly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I asked her, she said maybe. Maybes will do right now. Jarix, we¡¯re moving. Jackalope, on your feet we ain¡¯t done yet.¡± That last part was superfluous as she had already yanked the girl away from Unkai and started sprinting towards Jarix. Zarko and Unkai also snapped to it, Tom guessed the excuse of Kalestine having said so would do for them.


    ¡°Can you walk?¡± Tom questioned the boy who had come clambering out. He was clearly struggling to get to his feet, even if he had stopped crying. ¡°Come now grab on, I''ll carry you,¡± Tom went, kneeling down in front of the kid who latched on. He grabbed his helmet, slapping it on, then picked up the basket holding it tight, and made his way to where Jarix was getting clear of the buildings.


    Unkai had grabbed the boy who had been clutching the basket, even if he was breathing he was clearly not in good shape either, Zarko carrying the twins. It was a mad scramble to get everyone on board and secure.


    ¡°Jacky, rifle,¡± Tom went, pointing to the hole where he had left it. Jackalope quickly half-ran half-flew over to grab it as Jarix set off at a gallop to get airborne. ¡°Everyone hang on,¡± Zarko instructed as she held onto the dead girl. Tom made sure the basket wasn¡¯t going anywhere as Jarix jumped into the air, wings driving down hard.


    Jackalope made it back in no time as jarix was getting up to speed, setting down with the precious rifle. Tom quickly slung it over his shoulder. It was clear she had not fared much better than him, eyes red and wet. She was smiling though and there was hope in her eyes. Tom really hoped Kalestine wasn¡¯t gonna rob her of that.


    ¡°Zarko, you know where she is?"


    ¡°That I do,¡± she replied. There was a hint of reluctance in her voice. As she looked at the kids currently strewn about Jarix''s back, her face seemed to go from stern to pained and she started relaying instructions.


    ¡®Kalestine better not be a bitch today, or I¡¯m gonna end up a heretic,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking at the kids. There were six in total; four boys and two girls, those being the two youngest. The oldest of them being the one who had come crawling out. Tom guessed he was around eleven, which would make him a young man by dragonette standards.


    He was sitting next to Tom, shifting between looking at his little sister in the basket and at the others around him. Clearly overwhelmed by what was happening. The twins still hadn¡¯t let go of each other and looked terrified as all hell.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Tom asked the young man, trying to divert his attention from the girl Jackalope was clutching tight. Poor Jacky, Tom thought to himself. Based on the story of her home, this was likely all too familiar for her, after all. She knew better than anyone what these kids were going through.


    ¡°Lothal,¡± the answer finally came, meekly as could be. Tom turned back to him, doing his best to smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m Tom, don¡¯t worry I¡¯m less scary than I look,¡± Tom tried in the softest voice he could manage right now. ¡°Who are your friends?¡± The kid sniffed a few times before turning to the others pointing.


    ¡°That¡¯s Hulu and Hana,¡± he went, pointing at the twins. ¡°That¡¯s Revel,¡± he continued pointing to the boy Unkai was tending to. ¡°That''s Vibexa.¡± His voice started to quiver as he pointed to Jackalope, then looking down into the basket. ¡°Jinaro,¡± he finished, holding back more crying.


    ¡°Now now, come here,¡± Tom went, holding him tight with his right arm.


    ¡°No one else made it, did they?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so no.¡±


    ¡°I guess mother was right then¡­ I¡¯ll have to do,¡± Lothal continued, bringing out a golden huntress crown from under his clothes and clutching it tightly in his hands. ¡®Oh buddy,¡¯ Tom thought.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ sir?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no sir¡­ well I''m a man if that is what you mean. And don¡¯t worry about it, you''ve had it rough enough, you don''t need to thank anyone.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°That crazy bastard really managed to get us in today?¡± Sapphire couldn¡¯t quite believe that. Perhaps the engineering guild was a lot less busy than she thought, or Tink held more sway than she had guessed.


    ¡°Yup, come on now, better hurry up,¡± Tink Junior replied. They had barely finished breakfast yet, but Sapphire guessed that would have to wait.


    ¡°What about the prototypes?¡± Dakota questioned, not yet moving from her seat.


    ¡°The rudder was easy enough, membrane leather did the trick just fine. And he managed to light himself on fire only two hours ago so the lighter is coming along well I think.¡±


    ¡°He lit himself on fire¡­ and that''s a good thing?¡± Sapphire had to ask, thinking back to Tom''s warning about not getting a crazy guy.


    ¡°Well it worked. Not that it was too hard.¡±


    ¡°Wait, two hours ago. He hasn¡¯t slept yet, has he?¡± Dakota questioned. ¡®Going to a meeting with a sleeping crazy inventor, marvelous,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself.


    ¡°Noo, I tried to get him to go to bed. I woke up, when he burned himself on the drawing thing."


    ¡°He made those too?¡±


    ¡°Only the inside bit, didn¡¯t have time for the wood. It''s proof of concept after all. The lighter is a little big too.¡±


    ¡°How big?¡± Dakota questioned intently.


    ¡°About uhmmm... I mean you could hang it on your belt.¡±


    Dakota sighed a little. ¡°When is this meeting?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s not until late in the afternoon. We were hoping you would lend us a hand.¡±


    ¡°That sounds fun. We got anything more important to do?¡± Balethon questioned, all the while stuffing his face full of fried eggs.


    ¡°We still have more things to find. That won¡¯t matter though if we can¡¯t afford them.¡± Dakota put down her utensils. ¡°Let¡¯s go lend a hand then.¡±


    Having a local guide did help quite a bit with navigating. Especially since Junior seemed to know just about where everything was, even pointing out a few of the things they needed as they glided over the city. It had been a while since Sapphire last had to deal with this much traffic, she wasn¡¯t a silvered huntress and tonselra champion for nothing though.


    Balethon, on the other hand, earned some rather rude remarks from passersby when he nearly hit a family with children. Not that Dakota was much easier on him after that. ¡°Seriously, watch where you are going. You¡¯ll make people think we don¡¯t teach the kids properly¡±


    ¡°Geez I said I was sorry, okay?¡±


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    ¡°Down here, try not to hit anything,¡± Junior went in a sarcastic tone as he descended. Sapphire had been expecting to land on the street but apparently Junior thought they deserved special treatment as he set down on the roof.


    Going down the stairs they found a, very much so, sleeping Tink at a workbench.


    ¡°Wake up dad, I told you to go to bed,¡± Junior went, kicking the chair. Tink woke with a start, looking around a tad confused.


    ¡°Oh I see, it''s morning. Right, I have things to show you. Come now,¡± he went, leaving the room and dragging Dakota by the arm into the drawing-room. ¡°Look, it can draw just like he said it could. Just some clay powder and that ghastly grey dye.¡± He sounded very excited as he presented a small grey stick to Dakota. It wasn¡¯t even the length of her thumb and it was rather fat. Not at all like the ones Tom had brought.


    ¡°Try it out,¡± he continued, gesturing to a piece of paper on the table. Dakota did as instructed, drawing a line on the parchment. It did leave a nice trail on the page even if it was more of a fat smudge than the elegant lines Tom¡¯s pencils could draw. ¡°Not bad for a day''s work, hey?¡±


    ¡°Definitely not. Very impressive,¡± Dakota had to admit, putting the thing down again. She gasped when she saw what it had done to her hand. ¡°What in the... I need to wash my hands. Do you have water?


    ¡°Oh, sure, follow me,¡± Junior went as the two left to solve the problem.


    ¡°Right¡­ whoops. I can see why you would want to put some wood around it. Still haven''t worked out how to do that though.¡±


    ¡°You also need to sharpen it,¡± Sapphire interjected. She had tried Tom¡¯s pencils before, which was clearly important for good results.


    ¡°Oh, of course. I¡¯ll get the grindstones.¡±


    ¡°Just use a knife, it¡¯s easier.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well okay then.¡±


    ¡°What about making it go away again. The rudder?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I just used some strips of membrane leather glued together into a little block, nice and cheap. Here,¡± he tossed Sapphire the little thing. It looked a lot more like what she had been expecting.


    ¡°Is that the lighter?¡± Balethon asked, looking at what Sapphire would best describe as a nice lantern that had been ripped apart poorly.


    ¡°Oh yes, I didn''t have time to make that tiny thing so I just made the little spark thing and put it on a lantern. Look.¡± True to his word, he flicked the wheel on the side and the thing lit up with a burst of sparks, burning with a nice clean flame. ¡°Alternatively, we could just sell these as self-lighting lanterns.¡±


    ¡°Dakota is gonna like this,¡± Sapphire concluded. ¡°You did all this since yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Sure, the Dencil was the most difficult. I need to make a proper mold for that. It didn¡¯t get hot enough either. It likes to crumble so I made a few to show off.¡±


    ¡°Okay then. What was it you wanted us for then?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I need some help with this thing,¡± he went, this time grabbing Sapphire by the arm to drag her along. She entertained him for the time being; he had done one hell of a job for one night after all. He went to the big room where they had found him sleeping. ¡°I just needed to know about those naggnet things, so I started putting this together.¡±


    ¡°Uh uh, not happening,¡± Sapphire protested as she looked at his very rushed-looking sketches, which to her dismay had a jar of blitz gel on them. With what she assumed were wires sticking out of it.


    ¡°Why not?! I mean I still haven''t figured out how to make the thin copper strands it talked about in the instructions, but it was very clear that you needed lightning. What better way to get it than blitz gel?¡±


    ¡°That stuff explodes¡­ regularly,¡± Sapphire tried in the voice usually reserved for when Jackalope had a bad idea. It was as effective as always.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna hit it with a hammer or anything!¡± Tink protested, much to Sapphire''s dismay.


    ¡°Have you ever worked with electricity?¡± She asked very pointedly.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Then let me teach you a few lessons I have learned. One, that stuff can and will blow up even when you think you know what you are doing. Two, it¡¯s fucking loud when it does so and it breaks things. Three, the man who designed this stuff originally also has this stuff blow up on him¡­ regularly. So you stand no chance.¡±


    Tink looked somewhere between offended and a kid who had his toy taken away. ¡°Well then what?¡± he replied with an exasperated shrug.


    ¡°We do as the instructions say of course?¡±


    ¡°But this is what the instructions said...¡±


    ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Sapphire really should have read those before betting Tom hadn''t been this reckless.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom and Jackalope had sat down next to each other with their backs to the other kids so they didn¡¯t have to look at their two dead sisters. Lothal was doing his best along with Zarko and Unkai to keep them distracted, but it was clear they still wanted to know what was going on.


    ¡°How many do you think they killed?¡±


    ¡°None, they''re recruiting,¡± Jackalope replied darkly, staring back towards the keep as it got smaller in the distance. Tom leaned in to whisper into her ear, not wanting the kids to hear.


    ¡°Where do you think they''re going next?¡±


    ¡°Knowing our luck they made it past us on the way here without us spotting them.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think that¡­


    ¡°I don''t know, okay!¡± She replied angrily, head snapping to look at him. Of course she didn¡¯t, how could she. She seemed to regret it though, turning to look down at the girl she was still clutching. ¡°I was five¡­ I guess she wins then.¡±


    ¡°Wins what?¡± Tom tried as delicately as he could.


    ¡°Most unlucky little girl.¡± Tom just put his head on her shoulder.


    ¡°If she will be half the badass as you are it can¡¯t be all bad.¡±


    ¡°She will be even more badass. She will have unicorn¡¯s blood.¡±


    ¡®God I hope so,¡¯ Tom thought to himself.


    It was not much of a trip, Jarix was trying to go as fast as possible while being restrained by Zarko. They couldn¡¯t have anyone falling off, and chances were good Jarix''s job was far from done today. They had made the clearing in a matter of minutes, circling down to land by the edge of the waterhole.


    ¡®Can you hear me?¡¯ Tom tried to think as they were descending.


    ¡°Yes,¡± came the weary response. ¡°Why have you brought the kids?¡± Jackalope seemed to react to that as well, so he guessed this was on the broad channel. He would rather spare the kids for now though. They didn¡¯t need to have their faces rubbed in the fact they were likely all orphans now.


    ¡®They¡¯re all that''s left.¡¯ There was a fair bit of silence following that, coinciding with Jarix touching down and trotting over to the small shelter they had made for Kalestine.


    ¡°I take it you came here for blood, then?¡±


    ¡®Please. We tried, we can¡¯t help them.¡¯ Tom and Jacky carried down the two girls, while the others handled the rest of the kids, trying to keep them away. Lothal was doing a remarkably good job of keeping calm, even if the same could not be said for the rest of them. The shock factor was clearly still in effect for them though.


    Tom and Jackalope had sat down with Kalestine placing the two dead kids before her.


    ¡°You know the punishment for hurting a unicorn, you will be barred from heaven for doing that.¡± Jackalope didn¡¯t seem to flinch at that, so Tom guessed that was common knowledge.


    ¡°Right away or at some point?¡± He had to ask. He reasoned that chances were pretty good he was going to hell anyway if he died. He could hardly be more of a heretic anyway around these parts.


    ¡°When you die, I think.¡±


    ¡°Good enough for me,¡± Tom replied, drawing his knife. Jackalope grabbed him by the hand, yanking him into an embrace. Nuzzling him closely and even giving him a boop, which he guessed was her way of trying a kiss. He returned the gesture as best he could. Then she released him, looking a bit coy.


    ¡°Just in case,¡± She went, looking down.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t think this will kill me. Besides, I don''t even follow your gods,¡± Tom replied, turning back to Kalestine. ¡°How much and where from?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I would let you,¡± Kalestine responded; Tom¡¯s grip on the knife tightened. ¡°I will let you try, for a price.¡±


    ¡°Name it,¡± Tom responded. ¡®Bartering with the lives of a fucking baby.¡¯ He tried not to think about how much that made him hate her right now.


    ¡°Find and kill the one who broke my horn,¡± Kalestine replied, switching into a vicious tone. ¡°And make them suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure,¡± Jackalope responded coldly. Tom had to admit he didn¡¯t have a problem with that either. He was guessing that would fall under hunting down child murderers.


    ¡°Deal. Now, where and how much?¡±


    ¡°Do try and put it where it can¡¯t be seen. I¡¯m looking like a whipped draft horse already.¡± Tom had to admit, the glamour of when he had first seen her had sort of vanished. Magic life horse though, so he was sure that would return eventually. ¡°You won¡¯t need much, a few drops will do.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t too hard to manage, as he moved to her side. ¡°Thank you,¡± he went as he nicked her by her cloven hoof. He had expected a horse¡¯s hoof, but what the hell, it was hardly the strangest thing about her.


    The small nick didn''t bleed much but it did the trick as he scooped up some of the strange silvery liquid in the fuller of his knife. Jackalope brought the basket over, setting it down next to Tom and held the little girl''s mouth open.


    ¡°When you run out of science, use magic I guess,¡± Tom went, tilting the knife to let the blood run into the little girl''s mouth.


    The effect was immediate as the liquid seemed to burn its way through the tongue and sides of the little girl''s mouth, bright white light beaming out from where Tom was expecting a wound to be. There was just a quick flash then it was gone, with no evidence remaining.


    He flinched back at the sight, it was a violent reaction. Jackalope was clearly not expecting that either, turning away from the flash of light for a split second. Kalestine let out a pained sound as the blood hit. Tom guessed she was paying for this somehow then. In fact, she appeared to be paying quite a lot.


    Then the little girl convulsed, almost like she had been hit with an electric shock, eyes, and mouth shooting open, with the same blinding white light pouring from them. It looked more like something out of a horror film as the scream came, an agonizing desperate scream of a baby in great pain. She thrashed around, the light beaming from her. Tom felt he needed to do something, but Jackalope hit him in the chest with enough force to drive out his breath when he leaned forward.


    ¡°Don''t touch her.¡±


    The light slowly began to fade from blinding to bright to none as eventually the clear green of the kid¡¯s eyes could be seen. The scream turning to the sweetest sound Tom could hope for. Crying.

 Drawing Up Plans

    Chapter 80: Drawing Up Plans


    Well, they hadn¡¯t blown anything up yet, admittedly because they hadn¡¯t managed to make anything even close to ready for testing. So they had packed up the three things that were sort of ready to show off. Dakota wasn¡¯t entirely pleased that Tink hadn¡¯t waited until they had proper prototypes ready. Not to mention they weren¡¯t here to play at being inventors. It wasn¡¯t hard to argue it was good for their schedule though. They hadn¡¯t expected to have this meeting for days or possibly weeks.


    It hadn¡¯t been much more than 24 hours, yet they now found themselves standing outside a very impressive looking building. It was very tall, and had all kinds of strange things cluttering its exterior. There were windmills of different kinds, weather vanes, cranes, hoists, and a fair few things Sapphire had no clue what were.


    Sapphire had left her bow at Tink¡¯s workshop as it might provoke some questions around here.


    It also begged the question: if this was where the engineering guild was located, why did Tink seem to live in his own workshop, a fair distance away?


    ¡°Oh this is going to be marvelous. Come along now,¡± the clearly excited Tink went as he approached the door guards. ¡°Hello my fine fellow, I¡¯m here for an appointment with Craftmaster Jakolev.¡±


    ¡°My my, got another brilliant idea have you?¡± One of the guards responded slightly sarcastically. It didn¡¯t seem to faze Tink though, that was for sure.


    ¡°No, three,¡± He replied triumphantly. ¡°And he is gonna love them.¡±


    ¡°Well, go on in. I¡¯ll escort you since you''re bringing friends today.¡± The guard turned to look at the trio, clearly slightly surprised as he gave them each a once over. Eyes lingering in certain places. ¡°Where did you find those beauties?¡± He asked as he turned to open the door.


    ¡°They found me in fact,¡± Tink replied, completely unfazed by the guard''s attitude as he slipped in the door. The inside was decently decorated and definitely well kept. It was a rather stark contrast to Tink¡¯s cluttered up workshop, with its nice corridors and clean floors. Sapphire peaked in the few open doors they passed, which seemed to lead to offices or something of the like. There were certainly both parchment and tables in there.


    ¡°So how¡¯s it going lately, Junior?¡± The guard questioned. the two of them bringing up the rear.


    ¡°Oh, you know, the usual¡­ until those three showed up.¡±


    ¡°Am I allowed to know what it is our new huntress friends have come up with?¡±


    ¡°Oh, they aren''t the designers they are messengers, and unfortunately no¡­ not yet at least¡±


    ¡°Darn it, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s quite something to get old Tink to stop chasing his own crazy ideas.¡±


    ¡®Oh I¡¯m sure you would like to know, also ¡°sorry Tom¡± we definitely found a crazy one,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, sending the mental apology to Tom.


    They had arrived at a set of nice double doors. Two guards stood here as well. ''Well, whoever this guy is, he¡¯s important, that¡¯s for sure,¡¯ Sapphire thought as the guards swung open the doors following them inside.


    Inside was a very nice room with large glass windows on the far wall, looking around there was shelving all around, most of it filled with models of different kinds. There were model buildings, wagons, siege engines, and many other odd things that Sapphire had no clue what were. In front of them at a very large desk, a male dragonette of around Nunuk¡¯s age was sitting. ¡®He has spectacles!¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. She knew those cost a small fortune, and she hadn¡¯t ever seen someone use them before. Usually, you would get a healer to fix any kind of eye problems.


    ¡°So Tink, what did you come up with this time?¡±


    ¡°Ohh, greetings crafts master. First off, on the insistence of my companions, I must have you sign this before we continue. Your guards too if they are to stay.¡± The old dragonette, who Sapphire assumed must be Craftmaster Jakolev, tilted his head downwards a little to peer over the top of his spectacles, sighing slightly.


    ¡°Bring it here. And yes, they are staying. You may go Werner.¡± Tink handed over a copy of the non-disclosure agreement, the guard who had escorted them leaving the way they came. The two other guards moved up to the desk.


    ¡°I see, quite unlike you to not want the world to know what you have been working on,¡± Jakolev replied, signing the document, the two guards doing the same. ¡°So what you got?¡±


    Tink gestured for them to bring forth the things, first presenting the drawings Tink had copied down and then the prototypes. It took a bit to explain what it all did, Jakolev didn¡¯t say anything other than ask questions here and there.


    ¡°So it will not make your hand dirty when using it?¡±


    ¡°Oh gods no. This is just the core. I wrapped it up in a bit of leather for the time being, but it should just be wood. It would revolutionize design work, not to mention save a lot of parchment in the drawing departments. It¡¯s cheap too, and can be carried wherever you go. Excellent for note-taking or possibly map work. Imagine not having to carry ink with you or relying on charcoal and chalk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll grant you it¡¯s rather brilliant. But can you make it?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, it shouldn''t be hard to do. It''s just clay, that ghastly grey stuff, and cheap wood.¡±


    ¡°Very well, what of this self-lighting lamp. Why not just carry a flint and steel?¡±


    ¡°Oh we want to make it smaller, so it can fit in your pocket. And you can carry it at all times, it would become your flint and steel. Isn''t it brilliant?!¡± Tink was clearly barely restraining himself. Jakolev though was a lot more calm and thoughtful.


    ¡°Agreed, but what of prices. This looks to be a rather complicated piece of kit.¡±


    ¡°We talked about perhaps making the first ones more like jewelry. You know, a status symbol for the rich.¡±


    ¡°That could work, I certainly want one if you can make it nice and clean, it would make lighting a pipe so much easier. The lamp might be easier to make for general use.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, so would you agree to produce these under license?¡± Dakota went, cutting to the bone of why they were here.


    ¡°If Tink here can come up with some proper designs for a finalized product I don''t see why not. Except for the fact, the most complicated little things we make are locks. We will need some more jewelers too. I¡¯ll see what I can do about that. What sort of licensing are we talking about?"


    ¡°Quarter of sales price,¡± Dakota answered calmly. Sapphire had been working that out. If a golden lighter ended up costing say 20 gold they would be getting five. That meant that if most of the people in the council bought one they would make hundreds of gold¡­ from a drawing.


    ¡®I can see why Tom was so damn well paid back home and that¡¯s just the lighter,¡¯ Sapphire thought.


    ¡°One-fifth.¡± Jakolev retorted leaning back in his chair.


    ¡°Uhh-uh, not happening, quarter on everything. Those are our terms as per the contract we brought. Remember, we¡¯re just the messengers.¡±


    ¡°Then I want exclusive rights for no less than five years. With a clause for renegotiating the contract once it expires at my discretion,¡± That sounded like rights forever to Sapphire.


    ¡°With a twenty-five year maximum, only extendable upon agreement of both parties,¡± Dakota replied, seemingly very pleased. ¡°Oh and before you consider breaking our agreement. Should this venture prove profitable for both sides, which I''m sure it will be, these will not be the last inventions you can expect from us.¡± Jakolev looked at Dakota quizzically at that, seemingly trying to figure out what exactly he was dealing with here.


    ¡°Done. Tink, get yourself in gear. I want those things ready yesterday. We need to know if they could do any harm before we send them for approval.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Sir, yes, sir¡± Tink replied beaming with pride.


    ¡°Approval?¡± Sapphire questioned, that was a new one to her.


    ¡°Yes, of course, any such radical invention must be approved. We can¡¯t have some craftsman who knows nothing of how to handle arcane inscriptions trying to sell them to the wider public. That would be disastrous. I can only imagine the harm done to our reputation if we started selling items that turn your hand black or grey.¡±


    ¡°How long would that take?¡± Dakota questioned.


    ¡°Normally that would take weeks, perhaps even months. Luckily I might be able to help speed that process up a bit. Not to mention, there is hardly anything dangerous here. There isn¡¯t even a hint of magic in fact. It should be no problem.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t worry. You''re safe here, I promise,¡± Lothal went as he rocked his little sister back and forth gently. The baby still hadn''t stopped crying yet. Unkai had checked her over finding nothing wrong, incredibly. Tom guessed what had just happened wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience in the least.


    They had moved the 4-year-old girl over to try with her. Kalestine requested a minute before they continued, this was clearly not easy on her. Lothal moved away with the baby, going over to the other kids to stay clear of what was about to happen. Tom repeated the cut, drawing fresh blood in the same manner as before.


    As with little baby Jinaro, when the blood hit Vibexa¡¯s mouth it seemed to burn through, Kalestine¡¯s breathing growing laboured as she strained greatly. The bright white light pouring forth from the young girl as she too let out an ear-piercing scream. Tom stood back this time as she thrashed around on the ground. It looked horrible. Just like with Jinaro, the light began to fade and eventually cut out. Then there was silence.


    Jackalope leaned down to jostle the kid, to no effect. Jinaro had been screaming and crying right off the bat.


    ¡°Tom, she¡¯s not breathing,¡± Jackalope went, looking at him with a horrified expression. Tom turned to look at Kalestine who was face down in the grass.


    He quickly moved her head so he could hold a hand in front of a nostril.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s still breathing. Unkai get over here!¡± He replied, slightly relieved. He could guess at what the punishment was for killing a unicorn after all. ¡°I think she fainted?¡± He went as Unkai arrived, sprinting over.


    ¡°Does that mean...¡± Jackalope trailed off, looking down at the girl, the spark of hope in her eyes fading.


    Tom didn¡¯t want to say it, but he knew. She was dead, very dead by now in fact. He didn¡¯t know how long it had been, at least an hour though that was for sure. Short of some miracle magic, there was nothing to be done now.


    He had believed this was all going to be fine¡­ Why wasn¡¯t it fine! He didn¡¯t even know what god to curse for this. The old man from back home could hardly be held responsible. But why? Why give them hope. Twice even! Just to snatch it away like that. Most of All Tom just wanted to chuck his helmet for distance right now or go punch a tree. This wasn''t fair, It was the excatch goddamn opposite of fair!


    ¡°Unkai do you think she could¡­ you know later?¡± Jacky tried looking to Unkai.


    ¡°I know jack shit about unicorns other than ¡®do as they say,¡¯ and ¡®be polite.¡¯ ¡± His tone was hard, though there was clearly hurt in there. He would have expected it to work too, Tom guessed. Why wouldn''t he have?


    ¡°Right,¡± Tom replied somberly, not quite sure what else to say right now. ¡°I¡¯ll... grab a blanket,¡± he continued, getting up.


    Jackalope held out an arm to stop him for a second. ¡°Tom, you''re sure you can¡¯t... You know?¡± she tried, clearly putting on a forced hopeful smile.


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t save her now even if she was in a hospital bed in my home¡¯s capital¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Tom replied, looking down. ¡°And I¡¯m not even a doctor, healer, whatever¡­ I can¡¯t help her.¡± Jackalope¡¯s smile faded as she looked back to the girl. Tom for one couldn¡¯t stand to look at the girl anymore right now, so he walked away.


    Jarix had laid down and curled up into a half-moon shape, with Zarko and the rest of the kids within the half-moon. Tom made his way over towards Zarko who was sitting with the twins. He almost felt sorry for Zarko as she was trying her best to comfort them. They weren''t stupid; they knew they had just lost a sister, for the second time today.


    The twins were damn near shaking with fear as they looked around despite Zarko¡¯s efforts. Lothal was sitting with the crying Jinaro, Revo was lying on his back, head turned to stare at his dead sister.


    Tom couldn¡¯t even imagine what it must have felt like down there. Not knowing how long it had been. He hadn¡¯t seen any food either, they might have eaten it of course, but there was a good chance they were starving too. Tom sat down between Revo and Zarko. Gesturing for Lothal to come over.


    He took his backpack off to get some rations out. Sugar probably wasn¡¯t the right thing right now, but he did have a rather large bag of trail mix of the local variety, and they could use all the distractions they could get right now. ¡°You hungry?¡± he tried, holding out a handful for the twins.


    It took a bit before one of them reached out a hand to gingerly take some of it not saying a word. ¡°No need to be shy, it¡¯s yours. Would you mind Zarko?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she replied, holding out her hand. Tom giving her the handful of trail mix to let her feed the two of them.


    ¡°How¡¯s he doing?¡± Tom said, looking to Revo who was lying on his back.


    ¡°Unkai said his lungs are dirty, but he¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Somebody was brave protecting your little sister, hey?¡± Tom tried, in his most encouraging voice. The boy turned to look at him, giving a meek smile, which quickly vanished as he looked back to where Jackalope was sitting. Tom could hear her sobbing from here. ¡°Lothal, do me a favor and hand this out, would you? Take as much as you want.¡± Tom went, giving the young man the bag and getting back up again.


    ¡°She¡¯s not coming back is she?¡± Revo questioned, clearly on the verge of another breakdown.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but no I don¡¯t think so.¡± Tom could feel the air vibrate with the growl that came from Jarix. The kids ducking for cover on instinct. ¡°Welcome to war, Jarix. I hope you like it,¡± Tom went as he walked over to him to retrieve a blanket from his pack. The growl almost turned out a whimper at that. Maybe that was too rough, Jarix had done extremely well thus far. He needed to learn though, and he would hopefully never get a better lesson than this.


    ¡°But she¡¯s dead, Tom. Why didn''t she make it!?¡± Jarix protested. Clearly very distraught. Yeah okay, that was too rough, this wasn''t his fault after all.


    ¡°Shs shs shhh, big guy. You did all you could. And we would never have found them without you. Hell, we wouldn¡¯t even have made it here without you. And we didn¡¯t lose a kid, okay?¡± Tom went, waiting until Jarix finally looked at him. ¡°We saved five. You. Helped save, five kids. And you should be damn proud.¡±


    ¡°But I wanted to save six.¡±


    ¡°We all did, but that''s another fact of war, Jarix. You don¡¯t always win.¡± Tom grabbed a blanket from one of the bags low slung on Jarix¡¯s harness, giving him a pat on the side. ¡°And there is a big difference between losing a fight and losing a war.¡±


    It would seem Jarix got what Tom was talking about, his head swiveling around to look at Tom. ¡°We were told that if we find the enemy we are to return to the keep.¡±


    ¡°We haven''t found them yet,¡± Tom replied in as hard a tone as he could muster right now. He mostly just wanted to scream for vengeance. That wouldn¡¯t do though, not right now at least.


    Tom moved over to the sobbing Jackalope, wrapping the kid up in the blanket before sitting down with her and giving her as much of a hug as he could manage. ¡°They die for this!¡± she finally sneered out.


    ¡°What do you say we see about making that happen. Come over here, we have something to discuss,¡± he went, releasing her. She didn¡¯t need to be told twice, shooting to her feet and turning to flank Tom as they walked over.


    ¡°Zarko, it was four hours to Deriva, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it will be night by then¡­ and what about the kids?¡±


    ¡°We leave them here with Unkai and Kalestine, we will give her some time to wake up. I don''t want to get there before nightfall anyway. Are we sure we are dealing with Darklings here?¡±


    ¡°We shouldn''t be talking about this here... We will be right back. Jarix, watch them. He is big and friendly so don¡¯t be scared. No one hurts you while we are here. ¡± Tom had to agree with that assessment. Probably better to leave them be alone for a bit, rather than rub their noses in this. The three of them walked by the water''s edge for a bit, until they were confident in being out of earshot. Well except for jarix.


    ¡°They took the bodies Tom, there must be darklings among them,¡± Zarko started. ¡°That door was no darkling though.¡±


    ¡°Do they need to sleep?`¡±


    ¡°Yes, just like we do. They are essentially us¡­ you know.¡± She sounded ashamed of that, it was just what Tom wanted to hear though.


    ¡°Excellent, can they see in the dark better than you can?¡± That took her a second to respond to.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. I think I would have heard of that if they could.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I say we go to Deriva, you drop me off then you get some rest. I have some fun with them in the night.¡±


    ¡°You want to go in there alone?!¡± Jackalope questioned, clearly not happy with that idea.


    ¡°You people can¡¯t hide at night, you''re white and there will be moonlight. I can.¡±


    ¡°Tom, that is a stupid idea,¡± Zarko agreed. ¡°And we would lose the element of surprise. If you insist on us trying to help them, then I say we dive in, take some shots at them and climb out. With luck, some of them will follow us and we can draw them off.¡±


    Tom had to think on that for a second. ¡°Can you hit them in the dark though?¡±


    ¡°Whatever broke down that door and did in Kalestine cannot be a small target. If we can handle that, the keep might have a chance. Or at least hold out for long enough to get help.¡±


    ¡°Think Jarix can outrun whatever it is they have?¡±


    ¡°He might be brash, but he¡¯s fast. It¡¯s not without reason he flies without a combat crew.¡±


    ¡°What if we do both?¡± Tom then asked, looking at the two women. ¡°At night they won¡¯t see you until you''re right on top of them. Then when I start blowing shit up, you dive on the bastards. Then I slip away in the confusion.¡±


    ¡°Tom, Deriva lies on the edge of a canyon. There is not much to hide behind and you can only come from one side,¡± Jackalope protested. That would be a problem, with his cloak though he should be fine so long as he could maintain a decent range.


    ¡°Do they have sniffer dogs? Or anything like that?¡± The two of them just looked at him confusedly, clearly not having a clue what he was talking about. ¡°Something that can find me using smell.¡±


    ¡°A vargulf can do that I¡¯m fairly sure,¡± Jackalope replied, clearly thoughtful on the subject. Tom guessed it made sense if you hunted from the air that you wouldn''t use smell much. From his understanding, though the Vargulfs were more like hyenas, they wouldn¡¯t pass up a carcass. So it made sense they could find it.


    ¡°Zarko, will they be organized enough to search for me, or do I just have to not be seen?¡±


    ¡°Depends on who¡¯s giving them orders. With beasts like whatever broke down the door present, I say there is a very good chance they have someone telling them what to do.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s just one dude telling them what to do?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. There is no saying if there is more than one. Not to mention, they took the bodies from Hylsdal; they must have something with them which can corrupt. A regular darkling can''t do that.¡±


    ¡°Another dark knight then?¡±


    ¡°Quite possibly.¡±


    ¡°Then I say this just turned into an assassination mission.¡±

 Bravo Six, Going Dark

    Chapter 81: Bravo Six, Going Dark


    ¡®This is a terrible idea,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he was walking towards the keep. Jarix had gotten in as close as he and Zarko dared to set Tom down, but he still had over two kilometers to walk. To make things even better the terrain was rocky and hilly. That was, of course, what had allowed Jarix to get so close, so it was a double-edged sword. This wouldn¡¯t be possible to do at Bizmati Keep where it was just smooth grass as far as the eye could see in every direction.


    Zarko and Jackalope needed the rest, so the fact that he would need at least an hour to get into position did give them time for a quick power nap. He was now carrying Unkai¡¯s grenade too since the healer would hardly need it. He would need to do some scouting first as well, to try and figure out what they were up against.


    He wished he had some of that trail snack right about now, not to mention dinner. The kids had been given all the rations they had and were staying with Unkai and Kalestine at the clearing for now. Poor bastards more than deserved it after all.


    Kalestine had eventually woken up again; it took nearly an hour though, and she was damn near hysterical when she did. Apparently in all her years she hadn¡¯t fainted before and thought she had died or something. When pressed, she made it very clear she couldn¡¯t help the last girl. By the time she would have regained enough of her strength to try again, it would be far too late. Apparently, even magic resurrection was time-sensitive. Tom wasn¡¯t sure if it was because she was scared to try again rather than actually not being able to do it.


    ¡®Why couldn¡¯t it just be a matter of blood in a bottle and Bob¡¯s your uncle,¡¯ Tom cursed as he trekked. Still, he needed to remember what he himself told Jarix. ¡®We didn¡¯t lose a kid, we saved five. And now it¡¯s time to save some more.¡¯


    He had come across a small muddy puddle and decided to do some redecorating. He couldn¡¯t have a torch light reflecting off his shiny steel armor plates after all. Shiva would likely be furious, but they were hardly on the best of terms right now and he didn¡¯t give a damn.


    Moving on from the muddy puddle, he reckoned he should be getting close around now. Zarko had given him some landmarks to work off of, and combined with his compass, unreliable as it was around here, he was fairly sure he was on the right track. The sound of a distant shrieking roar would seem to confirm this. He scrambled up the next hill, laying flat on the top peering out into the clear moon-lit night. He was confronted with the silhouette of Deriva Keep, and it was far from abandoned.


    There were torches lit all around the base of the keep, which illuminated some rather massive shapes. He brought out the binoculars since he was still over half a kilometer away. The torches were doing a shitty job, but Tom could just about make out the general shape. The hulking creature looked more like a giant mutated bat. The thing had arms like a gorilla and almost looked like a bulldog in the way it walked on its clearly winged forearms. It paced around slowly, looking towards the keep at a safe distance. There were a few darklings to be seen, not that many though. But the lower door to the keep was smashed in, in a far too familiar fashion.


    The keep sat atop a rocky outcropping overlooking a gorge. Tom couldn¡¯t see how deep it was from here, but it looked rather wide. As he scanned around trying to see what was happening down there, he spotted at least one more of the weird mutant bat things. A way¡¯s away from the keep a few more torches could be seen standing around, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.


    On closer inspection, he saw, much to his displeasure, what looked like a pack of vargulfs all sleeping. They looked like they were chained up too. Judging by the distance to the keep he guessed they were scared of arrow fire from the slits. ¡®Someone is still fighting then.¡¯


    Tom lowered the old NVG¡¯s that were likely about to save his life, mumbling to himself, ¡°Payback time.¡± As if that would somehow make this a less stupid idea. He still had a while before Jarix would kick off the show. With his cloak made to look like dark-grey rocks, he made his way closer. It took a bit before he started picking up targets with his goggles. A few sentries seemingly posted around a perimeter. They were moving back and forth, silhouetting nicely against the torches at the base of the keep.


    He decided to observe some more from a distance. It would most likely be game over if he got caught before Jarix came in. He was under no illusions as to his ability to outrun these bastards, and if Jackalope was right about the vargulfs, he wouldn¡¯t be hiding for long either. He could hear the sound of fighting from inside. Mostly shouting at this range.


    ¡®Hang on in there, just a little longer. We got you,¡¯ Tom tried to convince himself. This needed to work. Otherwise, all that would happen was a repeat of Hylsdal. Likely only worse though. There was no way they had anything underground, built on solid rock like this. Not to mention, stopping them here or at least fucking them up enough would hopefully save home entirely. That was worth the risk. He would not allow another situation like last time if he could possibly avoid it.


    The thing about darklings being slaved to orders seemed to be accurate, as the guards kept walking their patrol route without deviation going back and forth back and forth not saying a thing. His watch said he had been observing for half an hour when a group of six darklings exited the keep, shields raised above their heads to cover them. Some of them looked bloodied and bruised, one was limping quite badly even.


    As if by clockwork, five darklings got up from where they had been sleeping in armor and everything. Apparently going to replace the tired and wounded.


    ¡®The bastards are fighting in shifts... So much for tiring them out then. That sleeping area does make a nice target though.¡¯


    As he glanced around trying to come up with a plan of attack, a third of the massive bat things emerged from the far side of the keep. Giving a total of three. All stalking around at a safe distance.


    ¡®Okay three big ones, the main evil guy is likely inside, 4 sentries, a lot sleeping, unknown within the keep. That¡¯s bad.¡¯


    ¡®Guard dog things sleeping and only a few sentries that¡¯s good.¡¯ In fact, looking closer, the sentries seem to be looking towards the keep rather than outwards. ¡®Fuckers think they are gonna be left alone?¡¯ Tom questioned. That seemed rather ridiculous to him. He sure as fuck wasn¡¯t complaining though.


    He had his targets. When Jarix came in, the sleeping spot was going to be served with a grenade. Hopefully, Jarix would draw off the big things or at least some of them. Then, it was the sentries and vargulfs. Hopefully he could get that done before whoever was in charge made it out of the keep. He was betting on them not figuring out he was down here, at least not immediately. If there was a dark knight he certainly couldn¡¯t be allowed to see the muzzle flash. Hopefully, they would believe the grenade was Jarix or something.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You lot are hard to get a hold of, you know that right?¡± Maiko was clearly making having to sit in a tavern waiting for them to get back seem worse than it was. He looked rather comfortable with his legs up on the table.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we had some business to attend to,¡± Dakota replied dismissively. ¡°What do you need us for?¡±


    ¡°Hashaw wants a meeting in private. The court has agreed to fast track the case to get her back in the field as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Is that good or bad?¡± That''s a good thing right Balethon questioned.


    ¡°Gives the Flaxens less time to figure out smart things to do. Hashaw certainly seemed pleased. I don¡¯t really know anything about legal things though.¡± Sapphire could see that being the truth. Not that she knew much about it either of course. ¡°She was hoping you would join her after dinner.¡±


    ¡°Certainly¡­ where exactly?¡± Dakota had to ask. That was a good question: Where would Hashaw even live? Sapphire almost expected her to live at some form of barracks, perhaps she didn''t ever leave Baron''s quarters.


    ¡°At home, of course. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take you there. Be warned, it''s basically just a very fancy military base and, well, her family is there so just behave like you are on the parade ground and you will be fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ mighty generous of her. We¡¯ll just get a quick meal and a wash then we¡¯re good to go,¡± Dakota replied, looking back to Sapphire with a slightly strained smile. It had been a long day already. This was likely important though. ¡®Just like everything right now,¡¯ Sapphire sighed to herself. Still, thus far it had been a good day. Hopefully that trend would continue.


    They had discussed the formalities with Maiko over dinner; to Sapphire¡¯s surprise, there was quite a lot to worry about.


    ¡°Inside it is either Colonel Hashaw, Colonel, or Victoria to you. Her mother, Lady Hashaw, is to be addressed as such. Likewise with Lord Hashaw. The other members of the family may introduce themselves with their first name. If so, use that, otherwise, refer to them by rank. Be warned though, Victoria isn¡¯t the only colonel in there.¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember the rank of everyone,¡± Balethon protested. Sapphire had to agree, Makio had recited quite a few names which may be present this evening and made it clear that likely wasn''t even all of them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to, they wear uniform at all hours of the day.¡± Sapphire was about to protest the fact they were apparently in armor when indoors before she looked down at her own breastplate. Maiko apparently caught that glance though. ¡°They aren¡¯t in armor, I said uniform, as in family uniform. There is not a single person in that family that isn¡¯t military in some capacity. Be it Royal Guard, City Guard, or Militia, or whatever.


    Sapphire imagined what a nightgown with rank tabs might look like for a second before snapping back to the conversation. ¡°Hashaw has told me she let the family know who Tom is. I¡¯m guessing both the lord and lady have read her report as well. So keep to that, okay?¡± Maiko continued, looking around at them.


    ¡°Certainly. See you out front in a bit,¡± Dakota replied, getting up to go freshen up, Sapphire joining her upstairs.


    Sapphire hadn¡¯t been quite sure what to expect. A massive mansion with guards wearing armor emblazoned with Hashaw¡¯s family insignia was not it though. It was a massive building. From above it had seemed to be laid out in a U shape, with three rectangular buildings and a huge courtyard in the middle with what Sapphire guessed were hangars for dragons.


    ¡°How big is her family?¡± Balethon questioned, looking at the massive building. Clearly in awe.


    ¡°Don¡¯t actually know. At least a hundred though, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Maiko replied as he approached the guards. ¡°Sup. Got some guests for Victoria.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we heard, come on in,¡± one of the guards responded in a very informal tone. Sapphire guessed that standing guard for a family of entirely military people was maybe not the most stressful job in the world, at least when they were not around. Colonel Hashaw certainly hadn¡¯t given Sapphire the impression of not being able to handle herself thus far.


    The inside of the building was decorated much like what Sapphire had expected though, which was to say paintings of what was likely important family members everywhere, with more armor and weapon racks strewn about than some actual armories she had seen.


    They had been greeted by Victoria, dressed in some fine robes, though as Maiko had said she was still wearing her three golden bands of a colonel on her shoulder. She was flanked by two people: an older gentleman in purple trimmed robes for some reason and another man, who looked to be about Hashaw¡¯s age, also in the family robes and wearing the tabs of a major.


    ¡°Good, you could make it. I was starting to worry a certain someone got their claws into you.¡±


    ¡°Not yet. They tried to bribe us though,¡± Dakota responded with a courteous chuckle.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m surprised. This is my husband Major Hashaw.¡±


    The man held out his hand to shake for the three of them. ¡°Please, call me Ulrik,¡± he went with a smile.


    They all shook his hand, making their introductions. He seemed like a nice enough man to Sapphire. Firm handshake too.


    ¡°And this is Sir Viantius. He is the family lawyer.¡± ¡®They had an actual lawyer,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. She hadn¡¯t even thought about that. Hands were shaken once again, pleasantries exchanged.


    ¡°I think the upstairs lounge is available. I say we make ourselves comfortable,¡± Victoria went, turning to lead the way up the stairs.


    They had been served sweetened tea as they sat discussing the bitch¡¯s downfall. The lawyer, Viantius, certainly believed they had a solid case, even if Sapphire didn¡¯t understand half of the terms he used most of the time.


    ¡°In all, I don¡¯t see any way she could be argued as not guilty. Not against the word of so many people. The fact you three and your keep have recently been praised by the king himself definitely have the Flaxens worried. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have tried to buy you off.¡±


    ¡°We do our best,¡± Dakota replied, clearly pleased with that compliment.


    ¡°That leaves the matter of punishment. The Flaxens aren¡¯t poor. There is a good chance they will try to go for monetary compensation. Unfortunately, I doubt an execution is possible. Her behavior isn¡¯t traitorous.¡± Sapphire wasn¡¯t entirely sure she agreed on that front. Stabbing someone in the gut after being let in the door seemed pretty damn treasonous to her.


    ¡°Then I say we try to lock her up for as long as possible,¡± Dakota concluded, clearly not entirely pleased.


    ¡°Would you prefer a comfortable cell in exchange for more time?¡± Viantius questioned.


    ¡°As long as possible. Let¡¯s make it so her family will forever have their lady in jail,¡± Dakota replied. They had hoped for execution, but they knew it likely wasn¡¯t gonna happen. The notion that she would bring shame to her family for the rest of her life would have to do.


    ¡°In that case, I think we can get a few decades at least. With some rather considerable compensation to be paid towards the affected parties, though I¡¯m sure the Flaxens will take care of that part. We should push for jail time. As for Dashu¡¯s actions, we will likely be able to secure some additional damage payment from this same case due to the two¡¯s¡­ close relations.¡±


    Profiting from that particular situation didn¡¯t sit entirely well with Sapphire. Still, Esmeralda deserved whatever they could get for her.


    ¡°How much money are we talking?¡± Balethon questioned.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom lay waiting in the bush he had found, he wondered what his chances of pulling this off were. He had promised Kiran he would be home in a few days; hell, he had promised that to most of the kids. He reckoned his odds were at least fair though. This seemed like a very bad idea, but he had air support, the element of surprise, much better equipment, and crucially was up against an enemy who had likely never even heard of a sniper, night vision, or explosives for that matter. Hell they didn''t even have a proper perimeter. He was currently no more than 20 meters from the sleeping fuckers and they hadn¡¯t noticed a thing, not even the vargulfs had stirred.


    ''Worst guard dogs in history those things. Come on Jarix, where are you?¡¯ he thought to himself, scanning the sky for any sign of the opening shot. He had the first grenade in his hand, fuse out and lighter ready. Those sleeping darklings were never gonna be waking up again. He just hoped Jarix would go for one of the big bastards so they could spread the love around.


    The enemy apparently saw Jarix before Tom did, as one of the big bat things started making a high-pitched screaming sound, the darklings starting to stir. That would do for Tom as lifted his goggles to judge the range in the moonlight, getting to his feet. Then he lit the fuse and threw, hitting the deck.


    He kept watching as the camp sprung into a flurry of activity. Then the beam of bright blue light smashed into the big bat thing that had sounded the alarm. It had already started beating its wings to climb vertically into the sky. That was a slow procedure though, and Jarix took full advantage, nailing the fucker in the upper torso.


    If Jarix¡¯s Lightning breath looked awesome during the day, it was in a whole different league at night. Tom almost wished he had taken a photo or something as the lightning arched out in all directions, the thunderclap deafening even for him. The still twitching husk of the clearly very fucking dead bat thing fell back down in a smoking heap, head dangling by a thread. Tom restrained himself from shouting out a ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Then the grenade went off in a bright orange flash of fire. He instinctively ducked his head, looking down into the ground. He felt bits and pieces come raining down around him, including some very wet sounding thumps.


    The noise that followed was otherworldly, the distorted voices of the darklings screaming out into the darkness. Tom stayed put for a second, lowering his goggles to see what the two other bat things were doing. They were both scrambling to get airborne, apparently not waiting for what was left of the darklings on the ground to get on. To his surprise though, they didn¡¯t turn to follow Jarix. In fact, it looked like they were running away?


    ¡®Oh they think there are two dragons out there, brilliant, right, next phase.¡¯ Tom got up to a crouch, shouldering the rifle, clicking the scope to the lowest light setting, and looking for where the sentry to his right should be. They appeared to have frozen, not being able to figure out what to do, looking around frantically. He lifted the goggles again, taking aim at the bastard. The range wasn¡¯t even fifteen meters, making a nice easy target even in this light.


    Tom¡¯s rifle rang out with a crack, taking it in the chest, the Darkling folding over forwards and dropping to the ground. He ran the action, coming around to the one who should be on his left. Predictably it was right where it was supposed to be. It had at least gotten moving though, sprinting towards where the others had been sleeping. It was a bit further away but still not a hard shot. The round went a little low, catching it in the abdomen and causing it to shriek and scream as it fell, but it was down nonetheless. It wasn¡¯t like they didn¡¯t know they were under attack anyway.


    Then, Tom turned his attention to the pack of 5 vargulfs. Those needed to die if he was to get away. Well, now there were 3 and they were pulling on their chains to get free, likely all wounded by the blast. ¡®How convenient,¡¯ Tom mused. He had wanted some payback for his first flight for quite a while, and he had three shots left.


    With an empty rifle and no vargulfs left breathing, he made his retreat into the night, flicking the goggles back down and moving in a low crouch. He fumbled with reloading the rifle while he moved. He wanted more range before whoever was in charge of this shit show figured out what was happening and decided to come looking for him. He was feeling really damn proud of himself until an arrow struck the ground to his left, followed quickly by another one in front of him.


    ¡®Arh shit! They fucking saw me!¡¯ The third one actually hit, bouncing oh his left pauldron. ¡®Thanks, Shiva.¡¯ He picked up the pace, running to get into cover, several more landing around him. They weren''t being particularly accurate though. Tom prayed they were just firing at where they had seen his muzzle flash. It was pretty fucking crazy they were up and firing after taking a damn grenade in their sleep.


    Hopefully that would mean he just needed to move to lose them though, so he kept the pace. There was hardly any grass around, mostly just rock and gravel, as he made his way into the night, the arrows eventually ceasing. He moved around to the right of the keep to give himself a better shot on the main door, doing his best to make as little noise as possible while moving quickly. He found a small ridge in the terrain that he crouched down behind, steadying the rifle on the stone and finishing his reload. He kept the goggles down, scanning around for targets. As one, a large group appeared to make for the base of the keep. All of the congregating darklings had shields raised above their heads.


    ¡®Here comes the big guy,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. Making ready to ruin the bastards day. ¡®remember nasty armor head or neck shot¡¯


    That was when he heard the whoosh of huge diving wings behind him. He turned to see Jarix coming back down for another run, apparently having circled around. He was coming down low and fast, heading right for the keep.


    He seemed to be lining up for a shot at the keep, crackling arcs coming from his mouth. Then Tom spotted a black shape coming down from above. Jarix didn''t see it a moment too soon, bringing up his head and letting loose, with a crackling beam. Tom saw the dark form take the hit, center mass. The blinding flash and crackling lightning blinding him through the goggles. He winced in pain at the bright light, then he heard the smack of the two flyers colliding.


    He couldn¡¯t see a thing, so he just hit the deck and crossed his fingers. He heard Jarix come roaring above him, so Tom guessed he had been the heavier of the two. Then came the gut-wrenching crunching sound as either Jarix, the bat thing, or both hit the ground in front of him.


    ¡®This was a shit idea.¡¯ Tom cursed himself as he fumbled around for his rifle, blind as a bat.

 Murphys Laws of Combat

    Chapter 82: Murphy''s Laws of Combat


    ¡®This is bad! This is very very bad!¡¯ Tom screamed at himself internally, waiting for his eyes to start working again. The green light of the goggles eventually returned, even if he had a vicious spot in his vision. He took the time to listen for either Jackalope or Zarko screaming. To his relief, though, he didn¡¯t make out either.


    He peeked back over the small ridge he was hiding behind, struggling to make out anything. Jarix had seemingly not only survived the collision but had gotten back on his feet and was currently backing up towards Tom, clearly trying to appear menacing. The bat thing looked rather dead, even if it was still twitching, which was a relief. Tom guessed that had been the crunching sound then.


    ¡°You okay?!¡± Tom shouted out. Jarix gave a start at the sound coming from behind him, though he didn¡¯t turn to look back. Tom heard arrows coming in, one bouncing off Jarix''s helmet, another finding a perch in his soft side.


    ¡°No! That fucking hurt!¡± Tom definitely believed that statement.


    ¡°Get your ass back in the air there is still another¡­¡± Tom didn¡¯t get to finish warning Jarix of the third bat thing as it came down onto Jarix¡¯s back, driving him into the ground, digging its clawed feet in deep. Jarix roared out in pain, thrashing his head around to try and grab the massive thing on his back as he tried to get back to his feet.


    Tom¡¯s vision was still rather fucked, so he ignored the scope, instead just aiming center mass on feel at the huge target. He ran the action as quickly as it would go, shoulder be damned. It would seem that the bat thing was rather lacking in the armor department as it shrieked loud enough. Tom felt even more sorry for Jarix and his powerful ears. He needed to save the revolver, so he moved back behind the rock to reload, having emptied the rifle.


    Then he heard Jackalope open up, coming in on the wing. He didn¡¯t see where she was but the shrieks of the mutated bat betrayed her target. ¡®Go get ¡®em girl!¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he reloaded. She let loose all six shots in rapid succession. He looked up, trying to spot her, and caught either her or Zarko as she pulled up, going over Jarix and heading straight for the keep. ¡®No you crazy bastard! They can see you!¡¯ Tom protested disparagingly as he watched her race for the keep. He didn¡¯t spot any arrows coming up, nor did he see her take a hit as she banked to clear the keep, going into the darkness. ¡®That was fucking reckelss,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking back down to reload his rifle.


    With the rifle reloaded, he looked back up. The bat thing was beating its wings, still holding on. Even through his night vision, he could see the blood pouring out of it splashing over Jarix''s back, its movements a lot slower and less frantic. He also saw several darklings moving around Jarix, some with long pikes, others wielding bows, all aimed at Jarix. Then the grenade went off at the base of the keep, illuminating Jarix and the monster on his back as clearly as a damn Hollywood movie.


    Tom didn¡¯t take the time to appreciate the moment, though, as Jarix roared out again, his open maw filling with crackling lightning. He swept his head in an arch in front of him pouring forth a stream of snaking lightning bolts, arching into the night looking for victims. Tom gave up on the goggles, flicking them up again. There was too much bright light around, and the torches around the keep gave him a decent silhouette to use anyway as he brought up the rifle, trying to find the head of the beast which was still clawing at Jarix''s back with its legs, using its wings to steady itself.


    ''How the fuck aren''t you dead yet!?¡¯ Tom cursed as he tried to keep track of its head, failing to keep a bead on it as the creature thrashed around. He mentally crossed his fingers, pulling the trigger. His first shot missing completely.


    He forced himself to draw a slow breath drowning out the cacophony of shrieks, roars and screams as he ran the action again. That fucker needed to die right now. The second shot hit but was low, seemingly hitting somewhere in the creature''s chest, the thing shrieking out in pain once more. ¡®Come on you useless idiot, hit!¡¯ Tom cursed as he ran the action again. He aimed higher, the shot hitting something, though not having much effect. ¡®Goddammit!¡¯


    The fourth found the mark, taking the vile thing high in the neck. The creature screeched again, stumbling as Jarix finally managed to shake it off; grabbing it with his jaws and ripping it from his back with a strong pull, sending it sprawling to the ground. Then Jarix sent a shock running through it. The abomination gave a final shriek, the electricity springing between its claws as it spasmed.


    ¡°Run Jarix!¡± Tom shouted out, hoping that the dragon was somehow still flight-worthy. Jarix didn¡¯t move, his head swinging around as if he was getting his bearings. Tom frantically set about reloading the rifle. ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake, run!¡±


    Then Tom heard a shriek from above him. He looked up being greeted by a smaller black shape descending on him, stinger poised to strike. He was too slow going for his revolver as it smashed into him knocking him over, stinger hitting his thigh, bouncing off the metal plate. He didn¡¯t have time to thank Shiva this time as the creature drove him to the ground, retracting the stinger for another strike. Tom yanked the revolver from its holster, bringing it up, firing wildly from the hip, and sending three shots into the vargulf. ¡°I blew you up shit face!¡± he screamed at the thing. It replied in a gurgle as its insides were turned to mush.


    The creature let go from where it had latched on with its claws, staggering back off him. The vargulf swung its tail at him one final time, the stinger catching in Tom¡¯s side. It wasn''t a deep wound, but he could feel the hit of the poison. He brought up the revolver up to eye level, blowing a hole in the creature''s face. He slumped down behind the rock he was using for cover, hand pressed to his side. It was little more than a deep cut, but damn it hurt.


    He looked to the sky for more of the bastards, flicking the goggles back down. Those things were damn near pitch black so he had no chance of spotting one without them. He couldn¡¯t see shit though, and more importantly, Jarix hadn¡¯t gotten his arse out of there. Glancing at the wounded dragon, Tom saw that he was limping backward towards him. He was being harried relentlessly from above, letting out a weak splutter of lightning into the sky which seemed to catch one or two. This was a losing battle and Jarix seemed to know it as he continued to back up.


    Tom ejected the spent rounds, reloading the revolver then holstering it. Looking back to Jarix he spotted a darkling diving towards the dragon with what looked like a lance of sorts. Tom lifted the goggles to bring the rifle back up, slamming a round home as quickly as possible, trying desperately to track it through the darkness. A white dragonette then came rushing out of the gloom, an audible crack being heard as Jackalope¡¯s warhammer crushed the foul creature''s skull.


    ¡°Way to go, Jackalope,¡± he murmured to himself approvingly, finishing the reload of his rifle. Then he took off running around the left-hand side of Jarix back the way he came. He couldn¡¯t see any movement on the ground, and they had likely seen his fight with the vargulf from above so he needed to move. As he ran he made out a new sound amongst the screaming and roaring: the sound of a massive rachet working away.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°In total, a few hundred I should imagine,¡± Viantius replied.


    Sapphire was starting to see Dakota¡¯s plan coming together. Money for the drawings, money from the Flaxen''s, supplies from the Royal Guard. They were gonna be set for life at this rate. Of course that wasn¡¯t gonna happen. Factoring in Tom¡¯s thirst for materials Sapphire was reckoning on this all being gone by the end of the year. ¡®I wonder what the whole sugar idea could be worth?¡¯


    ¡°So less than the bribe they offered?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°Wouldn''t you want to pay a bit to avoid going to jail if you could?¡± Ulrik replied, sipping his tea. ¡°They will likely try to drag things out as well.¡±


    ¡°Bastards think they can buy their way out of anything.¡±


    ¡°Do we have any idea how long this might take?¡± Dakota tried, looking to Viantius.


    ¡°Depends on how amenable the court is to their requests. If they want to drag things out the court has to let them.¡± Victoria cracked a very slight smile at that one. ¡°And the lady isn¡¯t exactly in their favor following her actions. We need to emphasize that she lied to the court to bring accusations of treason against a keep which has just been praised by the king. And is currently in His Majesty''s service, if I remember correctly?¡± She held the stern yet cordial face she so commonly wore, though it was clear she was intent on ruining Lady Flaxen.


    Sapphire guessed she took the slight against her extremely seriously, then again looking around at where they were this was not the home of a modest family. Her name was likely extremely important to her, and it had been sullied.


    ¡°That we are indeed. Jarix headed out with Tom, Jackalope, and Unkai. They left Radexi behind though,¡± Dakota replied, with a slight nod.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°They should have brought the kid. He needs the experience if they are to make a proper team.¡± Victoria replied.


    ¡°Have you heard back from them yet?¡± Ulrik then questioned, leaning forward with his cup of tea.


    ¡°Not yet, they should return sometime late tomorrow, if nothing was amiss,¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°Here''s to hoping,¡± Ulrik then continued, raising his cup. ¡°Sure it''s nothing young Jarix can¡¯t handle, not to mention your little demon.¡±


    ¡°I can assure you he is no demon. Not until you hurt the kids at least. Then he turns scary¡± Sapphire added, lifting her cup.


    They all lifted their cups, giving a toast to the good luck of those back home.


    ¡°You know he sounds almost like a big softie to me,¡± Ulrik mused, leaning back.


    ¡°I guess,¡± Sapphire had to agree. ¡°The most dangerous softie you are ever gonna meet though.¡±


    ¡°Hah, hardly. I still remember when I caught Baron attempting to stack some bricks he found like some kid playing. He still insists he knocked them over and simply wanted to clean up his mess¡±


    Victoria gave a chuckle at that, stirring her tea. ¡°You know he¡¯s gonna kill you when he finds out you are still telling people about that.¡±


    ¡°Hah, I doubt it. What about Jarix? I¡¯m sure he''s struggling to adapt to life outside the training field. He¡¯s just lazing about all day ain''t he?¡±


    They all had a bit of a look at each other. They didn¡¯t know more than the few snippets of news they had gotten from Nunuk, through Dakota.


    ¡°Not exactly. Tom had him out hunting and plowing fields before the scouting expedition,¡± Sapphire replied, cautiously. She had no clue if that was good or bad, only that she had never heard of a dragon of the royal guard undertaking such efforts.


    ¡°You are sure this Tom isn''t some demon? How does one even begin to convince a young, flamboyant, and, by my beautiful wife¡¯s reckoning, rather reckless dragon¡­ to plow fields?¡±


    ¡°Tom promised to fight alongside Jarix in future.¡± Dakota dismissed the question, glancing at Victoria.


    ¡°My gods, if that did it, then I wanna see this Tom in combat at some point.¡±


    ¡°Oh he¡¯s spectacular,¡± Balethon let out excitedly. ¡°You won¡¯t even see him coming. He hides like some scared fawn, then boom you''re dead.¡±


    ¡°To the scared fawn that killed a Dark Knight then,¡± Ulrik went, refilling his cup and raising it again.


    ¡°To the crazy human,¡± Sapphire went as they toasted the crazy bastard. She could get used to this as well.


    Then the conversation fell onto matters of what should be disclosed and by whom during the inevitable trial. They would be running a tight schedule, with the first session luckily taking place the day after their meeting at the academy.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom looked up to the keep to see the massive door to their landing pad inching open, figures emerging out onto the platform some raining down arrows from above. ¡°About fucking time,¡± Tom let out, as he took up position on Jarix¡¯s flank.


    Looking towards the front entrance he saw armor, shields, and body parts strewn around; the side of the wall was charred black, and there were bloodstains splattering up its side. ¡®Good riddance,¡¯ Tom cursed as he looked to Jarix. ¡°CAN YOU GET UP THERE!¡±


    Jarix didn¡¯t respond, though he looked in Tom¡¯s general direction and then glanced up towards the opening gate. He looked rough as all hell. Tom got a better look at the beating Jarix had taken, from this angle. He could see the dragon¡¯s helmet was dented, and the left side of his face was mauled severely. Some of the plates running along his neck were missing, others were dangling from their mountings bent and ruined. He stood there for a second before a fresh arrow landed in his back; he roared in pain, though the vicious anger of earlier was replaced with a more desperate tone.


    His head came back to look in Tom''s direction. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you.¡± He replied in a tragic voice.


    ¡®Goddammit Jarix¡¯ Tom cursed the dragon. If he went with Jarix he would be turned into a pincushion.


    ¡°No. I hide, you go. Now move!¡± Jarix reluctantly turned back to the keep, setting off at a limping run, his right foreleg apparently broken. He looked like an injured dog as he tried to run, bringing out his wings. Injured as he was he didn''t have far to the keep. Driving his wings down and using his hindlegs to kick himself into the air he crashed into the keep, latching on with his claws and biting down on some kind of wooden beam, likely for a hoist, which creaked and groaned under the strain. The jump had him two-thirds of the way up as he started to climb, slowly and painfully, up the side of the keep. Several archers on the platform were clearly doing their best to cover him. Despite their best efforts though, Jarix was still taking arrow fire. One darkling was even dumb enough to land on his back with a sword and shield.


    Tom blew that bastard to kingdom come. The sky was becoming a flurry of combat as the clearly visibly white dragonettes were chasing the darklings around the sky. They seemed to be trying to keep the darklings off Jarix, but Tom couldn¡¯t work out whether they were winning or losing as making out the darklings was no easy feat at night and he had no idea how many were left.


    ¡®Maybe a night battle wasn''t the best idea,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he spotted movement near the main door. Some pissed looking motherfucker coming out in very familiar looking black armor. The knight looked up towards Jarix, and got out what Tom recognized as a potion bottle. ¡®Oh no you don¡¯t.¡¯


    Tom swung the rifle around, lining up on the Dark Knight as another came out as well. The two of them seemingly started to argue. The bastards were a little over a hundred meters away, since Tom had moved closer to get onto Jarix''s flank. He tried his best to steady his ragged breathing, fighting the paralytic poison and aimed for the bottle. Tom had no clue what was in that bottle, but as he pulled the trigger glass splinters went flying everywhere, the precious liquid spilling to the ground.


    That most definitely got the attention of the two bastards as they turned to look in his direction. Tom debated firing again. those were his targets, after all, the ones he was supposed to kill in this now rather ruined plan. He topped up the rifle and got into a good stable position to aim. The first one then lifted its hand and pointed right at him, bringing up its shield.


    Tom''s first shot rang out as he caught it in the neck, much to Tom¡¯s delight. As it stumbled back clutching at its throat, the second one charged forward with more speed than Tom believed possible. It was larger, so likely a female, and she was moving fast into the darkness. He certainly didn¡¯t have time for a grenade, so he ran the action again, taking aim at the now ducking and diving target sprinting towards him. Pitch black as she was, Tom could hardly make out the knight once she was out of the torchlight. Firing near-blind three times, Tom held the last shot, for the last possible moment, praying the rifle could punch a hole in the armor at point-blank range.


    He knew that was rather unlikely though, so as he held his breath he gave a silent prayer for some kind of damn miracle, hearing the pounding footsteps coming for him. He was answered by Jackalope coming swooping down behind the knight, legs extended and claws bared, her warhammer held high above her head. She slammed into the vicious creature, driving it into the ground. Jackalope kept it pinned down as they skidded along the ground, using her wings to keep balance. Then, screaming with a vengeance, she brought down the warhammer spike first. The handle of the warhammer broke on impact, the spike being driven into its target and sticking in place.


    Tom stood stunned for a split second, before the Dark Knight began to squirm beneath Jackalope, trying to get its arms under itself. Jackalope drew her knife, clearly intent on finding a hole somewhere in its armor. Tom took aim at the bastard''s head, ready for the thing to look up, then shouted at it, ¡°Up here you black pussy!¡± It wasn¡¯t elegant, but it got the desired response as the knight looked up at Tom, receiving a bullet to the face for its troubles. It screamed and squirmed, somehow still not dead as Tom drew the revolver, advancing on it.


    He didn¡¯t need it though, as the distraction bought Jackalope the time she needed to slide her knife into the knight''s neck, stamping on it to drive it home. As Tom holstered the revolver and brought the rifle back up to reload, he felt a set of claws drive into his own shoulders driving him to the ground.


    ¡°Get off him you idiot, he¡¯s on our side!¡± Jackalope borderline roared, as Tom struggled to get back up. Whoever was on his back right now not letting go, their talons digging into his vest¡¯s shoulder straps and piercing through slightly.


    ¡°He is a dark-thing look at him! He tried to kill you!¡± The protest came from another female voice he didn¡¯t recognize. Then he felt the impact as something hit whoever was on his back, throwing her off.


    ¡°I said get off him!¡± He heard Jackalope shout. Then he felt strong hands grabbing him by the shoulders, helping him to his feet. ¡°You okay?¡± Jackalope questioned, looking at him with an expression of genuine concern.


    ¡°Never better, but we need to get out of here,¡± Tom replied, lying slightly. He looked to the sky worriedly. He might be hard to see, but Jackalope and the other dragonette sure as shit weren¡¯t.


    ¡°What the fuck are you?!¡± The female voice questioned from behind him. Tom didn''t respond yet as he moved Jackalope to a side with an arm. Then took a knee leveling the rifle at the dark knight he had hit in the throat. it was currently so kind as to be leaning up against the wall looking up towards Jarix exposing the nearly unarmored underside of its jaw. Tom put a round in the chamber and sent it straight into the fuckers brain. It was likely already dead but now it certainly was.


    Tom then got up and turned to see a dragonette, seemingly a silvered huntress who looked like she had been through hell. ¡°Tom, human, here to save your ass. How many inside?¡±


    She paused for a second, clearly not sure if she should answer that. ¡°Answer the damn question¡± Jackalope then demanded, clearly not pleased with the woman right now.


    ¡°No clue, a lot of them came out here. There''s one more of the Knights though. They have made it to the third floor.¡±


    ¡°Jacky, we are going inside. We need to kill the last one,¡± Tom went as he began reloading his rifle, then looked back to the new huntress. ¡°You defend Jarix at all costs, understood? I¡¯ll fix your little indoor problem if you don¡¯t try to kill me again.¡± Tom didn¡¯t wait for a reply, instead turning back to Jackalope who looked ready to enact some carnage. ¡°Let¡¯s blow these bastards to pieces!¡± That got him a downright evil grin as she unholstered the revolver.


    They made it to the wall of the keep next to the door. Tom stacking up on the door, Jackalope looking at him for a second before stacking up behind him.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Tom questioned, looking back to her. She was fumbling with the revolver, hands shaking slightly as she tried to put the rounds in.


    ¡°Fuck this is hard,¡± she let out in frustration, as Tom looked around for signs of imminent death approaching. He did not want to be surprised from the air a third time tonight.


    ¡°Hey, you''re doing great. This is called stacking up. and we are about to breach and clear¡± Jackalope looked up at him for a second with a strained smile, before returning to the task at hand.


    ¡°God that sound so much better than fighting indoors¡±


    ¡°Do you know where Zarko is?¡± Tom questioned, setting down his rifle and bringing out his second grenade. He removed the cap and got his lighter ready as Jackalope finished her reload. They really needed to work on that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, somewhere up there, she¡¯s trying to keep them off him. She¡¯s got help now though,¡± Jackalope replied as she shut the cylinder on the revolver, looking back up. ¡°Ready.¡±

 Breach And Clear

    Chapter 83: Breach And Clear


    Lord Hashaw was not entirely what Sapphire had been expecting. The man was around the size of Anchor, so rather large for a man, and looked like he would rip your head off for speaking out of turn. Right now though, the elderly gentleman had joined them on the couch, sitting next to Dakota, laughing merrily. Holding a glass of very fine plum liqueur. Everyone around the table had been served a glass of the doubtlessly expensive stuff.


    ¡®It¡¯s like heaven in a bottle,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she tentatively took another sip of the miraculously sweet liquid. It still had the warmth of alcohol with none of the harshness.


    They had finished up the legal discussions just as the lord of the house found them, deciding they would make entertaining company for the evening. Sapphire had been worried they were gonna be answering questions about Tom that they couldn¡¯t really answer. The old man seemed more interested in his own war stories though. They were good too, the man has served for decades all around the world.


    They had been joined by a few curious individuals who had wandered past, likely heading somewhere. From what Sapphire could figure out, the bedrooms were above them, likely so they had roof access.


    ¡°I tell you, the Battle of Latujha was not a pleasant one. That was back when I flew with Baron, I think that is where he got that nasty shoulder scar. Have any of you kids ever seen a mighty red dragon let loose with all he has?¡± Sapphire shook her head a bit, fairly certain she was supposed to answer. ¡°It is spectacular. We boiled that shadow drake in her own hide.¡± The old man chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.


    ¡°You fought a shadow drake?¡± Sapphire blurted out, cursing herself a bit for the lack of courtesy. Lord Hashaw didn¡¯t seem to mind though as he lowered the glass back down.


    ¡°I most certainly did, young huntress. At the time we thought it might have been Rashan. It was definitely female though, so no such luck I¡¯m afraid. She was too young too, but she had been a red once. She fought with a fury unlike any I had experienced before. Baron, though, was no stranger to her kind. To say I even fought in the battle is almost an overstatement. He tore her to shreds and charred the pieces.¡± The lord paused for a little to have another drink before continuing on. ¡°You are the people who got young Jarix, yes?¡±


    ¡°That we did,¡± Sapphire responded. ¡°He¡¯s quite something, didn¡¯t get to spend much time with him before we departed though¡±


    ¡°Ohh you will get your chance I¡¯m sure. He seems a chuffing right fellow to me. He¡¯s got the spirit to fight, and he¡¯s not some lazy whelp who just wants to lay about all day in the sun. What of this Tom fellow? I know he can fight, but does he have the spirit? And the spine for that matter?¡±


    ¡°Oh I would say so,¡± Dakota replied, leaning forward. ¡°The dude doesn¡¯t stand for any nonsense. I¡¯m honestly still surprised he didn¡¯t execute Lady Flaxen on the spot.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s dumb enough to do that,¡± Victoria added, leaning back on the sofa with her drink. ¡°But his little standoff with Jarix was something to behold. Threatened by an eight-ton dragon he didn¡¯t know, who even went as far as to open his mouth. And Tom stepped forward with a raised finger¡­ didn¡¯t even draw a weapon.¡±


    ¡°Huh, a stubborn mage and a proper warrior dragon. That should make for a few good stories,¡± one of the younger dragonettes who''d joined them went. He seemed to be a lieutenant of sorts, much like Zarko.


    ¡®If only he knew how good,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself.


    ¡°It¡¯s doubtful, though, that this Tom could bring Jarix to heel. It was my understanding Jarix wanted him to keep his back clear in battle. Understandable, since he¡¯s not yet carrying a proper ballista. Perhaps you could get him one as a token of gratitude?¡± the young lieutenant continued, seeming rather confident.


    Sapphire looked to Dakota and Balethon, who both looked a bit strained not trying to smile. Victoria eventually broke the slight awkwardness that followed that remark.


    ¡°From what I have heard, Jarix is well and truly in Tom¡¯s hand by now. I would honestly not be surprised if when he is done there Tom could yell ¡°sit¡± and he would do it. And with Tom on board, he won¡¯t need no ballista either.¡±


    ¡±You serious? Jarix could hardly be persuaded to stay in formation at times.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because Tiguan is a slowpoke, he would rather laze in the sun all day. Jarix likes speed, and he¡¯s good at it too,¡± Victoria retorted.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t buy him being brought to heel by a mere man. Or woman for that matter.¡±


    ¡°Well, they got him to help plow the fields, that¡¯s fairly brought to heel,¡± Ulrik added. Receiving shocked glances from everyone who didn¡¯t already know about that.


    ¡°Victoria, please tell me he is joking?¡± the lieutenant questioned.


    ¡°As far as I know that¡¯s true. In fact, Jarix agreed to it while I was present.¡±


    ¡°I need to meet this Tom,¡± Lord Hashaw replied once he digested that.


    ¡°I wanna see Jarix plowing, that would be hilarious,¡± the lieutenant added in merrily, even if he didn¡¯t quite seem to believe it.


    ¡®Tom, if you can hear me right now, I hope you like attention.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It would seem the flying bastards were leaving them alone for the time being, likely more concerned with Jarix and the angry mob of dragonettes hunting them around the keep.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking the front,¡± Jackalope stated. Tom agreed that was probably not a bad idea, all things considered.


    ¡°Roger, on the grenade,¡± Tom replied, lighting the fuze and chucking it through the open doorway. The huntress had said that the enemy had made it to the third floor, so Tom hoped that was enough to save the locals from this. He could feel both him and Jackalope holding their breath as they plugged their ears, waiting for the grenade. As Tom counted down, a battered and bruised darkling came rushing out, blade drawn.


    Tom''s heart sank for a second, as he felt Jackalope yank him back, bringing up her revolver to shoot it. Then the grenade went off inside the room, the blast ripping the darkling apart and scattering it across the ground. Tom felt the heat coming off the flash as it shot out the door into the darkness beyond.


    Jackalope rushed ahead, rounding the corner with her revolver held high, though not shooting. Tom could see the blue blood coming from her ears and trickling down her cheeks, her expression one of focus. ¡®Goddammit,¡¯ Tom cursed as he picked up the rifle, moving up behind her.


    The room was black and charred though it would seem the explosion snuffed out any fires. Not to mention, he could hardly breathe through the smoke. There weren''t even really bodies inside, just mangled corpses strewn about the room, but there was no fancy black armor to be seen.


    Tom could hear the cries and shrieks coming from above where he assumed the darklings had just been wounded by the shockwave and fireball. He tapped on Jackalope''s shoulder pointing to the stairs, gesturing her forward then tapping her ear and speaking quietly. ¡°Your hearing is gone.¡±


    Jackalope responded by looking at him concernedly, then realization spread across her face. It didn¡¯t seem to break her resolve, though, as she let out a slight growl, looking to Tom intently.


    Tom gestured up the stairs then made a motion like his arm was hurt then raised the rifle. Jacky nodded, turning back to the stairs, moving up them fast. Tom followed on her heel, rifle at the ready. Jackalope stopped at the top of the stairs, drawing her knife before continuing. It was a horrifying scene, the dimly lit corridor covered in gore, a few torches at the end still somehow burning. The burnt and mangled corpses lay strewn about, a few of them still moaning and screeching as they struggled towards Tom and Jackalope, dragging themselves along the ground. All the doors to the rooms had been blown inwards.


    Resheathing her knife, Jackalope picked up a spear from the ground in her off hand and set about putting a silent end to the wounded darklings. A task she seemed to enjoy, moving from darkling to darkling with an evil sneer on her face. Some of them still tried to attack her in what manner they could. One had its face burned to the point the jaw was showing, yet it still tried to snap at her with what strength it had left. Jackalope rammed the spear down its throat repeatedly until it expired.


    Tom stayed at the stairs leading down, keeping the rifle raised to cover her in case something nasty came either from above or out of one of the rooms. He periodically glanced down the stairs too just in case they were about to be boxed in as well.


    Then Tom heard multiple sets of fast footsteps on the floor above. He readied himself taking aim at the top of the stairs. The darklings came rushing down the stairs, not even getting out a screech of surprise as Tom put a round in the first one''s chest. The gold trimmed armor clad creature collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, and Tom stared at the lifeless thing as it lay there. ¡®That must have been Lothal¡¯s mother.¡¯ Tom snapped back to reality at the screech of the second one which was now already down the stairs thanks to his hesitation.


    He ran the action quickly and put a round through its abdomen dead center, its legs giving out beneath it as the spine shattered.


    The third one was right on the heels of the second, then another, then another; six in total came barreling down the stairs, not stopping for their fallen comrades. Tom just kept firing, and he nailed the third with a head shot as it struggled to get around the corpse of the turned mother, adding itself to the pile. The fourth jumping down the side of the stairs receiving two shots, center mass, from Jackalope when it landed.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    And yet they just kept coming, the fifth and sixth choosing the same route down the side of the stairs and setting off at a sprint down the corridor. Mouths agape, letting out that distorted screaming. Tom put a rifle round down one''s throat, shutting it up for good, while Jackalope pumped her four remaining rounds into the other. The darkling coming to a sliding stop at the feet.


    Jackalope looked back at him, wide eyed, the evil sneer from before replaced with horror. Tom looked to the wounded, horrible sounds coming from them as they protested their fates. His eyes falling on the one in the gilded armor, the enamel had all cracked and greyed but the gold still shone bright as she lay there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Tom let out, trying to apologize to her.


    He brought up the revolver while Jacky reloaded. She dropped a few rounds as she hurried to get the job done faster than she could. With her gun loaded again she went back to the task of finishing off the wounded with the spear. Now, though, she was striking quickly rather than viciously, looking to get the task over with. These weren''t the ones responsible for what had happened, they couldn¡¯t do anything. There was one guy left, though, who did have to pay for all this.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had ended up getting rather late before they were allowed to leave. Not that Sapphire minded. Once they had gotten the legal stuff out of the way, and Viatius departed, it had been a very pleasant evening. They had even gotten an escort home since it was so late and they had gotten a little enthusiastic with their drinking. Once Lord Hashaw found out Dakota was rather fond of good wine, a trait Sapphire was sure Nunuk was responsible for, the lord had spent quite a while detailing his retirement project being a vineyard outside of town.


    Then they of course had to sample the wares in question. It was definitely good wine by Sapphire''s standards. Then again, she had drunk more fine wine in the last few days than she had in the last ten years, so she hardly considered herself learned on the subject. At Ulrik''s behest they had been given two guards to escort them home safely since it was dark and they didn''t really know where they were going.


    Unfortunately, Maiko had long since departed so they got a couple of random women who seemed a little annoyed with the assignment once they were out of sight of the mansion. One of them claimed to know the way though, so that would do.


    It was dark and they were slightly drunk so they kept close formation with the one who knew the way. The other guard was taking up the rear, and both of them were carrying lanterns so other people could see them. Not that there was a lot of traffic this time of day. Dakota also had a lantern they had borrowed from the tavern just in case it got dark before they needed to get home.


    They were flying v-formation with Sapphire on the lead guards left flank. Down below, the odd torch and lit up window could be seen. The black void of the street guiding the way for them. It was a rather beautiful clear night, and Sapphire could still feel the warmth of the fine drinks in her belly. All in all this was rather pleasant, despite being so late. As they flew though, Dakota seemed to be on edge, looking back occasionally with a troubled expression.


    ¡°We are being followed, fly casual,¡± she finally spoke up. Sapphire stiffened slightly, though she did as she was told and kept flying. ¡°Don¡¯t let them know, or they will douse their lantern.¡±


    ¡°Do we keep going?¡± The front guard replied in a calm informal voice. Dakota seemed to think on that for a bit.


    ¡°Would they be here to hurt you or find out where you are going, ma¡¯am?¡± the second one spoke up from behind Sapphire.


    Sapphire glanced back, there was indeed a lantern in the darkness behind them, quite some distance away. She couldn¡¯t see anyone other than the lantern and glimpse of the one who carried it. So there might just be one guy, but there could be a lot.


    ¡°Let¡¯s think this through. If it¡¯s Flaxen they know where we are staying. Who else could it be?¡± Dakota questioned, looking around at the others.


    Sapphire drew a blank on that one. Sure, there might be people from the council or maybe someone who had heard a rumor who wanted to talk with them, but following them in the night, surely not? No one else seemed to have any suggestions either.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try and see if they will follow us. Go low and let¡¯s make a wrong turn,¡± Dakota ordered, the leading guard obliging by dropping down to only a few meters above roof level then turning right at the next intersection. ¡°Don¡¯t look back,¡± Dakota ordered as they made the turn.


    ¡°What about the city guard?¡± Balethon questioned as they straightened up again.


    ¡°We are technically city guards,¡± the one at the rear answered.


    ¡°They haven''t done anything illegal yet, but they might bugger off if we find some more,¡± the one in front added.


    Flying on for a bit, Dakota eventually let herself look back. ¡°They are still there and it¡¯s not just one. Balethon, up for some proper flying?¡± Sapphire could see it dawn on the guy that he was the only male present at the moment. ¡°We make for the tavern, I don¡¯t want to leave our stuff. If we stumble on some guards we go there. And we stick together no matter what. If they start getting close we run like hell!¡±


    ¡®Well, we have been drinking some rather sweet stuff,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, praying that would offset the alcohol and fatigue of the long day, at least a bit. Balethon moved to the center of the formation so they would all break the wind for him. Then they made a left turn to get back on track.


    ¡°Well I say they definitely know we have seen them by now,¡± Sapphire concluded, allowing herself to look back. The lantern still followed them and it was closer now, but without Dakota''s Magically enhanced vision she couldn¡¯t make out anyone chasing. ¡°And they¡¯re gaining,¡± the lead guard stated, putting on more speed.


    Sapphire looked to Balethon who was keeping up without a problem thus far. He was no slouch and one of the better male fliers of the keep, and they couldn¡¯t be far out from the tavern by now. Even if it was nearly on the other side of the city.


    ¡°There,¡± the lead guard shouted out as the familiar street came up on their right. ¡¯Moment of truth then,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. If the chasers were here to hurt them, they would come in as soon as Sapphire and the others slowed down to land.


    ¡°Land on the walkways," Dakota ordered as they came in. The walkways were mostly empty, so while it would be a tad tricky it could be done without too much trouble. Some of them were a little drunk though, and Baleton misjudged the landing as he hit the railing with a foot, sending him face first into the planking as he skidded to a stop. No attack came though. Sapphire looked back as soon as she was safely down to see several fliers whiz by, pulling up into the night. They were armed too. Rather heavily in fact.


    ¡°Those are mercenaries,¡± the guard who had led them here went.


    A flyer came around, heading straight for them. It pulled up as it let go of a large stone, sending it hurtling towards them. The stone went through the glass window of the tavern with a crash.


    ¡°Everyone inside," Dakota ordered. Sapphire helped up Balethon as the little tavern guard, Draki, opened the door for them.


    ¡°Bar the door.¡±


    ¡°With what? And why are mercenaries chasing you?! And why are they throwing rocks!?¡± the diminutive guard shouted back at them, clearly not pleased with the turn of events.


    ¡°Draki, right?¡± Dakota tried, the little guy nodding as if that was the most obvious thing ever. ¡°They chased us here. That''s all we know.¡± She was doing a fine job of keeping a calm face as usual, the fact that they had just been chased by people equipped for a fight in the middle of the night not showing on her face.


    Then Sapphire felt a pair of hands turn her around to look at a very worried looking Haiko. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, they didn¡¯t catch us¡­ I don''t even know if they wanted to.¡± Sapphire looked to Dakota and the lead guard, as her brother embraced her. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they attack us when we landed?¡±


    The second guard had gone over to find the rock, which was wrapped up in parchment.


    ¡°You have been warned,¡± she went, reading out loud, looking back up and around the room. Inside quite a few patrons were sitting, though there was dead silence now as everyone was staring at them.


    ¡°That¡¯s not good, right?¡± Balethon questioned, looking to the guards that had led them here.


    ¡°No, most definitely not. This is unacceptable. This is a threat against your well-being.¡±


    ¡®Well on that we agree,¡¯ Sapphire concluded.


    ¡°You think they are coming back like¡­ right now?¡± Balethon continued.


    ¡°I cannot tell you,¡± the guard answered, looking around the room concernedly.


    ¡°If you''re gonna ask me to fight to the death for ya, the answer is no.¡± The little guy added. ¡°Those bastards were packing.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± Haiko responded without much thought. If not for the seriousness of the situation Sapphire might have laughed at that.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know any of them?¡± Dakota questioned, looking at the two tavern guards.


    ¡°Nah, they¡¯re a copper a dozen. You pissed someone off big time, didn¡¯t ya?¡± Draki responded. ¡®That¡¯s rather depressing,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. Then again, mercenaries were often the cheapest way to get some help when you really needed it. Even if some of them might be equal parts bandits at times.


    ¡°Maybe Kokashi¡¯s mum¡¯s one of them,¡± the bruised Balethon tried to joke as he rubbed his face.


    ¡°Dakota, we will be staying with you here for the time being. We go back to the estate tomorrow, to let them know what happend.¡± Dakota gave a nod. ¡°No disrespect to your abilities,¡± the guard continued, looking at Draki.


    ¡°Hey, rather you die for them than me, that''s for sure. Even if Haiko feels ready to die. Might have to get some mates together and thrash those bastards,¡± Draki replied, punching Haiko in the shoulder.


    ¡°I would rather not start a gang war,¡± Dakota replied. ¡°I will pay for your rooms. It''s most kind of you to stay for the time being.¡±


    ¡°We have to ma¡¯am, Victoria would kill us if we did anything else.¡±


    ¡®At least they are being honest,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°We have killed both your buddies, all three of those gross bat things, your vargulfs, and most of your darklings. Come out now, unarmed with your hands where I can see them,¡± Tom demanded, shouting up the stairs. He and Jackalope had just finished securing the floor they were on, and he could hear fighting above. He didn¡¯t get a reply though. ¡°We know you can hear us, you piece of shit. Come out now! Or I will fold you inside your own arsehole!¡± Not his best insult but the last one worked rather well.


    There was no immediate reply, though a deep boom could be heard twice from above.


    ¡°I don¡¯t fall for such lies you insolent child. You can¡¯t even speak properly!¡± A voice responded, with what Tom would definitely describe as false confidence. ¡®Success then,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, at finally receiving a reply. The voice didn¡¯t sound too distant, so Tom guessed he was in fact on the floor above them.


    ¡°Why is that? So far it has been rather easy,¡± he taunted. That was a fucking lie if he had ever told one. He had damn near died and he had no clue if Zarko made it out of the aerial skirmish that had erupted. To Tom¡¯s surprise Jackalope still had her grenade so it must have been Zarko that performed that reckless dive at the start. At least that meant Jacky still had her grenade if they needed it.


    As he got ready to try again, he heard the outer door shut again with a bang, followed shortly by a crashing sound from upstairs. ¡®Must be some sort of battering ram,¡¯ Tom concluded.


    ¡°You are surrounded. You can¡¯t escape and you will lose, give up now and your life may be spared. I want no further bloodshed,¡± Tom was rather happy Jackalope didn¡¯t hear that one. He had a feeling she would rip his head off for even saying that.


    ¡°You have no way of making such a guarantee,¡± the reply came. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. ¡®He wants to live.¡¯ That would make this so much sweeter.


    ¡°Sure I can. I can do what ever the fuck I want.¡±


    He didn¡¯t get a reply on that one, so he tapped Jackalope on the shoulder and gestured at the stairs holding up a finger to his mouth. She nodded carefully, beginning to make her way towards it.


    Then a crash was heard above, sounding like something major had just broken. The sound of splintering wood filled the halls alongside the screeching of darklings and the roar of triumphant dragonettes.


    Tom heard blades being crossed as well as more footsteps above. He put a hand on Jackalope''s shoulder holding her back. Then the black-armored foot of a dark knight was seen stepping down the stairs.


    ¡°I want to strike a deal,¡± the knight went as he made his way down the stairs. As soon as his head was in view, terror clear in his eyes, Jackalope opened up, being joined by Tom who stepped up beside her. They both unloaded their weapons into the guy, Jackalope running the revolver dry one-handed before Tom even got his third shot off.


    The knight slumped down against the wall before tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs and joining the others, Several holes blasted through the neck armor. Tom put one last rifle round in his eye socket as he lay there, just in case.


    ¡°That was something¡± Jackalope let out turning to Tom wide-eyed smoking gun still held high.


    ¡®You don¡¯t say¡¯ Tom mentally agreed, nodding slightly.

 Licking The Wounds

    Chapter 84: Licking The Wounds


    Tom covered the stairs with the revolver while Jacky reloaded again. She only had two reloads left, and that wasn¡¯t counting the rounds she had dropped. There was still fighting coming from upstairs, which meant they still had a job to do. Tom just hoped he didn''t need to explain the concept of friendly fire to a deaf Jackalope.


    As the two of them moved up the stairs, stepping over the bodies, Tom looked at the bastard to blame for this shit show. His eye caught something on the A-holes belt. He grabbed Jacky by the shoulder, she looked at him a tad confused but stopped as Tom bent, examining the dagger at the Knight¡¯s waist. ¡°That can¡¯t be good.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I remember that!¡± Jackalope went, entirely too loudly. Tom held up a finger before his mouth. ¡°That¡¯s the one Vulzan had, right?¡± she continued, whispering also entirely too loudly.


    Tom nodded in response. That indeed looked exactly like the dagger Vulzan had brought. Whatever that meant, it likely wasn¡¯t good. Tom unbuckled the knife, shoving it in an empty pocket. He didn''t want something snatching that thing, that was for certain. Then he nodded, pointing up the stairs. Jackalope nodded a reply then continued to move up.


    As soon as the landing came in view she began firing, clearly switching targets between shots. Tom brought up his revolver, holding the rifle with his left, and when she ran out, they quickly switched places as he popped up. The scene that greeted him was a large kitchen with what looked like a dining table over to one side with quite a few seats. The end of the room being dominated by a set of double doors, which he guessed led to some kind of large hall. Strewn around the room were wounded or dead darklings, some of them with fresh bullet holes in them.


    Most of them were at the door, some trying to construct a barricade from the furniture of the room. Others holding the door shut themselves. Another crash rang out as the door threatened to give way, more splintering wood betraying that the door wouldn¡¯t hold much longer. There were a lot of darklings though, and he certainly had their attention as those not currently on door duty were either turning towards him or already sprinting for him.


    ¡°Fuck me,¡± Tom let out as he brought up the gun, firing away. He got four rounds off before a crossbow bolt took him in the neck right above his left collarbone as he failed to duck in time. He stumbled back against the wall behind him, firing off two more shots. Then looking down towards Jackalope who was busy reloading, seemingly none the wiser to what had just happened. As he went to go down the stairs he slipped on the blood-soaked steps causing him to tumble down the stairs, landing in the pile of bodies.


    ¡°NOO!¡± Jackalope screamed out in panic. She ran down the stairs after him and hoisted him the ground half draggin him behind her as she backed down the hallway.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Jacky I just slipped¡± Tom protested, cursing the fact she couldn''t hear him.


    Then she let out a rasping gasp. Tom felt her stumble for a split second before she turned around and kicked off hard, throwing herself into one of the open rooms, clutching Tom tight as they sailed through the air, landing on their side.


    ¡°Jacky!?¡± Tom shouted out in alarm, desperately squirming to get a look at her.


    ¡°They fucking shot me!¡± She replied, clearly in pain and seemingly struggling for breath, finally letting go.


    Tom got free and sat up, looking back at her. There was almost no light in the room but the dim glow of torchlight coming from the doorway revealed a crossbow bolt embedded in her back, apparently having pierced the flat back of her chest plate. It almost dawned on him too late that he needed to watch the door as he brought up the rifle, fighting the immense pain from his neck. A darkling wielding only a sword came into view not a second later. Tom fired one-handed as he sat on the floor, the shot landing in the darkling¡¯s hip and sending it sprawling to the ground. Tom fumbled with the action, holding the rifle with his left hand despite the protests of the bolt wound, putting a second round in its head as it tried to crawl towards him.


    Jackalope got up onto her knees, wheezing, as she reached for her empty holster. ¡°I dropped it. I¡¯m so sorry!¡± She let out as if he would be mad at her right now. Tom didn¡¯t take his eyes off the door as he pulled his revolver free of its holster, handing it to her. Then he pointed to the bullets on his belt. She couldn''t have many left by now.


    She grabbed it, frantically reloading hands shaky as she worked. She sounded almost like she was hyperventilating though she was clearly struggling to breathe at all. Another darkling eventually wandered into view, though its attention was focused on the stairs. A mistake it did not get to correct as Tom blew a hole in its head, replacing the spent round right away. He was pretty much out of rifle rounds now too. Though he didn¡¯t dare take his eyes off the door to count what he had left.


    Jackalope finally finished her reload, then grabbed him by the shoulders dragging the both of them into a corner of the room. Raising her new gun, she pointed it towards the door. The next one to come into view clearly knew they were in here, as it came crouching down behind its shield.


    Jackalope fired twice at the thing, putting holes in the shield but not causing it to drop. despite some disturbing sounds coming from it. Tom brought up the rifle center mass and put it on its arse, Jackalope finishing it off with another round before it could get back up.


    Tom was starting to feel a little light-headed though and his chest was rather warm. As he touched the cloth near the wound, he could feel the wetness even through the leather gloves of his gauntlets. Tom tapped Jacky on the side with the rifle butt. It was too dark to see anything but he tried to gesture to the wound. She reached over, touching it, letting out a gasp. She moved to his side then laid him down. Tom did his best to keep the rifle pointed at the doorway as Jackalope used her off hand to try and apply pressure while still pointing her gun at the door.


    She tried to say something, but instead ending up coughing up blood, spattering it onto Tom as he lay there. ¡®Please hurry the fuck up,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. He could still hear the fighting going on upstairs. They better fucking win.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening down there!?¡± An exhausted sounding voice shouted out from above. Tom could understand the confusion on their part, all things considered. But damn, he was happy to hear something that wasn''t a scream or roar of pain.


    ¡°We got our asses kicked instead. Please help,¡± He responded, his neck protesting the shout vehemently. He couldn''t wait for this to all be over. The pain was killing him and Jacky was clearly not in a good way either; she was struggling more and more to breathe, lungs likely filling with blood.


    He eventually heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He readied himself to blow any retreating darklings to hell. It was hard to make out much in the dark room and his vision was definitely beginning to tunnel, that became clear when fresh torchlight lit up the doorway. A nice white, if very bloody, male dragonette in rather shabby looking guard armor entered the doorway, sword and shield held high others at his back.


    ¡°Holy shit?!¡± He exclaimed, taking a step back as he saw them. Tom lowered the rifle.


    ¡°Glad to see you too.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°They did What?!¡± Colonel Victoria Hashaw was most definitely not pleased with the day so far, though she had at least been relieved to see them. When she had been woken up early by a servant this morning she had been told the two guards had failed to return last night. As a result, she was currently standing in the tavern kitted out for battle with several guards and what Sapphire assumed to be family members at her back. Much to the amazement of the people currently enjoying their breakfast ¡°My opinion of those people has been dropping lately, but this is unheard of,¡± she continued, looking to Dakota.


    ¡°I must admit Colonel, I am unsure of what to do in this situation,¡± Dakota replied. She and Sapphire hadn''t gotten much sleep that night, even if they doubted anyone would go to such lengths to ¡®Warn them¡¯ only to attack the same night.


    Hashaw paced back and forth for a bit, looking like she was both pondering the situation and blowing off a bit of steam.


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    ¡°We cannot retaliate, they will obviously deny this was them.¡±


    ¡°Are we sure it¡¯s the Flaxens?¡± Ulrik questioned from behind his wife.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s them, the only question is was this the family or the lady herself. She¡¯s being held in custody, but she could have talked to someone.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just tell the mercenaries: no, that''s illegal?¡± Balethon questioned. The colonel looked at him for a second, Sapphire trying to make out her expression beneath the helmet, which she still hasn''t taken off.


    ¡°No¡­ you can''t. Most of them live off illegal things.¡±


    ¡°That sounds more like bandits to me,¡± Balethon replied. That received some grunts of approval and nods from Colonel Hashaw¡¯s entourage, even if there were a few disgruntled murmurs coming from the patrons.


    ¡°We need somewhere more private to discuss this,¡± Dakota then spoke up.


    ¡°Agreed, follow me,¡± Colonel Hashaw responded, turning to walk out of the tavern.


    Flying in daylight and as a part of a formation with enough arms and armor to worry a keep did ease Sapphire''s mind a bit, even as she was still scanning around for targets. The swarm of people crisscrossing the sky made it damn near impossible. It wasn¡¯t like they would be hard to follow flying like this anyway.


    They had ended up in some kind of meeting room at the Hashaw estate with, to Sapphire''s astonishment, both Lord and Lady Hashaw present.


    ¡°Why is it we can''t retaliate?¡± Sapphire questioned, as that seemed more than fair to her even if it was against the law.


    ¡°We don¡¯t use such underhanded tactics, Sapphire,¡± Colonel Hashaw responded very pointedly.


    ¡°But Tom is damn near a specialist at that sort of thing, just tell them that if they do something stupid the demon warrior will come and wipe them out.¡±


    ¡°You honestly think this single weird warrior would scare them?¡± Lady Hashaw questioned, looking at the two of them.


    ¡°They should be,¡± Sapphire responded. ¡°He doesn''t fight fair, he just fights to win, and he¡¯s as smart as he¡¯s deadly.¡±


    ¡°No, I will have no part in any such action,¡± Lady Hashaw protested from her raised seat. ¡°Though this behavior is unacceptable. They have insulted not only our name but threatened our guests in addition to betraying the trust of my eldest daughter and sullying her reputation. This cannot stand. But they must be dealt with properly.¡±


    ¡°How do you propose we proceed then, Mother?¡± Victoria questioned.


    ¡°First off, we make it very clear to the Flaxens that we do not buy the fact that they are not involved and that we will retaliate if they do attack us. Secondly, I want our guests escorted at all times. Victoria, I believe you have a crew with little to do at the moment; just send someone with them. An attack on your crew is an attack on you, so use that.¡±


    ¡°Yes mother,¡± Victoria responded with a polite nod.


    ¡°Thirdly, I want to know who they hired. If they strike at us we will rip them apart. Make that very clear to them. Yilditz, that¡¯s your job.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure, ma¡¯am,¡± the younger man who had joined them last night replied.


    ¡°Must say I appreciate your help deeply, Lady Hashaw. I know not how we may repay you,¡± Dakota went, bowing deeply to the lady. She was indeed doing them one hell of a service, Sapphire thought.


    ¡°I am defending my family''s name. As you would yours. If you want to repay me, give Tom my thanks for the new bows he so graciously provided us with.¡±


    ¡°I will be sure to do that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and do tell him to drop by some time, I would love to meet this strange being. Do you think he likes wine?¡± Lord Hashaw added, earning him a sigh from his wife.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°He¡¯s bleeding badly¡­ No, I don''t know what he is, but he killed three of the black bastards so don¡¯t kill him¡­ no let her, she can¡¯t hear you¡­ I¡¯m guessing one of those huge explosions, dumbass. Just let her follow him.¡±


    Tom wanted to make some kind of snarky remark as he was carried up into the hall by his new best friends. He had tried to get up himself to greet his rescuer but fainted on the spot. He had mostly woken up by now, though his head was still spinning wildly.


    ¡°Right we need to get it out so we can seal it,¡± a new voice went. The voice was female, and it sounded older and more authoritative. ¡®Hey, it¡¯s another Nunuk,¡¯ Tom thought to himself with a chuckle. They fumbled around a bit with his things for a bit. Eventually they figured it out, getting off his vest and backpack and laid him down on a table. Someone pressed down hard on the wound, which definitely brought him back to consciousness as the pain shot through him.


    ¡°Goddammit, that hurts!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t care what you are, bleeding this much isn''t healthy.¡±


    Tom had to agree. If he had lost enough blood to faint from standing up in about a minute, then this was bad. Another dragonette came over standing looking down at him with an odd expression.


    ¡°You are without a doubt the strangest thing I have ever worked on¡­ Right, cut it out, we need to stop this.¡±


    Then Jackalope moved into view above him. The hall was well lit so he could see the blue blood coming out the side of her mouth and running down her neck, being joined by the trickle from her ears. She looked terrible. Her expression one of pain and worry.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s gonna... be fine?¡± She questioned, sputtering and coughing. Spitting out blood on the floor before turning back to who Tom assumed to be a healer. The healer responded with a smile and a nod pointing over to some bench or something, Tom guessed.


    ¡°You need to go lie down on your side now. Luke, please get her to lie down. I will be with her in a moment.¡±


    Tom nodded at Jackalope, trying to smile. She gave him a nuzzle, smiling a bit bringing up the revolver. ¡°Found it,¡± she went coughing up more blood. Tom couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the absurdity of that. Even if he was now also smeared in her blood.


    The dragonette Tom assumed to be Luke took her by the arm and led her away, leaving Tom with the healer. She looked to be closer to Dakota''s age now that he got a better look at her, perhaps a bit older. So there he was, covered in a mix of blue and red blood and his neck hurting like a mother fucker, being worked on by people he didn¡¯t know in a place he had never been. ¡®This didn¡¯t quite go according to plan,¡¯ he concluded, staring up into the ceiling.


    ¡°I thought you''d be tougher,¡± Jarix then taunted, though the dragon''s voice was weak and weary. Gone was the brash confidence, at least for the time being. Tom sighed a bit. It was good to hear the dragon wasn¡¯t completely out of it, despite taking a vicious beating. Still, perhaps Jarix had the right idea. A joke might be the way to go after that shit show.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who crashed and fucked the plan up,¡± Tom strained to respond, soon regretting it as the one putting pressure on his wound began to cut the bolt out. Tom screamed in pain, wishing he could have had just a few painkillers before this.


    ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t hear you over the scream¡­ Auu!¡± It would seem whoever was working on Jarix either had an excellent sense of humor or really didn¡¯t give a shit. If not for the pain Tom might have chuckled at that.


    ¡°Quiet, and lay still, no screaming¡± the healer woman ordered as she continued to work her magic. He did as he was told for a bit until he heard Jackalope cursing loudly.


    ¡°How¡¯s Jacky?¡± he asked, trying not to move too much.


    ¡°Lay still! She will be fine, it¡¯s just a puncture wound.¡±


    She better not be fucking lying, Tom thought to himself as he obeyed, not moving a muscle.


    ¡°How the hell did you fight your way through that but your neck isn¡¯t even protected? Are you insane? Don''t answer that yet by the way,¡± she went as she worked.


    ¡°His blood burns with fury,¡± someone replied, off by where Jackalope was, nearly getting a chuckle out of Tom.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s hot-blooded like a deer you muppet,¡± the guy who had found Tom replied. Then it hit Tom there was still someone missing.


    ¡°What about Zarko?¡± The healer looked ready to protest, she stayed her tongue though.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine you damn lunatic,¡± Zarko responded, walking up next to him. ¡°Though Jarix is definitely not.¡±


    ¡°Good to see one of us made it through okay,¡± Tom replied, looking up at her. She actually looked mostly fine incredibly.


    ¡°We found this Tom. On one of the big abominations,¡± Zarko held up a fine looking case of some kind. It looked like something you would keep a fine sword in or something. As she opened that wasn¡¯t too far from the truth.


    ¡°Think Kalestine is gonna want it back?¡± Tom questioned, winching a bit at the pain of speaking.


    ¡°Lay still dammit, you¡¯re gonna kill yourself.¡± The healer protested. The troubled look on Zarko¡¯s face betrayed that she might have a point. So Tom once again did his best to stay as still as possible.


    ¡°I honestly have no idea,¡± Zarko replied, looking down at him. ¡°On that point, Lady Deriva?¡±


    ¡°Yes dear, what is it?¡± Tom couldn¡¯t see her, but she sounded ancient.


    ¡°We came here from Hylsdal. As did your attackers. I¡¯m deeply sorry to report that Hylsdal is but a ruin now.¡± There was silence in the hall as that news was processed. It was pierced by Jarix''s whimper of pain as an arrow was removed. ¡°Fortunately though, we were able to rescue some survivors. They are currently hiding in the forest with the, as you can tell, wounded Kalestine.¡±


    ¡°How many, dear?¡± The old lady questioned in the softness of an old nanny, her voice heavy with worry.


    ¡°Five children, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Oh good heavens. We must retrieve them. Luke, how many do we have that can still fly?¡±


    Tom heard the voice of the man who had found him and Jackalope answer from somewhere to his right.


    ¡°For that long of a distance not many¡­ Maybe six, myself included. They aren''t gonna go away though mum. Their leaders are dead, but that doesn''t mean they will run and there were still quite a few left out there. We are building fresh barricades below to keep them out.¡±


    ¡°We wounded a lot of them, many will die during the night. I say we rest ''till morning then see how bad it is. Will Tom be on his feet by then?¡± Zarko questioned, looking at the healer.


    ¡°I have no idea, what even is he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m human,¡± Tom responded, slightly irritated at being referred to in the third person.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ Tom¡­ But I have no idea how you work.¡±


    ¡°Stop my bleeding, give me water and I¡¯ll be walking tomorrow¡­ I think.¡± Tom didn¡¯t have a clue if that was true or not, but he was sure as hell gonna try and help out if he could. For now though, he could use a rest and a pain killer. ¡°Am I allowed to move now?¡± Tom questioned, the healer seemingly finished with her task.


    ¡°Just be gentle okay, it¡¯s not my best work. They will bandage you shortly¡± She replied, moving to Jackalope who had been laid down on the next table over.


    ¡°That¡¯s reassuring,¡± Tom responded as he glanced around. It looked most of all like a triage station in here. Many of the ones who were walking had bandaged limbs and faces, or just generally looked terrible. ¡°I¡¯m gonna grab a few painkillers. Jacky, you want one?... Oh... Right¡±

 Under Siege

    Chapter 85: Under Siege


    As Tom sat on the table, just having washed down a pair of painkillers, he took a second to appreciate the scene. All these different faces. None of them familiar, most of them fucked up, but all of them alive. Even if he didn''t know how many there used to be here. They had properly closed the neck wound, but his other injuries had only been bandaged up. The worst one had been the cut to his side from the stinger. It burned with a vengeance, likely due to the poison involved. It had gotten better after they had cleaned it though, so that was something.


    Jackalope was currently being tended to by the healer woman. Jarix was still being looked at. Apparently, the impact had knocked out his shoulder. Putting that back in had been sounded like the world''s largest dog being stepped on. Tom was absolutely amazed the dragon hadn''t broken anything, he had felt the collision in his chest after all.


    ¡°You good there¡­ whatever you are?¡± Luke questioned from behind him.


    ¡°Not quite sure,¡± Tom replied, not knowing what else to say to that.


    ¡°Mind filling me in on what the fuck just happened?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you ask Zarko? I think she¡¯s got a better grasp of that,¡± Tom tried to dismiss him.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Sure¡­ You were Tom right?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°I just wanna say thank you. The dragon is a bit distracted right now so I guess you will do.¡± Right on cue, Jarix let out another groaning whimper as one more arrow was yanked out. Looking at Jarix, he looked almost part pincushion right now. There were dozens of arrows embedded in his back.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t take another one.¡±


    ¡°Another what?¡±


    ¡°Sir, Lord, whatever¡­¡±


    ¡°Lukano, but Just Luke, that¡¯s fine¡± the dragonette interrupted, though he sounded mostly apologetic rather than rude.


    ¡°Luke then¡­ They burned down Hylsdal. They took everyone. We only found the kids ¡®cause they hid them underground¡­ couldn¡¯t let that happen again.¡±


    ¡°Well you might not look like it, but you sure sound noble,¡± the dragonette replied, sounding like he was trying to cheer Tom up.


    ¡°How many did you lose?¡±


    ¡°Mostly wounded, but we got 4 dead and two missing. We couldn¡¯t even count how many of them there were. It was fifty easily though. I have to ask... How did you kill that many?¡±


    ¡°Hate and firepower,¡± Tom replied, looking back at Luke. ¡°And a fair amount of luck. If you want to thank someone, thank him,¡± Tom continued, pointing at Jarix.


    ¡°Oh, I have¡­¡± Luke replied in an uncertain voice, glancing at Jarix ¡°What of the other dragon? We couldn¡¯t see him. Did he fly off into the night? Not that I would blame him; that would be very smart.¡± He sounded almost like he was worried he had just insulted Tom with that insinuation.


    ¡°You are looking at him, Luke,¡± the female dragonette who had attacked him went before Tom could respond, walking up. ¡°I have no clue what he is, but he spews fire and death, unlike anything. Also sorry about earlier.¡± Tom nodded at her. How was she supposed to know after all?


    ¡°So it was you that made the explosions?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a powerful fire mage,¡± Tom replied, not having the energy to put in much effort. ¡°And I¡¯m quite tired right now, so no magic tricks¡­ Did anyone get hurt when I blew up the lower level?¡± Tom hadn¡¯t noticed any deaf dragonettes running around, so he hoped not.


    ¡°No, fortunately not. You did give us the scare of our lives though¡­ quite a few times in fact.¡±


    ¡°Are the kids here okay?¡±


    ¡°They are quite safe, thanks to you people.¡± Luke looked like he wanted to give Tom a punch to the shoulder. He did clearly think better of it though, Tom giving him a weak smile. Luke bowed slightly, walking away. There was plenty to do, though the sound of fighting had seemingly ceased.


    ¡°Luke, what were those bat things?¡± Tom interjected as Luke walked to leave.


    ¡°I was hoping you could tell me¡­¡± He replied, turning back.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s just brilliant,¡± Tom sighed.


    ¡°Fucking arseholes, that''s what,¡± Jarix replied with a considerable amount of malice in his voice. ¡°And cheaters.¡±


    ¡°Bats can see in the dark, Jarix,¡± Tom replied in a normal tone. He knew the dragon could hear him just fine. ¡°In fact they use sound to see¡±


    ¡°That still doesn''t make it fair. Auu! It¡¯s cheating!¡±


    ¡°You breathe lightning; that¡¯s hardly fair either. Fights shouldn¡¯t be fair anyway. Those are for suckers, and you did well. Extremely well in fact.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? How many do you think you killed?¡± Jarix replied.


    ¡°The ones I needed to. All but three were dead anyway,¡± Tom replied gingerly, trying to stand up. Someone, who themselves looked beaten to shit, came over to give him a hand.


    The two of them hobbled over to Jackalope who was also lying on a table, but up on her side. Her breastplate had been removed and the bolt taken out. Currently, someone was applying some herbal looking stuff to the wound, along with bandages, much like what had been done to Tom¡¯s neck.


    He sat down in front of her with a smile. She moved to open her mouth. Tom just put a finger on her snout. She needed to be still right now he reckoned. She did bring a hand up to caress his face though and smiled a bit, even if her face betrayed just how much pain she was in right now.


    ¡°Is it okay if she drinks some water?¡± Tom asked, looking to the one applying bandages.


    ¡°Should be fine. Just don¡¯t make her move or shout or anything like that please.¡± The dragonette sounded tired as all hell. Tom guessed they had been treating the wounded for a while even before the shit show had kicked off.


    He brought up the painkillers, taking one out and gesturing for Jackalope to open her mouth. She did so as he put the small pill in her mouth, unscrewing his flask for her. She turned her head 90 degrees to the side looking up into the ceiling, drinking in deep gulps before handing the flask back.


    Tom still had to get used to that. It wasn¡¯t any different than when they had a drink in flight though. But still that looked weird.


    ¡°There we go, you crazy bastard,¡± Tom went, setting the flask aside before laying his arms on the table resting his head on them. He felt tired enough to sleep standing; how much the blood loss had to do with that he didn''t know but he would sleep just fine here for now. The fact that Jackalope moved her head in closer didn¡¯t hurt either.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So we travel with you now?¡±


    ¡°I guess so. Someone apparently has to keep you from being murdered in the night,¡± Maiko replied. He didn''t seem to have much of a problem with the arrangement. Nor did Sapphire, though she had worried they might get that Latori guy. Sure, he was probably the most useful in their current situation, but he didn¡¯t seem like very interesting company. Maiko also knew where he was going, so that was a big plus.


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    The plan for the day, following the unorthodox start, was to go to Tink¡¯s place. This time trying to ensure they weren''t followed. They landed early, took several turns, and had a bit to eat following the slightly rushed breakfast. They hadn¡¯t spotted anyone though.


    ¡°They just tried to scare you. Hiring a bunch of people to do a flyby and look scary isn''t that expensive. Now they need to figure out if it worked. Then they might spend a bit more. I¡¯m guessing that''s why I¡¯m actually here.¡±


    ¡°You think you would make the difference in a fight?¡± Dakota questioned, clearly trying not to insult the dude. Makio didn''t even flinch though.


    ¡°Nah, my armor says Royal Guard on it. That makes the proposition a lot more expensive.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± was all Sapphire got out at that.


    ¡°Don''t worry, if they are dumb enough to attack me they will have a whole new order of problems to deal with. Now are you done? I wanna see what Tom gave to that crazy guy you found.¡±


    ¡°We better get cracking. I hope you''re not afraid of possible explosions,¡± Dakota replied, getting up. Earning a slightly worried look from Maiko.


    They had made it mostly to the workshop before the food break, so they did the last bit on foot. Stepping into the workshop, it was clear Tink hadn¡¯t been waiting for them before getting started.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been busy.¡±


    ¡°Why yes, of course, this is so very exciting. Are you sure this oil is enough to keep it from touching? Oh, a new friend! Pleased to meet you. I¡¯m Tink; this is Tink Junior,¡± Tink went, holding out a dirty hand.


    Maiko took it, looking a bit strained, but remaining polite. ¡°Corporal Maiko, Royal Guard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I knew you were a real one,¡± Junior let out, clearly excited. ¡°Are you dragon crew? Who do you fly with?¡± Junior continued, seemingly barely able to restrain himself. Maiko seemed to find it rather amusing though, so no harm done in Sapphire¡¯s book.


    ¡°I fly with Baron and Colonel Hashaw.¡± Junior¡¯s eyes went wide as he looked at the corporal.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re doing here? You''re working for Tom. He got a dragon to work for him not the other way around after all.¡±


    ¡®Ha. Someone''s a showman,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself.


    ¡°Did he really?¡± Junior questioned, turning to Dakota.


    ¡°Sort of, I guess. Sapphire, Tink asked about the wire oil. What do you think?¡± Dakota replied, deflecting the question and looking to Sapphire.


    ¡°Damned if I know. He put some of it on there and let it sit for a few hours till it dried,¡± Sapphire replied. She didn''t know how that electricity stuff really worked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure the wire will even work. It was made by a musician wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°A luthier specifically and it better be. That the guy told me I was being an idiot five times before he agreed to make it, because copper strings were a stupid idea.¡± Junior responded. He had been responsible for acquiring the wire and had been in a foul mood when he returned yesterday. At least he was cheered up now though, thanks to Maiko.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s dry already so we need to wind it around this piece of iron. I still don''t get why he didn''t want some good nice steel.¡±


    ¡°It said iron so we use iron,¡± Dakota replied, leaving no room for wiggling. They had learned that the hard way already. Tink did like to ¡®Improve¡¯ things as it turned out.


    ¡°What exactly are we doing?¡± the clearly quite confused Maiko questioned, inspecting the magnet.


    ¡°We are building an electrical nagnet to make more small nagnets for making navigation devices,¡± Dakota responded, looking slightly worried at the device.


    ¡°Huh. And it might explode?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, it won¡¯t. I have followed the instructions exactly. Well except for the wire thickness¡­ and the number of coils, but that will give the same amount of copper, so that should be good¡­ then the oil that has been sitting overnight to dry so that''s good. Then comes the power source,¡± Tink started rattling off, enthusiasm unimpeded.


    ¡°That sounds explodey,¡± Maikoe interjected.


    ¡°Only a small chance by my reckoning.¡±


    ¡°That means keep your distance and plug your ears,¡± Sapphire cut him off, looking at Maiko with a serious expression. ¡°It hurts a lot otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Okay then, I¡¯ll just stay over here.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, you¡¯re the one in armor and afraid of nothing,¡± Junior went, sounding dead serious.


    ¡°Uhm.. okay, how does it work?¡±


    The explanation took a bit, but then again there was quite a bit of wiring to do so it nearly canceled out. It was a tedious job, though it was nowhere near as bad as that strange ¡°motor¡± thing Tom had been making for a while.


    ¡°So we put the plates in there. This thing starts to attract metal and we run it along this nail to see if it works¡­¡± Dakota was trying to sound confident, but this just seemed too absurd to be true.


    ¡°And I put the plates in the jar then look away?¡± Maiko questioned, clearly not convinced either. Okay here goes nothing.¡±


    Sapphire stepped a few paces back along with Dakota and Balethon. Leaving the others to try it out. She was rather happy they had gotten their hands on a fearless member of the Royal Guard, otherwise, they would likely have had to force Balethon to do it.


    As the plates went in nothing seemed to happen though, until Tink put the nail in the end of the iron bar.


    ¡°It sticks!¡± He let out in triumph.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    When Tom woke up again, he felt like he had been run over by a truck. Perhaps sleeping sitting at a table hadn¡¯t been the smartest. Jackalope was still sleeping soundly and snoring, her head now lying on top of him. His head was throbbing painfully and he was thirsty as hell, not to mention his heart was pounding in his chest.


    Tom gently maneuvered out from under Jackalope¡¯s head, laying it down on the table. He downed what was left of his water bottle, taking stock of the situation. Jackalope was out cold, as were most of the people around him. A few were walking around checking up on the wounded. The healer who had worked on him was slumped against the wall. Zarko was currently sleeping on Jarix''s back.


    Jarix looked a lot better now that the arrows had been removed. ¡®He needs a treat after this one,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking to Jackalope. ¡°And so do you, that¡¯s for damn sure.¡± He tried listening for the tell-tell sounds of battle, but there was silence. In fact, Jackalope¡¯s snoring was about the loudest thing he could hear.


    He was still rather dizzy. ¡®How much blood did I lose?¡¯ he questioned himself, looking down at his very blood-soaked clothes. ¡°That¡¯s not gonna wash out.¡± They had taken his vest off, though he still had the shirt on and it was soaked in blood all the way down. His pants were too, in fact, now that he got a proper look. God, he looked like shit, covered in mud and blood: some of it his, some of it Jacky¡¯s, and there had to be vargulf in there too.


    ¡°You emm¡­ want to wash?¡± Someone asked from behind him. He turned to see a young woman, maybe 15 or 16 years old, holding a bucket .


    ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± Tom replied, taking the bucket and going about stripping off the ruined clothes.


    ¡°Are you some kind of monster?¡±


    ¡°I hope not. Do I look like one?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mea¡­


    ¡°Nothing to be sorry for,¡± Tom cut her off. ¡°Could you get another bucket for Jacky?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, right away. I could wash your clothes too.¡± Tom looked up at the girl from his impromptu wash. ¡°Sure. How are you guys doing on food?¡±


    ¡°Oh we''re good, want me to get you something to eat too?¡±


    ¡°That would be great. I¡¯m starving.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be right back,¡± the girl went, scampering off to what was left of the kitchen, leaving Tom in his undies. He almost wanted to stop her from going down there. It had to be a mess, all things considered, it certainly had been yesterday.


    He continued with the washing, rinsing off the worst of the muck. His wounds had been cleaned but the rest of him sure as hell needed a wash. The few people who were up and about were staring quite a lot too. The girl soon returned with another bucket, going back for the food. Tom set about trying to wash Jackalope, more blood had leaked from her ears and mouth as she slept.


    ¡°You just had to pull those fingers out, huh?¡± He asked her, receiving a snore in reply. ¡°It was fucking crazy, though. Jarix did great. Zarko blew them to kingdom come¡­ you¡¯re deaf, but they are all dead. And save my ass twice¡­ Thanks for that by the way,¡± he went, caressing her cheek before moving to wash off her arms and legs.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s thank you, young one,¡± he heard the old granny go from behind him.


    ¡°You¡¯re up early,¡± Tom replied, turning back to look at her, getting his first look. She looked proper old. She was wrinkly, slightly sunken in the face, and slumped over quite a bit, using a walking stick.


    ¡°A worried mother always is,¡± she replied, looking around the room. ¡°I know not how to repay you.¡±


    ¡°Get the children to safety from that forest. I can¡¯t do it. Kinda lacking in the wings department.¡±


    ¡°Oh you poor thing. I still remember flying around by myself. Still¡­ I think you have an alternative,¡± she continued, looking at him knowingly before looking at Jackalope. ¡°Luke says they are still outside, but they don¡¯t know what to do. If we go out there he says they will attack us.¡± Tom looked over to where his stuff had been set down.


    ¡°More fighting then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. But don¡¯t you worry yourself with that, Luke will figure it out I¡¯m sure. You have done so much. You all have. I recognize young Jackalope, but where are you all from?¡± She questioned, gesturing towards Tom then over to Jarix.


    ¡°Also Bizmati keep. I¡¯m training our big blue friend there. Zarko is his navigator.¡±


    ¡°My, my, you must be quite something¡­ Oh who am I kidding, you killed all three of them, correct?¡±


    ¡°Sorta. Jacky pretty much got one of them. I just made sure it stayed down.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why they came here?¡± The old lady continued, hand starting to wobble a bit on her cane, free hand fidgeting.


    ¡°Please Lady Deriva, sit down.¡± Tom gestured the lady over towards his things, rummaging around for the knife.


    ¡°Oh, such a gentleman. Thank you,¡± she replied, clearly trying to hold it together.


    ¡°I found this.¡± Tom presented the blade. ¡°Bizmati Keep was attacked over a month ago, and they were looking for a blade just like this,¡± he continued, placing the knife on the table. ¡°They didn''t get it though, so I¡¯m guessing there are more than one.¡±


    ¡°But if they already had it¡­ why did they come to my keep?¡± The old lady continued, tears starting to well up in her eyes.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, ma¡¯am. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t you dare say you¡¯re sorry, young man. Not with what you did. I will go find Luke. We must retrieve the kids. Maybe¡­ maybe he¡¯s figured it out,¡± the Lady replied, slowly standing up.


    The girl had returned with a nice hot bowl of stew. Taking the old lady by the arm, she led her back down into the kitchen. Tom picked up the bowl and walked back over to Jackalope, placing it in front of her face as he sat down to eat.


    It didn''t take too long for that to work as she started stirring, sniffing the air, before her eyes slowly opened, looking at him intently before they flicked down to the bowl of stew.

 Breakthrough

    Chapter 86: Breakthrough


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s doing it. That must be north¡­ or is that south?¡± Sapphire let out excitedly. The thing was actually working. They had made a compass. Or... more like a demonstration that it could be done. A nail in a cork in some water was not much of a tool, but it worked.


    ¡°No, that''s north. Definitely. Let''s paint that end,¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°I wonder what else it can do?¡± Tink went, turning back to the big magnet. They had taken the plates out of the small blitz gel container. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s still a nagnet too! Look!¡±


    Sapphire looked to the crazy inventor who now had some tool dangling from the big magnet as if by magic.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ strange-looking,¡± Balethon replied, looking at the odd arrangement.


    ¡°I wonder how strong you can make these?¡± Tink continued, a slight sense of dread welling up inside Sapphire.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not find that out. We just need to make the contass needles.¡±


    ¡°Why is it we call everything what Tom calls it? Why not north finder, or¡­ wayfinder?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°Oh, I like wayfinder,¡± Sapphire had to agree, besides they had made it, not Tom. Even if he had given them the idea.


    ¡°Wayfinder it is,¡± Dakota stated ¡°Tink, you wanted to make the actual housing and needle for this thing, right?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I would rather see what this thing can do,¡± he replied, not looking up from the big magnet.


    ¡°In that case I do not want to be here,¡± Sapphire responded. She knew where this was likely going.


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s only a tiny amount. Just go into the forge instead then. Junior would you start work on the molds for the grey bits with them?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Dad. Come on, let¡¯s get well clear,¡± Junior replied, ushering them into the next room.


    They had taken to work making the molds for the pencil leads. Sapphire still didn¡¯t understand that name. There was no lead in them after all. Tink came in after a while and forced them to come in and see just how strong the magnet now was. After the thing had been turned on for a few minutes without blowing up they relented to his excitement.


    It had been very entertaining to see Balethon try and yank it off an iron bar, only for Tink to cut the power, causing the guy to fall on his ass, swearing about a hurt tail.


    ¡°Imagine what this could be used for! You could¡­ You could...¡±


    ¡°Make the world''s most expensive to run lock?¡± Dakota replied, clearly not impressed with the selection of ideas.


    ¡°You might be able to use it to catch your opponent''s sword or shield,¡± Maiko added. ¡°Not sure I would want to carry that though.¡±


    ¡°We will figure something out. Speaking of figuring out, it¡¯s quite simple really. Just add more wire and move the plates closer together. I can make it even stronger,¡± Tink replied, eyeing the device with pride.


    Sapphire could well remember how Tom¡¯s experiment with moving plates closer together had gone. ¡°I think you should go up to the roof with that before you try it, Tink. Might save some of your windows.¡±


    ¡°Fine, if that calms your nerves,¡± Tink replied, gathering up the things and going up the stairs.


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna go deaf isn''t he?¡± Maiko questioned.


    To no one''s surprise around twenty minutes later the explosion was heard, followed by a rather depressed-looking Tink coming down the stairs. Looking like a kid who had just lost a toy.


    ¡°Soo, what did we tell you?¡± Sapphire tried.


    ¡°You¡¯re a funny one, aren¡¯t you?¡± Tink replied in a lot less enthusiastic tone than usual.


    ¡°Well, at least he didn¡¯t go deaf,¡± Dakota stated matter of factly. ¡°Can we get on with actual work now? Tom and the others should report back later today. We are gonna have to pass on the news when that happens.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Tink replied, sighing a bit. ¡°But I will try again later. We need more membrane leather, as thin and fine as you can find it, and some thin metal plate, again as thin as you can find it. Oh and don¡¯t forget some flints for the lighter. Junior, you know what to look for. It was my understanding you people needed to find some more stores for things you needed. Let Junior show you around, I have work to do.¡±


    Sapphire didn¡¯t have any objections to being further away if Tink was gonna try his little experiment again. She did sort of want him to succeed though, besides if he blew himself up they were likely in trouble.


    ¡°Tink, Tom tried to cool down the blitz gel with water like in a bath. Might help a bit,¡± Sapphire went as they were going out the door. Tink nodded politely at her before looking curiously back at what was left of the first experiment.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a slow morning, but activity had started to pick up. The girl had returned with several more bowls of the actually rather decent stew. Perhaps the fact he was damn well starving was responsible for the deliciousness though. Jacky had also dug in with quite the appetite. Zarko eventually joined them as Luke and the silvered huntress did the rounds waking up everyone who was able. They still had a job to do, and they were on a timer after all.


    Eventually Luke had come over, wearing a strained smile as he looked around.


    ¡°So, how are the heroes doing?¡±


    ¡°I feel like shit, but I¡¯m alive and even I can tell you, Jacky is not that much better off.¡± That did result in Luke''s smile growing even more strained.


    ¡°I see¡­ I was wondering if you have any ideas for how to, you know, get out without them giving chase.¡±


    ¡°What are they doing and how many are there?¡± Zarko questioned looking up.


    ¡°They are laying siege, I think. They are mostly trying to fix their camp after what you did last night. There¡¯s only maybe 15 left; 20 if you count the heavily wounded who are still standing.¡±


    ¡°They are just sitting there?¡± Tom questioned, looking at Luke, repressing a yawn.


    ¡°Yup, and we don''t have the arrows to just fire away hoping for the best. We need them to come closer for that. If not for the kids, we would be happy to just let them sit there while we tend to our wounded, but as it stands we need to go through them.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll get my gear." The fact Tom¡¯s clothes were still being washed made this a rather uncomfortable experience as he grabbed the ammo belts and began strapping on the revolver holster, Jackalope having slept with her¡¯s on.


    They had taken a jaunt up to the higher levels, Jackalope following along behind him. A fact he learned to appreciate as he fainted again from trying to go up the stairs a tad to quickly, being caught by her as he fell back down.


    ¡°Thanks yet again, Jacky,¡± he went when he returned to reality, looking up at her worried face, running a hand down the side of her snout. Jackalope apparently decided this warranted being carried the rest of the way. Despite her usual stoicism on the subject even Tom could both feel and hear that she was struggling to do so though. She refused to let go though when he tried to squirm free, not that he put in a lot of effort.


    They had a nice view over the enemy camp from up here. Tom had learned that Luke was in fact the captain of the guard, even if he had only been so for just over a day now, replacing his big brother who had fallen the day before. And he was definitely also still tired following yesterday. This needed to be done though if they were to have a chance of getting the kids here before dark.


    ¡°As you can see, they are just sitting there outside of accurate range. The best we could do is rain down arrows on them and hope we hit.¡±


    ¡°I can hit them just fine,¡± Tom stated, unslinging the rifle. He was running dangerously low on ammunition, not having brought any more than his belts would carry. They had not been planning on going to war after all. Right now, though, he kinda wished he had packed for one. ¡°You might wanna plug your ears or you¡¯ll end up like Jackalope. By the way, can you fix that?¡±


    ¡°Uhm. I don¡¯t know, to be honest. Never heard of someone who lost their hearing like that,¡± Luke replied, sounding rather perturbed, as he plugged his ears. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡±


    ¡°We need to get the kids so the bastards need to die. Fingers in ears,¡± Tom brought up the rifle, cranking the scope to max zoom. Peering down from the arrow slit he had a good resting spot, high ground, and perfect visibility. The range was at least 250 meters, and he was still feeling both rather dizzy and light-headed, not to mention just generally tired. It should be an easy shot; right now though he wasn¡¯t so sure. ¡®Come on you muppet, steady.¡¯


    The darklings were mostly milling about their own camp, or what was left of it. When the first one dropped, they turned to look at their fallen comrade. They all froze for a second as the crack of the rifle rang out over the desolate landscape. Then they sprang to life again, and most brought up shields as they formed up in a kind of shield ball.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Well that got their attention,¡± Tom went as he chambered another round. Then they began advancing fast. ¡°Ahr shit. Hey Jacky, grenade?¡± Tom asked, holding out his hand, before realizing the flaw in that request. He turned to Jackalope who was watching him intently.


    Tom stepped aside so she could see, pointing at the approaching formation before trying to mime a big boom. Jacky seemed to get the idea as she got out the last grenade.


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it!¡± Luke spurted out, the fear clear in his eyes. ¡°Can you two fight? If so we need to get down to the lower barricades now!¡±


    ¡°Not quite yet. One last boom,¡± Tom replied, giving Jackalope a pat on the shoulder. Luke seemed to put two and two together, looking at Tom with an evil smile before tapping the side of his snout with a finger.


    Tom held Jackalope¡¯s shoulder to let her know when to throw. He had a feeling she would likely be better at this than him, considering he still found it very hard to figure out where a rock was going in this gravity. Still, they were definitely too far away yet, even if they were rapidly advancing on the keep. Tom was debating firing again when the huntress who had attacked him came rushing up into the room.


    ¡°What did you do? They are attacking again!¡± The panicked sounding woman exclaimed.


    ¡°Shot one, and just in case this doesn¡¯t work you might want to be ready for them,¡± Tom replied, looking at her. The huntress gave him a look somewhere between incredulity and ¡®I want to punch you¡¯ before she went back downstairs, shouting at someone below. ¡°Actually, you might want to join her. This might not work,¡± Tom continued, looking to Luke. The fearful expression returned to his face as he swallowed before nodding and turning to follow the huntress.


    ¡°I¡¯m still sorry for dropping your gun... Again,¡± Jackalope went after a bit, as the two of them stood there watching the advancing formation. ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you I swear.¡±


    Tom could really use proper two-way communication right now. Not to mention, she was still talking entirely too loudly. ¡®You saved my ass twice, you beautiful idiot,¡¯ Tom despaired to himself. The fact she had chosen him over going for the gun also sat very well with him, so to hell with the thing getting dropped. Even if it might be too much to attribute to that action, it definitely helped with the whole, ¡°what is she really after,¡± situation. Shiva¡¯s warnings were also playing in his head at ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡± If it was gonna happen it should not be for that reason.


    As he heard the alarm bell starting to sound below, he snapped back to the situation at hand. He began to worry about the fuze time. The formation was advancing fast so this needed to be timed right. Jacky might be better at hitting than him, but could she time it right? As Tom was contemplating whether he should take the throw instead, it dawned on him they had a damn lightning gun in the hangar. He didn''t know what exactly the recharge time was, so to speak, but surely Jarix could manage a shot by now. But then again they would need to open the gate into the big hall, and that might provoke an attack from the air.


    As he stood there pondering that whole situation he felt Jackalope bring up the lighter, and the fuze started sputtering away. Surprised, Tom lifted his hand from her shoulder, stepping back as she threw the deadly weapon down at the bastards below. It was a good throw even if she threw it sooner than he would have. He could hardly see the grenade as it plopped down in front of the formation which advanced unimpeded over it. ¡®Yes now don¡¯t run just yet. Come on, come on, no duds today,¡¯ Tom repeated to himself. They had been lucky so far, but they needed a little more. He had honestly expected them to scatter at the sight of the grenade, but they just kept going.


    With a thunderous boom and an awed gasp from Jackalope, the grenade detonated towards the rear of the formation, sending blood and bits flying everywhere. Darklings were flash cooked alive, while being torn apart by the screaming red hot shrapnel. The ones furthest away were thrown to the ground by the force of the blast but saved from the worst of it by their comrades. Tom pushed Jackalope aside, bringing up the rifle. The range had closed considerably as he began putting down the ones who still looked fit for a fight. It didn¡¯t take long though before the ones who got up turned to run as arrows also began raining down from the keep. ¡®I guess they can run then,¡¯ Tom concluded as he switched to picking off those who were further away.


    Those who were running weren''t making much headway though. They were stumbling forwards, some of them crawling in fact. By the time he was finished firing, they were all done for. The ground below was littered with arrows and ruined corpses of what had been left of them.


    ¡°That is gonna suck to clean up,¡± Tom concluded, letting his gaze wander over the battlefield.


    ¡°Goddammit I love you,¡± Jackalope went before she coughed again, sending splatters of blood into Tom¡¯s face. Her expression quickly changed to slightly horrified as she tried to wipe away the blood. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    Tom just stifled a laugh. This was insanity. He had just gunned down peop¡­ things, running from a fight. He damn near died yesterday, and he had done more killing than he had ever done before. Not even the ambush in Afghanistan had seen this much blood result from it. And here he was stifling a laugh because Jacky got excited¡­


    ¡®Am I a psychopath?¡¯ He found himself honestly pondering that as Jackalope pulled him into a more gentle than usual embrace. That was probably for the best, so she couldn''t see the smile vanishing from his face. This was wrong on so many levels. But what was he supposed to do? Sit in a corner and be sad¡­ Maybe say a few prayers for the fallen? He didn¡¯t even know the names of any of the dead. Nor did he particularly want to.


    ¡°Right, come on, we¡¯ve got kids to save,¡± Jackalope then went as she let him go after playing with his hair a bit. Putting an arm around him as they made their way down the stairs. Tom had damn near fallen over on the way up here, but the lesson had been learned.


    ¡®Come on dude, snap out of it, there¡¯s work to do,¡¯ he cursed himself as they went down the levels towards the big hall. He needed to stay focused just a little longer.


    They made it to the main hall around the same time as Luke and his remaining guards came up from below. The huntresses were all standing around with faces somewhere between fear and awe at what had just happened. In fact, it looked like most people were present at the moment.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s them dealt with. Now everyone who can be here seems to be, so let¡¯s do a quick round of introductions, shall we? My name is Tom, and as you can clearly see I am not a dragonette. I am human and a talented fire mage from far up north. I ask, if anyone ever asks about me, that is what you tell them. Nothing more nothing less. Okay?¡± Tom stated confidently to the gathered crowd. There were nods of agreement, though many of them were clearly confused by that. ¡°This here is Jackalope, I believe some of you know her. Jarix, you up yet?¡± Tom questioned, looking towards the dragon.


    ¡°No, he is not. Nor do I think he will be for some time,¡± Zarko replied. ¡°He won¡¯t be flying either, yet. I won¡¯t allow it. I¡¯m Zarko by the way, Second lieutenant Royal guard.¡±


    The crowd was looking rather bewildered at this point with all this information being dumped on them at once.


    ¡°I figured. Neither is Jacky. So that leaves you and whoever you people have left,¡± Tom continued, looking at Luke and the assembled local dragonettes.


    ¡°We have 4 who are mostly uninjured. Will that do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a four-hour flight each way and you will be carrying kids. Can you do that?¡± Tom questioned, genuinely curious. Lothal might be weighing in at around 45 to 50 kilos being nearly fully grown. Though he might fly at least some of the way himself of course.


    ¡°I think we will have to. What about Kalestine though? We can¡¯t carry her.¡±


    ¡°I seriously doubt she wants to be carried. Do tell her Tom says ¡®Hi¡¯ and ¡®I got her horn if she wants it,¡¯ ¡± Tom replied. Zarko looked like she wanted to object to that. She didn¡¯t interrupt though. She was the one currently holding on to the horn after all.


    ¡°I guess not no¡­ I think there is nothing for it then. You are sure we got them all?¡± Luke questioned.


    ¡°No, but the ones left down there will be done for soon enough I think.¡± Tom replied, looking to Zarko for confirmation. He was fairly sure none of them would be getting up again though, unless someone was hiding. Luke looked a little displeased at that.


    It was a horrible thing to say, but they were horrible creatures. Tom just hoped there wasn¡¯t enough left of who they had been to know what was happening. Even if there was, he suspected the promise of the sweet embrace of death would help soothe the pain for them. Though he did make a mental note to go down there to finish the last ones off.


    ¡°I guess we just pray for some good luck and get going then. Mum, we won¡¯t be back until nightfall. I hope our new friends can help keep you all safe in the meantime. But please don¡¯t go outside unless you have to.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t young lad. Now don¡¯t go getting yourself killed. I can¡¯t lose you too. That includes you as well, sweety,¡± the old lady replied, looking to the silvered huntress who had attacked Tom.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mum, I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Now go get those kids¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yup, I¡¯m fairly sure that guy is following us,¡± Dakota replied as they were walking down the street.


    ¡°Think it¡¯s just someone trying to figure out what we¡¯re doing?¡± Sapphire responded as they kept walking like nothing had happened.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s alone so maybe. Whether or not that means Flaxen or just someone curious, I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s alone I say we find out,¡± Sapphire replied, looking at Maiko. ¡°Are we allowed to do that?¡±


    ¡°I mean, following someone is suspicious behaviour, I would be allowed to ask him why. Perhaps rather firmly. I¡¯m not gonna be able to arrest him or anything like that though.¡±


    ¡°So then back alley or do we try and chase him down?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°I say we just split. Sapphire you¡¯re with me, you two just keep walking we are gonna pop into that shop for a bit,¡± Maiko replied as he turned left into someplace with pots, plates, and kitchen things. ¡°See you in a bit."


    ¡°Let¡¯s just have a browse around, maybe look at some fine plates,¡± Maiko went as they entered the rather nice looking store.


    ¡°I can do that. I¡¯m guessing we are waiting for the guy to pass?¡± Sapphire replied as she closed the door.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°He might run though, and I think I¡¯m right in saying you''re the fastest one here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t hold up trafic no,¡± Sapphire replied with a chuckle.


    ¡°Just look very interested in the plates. I''ll keep an eye on him." Sapphire did as instructed. Before long a store clerk came over to ask if she had any questions. Sapphire knew nearly nothing about fine porcelain. Back home they ate using wooden plates mostly, even if Shiva had made some nice steel cutlery as a pastime.


    ¡°Would you like them gold trimmed perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Ohh, I don¡¯t know if I can afford that. But they look amazing. How much gold is used in that?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s just gold foil, so not much. We do have some with an actual copper band running around the edge. They are very trendy, not to mention it helps with chipping.¡±


    ¡°Oh I say, those are pretty too. How expensive are they?¡±


    ¡°These are around five silver apiece.¡±


    ¡®Ouch that¡¯s expensive,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as Maiko walked behind her, putting an arm around her waist.


    ¡°Now, now, dear, we have fine enough plates at home, but we need to get moving. We have to be at your aunt¡¯s place for tea soon,¡± he went as he pulled her away. ¡°Though I might be back for a surprise gift at some point.¡± He gave the clerk a wink as they walked out the store


    Sapphire was rather taken aback, not saying anything as she was led out the store.


    ¡°Right, I take it you like plates then. He took the bait, let¡¯s tail him.¡±


    ¡°They were very pretty though. Where is he?¡± Sapphire replied, trying to defend herself. She scanned the road ahead of them, soon catching a glimpse of the guy in question who was clearly staying with the others. ¡°Huh, well that was easy.¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s not, he must not see us yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a huntress, I know,¡± she replied. Though a guy in royal guard armor, not to mention her outfit, did definitely stand out around here quite a bit. The two of them moved to go with the crowds. The guy glanced back every now and again, though somehow not spotting them, and eventually he stopped checking behind him entirely, instead focusing on Dakota, Balethon, and Junior.


    Sapphire and Maiko started closing the distance, moving closer and closer to the guy, until they were right on top of him. Dakota had glanced back a few times, causing him to almost try and hide behind other people or whatever he could find. All in all it didn¡¯t look very professional.


    Nor did he seem to have much general awareness as Sapphire and Maiko each slapped a hand on his shoulders.


    ¡°I think we need to have a little chat.¡±

 Knight In Shining Armor

    Chapter 87: Knight In Shining Armor


    ¡°Wait, she is your only healer?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Yes, they are a rare breed, young man,¡± The lady replied very apologetically, almost bowing before him.


    ¡°No, don''t do that,¡± Tom protested. ¡°You people both suffered and survived, not to mention your son technically saved me and Jackalope. Hopefully, Unkai can lend a hand when he gets here then, ¡®cause she is spent,¡± Tom glanced at the healer who was still sleeping up against the wall where she had been when he woke up.


    The Lady looked like she was going to protest until he reached the last sentence. ¡°You brought a healer with you? Out here?¡± The lady questioned, clearly not believing him entirely.


    ¡°We did, yes, in case we found wounded. And that we certainly did. I was just hoping we could have Jacky¡¯s ears looked at, but I guess that will have to wait.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we don¡¯t have anything else that can help I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°I hate not knowing what¡¯s going on,¡± Jackalope protested, crossing her arms looking at the two of them with a distinctly unimpressed expression.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be miming to you for a bit longer. Actually no, I brought the note block. I will be just a second,¡± Tom replied walking jogging over to his backpack, the confused Jackalope following along.


    ¡°You got something that can fix ears in there?¡± she questioned hopefully. She was getting a bit better at keeping the volume down, though she was still rather loud. Then again, that was pretty standard all things considered.


    Tom got out the block to begin noting things down for her. ¡®We can''t fix your ears, not yet at least. Other people need to be looked at first. Maybe when we get home.¡¯


    She did seem a little annoyed after reading that, sighing a bit and looking back up at him.


    ¡°So what now, we help clean this place up? Take up watch? Or just sit back and relax?¡±


    ¡°You two sit back for now. I won¡¯t have you risking your lives for our skins and then cleaning up the mess as well,¡± the old granny replied, trying to speak up enough to be heard across the room. Tom certainly didn¡¯t have a problem with that. He did not really feel like hard work right now.


    Jacky was clearly sore and her breathing still wasn¡¯t quite right, so he guessed she could use the rest as well. ¡°Do you have a place we can stay, or¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°Infirmary is full I¡¯m afraid. We do have some rooms,¡± the old lady replied.


    ¡°Actually I think we have a big friend in need of a bit of company when he wakes up,¡± Tom replied, looking towards Jarix. ¡°We will keep our stuff with us if shit hits the fan.¡±


    ¡°If it does what?¡±


    ¡°Right, uhm¡­ goes south. If bad things start happening,¡± the lady looked at him more than a little confused, but she relented eventually.


    ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t have many people left who could fight. I will bring you something to eat, for the blood loss. I don¡¯t know if it will help for your kind but it couldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    They made their way to Jarix, who was sleeping like a rock. Tom began taking off the very uncomfortable holsters and belts. He looked like a fucking joke right now. Goddamn Florida Man running around with guns and ammo in his damn underpants. He put down the equipment in nice little piles, rechecking that everything was loaded if he needed it.


    He could hear Jackalope getting out of her armor behind him. That stuff wasn''t the most comfortable to sleep in after all.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Jacky asked in a rather worried tone after a bit. ¡°After yesterday you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re not quite the same.¡± Tom turned around to look at her. She was looking at him with an expression of genuine worry.


    ¡®That obvious, huh?¡¯ Tom thought to himself, shoulders sagging even more. He couldn¡¯t even blame her for catching it. His head just wasn¡¯t in it right now, whether that was because of the fighting, the screaming, the blood loss, bodies flying everywhere last night, the fact they weren¡¯t quite out of the woods yet, or that the ones back home would soon be getting worried. They were supposed to be back tonight after all. He didn''t even know what time it was apart from rather early. He was also still tired as fuck despite just getting up. There was just too much to worry about right now.


    ¡°Look at me, would you?¡± Jackalope demanded, a hint of hurt in her voice. Tom snapped up to look her in the eyes, feeling more than a little ashamed of that. ¡°Just like Sapphire said, you worry about everything. You can¡¯t not worry¡­ Well right now, just try not to, okay? It¡¯s gonna be fine.¡±


    Tom did crack a little smile before looking back down at the floor. That was very far from guaranteed, there were still many things which could go wrong. What if this wasn¡¯t the only raiding party? What if Bizmati Keep was a ruin? What if something had found the kids in the forest? What if Jackalope''s ears couldn''t be fixed? what if¡­


    Jackalope grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around to face away from her. Then she folded her arms and wings around him, lifted him off his feet, and backed up against Jarix''s side. She sat down in the nook of the dragon¡¯s armpit and snuggled up against the dragon while clutching Tom tightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m never gonna have a cold night again,¡± she let out, sounding very content. ¡°And you are in the safest place in the world. Here you''re not allowed to worry about everything. You are in a locked-down keep, sleeping with a dragon and if that doesn''t do it, Then I will, so relax¡­ please dude.¡±


    ¡°That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,¡± Tom replied, not that she could hear it of course. ¡°Well, except for saving my life a few times¡­ you people do that a lot don¡¯t you?.. What did I do to deserve you?¡± He tried to snuggle up a bit closer to her, even if that was hard to achieve in her current grip. Jarix¡¯s slow steady breathing almost rocking them to sleep.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Now I just want to ask you some questions, nothing more, so don¡¯t panic,¡± Maiko went as they turned the guy around. The guy looked scared shitless. He was a rather short spindly fellow as well, so looked rally unintimidating right about now.


    ¡°And just in case you think running is smart. I¡¯m possibly the fastest flyer you have met and I won¡¯t be gentle with my prey,¡± Sapphire added, trying to look menacing and baring her teeth, while Maiko was clearly going for the more friendly approach. The guy just swallowed once, looking at the two of them.


    ¡°I was just told to find out what you¡¯re doing, I swear nothing more.¡±


    ¡°So what did you learn?¡± Maiko asked, still sounding very friendly.


    ¡°You go to the inventor''s place regularly, you are making something weird, you have been to the Hashaw¡¯s place, and you are staying at the Sweet Dragon.¡±


    ¡°And who are you supposed to give all this lovely information?¡± Maiko continued.


    ¡°I was just paid by some woman, I didn¡¯t know her, I swear. She just asked if I wanted to make a bit of easy money.¡±


    Sapphire opened her mouth a bit, letting out a deep growl. The guy was fidgeting nervously at that as Dakota, Balethon, and Junior trooped up behind him.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing rather fine clothes and perhaps some rather nice jewelry?¡± Dakota asked, causing the guy to go stiff.


    ¡°I mean yeah¡­ she did look rather rich.¡±


    ¡°How were you supposed to let her know?¡±


    ¡°I should meet her at the big plaza in front of the trading guild tomorrow after breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Right, well first off that¡¯s not going to happen,¡± Dakota went from behind him. ¡°Secondly, if we catch you following us again I¡¯ll let Sapphire here demonstrate why she isn''t even allowed to compete in archery competitions. Am I clear?¡± Her voice was cold and calculating, the guy nodding rapidly. ¡°Out of curiosity, what did she pay you.¡±


    ¡°15 silver.¡± ¡®Well, for tailing someone that was a rather good pay.¡¯ The guy didn''t exactly look well off either, so Sapphire could see him taking that offer without a second thought.


    ¡°Actually, I think I might have a better idea,¡± Sapphire then went. ¡°What would we like them to know?¡± Dakota looked to Sapphire, her face turning into an evil grin.


    ¡°What do you say, Maiko?¡±


    ¡°I mean, if this guy doesn¡¯t want to go to jail for disturbing the peace and spying on military matters he might be useful.¡± Sapphire was pretty sure you could not go to jail for that. Nor was this military matter, in any capacity. ¡°So what do you say, willing to lend the Royal Guard and a few people in high standing with the king a hand, or do I need to get some manacles?¡± Maiko questioned, looking down at the guy.


    ¡°Treworian at your service, sir,¡± The man responded, eyes wide as the situation he found himself in seemingly hit him like a battering ram.


    ¡°Come with us then. We have some things to discuss,¡± Dakota went, nodding to the others.


    They took the guy back to the workshop where Tink was currently busy repairing the damage to the magnet.


    ¡°Back so soon?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we found a nosey little bastard.¡±


    ¡°And you brought him here?¡± Tink questioned, clearly not happy with that.


    ¡°Yes, we did. Now Treworian, may I call you Trewor?¡± Dakota questioned, turning to the man.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, of course,¡± he responded, eagerly. ¡®God damn he¡¯s scared,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself. They weren¡¯t gonna hurt the dude unless they had to, but it was probably best he didn¡¯t know that.


    ¡°As you can see, we are making very dangerous new weapons here, under the authority of the king no less.¡± Tink looked ready to protest when Junior kicked him in the shin, shutting him up. ¡°Have you heard of the attacks on the outlying keeps?¡±


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Trewor nodded, looking around the room worriedly at all the strange bits and bobs.


    ¡°We are looking to put an end to that once and for all. Now the reason I¡¯m showing you all this is because if you tell anyone that is treason, and you know what that means.¡± ¡®Oh you evil genius,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, doing a gesture of Trewor falling a very long way down, convincing sounds included. The guy went even paler than before.


    ¡°So what I want you to do, is tell the sweet lady who hired you that we are making some kind of invention as a present for the King himself and that it looks very expensive and very complicated. So you can¡¯t possibly figure out what it is. But you did manage to sneak in while we were out and read a very official-looking document, stating who had hired us, and that the present is expected to be done in time for¡­ Anyone know when there is some sort of big event coming up with the royal family?¡± Dakota questioned looking around.


    ¡°One of the princes is graduating from the academy this summer I think,¡± Maiko responded.


    ¡°That will do. A present for the prince in time for his graduation. Can you do that?¡±


    ¡°Sure can, don¡¯t you worry. I ain¡¯t no traitor¡±


    ¡°Very good. Now, remember, if you tell her the truth it¡¯s a long way down okay?¡±


    ¡°A very long way indeed,¡± Sapphire added, with as much venom in her voice as she could manage. Trewor just nodded furiously.


    ¡°Good lad, now run along now, you have work to do,¡± Dakota continued, letting go of him. Trewor stormed out the door, Junior going over to close it after him.


    They all stood there for a second before everyone except Tink broke out laughing.


    ¡°You¡¯re all crazy¡± The inventor finally went in a disapproving tone, Which only caused Sapphire to laugh even harder.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    When Tom woke up again, he was greeted by a dragon''s head lying on the ground in front of him, staring at him with a sly smile.


    ¡°Someone got comfortable?¡± Jarix questioned, sounding very pleased with himself.


    ¡°You''re just jealous; no one is big enough to wrap you up like this,¡± Tom replied from his prison of safety. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°Hmmph, no clue, it¡¯s getting late though. They brought you something because you decided to spray blood everywhere. Oh and your clothes. The girl tried to apologize for not being able to get them properly clean. That took a bit of explaining.¡±


    Tom chuckled at that. ¡°I¡¯m sure it did... Wait did they use you as a washing line?¡±


    ¡°It looked wet, so why not?¡± Jarix responded. Tom cracked a proper smile at that.


    ¡°The world''s most expensive washing assistant.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Not exactly the world¡¯s best night fighter, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Jarix let out with a sigh. ¡°I have never had my ass whopped that hard before.¡±


    ¡°Hey! You don¡¯t get to feel sorry about that. You killed all three of those big bastards. And no one seems to know what they were... I never thought I would need to tell you this but be a little proud of that.¡± Jarix did perk up a bit at that, not much though.


    ¡°I only got two, and the last one would have gotten me I think... But I did tell you, you would be great at getting things off my back, hey. Even if that was not quite how I intended it¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that. By the way, have your decades of training to become a perfect killing machine told you what they might be?¡±


    ¡°No, I got nothing. Definitely a foul thing. It must have been able to see me approach to land that hit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if it sees like a bat then that thing sees using sound.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Jarix questioned. ¡°Can''t they just see well in the dark?¡±


    ¡°Nope, they use their ears. That was no ordinary bat though, that is for damn sure.¡±


    ¡°No it was not¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking. My father said the darklings had a ride they kept falling back to when they attacked him¡­ Do you think we just found what it was?¡±


    Tom had to think about that for a bit. ¡°Fuck, it might be¡­ Is that bad?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Very! That means they have a new way of traveling long distances. That¡¯s never good.¡± Tom felt Jackalope begin to stir as Jarix talking jostled the two of them around a bit.


    ¡°No Tom, you¡¯re not leaving yet, this is nice,¡± she let out still half asleep, squeezing Tom tighter.


    ¡°I think for the Time being we need not worry, we just killed three of them there can¡¯t be more around or they would be everywhere¡±


    Jarix looked rather curiously at their arrangement. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we worry? This could be very bad, we can''t just sit here¡±


    ¡°Not much to do except let the people who can do something about it know. We were supposed to scout not fight. So let¡¯s just worry about that and the kids for now. Besides, you aren''t going anywhere in a hurry, right?¡± Jarix looked rather ashamed as he craned his head to look at this own back, expression turning pained.


    ¡°No, I am not.¡±


    ¡°Well then, neither am I and neither is Jacky. Unkai is needed here. And we aren¡¯t sending Zarko alone. Even if Jacky or Unkai could find their way back to the keep¡­ Actually, Jacky is deaf so that would be kinda hard¡­ And Unkai might not even know¡­ Well, that settles it then, we aren¡¯t going anywhere ''till you can fly again.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we could get some of these nice people to fly the message. We were sent by the king remember¡±


    ¡°I mean maybe¡­ perhaps at some point. Are my clothes dry yet?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t feel cold anymore, so I guess so.¡±


    Tom squirmed a bit to try and get free but Jackalope simply squeezed tighter. Jarix suppressed a snicker. ¡°Uhh, I guess that¡¯s nice to know. Jacky, I know you¡¯re awake¡­ goddammit.¡± Tom tried, Jarix starting to giggle properly.


    ¡°She¡¯s got you now.¡±


    ¡°Well if you didn''t want me to leave I don¡¯t think I could either,¡± Tom retorted looking up at the dragon. ¡°All joking aside, you did fucking amazing out there. I¡¯m just sorry I couldn¡¯t nail that bastard on your back sooner.¡±


    ¡°That hurt like hell. Also, don¡¯t tell her, but I think Jackalope shot me.¡±


    ¡°Jarix, how bad is lead for a dragon?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they need to dig it out?¡±


    ¡°I mean they don''t need to, but it¡¯s in there now. And it¡¯s made from copper and lead.¡±


    Jarix looked over all the wounds strewn over him. The dragonettes had done a good job of patching most of them up, though several of the bandages were leaking fresh blood.


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll stay in. Their healer would be done for 10 times over, trying to fix that mess I guess so much for looking like a million gold.¡± Jarix seemed genuinely distraught at that.


    ¡°Hey think of it this way. You¡¯re the first dragon ever to be shot with a gun. Have you ever heard the expression ¡®Knight in shining armor?¡¯ by the way¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like some young prince who everyone wants.¡±


    ¡°Well, would you look at that, a metaphor that transcends worlds? It actually means a man who has yet to be tested. That is why his armor is shiny. He hasn¡¯t seen battle yet.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t he just get it fixed and polished?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but his armor would still carry scars of battle and most will leave them undisturbed as marks of experience. Just like you will now. Congratulations. You¡¯ve been tested and you sure as fuck weren¡¯t found wanting, you magnificent bastard.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean I passed a lesson?¡± Jarix questioned, seemingly very excited all of a sudden.


    ¡°With flying colors. Pun intended, not that I doubted you could fight¡± Tom joked cracking a smile ¡°There are more to go through. And remember chicks dig scars.¡±


    ¡°Why do I want to impress a young chicken?¡±


    ¡°I guess that one doesn¡¯t translate. Girls, Jarix. Girls love scars¡­ Well some of them at least.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh that makes more sense, my back is gonna look wicked in that case¡­ eventually.¡±


    ¡°Just think of Baron. He looked badass, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but most of those are from epic battles in the history books. He¡¯s so freaking cool. I was told stories about him and the other veterans growing up.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think this one is going in there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just some battle for a keep. That happens all the time.¡±


    ¡®Well, that is a rather depressing thought¡­'' Tom hadn¡¯t gotten that impression from the others though. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re right, didn¡¯t you say you had no clue what those bat things were? The first one is always remembered. You might be the first to ever kill one and the first to win a battle against them. First are always remembered.¡±


    Jarix seemed to ponder that for a second before he lit up. ¡°You mean I¡¯m gonna be going in the history books for this?¡± he replied with genuine excitement in his voice.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s possible, don¡¯t you think? Besides if that doesn¡¯t cut it, being the first dragon to carry a gun should damn well do the trick. You didn''t even think of that?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to win... ¡°


    ¡°Bravo. That¡¯s how it¡¯s done,¡± Tom was actually genuinely surprised by that and really rather happy. It was clear this mattered to Jarix. Tom guessed he had been used to big battles with colorful depictions of heroes and their deeds. ¡°You need to win no matter what, because history is written by the victor. I¡¯m willing to bet that most of those stories you have heard aren¡¯t really true. War is always a shit show, but if you win you can claim it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°That is rather depressing,¡± Jarix responded.


    ¡°You remember what I said a while ago? Glory is your reward for doing terrible deeds, not to mention going through hell, hopefully for a good cause. We did that yesterday. That was all for a good cause, and that can¡¯t be taken from you. So again, congratulations, big blue hero.¡±


    ¡°Well at what point are the two little ¡®heroes¡¯ gonna move? I haven''t moved a muscle for an hour fearing I might squash you.¡±


    ¡°You are gonna have to take that one up with Jackalope,¡± Tom replied. He didn¡¯t really want to get up, he was perfectly comfortable here, even if he was wondering how Jackalope wasn¡¯t uncomfortable he was literally sitting in her lap and had been for hours by now. He should probably eat whatever was in that bowl too. It didn¡¯t look particularly appetizing though.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Why haven''t we heard anything yet?¡± Balethon questioned, between bites of dinner.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, might have stayed a little at Deriva? I would. It¡¯s not often we get to see them, and the Lady there is very kind,¡± Sapphire replied in a hopeful tone. She was not sure she believed that though.


    ¡°They have Jarix with them. He could outrun almost anything,¡± Maiko replied. ¡°If it was bad news, we would have heard from them by now. Likely this morning actually.¡±


    ¡°Unless they were dumb enough to try and help,¡± Dakota added in, sounding worried.


    ¡°I mean, Zarko follows orders, Unkai would likely be too scared, they won¡¯t listen to Jacky. So that puts it down to Tom and Jarix,¡± Sapphire replied, thinking that over for a second. ¡°Would Tom risk it?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. Nunuk said he sounded troubled at the notion of even leaving the keep. But dammit if he is one to look the other way,¡± Dakota answered again before looking to Maiko. ¡°What about Jarix?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he would for sure, but isn¡¯t that what Tom had been trying to teach him not to do? Besides, I think he would listen to Zarko on that front. That and he has orders to follow, from the king no less.¡± Maiko certainly didn¡¯t seem worried.


    ¡°Tom won¡¯t give a shit about those orders though,¡± Sapphire stated plainly, scoring a double take from Maiko. ¡°But he might decide to play hero, and with Jacky along¡­ And Jarix possibly looking for an excuse...¡± ¡®Fuck they might actually do it,¡¯ Sapphire concluded to herself as she looked around at the others. ¡°What would we do if they tried to help?¡±


    ¡°Not much we can do. We¡¯re stuck here for the time being,¡± Dakota replied, looking like she had already arrived at Sapphire¡¯s conclusion.


    ¡°Well if they don¡¯t return¡­ We would be launching an investigative force,¡± Maiko replied, clearly not pleased with that notion. ¡°If they engaged, though, there is a good chance they are licking their wounds. I wouldn¡¯t be concerned yet. As I said, Jarix is damn near the fastest flyer around these days. If you don¡¯t need to go too far.¡±


    ¡°So they saw a keep in trouble, lent a hand, then ran away to lick their wounds. Or, they went in, won the battle, and are celebrating merrily with the people they saved. Sounds good to me. As long as too many didn''t get hurt,¡± Balethon added, mouth half full of food. ¡°How long until you send someone to mop up what¡¯s left?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. A few days... Maybe a week,¡± Maiko replied dismissively.


    ¡°I say we worry about it then, hey? Besides, as you said, we can¡¯t do anything about it,¡± Balethon continued, while still eating. ¡°I think we need to be more concerned with the people who might just be trying to kill us.¡±


    Sapphire didn''t really like this. In most of the situations they talked about, people would likely get hurt and it might well be someone she cared about. Tom was a good friend, sure. But she had known Jackalope for many years; she might be her closest friend in fact, despite their rivalry. ¡°They better be fine. I''ve been doing too much praying as of late, and it doesn''t seem to be working. I think it¡¯s about time it does¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that something to do with only praying when you need something?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°Well what should I pray for then? That someone got hurt or worse?¡± Sapphire replied in a rather annoyed tone.


    ¡°I think you need to give thanks for what you got. Not done much praying though,¡± he responded.


    ¡°Okay so. Dear Lotek, thank you for our safe journey here. Would you please ask Ishan not to take my friend from me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that, Everyone is fine. I¡¯m sure.¡± Dakota demanded, sounding like she needed to convince herself just as much as the others. ¡°Besides, even if they did decide to help a keep, they have both Tom and a damn dragon of the Royal Guard. What exactly survives that?¡± She didn¡¯t sound entirely convinced of that statement either though. Even if it was one hell of an argument.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m just worried, okay?¡± Sapphire apologized.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just give a prayer for everyone to get home safe tonight, and then worry about the things we can do something about.¡± Maiko interjected, clearly trying to ease things a bit.


    When they had made it to bed, Dakota had a chat with Nunuk about what had happened. Even if there wasn¡¯t much to report beyond Trewor. Crucially though, no news from the keep. Everything was as it should be apart from no Jarix and crew.


    ¡°Do you think this Trewor guy gonna stab us in the back?¡± Sapphire questioned after giving Dakota a second to catch her breath after the experience.


    ¡°I think he is too scared to try and double-cross us. He wants to live. That was damn clever of Maiko, I damn near believed it myself.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the guy has a knack for this kind of thing it seems. I¡¯m starting to see why Hashaw sent him. Besides just not wanting him around. And it was brilliant about the weapons. Even if Trewor does betray us, the bitch is gonna be scared shitless anyway.¡±


    ¡°She sure is,¡± Dakota replied with an evil grin.

 Speed, Power, and Tea time

    Chapter 88: Speed, Power, and Tea time


    Tom had managed to wriggle out of Jacky¡¯s grasp, much to her annoyance, as he had gone to fetch his backpack, dragging it over and getting out the phone. Just for fun, he snapped a picture of Jackalope as she stared at him annoyedly, still leaning up against Jarix''s side. Looking at the picture hehe tentatively swiped right to one of the few he had taken of Hylsdal as the others were walking around. He quickly swiped back to Jackalope. He would much rather look at that one and he had sort of promised her to at least try not to worry.


    ¡°If you would mind getting out of my armpit, then I can do a little better,¡± Jarix let out lazily, raising his head off the stone floor. ¡°And you need to eat your bowl of green stuff¡± he continued looking to tom.


    Tom grabbed Jackalope, who refused to budge. He knew that was a tug of war he wasn''t winning so he stepped back pointing to Jarix then crossing his arms, shaking his head. ¡°Fine,¡± Jackalope replied annoyedly before getting up.


    Jarix got up doing a bit of a stretch, though judging by his face that was a rather painful experience. Then he laid down again with his two forelegs together in front of him.


    ¡°There we go, a seat fit for heroes.¡± To Tom¡¯s surprise, Jackalope bowed to Jarix.


    ¡°Jackalope Furlong, you have reached the top.¡± She whispered far too loudly to herself, before looking up to Jarix ¡°Thanks dude.¡± She went over and laid down in the crevasse between Jarix¡¯s forelegs, leaning up against his chest. Tom had to admit it looked rather comfortable.


    ¡°Is this like a big deal?¡± Tom questioned, grabbing the bowl before looking up to the dragon.


    ¡°For a dragon to make you comfortable rather than itself?¡± Jarix asked , looking at Tom like that was the dumbest question ever.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t think of that,¡± Tom had to admit before he held up the phone, stepping back to take another picture. ¡°Smile for the camera.¡± Jarix did his best to put on a smile, though the result ended up looking more like a very scary reptilian golden retriever. ¡°Goddammit that¡¯s hilarious,¡± Tom chuckled at the strange sight. The smile on Jarix faded as his ears laid flat against his neck, looking rather offended.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be such a diva, you just looked funny¡± Tom tried to console as he walked over to where Jackalope had gotten comfortable. They had been instructed to sit back and relax and so that was what they were gonna do. Tom took out the phone and started going through pictures. Jackalope craned her head over his shoulder, following along.


    ¡°Is that your home? looks big.¡± She questioned as he was scrolling through. He brought out the notepad to scribble something down.


    ¡°No, that is a hotel. Like a big tavern,¡± Tom also spoke out loud so Jarix could hear, holding up the phone for the dragon to see.


    ¡°Looks nice. How big is your house?¡± the dragon answered, apparently having forgiven being made fun of.


    ¡°Not big,¡± Tom answered as he started going through pictures.


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that?¡± Jackalope questioned as he passed a picture with some parked cars. Tom got out the pad again.


    ¡°Driving machines.¡±


    ¡°But you could fly at home, right?¡± She responded clearly not understanding.


    ¡°That¡¯s expensive and difficult, driving is easier.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ okay¡­ sounds slow and boring, though the quad bike was great fun.¡± Tom just smiled. She had another thing coming on that front. He did eventually find one of his house.


    ¡°Huh¡­ it¡¯s so small. but it¡¯s not in a city right? How many do you live there?¡± Tom was fairly sure that had been discussed already, but this was Jackalope.


    ¡°It''s in the countryside, yes, Just me,¡± He wrote down.


    ¡°Damn okay, Jarix look at this.¡± The dragon craned his head to look down at them again as Tom held up the phone. ¡°He¡¯s the lord of the world¡¯s smallest keep.¡±


    ¡°Not to be rude,but It doesn¡¯t look very dragon friendly. How would you even defend that?¡±


    ¡°You could fit in the barn I think. Would need to get creative with feeding you though. But we don¡¯t need to defend our homes, there¡¯s nothing around to threaten them¡­ Well, short of other humans. But unless you want to stop an invading army by yourself there really isn''t much point.¡±


    ¡°That sounds quite nice actually.¡± Jarix admitted. ¡®Yeah not a hard idea to sell around here right now¡¯ Tom thought to himself, trying not to think about yesterday.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very peaceful. Now, what was this about cars being boring?¡± Tom switched to looking for some of the video clips he had put on the phone way back when. ¡®Oh that¡¯s perfect¡¯ He mused to himself as he got out the notepad again.


    ¡°This is a race with cars called Nascar. Big oval track,¡± He wrote down for Jackalope, trying his best to write Nascar with Draconic runes.


    ¡°So they bumble along like your four-wheeled thing in a weird circle?¡± Jackalope questioned as the array of colorful cars pulled out into the track. ¡°What the¡­¡±


    ¡°What is that noise?¡± Jarix questioned trying to get a look, Jackalope completely enamored by what she was seeing.


    ¡°The sound of screaming engines fighting to win,¡± Tom replied as he let Jackalope watch.


    ¡°Shit they are going fast!¡± Jackalope exclaimed after a shot of the cars going past. ¡°Wait, did you have one of these?!¡±


    Tom put the phone on her thigh so Jarix could watch for a bit, as he scribbled away.


    ¡°Sure, not that fast, though still faster than you.¡± Tom felt a finger claw push slightly into his back.


    ¡°Careful now, or you might fall off the next time you can''t get anywhere yourself, mister faster than me,¡± she replied in a playful voice. Tom just giggled as she took the claw away. ¡°I want one though, that looks like great fun.¡±


    ¡°Sure you do. Give me a few decades, it might happen,¡± Tom noted down.


    ¡°Really!?¡± Jackalope let out excitedly.


    ¡°Anything for my little Jackalope.¡±


    The finger claw came back for that one, pressing a little harder. ¡°I¡¯m not the little one here. Whose lap are you in right now?¡± She questioned with a snicker.


    ¡°Jarix¡¯s,¡± Tom wrote down. The dragon let out a chuckle as Jackalope looked up at him.


    ¡°I need to get used to that¡± she admitted before looking back down to the phone.


    ¡°Wow what just happened!¡± She exclaimed as the clip cut to the obligatory crash fire and debris everywhere. ¡°Are they okay?!¡± She questioned, clearly alarmed.


    ¡°I think so, cars built tough, crash all the time¡± Tom wrote down. Jackalope didn¡¯t look entirely convinced, especially after the clip just cut to more racing and eventually another accident. which caused her to flinch again as the car hit the wall. This time though the driver got out and promptly proceeded to run around with his arms in the air.


    That did calm her down a fair bit even cheering for the guy as he jumped up onto the car. Tom had heard a few stories about accidents from the dragonettes thus far, None of them very pretty. Hell he had even been in two technically, so he could understand her concern.


    He showed them a bit more racing, even if he was a little sad he didn¡¯t have any monster trucks on his phone. That would have been awesome. Eventually, he stumbled across a clip of a Blue Angels air show he had saved. ¡®Oh, this should be good,¡¯ he thought to himself as he scribbled on the notepad.


    ¡°Jet fighters showing off.¡± That certainly got Jackalope''s attention, Jarix also trying hard to see what was on the screen.


    ¡°Hey they¡¯re blue, they look fucking cool¡­ oh that¡¯s a lot of smoke¡­ are they gonna do something, or are they just sitting there?¡± Tom didn''t respond, instead letting the video play, as the angels trundled along the runway. Jackalope apparently decided to take up the role of commentator for Jarix.


    ¡°No wait, they are rolling slowly along¡­ is that what they do?... Oh no, now, they are moving faster down a very big piece of... what is that? and¡­ da fuck? Okay, I guess they are flying now? What the fuck! How can they do that?!¡± Jackalope let out as the F18 pulled into a vertical climb, afterburners lit. Tom didn¡¯t answer, just giggling to himself. Jackalope didn¡¯t even seem to mind taking the phone to look more closely.


    ¡°Oh look they are flying in formation¡­ It''s a bit loose though, but damn they¡¯re fast. What¡¯s with the smoke?¡±


    ¡°Just for show, and they aren''t going that fast. They are just having some fun. Remember they can go faster than sound,¡± Tom scribbled down for her as she continued to watch the show.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Then why not go faster?¡± It was a fair question, to be honest.


    ¡°Because of the boom of breaking the sound barrier. They aren¡¯t allowed to do it near people.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Jackalope replied, clearly not sure what to say to that. Jarix was just looking down at the two of them rather annoyed. Tom took Jackalope''s hand and held up the phone for the dragon to see as the Angels were performing an inverted loop.


    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t do that,¡± Jarix admitted, sounding a tad sad. ¡°I can¡¯t even dive that fast¡­ and they are climbing!¡±


    ¡°They are quite something,¡± Tom responded, looking up at the dragon who was staring in awe. His eyesight must be pretty damn good too, judging by how far away from the tiny screen his head was. Not that Tom had any idea how dragon eyes worked. ¡°That is what defends our sky back home. They fly faster than sound, they can see you and kill you, even beyond the horizon, and turn so hard the pilots pass out.¡± Jarix looked at Tom with a face that indicated he had quite a few questions.


    ¡°Oh look, opposing passes.¡± Jackalope went excitedly as the Angels continued to show off.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got flyers incoming. Looks like the others are back,¡± a wounded guard shouted weakly into the hall. He appeared to have had both his wings broken in addition to a nasty face wound that had most of his head bandaged up. Looking from his current position Tom felt quite bad that he wasn¡¯t helping out, while that guy had probably been standing guard up in the tower.


    ¡°The headcount fits?¡± Tom questioned as he started to squirm free of Jackalope, but she relented this time though as Tom turned off the phone. Though she did let out a rather annoyed grunt at that.


    ¡°Yup, they are all there and two extra,¡± came the reply.


    ¡°Lothal must be flying himself then,¡± Tom stated, getting up and walking over to his clothes. Even if he likely looked less scary in his underpants that just wouldn¡¯t do even if it was nice and warm. Besides, the kids knew him, so he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about scaring them. He had yet to see any of this keep¡¯s children though, come to think of it.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Jackalope protested, not getting up. Tom did his best to impersonate flying, beating his arms up and down before pointing to the big door. That display caused Jackalope to snicker a bit. ¡°You look like an idiot, you know that right?¡±


    Tom just crossed his arms and looked at her, trying to seem as unimpressed as possible, before turning to grab his clothes from the world''s most dangerous washing line. Just from gearing up and walking around, he could feel his heart still beating harder than normal, and he found himself breathing harder too. ¡®This is going to suck for a while,¡¯ he thought to himself. His dizziness had gotten a little better though, even if that was likely due to him taking it easy right now.


    He helped Jackalope get her stuff on. Her ears had stopped bleeding, and she hadn¡¯t coughed up blood for a bit. That might also just be due to not really doing anything for however long it had been now. He wiped her ears clean with a wet rag getting rid of the last encrusted blood, taking the chance to play with them a bit. They were sort of stiff but could move around a lot.


    As they made ready to open that gate, Jarix turned around just in case he needed to blast the fuck out of whatever might be coming.


    ¡°Hey, Jarix? How long does it take before you''re ready to shoot again by the way?¡± Tom went as he adjusted his shirt.


    ¡°I mean if I spent everything, half a day for a big shot... or thereabouts. I do get rather a sore in the throat too after that though.¡± That sounded perfectly understandable to Tom. Even if it led him to wonder what it might feel like to have lightning running through you without it hurting.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not so bad. Not sure I can help with the throat unfortunately.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    They had started the morning with another check back with the keep, but there was nothing to report. The mood at the table was a little dim as the four of them ate breakfast. Haiko poked Sapphire on the shoulder as he sat down next to her at the table. ¡°Got a second?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Sapphire responded, turning to her brother, still chewing.


    ¡°So I had a chat with some of the boys. We got no clue who we are dealing with. Not that you or Draki got much of a look at them. Are we still expecting them to come back?¡±


    Sapphire turned back to the rest of the table, being met by blank faces. Dakota finally responded.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know¡­ We have tried to make ourselves an expensive target.¡±


    ¡°I take it that¡¯s why you are here, sir. I must say, it is an honor to have a Royal Guard staying at our inn.¡±


    ¡°Hey, technically I¡¯m at work so don¡¯t put too much into it. I¡¯m being paid to sleep here,¡± Maiko replied. He was having a laugh about it though, possibly trying to lighten the mood. He had his own room too, so he was hardly uncomfortable.


    ¡°Damn I want a job like that once,¡± Haiko replied, sounding a tad wistful. ¡°Anyway, as I said, we had a chat with some people. We are gonna be getting some reinforcements at night, just in case they do come back.¡±


    ¡°How did you manage that?¡± Sapphire questioned. People didn''t usually work for free after all.


    ¡°We stick together around here. If those bastards can bully one place then why not the others? It¡¯s not gonna be much more than a few guys and girls to help scare them off.¡± Sapphire looked back to the table as they all nodded in approval, some smiles spreading.


    ¡°I guess we are gonna turn this place into a keep then,¡± Balethon joked.


    ¡°Then we just need to worry about you not getting killed coming and going,¡± Maiko continued, still sounding light-hearted. Dakota¡¯s slight smile vanished at that though.


    ¡°Would they shoot us in the street you think?¡± She questioned, switching her gaze around the table.


    ¡°I mean, maybe?¡± Maiko reluctantly admitted after a bit.


    ¡°What about at Tink¡¯s workshop? That is hardly well defended.¡±


    ¡°It is a guildhall but other than that no not really,¡± Maiko replied, clearly starting to ponder the situation. ¡°Are we really that sure they are gonna try and kill you¡­ and in broad daylight? I mean really?¡±


    There was a bit of silence following that. ¡®Are we being paranoid here?¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. What would it even cost to hire someone to try and kill them in the street? Also, there was quite the difference between a mercenary group and an assassin ¡°Don''t you think they are just trying to scare us into backing down? You know, a show of force?¡± She asked, looking at her brother.


    ¡°I mean, I sure hope so. They might also try and beat you up, but I¡¯m guessing that isn''t gonna end without bloodshed,¡± he replied, looking at the assortment of weapons they all carried.


    ¡°Right, so we keep on going about our business during the day. Making damn sure we aren''t followed anymore. Then we make sure to be back here early every day, with a knife under our pillow. Is that the plan?¡± Sapphire asked.


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t just stay here, we have way too much to do. Another day with Tink and he will hopefully be able to keep himself busy without killing himself."


    ¡°Saph, you are gonna need to tell me what the fuck it is you are doing at that place some time,¡± Haiko went, giving Sapphire a friendly nudge to the shoulder.


    ¡°I might just keep that a surprise for you,¡± she replied, hitting back a little harder.


    ¡°Oh, by the way, what was the price on the window?¡± Dakota asked as Haiko got up to go actually do his job for a bit.


    ¡°Uhh. Don¡¯t know actually, you want a receipt for it?¡±


    ¡°Yes please, I¡¯m gonna pay for that,¡± Dakota responded, to Sapphire¡¯s surprise. She didn¡¯t think they had to, nor were windows cheap. The strained expression Dakota got when she received the bill would seem to back that assumption up, even if she didn¡¯t let them know what the price had been.


    Following yesterday''s round of catch the goose, they hadn¡¯t actually managed to find most of the things they needed. so they had swung by to pick up Junior to show the way, leaving the by now common sight of a sleep-deprived Tink to carry on working.


    Following some directions from a smith Junior knew, they had finally found a place that seemed to be a proper mithril smith. It wasn¡¯t a large place nor could you even see the forge, as it was hidden away inside the massive squat building behind the shopfront. Everything was very nice though, gleaming weapons and armor on display for all to see. Even if only a few of the things were actually mithril.


    Sapphire''s eyes damn near watered at the sight of the prices. Even a hunting knife made out of the stuff commanded an exorbitant sum, so she guessed most things here were probably made to order. Nevertheless, it was on the list, so when they had the money they would be doing some exceedingly expensive shopping.


    They had been keeping an eye out for Trewor or anyone else trying to tail them. They agreed chances were good Trewor had just run away after what happened yesterday. In that case, the Flaxens would of course likely just hire someone else.


    ¡°Hey that sounds familiar,¡± Sapphire let out as they passed a small potion shop. ¡°Hold up, we need to go say ¡®Hi.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, definitely¡± Dakota responded as they turned to walk into the small potion shop.


    ¡°Quinlin¡¯s Potions and Care, how can I he... Oh Dakota! It¡¯s good to see you! Oh and hello Saph, and even Baleboy, it was about time they dragged you in here. Is Essy with you?¡±


    ¡°Sadly not this time,¡± Dakota replied with a smile. ¡±Good to see you, Ignis.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, she can¡¯t hog all the travel expenses after all. How¡¯s she doing?¡± Dakota¡¯s smile did falter a bit at that. Sapphire also grew a more sombre expression despite her best efforts.


    ¡°She''s getting better, though she has been quite sick,¡± Dakota replied, looking around the small shop. Content that it was empty she carried on. ¡°She got stabbed with a poisoned blade. We are here to lay a case against the Lady who did it.¡±


    ¡°We call her the bitch,¡± Balethon added in, as the warm friendly expression of Esmeralda¡¯s sister faded.


    ¡°What poison?¡± She asked tentatively.


    ¡°Green dragon,¡± Dakota replied plainly. ¡°You can thank Colonel Hashaw and Baron that she is still with us. She is getting better by the day though, so don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°Gods in heaven,¡± Ignis replied, sitting down on a stool she had behind the counter.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we got her in chains and Essy is doing fine,¡± Dakota reiterated.


    ¡±Sounds like you have had an exciting time,¡± Ignis replied, looking up.


    ¡°More than you know,¡± Sapphire added. Ignis let out a breath before looking up, the smile returning to her face.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to hear we didn¡¯t lose her this time either. I see you brought some new faces. Is the Royal Guard for show, or did Sapphire get what she always wanted?¡± Ignis questioned, looking to Dakota, who did a double-take before she broke out laughing.


    ¡°Not funny,¡± Sapphire stated, looking away. ¡®Goddammit, why do her and Essy have to be alike.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry what?¡± Maiko questioned, clearly confused.


    ¡°Did no one tell you Sapphire used to want to become a Royal Guard? I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the next best thing,¡± Ignis continued, also laughing now.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ no¡­ wait, what?.¡± Maiko responded, sounding very confused as he looked at Sapphire.


    ¡®You have got to be shitting me,¡¯ Sapphire cursed to herself. ¡°No, Ignis, I did not score a Royal Guard nor am I trying to! Come on, you know I don¡¯t like that story,¡± Sapphire interjected, stretching out her arm as if she was going to grab Ignis. ¡®Best kind of defense is a good offense,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she turned to look at Balethon, handily avoiding Maiko¡¯s confused gaze. ¡°Balethon scored a trader escort though. Well, more like she found a new boy toy I think.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I can believe that,¡± Ignis responded, turning her attention to the very miffed-looking Balethon.


    ¡°She likes me okay!¡± He predictably protested. ¡°You''re just jealous I¡¯m not giving you the attention you want,¡± he then replied, pointing at Sapphire.


    ¡°Oh come on, we all know that one is a lie,¡± Dakota weighed in. Junior just stood looking around, utterly bewildered at what was going on.


    ¡°Oh, how I missed this. I¡¯ll put the kettle on if anyone wants some tea. Have a browse in the meantime.¡±


    They had all answered in the affirmative as they went about having a look at the selection. Potions were expensive, though it was cheaper in the city than if you had to buy from someone like Vulzan. Still, Sapphire could hardly afford anything in here aside from some medicinal stuff for various ailments.


    They had a pleasant talk, conveniently leaving out the fact they might be walking around with a target on their back. It had been over half a year since Ignis had last heard of what was happening at the keep, so there had been a fair bit to talk about. Of course, Tom inevitably came up; Ignis had been more interested to hear about how he dealt with the kids though. All in all, it had mostly been pleasant small talk, which was a nice change from people asking about the battles or Tom. With cups empty and a promise to pop by again later for another chat and possibly buying something for once, they had continued their search for stuff they needed.

 Heroes

    Chapter 89: Heroes


    ¡°Hey look, you¡¯re getting whiter. You don¡¯t look great though. I take it you had a rough day?¡± Unkai asked after having put down on the platform, letting one of the twins go. He looked rather disturbed, clearly trying to speak in a false calm.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been a day. Just so you know: Jackalope is deaf; I¡¯m white because my blood ended up on the outside; Jarix is grounded, his back having been torn to shreds; but Zarko is okay,¡± Tom responded, Unkai¡¯s face turning more and more dour as the list went on. ¡°Oh and we killed three mutant bat things that no one knows what are and three black knights.¡±


    Unkai just stood there staring for a bit before answering. ¡°Three! I mean saw the bodies outside¡­ How?¡± he just asked, looking like he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°Everyone pulled their weight and then some,¡± Tom replied plainly, looking to Lothal as he came wandering over.


    ¡°Uhm Tom, I don¡¯t want to be rude but¡­ what now?¡±


    ¡°An excellent question,¡± Tom replied, looking for the kind old lady. She was currently taking a look at the baby, tentatively playing with her while Luke held the basket. ¡°Follow on¡± Tom went, gesturing for Unkai and Lothal to follow.


    ¡°Trip went well?¡± Tom questioned as he walked over.


    ¡°Very well, good weather and not a dark thing in sight.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we like to hear. Everyone okay?¡±


    ¡°I mean, as okay as they can be,¡± Luke replied, looking around at the kids. ¡°It¡¯s not been an easy few days that¡¯s for sure. By the way, Kalestine sends her most sincere thanks and you may keep the horn as long as she never sees it again,¡± Luke leaned in a bit closer as he whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t think she wants to be reminded. That is one hell of a gesture though, I¡¯ve never even heard of that before.¡±


    ¡°Sweet. Wonder what one of those can do? Anyway, we need the kids fed and lodged for the time being, can they stay with yours?¡±


    ¡°Might be a little tight, do you think they need alone time?¡± Luke questioned, looking at Tom like he would know.


    ¡°We have been alone a lot lately¡­ very alone,¡± Lothal responded. The kid might be fully grown but that didn''t prevent Tom from doing his best to give him a hug.


    ¡°Not anymore you''re not. You got each other and you have us now too.¡± Tom tried as he stroked the kid¡¯s head and held him close. Lothal reciprocated as he began to sob into Tom¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Luke, would you mind? I think some friends are in order,¡± Tom asked, looking at Luke, who nodded politely, handing the basket to his mother and setting off at a brisk jog.


    The heavily wounded dragonette, who had announced the flyers arrival, had come over as Tom released Lothal. He gave the young man a slight punch to the shoulder.


    ¡°Yeah, we''re in this together now. Don¡¯t worry, nothing gets through those crazy bastards.¡±


    ¡°Kalix!¡± the old lady exclaimed, looking a little ashamed. It took Tom a second to figure it out.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t scold someone for being right. To pull this off we all had to be a little crazy, and I can definitely be a bastard when I have to.¡±


    ¡°See, he gets it,¡± the wounded dragonette, who was apparently Kalix, replied. Taking a closer look, he actually looked fairly young, even if the bandages did a good job of hiding it.


    ¡°How old are you, Kalix?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Fourteen,¡± the dragonette answered proudly. Tom gulped for a second. He knew the dragonettes looked at age a bit differently, but still: fourteen. This was an honest to god child-soldier.


    ¡°Well, you have certainly been brave,¡± Tom replied, trying not to let the realization show.


    ¡°Yeah, they got me pretty good on the first day,¡± the young man replied, sounding as if that was funny.


    ¡°I see, well hopefully Unkai here can help fix you up a little quicker,¡± Tom replied looking to Unkai, who responded with a nod.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. Do you have more wounded?¡± the healer asked, looking to the old lady.


    ¡°Far too many, follow me. I¡¯m afraid you will have to wait, Kalix. Your mother comes first,¡± the lady replied, turning to leave. The smile washed from Kalix¡¯s face as he looked at the ground.


    The lady handed the basket with the baby to the silvered huntress, a few tables over, as she left, heading for the infirmary with Unkai in tow. The huntress had been busily discussing with Zarko, though she relented to try and comfort the baby, who had started crying again. Tom wanted Zarko¡¯s take on what exactly they should do now that they were grounded for the time being. So he walked over, Lothal following on his heel.


    ¡°Now, now, you''re safe here. Oh, aren¡¯t you just the cutest, and look at those eyes,¡± the huntress was saying as Tom walked over, Zarko snapping to attention and giving him a salute for some reason.


    ¡°Tom, we have retrieved the children, now we must report what has happened here.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ how?¡± Tom questioned looking at her. ¡°Jarix isn¡¯t going anywhere for a while.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only six hours, I depart tomorrow morning. Though I would prefer to not fly alone.¡±


    Tom raised a finger, thinking for a second. ¡°Why? We got them, right? The King wouldn¡¯t have known for weeks anyway if we hadn¡¯t been around. Oh and you need to see this,¡± Tom got out the fancy knife, unsheathing it. It was definitely a pretty blade with both nice engravings and a gold-trimmed handle. It was a curved dagger, looking almost like a claw in profile, with some nice dragon motifs to match.


    ¡°What is that?¡­ Where did you get such a nice knife?¡± Zarko asked, her tone switching to suspicious.


    ¡°One of the dark knights had it.¡± Zarko¡¯s eyes went wide as she knocked the knife out of his hand, the weapon clattering to the ground.


    ¡°You don¡¯t touch what one of those things has held unless you know what it is!¡± she exclaimed in terror, much to Tom¡¯s bewilderment. He had held the knife Vulzan had brought, hell he had shown the lady of this keep the knife already.


    ¡°I do know what it is. Vulzan had one too. Remember the knife we talked about that Baron took back? It looked exactly like that.¡±


    He could see Zarko thinking for a bit. He really should have told her this before she left, but oh well. ¡°That can¡¯t be good,¡± she finally went, bending down to inspect the blade. ¡°That can¡¯t just be some dagger then. Did you find out what the other one did?¡±


    ¡°Nope, no clue. Think someone in the capital might know?¡±


    ¡°If someone decided to try hard enough to find out, sure. Might just have locked it away though. I¡¯m sorry about that... just don¡¯t touch it, okay? Wrap it up or something.¡±


    ¡°So use my gauntlets then?¡±


    ¡°Preferably a bit more than that,¡± Zarko replied as she looked up, still kneeling beside the blade. ¡°This is even more reason to leave as soon as possible. Requi, you have a dragon and possibly the most dangerous man alive, you must spare someone to come with me,¡± she continued, looking to the silver huntress who Tom guessed must be Requi then.


    ¡°Fine, then I will go with you myself,¡± Requi responded, not seeming pleased in the slightest.


    ¡°Not to alarm anyone, but I¡¯m practically out,¡± Tom interjected. ¡°I can¡¯t do that again.¡± Zarko looked at his rather sparse collection of bullets remaining, and she knew they were out of grenades.


    ¡°Well, there isn''t anything left to kill here. I¡¯m more worried about the more common threats out there. It is dangerous to fly alone.¡±


    Jarix had swung his head over to the conversation, clearly listening intently. ¡°We are here under orders of the king. Our mission must be completed, huntress.¡± His tone had switched considerably from the friendly chatting just a few minutes ago, he was sounding a lot more stern and formal right now.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I get it, me and Ethera then. Not like we would be doing much hunting either with all this mess to handle.¡±


    ¡°Very good, we leave at first light. Now let¡¯s see about the mess,¡± Zarko responded, with a decisive nod.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The rest of the day had gone smoothly. They had found all of the things they needed, even if they couldn''t afford much of it yet. Tink had managed to get the forge hot enough to make the pencil leads. A trip back to the place with the pretty plates from yesterday had yielded the fine clay powder they needed for them too, even if it was more expensive than they had hoped. Perhaps a cheaper alternative could be found in the future.


    They still hadn¡¯t heard anything from the keep and everyone was growing worried by now. Sure Maiko¡¯s explanation still held up, but if they had just stayed the night out of hospitality they would have been back by now. They hadn¡¯t been followed or seen any signs of mercenaries though, so that was something. Sapphire still couldn¡¯t quite shake the feeling of worry as she tried to sleep. There were so many things that either could go wrong or perhaps already had.


    She almost considered joining whoever was awake down at the bar, but it sounded like things had quieted down by now; they might even be shut for the night by now. Don¡¯t worry Saph, everything is going to be fine.¡± she tried to convince herself. Dakota was sleeping soundly so this was about the closest to private time she had gotten for over a week by now.


    ¡°What have you gotten yourself into this time¡­ You went to the frontier for a life with just enough adventure to not be boring while also being nice and safe¡­ And here you are. Possibly in more danger than ever before and with enough excitement a day to last a month at least¡­ Hell, I haven''t even been hunting for months¡­ not really at least.¡±


    Sapphire''s train of thought came to a stop when she heard the windows next door shatter. That was Balethon¡¯s room and Canabrera hadn''t been here this evening. She was on her feet in an instant, knife under the pillow already drawn. She listened for a second, ears flicking around as she heard Balethon let out a surprised yelp. She grabbed Dakota by the arm and yanked her unceremoniously onto the floor even as she heard commotion from below. Others clearly also having heard the shattering glass.


    She opened the window and stuck her head outside, being rewarded with a crossbow bolt slamming into the wood of the building beside her head.


    ¡°Stay inside and you won¡¯t be hurt!¡± a voice shouted out from the opposing roof, the pair of green eyes looking back at her glowing ever so slightly in the dark. Sapphire didn''t dignify the voice with a response as she ducked back inside. She gave Tom a quick thanks for giving her a bow that could be stored strung for some reason as she grabbed an arrow from the quiver by her bedside, nocking it.


    She crouched down low looking out the window, spotting her target and sending the arrow whistling out the window, guiding it home. There was a screech from the opposing roof then silence.


    ¡°Kraul¡­ Kraul?!¡± someone shouted from the other room, getting no reply. Dakota was on her feet by now, with her sword out knife and her knife in her off-hand.


    ¡°They are next door. There¡¯s not many of them!¡± Sapphire commanded as Dakota was clearly still trying to come to grips with what was going on. She responded by kicking the door open into a very surprised Haiko, who was just making his way up the stairs.


    ¡°You follow me. Cover the window Saph, shoot to kill!¡± Dakota ordered while looking at Haiko, who was flanked by some of the guards he had conscripted to help out. Sapphire spared a glance at her brother as she turned back into the room, hastily scooping up her quiver. He looked fucking terrified.


    Sapphire moved up to the window, daring a peek into the darkness as she heard the door to Balethon¡¯s room being kicked in.


    The opposing roof was empty and no one shot at her, so she stuck her head out again; there was no one to be seen. ¡°They¡¯re running, the bastards are running with him!¡± Dakota roared out in anger from next door. Sapphire looked around, checking the street below, before climbing out the window, shouldering her bow.


    ¡°What''s going on, what are you doing?¡± Maiko questioned from inside, standing in the doorway.


    ¡°They took Balethon, giving chase,¡± Sapphire replied hurriedly, already scampering up the side of the building to the roof just above. She was beating her wings and clawing at the wood as she climbed. They had to be trying to outdistance them right now. They only had a few seconds to get out while Sapphire wasn¡¯t at the window. Dakota had clearly had the same idea, also emerging onto the roof right after Sapphire.


    ¡°Come on, come on, where did they go?¡± Sapphire cried out desperately as she looked around.


    ¡°There!¡± Dakota replied, pointing into the darkness as she ran off the edge of the roof, taking flight. Sapphire couldn¡¯t see shit, but she knew better than to doubt Dakota¡¯s vision.


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± Maiko let out from below as Sapphire joined Dakota on the wing. ¡°What if it¡¯s a trap?¡±


    ¡°Then we spring it. They can¡¯t have him,¡± Sapphire shouted back as she fought to catch up to Dakota. She could hear wingbeats behind her soon after, so she guessed the boys had found the courage to join them.


    ¡°If it is a trap they won¡¯t reach it,¡± Dakota bellowed out, still slightly ahead as she charged into the night. They had to be carrying Balethon, so they had no chance of outrunning Sapphire and Dakota.


    As they forged onwards Sapphire could start to make out some shapes in the distance. There was a decent amount of moonlight tonight even if the clouds blotted it out at times. The kidnappers were of course flying without lights, and it didn¡¯t look like there were many of them either. Maybe three or four but she couldn¡¯t quite tell. Sapphire didn¡¯t know whether or not they were aware they were being followed, but she suspected so. They were definitely moving fast and not climbing, just keeping steady at rooftop level.


    They weren¡¯t fast enough though. Sapphire had caught up to Dakota by now, moving to break the wind for her. Sapphire was the fastest of them for sure, and she had spent the time flying here well, putting in a fair amount of training. She was nearly in as good shape as she had been before the crash. It still wasn¡¯t top shape following winter, but it was clearly good enough to catch these bastards.


    They must have figured out this wasn¡¯t going to end well for them as they dived down between the buildings. Sapphire cracked a smile. ¡®Oh now they¡¯ve done it,¡¯ she mused. If they couldn¡¯t run from her in a straight line they had no chance in the twists and turns of flying between the buildings with Balethon on board.


    ¡°Head on a swivel it might be an ambush. Hold back, let the others catch up,¡± Dakota let out from behind as they dived after them. That was true, Sapphire had to admit. ¡°Dammit,¡± she let out, frustrated as she slowed her pace enough to where she was only able to keep up.


    The kidnappers were doing their level best to shake them as they pulled into hard banking turns, even turning down back alleys at full speed with only sporadic light to guide them. ¡®One misplaced washing line would spell disaster at this speed,¡¯ Sapphire cursed as she did her best to follow. In here not even she could fire unless she got right on top of them, and even then it would be with considerable risk of missing.


    The further they flew the more Sapphire cursed the ones behind. ¡®Hurry the fuck up!¡¯ Not soon after Dakota cried out in alarm.


    ¡°Behind high!¡± It was at times like these Sapphire really appreciated Dakota drilling them in not just hunting but real combat too. She rolled onto her back, bow drawn, sending an arrow straight up into the sky without even bothering to really aim, instead just bending it into the neck and shoulder of one very surprised looking dragonette diving down from above. There had been two of them though, the second one diving down on Dakota, a spear braced and ready for impact.


    What the diving bastard hadn¡¯t thought about, though, was the fact that Dakota was a gilded huntress for a reason, not to mention the eldest daughter of a warrior line of quite some renown. Come to think of it, he had likely never known who his target was, but as she too rolled onto her back, catching the spear guiding it just over her shoulder, he was likely wondering just that question.


    She used his momentum to spin them around in the air, planting her foot in his gut and kicking him towards the ground with enough force that he wasn¡¯t recovering in time to pull up. She lost some altitude and fell back a fair way, but was otherwise no worse for wear.


    ¡°I told you that would be useful one day,¡± Dakota shouted out from behind, clearly riding the high of the shock. The would-be assailant let out a desperate scream as he slammed into the ground with a crunch. Sapphire didn¡¯t have the time to congratulate her though, as she snapped her head around to just about catch a tail slipping down an alleyway.


    ¡°Oh no you don''t,¡± she let out as she pulled into the turn. She could hear a cacophony of wing beats on her tail now as the others had nearly caught up. Convinced the ambush had likely already been sprung she pushed forward with all that she had. She had lost ground too with that little spin and late turn, even if it wasn¡¯t much.


    The alleyway ended in a dead-end, the kidnappers pulling up into the open night sky. ¡®Shoot to kill,¡¯ echoed in Sapphire''s mind as she chased them down, gaining quickly. She was panting rather hard by now. She guessed whoever had maintained this speed this long while carrying Balethon was likely completely worn out. The fact they had lasted this long was rather impressive in fact.


    She couldn¡¯t just shoot down the one carrying Balethon; not yet at least. The others though were free-game. They clearly saw her, as two of them peeled off, likely figuring they were just being chased by a single person now and they just needed to get rid of her.


    One went straight for her, the other attacker going wide. She knew someone lining up a shot when she saw it, and pulled up hard as the crossbow bolt came whizzed past. She was not wearing armor at all, so she could not afford any mistakes, but it made her even faster. The one going for the melee attack failed to match her climb and undershot, going straight by, cursing at their miss as they just clipped the end of her tail. Sapphire lined up on the one with the crossbow. ¡°Works both ways fuck face,¡± she snarled as she fired, the arrow flying true. She didn''t even bother with the one behind her as she just put on what speed she could. Dakota and the others could deal with him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you but you are gonna die if you don¡¯t land,¡± Sapphire bellowed out into the night as loudly as she could. In reality, she had no problem putting an arrow in their back, but it would make saving Balethon a lot harder. He might be annoying, but she wasn¡¯t gonna let him drop that was for damn sure.


    She didn¡¯t get a response as she closed in. The gods smiled upon her as the clouds parted letting just enough moonlight through to light up her clear white targets nicely. ¡°Final warning,¡± she shouted out, readying the bow.


    Then one of the two remaining kidnappers dropped something and they split, each pulling into the night. Sapphire fired at the one who had dared to drop her friend, not bothering to guide the arrow as she thrust downwards into a crash dive after who she assumed must be Balethon. As she closed in he was just falling dead as a rock, or rather he was tumbling through the air stiff as a board, arms and wings folded up?


    The ground was approaching fast as she fought for more speed, wings hammering away and driving her downwards ever faster. She could feel her heart in her throat as she grabbed onto him.


    ¡°Gotcha!¡± She went as she pulled up, sending them screaming down the street far too fast to be safe. People out late for whatever reason looking at the two of them bewildered as Sapphire pulled up into the night sky again scrubbing speed. Balethon was completely paralyzed. Sapphire looked down to the simultaneously very lucky and damn unlucky guard. His eyes were wide with fear, his breathing fast and erratic.


    ¡°So, who is the best flyer you ever met?¡±

 A Bad Night

    Chapter 90: A Bad Night


    Luke had returned with a gaggle of kids, who all looked rather overwhelmed by what they saw coming out. There were a lot of them, Tom counted twelve in total. All of them rather young; he guessed the oldest one looked about nine.


    ¡°Look, dragon!¡± a young boy shouted, running over to Jarix with a few others on his heels. Some were looking around, clearly searching for people who might not be here anymore. Others stood staring at Tom.


    The sight of other kids also caused a fair amount of excitement, Luke ushering the more timid kids towards the ones from Hylsdal.


    Tom just stood there putting a hand around Jacky¡¯s waist, looking at the best reason for doing all this. He chuckled as Jarix elevated his head just out of grabbing range as the more excitable of the kids tried to touch his face. He had a smile on though, even if he looked a little unsure of what to do. Zarko was on hand to help though, telling off the kids who tried to climb up the wounded dragon.


    It took some coaxing, but in the end, most of the kids had been convinced to start playing with each other, though some were still around sitting either crying or just keeping to themselves. Lothal was doing his best to try and console his friends and doing a remarkably good job of it. Tom couldn''t decide if he was proud or sad at seeing an eleven-year-old acting like an adult.


    Dinner was nothing special, just some more of the stew from earlier with some rather stale tasting bread. Jacky, Tom, Zarko, and Unkai had sat together with the lady, Luke, Requi and the healer who was sort of conscious for the moment. She was apparently called Quin, at least for short. Unkai too was sitting rather slack-eared, clearly having been put to hard work already.


    Jarix was given some cuts of cured meat. The lady had brought out both some decent ale and even some wine, which was passed around the table. Tom had never tried dragonette wine before, so, despite his reservations about mixing alcohol with blood loss, he poured a cup for himself. That was an old student tactic, after all, to donate blood before a night on the town. It made things a bit cheaper.


    ¡°We might not be able to put together a feast, but we can do this, a small token of thanks. Luke, if you wouldn¡¯t mind,¡± The Lady went as she took her seat, Luke standing up raising a glass.


    ¡°To the heroes in our hour of need!¡±


    Tom damn near stood up to join Luke, Zarko grabbing him by the shoulder to keep him seated. As the assembled dragonettes of the keep gave a toast. Tom didn¡¯t really know if he felt proud or just uncomfortable at this point. On one hand, he could look around the room to see many faces, most of which appeared happy. On the other hand, many definitely weren¡¯t: a lone wounded father with a sobbing kid; the kids from Hylsdal; the countless wounded, some looking like they might not fly or even walk properly again.


    ¡°To the crazy bastard who made it possible,¡± Jackalope went as she raised her cup looking at Tom, apparently figuring out what was being toasted.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jarix let out, clearly trying to sound offended. ¡°To the crazy bastards who made it possible,¡± Zarko corrected, raising her cup.


    ¡°To wiping those fuckers off the map,¡± Tom joined in, feeling a little left out.


    ¡°Cheers to that,¡± The silvered huntress replied without much enthusiasm, slamming her drink down in one go. She was joined by the others. Tom took his time with his wine though. As expected it was rather sweet, definitely not bad though. They hadn¡¯t made a huge thing out of the meal, it was just stew and bread after all, even if their drinks were well above average.


    It had been a rather awkward meal though. Jackalope couldn¡¯t partake in the conversation unless Tom or someone else wrote down for her what was going on. They all did their best to avoid the more depressing subject matters, but it was pretty damn hard to avoid them in their current state. Quite a few of the others had taken to drinking rather heavily. Tom could hardly blame them, but he kept it mild for now. Jacky, though, did make a dent in the ale supply. She didn¡¯t get piss drunk, but she was definitely inebriated by now.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve never been called a hero before,¡± Jacky went, leaning on Tom after they had finished the meal. ¡°You still got the ace though¡­ You always get the ace¡­ Why are you so damn good at killing?¡± She questioned hanging on his shoulders.


    Tom didn¡¯t really know how to answer her on that one. ¡°You know what,¡± She went, pulling back and poking him in the chest with a finger. ¡°You get to teach me how. You¡¯re not getting the ace next time,¡± Tom pondered for a second if that was a smart thing to agree to. It was likely going to happen though, so why not.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the smart part about being deaf, I can¡¯t hear if you''re protesting, so I¡¯m just gonna say you agreed,¡± Jackalope continued before he managed to nod his reply. She poured a fresh mug for the both of them, snickering. Tom debated getting out the notepad to try and tell her he needed to be a little careful when it came to alcohol right now. She beat him to it though. ¡°You¡¯re not drinking like last time; afraid we might do something stupid?¡±


    Unkai damn near choked at that one. Zarko just shook her head, looking a tad embarrassed. ¡¯Remember the angry smith Tom, Remember the angry smith,¡¯ he repeated to himself. He got out the notepad to write down a response. Tom made well sure no one else saw what he wrote as he showed it to Jacky.


    ¡°I¡¯m wounded, also your mother,¡± she pulled back a bit, looking a little annoyed.


    ¡°She is not here nor will she be... Hey Unkai! Can you give him a check? He claims to be wounded; I don¡¯t want him dying on me.¡± She went, sounding entirely inappropriate.


    Even Zarko had to suppress a slight laugh at that, Unkai looking like a deer in the headlights as Jacky¡¯s attention switched to him.


    ¡°I mean sure. I¡¯ll just finish this,¡± the healer replied, gesturing at his cup.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hear you,¡± Jackalope reiterated with a side to side head bob. Unkai looked very embarrassed, just giving her a thumbs up instead.


    ¡®Oh boy,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, shrinking down.


    ¡°I think he needs more liquid courage to handle me though. Watch closely Unkai, you might learn how to grow a spine. Even if it¡¯s only for a bit,¡± Jackalope continued, laughing at her own joke as she poured another drink for herself and refilling Tom¡¯s cup.


    ¡°The man who went toe to toe with a small army and he needs help to handle you. What does that tell you?¡± Zarko let out, looking at Tom, seeming very pleased with herself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get to you Tom, you''re braver than her,¡± Jarix added, ensuring that everyone in the entire hall was now invested in the conversation.


    Tom just picked up the mug of ale she had poured for him. Jackalope excitedly raised hers as they knocked them together. ¡®May the hangover have mercy on my soul,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. He had been saved after a few mugs by the lady declaring that they needed to save enough for a proper feast when they could manage it.


    The result was a nice buzz and an even cockier Jackalope as they left the table. Perhaps it was her time for some healing following that whole shit show. He had never seen her as distraught as she was at Hylsdal. Not to mention the expression on her face when Zarko had carried the body of the dead girl away after they landed.


    Apparently, alcohol had at the very least helped her think about something else, as she was spouting funny stories and, of course, boasting about how amazing she had been in the battle. That had led to a hasty explanation about how Tom had let her borrow some of his power during the battle. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if any of the locals bought it, but they were way too polite to question the explanation though. Or possibly scared, or just didn¡¯t care, he wasn¡¯t quite sure.


    Unkai had gone over Jackalope first and deemed her as fixed as she could be right now; he didn''t dare try to fix her ears, claiming that to be way beyond him. He sounded confident that Nunuk might be able to put them back together again though. Jackalope let out an annoyed sigh at the news, though the part about Nunuk did help.


    It was clear Jacky and Tom had received priority when it came to getting fixed up after the battle. Unkai had put in some work on Tom, mainly putting his effort into the stinger wound on his side. Tom had him check his neck wound as thoroughly as he could manage. But Unkai claimed that was as good as it was going to get, though he recommended some resting time.


    ¡°Fuck, I took painkillers earlier,¡± Tom let out as Unkai touched the stinger wound, which didn¡¯t hurt as much as it should have.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± Unkai had questioned, looking at the wound.


    ¡°I drank alcohol too, you''re not supposed to mix those.¡± Unkai looked at Tom as if he was expecting more than that.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t look at me, I don¡¯t know how they work,¡± he finally responded, Jackalope¡¯s face growing worried at the exchange, her gaze breaking as she looked to Unkai.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine, right? He¡¯s been stung before. He¡¯s tough on that front even if his skin is soft like a kid¡¯s,¡± She asked with worry in her voice slurring slightly, Tom taking slight offense at the last part. Unkai turned to her, giving her a thumbs up and a smile before looking back at the wound.


    ¡°Anything we can do about it?¡± the healer questioned, clearly trying to not look worried this time, for Jacky¡¯s sake.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. I guess I¡¯m just gonna cross my fingers and wait it out,¡± Tom answered truthfully. He had no clue what the actual effect of that might be. He felt fine though. He was a little weird in the head, but that was honestly to be expected in his current condition.


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t think you¡¯re gonna be sleeping alone anyway, but consider it medical advice to have someone look after you,¡± Unkai replied trying a sly smile, which just looked wrong on him.


    ¡°Tom the hot stone reporting for duty,¡± Tom joked back as Unkai went about reapplying the bandage to the wound. Jacky¡¯s gaze switching back to Tom seemingly excited, the edges of her mouth curling into a slight smile.


    The young woman who had washed his clothes earlier had shown them up to the bedrooms after the quick check-up.


    ¡°We have a few rooms which weren¡¯t in use before, don¡¯t worry it¡¯s not¡­ someones. I''m sorry if they are dirty, but you can have one each if you want.¡± She sounded really rather uncomfortable. Tom could get why. He could see the number of rooms and there had to be at least a few that had owners until recently.


    ¡°This is very kind of you. Thank you,¡± Tom replied, the woman giving a curtsy before making her way back down the stairs rather hurriedly. Tom got out the notepad to ask Jacky if she wanted to share a room. Thinking back, that wasn¡¯t at all necessary; he just felt like it was the right thing to at least ask.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Jackalope though didn¡¯t bother to ask him. Taking him by the wrist rather firmly, she led him into the first room the young woman had shown them.


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    In case you want to know what happens in the bedroom, follow the link down below. If not carry on as if nothing happened. there is no real story in there so you won''t miss anything on that front


    The Pancake Chapter: Pancake!</a>


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Balethon now safely in her grasp, Sapphire circled back the way she came. She almost wanted to tell him to enjoy this since she was likely not gonna be carrying him again, not to mention at night in nothing but her underwear. The dude had already had a remarkably shitty night though, so she refrained.


    She spotted the large disorganized group which had been supposed to keep the tavern safe. They had set down in a square and were looking around confused as Sapphire came in to land. She was quickly greeted by a near-hysterical Haiko who looked ready to drop his mace as he nearly trod on Balethon in an attempt to hug her faster.


    ¡°You¡¯re okay, right? Nothing wrong?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, the bastards couldn¡¯t shoot.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank whoever cared,¡± he let out, squeezing her tightly.


    ¡°Where is Dakota?¡± Sapphire squeaked out from his embrace. He let go of her taking a step back looking around.


    ¡°Not here. Neither is that Maiko guy, and he damn near caught up to you before you shot off into the darkness. You haven''t gotten any slower, have you now?¡±


    ¡°Not by much, no,¡± she replied, looking down to her stricken cargo. ¡°Let¡¯s get him to sit up somewhere. Any of you got some water?¡± she questioned, looking to the other guards. Her eyes landed on someone being bound up. She assumed it was the mercenary who had tried to attack her. ¡°You''re a shit fighter, I hope you know that,¡± She shouted out, glaring at the arsehole, who just stared at her with clear contempt.


    Draki had come over with a canteen of water, looking up to Sapphire and looking a bit strained in the face before he turned to Haiko.


    ¡°I owe you two silver, don¡¯t I?¡± the diminutive guy asked, seeming rather annoyed.


    ¡°I told you, she¡¯s the fastest woman you ever saw,¡± Haiko replied with a smile, trying to fold out Balethon, eventually giving up. ¡°Grab on, let¡¯s put him on that bench over there,¡± he went, grabbing Balethon by the legs, with Sapphire taking the shoulders as they carried him over. He was stiff as a board, though the panicked look in his eyes was at least sort of gone.


    ¡°You put a bet on me catching them?¡± Sapphire questioned as set him down. She wasn¡¯t sure if she should be flattered or angry. Haiko held up his hands defensively, shaking his head.


    ¡°No no, Draki just didn¡¯t believe all the stories, so I put two silver on the stories being true. Easiest bet ever.¡± That was more to Sapphire¡¯s liking, and she gave him a slightly wicked smile. ¡°You know we used to get a slice of the bets back then.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I got you your own personal protection service,¡± He replied, gesturing to the motley collection of dragonettes mulling about the square.


    ¡°That¡¯s a word for it, I guess,¡± Sapphire replied, not overly impressed. It wasn¡¯t like they had done much good tonight. ¡°Take good care of him, I have some questions,¡± she went, leaving Haiko and going over to the now thoroughly tied up dragonette who had attacked her, the questioning already underway. Someone let out a suggestive growl as she walked by. The fact that she was wearing nothing but her underpants in the middle of the street dawning on her.


    ¡°Do that again and I¡¯ll kill you,¡± she snarled, not sure who the offending member was, before turning her attention to the mercenary. ¡°So¡­ You thought kidnapping one of my friends was a good idea? How well would you say that went?¡± She questioned looking down at the piece of shit.


    ¡°Fucking brilliantly,¡± he responded angrily. ¡°I ended up with a nice view if nothing else,¡± he continued with a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°How hard may I punch him?¡± She demanded, looking around at the guards. Most of them just looked confused at each other.


    ¡°As hard as I say so,¡± Maiko bellowed out, coming down alongside Dakota, who was carrying a very large unconscious female dragonette with an arrow sticking out of her back.


    ¡°Not your best shot, but it did the trick,¡± Dakota let out, unceremoniously dumping the dragonette on the ground before setting down. ¡°Tie her up too, she won¡¯t be out forever.¡±


    After a bit they got the both of them tied up at about the same time as a contingent of city guards arrived, demanding to know what was going on. Sapphire cursed the fact she likely wouldn¡¯t be allowed to beat the shit out of them now, as they began asking some very pointed questions.


    ¡°Oh yeah sure, a group of armed what was it... Tavern guards? Out at night with a pair of half-naked women and a dude who claims to be Royal Guard. And why has she been shot?!¡± the lead city guard questioned, looking around at them.


    ¡°Because she kidnapped him after stabbing him with vargulf poison,¡± Sapphire let out, wide armed. ¡°How the fuck is that hard to understand!?¡±


    ¡°Calm down woman, who shot her?¡± the man questioned pointing at the female mercenary.


    ¡°I did and two other pieces of shit who tried to kill us!¡±


    ¡°Right, you''re all coming with us. We need to know what happened here. Manacles,¡± the City Guard replied, snapping his fingers over his shoulder and receiving the item in question. Sapphire¡¯s heart sank; she had never been arrested before. Closest she had ever gotten was being given a stern talking to for sneaking into the training fields.


    Dakota looked ready with a reply, when Maiko beat her to it.


    ¡°Listen up you little shit-eating ground rat, see what this is?!¡± He went, holding up his sword, which true to form bore the royal insignia on the crossguard. ¡°I will make a cape out of your fucking wings if you don¡¯t man up and do your fucking job. These bastards attacked a tavern in the middle of the night, attempted murder, managed a kidnapping, then had a go at murder again during the desperate chase to catch them and your useless ass turns up just in time to insult the Royal Guard and be useless.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to ask you to...¡± the city guard attempted to protest, though seemingly with a growing sense of apprehension.


    ¡°No, you may not. You are outranked! Or do I need to get the colonel to inform her the city guard is aiding an enemy of the crown? That would lead to some serious fucking cleansing of your unit, I can assure you of that!¡±


    ¡°In that case, I say we take you to the stockade and send for this colonel of yours, perhaps letting her know someone stole a blade from the Royal Guard armories.¡± Sapphire expected Maiko to explode at that insult, though he just pulled back with an evil smile.


    ¡°Very good sir, let¡¯s go. Though I would appreciate the opportunity to get my uniform before appearing before my superior. You may escort me to the tavern in question if you wish.¡±


    ¡°That can be arranged, I assume you two wouldn¡¯t mind getting dressed either, though I must insist on you accompanying us. Don¡¯t we have a blanket or something?¡± he asked, looking back to his unit, eventually procuring a pair of thin woolen blankets.


    ¡°Bloody brilliant sir, how exactly do we fly with these?¡± Dakota questioned sounding very unimpressed.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    As they were getting ready for takeoff Sapphire heard someone get a smack to the back of the head as she moved to check up on Balethon. Looking back, a slightly ashamed looking tavern guard was rubbing the back of his head, a very unimpressed woman standing next to him. ¡®God fucking dammit¡¯ she cursed to herself.


    The ones who had woken up in the middle of the night broke off, going back to the tavern to get dressed in preparation for a long night. They wanted the bastards interrogated immediately anyway, even if getting interrogated themselves hadn''t really been the plan. If this was the work of the Flaxens they would be doing their best to cover their tracks as soon as they learned of the mission''s failure, so speed was of the essence.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just be left in peace!¡± Dakota snapped as they were getting dressed. ¡°Please let it just be the Flaxens so we can get them dealt with already.¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s them, who else could it be?¡± Sapphire dismissed her as she strapped on her greaves. Sapphire had a feeling Colonel Hashaw would not take kindly to this attack so she was bound to be there, therefore she needed to look proper in case they got fine company at the stockade.


    Maiko had gone on to the Hashaw Estate to report back on the evening¡¯s activities and hopefully convince Victoria to make an appearance. So Sapphire and Dakota found themselves standing in front of the stockade with a city guard escort.


    It was a large, ugly building, looking like a place you wanted to avoid at all costs with its rough grey stone and metal barred cell windows lining the walls. ¡°May they rot in here forever,¡± Sapphire let out as they were shown inside. She and Dakota were taken to different interrogation rooms. They were civil about it though, not even tying her up like she had feared.


    The guy who had ¡®caught them¡¯ as he claimed was apparently in charge of this case. He formally introduced himself as Sergeant Lanok and set about asking questions, not many of which were intelligent. Where they were from, what they were doing here, why they had an armed escort in the middle of the night despite not even being properly dressed at the time.


    He of course didn''t believe most of the answers he was getting. Especially the part about being in the employ of the king at the moment, nor the whole Flaxen situation.


    ¡°What? You claim to be the target of a kidnapping attempt by a noble family, one on the council at that?! Give me a break,¡± Sapphire had to fight really hard not to slap him, but she didn¡¯t want to end up in manacles, so she just stared at him contemptuously. Then there was a deep thunk that shook the building followed by creaking wood from above.


    ¡°This should be good,¡± Sapphire let out, leaning back with a smirk, relishing in the confusion on the guy¡¯s face.


    It took a bit longer than Sapphire had anticipated, as she refused to answer further questions, but there was eventually a knock on the door, Sergeant Lanok getting up to answer it. He was confronted by a very pissed looking Colonel Hashaw in formal uniform, Maiko and Yilditz at her back.


    ¡°You seem to have attempted to arrest one of my men and two people you really shouldn¡¯t have. Not to mention waking both me and a decidedly grumpy 10 ton black dragon currently on your roof.¡±


    ¡®So it wasn¡¯t Baron then,¡¯ Sapphire concluded. She doubted very much he could have been roused for this anyway, it also made sense to bring a black, they liked the night anyway. Maiko had been decent at laying out a string of insults, but Hashaw was clearly the source of his talent, as she chewed out not only the sergeant but anyone dumb enough to make an objection or not make themselves as small as they could including the captain of the Stockade much to Sapphire''s horror.


    It definitely helped that she was flanked by Ylditz, the person who had been tasked with finding out who the mercenaries were, as well as a few other family members. The dragon in question was apparently Tiguan, one of Jarix''s training buddies. Sapphire guessed he was here just as much for a bit of experience then.


    ¡°Is there anyone dumb or useless enough in here to have anything more to say...? Very good. Where are the two who ¡®actually¡¯ need questioning?¡±


    The tavern guards had been allowed to go, though Haiko had stuck around. The Sergeant was now looking very small as he took them to the room where the one who hadn¡¯t been shot was sitting. The woman who had been carrying Balethon currently being treated.


    ¡°Do you have even the slightest idea how much you fucked up tonight?¡± Hashaw asked as she strode in the door, the sergeant holding it open for her.


    ¡°Pretty fucking badly I presume, but what the hell are you gonna do, huh? Gonna execute me, perhaps clip my wings? Doesn''t matter if you¡¯re Royal Guard or tavern guard the punishment is the same. So you don¡¯t scare me woman or should I say¡­ oh, Colonel, wow I really did fuck up, huh?¡± Well, Sapphire had to give it to him, he was taking the news that he was likely done for rather well, or perhaps he was just in denial about the whole thing.


    ¡°Oh, I can do worse than that I think. Sapphire, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have learned a thing or two from our friend?¡±


    ¡°Might have done,¡± she admitted, thinking back to what she could remember of Tom¡¯s escapades.


    ¡°Sergeant, what is the punishment for his crimes?¡±


    ¡°Well, he failed to kill anyone, hence he is charged with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. So indentured servitude for quite a while. Unless he could pay for a prison sentence of course.¡±


    ¡°Right then, how about this? Tell me who sent you and I will pay for your prison time,¡± the colonel then went, looking to the perp. ¡°I know you were hired to do this, so while you may be a piece of shit it¡¯s not you that I want. Alternatively, I could start pulling strings until we get some alone time with you and make your life really fucking unpleasant.¡±


    Sapphire looked slightly nervously to the sergeant, but he was still cowering, so she guessed Hashaw got away with threatening to break the law inside the stockade. It was a generous offer too. If this guy was going away for a long time, paying for it wasn¡¯t gonna be cheap.


    ¡°You know my choice is death or slavery here. You can¡¯t be dumb enough to believe they will let me live if I talk.¡±


    ¡°That depends on who sent you, because if it is who I think it is they won''t be around to send someone to kill you after this.¡± Again Sapphire was fairly sure they couldn''t condemn the entire Flaxen family for something like this, but hey if it works it works.


    ¡°You seriously think we take jobs directly? It¡¯s not the client that will kill me dipshit. My boss would.¡± Hashaw was very clearly not pleased with that answer, as she turned to the sergeant.


    ¡°Would you agree this man is guilty, on the word of both independent tavern guards, the Royal Guard, and our two huntresses of the noble Bizmati Keep? Or do you insist on a mock trial for this piece of shit?¡±


    The sergeant looked a tad bewildered for a second before nodding. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. I¡¯ll have him sent off to the deepest mine I can find tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°No, I want him handed over to the Royal Guard so we may question him as an enemy combatant.¡±


    ¡°You cannot do that and you know it,¡± the sergeant replied, finally standing up for himself. Clearly to Hashaw¡¯s great annoyance.


    ¡°Then I want you to get me a telepath. Am I correct in assuming his rights on that matter are no longer in place even if I can¡¯t pull his claws out?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we don¡¯t have one, ma¡¯am. You must understand, a criminal¡¯s mind is not exactly the kindest place to be.¡±


    ¡°Weak-minded cowards,¡± Hashaw cursed, looking away pondering. ¡°Fine keep him here, you may continue with your excuse for questioning. I¡¯ll be back, luckily not everyone is as weak of spine.¡±

 You Will Tell Us

    Chapter 91: You Will Tell Us


    There was a knock on the door, a voice Tom didn''t recognize yelling from outside, ¡°Breakfast is on, if you want any.¡±


    ¡°Coming,¡± Tom replied, stretching out lazily. His head didn¡¯t feel too bad though it was definitely throbbing slightly, he felt a little sick too and he was quite thirsty. So nothing out of the ordinary. Noting the absence of snoring from his right, he poked at Jacky a bit, to try and see if she was awake.


    ¡°Tom?¡± the long drawn out reply came. ¡°I feel like shit.¡± Short on ways to articulate ¡®breakfast time,¡¯ he just patted her on the side as he got up, hoping she would follow along eventually.


    He only got on the essentials, leaving the armor off for the time being. He had to admit, he too felt rather stiff and sore. As he was doing up his boots he blinked a few times, his eyes messing with him and refusing to focus. All in all though, he was doing fairly okay. It was pretty clear the same couldn¡¯t be said for Jacky, as she still laid sprawled across the mattress, buck nude and unmoving.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go, everything hurts,¡± she protested, reaching for the blanket lazily, not even managing to grab it.


    ¡°Oh come on you lazy sod, can''t be that bad,¡± Tom went as he grabbed her by the shoulder, rolling her over. She just flopped onto her back like a ragdoll whining loudly. ¡°Please don¡¯t dude, that hurt.¡± He picked up her arm, also not receiving any resistance, dangling it around a bit. He let go, watching it bounce off the mattress as she let out a distressed groan.


    ¡°You are a fucking mess arent you?¡± he questioned, giving her a light smack on the butt, as he started gathering up her clothes and laying them in the bed for her.


    He picked up her crown, putting it on without much success. It was sort of on there but it was more laying on top of his head. Looking to Jacky she was at least looking at him now as he struck a pose for her, doing his best to look like a girly idiot. It did land him a chuckle from her as she slowly began moving. She winced as she sat up and began stretching everything that could be stretched right down to her toes.


    Getting up, she scooped up his helmet and placed it on her head, even if the horns did kinda ruin the experiment. The tip of the helmet fell down in front of her eyes and made her look like an absolute idiot. ¡°Look I¡¯m the crazed killing machine. YAHHH, bang, bang, bang,¡± she went, doing the finger guns, pretending to be firing around the room, though she was still rather lacking in the enthusiasm department.


    Tom really wanted to reply, shoulders sagging a bit at the thought that he couldn''t. Jacky took off the helmet and continued doing stretches even if it was clear from all the wincing and slow movements that she was not enjoying it. ¡°How can a night with you leave me in worse shape than the most insane battle I have ever taken part in?¡± She went with some annoyance in her tone.


    Tom scratched the back of his neck, trying to look innocent, as he went about inspecting a very interesting wooden figurine on the window.


    ¡°Screw it, that was so worth it, it¡¯s ridiculous. Now small steps Jacky,¡± she continued as she started to walk over to the washbasin. She looked truly ridiculous as she inched forwards bow legged. Tom eventually grew sorry for her, going over to lend a shoulder. ¡°And of course you''re completely fine. I don''t like not being the awesome one you know that¡­ and that¡¯s mine,¡± she playfully protested, taking the crown and putting it on. ¡°You are just a copper, remember?¡±


    ¡®If only you knew how awesome you are, miss silvered huntress,¡¯ Tom thought to himself with a smile as he helped her freshen up a bit and get into her clothes. After she had gotten ready and he got everything he didn''t need sorted and stowed away they set off, making it just shy of the stairs.


    ¡°Oh this is gonna suck,¡± Jacky let out, stopping. Tom pondered the situation for a second before picking her up in a bride carry, going down the stairs with her as she slung her arms around his neck.


    ¡°...Just for today I will allow this,¡± she went, sounding more than a little sarcastic as they made it to the hall. Most of the people were well into their breakfast, though nearly all eyes turned to the two of them as they entered.


    ¡°Morning,¡± Tom let out, staring back at the mixed collection of faces. Some looked curious, others uncomfortable, one guy gave them a thumbs up and a smirking nod, and Jarix looked like he wanted to be somewhere else while also having several questions. ¡®Oookay,¡¯ Tom thought, screaming internally. He had guessed someone would have heard them. This was a lot worse than even he had thought; this was catastrophic.


    Looking around, Zarko had her face buried in her food, sitting at the table closest to Jarix. Unkai looked away when Tom caught him staring. Going over, he deposited Jacky next to Zarko before getting some food for the two of them.


    He came back with a plate of mostly smoked and salted meats with bread and some fairly nice smelling cheese. Jacky dug in with a voracious appetite, Tom joining her and trying to ignore the people who were staring.


    Silence reigned at the table until Zarko elected to open the conversation, for once.


    ¡°So, feeling well-rested?¡± she questioned. Her expression perfectly plain as she continued eating.


    ¡°Yup, feeling much better. Weren''t you supposed to be on the wing by now?¡± Tom replied, trying to seem nonchalant about it.


    ¡°Yes, but the lady overruled me, apparently her precious little huntresses need a good meal before such a flight,¡± she replied, seeming none too pleased as she scowled at the kind old lady before turning to Tom. "She still can¡¯t hear us, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Deaf as can be sadly.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, let me give you a bit of advice: whatever you did to her, you might want to consider telling her to quiet down a bit¡­ somehow,¡± Zarko continued, getting eye contact with him then looking Jackalope over, clearly thinking. ¡°I wanna ask a favor.¡±


    ¡®I do not like where this is going,¡¯ Tom concluded, rather desperately looking around for a way out of this. Zarko clearly figured out where his mind had gone at that, her expression turning to one of disgust.


    ¡°No, you idiot. I want the most dangerous person I know to owe me a favor¡­ In exchange for not letting a certain someone know what happened here, and embellishing some details.¡±


    ¡®Godfucking dammit,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself, looking at the now grinning second lieutenant. He did not like the prospect of what would happen if Zarko just started telling stories back at the keep. ¡°What kind of favor are we talking?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll think of something¡­ eventually¡± Zarko replied, seeming very pleased with herself. ¡®Oh god damn you,¡¯ Tom cursed.


    ¡°Fine, don¡¯t keep the deafness a secret though that¡¯s just too obvious.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t don¡¯t you worry, but I gotta ask. What the hell did you do to her? More out of morbid curiosity than anything else.¡±


    ¡°And why would I tell you that?¡± Tom replied in an annoyed tone.


    ¡°Well I might be persuaded to keep those two from blabbing too loudly as well,¡± she replied, pointing at the two huntresses Tom suspected were gonna be joining her.


    Looking around, it was clear the battle of this not being a topic was lost in advance. ¡®Screw it, might as well have fun with it, Shiva is gonna try and kill me anyway,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, looking to Zarko.


    ¡°Well, there is not much too it, I just rode her for all she was worth¡± Unkai nearly choked on his food at that.


    ¡°I think they heard us last night,¡± Jackalope tried to whisper as she leaned over to Tom, of course doing so loud enough that it wasn¡¯t hard to hear for anyone at the table. Tom cracked a smile at that, trying to not laugh, nodding slowly while looking down. ¡°Dammit, I even tried screaming into the pillow and everything,¡± she continued, looking around at the people staring. Tom wasn¡¯t sure if she believed she was talking to herself or what. He gave her a little poke to the side, earning him a wince in response, ¡°Please don¡¯t, that still hurts.¡± Tom patted her on the back a bit to say sorry.


    ¡°I will try to keep her more quiet next time,¡± Tom promised as he looked to Unkai, who was sitting across from them. The healer damn near had his head below the edge of the table, looking extremely uncomfortable.


    ¡°For the record, I think whatever you two did was counter to my medical advice,¡± he peeped out after Tom stared at him for a bit.


    ¡°I was fairly gentle with her, I didn¡¯t want to open up the wound on her back¡­ You might need to take a look at that actually¡­ She got a little... carried away.¡± If the dragonettes could blush, he was damn sure Unkai would be competing with Jarix for most blue individual right now, his ears completely flat against his neck.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    ¡°That was gentle?!¡± Jarix finally broke out, looking at Tom with disbelief. ¡°Do you know how you two sounded? I could hear everything godsdammit!¡± The dragon shuddering as he said that. Well, the few faces who hadn¡¯t been giving them weird looks before sure as fuck were now.


    Tom had to give it to the dragon, he hadn¡¯t thought of that. ¡°Sorry not sorry, I can try to make you some earplugs if you want, we can¡¯t be the first ones you have heard,¡± he tried with a shrug. Jarix opened his mouth to speak thinking better of it.


    ¡°I would like that actually,¡± the dragon replied eventually, his expression rather ashamed as he looked away.


    Looking back to Unkai, Tom asked the healer. ¡°In your experience how bad it is when you people get hot¡­ like you know, too hot?¡±


    ¡°I mean hot enough will kill you eventually, you faint long before that though.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Just checking. Getting that hot a few times in a row, is that bad?¡±


    Unkai gulped, as he stared at Tom. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would recommend it,¡± he finally went, sounding ready to bolt.


    ¡°Noted,¡± Tom replied, putting an arm around Jacky¡¯s waist.


    ¡°How did you manage that? I mean you were going at it for a while, but you held breaks, we could hear that much. How did she get so hot so fast?¡± Zarko questioned.


    ''Were you standing outside the door or something?¡¯ Tom cursed, debating whether the comeback to that was worth the possible fall out with Jacky. ¡®Yeah sure, this ship has sailed,¡¯ he concluded.


    ¡°Oh, those were when she fainted, or you know just locked up completely. Then she needed a bit of a cool down.¡± That finally got a reaction from the normally stoic Zarko, as she turned to look at him wide-eyed. Jarix¡¯s jaw hung open looking like he just witnessed his parents having sex, and Unkai froze in place as if something just broken inside him.


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Jackalope questioned looking to Tom, clearly picking up on all that. She did not sound entirely pleased either.


    ¡®Right, that¡¯s fair,¡¯ Tom concluded to himself, getting out the notebook, pondering how to spin this. He couldn¡¯t outright lie, and she definitely knew what the subject was currently.


    ¡°That you are the most awesome thing both in the sky and the bedroom,¡± Tom wrote down, feeling proud of himself, doing his best Fengi impersonation as he showed her, trying to look cute.


    Jackalope looked at the notebook slightly skeptical for a second or two, eyes flicking between it and him. ¡°I¡¯m on to you,¡± she finally replied, going back to her food, Tom letting out a slight sigh of relief.


    ¡°More like on top of you,¡± he retorted, chuckling at his own joke.


    ¡°Oh god, Tom please,¡± Jarix protested, sounding more than done with this conversation.


    ¡°Come on, you¡¯re eighty and a combat vet now. Deal with it,¡± Jarix just stared at him, looking distinctly unimpressed as Tom just leaned on Jacky with a shit-eating grin on his face and went about his food. Ironically enough though he was struggling a bit with his appetite, having stacked up a sizable plate. Jacky eventually nicked a few things from his plate, much to her delight.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The questioning of both the man and woman they had captured had proved fruitless. They hadn¡¯t even gotten a name out of them. Eventually they had just given up, leaving the city guard to it.


    Sapphire and Dakota had been given bunks to sleep in at the Stockade on account of Sergeant Lanok having grown a lot more confident since Victoria departed. He refused to let them leave. Even if they weren''t really locked up, it was still pretty damn annoying, not to mention belittling. It was a fine enough place to get a few hours of sleep though.


    Maiko had woken them up a while later, Sapphire blinking the sleep from her eyes. This was not enough sleep for a night. Judging by the sun outside the window it was very early morning. ¡°That was quick,¡± Sapphire noted, rubbing her eyes.


    ¡°Well we have a job to do, and possibly people trying to outrun us. So let¡¯s go, chop-chop,¡± Maiko replied, yanking the blanket of Sapphire. ¡°Seriously?¡± Sapphire protested, looking up at the bemused corporal who just moved to Dakota and repeated the maneuver.


    They got up, donning their armor, and collecting their things.


    ¡°Do you think she found some village crazy woman?¡± Sapphire questioned, glancing at the equally sleepy-looking Dakota.


    ¡°No idea, we better not be late though. Let¡¯s get down there,¡± Dakota answered, getting to her feet. Sapphire noticed a slight smile on Maiko¡¯s face as they made their way to the interrogation room. Both of the kidnappers had been brought in there, the city guard sergeant joining them shortly after they arrived. He was suddenly looking very nervous not saying a word as they waited.


    It took a few minutes before a tall slim woman, clad in the Hashaw family uniform, stepped into the room. Victoria followed behind her flanked by a captain of the city guard.


    ¡°Meet Inquisitor Joelina Hashaw. She has agreed to assist us moving forward,¡± The Colonel went in a distinctly smug tone as Sergeant Lanok stared in awe.


    ¡°I agreed to interrogate your prisoner, Victoria, nothing more, I have work to do¡± the tall woman replied in an ice-cold tone. ¡°And only because the Lady required it. Tie them down tight, suicide is not acceptable.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck me,¡± the female kidnapper let out as they began strapping the two of them to their chairs with leather straps and rope. Sapphire had no clue how many inquisitors there were, but they were rare as could be, she knew that much. ''Yup, they''re fucked,¡¯ she concluded, not sure if she wanted to watch this.


    ¡°Before we start you should know, I will learn what I want to know, so you might as well make this easy. If you don¡¯t I won¡¯t be able to guarantee your safety. I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t want to end up a drooling mess. Of course, you could just tell us right away.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s joking, don¡¯t tell her anything.. ahrg!¡± the male let out, thrashing at his restraints. As the inquisitor dug her claws into his skull and squeezed, the guy¡¯s head snapped back to look her in the eyes, pupils wide. She was clearly concentrating, her eyes burning vivid green as she stared into the guy¡¯s eyes and began speaking.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see here. Oh stop thinking about your crush that won''t help you, she¡¯s not even pretty¡­ Who sent you?... Hello. You look familiar, so you worked for Gyros then? Noted¡­ You didn''t question someone willing to pay that much for a kidnapping job? Good god, you¡¯re an idiot. Yes, yes, you lost three friends. I don¡¯t care. Where were you supposed to deliver him?... I see.¡± The inquisitor let him go with a dejected sigh, the guy¡¯s head slumping over to the side, a distant expression on his eyes as he twitched a bit.


    ¡°Well that was disappointing, so little discipline,¡± she went, taking out a notebook. ¡°His name is Hinato, he was contracted through a gentleman named Gyros, whom I know rather well, by an anonymous beneficiary. Their destination was an abandoned warehouse where they would hand off the target to said beneficiary. Here it is, they met there yesterday day to discuss things you''re looking for a woman in a hooded dress, her face was covered¡± She continued, tearing out a page from her notebook and handing it to Victoria. ¡°I say you hurry up and pray they are waiting confused that their shit mercenaries haven''t shown up yet, and remember Victoria: favor for favor.¡±


    ¡°This is on my mother''s orders, take it up with her,¡± Victoria responded, inspecting the piece of paper. ¡°You know this would have been so much easier if you had woken up when I told you to.¡±


    ¡°I still have a day of work ahead of me, speaking of which, let''s see what she knows.¡±


    ¡°No need, I¡¯m fine to talk!¡± the woman let out, looking terrifiedly at the guy strapped down next to her. ¡°I¡¯m Thalrex. I have been with this company for 2 years. I was paid 63 silver for my share, which is the most I have ever been paid for a one night job. We were waiting outside the window for half the night, we were supposed to be back by sunrise and the guy who got away is called Hjortun, he¡¯s a coward, I have a flying lizard named Skitters and I swear I don¡¯t know anything else!¡± Sapphire was wondering whether a fresh set of undergarments would be necessary for the mercenary, but she certainly put on a convincing performance if she wasn''t actually scared shitless.


    ¡°Were you the ones who tried to scare the shit out of us at the tavern a few nights ago?¡±


    There was a bit of a pause before Thalrex answered. ¡°No¡­ We just had to kidnap a dude for ransom¡± She sounded genuinely confused at that so she might actually be telling the truth.


    ¡°Ransom?¡± Dakota questioned, thinking for a bit. ¡°Never mind I get it, drop the charges and we get him back¡± She continued, nodding to herself


    The inquisitor looked back at them, looking very smug. ¡°Anything else I can do for you?¡±


    ¡°No, I think we have places to be. I do owe you for this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to cash in when I need a place burnt to the ground... Toodeloo,¡± she went as she waltzed out the room. The City Guard captain followed her out, asking questions about if she could be persuaded to help with some of his other prisoners.


    ¡°Thanks for your cooperation,¡± Victoria went, looking at Thalrex. ¡°They¡¯re all yours Sergeant.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you promised to pay for my jail time. I don''t want to be a slave!¡± Thalrex protested, fighting her restraints.


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t want to be indebted to the inquisition, we can''t all get what we want,¡± Victoria replied, turning to leave. Thalrex continued to protest loudly, sounding ready to break down completely as the door was shut behind them. Victoria turned to Sapphire and Dakota, her expression turning worried from her previous stone-cold professionalism.


    ¡°You two okay?¡±


    ¡°We''re fine. Balethon is a bit worse for wear. He''s being looked after though,¡± Sapphire replied, trying to hide the shock of what she had just seen.


    ¡°Actually he should be up and about by now. The poison should not last more than a few hours,¡± Dakota interjected. ¡°We might need his nose for this. That snout of his is good for more than helping with cooking after all.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go pick him up then, we have transport on the roof. Don¡¯t worry he doesn''t stain. He¡¯s just the sweetest in fact, so try to be nice,¡± Victoria replied, before making for the infirmary.


    The rather bewildered Balethon was indeed up and about, even if he still looked a little stiff in his movements. The mercs had actually been very professional with the poison, only giving him a shallow cut to the base of the neck where it would act quickly but heal easily.


    Making it to the roof, it was indeed Tiguan who was sitting perched on the landing platform. Sapphire knew he was on their team, but the sight of a jet black dragon sent shivers running down her spine. She stopped in her tracks for a second before forcing herself to move forward. Even if he shone like obsidian, clearly freshly polished, everything in her was screaming ¡®RUN!¡¯ at the sight of him.


    ¡°Yilditz, we have a warehouse that needs a visit, double time. The bastards we need might still be there,¡± Victoria shouted out as they made it out onto the roof.


    ¡°Roger that. See, I promised we didn¡¯t just have to sit around and look scary,¡± Ylditz went in an encouraging tone, clearly directed at the dragon.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, that¡¯s me, look scary and run errands.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, you were the one who wanted some actual work,¡± Ylditz replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure you will get the chance to do some good today. Right, Victoria?¡±


    ¡°Well, we are chasing kidnappers. It doesn¡¯t get much more pure-hearted than that¡±


    ¡°I thought you caught them?¡± Tiguan questioned, sounding more interested as Victoria helped Balethon aboard, the guard clearly struggling with what he was climbing upon. Tiguan seemed too distracted to notice though.


    ¡°We did, and now we are after the ones who hired the mercs, a proper bad guy just like you wanted.¡±


    ¡°I see... Well, let¡¯s go then!¡± The dragon let out, jumping off the roof, suddenly in a big hurry, his crew plus Balethon and Victoria aboard. The rest of the dragonettes on the roof took to the sky under their own power.


    ¡°This day is getting strange real quick!¡± Sapphire shouted to Dakota.


    ¡°Just go with it. Not like we are gonna be attacked in this formation.¡±


    ¡°True, people tend to steer clear of me, now let¡¯s go see about fucking up some bad guys!¡± Tiguan shouted back to them.


    ¡°Hear, hear!¡± Echoed out from a fair few of the other people in the formation. Not counting Tiguan and his now 5 person crew, they had half a dozen dragonettes here, seemingly all members of the family or guards from the estate.


    The sun was still low in the sky as they soared over a not so desirable part of town. The skies were still quiet, most people weren¡¯t gonna be up for at least a few more hours. They eventually found a building that matched the description, A large squat wooden warehouse, the number 6 marked on the roof, even if the paint had started to fade.


    Tiguan had started relaying orders from Victoria so all could hear.


    ¡°Victoria is running interception with all loose flyers, in case someone runs. I will smash in the front door and give them a bad day. All good?¡± the dragon questioned, looking about the formation, receiving thumbs up all around. ¡°Good, let¡¯s go be heroes!¡± Tiguan let out with considerable enthusiasm as he went into a dive.


    Victoria had disembarked, taking the lead of the dragonette formation, leading them down over the warehouse. The black dragon went into a steep dive with his wings tucked in, pulling away from the formation. Sapphire could just about make out someone shouting on Tiguan''s back as he sped off; it sounded almost like Ylditz. ¡°No, we can¡¯t do that!¡±


    Sapphire had expected him to land and then perhaps knock in the doors, but he didn¡¯t do that. He was apparently very confident that this was the right building as he let loose a stream of acid aimed at the roof, covering it in the sickly gray gooey substance that quickly began eating away at the wooden structure. He spread his wings to slow down before landing on the roof, smashing through it with a resounding crunch of snapping wooden support beams.


    ¡°Well that is one way to do it,¡± Sapphire let out, staring in disbelief at the sight of the ruined building.


    ¡°Godsdammit Tiguan!¡± Victoria shouted out from ahead loud enough that it carried.


    ¡°Hands where I can see them and wings folded!¡± the dragon roared out from inside the warehouse, Sapphire not able to see anything through the hole except a cloud of dust slowly rising.


    Victoria ordered the formation broken up into three wings and placed Dakota in charge of the third. Victoria taking the first wing inside with two and three holding the perimeter.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ No one here,¡± Tiguan eventually bellowed out from inside, sounding more than a little disappointed.


    ¡°I am not paying for this,¡± Dakota stated disheartedly. ¡°What does a warehouse even cost?¡±


    ¡°More than a few dencils I¡¯m guessing,¡± Sapphire replied, shaking her head.

 Hands Up

    Chapter 92: Hands Up


    ¡°Yeah, she tore open the wound on her back, there¡¯s a little blood in her lungs again. and she''s suffering from some fairly extreme heat fatigue,¡± Quin stated as the healer finished going over Jacky. Unkai had refused, stating he had other patients to care about. Looking around at the full infirmary, that was probably true actually. Tom was still fairly sure it was for another reason. ¡°And your side didn''t fare too well either. I¡¯m not gonna bother fixing that though, hopefully the pain will keep you under control and a fresh bandage will keep it from getting infected.¡±


    Tom felt a bit like a kid on house arrest, though he didn¡¯t really have a comeback to that. He also felt rather shitty as the healer set about fixing the damage done to Jacky. Spending energy that was probably better utilized elsewhere right now, But no Tom and Jacky it was.


    When they were done Tom had carried Jacky back up to their room, even if all the stretches and the quick check-up likely meant she could have walked up the stairs just fine. She even let him tuck her in with a kiss to the side on the snout as she laid there smiling at him, even if it turned a little strained as he turned to leave. She would rest for the day to try and recover. So as much as he wanted to stay with her, she would have to be alone for a bit. It was high time he got some work done, hence he had gone looking for Luke. The guard captain had been delighted to have another set of able hands, as there was clearly plenty to do.


    The day¡¯s itinerary was mainly cleaning work, both inside and out. The dragonettes had been more than happy to let Tom try to deal with the soot and dirt from the explosion in the lower levels. He guessed they preferred blood and gore to the black soot, which suited him just fine.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t kill me when I¡¯m done, okay?¡± Tom joked as he grabbed a bucket of water.


    ¡°Good one. Like we would survive trying, hehe,¡± Luke responded, sounding a tad nervous.


    ¡°I reckon you could right now. I¡¯m unarmed and unarmored and don¡¯t worry about offending me if that¡¯s the problem. I can take a joke,¡± Tom tried in a friendly tone. They were all friends here after all.


    ¡°Yeah, I somehow doubt that,¡± Luke responded, loosening up a bit. ¡°You feeling okay? She looked a little¡­ rough,¡± Luke continued, clearly searching for the right word.


    ¡°My head is not doing so hot and I¡¯m a little sick from drinking, but other than that I¡¯m fine, I think.¡±


    ¡°If you get worse just let us know. We won¡¯t be working you to exhaustion after what you did¡­ can you even get exhausted?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I can, it just takes a bit more. Now, where were the brushes?¡±


    ¡°Kalix has a few down there already. Send him up in a bit would you? He needs to have his bandages checked midday.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Tom replied, hefting the bucket and making his way down.


    Luckily for Tom, all the bodies and larger bits had been dragged outside by now, but there was still a lot of blood in addition to all the soot, and it was starting to stink too. Chatting with Kalix as they worked, Tom learned that the darklings were going to be burned on a pyre, or more likely several. The bat things were too large to be moved nor would they be allowed to be burned, hence they would be cut to pieces and taken away to be discarded. Tom thanked his lucky stars he had avoided that particular duty.


    Prying further, they apparently planned to simply throw the pieces in a rocky gorge a ways away that they used for refuse and other nasty stuff. Burying things wasn¡¯t really a practical option when you lived on a cliffside. They didn¡¯t want to just dump it off the edge either since they got their water from the bottom of the gorge.


    As he brushed away, pouring on more water, he had to admit he was struggling a bit to keep focus and his headache was getting worse too. Short of last night, he had been nursing a headache since the battle pretty much constantly, but it was definitely getting worse.


    His vision was also continuing to fuck with him, often going out of focus or going double. He didn''t feel that tired, nor should he be; he had gotten plenty of sleep, even if some drinking had preceded it after all. If it was the painkillers acting up he couldn¡¯t do much except tough it out anyway. Actually doing some work might even help burn it off, so he kept at it, making sure to drink plenty of water.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I said kick in the door. Honestly,¡± Victoria scolded the uncomfortable looking young dragon as he sat on his haunches inside the warehouse. He was now decidedly more gray from all the dust he had managed to kick up, the shine was gone too.


    There hadn¡¯t been a soul here. So either they were too late or it was the wrong place. Which really didn¡¯t help with the general mood in the room.


    ¡°We will figure out damages later. At least the place is still standing, but you will be paying for some of this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Tiguan answered, sounding genuinely sad. ¡°I just thought it would be cool.¡±


    ¡°I know, we¡¯ll figure it out. Right now we need to figure out what to do next. Any bright ideas?¡± Victoria questioned, looking to Dakota and Sapphire. Balethon was already at work sniffing out the perimeter for anything familiar.


    ¡°Well, there was the one who got away. Or the man they apparently worked for. What was his name¡­¡± Sapphire answered. Truth be told she didn''t fancy their chances of finding a lone coward likely in hiding. The big boss dude though, that might be possible.


    ¡°Gyros. Do we know where to find him? He would definitely know?¡± Dakota finished.


    ¡°Found someone! They''re in there!¡± Balethon shouted out from behind a stack of crates. That got the attention of everyone present. They quickly surrounded the tower of crates, in case whoever was in there made a run for it


    Balethon fairly quickly managed to sniff out the entrance, and with some help they pried off a lid, revealing a small passage. Two of the Hashaw guards went inside, a considerable commotion echoing out from within as a woman screamed in terror. Weapons were readied as, kicking and screaming, a decrepit looking female dragonette was dragged out by her feet.


    ¡°NO! Leave me alone, please! I didn''t do anything. Please let me go, I won¡¯t come back! I swear please just let me go!¡± She pleaded, tears running down her panicked face. She was clad in some kind of patchy sack-like material, forming a kind of crude dress which poorly hid just how thin she was.


    ¡°That is no Flaxen,¡± Sapphire stated, lowering her bow.


    ¡°No, it is not,¡± Dakota agreed, looking at the sad spectacle with a distraught expression.


    The two guards dragged her to her feet, revealing a set of ruined wings that, judging by the faded scarring, had been like that for a while.


    ¡°Hello miss, you may call me Colonel Hashaw. We are investigating a kidnapping. If you cooperate we will not harm you in any way. What is your name?¡±


    The panicked woman seemingly calmed down, at least a little, as she stood hunched down before the colonel. Sapphire couldn¡¯t guess her age under all the muck, but she didn¡¯t look that old. Perhaps around Dakota¡¯s age, and she was shaking with fear.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ray¡­ that''s it¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s fine Ray. I don¡¯t want to hurt you. Now we were told some bad people were supposed to be here before sunrise. Would you happen to have seen anyone in here before us this morning?¡±


    ¡°I just tell you and you don¡¯t beat me?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t hurt you, even if you didn¡¯t see anyone. I just want the truth.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry for asking¡­ but would you not tell anyone I¡¯m here too¡­ please I beg of you,¡± the woman went, damn near kneeling before Victoria.


    ¡°I can do that for you, don''t you worry. Now did you see anyone?¡± Victoria responded, clearly doing her best to put on a welcoming face. Still, Ray¡¯s eyes were wide with fear as she alternated between looking at the Colonel and glancing at the imposing dragon


    Tiguan was doing his best to look friendly, Sapphire noted, as he sat smiling, clearly being careful not to show his teeth.


    ¡°There have been a few people in the last days¡­ I don''t know any of them, I swear. I mean it, I swear!¡± the woman went, holding her arms in front of her face as she said so. One of the guards tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Ray flinched, knocking it away defensively before realizing what she just did.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry sir, I didn¡¯t mean it,¡± she pleaded, bowing to the guard too, who just stood there not quite sure what to do.


    ¡°Uhm, I¡¯m sorry miss, didn''t mean to scare you,¡± he went, sounding as bewildered as she looked. Ray looked up at him still very much on edge, though clearly easing up a bit more.


    ¡°These people you spoke of, did you get a good look at them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am. I can look out the cracks. There was a lady, I couldn''t stop looking at her. She had such a pretty dress and gold jewelry. Never seen a dress with a hood before either.¡± Victoria looked to Yldtiz who was already noting things down.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Were there others?¡±


    ¡°There were some nasty looking people too. I thought they were here to kick me out. They were here yesterday talking about something with the lady. This morning only the pretty lady came. Oh, the lady also had some guards with her. They looked very pretty too.¡±


    Sapphire could see a slight smile beginning to form on Victoria''s face. This all lined up beautifully with what they wanted to hear.


    ¡°Did these guards or the pretty lady have anything that was easy to recognize?¡± Victoria asked very pointedly.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I mean they had cloaks on, but the lady had some very pretty rings."


    "Oh, and she lowered her hood this morning. Her horns had silver bands on them, I''ve always wanted something like that,¡± Ray answered, her tone turning wistful, the fear seemingly gone for now as she described the lady.


    ¡°You have been a massive help. Would you mind coming with us? We might need you to tell others what you saw. We will clean you up and give you a proper meal for the trouble,¡± Victoria offered, extending a hand to Ray.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Ray¡¯s expression turned suspicious as she stared at Victoria. ¡°You won¡¯t put me in jail, right? I don''t want to leave my house, they will take my things,¡± she answered, still sounding very submissive.


    ¡°Wait, you live here?¡± Tiguan questioned, looking at the woman with an incredulous expression and lowering his head down.


    Ray flinched, quickly hiding behind the guard who had tried to pat her on the back. Tiguan getting a rather sad look on his face as he raised his head again, taking a step back before sitting down again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Didn¡¯t want to scare you¡­ can I see your house? I¡¯m sure it¡¯s very nice,¡± the dragon tried, clearly doing his very best so sound unintimidating. Ray peeked out from behind her impromptu shield before looking back at the pile of boxes.


    ¡°Not sure your head can get in the door¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± she replied, seeming rather ashamed.


    ¡°Pssst, Ylditz, can I talk to you for a second?¡± Tiguan went. The lieutenant nodded and jogged over as the dragon backed into a corner.


    ¡°Don''t mind him. He''s just trying to be friendly,¡± Victoria continued, as Ray was staring at the dragon. ¡°Try not to be scared, he is trying his hardest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try¡­ goodness he is big though. Haven''t seen a dragon that close in a long time,¡± Ray answered with a clear nervousness to her voice.


    ¡°I can have someone keep your thing safe if you want to?¡± Victoria offered. ¡°But we need to get moving. The ones we are chasing might be getting away.¡±


    ¡°You would do that for me? I mean thank you so much, ma¡¯am... Not to be annoying but... I am truly sorry,¡± Ray went, looking over her shoulder and trying to fold out what was left of one of her wings.


    Ylditz came jogging back over. ¡°Victoria, aren¡¯t we going to have to send some people here to fix that?¡± he questioned, pointing at the hole in the roof, still dripping acid onto the stone floor.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not gonna fix itself.¡± One of the other family members went, looking up at the hole.


    ¡°No, of course it won¡¯t. We will just have to pay the bill from the owner. Tiguan did it so that¡¯s your responsibility, Ylditz. I¡¯ll grease some hands for you though, don¡¯t worry¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± Tiguan let out, looking at the pile of boxes. ¡°I don¡¯t want them to take her home¡±


    Victoria grew a rather strained expression at that, looking towards Ray. She looked back at her home with a desperate expression. ¡°Oh gods no,¡± she let out, dropping to her knees sobbing. The same guard gave her a pat on the back again, this time getting away with it.


    Sapphire just stood there not sure what the fuck to do in this kind of situation. She had lived here for a while, so this was hardly news to her. Hell, she had been pretty close to being without a roof over her head at some point, even if it never actually got that far.


    Tiguan was looking around, shifting his weight from one leg to the others, clearly not happy either, Ylditz trying to calm the dragon down.


    ¡°Dakota, can we do something?¡± Sapphire questioned, leaning in to whisper.


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± She can¡¯t help at the keep and we are stuck here for a while yet, you want her to stay with us at the tavern? There are thousands like her in the city, we can¡¯t save them all.¡±


    ¡°I know but¡­ never mind,¡± Sapphire conceded, pulling back, not sure what else to do.


    ¡°Can''t she sleep in my stables for a bit?¡± Tiguan pleaded, looking down at Ylditz.


    ¡°No,¡± Yldtiz responded with a shake of the head. ¡°We can''t bring a homeless woman off the street into the training fields.¡±


    ¡°But I broke her home,¡± the dragon pleaded.


    ¡°I¡¯m not homeless!¡± Ray protested, sounding distraught, looking to the tower of boxes. ¡°It''s just not as good as others.¡±


    ¡°We are gonna have to figure out compensation later. For now, you two stay here and guard her¡­ house,¡± Victoria interrupted, pointing at two guards who nodded politely despite clearly not being very pleased with that assignment. ¡°We need to get moving. Have you ever ridden on dragon-back before?¡± Victoria asked, looking at Ray, who looked back up at the colonel, eyes slightly wet.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are going to. Tiguan, we need to get moving. I promise we will find a good solution to this.¡±


    ¡°Can I grab something?¡± Ray asked cautiously, looking to Victoria.


    ¡°Sure, just be quick about it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ray replied, doing a small bow before going over to the entrance and crawling inside on her hands and knees.


    Sapphire shuddered at the thought of living like that. She could hardly handle crawling through a narrow tunnel, actually living in one was beyond her.


    ¡°We could just give her a bit of money, couldn''t we?¡± one of the other family members questioned, gesturing at the pile. ¡°Surely that can¡¯t be expensive to replace.¡±


    ¡°We will figure it out, but we need to move,¡± Victoria replied. It didn¡¯t take long before Ray came back out, wearing a battered helmet that looked like it had been rather nice once. It was even engraved by the looks of it, and she was hefting a light crossbow. Sapphire didn¡¯t think Ray had the strength left to cock it, but she had a few bolts for it hanging from a patched up belt.


    ¡°It looks crap but it works, I swear,¡± Ray let out, trying to straighten her back. Sapphire stared dumbfounded for a second, ¡®Where the hell did she get that and why?¡¯


    ¡°Very good, now let¡¯s get moving,¡± Victoria went, after staring a bit herself. Tiguan moved over to the wide double doors as the bars were removed, swinging them open. ¡°Come along now, Ray.¡±


    Ray¡¯s brief show of confidence quickly melted away as she looked up at Tiguan. ¡°I haven''t flown in years.¡±


    ¡°I promise he won''t bite. If he does I will have him demoted to cadet, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ray sniffed in reply. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Hang on a second,¡± Balethon interrupted. ¡°There were three people here this morning, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Dakota answered him. ¡°You found something?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she didn¡¯t like her mask.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what a fucking idiot,¡± Victoria let out, sounding delighted.


    ¡°She did look rather angry this morning,¡± Ray added in, seemingly happy enough they weren¡¯t leaving just yet.


    Balethon came back with a white handkerchief. ¡°Shame they didn''t put their name on it,¡± he went, holding up his prize. ¡°It stinks of her though, if it¡¯s hers of course. Could be a guard¡¯s I guess.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s silk, you don''t just throw that away unless you are remarkably poor at managing money,¡± Dakota responded with a smile.


    ¡°Store it somewhere safe. We might be able to get a city guard to verify whether it¡¯s hers."


    ¡°Can do,¡± Balethon let out with a grin as he packed it away.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m not feeling brilliant to be honest,¡± Tom went, as the two of them worked. They hadn¡¯t even been at it for an hour, so Tom felt rather pathetic right now as the heavily wounded dragonette scrubbed away.


    Tom hadn''t been getting any better though; his head hurt and he was growing more and more nauseous. His vision definitely wasn''t getting better either.


    ¡°Take a break if you need it. I¡¯ll stay a bit longer if you want,¡± Kalix responded, not sounding too annoyed.


    ¡°Thanks dude,¡± Tom replied trying to sound appreciative as he sat down on a half-ruined bench.


    He felt like shit in fact. Grabbing the bucket of water, he emptied it out onto the floor before puking in it.


    ¡°Bloody hell dude, you are sick,¡± Kalix let out, as Tom vomited again, now feeling proper sorry for himself.


    Tom looked up again, finding a worried-looking Kalix staring at him. He could barely make out the details on the dragonette''s face. He tried wiping his eyes to see if it was tears, but his hand came away dry.


    ¡°This isn''t good,¡± Tom let out in realization. ¡°I think I¡¯m going fucking blind.¡± He tried to get up, stumbling to his feet as he felt Kalix grab his shoulder.


    ¡°I got you, bro. What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°Something''s very wrong. Sight''s going blurry,¡± Tom answered, trying not to lose his balance.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ is that normal?¡± Kalix questioned, cautiously.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not fucking normal!¡± Tom snapped at the dragonette. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you upstairs.¡±


    The two of them hobbled up the stairs, Kalix letting out some grunts of pain when Tom touched a wound while fumbling around.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No worries man, we''re nearly at the top of the stairs, can you see the stairs?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± The young woman who had washed his clothes asked from somewhere in front of him.


    ¡°Something is very wrong with him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get Quin,¡± she replied as Tom heard hurried footsteps running off.


    ¡°This just turned into a shit day,¡± Tom tried to jest.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. Now, we go right here,¡± Kalex replied, guiding Tom onto the next floor. It was an annoying process, but they made steady progress. by the time they made it to the grand hall there had gathered a few people around them, including Quin. Tom couldn¡¯t even recognize her face, but the voice fit.


    ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, I was scrubbing the wall, my vision was a little fucky and then it just started getting worse.¡±


    ¡°He puked too,¡± Kalix added.


    ¡°Is that normal for your kind?¡± the healer questioned.


    ¡°No, it is really not!¡± Tom answered, trying and failing a bit to keep calm.


    ¡°I asked that already,¡± Kalix tried to clarify.


    ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to be rude,¡± Tom tried, apologizing. He was fairly agitated right now though.


    ¡°He needs to lie down, put him on that table, the infirmary is full. Do you have any idea why this might happen?¡± Quin questioned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, I mean I took a painkiller yesterday. That¡¯s not supposed to be mixed with alcohol, never heard of it doing this though. I took it in the morning though¡­ Fuck Jacky got one too. Someone go check on her now!¡±


    ¡°Shit¡± Tom heard Unkai answer, followed by rapid footsteps. ¡®She better be fine. She better be fucking fine. Why didn¡¯t I just stay with her? We were fine at breakfast too? At least mostly.¡¯


    ¡°Can you see anything or is it just black?¡± Quin questioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s just blurry as hell,¡± Tom replied truthfully as he was laid down on a table. He felt Quin clearly do something as she touched his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him!?¡± He then heard Jackalope shout out from across the room. ¡®Oh thank god,¡¯ Tom thought to himself with a sigh of relief.


    ¡°He¡¯s going blind. No idea why,¡± Kalix stated, as the one he guessed was Quin carried on touching his face.


    ¡°She''s deaf, numbskull. Write it down for her,¡± Quin let out, sounding like she was concentrating.


    ¡°What, blind¡­ why!?¡± Jacky let out after a bit, not receiving an audible reply.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine right Jacky?¡­ someone write down and ask her if she is fine. Especially her eyes. No blurriness or double vision.¡± It took a bit before the reply came.


    ¡°My eyes are fine. Just about the only thing that is, but they are fine.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Tom let out, thinking that one over thoroughly. ¡®Right. I¡¯m feeling sick and something is wrong with my vision. Possible cause; painkillers, alcohol, blood loss, fun time with Jacky, and... stress... possibly?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t do shit about the painkillers, but they should have worn off by now. And Jacky had drunk more than him last night. Bloodloss didn¡¯t do this though, even if it might make something worse, and he had been thoroughly de-stressed yesterday.


    ¡°Do you guys know what... oh god I don¡¯t even know your word for that... Bad alcohol that makes you blind?¡± There was silence for a bit, no one answering.


    ¡°You haven''t even heard of that happening¡­ ever?¡± Tom tried again.


    ¡°No, why would that make you blind?¡± someone asked in reply.


    ¡°Wait¡­ Oh fuck, you don¡¯t get hangovers either¡­ Unkai! I need the little flask!¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Came the reply as he heard the healer speed off. ¡°What is in that? Did we give you something you are allergic to?¡± the Lady questioned from somewhere, sounding very worried.


    ¡°Possibly. I don¡¯t know. Fuck it, humans and drinking 101. There is alcohol and methanol, our two words for what you likely just call alcohol. Methanol happens when you distill wrong or use the wrong yeast I think or just leave it in the open. We go blind and get sick from methanol; it¡¯s basically slow-acting poison.¡±


    ¡°By the gods, we are so sorry!¡± the old Lady let out.


    ¡°Our ale is not that bad,¡± someone protested, sounding slightly offended, followed by a painful sound coming from the same person.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get hangovers. You don¡¯t¡­ shit don¡¯t know that word either¡­ convert alcohol as I do. I get a headache and have a bad day for a bit after drinking a lot. Methanol might not hurt you at all, but it can kill me.¡±


    ¡°The mighty killing monster brought low by Jokun¡¯s brewing,¡± someone let out in disbelief, from a by now was a fairly sizable crowd.


    ¡°Someone tell me what he¡¯s saying! What¡¯s going on?!¡± Jacky demanded, desperation creeping into her voice.


    ¡°Tell her I¡¯m sick. It¡¯s gonna be fine,¡± Tom ordered ¡°Oh, and some water and a bucket just in case, please. And I need to sit up.¡±


    ¡°Right here,¡± came the immediate reply as Tom felt a metal canteen being pushed into his hand, while other hands sat him up on the table.


    ¡°You better be fine. Else I¡¯ll¡­ You''re gonna be fine!¡± Jacky nearly shouted at him, bumping her snout against his face hard enough that it hurt.


    ¡°Found it!¡± Unkai shouted as he came sprinting over, Tom looking at the blurry shape approaching. Unkai undid the lid, giving Tom the small flask. ¡®Thank god I didn¡¯t down this yesterday,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking up.


    ¡°Do you have something that can keep me from vomiting? This needs to stay down.¡±


    ¡°I can do that, It really won¡¯t be pleasant though,¡± Quin retorted, apprehension clear in her voice.


    ¡°Whatever you have to do,¡± Tom replied, going bottoms up. He had to break a few times, coughing and spluttering as he washed it down with water. Of all the ways to drink whiskey, this had to be the worst. Today though it was medicine.


    Finishing the flask, he handed it off to someone. He went back to racking his brain, for what else to do. He knew he was supposed to drink proper alcohol to stop the process. He couldn¡¯t flush his blood of the stuff nor did he have proper antidotes. He had heard someone claiming baking soda helped. Would they have anything like that though? Thinking back, they used sourdough for their bread, so probably not.


    ¡°Can you clean blood in any way?¡± Tom asked. ¡°As in, take something out of it?¡±


    ¡°What¡­ no,¡± Quin responded, sounding a tad confused. Right, okay, that made sense. They would have done that with Esmeralda if they could. ¡®This is not a brilliant situation.¡¯


    ¡°I have no idea what else to do. I¡¯m gonna need more proper alcohol. I don¡¯t think this will last long. An IV drip would not be bad either I think.¡±


    ¡°We have plenty of ale and some wine left,¡± The lady answered in the kind of false optimism far too common around hospital beds.


    ¡°And one of them gave me this to start with¡­ Please tell me you have a fast flyer left?¡±

 Scared Yet Brave

    Chapter 93: Scared Yet Brave


    ¡°I¡¯ll go! I¡¯m faster than all of you!¡± Jacky demanded after, much to Tom¡¯s dismay, someone had written down the plan for her.


    ¡°Tom, can you please help out here? She¡¯s not fit to fly,¡± Quin pleaded with him.


    ¡°She can¡¯t hear me, and I can''t exactly write right now.¡±


    ¡°Tom, tell them I¡¯m good to go. I¡¯m just a little sore that¡¯s all,¡± Jacky tried, doing her best to sound endearing. Tom held out his arms, being rewarded by her pushing up against him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Please don¡¯t go, Jacky,¡± Tom went, holding her tight, stroking the back of her neck.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± Luke piped up. ¡°Quin and Gidia are our last two women who aren¡¯t wounded. And we aren''t letting either of you do this.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s dying, let me do it,¡± the young woman who had washed his clothes responded. Tom cursed himself a little for not even learning her name before now. ¡°They are all faster than you, you know that Luke It¡¯s gonna take you forever to catch them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just as fast as you, but you''re too young for this. I¡¯m going. They must be taking it easy on such a long flight, but I must go now!¡± Luke stated. ¡°What do you need Tom?¡±


    ¡°High-grade alcohol. Ask Shiva for the pure stuff, that will be easier to carry, and the IV drip stuff. Just tell them the stuff I gave to Nunuk. Unkai give him the box of sweets.¡±


    ¡°Of what?¡± Luke questioned as Unkai ran off again.


    ¡°It¡¯s like hard honey. Be careful with them, five is enough to wear out Jacky completely and they don¡¯t last long.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll do my best I promise.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kinda the one thanking you here,¡± Tom joked.


    ¡°Not really, since we kinda poisoned you after saving our arses,¡± Kalix interjected, sounding a little ashamed.


    ¡°Your breath smells funny,¡± Jackalope noted as she continued to hold Tom close. He gave her a reassuring pat on the back as they waited for Unkai.


    ¡°Of all the things wrong right now,¡± Tom mused as he blinked, trying to see. The flask of whiskey had apparently done something, as his vision at least hadn¡¯t gotten any worse in the last few minutes.


    ¡°Here, got them! Give Zarko these when you catch her and tell her to fly like the fucking wind,¡± Unkai let out, panicked urgency in his voice.


    ¡°What if he doesn''t find her?¡± someone asked from the crowd.


    ¡°Then I crash in the forest and contemplate my failure, gotta go,¡± Luke replied as Tom felt Jacky try to wrest away from him.


    ¡°No Jacky, you¡¯re staying here,¡± Tom tried as he tightened his grip on her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll catch her, you just wait here,¡± she went with the tone of someone about to do something very stupid for what they thought is a good reason. There was not much Tom could do to stop her as she put her back into it ripping free of his grasp.


    ¡°No, Jacky, don''t do it!¡± Unkai protested. ¡°Give those back!¡±


    ¡°Please I can. Auuw,¡± Luke let out in protest.


    ¡°Get off me!¡± Jacky protested with a strained grunt as Tom heard a thunk of someone hitting the floor.


    ¡°Jacky, don¡¯t!¡± Tom shouted out, to no avail.


    ¡°Jarix, stop her, she¡¯s gonna kill herself!¡± Unkai Tried ordering. Tom saw the big blue shape start to move.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± Tom shouted out in protest, Jarix stopping in his tracks as the sound of wingbeats filled the air.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back before you know it!¡± Jacky shouted back at them as the white blotch vanished out the open door platform door.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get her, don¡¯t worry,¡± Luke retorted as another white blotch took to the sky, making for the open outer door.


    ¡°Dammit Jacky,¡± Unkai protested, followed by a few seconds of silence as the wingbeats grew distant. ¡°She¡¯s gone and she took the candies,¡± Unkai let out, in a defeated tone.


    ¡°I know,¡± Tom sighed, laying back down.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t just punch her out of the sky and not hurt her,¡± Jarix protested. ¡°Should I chase her too?¡±


    ¡°No, Zarko said your back is fucked. You might snap something and crash¡­ Unkai, be honest with me¡­ What are her chances?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The plan was an easy one. They had an eye witness and some fairly decent evidence, assuming they could prove whoever it was that had been at the warehouse this morning was a Flaxen. So they were going back to the stockade to get a warrant to search the Flaxen estate.


    Victoria could, in theory, just waltz in there and demand a search, much like she had done at Bizmati Keep. If they didn¡¯t find anything consequences were likely to be far-reaching though. So, warrant it was.


    Ray had taken further convincing that they weren¡¯t taking her to the stockade to lock her up for trespassing. Nor would they mention where she lived. She simply happened to have seen the lady coming in and out of the warehouse a few times in the last day¡¯s time. They also wanted to know If Ray would recognize any of the two mercenaries they currently had held.


    Sapphire hadn''t taken her eyes off Ray as the woman tentatively made her way up onto Tiguan¡¯s back, Ylditz holding her hand, helping her up.


    ¡°There we go. See, nothing to be scared of,¡± Ylditz tried in a reassuring tone. It was very clear Ray was scared to hell right now, though Sapphire believed she must be excited too. If Sapphire hadn''t flown in that long, there would be very little she wouldn¡¯t do to try it again. Perhaps that was the driving force as Ray laid down on Tiguan¡¯s back, clutching tightly at the harness loops.


    ¡°All secure,¡± Ylditz let out at Tiguan, who raised to his feet. By now people had definitely noticed them, even if the crowd that had formed looked fairly ragtag, many ducking into the shadows when you looked at them. ¡®I don¡¯t miss this part, that''s for sure,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she looked around. She might technically be poor, but they lived a nice life at the keeps.


    ¡°Thanks for convincing me to leave this place,¡± she went in a hushed tone to Dakota, who just nodded looking around as well.


    ¡°You''re more than welcome. I¡¯m just happy we didn¡¯t bring Fengi along,¡± Sapphire grimaced at that. She would not have enjoyed this. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Dakota continued, looking back to the rest of their group.


    She got her wish as Tiguan set off down the street, people scrambling out of the way even if he wouldn¡¯t be getting anywhere close to them. Wide wings with dark grey membranes driving him into the sky, the rest of them following suit.


    Sapphire and Dakota held formation right behind Tiguan, keeping an eye on Ray. She was hanging on for dear life, much as Saph had expected. As they flew, she did tentatively start to move around a bit, eventually peeking over the side. Sapphire let a cautious smile creep onto her face, as the woman held out her hand, testing the winds.


    ''How can something be so sad yet so happy?¡¯ she asked herself as she saw the smile on Ray¡¯s face. Tiguan clearly noticed, the dragon periodically looking back to check on his new passenger, a content smile spreading across his face. It was a preciously short flight before they landed back at the stockade.


    It was a bittersweet moment as Ray climbed down, bowing deeply before Tiguan trying to thank him. The dragon almost growing nervous, fidgeting a bit.


    ¡°No really, it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t flown in years. It was not, nothing. Thank you, thank you,¡± Ray responded looking up at the dragon, still hunched over.


    ¡°Uhm... You''re welcome... You''re getting a ride back too, I think,¡± The dragon replied, looking towards Ylditz as if he was checking with him first. The lieutenant chuckled a bit, nodding in reply.


    ¡°Come now, Ray, he can get a little shy when people don¡¯t run,¡± Ylditz went, gesturing towards the entrance to the building. Ray¡¯s face turned ashamed at that as she looked back to the dragon, who was looking almost apologetic by now.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I promise I won''t run, I won¡¯t run away, I can be brave,¡± Ray let out, getting onto her knees. Tiguan backed up a bit, clearly uncomfortable.


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    ¡°No need for that, a thank you will do. Now please, we have work to do,¡± Yilditz went, as he helped her to her feet again, leading her off and gesturing for Saph and Dakota to follow.


    ¡®She¡¯s even scared of being scared,¡¯ Sapphire pondered, feeling damn sorry for the woman.


    Victoria had broken off to find the City Guard Captain around here to acquire the necessary paperwork for what they were planning. Meanwhile, Sapphire, Dakota, Yldtiz, Maiko, and Ray went in search of sergeant Lanok to figure out where their prisoners had ended up. As luck would have it, the sergeant had been making his way to the roof, likely expecting their arrival. This time the greeting was a humble bow to Yldtiz, before he led them down to the holding cells where the two mercenaries were being kept for the moment.


    Sapphire had moved up to behind Ray, putting a hand on her shoulder. The woman winced for a second before turning her head around.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn''t mean to.¡±


    ¡®Oh boy,¡¯ Sapphire went to herself, still, she needed to at least try and calm the woman down.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it girl. You''re in safe hands for the time being,¡± Sapphire tried with her warmest smile. This seemed to help a little as she moved up beside Ray.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite used to this much excitement,¡± Ray let out, with a little sigh trying to smile, her expression quickly fading back into worry as she looked into an open jail cell. ¡®A distraction perhaps that worked well with Tom¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself pondering what to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m digging too deep here, but where did you get that helmet?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this old thing?¡± Ray replied dismissively, lifting the helmet a bit before putting it back in its place. ¡°I bought it back during my stint in the citizen¡¯s militia. It¡¯s nothing special.¡±


    ¡°Doesn''t look that way, it¡¯s nicely engraved,¡± Sapphire pushed, hoping some casual conversation would help a bit.


    ¡°Oh, my brother did those. He''s not here anymore,¡± Ray replied looking down Sapphire winced to herself. ¡®Right, perhaps something else.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­ Was it good in the militia? Haven''t been myself, my brother is a reservist though, I think. He¡¯s a tavern guard.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I was a reservist too. Most of us are¡­ I stood guard at a few places, mostly my brother''s shop,¡± Ray replied, her face growing even more distraught. Sapphire didn¡¯t really have any other ideas for small talk so elected to put an arm around her, trying to provide a bit of comfort instead.


    They had made it to the cells in question not long after that. Ylditz stopped them outside the door, turning back to look at Ray.


    ¡°Now Ray, you need to remember, these people are already caught. Just because you say they were there won¡¯t make their situation any better or worse. So just say the truth, we just need you to point out the ones you saw¡­ okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ray echoed, clearly very nervous. Sapphire still had an arm around her as the sergeant opened the door to the large holding cell.


    The male kidnapper had seemingly woken up again, as he was sitting back up against the wall on a small bench. The woman had taken a stool and was currently sitting staring daggers at them, though she did seem a tad confused as to why Ray was here, eyes flicking over to her a few times. There were five other unlucky individuals sitting or standing around the cell, also looking less than pleased.


    Ray took quite a while, looking around at everyone in the cell, seemingly still reluctant to answer. Sapphire gave her a squeeze and a pat on the shoulder. ¡°They won''t hurt you either, we''re here.¡± She tried to reassure Ray who had started shaking slightly again.


    ¡°Him¡­ and her,¡± she eventually went, pointing at the two they had caught. ¡®Bingo,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself with a smile. That was proof that the kidnappers had been at the warehouse and that Ray had seen the people involved. A fact Ylditz stated with considerable smugness to the sergeant as they made to leave the cell. They received a few choice curses from the prisoners on the way out, which caused Ray to duck her head and crouch slightly. Sapphire was caught by surprise as Ray slipped from her grasp momentarily.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Ray apologized once again, standing back up and leaning against Sapphire. Sapphire wanted to tell her to stop apologizing for everything, but she hardly wanted to put more strain on the poor woman.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, let¡¯s go back up to the friendly dragon. His name is Tiguan by the way.¡±


    ¡°He seems nice¡­ He¡¯s so scary though,¡± Ray responded, apprehension heavy in her voice.


    ¡°If you want to thank him for the ride, just try not to be scared, okay?¡± Ylditz added, walking in front of them. Sapphire cursed to herself a bit. ¡®She¡¯s trying her damned best, okay?¡¯


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get why he¡¯s so eager to please, but can''t take a thank you,¡± Maiko retorted from behind them.


    ¡°He¡¯s not used to it succeeding. We are still working on that part. When I asked him why he joined he claimed it was to help people be safe, so he could ¡®watch them be happy.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Whatever lifts your wings, I guess,¡± Sapphire joked lightheartedly. ¡®The big scary black dragon¡­ and he just wants to see people happy.¡¯ That did make Saph feel a little bad about her first reaction too.


    ¡°You two go be brave together then,¡± Dakota jested from behind, Sapphire giving Ray another light squeeze.


    ¡°Brave together,¡± Sapphire tried, looking at Ray. She was staring at the floor, ears flat against her skull.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try I promise.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    They had moved Tom to the infirmary, they had cleared a bed for him, much to Tom¡¯s displeasure. ¡®Drink some bad whatever, and now the wounded are down a bed¡­ fucking hell,¡¯ he cursed at himself as he tried looking around. By now it had been nearly half an hour and his sight didn''t seem to be getting worse. He felt sick, but the light buzz that was starting to take hold had helped with his headache.


    ¡®She could hardly walk, and now she¡¯s gonna be flying like a madman¡­ woman¡­ fuck it. At least she didn''t use her wings much yesterday.¡¯


    ¡°Unkai. How bad was that wound on her back?¡± Tom tried asking, hoping for a positive response.


    ¡°Well it was rather low down¡­ so the wing muscles were mostly fine. No way that wound is staying shut flying like that, and after your¡­ yep. She was not exactly in good shape.¡±


    ¡°What about the candies?¡±


    ¡°Depends on how many she takes. She¡¯s gonna be paying for it later that¡¯s for sure. As long as she doesn¡¯t just black out in flight and crash.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that dude,¡± Tom protested, looking up at the ceiling.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how fast she is supposed to be, but I had no chance,¡± Luke added. ¡°She was just gone.¡±


    ¡°No, not against her you don''t,¡± Tom replied with a little smirk. ¡°She¡¯s fast as fuck.¡±


    ¡°The question is if she can keep it up,¡± Unkai protested, raising his arms. ¡°She needs to make it back here too. Or set down out there and camp. She has no chance of getting all the way home, not at that pace.¡±


    ¡°How far do you think Zarko made it?¡± Tom Questioned. ¡°Jacky will find them, right? That¡¯s easy?¡±


    ¡°One and a half, maybe two hours in. It¡¯s gonna take them at least eight without Jarix. Probably more like ten,¡± Unkai replied, clearly skirting around the finding them part.


    ¡°I would say ten to twelve, they aren''t in much of a hurry,¡± Luke added, sounding thoughtful. ¡°They are gonna be taking breaks, the winds weren¡¯t brilliant for going that way either, and I¡¯m sure Jacky will find them. She¡¯s an experienced huntress after all; you don''t get silvered for nothing,¡± Luke continued, sounding cheerful. Tom knew better than to take his word for it. Jacky had saved him twice and given him so much love and care yesterday, not to mention the wildest night of his life, and here she was¡­ trying to save his sorry ass again.


    ¡°I¡¯m so fucking useless. Why can¡¯t I help her for once?¡± Tom sniffed, feeling damn sorry for himself.


    ¡°Oh come on dude, look around you¡­ when you go off to save everyone isn¡¯t it fair someone has a go at saving you?¡± Unkai dismissed


    ¡°Yes, but why can¡¯t I just save her too. And this is what? The third time?¡­ This is so stupid,¡± Tom protested, Unkai taking Tom¡¯s hand for some reason.


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t always get what you want. Now let¡¯s just try and keep you alive so she doesn¡¯t do it for nothing, okay?¡±


    ¡°But she is so far behind. Why didn¡¯t they take a guy with them to slow them down?!¡± Tom cursed.


    He tried to think over the situation. Best case scenario; Jacky caught Zarko in three hours, being completely exhausted. Then again, Zarko might spot Jacky behind them, or take an early break. But if they thought they were being chased they might run. Jacky would stand no chance then.


    Tom''s line of thought was halted by his stomach wrenching as he did his best not to puke, clutching Unkai¡¯s hand tight. The healer quickly grasped what was going on, moving so he was standing over Tom.


    ¡°Sorry dude, this is not gonna be nice,¡± Unkai went, letting go of Tom¡¯s hand. The healer then grabbed him by the throat hard enough to start choking Tom, placing the other hand firmly on his abdomen. The nausea didn¡¯t go away, and if anything it got worse as Tom felt the muscles trying to make him puke lock up solid. Unkai hadn''t been joking either, he felt like every fiber of him wanted to throw up but his stomach just didn''t obey. He was essentially being lightly choked while writhing around in agony, as the healer struggled to keep his grasp.


    ¡°You got him?¡± Quin questioned, looking to Unkai.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got him. I¡¯ve worked on him before. He¡¯s a little strange but it works.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if you need help. I need to change Kalix¡¯s bandages.¡±


    ¡°I will, don¡¯t you worry,¡± Unkai retorted, the strain creeping into his voice. This was apparently not an easy thing to do.


    The impromptu torture session lasted several minutes before the sensation finally abated, Tom slumping in the bed with a weary sigh. Unkai had clearly also been put under a fair amount of strain by that maneuver, chest heaving as he was staring down at Tom with the same worried expression as previously.


    ¡°Even when you want to puke you''re stubborn,¡± the healer let out as he moved back from Tom¡¯s side, shaking his hands a bit as if to get blood through them.


    ¡®That¡¯s just brilliant,¡¯ Tom cursed at himself. Not only was he taking up a bed, he was burning out the healers too, and even if everything went brilliantly he would not have more alcohol before late at night. Not that he knew how long the first dose would last, but he had a feeling it wasn¡¯t that long though. ¡°I fucking hate this.¡±


    ¡°You said you couldn¡¯t be allowed to puke. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Unkai apologized.


    ¡°No not that, just this whole shit show in general.¡±


    ¡°No, you really managed to fuck things up,¡± Quin replied, apparently not deciding to feel sorry for Tom right now. ¡°Why would you even drink our alcohol if it¡¯s poison to you?¡±


    ¡°I''ve drunk your ale before without any problems. But as I said, something needs to go wrong. Or the stuff might be stored badly. Hell, it might even be the yeast you use for all I know.¡±


    ¡°Well, good thing you had that flask with you then. How long will that last?¡±


    Tom had to think about that for a second, trying to figure out just what might govern that. He had a lot of shit in his system right now. Painkillers, alcohol, methanol, not to mention he was still very much down on blood count. He knew had to be, even if he had no clue how fast different things were replaced.


    ¡°I have no idea. It has to go through the liver where it¡¯s broken down into harmful things. I know that much.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that is why you wanted the liquor,¡± Unkai let out, as if the penny just dropped. ¡°To keep it busy, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ you know about how that works?¡± Tom was more than a tad surprised at that. Thus far the dragonette¡¯s medical knowledge had been rather limited aside from just ¡®use magic.¡¯ He guessed the healers probably needed to know what the fuck they were doing though.


    ¡°Of course I do,¡± Unkai replied with a smidgen of pride in his voice. His expression changed rather quickly though, as if he was pondering something, face turning dour. ¡°How long would it take for this stuff to kill you?¡±


    ¡°No idea. I think my sight goes first, then catastrophic liver damage, and eventually death. Alternatively, the liver damage could kill me in the long run I think. Or a million other ways possibly.¡±


    ¡°I mean minutes, hours, days? You don¡¯t have a clue?¡±


    Tom had to ponder that again, trying to wrack his weary and by now definitely inebriated brain for information. He had only heard stories of people who got this from homemade liquor or some kind of fuck up. They were all taken to the hospital and given a bunch of fancy things though. Some of the stories talked about it taking a while though, so maybe...


    ¡°Hours I think. No clue how many though.¡±


    ¡°What is it you say¡­ Fingers crossed then?¡± Unkai replied, looking to To, clearly trying to be optimistic.


    ¡°I would be praying right now if I was you,¡± Quin added from where she was tending to Kalix.


    ¡°Which one would it be for this?¡± Tom questioned, looking into the ceiling.


    Quin drew a breath as if she had something to say, though apparently, she thought better of it.


    ¡°Kalador¡­ you would need to pray to Kalador,¡± she eventually let out, sounding very disappointed.

 Knock Knock

    Chapter 94: Knock Knock


    They had to wait for a bit on the roof before Victoria returned, carrying sealed documents. On her heels, was the Stockade¡¯s captain along with a regular city guard.


    ¡°Right, boys and girls, these two will be accompanying us to ensure everything is done properly and by the book,¡± Victoria let out, sounding very pleased with herself. ¡°Balethon, if you want to return to the infirmary you may do so. We have a new sniffer. Captain Bushell here felt impartiality was required on that front.¡±


    ¡°You are the prosecutors in the latest case against the Flaxen family. I do hope you understand the precaution,¡± the captain went, in a very respectful tone directed at Dakota.


    ¡°No, I understand. It is only right,¡± Dakota replied with a polite nod.


    ¡°Uhmm what about Victoria?¡± Tiguan asked, looking a tad confused. ¡®Really? You just had to ask that?¡¯ Sapphire questioned to herself, looking at the dragon and trying not to let her annoyance show.


    ¡°I¡¯m technically still in charge of the Royal Guard investigation of the allegations against Bizmati Keep, of which Lady Flaxen and her family is very much a part. Though the good captain has agreed to provide additional oversight for a bit of added credibility to our findings should there be any. You coming, Balethon?¡±


    ¡°If Tiguan is fine with it I wouldn¡¯t mind coming along,¡± Balethon replied, clawing at the ground a bit. Sapphire drew a slight smile. Yeah, just seeing the faces of those Flaxen bastards should be worth the trip.


    ¡°... Uhm¡­ sure,¡± Tiguan answered after a bit, realizing it was his answer they were waiting for.


    ¡°Very well, you two mount up then. Same three wing formation as before everyone,¡± Victoria continued looking around at everyone ¡°Ylditz, you know the way, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah I do,¡± the lieutenant replied in a cocky tone.


    ¡°Do I have to look scary for this one?¡± Tiguan asked, clearly not thrilled with the prospect.


    ¡°Not until we get there, but yeah, that would be helpful if you wouldn¡¯t mind."


    ¡°No, I get it, I¡¯ll do it,¡± Tiguan replied, looking off the side of the roof for a second with a bit of a sigh.


    ¡°Now Ray remember, these are bad people, so we are gonna be scary. You just do your best to hold it together. You don¡¯t have to say anything, and I¡¯m sure Tiguan here will protect you,¡± Sapphire went, trying her best to sound reassuring.


    ¡°No one is getting hurt on my back. That¡¯s just not happening,¡± Tiguan added. ¡°If they are as bad as you say they are I will scare them, but I¡¯m not mad at you okay?¡± The dragon tried looking straight at Ray, who Sapphire could feel shrink down under the dragon''s gaze.


    ¡°Hey if you need a reason to be mad at them, you¡¯re dealing with incestuous murderers and kidnappers,¡± Balethon let out in a destinctly unimpressed tone as he walked over to Tiguan


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget, they tried to label us traitors too. That could have wiped out the entire keep if it had stuck. I will show no quarter to those who tried to kill my kids and burn my home,¡± Dakota stated very plainly, looking at the dragon.


    ¡°Oh and the bribery,¡± Balethon added as he beat his wings to make it onto Tiguans back. The dragon lowering a wing for Ray, Sapphire leading the woman up before jumping back down again herself.


    ¡°Yes, that too, Balethon,¡± Dakota replied, shaking her head a bit.


    ¡°I almost feel a little offended that the slights to my own, Baron¡¯s, and the Royal Guard¡¯s honor weren¡¯t mentioned,¡± Victoria added, though there was a little humor in her voice which vanished as she glanced around the roof. ¡°We ready to depart?¡± She received no protests to indicate otherwise. Turning to Tiguan she gave the dragon a nod. ¡°Lead on then.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Don¡¯t ride him too hard, he¡¯s not from around here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so gods change depending on where you are from?... Good to know,¡± Quin replied, sarcasm heavy in her voice. She had been less than pleased to learn that Tom didn''t in fact know a lot about the gods around here. And when he admitted he didn''t really believe in the ones he knew about either, she had launched into a full lecture. Looking back, this was definitely the wrong time to have said that. In his defence he had just downed a flask of whiskey, so he was at least a little drunk which did also help with weathering the storm.


    ¡®Oh god let it end,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself. He just wanted to make a lighthearted joke, not spark a religious argument.


    ¡°The gods reside over the world, I know that. You don¡¯t need to school me in that,¡± Unkai protested, having taken Tom''s side.


    ¡°Oh, so what are you suggesting? That he isn¡¯t even from this world?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Unkai let out, sounding like he just realized he said too much.


    ¡°You have got to be shitting me,¡± Quin finally replied.


    ¡°Do not say a word. That goes for all of you,¡± Unkai ordered, with a surprising amount of authority in his voice all of a sudden.


    ¡°Can we leave the debate for when I¡¯m not dying?¡± Tom tried, hoping to switch the subject. He could worry about the wrong people figuring him out later. Hell, the people here seemed trustworthy enough anyway.


    ¡°Right sorry. I¡¯m not sure there¡¯s not much we can do though. Unless you want to risk trying some of the alcohol already here. Your liver is just gonna be chugging away, slowly¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m killing myself right now, I got that.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just try and slow down his liver? Like if you were putting someone into hibernation,¡± Quin let out, as if a brainwave had just hit her.


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Unkai questioned. ¡°Don¡¯t you have to, you know¡­ do the whole thing?¡±


    ¡°Sure you can¡­ your training isn''t complete, is it?¡± She questioned in a very unimpressed tone.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Unkai replied, sounding rather ashamed of himself. ¡°Also not to spoil anything, but he¡¯s not a dragonette. Can it even be done with someone warmblooded?¡±


    ¡°When in doubt, throw magic at the problem,¡± Tom let out, throwing his arms into the air.


    ¡°The whole thing would kill him for sure, might be able to do it with parts though. Move over, I¡¯m gonna try to see if this works. If you live you will give your prayers to Kalador.¡±


    ¡°Quin, he saved everyone here. Just get on with it and don¡¯t kill him,¡± one of the wounded dragonettes interrupted from one of the other beds. Quin replied with an annoyed Harumpff.


    ¡°A word of warning, I haven''t done this on¡­ whatever you are, so it might be dangerous. Actually, yeah, this is probably extremely dangerous.¡± Tom tried doing the math in his head, which just gave him more of a headache. Fuck it, it was likely this or trying to guess where the methanol had come from, which he had no idea how to do. Chuck it on the bad idea list and hope for the best. He needed more time.


    ¡°Are you gonna be putting me to sleep or just the liver¡­ so to speak?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try and put you into hibernation, just the liver though. I think if I try all of you, then you just freeze to death. Might be rough on the liver, but that should be fixable in time¡­ if it doesn¡¯t end up too far gone.¡±


    ¡°That sounds reassuring... Sure go ahead, good luck making it worse.¡±


    ¡°Tom are you sure?¡± Unkai tried, clearly not convinced by the idea.


    ¡°Best case scenario, they are back here in what, 12 hours? It¡¯s likely gonna be more than that. Even if I¡¯m still alive by then, I don¡¯t think it will be in time." Unkia let out some rather distressed noises in reply, but didn''t push it further.


    Quin¡¯s hands were cold to the touch as she rolled him over onto one side placing them on his belly and lower back. Tom felt kinda cold inside too, uncomfortably so in fact. It felt like a lump of ice was forming in his belly or something, and it definitely wasn¡¯t painless either.


    ¡°Would you know if it¡¯s working?¡± Unkai questioned.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he get better?¡± Quine replied, the concentration clear in her tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so, maybe a little, but that will take a long time. It definitely feels strange though,¡± Tom admitted, fighting the considerable pain. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say you could do this, then Jacky could have stayed."


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    ¡°We didn''t send her, Tom, she ran off,¡± Unkai clarified, sounding a tad annoyed. ¡°It won¡¯t fix it either, even if you might be able to pee a bit of it out.¡±


    ¡°Then get him more water. The bastard is fighting back.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Unkai went, getting out a canteen of water. ¡°Drink like Shiva is winning,¡± he went, clearly trying to lift the mood a bit.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t things just be easy for a change?¡± Tom went as he took the canteen, drinking as much as he could.


    ¡°Because you''re a damn heretic, that¡¯s why. Kalador, lord of light and healing, please bless this ignorant heretic despite his wrongful ways and guide him to the light, for despite his sins he deserves the gift of life.¡± Quin replied in an annoyed tone, though clearly concentrating on something now.


    Tom promised himself not to bring up gods in life threatening situations ever again as he continued to try and drink more water. Then someone could be heard slowly walking up the stairs outside the infirmary.


    ¡°How is he doing¡­ Jarix wants to know rather badly,¡± the old lady questioned, cautiously.


    ¡°He¡¯s sad, drunk, and a heretic, but possibly not dying,¡± Quin dismissive her in a hard tone.


    ¡°... Luke, could you tell him that for me darling?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, mum¡± Luke replied in a kind voice, even if the unease was rather easy to pick out.


    Tom drew a breath to shout out so Jarix could hear, being stopped by Unkai who put a hand over his mouth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Just lie still,¡± Unkai pleaded. ¡°He¡¯s gonna be fine, Jarix, don¡¯t worry!¡± he then shouted out.


    ¡°Thanks bro. Next question, doesn''t the liver do blood sugar things?¡±


    ¡°Your blood has sugar in it?¡± Unkai questioned, followed by a few seconds of silence. ¡°It didn¡¯t taste sweet?¡±


    ¡°What the hell dude?!¡± Tom let out, receiving an annoyed growl from Quin, as an ice cold shot of pain went through his abdomen. Tom trying his best not to gasp.


    ¡°Lay still, damn you!¡±


    ¡°It was on my fingers okay¡­ I was curious,¡± Unkai replied in a cautious tone.


    ¡°I think he is talking about how much energy is in his blood,¡± Quin added, voice still heavy with concentration.


    ¡°Sure that works,¡± Tom replied, gritting his teeth. God, this was uncomfortable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡­ would it?¡± Quin questioned, seemingly directed to the room.


    ¡°I could get him something fast burning. White bread perhaps. We have a little honey in the stores too,¡± the old lady tried, voice heavy with worry.


    ¡°I think that could work,¡± Unkai replied. ¡°Might help with getting him to drink more too. What he really needs is alcohol.¡±


    ¡°We have the wine and ale,¡± the lady tried again,


    ¡°Yes, but one of those did this. We''ve been over this,¡± Quin replied. ¡°Something about being stored or made weird.¡± There was a bit of silence, before the lady spoke up again.


    ¡°So something else might work? we could get another cask of ale¡±


    ¡°If it doesn''t have methanol in it, then yes it would,¡± Tom clarified. ¡°But we have no way to test for that.¡±


    ¡°I say we just go for slowing down his liver as much as we can. That will make the current dose last longer and then we get him to pee out as much as possible,¡± Unkai went, sounding a bit more confident.


    ¡°It better do something, we can¡¯t keep this up forever. Unkai, think you can take over in a bit?"


    ¡°Uhhh¡­ I have no idea how to do that, i¡¯ve never tried putting just a port of someone into hibernation¡± The male healer replied, confidence once again diminished.


    ¡°Goddammit... don¡¯t we have something for you to practice on? a pig or something?¡±


    ¡°They killed all the animals when they arrived,¡± the lady replied, with deep sorrow in her voice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Kalix added, from somewhere. Tom wasn¡¯t really sure. ¡°If it gets me out of scrubbing floors that is.¡± The kid was sounding way too cheerful at that, false cheer. He knew the risk of doing that.


    ¡°No you don¡¯t,¡± Tom demanded, receiving another stab of pain for his troubles.


    ¡°Like you can stop me,¡± Kalix replied, clearly trying to sound confident.


    ¡°Lay down next to him. Tom I¡¯m gonna stop for a second to show Unkai how, okay?¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t respond. He didn¡¯t want to. That kid was what 13 or something. First Jacky, now a kid who had only just met him a day or so ago¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He will be fine, and so will you. We just need to buy time,¡± Quin tried, switching to a reassuring tone.


    ¡®He damn well better be!¡¯ Tom cursed, without saying a word. ¡°Do it for Jacky. She is going to make it. Do it for Kiran... you promised."


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tiguan, you are gonna be coming down center. We flank him, everyone try to look scary.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem,¡± Dakota replied in a cold tone. ¡®Gonna be hard not to look smug,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself as they approached the rather impressive looking mansion.


    It was definitely smaller than the Hashaw estate, but it was lavishly decorated and practically screamed wealthy. The estate even included the rather absurd addition of a tall fence, as if to deter intruders or something. Sapphire just shook her head a bit.


    ¡°Seriously those people tried to bribe us with five hundred gold,¡± Dakota went as they came in for a landing outside the big front gate.


    ¡°Looks like thay could have gone for five thousand¡­ I¡¯m guessing they didn¡¯t take us that seriously then. Either that, or they believe the court case was going to be cheaper.¡±


    ¡°Well that was their mistake, not ours,¡± Dakota replied with an evil grin as she looked around at the assembled formation.


    The look on the guards¡¯ faces when Tiguan set down flanked by the Royal Guard, the City Guard, and Saph and Dakota was most definitely worth the trip. They looked ready to piss themselves.


    ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m here to see the lady of the house,¡± Victoria went, walking up to the two unlucky bastards at the gate, focusing on the guy and leaving the woman to try and face down the assembled forces before her.


    ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am, but the lady isn¡¯t here at the moment. Would you want another member of the family?¡± the guy responded as politely as could be expected in his situation.


    ¡°Why would the lady not be home at such an early hour? This is a serious matter which requires her attention,¡± Sapphire was doing her damnedest not to smile as Victoria kept a perfectly calm and serious expression. ¡®Oh come on, just say it.¡¯


    ¡°The lady is currently¡­ Unavailable for a prolonged period. She¡¯s away on business.¡± ¡®God dammit, so close,¡¯ Sapphire cursed slightly.


    ¡°Oh, business. I was under the impression she was currently being held in custody awaiting trial¡­ I recommend not lying to me again,¡± Victoria continued, not missing a beat, taking a step closer and looking down at the guard. ¡°It would not end well for you... So are you hiding something else from me?¡±


    ¡°No ma¡¯am never. Is there anyone else I can get for you?¡±


    ¡°How about all of them,¡± Victoria went, her voice going hard. The guard seemed to get the message as he shrank down nodding, before scampering inside. With only one guard remaining Victoria turned her attention to her.


    ¡°So, have you seen anything you want to share with us¡­ perhaps certain people being out and about in the early hours of the morning?¡±


    ¡°No Ma''am, I''ve been here all morning. No one has come in or out,¡± the guard responded back, looking straight ahead.


    ¡°Interesting¡­ are you absolutely sure about that? I feel I should repeat that lying to me would be an exceedingly bad idea.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a colonel. I will be addressed as such.¡±


    ¡°Of course. No colonel, I have seen nothing this morning. I swear it.¡±


    ¡°I do not believe you. Have someone pray for you that I¡¯m wrong.¡±


    It was hard to judge fear through a helmet, but Sapphire felt fairly certain that the guard was more than a little scared right now as she looked up at Tiguan. Who, to his credit, was doing a rather nice job of putting on a nasty looking snarl.


    Ray was still on his back, along with Balethon. The two of them were neatly obscured behind Tiguan¡¯s raised head. Ray was clearly nervous as hell, but Balethon appeared to at least be helping her a little.


    They stood there waiting patiently, all staring down the lone female guard, who to her credit held her ground admirably, despite her opposition. Sapphire had been hoping to see an entire line of fancy looking nobles marched out in front of them. Instead she got two finely dressed women coming down the steps from the mansion towards the gate, with a few more guards acting as escorts. The two women did look rather fancy and very much not pleased as they stopped on the other side of the gate. The younger of the two also seemed rather familiar.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the one who tried to bribe us?¡± Sapphire questioned, leaning over to talk to Dakota in a hushed tone.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Dakota answered plainly, staring daggers at the two of them.


    ¡°Victoria Hashaw¡­ We were wondering when we would have to deal with you and your little posse,¡± the older of the two woman went, stepping forward. ¡°There is going to be a court case and we will apparently be seeing most of you there,¡± The woman continued, shooting a look at Sapphire and Dakota, which did lead to Sapphire cracking a slight smile. ¡°So quit posturing, trying to intimidate us with a dragon that wouldn¡¯t harm a cripple, and go away.¡±


    ¡°Well, today¡¯s agenda is actually regarding something more recent. To whom am I speaking?¡±


    ¡°You are in the presence of Jamila Flaxen,¡± one of the guards helpfully clarified, gesturing towards the woman while bowing slightly.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Victoria replied, holding up the fancy looking document. ¡°You are to be investigated on suspicion of involvement in an attempted kidnapping. More accurately, the charges are attempted kidnapping and attempted murder by proxy. I believe that is what it says anyway¡± Victoria replied, presenting the document to the lone guard outside the gate, who respectfully took it and passed it through the iron bars to the fancy woman inside.


    The Flaxen woman glanced over the document for a second before looking rather confused and actually going over it in detail, her expression turning exceedingly angry.


    ¡°How dare you make such allegations?! Captain Bushel, do you have any idea what kind of harm this could cause? It¡¯s bad enough you keep our lady locked up as if she would flee prior to her trial! And Colonel Victoria Hashaw¡­ Do the Royal Guard always start bullying good people into submission out of the courts? Have you no respect for proper proceedings?¡± Sapphire braced herself for the return fire, as Victoria took a step back from the gate, but she replied with perfect calm.


    ¡°Since your family is already guilty of insulting both my family and the Royal Guard I shall refrain from further comments. I¡¯m here under the authority of both my station and the city guard. As of this night, a kidnapping attempt was thwarted, and your family have been declared prime suspects. Since both your family and the ones targeted are central to the case I''m currently overseeing, not to mention one of my own crew being involved, I am effectively ordered to include this in my investigation of the allegations you placed against Bizmati Keep. Submit to investigation immediately. This is not a request.¡±


    ¡°We will have your rank stripped for this, Hashaw,¡± the Flaxen woman replied, stepping back and gesturing for the guards to open the gate with a fearsome look on her face. Her attempt at intimidation was rather ruined by Tiguan snapping at her with a deep growl. That sent two of the guards inside the fence backing up a few paces before they gathered up the courage to open up the gate. Sapphire¡¯s smile just grew a little wider until she got it back under control. It wouldn¡¯t do to laugh and she needed to remember what these pieces of shit had done. They were here to ruin these people for all the pain that they had inflicted, and they would be merciless.


    ¡°So then Colonel, are you here to search through our cellars or do you want to dig up our gardens?¡± the older woman went, clearly trying to put as much venom into her voice as she could manage.


    ¡°No that won''t be necessary. I want every family member lined up out front immediately. Ylditz has a list, so I do mean everybody. Those not present are to be accounted for so they may be investigated when possible,¡± Victoria stated in no uncertain terms. The older woman scowled at Victoria for a few seconds.


    ¡°Abberline, please take those two inside and start rounding people up. We are apparently to stand inspection,¡± the older lady went, turning to the Flaxen that Sapphire and Dakota knew while gesturing at the rear pair of the guards. ¡°So what exactly are you planning Colonel?¡± the older woman questioned, turning back to Victoria as the younger woman went inside with the two guards at a leisurely pace.


    ¡°Oh, we are gonna be having a good sniff of everyone here, that¡¯s all. I want you lined up abreast, then we are going through the mansion while you lot are out here. Nice and simple.¡±


    ¡°How fitting the Hashaw wants a parade.¡±

 Side effects

    Chapter 95: Side effects


    Now, this was more like what Sapphire had in mind. An entire line of Flaxens lined up outside the mansion, all being watched nice and close. There were questions being asked back and forth and a fair few protests, much as they had expected. When they had everyone out in front and lined up nicely, Tiguan lowered a wing to let Ray down, Balethon lending a hand


    ¡°So is that everyone?¡± Victoria questioned, looking at Jamila, who was looking just as pissed as when they showed her the warrant.


    ¡°Yes, Hashaw, everyone''s here, this fine morning.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Ylidtz, take a census and let''s get started,¡± Victoria replied, looking over the line of Flaxens, standing still.


    ¡°Well, get on with it,¡± Jamila protested. Victoria did not reply, standing there for a second longer before turning back to Sapphire and the rest of them.


    ¡°Now Ray, same procedure as in the prison cell. We need you to point out the woman you saw. No one''s gonna hurt you here today. Tiguan is gonna make well sure of that.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­ I¡¯ll try,¡± Ray answered, clutching her crossbow, which luckily for Sapphire''s nerves wasn¡¯t loaded.


    ¡°What is this, Hashaw? You paid some poor girl off the street to point at someone for you?¡± Jamila questioned, clearly not impressed. ¡°Whatever they paid you girl, I¡¯ll pay more.¡±


    ¡°They uhm¡­ didn¡¯t pay me, Ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Oh shush, of course they did. Just tell me what it was and we will sort it out so we¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to request that you do not influence the witness, or I shall have to remove you,¡± the city guard captain interrupted in a hard tone. That did shut up the woman, at least for the time being. ¡°Ray was it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray replied, shrinking down a little.


    ¡°Very good, I¡¯m captain Bruno by the way. Might I recommend that we simply walk the line and then you tell me who it was behind friendly Tiguan here.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ray replied timidly. ¡®Come on girl you can do it.¡¯


    ¡°Very good, now we just take It nice and slow.¡±


    The two of them had walked the line ever so carefully, Ray looking over everyone present. Victoria and Yldtiz were following along with Dakota and Sapphire. Ylditz was noting down the names of all present and reading them aloud for Ray, while Saph and Dakota were just looking for anyone they knew. There were a few familiar faces. Mostly from Lady Flaxen''s entourage that had followed her to the keep. And of course the woman who had tried to bribe them.


    A few of them had copper or silver bands on their horns, and Ray was clearly paying attention to them. The old lady who had come out to greet them even had both gold and silver, though no one here had the golden cappings that the Lady had been carrying. It was mostly small narrow bands.


    Making it to the end they turned away, going behind Tiguan as he turned flank on to give them some privacy.


    ¡°You two walk off a bit, would you? I want your opinions untainted,¡± Captain Bruno went, gesturing at Balethon and the city guard sniffer they had brought. ¡°So did you recognize anyone?¡± the Captain tried in a soft calm tone directed at Ray.


    ¡°It was her, second to last one, two silver bands and the emerald earrings with two gold rings in the ears above them. She likes symmetry,¡±Ray replied, still holding her head low, as if she needed to apologize.


    The captain looked a little taken aback by the accuracy of the statement.


    ¡°That would be Nevera,¡± Ylditz replied, looking down at the census. ¡°You sure about it?¡±


    Ray shrank down a bit further at being questioned, Sapphire putting an arm around her to straighten her up. ¡°We just need the truth, don''t tell us one just to make us happy. Did she do it?¡±


    ¡°It was her, I swear,¡± Ray replied, trying to turn away from Sapphire, who just grabbed her by the shoulder and took her into a hug, patting her back.


    ¡°Now, now. It¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t need to be scared here.¡±


    ¡°Should I move?¡± Tiguan questioned, looking down at the two of them as Ray began to sob.


    ¡°I think you''re right where you need to be. Captain, I think we got what we needed.¡± Ylditz replied.


    The captain gave Ray a pat on the back before turning away, going back to the line of Flaxens. Sapphire held her ground, standing with Ray as the woman began actually crying into her.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, something wrong, they are not going to hurt you?¡± Sapphire tried as softly as she could manage.


    Dakota walked up behind her, whispering into Saph¡¯s ear, ¡°I think it¡¯s been a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, good thing we can make it last then,¡± Sapphire went, rocking back and forth a bit.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ray got out between sobs. Saph patted her on the back again.


    ¡°No need for that. Just let it out .¡± And let it out she did. Crying Sapphire a small river. Looking around at the other Hashaws and guards, there were some fairly uncomfortable faces, most looking away when Sapphire''s gaze fell on them.


    ¡°You sure I shouldn¡¯t move? She doesn''t seem happy,¡± Tiguan tried again.


    ¡°Just just stay right there,¡± Dakota beckoned, the dragon looking at her, surprised, before looking to Ylditz who just shrugged. The lieutenant actually looked quite pleased to Sapphire.


    ¡°Uhhh... Okay¡± Tiguan replied, not moving a muscle, though clearly tense.


    ¡°You just take your time. Now, sniffers, one at a time and I don¡¯t want to see any gestures at the suspects. If I can have three conformations then I want them. You may begin,¡± the Captain ordered from the other side of Tiguan. The big black barrier at least kept the Flaxen¡¯s gazes away.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he eat something?¡± the kind old lady went as she returned to the room, setting down a bowl. ¡°I also got you some more of the porridge to help with the bloodloss; it couldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he should eat. Let¡¯s get him up,¡± Quin went from the sideline.


    Unkai let go of Tom, allowing Tom to draw a deep breath as the pain at least sort of faded. Quin was clearly better at this than Unkai, who in his defence had just learned the technique about half an hour ago, or was it an hour by now¡­ Fuck it, he had no idea. Quin¡¯s treatment had been very uncomfortable, but as long as he stayed still it was tolerable. Unkai¡¯s really wasn''t; that was a constant ice-cold hellish pain. And Tom didn¡¯t dare take more painkillers in his current condition. He was fucked up bad enough as it was already.


    The cold feeling lingered, paired with some serious soreness, so he took a second to appreciate the slight relief, before being sat up in the bed by Unkai and Quin. Unkai grabbed the plate to start feeding him, Quin not letting go of his shoulder.


    ¡°Like hell you are,¡± Tom cursed, taking a slice of bread off the plate himself.


    ¡®Soggy bread, water, foul herb stuff and the whiskey is all gone. What kind of hell have I entered? Goddammit, it hurts!¡¯ Tom cursed to himself as he chewed on the rather stale bread.


    ¡°Now young man, don''t be so stubborn, they are just trying to help,¡± The old lady tried, sounding a tad cautious.


    ¡°If he was less stubborn I think he would have died some a while ago. And a lot of other people certainly would have,¡± Unkai went, sounding a bit apologetic. Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure if he should be pleased or annoyed, but it hardly mattered right now.


    ¡°How long has it been since you got this idea?¡± Tom questioned between bites.


    ¡°Less than an hour,¡± Unkai responded, maintaining the apologetic tone.


    ¡°You have got to be shitting me.¡±


    ¡°Can you still see anything?¡± Quin interrupted.


    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s not gotten any worse. It will though,¡± Tom stated coldly.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°It will come back, right? Or maybe Quin can fix it,¡± the lady tried with cautious optimism.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not a healer. It might go completely. Then I¡¯m fairly sure it¡¯s not coming back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, bullywug,¡± the old lady let out, sounding distressed. ¡°Do your best, okay Quin? I believe Jacky would not take kindly to us failing if she makes it.¡±


    Tom heard the lady walk out the room, her claws clacking as she walked. ¡°She won¡¯t fail¡­ The question is if she survives the attempt¡­ Fucking shit day,¡± Tom cursed to himself in a low tone, taking another piece of bread.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You are both sure?¡± The captain went in a hushed tone.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s her alright, that perfume stinks to high heaven,¡± Balethon replied, also keeping his voice low. Followed by an affirmative nod for the city guard sniffer.


    ¡®That was easy,¡¯ Sapphire chuckled to herself, still clutching Ray tight. Even though the crying had stopped, it was clear she needed this right now. It was the damn least she could do anyway, if they had just found the link to the Flaxens. Sapphire really wanted to see the looks on their faces though when the Flaxens discovered they had been found out.


    ¡°How is she doing?¡± Victoria questioned, looking to Sapphire.


    ¡°I think we just need a bit longer,¡± Sapphire replied, looking to the Colonel.


    ¡°No, I''m fine, you have things to do,¡± Ray went, pulling back from the embrace with a sniff. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Sapphire, call me Saph,¡±


    ¡°Thanks Saph,¡± Ray replied, looking at the ground.


    ¡°Hey chin up, you have done well. Now you just sit back and relax while we go sort some things out¡­ okay?¡± Sapphire tried, with a bit more optimism in her voice. Ray sniffed again, but she did look up with a bit of a smile.


    ¡°Happy to help.¡±


    ¡°And help you have, now let¡¯s break the news to these people,¡± Victoria went, still sounding calm and professional even if her voice had risen enough that the Flaxens could likely hear her.


    ¡°After you, Colonel,¡± Captain Bruno went, gesturing for Victoria to lead the way. The small procession walking out from behind the cover of Tiguan, who swung his head around again to see what was going on.


    ¡°So Jamila, I think I need to address you first. You do of course deny any involvement in last night¡¯s kidnapping attempt by either you or your family as currently acting senior member of said family?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I deny any such ludicrous allegations,¡± Jamila dismissed.


    ¡°Very well. Then I assume your defence is that Nevera Flaxen acted on her own initiative rather than in the family''s interest when she hired a team of mercenaries to kidnap Balethon for the purpose of extracting ransom. Said ransom believed to come in the form of charges against your family¡¯s Lady and your family as a whole being dropped?¡±


    ¡®Oh would you look at that,¡¯ Sapphire mused, letting an evil grin creep onto her face as she reveled in the confused and terrified faces before her. Many of the Flaxens were turning to look at this Nevera, who was looking like a cornered rat ready to bolt. Victoria apparently agreed, gesturing for two of her family''s guards to grab her. Sapphire had seen her before too, she had been accompanying the bitch to the keep.


    ¡°I hope you have some serious proof of all this, Hashaw,¡± Jamila protested with the, by now, usual venom in her voice.


    ¡°I have two mercenaries in custody who have pleaded guilty, one after having his mind cracked open like an egg. I have personal effects from Nevera left at the scene, an independent eyewitness who saw the whole thing, and a scent trail verified twice. Your move.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ May I have a discussion with Nevera under four eyes?¡± Jamila replied, her face going strained and tone softening.


    ¡°Best I can do is six,¡± Victoria replied, ¡°though I think the good captain here might interject too.¡±


    ¡°Aye, I would prefer to be present as well.¡±


    Jamila looked around a bit, her eyes landing on Nevera as she was hauled out of line and manacled.


    ¡°Fine¡± Jamila responded in a tone that betrayed she definitely wasn¡¯t fine with that. ¡±You two follow me. The rest of you stay out here and don¡¯t move,¡± Jamila went, turning to the line of Flaxens before turning to walk up the stairs, Victoria and the captain following, with Nevera in chains.


    ¡°Why didn''t you say something?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking to Dakota who was standing next to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m neither impartial nor the head of the investigation. She might as well just say it out here then. I¡¯m sure Victoria will crack her though.¡±


    Tiguan swung his head down next to Ylditz to try and whisper, at least as much as a dragon can. ¡°Ylditz¡­ she¡¯s leaning on me,¡± the dragon went, clearly trying to keep his voice hushed, though he still sounded excited to Sapphire.


    ¡°Well then let her,¡± Ylditz replied in a friendly tone.


    ¡°I know, she¡¯s sleeping too I think.¡±


    ¡®That was quick,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself as she continued to look at the line of Flaxens, which had now devolved into arguing and squabbling.


    From what Sapphire could make out, they were either genuinely surprised or very good actors. Accusations were being flung around of lies and deception, along with arguments over who knew what was going on, mostly being countered by everyone claiming they had no clue.


    ¡°Look at them squabbling like kids,¡± Dakota let out after a bit with a chuckle. ¡°It seems they even lie to each other. What a travesty.¡±


    As time went by, there was still no sign of Victoria returning and everyone, especially the line of Flaxens, was growing increasingly anxious.


    ¡°Okay, would someone explain what¡¯s going on? I remember you three, what happened?¡± the woman who had tried to bribe them let out, sounding confused, though Sapphire reminded herself that could easily be fake.


    Sapphire was about to speak when Dakota beat her to it.


    ¡°You want the whole story or just last night?¡±


    ¡°Well, we know you executed Dashu for no reason, and then you apparently insulted the Lady so much she struck one of your huntresses and disrespected the Colonel.¡±


    ¡°Abberline was it?¡± Dakota tried, receiving an annoyed nod in reply. ¡°I think we had better start from the beginning. Your dear Dashu made a deal with some nasty individuals who led a small army of darklings to our doorstep. Betraying Archeon, the dragon he was serving, in the process. Then he proceeded to let them into our keep, betraying us...¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, that is ridiculous,¡± a smaller looking guy protested from the line


    ¡°Shut it, twiggy,¡± Sapphire shouted at him, very much so not pleased with Dakota being interrupted. Not to mention she had heard those protests too many times by now.


    ¡°Dashu was tried, and plead guilty to all charges,¡± Dakota continued, holding a pause to look at the Flaxens, clearly testing for another response. None came though.


    ¡°We executed the traitor and thought that was the end of it. Vulzan was given the responsibility of telling everyone back here what happened. Then, over a month later, your Lady shows up and spends several days berating and insulting everyone she comes across, making accusations of treason, gross ineptitude, and other curses that should not be repeated. We were slightly baffled at the intensity of her response for a while. That was until my oldest childhood friend Esmeralda figured out Dashu was in fact your dear Lady¡¯s lover.¡± Dakota held another dramatic pause, expecting outrage from the assembled dragonettes before her.


    What she got was a lot of gawking faces and a few turning to each other to nod in agreement. ¡®What the fuck?¡¯ Sapphire questioned herself at the display.


    ¡°That explains a few things... Continue,¡± Abberline went, gesturing to Dakota, who took a second to get going again.


    ¡°Right, yes. Anyway, Essy made her discovery known for all to hear which Lady Flaxen clearly didn''t appreciate, so much so in fact that she stabbed Esmeralda with a dagger coating in green dragon poison.¡±


    That did get a response from the Flaxens. Fresh accusations of lying and treachery flying out.


    ¡°You are seriously suggesting that our Lady attempted to murder someone in plain view?!¡±


    ¡°Silence you useless cretins! She stabbed her in the damn greeting hall in front of more than ten people!¡± Sapphire shouted at them, trying to overpower the cacophony of accusations. ¡°She even pretended to get into a fight with Essy first! Just so she could get in nice and close, before stabbing my friend in the gut. Like the fucking coward that she was. She even drank her antidote beforehand, pretending to calm her nerves with alcohol.¡±


    ¡°And now that we come here seeking justice. You tried to bribe us, threaten us with mercenaries hunting us in the night, and now you¡¯ve even tried to kidnap one of us! So excuse us if we don¡¯t like you very much, nor your constant denials right to the face of those who have seen every little thing you have done! You tried to kill my friends and my family So shut the fuck up!¡±


    That at least yielded a bit of silence as the bickering stopped, all eyes turning to Sapphire.


    ¡°But we have done no such thing, we merely wanted the charges dropped. 500 gold should be more than sufficient for assaulting someone, combined with the insults rendered,¡± Abberline protested breaking the silence, though her tone was not the rash disrespectful one so commonly employed thus far.


    ¡°Are you deaf? You didn¡¯t assault us, you tried to wipe us out and damn near killed Essy. She¡¯s still sick! And the charge against us was treason, a charge which the bitch you call a lady tried to back up with fabricated evidence.¡±


    ¡°You will not refer to our Lady as such! And what is this false evidence?¡± one of the guys that had accompanied the bitch to the keep questioned harshly, clearly not convinced. ¡¯oh you fucking know you piece of shit¡¯ Sapphire cursed to herself.


    ¡°Well, for starters she lied to the Royal Guard that darklings had been spotted at our keep, to try and trick Baron into burning it down for good measure,¡± Dakota interjected in a calmer voice than what Sapphire could currently muster. ¡°I think that is all for the trial though. Today it¡¯s the whole hiring people to break into a tavern to kidnap someone and then try to kill us when we gave chase to get our friend back.¡±


    ¡°But we didn''t hire anyone. Right?!¡± Someone Sapphire didn''t know questioned, turning to their fellow Flaxens and receiving nods of approval.


    ¡°So the mercenaries paid for themselves?¡± Maiko interrupted with a sarcastic chuckle.


    ¡°What if you paid them just to set this all up?!¡± the same guy replied again. Sapphire drew a breath to have another go at him, when she felt someone very lightly patting her shoulder. She quickly swung her head around to see Ray standing there cautiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s all good, right?¡± she went, looking at Sapphire reluctantly while clutching her crossbow tight to her chest. Sapphire let out the breath she was holding, forcing a smile onto her face.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. We just need to wait for Victoria. And apparently, these idiots think we hired mercenaries to kill ourselves.¡±


    ¡°But how about you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine,¡± Sapphire replied, drawing another deep breath, letting it out with a sigh.


    ¡°No, you''re not,¡± Ray went, this time taking Sapphire into a hug.


    ¡°Looks like the cripple likes you at least,¡± Someone joked from the line of Flaxens. Sapphire stiffening a bit as she felt Ray let go.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to embarr...¡±


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t. You don¡¯t apologize for existing. Come now, I think it¡¯s more friendly back here,¡± Sapphire cut her off, leading Ray back around Tiguan for a modicum of privacy.


    ¡°I see why you didn''t need to pay her, you just gave her a ride didn¡¯t you?¡± whoever the arsehole was continued. ¡°Oh shit!¡±


    ¡°I have only just met you, but I wouldn¡¯t mind seeing you unhappy,¡± Tiguan went, craning his head over the arsehole. Sapphire turned to look and saw a terrified-looking guy looking up at a now genuinely angry dragon. ¡°Think your friends here are willing to prevent me from making your day very unhappy?¡±


    The answer was clearly no, as the people next to him took a few steps away. ¡°She¡¯s just a cripple, relax, like your scales by the way. Freshly polished?"


    ¡°I would shut up if I were you,¡± Ylditz warned calmly.


    ¡°No problem,¡± the guy let out, shrinking down as Tiguan bared his teeth. ¡®An arsehole but not a complete idiot then, what a shame,¡¯ Sapphire cursed, continuing to lead Ray away.


    ¡°But I am a cripple?¡± Ray tried seemingly confused. ¡°He wasn''t even that mean.¡±


    ¡°Hey, if I have learned anything in the last few months it¡¯s that you don''t need to fly to be incredible. So chin up and don¡¯t take shit from anyone, okay?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

 Dealings

    Chapter 96: Dealings


    ¡°Why are you so nice?¡± Ray finally questioned not letting go of Sapphire who looked up at Dakota not sure how to answer that one as they sat behind Tiguan. It had been a while, the time being passed mostly with funny stories and general chit chat.


    ¡°People can be arseholes for a lot of reasons, for Tiguan here it¡¯s because of how he looks, for our three friends here and the Flaxens it''s because of what they know and did. With You, I¡¯m afraid it''s because it¡¯s easy.¡± Yildiz replied, sounding a tad somber-looking up at Tiguan. ¡°Hell remember when I was assigned to you at first?¡± He continued, looking up to Tiguan.


    ¡°You were so mad¡­ I honestly thought my mother had killed your parents or something¡± Tiguan replied, reluctantly not taking his eyes of Ray. ¡°She was an arsehole though¡±


    ¡°Yeah the world wasn¡¯t nice to her, so she¡¯s not nice to the world. You''re doing well though. I was a little scared I Just got your mother in a scaled-down package¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡± Tiguan replied disinterestedly as Ray looked up. ¡°What did they do to you?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s not too bad, I just don¡¯t go out during the day much. I sneak around scavenging what I need and take it back home. I guess I¡¯m an arsehole to actually¡± Ray tried with the most cautious of smiles.


    ¡°You¡¯re a thief?¡± Tiguan questioned, as if not understanding at all. ¡°But thieves are bad guys?¡± The dragon went, as Ray scooted back on the ground a bit eye¡¯s going wide again.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to. it¡¯s not easy I swear I don¡¯t want to¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s fine we understand¡± Ylditz replied, interposing himself clearly trying to calm her down before turning to Tiguan. ¡°We talked about this big boy. Not necessarily, okay¡±


    ¡°Sorry... No please don¡¯t cry¡± The dragon replied looking to Ray.


    She did keep it together, just. Coming over and Leaning into Sapphire, Tiguan looking at the ground slightly ashamed. ¡°Sorry¡±


    ¡°Oh, would you two stop apologizing¡± Victoria added, sounding less than impressed. ¡°Neither of you did anything wrong, nor are you arseholes.¡±


    ¡°They want the three from Bizmati Keep,¡± a voice called out from behind the big black breathing barrier. It was such an odd feeling to feel safe hiding behind something so damn scary looking.¡°Sometime today I think.¡±


    ¡®Yeah, we heard you the first time wanker,¡¯ Sapphire cursed to herself.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the guards,¡± Tiguan relayed down to them helpfully after taking a look. ¡°Should I try to scare him too?¡± he tried looking to Ray, as if he wanted her opinion.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t bother. This is our fight and he¡¯s not the target¡± Dakota replied after a second of Ray looking around confused.


    ¡°Right, you stay here, Ray. We need to go sort this out,¡± Sapphire went, giving her a slight slap on the shoulder.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± the timid reply came as Sapphire got to her feet, turning to walk back around Tiguan. ¡°It¡¯s all true, right?¡± Ray questioned delicately, hope clear in her voice. ¡°What you said earlier¡±


    ¡°Every word of it. He can¡¯t fly and never could,¡± Sapphire clarified, looking back to the cripple. ¡°Yet his people fly anyway. They just need a little help. Not to mention he¡¯s damn near a hero,¡± she continued with a wink as she continued to walk. Sapphire had guessed if anything could cheer up a cripple like Ray It had to be stories of someone who could never fly in the first place and it seems she had been right.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get that,¡± Tiguan added, sounding like he had just given up trying to understand it, a sentiment Sapphire wholeheartedly supported.


    That mindset might not have helped her in trying to explain the crazy human¡¯s stories, but that hardly mattered. Ray had looked like she had completely forgotten the shitshow going on around her. It wasn''t till Saph was in the middle of the story that she realised the unhappy ending on the horizon. Ray was likely gonna be staying here. There was no place for a cripple at a frontier keep. Saph knew that as well as anyone. She just couldn¡¯t bear to tell Ray that though, she was smiling, and properly smiling at that. Even if it was not going to last, she at least deserved a bit of happiness for what she had done for them. Perhaps she and Tiguan could arrive at a happy ending some day, Sapphire at least hoped so.


    As Sapphire cleared Tiguan she saw Balethon who had been doing his best to win a staring contest with some of the Flaxens, the odd insult and accusation thrown in for good measure on both sides.


    ¡°Follow on Bale boy, I¡¯m sure their eyes don¡¯t work anyway¡± Sapphire went as they passed him.


    He didn''t break eye contact with the current target though he joined up behind Saph and Dakota walking up the stairs to the mansion.


    ¡°Follow me please, and do wipe your feet on the mat,¡± the Flaxen guard went as he turned away to go inside.


    ¡°I guess we shouldn¡¯t be surprised they can¡¯t even teach the doorman manners?¡± Dakota replied, feigning disappointment. ¡°Was it you who escorted the little piece of shit to the warehouse this morning?¡±


    ¡°No ma¡¯am, I do my job, which means making you wipe your feet.¡±


    ¡°You''re doing a shitty job then,¡± Sapphire added, making a point of going around the doormat, Balethon following her lead. Dakota did at least wipe them half-heartedly. The guard didn¡¯t seem to care though, not even turning to look at them as he led the way down the corridors.


    The inside was exactly as Sapphire had expected, precious metals used everywhere, thick luxurious carpets, paintings of people looking stupid decorating the walls and various doubtlessly expensive things on display everywhere. There were a few actually nice paintings though.


    It wasn¡¯t much of a walk, and the guard was clearly taking them straight somewhere, rather than leading them around to show off the mansion like Sapphire had anticipated. They ended up at what Saph would describe as a lounge. There was a low set table with sofas around it, on which Victoria and Captain Bruno could be found, sitting opposite Jamila and this Nevera, whom was still in chains.


    Jamila looked very serious and more contemplative, unlike the previous angry snarling face she had worn, and Nevera had clearly been crying for whatever reason. Sapphire pulled a slight smile at that. ¡®Looks like someone learned about the consequences of one¡¯s actions.¡¯


    ¡°You called for us,¡± Dakota opened, respectfully, standing at attention.


    ¡°Yes, take a seat please,¡± Jamila replied, her tone as serious as her expression, waving away the guard. The trio did as instructed, setting down on the very nice comfy sofa.


    ¡°Would you mind repeating your statement?¡± Victoria then went, her eyes locked on the manacled woman sitting across from her.


    ¡°I was tasked with hiring the mercenaries by the Lady herself¡­ I did it.¡± She replied not looking up from the floor


    ¡°And why did you do it?¡± Jamila snapped, clearly not happy right now.


    ¡°She promised to make me next in line if I did.¡± The woman continued beginning to sob into her hands. Sapphire could hardly feel sorry for her, though it did present an interesting conundrum in regards to the rest of the Flaxen family.


    ¡°And yours, Jamila?¡± Victoria continued, switching her gaze to the older woman.


    ¡°I sent Abberline to try and bribe you into dropping the charges. That was decided by the family council¡­ This was not. How could you! You have ruined us! You selfish little brat!¡±


    Sapphire began wondering if this was all a stage show, if so they were doing a good job acting. The bitch had pulled too much shit like this all ready for her to believe this bullshit blindly though.


    ¡°So then you''re blaming this all on her or what?¡± Sapphire questioned coldly, glaring at Jamila.


    ¡°And our Lady. She is apparently the one who ordered this.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she told me to. I can¡¯t disobey her, we have to obey her,¡± Nevera pleaded, jumping at the excuse.


    ¡°She is in prison, and the family council has been making those decisions since that happened. Which you damn well knew!¡± Jamila snapped back.


    ¡°So you are admitting guilt on behalf of her and the Lady but not the family as a whole?¡± Dakota questioned, looking at Jamila.


    ¡°On the matters of the kidnapping, yes.¡±


    ¡°And on the matters of what your Lady did before that?¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°That will be decided at the trial. For which I hope we will not be present.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Balethon questioned. Sapphire would like to know that too actually.


    ¡°Having these charges leveled against us cannot be allowed. It simply cannot. The matter will have to be placed in the hands of the family council since I am not yet the lady of our family,¡± Jamila replied, shooting a sharp look at Nevera. ¡°Though there is widespread agreement that, as I said, these charges must not hit our family. And especially so if they are found to be true¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer the question though?¡± Balethon tried again, sounding a tad annoyed.


    ¡°We are gonna ex-communicate both of them and whoever aided them. We will wash our hands of this mess and be done with it,¡± Jamila replied, looking to Balethon like he really should have been able to figure that out.


    ¡°You do realize that as she is the lady of your family and went to Bizmati Keep representing your family. Not to mention bringing several family members with her. Many of the charges are against you as a family and not her as an individual,¡± Victoria joined in, receiving an approving nod from Dakota.


    ¡°I am acutely aware. That is the situation must be resolved before the trial. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement on that front.¡±


    ¡°Are you gonna try to bribe us again?¡± Balethon questioned in a joking tone. That set the gears turning in Sapphire¡¯s head.


    ¡°Wait, how the fuck could you not know she tried to kill Essy? There were several of your family members present as eyewitnesses!¡± Sapphire demanded, the realization having clicked. She must have known, yet Abberline had claimed she had no idea. ¡°Abberline said you thought she assaulted Essy, not tried to kill her!? Yet you had to know, you especially,¡± Sapphire continued, pointing at Nevera. ¡°You were there!¡±


    ¡°I mean, she did assault her,¡± The woman meekly tried to defend herself.


    ¡°With a deadly weapon, intending to kill. Pretty big fucking difference! It¡¯s called attempted murder you dipshit,¡± Sapphire replied. Jamila snapped her head at the manacled women, clearly expecting an explanation.


    ¡°We needed the support of the family,¡± was all the answer they got from Nevera.


    ¡°We?¡± Victoria questioned, very pointedly.


    ¡°You traitorous little group of rats!¡± Jamila interrupted before Nevera could muster a reply. ¡°You lied to your own family!? You dared lie to me!¡±


    ¡°And you abandoned your Lady. If anyone is the traitor here it¡¯s you. You¡¯re only doing this because you''re next in line. So don¡¯t act so damn righteous, you''re just a scheming old skank.¡±


    ¡®What a fucking shit show,¡¯ Sapphire concluded, as the two of them descended into an enthusiastic shouting match.


    After a little over a minute, Victoria interrupted the duel, with a loud ¡°HEY!¡± which did get their attention, at least somewhat. ¡°You mentioned you wanted the charges against the family as a whole dropped. How do you imagine that happening?¡±


    ¡°I do not know, since it''s up to the family council, but my plan is for you to get the Lady and the justice you apparently crave so much and we won¡¯t try to stop it. Make no mistake, we can keep these trials going for years if necessary. I doubt you have the time nor funds for that,¡± Jamila replied, looking at Dakota.


    ¡°No, but we do,¡± Victoria interjected, coldly. ¡°We will get them anyway even if it takes a little longer. So what are you offering"


    ¡°Well then, what do you propose then?¡± Jamila questioned, clearly not pleased with that response.


    ¡°We take you to court, seek compensation for all the strife you have caused us, and get your Lady and Nevera here, as well as anyone who saw fit to help them, locked away for as long as possible, not to mention ruining your family''s reputation forever¡± Dakota stated matter of factly which gave Jamila a very cold hard look as she tried to stare down Dakota.


    ¡°In that case I think we can come to an agreement. Though this is not a discussion I have the authority to have with you. Colonel, would you allow us to convene a meeting of our family council to make a proper decision on this subject? In private.¡±


    Victoria looked to Dakota, clearly waiting for her opinion.


    ¡°Well, you have admitted guilt. You can¡¯t run from that, and we will slaughter you all if you try something stupid. I can agree to that,¡± Dakota replied, putting an emphasis on slaughter, which clearly sank in with Jamila. Victoria turned her head back to the solemn-looking woman, giving her a slight nod.


    ¡°Very good, I would have Nevera testify before our council too. Though that meeting will be for our family only.¡±


    ¡°In lieu of your confessions, I will allow you to hold this private meeting, though I must reiterate we have you now. So don¡¯t try anything brash, like Dakota said that would cost you very dearly.¡± Victoria replied, getting to her feet.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°How''s he doing?¡± someone asked. Tom really didn¡¯t have the mental wherewithal to recognize the voice. He tried opening his eyes just to check whether he could still see something; much to his delight, it didn¡¯t seem to have gotten that much worse. Though he probably would have struggled to notice any small changes anyway.


    ¡°He¡¯s in a hell of a lot of pain, but we are doing what we can. We can keep this up for a few hours with two of us switching.¡±


    ¡°It will buy him more time, but we have no clue if it¡¯s enough.¡±


    ¡°I have this, would it help?¡±


    ¡°What even is that? Wait how long have you had this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Uli got it for me. I think we were supposed to share it.¡±


    ¡°Oh my¡­ I mean it¡¯s alcohol, right?¡±


    ¡°As far as I know at least. I never dared drink it alone.¡±


    ¡°You have¡­ actual alcohol?¡± Tom tried, biting in the pain of speaking.


    ¡°I mean¡­ Quin do you think it would be smart? And it was so expensive.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to put a price on saving his ass after what he did?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. What if it doesn''t work, or makes it worse.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tom went, trying to get a look at them and failing horribly as the pain of moving shot through him.


    ¡°Uhm it¡¯s called wild brew¡­ it¡¯s not for the faint of heart.¡±


    ¡°Is it alcohol? Good stuff, not homebrew?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from the capitol.¡±


    ¡°Has it been opened?¡±


    ¡°No never, it¡¯s wax sealed¡±


    ¡°Then pretty please, I really don¡¯t like dying right now?¡± Tom replied, doing his best not to let the annoyance show.


    ¡°What if it makes it worse though?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s getting worse and worse. and they won¡¯t be back until the middle of the night at best. We are just buying time, not fixing it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been two hours?!¡± Tom let out much to his regret as he gasped in pain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it, sit him up again.¡± ¡®Oh god no,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself as he felt them help him up to sit. The pain was excruciating, and his combination of lightheadedness and the crushing headache definitely didn¡¯t help things. If nothing else, the alcohol might just help with that.


    Tom heard a cork being removed, and shortly after a cup of some really strange smelling liquid was held up in front of him. ¡°Here you go. Now, we don¡¯t know how this will affect you, but things might get a little strange.¡±


    ¡°Oh this sounds like a great idea,¡± Tom tried jokingly, sniffing the cup. There was definitely alcohol in there and not a small amount; he had no idea what the rest of those smells were though. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°How are they doing out there?¡± Sapphire questioned Balethon as he returned to the lounge.


    ¡°They are doing good. Ray was actually petting him, if you would believe it. She didn¡¯t want to come inside though¡­ Are they still at it?¡±


    Sapphire didn¡¯t need to reply, as another series of loud shouts rang out from the room.


    ¡°Honestly they could just as well have invited us to take part if they are gonna shout like that,¡± Dakota went, shaking her head.


    ¡°Do any of you also think it¡¯s all just for show? I mean, they had to know the Lady did it.¡± Sapphire tired again. She just couldn''t believe it would be this easy.


    ¡°It might be, but what do we want? Aside from the Lady¡¯s head on a pike or getting her locked up forever of course.¡±


    ¡°What about their house? I wouldn''t mind living here,¡± Balethon replied.


    ¡°They need to stop coming after us, that''s for sure,¡± Sapphire added. ¡°And money is always nice.¡±


    ¡°We just want them humiliated, though they seem to have fixed that on their own. Additionally, we want some very public apologies, but that would likely follow the ex-communication anyway,¡± Victoria added, seeming quite pleased.


    Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but feel burning this place to the ground would be nice. But bleeding them dry would be good too. ¡°How about having all of the Lady¡¯s entourage thrown in prison? That would be good.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t do much apart from lie to us and their family. Hardly prison worthy, almost a shame they didn¡¯t get a chance to spout those lies to the court,¡± Victoria replied.


    ¡°Food¡¯s here,¡± one of the Hashaw family guards went as he and another guard came walking over with a variety of packages.


    ¡°Oh yes. Thank you, I''m starving. What time is it even?¡± Balethon questioned, sitting up on the sofa.


    ¡°Early afternoon,¡± one of the guards replied.


    ¡°And we still haven''t heard from home,¡± Sapphire added, looking to Dakota.


    ¡°No, we have not,¡± Dakota replied, giving a polite nod to the guard as she took her package.


    As Sapphire took her package, she could honestly not figure out what to make of all this. Things weren¡¯t right back home, and she couldn¡¯t help but feel things were going too smoothly here. Sure it had been a night from hell. But they had found the kidnappers, gotten confessions, and now had the Flaxen family taking turns screaming at each other next door while they ate a delicious, if very late, breakfast.


    ¡°I take it that means Jarix hasn¡¯t returned from his scouting run?¡± Victoria questioned, looking at Dakota.


    ¡°No, and they should have been back yesterday at the very latest.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of threat could hit a frontier keep that could bring down a dragon, not to mention your little demon.¡± The guard, handing out the food, added.


    ¡°Tom,¡± Victoria clarified, looking at her. ¡°He¡¯s quite insistent on that front. Still, this is concerning, You are sure your little earpiece is working?¡±


    ¡°I talked with my mother only last night, it was working beautifully¡±


    ¡°Troubling¡­ We might have to send that messenger anyway then.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So... how are you doing, Tom?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I saee preewty¡­ pweety pink uwnycorn dacing ooon rainwose¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not getting better, is he?¡±


    ¡°Nope, but he¡¯s a lot more lively now, and he¡¯s certainly seeing something. Do we give him more?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hold off till he starts complaining again. I think we might have already overdone it.¡±


    ¡°I think I would drink heavy draughts if my life depended on it too.¡±


    ¡°No, I no complain I ciritimezise.¡±


    ¡°Well he can still hear us, can you see us too?¡±


    A hand came waving in front of Tom''s face, it was going so fast, wait no that¡¯s not a hand, it¡¯s white... that¡¯s Jacky! ¡°Hehe. Jacky go neeowwwn, race race reace.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s a yes. Do you think he snapped or something?¡±


    ¡°I mean, if he snapped it¡¯s like a branch, not a twig, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°Fly fly little Jacky¡­ where did she go weeeee to?¡±


    ¡°I would say shattered like a glass window on stone floors.¡±


    ¡°Do we need to start with the liver again? I mean it¡¯s been a while, but there¡¯s still a long time till anyone gets here even in the best case scenario.¡±


    ¡°Hours long, time short. Jacky Jacky wuuhoo.¡±


    ¡°That hurts like hell for him though. Do you think he might try to kill us if we did that?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s unarmed and weak; he''s not even slightly scary right now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he''s crazy or something. Can we fix that somehow?¡±


    ¡°Look at pwretty colours, oohh not knowy that onee whoaaa.¡±


    ¡°How the hell do you fix that? Oh shit, Nunuk is gonna kill me if he survives like this.¡±


    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s the drink. It will wear off soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Ye yeah dum l?ge, du en dumpap.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what that means, but we are gonna have to do something¡­ Should we try putting him to sleep? It might keep him from going more crazy.¡±


    ¡°Or he might not wake up again.¡±


    ¡°Would you please stop saying things like that? Jacky did it I¡¯m sure, and he will be fine too.¡±


    ¡°He He Jacjky prewty no bad Tom, bonk horny Jailsy.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just not give him any more for a bit and see what happens, okay?¡±


    But he said he needed a small dose every now and again.¡±


    ¡°Then we down the dosage a little. If it gets worse then we hibernate his liver again and pray for the best okay?¡±

 Flaxen Council

    Chapter 97: Flaxen Council


    It had taken hours, including a lengthy recess. By now they were actually approaching dinner time, but it would seem the Flaxens had finally started to make up their minds, or they had just run out of energy to shout at each other.


    Saph and the others had spent the time discussing what might be going on back at the keep, what kind of demands they would have for the Flaxens, and how exactly Victoria was supposed to be repaid for all this.


    ¡°They insulted both my family and the Royal Guard, we won¡¯t seek compensation beyond what we will wring out of the Flaxens. Don¡¯t forget you have already provided us with a very valuable piece of kit,¡± Victoria replied, glancing at Sapphire, or more likely the bow on her back.


    ¡°Well, you are certainly always gonna be a welcome sight at the keep going forward,¡± Dakota replied lightheartedly. Sapphire knew her well enough to know Dakota was worried sick right now about what was going on at home.


    ¡°I might take you up on that at some point. I need to know how Jarix is doing after all,¡± Victoria replied in a friendly tone. Sapphire tried not to look upset by the mention of that. ¡®They are perfectly fine; they probably just got beat up a bit.¡¯


    ¡°Besides, our work is not quite done. There is still the trial, even if it¡¯s likely gonna get easier now, it still has to be taken care of. Then there is Ray, of course.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Balethon questioned. ¡°I mean the warehouse is a bit problematic, sure. But she doesn''t seem like a troublemaker to me.¡±


    ¡°No, she''s a witness. That makes her a target,¡± Sir Vianitus, the Hashaw family lawyer, replied, having arrived not too long ago to help with whatever settlement the Flaxens were planning. ¡°She is gonna need to testify at Lady Flaxen¡¯s trial; they might try to prevent that¡­ or the Lady herself might at least. Though her right to private conversations is definitely going to be revoked following this.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± the cautious voice of Ray went from behind them, Sapphire swinging her head around in surprise to look at her, not having heard her coming on the soft carpet. ¡°I, I can just hide again, they won¡¯t find me I promise,¡± she stammered out in reply.


    Sapphire let out a pained sigh, looking at the crippled woman. ¡°No, you won''t. We are gonna keep you safe, no need to worry about it,¡± Dakota was quick to reply.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Tiguan talk about wanting to let her stay at his stable, I mean if it¡¯s just for a bit,¡± Balethon added.


    ¡°We could just get her dressed up a bit and put her things down as evidence. You wanna stay with Tiguan for a while?¡± Victoria questioned, looking at Ray, who once again looked like a deer staring down its doom.


    ¡°I would just remove the Flaxen¡¯s ability to hurt her,¡± Lady Hashaw interrupted before Ray got the chance to respond, from her position leaned back in a comfy chair that had been dragged over. ¡°Could we get away with just locking them all up in here? And confiscate their weapons too, of course. I¡¯m sure they have something I want,¡± she questioned, looking to the lawyer, who had a rather pained expression right now.


    ¡°No Ma¡¯am, that¡¯s not going to be possible unless they agree to it, nor do we know if the Lady has further confidants outside of the family itself.¡±


    ¡°Very well, hide her with the dragon then. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s gonna grow a spine today anyway.¡±


    ¡°Su¡­ Sure¡­ He seems nice.¡±


    ¡°And you will hardly find a safer place to be, I say we do that then,¡± Victoria added, looking to Ray and talking in a softer tone. ¡°Was there anything else? I don¡¯t think you should wander around in here.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to ask what I should do for the food¡­¡±


    ¡°Absolutely nothing, but you should stay with Tiguan, it''s safer. Jowa, would you mind showing her out?¡± Victoria continued, looking to one of her family guards, who politely nodded walking over to Ray who looked even more surprised.


    ¡°Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, it was delicious.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Victoria replied with a smile, looking back to the ones around the table. Sapphire gave Ray a wave as she was led back outside. As if on cue, the doors to the big chamber where the Flaxens had been holding their family shouting match were opened, Jamila and a few other members coming out.


    Jamila was looking rather pleased though, so Sapphire guessed she had gotten her way. ¡°You took your sweet time. Personal affairs in order?¡± Sapphire went, not being terribly respectful.


    ¡°More or less. I¡¯m delighted to inform you that I now do have the authority to negotiate your terms with you. If you would be so kind as to take a seat,¡± Jamila replied, apparently not letting Sapphire''s little remark get to her as she gestured inside the room. ¡°Who are you?¡± She questioned, looking to Viantius.


    ¡°The family lawyer, pleased to make your acquaintance. Now, shall we get to it?¡±


    Sapphire spent the next hour or so switching between reveling in the angry and distraught faces around her and worrying about home as time went by. Jamila had indeed been made the new Lady of the Flaxen family and as such was leading proceedings. Dakota and Lady Hashaw had presented their demands for dropping the case, Victoria weighing in every now and again.


    Jamila¡¯s smug expression had well and truly vanished over the last hour, as the demands kept coming. They had to argue over every copper, but they were getting there.


    ¡°Well if you can¡¯t pay in gold then I want that instead,¡± Lady Hashaw went pointing at a very fine-looking armor set that was standing beside the podium where the new Lady Flaxen was standing.


    ¡°You cannot be serious! Would you strip us of our history too?!¡± Jamila cried out. Sapphire was wondering just how much more they could ask for. The Flaxens were clearly rich, but the reason why was becoming staggeringly obvious; they didn¡¯t part with anything willingly.


    ¡°No, I would strip you of something I want and that you don¡¯t need. Not to mention just how much more good it would do in other hands,¡± Lady Hashaw retorted, with smug superiority. ¡°And you seemingly lack the funds to actually pay what we want.¡±


    ¡°Your halls are strewn with such equipment Hashaw, these are relics of our family¡¯s history.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, your history is one of sitting down counting your money. Interrupted only by putting down the odd uprising, when you don¡¯t pay what you should have.¡±


    ¡°And yours one of running around, threatening the ones who displease you into giving you what you want, and then failing to defend honest folk when traveling, not to mention the frontier keeps now at your side. We won¡¯t fulfill your kleptomania, you may have a proper set but not that one!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you definitely helped with the frontier keep situation.¡± Balethon¡¯s sarcastic comment earned him a lot of angry glances from the Flaxens, though he didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    Lady Hashaw didn¡¯t reply immediately, instead leaning over to whisper with Victoria for a bit before straightening back up in her seat.


    ¡°Two sets then, and two blades. One for each offended party; perhaps it can help alleviate some of the damage caused to Bizmati Keep in light of the late Dashu Flaxen¡¯s actions. I am of the understanding you have a few sets in your possession. We will be taking our picks.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea what you¡¯re asking for?! They are worth a fortune.¡±


    ¡°Assuming you haven''t slacked on maintenance I would pay roughly 1500 gold pieces for the armor in question and perhaps 500 for the blades. We will allow you to deduct half that from the amount owed; you won¡¯t get more than that selling them at this short notice anyway.¡±


    Jamila looked ready to descend back into a murderous tirade before letting out a deep sigh, calming a little. ¡°Will this conclude your demands?¡±


    Lady Hashaw had another whisper with Victoria before looking to Dakota who leaned over to Sapphire.


    ¡°Are they discussing what I think they are?¡± Dakota questioned, sounding like she didn¡¯t want to believe it.


    ¡°And we get to choose,¡± Sapphire replied, trying her best not to sound giddy. This was an insane day.


    ¡°We got anything else to ask for?¡±


    ¡°Do they have an enchanted bow perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Do we need one?¡± Dakota questioned rather pointedly. ¡°I think the money would be better.¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡±


    ¡°We would consider that satisfactory, when combined with the funds, to exclude the Flaxen family from the case laid against Ursula, the Former Lady of the Flaxen family.¡±


    ¡°Very well, Viantius was it? I trust you have the list?¡± Lady Flaxen questioned in a defeated tone, looking at the lawyer.


    ¡°I do indeed. For the Bizmati family, one set of enchanted armor to be picked from the Flaxen family armory, one blade likewise requisitioned, 2400 gold to be paid in full, and a further 500 gold to be paid in fine goods, excluding liquor and honey and with a premium of one quarter placed on fine metals.¡± The lawyer held a small pause, looking at Dakota as if to give her another chance to change her terms, before continuing. ¡°For Esmeralda Quinlin, 85 gold to be paid in full, and the right to keep the weapon used against her as well as medical care for her resultant illness to be provided by Quinlin Potions and Care.¡± Sapphire was still a little pissed they didn¡¯t get more for Essy, though that was more than ten years¡¯ pay for them. Granted, they didn¡¯t make much. Still, if this all worked out, Sapphire doubted any of them were gonna end up poor in the long run and Essy could certainly get something very nice for that.


    Viantius had then read off what the Hashaws were getting. They weren''t getting nearly as much, and the armor and blade nearly took up all the monetary compensation, Sapphire had a sneaking suspicion that was by design though. Lady Hashaw certainly seemed pleased enough as the paperwork was signed. It stated that both Hashaws and Bizmatis agreed to dismiss the case against the Flaxen family with prejudice.


    The Flaxens had just under a week to get the payments together. In the meantime, Sapphire and company had some work to do. First stop though was the Hashaw Estate for a nice dinner and general celebration that everything had gone according to plan


    Convincing Ray that she too was invited inside for dinner had proven a slight challenge, but the reassurance that she could stick with Sapphire and company for the evening and that Tiguan would be in the courtyard throughout did assist considerably.


    They had even managed to find a set of fairly decent clothes that she could have, the litany of ¡°thank yous¡± taking nearly a minute to subside when she was finally convinced they were hers to keep.


    Dinner was not something too extravagant, Sapphire guessed it was just a regular family meal spiced up a little for the occasion. The Lady had held a short speech, mainly just to bring everyone up to speed on the day''s proceedings.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°In other words, we bled them dry and humiliated them thoroughly. Well done everyone,¡± the Lady finished, lifting up a glass for a toast.


    Ray had been seated next to Sapphire taking up the end of a table with Dakota and Balethon opposite. The food was very fine-looking, though Ray seemed to be struggling a little with the utensils. Sapphire politely looked away while she figured it out.


    ¡°Heh, it¡¯s been a while,¡± Ray let out in a nervous tone.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Sapphire tried reassuringly as Ray seemed to get the hang of it again. They all enjoyed the quality food, not talking much over their meal, in contrast to the Hashaws. They were chatting loudly, cracking jokes at the Flaxens, and just generally having a good evening. Sapphire felt like it was a bit of a hollow victory. She just couldn''t be happy when they didn¡¯t know what was going on at home. They still hadn¡¯t heard anything.


    ¡°You''re not happy?¡± Ray had asked cautiously after they had finished the meal, looking to all three of them. Even Balethon wasn¡¯t his lively self at the moment despite good drinks being on the table.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s happened at home,¡± Sapphire clarified for Ray¡¯s sake. ¡°But something is not right, we should have heard from them by now.¡±


    ¡°You are from a frontier keep, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Dakota got some magic earrings to talk with our lady back home.¡± Ray was clearly about to ask another question when Dakota stiffened up for a second, putting her glass down before leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes.


    ¡°Was it something I said?¡± Ray questioned, clearly worried.


    ¡°Shush, it¡¯s not you,¡± Sapphire dismissed her, looking at Dakota. ¡®Come on, just say everything is fine and Tom or Jacky got too drunk to fly or something.¡¯ Balethon too had stopped chatting with Ylditz, who had come over after the meal, staring intently at Dakota.


    It took too long, way too long. Sapphire spared a glance around the room, noticing people had quieted down a lot and were looking their way now. The lord and lady got up and came over. Victoria wasn¡¯t far behind. When Dakota finally opened her eyes again, she gave a bit of a start to all the people staring silently at her.


    ¡°So, good news, right?¡± Sapphire tried, looking expectantly at her fearless leader, who turned to Saph with a pained expression and shook her head slightly. Sapphire''s heart sank as her mind raced through what could have happened, Dakota taking a sharp breath and cutting off Sapphire''s flow of thought.


    ¡°Hylsdal Keep was attacked and burned to the ground, there were only five survivors. All children, discovered by Jarix in a dugout,¡± Dakota stated, a tear creeping into her eye. There was silence in the room, only broken by a singular cough. They didn¡¯t see the people at the other keeps often, but they still knew them. Dakota more so than the rest of them. She had often had dealings with them if a keep needed something the others had.


    ¡°Deriva was attacked too, though they managed to hold out. They have six dead and many wounded, and they have also lost all their livestock. They were saved by a daredevil rescue by Jarix, Jackalope, Zarko, and Tom. Jarix is heavily wounded and grounded for the time being. Jacky was wounded in the back and has lost her hearing. Tom has taken a bolt to the neck and has somehow ended up poisoned.¡±


    ¡°What? They shot him with a poisoned bolt?¡±


    ¡°No. She said it was something he drank. She wasn¡¯t exactly calm. They are putting together some people to go to Deriva Keep to help out.¡±


    ¡°That''s...less than brilliant,¡± Ylditz replied, clearly trying to break the silence.


    ¡°It gets worse I¡¯m afraid¡­ Prior to the attack on Hylsdal, the unicorn Kalestine was lured into an ambush and grievously wounded. Though she managed to escape with her life, the enemy managed to break off and steal her horn.¡±


    That resulted in several horrified gasps from the crowd as people turned to discuss the consequences of that. Sapphire had no idea what you could do with a unicorn¡¯s horn but it couldn¡¯t be good.


    ¡°The horn was recovered during the battle of Deriva, and is currently in Jarix¡¯s care.¡± Dakota continued, eliciting some relieved sighs and outbursts from the crowd.


    ¡°How long were they attacking the keeps for? A siege should take weeks at least. Don¡¯t tell me they had traitors on the inside too?¡± Lady Hashaw questioned sounding ready for the worst.


    ¡°No. They had something Zarko described as ¡®a giant mutant bat thing.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?!¡± Lady Hashaw questioned in reply, looking at Dakota in disbelief.


    ¡°Look I don¡¯t know, okay? She was hardly calm at the moment. apparently, it was only slightly smaller than Jarix and they had three of them¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming Darklings were involved then?¡± Victoria questioned. ¡°Do we know how many?¡±


    ¡°What about the bodies? Were the bodies gone from Hyldal?¡± Ylditz added to the growing pool of questions.


    ¡°Ohhh yeah, there were darklings alright¡­ They stated 75 bodies have been recovered from the battlefield, the inhabitants of Hylsdal among them.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit,¡± Sapphire let out as the room fell silent, people looking worriedly back at Dakota, waiting for her to continue.


    ¡°Those were backed up by three dark knights and the three mutant bat things.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s not possible. How did they defeat that?¡± Victoria interrupted, sounding incredulous.


    Dakota looked to Sapphire with a gulp before continuing. ¡°Tom alone was credited with over thirty darklings, possibly as much as forty, one Dark knight, and assisting Jarix in killing one of the mutant bats. Jarix managed to down the remaining two bat mutants on his own. Tom and Jackalope scored a further two dark knights and at least a dozen darklings leading a counter-assault on the keep alone.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck is that guy?¡± Yldtiz questioned as the room fell silent again.


    ¡°But they are okay, right? Just a little beat up?¡± Ray tried, sounding cautiously optimistic.


    ¡°I have no idea. Jacky for some reason chased down Zarko as she was heading back to Bizmati Keep, I think to tell her about Tom¡¯s poisoning. Zarko then rushed to the keep, meaning we don¡¯t know how Tom¡¯s doing or where Jacky is.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they just tell Zarko before she left?¡± Balethon protested, letting some of the frustration out with it.


    ¡°It gets worse,¡± Dakota stated once again, gaining the full attention of everyone. ¡°They found a dagger of very similar design to the one Vulzan brought to our keep. And there was not found anything else that could have turned the people of Hylsdal unless the bat things were capable of it.¡±


    Sapphire leaned back in her chair with a thousand-yard stare off into the distance as the shock slowly lifted from the room, being replaced with shouting, arguing, and people running around. Ray had given Saph a pat on the shoulder as she sat there staring, clearly trying to repay the favor.


    ¡°What the fuck do we do?¡± Sapphire questioned at no one in particular, shaking her head slowly.


    ¡°You go and report it, that''s what you do,¡± Victoria interjected, turning away from her lady after a brief discussion. They had followed Victoria to some sort of office where a scribe wrote down as much as possible from Dakota¡¯s short chat with Nunuk. The result of the quick description of the bat things sent to the academy along with an apology that their meeting tomorrow wouldn¡¯t be possible.


    The letter was sent by courier so Sapphire guessed they were gonna be called in for more testifying and paperwork tomorrow. Right now though she was just tired. They had been awake for far too long. It had been bad news from the keep, and they still had Tom and Jacky to worry about. But it could have been worse¡­ If only by a little.


    They had rejoined the dining hall afterward, the lord bringing out several bottles of his wine, to toast the fallen. After that it was mostly quiet drinking, the festive mood from before washed away entirely.


    They gave several toasts to the ones at home saying their prayers and not long after Sapphire finally gave up falling asleep at the table.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tom are you in there?¡±


    Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure to be honest. He had the worst headache in history right now, though the voice was at least recognizable as Unkai.


    ¡°Yea¡­ I thimke.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be damned, why did this work again?¡± Someone else added.


    ¡®Wait¡­ that¡¯s Nunuk,¡¯ Tom realized as he slowly became aware of the world around him.


    ¡°Something about his liver wanting proper alcohol first leaving the bad stuff untouched,¡± Unkai replied.


    ¡°Why my bed move? Jarisk?¡± It did feel like he was moving¡­ He couldn''t hear the wind though, nor was it cold?


    ¡°No Tom, you''re drunk as an escort on leave. We let you sober up enough to wake up. But well¡­ You''ve been under for a while.¡± Nunuk replied


    ¡®Then why do I have such a headache if I¡¯m drunk¡¯ Tom cursed to himself as he tried to open his eyes, seeing nothing.


    ¡°No!no no nonono I can¡¯t see see anything!¡± He broke out trying to move, only now realizing he had been tied down to the bed. ¡°What¡­ why, what fuckl?!¡±


    ¡°Calm down or I¡¯ll crack your skull,¡± the very recognizable voice of Shiva replied, and she sounded pissed.


    ¡°Again, might I add,¡± Unkai decided to join in.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, I''m blind!¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be such a wuss,¡± Nunuk replied, not sounding overly concerned. ¡°It''s just bandages after Shiva hit you in the head with a chair. You should still be able to see.¡±


    ¡°That was very satisfying, might I add. Are you aware of how hard you are to catch? You just keep running when you should be resting. So I made you rest,¡± Shiva added very disapprovingly.


    ¡°To be honest he knocked himself out the first time, you just copied it,¡± Fengi added in from somewhere.


    ¡°Might have done, it still worked.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not hit him in the head any more than necessary, okay?¡± Unkai tried, cautious yet displeased.


    ¡°She did wha?! Why wa In... running?... Oh¡­. Oh noo.¡± It dawned on Tom that the last point he could sort of remember was discussing something about more of that wild brew stuff after that it was only a few scarce glimpses.


    ¡°Just be glad the children were in bed. When we got here Luke and Fengi were trying their damndest to pin you down.¡± Nunuk went, not sounding very proud of him right now. ¡±It really was a mistake to let you get away with taking your clothes off, claiming they were dark and evil. Then when Quin left for a few minutes you threw Unkai against the wall, screaming ¡®Tag you¡¯re it,¡¯¡±


    ¡°and then you sprinted for the kitchens where found a jug of oil and that was right about when I made it here. You can guess the rest. Oh, and sorry about the scratch marks, you were very hard to hold onto¡± Fengi continued sounding a tad ashamed.


    ¡°That really hurt by the way,¡± Unkai added in. ¡°Being thrown against a wall that is.¡±


    ¡°I havke decided to comite noalive... Wait, where is Jacky? Is she here?! Jacky!¡±


    ¡°No Tom, she landed in the forest. She was barely still going as it was when she reached Zarko, who had to turn back to meet her as she damn near fell out of the sky. Ethera stayed with her though, so we are guessing they are sleeping it off. She will be fine. Eventually¡± Tom let out a deep sigh leaning head back against the pillow. ¡®she¡¯s fine¡­ as long as she¡¯s fine¡¯


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­¡± Shiva started, voice turning ominous. ¡°Why is my daughter deaf and half-dead in the middle of nowhere? Not to mention she apparently has a bolt wound in her back!¡± Tom didn¡¯t respond to that, trying to wrack his drunken mind for a good response.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I mean as far as I understood it all of those are kinda related to her saving his ass,¡± Unkai replied, very helpfully, as Tom froze.


    Tom might be drunk but he had been in enough situations to know when it was time to book it, and he was fucking tied down... Of all the situations he could have ended up in with Shiva, it could hardly get worse than this. At least she didn¡¯t seem to know everything yet, but if she figured it out... ¡®No no Nunuk would save me, I¡¯m just fine.¡¯


    ¡°Are you trying to kill my daughter?!¡± Tom heard an uncomfortable cough come from Unkai at that. ¡®Don¡¯t you dare say a thing¡­ Right, I¡¯m not scared. She smells fear¡­ I think¡­ or is that Karens?¡¯


    ¡°I asked you a question.¡± Shiva reiterated, voice raising in volume. Tom¡¯s head was already killing him and she wasn¡¯t helping.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m too busy dying, and being blind,¡± Tom replied with what false confidence he could muster in his drunken state. Hoping that would prevent the fear from showing.


    ¡°Right on that front. Now that you are actually awake and apparently not crazy, untie him. If he runs, don''t go for the head again,¡± Nunuk went, cutting Shiva off, who replied with an annoyed sigh. Tom felt the restraints be taken off as he was sat up in the bed. The all too familiar pain from his stomach region returning in full as well. ¡°Here drink this. It¡¯s watered down, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Moonshine, my favorite,¡± Tom replied, weakly taking the cup. He really didn''t feel like he needed more booze right now, but rather they keep track of it than him. ¡®I¡¯m gonna be a proper alcoholic after this¡¯ Tom tried jesting to himself as he downed what he could from the cup.


    ¡°So what, you are just gonna let him lie here after what he did?¡± Shiva questioned, still sounding rather pissed though this time Nunuk appeared to be the target.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s going to happen. He¡¯s not leaving that bed more than necessary until I say so. If you want to help out then you help by looking for Jacky. Now Tom, your eyes will be fine we¡¯ve seen to that, though it might take a while to get them back to normal, I''ve done plenty of eye work over the years though so don¡¯t worry¡±


    ¡°yeah Apuma would be blind by now if not for you¡± Fengi added in, sounding like she felt the mood needed lifting a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about your head being damaged to be honest. Though judging by some of the decisions you have made as of late I¡¯m guessing that has already happened... You were supposed to scout for us, yet you leave us alone with no message of what¡¯s going on. Nothing to pass on to the king, Dakota, or just letting us know we aren¡¯t about to be wiped out. Then you apparently decided to have a party rather than send someone back home immediately to alleviate this. Which leads to you becoming perilously sick, placing Jacky¡¯s life in danger, and forcing us to leave the keep. There better be a good reason.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s quite ready to answer that one, Nunuk,¡± Unkai interrupted, to Tom¡¯s relief.


    ¡°One, I wasb not in comand. Zroko... Zorkn¡­ Zarko was¡­ Two, Five kids there more here. That will do for mem,¡± Tom replied, feeling proud of himself holding up the cup. ¡°Now can I get bandage off?¡±


    ¡°No. They are staying for at least a few days and, idiotic as it seems, you apparently need to keep drinking.¡±


    ¡°Almost enough to make you jealous,¡± Shiva added as Tom consigned himself to his fate, taking a draught of burny liquid.


    ¡°God it burns and the smell.¡± Tom wretched as he continued to drink the life-saving liquid.


    ¡°Are you gonna puke?¡± Unkai questioned.


    ¡°Fuck no. Lay me down. I be good.¡±


    That turned out to be a blatant lie, though this time he was allowed to puke in a bucket rather than receive the more painful solution. Before being forced to replace the precious medicine that had just left him.


    ¡°I think he needs some time,¡± Unkai stated with pity in his voice, with which Nunuke had agreed.


    Shortly thereafter the room had gone mostly quiet. Tom laid there trying to go back to sleep again, fighting the headache and just the general case of everything and hurting failing miserably. ¡®Jacky is fine. Of course, she¡¯s fine. Everything''s just fine.¡¯ He kept telling himself, feeling the bandages getting a little wet with a smile on his face.

 How Do We Respond?

    Chapter 98: How Do We Respond?


    Sapphire had woken up on a couch, still fully dressed, by Dakota shaking her by the shoulders rather violently.


    ¡°He¡¯s alive! Tom made it!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Sapphire got out, still half asleep. ¡°Jacky too?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still out in the forest somewhere. But come on, it¡¯s Jacky! If she made it safely down then she¡¯s gonna be fine.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on?¡± Balethon questioned, still sounding sleepy.


    ¡°They lived. Both of the idiots are alive, sure they are rough as all hell but they made it!¡± Dakota let out excitedly.


    Sapphire took a second to digest it all. Yesterday had ended on such a low note. The enemy had a new weapon, two in fact it seemed. Hylsdal had been destroyed, and now she was happy¡­ She felt rather bad, but they were alive! And mostly well at least. She even allowed herself to laugh a little in relief.


    ¡°I take it back Balethon, my prayers have been answered,¡± She let out with a happy chuckle.


    ¡°Now remember to be thankful,¡± He replied lightheartedly.


    ¡°Well we certainly got that one covered,¡± Dakota retorted. ¡°Everyone back home is alive, and we made more money yesterday than during the last five years. We have a solid case against the bitch.¡±


    ¡°Don''t forget whatever we are getting from the Flaxen armory,¡± Sapphire added, trying not to sound giddy. She was still excited about that.


    ¡°And our crazy inventor guy. I take it you want to go shopping then? Once we collect at least,¡± Balethon questioned, looking to Dakota, who looked slightly perturbed at that.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never even held that much money. On that note, we need to go speak with Vulzan too. He''s gonna be hanging onto everything for us. There is no way we could carry that much around.¡±


    ¡°The reports were addressed from here, right?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°Fuck, right. I¡¯m guessing we are gonna be summoned too then.¡±


    ¡°We need to check-in at the tavern too. Just so they know,¡± Sapphire added.


    ¡°Good point... Shit, today is gonna be busy, we need to swing by Essy¡¯s sister too... Right, let''s get to work people,¡± Dakota went, slapping her thighs as she got up.


    ¡°Think we can catch breakfast here? I think it¡¯s a bit better than at the tavern. No offence to your brother,¡± Balethon went, looking to Sapphire.


    ¡°You are gonna have to. Lady Ishani of the Academy is paying you a visit after breakfast,¡± a Hashaw family guard surprised Sapphire from behind, Apparently having been standing there silently for at least a while.


    ¡°I guess so much for canceling our meeting today,¡± Dakota let out, looking a tad puzzled at that. Sapphire had to agree. Originally they had to wait for days to get an appointment with her, not to mention they had to go and make the appointment in the first place.


    There hadn¡¯t been any complaints from the Hashaws as they joined them for some very delicious breakfast. The mood was a little lighter at the table, though this time it was the Hashaws'' turn to be the quiet ones. Sapphire hadn¡¯t been quite sure what to expect from a visit from the Lady of the Royal Academy. To have Dakota¡¯s little sister, Linkosta, open the door with a shout of glee wasn¡¯t it though.


    She came running over, picking Dakota up in a big hug. Dakota at the very least seemed surprised and didn¡¯t struggle as she was lifted off the ground by the smaller Linkosta.


    ¡°It¡¯s so nice to see you! Why didn''t you come by sooner?¡± Linkosta questioned, giggling with glee as she moved on to Sapphire and Balethon. ¡°No, one mustn¡¯t be pushy. It sounds like you have had it rough enough as it is¡­ Oh but it¡¯s nice to know you''re doing good. How are things back at home? I heard you had a rough time, is everyone okay?¡±


    ¡°We think so. Our newest addition is still having a rough time, and Jacky is being Jacky, but it sounds like they did it.¡±


    ¡°Awesome, I have questions about Tom. Don¡¯t think I have not heard,¡± Linkosta went with a wink, turning back to Lady Ishani who had followed her enthusiastic companion with more dignity. ¡± ¡°This is Lady Ishani. Don¡¯t worry, she doesn¡¯t bite.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to make your acquaintance properly. I must apologize for the nature of my visit. The contents of the report I received last night more than piqued my¡­ curiosity,¡± the Lady went with a polite bow, something Sapphire definitely wasn¡¯t expecting. ¡°Now I won¡¯t keep you from your food. Dig in, you''ve earned it.¡±


    Sapphire was a little surprised she would come here and not demand an immediate report, but the lady was in fact extremely nice and very polite as they ate. She gave them the time to bring Linkosta up to speed as best they could. Following everything that had happened, which by now was turning into an extremely long list, that did take a fair while. Especially since Linkosta had a plethora of questions about just about everything. Looking at the Lady, Sapphire cracked a smile as Linkosta continued her questioning, currently interrogating Dakota, about how Tom¡¯s insides differed from theirs. ¡®Interrogation by proxy, you clever bastard,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself, seeing the Lady sit comfortably and listening intently to everything being said.


    She didn¡¯t get the full details about Tom; they weren¡¯t giving those away that easy. Lady Ishani knew about Tom and most of his exploits already though, and would likely be learning a lot more soon anyway, so it didn¡¯t matter too much. When the Lady joined the conversation she offered both condolences on the death of the ones they had known, as well as congratulations and a very large amount of praise for both the actions of their keep and the trio over the last few days.


    When everyone was finally caught up and the meal finished, she had requested the use of the earrings, allowing her to have a session with Nunuk to let her explain things rather than Dakota. Lady Deriva was also put through at some point when Nunuk was apparently exhausted by the trance.


    ¡®They are not out of the woods yet then,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. Normally it took quite a while before Nunuk was tired out from using the earrings, Dakota usually breaking first. When Lady Deriva was also spent, her son Luke taking over, Linkosta gave Saph an elbow in the side.


    ¡°She¡¯s amazing right¡­ She just keeps going.¡±


    ¡°I still don''t get how you people do that¡­ What have you been up to anyway?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking to the excited Linkosta.


    ¡°Oh, nothing special. Just making sure Apuma gets knocked off his perch when I get back home.¡±


    ¡°Oh believe me he¡¯s struggling already.¡±


    ¡°That Tom guy, right?¡± she questioned, thinking for a second. ¡°Nah, I reckon I¡¯m still a better mage than him.¡±


    Sapphire almost managed to suppress her chuckle at that. ¡®I mean, you''re not wrong.¡¯


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m doing very well. I haven''t failed an exam yet,¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you need to know everything.¡±


    ¡°And I will, you can bet your tail on that.¡±


    ¡°You know full well people bet on me, not the other way around, or did you forget?¡± Sapphire joked back sarcastically.


    ¡°Oh just because you fly a little better than most,¡± Linkosta replied dismissively, causing Saph to chuckle a bit again.


    ¡°A little,¡± Sapphire replied feigning offence. ¡°You still haven''t worked out a way to use magic to beat me¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not telling,¡± Linkosta replied, cocking her head up high, Sapphire just shaking her head with a chuckle.


    When Lady Ishani had finished her session, Linkosta was tasked with writing everything down. The Lady¡¯s memory was damn near perfect as she recited the last half hour¡¯s worth of conversation by memory. Linkosta diligently wrote it all down with equally impressive speed, not missing a beat.


    The Lady only complained a little about the vagueness of some of the information, especially concerning the mutant bat things, which were clearly her focus. She even noted down Jarix''s report on how he had fought them. It sounded like a bloody affair to Sapphire, that was for sure. She thanked them for their service and dragged a reluctant Linkosta back with her. Though promises were made they would be seeing each other again soon enough.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had been slipping in and out of sleep, mostly waking when he either got sick or it was time for the next dosage. This time though it was a large amount of noise outside the door that he couldn''t quite make out that woke him up, followed by said door rapidly opening and slamming shut again.


    Then the sound of an axe hitting the door resounded through the infirmary. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Tom let out in alarm as he tried to at least sit up. He was blind, shitfaced, and completely unarmed, and still in considerable pain.


    ¡°Shiva, NO! He needs to rest.¡± Tom was fairly sure that was Nunuk protesting outside the door.


    ¡°He promised! He promised he wouldn''t use her!¡±


    ¡°He didn''t, I love him! I did it. I did all of it!¡±


    ¡°Jacky!¡± Tom let out excitedly.


    ¡°Hi, don¡¯t worry everything is fine,¡± Jackalope replied, not doing a very good job of sounding convincing.


    ¡°And he let you! You damn near killed yourself twice and that wasn¡¯t enough for him!¡± Shiva protested, sounding absolutely furious.


    ¡°Is he doing any better? I¡¯m fine,¡± Jacky replied, as the axe blade hit again with a deep thunk.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°You damn near died twice and then he tried to kill you in bed while you were drunk. That¡¯s not fine!¡±


    ¡°Who the hell told you that! Wait, how does anyone know that part?!¡±


    ¡®Oh shit,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, his heart sinking a little.


    ¡°The entire keep could hear you two! And Unkai was asked for his medical opinion. He says and I quote, ¡®You acted against all medical advice. That little weasel looked ready to run when I asked him, and I''ve never seen a dragon shrink like that!¡± Shiva snarled as the ax came down again. ¡°And then you go on some insane mission while wounded, eating enough sugar honey or whatever to land you in bed for a week!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing great, thank you very much. I only slept for a day, not a week. Okay, maybe a little more than a day. What did you do to make Unkai tell you!?¡±


    ¡°I asked nicely. Now get away from the door. I¡¯m going to geld him for this.¡±


    ¡°Over my dead body! Hit that door again and you are gonna hit me!¡±


    ¡°Shiva, stop it. That¡¯s an order,¡± Nunuk shouted out. She sounded like she was outside too. Meaning Jacky was holding the fort from inside, so to speak.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get to choose who I want, and I want him. He¡¯s awesome! Now fuck off!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna get you killed,¡± Shiva pleaded, anger falling, though only slightly.


    ¡°Says the one with the axe,¡± Jacky retorted, emphasizing just how absurd that was.


    ¡°I have no clue what¡¯s going on,¡± Some poor guy from one of the other beds declared, sounding rather terrified.


    ¡°Just family issues. We¡¯ll be done shortly,¡± Jacky replied in a softer tone.


    ¡°Wait, you got your hearing back!¡± Tom broke out, finally realizing.


    ¡°That took you a while to figure out. Still fucked in the head?¡± Jacky replied with a friendly laugh.


    ¡°I mean¡­ I think so? How have you been?¡±


    ¡°Oh, crashed in the woods and passed out for a day or so. Then Ethera had to carry my broken ass back here. She seems nice,¡± she replied jokingly.


    ¡°Jacky open the damn door!¡± Shiva protested from outside, a slamming noise echoing through the room again, Jacky letting out a grunt of either pain or effort as the wood creaked.


    ¡°Fuck off mom¡­ So anyway, how have you been? I heard you had some great fun without me?¡±


    ¡°I remember bits at most¡­ don¡¯t really wanna talk about it. You get out of it okay? Sounds like you had it rough?¡± Tom tried, hoping to get the subject away from that particular escapade.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, we are gonna talk about it,¡± She replied with a slightly evil laugh. ¡°The wound on my back got infected. Nunuk took care of it, though it would have taken a while to kill me anyway. Couldn¡¯t you have saved some more of the wildbrew? That sounds like great fun.¡±


    ¡®Goddammit,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself as Jacky started giggling madly. ¡®Couldn¡¯t they like not have told her about all that?¡¯


    ¡°I swear by all the gods...¡± Shiva tried again, though her tone was faltering it seemed, as she rammed the door once more.


    ¡°Shut up. I¡¯m happy,¡± Jacky cut her off.


    ¡°But he...¡±


    ¡°He didn''t do anything,¡± Jacky snapped in reply, sounding like she had just run out of patience. ¡°I saved his ass during the battle, twice actually. I dragged him to safety after he got shot. I got him drunk and I hauled him into that bedroom. Then I decided to save his ass from what I made him drink.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I think it was the wine¡­¡± Tom tried cautiously.


    ¡°Oh shut up. I¡¯m having a moment,¡± Jacky cut him off, in a much softer voice, switching back to the hard tone to address her mother. ¡°He¡¯s mine and that¡¯s final. Hell, you''re just jealous.¡± Shiva apparently didn¡¯t have a comeback for that as the bashing stopped.


    Tom felt the urge to clap a little but sadly missed the first few times. ¡®If only the blasted bed would stop moving so I could fucking hit,¡¯ He cursed as he tried again, his hand being grabbed by Jacky.


    ¡°You are not well at all, are you?¡± She questioned, her voice growing concerned.


    ¡°Everything hurts and I¡¯m drunk as all hell and I still can¡¯t see anything,¡± Tom replied, sounding almost proud.


    ¡°Give me some of that, you never know, I drank the same stuff as you,¡± Jacky went as Tom heard his cup get taken from the nightstand. ¡°I''ve had a few rough days too. Sorry about running.¡±


    ¡°Don''t care, you lived. Come here,¡± Tom went holding out his arms, regretting his decision as Jacky grabbed him, squeezing way too tightly for his current condition, letting go after he let out a pained squeak. ¡°Too tight. Too tight Jacky!¡±


    ¡°Shit sorry¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll just sit here again. You know, keep watch and all that,¡± Jacky replied as Tom heard a chair move on the floors.


    ¡°How long have you been here?¡± He questioned. He couldn¡¯t really remember when he had last been awake, nor did he even know what day or time it was. Surely it couldn¡¯t have been days though.


    ¡°Oh, not too long, half a day maybe. You¡¯ve been sleeping since I got here. They wouldn¡¯t let me wake you up. It gave Nunuk the time she needed to fix my ears, so that¡¯s nice. You stink by the way.¡±


    ¡°Hey, dying isn''t easy. They really fixed your ears just like that?¡± Tom replied., he didn¡¯t really feel up for a bath at the moment, even if he likely needed it.


    ¡°Oh yeah, she just stitched something back up. No clue what it was though. She sounded rather disappointed with Quin for not doing it. She says I should be careful with them for a while though, else she will start charging me for it.¡±


    ¡°Sure you will, you are the queen of careful. You need earmuffs just like Kiran,¡± Tom joked with a mild chuckle.


    ¡°If you call me adorable I¡¯ll drink the rest of your medicine,¡± Jacky replied, trying and failing to sound serious.


    ¡°After all that work to save me again?¡± Tom questioned jokingly. Trying to move over to the other side of the bed. ¡°Room for two I think.¡± She didn¡¯t hesitate on that invitation as she crawled in under the sheets, cuddling up against him as gently as she could. ¡±Should we let her in before she decides to break down the door anyway?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I told you, you¡¯re safe here. You don¡¯t have to worry at all. When I¡¯m here you''re safe,¡± Jacky replied with no small amount of pride in her voice.


    ¡°Well, amen to that.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Maiko had been tasked to remain with them for the time being, until they could be sure the bitch didn''t have more cards to play or just in case the Flaxen family decided to go back on their word. He was definitely still taking the situation seriously, which helped keep Saph and the others on their toes. In fact, Maiko seemed far more on edge now than he had been thus far, often walking hand on his sword hilt.


    The rest of the day had been a flurry of errands, making sure everyone who might be worried knew everything was fine. They were expecting a summons at some point to arrive at the Hashaw estate or the tavern.


    The first stop had been the free traders guild, where Vulzan had damn near dropped his jaw on the floor at the news of what they would be transporting, not to mention what he and Archeon would be tasked with looking after in the meantime. Being the opportunist that he was, he didn''t hesitate to accept though.


    There was hardly a safer place to put money than in the grasp of a dragon you trusted inside the Merchants guild, so Dakota and Sapphire weren¡¯t worried. Archeon had his own personal stables there, where he was currently trying his best to relax a bit. They had facilities to store a variety of goods, not to mention Archeon''s personal fund.


    Most of his crew had stayed on despite the layover, Cabrera damn near doing in Balethon with a hearty hug when she saw him. That quickly turned to making fun of him for being carried off in the night without a fight once they all got the rundown of what had happened. To the clear embarrassment of Balethon, who did his best to look as offended as possible.


    Sapphire was keeping her eye on her though; when the sums of money were discussed, Canabrera was definitely listening intently. Though to be honest, so was pretty much everyone. Nevertheless, the escort had insisted on following along, stating that it sounded like they could use all the friends they could get right now. The fact that Maiko was still following along did make it rather hard to argue that statement. And Dakota didn¡¯t even try to dissuade her, and Balethon was obviously all for it.


    Archeon had been anxious for news of his son, though he did not take it well. Cursing the stupidity of that whole situation, especially engaging darklings at night. The assurances that Jarix was indeed fine and would make a full recovery did help alleviate his concerns and he was clearly relieved to know all was well. He didn''t blame Saph and the others either, thanking them for letting him know. Even if Sapphire was fairly sure he would have some strong words for Jarix and quite possibly Tom, the next time he saw them.


    Tink had been more than a little surprised at the result of asking how they had been as they stepped in the door to the workshop. Junior had sat there wide-eyed as they recounted their escapades. They even let Maiko get away with overstating his involvement just a little. In his defense, he had been crucial though, since they would likely all have ended up in an overnight cell if not for him.


    Tink, though, remained unfazed once the explanation ended. He was very excited to reveal what he hoped would be the final design for the self-lighting lamp, to which he had added a hood to for some reason.


    ¡°It¡¯s self-lighting, Tink. It doesn¡¯t need a hood. Just put it out and light it again,¡± Dakota let out, trying to sound diplomatic. ¡°But it is very nice.¡±


    After some slight grumbling about how he still liked the hood, he had shown them the rest of the progress. Thus far everything seemed to be moving along well enough. The actual lighter prototype was also beginning to take shape, though making everything small enough was clearly proving a challenge.


    The visit to Esmeralda¡¯s sister had of course also dragged on longer than it should have, though the notion that she would receive noble family-backed compensation for everything she could think of for Essy actually managed to break her usual focus on the latest news and gossip. The list of remedies and potions she began listing off, made Sapphire reconsider just how lightly the Flaxens had gotten off the hook in respect to compensating Esmeralda.


    The news of Tom¡¯s condition also saw several more items added to the list, to be sent to the Flaxens and Sir Viantius to be incorporated into the paperwork. It helped that the stuff Tom needed was actually rather similar to what was being prepared for Esmeralda. Ignis did curse the fact that these things couldn¡¯t get there sooner though. It had already been too long since Esmeralda had been poisoned, though Nunuk and Apuma knew what they were doing on the subject and the relatively rapid administration of an antidote had helped a lot.


    The longer they waited the longer it would take to get Esmeralda back to full strength, not to mention that the delay meant it would take more of the precious concoctions. That was a problem for the Flaxens though. Ignis certainly had sufficient stock to handle the demand.


    By the time they managed to swing by the tavern one of the more temporary guards had taken over for Haiko who had fallen asleep and was currently leaning on his spear snoring quite loudly.


    ¡®And the idiot doesn¡¯t even want to leave his post,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself, gesturing for the others to remain silent. She sneaked up behind her unsuspecting brother, the other guard cracking a smile looking at her.


    ¡°WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING ON YOUR POST SOLDIER!¡± Sapphire bellowed out as loudly as she could, doing her best to sound properly pissed off. Haiko shot awake, leveling his spear at Sapphire as she broke out laughing at his terrified expression, helmet resting crookedly on his head from the jolt.


    ¡°Oh you bitch,¡± He replied with a chuckle as his shoulders sagged in relief.


    ¡°What kind of greeting is that?¡± Sapphire replied with a chuckle as she gave him a quick side hug. ¡°You got anything for us? We are kinda expecting a summons of some kind.¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of. What the hell happened yesterday?. We were worried you got yourself thrown in jail in the end.¡±


    ¡°Nah we made it just fine. In fact, it all went great. Come on, we¡¯ll tell you over dinner. I think you owe us a meal anyway,¡± Sapphire jested as they went inside. The barkeep had apologized profusely for what had happened, being dismissed by Dakota. There was nothing more that could have been done short of hiding in the basement. In fact, they had gone above and beyond to try and keep them safe.


    Haiko had let fly a line of deadly curses against the bitch at the news she was indeed the one responsible for this shit show. He made a bit of a show of it as per usual, but Sapphire knew him well enough to know that it was mostly empty threats.


    ¡°How about the kids. Do you know who made it?¡± Haiko questioned after the cursing subsided.


    ¡°Yes, the list of casualties was sent to the city guard and the coroner¡¯s office. We are not gonna be delivering that piece of news.¡± Dakota replied solemnly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we could even find half of them anyway. Besides, we have way too much to do,¡± Balethon added, clearly trying to drag the conversation on to something less depressing.


    ¡°Speaking of which, we need to swing by the Hashaws¡¯ again just in case the summons ended up there. I can¡¯t imagine they don¡¯t want a report in person after that one. I¡¯ve never even heard of frontier keeps being attacked like that, short of in times of war. That force could have posed a danger to just about anywhere that doesn¡¯t have dragons or a lot of defenders,¡± Dakota added, clearly pondering the prospect.


    ¡°Yeah that sounds insane. Too bad you were here bringing down that bitch of yours. You¡¯re missing out on all the fun,¡± Haiko went, giving Sapphire a punch to the shoulder.


    ¡°Oh you know, they wouldn¡¯t have dared attack if I was there,¡± Sapphire replied jokingly.


    ¡°Yeah, they would have been scared of getting bullied to death,¡± Balethon tried in response as Sapphire switched her gaze to him.


    ¡°Careful now, remember why you survived last night.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Rounds are on me tonight,¡± Balelthon let out uncomfortably as he clearly reminisced about that experience.


    ¡°Damn right they are,¡± Sapphire replied, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Were you just locked up, or were you out so to speak?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I remember everything.¡±


    ¡°Well, you won¡¯t get to drink away the memory tonight. We don¡¯t need a repeat of our first visit,¡± Dakota replied sternly, looking at both Sapphire and Balethon. Sapphire did feel slightly insulted by the insinuation, though she wouldn¡¯t have minded an ale or two tonight.

 Final Consequence

    Chapter 99: Final Consequence


    As they had expected, Sapphire, Dakota, and Balethon did indeed receive a summons to report to the general of the Royal Guard, going with Victoria to do their best to explain the situation. They reported to the general¡¯s office for a report and questioning.


    ¡°So, you claim to have encountered a force far beyond anything we have seen in decades that far out. To the point that it actually seems ludicrously excessive for the task at hand, and yet you managed to not only miraculously save five children from a fallen keep that had been picked clean but also save another keep currently resisting this overwhelming force without taking a single casualty yourself?¡± The general¡¯s expression was incredulous as she looked over the four individuals before her.


    ¡°No Ma¡¯am, Jarix found the kids, one of your own. And we very nearly lost two of our own in the following battle, not to mention the damage Jarix sustained. He clearly gave everything he had to save the keep the inhabitants of the keep, acting with both honor and bravery going above and beyond his assigned orders,¡± Dakota replied in her well-trained diplomatic voice.


    ¡°Yet we have no way of verifying with either Zarko, Radexi, or Jarix at the moment. Most convenient,¡± the general replied, still not letting go of her suspicious tone.


    ¡°Jarix did in fact verify the report this morning. Though it happened through Lady Deriva and her son, Luke Deriva,¡± Victoria added, also using a very respectful tone. Sapphire elected to just shut up so she didn¡¯t insult the general by accident, but honestly, after all the shit they had gone through to be accused of lying of all things, was more than a little insulting.


    ¡°And how do you know that was Jarix''s testimony?¡±


    ¡°Because these people have been through very thorough scrutiny as of late and we have failed to find a single fault with neither their actions nor intentions. I guess you can thank the falsified accusations against them for that. Secondly, the report fits very well with what I would expect from Jarix, I have been overseeing his training on and off for nearly a decade, General,¡± Victoria replied, not budging on her position.


    ¡°Another recruit more passionate about honor and glory than following orders,¡± the general replied with a sigh. ¡±And what of this new threat then, if they are indeed real? Jarix was seemingly capable of taking down no less than three of them by himself. So then, what gives? Limited combat potential, poorly led? The battle was fought at night; surely that should give them a nearly insurmountable advantage.¡±


    ¡°Element of surprise,¡± Victoria stated as if that was blindingly obvious. ¡°It said so in the report. One of them didn''t even get into the air. The second was overpowered in a frontal assault. The third was only dealt with on account of support from his crew after having inflicted very serious damage to him.¡±


    The general replied with an annoyed grunt, looking back at the report. ¡°What kind of threat would you classify them as then, Colonel?¡±


    ¡°It is a well-known fact that bats can see at night. If this is true for these monsters then I can only assume it makes them capable of not only flight but full-on maneuvering during the night, even at low altitude or through treacherous routes.¡±


    ¡°It would explain their ability to dodge our patrols,¡± a scribe, who was noting down everything being said, let out calmly while scribbling away.


    ¡°It would,¡± the general agreed with a sigh, ¡°and their mediocre combat performance would explain why we haven''t seen them deployed actively yet, that and the enemy likely want to keep them a secret. But they match the descriptions of the damage caused to some of the other frontier keeps¡­ Fine, they exist. We will have to find a way to combat them then, but you can''t honestly expect me to believe those numbers aren¡¯t exaggerated. 75 darklings and three dark knights... I mean, come on, Colonel! I have read enough battlefield reports to know those numbers rarely mean anything. What would you put the actual numbers at.¡±


    ¡°The numbers are accurate, General,¡± Dakota interjected. ¡°They are not air kills or other such numbers, it¡¯s the number of bodies recovered from the field.¡±


    ¡°You are saying you have three full sets of... let¡¯s assume lich plate in Deriva Keep¡¯s possession?¡±


    ¡°That is correct,¡± Dakota replied confidently. They knew so for a fact, so there was no reason to lie here.


    ¡°Oh godsdammit, why can¡¯t you just be lying,¡± the general let out in frustration. ¡°We don¡¯t know where they are coming from. They can apparently navigate as they please at night without us spotting them, and then there is this dagger. I have sent for the one recovered from your keep. We have tried to crack how it works, though nothing has come of it yet.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t sound good,¡± Balethon let out, sounding rather worried, Sapphire agreeing on that point.


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. We are holding an emergency war council in a few hours time, you are gonna be present too. Hopefully that particular mystery won¡¯t be evading us for too much longer. With that determined, we have to come up with a plan to fight this situation. If we cannot defend the frontier keeps we will be forced to start withdrawing from them. We simply don¡¯t have the manpower to defend them all like has been done with yours.¡±


    ¡°Fingers crossed we can think of something then,¡± Sapphire tried with a strained expression.


    ¡°The frontier is already basically undefended. People won¡¯t be leaving because you tell them it¡¯s not safe. it¡¯s always been dangerous out there, but it¡¯s their homes,¡± Dakota interjected.


    ¡°No, but right now I¡¯m responsible for everyone lost,¡± the general replied in a much more somber tone. ¡®Oh, please don¡¯t seek pity from us,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself. She guessed the general just wanted to avoid the fallout from her failures in the future.


    The war council was indeed held in the Royal Palace itself. Sapphire had wondered what that might look like inside. She was not disappointed. The hallways were large enough for dragons to traverse, and they did. There was cobalt blue carpeting with silver and gold framed paintings on the walls. Not to mention, the amount of gilding used. It seemed like almost everything that could be, was gilded, and countless valuable items were out for display.


    The war room, though, was a different story. There was a massive table in the center surrounded by raised platforms of multiple tiers on three sides and one large opening big enough for a dragon to occupy it on the fourth wall. They had arrived early, taking up seats at the highest tier looking down. The general peeled off to sit at the closest tier.


    The king didn¡¯t show, though one of the princesses did indeed grace them with her presence, arriving backed by a gnarled looking veteran of a red dragon and her personal entourage of what looked like advisors and a complement of Royal Life Guards. Sapphire almost thought it was Baron for a second, though on closer inspection that clearly wasn''t the case. Firstly, it was a she. Secondly, Baron still had both of his eyes. Thirdly, she was even larger than Baron. Sapphire put her down as maybe being as much as 45 tons maybe more, making her a true behemoth. As the massive dragon laid down on the platform only the front part of the body was even inside the room.


    The princess was introduced as Major Aquilani Leviticus of the Royal Guard and the royal family, third in line to the throne. Sapphire knew it was common for members of the royal family to serve in the guard, earning ranks as per tradition. Though, if it came down to it, there would be little doubt as to who was in charge in a discussion between Victoria and the princess.


    Unlike her father earlier, she was kitted out for war to the point where Sapphire honestly wondered whether she planned to storm out the room to charge at the enemy herself.


    She was an odd combination of unrestrained fury at what had happened and profound gratitude towards Sapphire and the others, Victoria included. The other representatives of both the Royal Guard and the Merchant Guild, specifically the head of their escort services, weren¡¯t so lucky though. Even the general of the Royal Guard wasn¡¯t above her wrath as she dished out insults and accusations of both incompetence and cowardice that this situation had not been discovered earlier.


    Following the reprimanding of everyone the princess had deemed in need of one, the actual meeting had commenced. The report was discussed; many questioned the truthfulness of it, though they were eventually either persuaded or overruled on the subject.


    The dagger had been brought in at one point, Sapphire leaning over to Dakota to whisper.


    ¡°What are they planning on doing with that thing here?¡±


    ¡°Damn if I know,¡± Dakota replied with a shrug of her shoulders.


    The Lady Ishani stood up, walking down to the floor. Sapphire had not noticed her before.


    ¡°The dagger before you has been examined thoroughly. Aside from its potent magical potential and the dark nature of said magic, we have been unable to unravel its secrets, nor break its enchantment. Hence, we will proceed to a more direct approach. The first willing test subject, please.¡±


    The doors opened again as a very miserable-looking dragonette was marched through the doors in chains. ¡®Oh no they aren¡¯t,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself at the sight of the familiar-looking prisoner.


    ¡°For the records, would you please state your name and that you consent to his experiment,¡± the Lady continued, gesturing to Thalrex.


    ¡°I, Thalrex Lyftmore, consent to this experiment in exchange for having my criminal record expunged.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you fucking idiot,¡± Sapphire let out quietly, actually feeling sorry for the mercenary. Her sentence had been indentured servitude for a number of years likely in the mines; Sapphire didn¡¯t know the final number but it wouldn¡¯t be life. Surely it wasn¡¯t worth dying over.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything, we are not here to make demands. It¡¯s her choice,¡± Dakota went, putting a hand on Sapphire''s shoulder to calm her down. Her voice wasn¡¯t entirely calm either though.


    ¡°I would rather have seen the bitch take this one, she will do though,¡± Balethon added, not sounding overly concerned.


    Thalrex had been placed on a stretcher and tied down tightly with leather straps and chains.


    Sapphire held her breath as a figure in a religious robe came into the room, accompanied by four chanting individuals carrying censers.


    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Sapphire questioned, eyes locked on the central figure with her stark white horns and solid blue eyes.


    ¡°Yup,¡± came the response from Dakota, her eyes also fixed on the high priestess.


    The censer carriers stopped their chanting, stepping back and muttering prayers. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but join them, saying a prayer for the mercenary. She might have taken a really shitty job, but no one deserved what Sapphire guessed was about to happen.


    The high priestess took the dagger from its tray, removing the sheath. It looked just like any other fine dagger Sapphire had ever seen. The priestess gave Thalrex a light cut on the forearm and stepped back to see if anything happened, though nothing did.


    Sapphire had to look away for what came next, as they proceeded to get more and more violent with the blade. Stabbing Thalrex in the gut, the mercenary let out a blood-curdling scream, also receiving no reaction. Eventually, the high priestess said her final prayer, stabbing her through the heart, driving the slender blade in deep as Thalrex writhed and struggled.


    The effect was immediate; the Priestess got flung back hard enough to smash the thick wooden railing of the first level, her four censer bearers dropping to the floor, the censers clattering to the ground with them.


    Thalrex writhed and fought against her restraints as a black stain spread from the wound, quickly engulfing her in darkness. Sapphire covered her ears as her scream turned twisted, her back arching up as she roared out with all her might. Then silence as the dragon slapped down a paw on top of her, crushing the stretcher and small table under Thalrex with a sickening crunch. Leaving only a sizable blue gory stain on the floor, stretching away from her broken body.


    ¡°There, you know what it does. Can we deal with them now?¡± The dragon questioned impatiently as she held up her paw, waiting for her crew to clean it off. Sapphire just sat there staring in shock.


    The room erupted into activity, some people tending to the priestess and the censer bearers, the Life Guards moving aside from having leapt in front of the princess, sheathing their weapons.


    Lady Ishani stood there for a second before taking out a small booklet and beginning to write, walking over to inspect the ruined corpse.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Well, that explains that,¡± Victoria had let out, sounding rather apprehensive. ¡°And if there are two chances are good there are more.¡±


    ¡°And Jarix has one of those, right?¡± Balethon questioned, clearly in shock too.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna let them know immediately,¡± Dakota declared, leaning back.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had taken a few days, though Tom was finally allowed to sober up. Jacky hadn¡¯t left him for most of the time, though it helped that she really needed the time to recover too. The statement that she had needed to be carried back wasn¡¯t a joke either. Apparently, she and Ethera had climbed a tree to get enough speed to get the two of them airborne. She had pushed herself far beyond anything that could be considered a good idea and she had paid the price. Nunuk had her running her wings through a series of exercises to try and get her back in the air as soon as possible. But other than that she was not allowed to use them at all.


    Zarko had returned along with Rekui, the silvered huntress from Deriva. She had come by to say hi during one of Tom¡¯s more awake moments. She apparently expected Jarix to be flight-worthy within a few days. He won¡¯t be fit for a fight, but he¡¯ll at least be to the point where he could take to the wing for some testing to make sure everything was fine. He wouldn¡¯t be pulling any hard maneuvers or daring dashes across the sky, but he should be able to make the journey just fine.


    ¡®Damn dragons and their healing hacks,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, honestly feeling relieved he might be heading for home soon. Kiran had to be worried sick. Nor did Tom feel particularly inclined towards staying in an infirmary bed any longer than necessary. He certainly wasn¡¯t adding anything to the defence of Deriva in his current state. To say he was ready to return home wouldn¡¯t be an overstatement either.


    Lady Deriva had agreed that Bizmati Keep¡¯s inhabitants had done more than anyone could ask of them already, including leaving their keep perilously low on defenders during such an evidently dangerous time.


    When the hangover finally hit, he found himself blessing the fact his eye bandages hadn¡¯t been taken off yet in addition to reciting the few prayers Quin had forced him to learn. The hangover had him puking ''til there was nothing left and shaking and shivering badly enough that Jacky had called for one of the healers more than once. Tom had been through plenty of hell during the last few days, and now he had both Jacky and the promise that it would soon be over to help him through it. Yet it somehow seemed even worse as he clutched up tight against Jacky, begging her not to leave him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere, not this time. You said it goes away, so just sleep it out dude,¡± Came the soft, caring reply as Jacky curled up around him, stroking his sweaty face. ¡°You need water dude, it¡¯s like you¡¯re leaking all over,¡± she went with a snicker as she grabbed a pitcher from the nightstand to help him drink.


    ¡°See Huxly... That¡¯s what you are supposed to be doing,¡± one of the other wounded let out, teasing.


    ¡°Oh shut it, they broke by damn back and you know that.¡±


    ¡°Oh you and your excuses, we both know it was hardly a fractu¡­¡±


    ¡°Shhhssss,¡± Jacky cut them off as Tom winced at the noise, before she went back to nuzzling him.


    ¡°Thanks Jacky.¡±


    The mother of all hangovers had lasted a full day and well into the night, but mercifully the next morning brought with the clearest mind Tom had possessed in damn near a week. Jacky had brought breakfast up as he cautiously tried to eat something to see if it would stay down. Much to his relief the bucket hadn''t been needed and Quin had even cleared him to have a walk around for a bit. In fact, she insisted he should get up and move as much as he could.


    He had needed a hand to get to his feet. Luckily he had Jacky on hand ready and willing to help out. Even if she found it a tad too funny that he was the one struggling this time as he stood there on shaky feet.


    ¡°Shiva¡¯s not gonna stab me in the back while we walk the corridors, is she?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I think she got time to calm down a bit. I think it helped that I promised to keep the gun loaded for myself if she did,¡± Jacky replied, not missing a beat.


    ¡°Please promise you won¡¯t ever do that...¡±


    ¡°Well, then she has to promise she won¡¯t hurt you. It¡¯s very simple really,¡± Jacky joked as they made it down the stairs to the hall. Tom still hadn¡¯t been allowed to take the bandage off, though Nunuk had promised she would take a look at it tomorrow to see if it was time.


    Jacky had led Tom to a table somewhere towards the big doors to the outside, which judging by the air was currently closed. ¡°You just sit here for a moment, I¡¯ll be right back. Watch him,¡± Jacky went as she let go of him, running off.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing I¡¯m the designated guardian then,¡± Jarix spoke out from above, Tom looking up towards the sound.


    ¡°I guess so. How are you holding up?¡±


    ¡°Better than you, it would seem.¡± The dragon replied with a concerned chuckle.


    ¡°Not much of an achievement. No but really, you doing okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I guess, it¡¯s been a¡­ different week, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°No rest for the weary.¡±


    ¡°I mean, it can¡¯t get any worse now so¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t you say that Jarix, you¡¯ll incite Murphy''s wrath.¡± Tom let out with a chuckle.


    ¡°Who?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly not following as Tom chuckled at his own joke.


    ¡°It¡¯s just an old saying. ¡®It can always get worse.¡¯ Hopefully, it won''t though. I don¡¯t think I would survive that.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Jarix let out, tone growing a hint more concerned. ¡°Time to earn my keep I think¡±


    ¡°What do you..¡±


    ¡°Tomas Hansen. I need a talk with you,¡± Shiva let out from a way¡¯s off, accompanied by approaching footsteps.


    ¡°You can start with saying sorry for breaking their door,¡± Tom replied confidently; he knew she couldn¡¯t touch him here even if she wanted too.


    ¡°I need to know. Is she telling the truth? You didn¡¯t¡­ Oh you know,¡± she replied in a tone of strained indignation.


    ¡°Yes she is. If you aren''t gonna start screaming and swinging axes around you might even get the whole story, but yes. I held my promise to the letter,¡± Tom replied, putting heavy emphasis on the last part.


    ¡°See I told you so. This is the part where you say sorry,¡± Fengi added in, apparently having been sitting at the table all along. There was a bit of a pause before Shiva responded. ¡°Jacky fucking loves him.¡±


    ¡°For the record, Tom did try to stop her from leaving,¡± Jarix added from above. ¡°I think that¡¯s rather important¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just didn''t believe her,¡± Shiva finally replied, sounding completely defeated.


    ¡°For both breaking down the door and smashing me in the head with a chair?¡± Tom tried, rather pointedly.


    ¡°Hell no, you deserved that one. You would not believe the amount of trouble you caused... But if she¡¯s truly happy with you¡­ Then I guess that¡¯s how it¡¯s gonna be,¡± she replied, falling back into the sad tone.


    ¡°Oh come on, I can¡¯t see you but you sound like you lost her. I can¡¯t be that bad.¡±


    ¡°Come on Shiva, he¡¯s perfect for her. Would you rather have her run off with an escort or a mercenary?¡± Fengi added, Tom pulling a slight smile, backup was always appreciated.


    ¡°I¡­ as long as you don¡¯t kill her¡­ That I couldn¡¯t forgive¡±


    ¡°Who says I could,¡± Tom protested as sincerely as he could. It wasn¡¯t hard to manage. He honestly didn''t know what he would do in that situation, nor did he feel like thinking about it. ¡°I did try to stop her from going¡­ Kinda hard to order someone who is deaf though.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t have listened even if she could, nor could that little whelp Luka have made it¡± Shiva let out as she sat down with a sigh. ¡°You might not have claws but you have dug them in deep.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, I might have made a promise not to bribe Jacky, but don¡¯t tell me I have to bribe you.¡±


    ¡°No, I will not take a bribe. You will continue to prove yourself worthy of the last Furlong. Unfortunately, she¡¯s more than worthy of that name so I can¡¯t stop her.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound like it would only be her in your way,¡± Fengi added, sounding very cocky at the moment. Tom had a feeling the eight-ton dragon currently looming overhead might have something to do with that though.


    "I don¡¯t know what metric you use to measure worthiness, but I¡¯m fairly sure I¡¯m not poor and I have killed a lot of bad guys so far.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that¡¯s true,¡± Fengi let out as if something just clicked. ¡°Oh godsdammit!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tom questioned, looking towards where he guessed she was.


    ¡°I helped make Jacky the richest woman I have ever known¡­ I¡¯m an idiot,¡± Fengi replied, slamming something into the table that sounded like her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m what now?¡± Jacky questioned from a ways off. ¡°Hey! You better not be threatening him!¡±


    ¡°No, I am not. You made it very clear not to touch him,¡± Shiva replied, still sounding displeased at that.


    ¡°Damn right I did,¡± Jacky replied as she sat something down on the table, sitting down next to Tom and taking him into an embrace so they were both facing Shiva.


    ¡°Jacky, have you realized how much Tom is worth?¡± Jarix questioned from above, sounding genuinely curious.


    ¡°He¡¯s worth a hell of a lot to me,¡± she replied, clutching Tom a little closer. ¡°And you won¡¯t get in the way of that,¡± she then snapped at Shiva.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t figured it out,¡± Fengi went, sounding more than a little incredulous. ¡°Jacky, he¡¯s the richest person you have ever touched.¡±


    ¡°Now come on, if anything I¡¯m an expense at the moment,¡± Tom protested. There was a big difference between having a lot of money and having some stuff that was worth a lot after all; technically speaking he was fucking broke.


    Jacky shifted him over to the side a bit, Tom guessing that she was looking him over. ¡°Didn''t think of that¡­ Mom, aren¡¯t you supposed to give a girl something just because? Dad gave you that ring, right?¡±


    ¡°You''re not getting married!¡±


    ¡°What? No, I meant like¡­ I mean just kinda want a gift... I did save you three times,¡± Jacky replied with a snicker. ¡°Four if you count yesterday,¡± Tom had to admit, that yeah, he kinda owed her on that front. Rather badly, in fact.


    ¡°Uhm... What kinds of gifts exactly?¡±


    ¡°Like some jewelry may be a nice thing,¡± Fengi added, seemingly not quite over her earlier outburst.


    ¡°Well I did bring a bit of jewelry from home, if you want a ring or something?¡± Tom tried, thinking it over.


    ¡°Nah, I would rather have a thing¡­ Can I keep the revolver?¡± Jacky replied with tangible excitement in her voice.


    ¡°I guess that works,¡± Tom admitted. An annoyed grumble emanated from Shiva.


    ¡°Yuss! That¡¯s so much better than a stupid ring.¡± Tom heard the sound of the revolver getting unholstered.


    ¡°Did you sleep with that on?¡± Tom questioned. He hadn¡¯t heard her strap it on this morning so she must have.


    ¡°Yeah duh, I told my mother, I''d shoot myself if she killed you, wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat without the gun,¡± Jacky replied with tangible spite in her voice.


    ¡°Lethal jewelry,¡± Jarix added with a deep chuckle. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you give him something too though?¡±


    ¡°Right I should¡­ What do you want? I haven''t got anything you haven''t got.¡±


    ¡°You saved my ass three times on this trip, possibly four, and you want to give me a present?¡± Tom questioned, trying to make it sound as absurd as possible.


    ¡°I mean, I think I have to.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t die on me and don¡¯t shoot yourself. How''s that?¡±


    ¡°That applies to you too, and you better damn know that. But no seriously, there must be something.¡±


    ¡°Well you¡¯re a huntress. What about a nice trophy?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I have plenty of those.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°That settles it then. A three-strong formation is to be dispatched to track, and if possible destroy, any enemy-held positions in the area. Starting with an exceedingly thorough sweep of the forest on the island in light of what happened to the local unicorn and her current condition,¡± the general clarified, pausing for any objections.


    ¡°Very good. Young Tiguan is to be deployed to enact security for the rebuilding efforts of Hylsdal, as well as running transport operations for the core of engineers from the guild assigned to the project. The free trader Archeon shall also be employed in this role once his current itinerary is complete. The keep is expected ready for inhabitants by next spring.¡±


    ¡°If he agrees,¡± Dakota added in. ¡°We do not speak for him, we are simply his current employers.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Furthermore, Jarix is to remain deployed to Bizmati Keep until such a time as this situation is resolved. Tiguan is to be drawn from the cities defenses, though in light of our latest cuts to said defense force, the remaining three are to be drawn from the forces relocated to long-range patrol duties. Am I correct in understanding Colonel Victoria Hashaw has volunteered to lead this formation with Baron?¡±


    ¡°Yes general, though again Baron has yet to be asked, of course.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s not gonna pass up this chance,¡± the large female red dragon chuckled deeply enough that the room reverberated with her. ¡°I bet he¡¯s willing to do anything to get out of flying boring patrols with no hope of action.¡±


    ¡°His opinion won¡¯t matter either way. You two are the most experienced being transferred to patrol as it is. Not to mention the rather useful crew composition you have, following your time training our latest additions. Colonel, you are at liberty to choose your remaining compliment from the other forces getting transferred,¡± the general finished, leaving no further room for debate.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Victoria replied with a quick salute.


    ¡°Nice to see you taking action for once, general,¡± the princess went, seemingly poking a bit of fun at the general.


    ¡°And nice of you to promise not to force my hand by running off with our best units. Your contribution to our defenses is most appreciated. Council dismissed,¡± the general replied, sounding slightly sarcastic, leaving the princess chuckling as she turned to leave.


    The rest of the room rose to their feet and began making their way to the exits. Victoria escorting Sapphire and the others down the wide corridors.


    ¡°Are they really gonna be rebuilding Hylsdal this year already?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking to Dakota as they walked.


    ¡°Apparently so. I¡¯m guessing they want another stronghold on the island just in case. I think the Hylsdals have family back here too; they might be interested in taking over the family home?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to go live where my family was just slaughtered,¡± Balethon replied, voice heavy with apprehension.


    ¡°Then they will find someone worthy and willing and send them out instead,¡± Dakota dismissed him. ¡°The important part is things are about to get even more busy back home. We might be able to make some money selling building materials to them.¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously thinking about making more money right now?¡± Sapphire questioned, trying to emphasize the absurdity of that. ¡°We have way too much to do already.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ that we do indeed. I have been thinking about that actually. With our current influx of funds and the amount of projects on the horizon it might be time to go looking for some more faces for the keep.¡±


    ¡°You wanna hire more people?¡±


    ¡°We have the room, and now we have the work too. Why not?¡±


    ¡°Well what about Tink and Junior, think they would be willing?¡± Balethon questioned.


    ¡°If you tell them more about Tom then I think so, yeah. Don¡¯t they have work to do though?¡± Sapphire responded, pondering it. ¡°What about Ray¡­ I mean I know she¡¯s... you know... and she can¡¯t stay with Tiguan now, nor could she do that forever.¡±


    ¡°I think Tink can get the things we need done before we leave, then he can continue his work at the keep. Might even help take a bit of the load off Tom, he¡¯s damn well earned that,¡± Dakota replied, sounding thoughtful. ¡°As for Ray that doesn¡¯t matter if we have the work for her on the ground. I for one think she would complain a lot less about kitchen duty than Jacky.¡±


    Sapphire felt a sigh of relief leave her body. She liked Ray, but she was the kind of person you normally couldn¡¯t get away with helping. This situation was everything but normal though, and for once she thanked the gods for its absurdity.


    ¡°What about another huntress or two? You girls haven''t been the best at staying airborne as of late,¡± Balethon added, clearly trying to be funny. Sapphire didn''t consider his attempt successful.


    ¡°Someone is getting dropped next time,¡± she replied dryly. ¡°But it might not be a bad idea. Especially if Jarix is going to be staying in the winter.¡±


    ¡°No, I agree. I say we go watch a game then someday. We got lucky with you last time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we already tried the street girl approach. Ray might be sweet but she won¡¯t be rivaling Fengi in the air anytime soon,¡± Balethon tried again.


    ¡°Dude!¡± Sapphire snapped at him.


    ¡°Honestly man,¡± Dakota agreed, shaking her head.


    ¡°Oh come on, it was a good one. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s here,¡± Balethon tried to defend himself, holding out his arms wide.


    ¡°No, but she will be so you better learn to behave with decency. Your tongue has a tendency to slip. Tiguan is heading out as soon as possible, so you lot are swinging by the training fields tomorrow morning. You pick up Ray and wave goodbye to Tiguan. I recommend acquiring the medicine for Esmeralda and Tom today. If you could also convey the request to Arc, that would be appreciated. If he agrees, tell him to accompany you to the training fields, by then I will have the paperwork in order.¡± Victoria interrupted rather sternly.


    ¡°Of course we will let him know,¡± Dakota replied as they made their way out of the grand structure.

 Reunion

    Chapter 100: Reunion


    According to Archeon, contracts to move large amounts of materials like that weren¡¯t worth the effort. Once the notion of being able to bring materials to Bizmati on the side was brought up he had at least agreed to entertain the offer though. Hence they found themselves heading for the training field on dragon back once again. They had managed to get Ignis to put together a set of things for both Tom and Esmeralda, to be billed to the Flaxens of course. So it could be shipped out with Tiguan, saving precious weeks of treatment. As expected, they had found both Baron and Tiguan there, along with Victoria and the rest of Baron¡¯s crew, Maiko still being assigned to Sapphire and the others.


    A brief if fierce negotiation of rates had followed shortly after setting down, as Saphire left them to it, going looking for Ray instead. She did not have to look long, the cripple being in the middle of assisting some of Tiguan''s crew in cleaning and polishing the dragon prior to departure.


    ¡°Good morning. Going for a full shine today?¡± Saph let out happily, looking at Ray.


    ¡°Yeah, I don''t want to get intercepted en route,¡± Tiguan replied before Ray could answer, voice heavy with concern. ¡°The flags are all packed, right?¡±


    ¡°Spares too,¡± one of the ground crew replied, sounding like that wasn¡¯t the first time he had been asked that. ¡°And spare lines for the spare flags.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± the dragon replied, not sounded like the assurances had helped much.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will be fine, and both our keep and Deriva will know you''re coming,¡± Saph tried, looking up at the dragon.


    ¡°I know. I''ve just never gone that far out before, and never alone.¡±


    ¡°Well if anyone is dumb enough to intercept a dragon of the Royal Guard, you laugh at them and carry on flying,¡± one of Tiguan''s proper crew shouted out, clearly trying to sound as optimistic as he could.


    ¡°Or have a nice sampling of their pantries to repay for the offense,¡± another one joined in. Tiguan replied with nervous laughter.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll just do that.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine I¡¯m sure. Ray, I have a question for you. What are you planning on doing once Tiguan departs?¡±


    ¡°They have let me stay here for a bit with my things until the court case is done. Then the evidence needs to go, so to speak,¡± Ray replied in false optimism as she continued to work away at Tiguan¡¯s side.


    ¡°I have something for you then,¡± Sapphire went, walking up to her, getting out the scroll Dakota had penned last night.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ray questioned, drying off her hands on a rag and getting to her feet.


    ¡°An employment contract for our keep,¡± Sapphire replied, as if it was no big deal.


    Ray¡¯s eyes went wide before launching herself onto Sapphire, who staggered back a few steps, wrapping around her with both arms, legs, and tail, not saying a word.


    ¡°See? I told you things would work out,¡± one of the ground crew let out, clearly directed at Tiguan.


    ¡°Calm down, you haven''t read it yet,¡± Sapphire went, patting Ray on the back as she refused to let go.


    ¡°I don''t care, I''ll do it,¡± came the reply as she finally loosened her grip, dropping to the ground. ¡°Thank you thank you thank you!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. We need more hands, and we need hands that can be trusted. You can be trusted, right?¡± Sapphire asked rhetorically, looking at Ray with a sly smile.


    ¡°Yes, I can keep secrets, I can stay out of sight, I can mop the floors and do the dishes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not coming here to be a slave. Besides, I very much doubt Tom would allow that,¡± Sapphire replied with a laugh as Ray stood there fidgeting, radiating happiness like a kid who had just gotten a present they had been begging for for years. ¡°Read it through. You are to join the craftspeople as a greenhorn working your way up through the ranks, as is tradition. Though I have no idea what lies ahead. Times are a little strange back home.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m no crafter, I¡¯m a guard technically,¡± Ray replied, sounding a tad confused.


    ¡°It¡¯s just paperwork, I¡¯m guessing you will be spending most of your time helping everyone out as best you can, and everyone stands in the defense of the keep if it comes to it.¡±


    ¡°I can do that, no problem,¡± Ray replied giddily as she took the scroll, reading through it. ¡°I haven''t signed anything in years.¡± She clutched the scroll close to her chest looking to Sapphire who held out the ballpoint pen she had borrowed from Tom.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ray questioned with a head tilt.


    ¡°A pen. You better get used to strange things. Let''s go inside and get it signed, shall we?"


    ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯ll be right back,¡± she went, looking to Tiguan as she turned to half run inside the stables. Sapphire looked up at the black dragon, giving him a wink.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the dragon went with a slight head bow, Sapphire giving a quick bow in return with a flourish and a laugh before she followed Ray inside.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Following the nice chit-chat in the hall, Nunuk had arrived with Zarko and set about bringing Tom up to speed on what had been going on while he was out. To say he was surprised didn¡¯t quite cut it.


    ¡°What do you mean kidnapped? What the fuck is wrong with you people!¡± Tom let out in protest.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like this is common. The bitch apparently decided to play even less fair than we anticipated,¡± Nunuk protested, in a more diplomatic tone.


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we just blow her up then and see how they respond to that!¡±


    ¡°Would you just calm down for a second, they are fine and she will pay for this,¡± Nunuk tried again, gaining an edge to her tone.


    ¡°Ohh, she better.¡±


    ¡°Our problems right now are what to do with the five kids and this blasted dagger.¡±


    ¡°Well, the knife goes into the armory, along with Kalestine¡¯s horn, until we can figure out what to do with them. I would have the knife sent to the capital, that¡¯s for sure. No idea what you are even supposed to do with a unicorn horn,¡± Zarko replied, sounding conflicted on the last subject.


    ¡°We can¡¯t take care of any more kids here. I''m afraid we aren''t doing so hot as is,¡± Lady Deriva added, sounding very apologetic.


    ¡°No, that''s perfectly understandable. We will have to take them for the time being. They are apparently planning on rebuilding Hylsdal as quickly as possible. If their extended family ends up taking it over they might go there, alternatively, we might have to send them to the capital,¡± Nunuk stated.


    ¡°They have family, right? We''re not just sending them¡­ you know where,¡± Fengi questioned, sounding very worried... almost pleading in fact.


    ¡°Hylsdal is an old family. I¡¯m sure they have some people who can take care of them out there somewhere,¡± Nunuk replied, clearly trying to comfort her.


    ¡°How quickly can they rebuild the keep then?¡± Tom questioned. That was an interesting proposition to him. He knew that Bizmati was ancient and that new keeps weren''t built too often.


    ¡°The walls were still standing so it¡¯s mainly timber work, and they are right next to the forest. Then there is the furnishings, tools, equipment, and supplies. I believe they are expecting to be done in time for winter so it¡¯s ready for spring,¡± Nunuk replied plainly.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°That¡¯s not bad,¡± Tom had to admit. Even if he could imagine a certain unicorn being a little pissed about it.


    ¡°Well, they are getting a dragon to help out with the construction as well as help keep this place safe.¡±


    ¡°Again I have to thank you for this, Nunuk. I have no idea how your daughter pulled that off,¡± Lady Deriva let out, sounding genuinely thankful.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t her idea. She was simply questioning your ability to continue defending your keep. No offense, but you are not ready for further battle.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No, we are not.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was rare to see dragons this far out, and now there¡¯s two stationed here?¡± Tom questioned, looking up to where he guessed Jarix was.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s not the craziest part,¡± Fengi added, sounding excited.


    ¡°They are deploying a three dragon wing led by Baron. They also want Archeon to run resupply for all the keeps on the island in addition to delivering the things needed at Hylsdal.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jacky broke out, apparently not having heard that part before. ¡°Three of them and Arc. We are not gonna be feeding them, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°The wing will have to hunt for themselves,¡± Jarix added from above, sounding a tad worried. ¡°My mother is apparently among them¡­ I¡¯m not looking forward to her reaction to what happened to my armor,¡± he continued jokingly, though still sounding more than a tad worried.


    ¡°I would be more worried about your father on that point¡­ Well no, actually Tom you should probably be the one worrying about him.¡±


    ¡°On a scale from, say sorry to, run for the hills, how worried?¡± Tom questioned, hoping for a bit more good news.


    ¡°Running won''t save you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can outrun him and my deployment has been extended to pretty much as long as it takes,¡± Jarix let out with a chuckle, apparently not finding the situation too concerning.


    ¡°Glad to have you, I take it we are not gonna be lacking in security for much longer then, not with your mother and all?¡± Tom replied, genuinely relieved. He assuming Jarix was a mix of Arc and her personalities he didn''t want to end up on her bad side.


    ¡°Oh no, the darklings need to run even further than you that¡¯s for sure. She will give chase to the edge of the world if she has to.¡± Jarix replied with a fair amount of pride in his voice, even if he was clearly still jesting a bit.


    ¡°They need to get here first, and while Tiguan should be here in a few days, it will take at least another week for the others to follow, likely more,¡± Nunuk replied. ¡°He¡¯s carrying some things for both you and Esmeralda as well. Hopefully, it will help get you back on your feet, courtesy of the Flaxen family apparently.¡±


    ¡°So, poison then,¡± Tom let out with a chuckle. ¡°No, but I¡¯m not gonna lie, I don¡¯t feel brilliant.¡±


    ¡°You don''t look brilliant either,¡± Jacky went, clutching him in a bit tighter, nuzzling him. ¡°They aren¡¯t gonna be striking again anytime soon after that thrashing, and with a combat wing going around they won''t be able to touch us. So you just eat, drink, or whatever your medicine and it will all be fine,¡± Jacky added in, confident as ever.


    ¡°Don''t say things like that, you¡¯ll upset Murphy,¡± Jarix shushed her, leaving a slightly awkward silence. ¡°It¡¯s Tom¡¯s god of bad luck,¡± the dragon went, causing Tom to break out laughing.


    ¡°No¡­ He really isn¡¯t a god, very far from it. It¡¯s just a set of laws.¡±


    ¡°Did I just become a criminal?¡± Jacky question, sounding rather concerned. At that Tom just fucking lost it for a few seconds.


    ¡°No Jacky, the only thing you''re guilty of is stealing my heart,¡± Tom tried, pushing up against her a bit.


    ¡°Smooth dude,¡± Zarko let out, sounding rather unimpressed after a short silence. ¡°But in all seriousness, Tiguan is one of Jarix''s classmates, so to speak. He¡¯s a really nice guy.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how he got in,¡± Jarix interrupted, sounding rather perplexed, receiving a slightly annoyed grunt from Zarko.


    ¡°Now he is a black dragon just so everyone is aware. Don¡¯t worry he¡¯s one of the sweetest I have ever met,¡± Tom felt Jacky tense a little at that as no one said anything for a second. ¡°Just behave yourself and be nice. Honestly, he¡¯s more likely to sit and watch you than even touch you.¡±


    ¡°He can be a little sensitive,¡± Jarix added, trying to whisper for some reason, even if everyone could still hear him just fine.


    ¡°Sweet, another big softy, and no need to dig this one out of his shell either,¡± Tom joked, imagining the face Jarix was currently wearing.


    ¡°Oh, you two are gonna get along just fine I think,¡± Zarko added, seemingly finding that a tad funny too.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Who is that?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking up from her place helping strap down Tiguan''s armor and harness. The others had gathered around Tiguan so he and Yldtiz could weigh in on the discussions. Sapphire and Balethon lent a hand with the preparations on Tiguan.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s Glira,¡± the black dragon replied, looking to the monster of a blue dragon now slowly trotting over towards them. ¡°Also known as the reason why Jarix is so damn awesome,¡± the dragon continued, sounding a tad star struck.


    ¡°Wait, that''s Jarix¡¯s mother?¡± Sapphire questioned.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Uhm yeah, didn''t you know?¡± Tiguan retorted, sounding unsure if he just said too much.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t get much of a chance to talk with him before leaving,¡± Sapphire replied, eyes locked on the dragon. She was long and lean like Archeon, but she was even larger. Despite her more slender frame, she might be closer to Baron than her mate in weight. She was a rival for the legendary red in the scars department too. ¡°Is that a spiked hammer on her tail?!¡±


    ¡°That looks so badass,¡± Balethon added, also having looked up from his work.


    ¡°It is, thank you very much,¡± Glira replied half shouting, easily picking up the conversation from afar. ¡°And yes, I¡¯m Jarix''s mother, and if he has decided to be ashamed of me, then he has another thing coming,¡± she continued in a cocky tone, her head held high. ¡°So Arc old boy, you finally decided to swing by and say hi, you scheming old scoundrel.¡±


    ¡°Urh yes¡­ I¡¯ve been very busy, court cases and all that, you know,¡± Arc replied with a slight cough.


    ¡°Oh, drop the charade. I¡¯m not that stupid. Anyway, it sounds like I owe you an apology. Sending Jarix to that middle of nowhere keep really did pay off. Not that I expect that was your intention, but still well done,¡± she replied, clearly mocking him.


    ¡°Yes, your son truly went above and beyond, we are very much so in his debt, as is both Hylsdal and Deriva,¡± Dakota went with a bow. The dragon looking down at her curiously, keeping her head cocked back.


    ¡°And you are?¡±


    ¡°Dakota Bizmati.¡±


    Glira took a second to think, looking almost like she was expecting more before replying, ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, I forgot what it was called. Well, make no mistake, I didn¡¯t want him to go out there. I had other ideas for my son. Still, it worked out most marvelously for all involved. I do have a few questions for you now that I have you, though,¡± Glira replied, lowering her head down to Dakota¡¯s eye level, people backing up to give her space. ¡°I have heard some rumors, though I am of course entirely certain that they are untrue. I merely want your reassurances.¡±


    ¡°By all means,¡± Dakota replied, no longer seeming quite so calm and collected.


    ¡°Is it true you have my son plowing your fields and filling your pantries when you should be providing him hospitality in exchange for security?¡± The dragon questioned, very pointedly baring her teeth ever so slightly. Dakota was suddenly looking very small.


    ¡°Those rumors are true, I¡¯m afraid. To my knowledge Tom has elected to put Jarix through an extensive training program,¡± she replied, clearly fighting to keep her cool.


    Glira stared at her for a second or two, before she broke out in raucous laughter. ¡°I knew it! Victoria! Remind me that Baron owes me twenty-five gold,¡± the blue dragon went, as she drew her head back looking to Archeon, leaving a staggered and probably half deaf Dakota standing there, wondering what just happened. ¡°You should have taken that bet too, but no. ¡®Gambling never pays off.¡¯ Even if you don¡¯t have faith in your son, at least have faith in your ability to teach him to do an honest day¡¯s work. They even managed to get you to pay for it, so it¡¯s a net loss already. I know you like those fancy terms,¡± she continued, laughing all the while.


    ¡°I said I won¡¯t place bets on our son''s future, thank you very much. And I do believe in him, I believe he has the ability to get himself killed, which he apparently damn near managed,¡± Arc replied, sounding rather offended. ¡°Could you at least be a little worried?¡±


    ¡°I still think the notion is absurd,¡± Baron added, seeming disinterested as he looked away, Victoria trying in vain to catch his gaze, shaking her head.


    ¡°One of these days you are gonna learn not to make those kinds of stupid bets. You just never win,¡± Victoria went, still looking up at the dragon who refused to acknowledge her.


    ¡°Hey Baron, another twenty-five says Jarix will refuse to come home once he gets settled in. Not like we can make one for whether or not he would follow orders now,¡± Glira went, still laughing uproariously.


    ¡°Deal, he will miss having a proper bath,¡± Baron replied, in a very displeased tone.


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± Victoria protested, holding her arms out wide.


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of principle,¡± Baron replied, still refusing to look down at her.


    ¡°I wouldn''t put it past Tom to make one, if that is what it takes,¡± Balethon added in, jabbing an elbow into Sapphire''s side.


    ¡°Anyway, enough idle chit chat. I heard you are heading out to some actual action, not to mention near enough to say hi to my little whelp. His majesty''s dragon Glira at your service, Colonel,¡± the dragon went, backing up and giving a very slight bow. Smiling wide all the while, seemingly not able to take it seriously.


    ¡°You just want another week or two of lying around doing nothing, don¡¯t you?¡± Victoria questioned sarcastically as she wrote something down on her clipboard. ¡°Doesn''t matter, ''cause you''re on the docket now. Maybe having to keep up with you for the immediate future will temper Baron¡¯s willingness to make these stupid bets,¡± Victoria continued, making a point of avoiding Baron¡¯s gaze as he looked down at her, seeming rather displeased with that comment.


    ¡°Good to hear, I¡¯ll be enjoying my well-earned time off until then. If you need me I¡¯ll be wherever the sun is the warmest,¡± Glira replied, turning around, letting her tail swing overhead, massive steel spike included, brushing it up against Archeon''s neck before slowly walking off.


    As she turned around Sapphire got a good look at her. She was not wearing armor, but the amount of battle damage was substantial, especially in the shape of some rather large round areas of messed-up scales running down her flanks which looked rather odd.


    ¡°She¡¯s quite the character,¡± Balethon added, sounding rather shocked.


    ¡°You have no idea,¡± Arc replied, not taking his eyes off her.


    ¡°Now don¡¯t go making any bad decisions, she¡¯s not good for you,¡± Vulzan pleaded in a tone that made it sound like this wasn¡¯t the first time.


    ¡°Shut it Vulzan, you¡¯re not his nanny,¡± Glira shouted back at them with another laugh.


    Archeon had stayed put though, as they went through what Tiguan would be carrying before loading him up with all the necessary supplies. And so, with a few words of encouragement and a goodbye hug from Ray, they sent him on his way, watching him climb away into the morning sky.

 Phone call

    Chapter 101: Phone call


    The next few days had passed mostly without incident, being broken only by messengers handing off a few things. They had received word that Tom was indeed on the mend and walking about by now. The reports of his physical condition weren¡¯t great, but his head at least seemed okay. He had grown rather weak in addition to developing a kind of trembling. Apparently, even drinking a glass of water without spilling was a challenge for him at the moment.


    That was what the stuff sent with Tiguan was for though, and it sounded like Jarix would be back in the sky just in time for them all to meet up at home. Ray had been left in the caring hands of Haiko for the day as they were gonna be heading to the academy. They had rented a room for her, much to her protest. She claimed that she could sleep on the floor just fine. Dakota hadn¡¯t budged though, so she had her own room and they had all put together a little pocket change for her for drinks or whatever else she might fancy.


    Maiko was following along as they made their way to the academy, his head still on a swivel all the way there. They had clearly been expected, the guard letting them inside and urging them to take a seat in the lobby at some rather nice tables and chairs.


    It didn¡¯t take long before Linkosta came skipping into the large room. She beckoned them over with a hand wave as she turned to head wherever it was they were going. It wouldn¡¯t do to run in a place like this, but Linkosta was not slowing down for them, so it took a bit to catch up.


    ¡°My, you are in a hurry today?¡± Sapphire jested as she caught up.


    ¡°Yes, this is gonna be so exciting! Hopefully your guy doesn¡¯t pass out too soon. Do you think I can have a chat too?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t think we have even tried to put the earrings on him yet, have we?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking back to Dakota who was catching up too.


    ¡°No. It might not even work; in that case we will just get Nunuk to relay.¡±


    ¡°How do yours work? Are they like talking to each other or more intimate? What about other senses? Can you see them?¡±


    ¡°Just talking, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Dakota interrupted, before the list of questions got too long.


    ¡°Aww beans, I was hoping for an in-depth look. Ishani promised to let me have a go at him. If he can take it of course.¡±


    ¡°Well the dude doesn¡¯t sleep much and he just tends to keep going, so maybe?¡± Sapphire tried in reply. They knew nothing of Tom¡¯s magical abilities or endurance. Hell he might not even have any at all, but she guessed they were about to find out.


    ¡°Yes yes, I know. That¡¯s not the same and you know it,¡± Linkosta dismissed her as they made their way up a few flights of stairs, eventually arriving at a rather innocuous-looking door, which Linkosta knocked on in code. Either that or she just hadn¡¯t given up the habit.


    The door had swung open seemingly of its own accord. Linkosta stepped inside with a little skip.


    ¡°Right, they are here.¡±


    Stepping inside, it looked like some kind of personal suite; it didn¡¯t look an awful lot like an office, though there was a writing desk up against one of the walls. There were some comfortable-looking chairs and a single sofa, the rest of the space being taken up by a large workbench surrounded by shelves of odd items and jars of who knows what.


    ¡°Thank you, Linkosta. Please make yourselves comfortable,¡± Lady Ishani replied, gesturing towards the seating, looking to all of them. ¡°I heard Tom made it through.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a little worse for wear, but they are confident he will live, yes,¡± Dakota answered.


    ¡°Oh, I was under the assumption he had made an almost full recovery?¡± the lady questioned, seemingly a tad confused.


    ¡°The experience has taken a toll. Medicines and remedies to alleviate this have been sent to the keep though. We are hoping they will counteract most of the negative effects.¡±


    ¡°Linkosta, I want you to write down all of his symptoms later. That is valuable information. Anyways, the tea is fresh, help yourselves. May I see the earring?¡±


    Dakota took off the precious little earring, handing it over to the lady who sat down with it at her working desk, seemingly setting about inspecting it. Linkosta served them tea as a slightly awkward silence formed, Linkosta clearly very interested in what the lady was doing.


    ¡°Did you hear we are getting a few new people at the keep?¡± Sapphire opened, looking to break the silence.


    ¡°Really? No, I didn¡¯t, sounds like you could use a hand though,¡± Linkosta replied, snapping her head back to look at them.


    ¡°Oh yeah, things are crazy at the moment. We could use you too,¡± Balethon interjected.


    ¡°Of course you can, I¡¯m very useful,¡± Linkosta replied jokingly.


    ¡°Careful now, you don¡¯t want to beat Jacky¡¯s ego,¡± Dakota added with a chuckle before looking back to the lady.


    ¡°Oh please, the mighty Jackalope Furlong, with all the finesse of her mother¡¯s favorite hammer.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let either of them hear that,¡± Sapphire jested in return. She could only imagine the results, though Linkosta would likely pull some trick out of her sleeve to distract long enough to get ready for a fight.


    ¡°Yes, I know what these are,¡± Lady Ishani interrupted, seemingly quite pleased with herself. ¡°They were made by Theron a few years back. Interesting they ended up in such unsavory company that quickly. They don¡¯t seem to have been altered though, so they should be perfectly safe to use.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief,¡± Balethon let out. Sapphire didn¡¯t much care. Of course, they were safe, they had used them many times, and Apuma had said so.


    ¡°With your permission?¡± the Lady questioned, looking to Dakota.


    ¡°By all means.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°A¡­ S¡­ U...Uhm... R¡­ I can¡¯t tell,¡± Tom admitted as Lady Deriva moved the blackboard tablet further away.


    ¡°Fuck, you really are blind,¡± Jacky let out. ¡°That¡¯s an H. You can read, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Jacky, I can read. It¡¯s just a little blurry, okay? And my hands won¡¯t stop shaking; it¡¯s really fucking annoying.¡±


    ¡°We are hoping the things Tiguan is carrying will help, otherwise it¡¯s gonna be hell to get you back in shape,¡± Nunuk replied, with all the empathy of a military nurse.


    ¡°But you can do it right, even if the meds don¡¯t work?¡± Jacky questioned anxiously. Tom had never seen her so sad in victory as after she wiped the floor with him earlier in just about every exercise they could think of. It was probably the ease with which she had done so rather than actually beating him that was the cause though.


    ¡°I can, but it will take forever. The damage is everywhere. That is what such remedies are for. In a sense, you were quite lucky that we were able to sneak it in under Esmeralda¡¯s care. These kinds of things are expensive,¡± Nunuk replied before going silent and looking at the floor, closing her eyes for a bit. ¡°Right, Tom, time for your little meeting. Do try to be nice, and remember she can hear your thoughts but she can¡¯t go looking, so to speak,¡± Nunuk continued, as she started taking off the earring.


    ¡°Okay, then do I just put them on or what exactly?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡­ hang on. Oh, gods dammit. Why haven¡¯t you!? Oh, you have got to be joking,¡± Nunuk let out, clearly frustrated. ¡°You don¡¯t have an ear punch do you?¡± she questioned, looking towards Lady Deriva.


    ¡°I think so¡­ oh. Right. Luke, would you mind fetching it? I think it¡¯s down in the crafts-hall, with the leatherworking tools.¡± Luke dutifully obeyed his mother, scampering down the stairs.


    ¡°Uhm what?¡± Tom questioned. He didn¡¯t like the sound of that, not one bit in fact.


    ¡°You need holes in your ears¡­ You can put holes in your ears, right?¡± Nunuk questioned, seemingly growing a tad doubtful. Tom honestly considered lying and claiming it couldn¡¯t be done.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I just you know hold them or something. Maybe put them in my ear for the time being?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know actually,¡± Nunuk admitted. ¡°One second.¡± She closed her eyes for a few moments before looking back at him. ¡°Apparently not. Is it a problem for you to have a hole in your ear?¡±


    ¡°Not really¡­¡± Tom admitted. He wasn¡¯t much for the idea. Then again, he actually really wanted to try out that earring, not to mention the person who would be on the other end was apparently rather important and worked with magic. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it... Does it hurt?¡±


    As it turned out, yes, it did hurt. Quite a bit in fact. Tom was fairly sure this wasn¡¯t the right tool for the job, at least not for a human, but the punch did its job, and Nunuk stopped the bleeding. None of that stopped Jacky from giving him a bit of shit for being a pussy. Fengi even joined in much to his displeasure.


    ¡°Uhm right, so how do I... you know... speak?¡± Tom questioned after having the earring put in.


    ¡°Just sit back, relax, and close your eyes. Otherwise, they will be left open which is¡­ unpleasant afterward. Then you push the slider on the side of the earring down. To get back out push it back up. You will lose your senses so just be wary of that but you can still move.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tom replied slightly nervously as he leaned back into Jacky, lacking a better backrest sitting on a bench as he was. The little metal slide was pushed and the world went dark.


    He could neither smell nor hear anything, and even the light coming through his eyelids was gone. He could still move though, just like Nunuk said, so that was something.


    ¡®Uhm¡­ Hello?¡¯ he tried.


    ¡®Yes, hello. I take it you got it to work?¡¯ an unfamiliar voice replied. It sounded a tad strange, kinda like it was distorted a bit or something. It was definitely a woman though.


    ¡®Arh yes¡­ Uhm this is kinda weird.¡¯


    ¡®Oh then you should try some of the more exotic variants; tasting a memory can be quite the experience. Anyway, we two have quite a few things to discuss.¡¯ Tom had to ponder that reply for a second as to whether that was something he wanted to try someday.


    ¡®Oh yes, is this like one question each then repeat kind of deal?¡¯ he questioned, getting back to the matter at hand.


    ¡®If you want it to be then sure. I take it you have questions too then.¡¯


    ¡®Awesome! Yeah, I¡¯ve got plenty. I ended up with a unicorn horn. What can that do?¡¯


    ¡®That is a very powerful artifact indeed, you are sure that it¡¯s... you know, yours?¡¯


    ¡®I think technically it¡¯s Zarko¡¯s. She doesn¡¯t strike me as particularly interested though. Right now it¡¯s being guarded by Jarix.¡¯


    ¡®Well, if I tell you then you are gonna have to answer my questions truthfully.¡¯


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡®Sure, as long as you don¡¯t go blabbing about everything to people who shouldn¡¯t know.¡¯


    ¡®I can keep secrets. I have quite a few in fact. First question then. Where are you actually from?¡¯


    ¡®The Kingdom of Denmark¡¯


    ¡®Right¡­ which is where?¡¯


    ¡®In the northern part of Europe.¡¯


    ¡®I think we might be missing each other a little bit. I know what the reports state about your origin. Where are you from?¡¯ The lady reiterated, growing a touch firmer in her tone.


    ¡®This very much so constitutes ¡®do not tell¡¯ information.¡¯


    ¡®I figured as much since you haven¡¯t been telling the truth. I will only be relaying whether your origin is of concern to us.¡¯


    ¡®Right¡­ screw it, I¡¯m guessing you could just force it out of me in time if i don¡¯t tell?¡¯ Tom had heard the retelling of just how they had cracked one of the two mercenaries. That didn¡¯t sound like a fate he wanted to share.


    ¡®It might be arranged.¡¯


    ¡®Okay then.¡¯ Tom gave the full rundown on how he had ended up here and what his thoughts were on the subject of going back and forth. Mainly that there was no way he knew of to do it.


    The lady had not actually posed any questions that led to major problems. Tom had simply answered as truthfully as possible, making sure to avoid leading her on to just how different their worlds were. All in all, questions like, ¡®Do you have a king or queen¡¯ or ¡¯How many people are there in your world¡¯ were not a problem. Even if she apparently thought nearly six million was a decent amount of people, despite Tom giving it as the population of his homeworld rather than just Denmark. The concept of countries apparently did not really translate well. As long as he didn¡¯t mention other countries it should work just fine though.


    On the subject of his mysterious benefactor that had sent him here she drew a blank too. She didn¡¯t know how anyone could open portals to another world like that. Apparently, the magic existed and, with sufficient preparation, she could even perform it herself. That was only between pre-prepared points in this world though, of which there were precious few. Not to mention the cost of conducting such a spell.


    ¡®Now I¡¯ve been very forthcoming so tell me, what does this magic ivory stick do?¡¯


    There was a bit of a reluctant pause before she replied. ¡®A unicorn¡¯s horn is the source of both its telekinetic, telepathic, and teleportation abilities. It can be used in many applications such as my teleportation spell. I am in possession of a horn that was gifted to the academy many generations ago for that very purpose. It can also serve as a booster for natural abilities in that field.¡¯ A small amount of powdered horn can also be used in enchanting to greatly increase an enchantment¡¯s potency. It is also rumored that it holds the power to lift the curse of the dark. Though I know of no one who has attempted to prove it, successful or not.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s quite something¡­ I¡¯m gonna hazard a guess that the reason you didn¡¯t want to tell me is because you want it?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t be daft of course I do. But if it was given to this second lieutenant Zarko then it is hers by law. To defy the will of a unicorn is heresy. As long as no laws were broken by the unicorn I do believe the sentence is death for that one.¡¯


    ¡®Well, we kinda just asked ¡®Hey we found this may we keep it?¡¯ To which she said yes. In fact, it was a condition that she would never see it again.¡¯


    ¡®In that case, I would claim it¡¯s a trophy of the battle, though both the Royal Guard and two keeps could technically lay claim to it at that point¡­ I propose a deal. I will support your claim to the horn in exchange for the opportunity to have it studied. I want to know if it is in any way different to the one in my possession. How does that sound?¡¯


    ¡®Hey, I¡¯m not really that worried about who ends up with it, but if it helps the keep then I want it to stay here and so does Nunuk, so I¡¯m gonna trust that. We have been through enough, and this sounds more than a little useful.¡¯


    ¡®It could also draw more enemies to your doorstep. I would advise caution.¡¯


    Tom had to give her that. Was it worth it? If it could enhance magical abilities then by how much? Maybe Apuma could use it for some crazy shit. Hell, a shield is sort of telekinetic... ¡®That doesn¡¯t sound like something I can decide. I will trust Nunuk.¡¯


    ¡®Deriva Keep is not in a position to lay claim to it, if the reports of the battle are anything to go by¡­ You are certain this Zarko does not want to lay claim to it?¡¯


    ¡®She didn¡¯t even want to touch¡­ I don¡¯t think she has yet actually.¡¯


    ¡®Well if it does end up staying at Bizmati Keep then I would request the opportunity to have it examined in detail there. Luckily I have a young assistant who specializes in ritual magic just like her father. With a tendency to note everything down. You may tell Nunuk her daughter is coming home for a few months.¡¯


    ¡®Uhm¡­ okay. I don¡¯t think that would be a problem¡­ could you perhaps, you know, try to make it sound like the horn isn¡¯t here. That might help actually.¡¯


    ¡®There we go, I was told you could be a deceitful little guy, I reckon that would be wise. I don¡¯t want you overrun and the horn stolen¡­ I will discuss this further with the Royal Guard. I believe they have a sizable contingent heading your way.¡¯


    ¡®Sounds great, not to be a party killer but I¡¯m not feeling so hot¡­ another time maybe?¡¯


    ¡®Well I guess it¡¯s your first time using these. I got most of what I wanted anyway. I will¡­¡¯


    Tom didn¡¯t listen for the full reply. He felt sick again as he clicked off the earring, the world shooting back into existence and his eyes shooting open.


    ¡°That was a little quick?¡± Fengi questioned, looking concernedly at Tom.


    ¡°Yeah, I feel sick.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I told them you would last longer than her for sure,¡± Jackalope protested.


    ¡°Yeah, not my best day thus far. Ugh!¡± Tom shivered a bit as the nausea thankfully began to slowly subside. He had just expected to feel tired like Nunuk or the others when they used the earrings. Then again he was hardly in top condition at the moment so that might have something to do with it. He had wanted to ask more questions, but right now though he just felt like he should be in bed.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The Lady had come out of her trance, sitting there quietly thoughtful for a second or two before looking up.


    ¡°Linkosta, time for your first field assignment. They have a unicorn¡¯s horn in their possession which I doubt they are willing to relinquish. If what you have told of your mother is correct she will want to keep it and I fear she might have the final word in it. You are to study this horn in detail. I want notes on every crack and imperfection.¡±


    ¡°But field assignments are next semester?¡± Linkosta questioned cautiously.


    ¡°I am well aware, consider it a favor. Dakota, I trust this won¡¯t be a problem for you or your mother?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t imagine so. It would be lovely to have Linkosta back, even if only for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, you will be paid the small fee for accepting a student for field work, that¡¯s the least I can do for this opportunity. When are you planning on departing for home?¡±


    ¡°Depends on the length of the trial. It¡¯s due to start in a few days now.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, I remember. Terrible business¡­ I am correct in assuming the combat wing being despatched to your keep is hampered by the same limitation?


    ¡°Yes. Colonel Victoria Hashaw is leading them.¡±


    ¡°Very well, expect a little nudge in the right direction then, I want this horn under guard as soon as possible. Linkosta, you are coming with me. You need to study the horn in our possession.¡±


    ¡°Yes of course,¡± Linkosta replied, seemingly still struggling a bit with what just happened. She certainly didn¡¯t seem disappointed that she didn¡¯t get to talk with Tom, so Sapphire guessed she just needed a bit of time.


    The whole ¡®nudge in the right direction¡¯ sounded just fine to Sapphire. She wouldn¡¯t have minded departing right away, but they needed to get the bitch first. That was why they had come here after all. The lady had departed with Linkosta, letting them know they were free to go, though they were more than welcome to enjoy the tea.


    They loitered a bit before finding their own way out. Much to Sapphire¡¯s amazement they weren¡¯t even assigned guards as they walked the corridors of the legendary building, doing a little sightseeing though being careful not to get themselves lost. They couldn¡¯t stay long though since they had other places to be today.


    The Flaxens had sent a messenger the day before, saying that they had managed to scrounge together the agreed-upon amount ahead of schedule. They had swung by the traders guild to pick up Vulzan and the majority of his escorts to help transport the goods in question. Archeon had decided to tag along too, just in case. Which at the very least meant they had the firepower to persuade the Flaxens not to do something stupid if necessary. It meant less heavy lifting too, though Sapphire was a tad conflicted on feeling happy she didn¡¯t need to lift large amounts of very valuable cargo. It felt a touch selfish.


    Outside the Flaxen mansion, Baron was sitting on his haunches looking as stately as possible, glaring at the Flaxen guards stationed outside. They had all disembarked and made their way inside with both Vulzan¡¯s escorts and four Flaxen guards.


    When they made it to the armory, Victoria and Lady Hashaw were already there and in the process of going over the contents. It was an underground basement-like structure, though it did have a rather tall ceiling. Most of the stuff down here was clearly either for their guards or slightly finer equipment for their family members, the latter often being very lavishly decorated.


    The interesting stuff though was stored inside a vault that had already been opened. Several sets of exceedingly fine armor were currently in the process of being removed so they could have a closer look at them.


    ¡°How do we know which is the best one?¡± Sapphire whispered to Dakota as they walked up to the scene flanked by all their guards.


    ¡°We ask the two who know,¡± Dakota replied, looking to Lady Hashaw and Victoria who were accompanied by a few of their own guards.


    ¡°Ah, good of you to join us,¡± Lady Hashaw broke out as she noticed them approaching. ¡°Dakota, was it?¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am,¡± Dakota replied with a polite nod.


    ¡°Terribly sorry, I¡¯m bad with names. I believe your mother¡¯s armor is a set of full-plate and that lovely winged helmet, with some rather nice impact mitigation, correct?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, though it also protects against extreme temperatures.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, the old lady did like to feel comfy, even in battle. The padding must be wonderful too,¡± Lady Hashaw reminisced, almost like she had known Nunuk¡¯s grandmother. ¡°Anyway, Dakota, would you be looking for a set for yourself or perhaps for your brother?¡±


    Looking over the sets, they did have a set that was clearly for a male, seemingly very heavily protected, at least judging by the thickness of the pauldrons.


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ What enchantments does that carry?¡±


    ¡°Only the basics I¡¯m afraid. Almost a shame to waste so much good metal on such a poor job,¡± Lady Hashaw replied, seeming genuinely saddened by it. ¡°That one though, that is a masterpiece,¡± she continued, pointing towards a very sizable suit. ¡°And not one built for display or ceremony either¡±


    ¡°Well, that certainly won''t fit Rachuck,¡± Sapphire let out, moving up to look more closely at the set. In fact, she didn¡¯t think it would fit any of them.


    ¡°Yes, unfortunately, it¡¯s rare to find a warrior who will fit it. Kalbida was truly a beast on the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Kalbida Furlong?¡± Sapphire had to question.


    ¡°Yes indeed. Such a shame what happened to them. Apparently, some of them are still out there. I think one of her daughters made it though¡­ What was her name?¡±


    ¡°Shiva,¡± Dakota replied, ¡°She¡¯s our smith. She will be resizing the set we bring home. She and her daughter Jackalope have been at our keep for over two decades by now.¡±


    ¡°Is she now?¡± The lady replied, seeming rather delighted by the news ¡°Well, talk about a match made in heaven¡­ I would have wanted it for my own collection, though if it might actually end up being used that¡¯s far better, and by an actual Furlong at that.¡±


    ¡°How did it even end up here, shouldn¡¯t that have gone to the family?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking over the armor in more detail. ¡°Hold out daggers¡­ nice.¡±


    ¡°The Furlongs accrued a rather substantial debt to defend their home rather than leave it. The armor was auctioned off long before the final battle for the keep even took place,¡± an elderly male Flaxen clarified for them, clearly not pleased with today''s agenda.


    The other armor sets had been presented to them by the elderly Flaxen man, who was often swiftly cut off by Lady Hashaw to give them the proper story of the armor in question. One of the sets was over 600 years old, having been meticulously maintained for centuries and a very nice set too at that if perhaps more made for ceremony than battle.


    In the end, the choice came down to those three. The Furlong armor, which was clearly the most impressive, the rather poor set that would be fit for Rachuck, and the old armor which was definitely the most valuable if they wanted to sell it.


    ¡°I think we are good on the money front. We need the armor. I¡¯m the only woman trained to fight in armor, but I have my mother''s armor¡­ Jacky is a menace with a good hammer but that would mean only she and her mother can use it¡­ And she has no training fighting like that at all.¡±


    ¡°Well, then you better get her some then. She¡¯s a Furlong, it¡¯s damn near law for them,¡± Lady Hashaw interrupted, sounding almost offended by the knowledge Jacky was trained as a huntress.


    ¡°We could also get that set and put Tom in it,¡± Balethon went, pointing to the ancient set.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know word one of fighting in melee apart from a bit of brawling. And look at the legs, it wouldn''t work at all. No, Jacky can learn. She loves sparring as it is, and it¡¯s just a step up from what she¡¯s used to. Rachuck will have to bite me on this, we are taking that one,¡± Dakota declared, pointing at the Furlong armor.


    Sapphire was a little sad there was no way she would fit that. She had wanted to interject that she could probably fit the old armor without too much trouble. It would likely mess with her archery and airworthiness quite a bit though. Then again, she could only imagine the results of putting Jacky in a suit of enchanted armor. It sounded like it was technically Shiva¡¯s armor, at least it should have been, had things gone differently.


    ¡°What about weapons?¡± Dakota question, turning to the elderly Flaxen. With an annoyed grunt, the old man had reluctantly started bringing out boxes, staring daggers at them all the while.


    They had quite the assortment of different weapons, mostly blades though, which would be a problem for Jacky. She was really best with a hammer or mace of some kind.


    They had a talon blade nearly identical to Nunuk¡¯s sword in addition to a very nice rapier that was apparently capable of piercing just about anything. In the end, they went for a very nice arming sword which looked about the right size for Rachuck. That way he at least wouldn''t be entirely forgotten, not to mention he was likely the finest sword fighter at the keep, even rivaling his mother as she was past her prime by now. The blade was supposed to have some very intricate inertia-based magic, much like what was found in all but a few sets of enchanted armor.


    A quick test confirmed that the blade was indeed way heavier than it felt. It was honestly a surreal experience as Dakota delicately knocked it against Sapphire¡¯s bracers. It was light and nimble almost to the point where it felt like a toy, but it could brush a parry aside with sheer force if the enemy wasn¡¯t ready for it.


    ¡°And when do I get something like this?¡± Sapphire questioned jokingly as they put the blade back in its sheath, content that they had made the right decision.


    ¡°Well, if you are diligent in squirreling away your savings and not spending them on beer and jewelry who knows? Your grandchildren might,¡± Dakota replied with a chuckle. ¡°What about you, Maiko? Do you dream of a blade like this at night too?¡±


    ¡°If Victoria decides I¡¯m to be promoted for once, I might be able to afford one someday,¡± he replied with a chuckle.


    ¡°Not with that attitude you won¡¯t,¡± Victoria replied, as she and her mother picked out the rapier for their part.


    Walking out of the Flaxen mansion carrying more gold than Sapphire had ever seen in her lifetime did make her very happy to hand it off to the big 18-ton dragon with a knack for money. Baron was likewise loaded up with what the Hashaws had gotten. With a few friendly greetings and farewells exchanged with Baron and his crew, they had made for the traders guild to store the loot away somewhere nice and safe.

 Developmental Hazards

    Chapter 102: Developmental Hazards


    ¡°Right, what''s up for today?¡± Sapphire questioned as she got out of bed to do her morning stretches. She was still feeling slightly funny after last night. They couldn¡¯t walk away with a score like that and not celebrate a little, and Balethon owed more than a few rounds after all.


    ¡°Trying to convince Tink to come along and shopping. I¡¯m hoping we can get Junior to help out with that. He might know how to get a better deal on some things. And the game this evening,¡± Dakota replied, seemingly not doing any better as she rubbed her eyes. She grabbed the contracts she had penned for both Tink and Junior before they started drinking the night before.


    ¡°Sounds like a plan to me.¡± Sapphire sighed as she bent down, putting her forehead on the floorboards, ¡°It¡¯s gonna be weird to go back there... I wonder if they would let me in without paying still?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will. Let¡¯s go see how Ray is doing.¡±


    Ray had turned out to be sorely in need of a night drinking, even if it hadn¡¯t taken much to get her very drunk indeed. Sapphire put that down to just how thin she was. They would have to fix that. There was trim and proper and then there was skinny to the point that ribs were showing.


    A quick survey found Ray to be in no condition to join them yet. Mainly on account of that she was sleeping soundly and not waking easily. They asked the barkeep to let Ray know where they had gone and that they would be back later, so she wouldn¡¯t worry too much.


    Balethon and Canabrera had come sauntering down the stairs while they were in the middle of breakfast. He had still been rather merry, Canabrera demanding to come along today since they didn¡¯t really have any formal things to do today. It meant a babysitter for Balethon so they didn¡¯t have a problem with that.


    En route to the workshop, the discussion had been on just how to best sell the proposition to Tink without making Tom mad that they had told him too much. Sapphire didn¡¯t think they could tell him too much. Tink was gonna be coming along if he said yes, so he would know everything soon enough. As they came in to land it would appear the task of talking Tink out of the workshop might be easier than at first expected, as the inventor and Junior were currently standing outside inspecting the damage done to the ground floor of the building. Which did seem rather substantial.


    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Sapphire demanded as she touched down first. ¡°You two okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Not quite sure to be honest. It certainly woke us up though,¡± Tink replied, scratching the back of his neck.


    ¡°We were sleeping upstairs and then suddenly there was just this huge bang. It even shook the building,¡± Junior proclaimed wide-eyed. It looked like quite the wake-up call too. Sapphire definitely had to give him that.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get it though. Why did it blow up now?¡±


    ¡°What did?¡± Dakota questioned very pointedly.


    ¡°I tried to make the thing Maiko here talked about, a kind of naggnet scabbard. That wouldn¡¯t work if it doesn''t last, so we left the sword in the scabbard overnight.¡±


    ¡°We told you not to fuck around with that stuff,¡± Sapphire broke out. Sure, they hadn¡¯t been successful the first time, but she had at least hoped that after the first explosion he would have learned his lesson.


    ¡°How much did you use?¡± Balethon questioned, looking over the damages. There wasn''t a single window left in the lower story, and it looked like the interior had been redecorated rather substantially too.


    ¡°We just used a jar. The little test thing we made for the first Nagnetizer didn¡¯t last more than an hour,¡± Tink protested, arms wide. ¡°Why would it do that!¡±


    ¡°Got too hot maybe, stray spark, general bad luck. A rat knocked something over¡± Dakota retorted, Tink¡¯s expression growing rather unamused. ¡°Did the prototypes survive?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are all good. The lighter and the wayfinder are being finished by a jeweler Junior found. The Dencils are good to go as well.¡±


    Sapphire knew what came next, so she leaned over to Dakota to whisper a bit. ¡°Are we completely sure we want him in the keep? I mean, look at it...¡±


    ¡°Do you have a better idea?¡± Dakota replied, clearly more than a little conflicted herself. ¡°Tom seems to know how to keep things from going that badly. Hopefully he can keep Tink in line,¡± she continued, clearly not even managing to convince herself.


    ¡°A most excellent piece of work, Tink. Now I do seem to remember you were interested in meeting the man behind the designs we brought to you?¡± Dakota went, taking a step forward towards Tink.


    As if by magic she had his full attention as he stared at her in clear anticipation of what came next.


    Dakota hesitated for a second before continuing, with a slightly strained expression, ¡°As a reward for completing the contract we set out, we would like to offer you a position at our keep, where you will, for the most part, be working with Tom to make more such inventions.¡± Tink looked ready to scream out with joy before he seemed to catch himself, looking at Junior, with a rather worried expression. ¡°Junior here too, of course,¡± Dakota continued, apologetic that she had failed to make that clear.


    Then came the celebration from Tink, followed by a small avalanche of questions, thank yous and statements Sapphire honestly couldn¡¯t make out, before turning to hug Junior who stood there dumbstruck.


    ¡°Does that mean we are leaving, dad?¡± he finally questioned after having waited for Tink to calm down enough to put him back down.


    ¡°Yes, I mean, I presume so? When?¡± Tink replied, still struggling to make coherent words as he looked back to Dakota.


    ¡°In a few days most likely. We have some business to attend to, then we will be departing as soon as the prototypes are delivered to the guild,¡± Dakota replied calmly, looking at the young man.


    ¡°But that means¡­¡± Junior seemingly trailed off looking towards the damaged building. ¡°Is it like a few months or what?¡±


    ¡°The contracts we made aren¡¯t binding. So in a sense, it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    ¡°Got many friends here?¡± Balethon questioned in a far softer tone than was common for him.


    ¡°I mean¡­ what¡¯s many?¡± Junior tried to deflect the question, mimicking his father''s neckscratch from earlier.


    ¡°Maybe you can get along with Lothal. He¡¯s about your age,¡± Sapphire tried, in an optimistic tone. ¡°He¡¯s an able hand aboard Jarix. Who knows, the big blue guy is likely gonna be part of a few experiments.¡± That notion did seem to strike a chord with Junior as he clearly pondered that idea.


    ¡°Not to mention the Royal Guard combat wing we will be flying with. We are gonna be overloaded as is, I think. Might be able to score a ride with someone else,¡± Dakota added, clearly picking up on what Sapphire was putting down.


    ¡°Wait, you serious?¡± Junior let out at that.


    ¡°Three strong, led by Baron. He¡¯s my current posting. I¡¯ve only been loaned out for the time being, remember?¡± Maiko also joined in.


    ¡°Fuck, that sounds awesome. Are there any... girls at the keep?¡± Junior tried, the hopefulness clear in his voice. Sapphire restrained herself from snickering at that. ¡®Classic.¡¯


    ¡°There might be soon. I am in need of some fresh recruits. Fengi is our youngest huntress at the moment, and she¡¯s 24. We were planning on scouting for some up-and-coming talent at the tonselra game this afternoon though,¡± Dakota replied, clearly trying to sell the prospect.


    Junior¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t quite happiness, more of a cautious optimism. Sapphire guessed he wouldn¡¯t call it a day ''til he knew he wouldn¡¯t be spending the time alone so to speak. Life at a keep could be both close and lonely at times if you weren¡¯t so lucky with who was around.


    ¡°So what do you say Junior, wanna come work with a mad man and hopefully not blow stuff up?¡± Sapphire added, trying to drive home the deal. It wouldn¡¯t do if Junior didn¡¯t end up happy at the keep. She was fairly confident he would fit in though.


    ¡°Deal¡­ But I wanna ride with Baron.¡±


    ¡°I think that can be arranged¡­ If you promise to behave yourself,¡± Maiko replied with a raised finger.


    ¡°Fuck yeah.¡±


    ¡°What about the workshop?¡± Dakota questioned, looking at the building.


    ¡°Oh don''t worry, that was rented from the guild,¡± Tink replied as if that solved everything. ¡°I¡¯m sure the craft master will understand.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°And everything was good?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at Jarix.


    ¡°Yup. Not quite good as new, but it will do. Everything works just fine,¡± Jarix replied, shifting his shoulders a bit. ¡°We don¡¯t need much help being put back together, a few bandages and getting everything back in the right place will do for the most part.¡± Jarix did look mostly good as new, apart from the wide array of scars he had accumulated, mostly from the long rends of the bat thing¡¯s claws¡­ They really needed a better name for that, come to think of it. The arrows hadn''t left scars at all though which was fairly impressive.


    ¡°Okay then,¡± Tom went as he walked up Jarix''s wing, Jacky at his side just in case. He could walk just fine; it was only the fine motor skills that had really taken a hit. Jacky would have none of that though, so she was with him whether he liked it or not.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Jarix had the ruined parts of his armor strapped on as best they could without it being too annoying. The bent and broken pieces were hanging by ropes from his sides. His helmet dangled like a necklace around his neck as he got to his feet. The adult dragonettes would be taking turns on the wing to reduce the strain on Jarix while still speeding up the journey a fair bit, but without having them work too hard. Tom though as usual would just have to sit back and relax as much as you could with five kids onboard.


    They said their goodbyes for now, waving to the inhabitants of Deriva Keep as they took to the sky at long last and made for home. The flight had gone by without incident, besides one of the twins falling off when he tried to buffet his wings against the wind, which gave Tom quite the shock. The young guy was old enough to fly though or at least glide rather well though, and was scooped up by Fengi and placed back on Jarix with a stern talking to.


    Zarko made some lighthearted jokes about getting promoted for this. Jarix thought a medal was in order, Jacky didn¡¯t seem too concerned with any of that, instead wondering whether this was grounds for getting out of cleaning duties for a few weeks. Maybe even for a month. Tom lent his support to that motion. He wouldn''t mind not scrubbing floors for a bit after this.


    ¡°I was thinking. What should we name those bat things?¡± Tom questioned as Zarko came down for her turn to rest.


    ¡°I dunno, giant bats?¡± Zarko replied with a shrug.


    ¡°Oh, have a little imagination,¡± Tom protested.


    ¡°I like Igrakere,¡± Jarix added in. ¡°I don¡¯t want to deal with them at night again, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡±Terror bats?... What about night terrors?¡±


    ¡°Uhh... I like that. The hideous night terror,¡± Jacky added with a laugh as she got ready for her turn on the wing. ¡°The night whimper after Jarix was done with it.¡±


    ¡°Let me at them in daylight then we¡¯ll see who''s the terror,¡± Jarix replied, his usual confidence cracking a little.


    ¡°Well hopefully we can get a little work done on that gun of yours when we get back,¡± Tom replied, trying to lift the dragon''s spirits a little.


    ¡°Oh yeah, then I¡¯ll rip ''em apart.¡±


    When the keep finally hoved into view, Tom felt relieved more than anything else, a sizable smile creeping onto his face. This was supposed to be a two-day expedition, maybe three, and here they were well over a week later. Three of them had nearly died, he had nearly done so a few times. They had saved five kids, and many of the inhabitants of Deriva Keep. They had fucked up a force that would undoubtedly have been heading for their home in time, so even more lives were saved on that front. They had disobeyed orders, but they had done what they needed to do. Hell, even Kalestine had gotten what she wanted out of them. All in all Tom was damned proud of everyone involved.


    Coming in to land they were greeted by everyone standing out in the greeting hall. Every adult kitted out for battle and armed to the teeth. Apuma, Rachuck and Anchor out in front as they came down.


    ¡°It is so good to see you. We were worried sick,¡± Apuma stated, clearly delighted, though his face switched to one of apprehension when the cargo of kids began to disembark.


    ¡°Yeah about bloody time, what the hell happened back there?¡± Rachuck started out in a light-hearted tone with a grin on his face for once.


    ¡°Sorry, ran into some problems, fixed some of them,¡± Jarix replied with a hint of guilt in his voice.


    ¡°What kind of a greeting is that? Aren''t we heroes or something?¡± Jacky joked as she followed Tom down the wing.


    ¡°Oh sure you are, drawing off the last of our good flyers and both of our remaining healers. Very noble indeed.¡±


    ¡°Luckily we have such a good captain to ensure that our home stays nice and safe,¡± Nunuk retorted, sounding only slightly teasing, as she took her son into a hug. ¡°Good to see you didn¡¯t burn the house down.¡±


    ¡°Hey that¡¯s Tom''s job,¡± Rachuck replied as Nunuk released him from the hug. He looked Tom up and down. ¡°You look like shit by the way.¡±


    ¡°Feel like it too. Did Heron shoot someone or can he keep the shotgun?¡± Tom replied, making his way to steady ground, walking over to the captain.


    ¡°Nope, he sure loves that thing though.¡±


    ¡°TOM!¡± Kiran burst out as Wiperna let go of him, the little guy coming over at a flat sprint and wrapping around one of Tom¡¯s legs. Tom bent down to give the kid a few head scritches otherwise content to let him sit there for a bit.


    ¡°Missed you too... Did anything bad happen around here?¡± Tom questioned, looking back up.


    ¡°Not really. We prepared for the worst but for once nothing bad happened.¡±


    ¡°God, that is a rare statement around here,¡± Tom let out. In fact, it was depressingly rare. It would seem things were going their way at the moment though. At least it sounded like Saph and the others had been making the best of a shitty situation.


    ¡°How¡¯s Essy doing?¡± Fengi questioned after quickly scanning the room.


    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping soundly in her room. We didn¡¯t want to wake her.¡±


    ¡°Good, she needs it,¡± Nunuk concurred. ¡°We are expecting reinforcements any day now. Your lookouts are to keep an eye out for a black dragon of the Royal Guard, he¡¯s heading for Deriva and Hylsdal but he¡¯s stopping by to drop off some things for us. We have a lot to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­ Yes mother,¡± Rachuck replied after a second or two standing there shocked.


    ¡°Oh, it gets better. We have three more incoming to scour the woods, and you will not believe the shit that happened in the capital,¡± Jacky added with her usual bravado.


    Rachuck just turned to his mother as if expecting an explanation, to which she simply gestured inside.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tink and Junior had work to do. They were gonna call in a few favors to help clean up the place and get their affairs in order. They had both signed the contracts though. So that was that for now. They had found most of the things they needed beforehand, so today it was mostly a matter of actually bartering for those things and making a few trips back to Archeon to hand off the wares. To the growing concern of both the dragon and Vulzan, as the more volatile parts of their cargo were handed over.


    The amount of flash powder was downright unhealthy, to the point they ended up storing it in three separate storage lots which they rented at the guild. Sapphire could only imagine what Tom had planned for that lot. Following the reports of the battle of Deriva Keep though, she had a pretty good idea.


    That was not the part of today that excited her the most though. It had been over a decade since she had last set foot inside a tonselra stadium while there was an event on. Sadly she had missed it the last time she was here, due to bad weather canceling it. They had swung by the tavern to pick up Ray, Saph wouldn¡¯t have her miss this. Ray had of course made it very clear how sorry she was she had overslept, promising to make up for it. Being told they were going to see a game was clearly not quite what she had expected in return, struggling a bit for a response. So Saph just took her by the hand to drag her along.


    Sapphire did feel a little nervous though as they stood outside the entrance. It was just like she remembered it, well except this wasn¡¯t the entrance she normally used back in the day of course. Taking point she walked up to the ticket booth, being greeted by an older woman who looked like she had a long day the last decade.


    ¡°Hello and welcome. Are you here for today¡¯s game?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s been far too long,¡± Sapphire replied, not letting the woman get in the way of her chirpy attitude.


    ¡°Excellent, what kind of seat would you like¡­ where did you get that?¡± The woman paused, eyes landing on Sapphire¡¯s necklace.


    ¡°Oh, this old thing? That was years ago. I did take the championship though,¡± Sapphire replied nonchalantly as if that wasn¡¯t a big deal, making sure the engraving was clearly visible.


    ¡°One second darling¡­ Ralex!¡± the old woman went, looking off to a guy seemingly keeping tabs on proceedings as people were making their way into the stadium. The man-made his way over in a very dignified fashion until he caught a glimpse of Sapphire.


    ¡°Sapphire Rayland! Do my eyes deceive me? The streak has come home!¡±


    ¡°Good to see you are still kicking, you¡¯ve gotten old though,¡± Sapphire replied with a smile at her old friend.


    ¡°I wish I had a counter to that. You look even better than the day we lost you though. What took you so long?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy living out in the sticks. You told me so yourself.¡±


    ¡°I guess I did... I take it, these are your friends?¡± Ralex went, gesturing to Dakota and the others.


    ¡°They are indeed. That¡¯s my fearless leader Dakota, the one who stole me away; that¡¯s Canabrera and her boy toy known as Balethon, he can be a bit of a jerk; that is Maiko¡­ Security.¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­ Well you''re not wrong, but still, hey,¡± Maiko protested.


    ¡°And this is Ray, a very good friend.


    ¡°Oh I see how it is. Come on in. Barbra, tickets all around please.¡±


    ¡°As you wish. A shame she¡¯s not here to teach the new kids a lesson. Things were better back then.¡±


    ¡°Don''t listen to her, she just likes the old days. We have got a lot of great new racers this year. Come now, I¡¯ll give you lot the tour, we actually expanded the stadium since you were last here,¡± Ralex interjected, taking Sapphire by the shoulder and leading her onwards, enthusiasm still just as infectious as she remembered. ¡°There are still a few of your old rivals knocking about, if you fancy a rematch though.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, but I think I would disappoint. I broke a wing earlier this year.¡±


    ¡°No you didn''t! That is a disaster!¡± Ralex exclaimed, sounding genuinely worried, letting go and folding out her wing to inspect it.


    ¡°If I did that she would slap me so hard we would need Nunuk to put my jaw back on,¡± Sapphire heard Balethon let out, at least trying to be a little subtle. Canabrera whispering something in reply which made him smile for some reason. This was Ralex though, not only had he helped coach her, she knew full well that he cared more for the sport than anything else. Not to mention, if anyone could tell her her wing was indeed perfect it was him.


    ¡°I see what you mean, looks like that hurt¡­ It¡¯s nicely done though, who fixed this?¡±


    ¡°My mother, Lady Nunuk,¡± Dakota replied with a fair amount of pride in her voice and a slightly annoyed glare at Balethon.


    ¡°A Lady... woof. Is she available for hire, just out of curiosity?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so. Mainly because of the week''s flight,¡± Sapphire replied with a chuckle, folding her wing back in as Ralex let go, getting a look at Ray¡¯s back as she turned to admire the stadium entrance.


    ¡°Oh you poor thing. May I?¡±


    Ray looked to Sapphire, clearly not sure how to respond to that. Sapphire just shrugged. It couldn''t hurt. Well maybe it could actually. She had seen Ralex give the bad news to quite a few young hopeful girls, so she trusted him to know how to handle it. ¡°He knows wings better than anyone I have ever met,¡± Sapphire replied, trying to sound optimistic. She doubted very much there was any good news to be had though.


    Ray relented, turning her back to him and folding out what pitiful remnants were left.


    ¡°I¡¯ve not seen something this bad in years¡­ What happened?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a long story,¡± Ray replied, clearly reluctant to go into details on that point.


    ¡°You were beaten, weren''t you¡­ that¡¯s rot too... they left you. These are not the same injury either.¡± Ralex, continued as he looked her over, face grim and at times downright disgusted.


    ¡°No,¡± Ray replied, holding back tears as Sapphire went ever to give her a hug.


    ¡°There is no way to fix this, not even partially. She doesn¡¯t even have a single full wing finger left... I¡¯m so very sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ I know,¡± Ray replied, straightening her back. ¡°It is what it is.¡±


    ¡°You are sure there is no way?¡± Dakota tried with a slightly heavy voice.


    ¡°It''s impossible. There is too much missing. Sometimes we can make some prosthetics to get you into the air but you need most of the wing still. She hasn¡¯t got it¡­ I would recommend cutting off the most broken parts, perhaps try and tidy it up a little.¡±


    ¡°If it helps, Tom seems to consider impossible to be rather boring. He might be able to figure it out,¡± Balethon added, with a hint of optimism. Ray¡¯s face grew a cautious smile and wiping a tear away, as she seemingly thought back to the tales they had told of that crazy individual. Sapphire was really hoping Balethon was right for once. Tom already had the parachute though, so she didn¡¯t think it would be out of the question.


    ¡°If he does, then I would very much like to meet him... What about you though? You''re in fine shape,¡± Ralex went, looking at Sapphire, giving Ray a tap on the shoulder. ¡°We could do an exhibition match or even a solo flight just for old times sake. I¡¯m sure some people would pay to see that,¡± Ralex tried again, to Sapphire''s complete lack of surprise.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m kinda expensive these days,¡± she replied, trying to sound as important as possible. She knew how this song and dance went.


    ¡°So you¡¯ll do it?¡±


    ¡°I mean if you wanna pay for a victory lap then sure, but I¡¯m not racing.¡±


    ¡°I will see what I can do about that. Actually... Hey you!¡± Ralex replied, shouting at some random guy Sapphire didn¡¯t know who came running over. ¡°Go get the bookie. Tell him Sapphire is back and might be looking to show off for the crowds a bit.


    ¡°Why do I get the feeling you are gonna end up racing today?¡± Dakota questioned, walking up beside Sapphire.


    ¡°If the pay is good and they don¡¯t even want me to race why not? I¡¯ve done it hundreds of times, it''s just a lap of the track.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, all over a decade ago, and you are not in top shape as it is.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, if I¡¯m not racing it will basically be a practice lap.¡±


    ¡°Sure it will be,¡± Dakota replied, making it very clear just how unconvinced she was.

 Tight Turns

    Chapter 103: Tight Turns


    Sapphire had to give it to Dakota, she tended to be right on these kinds of things. When Saph found out Moldovi was still around, and that she wasn¡¯t booked for any actual racing today, the plan quickly came together. They would just go out for a bit of friendly competition, for old times'' sake. Sapphire would likely lose due to being a little out of shape and not having been on a course for over 15 years. Moldovi would go easy as to not to make Sapphire look too bad, not to mention it meant next to no risk for her. It would be a nice little payout for both of them, even if it was mostly Sapphire¡¯s name that would carry the race.


    They had been put in at near the end of the day¡¯s events, giving Sapphire a bit of time to watch some actual races with the others. There was a lot of good young talent on display today. Hopefully, some of them would be willing to entertain their offer. You couldn¡¯t ask for a better place to start with a huntress than someone who could play around the skies like a kid in a sandpit.


    Now though it was showtime, as she walked out onto the ledge of the central tower raised far above the area below. The stands were laid out in an oval around her. There were a fair few people here today, though it wasn¡¯t a particularly big event, just a regular race day.


    On the gong, both she and Moldovi leaned forward, dropping off the ledge and going into a dive, heading for the first obstacle far below. Today that was the roll rings. With the wind screaming in her ears she hurtled towards the ground, pulling up as late as possible, leaving only centimeters to spare. As she skimmed across the sand she let her tail drag ever so slightly, kicking up a streak of sand for the spectators. She wasn''t called the ''streak for'' nothing after all. Holding the skim for a bit, she pulled up hard for a split second before rolling over onto her back, heading for the first ring. She passed straight through the center of it, wings outstretched and perfectly level like a proper pro. The next three rings were a matter of rolling back and forth as quickly as she could possibly manage to ensure she was in the right position as she entered the next ring. She drifted slightly off-center, but not too badly, as she came hurtling out the last ring.


    Moldovi had pulled ahead a little already, much like Sapphire had expected. Moldovi had been a steady performer and apparently still was. So while she might not be champion material she could give Sapphire a run for her money in her current state.


    Next up was the return leg around the wall of the stadium as the two racers split off, going their separate ways, trying to be first to the vertical climb. Sapphire beat her wings throughout the run, hoping to beat Moldovi to the start bar of the climb. She did need to at least win some of the challenges after all. With her heart pounding and breath already growing ragged, she made it to the straight line leading to the horizontal bar which signaled the start of the climb. She could see Moldovi come around the other side, seemingly neck and neck with Sapphire. Then they both put on all the speed they could manage before skimming under the bar by the narrowest of margins, pulling up to vertical on locked wings and letting the momentum carry them upwards. Sapphire had always been on the lighter side, which didn¡¯t serve her well on this one. As they both shot skywards Moldovi had apparently not managed quite the same speed as Sapphire, though her greater mass carried her to nearly the same altitude.


    As Saph felt the speed bleed off, going weightless, she glanced at the board. 73.5 meters. ¡®Not bad,¡¯ she mused as she let her wings fold around her, falling over backward into a dive with a smile on her face, the crowds cheering the closely run match. God, this was good fun. She let the dive give her back most of the speed, the howling winds returning as she made straight for the ground before pulling up again, heading for the slalom course.


    She loved the slalom, and she was gonna show everyone just why that was as she came screaming through the entrance gate without slowing one bit. Straining her wings for all that they were worth, she banked into the series of sharp turns. On the third pylon she felt a sharp tug on her head as one of her horns brushed it. She gave the next pylon a bit more room as she let out a sigh of relief after that little scare.


    ¡®Don¡¯t get cocky now,¡¯ she cursed herself, as she again tried to cut in as close as possible. It was no easy feat when you had to do half a roll for every single turn. For max points, you had to pass the pylon as closely as possible and with wings parallel to it. As she rounded the final pylon she had opened up a lead on Moldovi, much to her delight. Now though, it was time for the stone run.


    She pulled up to scrub speed, grabbing a stone from the platform at the end of the slalom course. Kicking off back into the air, she headed for the center of the arena.


    Her target was a small basket which she had to hit from as high up as possible. Sapphire remembered just how pissed she used to be that Jokuni, or ¡®the Joke¡¯ as they used to call her, could guide the rock on target. Now though, it was her turn to pull that stunt. As Moldovi swung into a dive to line up her shot, Sapphire kept climbing. She beat hard to gain altitude until she was finally happy with the height. She could hear the crowds go quiet as she climbed, hushed in anticipation.


    She rolled into the vertical dive, letting the stonefly. As she pulled away from it to show she wasn¡¯t touching it, she guided it to its target. The crowd held their breath as the speeding wind drowned them back out, Sapphire watching the stone accelerate away from her in the dive heading straight for the target. It was a rather heavy thing to steer like this, but as she pulled up the stone went straight in, breaking through the bottom of the basket. Even over the screaming wind, she could hear the crowd cheer for her as she did her best to catch back up with Maldovi. She knew she had just lost the points for being first to the last two obstacles. But that shot had to be worth more anyway.


    Next up was the Loop, an old favorite of Sapphire¡¯s since she could use her wings throughout this one. That combined with her rather light frame meant that she tended to beat most people on the climb when it wasn''t on locked wings. Moldovi was already well into the loop when Sapphire passed under the bar that marked the start. She was panting like a maniac by now, but there wasn¡¯t long to go now. She pulled up nice and gently to ensure the loop was as round as possible, beating as hard as she could on the climb. She was making good time as she passed over the top bar and went into the dive, heading for the letterbox down on the ground that marked the end of the loop.


    She had always hated that one after she managed to get her tail broken by having it still slightly raised after doing the loop. Getting the tip of your tail smacked at these speeds hurt like absolute hell and she really didn¡¯t appreciate the short tunnel either. Somehow it was much worse than the rings. Today though she made it through nice and level, if perhaps a little cautiously, keeping her arms tight to her sides as she passed through the narrow opening. ¡®Right. One left.¡¯


    The swing rings were probably her favorite and often where she had managed to steal the win in the past. Loads of very tight maneuvers in quick succession, with no time for someone stronger than her to pull ahead in a straight line. She had caught up a little with Moldovi as she made it to the first ring, though she was still a fair ways behind. The obstacle got its name from the opening part, five rings swinging back and forth like pendulums, which added a random element to it which could sometimes make or break a race on luck alone.


    As always, Sapphire managed to deftly worm her way through the challenge, not losing any time or even touching any of them. Now though came the real deal. It took everything she had left to keep pulling the needle-sharp turns as she forged on through the tight corridors of rings. But she was in the groove now. She knew this course like the back of her hand and she could fly it blind. She Let her instincts and training guide her through the course, too tired to think properly by now. She pushed harder to try and match the speed she knew she could do. She was faster than this, she could go faster than this.


    The platforms for reversing direction did at least take a little of the strain off her overstressed wings, putting some on her legs instead. She kicked off blindly into where she knew the next ring would be, sailing through the air like it was her personal playground. She was born to win, she was built to win, and she was going to win.


    When she finally threw herself through the last ring, she was heaving for breath to the point she honestly wondered if she was gonna pass out, the world starting to go a little gray at the edges. It had been fun as hell though. She didn''t realize just how much she had missed doing that. Sure, hunting was exciting and she loved archery, but this was what she had been born to do and goddammit did she love it. Throwing herself through the air, daring the world to tell her she couldn¡¯t. She knew Dakota would have unkind things to say about going that hard, but she didn''t care. ¡®So worth it.¡¯


    Sapphire and Moldovi had both come down to land in the sand in the center of the arena. Moldovi was actually not the first to touch down. Sapphire hadn''t seen whether she had just loitered a bit longer in the air or if she had actually beaten her. Saph was not doing victory laps though, that was for damn sure. She was completely spent after that as she flopped down onto her hands and knees rather ungracefully.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Sapphire Rayland and Moldovi Yldringer!¡± the announcer shouted out from his booth, voice magically carrying across the arena. Moldovi did look slightly better off, standing there leaning on her knees heaving for breath as well. After a bit, she did come walking over slowly to Sapphire.


    ¡°You told me you had gotten slow?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Have,¡± Sapphire replied, struggling for air but with a wide grin on her face.


    ¡°You can be really annoying, you know that, right?¡± Moldovi replied jokingly before sitting down in the sand. "I honestly thought I had you there. But no. You haven''t changed a shade. You just couldn¡¯t stand not winning, could you?¡±


    ¡°You know how it is,¡± was all Sapphire had to say to that as she too sat to look at the scores. ¡°I still think you won though.¡±


    It would take a little before they knew the winner as the points for each obstacle were put onto the huge scoreboard. Sapphire cursed a little at only getting six for the slalom following that little fuck up, and a seven for the loop wasn¡¯t brilliant either. Otherwise, it was eights, nines, and tens across the board. To her amazement they had actually tied on the vertical climb, both getting an eight.


    ¡°You went easy on that one, didn¡¯t you?¡± Sapphire questioned with a chuckle.


    ¡°That was the deal.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I did too,¡± Saph replied with a laugh, getting one in return from Moldovi. They had agreed to be paid the same either way, so it really didn¡¯t matter much who won.


    Next came the points from the panel of judges'' opinions on style and consistency as well as the points for being first to an obstacle and first out of an obstacle. To Sapphire¡¯s amazement, she got first to complete the course, apparently having caught up inside the swing rings, gaining her five points.


    The judges hadn¡¯t been too kind to her though. But she had been sloppy on a few things, so it made sense. She would have liked a bit more from them on that beauty of a stone shot though. She had gotten a full ten points for it already though, so meh.


    ¡°I think that concludes our point-scoring. No penalties being given, all in all, a most marvelous performance from the two veterans. Though tonight''s winner is... Sapphire ¡®The Streak¡¯ Rayland! The girl who refused to lose!¡±


    The crowd let out quite the cheer for her, a sensation she hadn''t felt in years, and this time she had time to savor it. And it felt good. Even if it was a slightly hollow victory, it was still one hell of a sensation.


    ¡°That¡¯s the last time I¡¯m going easy on you¡­ I should have known,¡± Moldovi went with a snicker, giving Sapphire a hand to get to her feet. Both of them waved to the spectators as they walked off the field to let the next two take to the sky to prove themselves.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After a lengthy discussion on everything that had happened and just what they were gonna do to respond, people had gotten to work. Jarix needed to be unloaded and have his armor removed. They needed to dismantle all the barricades and traps Rachuck had ordered constructed, and Tom was promptly assigned to help Apuma and Fengi figure out what to do with the five new kids.


    Kiran utterly refused to leave Tom¡¯s side throughout the day. Curling up around his neck like a scarf, at times wrapping himself just a tad too tightly. Tom didn¡¯t get asked to do any real work, since well... he mostly couldn¡¯t right now.


    His task was trying to figure out how to fit in five recently traumatised kids with the current group. Luckily, the worst of the shock had worn off and the time spent with the kids at Deriva Keep had loosened the five of them up quite a bit. The baby was placed into Apuma¡¯s care, for the time being, Fengi helping Tom out with the rest of them.


    Lothal once again proved to be very useful too. Mainly on account of his knowledge of his siblings and having wholeheartedly embraced the leadership role by now. In fact, he embraced it to the point he started ordering the Bizmati kids around. He seemed to care so deeply though, there was no malice or powerplay in him whatsoever. He needed to have everyone be happy and he was doing his damndest to make it happen. Though trying to order Kiran to play with the twins did result in a minor diplomatic incident as Kiran refused to leave Tom. Apart from that he almost made Tom¡¯s work trivial. Tom didn¡¯t mind that in the slightest though as he sat down to watch the proceedings. Kiran crawled down into his lap to get a few belly scratches.


    ¡°Why took you so long?¡± Kiran finally asked after he had stopped giggling.


    ¡°There was too much to do,¡± Tom replied truthfully. ¡°We came back as quickly as we could.¡±


    ¡°Next time I go too.¡± The little guy protested, clearly not happy with that reasoning.


    ¡°No Kiran. It was a bad trip. If we are lucky there won¡¯t be a next time.¡±


    ¡°Fingers crossed. That''s it, right?¡± Fengi added as she tried to distribute the building blocks evenly to those who wanted to play with them.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°No, we fight!¡± Kiran let out in English, the statement being echoed by all the other Bizmati kids, ¡°We fight, we fight, we fight.¡± Tom looked to Fengi, who suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable.


    ¡°Kiran ask him, you said you''d ask him,¡± Turinia let out, expectantly, as she stood looking at the two of them.


    ¡°Ask me what?¡± Tom questioned, looking back down to Kiran.


    ¡°Your blood red, we want red tails too!¡± Kiran replied excitedly, clearly trying his best to be as cute as possible. ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°Fengi?¡± Tom let out, sounding as disappointed as he possibly could. ¡°Did Essy show them war movies?¡±


    ¡°Might have done¡­ They liked the flying one a lot by the way,¡± Fengi replied, clearly trying to defend their actions.


    Tom rubbed his eyes for a second before looking down to Kiran. ¡°No, you may not. Besides, my blood goes brown when it dries, not red. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Awww,¡± more than one of the kids let out, clearly disappointed.


    ¡°What¡¯s a movie?¡± Lothal had to question.


    ¡°Best thing ever, it¡¯s like watching a memory,¡± Vigon replied, taking a little wooden figure which was supposed to represent a dragon and flying it through the air, making the best engine noises he could manage.


    Tom couldn¡¯t decide whether that was sad or sweet to watch¡­ They had dragons here, hell there was one in the greeting hall, and here they were playing with fighter planes¡­ like some sort of fantasy beast.


    He hadn¡¯t been any different growing up though, so he decided it was sweet. He doubted he could do anything about it anyway now. And if they were gonna take after anyone, the Redtails were about as good as it was gonna get. Even if he felt a chat with Esmeralda was in order.


    ¡°We will try and get some red paint, I promise,¡± Tom relented, looking to the rather disappointed Kiran.


    ¡°Yay!¡±


    Tom had gone to see Esmeralda after the kids had gotten into the groove playing with each other, Fengi staying behind to sort out any problems that might arise.


    He knocked on the door a few times and was answered by Kokashi, who wearily opened it.


    ¡°Come in, come in. She¡¯s just woken up again. Hey sweety pie, look who it is.¡±


    ¡°Oh hi, you''re back! Wait, it¡¯s afternoon already, why didn¡¯t you wake me? And I missed the welcome party? Oh, come on!¡± Esmeralda protested from her bed, trying to get up. Tom jogged over to give her a hug so she didn¡¯t have to get up.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t sleep all night, so you needed it,¡± Kokashi replied, standing off in a corner.


    ¡°I know, but still I could have gotten up for that,¡± she protested again, before turning her attention to Tom. ¡°How have you been?¡±


    ¡°Been better I¡¯m afraid. We made it though,¡± Tom replied with a smile.


    ¡°I heard you ended up poisoned too?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one way of putting it,¡± Tom replied, holding up his hand showing how the thing just still wouldn''t stop shaking.


    ¡°Oh, you poor thing,¡± Essy went, taking his hand.


    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t get too handsy,¡± Jackalope added with a chuckle, walking in through the door. ¡°You can¡¯t just run off like that, I need to know where you are, also Hi¡± she continued, while leaning on Kokashi a bit giving Essy a wave.


    ¡°I can walk around just fine, I¡¯m not that broken. If you aren''t careful I¡¯m gonna have you carry me everywhere,¡± Tom replied jokingly.


    ¡°That can be arranged. We just need you back in shape for the good of the keep. Who knows what¡¯s gonna be coming next after all¡­ Actually, you go outside the door for this,¡± Jacky replied, before pushing Kokashi outside. The guard just accepted there was little he could do about it. ¡°And no listening¡­ Right, you are not gonna believe what that dude can do,¡± Jacky continued, turning her attention to Esmeralda.


    ¡°Uhm, should I be here for this?¡± Tom questioned, having a guess at where this was going.


    ¡°Oh come on, have a little pride,¡± Jacky retorted before looking back to Esmeralda who was seemingly all ears by now.


    The following tale went into more detail than Tom was in any way comfortable with. He could hardly complain though, after having sorta started that trend without Jacky¡¯s consent, and it was very flattering indeed. It seemingly even reached the point of making Esmeralda a tad uncomfortable as she looked at Tom rather worried at the part about sorta fainting multiple times.


    ¡°That¡¯s great Jacky¡­ Are you sure that¡¯s uhm¡­ safe?¡±


    ¡°Who cares? I need to know something though, and Nunuk won''t tell me. How quick does that medicine stuff they are giving you work?¡±


    ¡°Not quick. And it hurts a lot, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°Aww beans¡­ Does it hurt a lot, like really a lot?¡± Jacky replied, voice growing concerned.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, it¡¯s kinda random at times. I didn''t get an hour of sleep tonight. I¡¯m doing good right now though.¡± Essy answered, sounding cautiously optimistic. Tom didn¡¯t really like the sound of that.


    ¡°As long as it works. Apparently, we are getting a shipment by dragon any day now, to help speed it up,¡± Tom added, hoping his optimism wasn¡¯t misplaced.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Essy replied, clearly quite surprised


    ¡°Oh yeah... Uhm right, so the Flaxens tried to kidnap Balethon, right? But without the rest of the family knowing it. They fucked up and got caught. The family was very sorry, embarrassed, or just got bullied into giving us a lot of money. I''m not quite sure which, don¡¯t give a fuck either, and they are paying for your medical bills! So we got the good stuff from your sister¡¯s. We snuck in Tom¡¯s too because Dakota is great with that stuff. Clever, hey?¡±


    The loud ¡°What the fuck!¡± from outside the door betrayed that Kokashi clearly hadn¡¯t kept his promise to not be listening. Esmeralda sat there looking rather shocked. "Wait, from. Ignis?¡±


    ¡°Aww yeah, only the best, and we aren¡¯t paying a copper for it. And I know you''re listening out there, I''m gonna steal your breakfast if you don¡¯t shut those ears!¡± In Tom¡¯s opinion you didn¡¯t really need fancy hearing to hear every word Jacky was saying outside the door, but hey. It was the thought that counted.


    ¡°Huh, well that ought to help quite a bit,¡± Essy replied, seemingly not bothered by the threat to her husband''s food situation.


    ¡°I hope so. I also need to ask you something else. If you wanted to embarrass an ex, like really embarrass him, how would you do that exactly?¡±


    ¡°I do not like where this is going,¡± Tom had to interject. It felt like the right thing to do, even though he was fairly certain it would be about as effective as farting to cover up thunder.

 The Bizmati Draft

    Chapter 104: The Bizmati Draft


    There had been a flurry of congratulations and a few confused individuals asking whether Sapphire was back for good or just to show off as they made their way to the changing rooms. Sapphire thanked Moldovi for allowing her to borrow a set of shorts as she changed back into her armor. Quite a few other racers asked to see her necklace. The little bitch who had the audacity to claim it was fake before the race being forced to eat her words, much to Sapphire''s delight.


    Dakota and the others had met her outside the changing rooms, minus Ray and Maiko who were likely still upstairs watching. A small contingent of other racers followed Sapphire out, some wanting autographs while others were just asking questions, hoping for tips and tricks.


    ¡°I see you are right back in your element,¡± Balethon joked as he stood there, arms crossed with a grin on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s yours then? Lapwarmer?¡± Sapphire retorted, which managed to flatten his ears rather nicely. Canabrera apparently found it funny as hell though, which didn¡¯t seem to help Balethon¡¯s mood.


    ¡°Well, mind making the sales pitch then, since you are so comfortable here?¡± Dakota questioned, looking to Sapphire. ¡®Really?¡¯ Saph thought to herself as she turned back to the miniature fan club that had formed.


    ¡°Right people, well girls actually. Sorry guys, you aren¡¯t cut out for this. We are looking for a few fresh recruits who might want to take up frontier life for a change. You all know the deal. Roof over your head, food on the table, and a lower risk of dying a horrible death when you miss a ring one day.¡±


    Saph winced a little at that. It had sounded better in her head, but it got the point across either way. Most of them looked rather confused, a few of them looking at her like she had to be crazy. Sapphire could understand that. If you had lived your entire life in the city surrounded by friends, why would you leave it all to start anew. There were a few thoughtful faces among them though.


    ¡°Is it nice there?¡± one girl, probably around 15 or 16, asked.


    ¡°I have been there for half my life. Yeah, I would say so. Though it can get a little chaotic at times,¡± Sapphire replied, scoring a fair few more confused faces. That was pretty much the opposite of how frontier life was normally portrayed after all.


    Sure there were challenges and danger involved, but most of the time it was a fairly serene and calm existence. Even slightly monotonous at times, unless you made your own fun of course. Something they had grown rather adept at over the years.


    ¡°Is it some sort of hole in the ground or what?¡±


    ¡°Careful now, that¡¯s the Lady¡¯s daughter,¡± Sapphire clarified, pointing to Dakota, who let out a light grunt and crossed her arms. ¡°No, not really. It¡¯s small, but we are doing rather well. In fact, we are departing in a few days if all goes well with a three dragon combat wing and a trader. It¡¯s quite the place,¡± Sapphire wasn¡¯t sure if she was overselling it at this point, but the confusion among her listeners was definitely damn near total by now.


    ¡°So it¡¯s safe, exciting, and we get to go shoot things?¡± one young woman, probably around 18, asked, seemingly thoughtful.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about ¡®safe.¡¯ If you know how to fly and don¡¯t act like idiots you¡¯ll do fine,¡± Dakota replied, stepping forward a step. ¡°If any of you wanna discuss this more seriously, follow me. I believe Sapphire needs to sign some things.¡± Dakota departed, taking a few curious individuals with her.


    Sapphire got out the ballpoint pen, promoting yet further questions as she began signing different things. The pen miraculously worked at least decently on quite a few different things.


    ¡°Oh, the betrayal,¡± Ralex let out as he stepped forward, trying to seem serious and failing rather badly.


    ¡°I should have known why you came here. You always like to steal away our best talent with your pretty crowns and fancy armor.¡±


    ¡°Hey, if it was all bullshit don¡¯t you think I would be staying?¡± Sapphire replied with a smirk, as she tried to sign someone''s ear with the pen which actually turned out rather well.


    ¡°Ahrg, you got me there I¡¯m afraid. But could you at least do me the favor of showing up more than once a decade in exchange for running off with the young ones?¡±


    ¡°Who knows what the future will hold? I¡¯m not opposed to it.¡±


    It would seem Sapphire¡¯s sales speech had actually been rather successful, as they had ended up with two new applicants, which both seemed to be in rather familiar positions. One was an ex-keep dweller who had been sent to the capital three years ago due to overcrowding at home. She didn''t have much family here to take care of her. She was called Bolinda, age sixteen. The other was named Phospheno, age seventeen. She had lost her home two years ago while she was visiting the capital for the first time. The two girls seemed to be friends, or at least knew each other pretty well, which was a definite plus. Fengi had felt a little lonely at times, not having other girls her age around.


    ¡®Why do the stories of these people have to be so damn tragic?¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as they chatted with the two young women at a table in the arena¡¯s cafeteria. Ralex had insisted on staying with the two to ensure they didn¡¯t say yes to anything untowards. Sapphire knew he cared, so she had no problems with that, even if Dakota apparently thought it was slightly insulting that he believed she would try to take advantage of them.


    ¡°So then what do you say?¡± Dakota finished after having laid out the terms of the contract.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad if people don¡¯t leave,¡± Phospheno, or Phos as she was apparently called, went.


    Bolinda nodded in reply. ¡°Sounds fun. Sorry Rex, don¡¯t much fancy ending up on a stretcher.¡±


    ¡°Or worse,¡± Pho added, which gave Ralex a rather strained smile as he nodded at them.


    ¡°No, it''s fine, just promise me you don¡¯t get eaten or something. Though I¡¯m fairly sure Sapphire here won¡¯t let that happen¡­ Well then Dakota Bizmati, I think you have managed to rob me of yet more precious talent. Though at least you didn''t run off with the Champion this time. No offense to you two.¡± The two young women¡¯s expressions betrayed he was not entirely forgiven for that comment.


    ¡°We won¡¯t sign anything just yet,¡± Dakota interjected. ¡°We are all gonna be spending some time together the next few days so we can get to know each other a little better. Then we make the decision. We have to do a few things in the meantime though.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had only taken until early afternoon the next day before Anchor spotted this ¡®Tiguan¡¯ approaching on the horizon. Tom was, of course, looking forward to meeting yet another dragon, and Jarix had called him a big softy. That resulted in a rather odd mental image for Tom. A dragon running around playing ball with a bunch of kids was fucking hilarious though.


    He couldn¡¯t help but notice that everyone else had seemed rather anxious. Even Jacky was apprehensive for once. As they stood in the greeting hall, lined up and ready to receive their guests, Tom couldn¡¯t help but broach the subject.


    ¡°So uhm Jacky¡­ I know you don¡¯t like black, but isn¡¯t this a bit extreme?¡±


    ¡°What? No, it¡¯s perfectly fine. I¡¯ve just never seen one before¡­ Haven''t heard the best stories though,¡± she replied, not sounding terribly convincing and standing rather stiffly.


    ¡°Jarix said he¡¯s the nicest dragon he knows though. Even if he thinks he¡¯s too nice,¡± Tom put his arm around her waist, trying to tickle her a bit, to loosen her up. He got a giggle in response as she tried to very carefully push him away.


    ¡°He is. If you tell him to kill someone he¡¯s gonna spend the next five minutes debating with you on whether he should,¡± Jarix replied, turning his head to look at Tom.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad,¡± Tom replied, stopping the attack on Jacky for the time being.


    ¡°Well, it is for a warrior. You don¡¯t have five minutes in battle,¡± came the rather pointed reply.


    Tom did have to give him that. Even if it didn¡¯t make Tiguan much of a soldier, it did make him sound like a rather nice guy instead, and that would do just fine today. And if he was coming out here, he had clearly graduated just like Jarix, so he had to know how to fight.


    As the big black shape came into view heading for the keep, the large flag trailing underneath him was visible even at this distance. A few of the dragonettes took a step back. It was a strange display, seemingly almost involuntary. Even Jacky lurched a bit. Though she did not move, Tom could feel she was tense. This looked like an awfully bad combination to him if this guy was as soft as Jarix claimed.


    It didn¡¯t take long to come up with a solution though.


    ¡°Hey Kiran. Who is the bravest person here?¡± Tom asked the kid laying atop his head, arms and legs dangling over the edge.


    ¡°Tom is bravest. You is best girl,¡± Tom had hoped he would say himself, but this still worked. At least it sort of seemed to, as Jacky swung her head around.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Well you seem slightly scared of this big, soft, cuddly dragon. From what Jarix says he¡¯s too soft to even be a soldier. Yet you slept just fine against Jarix''s side?¡±


    ¡°I know Jarix, I don¡¯t know this guy.¡±


    ¡°Well then let¡¯s give him a proper welcome then,¡± Tom let out, looking around the hall, raising his free arm.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°If this is how you were greeted every time you went somewhere, wouldn¡¯t you get a little bitter? Jarix, is this guy an angry person who hates the world?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± The dragon replied confusedly, tilting his head at Tom.


    ¡°What are you playing at?¡± Nunuk questioned, shaking her head a little.


    ¡°If he¡¯s still a nice guy after years of this, then he has to be the nicest person I have ever heard of. So come on, show some spine and make him feel welcome. ''Cause he is, right?¡± Tom questioned, trying to make it sound as absurd as possible. ¡°It¡¯s not like he¡¯s been carrying medicine all this way, or helped Saph and the others in the capital, or is going to protect people we like, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course he is welcome,¡± Nunuk protested in response.


    ¡°Then act like it,¡± Tom replied before she could carry on. ¡°It¡¯s the least you could do.¡±


    ¡°Well he¡¯s not gotten any less stubborn,¡± Rachuck let out, ears decidedly low against his skull.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± Tom dismissed him, going over to where the rest of the kids were, dragging Jacky along with him. Even though it was very much her humoring him.


    ¡°Now kids, you liked the movie right?¡±


    ¡°We fight!¡± came the response, one of the Hylsdal twins even having a go at echoing the statement. ¡°That¡¯s good, now remember when they went to the bar with the other people that look like me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they were all mean and stupid,¡± came the reply from Vigon. ¡®That¡¯s the spirit,¡¯ Tom mused, confidence in the plan increasing.


    ¡°Then what happened?¡±


    ¡°The nice people came over and were nice,¡± Turinia replied, perking up with the cutest little smile.


    ¡°And then Red Tails were happy,¡± Turinia¡¯s brother Worpock added.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. So then here is the plan. Tiguan is a Red Tail and you are gonna be the nice people, okay?¡±


    ¡°I can be nice,¡± one of the twins replied, Tom had no clue which one though.


    ¡°And make the big scary dragon happy so he doesn¡¯t kill us,¡± Vigon let out excitedly, causing Tom to flinch a little.


    ¡°He¡¯s not scary, he just looks different. Just think of him as an even friendlier Jarix.¡±


    There were a few thoughtful faces as they looked back and forth. Holdey eventually put his hand up very politely.


    ¡°Yes Holdey?¡±


    ¡°Do you think he will let us climb on him?¡± Tom couldn¡¯t really answer that, instead looking towards Jarix, hoping he would know. The dragon had clearly been listening to what they were doing, though the head tilt betrayed he didn¡¯t really get it.


    ¡°I...hm¡­. Yeah, I think he would,¡± The dragon eventually replied, having pondered it for a bit.


    ¡°Perfect. So we are all gonna be nice to the big dragon, and I¡¯m sure he will be very happy and you get to have fun too.¡±


    The look of sheer surprise and confusion on Tiguan¡¯s face when a gaggle of kids came running out to greet him as soon as she landed betrayed this was indeed not normal for him. At first, the dragon backed up until his tail was dangling over the side, seemingly not sure how to react to that.


    ¡°What¡­ Hi, yes I¡¯m Tigu¡­ My tail isn''t red?¡± The confused expression didn¡¯t go away, but an infectious smile did join it, as the dragon came to terms with what was going on. The kids completely distracted his attention from the discomfort of the adults. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m very happy to be here¡­ I brought you something too,¡± he continued as he slowly walked forward, being extremely careful with each footstep as the kids swarmed around him.


    Poking fun at whether or not Jacky was braver than a bunch of kids had her on board with the plan as well, as she and Tom walked forward. Nunuk, clearly not wanting to be outdone, also went to greet the dragon. ¡®I¡¯m a fucking genius,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, very pleased with the result.


    ¡°Had a nice flight?¡± Tom opened up, the dragon''s attention switching to him, expression going from confused to incredulous.


    ¡°What are you?... Oh no wait, I¡¯m sorry. Yes. Ehh hi,¡± the dragon replied, stumbling a bit over the words.


    ¡°Hi indeed,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle.


    ¡°And welcome to our little keep. I heard you did my daughter a great service back in the capital, we are most grateful¡± Nunuk added, with a bow.


    ¡°Oh¡­ I just kinda went along,¡± Tiguan replied, looking a bit bashful, attention quickly switching back to Tom.


    ¡°You are a strange-looking wizard.¡± Tom could hear Jacky suppressing a snicker at that.


    ¡°Oh, you have no idea,¡± she replied, ruffling Tom¡¯s hair a bit.


    ¡°He is best girl,¡± Kiran let out, as he stood patting Tiguan¡¯s front left paw.


    ¡°Girl?¡± a male dragonette on Tiguan''s back let out, clearly rather confused. He jumped down to the ground. ¡°I could have sworn they said you were a man. My apologies, ma¡¯am. Lieutenant Ylditz Hashaw. We have heard quite a bit about this place.¡±


    That was seemingly enough to break Jacky, quite a few others joining her in laughing at Tom¡¯s expense. He did his best not to look annoyed.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m a dude,¡± Tom clarified, trying not to sound rude. Ylditz¡¯ face turned rather strained.


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s very obvious from your¡­ physique?¡± The guy trailed off, clearly not sure where he was going with that.


    ¡°You are Tom, right?¡± Tiguan questioned, before looking back down to Kiran, tapping his claws on the ground as Kiran tried to hold them down, the dragon smiling from ear to ear.


    ¡°That he is,¡± Jarix interjected. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, only half the things you have heard are true.¡±


    ¡°The rest are understated,¡± Zarko joined in as she too came up to greet the new arrivals, exchanging a hearty handshake with Ylditz, after a quick salute.


    ¡°That¡¯s honestly a little scary,¡± Ylditz replied, as Tiguan yielded to the kids'' requests, laying down on his side to let them crawl up. He even helped the stragglers along with a careful paw. ¡°We have something for you though,¡± Ylditz continued after looking at the stage display. He walked over to Tiguan to retrieve a nice leather satchel, handing it over to Nunuk. ¡°There you go, delivered as promised. Medicine, a few remedies, and some letters for the keep.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, young man. Excuse me, I better get to work. Tom, I want you in the infirmary shortly. It will take a little while to prepare though,¡± Nunuk replied before walking off with the satchel. Apuma walked over to give a quick handshake before joining her.


    ¡°You seem to be enjoying yourself,¡± Jarix stated, looking down at Tiguan who had nearly made it onto his back by now.


    ¡°And you look like you got into a fight with your mother¡­ What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°I did the right thing¡­ I think.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Order! May we have order! This court is now in session,¡± the judge demanded as people found their seats in the large room. Sapphire had never been in a courtroom before, and it was really a rather surreal experience.


    To their front was the judge, with his clerks and lawkeepers. To the right was the accused¡¯s tables and benches. Behind her was the Jury, which she had been told she was not allowed to look at unless instructed to do so by the judge.


    Above them were the stands for anyone not directly involved, such as witnesses or personal relations. There were stairs leading down to the court floor from the stands if they were needed for testimony or other such things. Both Archeon and Baron were going to testify as well, simply craning their heads over the edge down into the courtroom.


    Dakota was seated in the front row with the prosecutors. With her was Lady Hashaw, Victoria, and the Hashaw family lawyer, Sir Viantius. The defendants consisted of Ursula¡ª aka The Bitch, and former lady of the Flaxen family¡ª her personal lawyer¡ª and Nevera, the one responsible for orchestrating the kidnapping.


    Sapphire and Balethon sat on the second row along with Vulzan and his lawyer, whom Sapphire had only just met before entering the room. Behind The Bitch sat four former Flaxen Family guards, including the one who had the horns to stare down a ten-ton black dragon and a colonel while lying.


    Sapphire almost felt a little impressed by her. They had been following orders too. Just the wrong orders, unfortunately for them. Their punishment was likely to be a lot less severe given the circumstances.


    First order of business was listing the accusations on which they would be deliberating. Dakota had presented them as the representatives of Bizmati Keep, as well as listed the charges they were bringing against The Bitch, which included: attempted murder, false accusations of corruption, falsifying evidence of corruption, mistreatment of the law of hospitality, attempted kidnapping by proxy, and attempted murder by proxy.


    Lady Hashaw had decided to represent her family, stating her accusations as besmirching her family''s honor and attempted implication of her family in unlawful behavior.


    Victoria had been representing the Royal Guard, stating her accusations as: falsifying reports to mislead Royal Guard forces, misusing the trust of the Royal Guard, besmirching the reputation of several Royal Guard members, and orchestrating an assault on the Royal Guard.


    It had taken quite a while to go through all the witnesses for each of the rather long list of accusations, with delightfully few people coming in to speak on the bitch¡¯s behalf. Ray¡¯s testimony had been a little tense, the woman clearly struggling with the attention of everyone looking at her. They had gotten her some decent clothes to make her presentable, but she still received some grief from the defendants side of the room before the judge put a stop to it.


    She had pulled it off though, even if she looked ready to bolt. Sapphire made a note to buy her a round that evening. ¡®Cause she damn well deserved it.


    ¡°Next witness, one Captain Tyborg. Please come to the floor,¡± the Judge ordered as Ray made her way off the podium.


    ¡°Esteemed Judge, may I have your attention, please?¡± someone shouted out from the stands above. It sounded familiar, though Sapphire couldn''t place it.


    ¡°Of course, inquisitor. To what do we owe the honor?¡± the Judge replied as Joelina Hashaw made her way down the stairs. She was followed by a squad of what were clearly warriors done up in full inquisitorial regalia, prayer seals and incense burners included.


    ¡°Nothing good I¡¯m afraid,¡± she replied, not taking to the podium, instead standing in front of the defendant''s benches. ¡°Ursula, disgraced of your family. It has come to my attention, during a lengthy investigation of the reports of enemy action in the frontier, that certain reports were misplaced concerning enemy movements. Specifically, reports from Ikran Keep were rewritten, their seals used to lend credence to false reports which were then re-filed.¡±


    ¡°You have been identified as the source of this misinformation. It is believed this was done with the intent of creating believable evidence against the inhabitants of Bizmati Keep, against whom you hold grievances. The result of your action was the misallocation of Royal Guard forces as well as a failure to respond to a plea for help from Ikran Keep, which now lies in ruins, with forty-one lives lost. For this act of treason you are sentenced to death, by execution, in the name of the Holy Inquisition under the mandate of the church as constituted by the crown.¡±


    ¡°Not guilty!¡± The Bitch ordered, getting to her feet.


    ¡°Noted,¡± Joelina responded, raising her hand and snapping her fingers once. The warriors at her back moved to seize The Bitch, who protested loudly, squirming and screaming, demanding to be let go. ¡°You are to be executed tomorrow at dawn, following a private interrogation with me. I will learn how deep your treason has spread and it shall be purged,¡± Joelina continued, utterly unfazed by The Bitch¡¯s protests, a muzzle was finally put over her snout, shutting her up a bit.


    Joelina then moved her gaze to the remaining Flaxens arrayed before her. ¡°If any of you decide to leave the capital before my investigation is complete, your next of kin will be used as leverage to bring you back. Alternatively, you will be hunted to the ends of the world in the name of the king, with the full resources available to the Inquisition and the honored Royal Guard. Understood¡­? Very good. You will be notified once you are again allowed to leave the city. I advise you to make yourselves easy to find, so as to avoid misunderstandings.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit,¡± Balethon let out from next to Sapphire as Joelina turned to the judge with a polite bow, thanking him for his time, before making off with The Bitch. She gave a polite nod to Lady Hashaw as she passed them, though she utterly ignored the rest of them. Everyone made sure to give them plenty of space as they left, and they were gone as quickly as they had arrived.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Sapphire questioned as an eerie silence fell over the courtroom.


    ¡°My girl did her job rather well it would seem. Though her timing was a little annoying, so much wasted effort¡­ Oh well,¡± Lady Hashaw replied, as people began to discuss amongst themselves. Sapphire turned to look at the remaining Flaxens. Nevera looked ready to faint, and even the tough-skinned guard was looking at the others wide-eyed.


    ¡°This hearing is not yet over. Back to order,¡± the judge demanded, quickly gaining it as people shut up and looked at him. There was still the matter of the remaining Flaxen individuals. The Jury had quickly served every one of them with a guilty verdict in the face of overwhelming evidence. Sentences had been prison, if they could pay for it. All of them at least claiming to be able to do so. Would they fail to deliver the funds though, it would be indentured servitude instead. Nevera got it the hardest with forty years, the guards receiving between five and ten. Judging by how Nevera was looking at the moment, Sapphire had a suspicion that wouldn¡¯t be the end of it for her though.


    The judge seemingly agreed, requiring her to be placed under supervision by the city guard until she could begin serving her sentence.

 A Good Haul

    Chapter 105: A Good Haul


    Tiguan was planning on staying the night, heading back out tomorrow morning. That gave them some time to just chat and have a laugh. The black dragon rather quickly ended up as the world''s largest play uncle much to Tom¡¯s amusement. He let the kids crawl around as much as they pleased, even spreading out a wing enough for it to be used as a bouncy castle. Jarix did complain a bit about how they would want him to do the same now, to which Tiguan simply questioned what the problem with that was.


    The Hylsdal kids had also joined in, if rather more cautiously, especially at first. Seeing the others have fun apparently did well enough to convince them there was no danger present. In fact, the only ones who appeared to be showing fear were the adults. Though they too seemed to be easing up ever so slowly.


    ¡°Tom, before you go?¡± Tiguan questioned cautiously, just as Tom had gotten ready to go to the infirmary. ¡°I have a few questions¡­ If you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Fire away,¡± Tom replied, sitting back down on the bench.


    ¡°Sapphire said you make things?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tom replied, not quite sure where the dragon was going with this.


    ¡°Have you ever been able to¡­ you know¡­ fly?¡± The dragon tried, sounding like he was very worried about offending Tom.


    ¡°Not by myself. I¡¯ve flown here, though, and at home too¡­ Why?¡±


    ¡°Could you make someone who can''t fly anymore fly again?¡±


    ¡°Like a cripple?¡± Jacky interrupted. Tiguan wincing a little at that, though nodding in response.


    ¡°I have no clue,¡± Tom had to admit. ¡°Would it have to be using her own wings?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I think she would like that?¡± the dragon replied, seemingly pondering the question.


    ¡°You have the parachute thingy, wouldn¡¯t that do it,¡± Jacky added, optimistically. Tom wasn¡¯t about to give that away though. He kinda needed that.


    ¡°I guess so. Who are we talking about here?¡±


    ¡°One of the people coming here is¡­ not so lucky,¡± Tiguan replied, looking to the kids, with a sad smile.


    ¡°Dakota hired a cripple?¡± Jacky questioned, sounding genuinely confused. ¡°That¡¯s new.¡±


    Tom could guess as to why. They flew all the time, every day almost, and often they spent more time on the wing than on their feet. Nunuk had talked about them getting some more hands to help out. A statement Tom wholeheartedly agreed with. And they had plenty of work to do on the ground, he knew that better than anyone.


    ¡°Could you?¡± the dragon pleaded, voice heavy with worry.


    ¡°No idea. Make something to help her fly¡­ probably. Fix her own wings? I have no idea. I haven¡¯t even seen her.¡±


    ¡°I know. If you try I think she will be really happy.¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± Tom replied, trying not to sigh, remembering just how long the to-do-list was. It hadn¡¯t gotten shorter following the last week''s worth of events.


    Tom had gone to the infirmary after he was content that things were in good hands, Jacky following along dutifully. He had been expecting more herb porridge or something similar, but what he got was a large mug of steaming hot tea.


    ¡°Now once the splash of potion has been added you need to drink it quickly,¡± Nunuk stated as she held out the mug, Jacky taking it for him. Tom sat down on the bed next to Esmeralda, giving her a nervous smile as she sat with her mug.


    ¡°And what exactly does it do?¡± Tom questioned. He had some rather bad experiences with drinking local drinks as of late.


    ¡°The tea will help take the pain, and it should put you to sleep for at least a day. The potion is going to be burning out the damage so it may be replaced.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea how that would work¡­ So it¡¯s painkillers and magic stuff?¡± Nunuk looked a tad confused for a second as she pondered it.


    ¡°Yes, precisely,¡± Apuma replied with an optimistic nod. Tom didn''t really think taking anesthesia designed for something not human sounded like a brilliant idea. Then again he hadn¡¯t exactly followed that rule himself come to think of it.


    ¡°And if I don''t drink the tea?¡± Nunuk and Apuma exchanged glances for a second before looking back to him.


    ¡°You are gonna want to drink the tea,¡± Nunuk replied, a sense of foreboding in her tone, Apuma nodding convincingly. Tom relented, sitting down on the bed with a sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯ve survived this far, what¡¯s one more, hey?¡± he tried joking, looking to Esmeralda with a false smile. ¡°Say bye to Tiguan for me, once he¡¯s done having fun with the kids.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± Jacky added, clearly doing her best not to seem worried.


    ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Essy replied, her voice thick with forced optimism, as Nunuk brought out two vials of perfectly clear toxic green liquid.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom said, not sure what else to say as Jacky sat down next to him with the mug of tea. Come to think of it, that did look rather hot to him. Nunuk poured the contents of the first vial into Esmeralda''s mug, giving the tea a stir before Essy brought it up gulping it down in deep drafts. She winced a bit, her expression twisting slightly, but it could have been a lot worse, much to Tom¡¯s relief. Kokashi helped her lay down properly on the bed after she handed back the mug of tea. Tom didn¡¯t feel like he needed a guinea pig, but it would have been nice to see what happened next. Unfortunately, Nunuk was already stirring his mug for him.


    With Jacky pouring, it ended up reminding him more of a drinking competition than a medical procedure, as the scolding hot liquid was poured down his throat. He did manage to keep up, even if Jacky was a little enthusiastic. His entire mouth felt numb and burnt when he finished. He couldn¡¯t feel his tongue anymore, and his throat was not happy either.


    ¡°There we go,¡± Jacky said proudly as she put the mug back down, picking him up and laying him down on the bed while he was still sputtering and trying to curse just how unpleasant that had been.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t talk, just lay down, and try not to move or cough. You may pray if you so decide, but try not to get agitated, just relax,¡± Nunuk went, putting a hand on his chest for a second.


    Tom didn¡¯t feel like including gods after the last time he was in this kind of situation, but he did really want this to work, so he did shut up and tried to lie still. To his surprise, Jacky apparently decided to take up the mantle for him. Even if it was definitely a rather unorthodox prayer, it was very sweet though. She ran out of things to say rather quickly though. Luckily Kokashi was doing the same thing over Essy, providing a very handy guide for her to follow. Tom promised himself he would give her a hard time over it. That was just too damn sweet.


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire didn¡¯t quite know what to feel right now. They were about to witness the death of possibly the person she hated most, at least in recent memory. The shock hadn¡¯t really worn off yet following the court case yesterday. It felt weird. They had wanted this bitch dead for weeks by now and worked quite hard to make it happen, and now¡­ they were here.


    She clearly deserved to die too. Not only had she tried to wipe their keep off the map, she had, admittedly probably not intentionally, wiped another keep out completely. Or at least removed their last chance of survival. She was guilty of treason, in Sapphire¡¯s mind on more than one account, and she had tried to kill them more than once by now.


    Hence they now stood as part of the sizable crowd of people all holding stones waiting for The bitch, or Ursula as she was apparently called, to be brought out to face her judgment. When the executioners came out, dragging the screaming bitch along, Sapphire made up her mind. She had nothing but contempt for that stain upon their people. The Bitch screamed and begged, going back and forth between attempting to bribe the executioners and whoever she managed to maintain eye contact with, to screaming out curses, damning them all to eternal suffering, or claiming they were servants of evil out to get her.


    Her expression was downright manic, to the point she was nearly foaming at the mouth, and her eyes no longer those of a sane individual. She had seemed rather unhinged before, but this was something else.


    ¡°Looks like the inquisitor took a toll,¡± Balethon said quietly, with a bit of a chuckle.


    ¡°Might as well put her out of her misery then,¡± Dakota replied, voice stone cold as she walked forward. She was one of the main victims of the Bitch¡¯s crimes. Being the representative of both Bizmati Keep and Esmeralda, she was gonna be one of the people to break the Bitch¡¯s wings.


    As was tradition, her crimes were listed, along with the results of her actions and all those who she had wronged, a moment of silence being given for those who could not be here today. Among the people present were a large amount of family and acquaintances of the people of the lost keep, as well as representatives of the Royal Guard, Victoria, and a few other members of the Hashaw family, including both the lord and lady.


    The last words The Bitch got out before the beating began was a pitiful plea for mercy as they laid into her. The Bitch was not much of a physical specimen and was quickly forced to the ground as they set about maiming her for life, not that she had much left. Sapphire was very glad they had not brought Ray along for this part after what Ralex had told her yesterday.


    When The Bitch was left a jabbering broken mess, the procession began. Everyone who was wronged by her would place a stone in the sack that would weigh her down as she fell. Sapphire had wanted to come up with something clever to say as she put in her stone, to help doom her fall. But it was clear The Bitch was in no position to appreciate it anyway. So she just spat at her.


    ¡°Well at least you get to see him again,¡± Balethon quipped as he put in his stone, seemingly pleased with his contribution. Dakota had just chucked her stone at The Bitch face and turned her back, walking to their place. They eventually ran out of places to put the stones, many electing to just throw them at her instead. One man had to be restrained after he tried to beat the shit out of her, which he was allowed to do for a bit.


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    But with the ceremony over, the executioner walked up in front of the bitch and with a firm kick to the chest sent her flying off the edge, into the nothingness below.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s that then,¡± Sapphire let out, breaking the silence as the scream of the traitor slowly faded into the distance.


    ¡°And good riddance,¡± Dakota echoed. They had taken a bit of time to exchange condolences with the victims. They hadn¡¯t stayed long though, but they had preparations to make. Victoria had also made her excuses not long after the last flight, though the rest of the Hashaws did hang around for a bit.


    They had only had one full day to get to know the two new huntresses before the trial. But as time tables were, that was all that they were gonna get. They both seemed nice enough, if rather curious about everything that was going on. Sapphire had been a little worried this was all going to scare them off, but they would learn the truth eventually anyway.


    Phospheno grew increasingly excited the more she learned about everything that had happened. She clearly had both spark and spine. On the matter of fighting, she had apparently been training to become a lancer and considered going mercenary after she was denied entrance into the Royal Guard. As it stood she had gone for racing in various sports and signing up with the militia instead.


    Bolinda was a tad more cautious, taking the news with more thought than excitement. She didn¡¯t back down, though her skepticism was growing rather quickly. Her expression betrayed that she was seriously doubting what they were saying, despite acting very politely. The promise that she would get to see for herself soon enough did seem to alleviate her concerns though.


    They had gone to see the families of the two huntresseses they had recruited. Or as it turned out as close as they had to it. The visits were mostly a formality, though they did exchange locations, means of contact, and other such useful information. And the contracts were signed. There hadn¡¯t been any objections to the two girls going off on their own, though the two of them had broken the news prior to the visit. There had been some concern about the rumors that frontier keeps were falling left and right at the moment. The notion they had already repelled such an attack and had a dragon stationed to ward off any future attacks, not to mention the area was getting scoured for any trace of the enemy, did a lot to alleviate the families¡¯ fears. It wasn¡¯t like they could stop the girls anyway, and they had made their choices.


    Bolinda and Phospheno would have one last night with their respective families before they were going to depart tomorrow morning. They were gonna be put to work for the rest of the day though. There were a few complaints as they spent the afternoon lugging crates around to get ready for departure, but all in all, Sapphire was pleasantly surprised by the two¡¯s work ethic.


    It was a truly staggering collection of goods though. Bolinda¡¯s doubtfulness of some of the boasts they had made receded in exchange for questioning just how it was true. It was blindingly obvious that they meant business as bars of mithril, crucible steel, copper, and other metals were loaded into Archeon''s crates alongside various alchemical concoctions, tools, and personal belongings. Sapphire made sure the small painting she had bought from a street vendor was nice and safe. It had cost her a fair bit, but it was a very nice piece, depicting the cliff as seen from above, with the Palace at the top. There were even a few dragons and smaller fliers dotting the sky around it. All in all, she was quite pleased with it.


    Glira and Baron had agreed to take on some of the more dangerous substances to spread them out a bit. Captain Tyborg and a few of Archeon¡¯s guards delivered the dangerous cargo to the training field in preparation for the morning.


    The evening had been spent at the bar. Haiko had of course tried to convince them they needed to stay a while longer. Though Saph did assure him they would likely be back more frequently in the future thanks to Tom¡¯s shenanigans. She had also handed him a few letters for home. Someone from Vultzha Keep was bound to swing by to take them along at some point.


    Next morning they had been up bright and early to eat breakfast and get their things packed. As it turned out, they hadn¡¯t needed to. Linkosta had arrived, rather late by their standards, with two aids hauling along both a chest and several bags of things.


    ¡°Traveling light I see?¡± Dakota jested as her sister set down her bag with a sigh.


    ¡°Sorry, I swear it¡¯s not all my fault. Lady Ishani let me borrow a lot of nice equipment. There''s even a telescope in there for some reason.¡±


    Sapphire and Dakota exchanged glances for a second. ¡®Why the hell does she need a telescope?¡¯ Sapphire questioned to herself. Though if Linkosta said ¡®for some reason'' then there was no way she actually knew, so no use in asking.


    ¡°Well, we can ponder that when we are in the air. We are late as it is,¡± Dakota broke the slightly odd silence. The two aids were clearly relieved to have some of the load taken off; the chest meant no flying to the guild though, so they needed to get moving.


    Tink and Junior had been waiting for them at the guild, also bringing a sizable amount of cargo with them. With everything else having been prepped the day before and plenty of hands available it was a short matter to get Archeon loaded up for the trip, even if the venerable dragon was less than pleased with the load.


    They had three others to help take the load though, so the trading duo wasn¡¯t too worried as Vulzan went about making sure everything was nice and secure.


    Coming in over the training fields, the rest of the wing was also still busy getting geared up. That is to say, Baron was ready to go and currently sitting there looking a tad bored, and there was a young green dragon at his side, looking rather stately. Glira was lying on the ground, her crew busy with her armor as well as a sizable amount of different equipment and boxes of cargo.


    ¡°And we were wondering why Jarix was that pleased about the machine gun,¡± Sapphire let out as they came into land.


    ¡°Yes, she likes her toys,¡± Archeon replied, sounding a touch disappointed. ¡°At least my son prefers keeping his back clear.¡±


    ¡°Well she does have a rear ballista,¡± Dakota pointed out, also looking at the odd combination.


    Glira was clad in very well-worn armor, deep gashes, and hammered out dents and other repairs riddling it. It seemed to be very well made and the repairs were thoroughly made. She was carrying a rear-facing ballista much like Baron. Her helmet was equipped with a huge blade running down her snout and up her forehead like a spine, seemingly designed for ramming into a target. She of course also still sported the huge tail spike.


    ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t smoke near her. Those boxes on her side are full of bombs for her crew... Lunatics every last one of them,¡± Archeon let out as they set down, walking over at a leisurely pace.


    ¡°You know I can hear you, right?¡± Glira replied, not looking up from where some kind of mechanical device was being strapped to both her forelegs.


    ¡°Of course I do. Are you planning on blowing up again?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I wasn''t the one who handed me even more flash powder. And gel too for this trip. What do you need all this stuff for anyway?¡±


    ¡°You can ask our son about that when we get there. I¡¯m guessing he knows more about that than me by now.¡±


    ¡°And willing to give a straight answer, I hope,¡± Glira replied, as she lowered her head to let her crew fasten the straps on her neck armor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too hard on her, she did drop the harpoon for this one,¡± Baron added, with a bit of mirth to his voice.


    ¡°Haha,¡± Glira protested sarcastically. ¡°We tried, it didn¡¯t work, we moved on. No reason to rub salt in it. I¡¯m still bringing the nets though, I have not given up on that one yet.¡± True to her word, large sections of folded up netting were hung from her underside, seemingly rigged to be dropped at will. ¡°What about you Grevi, ready to give some scallywags a good spanking?¡± Glira questioned, looking towards the younger green.


    ¡°We will find them and purge them as we have been ordered to do,¡± the green dragon replied, maintaining her very dignified pose. Baron cracking a proud smile.


    ¡°Oh come on, show a little excitement,¡± Glira tried, seemingly not pleased with that response.


    ¡°I will be very pleased when we are underway. The sooner we get there the sooner the hunt may begin.¡± Glira sighed a bit, Baron giving the young green a nod of acknowledgment.


    Maiko had come over to fetch Junior, who, as agreed, would be flying with Baron for the trip. Some of Archeon¡¯s cargo was also shifted over to lighten the load a bit. The other dragons were carrying a sizable amount of supplies already though, so it was apparently not as much as Vulzan and Arc had hoped for.


    The other dragons had both the things requisitioned for Jarix originally as well as spare parts to fix the damage he sustained during the battle. After a bit more fiddling, Glira got to her feet, her crew boarding, as she started going through the various accessories to ensure everything was secure and working.


    ¡°Is the flying armory ready for take-off?¡± Baron questioned, not waiting for a reply as he walked off to open ground. He left Glira fiddling with the extendable blade on her foreleg, trying to get it back in.


    ¡°Like you could outrun me anyway. You heard the young lady, we have a hunt to get going,¡± came the cocky reply, as a crew member managed to unjam the strange device.


    Baron just replied, ¡°Formation will be maintained,¡± As he took off at a gallop before kicking into the air, Grevi on his tail. Archeon took a bit longer to get airborne, with Glira bringing up the rear.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had been wondering just what this experience was going to be. In the end it had been almost like going into surgery, just one second he was hearing Jacky copy Kokashi¡¯s prayer the next he was in a dimly lit room staring up at the ceiling.


    He felt stiff as a board, and when he tried to move he couldn¡¯t¡­ He wasn¡¯t restrained though, it was more like if his entire body had just fallen asleep, like when you laid on your arm wrong for too long. He was awake though, so that was something, and he had tried sleep paralysis before. It fucking sucked but oh well.


    He felt weak and drowsy, but he didn¡¯t even have a headache, so that was something¡­ In fact, it didn¡¯t hurt at all right now. That might be the strange magic painkillers at work though. It took him a while of trying to will himself to move before he managed to move his head a bit, soon followed by getting a finger to wiggle. After a few minutes, things slowly started to begin working again, even if he felt like he needed the mother of all stretches right now.


    Looking around, Esmeralda was still in the bed next to him, seemingly asleep. Jacky was sitting on a chair leaned back over the backrest, seemingly sleeping very soundly, mouth slightly agape and tongue hanging out.


    It was all Tom could do not to snicker too loudly as he tried getting out of the bed, which went just fine. Standing up he tried doing some basic stretches; they were both so painful and so pleasant at the same time as he kept going through whatever stretches he could think of. Then came the big test as he held up his hand, finding it perfectly steady.


    ¡°What they wouldn''t give for this stuff at home,¡± Tom mused to himself in amazement. If anything, after a bit of time running his hand through the motions, it actually felt better than before. Chuckling to himself a bit he contemplated scaring the shit out of Jacky. Though he didn¡¯t know if that might wake Esmeralda. Instead, he just went over to admire the improbable position she was currently in, her head actually pointing at the ground behind the backrest.


    He wondered just what he might be able to get away with without waking her up. He had to start out with the classic, booping the snoot with a single finger. To his annoyance her eyes slowly opened, looking at him curiously.


    Thinking quickly, Tom decided to have a little fun anyway. ¡°This is a dream, I¡¯m here to give you guns and explosives.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡­? Oh, you little shit, I¡¯m not that dumb,¡± Jacky let out, giving him a shove to the shoulder before she got to her feet. Tom shushed her a little, pointing to Essy with a smile. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, she won¡¯t wake up until it wears off. Believe me, I tried singing, calling her names, and even playing Kokashi¡¯s violin after he was done playing for her¡­ I¡¯m not very good,¡± Jacky added while looking him over. ¡°How do you feel? Nunuk thought you would be out for at least a day.¡±


    ¡°Pretty good,¡± Tom had to admit, holding up his hand to show it was nice and steady. ¡°Real Tired, but I think it worked, somehow.¡±


    ¡°Aw hell yeah,¡± Jacky let out, taking him into a very tight hug lifting him off the ground. ¡°Next time you go drinking, I¡¯m tasting it first.¡±


    ¡°Jacky, I don''t think you would notice,¡± Tom replied, getting one hand free to pat her on the shoulder as he dangled from her embrace.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll keep proper alcohol on me all the time to fix it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very sweet of you¡­ I¡¯ll try and make a new warhammer for you, one that doesn''t break so easily.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be daft. My mom will make that. A bit of teasing about the old one breaking would do it, I think and you know what I want you to make.¡±


    ¡°I can hazard a guess.¡±


    They had let Esmeralda rest, fetching Kokashi to let him know it was his turn to sit watch. The guard had gotten up in a hurry, managing a few excited questions about how Tom was doing. Clearly delighted with the news the concoction had worked.


    After some convincing that despite just having slept Tom was in fact still completely knackered, Jacky had relented to just sleep away the night in her bedroom. It was nice to just cuddle up, on the one-person bed. Once again able to just not worry at least for one night. No one was in danger, they were safe, more help was coming and Jacky was so nice and cool under the blanket.


    And the morning held promises of a bit more time with a truly hilarious dragon, all the kids and finally getting to work on that slightly scary to-do list.

 Course Set

    <div>


    Chapter 106: Course Set


    As they got underway, settling into the cruise, watching the capital shrink away behind them, everyone mostly just took the time to relax a bit. It had been hard work thus far today, getting Arch and the others loaded, but the weather was really nice. Early summer had kicked in nicely with a clear sky and the warming sun. They didn¡¯t even need the warm coats in fact, though they had them ready just in case.


    Ray had fallen asleep not long into the journey, having worked as hard as she could with loading the dragons, clearly trying to repay them despite being told repeatedly she didn¡¯t need to push that hard. It had been a hard sell though, as everyone else was told to hurry up since they were late and all. The excitement of going flying again and the fact it was as part of one hell of a formation had kept her awake, but only for a while.


    Looking to both so sweet and so sad sight, Sapphire shook her head with a chuckle as she leaned back reveling in the sun. They would have Ray on her feet in no time back at the keep. The two new huntresses, though, were clearly still trying to come to terms with just what they had gotten themselves into.


    ¡°Okay, I have to know, just why exactly do you need this much material?¡± Pho questioned, taking her eyes off Baron, the huntress not doing a brilliant job of hiding that she was probably a little jealous of Junior right now.


    ¡°Yeah, and why is a crazy inventor going to a frontier keep?¡± Bo echoed, looking towards Tink.


    ¡°Great ideas don¡¯t come from average minds,¡± Tink replied, his eyes locked on Glira, who was taking up the rear of the diamond formation. ¡®Touche,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself, happy that at least the inventor had some self-awareness.


    ¡°No, but seriously, there is more metal here than I have ever heard of a little frontier keep using in a decade. We sure didn¡¯t, back where I came from,¡± Pho reiterated, looking around for someone to answer her.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say Tink is not gonna be the craziest person you are gonna meet,¡± Sapphire, replied with a smile. She didn¡¯t need to be vague. They would know soon enough, and everyone on Archeon¡¯s back either already knew or were going to. Glira, Grevi, and their crews probably shouldn¡¯t be told more than necessary just yet though.


    ¡°Understatement of the century,¡± Balethon added with a snicker, looking at the two now even more confused girls.


    ¡°This Tom guy, right? Why does he need all this?¡± Bo asked again, with a shrug holding up her hands in confusion.


    ¡°Oh, he just needs the materials to make things,¡± Saph replied. ¡°He makes a lot of strange inventions.¡±


    ¡°I get that,¡± Bo retorted, not sounding very impressed by that explanation.


    ¡°Like the pen thing you were using?¡± Pho added, clearly not buying that entirely either.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m so excited! But look at that beauty,¡± Tink interrupted, pointing back to Glira, who clearly heard him, angling her head to the side with a cocky smile. ¡°I¡¯m so happy they finally saw the merit of those blades. They were so expensive to make.¡±


    ¡°I love ''em,¡± came the reply from Glira as she brandished her strange weapons.


    ¡°Have you tried them yet?¡± Tink shouted back at her.


    ¡°No not really, but they look wicked!¡± came the reply, Vulzan facepalming as Archeon let out a sigh.


    ¡°If you¡¯re such a fan, why don¡¯t you go over and get appreciated?¡± Arch added in.


    ¡°No, I need to hear more about Tom. They can tell me now. What else has he made? How does he work? Where does he get such marvelous ideas? Oh, has he got many hands so he can work faster? Maybe he doesn''t sleep, that could do it too...¡±


    Sapphire looked to Dakota, hoping she would answer that one, only to find Dakota already looking at her expectantly. ¡®Goddammit not again.¡¯


    ¡°Well¡­ he kinda cheats, I think.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tink, clearly couldn¡¯t quite figure out how you might cheat at inventing things, it also got Bo and Pho¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Tom both is and isn¡¯t an inventor¡­ I think,¡± Sapphire admitted. That was about the best description she could come up with on the spot. ¡°He has brought knowledge from his home, and is doing his best to make it work here.¡±


    ¡°Ooohhhh,¡± Tink replied, the notion seemingly clicking for him. ¡°Wait, so how much does he have?¡±


    ¡°We have no idea,¡± Sapphire replied. She genuinely didn¡¯t beyond ¡®a lot.¡¯


    ¡°He did claim the con.. cocut¡­ the thinking machine thing could remember more pages than every book in existence,¡± Dakota added in helpfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Bolinda replied, clearly skeptical once again.


    ¡°What¡¯s a thinking machine?¡± Tink interrupted before the young huntress got a chance to get a response.


    ¡®Oh boy.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The next morning Jacky had been the one to wake Tom. He cursed a little at having slept that long, but everything considered, he really couldn¡¯t complain. He felt even better by now, the weary fatigue having at least mostly gone. It sounded cliche, but he damn near felt younger, to the point he had to run a hand through his beard to check if it was still there. Hell, even many of the little aches and pains one grew accustomed to with age were gone.


    ¡°Is his lordship feeling well-rested?¡± Jacky joked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.


    ¡°Damn right I am. I feel better than ever. I need to know what was in that bottle.¡±


    ¡°Expensive stuff.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it. Anyway, I wanna go climb on the dragon with the kids. You joining?¡±


    ¡°Can we eat at the same time? I¡¯m hungry,¡± came the still slightly sleepy reply as Jacky went about washing off at the basin. ¡°You really like that guy, huh?¡±


    ¡°Come on, have you ever seen a dragon roll around like a happy dog. Jarix sure doesn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a dog is¡­ wait no, you showed me that strange furry thing.¡±


    ¡°A golden retriever,¡± Tom clarified, as Jacky clearly tried to remember.


    ¡°It fetches gold? Damn... How do you end up with so much gold you breed an animal to retrieve it for you?¡±


    ¡°It¡­ You know what, yes, we have animals that fetch our gold. They are very good at it.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help but smell sarcasm right now.¡±


    ¡°Noooo, it¡¯s genuine,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle, Jacky also cracking a smile.


    ¡°I guess that makes Sapphire a dog. Out to fetch our gold for us.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, be nice.¡±


    ¡°You said you liked dogs?¡± Jacky protested, doing her best to look confused. To the point, it was abundantly clear she was fucking with him.


    ¡°I love em but it¡¯s¡­ But it would be a bit like calling her a cow. Sure they are very nice but¡­¡±


    ¡°All I heard was you calling her a cow. I have to say that is a little rough. I mean she¡¯s not me, but still,¡± Jacky replied, doubling down on the sarcasm.


    ¡°Oh, you are firing on all cylinders today.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a compliment so I¡¯ll take it. Now food!¡± Jacky replied, putting a shoulder under Tom¡¯s belly and lifting him off the ground while he was still fiddling with his boots.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem very efficient,¡± Tom protested with a laugh as he kept at trying to tie on the boots.


    ¡°Food is this way and you are working, so I say we are being very efficient.¡±


    Nunuk had asked some questions over breakfast, mainly on how he was feeling and reprimanding them for not coming to find her when he woke up. He was supposed to have slept through most of the day after all. All the answers had been satisfactory though, so seemingly nothing was wrong.


    After breakfast, Nunuk had him and Jacky face off again to try and see if there had been any improvement in that department. To his disappointment, he was still lagging a ways behind what he had been capable of before all this happened in sheer strength. It was definitely an improvement though. He didn¡¯t shake, it didn¡¯t hurt, and his fine motor skills were working just fine. He still humiliated himself trying to match Jacky for flexibility, but in that department, he was actually better off than ever. He couldn¡¯t even remember the last time he had been able to put his palms on the floor. Now though, easy.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Tiguan and Jarix had been busy chatting about everything that had happened out in the greeting hall, Tom taking his food out there to keep an eye on the playing children who had once again flocked to Tiguan when they were done eating, some foregoing the food entirely. The black dragon provided some rather interesting insights into at least some of what had happened in the capital. It was rather clear, though, that Jarix stole the show when it came to storytelling today.


    ¡°No way. Shut up,¡± Tiguan objected jokingly, clearly wanting Jarix to go on.


    ¡°I¡¯m serious, they could see in the dark. Tom says they can hear where they are going, but that doesn¡¯t matter. They can see you.¡±


    ¡°Even me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah dude, it doesn¡¯t matter, they just know where you are. Still got them though.¡±


    ¡°I heard. You should have seen some of the faces when the report was read aloud.¡±


    ¡°Baron heard it, right?¡± Jarix questioned expectantly.


    ¡°Eventually. He wasn¡¯t too pleased with you not following orders, though that might have been because he lost a bet to your mother on it. Your mother found it hilarious though. Oh, careful now,¡± Tiguan replied as he helped a slightly clumsy Holdey back up onto one of his horns.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that annoying?¡± Jarix questioned yet again, sulking a little at the part about Baron.


    ¡°Why? We have crew running around all the time. They are just a little less¡­ organized.¡±


    ¡°My crew doesn¡¯t mess with my ears,¡± Jarix pointed out, as Kiran went on an even more adventurous climbing expedition, likely trying to outdo Holdey.


    ¡°I not messing. I testing,¡± Kiran corrected as he slowly made his way further out onto the large ear. Tiguan swung out the ear, watching his progress closely. ¡°Tom does tests all the time.¡±


    ¡°Hey Jacky, think we can compete for most pull-ups from Jarix horns?¡± Tom questioned with a snicker as he watched the scene.


    ¡°No, you may not,¡± Jarix replied, sounding a tad disappointed.


    ¡°Oh right, yes. Jarix said you needed just about everything. I could spit some into a jar for you if you want it?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Sure,¡± Tom replied, not quite sure what kind of container would be proof against dragon acid. ¡°How do you normally do that?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ I don''t do it often. It¡¯s not quite as valuable,¡± Tiguan replied, catching himself from tilting his head after Kiran''s protest. ¡°Glass, I think?¡±


    ¡°We have a bit of that I think,¡± Tom replied. They did have at least one empty blitz gel jar, so that would have to do. After some thorough cleaning of course. He had no clue what accidentally mixing those two might result in.


    Tom had fetched the jar and cleaned it thoroughly while the others went about saying proper goodbyes to the dragon. Tiguan had places to be, after all, ¡®cause if the enemy was coming back, then chances were good they would hit Deriva first. So he needed to be there.


    Tiguan had taken them down to the ground so he didn¡¯t ruin the floor at the keep, Tom setting down the jar. The knowledge this stuff could eat granite reaffirmed his fears that this was to be treated with extreme caution. Apuma had been in possession of a little bit of the stuff in powdered form, but this was ready and dangerous.


    Whereas Jarix was only able to spit out rather limited amounts at a time, before needing time to recharge so to speak, Tiguan filled the jar in one go no problem, letting the cloudy gray liquid run down his tongue into the jar with excellent precision. It looked like liquid death, and it smelled like it too.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t burn you?¡± Tom had to ask at the rather odd sight.


    ¡°Nah, it tickles a little, but don¡¯t touch it. It takes flesh right off the bone,¡± Tiguan warned very sternly. ¡°And don¡¯t smell it either, I think that does weird things to you.¡±


    ¡°I know, we have strong acids where I come from too. I wonder what kind this is¡­ If it¡¯s even one I know?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s black dragon acid,¡± Tiguan replied helpfully, clearly not quite understanding.


    ¡°Well yes, but is it sulfuric, maybe nitric... That would be very useful actually,¡± Tom replied, pondering just what could be made with that.


    ¡°I have no idea what those are, but I take it you know what you are doing. The others said so at least.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t, but I will once we find out what this is.¡±


    ¡°Yay, testing!¡± Kiran added in from his hiding spot on Tom¡¯s back for when anything dangerous was happening.


    ¡°You get on with that. We really need to get going if we are to reach Deriva before nightfall. It has been a pleasure, and we thank you deeply for the hospitality,¡± Ylditz added in, Tiguan letting down a wing for the lieutenant to walk up.


    ¡°Be nice to Ray too, okay? She¡¯s very sweet,¡± Tiguan stated, looking to Tom expectantly.


    ¡°I promise I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°If nothing else we¡¯ll put the parachute on her. It¡¯s sorta like flying,¡± Jacky added, the dragon''s smile widening as he did a polite and very deep bow with his head, before turning away. Tom stood there watching the kind dragon climb into the sky, hoping the folk at Deriva would do a nice job of welcoming him too.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell him to come back? He was fun,¡± Kiran questioned, crawling back up onto Tom¡¯s head.


    ¡°Not really. We have Jarix though, he¡¯s nice too.¡±


    ¡°But he won¡¯t let us play on him.¡±


    ¡°I think he will in time. Just tell him Tiguan had a stronger ear or something, I think that could work.¡±


    Kiran replied with a devious little laugh at that particular idea as Tom sealed up the jar before picking it up to put into storage. Rachuck¡¯s armory/bunker idea wasn¡¯t done yet. In all honesty, it hadn¡¯t even been started yet, so the basement would have to do.


    The rest of the day had proceeded rather calmly. Tom and Jacky lent a hand where it was needed. There was still plenty of work to do around the keep to get things back to normal. The crops needed tending badly, after having been neglected for a while. Rachuck wanted ideas on how to improve their defenses. Though that was mostly Tom¡¯s fault after he criticized some of the scrounged together barricades that had been built.


    Time had flown by, the dinner bell eventually being rung, marking the end of the day¡¯s labor, at least for most people.


    As they were eating, Esmeralda had emerged from the stairs with Kokashi close behind, though she was walking by herself.


    ¡°Hey look who¡¯s up and about. Morning, Essy. Sleep well?¡± Fengi shouted out.


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ That is strong stuff,¡± Essy replied as she came over to sit down. She looked tired as fuck, much like Tom had been the night before, but she was smiling ear to ear.


    ¡°So, everything in order?¡±


    ¡°More or less. And I don¡¯t need to keep eating the other stuff.¡±


    ¡°So, no more painful nights?¡± Fengi questioned optimistically.


    ¡°No more painful nights, no.¡±


    A few of the dragonettes let out a cheer for her, Tom joining in, raising the mug of water.


    ¡°By the way, they threw the bitch off the edge this morning,¡± Fengi added with a devious smile.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Tom demanded. He had forgotten the trial was yesterday, but even so, that was a damn quick process. And they had only been aiming for prison. Essy seemingly thought the same as she turned to Kokashi with an expression of ¡®WTF,¡¯ her husband shrugging apologetically.


    ¡°Apparently the inquisition branded her a traitor for messing with some paperwork,¡± Fengi replied, with a grave expression.


    ¡°Dumb bitch.¡± Jacky burst out, with a laugh


    ¡°She pretty much doomed an entire keep. That¡¯s a little more than messing with some paperwork,¡± Anchor protested as he walked by. That led to both Tom and Essy demanding a proper explanation. Nunuk had obliged them after they had finished eating, detailing everything they knew about the situation. It also meant that the trio was likely heading for home tomorrow. New hires, money, and materials in tow.


    ¡°We better get started then,¡± Tom replied, the timetable for everything moving up once again.


    ¡°And tonight you will do nothing except relax. I demand it,¡± Jacky countered, putting an arm around him and dragging him in close. ¡°I remember how you are with work, so I won¡¯t let you get all stressy again.¡±


    ¡°Do I get a say in the matter?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at those two brights if still slightly dark green eyes.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, the flight hadn¡¯t been quite as boring going back home as it had been going out. Partly on account of there being more new people and plenty to talk about when it came to bringing them up to speed. And the fact that Dakota had bought some books that both Tom and Apuma had requested. Why they needed more books was a mystery to her. But most of them were blank, so she guessed that they were planning on maybe translating some things. At least in the future.


    Tink¡¯s questions had been unending. Sapphire and the others had to admit that they simply didn''t know the answers to most of them though. Bolinda had continued to be skeptical, that situation not being helped by their inability to answer things like ¡°How one would make a flying machine that couldn¡¯t beat or even flex its wings?¡±


    The weather had held throughout the first three days traveling, and the route was the same as when they had come in. On the third day, they had chosen to brave a storm to make their next overnight halt. The weather had quickly deteriorated way beyond what they had been expecting. That had been a truly shit day, not to mention damn scary, as the storm pushed even Archeon hard to maintain formation. The howling winds and pounding rain had slowly stripped away the dragon¡¯s strength. Without him they stood little chance in such weather; they could fly in it, but not for very long. Feeling him strain against the winds, spending precious strength, not knowing when the storm would come to an end before he was spent, was nerve-racking to be sure.


    Archeon was a seasoned flyer though, and he was no stranger to storms either, having spent most of his adult life traveling between keeps and the cities. Grevi though was really struggling. The young green dragon folded into the center of the formation, letting the others break the wind for her. Having Baron in the lead definitely paid dividends here, the hulking armored frame of the red bashing a path through the storm, and with a pair of heavily laden blues on the flanks, they had about as sturdy a formation as possible.


    That didn¡¯t help Sapphire, though, as she hunkered down on Archeon¡¯s back, checking the safety lines tying her down and saying her prayers for both herself and the dragon her life now depended on. The screaming winds combined with soaked clothes chilling them all to the bone. Sapphire had hardly been awake by the time the keep came looming out of the storm.


    Normally they would have to set up tents for the night, but luckily this was one of the last really major keeps on their route before reaching the middling keeps that heralded the beginning of the frontier.


    Saph hadn¡¯t had the best experiences with these major keeps in the past. They were way too large to be a proper family. The one they had stayed at the day before, was home to over eight hundred dragonettes and a dragon, at least for a time. There was also the fact that most of the people at such keeps lived outside of it. The keep itself only played host to the noble family and other people of note or higher rank. The keep was built to temporarily shelter everyone during a siege or other such calamity though. That meant there was plenty of space inside for their ragged party.


    Touching down in a greeting hall, Grevi had collapsed on the ground, her crew quickly setting about doing what they could to repay her for getting them here unscathed, her lieutenant getting into a rather heated argument with Victoria and Baron about having chosen to brave the storm in the first place. Their little party had set about unloading Archeon to get him out of his harness, to properly rest. The work was slow and tough, near-frozen as they were.


    To Saph¡¯s relief, the people of the keep had set about helping them, also handing out dry blankets for them, leading them inside after the unloading was done.


    As they hobbled inside, dripping wet and miserable, they were served a nice hot meal, even if it was only soup with some bread on the side. Still, it was warm and it was free so she wasn¡¯t complaining. ¡®Gods bless the law of hospitality,¡¯ Sapphire reflected as she wrapped up the blanket a bit tighter, waiting for her turn next to the fires.


    They had bedded down in the great hall which for this keep lived up to its name, easily accommodating them all. There were already two other traders in the keep, the dragons taking up one of the three sizable greeting halls, the remaining two being given to their formation of four.

 Work, Work, Work

    Chapter 107: Work, Work, Work


    The news of just how much explosive and generally unstable stuff Saph and the others were bringing home had seen the armory/bunker moved to the top of the todo-list, and the news that they had also hired a ¡®very enthusiastic inventor¡¯ had Tom worried as well.


    Luckily Jarix had already proven just how adept he was at digging a hole, so he was entrusted with that vital part of the project.


    ¡°Are you aware of just how much you managed to overstate the importance of this job?¡± Jarix sneered as he backed out of the hole Having just finished excavating the next section. Now it was up to them to put in more bracing.


    ¡°You sleep in the keep too, so it¡¯s just as much for your safety,¡± Tom replied as Shiva handed down another wooden beam to him and Jacky. Kulinger, Wiperna, and Raulf were hard at work getting them cut to shape.


    The smith had yet to say a word today, just working silently and without complaint. Tom guessed that would do for now. But they were gonna be spending a lot of time together in the future, so he would rather that changed. Jacky was seemingly giving her mother a very similar treatment, being very happy and upbeat today but not even acknowledging her mother.


    ¡°Why are we putting all this underground, couldn¡¯t we just put it in a shed or something?¡± Fengi questioned as she held up some planks, Anchor nailing them in place. Tom was still a little annoyed that Shiva had to spend her time making god damn nails rather than making more things for the lathe, but oh well.


    ¡°Because if a shed blows up things go everywhere, and it¡¯s very easy to take out. This will both protect it from damage and make sure it¡¯s at least somewhat contained if it does blow up.¡±


    ¡°Pity the guy who comes down here with a torch,¡± Anchor added, moving to the next board, fetching more nails from his mouth.


    ¡°Yeah, we need a no-smoking sign on the door, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Tom echoed with a chuckle.


    ¡°Write it in English so the enemy doesn¡¯t understand,¡± Jacky went, laughing a bit at her own joke.


    ¡°Do you understand English?¡± Tom teased as they got back out of the hole, so Jarix could have another go at it.


    ¡°No, but I know not to bring fire down here,¡± Jacky replied, clearly finding that a stupid question.


    ¡°We should also consider just how much money the stuff down here is gonna be worth,¡± Rachuck added, giving Tom and Jacky a hand, putting more timbers up onto the makeshift workbench they had going on.


    ¡°Oh yeah, hey if you want the mother of all traps we could rig some kind of detonator and if anyone is dumb enough to stand over it, we blow the bunker and them with it to kingdom come,¡± Tom replied, the captain looking ready to protest before beginning to contemplate the idea.


    ¡°Well, Apuma could perhaps rig something like that up. Linkosta definitely could.¡±


    "Oh, I was thinking radio or just a wire... Would it be easy to do with magic?¡± Tom questioned. He didn''t really know why he hadn''t considered that idea. They had fucking magic here, and he was thinking of blasting caps. Hell, they had used quite a bit of it on him, and Apuma could clearly at least make some kind of rituals or whatever they were supposed to be called. Magic remote detonators¡­ Oh, that could be quite something, but that could lead to some really nasty things¡­ No, he had made up his mind on this. They need all the defenses they can get. But it needs to stay here for now... Somehow.¡¯


    ¡°Those enchantments, can you choose who can use them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a magic guy, that¡¯s dad''s area, but I think so.... maybe.¡±


    ¡°So you can lock things?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s cheap to do, but possibly,¡± Rachuck replied, clearly trying to emphasize that he really didn''t know about this stuff.


    ¡°Might still be cheaper or better than making a detonator.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a detonator is, but that sounds fun,¡± Jacky added as she shoulder bashed another beam into place. ¡°What does that do?¡±


    ¡°Makes things explode,¡± Tom answered with a shrug.


    ¡°Sold!¡±


    Tom had asked Apuma just what exactly could be done with these magic enchantments over dinner, getting invited up to the library for an evening lesson to try and fill him in. Thus far Tom had only really taken an interest in what the dragonettes could do. He had questioned just what Apuma could do, back when they had finally opened up a bit about magic; but, as the earrings proved, there was way more that this shit could do.


    ¡°Yes, Tom, it could be done. I can¡¯t, but it could be done. But you are talking about enchanting something that will purposely destroy itself¡­ That seems like an awful waste,¡± Apuma replied, clearly rather skeptical.


    ¡°So like, what¡¯s the difference? You did that whole translating thingy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a ritual. You are talking about an enchantment,¡± Apuma clarified for him as he took a seat in his favorite chair in the library.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ Rituals are powered and controlled by the person performing it. It usually requires preparation and various components. It is also almost always a one-time thing. One and done. Though you can often reuse some of the prep work, but that¡¯s not important right now.¡±


    ¡°An enchanted item is inherently magical. The enchantments can be powered either by the user, by taking energy from somewhere, or some may redirect energy and thus not spend any or at least very little. A ritual is controlled by the mage, an enchantment is controlled by the item.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so, like how expensive would a button be, that makes another thing throw a spark.¡±


    ¡°Days worth of work, maybe weeks, and very fine materials if it is to last. You don¡¯t make temporary enchantments, they are just not worth it. Linkosta could likely make something like that with the right materials.¡±


    ¡°Could be worse¡­ What about the horn?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta be honest. I have no idea. That is so far outside the reach of anything I ever even dared thinking about using.¡±


    ¡°Well think bigger, what enchantments do you know?¡±


    ¡°Oh god. That¡¯s a long list. I have some books on the subject if you want to read them.¡±


    ¡°At some point, definitely. Too much to do right now though, and I¡¯m not that great at reading¡­ yet¡­¡± Perhaps he could get Jacky to do nighttime stories¡­ fuck, that was a hilarious thought. Anyway. ¡°Could I do, like, rituals?¡± Tom questioned with cautious optimism. That would be next-level sweet. Even if he would be kicking himself even more for not thinking about this sooner. That would be so cool. There had just been so much to do though¡­ and there still was.


    ¡°No, mages are not very common. I am not a very good one either. Linkosta, though, shows great potential. You need to be able to imbue something with magic. Making an enchanted item is also a kind of ritual in a sense. Though most who do it dedicate their lives to the craft and that alone. I doubt she would have been able to keep her snout out of those classes either though,¡± Apuma replied with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Right,¡± Tom replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. ¡°So she could make some little things. That could be handy¡­ I need to figure out where best to use that then. By the way, the keep won¡¯t be in danger of blowing up now. The bunker is done.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank heavens, keeping the kids out of the basement has been such a hassle.¡±


    "You¡¯ve been¡­ Yes, that was getting quite annoying,¡± Tom replied very convincingly. ¡°Anyway, duty calls, there is always more to do.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    What prayers they had made for a safe journey appeared to have borne fruit the rest of the way. Aside from a lone red dragon they had spotted way off in the distance, on day four, that had rather suspiciously turned away from them, not much had happened during the trip.


    Baron and Glira had debated going after the target in case it was a brigand or something similar. The fleeing red was already kilometers away, and they were heavily laden and not particularly well-rested either, having navigated the storm only the day before.


    ¡°No use in chasing what we can¡¯t catch,¡± Baron had finally decided after some back and forth arguing.


    ¡°Do you think Tom could make a dragon go faster?¡± Pho questioned, clearly displeased with the decision not to give chase.


    ¡°I mean¡­ Probably,¡± Sapphire had to admit with a shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡±


    ¡°Are we gonna find my son weighed down with more useless gimmicks than Glira when we get there?¡± Archeon questioned as the formation turned back on course.


    ¡°I heard that!¡± Glira protested from behind. ¡°What were you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are just insufferable on this trip.¡±


    The weather hadn¡¯t caused more problems, so she would get her curiosity sated soon enough. Sapphire had to admit she was actually starting to feel a little homesick, though that might be more because, despite the increased amount of company present, the trip had gotten a little boring by now. As with going out, they had been flying through the night from the small town of Ylditz heading for home. When Sapphire woke up after a more pleasant night than what had been the case departing, the island had just appeared on the distant horizon. ¡®Only a few hours left,¡¯ she mused to herself happily. It had been one hell of a trip, but it would be good to be home.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see where you live. It sounds so exciting,¡± Ray had let out as she sat down in front of Sapphire, positively beaming with a large smile on her face.


    ¡°You¡¯re up bright and early¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t look like much I¡¯m afraid. Just a normal keep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen one of those either. I was born in the capital, remember?¡± Ray retorted, not letting Saph dampen her enthusiasm.


    ¡°Right, you told me about that¡­ Well, I think you¡¯re gonna love it.¡±


    ¡°Dibs on asking Tom questions,¡± Linkosta let out as Sapphire looked around and was forced to conclude she might have overslept a little.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s an inventor and we need to get some technical stuff out of the way,¡± Tink protested. The inventor had proven quite the match in stubbornness for Linkosta, which had sparked some¡­ lengthy debates on how best to go about things.


    ¡°Oh please, he¡¯s the most powerful fire mage I have ever heard of. That¡¯s clearly his profession?¡±


    ¡°He has spent his life studying machines. Of course, he wants to talk about that.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯m sure he can make time to speak to both of you,¡± Sapphire interjected as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, trying to end the discussion before it got off the ground. Linkosta had yet to swear secrecy like they had planned, so that was one thing she was not allowed to know just yet. Knowing they had a crazy inventor was one thing. Knowing the battle reports were at least somewhat false was another.


    ¡°Irrelevant, I¡¯m having the first word,¡± Archeon let out in a rather grumbly tone.


    ¡°It was not exactly an easy situation to be in, let¡¯s be honest,¡± Sapphire replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he did his best, and they did a very good job,¡± Dakota joined in, with her best diplomatic voice. ¡°And they made it through, saving both life and property.¡±


    ¡°A lot of it too¡± Balethon added, clearly trying to help out as well. ¡°Who knows, Jarix might have learned something.¡±


    ¡°He better have. Honestly, a night battle against darklings, what were they thinking?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s surprise these mother fuckers?¡± Balethon questioned with a shrug.


    ¡®That¡¯s one way to put it,'' Sapphire thought to herself. As Arch made another disapproving grumble, Sapphire pondered whether or not she should warn Tom to go hide behind Glira as they came down. Then again, there was no way Arch was gonna do anything physical. That really didn¡¯t seem like him, and even so, there were way too many people and other dragons present.


    As they made it over the island, Sapphire found herself yearning for that all too familiar silhouette on the horizon as the terrain rolled on beneath them. But they had one final thing to attend to first as they all set down in an open marsh, everyone disembarking and being lined up parade style by Victoria.


    ¡°Very good, now some of you with better ears than others might have caught on to the fact that very little at this keep is normal. The rest of you are likely to at least start figuring that out when we get there. So first off... The abnormal activities of this keep, and especially the technological development taking place here, is subject to an oath of secrecy. This is non-negotiable and you will all swear this oath here today.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason for not disclosing this information before departure?¡± Grevi questioned, not moving from her parade stance.


    ¡°Yes. You are not allowed to disclose that you are under an oath of secrecy in the first place,¡± Victoria simply replied, without giving further comment. ¡°You are allowed to speak of the actions of the keep, any mention of how this was achieved is to be credited to advanced magics being at play. Even the intervention of the gods if necessary. It must not become clear that this keep may hold the future for our people, just as it might hold its doom. It is of the utmost importance that the enemy do not seize this keep, so they may continue their work. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± the Royal Guard elements echoed with trained discipline, even if there was very clear confusion in a fair few of the uninitiated. The oath was recited in detail by every member present. On a more lighthearted note, Dakota had them all promise they would not say anything about the armor they had gotten apart from that they had a set really nice of enchanted armor. That was gonna be a little surprise.


    ¡°Wait, so he¡¯s not a mage?¡± Linkosta questioned, clearly taken aback by that.


    ¡°Nope. We didn¡¯t even know if the earrings would work on him,¡± Sapphire replied, Linkosta turning her attention to Dakota.


    ¡°Why didn''t you tell me this?¡±


    ¡°You were not allowed to know that part just yet. But now you do.¡±


    ¡°But I was gonna ask him so many questions,¡± Linkosta let out, sounding almost defeated.


    ¡°I hope you are ready to answer them instead. Though I¡¯m sure he will have some interesting things for you.¡±


    ¡°Ay ay ay¡­ wait so how did he do it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll figure out soon enough.¡±


    Taking back to the skies, the keep soon appeared on the horizon, the flags being unfurled as they made their approach. They had set down on the ground outside the keep since there was no way for all of them to fit in the greeting hall. Everyone had come out to greet them. Saph daintily slid off Archeon¡¯s back, dropping to the ground below, setting off at a very dignified and not at all hurried walk.


    She didn¡¯t get too far before Fengi borderline assaulted her with a running jump, clearly not concerned with maintaining dignity in front of this many important people.


    ¡°Hey there, missed you too,¡± Sapphire laughed out as Fengi refused to let go, Jacky coming over lifting them both off the ground with a tight hug.


    ¡°I told you, you should have brought more people¡­ and a big hammer.¡±


    ¡°No you didn¡¯t, though it sounds like you could have used two,¡± Saph retorted with a snicker as she and Fengi were put back down again.


    ¡°You can never have enough hammers. Sup!¡± Jacky let out, as she waved to the new faces who were disembarking a bit more slowly.


    ¡°Sup,¡± Phospheno replied, seemingly unphased, Bolinda giving a more cautious wave as she looked around.


    Dakota had walked up before her mother, giving her a slight bow before embracing her, then moved on to Apuma and lastly Rachuck. Her brother didn''t let her get away with just a hug, giving her a rather mean noogie. He ended up paying for that by getting tackled to the ground, Dakota getting back up as if nothing had happened. Anchor came over with Kiran who eagerly climbed onto his mom as the couple nuzzled each other.


    The civility of Nunuk and Apuma had only held until they spotted Linkosta cautiously getting off Archeon, walking down the lowered wing with Ray.


    It was a rare thing to see Nunuk run anymore but that did it, as she rushed to her daughter. Sapphire swore there was a tear in her eyes. Apuma was not too far behind, but he had never been able to match his wife in any physical characteristic, so he was bringing up the rear.


    Sapphire was looking at the heartwarming reunion when Essy became the third to manage to land a hug on her unchallenged. Though she was a lot more gentle.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Awww,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he looked around at the happy reunion, everyone seemingly busy welcoming back their loved ones and dearest friends. He was gonna go give Saph a proper hug too when another dragonette with a slightly unhinged expression came up to him hurriedly, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously, introducing himself as Tink.


    ¡°Right, the inventor¡­ Pleasure to meet you,¡± Tom got out after a moment of surprise and slight annoyance.


    ¡°Oh we are gonna do great things. Where is Junior, you need to meet my son. Where is he?¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t help the guy in the search, his eyes instead landing on the two big blue dragons which were currently staring him down. One of them kitted out, unlike anything he had seen thus far. He had mistaken all the random bits on¡­ Wait, was that a girl?... He had no clue when it came to dragons, but it kinda looked like it¡­ Anyway, at least much of the equipment strapped to her. Those were not cargo as he had first thought, but weapons. ¡®That must be Glira then,¡¯ he thought to himself as he politely nodded at the dragon, who squinted at him a bit before turning her attention to Jarix.


    ¡°So, ya little whelp, I heard you had some fun?¡±


    ¡°Sure did,¡± Jarix replied with a confidence so fake Tom damn near felt sorry for him.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me they broke you already. Come here, let¡¯s have a look,¡± Glira replied, gesturing him over, Jarix trotting around the mass of people that had formed in front of the four newly arrived dragons.


    ¡°Ouch¡­ okay, I concede, you should have gotten a bit more plating back here,¡± Glira let out as she inspected the damage. A quick glance at her told Tom she had been through worse before though¡­ were those scorch marks on her side?


    ¡°Yeah, that hurt... quite a lot. Hi, dad.¡±


    ¡°So what did you learn?¡± Archeon questioned, with a rather unhappy expression, the dragon sitting down on his haunches.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go low when there might be someone above you at night?¡± Jarix tried, clearly hoping that was the correct answer. Archeon made a not entirely pleased grimace, sighing a bit, looking at Tom.


    ¡°I guess that will do.¡±


    ¡°Oh, lighten up you old fart¡­¡± Glira protested, being cut off by Arch.


    ¡°I¡¯m younger than you.¡±


    ¡°And smaller. Now kiddo, what you need for that are blitz bombs to blind the enemy. Remember, playing fair is for suckers.¡±


    ¡°Tom says that won¡¯t work: they see using their ears, not eyes.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t... what?¡± Glira replied, looking back to Tom just as Sapphire made it over, surprising him a hug.


    ¡°Well gosh, I¡¯ve missed you too. How have you been? I heard you had it real rough,¡± Sapphire let out, clearly taking the piss as Tom turned his attention to her. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been¡­ something. Wing still in one piece?¡±


    ¡°Better than ever. Not dead yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle. ¡°Thanks for the care package.¡±


    ¡°Glad to be of service¡±


    ¡°Careful now, don¡¯t damage the goods,¡± Jacky added, walking back over with the two new huntresses in tow.


    ¡°Oh come on, he¡¯s hardly yours,¡± Sapphire replied jokingly, pulling Tom in a bit close.


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Jacky questioned, leaning a bit on one hip with a very smug expression.


    Sapphire looked back and forth between the two of them for a second, with a very confused expression. ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    Jacky sauntered over picking Tom up into a bride carry. ¡°Mine now.¡±


    Tom was not quite sure how to react to that, but Sapphire¡¯s expression was fucking hilarious. ¡®Screw it, why not.¡¯ He put his arms around Jacky¡¯s neck, doing his level best to look cute. Which apparently didn''t really work, as Sapphire broke down laughing, though she was clearly trying not to.


    ¡°And here I was getting worried Balethon would leave you in a bad mood,¡± Sapphire replied after she got the laughing under control. ¡°Tom and Jacky one and the same¡­ oh god that¡¯s terrifying.¡±


    ¡°What did that little shit do?¡± Jacky questioned, seemingly worried her plans might be coming off the rails. Tom for his part elected to just stay where he was, waving at whoever came up to say hi as Jacky made out her target. ¡°Okay now, you promised to play along, let¡¯s have some fun.¡±


    ¡°Roger that.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Sapphire wasn¡¯t quite sure how the news those two were now an item sat with her. Tom was definitely a good friend, she just hadn''t even considered that part. Then again, that dude had problems for days, so perhaps observing from the sideline wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea¡­ and having someone else be ¡®responsible¡¯ for him likely wouldn¡¯t hurt either.


    ¡®Jacky¡­ Responsible¡­ May the gods have mercy us all,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she followed the two chucklefucks. She needed to see just where this might go. She had seen Jacky with a bad idea way too many times before, and this positively reeked ¡°poorly thought out.¡±


    Balethon had been in the middle of the other guards, Rachuck having made it over after having recovered from Dakota¡¯s tackle and welcoming back Linkosta. Predictably enough, Canabrera was standing there looking rather unimpressed as Balethon was busy bragging to his friends about the trip and, of course, his new girlfriend.


    Jacky put Tom down, sidling up next to Canabrera, the large escort still not quite measuring up to Jacky as she leaned on her shoulder.


    ¡°So ehh. What¡¯s up with stumpy here?¡± Jacky started, gesturing towards Balethon, who turned around to look at the two women.


    ¡°Stumpy?¡± Canbrera had to question, looking at Jacky.


    ¡°I mean, you know,¡± Jacky replied, gesturing to her nether region.


    ¡°Hey, what the fuck!¡± Balethon protested, rather sharply.


    ¡°Oh, hi there! How have you been?¡±


    ¡°Quite good. What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just having some fun at your expense. You know, like you used to do.¡±


    ¡°Oh come, on. It¡¯s been years, Jacky.¡±


    ¡°Is this your ex?¡± Canabrera questioned, seemingly catching on to what was going on. Sapphire found Fengi and Essy coming up beside her, Fengi holding out a small bag of trail snacks.


    ¡°Yeah, careful she¡¯s all brawn and no brain,¡± Balethon warned, throwing a sideways nod at Jacky.


    ¡®Low blow, Bale Boi, and slightly hypocritical, mister genius,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself as she took a handful of Fengi¡¯s snacks.


    ¡°I think the phrase was ¡®shallow dimwit,¡¯ but sure,¡± Jacky replied before turning to face Canabrera. ¡°Now you seem to be a magnificent woman, so I have to ask... How the hell do you live with that in bed?¡±


    ¡°Just fine. Is this jealousy I¡¯m smelling?¡± Canabrera questioned, squinting a bit at Jacky, drawing a slight smile.


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯ve got the latest model. I was just curious if he¡¯s gotten that good now. How do you stay cool?"


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Canabrera questioned, seemingly finding the notion funny.


    ¡°You know fainting¡­ from heat¡­ Walking is a bitch too. But well, mine can carry me around all day if he has to.¡± Saph looked to Fengi, who just gave a rather strained-looking nod in reply, before looking back to the unfolding shitshow. ¡®Damn.¡¯


    ¡°I don¡¯t faint. Maybe you¡¯re a little weak in the knees?¡±


    ¡®Bad move,¡¯ Sapphire chuckled, noticing a very unamused Shiva walking up behind Jacky.


    ¡°A Furlong is not weak. In any sense¡­ Jacky?¡± Shiva let out in a low growl.


    ¡°Oh, come on," Jacky replied, turning back to her mom.


    ¡°You are embarrassing yourself. Please stop.¡±


    ¡°Oh dear, need mommy to come bring you in line?¡± Canabrera replied with a chuckle, putting her hands on her hips. Shiva turned to glare at the smaller dragonette, who she had over a full head-on in height. At the best of days Shiva could be an unsettling sight; this was clearly not the best of days. Canabrera rather quickly shrank a bit, expression growing rather apologetic.


    ¡°Never mind... Tom, please ensure she does not act too stupidly.¡±


    ¡°What the hell was that about,¡± Sapphire questioned as Dakota also came up beside her.


    ¡°Shiva¡¯s not entirely happy with those two. I still think they are perfect,¡± Fengi replied, munching down a bit more trailmix.


    ¡°This is disastrous,¡± Dakota let out as she too came up to watch the spectacle, giving Fengi and Essy a quick hug. The other boys were also rather interested in the little encounter. In fact, pretty much everyone was looking at the odd contest by now.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well that¡¯s positive,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as Shiva walked off seemingly dejected with the whole thing, Jacky turning back to her two targets.


    ¡°Remember all brawn no brain,¡± Jacky went with a wink at Canabrera before turning back to Balethon. ¡°But no, I was just curious. Oh, and I wanted to say thank you for having me running around for years wondering just what I did wrong. Turns out you were wrong. I am worth loving. ''Cause, he fucking loves me, so suck it.¡± She went, looking to Balethon and pointing back at Tom.


    Tom narrowed his eyes at Balethon at that. Jacky hadn¡¯t mentioned that part. ¡®Not worth loving¡¯ if that was true, his opinion of the guy just fell even further. Most of what he knew about Balethon and Jacky had come from Fengi. Jacky hadn¡¯t brought it up, and he hadn¡¯t really asked, ''cause why would he? Tom walked up to put his arm around Jacky¡¯s waist, leaning his head on her shoulder.


    ¡°Oh, and he¡¯s a damn war hero. I seem to have heard you didn¡¯t do so well when confronted by the enemy,¡± Jacky continued with a wide grin.


    ¡°I was kidnaped in the night. Kinda hard to do much in that situation,¡± Balethon protested.


    ¡°You could just have killed all of them. Hey Tom, how many did you kill?¡±


    ¡°I know how many he killed. Have fun,¡± Balethon replied dejectedly.


    ¡°Did you really claim no one would ever love her?¡± Tom questioned if only to gauge Balethon¡¯s reaction. The quick flick of the ears to lay against the back of his skull betrayed that he probably had said that, though Balethon didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Yeah, please don''t do that again.¡±


    ¡°As I said, have fun,¡± Balethon replied, turning away, Canabrera backing off too. Well, that had all been very cliche, Tom thought to himself as Jacky snickered to herself clearly quite pleased. He had promised to play along but god damn. Looking around, there were quite a few uncomfortable faces. ¡®Yay me,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, wondering just how to lower the amount of attention at least a little.

 Get In Gear

    Chapter 108: Get In Gear


    Tom had been wondering just how to get back out of the circle of people which had formed around them when Glira craned her head down in front of him and Jacky.


    ¡°Well hello there,¡± the dragon questioned, flicking out her tongue within inches of him. ¡°You smell nice. I love the smell of flash powder in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± Tom replied, not quite sure what else to say to that, as the dragon looked him over in detail.


    ¡°Now, no need to keep secrets. I swore an oath coming here, as has everyone else present¡­ So what are your rates, and what can you make?¡±


    ¡°My rates?¡± Tom had to question with a head tilt, Jacky letting out a snicker at his side.


    ¡°You are no mage, so you must kill with weapons. I know every artisan worth knowing when it comes to things that can kill you or keep you from getting killed. Except you¡­ What are your rates?¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh.¡±


    ¡°He doesn''t work like that, Mom,¡± Jarix interrupted as Tink came over with who Tom assumed must be his son, Junior.


    ¡°She pays very well, if you can sell the idea,¡± The inventor let out excitedly, pushing Junior forward. ¡°Meet my son, Tink Junior.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you, Tomas Hansen. Call me Tom,¡± he went as he shook the young dragonette¡¯s hand. He was best described as somewhere between star-struck and embarrassed half to death at the moment.


    ¡°What do you mean he doesn''t work like that? Is he one of those uptight assholes who thinks they''re too good to make some heavy equipment?¡± Glira protested, looking to Jarix.


    ¡°No, he promised to make me a machine gun, if I pass his tutelage.¡±


    ¡°His what? And what is that?¡±


    ¡°He has been trying to teach our son how not to go off and get himself killed,¡± Archeon interrupted before Glira got the chance to ask more questions. ¡°With mixed success.¡±


    ¡°What did you want me to do, Dad? Let them die?¡± Jarix protested. Tom was trying to work out just how to add his piece to this conversation. As far as he was concerned, they had taken a risk that was worth taking and come out on top.


    ¡°At least wait till morning. You don¡¯t fight the forces of the dark in the dark. That¡¯s fairly self-explanatory,¡± Archeon replied condescendingly.


    ¡°Without the dark taking out their light forces would not have been possible,¡± Tom added. ¡°And without Jarix¡¯s cover I had no chance of escape. Sure it didn¡¯t go according to plan, but that¡¯s war for you.¡±


    ¡°You were on the ground?¡± Glira questioned, with a head tilt, before Arch got in his protest.


    ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t really fly,¡± Tom replied. ¡®Like really, come on.¡¯


    ¡°Oh, I thought you were fighting from my son¡¯s back. How did you survive down there? I tried having crew on the ground to distract the enemy¡­ It didn¡¯t go well?¡± The dragon replied, looking to some of her crew, a few taking off their helmets for a second before putting them back on.


    ¡°A little luck, good camo, some air support, and this beauty,¡± Tom replied, giving Jacky a firm slap on the back, the huntress reciprocating a little more harshly, making him stumble half a step forward.


    ¡°He blew the shit out of them. And then we murdered anything left standing,¡± Jacky replied proudly. ¡°Grenades and guns. I have to tell you, that fucking works.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ What are your rates?¡± Glira tried again, rather more pointedly this time, pupils dilating slightly.


    ¡°My weapons are not leaving the island for the time being. And I¡¯m very much booked for the foreseeable future,¡± Tom replied, hoping that would at least temper her enthusiasm. She was technically here to defend the keep. At least sort of. But he was not looking to set up a weapons factory for the Royal Guard here. They just needed defenses.


    ¡°Back of the queue, Mom,¡± Jarix replied, seemingly pleased with himself.


    That clearly rubbed Glira the wrong way as she looked to Jarix. ¡°I can be patient. But I will have whatever he¡¯s making.¡±


    ¡°Not with that attitude,¡± Jarix replied, receiving a smack to the side with her tail, Tom noticing the vast spike affixed to it, though it had been with the flat side and likely little more than a hard lovetap.


    ¡®Jeez, okay then. What the fuck do I do now?¡¯


    ¡°What is that?¡± Tink added in, pouncing on the lull in the conversation, pointing at the revolver on Tom¡¯s thigh. ¡°Is it some kind of tool? how did you get that finish?¡±


    ¡°Aww yeah this thing,¡± Jacky replied, drawing the weapon, which Tom had checked that morning, was indeed unloaded.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Gosh, there are so many people here,¡± Ray went as she walked up next to Sapphire, clearly slightly overwhelmed.


    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry, this ain''t normal even around here. Everyone is just very happy,¡± Sapphire replied, looking over to the group of guards, Wiperna and Raulf coming over to say hi. ¡°Tell you what, let¡¯s start with the introductions. That¡¯s Wiperna and that''s Raulf. They handle our farms around here.¡±


    ¡°Hi. Ray,¡± she went with a curtsy to both of them.


    ¡°Did Dakota skip on the meals? You¡¯re skin and bones,¡± Raulf replied, taking Ray¡¯s hand, joking as ever.


    ¡°NO! She has been incredibly kind. I haven''t eaten this well in years,¡± Ray protested, voice growing worried.


    ¡°Nah, don''t worry gal. I¡¯m just messing with yah. We will get you into shape in no time. No one goes hungry around here. I make sure of that.¡± Sapphire cleared her throat rather harshly at that. ¡°In addition to our lovely huntresses, of course,¡± Raulf corrected himself with a smile as Wiperna gave Ray a firm handshake.


    ¡°Good to have you on board. I promise we won¡¯t work you too hard.¡±


    ¡°No, I can pull my weight,¡± Ray protested again, but this time with a smile, seemingly catching on rather quickly.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. Hey Dakota, how¡¯s it hanging?¡± Wiperna questioned as Dakota came walking over.


    ¡°Very good,¡± she replied in a hushed tone, ushering them all a bit closer. ¡°Right, so we need to get the big box. You two know what I¡¯m talking about. Come on. Shiva is over there trying to get Glira to talk, and Tom has Jacky occupied.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s go,¡± Sapphire replied as they made their way over to Archeon, Shiva luckily succeeding in getting Glira¡¯s attention. The dragon currently distracting her by showing off the collapsible blades on her forelegs. They unloaded the crate with the armor in it, with a hand from Vulzan. They carried it out into the open, Dakota getting up onto the box.


    ¡°Listen up folks. It¡¯s good to be home, but we have a bit of work to do. But First, Shiva, get your ass over here. We¡¯ve got something for you,¡± she shouted out, everyone gathering around, Shiva coming over to take a look. Tom and Jacky stood in the crowd. ¡°This one is for you,¡± Dakota went, getting off of the crate and handing Shiva the crowbar. The confused smith took it to the lid, popping it off with little problem.


    ¡°What the hell?! No you didn¡¯t¡­ HOW!¡±


    ¡°There we go, that''s a smile,¡± Dakota let out proudly as Shiva frantically gestured Jacky over, Tom following along. ¡°We couldn¡¯t let them have it, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know where it ended up. That¡¯s it. It¡¯s my mother''s armor! Oh, look at it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that''s Kalbida¡¯s?¡± Jacky questioned, looking into the box confused.


    ¡°Yes, by the gods, yes!¡± the smith replied, rifling through the crate, picking up the helmet and inspecting it. ¡°And it''s perfect as ever. The Flaxens had this, just sitting around?!¡±


    ¡°Yup, pretty much. They had a fine collection. Not so fine anymore now that we got the crown jewel, of course,¡± Dakota replied with an evil chuckle.


    ¡°Oh you magnificent little scoundrel, come here,¡± Shiva let out as she damn near crushed Dakota in a hug. Jacky seemed mesmerized as she took out some pieces to look over. ¡°This is worth more than my entire smithy.¡±


    ¡°The smithy isn''t yours either,¡± Nunuk interjected with a grin, coming up to pat Shiva on the back. ¡°But there are only two people here who can fit that.¡±


    ¡°And I am no longer fighting fit,¡± Shiva replied, looking down to her peg leg, her expression sombering before turning to Jacky. She had a gauntlet on by now, playing with it like a kid with a toy. ¡°Quit playing with your armor, you¡¯re not a little girl,¡± Shiva teased, the wide smile returning to her face.


    That clearly got Jacky¡¯s attention, as it clicked she turned to Tom grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking hard enough Sapphire was honestly concerned for him. ¡°I got enchanted armor! I got my grandmother¡¯s armor! I¡¯m gonna be a knight!¡±


    ¡°Tha¡­ vre.. nic. I hap,¡± Tom tried to reply before she let go, the poor dude nearly falling over backward.


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    ¡°Oh, all the stories. You need to hear about the battle for the tri peak. Or the raid on Jortun Keep, the defense of Bartelion. This was there for all of them!¡± Tom, seemingly now recovered from the little shake, moved up to the crate, taking out a few of the bits to look at, Shiva keeping a watchful eye as he did. By now everyone who had yet to see the armor had their noses in the crate to see what the fuss was about, at least until Dakota cleared her voice again.


    ¡°One more thing. Rachuck, do you solemnly swear to get good enough at hand-to-hand combat to at least stay on your feet during a fight?¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a fight, that was a greeting,¡± the guard captain responded with a grin.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Dakota reached into the crate, pulling out a long rectangular box and presenting it to Rachuck as agreed upon. The captain was clearly rather skeptical, though when he opened the box his expression was best described as ¡®you¡¯re fucking with me, right?¡¯


    ¡°Well go on, it¡¯s not cursed¡­ too much,¡± Dakota egged on. Rachuck picked up the scabbard, slowly drawing out the blade. His expression grew incredulous, staring at the sword in disbelief.


    ¡°It doesn''t weigh anything¡­ It¡¯s like it¡¯s made out of paper,¡± Rachuck swung the blade around a little, trying to get a feel for it.


    ¡°And yet it hits like a mallet,¡± Dakota replied, crossing her arms, seemingly rather smug. ¡°So how about a proper greeting?¡± she certainly got her wish as Rachuck delicately put the sword away in its box, giving his sister a long tight hug.


    Looking around, Sapphire saw Ray seemingly still rather overwhelmed by all this. Though she was smiling wide as she herself was looking around at everything going on. ¡®I guess a bit more help is in order.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Incredibly, the armor was apparently just gonna be given to Jacky. Or well it would be the keep¡¯s, but for all intents and purposes, it was Jacky¡¯s new armor. And it looked nice. It wasn¡¯t as intricately decorated as Nunuk¡¯s, but it was a masterpiece for sure. Jacky had excitedly launched into a series of frantic retellings of various stories Shiva had told her when she was a kid. Quite a few details were seemingly missing and Tom was fairly sure at least a few ended up mixed together, but he didn¡¯t care. She was beside herself with excitement, and for good reason too it would seem.


    Some of the feats described had to be exaggerated, but still, taking a blast from a red dragon, even if it likely had only been a glancing blow, was still incredibly impressive. Tom was very happy too. This likely meant that, even if she did feel like getting a little enthusiastic in battle, her chances of surviving a fuck up had just increased by a lot. And he knew better than to try and tell her not to fight, so that was one hell of a plus.


    As Shiva set about trying to figure out what adjustments the armor would need to properly fit Jacky, Sapphire had come over and poked him on the shoulder.


    ¡°Got a second?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sure,¡± Tom replied, turning around to see yet another dragonette standing with her, looking rather timid. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re Ray. Tiguan said you''re worth knowing.¡± Tom held out his hand with a smile. The dragonette courteously took it, giving it a delicate shake.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Well he only had nice things to say, so I¡¯m guessing you are gonna fit in nicely. There¡¯s certainly plenty to do. In time we might even get you back in the sky,¡± Tom tried. He knew of her little problem, and he could certainly see what Tiguan had been on about. She seemed sweet as a peach, but damn she was timid. There was a lot happening right now though, so that might not be helping.


    ¡°Really? I mean they told me, but really?¡± Ray replied very cautiously, clearly wanting to believe it.


    ¡°Just steal his parachute,¡± Jacky shouted over as Shiva was holding up pieces for test fitting.


    ¡°Or, ask nicely,¡± Tom interjected, with a slight grumble. He wasn¡¯t giving it away, but what could lending it out for a few goes hurt. ¡°I mean, I have no clue if we can fix your wings, but there are many ways to fly. I¡¯m sure we will figure out something more permanent too.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I,¡± Ray tried to respond, locking up completely. Sapphire put an arm around her as the very scrawny-looking dragonette started to sob, looking at Tom.


    ¡°See? I told you,¡± Saph went as she gave Ray a little squeeze. Tom looked around a little uncomfortably. It hadn''t been his intention to make her cry or anything like that.


    ¡°Well done,¡± Jacky joked, Shiva ordering her to stay still. Tom moved up to give Ray a shoulder pat. Thus far that had been mostly successful for him when dealing with new people. Ray responded by jumping onto him, latching on tightly and not letting go, still sobbing slightly.


    ¡°I think you made another friend,¡± Sapphire joked, standing back with her arms crossed, chuckling.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    There was a lot of stuff to unload, but the sheer number of hands made quick work of it. The idea of having a separate place to store all the dangerous shit did help ease Sapphire¡¯s worries a little, even if it sounded to her like having more than one would be better. Tom had spent most of his time overseeing what was going on and instructing everyone on what to do and more importantly what not to do. To Sapphire¡¯s relief, Tink had pretty much been glued to Tom for the time being, the explanation of what a computer was having taken up nearly an hour.


    Junior was helping out though, and Ray was once again working to the point she would likely be asleep for dinner. They hauled crates, boxes, and jars into both the bunker and the keep itself. Jarix and his crew had set off with his mother to score some dinner for tonight. They were gonna do their damndest to put on a proper feast, but the five dragons were gonna need to bring their own, so to speak. That was rather beyond what they could manage.


    Saph had ended up on kitchen duty after the unloading was complete. Tom had grumbled something about wanting to help out, but by now Linkosta had gotten over the shock of returning home and had gotten her claws into him. And Tink, of course, refused to leave him alone too, so they were currently in the library. Jacky and Shiva were in the smithy, going over the artifact of their past. The mood was high all around, Esmeralda starting up Tom¡¯s little music box and singing along. They fired up the oven to make some nice fresh bread for the meal. With all the extra mouths here right now the bread was gonna be needed to save a bit on their fresh meat supply. Then again, they had enough hands to replenish in a hurry now if they needed it.


    ¡°Are you singing in English?¡± Sapphire questioned with a laugh as Esmeralda tapped her foot to the music.


    ¡°I¡¯m walking on sunshine whoaaaa, I¡¯m walking on sunshine whoaaaa and it¡¯s starting to feel good hey,¡± Essy responded, matching the voice singing damn near perfectly.


    ¡°That¡¯s cheating and you know it,¡± Saph protested as she tapped her tail to the beat, swaying from side to side a bit. She tried her hand at a bit of the chorus, but it just didn¡¯t sound right. Not that she had ever been able to sing, but the soft dainty language didn¡¯t help either that was for sure.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You brought a telescope?¡± Tom questioned as Linkosta had set about unpacking the sizable amount of stuff she had brought, much of it apparently borrowed from the academy where she studied.


    ¡°We call it a heaven watcher. It allows us to glimpse into the world of the gods. I was hoping you could show me some of yours if they are up there.¡±


    ¡°Mine¡­¡± Tom replied, not quite sure how to respond to that. Thus far when it had come to gods he had pretty much been branded a heretic, though they didn¡¯t seem to take it that seriously out here as long as he didn¡¯t do something they didn¡¯t like.


    ¡°Well you have gods, right?¡± Linkosta questioned, with a confused head tilt.


    ¡°Yeah, we do¡­ oh boy.¡± Did he tell her about a lot of gods¡­ maybe some old ones that seemed to line up a bit better with their view on things¡­ Or just go ¡°fuck it¡± and spread the good word of Jesus Christ to a new world? ¡®Fuck, am I gonna be a missionary?¡± Tom questioned himself, chuckling a bit at the absurdity of that statement. He was most definitely not a religious man. Linkosta just looked a bit confused at him at that, seemingly waiting for something worth noting down.


    ¡°Do you have a god of construction?¡± Tink questioned. The inventor was clearly trying his best to contribute to the conversation. Tom was rather certain it was mainly to get him to talk about various machines and inventions or other such stuff not that he really minded.


    The inventor and Linkosta were an odd combination. It almost felt like the first time he could actually talk with dragonettes about technical stuff. Sure Shiva could manage metal stuff and it wasn¡¯t like the others were stupid or anything, but these two really wanted to learn just for that sake of learning. That applied for Dakota too of course but she was mostly about tactics and logistics and Apuma just seemed to want to preserve every scrap of knowledge he could get his hands on.


    Linkosta was no engineer or even mechanically inclined, but she was clearly highly educated and well versed in the scientific method much to his surprise. Tink on the other hand positively reeked of self-taught shed inventor. His decades of experience were hard to miss though, and he clearly knew what he was talking about when the subject didn''t stray too far into the realm of high tech. Some level of formal education did seem to be in there somewhere as well.


    Tom had to make a note to scold Sapphire or Dakota for rather blatantly ignoring his request of ¡®not a crazy one please,¡¯ but it seemed they had at least gotten a useful one. And Junior did seem more safety-oriented. The kid was another interesting proposition. He seemed geared almost specifically to keep his dad in check, but he was skilled that was for sure. It almost made Tom ponder the merits of getting an assistant or apprentice himself. Maybe Kiran one day, ¡®You never know¡¯


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know if we have that¡­ someone might¡­ actually I¡¯m sure we probably have a few We can¡¯t really agree when it comes to god''s back home.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ what?¡± Linkosta questioned, clearly not understanding that. ¡°How do you fuck that up?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯m not sure gods work the same way where I¡¯m from¡­ How do you know yours are real?¡± Tom questioned, weary of the possible religious flame war he might have sparked. She had asked though so she couldn¡¯t be too mad.


    ¡°Well we can look at them for one,¡± Linkosta replied as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. Tom was about to counter-argue that well planets might look like gods, when she cut him off. ¡°In times of struggle and need we might even get to see one up close.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure... What did you just say?¡± Tom had to question, incredulous.


    ¡°During a time of great need, a god may decide to protect their subjects. It¡¯s rare of course, but it does happen.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Yeah, they work differently here than back home¡­ Unless the Vikings weren¡¯t actually that high on shrooms.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what mushrooms have to¡­ Are you claiming I¡¯m lying?¡±


    ¡°What? No, it¡¯s just that at home some people claimed to have seen gods from time to time and all of them a long time ago. We don¡¯t believe that. Not really at least¡­ I mean, I¡¯m sure some do.¡±


    ¡°Well, we better get this setup then. This should be an interesting night. Let¡¯s just hope the sky stays clear.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you wait for tomorrow, and enjoy the festivities tonight?¡± Apuma questioned as he helped her unpack some of the very fine-looking equipment.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the heavens are going anywhere, Why don¡¯t I show you the workshops instead?¡± Tom replied, the inventor perking up.


    ¡°Oh, that can wait¡± Linkosta replied, ¡°I¡¯ll just get it set up for tomorrow then.


    ¡°You are gonna want to see that too¡± Apuma added, looking to his daughter. ¡°I¡¯m sure I can figure out this thing.¡±


    ¡°Please don''t, Dad. It¡¯s very delicate. I¡¯ll be back,¡± Linkosta replied with a slightly pained expression as she went to follow Tom out the door, her father flattening his ears a little as he put down the piece he was holding.


    ¡°Right, so this is gonna become the lathe. Those are the plans for it, and that is for the mill. We haven''t gotten started on that yet,¡± Tom explained as he showed the three of them around.


    ¡°And it just shaves off metal?¡± Junior questioned, looking at the drawings for the tools for it and their mounts.


    ¡°Pretty much yeah. You are gonna love it.¡±


    ¡°Seems awfully wasteful,¡± Linkosta remarked as she studied the drawing for the motor, comparing them with the mostly finished unit that was sitting on the table.


    ¡°You just re-melt the shavings, so it¡¯s not actually that bad. It¡¯s just time-consuming for sure, but then again so is forging.¡±


    ¡°Hmm neat.¡±


    ¡°So you can make something both perfectly flat and perfectly round¡­ This changes everything,¡± Tink let out. ¡°You could make bearings, hollow axles, Cogs, anything!¡±


    ¡°And with enough precision to make it all fit together nicely. Which means spare parts. Threading too. Have a look at this,¡± Tom replied as he chucked a bolt and nut to Tink.


    ¡°How do you do that?¡± the inventor questioned incredulously, showing the assembly to Junior as he screwed in the nut. ¡°It fits so perfectly¡±


    ¡°Precision and this,¡± Tom replied, gesturing to the lathe. ¡°We can make threading tools with this. Or just thread it directly, and with all the materials you brought back home we can make all of this stuff.¡±


    ¡°Oleg be praised. You might not believe in him, but I reckon he¡¯s gonna like you,¡± Tink let out, running his fingers over the threading.


    ¡°He is working in one of his workshops, so¡­¡± Linkosta added with a shrug. ¡°Doesn''t that constitute worship for him?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah,¡± Tink replied, nodding.


    Tom just shrugged himself. He could live with that no problem, so long as they didn¡¯t fuck up enough to need divine intervention or something.

 A fine Feast

    Chapter 109: A fine Feast


    Jarix and Glira had returned with quite the haul. Glira had dropped her massive nets on a small herd of deer, letting them more or less pick which they wanted. They let the rest go as not to wipe them out entirely. That scored the dragons a few snacks for the first leg of their trip too. The five dragons present and the rather large number of people had forced them to hold the feast outside. Luckily the weather had been excellent. Fires had been organized with turning spits for the deer, and the keep¡¯s own kitchen supplied the rest of the food.


    Tom hadn¡¯t really felt up for partaking in the drinking following his last experience, and unlike last time Jacky had let him abstain. She still poked a bit of fun at him for it, since well at least the stuff they had brewed themselves should be good and their local ale had been just fine last time.


    It had been a fine meal, though what really carried the feast was the good company and there being plenty of food to go around. After they had finished eating, Esmeralda and Fengi had asked Tom if they could go get the ¡±music box¡± as they stubbornly called it. Victoria had put a stop to that though, calling everyone to attention. As she was waiting for the chattering to calm down, Glira¡¯s officer walking up beside her carrying a few small boxes.


    ¡°Eyes up here please¡­ We have a few heroes among us tonight. While some might argue that orders were disobeyed and their actions at times reckless, there is no arguing with the results, nor the bravery displayed. As such, I have been awarded the privilege of handing out some awards on behalf of the crown. I need Zarko, Jarix, Jackalope, Tom, and Unkai up here please.¡±


    Tom and Jacky looked at each other for a second, Tom giving a shrug as Jacky grew a speculative smile before getting up.


    ¡°Very good, in a line please, Jarix just stand round back,¡± Victoria ordered, gesturing them into place. ¡°First off, congratulations on the promotion, Lieutenant Zarko,¡± Victoria started, putting emphasis on the new rank as she handed Zarko a sealed scroll and two copper bands for her armor. ¡°You managed to adapt to a difficult situation, facing off against an unknown enemy on an unknown battlefield. You managed to protect your charge in the face of overwhelming numbers. Downing no less than three enemy lancers in Jarix''s defense and inflicting heavy losses to enemy regulars. For this you have been awarded the silver sword for valor in the face of darkness. Congratulations.¡± People cheered for her as Jarix pounded the ground a few times behind them in approval. Tom caught a few kids clapping a bit, Kiran of course leading the effort. Tom gave her a round of applause too. Staying true to your roots and all that.


    Ylditz handed Victoria a small box which she opened and presented to Zarko. Tom had a bit of a peek to look, it looked like a very simple little medal. A circle with a spike starting from the bottom and tapering towards the top, the little thing hanging from a nice little purple ribbon.


    ¡°Jackalope Furlong and Tomas Hansen. You showed no fear in the face of the enemy and successively went above and beyond the duty of your stations. Both in the defence of your friends and loved ones but also for the sake of strangers. For your invaluable assistance to the Royal Guard in our mission here, you have both been awarded the Gilded Talons for service to the Crown.¡±


    Tom had no idea what that meant beyond ¡®you did good,¡¯ but Jacky was certainly excited, looking to him with mouth agape and eyes wide. That was good enough to make Tom smile too, and it did sound impressive, that was for sure. It was an actual gold medal, or perhaps just gilded, but it looked rather intricate, clearly depicting a pair of clawed raptor-like feet swooping down to grab something.


    ¡°Unkai Tilar. For services rendered to those in need and for caretaking our alliance with the protectors of the forests, you have been awarded the Order of the Shield Wing. Congratulations.¡±


    This was another silver medal depicting a pair of wings furled up around something, much like Jacky had done with Tom back at Deriva.


    ¡°Jarix, for successfully defeating a hitherto unknown enemy, and three of them at that, as well as facilitating the rescue of the Hylsdal line and Deriva Keep, your name is to be inscribed upon the Ivory Column.¡± That clearly sat quite well with the blue dragon as he turned to his mother and father with a very excited expression, shuffling his feet around. Glira was certainly pleased, stamping in approval herself, and even Arch pulled off a kind of proud father look.


    ¡°You have been granted a half year paid leave to be spent at your discretion at the end of any deployment. You may of course also have the sum in question paid out in advance. For the battle of Deriva, you have also been awarded your first veterancy bar, so the world may know you have been tested.¡± Victoria sounded particularly proud at the last point, and Jarix turned to Grevi with a very smug face. The green replied with a conceding bow.


    ¡®Someone is feeling cocky,¡¯ Tom mused to himself with a smirk. There wasn¡¯t anyone here who hadn¡¯t earned their place though. Come to think of it, a case could be made for him owing his life to every last one of them¡­ well maybe not Jarix directly, but none of this had a chance of happening without him.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± Jacky questioned, turning to him while holding the medal in place on her chest plate. She struck what Tom assumed she thought was a heroic pose, looking off into the distance.


    ¡°Like you belong on a recruitment poster for something dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Nah, that would just put them off. They need something easier to aspire to.¡± Tom tried not to laugh at that, but he was not really successful, limiting it to a restrained snicker.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Jacky protested, looking very offended at him. ¡°You damn near died twice, and they still gave you a medal. If anything shouldn''t it be for those who saved your ass?¡±


    ¡°A saving my ass medal would be about as common as your bad ideas.¡±


    ¡°That''s two insults now, are you sure you wanna push your luck?¡± Jacky replied, crossing her arms with a wide smirk.


    ¡°Sure, how else are people gonna get their ''save a Tom'' medal?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna force mum to make one just to spite you now. You know that, right?¡± Jacky replied as they walked back into the crowd. Everyone congratulated them and asked to see the medals.


    ¡°Just remember Saph gets the first one,¡± Tom joked, as Saph came over, making sure she heard.


    ¡°Yeah, but I get two, at least that¡¯s still better.¡±


    ¡°I get a what now?¡± Saph questioned with a suspicious expression.


    ¡°A medal for saving Tom, maybe we should just keep scores,¡± Jacky replied as Shiva came up, the huntress switching her attention to her mother.


    ¡°I see I¡¯m not the only one who¡¯s proud of you,¡± the smith let out, looking genuinely pleased, even if Tom was rather sure she was avoiding looking at him.


    ¡°At least I did something right,¡± Jacky replied with a crooked smile as her mother gave her a little shake by the shoulders, Shiva seemed to deflate a little as she glanced towards Tom, seemingly pondering her next words carefully.


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± she just went with a pat on his shoulder, giving him a curt nod, which Tom reciprocated. ¡°I would have us drink to this, but it seems you are at least trying to be cautious.¡±


    ¡°No need for more of those medals than necessary,¡± Tom replied with a smile. ¡®Hey, that¡¯s progress.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had to agree to the idea of having a saving the future of their race medal, didn¡¯t actually sound like a bad idea¡­ No that was giving him too much credit. ¡®The source of life improvement around here¡¯ yeah that worked. It wouldn¡¯t carry any weight though, at least not for a while. Gilded claws though, that was up there when it came to nonmilitary distinctions. She definitely wasn¡¯t jealous, but she couldn¡¯t help but feel like they hadn¡¯t exactly had it easy in the capital either, and they were not getting any medals.


    What they were getting was properly fucking smashed though. All the time in the capital they hadn¡¯t been able to properly let loose to celebrate. Well, with the exception of the first evening and that had led to¡­ complications. Now, though, it was time to party. She had hoped Tom would let loose again too. That had been rather hilarious last time, but all things considered, it was probably for the best.


    Fengi and Essy had brought out the music box and put on some of the more fast-paced stuff. Tom had gone to fetch some of the things from the little movie setup he had put together to help spread the music a little further around. It was hilarious to see the expressions of everyone when they finally got it all to work. Tink looked like he had damn near creamed himself at the notion that no magic was involved. A point which Linkosta did not easily surrender to, wanting one of the music boxes dismantled for study, a notion Tink wholeheartedly agreed with. Tom very clearly refused them though, stating it was time for fun tonight, tech would come later.


    They didn¡¯t even have to assign many to stay sober, just in case. They had five dragons here, and despite Tom¡¯s earlier warnings they had yet to make enough spirits to drink one of them under the table. All their new members though, they could definitely manage that. They had brought some rather good ales from the capital. Mainly, though, it was Raulf¡¯s homebrew and the products of the distillery, both pure and watered down with strong tea, that were served tonight. It didn¡¯t taste brilliant but it sure did the job.


    Saph had gathered Ray, Bo, Pho, and Junior around a table, Radexi eventually coming over to join too. The two young boys seemed to hit it off well enough. Radexi was clearly more brash than the rather cautious Junior. Sapphire grew even more convinced Junior probably hadn¡¯t had that many friends before, but He looked happy right now though so that was nice.


    With Radexi leading the charge and the clearly new experience of trying actual liquor, they soon had him talking though. Mainly about some of the dumb things he and his father had done. Ray had at first been reluctant to drink with this many people around, but eventually, she did get going, quickly turning into an absolute bundle of joy. She made it very clear she still didn''t believe everything that was going on, joking that she hadn¡¯t dared to pinch herself yet, fearing she would wake up. Sapphire had been quick to reach over and give her a hard pinch, chuckling all the while. ¡°Seems real to me.¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s amazing,¡± Ray retorted, seemingly not minding the pinch. ¡°He even said I might fly again!¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand this place,¡± Bo let out as she took a swig of the watered-down liquor tea. ¡°How would you even do that?¡±


    ¡°You need to just go with it,¡± Saph replied. ¡°There''s no way to keep up. Not with all of it at least. It gets even worse when he starts talking about home.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I¡¯m not that bad,¡± Tom replied from behind her, sitting down at an empty spot. ¡°So then, no dancers here?¡± he questioned, looking towards where Fengi was currently doing her best to show up the competition, mainly Canabrera and one younger Royal Guard Saph didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Might do at some point,¡± Pho replied, lifting her mug to salute him, which Saph was fairly sure was empty again by now. ¡°Give me an example of something crazy,¡± the young woman questioned, leaning forward on her elbows.


    ¡°We fly faster than sound and pretty much everyone can talk with everyone no matter where they are,¡± Tom replied with a shrug, clearly trying to make it sound like no big deal. Sapphire knew him well enough to know he was savoring the confused reaction from the others. Bo seemingly took Saph''s advice and went for another draught of her mug, shaking her head in disbelief.


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    ¡°Sound has a speed?¡± Junior questioned as the heads tilted all around the table, Sapphire letting out a little sigh. She knew where this might end up going.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get him started. we will be here for a week. No offense.¡±


    ¡°Some taken,¡± Tom replied with a grin.


    ¡°It would be a shame to have to do it twice anyway. Did Linkosta get to you yet?¡±


    ¡°Only for a little bit, she seems nice. What do you think she would think of the phone?¡±


    ¡°Oh she would love that... Actually, come on everyone around this side. Let''s take a picture with some of our new faces.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Tom replied, everyone, gathered around one side of the table. They seemed slightly confused as to why, but they did it. The flash got the attention of pretty much everyone around, Sapphire snickering a bit at Glira who started scanning around trying to see where that had come from. Jarix eventually explained the situation, leading to a rather annoyed-looking female blue scowling at them, though her expression soon turned thoughtful. The picture had come out very nice, and all of the others were utterly enamored by the impromptu artwork. Jacky had come wandering over, seemingly nicely buzzed as she sat down with Tom, using him as a backrest as he had started showing off some pictures.


    The prospect of what might be appeared to give the two boys the courage to ask for a dance from Bo and Pho, who didn¡¯t see any harm in that.


    ¡°I can dance too,¡± Jacky declared, getting up to follow the four youths then turning back to pick up Tom, who hadn¡¯t grasped he was coming too. Saph again found herself unsure how to feel about that. They had long joked about who would be the first to find love. Technically Jacky had beaten her before, but even Jacky agreed Balethon hadn¡¯t counted. Now though, it would seem she had definitely been beaten. Still, she was hardly the only single person around. Hell, Rachuck was in his fifties by now. With the amount of people here tonight it was a virtual smorgasbord of choice by frontier standards though.


    ¡®Why not?¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, turning to look at Ray, who was the only one left at the table now. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go see if anyone is up for a round on the floor.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t danced in¡­ I don¡¯t know actually.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Fengi hear that. She¡¯ll spend the rest of the night teaching you,¡± Sapphire replied with a smile, getting up. ¡°Come on, we can just watch if you''d rather do that."


    Ray relented with a worried smile as they too made their way to the little dance area they had going on. They kept outside the bounds, for now, just enjoying the spectacle and the strange music. It looked like Ray found the happy upbeat song very enjoyable, soon humming along to a few bits. It was good to finally see Fengi get some proper competition, though she still held the spot as the best dancer around, after properly dusting Pho.


    ¡°She¡¯s really good,¡± Ray noted as she stood looking at the younger people dancing away.


    ¡°You need a hobby out here, otherwise it gets a little boring. Well, you used to need a hobby.¡±


    ¡°I used to collect things, you know... little knick-knacks for the house.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t take any of Tom¡¯s weird little things. Though he certainly has quite the collection of oddballs.¡±


    ¡°Think he will let me see them?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s gonna be harder to stop him.¡±


    After a while of enjoying the music, Saph tapping to the beat as it played, Radexi had run off towards Jarix. The other youths turned expectantly towards the dragon. It had taken quite a while to try and sell the idea, Tom and JAcky eventually going over as well, to add their voices. When Fengi joined in doing what she does best, jarix had, to Sapphire''s amazement, buckled under peer pressure. There were many strange sights to be had at the keep, but not all were of Tom¡¯s design, as the eight-ton dragon had a go at some dance moves. Something he clearly knew absolutely nothing about. Fengi of course quickly set about teaching her new student what she could come up with that would work, even getting down onto all fours herself to try and show him what she meant.


    She eventually got Jarix to the point where it actually looked like he had a plan. It could hardly be described as graceful, but it was actually dancing¡­ of a sort. When Glira had broken down laughing, it had only spurred the young dragon on, looking to his mother and father as he turned the grassy field to a dirt patch.


    ¡°I love this place,¡± Sapphire said to herself as she watched the spectacle. She had a quick look around at all the laughing faces and people generally having a good time. Unkai looked like he was trying to psych himself up to ask Fengi out again, though he was seemingly not drunk enough yet. Saph and Ray moved over to help Esmeralda and Kokashi keep some excited kids from running over to the dancing dragon now that all attention was aimed squarely at the dragon.


    ¡°Need a hand?¡± Maiko questioned from behind her as Essy set about getting the kids to imitate Jarix rather than run over to get stepped on by accident.


    ¡°I think we got it,¡± Sapphire replied, turning back to the corporal, Holdey slipping past her, getting caught by Ray instead. ¡°Mostly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever had the privilege of dancing to music from another world. I think I will need an otherworldly partner too.¡±


    ¡°How long were you practicing that one?¡± Sapphire questioned with a knowing smile. It might have been cheesy, but at least it was new.


    ¡°Best not to mention.¡±


    ¡°The corporal wants to dance with the champion?¡± Sapphire struck a thinking pose, looking him over. Maiko definitely seemed like a nice enough guy, and he looked just fine, a little spindly but fine. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything wrong with that,¡± Sapphire replied just as the smile started to fade from his face, much to her own amusement.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Did you see Jarix?¡± Kiran questioned, who had found Tom and made it to his usual resting spot after slipping away from the rest of the kids. Arms, legs, and tail dangling off the side of Tom¡¯s head.


    ¡°I sure did,¡± Tom replied cheerily. Tom truly sucked at dancing, and he was sober, which really didn''t help. Luckily Jacky¡¯s need for the dance floor had not lasted long, being broken by that truly ridiculous display by Jarix. That had left her struggling to breath with laughter as they stood watching from the sideline, Jacky using Tom as a brace to stay upright.


    After that piece of entertainment came to an end, Victoria had come over with Glira¡¯s head officer in tow. He introduced himself as Major Jortun, asking if perhaps they were interested in a little friendly game and a chat. He had originally wanted to play some game that Tom had never heard of before. But after a fervent sales speech from semi-drunk Jacky, Tom now found himself teaching poker to a table of dragonettes for the second time in his life.


    They had started off without bets, though eventually, Major Jortun had wanted to put some coins down. The knowledge that Tom was technically speaking broke in that sense had caught them off guard slightly. They had settled on drinking poker as a compromise, with Jacky drinking on Tom¡¯s behalf. After not having won a single hand during the warmups even Jacky relented that she wasn¡¯t really much good at this. It was blatant cheating to have her drink, but oh well.


    The faces Jortun and Victoria had pulled at the drinks betrayed they were definitely used to better stuff. Tom had considered fetching a good bottle, but eventually, Victoria had sent one of her crew to go fetch some from Baron¡¯s supplies. That certainly made Jacky more willing to take on her role in the proceedings too. Dakota and Anchor had joined in after a few hands, and by now the mood was getting rather merry at the table as stories were exchanged. Tom went in-depth as to just how they had pulled off a victory at Deriva Keep. He had also broken his little rule as well, trying a few sips of what turned out to be a really rather nice brandy. It still made him feel a little odd though, so he elected to not push his luck tonight.


    ¡°Look, two red ones,¡± Kiran let out, reminding Tom of just why the game was probably quite fair despite him being sober.


    ¡°Aww come on, Kiran, not cool,¡± Jacky protested at the prospect she was likely gonna be drinking again soon. Tom felt her give the little guy a fist bump as he cursed their little arrangement a little.


    ¡°That¡¯s good though,¡± Kiran replied, clearly trying to sound confused.


    ¡°But they shouldn¡¯t know that,¡± Tom clarified as he just rolled with it. He might have a handicap, but it wouldn¡¯t seem any of the dragonettes had thought about just how clear a tell those ears were. It also helped that at least Jortun seemed to fall easily enough for misdirection.


    As expected, Tom lost that particular hand, much to Jacky¡¯s delight. As Tom was dealing out the next hand, he spotted Saph and one of the Royal Guards walking off, looking rather chummy. He smirked a bit as he looked back to Jacky, who had gotten excited about the next song coming on.


    ¡°I¡¯n one the highway to heel!¡± Jacky shouted out, doing her best fist pump, Tom relenting to sing along. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it means, but I love that one.¡±


    ¡°I still think we should do this right. It is a betting game, right?¡± Jortun protested once Jacky reached a part of the song she couldn¡¯t quite remember. On looks, Tom would put the major somewhere between Dakota and Victoria so in his sixties somewhere. He spoke with experience but that might have more to do with the eyepatch and missing fingers on his left hand than his actual age. Because he behaved more like say Saph and Jacky or even, full of life and judging by how he played rather reckless.


    ¡°Who¡¯s winning?¡± Jarix questioned, craning his neck to get as close to the table as he could.


    ¡°We aren''t playing with bets tonight,¡± Tom clarified for the dragon, looking up to the curious face.


    ¡°Why, afraid you would lose?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have the coin required,¡± Tom replied with an overabundance of eloquence which came off as only slightly mocking.


    ¡°I¡¯d sponsor you. I get half the winnings though.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Was all Tom got out before Jortun cut him off.


    ¡°10 gold pot?¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± Jarix responded, looking expectantly towards Tom.


    ¡°Hah, excellent! I can lend you the coin for now I know you¡¯re good for it. Victoria, you in too?¡± The colonel seemed to weigh her chances, looking towards Tom with an uncertain expression. She had fared better in the game than the major had, but she was definitely inebriated by now. She seemed to hold her liquor well though.


    ¡°I reckon it will be for a good cause... Mainly annoying Baron. I¡¯m in.¡±


    ¡°Excellent! What about you, ma¡¯am?¡± The Major questioned looking to Dakota.


    ¡°I can do that, I doubt it¡¯s gonna be leaving the keep anyway,¡± Dakota responded as she glanced at Tom with a knowing expression. Dakota was the only one here who had actually played poker before after all, and she was at least decent at it.


    "Big one is a silver, small is a copper,¡± Major Jortun went as he started counting out coins, placing them in front of Tom.


    ¡°Blinds,¡± Victoria corrected as she put some different coins on the table herself. Dakota got up though, excusing herself for a second.


    ¡°Hey dad, wanna see how to make money?¡± Jarix said, looking to where the four other dragons had settled down for the time being.


    ¡°Please tell me you haven''t taken up your mother''s gambling addiction too,¡± his father replied, though the tone was more goading than disappointed.


    ¡°It''s an investment in something you have faith in. You told me that yourself.¡± Arch shook his head a little as he trotted over, Glira also taking an interest in what was going on.


    ¡°Hey Baron, I reckon you and Victoria are about to lose more money because of my son,¡± Glira let out after she figured out what was happening. That drew Baron''s attention as he got up with a deep sigh, which seemed to correlate to Grevi following him over too. From what Tom had seen, the young green seemed to stick to the older dragon like glue.


    Tom thought back to the days of playing poker for fun with friends over who was gonna clean the kitchen or the rare instance of strip poker if there had been girls present. Now, though, there was actual money on that table, and rather a lot of it too. And he had quite possibly the scariest crowd in the history of poker, at his side was a rather drunk Jacky, and a half-sleeping kid... on his head¡­ ¡®How did my life come to this?¡¯


    When Dakota came back she didn¡¯t take her seat; instead, she led over a rather bewildered-looking Esmeralda, who sat down.¡®Goddammit,¡¯ Tom cursed. Sure, he had beaten her before, but she was definitely better at this than Dakota. He deposited Kiran into his mother''s arms now that they were free and instructed Jacky to not look at his cards. He knew that if anyone was gonna give the game away it would be her in this situation.


    Jortun seemingly hadn¡¯t learned much from the first rounds, being as easy to read as a book. Victoria, though, had clearly figured out Tom was paying attention to her ears, fooling him a few times. She seemed to struggle to figure him out in return though, so it became a mostly fair game, with Jortun going bust rather quickly. Essy was easy enough to read, but the reverse was clearly also true. It didn¡¯t take Tom too long to start finding other tells for Victoria though, mainly that she needed time to think when she had something good. As did Essy for that matter. He guessed they weren''t quite down with the rules and cards yet, so they needed to go over them in their heads.


    Slowly, yet steadily, he began ripping Victoria off, hand by hand, to her evident annoyance. Essy played very cautiously, which resulted in her and Tom being the last two at the table. With only two playing and Tom having a large cash advantage by now, it wasn¡¯t long until he managed to sucker her into an overbid, leaving her so broke it was easy to take home all forty gold for him and Jarix.


    Essy looked back to Dakota with an apologetic shrug, Dakota still holding the smile from earlier. Tom reckoned she was confident in the money still going towards the projects of the keep. Which was probably correct, all things considered. Jortun and Victoria weren¡¯t upset either, giving him a handshake and congratulating him on a game well played.


    ¡°See, I told you,¡± Jarix let out, sounding rather proud. Just made 15 gold without lifting a claw, that¡¯s good business.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t fault you there,¡± Archon relented. Glira also appeared rather pleased with the result, as she gave Arch a rather hard if playful shunt to the shoulder, which Tom reckoned would have crushed him into a fine paste.


    The sun had been starting to get low in the sky as the game came to an end. Arch¡¯s crew and the dragonettes crewing the combat wing had set up tents for the night before the start of festivities. There was still a little cleaning to do though, and things that needed to be carried back inside before nightfall.


    Jarix had gotten his gold, and Linkosta had not materialized to ask Tom to look at stars, so he declared himself off for the night now. Tink and Junior had taken up temporary sleeping quarters in the grand hall after Tom had vetoed the idea of having them sleep in the workshop on the reasoning that they didn¡¯t yet know what not to touch.


    The two new huntresses had been given a room to share, for now, Ray being put to bed in her own room by Dakota and Sapphire after she had fallen asleep at a table. All in all, this had been a good day Tom thought to himself as he waved at Saph and Dakota returning to their own bedrooms. Saph got off a return wave before Jacky grabbed him by the shoulders, yanking him inside the room they sort of shared by now. ¡®And it just got better.¡¯

 Production Schedule

    Chapter 110: Production Schedule


    ¡®Well that was a pleasant evening,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself as she stretched in her bed. Everyone had gotten along well, nothing had exploded, and she was in her own bed again. Something she didn¡¯t think she would have missed this much.


    Maiko had also proved good company, though she was not bringing him inside yet that was for sure. It was also early summer so that would have been a dangerous game to play anyway. He was gonna be coming back, so it was a rare opportunity to test someone out for a bit before trying to make things work. Might as well use it.


    After she got dressed, she had made her way outside for some fresh air. Looking down from the platform, the camp below was already buzzing with activity as people broke camp. They would be heading out after breakfast, hopefully finding something worth their time sooner rather than later. They would check in periodically with both Bizmati and Deriva, adding Hylsdal to the schedule once the rebuilding efforts got underway. It had been agreed that Victoria would be borrowing the other earring for the time being. That essentially gave them an opportunity to call for aid while the combat wing was scouring the island for anything suspicious or unwelcome.


    Jarix would of course be staying at Bizmati Keep, and Tiguan would be guarding Deriva, and Hylsdal once it got started. Arch was gonna be heading back to the capital to pick up materials for Hylsdal, a route he might end up doing quite a few times, giving them access to goods on a semi-regular basis if they ended up needing them. The dagger recovered at Deriva was placed into Baron¡¯s care for now; hopefully it would draw the enemy to it or something.


    It had been an unceremonious goodbye as the combat wing headed off on their mission, a quick salute and a promise of terrible vengeance to be reaped on the foes. Archeon had hung around for a little longer to have a quick dad talk with Jarix without his mother. It had left the young dragon seeming rather happy as his dad took off back into the sky, much to Sapphire¡¯s bemusement. She had not spent much time with Jarix yet, but he was certainly full of life.


    For Saph, though, it was very much a case of back to work. She didn¡¯t complain though; she hadn¡¯t been properly hunting for way too long, so that would be a refreshing trip to be sure. Even if she had a feeling Jacky would be insufferable today. The feast yesterday and the generally high level of disturbances over the last few weeks had managed to put a dent into their food reserves once again. That wouldn''t be too much of an issue though, since they were able to field their entire hunting party once again in addition to their two new recruits. Jarix had been allowed the day off on account of him technically having gone out yesterday and his crew being put to work in the workshop and smithy.


    In reality though, Jarix staying was just as much because Dakota wanted to take the opportunity to get started with their newest additions. They might be able to fly, and Pho was at least a fairly competent shot, but there was still a long way to go.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So Junior, Radexi, and Zarko are gonna help Shiva with the castings for the base today. We three are gonna try to finish the motor and Ray you are helping Kullinger with the furniture. Then, hopefully, we will be ready to start work on the powercell tomorrow, maybe the tool sleds too. Sound good?¡± Tom questioned the room of crafters, warriors, and one scholar, or whatever would describe Linkosta. She had agreed that the easiest way to learn about what they were making was to help, at least for now. It would also give Tom the opportunity to pick her brain on what parts magic might be able to help with. She was gonna be splitting her time of course, having enlisted the help of her mother and father to help study the unicorn horn in detail.


    ¡°Once the casting is done, I will be working on my mother¡¯s armor,¡± Shiva objected. Tom didn¡¯t really want to argue. She was still in a good mood today following the outburst of unadulterated joy from yesterday and the later shoulder pat. He really didn¡¯t want to ruin that. That and the fact it was Jacky¡¯s armor and he wanted that ready for her as soon as possible made it an easy point to concede.


    ¡°Right, we will hold off on the tool sled till you¡¯re ready. We are gonna need you for that part,¡± Tom replied with a nod, looking around to see if there were further objections. ¡°Well people, let¡¯s get to work.¡±


    It was a very different experience working in the smithy and workshop with this many people here. It all reminded him of when they had made the bow originally¡­ Shit, they needed to make more of those too... He would have Kulinger start on that tomorrow. There wasn¡¯t really any other woodworking that needed to be done right now anyway, surely he could squeeze it in between the furniture he was currently working on for the new arrivals. It was mostly a matter of restoring stuff they had sitting around, some of it rather badly damaged but still better than starting from scratch¡­ apparently.


    As the three of them worked, Linkosta of course had a lot of questions, though Tink seemed to calm down. It appeared to help that he actually had his hands on the subject in question as Tom explained how it all went together. The inventor Silently working away only asking for clarification at times.


    ¡°So I was wondering a few days ago, and I asked your brother¡­ and your father if you could make a remote trigger¡­ How hard would that be?¡± Tom questioned as he set about soldering the feed wires to the brushes.


    ¡°As in it just needs to move a little?¡± Linkosta replied, head buried in the sketches for the motor.


    ¡°That should do it, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s simple enough to do. You need something to scribe the enchantment onto, preferably something sturdy, and something to scribe with.¡±


    ¡°Like, unicorn horn?¡±


    ¡°Oh god no. Don¡¯t waste it on that,¡± Linkosta replied, looking up from the drawings with a horrified expression. ¡°I can¡¯t even tell you what that is worth.¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡± Tom questioned, with an apologetic shrug. He had just been trying to figure out what was needed.


    ¡°Well, the easiest is blood, of course. It would be short-lived and easy to disrupt but it is readily available. Dragon¡¯s blood is definitely the best¡­ that you can get a hold of.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Tom could have sworn he had heard not to fuck with blood magic somewhere. Granted, it was most definitely a video game, book, or maybe a movie, but still, that sounded like bad mojo. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°It needs to hold magical potential so that it may flow through it. Technically anything that has held the essence of life would work. Tree sap for instance. We had to use that for a class assignment once. It¡¯s shit, but it works¡­ Sort of. You could also go for ground glow moss. Bone meal lasts a while and is easy enough to repair. Just make sure it¡¯s from something pure and preferably powerful.¡±


    ¡°And how long would it take to make?¡± Tom questioned, putting down the soldering iron. This was more interesting for now. Apuma had said it couldn¡¯t pay off to blow up something enchanted, but this sounded easy.


    ¡°Well you would have to etch in the enchantment into the object and test that it works by powering it yourself. Then you would fill the etching with whatever material you want to carry the enchantment. Then comes the matter of powering it. Most enchantments draw from the user but there are other ways.¡±


    ¡°What about magic batteries?... A place to store it,¡± Tom clarified since well they hadn''t made it to batteries yet.


    ¡°Magic comes from living things¡­ so unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah no, we are not putting a squirrel or something inside a bomb. They are way too cute. What about the earrings? They go long range, can we have the thing you are holding draw the power?¡±


    ¡°Definitely. That means you have a range though, without a powered receiver it won''t reach that far. Greater range means more power draw.¡±


    ¡°That sounds depressingly familiar,¡± Tom had to admit with a sigh. He had hoped it would be well¡­ magic. As in, throw magic at the problem to make it go away. ¡°How far can an enchantment draw from?¡±


    ¡°With direct draw, as in taking straight from you, not far. Meters at most, and touch is definitely preferable. You can send it further though by linking enchantments to each other.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Tom had been considering the possibilities for using something like this. They had obviously already figured out long-range communications, and so far all he had been able to come up with was making things trigger either by remote or if something got close. Now, though, it sounded like a magical land mine would need a live rat or something inside to power it. That seemed excessively cruel to say the least. Maybe a central rat the provided power to a lot of mines¡­ ¡®ay ay ay¡¯


    ¡°So no booby traps, but a remote could be done. Maybe have a thing that arms the bombs¡­ that could work.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t need much power you could just use a plant. They are much easier to feed and not quite so... sad,¡± Linkosta interrupted.


    ¡°Oh, Greenpeace is gonna love this.¡± ¡®flower power, he he¡¯


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Not important. So we put a plant in a thing and it can power the enchantment?¡±


    ¡°If it only needs to flick push a thing then sure it will kill the plant though unless it¡¯s a big one. It will still take days of work to make it to. I can only enchant for a few hours per day. It¡¯s not an easy process, and I¡¯m not that good.¡±


    Tom had to ponder that for a second. That still sounded worth it to him at least. ¡°Would honey help with that?¡±


    ¡°Short run, yeah. It would help put in the last sprint so to speak¡­ It would be a shit evening though.¡±


    ¡°Huh. You do know we are kinda gonna have a lot of that around here, right?¡±


    ¡°Did you bring magic bees that don¡¯t sting or something?¡± Linkosta questioned as if that was preposterous.


    ¡°Well no¡­ we do kinda have that at home though, but that¡¯s beside the point. We have something better. You saw all the fields, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. With various plants from your home, right?¡±


    ¡°Some of them make something even sweeter than honey.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, that¡¯s not true!¡±


    ¡°Remember what Saph said,¡± Tink interrupted, seemingly growing impatient with the lull in progress following their little conversation. tapping the stator as if to emphasize his point.


    ¡°Just go with it. He usually doesn¡¯t lie,¡± Linkosta echoed with a sigh. Tom was not entirely sure if he should take offense to ¡®usually.¡¯ It was true though, so meh. It did make him ponder just what lies Saph had caught though. ¡°So you have brought a plant that grows honey¡­ Fuck.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right, form up with your wingman. Learning by doing. You will mimic them as closely as you can. Pho, you get Sapphire. Bo, you get Esmeralda. Jackalope and Fengi you show them how it¡¯s done. Understood?¡± Dakota shouted up as they made it to today''s hunting spot. They were gliding above the forest on some hot air coming from a clearing below.


    ¡°Understood,¡± Sapphire shouted out, looking to her partner for the day. ¡°I¡¯ll go slow. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Saph let out with an evil grin, looking towards Pho.


    ¡°Why? Wings aching with old age?¡± the greenhorn replied with a cocky grin as they rolled over.


    ¡°You asked for it.¡±


    It became readily apparent that Pho was definitely a fine flyer. For her age she was sturdily built, but she was still young. So Saph was a little heavier, and on the dive, it showed, but that was not the point of today. First up she would need to learn to spot a target and pursue, until then they had to conserve their strength. The tree cover was dense here, so they had to go below the crowns of the heaven oak to have a chance of spotting targets. Of course, that also made them easy to spot in turn against the green background.


    ¡°The biggest advantage of hunting out here. It¡¯s so rare they see us that their eyes are not constantly on the skies,¡± Saph explained after a quick scan to make sure there was nothing interesting below. ¡°Next up, don¡¯t let them hear you. Soft and slow beats like this.¡±


    ¡°So what, we just fly around trying to be quiet, looking for something that moves?¡±


    ¡°More or less. But keep your eyes forward too. The fun part comes next.¡± Luckily for Saph, it hadn''t been one of those days where it took forever before finding anything. What was even better was that it had been a couple of small rabbits. Saph did quite like rabbit, even if it easily went dry if you overcooked them. But mainly they were fun to hunt; they were fast, and they could dart around if you let them. These seemingly hadn''t noticed anything was wrong... yet.


    Saph glided over Pho to get close to her head as not to have to shout. ¡°Four rabbits down there. Follow my dive, pick a target and pursue it. They will break and run,¡± she went while pointing. Normally wing signals and gestures would do, but Pho was new after all. Pho just nodded in reply, readying the bow they had dusted off from the armory.


    Sapphire daintily tipped into a dive, picking up speed, not tucking her wings to make sure the membranes didn¡¯t flap and make noise. These had seemingly been a remarkably slow bunch of rabbits, as they made it near enough into firing range before the rabbits bolted. Most of the rabbits turned left at a flat sprint, one running directly away from her and Pho instead. ¡®Someone forgot where home is,¡¯ Saph mused as she took aim. She needed to teach Pho how it was done, so while she could have fired from a way off she needed to do it properly today, no cheating.


    She heard Pho change direction behind her, likely going for the larger group of targets. A rabbit might be fast, but if it wanted to outrun her it would need to do better. Saph let the arrow fly as she pulled up, being content with the range. Rabbits would dart in a new direction if you got too close, so range was your friend.


    An evil grin spread across Saph¡¯s face as her new bow drove the arrow straight through her target, pinning it to the ground with a satisfying thump. Triumphant, she pulled up to scrub some speed before turning back to see how Pho had gotten on. Sapphire found the young huntress on the ground with her arm buried up to the armpit in a rabbit hole.


    ¡®Seriously?¡¯ Saph had to question. She had seen some dumb shit before, but come on. Pho was supposed to have grown up at a keep for Pete''s sake. Sapphire had touched down next to Pho, leaving her own rabbit for later.


    ¡°Find anything interesting down there?¡±


    ¡°The little fuckers just dug a damn hole and ran. Damn cowards!¡±


    ¡°No, they ran home. Like we run to the keep. Get up, you won¡¯t get them out without something small and nasty. Did you shoot?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, one. Didn''t hit shit though,¡± Phospeheno replied, clearly rather annoyed with the lack of success.


    ¡°Go get the arrow. I¡¯ll fetch mine. For next time, if they all run one way, that¡¯s where home is. Go for stragglers or try and cut them off.¡±


    ¡°Would have been nice to know before,¡± Pho protested as she scratched her neck, looking back to where the arrow had probably landed.


    ¡°There is always next time. If we are lucky we find some jackalopes. They are even faster. More meat on them too.¡±


    ¡°Great, even harder to hit,¡± Pho replied with a sigh as she scanned the ground.


    ¡®She has no clue where it went,¡¯ Sapphire chuckled to herself as she went to collect her kill, doing a quick hop into the air and a few flaps to make the distance. She set about quickly cutting up the kill, they would be out here for a while after all, so it was best to get it done with. Saph glanced back at pho a few times the young huntress still not having found the arrow so Saph pretended to take her time. No use embarrassing the rookie further.


    ¡°Found it,¡± Pho shouted out after a few minutes of silence.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯m about done too,¡± Saph replied as she made a show of wiping her hands off in the grass.


    From there it had been rinse and repeat. They had run into Jacky and Fengi at one point, the two of them seemingly having had a bit more luck, having gotten a few nice pheasants. Saph and Pho had found a single green-necked goose just before it was time for the midday break.


    ¡°Well here¡¯s your chance to be quick. Knife only. Go get it!¡± Saph ordered, letting Pho take the lead. Chasing down a goose was no easy feat, but it could definitely be done. Saph had seen Pho race back in the capital before she had put on her own little performance. Pho was light and fast and she had a good altitude advantage on the goose who had seemingly been looking for a nice place to land or maybe water.


    Pho did not disappoint, putting on a heroic chase as the goose fought to get away. The goose could likely keep going for longer, but it just didn¡¯t have the speed to get away without a good lead. It was very maneuverable though, so it became a fight of whether Pho could catch it before she tired herself out. The virtue of recruiting former racers was that speed and maneuverability weren¡¯t really a concern. A fact Pho aptly demonstrated as the dumb goose let her get above it without turning away. A mistake it paid for with its life as Pho dropped on it by simply folding in her wings.


    Pho¡¯s plan had clearly been to elegantly catch the goose with her feet, but the goose did have something to say about that. It banked away sharply, letting out a panicked honk as Pho¡¯s outreached hand clipped its wing with the knife, breaking it and sending the goose hurdling, at top speed, into a tree trunk. It let out a final screaming honk before it hit, falling to the ground lifeless.


    It was a kinda tragic way to go, but that was just too fucking funny for Saph not to laugh.


    ¡°Well that got it,¡± Pho shouted out, with a restrained chuckle of someone who knew they really shouldn¡¯t be laughing.


    ¡°Yup, sure did.¡±


    With the slightly smashed goose collected, Saph had shown Pho how to cut out the guts and other nasty stuff they didn¡¯t want from her first kill. Saph cursed herself a little for not using the rabbit as an example earlier too. Pho was not much of an artist with a knife. She nicked the intestines, getting shit on both the meat and her hands. That seemed to really fuck with the wannabee huntress as she desperatly tried to wipe her hands off in the grass cursing both the goose and it¡¯s close family. Sapphire used a bit of her water to wash the meat so as to not spoil more than necessary, then waited for Pho to calm down.


    ¡°We are gonna have to work on that,¡± Sapphire stated as she tied some string around the goose¡¯s legs to make it easier to carry.


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s just Ughr.¡±


    ¡°Oh you are not gonna like what happens if we find something bigger.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°There is a lot of shit in a red deer,¡± Saph replied with an evil grin.


    ¡°Please no.¡±


    ¡°And you need practice.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t find any deer today, right?¡±


    For the midday break they had rested atop one of the rocky outcroppings that dotted the landscape with the others. They ate some snacks and enjoyed a bit of sun before it was time to get back on the wing. Bo and Essy had done the worst thus far, with Jackalope and Fengi in the lead, having scored a jackalope in addition to their pheasants. Dakota had mostly been going around trying to keep track of everyone from above, making sure no one flew off too far.


    ¡°I bet you can''t catch us,¡± Jacky let out, cocky as ever. ¡°I don¡¯t even need to use my gun.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to use your gun. You need to save the shots,¡± Dakota clarified in a disapproving tone.


    ¡°I know. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so good I don¡¯t even need it.¡±


    ¡°By weight or by number?¡± Saph questioned, pondering if perhaps she should take that bet.


    ¡°Weight of course, otherwise you will just find a birds nest somewhere and commit a genocide.¡±


    ¡°Genocide? Did Tom teach you that one?¡±


    ¡°No apuma did, don¡¯t you remember the movie about the big bomb.¡±


    ¡°I fail to see how that correlates to raiding a birds nest?¡± Essy added in sounding understandably confused.


    ¡°Fuck it just by weight, I wanna find a nice deer anyway. or maybe a few namesakes¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re on,¡± Pho answered, Saph turning to look at the greenhorn.


    ¡®Okay then.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    By the time dinner rolled around the motor was mostly assembled, only needing the controls and a power source. That was gonna have to be the subject of further experimentation, while also providing a good chance to run a little safety course for everyone involved. He had yet to really make a power source beyond experiments using blitz gel. So, incredibly enough, Tink actually had the most experience on that front with the crude idea Tom had come up with for the capital expedition. There was no way he was gonna let Tink know this of course, but still it might be useful.


    Saph had seemed awfully chipper, if rather tired, when the hunting party had made it back. Combined with Jacky not wanting to talk about how it had gone, Tom rather quickly arrived at a conclusion as to why. The fact that Pho also looked pretty worn out betraying it had likely been a group effort.


    Jacky had at least been pleased to report she had gotten two jackalopes for her new ¡°ear defenders¡± as she had taken to calling them. She refused to let Tom call them earmuffs, since that clearly wasn¡¯t bad ass enough. That was yet another thing that would need to be done later though. Next up was stargazing with Linkosta, and Tom had no clue what to expect.


    ¡°Jacky, have you ever heard of a god¡­ coming down?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ if you are asking if I have seen it or known someone who has seen it, then fuck no. Mum used to tell stories and Dakota definitely thinks they''re real¡±


    ¡°Fair¡­¡±


    ¡°What? You''re scared they are gonna come for you?¡± Jacky replied with a chuckle before she ripped another bite of the bone.


    ¡°Not quite sure.¡± ¡®Tom the heretic, might need to start praying¡¯

 Star Gazing

    Chapter 111: Star Gazing


    ¡°So how does this work? Old fashioned refractor lenses?¡± Tom questioned nervously, looking at the telescope. It looked straight out of a science museum back home, with something like ¡®Property of the Royal Society anno 1745¡¯ underneath.


    ¡°I would have you know, this is the absolute best in portable optics. The lenses are shaped by hand and magically smoothed to perfection. It¡¯s incredibly hard to do,¡± Linkosta replied, sounding more than a tad offended. ¡°I couldn¡¯t work out why Ishani insisted I take it with me. I¡¯m guessing she figured out your gods would be a little different.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ yeah,¡± Tom wasn¡¯t really sure if that was good or bad. She had figured out he came from another world, so maybe?


    Dakota, Nunuk, and Apuma had also joined them for the night, Saph having ended up too worn out to take part. Jacky had been content to go model for her mother for a bit of evening work on her armor.


    They had assembled the delicate instrument in the library, carefully getting it up the stairs and up under the open skies at the top of the guard tower. It was once again a damn near perfect night. It was a little windy, but it was clear and still a little warm, even without the direct sunlight.


    ¡°A fine night. Right, first up. Let¡¯s find a gate,¡± Linkosta started as she put her eye on the finder scope, scanning the sky. Tom guessed she was looking at constellations of stars, trying to find a certain one. Looking up that was certainly all he saw. Some had a little color, to the point where he wondered if they might be another planet. He hadn¡¯t spent much time watching the stars, other than to confirm nothing up there was familiar.


    With a slight smile, Linkosta proclaimed to have ¡°found it¡± as she switched to the proper eyepiece, dialing in the focus.


    ¡°There we go. Have a look.¡±


    Tom took a deep breath before looking into the eyepiece, being met with a blurry mess. ¡°Right, different focus. How do I adjust?¡±


    Linkosta showed him the rather simple mechanism of releasing the friction lock then delicately sliding the tube to where it was needed, locking it in place again. It took a little getting used to, but eventually the picture cleared up, revealing what looked distinctly like a ghostly white cloud with a void in the middle.


    ¡°A cloud?¡± Tom had to question. It looked rather nicely round, almost like a planetary ring without the planet.


    ¡°Keep looking, see the flashing?¡±


    Tom shrugged to himself a little as he kept looking at the circle of gas, eventually spotting a little dot of light in the center that was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Then another¡­ then one more. He knew jack shit about astronomy, but he had a feeling like this was something he would have heard about if it existed back home.


    ¡°I see it. Are those supposed to be¡­¡±


    ¡°The dead who made it to heaven. Isn¡¯t that cool!¡± Linkosta cut him off.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking at the pearly gates?¡± Tom had to question, in disbelief.


    ¡°Is that your word for them?¡± Linkosta replied as Tom heard the shuffle of note pages.


    ¡°Yup, and we... can¡¯t see them,¡± Tom went as he kept staring at the odd¡­ sight. This was a good telescope, but still it was hard to make out much beyond gassy clouds and flashes of light in the middle. Then again, that might be all there was to it¡­


    ¡°Really? That is interesting. It¡¯s quite something when someone big or powerful goes. I got to use this when the Green Elder passed away two years ago. That was one hell of a flash. I don¡¯t think you even needed a telescope for that.¡±


    ¡°I was gonna ask how you know it¡¯s the dead, but I guess that settles it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the gates are always observed. It¡¯s never good when it suddenly flares up. That usually means we have dire news incoming. You need to come to the academy or maybe the church of Ishan. They have the largest and finest telescopes around.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to swing by.¡±


    ¡°Right, move over. Ishan never comes out anyway, so we won¡¯t get to see her. Lotek might be around though. He¡¯s always busy.¡± Tom moved out of the way, looking a tad expectantly at Apuma.


    ¡°God of travel and trade, he keeps an eye on those away from home,¡± the elder dragonette replied. That made sort of sense to Tom, since a god like that would have shit to do all the time.


    ¡°Wait, nope. Oh what have we here? Well guess it makes sense at this hour.¡±


    ¡°You found Itova, didn¡¯t you?¡± Dakota questioned with a knowing glance at Linkosta, who stepped away, gesturing at the telescope.


    ¡°Well I know about her,¡± Tom let out as he had a look, resetting the focus for him. ¡°Huh.¡±


    That certainly wasn¡¯t normal, even Tom could figure that out. First off, he had never seen a pink cloud in the sky before. He had to pull back from the telescope to look at where it was pointed using the finder scope to narrow in. It looked like a star to him with his naked eye. Granted, it might be a little big, but still a star. The more he looked at it though, the more the pinkish hue became apparent. ¡®Well shit.¡¯


    He looked back into the eyepiece to get a closer look. This didn¡¯t really feel like a sufficient tool for the job, but it would do. And that was definitely a face. Well, it was some sort of shape with two glowing orbs where he guessed eyes would roughly go and another wider one where he guessed a mouth should be.


    ¡°I take it your silence means you don¡¯t have that either?¡± Linkosta questioned, sounding rather pleased with herself.


    ¡°That is gonna be a most definitive no,¡± Tom replied.


    ¡°Yet you still have gods? Or at least believe in them?¡±


    ¡°Uhm I mean sure, let¡¯s go with ¡®we believe in the gods¡¯¡­ it¡¯s complicated. What about the other stars, are they weird too?¡±


    ¡°Careful, she might hear you. We have plenty of stars. They seem to be glowing circles in the sky. Some think they are windows for the gods to peer into the world. Others believe they are portals to the great beyond, gateways out of this world If you could somehow reach them. It¡¯s a touchy subject though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is,¡± Tom replied, feeling like he really wasn¡¯t in a position to give a lesson on how things worked right now, deciding to let the laptop stay in its bag tonight. As he let go of the telescope the others came over for a turn, Apuma especially being very excited to have a look. ¡®Okay gods are real¡­ And the fuckers seem to be in orbit¡­ Maybe I should have Jacky teach me a prayer or two¡­ On second thought, maybe Apuma come to think of it¡­ Yeah, definitely Apuma or just anyone other than Jacky.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So I just pull this?¡± Ray questioned, faffing around with the different cords. Making the parachute fit had not been that hard, though it looked a little uncomfortable for what was left of her wings. The fact they were mostly gone did help with it quite a bit though.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not that hard,¡± Tom replied as he went over everything again. ¡°Pull this, then use these two to steer. Loosen to go down, pull to go up. You get the idea. Normally we do a tandem jump first, but we don¡¯t really have the harness for that.¡±


    That really helped with Ray¡¯s trepidation as she swallowed. ¡®Well done, dude,¡¯ Sapphire cursed to herself.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there to catch you if it doesn¡¯t work, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so I guess... here goes nothing,¡± Ray replied, taking a deep breath, clearly psyching herself up. She was damn near shaking. Saph guessed it was a mix of fear and anticipation. If she hadn¡¯t flown in a decade, even if it was gonna be more of a glide, she wouldn¡¯t be calm either, that¡¯s for sure.


    ¡°Yup giddy-up,¡± Jacky replied, lowering slightly to make it easier for Ray to get on. ¡°We are not going too high, are we?¡±


    ¡°Higher would be safer, so yeah,¡± Saph replied, Jacky looking pleadingly towards Tom, who just shrugged with a slight nod.


    ¡°Fine¡­ Well, at least you are light.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it does have its advantages,¡± Ray cautiously joked before Jacky leaped off the edge, kicking off hard. ¡°Oh shit!¡± Jacky dived a bit to gain speed before she started the long slow climb, Saph watching to make sure everything was in order.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s them airborne. See ya in a bit. I promise she will be smiling from ear to ear ''till dinner.¡± They had talked about having Tom do the jump and just having Ray hang on, then letting her steer the thing. But this seemed more¡­ right. She was supposed to fly. Not be carried by someone, fun as that might be.


    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it,¡± Tom replied with a wave as Sapphire stepped off the edge of the greeting platform, taking to the wing herself.


    It wasn¡¯t that Saph didn¡¯t want to carry Ray up as high as possible to give her the most air time. It was just that, she needed to be fresh to follow her all the way down, that was all. And she was in charge of catching too; she couldn¡¯t be worn out for that.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Jacky, of course, couldn¡¯t resist the urge to do some light aerobatics once she figured out Ray was rather easily startled into letting out a shriek. After a few surprises it turned to laughter as Ray hunkered down on Jacky¡¯s back, the two of them getting more daring by the minute, to the point where Sapphire had to remind them the idea had been to get some altitude.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Saph asked, taking up position next to the panting Jacky. After a few minutes of climbing


    ¡°I think so,¡± Ray replied in a tone that betrayed that she probably wasn¡¯t, but it was a little late now.


    ¡°Okay, remember just do a bit of free fall first, then pull it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Jacky added, rolling over mid-air, Ray letting go with a shriek as she plummeted towards the ground. SAph hanging on the wing looking at her drop. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you follow her down?¡±


    ¡°There is plenty of time,¡± Sapphire replied as the scream trailed off into the distance below. She watched intently for a few more seconds, tilting her head a bit before the recognizable chute folded out. ¡°There we go. See you down there.¡±


    ¡°Up down, up down, fly like a clown.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on you love it,¡± Saph retorted, Jacky grinning wide as they rolled into the dive to chase Ray down.


    They found her dangling happily from her borrowed wing, marveling at the intricate construction.


    ¡°Quite something, right?¡± Saph questioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing!¡± Ray replied, mouth hanging open in awe. ¡°I¡¯m flying! Look, I can steer!¡±


    Saph moved away a bit as Ray went about swinging from side to side, very carefully. Laughing like a little girl all the while. They did have quite a bit of altitude, so she had plenty of time to experiment. Though, as Tom had predicted, the lack of weight made her really rather slow, meaning she soon ran out of momentum to do more fancy maneuvers. That didn¡¯t seem to bother Ray though, as she held out her arms wide cheering loudly.


    ¡°How do you feel about taking on a passenger?¡± Saph questioned, hoping that would let Ray have a bit more fun.


    ¡°I¡­ can it do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, don¡¯t worry,¡± Saph replied as she circled around Ray.


    ¡°Okay then¡­ How?¡±


    ¡®How was it Fengi did it¡­?¡¯ ¡°Try and dive a bit. Get what speed you can,¡± Ray did so, though the result was not really much, so it was up to Saph to time this right. She didn¡¯t need to pull Ray through the sky, so a piggyback would do fine. But still, Ray was moving so slowly that Sapphire would stall out if she tried to match speeds.


    On her second attempt, Saph was happy with the speed and angle, coming up behind Ray and grabbing onto the big straps that went up to where it all split into the little strings. It wasn¡¯t entirely graceful, but it was better than the smack that Fengi had pulled off before. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable position to be in, as Saph wrapped her legs around Ray to try and get a bit better purchase. It would do for a bit though.


    ¡°There we go, all aboard. Where to?¡± Saph questioned as she made herself as comfortable as possible.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ left,¡± Ray let out banking into the turn. ¡°Hey, it flies way better now!¡±


    ¡°Yup. Perhaps you should have borrowed Tom¡¯s weights actually. I¡¯m sure Jacky wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? She seemed a little tired.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, she loves a challenge,¡± Saph replied with a snicker. It wasn¡¯t entirely wrong, but hauling weights up to altitude would be a hard sell even with Jacky. Unless they could sell it as part of Tom¡¯s training routine. That had clearly started to interest her. ¡°It¡¯s not bad, right?¡±


    ¡° ¡®Not bad?¡¯ It¡¯s amazing! Weee!!¡± Ray replied, going into a dive, the chute letting her actually pick up some speed this time before pulling into a hard right turn. It wasn¡¯t much of a maneuver, but it was something. Sapphire giggled all the while, mainly due to Ray¡¯s evident joy.


    ¡°I still need to get him to make that thing faster,¡± Jacky shouted at them as she settled into a banking turn around them. ¡°He said you could put an engine on it. Like the quad bike or something.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± Saph replied with a laugh. ¡°What¡¯s next? You need a push too?¡± That resulted in a very thoughtful expression from Jacky. A sign that something bad was likely to happen in the near future.


    ¡®Sorry, Tom,¡¯ Saph thought to herself. There was no way Jacky would let that idea slide easily.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right, those are just for cooling. It helps keep the housing cool,¡± Tom clarified as they were discussing how to insulate the power cell. The easy solution had been to just cast the housing in iron with some cooling fins in it, but having bare metal inside would lead to a risk of sparks between the housing and the electrodes. Tom had used glass thus far for that reason. But if this thing was supposed to run day in and day out in a rough environment, he really didn¡¯t want the explosive gel stuff in a glass container that gets hot.


    ¡°Why not just use the housing as one of them, then put one electrode in from above?¡± Linkosta questioned as Tink pondered the overheating problem.


    ¡°Like a control rod¡­ that¡¯s actually... really damn smart. Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    ¡°What is a control rod?¡± Linkosta questioned, sounding like she smelled new knowledge.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave that one for another day,¡± Tom replied with a pained expression, hoping she would let that one go for the time being. She didn¡¯t seem pleased, but she didn¡¯t press it further. They still needed the whole spiel on ¡°let¡¯s respect the tech that could ruin the world¡± after all. For now, though, it was a matter of getting the lathe done ASAP. ¡°Right, then we will use the small fins combined with the water bath, so we can measure the water temperature.¡±


    ¡°That can just be a wooden box that has been waterproofed. I can make that,¡± Tink added in as Tom set about sketching out the design.


    ¡°Actually couldn¡¯t you get started on the mold for the housing? Junior can be responsible for the box. I wanna look at tools.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ what kind of tools?¡±


    ¡°Oh hello,¡± Tom let out as he was assaulted from behind a distinctly lightweight dragonet jumping onto him and hanging on tight.


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!¡±


    ¡°I take it the flight was a success?¡± Tom knew full well it had been a success. He had stood watching for a while to make sure everything went well. Not that he could have done anything, but hey it was the thought that counted. It had been at least an hour since he had gone to get some work done, so they had done a pretty good job of keeping her going.


    ¡°It was amazing!¡±


    ¡°Hey ¡®Tom the huggable,¡¯ think you can strap an engine to me?¡± Jacky interrupted, Tom turning round to look at her, Ray still hanging on.


    ¡°I mean, there would be a few problems with that¡­ Firstly, I don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°You said that thing could make one, right?¡± Jacky cut him off, pointing to the bits of lathe strewn across the table.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s gonna be a while.¡±


    ¡°But you could do it?¡±


    ¡°Look, I have no clue,¡± Tom objected, starting to have a think about it. There were those guys back home who used a flying wing-type contraption with some small jets on it¡­ And even a few horsepower would make quite the difference¡­ ¡°Maybe,¡± he eventually relented with a cautious shrug. He could literally see Jacky¡¯s pupils dilate in perfect sync with Sapphire¡¯s narrowing to thin slits. Most likely with fear.


    ¡°Ha! I told you, yes I told you. I was right, I was right,¡± Jacky let out triumphantly, doing an odd little dance around Sapphire, who just stood there looking like she had seen a ghost for a second before seemingly deflating.


    ¡°He said ¡®maybe¡¯, and it¡¯s gonna take a long time.¡±


    ¡°Bwa, how hard can it be? He already has two engines, just make another one. Oh could you borrow the one from the quad bike¡­ maybe the chainsaw?!¡± Jacky questioned excitedly, looking at him like a kid begging for a puppy, hoping for a yes.


    ¡°We kinda need those two¡­¡± Tom objected, not sure what else to say.


    ¡°For what? Jarix can haul things around¡­ Okay, maybe the chain saw, but still the quad bike has an engine.¡±


    ¡°You want me to strap fifty horsepower to your back? From a single-cylinder petrol engine that vibrates like a¡­ vibrates a lot?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have more power than fifty horses, does it?¡± Jacky questioned in disbelief. It was rare to have her not believe something. This sounded more like someone figuring out they had a whole other tub of ice cream though.


    ¡°That sounds rather improbable,¡± Linkosta added in, getting the notebook out.


    ¡°I think you mean incredible!¡± Tink interjected with childlike glee.


    ¡°It¡¯s an old unit of measurement. You can get the history lesson later. It¡¯s a lot, okay? You might have like two or something,¡± He went pointing to Jacky ¡°I don¡¯t actually have a clue, but possibly¡±


    ¡°Jackalope Furlong, stronger than a horse,¡± Jacky went, reaching levels of cockiness that might actually be unhealthy.


    ¡°No pie brain, he just said it was an old measurement. That means it doesn''t mean anything¡­ I think,¡± Sapphire interjected, seemingly growing unsure of herself half way.


    ¡°Yeah, I think a horse has like twelve horsepower. It¡¯s weird. You might have two. The quad bike has fifty.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m faster than the quad bike?¡± Jacky questioned, clearly finding that rather had to believe.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t understand aerodynamics. I know some small light aircraft have, like, less than twenty, so to give you fifty¡­¡±


    ¡°Would make me the fastest thing to ever fly!¡±


    ¡°Or the deadest. We need something smaller, perhaps the chainsaw isn¡¯t the worst idea, but we need that thing.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯m gonna hold you to that though. It can be done, and it will be done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will,¡± Tom retorted with a nervous smile as he shook his head. ¡®ay ay ay¡¯


    ¡°What about Jarix?¡± Zarko questioned, sounding thoughtful.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Bigger maybe?¡± Tom replied, noticing Tink was already doing sketches for what looked distinctly like a top-down view of Jacky.


    ¡°How does the engine push? Like with an invisible hand or...?¡± the inventor questioned as he gestured to the sketch.


    ¡°Right okay, we need to get some work done, and this isn''t helping. Tell you what, tomorrow afternoon, after the kids are done in the library, we¡¯ll hold a little lecture on powered flight, so you can all laugh at how little I know about flying. Everybody happy?¡±


    ¡°On one condition,¡± Jacky replied, Tom looking to the cocky dragonette with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Do you have a movie about it?¡±


    ¡°Duh,¡± Tom retorted with a grin, Ray shifting uncomfortably on his back. Tom turned his head to try and look at her. ¡°You comfy back there?¡±


    ¡°Sorry... couldn¡¯t find the right time to get off.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The rumors of what was going down had spread quickly, to the point that they had to abandon the library idea. Mainly on account of Zarko telling Jarix that Tom might have an idea for how to strap a big engine to him to make him faster.


    So the blackboard had, with quite a bit of effort, been moved down to the grand hall, everyone sitting expectantly. Including most of the kids because, well, there wasn¡¯t much else going on right now and the people supposed to watch them were in the audience, so why not? They might learn something.


    ¡°Right, so first off the basic principle of an engine, since you all know how wings work and I''¡§m a bit lacking on the subject¡± Tom opened, picking up the chalk.


    That got him a few chuckles from the audience before they all shut up. To Saph¡¯s relief, he was definitely going with the beginner¡¯s version today, and it was actually a rather interesting subject for once. In fact everything was interesting right now for some reason. Yesterday she had been allowed to see the gods through Linkostas telescope, they had new huntresses and today was how to make machines fly. So much better than math and doing dishes. Shit, she had to do those tomorrow... ''goddammit. Fuck it planes here we go.''


    The idea that all you needed to do to make something like this possible was to turn an axle with enough force was odd, to say the least, but the whole piston idea seemed ingenious. Even Jacky was paying full attention. Linkosta and Tink were of course quick with questions, Tom bringing out the chainsaw to help explain a few things.


    The propeller was also a fun one. It made sense; it was pretty much just a much better version of a reverse windmill. His explanations of a wing profile left them all a little baffled as to why it needed to be that shape. Their wings certainly weren¡¯t, and Tom couldn¡¯t come up with a good explanation either beyond ¡°planes don¡¯t flap their wings¡± and "I think it''s more efficient."


    ¡°Right, so you kinda get what¡¯s going on now. Anyone want to see what happens when things don¡¯t go according to plan?¡± Tom questioned, looking as much to the kids who seemingly got the cue getting very excited.


    ¡°Fuck yeah,¡± Jacky replied. ¡°Let¡¯s see some crashes!¡±


    ¡°Is anyone gonna die?¡± Fengi questioned cautiously.


    ¡°Not today, no. Some might get hurt, but mainly because they were idiots.¡±


    ¡°What happens next?¡± Ray looked nervously to Sapphire.


    ¡°Movie time. You are gonna love it,¡± Saph replied. ¡°It¡¯s like watching a memory.¡± Ray seemed to go from worried to confused as she looked back to Tom, who had started faffing around with the projector. Apuma and Linkosta moved the blackboard out of the way, and Tom¡¯s cape was brought out and hung up on the far wall.

 Trial and Error

    Chapter 112: Trial and Error


    Okay then, the basics of flight had been explained to the people who could fly, and the ¡®daddy how does the plane work¡¯ edition of engines and propulsion had been explained. Tom was hoping that what came next might temper the enthusiasm for strapping engines to people¡­ or dragons¡­ big people. They had too much to do and making something like that wouldn¡¯t be in the cards for a long time. Still, he had learned enough about dragonettes to know that laughing at things going wrong was a universal constant. So this was about to get funny. They also had a few guests who had yet to see a movie, and he was planning to show them the scary edition later when the kids went to sleep. And after food had been dealt with of course.


    First off was a documentary he had found on the history of powered flight, specifically the section from before humans really figured it out, so to speak. Tom had told them no one was gonna die in this one, which was mostly true. He mainly said that for the kids¡¯ sake. They weren¡¯t gonna be seeing any death, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to figure it out.


    As expected, the original expressions from his little crowd were ones of utter confusion as they tried to figure out just what the fuck they were looking at. That quickly turned to maniacal laughter though as things on-screen fell apart, blew up, or just generally failed horribly. Tom just leaned back and let the movie do its job for now.


    ¡°How could they ever believe that could work? It didn¡¯t even get moving!¡± Rachuck broke out laughing, Jacky currently beyond the ability to breathe from making fun of the idiocy being displayed. They all shut up for a second when Franz Reichelt fell to his death though. Ray especially seemed to swallow something at the sight of the faulty parachute.


    ¡°And that is why we test if things work in a safe way. Don¡¯t just jump and cross your fingers,¡± Tom interjected as silence reigned. ¡°And don''t worry Ray your parachute has been tested many times.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡± Ray replied, still looking rather uncomfortable.


    ¡°Was he okay?¡± Fengi questioned, a few other worried faces turning to Tom.


    ¡°He was hurt quite badly, but he lived,¡± Tom lied, looking reassuringly at Fengi.


    ¡°They have some good healers,¡± Dakota stated, from the front row, sounding like she was speaking to herself.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®What the fuck is that supposed to be?¡¯ Sapphire chuckled to herself as yet another contraption was brought out. This one had two wings and the same thin wood frame construction with canvas over it as many of the other weird machines. It had two propellers, one engine, and two very brave or possibly insane humans sitting in the middle. Unlike so many of the predecessors, it did actually get to move and there were a lot of people around to watch too.


    The weird old film did make it rather hard to tell what was going on exactly, but at least Jacky had stopped complaining about the lack of sounds. Saph glanced at Tom who was staring at them rather intently, causing Saph to squint a bit. He knew something she didn¡¯t. Looking back to the screen she gasped as the odd contraption took off, climbing very slowly and clumsily into the sky.


    ¡°The crazy fuckers did it¡­ in that thing!?¡± Dakota let out in disbelief.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom replied, leaning back seemingly content with the response from them. ¡°The first filmed flight of the Wright brothers. That isn¡¯t the first flight by them, only the first that was filmed, and that thing is actually the world''s first military plane. Anno 1909, or just over 110 years ago.¡±


    ¡°Incredible,¡± Linkosta let out. ¡°Those wings, the propellers... we could make that.¡±


    ¡°But why would we want to? I mean look at it,¡± Rachuck interrupted, pointing at the machine slowly lumbering around the sky.


    ¡°Yeah no. that won¡¯t be useful. Let¡¯s go for the next bit, the first proper planes and just how quickly we got better. For now though, let¡¯s talk about control surfaces and plane configurations.¡± Tom turned off the projector and walked up to the blackboard again. Things started getting a bit more complex, but it was a fascinating subject. Saph of course knew everything there was to know about steering through the sky, but to look at the principles converted to a machine was definitely new.


    The fact they could not really do much to change their wing shape meant they basically used little flaps to steer. A crude if ingenious solution to Saph. That meant they could use stiff wings which could take more load. Tom kept going through the years, showing how the humans had mastered flight. The progress was incredible, more than one joke being cracked at Nunuk and Apuma being older than most of this.


    And yet despite all this progress, the humans kept going to the limit and beyond, going higher, faster, and further. Even Jarix had to concede they had him out-matched in range too within a few decades. Mainly due to their much higher cruising speeds.


    ¡°A plane like that could make it to the capital in a few days, maybe just one if you fly through the night,¡± Linkosta got out between her frantic note-taking.


    ¡°Oh it gets better, that¡¯s a Douglas DC-3 we haven¡¯t even made it to jet engines yet. You are gonna love that,¡± Tom replied as he got out some footage of a strange pointy thing with stubby wings. ¡°This is kinda cheating, since it¡¯s using rockets, but this ladies and gentlemen is the first thing to take a human beyond the sound barrier: the Bell x-1, and that is Chuck Yeager. A real contender for craziest pilot to ever live.¡±


    ¡°I like him already,¡± Jacky replied as the plane was carried into the sky by a much bigger plane.


    ¡°And off we go,¡± Tom said with a smile as the smaller plane was dropped. A trail of smoke billowed out the end of it before it sped off into the distance. Saph had thought for a second that something had gone wrong but the thing just kept going.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Linkosta questioned as the view cut to someone looking at a round screen.


    ¡°That¡¯s a radar, it¡¯s keeping track of the plane¡­ It¡¯s a machine that can see very far and through clouds.¡±


    ¡°How can you say that like it¡¯s ¡®oh, we can see through clouds.¡¯ That is incredible!¡±


    ¡°I want five,¡± Rachuck let out with a chuckle, Tom sighing a bit.


    ¡°Not happening I¡¯m afraid. Not for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s making me the fastest person in the world first,¡± Jacky let out, though her cheery attitude seems to be dampened a bit when she looked to Tom, who was suddenly looking a bit tired.


    ¡°What about my machine gun?¡± Jarix questioned.


    ¡°Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day. So one thing at a time,¡± Tom cut them off. ¡°Lathe first, then mill, then we can start looking at some weapons and other useful items. We need defenses that will scare off an army. Then we can start having some fun. Now though, I think it¡¯s time for dinner, and we will pick this up again afterward. Then I will have a go at explaining why some things should not be made¡­ ever! And why others need to be treated with extreme caution and respect. Most of you know what I¡¯m on about.¡±


    Linkosta had a look around at the others, Saph doing her best to convey, ¡®brace yourself¡¯ via expression before they set about clearing the chairs away to make room for the tables again.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, the scare session had gone well enough. Judging by her performance the day afterward, Linkosta had either not been able to sleep or spent most of the night writing notes down. And even Tink hadn¡¯t as much as mentioned the nukes since.


    Jacky had, of course, not let the whole engine backpack thing go, not helped by Tink coming up with some ideas for how to do it over the last day or so. Jacky was quick to point out she was just excited about it. It was honestly cute to see her struggling with being so excited and not wanting to pester Tom. ¡®Jacky showing restraint¡­ If that isn¡¯t love I don¡¯t know what is,¡¯ he chuckled to himself as she went about explaining how she envisioned it. Tom had to admit that was a fun idea. It would not be able to run for long, but hey, it might actually be useful if they could make a fitting power plant.


    Testing on the power cell for the lathe had gone surprisingly smoothly. No explosions, no overheating, just clean reliable power output. He had been worried they would need a speed controller of some kind, but with voltage control this fine it simply wasn¡¯t necessary. By the end of the week, they got the motor rigged up for the first time. That was truly a special day.


    ¡°The first-ever engine produced in this world,¡± as Linkosta so eloquently put it. That was something to be proud of. Sure, it wasn¡¯t some fire-breathing monster fit to win a war, but it was arguably more useful. Shiva had made good progress on Jacky¡¯s armor, though she had cursed quite a bit when Nunuk confirmed that the blood used to inscribe the enchantments was not from her mother¡¯s era, it was simply not old enough.


    The smith had wanted to clean out every last rune on the suit to rid it of anything unworthy. A swift reminder of just how long it would take to reenchant it as well as the notion that she would be wiping centuries of Furlong blood and history out with it stayed her hand. Instead, it would be reinscribed to make sure the enchantments were strong and fit for battle.


    Tom had expected to have Jacky be the source for the blood, since they clearly put emphasis on you being part of your own equipment. But, to his surprise, Shiva wanted Jarix¡¯s. Perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have been, dragon blood was apparently better, and if there was one thing he knew about Shiva it was that she valued Jacky above all. Tom had seen an opportunity to make further amends with the smith on a front where they definitely agreed. He had told Shiva to hold off for just a day, taking Nunuk, Apuma, and Linkosta aside one evening to discuss their findings on the unicorn horn.


    They claimed the horn to be in excellent shape despite the rather brutish method of removal. There were no cracks or other nasty surprises within it, though the cut was far from clean at the root. It had taken some convincing, but with the proposal that perhaps two sets of armor needed reinscribing, Nunuk was sold on the idea of using some of the horn from the break to enhance the procedure. Linkosta had at first refused, claiming such work should be carried out by masters of the craft. She did come around when Apuma found an old procedure on how to infuse the horn into the blood. It was apparently not very different from the normal procedure of reinscribing. With a little persuasion, Jarix had accepted too. It wasn¡¯t like it was a large amount of blood anyway, perhaps half a liter.


    The process was actually very simple; a very small amount of the horn was filed off the base where the break was and added to the blood. Then Linkosta, with her father¡¯s help, conducted some ritual over the mix. Then came the actual re-inscribing. First, some kind of protective wards or something had to be removed, then it was simply a matter of repainting the tiny runes with the now rather glowy concoction, and then more rituals to seal the deal. Tom had tried to follow along, that last part had been about sealing the enchantments to make them harder to break or disrupt or something, as Linkosta put it. Apparently, that was one of the more spur-of-the-moment things she had trained in, and also why she had originally started studying enchantments. Beyond just curiosity, of course. It had taken three full days of Linkosta and Apumas combined effort to repaint every last little rune, Whatever they had done to the blood seemingly keeping it from clotting or drying out.


    Jacky had been beside herself with excitement at the knowledge she was getting not only an enchanted set, but one ¡®boosted¡¯ for a lack of a better word with the power of, as she put it, ¡°A literal fucking unicorn. This is armor fit for a queen!¡± Tom couldn¡¯t resist making a quick quip about how it was in the perfect place then. That one certainly sat well with Jacky at least after she confirmed she was a warrior queen, not one of those prissy ones. Shiva also warmed up a fair bit that''s for damn sure.


    And with the smith now available for full-time work on all their projects, they were soon flying. At this speed the lathe would be done in no more than a week. Tom found himself relegated to teaching and managing what was going on just as much as actually working. His only regret was the lack of time he was spending with the kids. Nanny duties ended up mostly in the hands of the guards and huntresses for the time being. Keeping Kiran out of the workshop was, of course, near impossible, so his little assistant was along for the ride much of the time.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Ray also ended up as a kind of assistant around the workshops when she was not doing cleaning or kitchen work. She did also fill in with the kids when others weren''t available. All in all, she worked like a madman day in and day out to the point she could often be found asleep where she had been working in the evening. Tom had given up trying to get her to not do that, after the first few attempts, so he relented to just put her to bed if he found her.


    She had little skill when it came to crafting, though she did have nimble fingers and she didn¡¯t complain. She never did. When they had been working on the motor, she had burned herself rather badly on the soldering iron. Whereas Jacky would certainly have gotten mad, Ray apologized for touching it. Tom had told her to please just stop apologizing for everything. She didn¡¯t have to. At least gone to have it looked at after apologizing.


    Tom didn¡¯t get his wish with the new bows though. Kullinger and Raulf had been put to work fashioning a net for Jarix, inspired by his mother¡¯s. Judging by how effective that had been before, it would soon see their stores filled to bursting. But they would need to get cracking on those bows since they could churn them out a hell of a lot faster than the guns.


    ¡®So much to do and it should all have been done yesterday¡¯ Tom mused to himself. As he checked off another point on the to-do list. Next up, mill head angels adjustment bearings.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right girls, you know what to do. Ready Jarix?¡±


    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s do some herding.¡±


    The plan was nice and simple. The five huntresses and the two greenhorns would go out and try to force a herd out of the forest if they could find one. Once out Jarix would come down on top of deer and drop the net. Zarko and Radexi were in charge of the actual dropping. To help keep the herd in check, they had brought shields and clubs to make noise. They would keep their bows stowed unless they managed to fuck it up somehow.


    It had taken a while scouting water holes before they found their quarry, but found it they did. Pho was once again paired up with Saph, the two of them getting along rather well. The greenhorn was competitive as hell, just like Saph, though she might be a bit more reckless at times. Not Jacky levels, but still enough that you had to watch out for it.


    ¡°Well, here we go. Try not to break your voice roaring at them,¡± Saph joked as they rolled into the dive. They held off on the noise for now. They didn¡¯t want the herd to break apart in panic after all. It worked like a treat, the deer bolting into the trees at full speed. They were even going in the right direction. The huntresses followed below the canopy, fanning out to keep the herd together, putting on a bit of noise to keep them close together, Dakota skimming over the heavenoak to give Jarix a marker to follow.


    ¡®I guess this is how they do in the inner keeps, god it¡¯s easy,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, reaffirmed in the knowledge those people couldn¡¯t hunt. Not really at least, this was just too easy. Deer were quick, but they were faster, and they could maintain this speed for a while. The deer knew this though, and they soon started trying to break out, putting the huntresses to work intercepting their little attempts to drive them back.


    After around 10 minutes of that, the deer were exhausted to the point that they could probably have picked them off with ease anyway, but Jarix had gotten his net, so they had to try it out. Saph guessed he would be rather pissed otherwise.


    When the deer broke out of the forest they were honestly too tired to even notice their doom approaching from above. Nor were they fast enough to run as the net came down on a good section of them. Dakota ordered that the ones not caught be allowed to run. This had not been the largest herd ever to begin with and they had gotten most of them. The strongest animals and the lead buck were allowed to escape. The remaining deer had their necks broken, so as not to cover Jarix in blood. That was the least they could do to thank him for carrying the quarry home.


    ¡°Well it was a good workout,¡± Saph stated as they set about loading the Deer.


    ¡°Not much of a hunt, but it was quick,¡± Jacky replied, tying another one down.


    ¡°We will keep doing regular hunts. Deer gets rather boring in the long run anyway,¡± Dakota retorted. ¡°It gives us the time for more training though. Sounds like the people at home can use a hand too.¡±


    ¡°They are doing great though. Tom said they are gonna start on new bows for all of us now that the net is done.¡±


    ¡°You are gonna love them,¡± Saph replied genuinely. ¡°They are so awesome.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for him to get started making ammo for the guns so I can actually hunt with this thing,¡± Jacky replied, patting the revolver on her thigh.


    ¡°Or guns for the rest of us. Think I could get one too?¡± Pho questioned, sounding like she believed that probably wouldn¡¯t happen. They had held a little demonstration for the new faces and well. Pho was definitely sold too. As was Bo for that matter.


    ¡°I have no clue¡­ Jacky, has he said anything about how long they take to make?¡± Dakota questioned, all eyes turning to Jacky expectantly.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ well there are definitely maaaanyy kinds. So I¡¯m guessing it depends¡­ I can ask him if you want.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t make it sound like we are impatient. I think Rachuck has that one covered¡­ He must have asked by now.¡±


    ¡°He mostly talks about traps and other things. He really liked the idea of the ¡®anti-corruption mine,¡¯ ¡± Jacky replied, in what was unmistakably her attempt at sounding like Tom¡­ It was not very successful.


    ¡°A what?¡± Zarko questioned, from where she was busy packing Jarix¡¯s net again.


    ¡°It goes boom if there is anything corrupted nearby. Sounds real handy. Linkosta looked like she wanted to die at the thought of having to make the triggers.¡± Jacky replied with a laugh.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s gonna have to pull her weight for once then. All those years with her nose in the books need to amount to something,¡± Dakota replied plainly.


    ¡°Be nice now,¡± Essy interrupted, looking rather pointedly at Dakota. ¡°She has worked wonders on your mother¡¯s armor.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kidding. I could never do that¡± Dakota replied, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice. ¡°She can¡¯t shoot for shit though.¡±


    ¡°Might be able to with a shotgun,¡± Jacky interrupted with a chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Heron, but that¡¯s a weapon for those who don¡¯t know what they are doing.¡±


    ¡°Why did he give you the revolver then?¡± Sapphire joked cockily, Jacky seemingly not appreciating that one.


    ¡°Maybe I should not ask him what you should use?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ A rifle would be sweet I guess. Don¡¯t think I could steer the shot though.¡± That would be a bit of a bummer. She had gotten rather used to being able to just fire and let her magic do the work, but she had seen Tom shoot; she could not even see the shot when he fired.


    ¡°So do I know what I¡¯m doing with this thing?¡± Jacky questioned, looking very smug.


    Saph looked at Jacky with an annoyed smile. ¡°Jackalope Furlong, the finest dragonette¡­ revolver girl?... What do you even call that?¡±


    ¡°Fuck, I need to ask that too.¡±


    ¡°Gun woman?¡± Fengi tried, Jacky scratching the back of her neck a little.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The hunts had apparently been going very well. Jacky and Saph were around to help out intermittently now, though they were spending a lot of time training, Saph with the new recruits and Jacky with her new armor. Essy and Fengi having more time with the kids had also freed Ray up a little though it would seem the only effect was that everything was now even cleaner around the keep.


    Rachuck and Nunuk were taking Jackalope through quite the training schedule. Shiva had explained that Jacky needed to pretty much learn to fight again from scratch. She was trained as a flying archer who had a self-learned affinity for the warhammer in close combat. Halberds too, apparently, something about little Jacky thinking they were just the coolest. Now though, she was expected to go toe to toe with just about the nastiest things the world had to offer and not back off. The no fear part had come naturally. But the whole ¡®using your armor¡¯ part had been hard for her to grasp. It didn¡¯t help she had never done much sword fighting, nor did she seem cut out for it.


    They didn¡¯t have an enchanted shield for her either, which resulted in her being equipped with a halberd for the time being, which made her very happy. Jacky¡¯s revolver had gotten a custom holster made, that fit on the backside of her thigh to keep it safe. Then she could switch to the revolver, drawing one of the armors holdout daggers if needed. The only thing she lacked was a place for the grenades but they would figure that out at some point.


    She looked so fucking badass walking into the sparring ring when Tom had come down to watch a few rounds one day. The illusion was sadly broken when Rachuck had a go at her. She was quick, but he was faster, and when she struck he deftly blocked or dodged. Jacky got in one good hit which had sent him flying. He got her in return though, sneaking inside her defenses, fighting as close to her as he could get away with.


    ¡°Headbutt, Jacky! Knock his ass out!¡± Tom shouted at her, as she struggled to backpedal to make use of her longer weapon. She reversed direction, stepping forward, trying to sweep Rachuck¡¯s legs as she went for a shove. He saw it coming though, making a quick hop backward before bringing the sword up under her chin, Jacky freezing in place.


    ¡°I think I can pierce that part,¡± Rachuck went, holding the blade against the leather-backed mail for just a second.


    ¡°You need to keep him away from you, and if he gets that close, you crush him!¡± Nunuk shouted at Jacky. ¡°He is smaller and weaker, so use it!¡±


    ¡°Thanks mum,¡± Rachuck replied sarcastically, taking up stance for another round. ¡°Now remember, quick on your feet I¡¯m gonna try to sweep them.¡±


    He didn¡¯t get the chance as he once again moved in close trying to go for Jacky¡¯s legs she dropped the halberd and kicked forwards. Jacky embraced the confused Rackuck, who looked almost like he was going to ask why she did that. The dagger Jacky had retrieved from the armor¡¯s back soon got his attention though, as she pushed it into his back just enough to prove the point.


    ¡°Jackalope, those aren''t dulled!¡± Nunuk shouted out. Jacky let go.


    ¡°Sorry, but I have to learn how to use them.¡± Yeah, Tom was not quite convinced she was in fact sorry. But it looked like she had been careful at least.


    ¡°It''s fine mum, it¡¯s all in good spirit,¡± Rachuck dismissed his mother, Nunuk seemingly not quite convinced. Deciding it was her turn now she put on her helmet and drew her enchanted sword.


    ¡°If you want a proper fight I¡¯ll give you one. Yield or first blood.¡±


    ¡°Done, I¡¯m guessing no gun?¡± Jacky questioned sarcastically, picking up her own nice and sharp halberd from the weapons rack, sheathing the dagger. Tom knew her well enough to hear that she was sounding nervous. He was curious though. He had not seen Nunuk fight apart from getting her ass kicked in the armory way back. Jacky was a touch winded already, which really didn¡¯t help her odds. It wasn¡¯t that Tom didn¡¯t believe in her; it was just that, well¡­ Yeah, no, she was likely about to get her ass kicked by a 100-year-old grandma who actually knew what she was doing.


    Jacky did put up a valiant defense, managing a fair few blocks and even getting Nunuk to backpedal a bit. Rachuck was chuckling as he came up beside Tom.


    ¡°She might be getting on a little, but she knows what she is doing.¡±


    ¡°Dunno, looks like Jacky is doing well,¡± Tom replied as Jacky forced Nunuk to duck with a wide swing.


    ¡°Nah, mum¡¯s playing with her. Any second now.¡±


    Tom was a touch skeptical, but as Nunuk¡¯s blade phased through one of Jacky¡¯s blocks he remembered that, yeah, only one combatant was fighting with an enchanted weapon here. That was hardly fair in his mind. From there it all happened too quickly. Nunuk stepped forward, tripping Jacky with her tail, a move Tom hadn¡¯t really thought about before, sending Jacky sprawling onto her back. She was reaching for one of her daggers when Nunuk used a single wing beat and a jump to land on top of Jacky, pinning down both her arms with her clawed feet. ¡®Well shit,¡¯ Tom concluded as Rachuck looked at him. Likely going to say ¡®I told you so¡¯ or something of that nature.


    Jacky, though, was seemingly not done yet. As Nunuk leveled her blade at Jacky¡¯s throat, the huntress used her tail, combined with Nunuk holding down her arms, to land a powerful kick on Nunuk¡¯s back, sending her flying forwards with a surprised yelp. Tom and Rachuck let out a joint ¡®oooh¡¯ as Nunuk face-planted in the dirt. Jacky was first on her feet, Nunuk only getting up onto all fours as Jacky raised the halberd for a swing. Nunuk rolled out of the way before getting to her feet, bringing up her blade.


    ¡°Fine, come on then!¡± Nunuk shouted at Jacky, who replied with a powerful swing. Nunuk stepped back out of Jacky¡¯s swing before lunging forwards, Jacky throwing up a block with the haft of the halberd. Nunuk simply phased her blade through it, bringing the blade up under Jacky¡¯s armpit and going for a stab. It was clear she was hesitant, not wanting to hurt Jacky too badly. The enchanted blade didn¡¯t pierce as the newly inscribed runes on the armor burned bright for a split second.


    ¡°Damn okay,¡± Rachuck let out. Tom nodding sagely; that was exactly what he had been hoping for. Shiva had explained that Nunuk¡¯s armor, while amazing, was reliant on the natural strength of mithril scales and chain to safeguard the vulnerable parts. It was also of slightly lighter construction to allow her more freedom of movement. Jacky¡¯s new armor on the other hand took special care to reinforce the weak points, using both enchantments and heavier mail than usual to let the user focus on offense. The true Furlong way. It made it bulkier, but that fit Jacky just fine.


    Nunuk paid for her hesitance, and surprise at the lack of penetration, with a strike to the back of the head with the haft of Jacky''s halberd. To Tom¡¯s surprise, it didn''t seem to do much, the force of the blow likely being mostly eaten up by the enchantments. That had been another long explanation on how they managed to do away with much of the padding to lighten up the armor, but right now It was clear both of the women were furious. Nunuk pulled back, taking a full swing from Jacky on her shield, which, unlike Rachuck''s, was enchanted. The hit still threw her off balance, but the magic was likely the difference between that and sending her flying out of the ring. Jacky used the time bought to bring down the halberd from above with enough force to kill Nunuk in a single hit, had the lady not been inside that masterpiece of metalwork.


    Nunuk caught the hit on her shield, sending her to one knee. The more experienced fighter was starting to show her age, as Jacky was no longer the only one showing signs of fatigue. Jacky, though, had been burning magic for those swings, and it showed. She was too slow to land a third hit on Nunuk, who deftly dodged the incoming swing, Jacky having overcommitted to it. That became her final mistake, as Nunuk made her way around Jacky¡¯s side, kicking her in the back of the knee. The kick sent Jacky off-balance, forcing her to one knee leaning on the halberd. Nunuk jumped onto Jacky¡¯s back latching on with claw and talon, taking out her own dagger. It was a sharp needle-like weapon clearly meant to pierce things, the Lady holding it at Jacky¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Yield!¡± Nunuk shouted, Jacky freezing in place seemingly thinking for a second. The Lady reaffirmed her threat by pushing the dagger a bit harder, ¡°Yield!¡± With a strained sigh, Jacky dropped the halberd in defeat.


    ¡°100 years and going strong,¡± Rachuck joked, giving Tom a playful hit to the shoulder.


    ¡°We will make one hell of a warrior out of you yet,¡± Nunuk went, holding out her hand to Jacky after she got off.


    ¡°We have to, no way Rachuck is gonna cut it,¡± Jacky replied, taking off the helmet before shaking Nunuk¡¯s hand with a smile that Tom guessed was at least a little forced.


    ¡°Hey what was that for!¡± Rachuck protested, Tom having a slight chuckle at the captain''s expense.

 Chapter 113: Armaments

    Chapter 113: Armaments


    ¡®Well so far so good,¡¯ Saph had concluded. Project lathe was officially a success, and nothing too bad had been reported back from the combat wing. They had found some nests of nastiness here and there, which was to be expected in such a large forest. Especially while Kalestine was recovering. The unicorn was a big part of keeping the forest clean after all. Crucially though, the combat wing had found nothing worth pursuing and were considering starting recon runs going under the island to check if anything nefarious was to be found down there. Sapphire was kinda hoping it would lead to nothing, but the enemy had to have come from somewhere, so if not there then the wing would have to start fine combing everything. A procedure which would take months to complete. If they couldn¡¯t find a lead on where the enemy had come from they would have to assume the attack had come from further afield. To be honest, that was Sapphire¡¯s guess. It had certainly been the case with the group that had attacked Vulzan.


    At least Tom had been beside himself with excitement when his precious machine finally came to life. Sapphire had tried to be kind, but she had a hard time figuring out why a thing that could make metal spin was so important? Surely a drill or a file could get the same job done, even if it might take longer.


    She of course hadn¡¯t said that. But Essy unfortunately had, which started a lengthy explanation of how this one machine, and the mill they were gonna be making next, represented the birth of industry or something. Apparently, it was all about how precisely you could do the job and making something perfectly round and straight. Saph had no doubt Tom knew best, so she had just nodded sagely, even if she still couldn¡¯t fathom why that was so important. Tink certainly seemed to agree with Tom, even if Shiva was a tad skeptical about some of the claims. The workshop had also managed to turn out more of the new compound bows for the huntresses and even one smaller one made for the men to test out.


    Dakota had been quick to start training everyone on the new weapons, Jarix¡¯s hunting trips earning them the time they needed to do so. With the lathe complete, work had gone much faster on the mill. They had also cheated a bit on that one, getting started a little over a week ago on the motor for it and working in different teams on different projects. So by Sapphire¡¯s estimates, they were not too far away from being ready to begin on the real deal.


    Jacky had finally broken the subject of guns for the rest of the huntresses to Tom one evening. She came back hours later, wide-eyed and laptop in hand. She had asked the others to come sit with her at a table as she and Tom sat down. They had gone through a lot of different pictures, Tom and Jacky taking turns to explain what all the different guns did; pros, cons, what they could kill, and most importantly how difficult they were gonna be to make. That is to say, Jacky gave a few highlights and Tom then went into more detail. In some cases perhaps a little too much detail, but oh well. It was Tom after all.


    The first project was, of course, gonna be Jarix¡¯s machine gun, as promised. The question had been what kind and how to make all the ammunition for it. Tom wanted something slow-firing, but rather high caliber, which apparently just meant firing a big bullet. He hoped that would prove effective even against an armored dragon while keeping the ammo as cheap as possible. Zarko had been questioned quite a bit about how different dragons were protected, some of Jarix¡¯s armor pieces being taken out to be measured and examined. The knowledge that there were indeed dragons out there with enchanted mithril armor, even if it was extraordinarily rare, gave Tom quite a bit of cause for concern.


    He had seemed convinced that this fifty-caliber thing would be good enough for dragons though. But if he wanted special armor-piercing bullets to do it if the target was armored, and he made no promises against something mithril of that thickness. Saph guessed the armor-piercing bullets were a bit like the armor-piercing bodkins they had for the bows, in comparison to the broadheads used for hunting.


    The whole idea of just what they needed for the rest of them had turned into quite the discussion. Eventually, it dragged near enough everyone who had a say in the matter into the grand hall to go over the ideas.


    Tom said he wanted to keep the number of different calibers limited. One for pistols and these submachine guns he apparently thought were a great idea. One for rifles and light machine guns. And one for Jarix¡¯s heavy machine gun and possibly some kind of big rifle, in case the dragonettes ever had to engage a dragon. He had considered going for something bigger when you only had one shot but that time slept. Then there were shotguns which he wanted more than one type of ammo for too. That didn''t sound like ¡®a few calibers¡¯ to Sapphire, even if Tom seemingly believed this was keeping it light. She was used to carrying three different arrows at most. Then again, no one would be carrying more than one of the big guns anyway.


    Even Jacky wasn¡¯t sure what else she could want to ask for, except the ability to carry all of the ideas at once. That of course didn¡¯t stop her from pressuring Tom to show them pretty much all the different guns he knew about. Dakota and Nunuk were less convinced, pointing out just how much work even all this was gonna be.


    ¡°We need somewhere to start. The first one, so to speak,¡± Dakota tried as they went over the collection of pictures. Sapphire thought the variety was incredible, and this was apparently not even everything. There were hundreds of different guns, all looking very different. It was almost like browsing the halls of the Hashaw mansion back in the capital. The fact that all of these had apparently been produced in large numbers was almost impossible to believe.


    ¡°And it needs to be able to do everything¡­ Goddammit,¡± Tom replied, pulling at his hair, elbows resting on the table. ¡°Submachineguns won¡¯t pierce much in the way of armor, but 30 cal won¡¯t do in full auto. Well, unless it¡¯s a light machine gun, but no way we are making many of those. Semi-auto rifle?¡±


    ¡°Before you were talking about, what was it¡­ a bolt action?¡± Dakota replied, with an apologetic shrug. It wasn¡¯t her fault they apparently wanted the impossible, but well they just kinda needed that.


    ¡°In single shot with no magazine, yeah, to make it quick and simple to make. I wanted to mix them with submachine guns though. But what¡¯s smarter? Make bad rifles and more of them or good ones and have it take longer.?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Where would you put your rifle?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere in the middle I think,¡± Tom replied as if that wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    ¡°You are gonna make something better than your own gun?!¡± Saph broke out. That sounded awesome to her. To hell with not being able to bend the shot. With that kind of firepower, she didn¡¯t need it.


    ¡°Yeah. We need armor-piercing, so 308 Winchester is my choice. We have some nasty targets to shoot at that like to hide behind metal plates. That¡¯s a fast round and good at going through armor. 30.06 might be too much, especially for a machine gun later.¡±


    ¡°I bet I could handle it,¡± Jacky interrupted, crossing her arms looking confident.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you could, sweety. Believe me, 308 should be plenty fun.¡±


    ¡®Sweety,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself. Not many could get away with calling Jacky that. Perhaps she should try to make a bet with him to call her cute. That would be funny as hell.


    ¡°I have plenty of 308 rifles to choose from. We want one with a lot of wood components since, well, it¡¯s easier and cheaper for us to make. Preferably milled too. Redesigning a stamped gun would be a shit show. Might want something shorter than the M14. That¡¯s really heavy too¡­ wait no, that¡¯s not so bad here¡­ Hell, it might be a good thing¡­ What about the FAL? I¡¯ve always wanted one of those. A little complex though¡­¡±


    Tom brought up a picture of a gun. It looked a lot like the others to Sapphire. There was only a little wood on this one though, and it looked big or at least long. After some fiddling, he got up a picture of the insides of the weapon, which looked like a labyrinth of bits and pieces to Sapphire, Linkosta pushing a bit to get a better look.


    ¡°I still don''t get how that think machine works, but it sure is awesome! That thing though,¡± she went, pointing at the screen. ¡°Looks really complicated.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ a man can dream though. Maybe this is better,¡± Tom got another rifle onto the screen, this one being a lot more wooden construction. Kulinger expressing his approval. ¡°It¡¯s a bit simpler, and if Jacky wants to get crazy, it can be made fully automatic too.¡±


    ¡°Oh hell yeah,¡± Jacky replied, clearly sold on the idea.


    ¡°That still looks like a hell of a lot of work,¡± Dakota noted, Linkosta nodding in agreement.


    ¡°Yup, we won¡¯t be turning these out in a hurry. I have an idea though,¡± Tom replied, bringing up another picture. ¡°Cheap shotguns to help defend the keep. They would wreak havoc in the corridors. And it doesn''t get much simpler than a single barrel break action shotgun. It¡¯s basically a slightly worse version of what Herron has. We would start with this.¡±


    ¡°And it will kill alright?¡± Nunuk questioned.


    ¡°Oh yeah. But I don''t think it will do much to heavy armor¡­ Well, maybe with slugs actually¡­ Some kind of fancy slug could help. Give it a steel core and then...¡±


    ¡°Sounds useful,¡± Rachuck concurred as Tom trailed off. ¡°A few of those to watch the skies and then clear the hallways if they get inside.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Tom replied, snapping back to reality.


    ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but wasn''t my gun first?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly trying to sound as polite as possible.


    ¡°Right, that one I have already decided. You need this. No¡­ no¡­ no¡­ There we go, that one,¡± Tom stated, pointing at the screen. Saph recognized that gun. It had been in Red Tails, on the bombers.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of metal isn''t there?¡± Dakota questioned.


    ¡°Ooh yeah, but it¡¯s a mean, lean killing machine. The M2 Ma Deuce heavy machine gun. That thing has served for nearly ninety years¡­ Okay, it may not sound like it, but that¡¯s a lot. Remember the airplanes. It has served in countless wars, and we have made a lot of them, like really a lot. Many of which have outlived the people who used them,¡± Tom went as he picked up the laptop to show the image to Jarix.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jarix replied with substantial enthusiasm, looking at the apparent legend on the screen like a kid at a new toy.


    ¡°Ooh yes indeed!¡± Jacky echoed. ¡°That thing is gonna be awesome!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that one is good then?¡± Pho questioned, looking to Bo, who just shrugged.


    ¡°If it can shoot down metal planes, it should make mincemeat out of anyone dumb enough to get on my tail,¡± Jarix responded gleefully.


    ¡°Well big guy, looks like Radexi gets to be a gunner after all,¡± Zarko conceded, though she was sounding rather content for once.


    ¡°Would two be possible? Giving us one for the tower?¡± Rachuck questioned.


    ¡°If we want to spend the time and materials, sure. It¡¯s gonna be rather expensive to run though. If it ever comes to a proper battle then it will eat ammunition.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense I guess,¡± the captain replied thoughtfully.


    ¡°And that is the first step. We need to start making bullets around here. Any volunteers?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at the crowd. Jacky, of course, had her hand in the air immediately. Saph stayed hers. She knew a boring job when she heard one, and they were likely gonna need a lot of these bullets for all those guns.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°What about Saph? We talked about that,¡± Jacky questioned, still having her hand raised.


    ¡®Oh come on, I don¡¯t want to make bullets all day,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself as she put on a nice smile, looking at Tom.


    ¡°Right, Yes, fancy arrows. Saph how heavy of a thing can you¡­ you know bend?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Like pretty heavy. A good size rock isn¡¯t a problem. It¡¯s tougher to do sure, but it does work.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, ¡®cause I had an idea,¡± Tom replied, looking through some more pictures. Judging by Jacky, who had a wide smile on and was nodding intensely, Saph guessed this was gonna be good. ¡°I wanna make that but for a bow,¡± Tom finally went, Sapphire, looking at the screen. She could not figure out what it was she was looking at as Tom paused for dramatic effect. ¡°It¡¯s an RPG; it shoots rockets. I just wanna take the warhead, a smaller version mind you, and stick it on an arrow shaft.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing it goes boom when it hits?¡± Sapphire replied, looking at Tom, who was also rather excited by this. It was a fairly safe bet since, well, most things concerning Tom¡¯s weapons went boom in some manner after all.


    ¡°Yup, but it does more than that. The pressure from the explosion instantly liquifies the copper cone in front of the explosives, which collapses in on itself, driving a stream of supersonic molten metal into the target. A headshot with that thing will kill anything. I don¡¯t care how big the dragon is or what armor it has. It is dead.¡±


    ¡®Oh hell yeah,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself. A rifle would have been cool, but if that was true, she was about to become the most dangerous dragonette to ever draw breath.


    ¡°I think that could work,¡± Saph replied courteously while wearing the most devious grin she could manage. Jacky cleared her throat a little, keeping her head high, looking like someone who expected a ¡°thank you.¡± Tom looked back at her, seemingly a touch curious. ¡°Thank you oh Jackalope the first revolver master¡­ That was right, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tom stifled a chuckle at that, Jacky looking a bit annoyed, opening her mouth to correct Sapphire before Tom cut her off. ¡°I think that would be a cowgirl actually. Not the bedroom kind though,¡±


    That took Saph a second to process before she broke out laughing, heaving for breath as Jacky looked at him with an expression that just screamed ¡®What did you just say to me!?¡¯ Most of the room ended up either laughing their asses off or looking genuinely confused.


    ¡°Why does using a gun have anything to do with cows?¡± Dakota had questioned clearly, falling into the confused portion.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a long one,¡± Tom replied with a nervous chuckle, looking at the increasingly pissed-looking Jackalope.


    ¡°What is the bedroom kind? Please do tell,¡± Sapphire tried between breaths, tears welling up in her eyes by now.


    ¡°Well cowgirls are very enthusiastic, so they...¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Jacky let out, covering Tom¡¯s mouth. He was also struggling not to laugh by now, Jacky looking like she was ready to drag him off and tie him up somewhere he couldn¡¯t do any more harm.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Cowgirl Jackalope? Not quite what you had in mind?¡± Saph went, Jacky, switching her attention back to Saph.


    ¡°That is actually a compliment where I¡¯m from,¡± Tom got out as he managed to pull Jacky¡¯s hands away from his mouth.


    ¡°This is a strange place,¡± Bo let out, shaking her head,


    ¡°Oh it gets better, trust me,¡± Fengi replied, clearly also finding the whole thing hilarious.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well operation ¡®Boomstick,¡¯ as Jacky had decided to name it, probably after he used the term one too many times, was officially in effect. The mill still wasn¡¯t done, so that still took up most of the time in the workshop. It had been three weeks since the combat wing had left by now, and still nothing out of the ordinary. Archeon had finally come by on his little back and forth route. He explained away the delay by saying he had gotten caught up by something in the capital. Saph was of the opinion that he had snuck in some more stops along the way though. The news from the big city had mostly been good. The engineering guild already had the fancy new lighters in production, even if it was still rather slow going. Vulzan had been proud to present an award for ¡®Distinguished service in the pursuit of knowledge'' to be given to the inventor of the most marvelous pencil on behalf of the Royal Academy. On the other hand, the compass project had suffered a few explosive-related setbacks and was yet to get off the ground. Luckily though, it sounded like there had not been any fatalities. Not yet at least, and Vulzan didn''t know if there had been wounded.


    There had been a bit of money from the royalties and even the princely sum of fifty gold bundled up with the award for the pencil. Which was quite a bit of money after all. Tom had perhaps just kinda lost perspective of what things were worth around here with all the expensive things they were purchasing in bulk. The award money had gone to Tom since, well, he was technically the inventor¡­ Though really it should probably have gone to Tink in Tom¡¯s mind. It was his though and together with his poker winnings he actually had quite a bit of coin.


    Until now he had spent it all trading for things. Tom decided that there was no reason to change a tradition, at least not entirely. The money was best spent on something nice rather than have it lie around, so he bought two big glass balloons of wine Vulzan claimed to have gotten for a good price, which apparently correlated to three gold for both. Tom made a mental note to have that shit tasted in small amounts before having a proper drink. But hey, there was like a hundred liters of wine there, so he had to have a taste at some point. Nunuk claimed it was likely perfectly drinkable but nothing special and definitely not on par with proper bottled wine. He also ordered some more brass because well why not. They were gonna need a lot of it.


    It had been a quick stop though, the dragon only sticking around for a single night before heading off towards Deriva with much-needed supplies. They were also carrying a few building supplies for Hylsdal. The work crew scheduled to be on the next trip. The subject of who was gonna end up in charge of Hylsdal keep was apparently a hot one though. The line of succession was intact, making Lothal the lord of the keep. The kid was only eleven though, and his little sister was not even one yet. Regardless, Lothal''s mother had been next in line to inherit the keep and Lothal was her oldest child so the line was clear. From the sound of it, his mother didn''t even have any surviving siblings left, all having died either in the battle or long ago.


    Some parts of Lothal¡¯s extended family had laid claim to the keep though and they wanted to take in Lothal and his sister. There was even talk of all the kids being taken in. They would act as guardians until he was old enough to take charge as lord. To Tom¡¯s surprise, Nunuk and Dakota had been rather opposed to the idea. They stated that chances were really high that the kids would end up puppeted into giving up the keep, unless it was some real fine people they were dealing with. In the end though, it was not their decision to make. Nor even their business to meddle in the affairs of another keep. That wouldn¡¯t stop them from teaching Lothal what they could, trying to keep him from giving up his ancestral home without a fight. The kid was kind and definitely bright too, and he had a knack for people, so Tom was hardly worried about that part. His concerns were mainly that the poor guy seemed very stressed. He was working his ass off with the kids, having fully embraced the leader role for them, even Kiran was mostly subordinate by now. It stank to high heaven of someone with things to prove or maybe trying to not think about what was behind him. Tom could certainly understand the latter point of view, but he had no clue what he could do to help the kid/young man.


    They wouldn¡¯t know what was gonna end up happening with his home until the next shipment arrived. Chances were good there would be members of the family mixed in with the workers, or at least someone to help oversee the rebuilding to the family¡¯s liking. And in the end, it would probably be up to them.


    For now though, the focus at the Bizmati Keep was on keeping the momentum. The mill would require a fair bit more work from Shiva, but thanks to the lathe they finally had the means to make proper bearings and threading. The few screw rods Tom had brought from home were used in the lathe to facilitate that. If there was anything he knew it was that making a thread was only easy if you had one already. The fact they were making duplicate parts by now also meant a lot more work could be left in the hands of Tink and Shiva, Linkosta being busy with the work on their first mines.


    That freed up Tom to spend some time working on the fabled ammunition production and operation boom stick. Fifty caliber was first, then shotgun shells, then 308. He already had the means to cast bullets in 44 magnum and 45/70 government, and he could reuse the brass for those for a while. But before he even got started, he needed to know what this boom powder mix did inside a gun. He had wanted to use one of the new guns, just in case, but time was not on their side. He had prepared a series of rounds for his revolver with increasing loads of the volatile substance, replacing the normal gunpowder. He had put together a makeshift jig to hold the gun with Kullinger¡¯s help. Taking the contraption out onto the platform, aiming the gun off into the great beyond.


    Jacky had been allowed to do the honors and pull the string. The first shot had been rather anemic as he had expected, but already at half load it had seemed like the gun was pretty close to normal. Tom fired another half load by hand, gauging the recoil back to back with a regular round. They certainly felt similar¡­ ¡®This is gonna be some badass 308,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself. Perhaps some filler would be good to avoid disaster, but it certainly worked. He refrained from firing the higher loads, taking them apart just in case they found their way back into the gun at some point. He didn¡¯t want a blown-up gun after all.


    The muzzle flash had been something to behold too. He really wanted to fire some at night just to see how much it would light up the night. An M2 firing this stuff would shine like a campfire being doused in diesel, that was for sure. The second problem that needed to be overcome was the primers. He had brought quite a few spares for his idea of using black powder and simple tools to keep his own guns going, but current plans required way more than he had brought.


    That meant Blitz in powder form, discharged to reach the desired level of sensitivity. Tom took a few samples from the lathe¡¯s power cell as the others worked. His quick little course in the simple machine having thus far kept everyone out of the infirmary. It turned out the stuff needed to be damn near discharged to get docile enough to not go off when struck by the firing pin. In the end he had timed it to be around 10% charge that yielded primers that could be dropped or even thrown around a little without going off. When he had Jacky chuck one at a wall full force, though, the limit had been found, as the miniature charge went off inside the dummy round. Still, that wasn¡¯t bad. It was certainly more stable than mercury fulminate, that was for sure.


    Jacky had of course been ecstatic at the news that they could likely soon start producing ammunition for the new guns and the weapons Tom had brought from home, which meant she may be allowed to use a few shots while hunting.


    The molds for all the bullets were easy enough, but he would need fresh brass for the other calibers and That needed to be drawn out. To accomplish that he was looking at mechanical vices and things like that. The problem was it would take ages to make enough casings, and it would be hard work too, but it seemed like their only option. That is until Radexi came up with the idea to just use the eight-ton sleepy lizard that was lounging in the greeting hall whenever there wasn¡¯t anything for him to do.


    With a rather solid facepalm from Tom, he had set about designing a dragon-powered brass press that could churn out multiple stampings in one go. Tom just hoped the promise that much of the brass Jarix was going to be stamping was for himself would keep morale high as he discovered that there were 9 separate stampings required to make fifty cal casings, to be annealed between each stamping. Still, if Jarix put his back into it, they could probably do four at a time. And with some quick fingers to switch out the casings in the tool, they could likely make ten stampings a minute. Definitely enough to supply their needs in a hurry. Even for machine guns.


    That left raw materials once again. Brass was costly, and they had bought quite a bit, but it would seem Vulzan would have to scrounge up some more for them in the future. More pressingly, they needed saltpeter and a lot of it. Tom had been reading up on the subject, and bat guano was apparently by far the best source¡­ Now he knew there were caves around, he had seen some, and when he asked Apuma, the old man excitedly got out the maps he had. With Dakota¡¯s and Nunuk¡¯s help, they had found and marked a few caves where the huntresses had encountered lots of bats, usually when taking shelter from rough weather.


    Jarix hadn''t wanted anything to do with the bat guano. Tom only convinced Jarix to haul it back when he assured the dragon that he wouldn''t have to dig it up, only carry it and that he would receive a thorough scrub down in the lake afterward. The simple fact was that they needed Jarix to haul the sheer amount of guano they needed. Tom crossing his fingers that they would find enough at the caves. Getting volunteers had also been tricky. Raulf had joined on mainly to take the piss out of those that didn¡¯t want to go. Ray, of course, volunteered, and Jacky seemingly overcame her reluctance to spite Sapphire, which inevitably lead to the aimbotting archer joining in too. Radexi and Zarko didn¡¯t get the choice, Jarix made sure of that.


    It had turned into a proper shitty trip, with rain-catching them halfway there and following them home too. To say Jarix was pissed when they made it home was an understatement: liquid bat shit was literally running down his sides from the soaked through canvas bags they had used to store the stuff. At least he hadn¡¯t been wearing his nice armor, because it would have been ruined forever. It didn¡¯t help that Nunuk didn¡¯t even want him or the rest of them inside until after they got rid of the stench.


    The only upside had been that there was more shit in the cave than they had bags for, so the supply would last them a long time. The several hundred kilos of guano were dumped into some nitrite separators constructed according to a manual Tom had brought on ¡®how to make black powder. DIY edition¡¯


    So, after a very thorough scrub down of Jarix involving soap, rain, and everyone who had been on the expedition, Tom had gone to check up on how Linkosta was doing with the first fuse for the mines. She was still working on how to reliably power the contraption, having found an enchantment in her old books that would heat up a thin piece of metal wire to the point it easily enough set paper on fire.


    It needed to be perfectly reliable though. Any ¡®bugs¡¯ or whatever you would call that when it came to the enchantments and they might blow up a very unfortunate target, or nothing at all. Linkosta had been contemplating the plant idea, but the problem was there was no safety. Having a minefield centrally powered by a transmitter of sorts was also considered. You would simply strap the transmitter to your belt and turn it on to power the mines, with the power being drawn from the one holding the transmitter.


    It would make the mines themselves cheaper and safer, but in the end, it would mean the mines weren¡¯t on at all times unless someone was always carrying the transmitter, and going to sleep with enchanted stuff turned on was apparently the magic equivalent of looking down the barrel. It wasn¡¯t like the mine was ready either though, so Tom just encouraged Linkosta to take her time and get it right. The mage endeavouring to try and meld the two systems somehow.

 Say Again?

    Chapter 114: Say Again?


    It had taken the combat wing a few days of searching, but their hunt had finally produced results, much to Sapphire''s dismay. So now they had all been gathered in the grand hall for a little update on their current predicament.


    ¡°They have found what!?¡± Saph exclaimed, Nunuk looking at her annoyed.


    ¡°There are mines under the island.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know that those are older than well... anything around here. No one has been down there in our lifetime. Apuma said so¡­ at some point. I can¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the bastards are in there. We are sitting on a fucking nest of them!¡± Dakota added, clearly not pleased with the situation.


    ¡°You have got to be shitting me,¡± Anchor went, shaking his head.


    ¡°And why haven''t we figured this out yet?¡± Rachuck demanded, sounding as confused as Sapphire was, looking around for anyone with an answer.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know, they may not have been there long. Victoria thinks they wanted to wipe us out with that last raid, perhaps hoping the guard would leave the island alone and retreat like they have been doing from other parts of the frontier.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ So what now?¡± Rachuck replied, looking at Nunuk, who was sitting at her raised seat.


    ¡°Well, it likely means the end of plans for Hylsdal until this is dealt with. Tiguan cannot leave Deriva, and we must be ready for anything. The combat wing is to do what they are here for, and hopefully thoroughly. The mines will be purged with fire and gas.¡±


    ¡°They won''t just sit there and die, you know that,¡± Rachuck replied. Dakota nodded in reply as Nunuk¡¯s shoulders sagged a bit.


    ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s why we must be ready in case the enemy lashes out at our home.¡±


    ¡°We could help though,¡± Jacky added, receiving a few nods from around the room before looking to Tom. He was seemingly somewhere between deep thought and utter frustration as he pulled at his hair.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just be left in peace. Why didn¡¯t you say there were mines down there? Why did you not even think to check them?¡±


    ¡°I did teach you about the tunnels,¡± Apuma added cautiously.


    ¡°And we did think to check them. We simply started with the forest,¡± Nunuk interrupted, clearly not impressed with Tom¡¯s argument. ¡°The mines have been there for centuries, possibly millenia, according to some of Apuma¡¯s texts. You cannot live down there. You have no light, no food, and often no water. They had to come up here to hunt and find supplies. We should have spotted them then,¡± the lady replied,


    ¡°They can do whatever they want at night,¡± Tom replied exasperated. Nunuk looked to the floor with a strained expression.


    ¡°No they cannot; Kalestine would have known. Why wouldn''t she have told us?¡± Dakota interrupted accusingly.


    ¡°She thought we knew and were just doing a shit job?¡± Tom replied, with a fair amount of venom in his voice.


    ¡°Do we know how long the nest might have been there?¡± Zarko questioned. ¡°It may be a recent movement. Perhaps the first attack was to clear out the island to make way for them to move in.¡±


    ¡°Then why would they do it anyway if the attack failed?¡± Rachuck countered.


    ¡°They could be planning to try again. We don¡¯t know what they have down there.¡±


    ¡°After those kinds of casualties?¡±


    ¡°Well, why then?¡± Zarko countered, crossing her arms.


    ¡°There could be something down there they want?¡± Fengi added cautiously.


    ¡°Oh god, not again,¡± Tom let out, sounding rather defeated. Saph had to agree on that point. The last thing they needed was another terrible item on their island. Two of those accursed daggers and four dark knights were plenty of dark magic for her taste.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. They are here whether we like it or not. They will either flee or they will stand and fight. And that is for the combat wing to deal with. I¡¯m sure Victoria is more than up to the task. It¡¯s also hardly Baron''s first fight,¡± Nunuk cut them off with a firm voice.


    ¡°Are they planning on just going in right away?¡± Sapphire questioned respectfully, many of the others muttering to each other, Tom saying something Saph didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°At dawn tomorrow. They want the early sun to light up the underside of the island,¡± Nunuk replied.


    ¡°Well shit.¡±


    ¡°And I am ordered to stay here, correct?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly not pleased.


    ¡°Yes. Victoria was quite adamant. She is of the belief that it¡¯s gonna be the infantry that has to do the heavy lifting. The tunnels would soon grow too narrow for you.¡±


    ¡°They have those bat things down there surely...¡±


    ¡°Night terrors,¡± Jacky interrupted, Jarix giving an annoyed grump before continuing.


    ¡°If they fit then so do I. My mom or Baron might not. That leaves Grevi alone in there.¡±


    ¡°You are ordered to stay here. Besides, chances are good the enemy will either come out to fight or run. If they retreat into the tunnels then they have already lost. They will have to come out eventually,¡± Nunuk replied, sinking back into her chair, clearly not pleased with the situation.


    ¡°Unless they get relieved,¡± Rachuck added.


    ¡°Don¡¯t spite Murphy,¡± Jarix snapped. ¡°Tell them to reconsider. We can help them.¡±


    ¡°If you leave and they strike here, we might well be done for. We have no clue how many might be down there,¡± Rachuck protested.


    ¡°Exactly, we don¡¯t know. What if the others are flying straight into a trap?¡±


    ¡°Then we better make sure they have somewhere safe to retreat to,¡± Rachuck countered, raising his voice a little. ¡°We will prepare what defenses we can in case the enemy attacks here or the wing is forced back.¡±


    ¡°Tom?¡± the dragon questioned, looking to the human as if he would come to his rescue.


    ¡°Storm¡¯s coming; best to weather it,¡± Tom replied, shrugging his shoulders, though his expression betrayed he was far from nonchalant about the subject. ¡°Our projects aren¡¯t done yet either way.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well that was certainly some shit news,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, having gone to his bedroom to take a breather. ¡®What the fuck are we gonna do now?¡¯


    The only bright point was that they would not be carrying the burden of fixing this. The professionals were. Tom just hoped that they weren¡¯t about to lose someone they cared about¡­ Perhaps as much for Jarix''s sake. The guy was already far from pleased. He had made that very clear. The combat wing was going off to fight to defend the posting he was allegedly supposed to be safeguarding after all. Tom very much doubted that situation would improve if someone the dragon cared about didn¡¯t make it back.


    ¡°I think we should go kick their asses,¡± he heard Jacky go from outside the door before it opened. ¡°Figured out a way to kill them all yet?¡± she questioned, seeming to be in high spirits, heavily contrasting everyone else right now.


    ¡°Not really no. They were gonna gas the tunnels, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, greens are nasty. Don''t let Grevi hear I said that,¡± Jacky replied jokingly as she sat down next to him on the bed.


    ¡°I figured¡­ Well, that should work surely. I was thinking of a fuel-air bomb to beat them all to a pulp, but it sounds like we have to focus on home for this one.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I was thinking, you know Jarix¡¯s machine gun down in the workshop?¡±


    ¡°You mean the half-finished barrel I turned in the lathe?¡± Tom questioned, looking at her with a raised eyebrow and cracking a slight smile. Her enthusiasm was rather contagious after all. ¡°It¡¯s not even rifled yet.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Why not just use the barrel and make a single shot rifle for the time being?¡±


    ¡°Because it would still be a lot of work, and we don¡¯t have the time?¡± Tom tried, hoping he was being convincing right now. ¡°We don¡¯t have much ammo yet either.¡±


    Jacky seemed to try to come up with a counter for a bit before her shoulders sagged a bit, her expression growing reluctant. ¡°What about the arrows for Sapphire then?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ maybe?¡± Tom had to admit. They didn¡¯t even have the plans done, but it was going to be a lot of thin plate work for Shiva to do, he knew that much. The impact fuse shouldn¡¯t be hard now that they had blitz powder¡¯s behavior more or less mapped out from doing the primers, and since it was for an arrow the rocket wasn¡¯t needed¡­ ¡®That might actually be possible to put together.¡¯


    ¡°Should I go grab mum?¡± Jacky questioned with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Yes, and Rachuck and Linkosta. Tell her to bring the mine prototype.¡±


    Tom was about to get up when there was a knock on the door. Jacky tilted her head, confused. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Unkai,¡± came the reply, Jacky looking back at Tom. He just shrugged, and Jacky opened the door. The young healer walked in, closing the door behind him and locking it before looking between Tom and Jacky a few times.


    ¡°We have a problem.¡±


    ¡®God fucking damming what now?¡¯ Tom cursed to himself, trying not to let the frustration show. ¡°Let me guess. We have a traitor in the basement?¡± he questioned sarcastically.


    ¡°Actually.¡± ¡®Oh, you have got to be kidding me.¡¯


    ¡°Well spit it out,¡± Jacky demanded. Unkai looked at her like he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted her to be here for this, but he elected to just shush her.


    ¡°Lothal told me why we hadn¡¯t found them out yet¡­¡± Tom just sat there looking at Unkai as the healer seemingly built up the courage to speak. ¡°Hylsdal was working with them for¡­ quite a while. In exchange for not being wiped off the map. They were forced to provide food and other essential supplies to them.¡±


    ¡°And why didn¡¯t he tell us this?¡± Tom replied as he let his head sink into his hands, Jacky¡¯s jaw proverbially dropping to the floor.


    ¡°I heard him tell Revo not to say anything about mom or the others one evening¡­ It was a while ago. I didn''t think anything of it. They have been through a lot,¡± the healer defended himself. Tom just nodded, waiting for the healer to continue. ¡°So, after that little announcement today, I decided to ask him. This is treason of the highest order, committed by his family¡­ He¡¯s still crying in their room.¡±


    ¡°Do we have to let anyone know?¡± Tom asked. The kid hadn¡¯t done anything, but it could still ruin him and his little sister if it came out.


    ¡°He¡¯s a kid. They can¡¯t keep this a secret forever, and Victoria is gonna find out someone was helping the enemy eventually.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess we know why Kalestine didn¡¯t figure it out at least,¡± Tom relented with a sigh, looking at Jacky. She seemingly hadn¡¯t quite figured out what to do or say yet.


    ¡°Yes, so it would seem¡­ If he¡¯s telling the truth then his mother became convinced that at the rate they had to give food away, they had no chance of feeding themselves for winter. So they went for it.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Went for it?¡± Tom had to question looking back to the healer.


    ¡°They tried to get help¡­ from us and Deriva¡­ They got the ones inside their keep, but the two sent to get help never made it beyond the horizon¡­ From there it became a siege. Which they lost¡­¡±


    ¡°What happens if the kid comes clean?¡± Jacky questioned in a very worried tone.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a kid. Not anymore. But they might let him go with having his family name stripped or something, I don''t know.¡°


    ¡°He didn''t do shit though!¡±


    ¡°No, but his mother did, and he¡¯s still running around with her crown,¡± Unkai replied with a sneer, shushing Jacky again.


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t execute him, right?¡± Tom questioned. He needed to damn sure of that at least.


    Unkai didn¡¯t reply, simply looking at Tom with a strained expression, Jacky¡¯s face growing furious.


    ¡°He¡¯s a kid. This won¡¯t stay a secret forever, especially not if the other kids know¡­ We have to tell Nunuk and Apuma at least,¡± Tom went before Jacky snapped.


    ¡°They would have to tell the guard. They are nobles, remember.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s not treason if we shut up?¡± Tom questioned sarcastically.


    ¡°Well, it won¡¯t cost the keep if we are found out.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t we just blow up everything down there so no one will ever know anything?¡± Jacky protested, clearly trying very hard not to be loud.


    ¡°They are already down there. Unless they get repelled we can¡¯t do that¡­¡± Tom replied thinking over the situation. ¡°Victoria and the Royal Guard don¡¯t want anything bad to happen to our keep. We are too important and, well, useful... hopefully. Perhaps we can help get him a mild sentence? And so what if it costs the kid his title? He can still live here happily, right?¡±


    ¡°I guess so. It¡¯s better than going over the edge that¡¯s for sure,¡± Unkai replied reluctantly, receiving a very angry glare from Jacky.


    ¡°Well then we go get him, have a little chat, tell Nunuk the truth, and then we figure this mess out. They did come around in the end, and it sounds like they were hardly willing to cooperate. Surely that has to amount to something. And wouldn¡¯t the guard want to cover this up? They failed to protect a keep from being exploited by the enemy after all, and it sounds like they have gotten plenty of bad rep as of late.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they would really care. They helped the enemy. They might show¡­ lenience since they did resist in the end¡­ I don¡¯t know dude!¡± Unkai protested, spreading out his arms out wide, Jacky taking the opportunity to angrily shush him.


    ¡°Then we go ask someone who does,¡± Tom replied, standing up.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Why?¡¯ Sapphire couldn¡¯t come up with anything else right now as she sat bouncing Holdey on her knee, trying to calm him down. Just why.


    Why was this all happening? They had just gotten back to sort of normal. Then they find out they are sitting on top of a nest of until recently unknown horrors and presumably more darklings. And now they have to deal with a bunch of kids who have done nothing wrong, whose family was likely to be branded as traitors. It wasn¡¯t fair to them. It wasn¡¯t fair to Lothal. Hell, it wasn¡¯t even fair to Tom, who once again found himself putting the plan on hold that they had been making such good progress on. Still, the enemy wasn¡¯t at the door; they just had to be ready for them and they would be.


    The ones she really felt sorry for were the kids. She didn¡¯t really know them that well yet, and here she was trying to help calm everyone down. Tom had to take Kiran away after he started calling the others traitors. Lothal had broken down completely at that, insisting that it wasn¡¯t his fault. His mother wasn¡¯t a traitor. They weren¡¯t weak or stupid. That had quickly started a chain reaction of kids crying. Some were not even sure why they were crying, but oh boy did the tears flow.


    Nunuk, Apuma, Dakota, and Rachuck were going over their options for how to play this. They obviously had to let Victoria know, but they needed to make sure she got the whole picture. The colonel''s report would likely decide Hylsdal¡¯s fate after all. Still, she needed to know now in case it turned out to be useful information for the attack. Understandably she had been less than pleased, but according to Nunuk, she was pissed at the enemy rather than Hylsdal. One advantage of her having that much experience Sapphire guessed.


    Tom had those who could be spared down in the workshop putting together what they could on the now rather accelerated timetable. Rachuck was putting up the barricades once again. They should be safe here but there was no reason to take chances.


    The next morning Saph had been up bright and early, as were many of the others, and the forge could of course be heard throughout the keep. Saph had gone to lend a hand. They were working on something for her after all. Tink was sleeping in the corner, Junior having put a blanket over the guy. Tom and Shiva were hammering away at some oddly shaped cones of thin plate metal, only looking up to quickly greet Saph before returning to their work.


    Saph had stood there slightly awkwardly until they finished whatever they were and Tom came over with what was very distinctly two arrows with massive heads on them.


    ¡°You need to test them out. This is a dummy, the fuse is in there, but no boom. And this one is just a dummy for training¡±


    ¡°Uhmm okay¡­ I don¡¯t need to help with anything?¡±


    ¡°Go wake Jacky up if you don''t mind. Oh and go check on Linkosta too. I need them.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Saph replied, leaving to do as she was told. Linkosta was passed out in the library with the mine on the table in front of her. She was quick on her feet though after a quick rustle. Jacky on the other hand put up quite the fight not to get out of bed. It wasn¡¯t hard to tell why though. She hadn¡¯t even gotten undressed last night. ¡°Tom needs you to help make explosions, and you are staying in bed? Are you sick?¡±


    That certainly had the desired effect, as Jacky damn near launched out the door and down the hallway, coming back to grab her earmuffs. ¡°Need these.¡±


    Testing the arrows had gone well enough. Saph had started with the dummy, getting a feel for it as she bent it around the sky. It was hard work but not too bad until the range became excessive. Even with her new bow though, she would be lucky to get a hundred meters out of it. Still, if Tom was telling the truth, the real deal could kill a dragon. That wasn¡¯t a claim any archer could make; even an enchanted bow would likely struggle. ¡®Most dangerous woman in the world,¡¯ Saph mused to herself as she hit the target once again, pulling out the fuse arrow. ¡®Let¡¯s see now.¡¯


    It was a clean shot, the arrow landing slightly above a bullseye. There was a little *pop* and some smoke, but that was about it. Going down to collect the arrow the tip was ruined, but otherwise, it looked mostly intact. ¡®I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s a success,¡¯ Saph thought to herself. Bringing the arrow back to the workshop had confirmed her suspicions. Tom was very pleased, to say the least, though he was seemingly just as excited by Linkosta¡¯s new idea.


    ¡°So we just fire off the expensive part to go get it later?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not pretty, but it works. Just a little bit of flash powder in a pan below the fuse box. Dad came up with the idea.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect! And you got the remote to work too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s been done for a while. Arm, and detonate just like you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Amazing, we have to make this, Shiva.¡±


    Shiva didn¡¯t get to respond as Rachuck opened the door, sticking his head in with a strained smile as he looked around.


    ¡°Great, you¡¯re all here¡­ The darklings came out to fight and got seven bells kicked out of them.¡±


    Jacky let out a cheer, Junior and Radexi joining in, followed by a cautious ¡°Yay¡± from Ray.


    ¡°They only had one adult. The young ones did wreak havoc in the gloom though, and some may have gotten away. They were pushed back into the cave they called home and then into the tunnel network. Grevi and Baron are trying to gas and burn them out as we speak.¡±


    Sapphire let out a sigh of relief. It wasn¡¯t perfect news, but it was a damn sight better than what she had been fearing.


    ¡°Won''t that take forever?¡± Sapphire questioned with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°The tunnels are endless. Many will likely escape, and she wants to hunt them down on foot.¡±


    ¡°She wants to go tunnel fighting? Against darklings who probably know the terrain?¡± That sounded like a pretty dumb idea.


    ¡°Yes, she is afraid they have managed to rescue the young. There were apparently nests in the big cave. And she agrees on the whole ¡®very dangerous¡¯ thing. She wants reinforcements to help track in the tunnels. She especially wants Tom, Jacky, Balethon, and you to give her the advantage she needs to ¡®get everyone home safe.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°And what about the keep?¡± Sapphire retorted, hoping that Rachuck¡¯s paranoia would kick in. She didn¡¯t particularly want to go down there. It was cramped, dark, and full of shit that wanted to kill you.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t believe the enemy has the capacity to strike at us, and they have not seen any evidence that the darklings are receiving new orders. They attacked, fell back, and then fled into the tunnels, likely to protect young night terrors. It all seemed pre-planned.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Sapphire replied, throwing a quick sideways glance towards Ray in the corner of the room. She would be perfect for something like this if she hadn¡¯t been so¡­ broken.


    ¡°Will you go?¡± Rachuck questioned, looking around the room. Saph looked back to him, unwilling to answer. They could just tell her to go and she would have to do it, but things rarely came to that around here. They were better than that. She didn¡¯t really want to go, but it was very literally her duty to help keep the island clean of such filth.


    ¡°Fuck yeah we will,¡± Jacky replied, Tom looking like he just got stabbed in the back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± Sapphire echoed. ¡°They are sure there is nothing worse than darklings down there?¡±


    ¡°I mean it¡¯s the mines¡­ We stay out of there for a reason beyond just ¡®it¡¯s dark and scary.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°I hate you right now.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°I can go too,¡± Ray added, straightening her back, though her voice was quivering slightly. ¡°I can see in the dark, and I can fight.¡±


    ¡°Ray, please don¡¯t go,¡± Sapphire pleaded. She was not ready. Not in the slightest.


    ¡°She might be useful,¡± Rachuck replied. ¡°How far can you see by the way? I totally¡­ didn¡¯t forget?¡±


    ¡°Very far. Kilometers,¡± Ray replied proudly. Rachuck looked to Saph with an expression of ¡®are you sure she can''t come? ¡¯ As if that was her decision to make.


    ¡°She¡¯s not ready for a fight.¡±


    ¡°Well then let her stay behind you people, use her eyes and keep her safe,¡± the captain replied, clearly already sold on the idea. ¡°You have a knight in enchanted armor, Tom¡­ whatever you wanna call him, you with your impeccable aim, and Balethon... Dakota will be leading by the way.¡±


    ¡®Jacky is untrained, Tom can¡¯t fight in hand to hand, and I don¡¯t have good armor,¡¯ Sapphire cursed to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m going,¡± Ray stated with more certainty in her voice, causing Sapphire to sigh deeply. Ray would be useful, but she was still far from being in good shape. Sure the last few weeks had helped, but she was still frail and they hadn¡¯t even started combat training with her for exactly that reason.


    ¡°You better not try to be a hero. We have the Royal Guards for that. You will stay behind us. If the past is anything to go by, Tom and Jacky are gonna rip them apart.¡±


    ¡°You can just hide behind Maiko. If he¡¯s good enough for Sapphire he¡¯ll keep you safe too,¡± Jacky replied. ¡°Tom hides behind you. I hide behind him,¡± Ray replied with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost a shame mum wants me back here just in case. I¡¯m sure you could use some fine bladework.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll manage,¡± Saph replied sarcastically. ¡°When do the ¡®eager volunteers¡¯ depart?¡±


    There had been a quick briefing on what the plan was. Victoria was currently holding her ground in the cave and waiting for the tunnels to be rinsed off as many hostiles as possible, moving into the ones where the dragons could traverse to cover them. The more Saph thought about it the more she became convinced this had nothing to do with Victoria actually needing them. She had plenty of troops and was facing an outnumbered, out-matched, and apparently uncoordinated enemy, with no remaining heavy units. She wanted a demonstration of what they could do, especially Tom. When Saph voiced her concerns there had been some objections. Mainly that while, yes, Victoria''s forces would likely be more than enough, if she could get more of them home alive by asking for help, then why wouldn¡¯t she? Jacky loved the idea of giving the Royal Guard a ¡®demonstration,¡¯ and even Saph had to admit it was the kind of opportunity she would have jumped at in the past, just to show them up. But she didn''t fancy going into the mines one bit.


    ¡°Well, we can hardly deny her. Nor really blame her for wanting to see for herself,¡± Nunuk replied, cutting off the discussion. ¡°Just be careful down there. If anything, the fact Victoria likely has the situation well under control is a bonus, less risk for you. Be safe, don''t take chances, and let them take the beating if it comes to it,¡± Nunuk had concluded in the end. ¡°Now get a move on. There is no excuse for tardiness. It¡¯s a four-hour flight, and we need Jarix back before dark just in case.¡±


    ¡°Yes there is. Why are we going? They are here to defend us, and it sounds like they don''t need help in the first place?¡± Tom questioned, clearly not convinced.


    ¡°She is a colonel. We do technically have to do as she commands. Even the major or a captain could order us around if he had to,¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°And she wants me¡­ specifically?¡± Tom questioned with a sigh.


    ¡°Yes, and we all know why,¡± Saph replied, looking at the displeased human. It took a few seconds before his face grew thoughtful instead, culminating in a slight smile.


    ¡°Fine, tell the dear colonel I will come, but she will do what she can for Lothal and his family. They fucking died because of this. Their kids don''t deserve to be shamed on top of that. Her word carries weight, so she will have to use it.¡±


    ¡°She seemed more annoyed at the news than anything, her mouth growing rather foul in respect to the darklings,¡± Nunuk replied with a knowing expression. ¡°I can try to ask her. I do feel confident she will agree that they did what they could in the end.¡±


    ¡°Please do.¡±


    They took a short recess as Nunuk leaned back to speak with the colonel. It didn¡¯t take long, seconds at most, before Nunuk came back to them, clearing her throat.


    ¡°She certainly didn¡¯t seem to mind, though her language hasn¡¯t improved. Though she urged you to hurry up. Glira and Jortun didn''t want you to miss the ¡®fun,¡¯ ¡± the lady replied in a slightly disapproving tone.


    Tom didn¡¯t seem too happy, but he did reply with a quick nod before heading off to get his things. Jarix already had most of his armor on by the time Saph was ready for battle. Jacky was in the middle of donning her new armor, Shiva checking everything meticulously before giving her a stern reminder to bring it back in one piece, with her in it and breathing.


    Tom had distributed the last of the improvised grenades they had, giving Sapphire three, with him and Jacky taking one each. Jacky had been less than pleased with that of course, but the knowledge she would be too busy mowing down the enemy with her revolver and halberd to throw grenades did improve her mood a fair bit. ¡®He¡¯s getting good at the whole sweet-talking thing,¡¯ Sapphire mused as she tried to figure out where to put the grenades.


    Ray was, of course, nervous as hell and doing her best not to show it. She had been given a sword and shield, in addition to her trusty crossbow. Kullinger had luckily decided to give it a once over only a week before at Ray¡¯s insistence. The weapon clearly meant a lot to her. It also meant Sapphire wouldn¡¯t be alone in the ranged department. Shiva and Tom had only managed to finish two of the new arrows, with more well on the way, but that would have to do. The enemy supposedly didn''t have any heavy units left either way.


    Balethon was in his usual kit too, even if it was his nose they wanted rather than his fighting skill. Tracking underground was a bitch, and they had no clue where they were going down there. Saph had wanted Zarko for her navigation skills, but she was going back home with Jarix. That only served to reaffirm Sapphire''s belief that they were just there to demonstrate. If Victoria was in trouble she would have wanted Jarix and his crew to stay, or at the very least Zarko. But if the colonel wanted a demonstration, she would get one. Saph would make sure of that. Besides, they did owe Victoria quite a bit after everything that had happened in the capital. It was the least they could do, and it would be rather satisfying too.


    As they took to the sky, Jarix was still pissed at not being allowed to take part beyond the role of a glorified ferry. Jacky was excited to kick some ass, Ray was nervous, Dakota was trying to come up with plans, and Balethon was attempting to act confident. Perhaps in some attempt to reassure Ray. It was a good effort, but it didn''t really work. Tom was rather quiet, except for asking questions about what was down there. Saph and the others didn¡¯t have much useful to say though. None of them had ever been after all.


    Only Zarko, Jarix, and Radexi had been able to provide any first-hand insights into what might be down there. Some of their training had included chasing down brigands, which liked to hide in such mines and caves. Tom had brought the fancy goggles which let him see in the dark. Saph had tried to put them on once, but she couldn¡¯t see shit. Then again, she might not have had them turned on or something, it wasn''t like they fit anyway.

 Tunnel Rats

    Chapter 115: Tunnel Rats


    It was a kind of strange twilight gloom down here, getting darker the closer you got to the island. Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of it; it felt weird. It was definitely awe-inspiring and oddly terrifying to be looking up at what was essentially a flying mountain. In fact, it felt claustrophobic somehow. It didn''t help that much of the island above was covered in darkness, so you couldn¡¯t see what was hiding in it. And there were a lot of holes spread around seemingly randomly in clusters almost as if termites had infested the stone.


    Looking down wasn¡¯t any better; the vast ocean was visible through the clouds here and there, but it was ridiculously far down to the point Tom found himself clinging to Jacky as he stared down. He damn near shat himself when she lurched to the side with a cry of ¡°Oh shit!¡± before catching herself, laughing hysterically. Quite a few others joined in with the laughing. ¡®Really not the time for this,¡¯ Tom cursed annoyedly.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I didn''t think you were scared of water,¡± Sapphire chuckled.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little further down than usual,¡± Tom replied, making sure not to look down. "Who made those mines anyway? Old ruins?¡± he questioned, cleverly changing the subject.


    ¡°Don¡¯t really know. There are a few ruins on the island, so maybe there was more here back in the day. Dad certainly thinks so. Long gone now though,¡± Dakota replied, looking at him knowingly.


    ¡°Maybe they too were scared of heights,¡± Jacky replied, laughing at her own joke.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, real funny. Hopefully the tunnels will make you a little less chipper.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t scared of no hole in the ground!¡± ¡®Yeah right.¡¯


    Glira had come out to meet them, leading them back to the cave where the enemy had apparently been tracked to. Tom couldn¡¯t help but feel there were a lot of places where the enemy could hide around here, and who was to say this was the only hell hole around.


    The cave had an opening leading straight up before turning nearly ninety degrees into the main cave, which was lit by torches. It looked like a well-sheltered and easily defensible position. Judging by the charred corpses that were still strewn around as well as the marks on the walls, a valiant but futile defense had been fought by the darklings. There were also two corpses of younger-looking bat night terrors not even half the size of the ones they had fought before, assuming those were full adults.


    ¡°Nice for you to join us, you look terrifying,¡± Major Jortun greeted them as they disembarked in the cave, the other two dragons nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Oh it gets worse,¡± Jacky added. ¡°Put the mask on.¡± Tom complied, putting on the face mask and clicking down his fancy night-vision goggles. ¡°It¡¯s a human skull. It looks fucking scary right?¡±


    ¡°That is indeed disturbing. Don¡¯t startle anyone down there please, we don¡¯t want friendly fire. The others are busy beating the shit out of them. Quency, go tell them to stop gassing, backup¡¯s here.¡±


    One of Glira¡¯s crewmen gave a nod before running off down one of the huge connecting tunnels. ¡°It¡¯s quite the system you have got down here,¡± the major continued, gesturing for them to follow him. He certainly didn¡¯t seem concerned to Tom, lending more credence to Sapphire''s idea that this was just to learn about how they fought.


    ¡°So where do you need me?¡± Jarix questioned, looking hopefully to his mother. ¡®You little rascal,¡¯ Tom cursed, looking back at the dragon.


    ¡°They can¡¯t even use me down here, go back and do your job. There you might actually do some good,¡± Glira replied in a rather annoyed tone. Tom couldn¡¯t tell if it was because of Jarix or the fact she perhaps hadn¡¯t seen much action today. It had the desired effect though; Jarix looked almost betrayed for a moment before his face turned sour.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll see you back there... Murder the fuck out of them,¡± Jarix half-shouted at Tom and the group in a very loud voice. ¡®Someone wants revenge,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, nodding at Jarix.


    ¡°Can do,¡± Jacky replied with evident excitement, though the more Tom paid attention there was a cold determination creeping into her voice, to the point he had no doubt she intended to uphold that promise. This might be a stupid idea, but these were the bastards responsible for both the destruction of Hylsdal and all the deaths at Deriva after all. They deserved to be wiped out, and they would be. ¡°This time you stay behind me.¡±


    There was no room for argument in her voice either, Tom just nodding, taking a deep breath. ¡®Time to see if this works,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, bringing up the newly shortened shotgun. He had no clue how tight it would be down there, but a scoped rifle was likely not suitable. A sawed-off shotgun with both slugs and buckshot through¡­ that was a different story. Better on the ears too for that matter.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph let out a shivering sigh as they made their way down the narrow corridor. She fucking hated this: it was dark, it was cold, the walls were wet and the floor slippery. They had torches, but that was it. Their little group had been joined up with much of Glira¡¯s crew, Major Jortun being in command. It had been a bit of an argument, but in the end Jortun had won by virtue of him lacking swordsmen. He also had fewer people even after they split off elements to help the dragons guard the entrance cave. Ray and Tom had argued for not taking any torches, but the major and Dakota had overruled them. Saph didn¡¯t mind being able to see, so she was quite happy with the torchlight, not to mention the bit of heat coming off them.


    ¡°This seems too easy,¡± Dakota stated, clearly on edge.


    ¡°What can I say? Don''t catch Grevi on a bad breath day,¡± the major replied, not sounding worried in the slightest. ¡°How¡¯s our tracker doing?¡± The major, Dakota, Balethon, and one sergeant called Tubs were in the lead, sword and shield at the ready. The second line was Jacky and three of Glira¡¯s crew, carrying halberds and spears. Then came Saph, Ray, Tom, and Twitch the grenadier as the ranged combatants, with more of Glira¡¯s swords and shields in the rear.


    ¡°They have come through here that¡¯s for sure,¡± Balethon replied.


    ¡°You said that 10 minutes ago,¡± Tubs protested, sounding a bit less carefree than the major.


    ¡°Well it was true back then too.¡±


    ¡°I would retreat too if the tunnels started filling with gas,¡± Dakota added, peering down the tunnel.


    ¡°THERE!¡± Ray let out, losing a bolt over the heads of the ones in front, the audible ping of the bolt striking metal coming back up the tunnel. ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± Dakota questioned.


    ¡°Just one, it peeked around the corner.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ okay,¡± Jortun replied thoughtfully. ¡°Next time just tell us what you see.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Think they are laying an ambush, boss?¡± Tubs questioned. The major let out a chuckle.


    ¡°Of course they are. They have likely run out of orders to follow. I¡¯m willing to bet they have either been told to defend something, or just kill as many of us as possible. So ambushes galore,¡± the major replied, still not seeming worried as they began advancing down the tunnel again.


    ¡°Great,¡± Saph let out. This was exactly why she hated fighting in tunnels, especially if she didn''t know them. And thanks to the lack of light, even Ray was outshooting her¡­


    ¡°About here will do. Twitch, you¡¯re up,¡± the major ordered, the formation coming to a halt. The grenadier made his way to the front line, opening up his satchel bags.


    ¡°What¡¯s we cooking today, boss?¡± The rather singed-looking dragonette replied, Tom taking an evident interest. Saph made well sure to keep her distance ¡®cause that looked like it had gone wrong before.


    ¡°Blitz. I don¡¯t wanna suffocate down here.¡±


    ¡°You gotz it,¡± Twitch replied, getting out a metal ball and beginning to fiddle with it. He took out a small glass cylinder of what looked suspiciously like blitz powder, slotting it into the device.


    ¡°You are not gonna throw that, right?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Why not?¡± came the confused reply from Twitch.


    ¡°Have you at least discharged it first?¡± Tom pleaded, Saph taking another step back.


    ¡°Dis what?¡±


    ¡°That is blitz powder right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, goes boom when it hits, I show you.¡±


    Saph could hear Tom swallow as he put his hands over his ears, and she instinctively followed suit. Twitch fiddled with the metal ball a bit more before nodding at Jortun, receiving a nod back. Saph made ready to ¡®help¡¯ the ball just in case the throw was off, but despite appearances it would seem Twitch could at least throw the thing.


    It definitely went boom too, the orb exploding the second it touched the floor. The flash of light blinded Saph slightly even through her closed eyelids. ¡°Charge!¡± Jortun ordered once everyone got the fingers back out of their ears.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly an ordered advance as they stormed into the opening. The tunnel led into a small cave. The entrance was lit by torches on the wall leaving the rest of the room in darkness. It positively screamed trap, but hopefully, the grenade had done its job. Saph began scanning for targets immediately as the ones in front dealt with the scout that had been spying on them. That is to say they finished off the half-dead corpse that was screaming in agony. Then came the return fire, as the blinded darklings opened fire from the darkness. If not for the fact she was currently getting shot at, she would have laughed at their lack of accuracy. Only a single arrow bouncing off Dakota''s shield, the rest missing completely.


    Jortun decided this was still an unfair fight, so he threw his torch at the enemy. Dakota followed suit, and they hunkered down behind their shields to begin the advance on the enemy archers. Sapphire Crouched down behind the little shield wall to pop up and fire and she did not miss, dropping a target with a shaft to the throat. Tom had warned her that using the grenades inside the tunnel would be incredibly dangerous, and there were no important-looking targets around, so regular arrows would do. Ray also fired, as did the members of Glira¡¯s crew that were carrying crossbows, and they did score some hits collectively, though seemingly no immediate kills.


    That changed as Tom joined in, rising to his feet next to Sapphire and crumpling in some poor fucker¡¯s chest, everyone flinching at the loud crack. Jacky also joined in, standing tall in the face of the enemy, advancing with the line as she let loose with her revolver, recklessly firing away. Saph wasn¡¯t sure if it was on purpose, but it certainly got the enemy¡¯s attention, as all fire shifted to Jacky. It would seem their eyes were recovering too, as more and more hits started bouncing harmlessly off Jacky''s armor.


    ¡°Come on then fuckheads, kill me!¡± Jacky shouted as the revolver clicked empty, Tom grabbing her by the shoulders trying to pull her down. ¡°I fucking dare you!¡±


    ¡°Get down you idiot!¡± Jacky did, in fact, get down, much to Saph''s relief as she drew another arrow. From what she could see they were dealing with no more than a handful of darklings here, and the swords had closed enough that they were switching to blades themselves. Saph checked behind them real quick, making sure that the rearguard was keeping their backs clear before she fanned out, Ray sticking close to her.


    ¡°Hold fire, Ray,¡± Saph ordered, worried that her aim might not be quite good enough to avoid nailing someone in the neck, and she had just managed to reload.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ray replied, clearly with genuine fear in her voice.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just a few of them,¡± Saph tried as Dakota reduced the enemy¡¯s number by one. The darklings seemingly agreed that they were fucked, as they began falling back to another tunnel on the far side of the room. Saph put an arrow in the furthest enemy. ¡°See? We go this.¡±


    ¡°They wanna cork us up in the tunnel!¡± Dakota let out.


    ¡°Let them. Twitch, prep flash, half charge!¡±


    ¡°Tom, can I?¡±


    ¡°No, not in here. We''d all be jelly,¡± Tom snapped as he donked a shot into the wall.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Jacky relented as she brandished her halberd, coming to Dakota¡¯s aid.


    Saph kept firing on the retreating enemy, bouncing a shot off a breastplate, cursing herself as she drew again. Jacky took out her pent-up frustration by completely demolishing the face of the darkling who was sparring with and already losing to Dakota. The enemy apparently decided it was time to fall back now, disengaging from combat and flat out running for the tunnel. Saph nailed another one in the back, but the fucker kept running until Tom blew a hole in its leather armor, dropping it to the floor dead.


    ¡°Room clear,¡± Jortun went as he dispatched his target. The remaining enemies made it into the tunnel. ¡°Hurry it up, Twitch.¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss,¡± The walking bomb responded, running up next to the opening and throwing the firebomb down the narrow corridor before retreating. Sapphire felt the hit to her chest as the fireball shot out of the opening and into the room, coming close enough to singe Jortun and some other guy ever so slightly.


    ¡°Fucking hell Twitch," someone protested. Sapphire was just focused on trying to breathe through the smoke that had billowed out after the explosion, her eyes watering. For a second she considered whether or not getting out of here was the correct course of action.


    ¡°Why the fuck did you do that!?¡± Tom demanded between coughs.


    ¡°To smoke them out,¡± Jortun replied coughing into his elbow. ¡°I said quarter charge, Twitch.¡±


    ¡°No boss, half charge.¡±


    ¡°You did say half charge,¡± someone else echoed, Jortun shooting them an angry glance.


    ¡°Tubs you¡¯re on point, go flush ''em out. Single file.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Who the fuck uses incendiaries in a tunnel!?¡¯ Tom cursed as he tried to rig up something to breathe through. The smoke wasn¡¯t that thick, but it had a nasty sulfurous taste that he was sure wasn¡¯t good for you.


    Jacky didn¡¯t seem to mind too much though. Sure, she was coughing too, trying to wave away the smoke, but she did have a smile on her face. She didn¡¯t look happy though, it was more¡­ manic, as she wiped off her halberd on the guy whose face she completely wrecked. ¡®Best for her to get it out,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, honestly feeling a little scared.


    ¡°You sure they are still following old orders?¡± Dakota questioned, looking to the major. ¡°That looks like planning to me.¡±


    ¡°If not, then where is this commander of theirs?¡± Jortun replied, still not sounding worried. Dakota didn¡¯t look convinced, but she held her tongue.


    The major had some of his people move up and go down the hallway to kill off the enemy wounded. The screaming was nasty, the distorted pitch of the darklings not helping Tom¡¯s mood right now. He topped off the shotgun and made ready for shit to go wrong as he moved up behind Jacky.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go running off on me now.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± came the reply. ¡°We¡¯ll make them pay together.¡±


    That was when Tom heard a rather odd noise, Jacky picking up on it first, looking around. ¡®What the hell is that?¡¯


    ¡°Ritual!¡± Dakota shouted out as the screaming from the tunnel started, followed by the desperate cry of ¡°Witch!¡± before that voice also descended into incoherent screaming. Tom had no clue what he was supposed to do in this situation, so he grabbed Jacky by the shoulder, leading the seemingly equally confused dragonette out into the middle of the room to give him a shot down the tunnel where the screaming was coming from. Jacky caught on to what he was doing, leveling the halberd at anything that might be coming out of there. The guy who had been at the back of the little column came running out, dropping to the ground and beginning to roll as some of the other Royal Guard started to douse him with a white powder. The screaming from the tunnel came to a stop, leaving only the poor fucker that made it out.


    Looking down the corridor the torches had gone out, so Tom lowered the NVGS and was greeted by the dissolving corpse of what had been their vanguard, currently being eaten away by acid of some kind.


    ¡°They were sprayed,¡± Dakota shouted out, noticing what Tom and Jacky had done. ¡°Get back.¡±


    Tom couldn¡¯t see anything worth shooting at, so he did as he was told, Jacky hesitating for a second before following suit. ¡°Twitch, another one,¡± Jortun shouted out, the demolitions expert getting to work immediately. Then their rearguard added their voices. ¡°Pjeltor!¡±


    Tom had no clue what that meant. As he turned to look, a crossbow was loosed back down the route they had come before a large spider-looking creature slammed into the two guards who were holding the entrance. The two women were pushed back as they braced against their shields, but they held the thing off. A second of the creatures came crawling along the ceiling at incredible speed, Tom firing and missing the first shot at it. The creature snapped to face him, its cold compound insect-like eyes staring down at him as it leaped in the same near-instant motion. Tom had to admit he froze for a second there as Jacky shoulder-checked the charging creature, the sound of the pjeltor¡¯s extended fangs snapping echoing throughout the cave. That apparently made Jacky enemy number one, as the quick and nimble creature darted around her, trying to outrun her guard. It damn near succeeded too, as it paused, ready to leap onto her. Tom fired the second shot, nailing the fucker in the side, tearing it open and sending green goo flying everywhere as it screeched in agony. Then came Jacky''s halberd, also slamming home in the creature''s side, pulping what was left.


    ¡°More of the fuckers!¡± one of the women holding back the first one shouted as they stabbed and slashed at the first one, dealing some serious damage despite the creature''s rapid dodges. Tom looked up to see the third one already skittering along the ceiling before it just fucking exploded with a boom that made his ears ring and sent him ducking for cover along with everyone else in the cave. Sapphire was readying another arrow, of the regular kind this time, for the first one. The rear guard got it though as it attempted to retreat, driving a sword thrust home before tag-teaming the beast. They raised their shields again, so Tom assumed there were more on the way. He opened the shotgun, the spent rounds ejecting as he and Jacky made their way over to help just as the fourth Pjeltor made its appearance. It might be fast, but leaping down at them from the ceiling meant it couldn¡¯t dodge as Jacky deftly ran it through with the Halberd.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like spiders!¡± Jacky half screamed as Tom slammed the gun shut again.


    ¡°How the fuck do we deal with the witch!¡± Dakota shouted out.


    ¡°You burn it,¡± Jortun replied as Tom looked back at them to see Twitch was done with his next concoction.


    ¡°Saph, here now!¡± Dakota ordered, snatching the ball from Twitch. ¡°As far down as you can!¡± Twitch looked like he was gonna protest, and Saph definitely wasn¡¯t happy either as she took the bomb.


    Jortun and Dakota moved to cover her, stepping in front of the corridor, Sapphire chucking the grenade like a baseball pitcher keeping her eyes on the ball. Tom held his breath, fearing it would explode in her hand. The enemy reply came in the shape of a stream of what must be acid shooting out from the corridor, the stream moving unnaturally through the air. Jortun stepped forward, shield raised, scribed runes burning as the stream fell harmlessly to the ground and began to eat away at the stone. Then a firestorm erupted anew from down the corridor. The three of them did their best to jump out of the way, Jortun going right and getting his left side bathed in the stream of flame, roaring out in pain. Dakota and saph went left, ending up better off, though Dakota¡¯s face ended up burnt from having her shield too low. Ray sprinted over to the two of them, dropping her crossbow as she kneeled next to Dakota pouring water on her face.


    ¡°Dude!¡± Jacky shouted, snapping Tom¡¯s attention back to the threat they had to their front. ¡°The fuckers just keep coming!¡± A point which was quickly proven as an overenthusiastic spider fly thing leapt at her and was slammed to the ground with the halberd. Tom brought up the shotgun and reduced the thing''s head to pulp, swinging back to the entrance and slamming down the goggles. He sorta wished he hadn''t done that, as the tunnel was best described as ¡®furry.¡¯ He fired the second shot into the mass of creatures, going for a quick reload. Looking back up, they were gone, leaving a clear if slightly messy corridor¡­


    ¡°Uhh Jacky¡­ Where did they go?¡±


    Two guards in front of them looked at each other after a second of waiting for something to happen. ¡°Think the piece of shit ate it?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Forwards, kill it!¡± Jortun ordered as he rolled around, trying to pat out the fire that had caught his cloak.


    Saph had gotten back to her feet and was currently helping Ray with tending to Dakota. They already had her helmet off and were pouring cold water onto the burn wounds. ¡°She¡¯s hurt bad,¡± Saph shouted out. It looked nasty, but wasn¡¯t gonna kill her at least. ''Because of your idiotic fire bombs,¡¯ she cursed to herself. This shit didn''t happen with Tom¡¯s equipment. Well, at least you knew that was gonna happen with his stuff, and he warned you.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Get off me,¡± Dakota demanded, reaching for her helmet again. ¡°We can¡¯t let them get back up down there. Jackalope!¡±


    Saph looked up to see that at least the pjeltor had stopped coming, which was something. Jacky hurriedly made her way over as Dakota made it back to her feet. Ray looked like she really wanted to object, but she kept quiet.


    ¡°What about you old man, still kicking?¡± Dakota questioned, looking at the major, who had definitely lost his nonchalant demeanor.


    ¡°Yes,¡± came the quick reply as he got up.


    Dakota looked back to them. ¡°Tom rear guard. Keep this place clear. Jacky on point, your armor can handle the acid, give her the soda. You sprinkle it on the thin patches. Don¡¯t bother with the large ones, we don¡¯t have enough,¡± Dakota ordered. The other guards looked to Jortun, who nodded his approval.


    ¡°Her on point then us two. Sapphire behind that, one of those nasty arrows, please. Everyone get your feet dusted first too,¡± Jortun added, seemingly psyching himself up too.


    ¡°We need to get out of here, quick,¡± Tom stated in a worried voice, looking at the gathering smoke around the ceiling. It had gotten real hot here too.


    ¡°Agreed, we¡¯ll hurry,¡± Dakota replied.


    Jacky moved in front of the corridor, halberd leveled at the foe, though nothing bad happened, so she began the advance. She did her best to give them some safe ground to tread on.


    Sapphire had to take a second to piece herself together before going in. This was not pleasant in the slightest. It was fucking horrible, in fact. She could hardly breathe, it was extremely cramped in here, she had just burned Dakota¡¯s face, there was acid on the floor, she didn¡¯t have boots on and three Royal Guards were very dead already. At least Balethon had been enough of a coward as to not catch the major''s eye for point duty. Ray looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown and didn¡¯t even try to follow them down the corridor. Something Saph was very grateful for. She should not have been here in the first place. And Saph kinda wished she hadn''t gone either.


    They didn¡¯t have enough soda to just cover the floor, so they would need to be nimble on their feet, Jacky strewing it where the acid was thin. Saph muttered a few prayers as she tried to avoid stepping on the bad patches, tiptoeing down the corridor. ¡®Please don¡¯t burn, please don¡¯t burn.¡¯


    Jortun seemingly got his foot burned, the major letting out some restrained muttering as they carefully stepped around the poor fuckers that took the brunt of the attack. Their armor was melted into them to the point you couldn''t even tell where the helmet stopped and the face began. Sapphire retched, trying not to puke and looking away. After that though, mercifully, the floor was clear and they picked up the pace. They needed to hurry in case this witch was only down and not out.


    They emerged into a much smaller room which was filled with thick smoke, everyone ducking down to avoid it. Even so, Saph was really struggling to breathe by now, her lungs burning like fire. There were small bundles of cloth strewn around, and a single dragonette clad in dark robes lay on the floor in the center, badly burned to the point Saph couldn¡¯t even be sure this was a witch or just a mage that had been charred beyond recognition. It was a woman though, that was for certain. The darklings that had made it down the narrow tunnel were strewn about on the floor, seemingly dead too.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s done for,¡± Jacky let out, poking the witch with her halberd. ¡°Do we take her?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch her, who knows what she is carrying,¡± Dakota replied.


    ¡°Chop off her head¡­ just in case,¡± Jortun countered as he opened one of the charred bundles. ¡°Young night terrors. See if you can find one in decent shape. The academy is gonna love this.¡±


    Most of the young ones were badly burned, but they made very sure they were indeed dead, taking the most intact specimen. Jacky made sure the witch wasn¡¯t coming back to haunt them with a big swing, kicking the head away from the body.


    ¡°Why is the smoke going through the stone?¡± Balethon questioned. The guy had moved to the far wall, watching it closely. Before he got a response, he stuck his hand through the wall. ¡°Uhm¡­ guys?¡±


    Jortun didn¡¯t respond, just walking over, bracing his shield and sticking his head into the wall as if it wasn¡¯t there. ¡°Clever fucking bastards.¡±


    ¡°We need to move it,¡± Dakota went, suppressing a coughing fit. Sapphire definitely agreed with that part. It was unbearable in here, and she could feel herself getting light-headed.


    ¡°Agreed, we''ll come back for this when the smoke has cleared. Let¡¯s move,¡± Jortun replied, stepping back through the illusion. Dakota led the way down the corridor, Saph following closely. She needed to get out of here now . It was too cramped, and she didn¡¯t like this. She didn¡¯t like this at all. She couldn¡¯t even take a deep breath to calm herself down. Then a gauntleted hand gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder as she stopped staring at the ruined corpses in the middle of the corridor.


    ¡°Hey, you got this.¡±


    Saph took a second to compose herself, closing her eyes. ¡®War is death, death is life. But with life comes eternal strife. So fight for life, for it is right.¡¯ She was Sapphire Rayland and she quite possibly the deadliest archer alive now and she was not afraid of some godforsaken tunnel, she had this. ¡°Thanks, Jacky.¡±


    Making it back into the larger cave, Jortun gave the order for general retreat; it was not safe to be here. They had to wait for the acid to burn out and the smoke to clear before retrieving the bodies. For the first time today, Tom seemed relieved as they quickly cleared the bodies of the pjeltors, hurriedly making their way down the tunnel, heads on a swivel looking for more of the many-legged beasts. Sahp had been perfectly fine to only see those things as figures before, and she definitely didn¡¯t need to see any more.


    It would seem the pjeltors had been under the control of the witch since they didn¡¯t even catch another whiff of them. Saph didn¡¯t even know that was something you could do, but it would seem that with her death the spell was at least broken. After around ten minutes of walking, they made it to a larger cave with fresh-ish air, stopping to tend to their wounded. Pablo, the poor fucker who survived the tunnel ambush, was in bad shape. One of their rearguards had ended up with a puncture wound on her hand when a pjeltor bit down on her sword. They had tied off the hand immediately, but she needed urgent care if she wasn¡¯t gonna lose it.


    Dakota¡¯s face also needed tending to, Saph cursing as her tail touched the ground sending a sharp hit of pain running up her spine. Looking back it would seem she had not gotten that out of the way quickly enough, a large blue burn mark spreading up the side of the tip. ¡®Oh dammit.¡¯


    There were plenty of unwounded hands to help out though, so she set about tending to her own tail. They needed to get back to a healer quickly since Dakota was not able to work on her own face. She instead went to work on Pablo and Jortun, doing what she could. Jortun had two conventional healing potions with him. He gave one to Pablo in the hope that would keep him alive long enough to get back to the entrance cave with the quick patches Dakota had made, but they had to move it.

 Witchcraft

    Chapter 116: Witchcraft


    ¡°So the witch?¡± Tom questioned as they walked back towards the entrance cave. ¡°Did she just make acid and throw it at us?¡±


    ¡°No, she must have had it in a jar or something. She just hurled it at us,¡± Dakota replied in a very sour tone.


    ¡°Can Linkosta do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Tom, she could melt you alive if you give her a jar of dragon acid.¡± Tom got the memo to perhaps leave this for another time. That was interesting though. He needed to find out more about these rituals; they were apparently Linkosta¡¯s specialty after all.


    ¡°Remember when Dad used a translation circle on you?¡± Dakota questioned after a bit, sounding a little sorry for snapping at him.


    ¡°Yeah, that was an¡­ experience.¡±


    ¡°Remember the runes on the floor? That is the ritual. It¡¯s almost like an enchantment, it¡¯s just not permanent. With that, she can perform pretty much whatever magic she wants if she knows how to set up the ritual. Often making the effect even more powerful too.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ so like what the inquisitor did, Linkosta could do that too?¡±


    ¡°You will have to take that one up with her. I don¡¯t know. Dad can do translation and some very basic mind-reading. If you don¡¯t want him to see, though, he can¡¯t force you. And you need the materials too, of course.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Tom replied. At least that made sense as to why they hadn¡¯t used it for interrogations before.


    ¡°Next time we meet a witch I say we throw one of these bad boys,¡± Jacky added, patting the satchel grenade on her hip.


    ¡°If we had more space then yes. I¡¯m no demo expert, but that would probably have killed us all.¡±


    ¡°Stick it up her ass when we go back there,¡± Jortun sneered, his friendly demeanor utterly gone. ¡°Then you can have your test fire.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna send her to heaven by accident,¡± Saph protested halfheartedly.


    ¡°No way that piece of shit is getting in,¡± One of the other guards responded.


    ¡°Closed, barred, and shut,¡± Another one added solemnly, glancing back the way they had come before nervously looking back ahead, clearly still on edged. They were not out of the woods yet.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get it. Why didn¡¯t she run into the ¡®secret¡¯ corridor to escape?¡± Balethon questioned, currently in the lead and sounding rather nervous.


    ¡°Cause then we would have looked for it and found it,¡± Jortun replied. ¡°Whatever is in there they don¡¯t want us to find it.¡±


    ¡°I might not be that quick, but why not go somewhere else so we would go there?¡± Jacky questioned.


    ¡°Maybe they knew we had a sniffer. Maybe they were running with the young and we caught them. Who knows?¡± Dakota replied with a shrug, not taking her attention off the tunnel ahead.


    ¡°Maybe they were just damn proud of their little trick. Would it hurt if they fucked up too today?¡± Jortun added, looking to Pablo, Tom looking to Dakota expectantly.


    ¡°Yes Tom, she could likely make that too, but since it stayed up after she died then it wasn¡¯t her,¡± Dakota replied after a second of silence.


    ¡°Enchantment then?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Or another witch.¡±


    Tom really didn¡¯t want to run into another one of those bastards. The only one here who had even a chance of taking a hit like that was Jacky, and he really didn¡¯t want to have that theory tested. They had been first back to the entrance cave, the elements that had been left to guard quickly getting to work helping out with the wounded. The healer from Jortun¡¯s crew, called Kulk was, luckily enough, very experienced with burns. She had stayed behind so they had a healer with each group, Dakota filling the role for their party.


    Antidotes for pjeltor poison were also retrieved. It was apparently not a very fast-acting poison, instead being meant to break you down slowly and make you easier to eat as well as somewhat pickling you for storage. A notion Tom didn¡¯t find comforting for some odd reason.


    Neither Jortun nor Dakota were looking particularly brilliant, the major having picked up an acid burn on his foot too, but Pablo was by far the worst off. Despite their efforts, he looked awful. He wasn¡¯t even able to speak, and large patches of skin were blackened and falling off. The hasty work of Dakota and the potion had formed a sort of translucent skin over the burns. Tom had given the guy a painkiller, not daring to go for two even if he really looked like he needed it right now.


    ¡°Tubs, Oleg, and Pila¡­ Victoria was right I see. Just an easy trip. Two lancers and a brilliant swordsman dead in a fucking cave,¡± Glira spat angrily. Jortun looked up at her without saying a word. ¡°What¡¯s next? Are you gonna die on me too? Or perhaps Pablo? And what about you lot? Some mighty fearsome warriors you are, what happened? Got too close to your own bomb?¡±


    ¡°A witch got us in an ambush. Not much to do at that point, and those crazy bastards scored more kills than us,¡± Jortun protested, flinching at the pain as his armor was delicately removed from the burned areas.


    ¡°Yeah, what the fuck is that thing even?¡± the unwounded rearguard questioned, putting aside the Major¡¯s armor pieces. ¡°My ears hurt like hell when you fire that thing. It¡¯s so damn loud!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shotgun. Very handy down here. Light, nimble, and can put anything on its ass if it isn¡¯t too heavily armored.¡±


    ¡°Handy indeed,¡± Jortun replied, looking to Tom. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that isn¡¯t for sale either?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Tom replied, checking to make sure the gun was on safe before leaning it against the wall. ¡°You know the deal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, untold death and destruction. Still beats me how that thing could do that, it¡¯s not that good. Don¡¯t worry though, I¡¯m not gonna try to steal it.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had taken close to an hour before Victoria returned with her group, the colonel stopping to stare at the mess in front of her as she stepped into the cave.


    ¡°What the hell happened?!¡±


    ¡°Witch,¡± Jortun replied, Victoria¡¯s face turning furious.


    ¡°Those conniving little dung rats! Did you at least do the decent thing and kill it?¡±


    ¡°Oh she¡¯s dead,¡± Jacky replied, wiping off a bit of non-existent filth from her halberd¡¯s blade.


    ¡°Found a secret door too. And they didn¡¯t want us down there,¡± Jortun added.


    ¡°Idiots should just have gone somewhere else,¡± Dakota added. ¡°Led us right to it.¡±


    ¡°Secret door to where?¡± Victoria questioned, looking to Pablo. He was lying on the ground still, being tended to by Kulk, the healer from Victoria¡¯s group getting to work on Jortun.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, some kind of corridor. We needed the smoke and acid to subside before going down there.¡±


    ¡°You used grenades underground?!¡±


    ¡°What would you have done? Throw people at the problem till we were all dead? We are going back down there to get the dead and figure out where that door goes.¡±


    ¡°That we are, did you make sure they are not coming back?¡±


    ¡°They were practically a puddle by the time we left. They are not fixing that.¡±


    ¡°Good. How many wounded?¡±


    ¡°Just four, I¡¯m good though.¡±


    ¡°As a medical professional you are ordered to stay here,¡± the healer protested almost mechanically.


    ¡°Not a chance. Fix him up, we are gonna need him,¡± Victoria countered. The healer just nodded, looking back to the burned arm.


    ¡°Can¡¯t hunt witches without a witch hunter,¡± Jortun joked with a strained smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m staying here,¡± Dakota let out from her spot leaning against a wall. It wasn¡¯t a hard sell when her face was covered in wet bandages. Tom had volunteered half a painkiller for her too. The fact she took it spoke volumes about just how much it hurt.


    ¡°Ray, would you rather stay here? Might need an assistant if I¡¯m to fill in for Kulk,¡± Dakota questioned. The scrawny woman contemplated for a second before nodding silently, looking a touch ashamed. Dakota just pulled a smile. ¡°Nothing to be ashamed of. I could use the company.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Dakota and Kulk stay here and tend to our wounded. Revi you¡¯re coming with us,¡± Victoria ordered, looking around the room. ¡°We have a job to do, people. Five-minute break. Grab what extra gear you need and let¡¯s go kill the bastards!¡±


    Saph questioned to herself whether it was worth it to try and get a spot tending to the wounded like Ray. A bruised tail wouldn¡¯t be much of an argument though. ¡®No, I¡¯m not a damn coward. I can do this,¡¯ she cursed, looking around at the others getting ready to move again once Jortun was considered sufficiently fixed up. Taking a deep breath, she went over her kit one more time just to be sure, checking that everything was in order, which of course it was. She still had one of those special arrows left. She had to give it Jacky: it had felt damn addicting to fire the previous one.


    Tom and Jacky seemingly had a little talk in private, Tom not seeming very pleased at all. Saph guessed he probably had objected to going back in there, but it was pretty clear what Jacky¡¯s position would be on that subject. There were no objections from Tom, though, when they moved out, but he wasn¡¯t exactly enthusiastic either. Jacky, though, was definitely still on a mission, Tom sticking as close as he could get away with.


    As they made their way back down the tunnels they were on their guard all the way down, yet nothing bad happened. It was perfectly quiet. The bodies were all still there, everything being as they left it. They dragged their dead out of the corridor, putting them in the room with two sentries to watch over them until they returned to take the bodies back with them. It had been at least two hours, and most of the acid appeared to have eaten itself into the rock, even if the bodies were still making a sickening sizzling noise. They had brought more soda, getting the corridor mostly safe to traverse. Victoria and her crew had at least taken point from here on in, and with this many people down here it did feel a lot safer, even if it also meant Saph couldn¡¯t have fired at anything if she had to, and Tom definitely couldn¡¯t have done so with his shotgun.


    Going through the wall was a touch odd, but on the other side it quickly led into a much larger tunnel, the two meeting in a T junction. It seemed almost like the smaller tunnel had been dug into the big one. The floor was smooth, and there were even remnants of what might be wheel tracks in the stone, as if there had been a lot of traffic here back in the day.


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    They had moved out to secure their entry point, Balethon going to have a sniff. ¡°A lot more people going this way,¡± he went, pointing down the right.


    ¡°Right it is then,¡± Victoria replied, the formation swinging around. In the larger tunnel, they could actually form a proper formation. It helped that they had the numbers this time around. Coming to a junction there were actually signs hanging on the wall.


    ¡°Huh, well would you look at that,¡± Victoria let out in surprise, looking at the rather ruined sign.


    ¡°Signs¡­ but for who?¡± Maiko questioned, scratching his ear a little.


    ¡°Old Miners I guess? Look, the letters are all funny,¡± Jacky replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s ancient. People spoke funny back then,¡± Victoria clarified, pointing down the left tunnel. ¡°It says storage hub¡­ 42¡­ I think, whatever that means.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where the trail is going,¡± Balethon confirmed, Victoria nodding as they made their way down that tunnel.


    As Sapphire walked past she had a look at the odd sign. It definitely looked old, and it was rather hard to read, but it was still rather fascinating to see writing this old.


    ¡°Storage for what?¡± Tom questioned, receiving a shrug from Victoria.


    ¡°I bet it¡¯s gems or gold,¡± Jacky replied, actually sounding a little excited. She had always liked exploring, so it kinda made sense. It wasn¡¯t as cramped in here either, but Saph still didn¡¯t like the thought they were walking into a trap or might have been surrounded already. If it stored anything it was likely to be filth anyway. Whoever built this place was long gone, and whatever might have been worth something would be long gone too.


    Going down the corridor, not much changed until they got to a section of the tunnel that looked like it might have been a door frame once. There wasn¡¯t really anything left except the nicely cut hole in the stone that led to a large room. This, though, was definitely a room rather than a cave. Real work had gone into smoothing the walls and carving out paths in the floor, several tunnels all of a similar size to the one they had entered through leading off in all directions. There wasn¡¯t much in there though.


    ¡°Well, there have certainly been people in here,¡± Balethon said as the formation spread out, still wary although there didn¡¯t seem to be many places to hide in here.


    ¡°Why would there be a hidden entrance to this place? It¡¯s just a mine right?¡± Saph questioned, looking around. Surely this wasn¡¯t all supposed to be secret. ¡°It was very narrow too. This place is big.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they are the same age,¡± Victoria replied. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel that similar.¡±


    ¡°Think they have been digging for something?¡± Jortun replied, clearly pondering the idea.


    ¡°The forelegs on those beasts can definitely dig,¡± Tom added. ¡°Just look at what they did to Jarix¡¯s back.¡±


    ¡°Warm-blooded too. They can just keep going,¡± Sargeant Kolinki added, looking to Tom.


    ¡°So this is the old mine¡­ Why didn¡¯t they just find the entrance¡­ There¡¯s no way they could have dug for this if they didn¡¯t know roughly where it was,¡± Victoria let out, clearly confused by all this. Sapphire had to agree; she didn¡¯t see any good reasoning either.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s been blocked off?¡± Jortun added. ¡°That begs the question. What is down here?¡±


    ¡°Is this gonna be one of those stories where an evil thing was locked away and shouldn¡¯t get out?¡± Jacky questioned as if that was something very familiar to her. Sapphire glared at her, trying to convey ¡®Do not say that¡¯ as clearly as possible through staring alone.


    ¡°If that is the case, it¡¯s a safe bet the evil bastards are trying just that. Which way did they go?¡± Victoria asked, looking to Balethon, who started moving around the room. A few guards stayed with him just in case.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming,¡± one of Jortun¡¯s crew let out, pointing to one of the far side tunnels. ¡°Down there. Marching feet on stone.¡±


    ¡°Spread out and cover that entrance. Make an ambush, no loud weapons,¡± Victoria ordered, all of them moving to give whoever was coming a bad day. After a minute or so Sapphire also picked up the sound. There were quite a few, but it was hard to tell with the echoing stone.


    What emerged was a small group of four darklings who had apparently completely failed to figure out the ambush they had just walked into. Bows and crossbows filled them with shafts before the front line moved up to finish them off. It was a very clean takedown, and none of their party even received a scratch, most of the darklings not even getting their weapons out.


    ¡°Very good. Let¡¯s find out where they came from,¡± Victoria ordered, gesturing down the tunnel.


    ¡°Is it normal to have this many in one place?¡± Tom questioned, looking to the four dead rather worriedly.


    ¡°If there is another witch around, I expect a lot more,¡± Victoria replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s comforting,¡± Tom replied, clearly on edge. Sapphire just kept her mouth shut, focusing on what was ahead, trying not to think about the details.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Secret doors, old mines, and shit that¡¯s been locked away and shouldn¡¯t be touched. What was this, dnd or something? Tom cursed to himself, remembering some of the mortality rates from back in the day. ¡®No you idiot, ¡®shut up and soldier.¡¯ Clear the bastards out, let the guards do the lifting, and get home safe.¡¯ That was all he had to worry about right now.


    For now, that meant finger on the trigger and goggles down, ready for anything. It turned into quite the walk as he pondered just how big this system was. In the other tunnels, they had to move slowly and carefully over the rough and at times slippery floors. Here, though, it was mostly just a pleasant walk.


    There had to be several kilometers of these tunnels, and there was no way they could search them all in one go. That meant sniffer boi Balethon was on point. Kolinky could apparently only smell corruption on something that had been in a bit more contact than ¡®a darkling walked here,¡¯ though he did get a whiff of corruption from time to time. He assured them it wasn¡¯t anything too bad.


    ¡°Noise ahead,¡± the guy from Jortun¡¯s crew who apparently had good ears called out in a low tone, the formation coming to a stop to let him listen for a second. ¡°Not marching¡­ Might be digging actually.¡±


    ¡°I say we find out,¡± Victoria replied. ¡°Quiet as can be.¡±


    They moved forward slowly, Tom cursing the sound of their claws on the stone. ¡®Quiet my ass.¡¯ Not that he was silent himself, the interlocking plates making a slight clacking noise as he walked. It was still less than their damn clawed feet.


    ¡°How come the guy with the loudest weapon in history can move like a ghost?¡± Jortun questioned Tom, ironically enough, not having noticed the man moving up beside him.


    ¡°Good boots,¡± Tom replied with a shrug. ¡°And I¡¯m far from quiet right now,¡± he went, clinking the shotgun against the plates on his lower arm.


    ¡°Noted.¡±


    ¡°Boss that sign says ¡®vault,¡¯ ¡± one of the lead swordsmen let out, looking to another sign on the side of the tunnel where a smaller tunnel joined.


    ¡°I guess we know what they are working on then,¡± Jortun concluded. ¡°Question is, should it stay in there, or do we want it?¡±


    "Let¡¯s stop them first then figure it out,¡± Victoria replied, continuing the advance.


    It took them at least ten minutes of slow-moving before Tom could start to hear the digging sound too. It was still distant, but he could hear both picks¡ªor maybe hammers¡ªand what sounded like big bashes or something. It was definitely metallic too. Just in case, he reloaded with slugs. Buckshot likely wouldn¡¯t do much against a fully grown night terror if that was what they were dealing with. Not that he could figure out how they might have gotten one in here. They passed several large doorways that all looked like they had been forced or battered open. Bits and pieces laying strewn around the place, The tunnel remained the same size but there were more decorations too as they passed through these doorways.


    Then came a massive metallic thunk that echoed through the entire length of the tunnel, Tom looking to Saph and Jacky worriedly. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Might have been the vault door,¡± Victoria let out, sounding like she was thinking. ¡°They can¡¯t have whatever it is. Quick march,¡± she ordered after a second, and so they did, going into a half run. ¡°No one say a word. They might think we are the group form earlier.¡±


    That sounded like a very far shot to Tom, but as they approached the sounds had stopped, meaning either the darklings were done or they had heard them coming. They got the answer as a black-robed figure came running around a corner about a hundred meters down the corridor, looking very surprised, freezing in place with a hand-held high as if they were gonna wave.


    They never got the chance, as Saph fired, taking the target in the face and sending them screaming to the floor.


    ¡°Charge!¡± Victoria shouted out, the formation going into a full run. Tom struggled to keep up with them, the front line pulling away with ease. At least Jacky stayed with him and Saph was seemingly not in a rush either, drawing another arrow.


    Jortun peeled off to deal with the robed figure as they rounded the corner. On the other side, they were faced with a disorganized force consisting of at least a dozen darklings and a fully grown night terror. The beast was wearing some kind of harness hooked up to a large metal door that was now lying on the floor. The front line spread out in the face of the massive creature, the ranged combatants taking aim. That thing could not be allowed to stay on its feet. Tom let rip with both barrels, Sapphire sadly having had a standard arrow nocked, burying it in the creature¡¯s neck as the guard¡¯s crossbows joined in peppering it with shafts. Jacky moved up, letting loose with the revolver, firing all six in one go before holstering the gun and standing her ground in front of Tom and Sapphire.


    That clearly got the creature¡¯s attention, as it strained against its harness, claws scraping against the stone, dragging the massive metal door along the floor far quicker than Tom had hoped. Sapphire sprinted right, Tom electing to stay behind Jacky, fumbling to reload his shotgun.


    That was when Jacky charged, veering left and shouting ¡°Let¡¯s move it.¡± Tom scrambled to follow as she charged ahead at a flat sprint. ¡®Stupid fancy legs,¡¯ he cursed, finally getting the gun loaded again. At least the door was slowing down the terror as the guard kept peppering it with fire, the halberdiers moving in to further harass the beast as the swordsmen were engaging the darklings. Tom and Jacky still held its attention, though, as it strained against the harness to follow them, causing the massive door to swing around the far side of the room.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Right, boom arrow this time,¡¯ Saph cursed as she nocked the heavy arrow, like she probably should have done right away, noticing only just in time where the door was going. She took a running jump into the air, driving her wings down hard to clear the massive slab of metal, readying her shot. ¡®Lights out.¡¯


    What she got was a small *thunk* as the arrow hit, did fuck all, and then fell to the ground and exploded right next to Kolinky, who was currently trying to climb onto the frenzied beast¡¯s back.


    ¡°God fucking dammit Tom,¡± Saphire roared out in frustration just as the crack of his shotgun rang out anew, planting two shots in the terror''s front. That did seem to do something at least. Now on the wing, Saph had a quick scan of her surroundings, just to make sure no one was lining her up for a shot. Of course, there were. Three darklings had taken up position at the opening to the vault, two of them deciding she was a good target.


    There was not much room to maneuver as they both fired. She instead strained to bend their arrows up into the ceiling before drawing her own bow and nailing one in the throat just as Maiko made it to their position. The enemy melee fighters had been utterly routed in the chaos, many had not even carried weapons and had been fighting using picks and hammers.


    The archers were not ready for a swordsman that close and were both cut down in short order, Saph banking into a turn to circle, flying over Maiko¡¯s head. The night terror¡¯s attention had finally been split by the multiple attackers coming at it from all directions, Kolinky doing his best to hang on as it bucked and shaked to try and get him off. One of the chains from the harness snapped, sending it whipping across the room.


    In its frenzied attempt to shake Kolinky, it ended face to face with Jacky, who immediately tried to step back out of range as the terror took the opportunity to swipe at her with one of its massive forelegs, sending her flying into a wall. Tom let out a scream as he drew his revolver, firing once to get the creature''s attention. Then he let rip with the remaining five, going for the face. One round whistled past Sapphire, taking her breath away for a second as she felt a puncture in her wing, looking at the small hole in the membrane wide-eyed.


    The creature was mortally wounded, staggering back and raising up unto its hind legs, swiping wildly in front of it. It¡¯s eyes likely done for as Victoria stepped in front of Tom, and then the crazy bitch charged. She was moving damn quick too as she deftly slipped past the terror¡¯s clumsy swipes, almost like she was dancing through them. Making her way under the terror, she slashed away at the much smaller hind legs, her blade cutting deeper than Saph thought possible.


    She didn''t stop her charge though, carrying on moving back out from under the monster as it collapsed writhing around on the ground behind her, others moving in to finish it off, just in case it had any other tricks left. Saph held the turn, heading for Jacky, who had made it back up onto all fours, blood running out the muzzle of her helmet and onto the floor. Tom sprinted over too as Saph came down beside her.


    ¡°You okay there girl?¡±


    ¡°No...¡± Jacky replied as she weakly fiddled with her helmet, Saph moving to help her get it off. ¡°Hurts.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Saph replied, looking to the cracks in the wall where she had hit. ¡°That¡¯s quite some armor though,¡± she admitted, trying to sound positive. That had been a killing blow if she had ever seen one, hell that might have been beyond even what Nunuk¡¯s armor could handle, at least prior to reinscribing with unicorn horn.


    ¡°How are you feeling? Does your chest hurt?¡± Tom questioned, genuine panic in his voice. Jacky looked up at him with an expression that screamed ¡®You serious right now?¡¯


    ¡°Lay her down on her back, and don¡¯t move,¡± Latori went, kneeling down beside her, helping Tom and Saph get Jacky onto her back as gently as possible. ¡°In the future, going up would have been a more effective dodge.¡±


    ¡°Noted,¡± Jacky replied, pain clear on her face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak, just rest. Victoria, she needs tending to.¡±


    ¡°As does this one,¡± Jortun shouted out, Saph looking over to see Balethon leaning against a wall. The major was busy tying off the stump where Balethon¡¯s tail used to be.


    ¡®Oh for fuck¡¯s sake,¡¯ Sapphire cursed, looking at the bloody stain on the chain that had snapped. The healer from Victoria¡¯s crew came over, kneeling next to Jacky, hurriedly trying to give her a once-over.


    ¡°Ribs cracked, internal bleeding... fatal organ damage,¡± the healer stated as she set down her satchel. ¡°You are a fucking idiot.¡±


    ¡°Fatal!¡± Tom shouted out after a second of processing what had just been said, Saph just freezing in place, Jacky looking confused at the healer.


    ¡°If not fixed,¡± the healer clarified as if that should have been obvious, not looking up from her bag. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you, drink this,¡± she continued with a hint of a sigh, bringing out a small red vial Saph recognized as the same stuff Pablo had gotten. ¡®At least they aren''t skimping on us,¡¯ Saph thought to herself as she stared at Jacky, still a bit in chock. It wasn¡¯t often you were told your best friend was gonna die. She kinda wanted to give the healer a verbal shit storm for scaring her like that, but that was hardly fair considering what that bottle likely cost.


    She didn¡¯t reach a decision before the healer was back on her feet, moving to Balethon after having administered the bottle, leaving Sapphire looking at the now thoroughly shocked Jacky. Tom looked like he wasn¡¯t sure if he was allowed to hug her, instead just taking her hand as she laid there silently, just like she had been told.

 Ocean鈥檚 Draconic

    Chapter 117: Ocean¡¯s Draconic


    ¡°How''s she doing?¡± Victoria had come over to ask in a very polite tone, Jacky cautiously giving a thumbs up with her free hand, Tom not letting go of the other one. ¡°Glad to hear it. Was afraid I might end up regretting asking for you to come along¡­ I¡¯ll be honest, this was not quite what we were expecting.¡± The colonel continued, in a rather uncertain tone.


    ¡°I would damn well hope so,¡± Tom replied. He kinda wanted to be angry right now, but he knew there wasn¡¯t really anyone to be angry with. Victoria had led them down here and she was the reason they were here in the first place. But had she not intervened He may very well have taken a similar trip to Jacky.


    ¡°If it¡¯s any consolation, I think you saved quite a few people coming along.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t have a witty reply for that one. It was probably true, and Jacky was gonna be fine, even if the wind would be out of her sails for a bit. In the end, she would likely be better off than Balethon, who Saph had joked about needing a prosthetic after this one, trying to cheer Jacky up. Not that it was really needed. After the healer had confirmed that, no, she was not gonna die here, nor was she gonna be a cripple, she had seemingly been quite content. Tom had refused to give her the painkiller she asked for, which did annoy her quite a bit. He didn¡¯t really want to mix that with whatever their ¡®healing¡¯ potion did though.


    ¡°Listen, you know things I don¡¯t. Can you tell me what this is?¡± Victoria questioned, handing Tom a small cylinder. ¡°Don''t worry, Kolinky has checked them. They are clean.¡±


    It was a metal cylinder with a thin glass window running most of the length and there was some kind of clear blue liquid inside. It was very intricately made, with magical runes cut into the metal portions that were seemingly not doing anything right now.


    ¡°No clue,¡± Tom had to admit, admiring the little thing.


    ¡°There were boxes and chests of them in there. Hundreds, if not thousands of them,¡± Victoria replied, Tom looking over to the vault door. The others were busy carrying out small chests with metal reinforcements and locks on them and there truly was a lot of them.


    ¡°Look at this thing,¡± Maiko let out, coming over with some kind of small object, handing it to victoria before sideling up to Saph. ¡°You make it out okay?¡±


    ¡°Tom shot me but beyond that I¡¯m fine¡­ Could you tell Kolinky I¡¯m sorry¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Saph who folded out her left-wing a bit. ¡°Ooh¡­ Shit.¡±


    ¡°You owe me for that one,¡± Saph stated rather plainly before looking back to Maiko. ¡°You look more or less in one peice too?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, they didn¡¯t even get close¡± The korporal retorted, looking very confident all of a sudden, Victoria letting out an audible sigh as she inspected the little object before sitting down on the floor with Tom and Jacky.


    ¡°How about this then?¡± she questioned, handing it over.


    Tom had a look at it. It was an intricate work of thin metal struts, gears, and bearings, looking more like something you would find in a fancy watch. There was one of the cylinders in the middle with what could be a gyro running around it, and Tom also spied a small spiral spring in there. There was something that looked like a winding mechanism at the top too.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a toy?¡±


    ¡°They came down here for a toy?¡± Victoria questioned, clearly not convinced.


    ¡°A thousand-year-old toy that looks brand new,¡± Tom shrugged, putting the thing down on the ground and cranking the little paddle at the top a revolution before letting go. The gyro started to spin as expected, a very pretty blue glow starting to emanate from the central cylinder as the runes on it started lighting up. Then the little device lifted off the ground, the gyro keeping it steady. Tom just stared at the odd contraption as it hovered around 30 centimeters off the ground.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s cool,¡± Saph let out, also staring at the thing. ¡°Sure it¡¯s safe?¡±


    ¡°Who would make a toy that blows up the kids?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the tiny thing with wonder. ¡°How do the islands stay in the air again?¡±


    ¡°By the will of the gods, of course,¡± Victoria stated. ¡°They give us sanctuary up here from the depths below by raising the islands.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Tom countered, not taking his eyes off the marvelous little device as it slowly spun down, settling back to the ground. ¡°This is a mine, right?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that¡­¡±


    ¡°If you are gonna say ¡®heresy¡¯ then just claim the gods are powering this stuff. ¡®Cause that ain¡¯t natural, I can tell you that,¡± Tom cut off the colonel. ¡°And those runes means whatever is going on here is at least partially magical.¡±


    ¡°Where is it drawing from then?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the magic people, you tell me. Maybe the liquid¡­ maybe us?¡± Tom countered. He didn¡¯t care in the slightest. Forget spit with electricity in it; this was the true holy grail. Well, depending on just how much lift one could get out of it, of course. ¡®Magic fly juice¡­ Aww hell yeah.¡¯


    Jacky cleared her throat a little, Tom snapping back to look at her, noticing he had let go of her hand. ¡°Sorry, sweety. Look isn''t it amazing?¡± Tom tried holding up the device, Jacky just brushing his hand aside, looking at him with a wide smile, looking like she was trying not to chuckle. ¡°What? It¡¯s exciting?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°But what about the other vaults?¡± Jortun questioned having walked over after finishing tending to Balethon.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue. They got a fully grown night terror in here. There must be another route.¡± Victoria replied, Saph just sort of standing there awkwardly as Maiko¡¯s attention turned to his superiors.


    ¡°Well, unless they shrank the fucker down,¡± Jortun replied dryly.


    ¡°We have seen one thing today that shouldn¡¯t exist. Don¡¯t tempt it,¡± Victoria replied, as Saph tried to remember if she had ever heard of someone being able to do that. ¡°They did have two witches¡­ perhaps they portaled it in here?¡±


    ¡°Check the bodies for spell components. Take Kolinky and check everything thoroughly,¡± Victoria ordered, sounding like a penny had suddenly dropped.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Jortun replied, stopping as he was turning to leave. ¡°But what about the other three vaults?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t open them without some heavy muscle, and it looks like it took them quite a while too. And we can¡¯t deal with wards. Check the witches.¡±


    Jortun did so, walking off at a brisk pace calling Kolinky over. Saph looked to the Colonel, who had gotten back up and was surveying the work being done to clear the area and find out just what exactly they had here.


    ¡°I was wondering¡­ Those chests are wood... How are they still intact?¡±


    ¡°Magic inside the vaults maybe? The doors are in perfect condition too. I don¡¯t think we should even try opening the other vaults. Good chance there is powerful magic protecting them.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s less stuff to carry,¡± Saph replied, trying to sound optimistic, looking at the growing pile of chests and crates they were extracting from the vault.


    ¡°Look at this,¡± Kolinky shouted out, walking over with a leather satchel. ¡°Personal effects. Official stuff too.¡±


    Saph tried to get a look, throwing a glance at the small camp which had apparently served as the home for the two Witches. ¡°We found sleeping gear for five, ma¡¯am,¡± Kolinky added as Victoria started to go through some scrolls, Maiko taking some too.


    ¡°They were here under orders it seems. Take the mines, clear the island, establish nursery, find the vault, retrieve contents¡­ They knew what was here and where it was.¡±


    ¡°They even had a crude map of this part of the tunnels,¡± Maiko added, showing another piece of paper. ¡°Might just have been what they have explored though.¡±


    They had sat down next to Tom and Jacky with the different documents, going through it all in detail. It would seem they had been here for a while. They had the maps not only of the old section, but also of the system they had come through, even if those seemed a bit more scribbled down.


    ¡°The entrance will be obscured with an illusion. It is but an image; you may pass freely,¡± Victoria read out from what they were guessing were the witches¡¯ orders. ¡°They were just here to crack the vaults.¡±


    ¡°There are also notes on how to disable the wards protecting the vaults,¡± Maiko added, handing over another small booklet.


    ¡°There is no way we are opening one of these up without a very skilled mage,¡± Victoria concluded after having a quick look. ¡°Good news is we have most of their number accounted for it seems. They were almost out of supplies too after losing Hylsdal. It doesn¡¯t look like they even got started on the other vaults either, just settling for one.


    ¡°Probably wanted to just make off with what they could and hope we would never find this place,¡± Maiko concluded.


    ¡°But, uhm¡­ what do they need this stuff for?¡± Saph questioned, looking towards Tom, who had not moved from Jacky¡¯s side. ¡°Tom, what could you do with all this?¡± She questioned slightly louder, getting his attention.


    ¡°Make something big fly maybe?¡± Tom replied after a second, sounding rather concerned.


    ¡°How big?¡± Victoria questioned, clearly sharing his concerned outlook on the situation.


    ¡°No clue, we need to test that I guess¡­ Do you think that means they have something which could use this?¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°God i hope not¡±


    ¡°We need Apuma for this I think,¡± Saph added, looking at one of the mysterious cylinders.


    ¡°What if it¡¯s a flying city? I heard a story about that once,¡± Maiko added with a shrug.


    ¡°Any other day I would make you the night guard for referencing children¡¯s stories on matters like this,¡± Victoria added, looking at the notes. ¡°But I really hope you are wrong.¡±


    ¡°What about magic airships?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at them. ¡°These things look mass-produced. That means industry. Surely they could make ships too then?¡±


    ¡°Is that better or worse?¡± Saph had to question. That sounded truly terrifying. To be honest, if this was anything like the ships Tom had shown them, they might as well be a small flying city.


    ¡°Depends on the ship I guess,¡± Tom replied, looking thoughtful. ¡°I wonder what kind of weaponry they could produce back then.¡±


    ¡°Likely something we don¡¯t want to go up against,¡± Victoria countered. ¡°We are taking everything in here. They cannot be allowed to have a single one. We can only hope this is the only place where they have been able to get their hands on something like this. I have never heard of nor seen something like this before.¡±


    ¡°Fingers crossed,¡± Tom echoed, looking back down to Jacky.


    That meant several trips back and forth. It might be magical fly stuff, but it sure was heavy in those chests. The search of the witch they had surprised down here yielded several exotic and expensive materials, including powdered unicorn horn, the main ingredient in a teleportation spell. They had sent out a search party to try and locate an additional entrance as well as make sure they were alone by now.


    They had come back, having found remnants of what Jortun believed was indeed a teleportation ritual back where they had come in through the hidden door. The other witch also had a very similar loadout of materials; there was, however, a very small amount of what Jortun believed to be actual doetna skin, which was promptly burned, the ashes being put in a jar the be thrown off the edge later. That confirmed their suspicions that it had been a variant of mind control that had been affecting the pjeltors. It was not exactly normal behavior to see them charging en masse into an enemy formation even as their kin were slaughtered.


    It also reminded them that they had gotten off lightly here, Sapphire praising the gods that the two groups of enemies hadn¡¯t been able to warn each other. There didn¡¯t seem to be another entrance. Each of the tunnels on the witches¡¯ map were blocked off at different points. The ones they had gone to inspect had, worryingly enough, bore signs of having been very purposely sealed. From the inside.


    The potion had gotten Jacky stable, even if she still shouldn¡¯t move yet, Tom and Saph carrying her out on a stretcher that was brought back from Baron¡¯s equipment as they started ferrying the contents of the vault out into the entrance cave. Dakota had called in what they had found after quite some discussion with Tom, who was clearly excited or even happy, in stark contrast to his earlier demeanor. It helped that Jacky was being a good sport about it, even cracking a few jokes once she was allowed to talk again.


    Saph though wasn¡¯t convinced. He was too happy for what they had just gone through. Saph didn¡¯t know what to do about it though. Jacky seemed under a similar effect smiling, despite clearly being in a lot of pain. Dakota on the other hand, could be read like a book and she looked guilty as sin when Balethon walked out slackeared. And her claws could be heard on the floor Jacky was brought out. Ray was as much a wreck as when they left. Standing at attention until Saph held out her arms Ray Hurrying forth into a hug. Saph definitely needed this one too. Those tunnels had been hell¡­ And she was going back in for more chests.


    Victoria and the major came to the conclusion that they would need to check periodically whether anyone or anything had decided to come back and try to get into one of the other vaults, as well as get the whole tunnel system mapped out. The orders and notes the witches had seemed to have been left purposely vague as to what was in the vaults. Likely it was little more than speculation on part of the witches, but chances were good that they had found what they were looking for, which meant they likely also wanted whatever was in the other vaults. As for who owned the recovered property, that had also been a tough one. This was a Royal Guard raid, but it was on Bizmati land technically, even if their claim was a tenuous one. In the end, they had elected to split the spoils of war. Mainly on account of Tom being vehement that he could put the stuff to use and Victoria mainly wanting enough samples for the academy and whoever else would want to attempt to study the cylinders. They agreed that if anyone had a chance of making this work, it was probably Tom. Then there was the matter that the enemy clearly wanted this stuff, so they might come looking for it in the future, and they were clearly willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goal. At this point, Saph honestly had a hard time caring about that. They were seemingly stuck in the sights of the darklings anyway.


    Victoria also expressed concerns that some less savory dragonettes might want a piece of the pie. There could be no doubt that these things were ridiculously valuable, but they needed to be first and foremost kept from the enemy. That included selling them off to anyone, since you never knew who the real buyer was. Tom had wholeheartedly agreed to that part, though Saph had a suspicion that it was mostly because of what he suspected he could do with them.


    Once back to the entrance cave, the wounded were tended to, and they got the remaining chests and crates open. As expected, they found even more of the cylinders, including a few larger ones that were almost the size of your forearm. They had also found a much bigger version of the toy which fit the bigger cylinder. Tom came to the conclusion, after a few test runs, that it was in fact some sort of measuring device rather than a simple toy. It always went to the same height with each test, only staying there longer if you cranked it more. The cylinder was easily swappable too. They didn¡¯t have anyone here who knew much about making enchantments, but from what Dakota, Jortun, and Victoria could figure out, it was actually drawing its power from the rotation of the gyro. Something thought damn near impossible to do, at least with any sort of efficiency, and whatever it was scribed in was definitely not blood either. A scratch test also confirmed that every last one of the little cylinders were either mithril or something equally hard, which in and of itself made this haul ridiculously valuable.


    They had loaded up the wounded and the haul from the vault, heading for the keep to properly recover before sending another expedition back here to start mapping the place out properly. Right now they needed to rest and figure out just what exactly they had found. Saph for one would not be going back down there for a long time, preferably never.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was evening by the time they reached the keep. The wounded being moved to the infirmary for proper care, the small army of healers present descending upon them to make sure they didn¡¯t lose more people today. Nunuk had looked genuinely saddened when she saw the damage to Dakota¡¯s face, and when she learned what had done it, she was furious. She split her focus between tending to her daughter and giving Jortun, Twitch, Victoria, and anyone else unlucky enough to be in shouting range a verbal dressing down that had Tom very happy he wasn¡¯t the target this time.


    Even Apuma had ended up leaving the room, to, as he said, ¡°Better leave her to it.¡± The old man had, of course, jumped at their little discovery with such vigor that it was all they could do to prevent him from flying off right away once they got done with the explanation. He had resigned himself to going through every scrap of parchment he had trying to find something on the old mines and the civilizations that had dwelled on the island in the past. Linkosta had also joined in the efforts, though she mainly ended up getting to work on the many pages worth of notes on the doors to the vaults that they had recovered.


    Nunuk and Rachuck had taken the news more soberly once the lady had calmed down enough to be briefed about the situation. Sure, it was yet another highly valuable discovery, but it would perhaps bring even more attention their way, and that was really the last thing they needed right now. Yet another opportunity and yet another risk. The only really good news was that this meant the combat wing would not be going anywhere, except Grevi, who would be sent back to the capital to report as well as deliver the cylinders that Victoria had claimed for study.


    Speaking of which, Tom had more experiments to run after going back into the infirmary to check on Jacky and hand her the laptop, for entertainment purposes. Gods bless the souls of the wounded Royal Guards who were about to experience Rambo for the first time¡­ ¡®God she loves that one.¡¯ He would have preferred to stay with her but that would have to wait for a bit. Victoria wanted to know as much as possible about the cylinders before they dispatched Grevi tomorrow. They could cuddle up tonight, if she hadn¡¯t fallen asleep by then.


    To his dismay, Shiva had caught him leaving, sending a slight chill running down his spine. But to his surprise, she didn¡¯t seem angry this time.


    ¡°She told me what happened¡­ Good thing we got her armor fixed up, ey?¡± The smith opened, with a cautious smile.


    ¡°You can say that again,¡± Tom replied, letting out a breath, though still not quite relaxing. ¡°You should have heard the crack when she hit.¡±


    ¡°She told me she thought that was it. The last fuck up¡­ and when she comes around she sees an idiot asking if it hurts or not.¡±


    ¡°Not my brightest moment,¡± Tom replied matching Shiva¡¯s slight chuckle.


    ¡°No, you fucked up there. And yet, she found it funny¡­ Then that idiot healer makes her believe she¡¯s gonna die, if only for a few seconds. And ten minutes later you have her trying not to giggle again¡­ After you two came back from Deriva, she has been a different person. She often seemed Happy before¡­ I don¡¯t think she was. She thought she died twice today, and she hasn¡¯t tried to play it off as just her being tough as claws. And yet she¡¯s still happy, even without the facade¡±


    As if on cue ¡°Aww yeah,¡± could be heard from inside the infirmary followed by the steady chug of a machine gun letting loose. ¡°Fuck ''em up!¡±


    ¡°... I messed up... I just want to say sorry,¡± Shiva continued, with a strained expression. Tom had never taken her for the touchy-feely type, so this was probably not easy for her. It was perfect though. He didn¡¯t wanna fight her, he never had. And they were rubbing shoulders all day long in the workshops after all. It kinda helped to be friends in that situation. And they moth cared about Jacky that much was abundantly clear.


    ¡°Hey, if you promise not to come at me with an axe again, then it¡¯s all good. Might need the help to keep her from killing herself.¡±


    ¡°Oh more than you know,¡± Shiva replied. Reaching out a hand, with a content smile on her face as Rambo blew something up, Jacky let out a cheer. An exasperated ¡°What the fuck?!¡± coming from someone else inside.


    It was getting late, but Tom had managed to convince Linkosta to help him figure out what the runes on the little cylinders did, as well as how the gyro thing worked exactly. He took the stuff to the library to look it over with her clearing a spot on a table as Apuma ran around talking books down from the shelves. He really wanted to know what those runes on the side did, ¡®cause it was definitely something.


    ¡°It¡¯s squeezing the liquid?¡± Linkosta replied, sounding more like she was questioning that assumption as the little thing lifted off the table once again. ¡°Not by much though.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so what do the runes do?¡±


    ¡°I think they are doing the squeezing?¡±


    ¡°So no magic wards that will explode if we open it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. But who knows what this stuff is? It¡¯s in there tight. The window isn¡¯t glass either. I¡¯m not sure we even could break it.¡±


    Tom picked up one of the cylinders, looking at the top. There was something up there. It looked almost like a one-way valve of sorts. Perhaps the means of putting more pressure inside the vessel.


    ¡°I wanna try and put it under pressure then. We should try heating one up too. It might just be something about the amount of energy being put into the liquid.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind doing that outside of the library?¡± Linkosta questioned, worriedly.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m gonna need to make something that seals against the cap to try that anyway. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s a one-way valve. Might be a safety return valve to actually¡­ maybe we should just try and chuck on in a fire. How tough should this thing be?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea, Tom. Don¡¯t hit it with a big hammer and I think we are good.¡±


    ¡°Right then, maybe help your father find mention of what this might be specifically. I think it¡¯s either a fuel storage thing or perhaps a cell used like a battery or power cell.¡±


    ¡°I will see what I can do,¡± Linkosta replied as Apuma came back with another old tome, putting it on the table and flipping to a bookmark.


    ¡°This is one of the oldest I have. It mentions an old people that have long since gone, that apparently ¡®owned the skies¡¯ whatever that means.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how old that is?¡±


    ¡°The book mentions the construction of this keep. Putting that at 750 years ago, that is why I have it, I would guess six to seven hundred.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the lost civilization then.¡±


    ¡°I really wished we had some of the historians from the capital here,¡± Linkosta let out, looking at the pages.


    ¡°Hey, your dad isn¡¯t so bad,¡± Apuma countered, fake hurt in his voice. ¡°But the mines themselves have been mentioned a few times throughout history. But no mention of any big vaults. From some of the descriptions, I would say the mines we know about was how you made it in. The big tunnels¡­ They are much much older.¡±


    ¡°You really need a big ass library for these kinds of things,¡± Tom replied, looking at the mess of books Apuma had brought out. ¡°Might have something old enough then.¡±


    ¡°Books do not last forever. We can only attempt to preserve,¡± Apuma replied, starting to page through the book with Linkosta. Tom though, made for the infirmary. It was too late to start setting up tests with the cylinders and he had very important snuggling work to do.

 Research and Development

    Chapter 118: Research and Development


    It would seem that while this healing potion definitely could put things together, it didn¡¯t dull the pain much. The healer had also warned Jacky that such a quick-acting potion came with different side effects and it would take a while to clear her system. As it turned out, Jacky¡¯s side effect was sharp shots of pain arriving seemingly at random. It likely didn¡¯t help that Jacky¡¯s reaction to those shots of pain was tensing hard and trying to curl into a ball. Tom did reconsider laying face to face as this was a battle he could not win, some alarming cracking emanating from his back on the first squeeze. She had let go before he ran out of breath though, and his back actually felt better incredibly enough. He couldn¡¯t leave anyway. How could he? She was laying there breathing rapidly, not daring to move a muscle, tensing again as he ran a hand down her face.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Not sure to be honest, feels like someone just stabbed me in the back,¡± Jacky finally replied weakly, not letting go of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be just fine. Look on the bright side. You aren''t gonna be in here long.¡±


    ¡°How could I? You need all the help you can get.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me, helpless little Tom hiding behind big strong Jacky.¡±


    ¡°I think you can fit in brave and beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Well duh, that is just implied.¡±


    The pain attacks had only happened twice more during the night. But Tom had learned his lesson, switching position to be the little spoon so she wouldn¡¯t break his back by accident. The third lasted long enough that Tom was gasping for breath when Jacky finally let go. Just as before it left her near frozen again taking quick and shallow breaths. Turning back around to Caress her face left Tom with a wet hand from tears running down her face.


    ¡°Oh come here.¡±


    When morning came Tom was very happy that he needed less sleep than they did ''cause he hadn¡¯t gotten much. Tom would have thought she would need to be bedridden for weeks, but Jacky had been told to try and move around a little if she could. The pain would subside in time. It was simply her body¡¯s reaction to the rather forceful healing. Tom had work to do though, and Jacky refused to be left alone, so he ended up being tailed by a dragonette zombie for the day. He was completely certain it wasn¡¯t comfortable for her in the slightest, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do for her other than walking slow and letting her lean on him when she let him.


    Tink had been damn near bouncing off the walls when they made it down to the workshop, Shiva taking one look at Jacky before going over to give her a very careful hug. First up, they needed to know just how dangerous this fly stuff was. That meant getting it out of the little cylinder, preferably from a distance. Tom didn¡¯t know what ancient alien civilization¡¯s opinions on safety warnings and hazard stickers were, but there was nothing on the chests or the vials to indicate the contents would kill you.


    Still, a test was set up to find out more. They would break the glass in one of the cylinders and gather it up in a glass beaker where they could put different things in there to see what happens. It was not exactly an elegant solution, but it would have to do. Fengi and the younger huntresses had been conscripted to procure some sort of small mammal. Jacky managed to sell it as a training exercise for them, which Tom guessed it sorta was.


    Judging by how Bo and Pho had dragged themselves back in the door about two hours later, it had been a tough one too, but they did have a field mouse to show for it, incredibly enough. Perhaps he should dare Jacky to catch one, so he could watch, when she was considered entirely fixed. It was still quite funny, to get to see her sit and expertly tie the little guy a harness. Hopefully, it wasn¡¯t soon to become an ex mouse, but until then it needed to stay put next to the test stand.


    It took a bit to set up the experiment, so they ended up running the test after dinner. Linkosta had told them not to drop a hammer on it, so that was the plan. Specifically, they were gonna drop a hammer onto a chisel that rests against the glass for maximum result. It did in fact get the desired result, the liquid running out and down into the little beaker they had ¡®borrowed¡¯ from Apuma now that he was busy with local history.


    Tom had put on the respirator to go over when the mouse didn¡¯t keel over dead after half an hour. The liquid seemed to be behaving itself rather nicely in the beaker, and he couldn¡¯t smell anything through the filters. Tom took a bit and poured it on the mouse, with no seemingly bad effect, before retreating again to wait a little longer. Again nothing bad happened. The respirator went back on and he went to put a few different things in the liquid, looking for bubbles. Again absolutely nothing. In fact, it seemed almost perfectly inert. The viscosity was akin to cooking oil, but he couldn¡¯t even manage to get salt to dissolve into it, though it did seem able to be diluted with water which did let the salt dissolve. For the next test, he poured the little guy a drink of the watered-down concoction. If it could be drunk, he reckoned it must be at least mostly safe to handle.


    Being chased by two greenhorn huntresses was apparently very tiring, the mouse happily taking a sip from the bowl after Tom walked off. It took a little bit, but eventually, the mouse lifted off the ground, much to Tom¡¯s amazement. Saph and Jacky just started laughing, and the mouse just seemed really confused by what was going on. It didn''t panic though, incredibly enough. It just sort of hung there, being tied down by the harness, contemplating its life. Tom had to ask the question though, ¡®When is it gonna come down again?¡¯


    ¡°Is that part of the test?¡± Saph questioned, sounding only slightly sarcastic.


    ¡°Just give it to Wiperna as a pet. She couldn¡¯t bear to kill it,¡± Jacky countered, still giggling even if she was holding her side now.


    After a brief discussion, they had all agreed that, yes, Wiperna indeed needed a new pet. She loved animals, and it doesn''t get much more exotic than a flying mouse after all. Even if it didn¡¯t really do much except hang there. Jacky had wanted to do a max altitude test with the little guy, but that seemed a bit too cruel to Tom.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t look quite right?¡± Saph questioned, looking at her work.


    ¡°What is right though? We have no clue what we are doing,¡± Jacky countered. Saph was glad that she was paying attention despite looking like shit while sitting on the bed. The amount of blue and purple bruises she was still sporting even after a few days was pretty damn impressive.


    ¡°I think it needs to be like a flowing line, no edges like that,¡± Essy added, sounding very thoughtful, resting her head on one hand.


    ¡°I hate you right now,¡± Tom protested from his place in front of the mirror. It had taken a little convincing to get Dakota to let them use her room. This was rather messy after all, but Saph was honestly wondering if it would have been better if Tom didn¡¯t have the ability to see what they were doing.


    ¡°You said you couldn¡¯t do it yourself, and you didn¡¯t want me to do it. But it still needed to be done,¡± Jacky countered.


    ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t want to look like an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah geez stop complaining, I¡¯m doing my best here,¡± Saph added.


    ¡°I think it looks good, isn¡¯t that right, Kiran?¡± Dakota went with a slight chuckle.


    ¡°I think Saph''s jealous,¡± Kiran echoed.


    ¡°Of what? Having a giant mat of fur hanging down in front of my eyes?¡± Saph countered. ¡°Yes, I am very jealous.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nice and warm in here,¡± Tom added with a smirk.


    "Don¡¯t cut off top, it¡¯s comfy,¡± Kiran pleaded as Saph tried to cut Tom¡¯s ears free. This was tricky as hell to do. They had considered getting Wiperna to do it, but when Tom had heard that the farmer¡¯s only experience was the fact they had sheep where she grew up, he had declined.


    Essy had also acquired a pair of shears, reasoning that two people had a better chance of guessing right. Saph was fairly sure she just wanted some fun too though. She had to agree with that. This was great fun, even if it was a little tricky.


    ¡°Ohh, do like a cool pattern or something,¡± Jacky went after a bit, Tom stiffening in the chair.


    ¡°Please no.¡±


    ¡°Lightning bolt?¡± Saph questioned, trying to look serious and likely failing rather badly.


    ¡°Hmm¡­. I guess that is easier than a hot water bottle,¡± Jacky replied thoughtfully, Tom sighing deeply.


    ¡°Maybe a stray arrow to show he doesn¡¯t check his shots?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was stressed okay. It healed just fine.¡±


    ¡°You still put a hole in my left-wing.¡±


    ¡°And I said sorry.¡±


    ¡°And your fancy arrow didn¡¯t work,¡± Saph continued as she pondered just how you would cut a pattern in his hair.


    ¡°That was hardly a finished product,¡± Tom countered indignantly.


    ¡°I say a heart for him and Jacky. We could paint one to match on you,¡± Essy added, looking to Jackalope.


    ¡°Who says we need to stick to one?¡± Saph questioned looking around at the others.


    ¡°Lightning bolt and heart,¡± Jacky confirmed with an evil grin, Essy just snickering as Dakota put her head in her hand while smiling wide.


    ¡°I hate you all,¡± Tom protested, crossing his arms, but otherwise not moving.


    ¡°God I think he hurt my feelings girls,¡± Saph replied, taking a step back putting a hand on her chest. ¡°Should I go and get my heart checked?¡±


    ¡°Impossible, your heart is frozen solid,¡± Jacky responded, Saph feigning further insult before getting on with her masterpiece.


    ¡°Kiran, you are making sure it looks good, right?¡± Tom questioned, apparently having resigned himself to his fate by now, just sitting perfectly still while they cut away.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m on it. She will not miss again,¡± Kiran replied from Dakota¡¯s arms, shooting an angry glare at Essy.


    ¡°Good lad.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom did his best to ignore the snickers and staring as he got back to work. It had really been needed, but perhaps he should just have let Jacky do it in private. At least that would have limited the number of bad ideas. The lightning bolt had at least come out decently, and it did sort of distract from the slight bald spot Essy had given him at the base of the neck, so there was that. And no one could tell what the heart was, so hooray for that. Saph had nicked his ear, making another snarky comment about how ¡°that couldn¡¯t hurt, surely. It was like a wing membrane, right?¡±


    He did feel genuinely bad about getting that close to landing a proper hit on her. He really should know better, but considering whether you had a clear shot when shooting upwards wasn¡¯t exactly a normal thing to deal with. The nick to the ear had still hurt though.


    Grevi had been dispatched to the capital, carrying some of the spoils of war for study there, as well as Balethon. It had taken quite some arguing, but it had been decided that Balethon would be going with her, to have a nice prosthetic tail fitted that would allow him to at least fly again. Even if he would be clumsy at best. Tom had pondered if he could have whipped up something better, but considering he knew next to nothing about making something like that, chances were that it would just end up being a lot of trial and error resulting in something that wasn¡¯t even an improvement over what they could make in the capital.


    Linkosta and Apuma had both gone with the rest of the combat wing to start mapping out the tunnels. They were hoping to find either an unblocked, or easily opened, entrance down there. Failing that, they were hoping to at least find something else useful that they had missed originally. They had a construction crew incoming, which might find something more to do in case they did manage to find a suitable entrance. If they could clear that then they could bring some serious muscle down there, like Baron or Glira, to crack open those vaults, assuming Linkosta could figure out how to disable the seals. Otherwise, they would need to bring in some more experienced mages, likely from the academy, to help.


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    For Tom and the workshop crew, it was a matter of getting the mill done, so they could get to work on the planned equipment. They of course also needed to figure out just how these cylinder things worked and how to exploit them. They had finished making the M2 parts that they could on the lathe and had started making the first shotgun parts in between the stuff for the mill. Shiva put in a lot of effort to forge the tubes for the shotgun barrels with a level of precision Tom honestly hadn¡¯t thought possible in that amount of time. That would limit the amount of material waste quite a bit, even if all the surfaces still needed to be turned down and bored out. Kullinger had been put to work making the stocks for the guns so with a little luck they could have most of the parts when the mill was finally free from Machinegun duty.


    More experiments had concluded that heat clearly played a role with the little cylinders, much like Linkosta had suspected. That is to say, after a cylinder that had been left in the sun on the window sill started floating off, Saph jumped out the window to grab it before it made for orbit. Inspecting the one they had broken earlier revealed that there was indeed a valve at the top. It was not one way though; there was instead a little disk inside the cylinder to keep whatever entered from above separate from the liquid. In a sense, you could blow into this thing and it might just make a little bit of lift. There was a much more complex-looking valve at the bottom though, which did appear to be some kind of either one-way valve or safety valve.


    ¡°Heat and pressure then?¡± Tom mused after Saph triumphantly returned with the runaway cylinder. ¡°And separated compartments. So steam then¡­¡±


    That of course resulted in a few curious expressions, followed by the quick 101 guide on steam engines. Tom made a mental note that Linkosta would have to get the history of the industrial revolution some other time. Tink, though, was all ears, as was Jacky of course, at least from the moment ¡®engine¡¯ was mentioned. That would have to be a project for a later date, but they could try and make a little boiler to put one of these cylinders under pressure to see what happened.


    It would also seem that the liquid didn¡¯t just last forever, either that or they had just figured out how long it takes for something to go through a mouse after Wiperna recorded a flight time for the little guy of roughly three and a half days. Her report was followed by more strong words about treating animals properly. When asked where their little pilot was, she only answered ¡°free¡± before turning to leave in a huff. That resulted in a fair amount of teasing towards Bo and Pho later that day for just how hard they had fought to catch the bugger. The two young huntresses sighing like only a true teenager could before heading off for their next training session with Dakota, Saph following along to join them since it was apparently archery practice today.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do we need to go catch it?¡± Saph questioned as the little platform Tom had made gently made its way into the sky, its inventor watching proudly. It was quite fun to watch actually. She was glad they had held off their little test until she came back from the day''s hunt. They had been working on the thing for days after all.


    ¡°I wanna see how far it goes,¡± Jacky countered as Tom started scratching his neck.


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s working better than expected I guess. How long did it have fuel for?¡± Saph questioned. Tom had been rather doubtful as to how much lift the low pressure would provide. He apparently believed it wasn¡¯t just a matter of adding pressure. The steam was flowing through the cylinder somehow when they had done some bench tests. The steam could be seen coming out the bottom of the cylinder despite there being no direct route down there aside from through the disk and the odd liquid. Linkosta had taken to calling it ¡®gravity oil¡¯ after Tom''s rather lengthy explanation of what he knew about the art of falling. Saph had to give it to him; he was as close as she knew to an expert on the subject. Not that he had appreciated that comment of course. Saph thought it sounded stupid though. She wanted to call it sky oil, or cloud essens perhaps.


    ¡°Not very long. With a bigger fire, we get more pressure. We could perhaps make it carry someone. Ooh, or make a lightweight backpack. Or perhaps like a cart to push around the sky,¡± Tink replied excitedly, getting stuck in his little loop of great ideas, Junior shaking his head a little.


    ¡°I think we need to go get it. It might just fall out of the sky and break,¡± Tom went after a while, looking at the device getting smaller and smaller.


    ¡°We?¡± Saph questioned, looking at the wingless individual. ¡°Well come on then. Go get it,¡± she jested with an evil grin. Tom just looked back at her with a bemused expression.


    ¡°First to catch it gets a shotgun.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck you!¡± Jacky cursed as Sapphire ran off, chuckling to herself as she took to the sky. Someone was still not quite allowed to fly and had to take it easy after having been thrown at a wall. That meant she only had Junior and Tink to beat. Neither of them had even bothered to give chase, much to her amusement. The platform was not very big. They had just used a cut-off segment of shotgun barrel they had spare, after making the barrel for the pistol Dakota had requested. Shiva closed off the ends and then they just drilled a few holes to make the boiler. A small pipe ran into the top of the fluid cylinder that was, mostly, steam tight. The whole contraption was nailed down to a plank that could be weighed down. Then they lit a fire under the boiler and waited. It had been boring as hell, but for once Saph fully grasped what was going on. Excluding how the magic fly liquid worked, but it didn¡¯t really seem like anyone understood that part, so she felt excused on that front.


    They had played around with it for a bit to get the balance right before finally letting it fly free. Getting it back down again, though, was gonna be a bit more challenging. It was a very awkward shape, very hot, spewing steam, and it wasn¡¯t really capable of lifting more than its own weight at the moment. Saph elected to simply fly up and pluck it from the sky, dragging it with her into a dive, making well sure to keep the hissing device at arm¡¯s length.


    ¡°A promise is a promise,¡± Saph went cockily, presenting the test rig to Tom, Jacky still fuming.


    ¡°Like I could keep them out of your hands anyway,¡± Tom replied, seemingly not very concerned. ¡°I don¡¯t think we are getting much more out of this thing until we get a pressure gauge on it, or at least a safety valve.¡±


    ¡°Safety valve?¡± Saph questioned. He had used that one before when explaining the steam engines. She was fairly sure its job was to keep things from exploding. She went to blow out the fire under the boiler, finding it already extinguished, before very delicately putting the test rig down, cursing as it tried to lift off again. Junior came over with the sandbags they had brought to weigh it down originally. ¡®At least he''s helpful,¡¯ she cursed as Tom and Jacky had a bit of a snicker, like two misbehaving kids. ¡°Why is that so funny? It could have blown up? You said how dangerous hot steam can be.¡±


    ¡°Someone wasn¡¯t listening when he explained it earlier,¡± Jacky, of all people, chuckled, Saph squinting at her.


    ¡°That¡¯s the safety valve,¡± Junior pointed out, taking a pair of thin pliers from his belt and poking a little thing on top of the boiler, letting the steam escape.


    ¡°Oh, you are just hilarious,¡± Saph cursed, trying to look as unimpressed as possible. ¡®Doesn¡¯t matter. I still get the shotgun.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°See, as flat as Jacky¡¯s belly, and in a matter of seconds,¡± Tom went proudly, cracking a smile at Shiva¡¯s annoyed gaze before she looked back to the first test of the mill, Jacky giving him a playful punch to the shoulder.


    ¡°Your opinion of my daughter aside, I see why you like this thing,¡± Shiva replied, running a hand along the now perfectly smooth piece of steel.


    ¡°And with that, we can start making guns, right?¡± Jacky questioned, not sounding at all impatient.


    ¡°Ohh yeah, we need to make use of all those casings Jarix made for us.¡±


    ¡°I gotta say, I have never seen him work that hard before. It better be worth it, or he is gonna eat you alive,¡± Radexi added. Tom had to agree. Jarix had attacked that particular duty with vigor. The notion that each round made was going towards his gun likely helped a lot. He had also managed to crank out a lot of extra brass sections for the first locally made shotgun shells. Tom had only brought so many after all. Jarix had also proved incredibly useful for making the shot as well. With just a simple steel tool, that didn¡¯t even need to be hardened, he and Radexi could roll and cut lead shot at ten times the pace Tom had thought possible to manage.


    They hadn¡¯t been able to find a good method for making plastic though. All the stuff that was easy enough to make had way too low a melting point, rendering it pretty much useless for this. So the choice had come down to ¡®spend more valuable brass¡¯ or ¡®figure out how to make cardboard.¡¯ They had gone with the latter in the end, only because they had not actually gotten quite as much brass as Tom would have liked and they really needed the stuff. Vulzan had promised to find more though, so there was that.


    The task of making the cardboard had been delegated by Nunuk to Rachuck, of all people. Apuma knew how to make parchment, as did the Lady, but she was of the opinion that her son needed to show a bit more initiative when it came to all the projects at the keep. Aside from just worrying himself sick with how to keep everything safe. Tom was fairly certain he would receive a guiding hand from Nunuk, but hey. As long as they got cardboard it would work just fine. They also needed to make the belt. That one had gone to Heron and Unkai, since his own sewing abilities were best described as none, and they were some of the few people who didn¡¯t have anything specific to do.


    ¡°Well, what are we waiting for then? We have gotten everything else. And I¡¯m not spending more time in the guano pit without some boom to show for it,¡± Jacky countered.


    The gun was gonna be as close as they could get to an original M2, with a few modifications on account of the boom powder propellant. The locking lugs had been strengthened by using mithril, to handle the chamber pressure. That was especially handy, considering Tom didn¡¯t really know the quality of the steel they had gotten their hands on. The barrel was heavier to offset overheating from the hot burning powder. The gun was going to be equipped with quick-change sights, the standard being a fully adjustable AA sight, just so they could get the gun on target in a damn hurry if needed.


    The pride and joy of their combined efforts was the barrel. Tink had already gotten quite handy with the lathe, spending a lot of time practicing by now. It also helped that a small mistake simply meant Shiva needed to spend an evening with the offending item to put it back together again. Even if it had left her sleeping in her rocking chair more than once, it was still very handy. The smith''s damn near arcane knowledge when it came to metallurgy had Tom wondering if she could just look at a piece of steel and know what it was. What mattered though, was that she could put him and his books to shame when it came to hardening work.


    The smile on Shiva''s face when they let the oil run out of the bore confirmed they had a masterpiece of a surface harden on the inside of the barrel, and they hadn¡¯t even warped it. Quite the feat in Tom¡¯s mind, but for Shiva, it was just expected.


    Tink''s excitement had been ever-growing, too, as they started putting the weapon together, parts going in as soon as they were finished. With Shiva hammering out the rough parts, Tom, Tink, and Junior finished them up on the lathe and mill, giving them back to Shiva and Jacky for hardening before assembly. They, of course, also had plenty of other people running around. Radexi was in charge of stamp press Jarix. Ray helped Wiperna and Raulf run the distillery and the niter trap in addition to their work tending to the fields. Chief assistant Kiran was given the responsibility of making sure everyone was doing their best and preferably smiling. Saph had ended up being needed for training the new huntresses, leaving Essy in charge of the ammo belts. To Tom¡¯s dismay, she had taken the opportunity to try and teach some of the kids to sew, even if they weren¡¯t allowed to work on the actual ammo belt. It all looked more like a kindergarten arts and crafts day, and the kids were evidently having fun. So Tom let the little child workshop slide. Still, that was an odd situation, to say the least.


    All in all, the projects ran like well-oiled machines. Tom almost wished Linkosta and Apuma were back from their little expedition so he could run some more ideas past them. They also needed to finish the land mine, but you couldn¡¯t get it all.


    He had instead taken some time to take Lothal aside. Nunuk and Dakota had started a rather rigorous regime of statecraft for him, hoping to get him as ready for the trials ahead as they could. Tom instead elected to focus on making sure the young man was doing well, fearing they were running him too hard. If they were, Lothal definitely wasn¡¯t telling. Tom figured that hadn¡¯t been the case about what had really happened at his home either. And that had left him a crying mess in a corner, so it wouldn''t hurt to have a chat at least. It was only slightly awkward as Tom went through the common questions. ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°Are you having fun?¡± It quickly became apparent that Lothal had figured out what Tom was going for though. The young man just sat down on a bench, looking at him politely, waiting for Tom to get to the point.


    ¡°Have you ever thought about if you want to be¡­ A lord, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Mum was gonna be the lady. Grandma was the lady before that. I¡¯m older than Jinaro, so I¡¯m gonna be the lord,¡± Lothal stated matter of factly, as if there was no room for discussion there.


    ¡°If you want to. There are plenty of folk around who would want to be the lord or lady.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know them¡­ What if they are evil? Or weak?¡±


    ¡°I dunno, you leave and go somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°The others can¡¯t,¡± Lothal countered, with a certainty that betrayed he had probably already considered this.


    ¡°¡­ Fair point,¡± Tom had to concede. Lothal might have the right to choose, but he was the only one that technically could. ¡°I think we could pull some strings though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna fix it, okay? It¡¯s gonna be a nice place again,¡± Lothal countered in a very convincing voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will. We¡¯ll try and lend a hand too. And if any of the ones from the capital are bad people you just let me know.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll come and shoot them?¡± Tom had to pause at that. Telling a kid ¡®hey, if you don¡¯t like them I¡¯ll come and kill them¡¯ wasn¡¯t exactly where he had wanted this to go.


    ¡°Perhaps more like, help them leave. Murder is very illegal. You know that.¡±


    ¡°How many have you murdered?¡± Lothal questioned rather leadingly, looking at Tom.


    ¡°We don¡¯t talk about that one.¡±


    ¡°Trick question,¡± Lothal replied with a sly smile. ¡°You haven''t murdered anyone. Murder is a crime. If you try to confess to a court that you have murdered a darkling they will laugh you all the way out.¡±


    ¡°I think some of the things those two women are teaching you are a little disturbing,¡± Tom countered, feeling like he didn¡¯t really achieve much with this. But perhaps Lothal did.


    As luck would have it, two days later Archeon had returned, carrying the construction crew. But to their surprise, no representative of the Hylsdal family was present, the foreman instead having been given instructions on what the family wanted.


    Tom had kept an eye on Lothal, the young man showing his relief despite his best efforts. This meant he could stay here without trouble, to help look after the other kids. They had feared he would either be summoned to the capital or they would try and take him to the ruined keep to help out and perhaps start the grooming process.


    The foreman was called Tulow, and as far as Tom could tell he was a prime example of ¡®leave me alone, I know what I¡¯m doing.¡¯ He was also very far from impressed at the mention they might need him and his crew for some excavation work in the future. He replied that if they could get him a contract he would read it and then they would see. It was clear that he and the work crew at least found Tom to be interesting, even if it mostly resulted in them gawking at the weird thing as Tom walked over to Vulzan to retrieve the promised bucket of red paint they had ordered a while ago.

 Wounds Untended

    Chapter 119: Wounds Untended


    It had been a long time Since Saph had a dream. Years at least. This one though definitely wasn¡¯t a premonition or anything of the sort. This was a good old-fashioned nightmare, it had to be. It felt too familiar. That realization didn¡¯t help much as she laid there trapped in a prison of her own damn making. She could smell the stench of burning flesh, the walls closing in around her tighter and tighter in perpetuity. It felt like she should have been crushed long ago, and in a sense, she already had been. She couldn¡¯t breathe. She couldn¡¯t see. Yet she knew where the walls were, and they just kept squeezing tighter.


    It was cold and dark. But worse, she was completely alone. She had no clue what to do. It felt like she was stuck, yet she could move. So she kept moving. There had to be someone down here with her. There had to be. As she kept moving, stomaching the claustrophobia just a bit longer, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. She continued moving forward with renewed vigor, scraping herself on the walls. But it didn¡¯t matter. The light was a way out, and she had to reach it. There had to be someone out in the open. Just as she let a cautious smile creep onto her face, her horns jammed in the corridor. She cursed violently, trying to wrench them free, mourning the chips and scratches she was surely making in her beautiful horns. But they were stuck. She was completely helpless alone in the dark with no way out. Yet the light kept coming nearer. It was a nice orange glow that reminded her of a setting sun. She stopped fighting, waiting for the light to reach her instead. She just had to wait a little then she would be free.


    Then came the flashes of heat radiating off the light. Before she knew it, fire washed over her, broiling her skin off as she roared out in pain. She thrashed and squirmed, trying to move, but she was stuck. Every movement tore at her burnt and ruined skin as it crackled and fell off. Her roaring defiance turning to a whimper, not daring to try and move again as the fire kept coming. ¡®It¡¯s just a dream. It will be over soon. It¡¯s just from the tunnels, this won¡¯t ever happen!¡¯


    A blinding flash of white light filled the impossibly cramped tunnel, burning through her closed eyelids as she screamed once again, and she was joined by a choir of voices all suffering the same fate. She didn¡¯t want to know who was doing the screaming, nor should she have known. But she did. Friends, family, kids and loved ones. Her mother and father and all the siblings she hadn¡¯t seen for years. Many of the racers she used to know, her friends at the keep. Her newest family and friends. And one by one the voices grew quiet. ¡®Make it stop. Don¡¯t leave me!¡¯


    She was so alone, yet they all suffered together. She was helpless, as were they, and soon they were all gone, leaving only her own sobs and pleads to fill the air. Then came the chittering, and mad cackling as hundreds of little legs started crawling up her burned body. They were everywhere, yet she couldn¡¯t turn to see them, and by the gods did they hurt. Like little needles dipped in acid as they walked over her. She fucking hated spiders, especially the small ones, and especially when you couldn''t run from them. She couldn¡¯t take it anymore, real or not. As she twisted again, scraping her face on the sharp rocks, a sickening cracking noise emanated from her horns as her head turned so she could see the little bastards. Like a black carpet crawling up her ruined skin making for her face.


    She closed her eyes and mouth and prayed as she felt someone grab her by the wings, yanking her out of the little tunnel. She thought for a split second that she had been saved before she howled in pain as her wings were ripped off, leaving her squirming on the ground like a wounded animal. The spiders took the chance, crawling over her face, in her mouth & nose, and down her throat, legs still burning as if covered in acid. Someone screamed out her name, the voice quickly switching to a gurgle as a body hit the floor. The world went black as she screamed her lungs out. A new pain struck Saph on the side of her snout, her eyes shooting open once again to reveal several faces standing over her. ¡°There we go.¡± A familiar voice went, Jacky, looking very pleased with herself.


    ¡°Is everything alright?!¡± Esmeralda questioned worriedly, holding Saph by the shoulders. Saph tried to move, finding herself pinned down. She strained against the restraints, and with a roar of effort, she sent Tom flying to the floor. Sitting up in the bed, it took Saph a second or two to realize what was going on as she looked around at the four of them, breathing hard. She looked down at her hands, running her fingers along the skin, finding it smooth as ever. Yet she still felt like it should hurt. Everything should hurt, and she could still feel the crawling as she moved to frantically try and brush the spiders off. She could swear they were still on her as she swiped at herself, accidentally digging in a thumb claw and drawing blood.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ ssshhhhsss,¡± Essy tried, holding Saph by the shoulders, trying to force the younger huntress to look at her. ¡°There is nothing there. You¡¯re fine, okay. Everything is fine.¡±


    Saph wanted to protest, but she didn¡¯t have time. She snapped her head back and forth to try and find the little bastards. She could feel them. She moved to rip off the blanket, her head being forcefully turned back to look at Essy.


    ¡°They are not there. Everything is fine,¡± Essy reiterated in a firmer tone. Saph stared wide-eyed at her friend for several seconds, breathing rapidly.


    ¡°You okay in there?¡± Jacky questioned, tone growing worried.


    ¡°Just give her a minute,¡± Essy went, holding out an arm to keep the others back, still having her eyes locked on Sapphire. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We are here. There are no spiders. No fire and no caves¡­ Everything is fine.¡±


    Saph finally broke down, the adrenaline leaving her system as she began to cry, Essy moving to embrace her. She didn¡¯t know why she was crying. It was over; she was out. Her crying turned into a nervous laugh ever so slowly as Essy held her tight.


    ¡°Want a candy?¡± Tom tried, looking at her hopefully. She took a deep breath before looking back up wiping her eyes.


    ¡°No thanks¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit, you really had it rough then,¡± Jacky replied jokingly. It was easy for her to see just how worried Jacky was though.


    ¡°Nightmare or vision?¡± Esmeralda questioned after a bit longer.


    ¡°God, I hope nightmare¡­ I was so alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it was,¡± Essy replied, moving, patting her gently on the back. The others joining in with the little group hug, even if Tom ended up rather awkwardly squeezed between Saph and Jacky. ¡°And you¡¯re not alone.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had to concede that Lothal clearly wasn¡¯t the only one who needed a hand right about now. He had been here for months by now, but he had never heard anyone make such a racket at night. Kokashi had been on guard duty and had obviously heard her, and he had himself been up late looking at a problem they had hit for the firing pin spring. She had started roaring and screaming in her sleep. He had woken Jacky up and they had gone to have a look. Saph had been there for him when he had it rough, the absolute least he could do was repay the favor.


    She had been writhing around on her bed as if she was possessed or something, screaming about fire and spiders, letting out grunts of effort looking like she was trying to break free of something. They had gone to pin her down to keep her from hurting herself just as Kokashi and Essy arrived, the guard having decided that this was beyond his expertise.


    To her credit, Essy had quickly figured out what was going on. She just wasn¡¯t much help when it came to doing anything about it, apart from helping them hold her down and telling Kokashi to keep curious snouts outside the door. That only reaffirmed Tom¡¯s belief that this was definitely not normal. Apuma had talked about them having premonitions at times, but Jacky had said that they did sort of dream; it was usually more memory than dream though. At least as far as he understood it.


    Pinning Sapphire down was quite the task. She wasn¡¯t Jacky levels of strong, but she had him beat for sure. In the end, Jacky had smacked Saph rather hard, which had done the trick, snapping her Awake. Tom had eased up a little now that she was awake to see what would happen. That was a mistake, as she sent him flying, landing on the floor with a thud that had him appreciating the half gravity around here.


    Essy had proved her worth though, calming Saph down enough to let her return to her senses. She apologized profusely, for hurting him, even though it was quite clear she hadn''t been in her right mind. Tom did his best not to let on that he had landed on his tailbone, which had been rather painful. She had still been on edge to the point that when someone sneezed outside the door she damn near launched herself out the window. After everyone had calmed down sufficiently, Essy had gone outside and told Kokashi to get everyone back to sleep. It had been quite the commotion after all.


    Tom, Jacky, and Essy had stayed with Saph for a while. Saph explained her nightmare to them, failing to find anything else to talk about then and there. It sounded pretty fucking horrible, and judging by Sapphire¡¯s demeanor, Tom was fairly certain that she had been playing down the worst parts of the experience. It didn¡¯t really help that she had clearly been lucid too. That was apparently very common for them when they did eventually get a dream or whatever it was. That made him really rather grateful that he didn¡¯t have many bad dreams anymore, and the ones he had were positively mild compared to that. It made him wonder, though, just how badly the trip down to the caves might have affected Jackalope. She had not mentioned much about being scared down there. Yet surely she had been. Granted, perhaps the experience of being thrown against a wall overshadowed the rest. But Tom should really do better when it came to those kinds of things. Distractions were not a reliable long-term solution. He knew that much.


    Saph had not wanted to go back to sleep, and he couldn¡¯t really blame her to be honest. Essy had eventually gone back to her room, swinging by to check on the children, leaving the three of them alone to just chat about whatever they could come up with. Jacky brought up some fond memories from when Saph had been new at the keep, clearly trying to go for some happy thoughts to wash away the depressive mood.


    ¡°Yeah yeah miss city girl. I still remember when I got you to ask Wiperna how to milk the bull.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know it was a bull. I never had to deal with cattle before.¡±


    ¡°Still, if there is only one thing to pull you should have been a little suspicious,¡± Jacky countered with a laugh.


    ¡°Which is why I went to ask rather than do it. You would just have yanked the thing and gotten kicked in the face.¡±


    ¡°And no one would have known,¡± Jacky replied, laughing even harder as Saph started chuckling a bit. Tom just shook his head, wondering what the fuck he was doing here.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Nah, if you have to be embarrassed then we need to take you to the capital and put you in front of a crowd of a couple thousand. That should do the trick.¡±


    ¡°Why? People better get to know the legend that is Jackalope Furlong. You know if I ever end up famous, I¡¯m gonna call myself ¡®goldstreak¡¯ just to one-up you.¡±


    ¡°Silverstreak refers to a water skim. If the light is right it looks like you are trailing silver. So unless you want to do that with a lake full of piss, I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡±


    Jacky replied with a slight grump, though she was smiling wide. Tom guessed she was more than happy to take a hit for Saph¡¯s sake. The two were rivals for sure, but they cared an awful lot for each other.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I can call myself Rambo. No one would understand that.¡±


    ¡°Rambo?¡± Saph questioned, tilting her head.


    ¡°Oh! Can we watch it again? We¡¯ll keep the volume low. She needs to see that one,¡± Jacky pleaded, looking to Tom who just smiled cautiously


    ¡°Maybe something with less tunnel fighting.¡± ¡®And PTSD,¡¯ he thought to himself. They probably needed something a bit more fun. ¡°What about a cowboy movie?¡±


    ¡°You know I still haven''t forgiven you for calling me that,¡± Jacky responded, having lost some of her enthusiasm.


    ¡°Oh come on. I think that would do the trick. It¡¯s fun, there''s guns and explosions. If you don¡¯t love it¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ hmmm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a free card.¡±


    ¡°Ahr shit... You do still owe me a trophy though...¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Luckily for Saph¡¯s imagination, Jacky definitely loved the Magnificent Seven, at least once the guns came out for the first time. Saph had to admit it was quite interesting, and even fun at times. They had gone to Jacky¡¯s room and sat on the bed all curled up with blankets, all snug and comfy. It didn''t hurt that Tom was warm as ever, even if it wasn¡¯t exactly cold at night anymore.


    It was fun to see humans living so differently. Those little villages and all those horses. It was completely different, once again, from the other movies they had seen. Though judging by the whole problem being the local¡¯s inability to defend their home, perhaps they could learn a thing or two about stonework.


    It was a noble fight though, one Sapphire hoped they would not have to repeat here. Tom filled in a bit as per usual, to help them understand what was going on, but she was starting to follow along a little with what was being said. That was actually quite fun. When Apuma got back she would need to pester Tom for some more English lessons. It was pretty evident that Jacky hadn¡¯t picked up much aside from swearwords and a few catchphrases, so Saph¡¯s chances of being the first dragonette to understand English properly were still pretty good. She would have to beat Apuma though; that was probably gonna be tough.


    She did manage to catch Tom off guard a few times, asking questions about what things meant rather than waiting to have it explained. When the action really kicked off, he hardly needed to say anything. They cheered for the heroes and cursed the villains together, Jacky ending up having to apologize for sinking a claw into Tom¡¯s wrist when Faraday died. That was probably the first time Saph had seen her angry about an explosion. To be honest, the scene caught her off guard too, and the bad guy sure as shit didn¡¯t expect it.


    And that Gatling gun. Tom insisted that the one they were building was even better, but damn talk about cheating. Saph had to give it to them, the movie had been quite nice. And it had been a very fine distraction. She wasn¡¯t stupid she knew what they were trying to do. She also knew they had another long day tomorrow, but she still didn¡¯t want to go to sleep again. She didn''t even want to think about it if she was honest. She didn¡¯t want to be alone either, laying in a dark room where she couldn¡¯t tell what was hiding. Perhaps she should see about getting put in child watching duty again. At least she wouldn¡¯t be alone in there¡­ or perhaps a night candle or something.


    It didn''t seem like Tom or Jacky minded that she didn¡¯t leave as they sat and talked about the film. Jacky got up to play with her revolver, trying to imitate the tricks and twirls the cowboys had done. All three of them had a good laugh when she failed. It took Saph a fair amount of time to work up the courage to ask if they had room for another. Just for one night. She couldn¡¯t remember when last she had shared a bed with someone who wasn¡¯t a kid, but it had been years. She did consider leaving to ask Fengi instead. Hell, maybe even Dakota. She doubted Anchor would mind. He did snore quite a lot though¡­ Shit, Jacky did too now she thought about it.


    That did feel a tad rude though, to leave and then ask someone else. Besides, the two of them were already awake, and sleeping with a breathing hot stone also sounded just fine to her. The fact that the breathing hot stone was probably the last thing with a dick that would try anything in the night also helped, obviously. With the possible exception of Heron. He would likely just fall asleep the second his head hit the pillow.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Jacky replied as she holstered the gun to try again. ¡°Just be warned, he¡¯s very annoying in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You curl up around me like some giant snake. It¡¯s rather hard to get out without waking you up,¡± Tom protested, wrapping his arms around himself to pretend being trapped.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, you and your early mornings. You better not cheat on me tomorrow. I know you are doing pushups before I get out of bed. You still won''t beat me when I¡¯m done, looking like a traitor at a hammer festival.¡±


    ¡°I would never,¡± Tom again protested, pretending like he had his feelings hurt. ¡°Besides shouldn¡¯t I be more worried about beating her?¡± He continued pointing a thumb at Sapphire.


    ¡°Hah, You can¡¯t fly so there is nothing I can¡¯t beat her at where you can compete¡±


    ¡°Archery?¡± Tom questioned as if that one was rather obvious. Much to Sapphire''s delight as she pulled a slightly evil smile at Jacky¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°You can do that while flying too, doesn¡¯t count¡± Jacky protested after a second or two of thinking. Saph just chuckled, she might not match Jacky for strength, but she had her beat in plenty of places.


    They had turned in for the night soon afterward, Tom promising to at least try and sleep in for once. It was still rather awkward though. Tom hadn¡¯t lied about Jacky curling up around him. She even had her tail spun around his legs, and one wing lying over him like a kind of extra blanket.


    Saph just laid there on the outside of the bed. Jacky was fast asleep, but she couldn¡¯t tell if Tom was. She just laid there unable to really rest. She had heard of nightmares like that before, and those who spoke of them rarely got away with just one. Her thoughts were cut off by Jacky, who shifted around a little, seemingly in her sleep, grabbing Saph by the shoulders and pulling her in. Jacky let out a bit of a grunt as she pinched her own wing drawing it back and spreading it out again over all three of them.


    Saph just swallowed once, not sure what to do. Tom was awfully warm though, and she felt safer. She was not alone here. Not tonight at least.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, that had certainly been a different evening. If it was what Saph needed though, then that was how it had to be. The two of them were nice and cool too, and he had a feeling that pretty much every dude in the keep would be more than a little envious of his position that night. Shit, he still had to have another chat with Unkai didn¡¯t he¡­ Why was that guy so polite as to not remind Tom? Now he felt like an arsehole.


    After having lived here for a few months, Tom had to admit that everyone seemed awfully social around here. With the possible exception of Kullinger, but otherwise, they all seemed very close. So it was clearly extremely important for them not to be lonely. But Saph had seemed just as cheerful and sassy as always up until her nightmare; they had even had a laugh together at his expense when they cut his hair, not to mention the little test flight. It wasn¡¯t like she had sat sulking in a corner not wanting to talk to anyone like he had done oh so long ago. And yet, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that she really hadn''t liked it down in the tunnels. Now she was having nightmares, which was clearly not normal for them, about what happened down there. He had to admit, it had been pretty damn scary even before you factor in a fear of spiders and cramped spaces. Not to mention nearly taking a fireball to the face¡­ and technically getting shot. But based on the description, the thing that seemed to hurt her most was being alone. Of all things...


    Tom and Jacky had discussed the situation the next morning as Saph went to get ready for the day. They didn¡¯t really come up with much aside from doing their best to make sure she didn¡¯t feel lonely. Though they both agreed that they needed to get Dakota, Fengi, and Esmeralda involved too. Perhaps Saph¡¯s old idea of taking a day off together would have to be reinstituted a bit more rigorously. They had fallen back out of that cycle with everything that was going on. Progress was good on all their projects, so surely they could afford it by now.


    It would seem that Sapphire had arrived at a similar conclusion, asking if she could join them for their little morning workout with a smile on her face. Tom had to wonder, though, just how genuine it actually was?


    Jacky was still pretty far from fit for fight, and Tom couldn¡¯t match Saph in anything that wasn¡¯t pure endurance. Not even pull-ups or pushups, and he had been completely humiliated when they tried crunches. And he didn¡¯t even bother mentioning squats. Sadly Jacky did¡­ The result was not even funny. It only made it worse that he was sure Jacky had only done that just so she could get to play the weight bar.


    In the end, he finally found Saph¡¯s weak point. Running. Jacky sucked at running long distances, and it turned out so did Saph. Which was to say they went for a run around the keep, with Jacky getting a piggyback ride and pretending to be a cowboy as Saph sped off. Tom couldn¡¯t quite make up his mind as to whether or not the seemingly random wingbeats Jacky took to try and hurry him along were helping. But the tail certainly meant stability wasn¡¯t an issue. It was almost like having a gyro on your back, even if she did take a few tries to get used to leaning into turns. Saph¡¯s burst of speed came at a cost though, being caught within about twenty minutes, panting against a tree, much to Jacky¡¯s excitement.


    Tom had to admit it was strange to him that they didn¡¯t make a bigger deal out of a good workout. Their reasoning being that, well, if you wanted to work, then there was plenty to do. It was rather hard to argue the point that it would make them stronger against Saph and Jacky from his position. Saph did complain, rather loudly, that running wasn¡¯t fair. Her legs and feet were clearly not built for that and they were done for now. While Tom was rather winded by now, he could go a bit longer if he had to.


    ¡°Well my feet aren¡¯t hurting,¡± Jacky chirped, still sitting pretty atop her sort of willing mount. Saph didn¡¯t look particularly pleased, but she shifted her gaze upwards instead as a shadow blocked out the sun for a second as Jarix decided he wanted to know what the three of them were doing. He touched down in the grass rather hard, if still gracefully, standing there slightly awkwardly for a second.


    ¡°Sup big guy,¡± Jacky opened, tugging at Tom¡¯s shoulders to make him turn around, the dragon looking down at them quizzically.


    ¡°Morning¡­ I have a question?¡±


    ¡°Fire away,¡± Tom replied, sitting down in the grass with a sigh before leaning over backward. Might be half grav around here, but Jacky was still rather heavy.


    ¡°Aww come on. Yip yip.¡±


    ¡°The horse is tired.¡±


    ¡°Dammit¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Instead of running around all morning, couldn''t you come help with the kids?¡±


    ¡°What did they do this time?¡± Tom questioned. Jarix swung his tail around, Tom straining his neck a little to get a better look.¡±


    ¡°They suck at painting.¡± At that, Jacky just broke out laughing, Saph clearly trying very hard not to. ¡°You see?¡± Jarix went looking at Tom, clearly finding the women¡¯s reaction proof enough. ¡°It just looks ridiculous. They can''t even figure out how to properly cover the overlaps under the scales. It makes it full of blue lines. Completely ruins the aesthetic.¡±


    ¡®Oh Jarix, you magnificent bastard,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself while trying to be serious. He had so hoped that Jarix would take a page out of Tiguan¡¯s book when it came to the kids. Sure he tolerated them, but seeing the black dragon act as a play uncle had just been the best shit ever. Plus it was definitely another step in making the keep a true home for him. So, if turning Jarix into another arts and crafts project was the way to get them closer to that goal, then so be it. Tom would just have to make sure they didn¡¯t run out of red paint prematurely.


    ¡°Do we need to write Jarix across the side of your chest too?¡± Sapphire questioned, having gotten her giggle under control even if breath was still an issue.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s boring. I want a nickname or something that sounds cool¡­ Like ¡®terror hunter¡¯ or ¡®sky fang.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡®Oh no, the dragon is getting edgy,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, chuckling.


    ¡°Lightning bolt,¡± Jacky added, seemingly having accepted her fate as a sort of half mattress for the time being.


    ¡°We already put one of those on Tom,¡± Saph countered, raising her hands as if to say ¡°duh.¡±


    ¡°Can we figure that out later? I wanna get this fixed before it dries,¡± Jarix interrupted with a hint of impatience in his voice.


    ¡°Does the deal come with a lift?¡± Tom questioned as he tried to get up, Jacky denying him the privilege.


    ¡°Sure get on. Seem¡¯s you broke that ride,¡± Jarix replied with a slight smirk, lowering a wing.


    ¡°I¡¯m wounded. I need help,¡± Jacky went, holding her arms up in the air.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the Ambulance is on its way,¡± Tom replied, getting up before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into a fireman''s carry.


    ¡°What the hell is an Andul¡­ Ando¡­ Andulanca?¡± Jacky questioned from her new resting spot as Saph sneaked aboard too with a quick ¡°Thanks.¡±

 Tag, You鈥檙e It!

    Chapter 120: Tag, You¡¯re It!


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It would seem Essy and the kids had been busy while Saph had been showing Tom just how far he had to go if he wanted to compete around these parts. It wasn¡¯t like that whole running thing mattered anyway. She could fly. Why would she ever want to run that far? Her feet sure did hurt though.


    The kids and Esmeralda were all out in the greeting hall, having commandeered the canvas tarp that formed the floor of Jarix''s little work area. The scraps of metal and the press itself had been moved over to one side for the time being. Radexi was currently sitting in a circle of kids on the tarp looking at Jarix expectantly, while his tail was in the hands of the impromptu art department. Kiran and Holdey were busy discussing just how far up the tail the paint should go while one of the twins was making the decision for them. Others experimented with different brushes or just dipping their tail in the bucket under Lothal¡¯s watchful supervision.


    ¡°I thought you said you didn¡¯t want to be painted?¡± Jarix questioned, looking at his tender.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ that apparently made me a Nazi. I¡¯m not letting that stick. That and Kiran threatened to get the charcoal to make me look like them. You know black uniform and all that.¡±


    ¡°Hah just be glad they didn¡¯t get the mud out to make you look like the pilots,¡± Jarix replied with a chuckle. ¡®Don¡¯t give them any ideas,¡¯ Saph cursed the dragon as she put on a nervous smile.


    ¡°We should go get mud!¡± Kiran and Holdey let out in unison, the previous squabble quickly being forgotten as they looked at each other.


    ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake, Jarix,¡± Radexi protested, as the two kids set about recruiting more hands for their latest plan.


    ¡°Uh-uh, no mud,¡± Jarix added, taking an instinctive step back, looking down at the kids.


    ¡°Anyone willing to stand with the guard?¡± Tom questioned, stepping forth. Kiran stopped in his tracks, clearly thinking, as Holdey set off running with a few of the kids.


    ¡°Mud! Mud for Jarix!¡±


    ¡°Oh no they are getting away,¡± Essy let out, pretending to at least try and stop the laughing kids as they ran off. ¡°Lothal, look after Jinaro, would you?¡± Essy questioned, pointing at the basket in the corner of the room before setting off after the kids to keep an eye on them. The young man nodded as he in turn entrusted the bucket of paint to Vigon, who didn¡¯t seem too engaged by what was going on, instead busily painting pretty patterns on his own wing.


    Kiran didn¡¯t follow Holdey and the others, instead turning around and running over to Tom. Two confused kids followed him, seemingly not sure what they were doing.


    ¡°We stand!¡±


    ¡°Very good. We don¡¯t have much time. Jarix is the senior officer around here, we are under his command,¡± Tom responded without a second thought, flawlessly switching to a rather convincing officer as he saluted Kiran, who returned the gesture before they all turned to Jarix. The dragon was a bit slower on the uptake as he stood there processing what was going on.


    ¡°Just get the paint finished and run,¡± Radexi let out, shaking his head at the dragon. ¡°Honestly, don¡¯t dragons play games?¡±


    ¡°No game, this serious!¡± Kiran protested, looking angrily at the private.


    ¡°Right yes... It needs to look good. Get in under the scales, please. Two coats so the blue doesn¡¯t shine through and please help them Tom,¡± Jarix responded after a second or two of silence.


    ¡°On it!¡± came the reply as Kiran set about organizing what was left of the kids, Tom nodding his consent and having a look at the available brushes. Vigon seemingly decided that this was an acceptable cause, carrying the bucket over and leaving the twins to finish up Radexi¡¯s tail with what they had.


    Saph just stood back, admiring the genius at work. She knew Tom wanted Jarix to get along with the kids. She reckoned it was to try and bind the dragon to the keep, so he wouldn¡¯t leave when that time came. Yet he didn¡¯t seem to be scheming. He certainly hadn''t let her know if he was, and there was no way Jacky could hold that kind of secret for long, so maybe not. It was clear that he was enjoying himself as he sat down, doing exactly as Jarix ordered when it came to the new tail decorations.


    ¡°Come on, move it soldier,¡± Jacky then went from behind Saph, before whispering into her ear. ¡°The other kids are gonna need a ride. I''ll go fetch more, meet in the grand hall.¡±


    Saph¡¯s shoulders sagged a little at the thought of being relegated to the mud battalion, but she would get a chance to at least try and catch Jarix. That ought to be pretty damn good fun. Jacky set off at a slow jog down the stairs. Saph elected to go into the grand hall instead, moving at a leisurely stroll and checking to see if she could find any willing volunteers. To her disappointment, the only face in there was Heron, who was halfheartedly sweeping the floors.


    Saph needed a second to think. She was supposed to chase Jarix¡­ Her legs were still burning, and her heart was beating hard¡­ and she would have kids on board. Granted, Jarix probably needed to win anyway since she doubted he would appreciate the mud, but should she just try and latch on and unload any kids? Or was this supposed to be a proper hunt? It was time for a strategy meeting, so she jogged over to Heron, gesturing him into a little huddle.


    ¡°Wanna get out of sweeping duty?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your price?¡± the guard questioned, looking at her like that was the dumbest question ever.


    ¡°Help me catch a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that sounds like a perfectly sensible idea,¡± Heron replied sarcastically, leaning on the broom. ¡°It¡¯s not even that different from sweeping.¡±


    ¡°Oh come one. He¡¯s gonna run with the kids, and we need to catch him and throw mud at him, I think.¡±


    ¡°Throw mud at a dragon... What are the chances of survival if I hit him?¡±


    ¡°Not brilliant, but you are gonna be a spy for us. Try and slow them down a little. Can¡¯t be that hard. Just go over there and play along. I¡¯m sure Jarix won''t get too caught up in it,¡± Saph went with a smile as she started pushing him towards the door to the greeting hall.


    ¡°Perfect. Don¡¯t even have to work for it. As long as Tom doesn''t find out I¡¯m a spy,¡± Heron chuckled as he leaned back, making her work for it. ¡°I wonder what would be worse actually. What do you think? Mud on Jarix or Tom finds me out?¡±


    ¡°Kiran rats you out to Tom,¡± Saph responded as she pushed Heron over, sending him jogging towards the door.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Tom went, putting the brush back on the paint tray.


    ¡°It looks so much better with an actually straight line,¡± Jarix responded, glancing towards the stairs while swinging the tail, back and forth gently to try and dry it quicker. ¡°We don¡¯t have long. And I don¡¯t want any red smears on my back,¡± he continued, looking down at the kids.


    ¡°You heard him. Brushes down. Heron, would you mind putting the lid back on?¡±


    ¡°But we wanna paint!¡± The two twins protested, Vigon also looking pleadingly at Tom.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll pour a little out. Just don¡¯t get it everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing up here?¡± a rather confused Ray questioned, sticking her head up the stairs. There were wet rags hanging from her horns to dry, likely from cleaning work, making her look like a bit of a goofball. Not that she likely minded that of course.


    ¡°Getting ready to play tag I believe,¡± Tom replied.


    ¡°That makes more sense then. Jacky told me to bring you this? And she said to tell you that if you hurt yourself, she¡¯ll kill you,¡± Ray went, looking rather apologetic as she held up the parachute.


    ¡°Says the one that got launched at a wall,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle, walking over. ¡°Mind looking after these ones till we are back?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll just wash the floors later,¡± Ray replied with a smile. That gave Tom an idea. She could likely use a hand after all.


    ¡°They¡¯re going back inside!¡± Turinia shouted out from her spot peering over the edge, interrupting Tom¡¯s little idea session. ¡°They have a bucket!¡±


    ¡°Then I think it¡¯s time to sound evacuation. You get mud on you, you¡¯re out,¡± Tom ordered. They did need some rules for what sounded like it was going to turn into an aerial mud fight, even if he didn''t have much faith in them being followed.


    ¡°I am not getting dirty,¡± Jarix echoed as he got to his feet.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. All aboard.¡±


    ¡°Remember, if Jarix gets mud on him we are all done for. Defend the dragon. The losing team ends up washing the floors for Ray,¡± Tom ordered, Kiran and one other kid saluting, the rest simply running at Jarix starting to climb up the nervous dragon who didn¡¯t take his eyes off the stairs.


    The timing was almost cinematic, Jarix kicking off the platform just as the group of kids came running up the stairs, pushing past the still slightly bewildered Ray, mud-filled hands and bucket at the ready.


    There were some rather loud protests from the kids as Jarix took off. Some let out curse words they shouldn''t have known. Holdey, much to Tom¡¯s shame, cursing in English, at least sort of.


    Looking back, Tom then saw Sapphire come running out of the grand hall where she had been hiding with her reinforcements. Just like Kiran had reported after his very important spying mission.


    ¡°Enemy six o¡¯clock,¡± Tom shouted to Jarix. ¡°Still on the ground and rearming.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get why that is better than saying behind you,¡± Radexi protested as Jarix put his back into it, getting some altitude in a hurry. ¡°We don¡¯t have anything to shoot them with. You are gonna have to outrun them. Just not too much. If you know what I mean,¡± Radexi let out, laughing a bit.


    ¡°Air show?¡± Jarix questioned, turning his head to the side with a cocky smile.


    ¡°Yeah, I think air show,¡± Radexi confirmed, starting to go over the kids they had onboard, making sure they were all holding on tight and in the middle. ¡°Just don¡¯t shake the kids off.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I wanna see what Saph can actually do. Everyone keeps saying she¡¯s oh-so-brilliant.¡±


    Tom made sure Kiran was hanging on tight as he himself hunkered down, not quite sure what the dragon might decide would be kid-friendly. Or whether or not that would be human-friendly.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right okay, Sapphire had Holdey, with his fist full of mud, on her back and a bucket of it in her hands. At her sides were Essy, Fengi, and Wiperna. Dakota was still running around with her face covered in bandages, so she was out. Jacky was also still grounded, but at least that meant Ray had some company while she looked after the remaining kids.


    Saph had feared Jarix would just run like a coward since there was no way for them to catch him in a straight line. But as the four of them climbed upwards, the dragon seemed to almost be daring them to come and get him, rolling around the sky and pulling daring maneuvers. ¡®So you wanna show off, huh?¡¯ Saph thought to herself, seeing her chance and leveling off the climb.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Let him get above us, give him a good target!¡± she shouted out at the others. ¡°Let¡¯s lure him in.¡±


    Wiperna didn¡¯t seem to grasp what they were doing, but Fengi replied with an evil grin, Essy just shaking her head with a smile on her face.


    ¡°But they are up there?!¡± Holdey pleaded.


    ¡°Yeah, and soon he will be down here. No need to waste our breath.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ okay.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long before Jarix took the bait. They had given him a perfect target, and had he been firing on his way down, then they would all have been burnt to a crisp. But he wasn¡¯t today, so instead they just broke formation, splitting out into four directions as Jarix came diving past, shouting about how many of them he had hit. Well, except for Wiperna, who stupidly tried to follow Saph as she piled on more speed. ¡®We ain''t playing for hits today big guy,¡¯ she chuckled as she rolled into the dive to follow the dragon. Fengi and Essy followed suit, cutting the dragon off in three directions, Wiperna trailing as she tried to keep up with Sapphire. She felt Holdey live up to his name and hold on for dear life as the two of them cut through the air like a dart.


    Even with the wind screaming in their ears, it was still a losing fight, though, as Jarix pulled away. ¡®This just isn''t fair! Why is he so fast?¡¯ Saph cursed as she pulled up, trying to guess what way the dragon was gonna go. Of course he had spotters on his back, so he could just choose a different way from what she had guessed.


    There was something going on down on Jarix¡¯s back though. Saph grinned a bit as a pair of wings was folded out, Heron taking off, spending the speed Jarix had just gained for him to climb hard. Not long after, Jarix pulled up, turning to follow the fleeing guard.


    ¡®Oh you evil little sod,¡¯ Saph chuckled as noticed there was one kid less on the dragon''s back now. She matched Heron''s bearing and kept level. ¡®Tom better not catch you now.¡¯


    Jarix being forced into a climb was all the advantage they needed; the dragon might be fast, but they had altitude on him this time.


    ¡°Dive Dive Dive!¡± Saph shouted out, noticing that Essy had made it back up alongside her. A quick glance behind revealed Fengi on her six.


    Holdey cheered out as they rolled over again, heading for Heron, trying to beat Jarix to him. Jarix had gone nearly vertical, trying to catch the guard, who had replied by turning hard right and attempting to double back. The guard was flying for his damn life, trying to force Jarix into an even steeper climb and it actually looked like he would manage to make Jarix overshoot..


    Sapphire got the bucket ready, still not believing this might actually work, as she closed on her target. She pondered for a second whether or not there was a law against this. There probably was, but it wasn¡¯t like that likely applied out here anyway. She should probably run anyway though if she actually managed the hit, just in case.


    One problem with being an eight-ton dragon was that, while Jarix was incredible on the dive, climbing wasn¡¯t his strongest suit, despite just how powerful he was. She had to admit though he was making incredible progress. But Heron was about as light as they come, and with his turn, Jarix had indeed overshot, burning much-needed speed going higher than he needed to.


    Annoyingly, he did spot Saph incoming despite his little predicament. The dragon pulled up even harder, inverting and tucking in his wings, falling backwards into a dive to escape, plummeting towards the ground back first.


    ¡®Abandoning a crew member, I do say,¡¯ Saph chuckled as she carried on her dive towards him.


    It was certainly a spectacle as those on his back struggled to hold on, Tom predictably just dangling by the handholds like an idiot as they fell. It wasn¡¯t his fault, she knew that. It just looked so damn funny. Jarix didn¡¯t have much altitude left to give though, and Sapphire did consider holding back and forcing him to pull out of the dive, as he seemed content to just keep falling back first. That pristine belly was such an inviting target though, and she was gonna ruin it.


    ¡°Bombs away,¡± Saph shouted out as she flipped the bucket, emptying the contents before pulling up. If she could hit a basket with a stone from a hundred meters up, she could hit a dragon with a bucket of mud.


    As she glided over Jarix, her wings were buffeted by a strong gust of wind, the dragon having folded out his wings and beating hard towards the ground to get out of the way of the brown streak. Saph cursed for a second before tensing up, as the dragon came perilously close to the ground before he managed to roll back onto his belly and pull up. He headed for Heron, who was still heading back towards the keep.


    ¡°Fuck, that was close,¡± Saph cursed as she went into a banking turn to give chase once again. Looking ahead, she saw Fengi rolling into a dive to have a go at Jarix herself, though she sadly didn¡¯t have a mud bucket, so she would need to get real close.


    She did manage just that though. Jarix had no more altitude to give, and he didn¡¯t have time to put on the speed he needed to get away as Fengi came down on his back.


    What ensued was a quick mock battle between Fengi and Radix, who defended his charge valiantly. None of them had actually brought a training sword or even a stick so it became more of a wrestling battle, the two of them locking arms and trying to force the other down onto Jarix''s back while hanging onto the harness straps with their feet. Fengi was small for a woman and rather lightly built but she was still a head taller than Radexi and older. The guard put up quite the fight though, his training soon seeing Fengi on the back foot.


    Saph would have paid good money to hear what curses the private had for Tom. The human refused to let go of the harness and who she assumed to be Kiran who was trying to go join the battle as they sped across the landscape. The result was that Fengi managed to buy enough time for Revo to climb off her back and put his dirty hand on Jarix''s ass before cheering loudly in triumph.


    ¡°Hah, suck it losers!¡± Saph shouted out, cheering loudly.


    ¡°Yeah, suck it!¡± Holdey echoed, Saph shutting up again, slightly ashamed. ¡®Whoops.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    While they had lost the little aerial skirmish, Jarix delivered a truly impressive slew of excuses that were almost worth documenting in and of itself. Despite the defeat, Tom definitely considered the little impromptu game a great success. Even Jarix seemed happy when he wasn¡¯t bitching about air currents, insufficient starting altitude, the number of passengers, their ability to hold on, or the restriction on using lightning breath in mock battles, not to mention the failure of his crew to fend off just two enemies.


    Radexi had made sure the muddy spot was dealt with thoroughly before they all had to go do their duty cleaning the floors of the entire keep. Tom couldn¡¯t tell if it improved Jarix¡¯s mood that the ones he thought responsible for his defeat were also the ones paying the price. But he was a fool if he didn¡¯t think Tom was pondering how to turn him into a mobile cleaning platform as they got out the mops.


    Ray had, as always, not wanted to relinquish the work, so Tom decided to give her a different duty instead. He knew that she had a soft spot for Saph and it sounded like she had been to hell and back more than once. Perhaps she could help Saph somewhat.


    ¡°Tell you what, follow me. Keep an eye on them. Kiran, I¡¯ll be back¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. Back to work. You scrub hard, you got captured,¡± Kiran replied.


    ¡°Heron cheated,¡± Worpock protested grumpily, getting to it. Radexi just shook his head at the whole situation.


    Tom had taken Ray to an empty room for a second, the dragonette looking a touch worried as he closed the door. He didn¡¯t really want Saph to stumble on them accidentally.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I take care of the floors and then you have a chat with Sapphire? She¡¯s had it really rough as of late, so I think she could use it.¡±


    ¡°But you have known her longer. What about Dakota or maybe Fengi? Essy seems sweet too.¡±


    ¡°Oh I will have a chat with them, but I think they know already. What about you, by the way? You doing okay? It wasn¡¯t exactly nice down there.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine. It just got to be a little much.¡±


    Tom wasn¡¯t buying that, not even a little bit. She should not have come, she wasn¡¯t ready yet. Actually thinking about it, she had probably had it worst out of all of them, but at least she hadn¡¯t tried to see it through to the end¡­ Was she ashamed of that?


    ¡°Well if it¡¯s any consolation, I think it got a little much for many of us.¡±


    ¡°Oh you. I¡¯ve heard the stories. I¡¯m betting that was just another walk in the park for you.¡±


    ¡°Eh yeah, I''m gonna have to go with a no on that one. A big one too. Tunnel fighting is the worst, nowhere to go but forwards or back.¡±


    ¡°But you killed so many of them. I don¡¯t think I actually hit anything, silly me.¡±


    ¡°You spotted an ambush and you helped take care of the wounded. Now I want you to take care of another one. Just try and help her, would you? You can do more than mop floors.¡± That did get him a cautious smile and a polite curtsy, something he couldn¡¯t remember anyone at the keep doing, well aside from Ray.


    ¡°No need to be so polite. We¡¯re friends around here, and you ain¡¯t alone either,¡± he went, holding an arm wide as an invitation, which was quickly accepted as Ray gave him a quick hug. ¡°There we go. Now we have work to do. We need smiles all around. You have it easy on that front. I have three kids on mop duty,¡± Tom joked as he gave her a solid pat on the back, being careful to avoid the mangled remains of her wings.


    Over the next few days of work, Tom decided that he should really be getting back into the spirit of just what had sent him down this path. Fight for what¡¯s worth fighting for. It had become abundantly clear that they would have to fight, and there wasn¡¯t much he could do to change that fact. But he had been thinking about the fight too much. The keep had been turned into a borderline arms factory, and they had a literal military deployment on their doorstep. They were only one step away from a war zone right now.


    In the beginning that would perhaps only be a short-lived thing. ¡®Scare them off so they don¡¯t come back'' that kind of tactic. But it was becoming clear that just wouldn¡¯t happen. The enemy would keep coming in whatever form they took. Fighting for the sake of the fight is pointless, so they would have to focus on making something worth fighting for at the same time, or rather keeping it worth fighting for.


    This was an amazing place. He had never imagined anything like it. It felt like home, and he had only been here a few months. And it felt like he was harming it. It had been so peaceful before he arrived and sure, not everything was his fault, but some of it was. They needed days like this. They needed fun and games. Smiles and laughter. What the hell was the point of possibly turning this place into the richest place on the planet if the result was sitting around wondering when the next attack would come and whether or not they were ready for it?


    It seemed like an impossible task, having fun while living in constant worry. He wasn¡¯t alone either though. He had Jacky and Kiran. Not the most unbiased of people when it came to his ideas, but both more than willing to assist. The fact that the name of the game was having some fun likely would be more than sufficient motivation for both. He wanted both their ideas though cause if it was up to him, then he would try and have fun the way he knew. So they held a little secret meeting one night. Saph got invited too, to provide some moderation.


    They discussed games, sports, and hobbies, as well as all the other things they could come up with to answer ¡°how do you have fun?¡± They all agreed that perhaps having a sports day was a great idea. Though once again, picking a sport was rather tricky if you wanted everyone involved, since well that included a human, a cripple, adults, kids, the elderly, and a dragon. They did put down tug of war, everyone against Jarix. If nothing else, it should be entertaining.


    ¡°Well the summer solstice is coming up. We usually visit each other. The longest days are best for travel and all that.¡±


    ¡°Not gonna be much of a party this year,¡± Jacky added, ears drooping.


    ¡°Why not? The place is crawling with dragons: that means transport and security. The whole point of this is to have fun despite the situation.¡±


    ¡°Well, Hysldal is gone, and Deriva is reeling,¡± Sapphire added with a pained expression. ¡°They lost a lot, Tom. Food stores, huntresses, livestock, crops. They are gonna be struggling this winter as it is. Dakota even talked of sending over some provisions for them. We might have a lot of mouths to feed, but we have a lot of hands too.¡±


    ¡°Then we help them. We will have the money to buy what we can''t make or find. They did take the hit so we didn¡¯t have to. That''s worth something. Let¡¯s hold it here and then send them home with what they need.¡±


    ¡°We have sooo much to do though. That would mean a lot more work.¡±


    ¡°We are gonna have to roll with the punches. If we are constantly worrying about the enemy getting the better of us despite now having dragons and soon a working machine gun, then when will it end? We are gonna have to take it by the horns when it comes to it,¡± Tom replied, grabbing one of Jacky¡¯s horns, trying to wrangle her a bit. Jacky decided to prove a point, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him into her lap, crossing her arms over him, pinning him in place, and then proceeding to ignore him.


    ¡°Jarix will beat Tiguan,¡± Kiran added, crawling over onto Tom¡¯s chest, Jacky giving him a good scratch behind the ear.


    ¡°Sure he will¡± Saph-replied-with a not-so-convincing nod. Kiran smiled though so whatever.


    Judging from some of the tidbits Kiran had given him over the last few days, the aerial tag had been more than a little successful. It seemed the dragon rather appreciated having his ground crew expanded from one to a small army, even if they were a little shit at their jobs. Tom could see that being rather kind to the dragon¡¯s ego. It wasn¡¯t the play uncle attitude of Tiguan, more a fake commanding officer with a strict but fair approach, with perhaps a little hint of making fun of Victoria and Baron. He was a little surprised it had taken this long, judging by how the dragon had acted at Hylsdal with the buried kids. But at least it was now confirmed that he did in fact like kids. Perhaps it had been that ego that was the problem. He needed to be more grown-up and cool. He couldn¡¯t be seen hanging out with kids¡­ Yeah, Tom could actually see that now that he thought about it. But all it had taken was a good idea that sort of gave him an excuse.


    The kids clearly found it fun. Not to mention, working in the ground crew came with the perk of getting to play on and around the dragon as long as you were sort of doing something. It was also rather good fun to hear about Radexi playing at being an officer himself. He was only a private after all, and officially he was only really supposed to be Jarix¡¯s tender on the ground. ¡®Tom the accidental genius strikes again.¡¯


    ¡°You look pleased with yourself right now based on your current predicament. What have you taken credit for?¡± Saph questioned jokingly.


    ¡°Oh, just getting a teenage dragon to play with the kids and not have him mope about it.¡±


    ¡°I think you will find the kids sorta figured that one out on their own. With a little help.¡±


    ¡°Hey as long as it works.¡±


    ¡°We work hard,¡± Kiran interrupted. ¡°We make boomies for Jarix.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t child labor bad¡­ I think you said something about that at some point?¡± Jacky added, looking at Tom curiously.


    ¡°I said back home a twelve-year-old isn¡¯t considered ready to be a soldier, that''s a bit different¡­ What did Radexi make you do exactly?¡±


    Kiran then went into a fair amount of detail concerning the distribution of work including titles and everything he was apparently head of claw maintenance and polishing inspection. which both Saph and Jacky found quite funny as the four of them continued to chat about ideas for a bit longer before Kiran needed to be put to bed for the night.


    Tom wasn''t sure he approved of the kids now also being involved with the stamping work, but after getting Radexi¡¯s assurances the following morning that ¡°No, the kids would not be allowed to get their fingers anywhere near anything dangerous," and ¡°No they are only running around having fun while being a little productive by accident¡± he had agreed to let that one slide too. They were only really hauling things around after all, and he wasn¡¯t gonna be risking that leap of progress between the dragon and the kids lightly.


    It wasn¡¯t like he was much better anyway, constantly bringing Kiran along for his work¡­ having a three-year-old assistant was perhaps a little unethical too come to think of it. Next on the program though was asking Nunuk just how she intended to mark the solstice or whatever other excuse they could find for a good party.

 Operation Smiles

    Chapter 121: Operation Smiles


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had laid out the idea for Nunuk in the library the next morning, interrupting the old lady''s paperwork that she had picked up until Dakota got better. She hadn¡¯t looked particularly pleased as he walked her through it, taking a deep breath as he finished.


    ¡°You want to hold a festival? in the middle of all this? A proper one with a feast, games, drink, and everything.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Have you eaten something different lately? Perhaps something you didn¡¯t know what it was? It might just have been a little snack,¡± the old lady asked, looking at him with a very kind if rather strained expression.


    ¡°No, but I did play tag with some kids and a dragon a few days ago, and it was great. It¡¯s not like we will stop working on the defenses. Hell, with everyone in one place we would likely be even safer. We just need to figure out how to defend the places other than where we are holding this.¡±


    ¡°My gods. You have even started putting actual thought into this,¡± Nunuk responded, putting her head in her hands.


    ¡°Yes, we need to have some fun around here to keep things light. I also think we should look into making some more everyday things. You know, try and make life a little easier. Right now we are just making weapons.¡±


    ¡°You sound like you think we have won this war already.¡±


    ¡°No, I sound like I have realized this war will go on for a long time. Possibly forever,¡± Tom interrupted. Sure, he knew this was perhaps not the most sensible thing to do. But sometimes the most sensible choice isn¡¯t the best one. ¡°Every time we get more and or better defenses, we simply just worry that the enemy will bring something bigger and nastier too. You used to have a handful of warriors here, now we have several dragons, professional soldiers, and soon the most potent weapons in the world.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself there. I¡¯m sure your latest project will be very impressive. And small too. But I doubt it takes that title.¡±


    ¡°Like what would then? A big catapult, or some magic ballista?¡±


    ¡°No, Tom,¡± the old lady replied, shaking her head with a sigh. ¡°All I¡¯m saying is don¡¯t be so hasty. I know the capital and the palace alone have some impressive defenses. If you want more than that I would take it up with Victoria. Or perhaps Baron, he might have seen them in action actually. I have only heard stories. Not that I know if they are even true, of course. Might just have been gossip and tall tales.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just say something like that and not tell me more. Like, come on...¡± Tom protested, holding his arms wide.


    ¡°I know the palace is supposed to have four ¡®beacons of light, that will burn away the darkness.¡¯ Make of that what you will,¡± Nunuk replied, sounding like she wanted to get back to the previous topic.


    ¡°And I assume these things are either ancient or holy, since well... they aren¡¯t everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I suspect both actually. And no, I have never even seen one, so they are at the very least rare. There are countless tales of incredible things, items of great power. I must admit, following our latest discovery down below, I am starting to reconsider some of them being just tales though. And whether all of them were regular enchanted items like my sword and armor, or perhaps something older.¡±


    ¡°Okay so there¡¯s nasty stuff out there, that doesn¡¯t change much though. This fight is still gonna continue, and these are just even more excuses for worrying that we will still be outgunned. Do you want to live in a place that feels like a frontline fortress for the rest of your days?¡±


    ¡°We are a frontier keep. It is literally in the name,¡± Nunuk interrupted with a disapproving look, though she was looking a little melancholy.


    ¡°Yes but¡­ Oh come on, you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°I do. But sad faces are better than happy memories in my book. I might be old, but I¡¯m not quite ready to become a memory yet.¡±


    ¡°Not a fan of living life in the fast lane?¡± Tom questioned only a little leadingly.


    ¡°Making fun of the elderly is most uncouth. But I assume that means living recklessly. If so, then no. I have tried that, and I got lucky,¡± the lady replied with an edge to her tone.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t have both so to speak. Sure it will slow down the work a little bit, but it would be so much nicer for everyone, and as I said the festival might be the safest day so far with everyone together.¡±


    ¡°For us. Not for those left behind. Would you want to bring all of Deriva? They need help, not distractions right now,¡± Nunuk replied with a dismissive armwave, before leaning back in her chair. ¡°We could hold something just for us. Perhaps let whoever Victoria deems able to attend.¡±


    ¡°On that front actually, we have seen just how well Jarix can hunt with a net. Why not make one for Tiguan? I¡¯m certain he would be more than willing to use it.¡±


    ¡°I suspect you are right,¡± Nunuk replied, rubbing her jaw as she pondered the idea. ¡°Would you be willing to part with some of our new weapons for them too? In that case, they might be willing to send some people here.¡±


    ¡°That would just lead to a poorly defended keep with very powerful weapons ripe for the taking, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Tom replied with a pained reluctance.


    ¡°No, you''re right there,¡± Nunuk had to concede after seconds of looking rather annoyed. ¡°But you must be able to see that they can¡¯t leave their keep. It would be dangerous in the extreme. We don¡¯t know if we are being watched right now. If they all leave, then they might return to a keep captured by an enemy. Or even just a smoldering ruin.¡±


    ¡°Deriva is in the middle of an open rocky canyon. Where would a scout hide? You people can fly, and it would be impossible to hide from the air there. At least when it isn¡¯t dark.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. In a crevasse somewhere?¡± Nunuk countered with a hand wave. ¡°The enemy is a tricky one. You know that.¡±


    ¡°I say we just get everyone here then send them back in force if someone has taken it in the meantime. If so, then we bag ourselves some more enemies. They will need a dragon or two anyway if they are to be bringing any serious amount of supplies back with them.¡±


    ¡°You are in a mighty generous mood today. And where do you imagine these supplies will come from?¡±


    ¡°Look, we need friends. Thus far the enemy is getting scarier and scarier. We have Jarix and Victoria¡¯s combat wing. Those might not be permanent. We could really use friends of the more local variety.¡±


    ¡°Deriva are friends? We have had dealings with them for decades,¡± Nunuk replied with a confused expression, tilting her head a touch.


    ¡°Yeah, but they aren¡¯t exactly fit for battle now, are they? I guess we don¡¯t just need friends, we need allies. They need supplies, we need allies, and everyone needs cheering up. It¡¯s a triple win.¡±


    ¡°So you do want to arm them? You sly little bastard,¡± Nunuk replied with a hint of a smile.


    ¡°We need them back on their feet so they can make it through a siege. With just a little extra firepower, they might be able to drive them off. Or at least scare them a bit. And they do have Tiguan.¡±


    ¡°If you are willing to give up the weapons for it, then I say it¡¯s actually a pretty good idea. I just thought you wanted to keep them all here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want guns to permeate out through the world, that might lead to some weird situations. It will happen eventually, but you should be ready for it. At least as ready as you can be. The more I think about it, you might not be able to prepare for something like that. The world you know would come to an end. Leading to something new.¡±


    ¡°I think that happened around spring. But I take your meaning.¡±


    ¡°The worst possible thing, though, would be if the enemy gets their hands on all this. So we need allies. As many as we can get. I think it would be easy enough to convince Deriva to keep the secret, and they won¡¯t be taught how to make them.¡±


    ¡°We could call for help from them or have a repeat of the last battle for their home. I might sound harsh, but the more of a fight they put up the better for us in the long run.¡±


    ¡°As long as the enemy doesn¡¯t just raid them for weapons. Even if they can¡¯t make more, it would still be bad.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°That is true. Any bright ideas? Beyond instructing them to destroy their weapons in case of defeat,¡± Nunuk questioned, her scheming nature coming out in full as she leaned forward in her chair.


    ¡°Well, Linkosta and Apuma are busy, but otherwise I was considering using her little corruption detector from the mines to lock the guns, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Then only brigands and the like would be a problem¡­ That¡¯s mighty clever. Victoria might have something to say about her not getting any though.¡±


    ¡°Probably. The way I see it, we don¡¯t have a choice with them either. They want them, and in time they will either get them or take them we can only buy time. We just want ourselves armed first, ''cause that is sure to raise the danger level once again when someone who we don¡¯t like finds out where the guns came from.¡±


    ¡°I think you are depressingly right on that front.¡±


    ¡°Hey, no sad faces, that was the name of the game. Let¡¯s look at the timeline. We have Grevi coming back in a week or two with new orders for Victoria and likely some people to go look at the cave vaults. A bit after that Archeon is due back again with stuff for Hylsdahl. Raulf seems to agree with me that we have three or four weeks left on the sugar beets. Which is sooner than expected to be honest. Then again, the weather is really nice around here.¡±


    ¡°If you want to wait for the beets, then we miss the solstice. Perhaps the beginning of fall instead?¡±


    ¡°Probably smarter, yeah. Then order some stuff from Arch; perhaps he can tell a friend or two that there is money to be made. Then we can get the stuff that Deriva needs and the supplies we want for winter. From what I understand you aren¡¯t the most active in wintertime.¡±


    ¡°No, and luckily neither is the enemy. Winter isn¡¯t too long here though. Jarix would at most have to sleep sixty to seventy days. At most.¡±


    ¡°Right yeah... Wait, you guys aren¡¯t going to sleep, right?¡±


    ¡°We usually don¡¯t. We don¡¯t really need to unless a particularly bad storm hits. We have a good keep and a rather mild climate. We still collect the bark and herbs needed anyway just in case. It does happen every couple of years. The worst one I can remember lasted more than twenty days. That was truly horrible.¡±


    ¡°Geez, lonely me I guess then,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle. That did sound rather sad though. Perhaps he could arrange a little surprise for when they woke up if that ever happened? That could be quite fun.


    ¡°You would still have Rachuck. He has watched over us many times before. Just be wary, he is probably liable to put you up in the watchtower,¡± Nunuk joked with a slight chuckle.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m sure he will. You never know when the frost salamanders attack.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡±


    ¡°Anyway back to business, do you think it can be done?¡± Nunuk looked at him skeptically for a bit before relenting when it was clear Tom was not giving an explanation for that one.


    ¡°Sure it can. In the end, we can just send an invitation to Deriva and have them decide. They know their situation better than we do. If they accept and their keep is lost, it is technically not our fault.¡±


    ¡°I meant without things going horribly wrong.¡±


    ¡°Oh that. No idea. We can try and help, but in the end, this is what we have to deal with if we want to hold a party in dangerous times. I agree that we could use some good old fashioned fun, but that comes at a price. As you said it likely always will from now on¡­ You know in some places finding old priceless relics that would see university scholars happy for the rest of their days would be considered the event of the year.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that stuff is awesome, but it still means even more work.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Nunuk replied, looking down at all the paperwork before her. ¡°I never knew how much work finding an ancient treasure would be. How do you even calculate taxes for ancient priceless treasure?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea, and I don¡¯t think a book on economics would help.¡±


    ¡°No, I guess not. I think we agree then. An end of summer festival is to be held here. It¡¯s a little unconventional, but these are tricky times.¡±


    ¡°Amazing,¡± Tom countered with a slight smile. ¡°And we let Victoria decide how many people she is comfortable with attending.¡±


    ¡°Well if that¡¯s the plan, then we have work to do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that one is always true around here,¡± Tom replied as he got up. It wouldn¡¯t do to invite Deriva and not actually have any of the stuff they needed when they got here.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, it would seem Tom had actually decided to go through with his latest idea. To be honest, Sapphire hadn¡¯t expected him to get Nunuk convinced about that one. Rachuck looked like he had a fair few protests when Nunuk let them all know what the plan was at dinner that day.


    Dakota has just shook her head, before pointing out that this likely meant inviting the people that Grevi was bringing to work down in the vault. Or at least they should make a point to avoid inviting them.


    A brief debate had them deciding on the second option. Mainly based on the fact that they didn¡¯t know just who was being brought. But they were likely all of the very nosy variety all things considered, and a party would be the perfect opportunity for them to find something they shouldn¡¯t.


    They had set that date at the end of summer when it would still be warm and before the weather started to get too annoying. By then they should apparently have their small fortune in sugar, and it sounded like Tom wanted to spend what they could in short order. Fengi had poked Saph in the side to very politely ask what the plan was for getting paid this year. They were paid based on what the keep made in profit, that was the rule, but this had been very far from a normal year. There was a good chance they were gonna make more this year than in all the time Saph had been at the keep. But they had also spent an incredible sum, so she wasn¡¯t actually sure what the profit was gonna be.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Dakota sometime. I don¡¯t even think Tom really knows if I¡¯m being honest,¡± Saph replied, looking at where the human was sitting at the kid¡¯s table, where he was seemingly busy telling a story that included large arm movements.


    ¡°Probably depends on how much sugar we get from the beets,¡± Essy added, having overheard them.


    ¡°What do you usually make?¡± Pho asked, looking a little uncomfortable, eyes darting around at them.


    ¡°I think the best I can remember was twenty-five silver per share. That was a pretty good year; it¡¯s usually around fifteen. You can¡¯t expect to make much when everything you need is paid for.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a share?¡± Ray questioned, sounding a tad apologetic. Saph almost wanted to give her a thwack and tell her to straighten her back. It was better than keeping quiet though.


    ¡°Half of the profit goes to the shares, a quarter to the crown, and a quarter to the keep and the family. At least that¡¯s how we do it. One share for a greenhorn, two if you¡¯re coppered, four for silvered, and eight for a gilded.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not bad. I used to get paid three copper a day for cleaning sewers. It was only every once in a while that they needed me though.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding, right?¡± Jackalope broke out, mouth still full of food.


    ¡°It was a good job¡­ Well, the pay was good. And they didn¡¯t care about wings.¡±


    ¡°I guess so, but still.¡±


    ¡°Someone has to do it. I remember hunting rats for bounties way back when,¡± Fengi added. ¡°You two had it easy, you just had to catch the one,¡± she continued, pointing at Bo and Pho with the fork.


    ¡°Ours was a mouse, which is smaller and faster. And there¡¯s not much grass to hide in, in the cities.¡±


    ¡°No, but you don¡¯t want to go where they do hide,¡± Fengi countered. ¡°Still, it¡¯s gotta be more than a few gold this year. Even with more people around.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, no doubt about that,¡± Essy added with a smile. ¡°You two got rather lucky for first-timers. Even one share should be quite something.¡±


    ¡°Well I have always been good with money,¡± Pho replied with a very smug face.


    ¡°You once lost a silver ring in a bet on who was fastest to a watchtower and back,¡± Bo interrupted, Pho looking like she was mouthing ¡®don¡¯t you dare¡¯ to her friend. ¡°By first going the wrong way and then getting lost on the way back too.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I thought we were going for a specific watchtower obviously. Not just the nearest one.¡±


    ¡°Yet you said nearest. And how do you get lost flying in a straight line?¡±


    ¡°I was going low so they couldn¡¯t tell my route.¡±


    ¡°Which would be slower than a straight line.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you. I was young.¡±


    ¡°I hope you learned something. We can¡¯t have the deer outsmarting you,¡± Saph added with a chuckle, which did little to improve Pho¡¯s mood. ¡°Speaking of which, we are gonna have time to make this a proper celebration. Not just some rush job with what we have at the time. We need good game, good drink, herbs, spices, and whatever else we can find.¡±


    ¡°So we get Jarix to catch a few deer and what¡­ pluck some leaves?¡± Pho questioned with an unimpressed shrug.


    Saph just looked at Essy with a slight smirk. Fengi just shook her head while Jacky looked like she had something to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit more than that. I think we better start on the school bench tomorrow. Remember you aren¡¯t just hunters,¡± Essy went before Jacky got her piece in.


    ¡°Foraging 101. Step one: don''t eat the stuff that kills you,¡± Jacky added.


    ¡°101?¡± Bolinda had to question.


    ¡°It¡¯s a course that teaches the basics. Like going to school in the city.¡±


    ¡°Like a degree?¡±


    ¡°Phospheno, racing prodigy with a 101 in berry picking,¡± Pho replied with a slight shake of the head.


    ¡°And an almost decent shot,¡± Fengi countered with a chuckle.


    ¡°Oh come on, who¡¯s on my side today?¡± Pho went, putting down the cutlery with a huff.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll teach you,¡± Saph added with a sly smile.


    ¡°Haha, very funny miss biggest cheat in the history of archery. Just you wait. When I get around to being all magical, I¡¯ll probably just have to look at a deer to kill it.¡±


    ¡°Technically I don¡¯t have to look at it. That does make it a little more tricky though.¡± Saph replied concentrating hard in the salt shaker trying to lift it off the table.


    ¡°A gold of my salary says you can¡¯t kill a deer with a blindfold on.¡±


    ¡°See, unlike you, I know when not to take a bet,¡± Saph replied with a knowing look as she saw the shaker in the corner of her eye, grabbing it with her left hand. ¡®Fuck yeah I¡¯m good.¡¯


    ¡°Show off.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it. I just need a big enough grenade,¡± Jacky interrupted, with a raised fork and mouth half full of venison.


    ¡°There won¡¯t be anything left at that point. And I don¡¯t even think Tom knows any recipes for pink mist.¡± Essy added with a chuckle.


    ¡°Oh, you worry too much. It just needs to be far enough away from the blast,¡± Jacky countered with a hand wave.


    ¡°Well, do you have such a grenade?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I really need to find a proper trophy too,¡± Jacky replied, slipping into a pondering pose and playing around with the fork a little.


    ¡°I honestly think he would be happy with just about anything,¡± Essy added cheerfully. Saph nodded her agreement. To be honest, if Jacky had a go at knitting, she believed he would still praise the inevitable mess that would result.


    ¡°Well, it better be something. It¡¯s supposed to be equal to the revolver. At least sort of.¡±


    ¡°So what you''re saying is you need to be a dragon slayer.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get any good ideas down there,¡± Jarix let out from above, the dragon having swung his head inside, likely having gotten bored.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I only kill bad dragons. You can sleep safe in the knowledge that Jackalope Furlong isn¡¯t out for your hide.¡± Jacke replied with a confident expression as she stretched.


    ¡°Phew, you had me worried there,¡± Jarix countered in a rather unworried tone.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Sure you are, miss second place,¡± Jarix replied, turning his head away indignantly, clearly just trying to annoy her even if he wasn¡¯t hiding the smile very well.


    ¡°Oi! Look at me when I¡¯m threatening you. I will find a way to beat you, mark my words,¡± Jacky protested, waving her fork at Jarix like Apuma on a noisy day in the library.


    ¡°You are better at getting flung at a wall.¡±


    ¡°At least my ass fit in a tunnel,¡± Jacky grumbled as she went back to her food, refusing to look up at the very pleased-looking dragon.


    ¡°As you can clearly see it¡¯s my strapping shoulders and wide chest that is the problem.¡± Jarix countered with no small amount of sarcasm in his voice.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re just a fat ass¡±

 What Happens Next

    Chapter 122: What Happens Next


    It had taken a few more days before Tom started to worry about whether or not this was really a good idea. They were starting the earliest preparations immediately. Most people still had a lot to do with their other jobs, but the huntresses ramped up foraging for some of the more exotic things that could be found in the forest and plains that were their backyard. Tom had translated a section of some PDFs on homemade beer for Raulf after he promised to make a special brew for the event. They did have a little over a month, so there was time for a lot of things, and Tom definitely insisted on the beer being made properly. He still couldn¡¯t believe how shitty an experience getting poisoned had been last time. Not to mention just how much he had ended up missing a good pilsner.


    It did mean fewer hands in the workshop though, and it showed. They were still keeping up with the machines, and that was the important part, but plans for doing much more on testing and experimenting with the fancy new gravity oil more or less went out the window. The main priority was Jarix¡¯s .50 cal, then the shotguns, then the festival, then research and development, so to speak, since research was the only one not really on a set schedule. Of course, that didn¡¯t stop Tom from playing with the idea of what it would be possible to do with the stuff. They needed to know more though, and he suspected that just making a steam pressure gauge was gonna prove quite the challenge.


    There were of course plenty of challenges for the festival too. Even just figuring out rope for the tug of war was quite the struggle. Tom didn¡¯t believe they would get Baron to take part, but if he did they would need one hell of a tether. Glira probably would though, and she was nothing to sneeze at either. Plus Tiguan was more strongly built than Jarix that was for sure¡­


    ¡®How did the flying lightning gun that¡¯s larger than an elephant end up as the little one?¡¯ Tom had to question himself as he stopped milling on the receiver for a second before just shaking his head with a chuckle. ¡®Another day in loopy land.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As timing would have it, the combat wing returned the day they were gonna do the first test fire for the machine gun. They already had the gun out on the range all set up, with Tom and Shiva going over their masterpiece. Saph had tried to peek over Tom¡¯s shoulder when she had the chance while they were building it, but she had been real busy with teaching the greenhorns what to find and where to find it. It hadn¡¯t helped that Raulf wanted a few things for his brewing right away. The gun certainly looked awesome, and a lot prettier than the ones Tom had shown them. Then again, this was a product of Shiva Furlong; she could make damn near anything worth looking at.


    The combat wing gave a quick report as soon as they landed. They had finished mapping out the available tunnel network, but they hadn¡¯t found anything useful aside from confirming that the entrances they had found were all sealed purposefully. Most seemed to have been melted shut and reinforced with defensive wards that Linkosta didn¡¯t dare touch, at least not yet. Considering that the witches hadn''t even tried either, that was probably a good idea.


    There had been a few interesting sights though. They had found a few more scraps of signs here and there. They had gathered that there were both bunks and apparently a forge down there. The rooms had been mostly empty though, aside from the ruins of what they assumed to be a big furnace. There were some rusty bits of metal too, which must have been tools or the like at some point, but all in all it seemed like most things had withered into dust or had long since been plundered.


    When Victoria and the others had found out that all the commotion at the range was the machine gun being prepped for its first-ever test fire, they had of course all wanted to watch. To say Tom looked nervous was an understatement. He just wouldn¡¯t stop fidgeting. This was in a sense the culmination of months worth of work, starting with the lathe, then the mill, and leading finally to this. And now pretty much everyone he knew from around here was gathered around to watch the results. Saph did cross her fingers for the poor guy as Jarix did his best to contain himself. At least the dragon was momentarily distracted by explaining to Zarko why they had a wildly fluctuating number of new recruits at their disposal.


    ¡°Okay then, there is a round in the chamber. Safety is off,¡± Tom went, stepping back from the weapon. Jacky had of course wanted the honors of pushing the trigger, but Nunuk had vetoed that. It had been weeks, but being in close proximity of an explosion was apparently on the list of things she was not allowed to do yet. That and the fact that getting her into her armor would be a more than slightly painful experience.


    Jarix had offered his services, but once Tom had questioned the dragon¡¯s fine dexterity he had been forced to retract the offer, cursing the pushdown trigger for being far too dinky. Instead, Victoria had been chosen since Nunuk didn¡¯t want to either. She had top-of-the-line armor, and she was at least partially responsible for this thing existing. She got out the long stick, looking to everyone else to make sure they were clear before psyching herself up a little.


    ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Jacky went expectantly, adjusting her earmuffs, Kiran peeking up from his place on Tom¡¯s back. Then there was a loud crack as the weapon fired, a small fireball shooting out the end of the barrel. Saph sure was glad she had covered her ears for that one. Jacky dropped to her knees raising both hands in the air triumphantly and cheering their success. Victoria staggered back, shaking her head a little and adjusting the borrowed set of earmuffs.


    ¡°Hah! Suck it, Mum, it works,¡± Jarix let out, Glira sitting down hard on her haunches with a grumpy mumble about something, Baron for once getting to smirk at her misfortune. ¡®You don¡¯t bet against Tom, he tends to be right,¡¯ Saph mused to herself. Perhaps she should have tried putting a bet on it working? ¡®Nah. The guy was sweating like a traitor in a temple.¡¯


    Tom started walking over, going to look at the gun, but Jacky still sprang to her feet and intercepted him. The burly woman lifted him off the ground, swinging him around helplessly. She didn¡¯t stop until Nunuk shouted at her that if she didn¡¯t calm down she would be tied to a bed. When she finally put him down again, Tom had staggered around for a bit, looking slightly unwell and walking in circles for a bit before going over to inspect the weapon. ¡®What the hell?¡¯ Saph had to question, suppressing a giggle at the odd display, even Jacky tilting her head at him as he sat down at the gun and opened up the cover. Shiva went over to help give everything a once over after half-heartedly reprimanding Jacky, which did exactly nothing to hamper the huntress¡¯s mood.


    ¡°Looks good,¡± Tom eventually let out, Saph releasing a breath she hadn¡¯t noticed she was holding. Of course the machine of death would work. It was tried and tested after all. Perhaps she should have bet on it anyway. ¡°Let¡¯s try a short burst.¡±


    Radexi excitedly brought over the belt loaded with three rounds and helped reload the gun, everyone stepping back once the lid was shut. Saph threw a glance at Jortun and Victoria, who were seemingly bickering with each other before Victoria walked back over to the gun. ¡®Yeah, look who has the nice toys now,¡¯ Sapphire chuckled to herself.


    Maiko was also gawking at the weapon like a little kid, much to Saph¡¯s amusement. She couldn¡¯t wait to get her hands on a shotgun. The swordsman would love that for sure. She and Dakota had been talking about how to use their new weapons in the air. Perhaps they could have some fun with the guard there too, even if they didn''t quite know how they would go about training with them yet. Still, a humiliation or two would be great fun, perhaps with Jarix on their side next time.


    Dakota had wanted a smaller version of the shotgun to use one handed, and they had already started work on it. Someone like Victoria might appreciate that model too, come to think of it. Saph would rather have a proper one though. Even if her bow might actually be better, it would still be cool as hell.


    Saph was ripped from her little day dream as the machine gun fired again. Bang, bang, click. In quick succession, luckily she hadn''t taken her fingers out of her ears yet. But still that feeling... She could feel it. Tom definitely hadn¡¯t lied. This was a different kind of gun to what he had brought. Movies were one thing, but that kick to the chest¡­ It felt awesome.


    Tom went over and pulled the handle on the side then stepped back again, giving Victoria the go ahead. The gun fired the last shot in the belt, leaving Tom scratching the back of his head as he opened it up again.


    ¡°Alright, I guess that ain¡¯t bad for a first run. Let¡¯s get it zeroed so we can start cutting the sights. Then we can work on jamming later. Radexi, Zarko get over here. You need to learn your gun.¡±


    As Saph stood watching, it was almost comical to see a 70 year old colonel trying to get a glimpse of what they were doing, like a kid pretending they weren¡¯t looking all while scooting over a bit closer. Tom got out some tools to start working on the gun, mainly the sights. Junior was sent down range to set up more targets at different ranges to help set up the sights. Tom was apparently worried the gun would ruin the archery targets. Saph could see why he would arrive at that conclusion now, or more like feel it, actually.


    Dakota had come waltzing over, looking very pleased. Rachuck and Anchor trailing her. Saph gave her a polite nod before they both looked back to the, sure to be, topic of the day.


    ¡°What do you reckon the chances are that we get to keep that thing for long?¡± Dakota opened with a slightly sarcastic tone.


    ¡°With or without Tom¡¯s approval?¡± Saph replied, pulling a crooked smile herself.


    ¡°Fair point. At this rate, within a year we would out match the guard I think. Even Glira is gonna be ¡®outgunned¡¯ as Jacky put it.¡±


    ¡°Strap it to Jarix and I think she already is,¡± Saph countered, looking at the young blue, who was lying down flat on the ground by now, head on the ground right up against where they were working.


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    ¡°I just wanna know what one could do up in the guard tower,¡± Rachuck added, Anchor nodding silently.


    ¡°If Tom gets his way, then I don¡¯t think we are gonna need it. Well, maybe if Jarix is away for something. I mean look at him. He¡¯s not going anywhere in a hurry.¡±


    The dragon was indeed not doing his dignity any favours. Honestly, he might be competing with Fengi in the biggest eyes competition, at least once the scale was taken into account. Equally hilarious was just how grumpy Glira was looking, the older female still not having eased up. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse, likely not helped by Baron''s cheery attitude.


    ¡°We are gonna have to give her one at some point. Otherwise I think there might be trouble,¡± Saph replied noding at Glira.


    ¡°Well, we knew what letting them see all this would lead to. Besides, if we can get them to fight to defend this place, then better them than us. Even if it¡¯s using our weapons,¡± Dakota replied, the smile vanishing from her face.


    ¡°Sounds a bit cowardly to me,¡± Saph replied, trying to remain lighthearted. Dakota was right, but that was skirting the line of cowardice to hide behind others. Maybe that was her pride talking though. It was sort of what the Royal Guard was for after all. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s gonna let one go lightly either,¡± she continued, gesturing to Tom, who was lining up a shot.


    The gun sounded again, Tom himself this time acting as gunner, though judging by the accompanying grumbling he hadn¡¯t actually hit anything. He had given a lengthy lecture on just how hard actually figuring out where to aim with the machine gun was gonna be. Something about ballistics being different here because of the gravity and the different powder. Still, at least it would offer plenty of opportunity for everyone to get their curiosity sated when it came to seeing the new superweapon in action.


    ¡°He said himself that we would figure this out eventually with all this industry stuff. It¡¯s just a matter of when.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get why he gets to decide that. We aren¡¯t helpless children,¡± Anchor added, receiving a slightly angry look from Dakota.


    ¡°Because we have no idea what we are playing with here. He at least sort of does. All he wants is to be ahead of the game I think. I sure don¡¯t mind that myself.¡±


    ¡°And he doesn¡¯t even have the common sense to keep a secret secret,¡± Anchor countered, looking at Glira. ¡°Keeps have been falling, we know that. Who knows, it might have gotten worse. What if the guard feels they need that thing?¡±


    ¡°Then the deal struck with Victoria comes into play, and that¡¯s the end of it. We will defend our home first and foremost and let the Royal Guard handle everyone else,¡± Rachuck added in a hard tone, looking at his second in command. ¡°And take whatever help we can get too, just because,¡± the captain continued, losing a bit of steam.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have a stack of them to give away anyway,¡± Saph said, putting her fingers back in her ears as Tom racked the charging handle again, before letting Jacky sit down behind the gun. ¡®Shit, I wanna try too!¡¯ Saph thought to herself, looking at Dakota again. ¡°Besides, those would cost a fortune,¡± Saph went with a wink, starting to make her way over as inconspicuously as possible, if slightly hurriedly, as the gun sounded again.


    ¡°Aww hell yeah,¡± Jacky let out with the biggest shit-eating grin on her face as Saph walked up to the group. Tom started to tinker with where the gun ate the belt.


    ¡°Heya, I know firing that thing might be a little expensive, buuut...¡±


    ¡°Look Tom, Miss I-can-hit-anything wants a crack at it,¡± Jacky went, looking back at Saph before going back to swiveling the gun around on the mount, peering down the sights. Tom simply grumbled a bit louder as she moved what he was working on.


    ¡°You know you are gonna look like an idiot if she hits, right?¡± Tom countered, not looking up from his work.


    ¡°Hey! I pointed it at the target just fine.¡±


    ¡°And yet it¡¯s still there. You put it too far away. Saph, have a seat,¡± Tom invited. ¡°This weapon is able to hit a target further away than we can even see from here. One hundred meters shouldn¡¯t be a problem at all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot,¡± Saph replied, Radexi rolling his eyes a bit as Jacky got up with a grumble before putting her earmuffs on Saph and giving her a pat on the back.


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Dishes tonight say I hit that thing,¡± Saph went as she got comfortable.


    ¡°Fucking deal. I ain¡¯t washing up after this many people,¡± Jacky replied, putting her fingers in her ears.


    Tom closed the lid and racked the charging handle again before stepping back. ¡°Gun is hot, one round. Fire when ready.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    All things considered, the M2 was a success. They had taken it back inside to disassemble it away from too many prying eyes and give it a proper once over. Not that it really mattered if Victoria or the others knew how it worked, but it was easier to work in peace. Well, as much peace as a hyperactive Jacky would allow. Nor did it help that, after Saph was allowed to pull the trigger, she too was just impossible to pin down, even if she hadn''t hit anything either. At least they didn¡¯t have the ammunition to let everyone have a go. They needed to get Zarko and Radexi trained and to get the sights properly adjusted. That and the gun didn''t feed right just yet. It tended to jam periodically, and it had gotten pretty hot even with the rather sedate firerate they had managed.


    Once they got it taken apart the news was good though. Nothing had broken, the mainspring looked perfect, the headspacing hadn¡¯t shifted, and there were no signs of excessive wear or cracks. All in all, one hell of a first effort. Even if the design was very much stolen, Tom was still rather proud of it. They were only firing with a little over half charge, but Tom was fairly certain this would still do for most targets. And while the M2 was an excellent design, asking it to operate at roughly twice the chamber pressure it was designed for was a bit much. Especially considering that it was made from subpar steel, excluding the few mithril parts that had been thrown in. Tom just needed to remember not to say that part about the steel out loud¡­ He had just made friends with Shiva again. It wouldn¡¯t do to jeopardize that by criticizing her work. Especially since even he had to admit that the gun looked absolutely gorgeous.


    The evening after the testfire they had held a little meeting in the grand hall to discuss the findings from down below. The news from the combat wing wasn¡¯t particularly good nor bad. They had found nothing interesting besides more corridors, rooms full of ruined stuff, and purposely blocked entrances. With the notes they had found on the place, Linkosta believed that the vault doors seals could be broken rather easily, and she was in fact well underway with the second one already. It would still take her a while, but the enemy had done much of the work to figure out what needed to be done. The entrances, though, were a different story. There she would be starting from scratch, and she had no clue what they might be hiding. They might be trapped in all manner of ways too. The doors were trapped too apparently, which was part of the problem when it came to opening them.


    Most people at the table had quite a few questions as to whether trying to use the methods of a witch was wise, even Tom agreeing that it sounded at least a little risky. Linkosta, though, was adamant that there was nothing malicious in the notes. In fact, it would seem the main problem the witches had faced was getting around some elements of the enchantments designed to detect corruption, many of the traps being linked directly to sniffers looking for corruption, which was rather comforting. It at least meant that it wasn¡¯t darklings or other such nonsense that had built the vaults.


    ¡°But even if the wards are disabled, we won¡¯t be getting those doors open in anything short of a month¡¯s labor without a dragon to break them,¡± Victoria concluded, after Linkosta¡¯s little presentation.


    ¡°We could try and blow it open?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at everyone at the table. He certainly got Twitch¡¯s attention, and Jacky looked at him with a smiling expression that honestly made him a little uncomfortable.


    ¡°And risk destroying the contents within? Not an option,¡± Jortun added, Victoria nodding her agreeance.


    ¡°Just some small shaped charges to blow the hinges. We do have one door to work off of. They were the same, right?¡°


    ¡°Seems so, yes. I haven¡¯t found any variation in the doors. There are some differences in the enchantments though,¡± Linkosta replied, looking at Tom with a curious face.


    ¡°Do you think there might be something different in the other vaults?¡± Victoria questioned, leaning forward in her chair, Linkosta just shrugging in reply.


    ¡°In that case, I think we want them open right away,¡± Tom tried again. ¡°Pop the hinges and get everything to safety.¡±


    ¡°And where exactly is safety? You are all but out of space around here.¡±


    ¡°Then we dig another bunker, maybe set up a storehouse or two. With the new weapons, we will be a force to be reckoned with.¡±


    ¡°That you are,¡± Victoria conceded, resting her head on her hands with a thoughtful expression. ¡°I agree that if we find anything up your alley then we might be best served by leaving it here. But I must stress that nothing we find down there will be kept secret from my superiors, and just like with the gravity oil, we will require samples to send home for study. Any regular wealth would be split two ways. If we find items of historical or religious significance then they are to be sent to the capital for study and preservation.¡±


    ¡°That is very generous of you,¡± Nunuk added with a polite nod, before glancing at Tom.


    ¡°Sounds good I think.¡± Tom couldn¡¯t see a problem with it. Honestly, he would have expected them to put up more of a fight for the gravity oil once they figured out what it was and more specifically what it was worth. Then again, they might do that once Grevi returned, likely carrying new orders from the capital. ¡®They are trying to butter us up,¡¯ he realized after a bit, leaning back in his chair taking a second to appreciate all the faces, trying not to smile. Well, that suited him just fine, for the time being. It might be a problem in the future though, once they started expecting some rewards for being so generous and helpful.


    ¡°Very well. We will continue to patrol as well as provide an escort for you, Linkosta. I have no doubt that once the academy hears of this they will want to know what is going on down there,¡± Victoria replied, leaning back in her chair. ¡°If you play your cards right, you just might end up in charge of a research team before you even graduate,¡± she continued, looking at Linkosta with a friendly smile. The young mage looked a touch apprehensive at the prospect, as if she had just figured that one out now.


    ¡°Are we about to become a tourist destination?¡± Tom questioned. That would be a problem. They really didn¡¯t need that many people snooping around. It was bad enough to have the combat wing looking over their shoulder, but they were bound to secrecy and a part of the military which they kinda needed to ensure the keep¡¯s safety anyway. A bunch of randos running around though. That would be bad.


    ¡°This will be kept hush hush for now. In time maybe. It''s not like I would know anyway, nor is it my decision to make. But certain people in power would already have been informed of what has been found by now. I¡¯m expecting Grevi back in a few days at most¡­ What do you think, Jortun? Me and Baron guard the cave. You and Glira on patrol and hunting duty. Perhaps switch every couple of days. Then send Grevi to help with the construction at Hylsdal when she gets here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she won¡¯t like that posting,¡± the major replied, taking a sharp breath.


    ¡°No, but we want that work crew for clearing the entrances, assuming we can crack the wards on them. I have a feeling Grevi will be bringing academy representatives that might be helpful in that endeavor.¡±


    ¡°Or orders to start recalling us, but you¡¯re probably right. Sounds like a plan to me,¡± the major replied, Victoria looking around at the table. Dakota and Nunuk had a quick whisper before looking to Tom.


    He just shrugged in reply. Chances were pretty good that the other vaults just contained more of the cylinders, and they had more than they knew what to do with already. But if there was something else down there, then he didn¡¯t really see any reason why they should just give it up. It didn¡¯t sound like they were trying to steal anything that they would want to keep at the keep though, and they were running most of the risk too by the sound of it.


    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Nunuk replied after a few seconds of silence for any objections.


    ¡°Marvelous. Baron departs for the cave tomorrow. I will stay here with the rest of you ¡®til Grevi gets here. Then we will see.¡±

 Nosey Guests

    Chapter 123: Nosey Guests


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was a few days before they sighted Grevi flying in formation with a white dragon. As they got closer, the white dragon seemed to be carrying cargo of some description, so likely a hired trader to help with transport.


    Tom had mysteriously gone missing as soon as the sighting was reported, Kiran delivering a message written in crude draconic to the point Saph was honestly pondering whether Tom or Kiran had hastily made it. It simply stated ¡®Nope.¡¯ When questioned about where Tom had gone, Kiran looked a little uncomfortable, refusing to answer, before running off. Saph just stood there for a second looking unimpressed before deciding chances were pretty good that the kid was running back to Tom and gave chase.


    Kiran might be an energetic little guy, but he was still only three, so she just made sure to keep up while maintaining enough distance to keep the guy¡¯s spirits high. He was heading down, so likely going for the workshop as Saph excused herself past everyone else going to get ready themselves, all going upwards to their rooms. It was going rather well until Anchor ended up in the way, leading to a rather clumsy dance to decide whose right of way it was. Saph eventually just gave up and moved him aside by the shoulders, revealing an empty corridor¡­ and no Kiran.


    ¡®Gods give me strength. Right, probably forge or workshop,¡¯ Saph mumbled to herself as she moved past Anchor, who just awkwardly nodded and left her to it.


    Going back down to the next level she decided to check the workshop first, finding it empty aside from Ray who was sitting on her knees scrubbing the floor vigorously.


    ¡°Are you serious right now?¡± Saph had to ask, looking at the spectacle.


    ¡°We are having guests, and they might want to see what we have been working on,¡± Ray replied as she kept scrubbing.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they will even be allowed in here, Not to mention the keep hasn¡¯t been this clean in years. Come on. Let''s get you tidied up instead. Have you ever been a part of a welcoming committee before?¡± Ray just turned to look at Saph with an expression of horror, or at least a fair amount of discomfort.


    ¡°I¡­ No.¡±


    ¡°Well come on then, can¡¯t have you looking like a slave, that¡¯s for sure. Still have the clothes we got for you in the capital?¡± Saph asked with a smile, doing her damndest to sound light hearted.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ well yes,¡± Ray answered cautiously, throwing a side glance at the floor.


    ¡°Perfect, let¡¯s go,¡± Saph went as she put the bucket aside, Ray still hanging on to the brush like a kid with a teddy bear. ¡®If Tom doesn''t wanna be helped, I¡¯ll help someone who wants it.¡¯ ¡°You need to remind us we have to get you some clothes that are a bit more¡­ local.¡±


    Ray eyed the leathers that Saph was wearing at the moment. Saph totally not making sure to twist a bit so Ray could see all the nice hand-stitched and embossed patterns that had been put on it.


    ¡°You got me really nice clothes though. Shiva and Raulf found these for me, so I don¡¯t have to wear them everyday. I don¡¯t want to wear them out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you need proper work clothes for you. Pretty and tough. Besides, you have got to have the clearest blue I have ever seen.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Thank you,¡± Ray replied with a happy little smile that damn near made her glow.


    ¡°Hey, I''m just stating the obvious. Now come on, let¡¯s make you shine.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wait, you managed to lose her? Damn bro,¡± Tom had to admit it hadn¡¯t actually been the plan for Kiran to make his escape.


    ¡°You have been teaching him things haven''t you?¡± Jacky questioned, turning to Tom with an expectant look and crossing her arms.


    ¡°Not really, no.¡±


    ¡°Knowing Tom makes you ¡®stealth,¡¯ ¡± Kiran replied with great confidence, despite technically having failed his mission.


    ¡°Well, so much for operation treasure hunt,¡± Jacky went with a shrug. They had hidden clues and everything too. The goal being to have Saph running around trying to find them. They had considered trying to dress up Saph in some of Tom¡¯s spare clothes, but elected to try and waste her time, so she would struggle to get ready for the welcome committee herself instead. ¡°What now then?¡±


    ¡°We¡­ get ready I suppose¡­ Right,¡± Tom replied after a seconds thought. He would have to get his revenge for being crossdressed in front of a colonel some other time. ¡°You best run along now, Kiran. Go find Dakota. There¡¯s a good chance she¡¯s looking for you.¡±


    ¡°No we stand, no running,¡± Kiran replied in protest, straightening his back and doing his best to look mad, which only really made him look cuter as Tom pondered what to say to that for a second. ¡®Fuck it, might as well play along.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry. We must relocate our forces to stand with¡­ Jarix. Yes! He must be ready for inspection too. You are the head of claw inspection, right?¡± Tom questioned, doing his best to muster a commanding tone.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Kiran went as he spun around, running out the door and hurriedly making his way down the stairs.


    ¡°He¡¯s learning quick,¡± Jacky went with a shit-eating grin as Tom grumbled for a second.


    ¡°I blame you for that one.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t be me, I still can¡¯t make it sound right. Shet.... Shieat,¡± Jacky tried, pulling some rather exaggerated grimaces.


    ¡°What¡¯s next? Are you gonna grow lips just so you can learn to say Fuck?¡± Tom countered.


    ¡°Hey, quit showing off, that''s my job. Speaking of which, do me first. I want those horns to shine,¡± Jacky went as she sat down in front of her dresser. "We¡¯ll figure out a way to comb your hair afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Right, so what¡­ just get a cloth and rub away?¡±


    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s like shining leather¡­ more or less. Oh, I want this polished too,¡± she went as she got out the revolver from her drawer.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that supposed to stay here?¡± Tom questioned carefully. She did really like that thing after all, and he was not in a fighting mood right now.


    ¡°Aww come on. It¡¯s like the shiniest thing I have¡­ Well, at least the biggest shiny thing. Look, it¡¯s like a mirror. Hey, I can use this as a mini mirror now I have two mirrors,¡± Jackalope continued as she held up the revolver to look at herself.


    ¡®You can see your reflection in it and you want it polished¡­ Sounds about right¡¯ Tom mussed to himself as he got the lid of the can of whatever it was that they used for polishing. ¡°Does a white dragon mean anything special?¡±


    ¡°Might be from the church. Don¡¯t think so though, they feel too important to carry much cargo from what I¡¯ve heard.¡±


    ¡°I thought Heron said it looked like a trader.¡±


    ¡°As I said, not from the church then,¡± Jacky countered with a shrug as she set about cleaning jewelry and hanging a few extra items from her ears after strapping on the holster. ¡°I hope they don¡¯t have anyone too religious on-board. I hate lectures on what to do.¡±


    ¡°I thought I had taught you about Murphy.¡±


    ¡°... What I meant was I really really hope there is a religious fanatic onboard. I love those.¡±


    ¡°Dammit Jacky,¡± Tom replied with a sigh as he shook his head.


    ¡°What?... Do I need to be more convincing?¡± Jacky went with a sarcastic laugh as Tom struggled to get to work on her horns.


    ¡°No, you definitely have me convinced. Now stay still¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Jacky wasn¡¯t too pleased when Nunuk told her that ¡®No, her revolver and holster were staying indoors today and that''s final.¡¯ These people were not under oath, nor could they guarantee they would take such an oath. Then there was the simple fact that the more people you put under an oath of silence the higher the chances were of someone breaking it. Hence these folk would be given only the ¡®official story¡¯ so to speak. They would not be allowed inside the keep, and they would not be told of any strange projects aside from Tom having brought some odd plants from his home, which they were trying to make grow. It was rather hard to hide a field after all. Tom was still a wizard who could fling fire and worshipped the moon and nature. Hence the green and black that they were yet to fix. And he had arrived here via teleportation accident.


    Their precious human had been diligently waiting down in front of the keep when Saph made her way down there with Ray in tow. It was the first time Saph had gotten the chance to see Ray in proper clothes for a while. She was looking quite a lot better in fact. Still skinny, but she looked healthier that was for sure. The few pieces of jewelry Saph had managed to scrounge up definitely helped make her look better too.


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    The incoming dragons were still a minute or so out, Nunuk and Dakota going over the story one more time for everyone¡¯s sake, Nunuk taking extra care with some of their new faces to remind them this was a serious matter. Ray and Bo nodded their consent with a serious expression. Pho was a bit more reluctant but she got the message in the end.


    The two dragons had set down in the grass in front of the keep, a proper welcoming committee being mounted for them. Saph still had a hard time getting used to seeing dragons arrayed on their side of the greeting line, but it did feel rather nice to be on equal footing. At least sort of, as they had Glira and Jarix at their back.


    Grevi had done the introductions for their party. The White dragon with her was apparently named Galaxer and had indeed been hired due to the number of passengers. The two of them were carrying a sizable delegation from the royal academy all representing different branches, a priestess for some reason, some Royal Guard recruits likely destined for Glira, and a representative of the Engineering Guild.


    It was actually rather fun to see the gaggle of intellectuals from the academy gawking at everything, chattering with each other. Saph guessed they were all city people rather than keep dwellers like Linkosta since even the keep itself was apparently interesting. Perhaps it would be possible to have some old-fashioned fun at their expense before they left for the vaults. Right now though, they were all staring at Tom after having made him out in the crowd. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard; he did have the cape on, in white even, and he had gone with red trimmings for the occasion.


    The priestess was more worrying to Sapphire. Sure the academy people would likely try and stick their noses in just about everything, but a priest could cause quite a ruckus if they found something they didn¡¯t like. For now though, she seemed to mostly be inspecting Tom with a kind of bewildered curiosity.


    Once the formalities had been taken care of, the engineer representing the guild had come forth, arms wide in greeting. The guy apparently knew Tink and expressed quite some surprise at finding him at a frontier keep. The surprise rather quickly turned into suspicion when Tink refused to answer just what he was working on out here in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the fact that they were not allowed inside the keep. The academy people also added their protests, Grevi silencing them rather quickly, stating they knew perfectly well what the rules were gonna be around here.


    Victoria sealed the deal, stating it to be official Royal Guard secrets. Using the word secrets definitely did nothing to calm down the academy people, who immediately began arguing about what the guard had decided to hide this time around. But even they didn¡¯t argue the point beyond that, at least not openly.


    The Engineering Guild representative had then stepped forth, at least pretending to not be bothered with being left out, as he walked up to the Bizmati family carrying a large satchel. Saph made sure she was nice and close; she didn¡¯t want to miss this and who knew, there might be something for her in there.


    ¡°Well I was not sent to spy on our beloved guard anyway. I am here to, first of all, congratulate you on the magnificent success of some of the inventions you so graciously licensed to craftmaster Jakolev. And to bring you your just pay from said contract in addition to his well-wishes, which just so includes some of the fruits of our labor.¡±


    ¡®Damn someone is good at kissing boots,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself as the man retrieved some wrapped parcels from his satchel, presenting them to Nunuk and Apuma. After the guy didn¡¯t back off, Nunuk politely unwrapped her present, revealing a really rather nice-looking lighter. If Saph''s eye was right, that looked like actual gold, all nicely polished. ¡®Damn, they weren¡¯t kidding when they said they were going for the nobility.¡¯


    It was obvious though that the guy was looking for Apuma¡¯s reaction as he unwrapped the pencils. When the old loremaster instead began inspecting them and making comments on the construction, Saph had to try not to giggle at the engineer¡¯s rather surprised expression.


    ¡°Oh, I mean no offense. Very well done mister¡­¡±


    ¡°My sincere apologies, Kasra. Hivon Kasra. It is a pleasure.¡±


    ¡°Apuma Bizmati,¡± the old man replied with a polite nod, before looking back down at the pencils. ¡°I think they will do the job most marvelously. They are a little thick though, don¡¯t you think?¡± Apuma continued after it apparently dawned on him that he might have insulted the engineer a little with some of his comments.


    ¡°But the leads shatter if we try and make them much thinner,¡± the engineer replied almost automatically. ¡°Believe me, we have tried.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well I¡¯m sure you will figure out the secret one day, son,¡± Apuma replied, giving the guy a pat on the back.


    ¡°Yes¡­ most certainly¡­ I do also have this. I was instructed to give this to your daughter,¡± the engineer went, pulling out another parcel and handing it to Dakota with a polite bow. ¡°I must say this is my personal favorite, it¡¯s almost like magic. But not,¡± he went with a wink, bowing slightly as he handed it over.


    Dakota unwrapped the wayfinder, doing a better job of looking surprised by the result than Apuma, thanking the engineer on a fine piece of work. Tom made his way over, excusing himself as he pushed by to get a look at the new products.


    ¡°Hey, not bad, it¡¯s bigger than I would have thought. Still, that¡¯s pretty good,¡± Tom went with an enthusiastic smile, Dakota handing over the device for him to inspect.


    ¡°Yes, it was quite the endeavor,¡± the engineer replied, tilting his head a tad at the human. ¡°It is my understanding you were the one responsible for the warnings associated with its construction?¡±


    ¡°You mean the blitz gel?¡± Tom questioned with a head tilt, Saph making a note of that. ¡®Tom the dragonette. Well I guess it goes both ways,¡¯ she mused to herself.


    ¡°Yes. We do apologize for not taking it more seriously. Proper containment has now been affected for the power source, though I am happy to report we didn¡¯t end up losing anyone in the accident.¡±


    ¡°Right, the last letter mentioned that,¡± Tom replied in a somber tone, seeming to ponder that for a second.


    ¡°That is in the past though, and I am here to do more than offer trinkets of gratitude.¡±


    ¡®Ooh here it comes,¡¯ Saph mused to herself.


    ¡°The guild would like to place an offer for two gold per capsule of this mysterious gravity oil you have uncovered. And I believe I have brought enough coin to buy the whole lot. If not, this may serve as a down payment,¡± the engineer finished, looking rather proud of himself as he patted a hefty coin purse on his belt.


    The smile went away though when Tom had to repress a laugh, Dakota clearing her throat, looking a touch apologetic.


    ¡°We respectfully decline your offer. Until their full potential has been revealed we will be retaining the majority of our stock, though we might be open to negotiations for some of the vials uncovered.¡±


    ¡°But the report stated you found hundreds of these cylinders. You would never have made such a profit in your lives.¡±


    ¡°In fact, I believe it would be our second such deal this year. But don¡¯t worry, I do believe you will get your claws in our supply at some point,¡± Dakota cut him off in her best diplomatic voice. ¡°Oh and we have thousands. But that is all in good time.¡±


    ¡°I will look forward to it,¡± the engineer replied, slouching a little, looking like he was pondering just how wrong that had gone before collecting himself again. ¡°Well in either case I do have this for you. The first payment on our contract with you. I¡¯m sure there will be much more where this has come from,¡± Hivon went, handing over a small bag of coins to Dakota, who counted them.


    Grevi had also been carrying an impressive number of requests, orders, contracts, and other paperwork for Jortun and Victoria, which were handed over. The officers started to go through them on the spot as the delegation from the academy set about inspecting Tom in detail, doing sketches and even taking a few measurements. The priestess was first to start asking questions though, as she stared him down with a suspicious gaze.


    Easing her suspicions was mainly a matter of Tom citing off the various gods, admitting that no he wasn¡¯t very religious and then agreeing that their gods were definitely better. Linkosta lent her word to the fact that Tom had in fact seen the real gods through a telescope. After that the priestess just settled into what seemed like a well practiced routine as she started going through the gods and what they stood for. Making sure to put emphasis on Oleg since Tom was clearly a crafter of some kind.


    Tom listened diligently while complying with the gaggle''s curiosity, seemingly finding it funny as they argued over how to classify his rather odd nails, and he just laughed when they asked whether or not he considered them to be natural weapons or just decorative ones. Another scolar arguing that surely they must be meant for optimal scratching.


    ¡°Careful now, he can in fact bite,¡± Saph went as she walked over. Might as well be a little mean after he just bolted earlier, not to mention putting Kiran up to try and trick her. ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t look like much in there.¡±


    That had the desired effect, as the academics started pestering him to open his mouth to let them have a look. Jacky seemingly decided it was a good idea to walk over and look tough, staring at the delegation as she took up the station behind Tom, doing her best to tower over the lot of them. It did lead some of them to second guess their decision but not for long.


    ¡°Fine, but no touching. You ain¡¯t putting your fingers in my mouth. Or anything else,¡± Tom replied with a bit of a sigh as he opened up, the priestess actually stopping her lecture to have a look at the fine white chops.


    The general consensus from the group seemed to be one of fascination as more notes were written down and hurried sketches made. One of them nearly broke the rule of no touching before he was smacked by one of his colleagues.


    ¡°How about you go and have a chat with Linkosta instead? I''m sure she can fill you in on a lot of interesting things,¡± Jacky went, crossing her arms in front of his chest. It was a noble attempt to try and divert some of the attention, but it was not very effective.


    ¡°Hey, at least they aren''t trying to kill me or making rude comments on how hideous I look.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, a big improvement,¡± Jacky echoed with a chuckle and a head shake as she leaned a bit more on him.


    ¡°Are you lovers?¡± one of the academics then questioned, Tom turning pale, much to the fascination of both academics and the priestess.


    ¡°I would rather not discuss that,¡± Tom eventually let out as Jacky clearly started second guessing how smart getting mixed up in this had been. Sapphire just chuckled a bit to herself at the display. What came next were some very uncomfortable questions which quickly had just about everyone in earshot averting their gaze. Except of course the academy people, the priestess starting to go on about propriety in public spaces.


    Tom did his best to answer questions as vaguely as possible as Jacky froze for a few seconds before taking a knee, grabbing one of his feet, and pulling off a boot. She nearly caused Tom to lose his balance as she held his foot out for them to see, eliciting a fair few oohs and aahs as sketches started taking shape in a hurry.


    ¡°Get a good sniff,¡± she went with a giggle, Saph guessing she was holding her breath herself. One of the researches was in fact dumb enough to take a deep whiff and promptly puked on the ground, much to both Jacky¡¯s, Saph¡¯s, and most of the keep dwellers¡¯ delight, and the shock of their coworkers.


    ¡°Good gods that¡¯s horrid,¡± the poor man let out as he got his stomach under control again, staggering back a little as Tom apologized, stating it had been awhile since his last bath unfortunately.


    ¡°Fear the evil stink foot,¡± Jacky continued with a slight cackle. She waved Tom¡¯s foot back and forth at the now retreating group of academics, who had started arguing about whether they wanted a sample badly enough.


    ¡°If you behave yourselves you might get the chance,¡± Victoria went, walking over, paperwork still in hand. ¡°You lot are departing for the cave right away, you have work to do. Grevi and Glira will be taking you there, so you may make it before sun down. Galaxer you are free to go, though I suspect you would want to stay the night, yes?¡± the colonel questioned, turning her attention to the sleepy looking white.


    ¡°That would be marvelous,¡± the dragon rumbled, lazily licking its chops. ¡°What¡¯s for dinner?¡±


    ¡°But what about his fire magic?¡± One of the students questioned, Saph recognizing some of the markings that Linkosta wore on her robes. So likely someone who dealt with magic of some kind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s a little rude to ask for someone to show you all their tricks. What¡¯s next, should Glira blow something up to satisfy your curiosity? The man is technically a decorated war hero, and you will treat him as such! And you are here to do a job, and by the gods you¡¯ll do it. Understood?¡± the colonel snapped in reply. ¡°Now get a move on unless you want to be flying there yourself.¡±


    The priestess looked less than pleased to Sapphire, but she had her chance to question him and she wouldn¡¯t be getting a lengthy theological discussion today that was for sure. Her little lecture would have to do. That was probably for the best too, mainly since Tom could probably not be trusted to avoid fucking something up in that situation. Nor could they if Saph was being honest. They were many things at the keep, but they weren''t good liars around here.

 White and Blue

    Chapter 124: White and Blue


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well, that was certainly interesting¡¯ Tom thought to himself as Victoria herded the group of new arrivals towards Glira and Jarix. Things were apparently going well in the capital. Minus the little explosion. They had gotten paid, and they had an offer in case they wanted to sell some of the cylinders. Victoria had made it clear, though, that if they did sell some then the rule of splitting the wealth recovered would come into effect, meaning only a gold per capsule. Tom was rather confident they could jack the price up a bit higher than that though. They clearly had a monopoly on the stuff after all.


    After the new arrivals had departed, Tom elected to go ask some questions of the last remaining new guest. Looking at Galaxer, the white dragon had walked over to a rather nice patch of long grass and rolled onto his back. The dragon flexed out his wings and stretched with a rather sizable groan as he made himself comfortable in the midday sun.


    Nunuk had walked over with a slightly hurried step, Tom following along, the close footsteps of Jacky following behind. The lady had questioned if he would not prefer the greeting hall, but Galaxer had declined. He stated that he was perfectly fine right here. Some of his crew did take her up on the offer though, putting off pitching their tents.


    Tom took the opportunity to inspect the dragon in detail. He had asked about the whites, of course, but this was still his first time seeing one. From what he had gathered, it was not so common to see them on the wing in the middle of summer, many preferring to use their cold endurance to make a higher profit margin during the colder times of the year. Where they often maintained critical trade routes. He hadn¡¯t quite known what to expect, perhaps white frost coming off him or maybe just a constantly foggy breath, but then again Baron didn¡¯t set fire to everything he touched so why should this be any different. Galaxer was rather spikey though, even his scales had pointed edges as opposed to the far more rounded and smoothly curved plates of Jarix. They weren¡¯t as thick and tough-looking as Baron¡¯s either but they did have an aggressive angled look to them.


    ¡°I¡¯m confused, which one of us is supposed to be the interesting individual again?¡± the dragon rumbled, not turning his head to look at Tom, instead remaining motionless, looking like he was rather enjoying himself.


    ¡°Surely everyone can be interesting,¡± Tom countered, glancing at Jacky who had crossed her arms, doing her best to look sassy.


    ¡°Ooh a philosopher. Please don¡¯t tell me you have come here to preach. The priest was bad enough for the trip out here. You would not believe how much they believe a pure creature like myself should devote themselves to a higher cause¡­ mostly unpaid, of course,¡± Galaxer replied, still unmoving.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not about to make you pray to trees, don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. I much prefer the sun anyways. Even if I will have to envy the blacks for how well they soak up the heat.¡±


    ¡°Oh, if only Tiguan heard you are envious of him,¡± Saph added from behind them, apparently having taken an interest as well.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t get me wrong, they have it rough. You should have seen what the inquisition did to Illowa. It is rare to survive ending up on their bad side, but still. Yeowch.¡±


    ¡°What did this Illowa do?¡± Tom questioned, electing that he might as well sit down in the long grass.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. I think she stole something. Maybe hunted where she wasn¡¯t allowed. Got in a fight with someone about it. bad things happened, the church got involved and wanted her branded as a traitor. Now she works in the Lordsdale Ironmine. Been there for twenty years I think.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Tom broke out. ¡°Twenty years for poaching?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s gonna be more than that. Not that I suspect she knows how long it¡¯s been. She might get out one day, when they need her and assuming she doesn''t refuse the offer out of spite. I don¡¯t know though, how bad do you think mine work really is? I mean, if you are already black what does a bit more do?¡± the dragon questioned, turning its head to look at Tom, still upside down.


    ¡°Uhm. I don¡¯t really know to be honest,¡± Tom had to reply after a bit, looking at Jacky, whose expression was best read as ¡®poor fucker.¡¯ It certainly didn¡¯t sound nice, not to mention sounding incredibly racist.


    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t mess with the inquisition or crazy people in power in general. Be warned, if you tell the priest I said that, I will freeze you in ice and keep you as a trophy¡­ I¡¯m kidding but seriously don''t. They might like my kind. That doesn¡¯t mean they like me in particular,¡± Galaxer continued, rolling around again to lay its head on the ground looking at Tom. ¡°Anyway, it sounded like you have a lot of questions. Fire away before I fall asleep here. It¡¯s been a long day.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did have some questions about the frost powder you make. See I have a bit of an overheating problem.¡±


    ¡°They said you were hot-blooded, but in this weather? That¡¯s a little extreme,¡± the dragon went, with a curious expression on his face.


    ¡°No, not me personally. But say I had a metal tube that gets very hot, and I wanted to cool it down without turning it to ice.¡±


    ¡°What is this, some kind of school?¡± Galaxer chuckled. ¡°For that I would just use water, no need for magic. If you feel like wasting money, just mix in a small amount of frost powder. It won¡¯t stay cold for long, but it won¡¯t freeze solid either.¡±


    ¡°How long would something like that last?¡± Tom questioned, kicking himself a little for not thinking of such a simple experiment.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know, half an hour maybe less. Just throw in a bit more then. It¡¯s not that complicated.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much. I must ask too though, can you just like ignore the cold, or what¡¯s the deal? That seems rather useful.¡±


    ¡°Sorta. I think one of the brainy ones once told me I draw heat out of well just about anything, then I just spit out the cold and there we go. Nice and warm inside. If you would be so kind as to give my armpits a good scratch you¡¯ll find I¡¯m rather cold to the touch.¡± The dragon went, rather expectantly.


    Tom understood a hint when he got one¡­ at least most of the time¡­ some of the time. And went to give the dragon a good scratch as he rolled over onto his back again. The rougher scales did make climbing easier than with Jarix, even if the white was about as large as Glira. The scales made for good handholds without being sharp enough to cut. The dragon was indeed rather cold too, despite the very nice warm weather.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the spot¡­ No, a bit lower¡­ There we go¡­ I think that smart guy was right. Your fingers are made for scratching. Are you for hire by any chance?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. I¡¯m a little booked right now,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle.


    ¡°Shame. I guess I¡¯ll have to make do then.¡±


    ¡°I got a question too,¡± Jacky broke out after a bit, looking around as if trying to check who was around, not looking too pleased that Saph was still here. ¡°Say if you did have a personal¡­ overheating problem. How would you recommend fixing that?¡±


    Tom did make out Saph letting out a suppressed snicker as she very pointedly looked away, Jacky¡¯s ears lowering a little more.


    ¡°Whatever you do, don''t eat the stuff. Not only would that be way gross, it would probably also kill you,¡± the dragon replied nonchalantly. ¡°I know some athletes who compete on the ground use bracelets that hold powder. Just add water and they become very cold. Just be careful though. Don¡¯t wanna lose a hand. or even worse, a wing if you want to put it there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll think about that one,¡± Jacky replied, shooting a death stare back at Saph, who was scratching a bit at the ground with a foot.


    ¡°Oh and by the way, the oil things you found, is there a chance I could get to see one?¡± Galaxer questioned. Tom looked back at Saph and Jacky, both of whom just shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get one,¡± Saph went after a bit, walking over towards the bunker.


    Tom just kept scratching. It was actually rather fun to be climbing around on Galaxer, who had apparently decided it was story time now.


    ¡°It¡¯s just I¡¯ve heard about those before. I might even have seen one. They had no clue what they were, of course, and they were definitely empty, but still could be interesting.¡±


    ¡°You must be old then. It didn¡¯t sound like anyone knew what they were around here,¡± Jacky added as she walked up to the dragon¡¯s side, having a go at a scratch as well.


    ¡°Please no, your claws are so scratchy¡­ Have you sharpened them by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Might have done,¡± Jacky admitted as she lowered her hand again. ¡°I got bored, okay?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that is something to be ashamed of. I had mine sharpened a few years ago before heading far up north. Teeth too for that fact; you want all the help you can get when flying without a crew.


    ¡°You have been up north?¡± Jacky questioned, looking to Tom with an expectant expression. ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡±


    ¡°Really damn cold. I hated every day of it. But the pay was definitely worth it.¡±


    ¡°Why were you up there if you wouldn¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Tom went curiously. All he had gotten about the far north was that it was cold and there was ice on the ocean. A lot of it too, apparently.


    ¡°Oh, nothing too special. I ran resupply for some of the garrisons up there for a while. It¡¯s all just lookout stations spread around, but for most of the year it¡¯s so cold they can hardly go outside. One of the girls who used to do the run just missed a stop one day and was never heard from again. So they needed someone to pick up her work. I had them pay handsomely for that one,¡± the dragon went with a smirk.


    Tom had to let that one sink in a little. They hadn¡¯t talked much about the north since, well, it didn¡¯t really concern them. Apuma didn¡¯t have anything other than a book or two which mentioned what could be found up there anyway. But they had watch stations, and they didn''t sound like they were cheap to run either.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m definitely not an ignorant frontierswoman who has never been to the big cities for anything other than a quick jaunt¡­ but what are we watching for exactly?¡± Jacky questioned, piling on the sarcasm nice and thick, even if it still didn''t quite hide the worry in her tone.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°All kinds of nasty things like the ice up there. Wide-open areas of solid ground conveniently floating on top of the depths of hell itself. All ripe for corruption too... It¡¯s rumored that there are ancient strongholds far north, beyond where even someone like me can go. They say that¡¯s where the doetna¡¯s come from. You know, when they aren''t enjoying a nice swim. Damn demons.¡±


    Well that certainly made Jacky look uncomfortable as Saph came jogging back over. ¡°Got one. Look familiar?¡± she went, holding up a vial. Galaxer arched his head over to have a look.


    ¡°It does indeed. This was around decades ago though, so my memory is a little hazy, but I carried hundreds of these things to the capital. I¡¯m fairly sure they were going to be melted down and reforged. Had I known what it was, I would have kept one as a souvenir.¡±


    ¡°Would make sense I guess,¡± Saph replied, looking down at the vial.


    ¡°They were empty though, right?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the dragon.


    ¡°Oh yeah, most of them were broken too actually. Though that might have been the rather rough handling. They were just valuable scrap after all.¡±


    ¡°Welp, ours certainly aren¡¯t¡­ By the way, just out of curiosity, what would you pay for honey?¡±Tom questioned looking at the trader.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Victoria had gotten up after dinner, getting their attention with a semi-loud ¡°listen up¡± as she stood up with some of the pieces of parchment she had received.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not exactly going to be a summer flight this one, so I¡¯ll just get on with it.¡± She opened before clearing her voice. ¡°Multiple keeps attacked. Enemy no longer concerned with hiding forces. Multiple cases of scares and probing attacks leaving little to no damage to keeps in question.¡±


    ¡°Reports of the new enemy bat-like heavy combatants now abundant; many reporting night raids, forcing people to stay indoors or risk capture in the night. Attacks reported as far in as middle ring keeps, though none have been destroyed. Four frontier keeps confirmed destroyed; two with no survivors. Evidence of acid and fire breath attacks present at both. Finally Iglan Coalmine has been attacked, the enemy seemingly securing fuel for winter operations Large red dragon confirmed present. Likely the traitor Rashan.¡±


    That one made the room fall quiet as Victoria looked around at them with a knowing look before continuing reading. ¡®I guess so much for safe once it snows¡¯ Saph went to herself before Victoria continued.


    ¡°One enemy adult black dragon¡ªestimated at 34 tons, likely male¡ªshot down three days north of Bartelion, taking his entire raiding party and his escort, consisting of two adult giant bats, with him. Minimal guard losses. Considering both our latest successes and the increasing enemy threat, recruiting has been increased by order of the king. Gods willing we shall see the end of this.¡± Victoria finished, quite a few people cheering the victory. From what Tom had learned dragons and other heavy units were the cornerstones of a battle. Losing an adult dragon would be a major blow to the enemy.


    ¡°Aww, here I was hoping we would be the only ones that could kick-ass,¡± Jacky added from next to Tom. who just swallowed once. This was still very bad news, even if they had scored one victory. It also reaffirmed Nunuk¡¯s and Dakota¡¯s worries that the guard might recall Victoria now that the threat here had ostensibly been dealt with. That would be really bad. Sure they might have the firepower to kill a dragon now, but could they manage it before it got close enough to do a run on the keep? He could only imagine the damage that even a single run from a red dragon could do to the keep.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s something, even if it¡¯s hardly a comfort that we aren¡¯t getting our asses kicked all over the front. This one is quite good though. This is from our beloved General Josu, blessings be upon her,¡± Victoria continued in a rather sarcastic tone as she switched the pieces of paper with a smile.


    ¡°Colonel Victoria Hashaw. Following your latest discovery, I have received pleas from the Royal Academy, The Guild of Engineers, The Church, and even the crown, that the Vaults beneath Bizmati Keep are to be held at all costs. It has been decided that following your successes in the region, you are to be awarded this most prestigious of tasks. For the good of our kingdom, you must not fail. My only regret is that I have none to send to your aid aside from recruits to replace your losses. I do, however, have full confidence that against the dark you will prevail for the good of us all. General Alevix Josu.¡±


    ¡°How about that?¡± Victoria went with a crooked smile as she folded up the piece of parchment. ¡°Well folks, sounds like we are staying right here. I take this as me being able to deploy as I see fit since a sizable portion of what was down there is now up here. Jarix and Tiguan will stay at their posts. Grevi is taking Hyldahl, Baron and Glira will be switching between the cave and patrol slash hunting duty, just like we planned. Any objections?¡± Victoria went, looking around at the room her gaze landing on Nunuk.


    ¡°No colonel. I must thank you for continuing to hold a wing over us,¡± Nunuk replied, visibly relieved. Rachuck literally sitting higher in his chair after that announcement.


    ¡°You just figure out what that stuff does. Though I do warn you: that knowledge I do want.¡±


    ¡°We will see what we can come up with. I¡¯m sure it will be quite something,¡± Tom replied, receiving a smile and a polite nod from the colonel as she raised her mug, even if it was just water today.


    ¡°Well, here''s to hoping we scared them off already. If not, they won¡¯t know what hit ¡®em.¡±


    ¡®Well, I sure as shit hope so,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he raised his mug, Jacky grumbling something about it being bad luck to toast in water.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wait, so you just bleed in a little clay pot?¡± Tom questioned, looking worriedly at where Saph was getting the tools ready. That is to say: glazed clay pots for everyone, cloths for cleaning up, and a spare knife for Ray since she didn''t have one yet. The weather was nice, so they had gathered outside since quite a few people needed to have fresh leather made, not just their new arrivals.


    ¡°Yeah, how else were you gonna do it?¡± Saph countered.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair, no one ever gets sick or something?¡±


    ¡°We patch up the wound of course,¡± Nunuk added.


    ¡°And you use your own knife¡­ Helps remind people to keep their stuff clean. No one wants dinner butchered with a dirty knife,¡± Dakota added.


    ¡°Right, well at least it¡¯s better than a ceremonial bloodletting. I¡¯m fairly sure we might have shared the knife for those.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s comforting to know the common sense thing isn¡¯t just you,¡± Saph went with a sarcastic chuckle.


    ¡°Low blow,¡± Tom countered. ¡°I still wonder why we need some of those warnings we stick to everything. Danger! Fire is hot. Peanuts may contain peanuts. I swear we must all be idiots,¡± Tom went, shaking his head.


    ¡°He is joking right?¡± Bolinda questioned, looking worriedly at the human then to Saph and the others. Esmeralda just looked like she was in deep thought as she was staring at him, apparently not able to make up her mind for once.


    ¡°Well, have you considered the fact he might be a smart one?¡± Jacky countered, looking a touch offended.


    ¡°That¡¯s a... depressing thought,¡± Bolinda countered, glancing at Tom, who was looking like he hadn''t decided if this was funny or not yet. Junior poked him and asking if the fire one was actually true or not.


    ¡°Probably not¡­ I hope not,¡± Tom replied after too long of a wait for Sapphire''s taste.


    ¡°How do you even put a warning label on fire?¡± Junior questioned to himself, looking rather confused.


    ¡°I sure don¡¯t want to put one on a bee. At least not a big one,¡± Fengi added, smiling as she shook her head.


    ¡°Do not pet,¡± Jacky replied with a laugh, most of them joining her, except Tom just shrugged.


    ¡°Well if you''re gentle with them, perhaps add some smoke or something¡­ I don¡¯t actually know much about bees, but people say they''re mostly friendly, if you''re not an arsehole.¡±


    ¡°By ¡®not an arsehole.¡¯ You mean leave alone, right? As in, if in visual range of a hive, turn around now?¡± Saph questioned, looking up from her preparations.


    ¡°No, you keep them in your backyard. I¡¯ve even seen people pet them. I think they¡¯re quite cute too,¡± Tom went, making a gesture like he was petting a little thing on his finger.


    ¡°I retract my earlier statement,¡± Jacky went as people looked between each other in disbelief.


    ¡°Tom, how big is a warrior bee?¡± Saph finally went, gaining a suspicion.


    ¡°Like that big mostly,¡± Tom went, holding up two fingers and showing something pretty darn tiny.


    ¡°No, a warrior. Not a worker, silly¡± Fengi added lightheartedly.


    ¡°Warrior?¡± Tom questioned, looking at Fengi with a slight head tilt.


    ¡°You know, the big ones that try to kill you if they feel like it?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have that¡­ Well, we have killer bees, but that¡¯s different. How big are yours?¡± Tom questioned, seemingly very confused by now.


    Saph had never actually seen a warrior bee up close, but she had a guess as she held up her hands, indicating around half a meter. ¡°For the warriors. And they can and will kill you in one shot.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. Workers are smaller though. A lot smaller. Like this big,¡± Dakota echoed, holding up her fingers to show around 5-8 centimeters.


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Tom went wide-eyed. ¡°Well, I guess that explains the price¡­ I thought it was just because you all have a sweet tooth. And the whole go faster thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh hell no, it¡¯s very dangerous work. Honey hunters often light huge fires to drive them off and then go in and empty the hive. Then they run like hell. it¡¯s a very nice payday if you make it though,¡± Dakota replied with a shrug.


    ¡°I had an aunt who was a honey hunter,¡± Pho piped up before looking a bit solemn. ¡°Didn''t go brilliantly though.¡±


    ¡°Well, hurray for sugar beets I guess,¡± Tom replied in a somber tone.


    ¡°Hurray indeed. Might save some of the lives the guns are gonna take,¡± Nunuk went in an encouraging tone, looking like she wanted to give the guy a pat on the back. Tom¡¯s expression betrayed that comment hadn''t gone down particularly well.


    ¡°Anyways, should we get on with it?¡± Saph questioned, gesturing at the clay pots, trying to change the subject.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll start. Tom promised we could get to work on the fancy explosives for the vault after this,¡± Jacky went, holding a hand to the side of her mouth like she was letting them in on a secret.


    ¡°I thought you just didn¡¯t want to leave me alone today?¡± Tom questioned, looking at Jacky. ¡°You still have some of your leather lying around. Why do you need more?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for my new armor. Can¡¯t have the pride of the keep running around in someone else''s leather, now can we?¡± Jacky replied. Nunuk, Dakota, and quite a few others developed a bit of a cough for some reason. Saph too all of a sudden had a tickly throat. Not that it bothered Jacky in the slightest as she cleaned her arm.


    Tom had winced when Jacky nonchalantly pulled her knife and nicked her left wrist with trained precision. The vein spilled forth a slow but steady stream of deep blue blood into the small clay pot for quite a while before Jacky pinched it shut, going over to Nunuk to have the wound sealed up good and proper.


    ¡°Ooh look at him. Cuts his way through half an army, and he winces at a little cut,¡± Jacky went mockingly as Saph did her own cut. Tom didn¡¯t comment, instead just looking a little uncomfortable as Jacky sealed the lid on the pot and wrote her name on the lid in charcoal. ¡°Come on then, let¡¯s do some dyeing.¡±


    ¡°Careful, might stain your fingers a little,¡± Saph added as the two walked off to the tanning hut to start dying some of their fresh leather.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tom, I was wondering¡­ God I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m gonna say this, but¡­ why are we making explosives that the guard will, you know¡­ see in action? Maybe even get some? You really didn¡¯t want us to have weapons before,¡± Jacky questioned as she was putting together the molds for the explosive mix. ¡°Now we are making all these awesome things. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I approve,¡± Jacky continued with an exaggerated nod. ¡°But uhm¡­ why?¡±


    Tom had to think for a second before answering that one. There was no simple answer after all. Nor was he sure this was the right thing to do. They kinda had to though.


    ¡°Okay, so this might sound convoluted, but first off when I got here I needed to know if you people could be trusted to not just.. you know. Go and start killing. You give guns to someone who hates their neighbors and suddenly the neighbor is gone, that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°I can see that¡­ I think.¡±


    ¡°Then I might have had the idea that why not try and make a world that¡¯s better than where I came from¡­ That might have been a little bit naive on that one.¡±


    ¡°You have pet-able bees; that¡¯s gonna be hard to beat. And running water at home¡­ Cars don¡¯t sound bad either¡­ Or all the other insane shit you''ve talked about¡­ You wanted this place to end up better? Not to be rude, but...¡±


    ¡°Sounds naive, right? ... Yeah I think that was aiming a little high.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you said it, not me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ then came the rather simple problem that, well, if I teach you machining and chemistry then you will figure out the parts I don¡¯t want you to know about in time. And the ones who figure it out might not be the people we want to have figured this out. It would suck if the one who invents high explosives is a brigand or, even worse, a darkling, dark knight¡­ whatever. Then comes the problem that with every awesome thing we make¡­ or find apparently, we become more of a target.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Jacky went, clearly doing her best to come up with something clever to say. ¡°So, if we don¡¯t make guns, someone else will and we might not like them¡­ If we make them we decide who to give them to someone, then we decide who gets it.¡±


    ¡°At least in theory¡­ might actually be even more naive than the original plan of just making the non-weapon stuff, but this place is not like home¡­ my old home¡­ If you had a weapon it was likely for fun, unless you are in the army or something. Here we actually need them. They killed Anastasi and leveled Hyldahl. It¡¯s not for fun and games anymore.¡±


    ¡°So now the question is who to arm.¡±


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah,¡± Tom replied, slightly surprised at the level of insight displayed by Jacky.


    ¡°Well as long as I¡¯m armed the most,¡± Jacky continued, going back to her work on the mold.


    ¡®There we go,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, pulling a smile. ¡°The queen of dakka, Jackalope Furlong.¡±


    ¡°And to think Essy said you weren¡¯t much of a romantic,¡± Jacky replied with a sly smile. ¡°Long may I reign.¡±

 Fire In The Hole!

    Chapter 125: Fire In The Hole!


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It hadn¡¯t even taken a week before they received word that the enchantments had been cracked. Apparently, Linkosta¡¯s little team was quite productive, possibly fueled by having the prize right in front of them. It managed to fit their schedule rather well too, Tom having just finished whipping up the elusive shaped-charges. Getting the boom powder to hold its shape had been a little tricky, but when Glira swung by for a check-up Tom had a little consultation with Twitch and they got the mix right. A tiny amount of oil and some animal fat being added to the boom powder resulted in something that at least held its shape rather well until it got too hot. Twitch claimed it was like a safety feature: if it melted you should be worried.


    Sapphire wasn¡¯t quite sure how she had ended up being the one to light the fuses, but at least Jacky had lent Saph her ear defenders for the actual blast. It was only Tom, Saph, Jacky, and a few members of Glira¡¯s crew down here right now preparing the charges. Everyone else is way further up the tunnel. Saph and Twitch were supposed to be Tom¡¯s assistants as he worked his dangerous and volatile magic. The boys had retreated out of the room, leaving her with the job of lighting the fuses. The fact that Tom had said a ¡°minute-ish¡± didn¡¯t exactly inspire confidence and judging by how far the others had retreated down the hallway, she better run like hell.


    As the fuse sputtered to life, she took off running before kicking off into the air, making her way down the hallway, flying flat out landing in front of the two. She opened her mouth and put her fingers in her ears like she had been told to. That did make her look sort of over-dramatic when it took a good ten seconds from when she landed till the boom filled the cavern. But what a boom it was as it echoed down the tunnel again and again, slowly dying out. Saph felt like she needed to check if a horn had been shaken loose.


    ¡°I want some of those,¡± Twitch let out excitedly once he got his fingers out of his ears.


    ¡°Maybe someone would be willing to give you a hug then,¡± Quincy added, sounding dead serious.


    ¡°Hey, fuck you too.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear the army doesn''t change,¡± Tom added. ¡°Should we go and see if we got something?¡±


    ¡°Aye, let¡¯s go have a peep,¡± Jortun added, getting up and dusting himself off a little, though still being very gentle with his arm.


    Rounding the corner, there was a fair amount of dust in the air, but other than that it didn¡¯t seem too bad. The door was still in place though, much to their annoyance. The hinges looked mostly broken though, and Tom had said better too little than too much.


    Everyone else was brought down now that the coast was clear.


    A few eager volunteers, armed with crowbars, hammers, and chisels, scaled the door, going at it for a few minutes. Eventually, the top hinge gave way on one door, sending the thing crashing to the ground with a boom.


    ¡°Wow,¡± was all Saph had to say.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Quency asked, maw agape.


    ¡°Books. They contain knowledge. I recommend reading one,¡± Twitch was quick to respond, Quency giving him the finger before the academics among them charged right to the edge of the doorway, all seemingly remembering what had been protecting this place at the same time and coming to a sliding halt right on the precipice of the vault.


    ¡°You go first.¡±


    ¡°No, you go first.¡±


    ¡°Pussies,¡± Linkosta stated as she stepped inside, though Saph could see her holding her breath as she entered. She sighed in relief when nothing happened. ¡°Dad is gonna be so proud.¡±


    ¡®I think Nunuk too,¡¯ Saph went to herself as she tried to get a look inside, pushing past Quency. ¡®Oh, Tom is gonna be in for a rough time for sure.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Oh, shit,¡¯ was Tom¡¯s first thought when he looked inside the vault. It contained several shelves with stacks upon stacks of books and scrolls. And something more concerning: blue paper with white lines on it. ¡®That better not be what I think it is,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as everyone just stared inside the vault. Cause if it was, then his little project of sitting on the industrial revolution might just have gone down the drain. Then again, who was to say what incredible things might be in there.


    The delegation from the academy quickly switched over into ¡®order everyone about mode,¡¯ getting the soldiers to work carrying out the books into the central room, bringing out the tarps and blankets they had used as part of their sleeping accommodations. Tom, though, was more interested in what might be on those blueprints. It all looked a touch hastily thrown in there, but quite a few were rolled up together and bundled, so he took one to go have a look at. The paper was still soft and pliable, so whatever magic had kept it safe was surely next level.


    Tom looked around at all the academics busily going through everything


    ¡°Found anything fun?¡± Saph questioned as he rolled out the pristine paper on the blanket-covered floor.


    ¡°Yeah, I would say so,¡± Tom went, looking down at the pages.


    ¡°Is this the part where I pretend to know what that is while nodding sagely?¡± Saph questioned, squatting down next to him.


    ¡°Actually, I was hoping you could tell me what that is,¡± Tom went, pointing at the little figure in the corner, which he guessed was for scale. If that was the case, then whatever this was was pretty damn big. At least the size of a large pickup truck.


    ¡°Nope, no idea. Looks a bit like you though¡­ wait,¡± Saph replied, squinting at the page before looking at Tom, eyes wide.


    ¡°No. The legs are wrong, and no wings. And the fingers are webbed?¡± Tom replied, looking at the strange biped. ¡°But that certainly isn''t a dragonette.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not one of those chittery bugs from the south either. Linkosta, come have a look at this,¡± Saph replied, looking around to find Linkosta.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the mage replied, trotting over.


    ¡°What is that thing?¡±


    ¡°A bipedal creature,¡± the mage responded after a quick glance.


    ¡°You know, sometimes you don¡¯t sound as smart as you think,¡± Saph countered, sounding very unimpressed.


    ¡°Well, how should I know? It¡¯s just a little doodle.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± Tom interrupted. ¡°That must be who built this place. Why would they put anything else on here? ¡®Cause that is definitely a machine, and a sleek one too. And I¡¯m betting that¡¯s the pilot.¡±


    ¡°Pilot?¡± Saph questioned.


    ¡°It almost looks like a flying machine. It¡¯s only missing the wings, but it has an open cockpit, so it¡¯s no submarine.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°Underwater boat. It dives beneath the water and stays there for a long time,¡± Tom quickly explained, looking back at the designs.


    ¡°You bastards are crazy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who designs planes without wings. It looks awesome though, and fast¡­ wait a second. Oh I¡¯m an idiot. It flies using gravity-oil, of course.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a flying machine then?¡± Saph added, looking down at the drawings.


    ¡°Safe to say, yeah. I want this,¡± Tom replied looking up, before scanning around looking for the colonel. She really ought to see this.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m guessing that''s all metal. Jeez that¡¯s a lot of metal. I don¡¯t think we can make this. Neither here nor in the capital,¡± Linkosta added, scratching behind one ear. ¡°I mean I know Shiva is good, but eehh.¡±


    ¡°No, but we might be able to use some of it. There must be stuff here on how the gravity oil works. I¡¯m willing to bet that thing flies using it. And that looks like an engine to me. No clue what kind though¡­ Where are the cylinders? Is this steam?!¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t already know this, when Tom goes, ¡®What is that?¡¯ we usually run and hide,¡± Saph went, looking at Linkosta. ¡°Or just pretend nothing happened. Whatever fits your fancy.¡±


    ¡°Hey, come on. I mean, I know what a lot of it is. Those little stumpy, I guess winglets, must be for steering. They can clearly move. I think cable operated. That¡¯s the engine, I think... or maybe the boiler. That is lift since, well. it¡¯s in the middle and looks very complicated, probably using grav oil. There must be more drawings on this thing. I wanna see them all.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Linkosta replied, taking the drawing and holding it up for all to see. ¡°Listen up folks, I want everything concerning whatever this thing is.¡±


    There was a brief halt to activities as people inspected the drawing before the work continued, Victoria coming over, her curiosity likely piqued.


    ¡°I take it you found something good?¡±


    ¡°Ohh yeah,¡± Tom replied. ¡°No way we can make it, but we might learn a few things. It¡¯s an aircraft of sorts. It has guns too, and that looks like pylons probably for bombs¡­ It¡¯s a warplane alright... This would make dragons obsolete overnight,¡± Tom went, looking more closely at the guns. They weren''t detailed here, likely getting their own drawing.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?!¡± Victoria broke out, looking at Tom incredulously.


    ¡°For air battles at least. It would be faster, I think, and have better weapons range, so it could just dictate the flow of battle. You know, keep on running and gunning with impunity.¡±


    Victoria didn¡¯t seem pleased by that news in the slightest, looking down at the drawings, with a determined expression.


    ¡°What weapons does it carry that could not be mounted to a dragon?¡± the colonel eventually questioned in a calmer tone. Tom had to think on that for a second, inspecting the design.


    ¡°Well, machine guns might make the fight a bit more fair. And you can put bombs on anything that can carry a payload¡­ Actually, can I talk with you for a second?¡± Tom replied, standing up and nodding his head in the direction of the tunnel they had come through. ¡°I don¡¯t think we want everyone to hear this.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± the colonel replied in a slightly suspicious tone, following Tom out of the room. Saph followed along as Jacky got put to work hauling bookcases, with a fair amount of protest.


    ¡°This could lead you people down the road I warned you about, you know that, right?¡±


    ¡°I can guess¡­ Did you mean what you said about making us obsolete? Centuries of service relegated to the history books,¡± the colonel questioned in a lowered tone. ¡°Just like that?¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Yeah, well I¡¯m not saying you will be by tomorrow, but if the sky is full of those things in there, then a dragon would be little more than an inviting target.¡±


    ¡°And what if this is not the only vault like this? What if the enemy finds another one, then what?¡±


    ¡°Then we might be rather screwed,¡± Tom had to concede. ¡®Fuck, why could it not just have been money or some fancy materials¡­ Hell, even just normal historical documents.¡¯ He cursed to himself. ¡®I just found a steampunk flying machine blueprint and I¡¯m angry¡­ what the fuck is wrong with me¡¯


    ¡°We could stockpile it and not share unless we have to,¡± Saph interjected. ¡°Just like we are doing right now.¡±


    ¡°It would take years, if not decades, to even develop what is needed to make them,¡± Tom countered. Hell, that would take a full-blown industrial revolution on a nation-spanning level.


    ¡°So if the enemy knows, we would end up behind,¡± Victoria added. ¡°Fucking dammit! I¡¯m not sure we even can keep this down here. I mean, look at them. I doubt they could keep their mouths shut,¡± she continued, gesturing at the mildly organized carnage that was the cavern right now.


    ¡°Well, life is never easy¡­¡± Tom replied, trying to think of what to do. ¡®Do I oppose them starting up¡­ It would also hurt the keep; we wouldn¡¯t have that monopoly anymore¡­ Good god, that sounds selfish when you put it like that¡­ Would it even be right to try and deny them? What if it went wrong last time and that¡¯s why they¡¯re back here now? But it wasn¡¯t a dragonette on the drawings¡­ Oh what the hell do I do!?¡¯


    ¡°Excuse me. May I have a word?¡± The trio looked up and turned to face the priestess.


    ¡°Did no one teach you about privacy?¡± Victoria questioned in a sharp tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m good at finding secrets. Keeping them too. The contents of this vault must not leave this island until I say so,¡± the priestess replied perfectly calmly.


    ¡°And why exactly is that?¡± Victoria questioned, straightening her back, keeping her hard tone. ¡°You¡¯re a priestess. You have no authority over this matter. These are clearly of military value and as such do not fall under your jurisdiction.¡±


    ¡°Incorrect. I have all the authority,¡± the priestess went, holding up a rosette with a Draconic rune of the letter I on it.


    Victoria''s posture very quickly changed to a far more respectful disposition, doing a quick salute, Saph and Linkosta looking more like a deer in the headlights. ¡®That better not be what I think it is,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself.


    ¡°Now I recognize that we need to act smart here. Step one: these people now live down here. They will study the contents of the vault, organize them, and sort it and make copies just in case. It will then be taken to the Cathedral of Light where it will be entombed until such a time as it is necessary to be brought to bear on the enemy. Any more advanced items or weapons will be handled by the inquisition alone.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ so you know what that thing is?¡± Tom questioned, gesturing in at the still rolled out blueprint.


    ¡°I certainly do, they are often just referred to as flyers or skyships, depending on size. We have not allowed the construction of one in centuries.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me inquisitor, but may I inquire as to why?¡± Victoria questioned in a very polite tone.


    ¡°I am no inquisitor. I''m an investigator by rank and an archivist by trade.¡±


    ¡°My apologies, investigator.¡±


    ¡°Well fuck me sideways, and here I was worried about making a machinegun or two,¡± Tom replied. Saph stiffened up and looked at the Priest, terrified. ¡¯Oh right¡­ language.¡¯


    ¡°Yes, we will get to that part. To be honest, I do not know how you know what you do, but I¡¯m definitely interested in finding out. I was sent here on an inkling that there would be something worth having in our collection in these vaults. I must say, this is far beyond what we were expecting,¡± the investigator replied, looking like she was trying to make up her mind. ¡°Judging by your apparent expertise when it comes to these ancient constructs, I must assume you have not been telling the truth about your origins. Unless this fantastical northern nation of yours is more advanced than thus far expected,¡± the investigator said, looking at Tom with a gaze that seemed awfully different from her earlier demeanor as the god-spitting priestess.


    ¡®Right¡­ shit,¡¯ Tom thought to himself. Saph had talked about what the inquisition did to the bitch as well as a few other stories people around the keep had heard. So safe to say they probably weren¡¯t to be messed with.


    ¡°No, I''m not from around here. Like at all,¡± Tom replied, trying to sound apologetic.


    ¡°Excellent, you will be very useful then,¡± the investigator replied, her demeanor switching to almost cheerful before looking at Victoria. ¡°You are the one related to Joelina, correct?¡±


    ¡°I am yes. Victoria Hashaw at your service.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®What the fuck!¡¯ was probably the main thought in Sapphire''s head right now, next to things like ¡®we are going to die¡¯ and ¡®no, no, she¡¯s still smiling, it¡¯s all good.¡¯ Of all the things to have happen, an inquisitorial agent showing up down here and catching them lying (technically to both the church and the crown while in conspiracy with the Royal Guard) was pretty damn bad, all things considered.


    ¡°Excellent. I feel we need to get a bit further away. Was there not a member of the Bizmati family down here?¡±


    ¡°Linkosta is over there,¡± Sapphire stammered out, pointing at the mage.


    ¡°Mind fetching her?¡± the investigator questioned very politely, if rather pointedly.


    ¡°Yup, no worries,¡± Saph replied, setting off at a hurried walk towards Linkosta, trying her best to walk fast without looking too conspicuous. Not that it really mattered; everyone was running around looking very excited.


    ¡°Heya, you are coming with me,¡± Saph went, grabbing a hold of Linkosta¡¯s arm and starting to drag her back over.


    ¡°What¡­ hang on why? This is important work Saph,¡± Linkosta protested, turning to look at Sapphire.


    ¡°No explaining just come on, like right now,¡± Saph replied, doing her best to convey the seriousness of the situation with a stare.


    ¡°Okay okay jeez, I¡¯m coming,¡± Linkosta relented, following Saph out the door. A few of the other academics looked up a touch confused, but none seemed too bothered though. Or more likely they were more interested in what they were looking through.


    ¡°The priest is an investigator from the Inquisition,¡± Saph went in a hushed tone into Linkosta¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Well, shit,¡± was all she said in reply, speeding up to match Sapphire¡¯s pace.


    ¡°You requested my presence,¡± Linkosta went with a bow.


    ¡°Indeed. I say we go a bit further down the tunnel,¡± the investigator replied with a nod. ¡°Away from any too well-adjusted ears.¡±


    As they walked, Saph¡¯s heart was racing, looking back and forth at everyone in their little group. ¡®This is bad, this is bad,¡¯ she kept repeating, not sure what to do about it. Nor why she was even being brought along right now, likely just because she too had gotten caught red-handed.


    ¡°I reckon this will do,¡± the investigator went after a short walk, turning back to look at all of them. ¡°You may call me Investigator Paulin or just investigator. Time for a crash course in politics and real history, I think. We have safeguarded forbidden knowledge for a long time. A very long time. By our best estimate, the archivist wing of the inquisition represents over two millennia of work. But many fear worrying times are ahead.¡±


    There were a fair few seconds of silence before the colonel spoke up. ¡°The attacks on the outer keeps?¡± Victoria questioned in a cautious and really rather confused tone.


    ¡°No. The fact that they found this place. The re-emergence of what I believe you have named ¡®Night terrors.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Hang on, re-emergence?¡± Saph had to question, having been caught off guard for a second before cursing herself for interrupting the investigator.


    ¡°Indeed. The enemy has found something, and it either led them here or made them come here seeking something they needed.¡±


    ¡°That coal mine raid wasn¡¯t for warmth in winter, now was it?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Some of us think not. Some of us think the time to open our own vaults is approaching. Following the last great war, the kingdom has been recovering, but now it looks like it might start to wane. And we are nowhere near the might we held before the last true war.¡±


    ¡°You''re looking for an edge?¡± Tom questioned, looking curiously at the investigator.


    ¡°Indeed. But some believe we are to maintain our secrecy until there can be no doubt the knowledge is needed. That the world should be allowed to develop naturally and without interference. But as you said, such development is no quick process, even if we were to start... encouraging it, a little.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Tom replied, clearly swallowing.


    ¡°You, though, are in the best sense of the word ¡®outside the system.¡¯ You are not of this world, but you are not part of its past either. An interesting conundrum to be sure. You might be just what we need to¡­ help things along.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a dangerous game to be playing with rules like that,¡± Tom replied, not quite sure if becoming a pawn of the Inquisition was quite what he had in mind for the future.


    ¡°Most definitely. Which is why I don¡¯t believe a lot of people should know too much. At least not yet. As I said, these people now will live down here like they have done for the last week or so. Once their work is done they will keep their secret. I''ll make sure of that. But if certain extra copies were to end up at your keep before the knowledge is sent back to the archives, that would just be a happy accident now, wouldn¡¯t it? I¡¯m certain a certain Inquisitor Joelina would be more than willing to assist in that endeavor too.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Joelina is in on this?¡± Victoria questioned suspiciously. ¡°Joelina Hashaw, the person with the leniency of a granite wall?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s more than in on it. She¡¯s probably the most vocal advocate you¡¯ll find. Not many are willing to argue the point openly after all. Personally, I think it¡¯s her military ties that are responsible. A soldier is always looking for a better weapon. Which is understandable, of course,¡± the priest replied, looking back at Victoria.


    ¡°Sorry If I¡¯m being dumb, but why keep these things a secret in the first place?¡± Saph questioned, bracing herself for the consequences.


    ¡°It would depend on who you ask, but in general the consensus would be that we must avoid tearing ourselves apart. Some think we must remain equally matched against the enemy to preserve balance, others that we must achieve enlightenment by ourselves. Then again, some just look at old dusty commandments and think we should simply preserve this knowledge for no reason aside from that we were told to do so.¡±


    Well, that certainly resulted in an awkward silence for several seconds, both Tom and Victoria looking like they were gonna say something before thinking better of it.


    ¡°So you want us to go behind the back of the Inquisition¡­ while working for the Inquisition?¡± Linkosta finally questioned, sounding more than a little incredulous. ¡°Also, do you have any idea how much time we have probably wasted at the academy trying to figure out the world and how it functions!¡± she continued almost pleadingly.


    ¡°Yes, essentially, and No, nor do I care. And unless you want the wrath of the Inquisition to be brought down on your pretty little keep, I suggest you cooperate too. We haven''t found anything like this in my lifetime. Certain elements of the order would more than likely be willing to wipe the island clean to ensure no witnesses.¡±


    Linkosta just stood there for a few seconds wide-eyed before looking back at the investigator.


    ¡°Not like you leave us much of a choice there.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Now judging by the fact we haven¡¯t heard about anything too miraculous coming out of this, aside from a few knick-knacks, I¡¯m guessing you to are keeping big secrets,¡± the investigator continued, looking around at them.


    ¡°Kinda,¡± Tom eventually went, with a strained expression. ¡°We may have been toying around with a few ideas.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I would like to see what you have managed thus far at some point. Again, we would greatly appreciate it if these ideas of yours do not leave the keep. There might be support to be had for this little escapade of ours, but it¡¯s very far from unanimous. Joelina is betting on the enemy swaying things in our favor in the not too distant future. Once it becomes evident that the kingdom is in danger, I think we would see a lot more progress on the political side.¡±


    ¡°Why are you telling us all this?¡± Victoria eventually questioned, her expression betraying her lack of understanding.


    ¡°For starters, I can either convince you to work with us or have the entire place exterminated, so I might as well try the diplomatic option first. Secondly, we have not seen an opportunity like this in my lifetime. I will have to consult with Joelina before proceeding much further. For now, this must be contained until a proper plan can be laid.¡±


    ¡°So just act natural?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the investigator.


    ¡°Exactly. Pretend like nothing has happened. Actually, it¡¯s probably best that if questioned the vault has not yet been opened. Then we will let you know how best to proceed. All agreed?¡±


    There were nods from everyone involved, except Saph who took a second to catch on before she nodded too.


    ¡°I must let mum and dad know,¡± Linkosta replied with a fearful expression.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m sure they will understand,¡± the investigator responded with a sagely nod. ¡°Now, no need for that sour demeanor, it sounds like we are very much on the same team here.¡±


    ¡®Willingly or not,¡¯ Saph went to herself, swallowing once as she forcedly smiled.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, that had turned into a bit of a shit show. Victoria had gone around informing all the people under her command of the situation before they all lined up and blocked the exit to the cavern. Then the investigator had set to work explaining the situation to everyone involved. Everyone was quite surprised, to say the least. Most had questions, but others were just standing there in shock, not sure what to do.


    ¡°But I have spent my whole life at the academy! My brother worked for years to help me pay for it!¡± one of the academics protested after recovering from the shock. ¡°And I still need to pay him back.¡±


    ¡°You are still employed while working here. I¡¯m sure arrangements can be made to send funds his way. Now are there any more questions, or can we get to work? I want to know what we are working with before I head for home to report all this to my superiors, understood?¡± There was a general consensus of nodding around the room, the room otherwise being completely quiet.


    ¡®I¡¯m guessing that applies to us as well,¡¯ Tom pondered to himself, looking around. ¡®Is this good or bad? Can¡¯t leave, at least for now. I didn¡¯t really want to though¡­ And it¡¯s not my responsibility anymore¡­ They already know.¡¯ He was gonna have to ponder that one for a fair bit. It did almost feel like a weight being lifted off his shoulders, but at the same time, he really didn''t like this. It would mean he was most definitely not in control anymore, the Inquisition was, and he really didn''t like that. Was he really that much of a control freak?


    There were indeed no further questions as the work resumed, even if the mood was very different. It felt tense, and gone was the excited chattering from only moments before, replaced with quiet shuffling and grunts of effort as they worked, people speaking in hushed tones. It apparently rubbed the investigator the wrong way though, as she spoke up again.


    ¡°Come on, it¡¯s not every day you get to work for the Inquisition. Do as you''re told and you will be rewarded, and what I want you to do is exactly what you came here for sounding all excited. I thought you lot would be excited to know how much more there is to learn. Now has anyone seen anything labeled Utrox?¡±


    That did seem to help a little, even if no one had found whatever she was looking for, some tension returning when no one said anything. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just keep the name in mind. We are on the same team here,¡± the investigator went in an almost jovial tone before going over to Linkosta and whispering something in her ear, then coming over to Tom.


    ¡°Best let them get to it. They seem a little tense, and we have much to discuss after all. Now where did that colonel go?¡±

 Code of Conduct

    Chapter 126: Code of Conduct


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After the investigator had left for the keep with Tom, Dakota, and Linkosta, conversation had returned. At first, it was slow and cautious, but eventually it developed into a vivid discussion about just what the fuck was going on. After a while, Jortun was forced to separate a few fighting academics when one of them started arguing that it was their duty as servants of the academy and the crown to share this incredible knowledge with the world.


    Unsurprisingly, he was alone in this sentiment, as everyone else was of the opinion that they liked breathing.


    ¡°I wonder how many know about this?¡± Saph went, looking to Jackalope, the last member of the keep still down here aside from herself.


    ¡°How the hell should I know? If Victoria didn''t, wouldn''t it be like pretty much no one? I mean look at them, they are supposed to know things, right? And they don¡¯t know shit.¡±


    ¡°And they are bickering like children¡­ no, for once you¡¯re right. I¡¯m guessing that makes us rather privileged then,¡± Saph retorted, shaking her head a little.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about them to be honest. I think this is good though. Tom still couldn¡¯t figure out what he was supposed to do, like at all. Now he doesn¡¯t have to anymore,¡± Jacky replied, rather cheerily, holding up her hands in a shrug.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true, but they might force us to make something we don¡¯t wanna, or at least Tom thinks we shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Meh, it¡¯ll be fine. Besides, don''t you think we can get him to make even more awesome things if we kinda already have it?¡± Jacky continued, sounding almost a little giddy at the thought.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried they''ll try and force us into making them whatever they want. I don¡¯t really feel like becoming a factory worker like Tom talked about. We¡¯ve worked our asses off already. What if they take all of it?¡±


    ¡°Well then I guess we have to fight for it,¡± Jacky went with a shrug.


    ¡°You know that won¡¯t end well,¡± Saph replied with a pained expression before someone shouted at them.


    ¡°Yeah, what about you two? Did you know about all this? That we were gonna be stuck here?!¡± an angry-looking academic, whom Saph didn¡¯t recognize, demanded, interrupting her and Jacky¡¯s little discussion.


    ¡°No, we thought she was a priest just like you. If anything, we are in even more trouble.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let me guess: your secret little project for the guard?¡± another one broke out, but with less venom in their voice.


    ¡°Come now, let¡¯s be civil about this. We are in this together whether we like it or not,¡± Hivon, the engineering guild representative, went, raising his arms up and interposing himself.


    ¡°Besides, they clearly just want us to go through all this. I mean look at this,¡± another academic piped up enthusiastically, holding up a drawing of something Saph had no clue what. ¡°And it sounds like they have more. I don¡¯t know about you, but I want to see that!¡±


    ¡°Do you think they will let us see their whole collection when we are done here?¡± the first one questioned, voice heavy with disbelief.


    ¡°You all heard her, things might change, and I¡¯m guessing they want to try and make some of this stuff. Imagine that, a literal flying machine made out of wood and metal!¡±


    ¡°See, they are gonna need people for that!¡± Hivon interjected, nodding convincingly.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how it¡¯s supposed to steer?¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you sit down with all this wonderful paper and parchment and¡­ whatever and find out. Exactly as you wanted to do when you came here, and exactly like what the investigator wants you to do,¡± Jortun went, gesturing at the pile of knowledge like the solution to this was obvious.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t wanna be stuck here for years!¡±


    ¡°Look at this place. It''s not gonna take years, you idiot. I¡¯m guessing a few weeks if we¡¯re quick about it, maybe a month or two depending on how much copying we are gonna be doing,¡± the optimist went, seemingly deciding to get to work immediately and let the others bicker away. ¡°We do need more paper though.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Arndul. Did you forget there are two more vaults still to go?! And we don¡¯t even know what¡¯s in those. What if it¡¯s something they don¡¯t think we should see? What if they just kill us anyway after we are done?!¡±


    ¡°How many of your colleagues have gone missing in the past on field trips?¡± Jortun questioned harshly, walking over in front of the guy complaining.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ none?¡± the guy finally answered after a few seconds of thought.


    ¡°Very good. Now do your job and I¡¯m fairly sure you won¡¯t either. Can¡¯t kill someone without them having done anything wrong. The Inquisition may be harsh, but they are not cruel."


    ¡®Are you sure about that?¡ä Sapphire questioned to herself, keeping well clear of the conversation. At least the focus had been shifted off of her and Jacky. She hadn¡¯t figured out yet exactly what this meant either. Aside from them apparently now being under the thumb of someone else. To say the Inquisition had a reputation was an understatement, but this definitely wasn¡¯t the reaction she had expected from them. They were supposed to be so clear cut, traitor or not traitor. You live or you die. And now they wanted them to lie and bend the rules?


    ¡°She said they hadn¡¯t seen anything like this in her lifetime, so that¡¯s hardly an argument,¡± the distraught academic replied after having pondered the matter, though with no less determination.


    ¡°Well in that case, you lot are about to become unparalleled experts. I say you better get to work making yourselves invaluable to them,¡± Jortun countered, sounding like he had long since tired of the argument.


    The little speech did the trick though. Only the one rather distraught scholar didn''t get back to work, instead going into a corner to mope. The rest of them seemed to decide that immersing themselves in their work was superior to arguing a fruitless case.


    ¡°Sounds like we are gonna be sticking around for quite a while then,¡± Maiko went from behind Sapphire, apparently having made his way up behind her as she was thinking.


    ¡°Well, didn''t you already receive orders to stay put?¡± Saph questioned, turning back to the corporal, doing her best to look unimpressed without smiling.


    ¡°And now we really aren¡¯t going anywhere," Maiko retorted with a cocky smile even if he did faulter slightly, ¡°So I had been chatting with Victoria as to whether or not¡­ maybe¡­ she would need someone.¡± The soldier went, confidence starting to wain as Saph just stared at him, like a disappointed mother.


    ¡®Holy shit that¡¯s hilarious,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, doing her damndest to keep her best stoneface as Maiko made his case. ¡®The quick-mouthed soldier, all weak in the knees.¡¯ Sure, they had shared a really rather nice evening at the last round of festivities, but he sure didn¡¯t feel like this last time around. ¡®Now do I play nice¡­ or do I have just a little fun¡­ Fuck it, he can take it.¡¯


    ¡°Let me guess, you are looking for a hotel room while the rest are in the tents?¡± Saph replied after Maiko ran out of run-on sentences.


    ¡°No! Definitely not,¡± Maiko stammered out. ¡°The colonel simply wants someone to, keep an eye on all the important documents going to your beautiful keep while she¡¯s out doing¡­ things. Very important things I¡¯m sure,¡± he continued clearly fighting to keep his composure. The investigator hadn¡¯t even managed that. ¡°They can¡¯t do all the work down here after all, and it sounded like some copies were supposed to go up there too.¡±


    ¡°So a spy that I should willingly have staying in my room?¡± Saph went flatly still staring at him as she lowered her head a little.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean¡­ your room?¡± Maiko questioned, catching himself mid-sentence.


    ¡°That is what you were going for, right? Unless you wanted to sleep in the kitchen or something.¡± Saph replied finally being forced to crack a smile.


    ¡°That would be amaz- I mean yes, that would work very well, for my mission.¡± Maiko responded straightening his back a little again. ¡®Good gods and you used to be good at lying.¡¯ Saph mused to herself as she pretended to ponder the proposition chin rub and everything, even if she was now smiling quite badly.


    ¡°Deal, you will be helping me do the dishes though, and you are sleeping on the floor, so bring your bag,¡± Saph continued, crossing her arms and looking at the royal guardsman, who just stood there gawking for a second. ¡°Well?¡± Saph pushed with an only slightly evil smile as her mask finally cracked.


    ¡°Yes, definitely yes, I will have to consult Victoria first obviously¡­ I¡¯m sure there won¡¯t be any problems,¡± the corporal replied, clearly struggling to remain composed.


    ¡°Hah, told you she liked you,¡± Kolinky shouted at them from a little ways off. ¡°Now that your date is secured, wanna help keep these idiots busy?¡± Well, that certainly did in what was left of Maiko¡¯s composure as his face contorted one foot scraping a mark in the ground.


    ¡®Oh come on, that''s just catastrophically cute,¡¯ Saph snickered to herself, looking at the odd sight. ¡®The soldier that got caught with a hand in the honey pot.¡¯


    ¡°I have a degree in¡­¡± one of the academics piped up in protest, sounding like they were ready to launch a major tirade before Kolinky cut him off.


    ¡°Bickering clearly. You want the blue or the red one next? Blue one says¡­ Ore cracking and purification¡­ How riveting. The red one is something about¡­ what is a thrankonari?¡±


    ¡°That means flight core, lard brain. Gimme that, it must say something about the odd flying machines,¡± the by now rather annoyed academic went, snatching the book from Kolinky¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Careful, don¡¯t break it,¡± the sergeant replied with a smile and a shake of the head as he started paging through the other book.


    ¡°So, what do you do day to day at the keep these days?¡± Maiko questioned, after looking at Kolinky for a second or two, likely to see if he actually had to do anything for the academics.


    ¡°Kill, build, eat, sleep, repeat¡ªoh and generally be awesome,¡± Jacky replied, walking up real close to the, by comparison, rather diminutive corporal, looking down at him with a curious look on her face.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound half bad,¡± he replied, looking up at her for a second before adjusting a pauldron and looking back to Saph, seemingly not bothered.


    ¡°You do know you are courting one of the most dangerous women in the world, right?¡± Jacky questioned, looking genuinely curious. Maiko didn¡¯t look like he knew quite how to respond to that, either that or he didn¡¯t care as he pointedly ignored her. Much to Jacky¡¯s evident annoyance.


    ¡°So how much do I need to mess up to get shot?¡± he questioned, eyes locked on Saph.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t put it like that,¡± Saph replied with a heavy dose of sarcasm, putting a hand on her hip. ¡°I¡¯m very friendly.¡±


    ¡°Hah, you sent Herron to the infirmary after the guy fell over and buried his face in your crotch. Even I could figure out he wouldn''t do that on purpose,¡± Jacky let out with an exaggerated laugh.


    ¡°Hey, I felt violated. I didn¡¯t really ask questions, I just smacked him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, with a hot frying pan. At least you made sure he was hot and bothered even if he wasn¡¯t to start with¡± Jacky replied with a laugh, Maiko doing a slightly nervous chuckle.


    ¡°The find of the century and you people are making lewd jokes¡­ honestly,¡± one of the academics went, the disapproval in his voice bordering on disgust.


    ¡°That was lewd?¡± Jacky had to question, looking at Saph who just shrugged in reply. ¡°Right, fine, I¡¯ll look at the funny pictures. Have fun you two,¡± Jacky replied with an exaggerated sigh. ¡°Do any of them say gun or something like that?¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°What¡¯s a gun?¡± a bewildered academic asked, looking up from a drawing.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ never mind, I¡¯ll find it myself.¡±


    ¡°Well, might as well get to it then,¡± Saph went, looking at Maiko. ¡°I¡¯m thinking anything airship-related¡­ maybe weapons. What about you?¡±


    ¡°I wonder if they have any equipment for dragons. Not that Baron would want to carry any of it¡­ Glira or Jarix might though¡­ Oh, what about armor? They must have some cool armor. Wonder what kind of sword they could make too?¡± Maiko replied, his enthusiasm growing by the second.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s find out, shall we?¡± Saph went, gesturing towards the vault.


    ¡°Hang on¡­ Now I¡¯m not a genius or anything, but doesn¡¯t organic mean it was alive once?¡± Kolinky let out before the two of them got moving as he looked through his book.


    ¡°It does¡­ Why?¡± the grumpy academic from earlier responded.


    ¡°It says the stuff they mined to make the gravity oil was organic¡­ like really old of course, but still¡­ and the stuff is blue.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your point here?¡±


    ¡°Well, they called it dragon essence.¡± That certainly led to a bit of a halt in proceedings as people worked out just how to respond to that.


    ¡°So what you''re saying is we fed really old dragon juice to a mouse to see what would happen?¡± Jacky questioned with a chuckle, her attention being turned away from the drawing she had stolen from the guild representative, who was trying his best to get a look at it while she was holding it.


    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Kolinky demanded, Maiko just looking a touch curious at Saph.


    ¡°Well, we had to figure it out somehow,¡± Saph went with a shrug. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we haven¡¯t had someone drink it. Tom wouldn¡¯t let us.¡±


    ¡°It went flying by the way,¡± Jacky added, looking rather proud of the fact. Leading to another rather awkward silence.


    ¡°You fed an ancient and possibly priceless liquid to a mouse just to see what would happen.¡±


    ¡°It''s called science, duh. Maybe if you read that blue book you¡¯ll learn to make more,¡± Jacky replied with a shrug, getting back to her drawing gesturing at something. ¡°I wonder what that is for.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s the stove.¡±


    ¡°... I knew that. I meant that thing...¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, they better be gone by winter. We don¡¯t have the stores to feed them, nor do we have much to spare ourselves. Deriva is in need of aid for winter, and we have already expanded our own numbers this year,¡± Nunuk countered, the investigator just sitting there calmly.


    ¡°I am quite confident we will have all the vaults emptied in time for winter. After that, I¡¯m guessing they will be taken to either the capital to serve in the archives beneath the cathedral, or perhaps another location. If they so desire. After all, we are going to need fresh recruits if our own vaults are to be opened.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t the academy be a bit worried they just lost several prominent members? Not to mention the engineering guild?¡± Apuma questioned, sounding a touch confused.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will, but that is hardly my responsibility to deal with. I just need to secure what¡¯s in that vault and then get it moved to where it needs to go. Though I doubt I will be in charge for long. Unless Joelina decides I can be trusted with this mission that is.¡±


    ¡°As for what you should do, the answer is nothing. Exactly nothing. You are already keeping secrets I see, and some potent ones at that. I think it¡¯s in our best interest to maintain the only place left that could reasonably produce some of the things we might need. Or at least teach us what you need to do so.¡±


    ¡°Well, knowing what to do and being able to do it is very different,¡± Tom added with a nod. It had been nerve-racking to say the absolute least to show the investigator around their workshop. ¡®Only place left, so they don¡¯t have any big ass hidden workshops then¡­ That¡¯s a relief.¡¯


    ¡°As for some of all these marvelous things you have brought from this home of yours, I can only ask that you continue to keep those as secret as possible. Who knows, one day it might become part of our collections.¡±


    ¡°So you are not stealing all my stuff?¡± Tom tried in a hopeful tone. He had at the very least expected her to try and take some of it¡­ like why would she not?


    ¡°I¡¯ll be frank with you here, I would like nothing more than to take it all, including you, to the capital, where you may help us unlock the secrets we preserve. But I cannot. That would raise too many questions, and we have too much opposition still left to break. That and I have a feeling you would make it difficult for us. Also, you just so happen to be in the perfect spot to both help us in our endeavor to try and save this kingdom while staying out of sight and out of mind of the people whom we might not want to know the full truth. I will ask that you are not around should other members of the Inquisition pay this keep a visit, unless I myself or Joelina have verified that they may be trusted with our little secret.¡± The investigator looked at Tom with a gaze that betrayed she likely wasn¡¯t lying. She almost looked like Jacky after a long day of hunting with little to show for it, though it likely wasn¡¯t stress relief the investigator was after.


    ¡°How long will you be staying, Investigator, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Nunuk questioned.


    ¡°Until they have finished taking inventory down. Then I must report this finding to Joelina; she will decide what we do then. I doubt much more than a week. Besides, it doesn¡¯t feel like my presence will speed up their work. I trust I can rely on you to remind them not to get any creative ideas about letting secrets slip until Joelina has had her say, Colonel?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Investigator. Though, might I ask how you intend to get home? Am I to provide transport?¡± Victoria questioned in reply in a very professional tone.


    ¡°No, Galaxer was instructed not to stray too far on his travels just in case. He will do a lot of things for coin, including shutting up about where he got it from. A very useful trait if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°It certainly has its uses,¡± Victoria replied, looking rather relieved despite her very professional demeanor. ¡°Can you contact him, or is he scheduled back?¡±


    ¡°I have already let him know, though I know not exactly when he will be back. Now to reiterate, until Joelina approves this little scheme of ours, don¡¯t let anything off the island, and do please keep the originals down here for now. We don¡¯t want to risk losing one in transport. Besides, it sounds like you have festivities to plan. I think you can calmly invite the workers from down below now.¡±


    ¡°I believe you are right there,¡± Nunuk replied with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a busy day in the kitchen, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°I suspect so,¡± the investigator went with a kind smile.


    ¡°Does that mean I will not be allowed to bring notes back with me?¡± Apuma questioned, almost pleadingly. The old man had only barely been kept from just flying off by himself when he had learned what had been found.


    ¡°Just leave them down there, oh and do please try not to sign them or the book, just in case,¡± the investigator replied, maintaining her friendly demeanor. ¡±Anywho, keep them in line¡ªthat means you too¡ªand nothing bad happens. Now Tom, I believe you promised a demonstration of this weapon you have forged,¡± she questioned, looking at him.


    ¡®Praised be that she didn¡¯t ask about the laptops,¡¯ Tom went to himself, getting up. ¡°Certainly, we might as well test the mount for Jarix at the same time.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had honestly become worried they might have to spend the night down in the caves when Victoria had returned with the investigator. She seemed cheery enough, as everything came to a halt expecting her to say something.


    ¡°Right then, I trust you have had time to chat a little about what''s going on. The keep dwellers will be going back home since they are gonna be very busy, and they¡¯ll leave us to do our work down here. With the exception of this kind old gentleman and of course Linkosta here who will be joining us. the investigator went, gesturing at Apuma and his daughter. ¡°Baron and his crew have the first shift to guard us, and Glira is going to make sure you will continue to sleep on a full belly. I suggest you remember to thank her for it,¡± Saph couldn¡¯t help but smile at the old man nearly vibrating with excitement.


    Jortun, Victoria, and the investigator had a quick chat before Jortun gave a salute as he started gathering up his crew, gesturing for Saph and Jacky to follow. Maiko had come trotting up to Victoria, very unprofessionally whispering into the colonel¡¯s ear while she was still talking with the investigator. ¡®Breach of protocol in front of the Inquisition¡­ Well, it explains why he¡¯s still a corporal,¡¯ Saph mused to herself as watching the exchange, quietly appreciating the fact he almost seemed more scared of her than the investigator.


    Victoria hadn¡¯t looked terribly amused, waving him off after he had made his case, the investigator just looking at him curiously throughout. Judging by the smile on his face he had gotten what he wanted, joining their little formation next to Saph.


    ¡°You know kid, one day we''ll make a soldier out of you¡­ but today is not that day,¡± Jortun went with a chuckle after the group had made it a ways down the tunnel.


    Maiko cleared his throat once, straightening his back and fixing into a more proper gait. ¡°Sorry sir, couldn¡¯t help myself. It won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me an idiot soldier?¡± Jortun countered sharply, not looking back at the corporal.


    ¡°No, sir. Never?¡± Maiko replied, bewilderedly, looking at the major.


    ¡°Well, even an idiot knows it will happen again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what the problem is,¡± Saph added as they kept walking. ¡°He just proved the investigator wasn¡¯t just spouting empty words?¡±


    ¡°Ohh? How so?¡± Jortun went, turning his head around to look at Saph, revealing a rather wide smile.


    ¡°By some of the rumors, she may well have had him whipped or at the very least strongly reprimanded for getting in her way. Yet she did nothing¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t in her way,¡± Maiko protested, still sounding a touch confused.


    ¡°I see, so his barging into the conversation he might not have been allowed to hear was in fact a genius move to cement the investigator¡¯s position. He was simply expressing great bravery by putting himself in such a dangerous situation?¡± Jortun replied, clearly struggling not to laugh.


    ¡°Either that or he¡¯s just a numpty,¡± Jacky added, leading to Saph having to suppress a snicker.


    ¡°I vote for numpty,¡± Twitch agreed in a tone of forced seriousness.


    ¡°Yes definitely,¡± Kulk added, smacking Maiko¡¯s ass.


    ¡°Ha ha, very funny,¡± The corporal replied, grabbing hold of Kulk¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Fuck aoww that hurts!¡±


    ¡°You''re a healer, deal with it,¡± Maiko replied before letting go.


    ¡°I can¡¯t fix emotional damage¡± Kulk replied, rubbing her ear eliciting a few snickers from the group.


    ¡°The smart and brave soldier boy,¡± Saph went, looking over at him. Maiko¡¯s ears flopping down the side of his face. ¡®Oh that¡¯s not fair, he¡¯s got Fengi eyes too,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, just making a funny face at him before looking back ahead. ¡°You are still sleeping on the floor though.¡±


    ¡°Careful now, you¡¯ll break the poor man''s heart,¡± Jacky went with a rather evil-sounding snicker.


    ¡°Better than you breaking the bed,¡± Quency went with a laugh as she pointed at Jacky, who in turn just looked back at her furiously.


    ¡°Oi, just because it takes someone not of this world to handle me!¡±


    ¡°Well he certainly can¡¯t,¡± Quency replied nodding at Maiko, who looked like he was somewhere else right now. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him like this.¡±


    ¡°Would you not just shut up?!¡± Maiko protested, returning to reality, not improving the situation in the slightest.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry it¡¯s not like you to disappoint¡­ much,¡±


    ¡°Can you two get your mind out of the gutter for five seconds?¡± Saph snapped at them, putting an arm around Maiko to try and safeguard the poor guy. He predictably stiffened for a second before resuming a pace seemingly unbothered.


    ¡°Saph and Maiko sitting in a tree,¡± Jacky let out, giggling like a little girl and doing a ridiculous little dance.


    ¡°Hey just because your ass is still too ruined to drag Tom up into one doesn''t mean you get to bully the rest of us,¡± Saph replied, sticking her tongue out at the childish display.


    ¡°Come here and I¡¯ll show you whose ass is ruined, miss scaredy pants!¡± Jacky replied with a laugh.


    ¡°What? All of one and a bit meters? I¡¯ll never make the journey.¡±


    ¡°Today has been a strange day,¡± Twitch interrupted, looking at the major. ¡°Do you think tomorrow will be any more normal?¡±


    ¡°With you around, I hope not. Normal tends to be dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Would you be surprised if I told you the mood is usually a little different on Baron?¡± Maiko questioned, walking closely to Saph.


    ¡°No, I would not,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle, looking around at the ¡®professional soldiers.¡¯ ¡°Honestly, Dakota often keeps us more disciplined than this,¡± she replied, as Maiko put an arm around her waist leaning in a bit.


    ¡°Oi, breach of protocol, fraternizing at the front!¡± Quency shouted, with a laugh.


    ¡°As your commanding officer, it is my duty to ensure absolute loyalty to the guard and have you refrain from any such activities while deployed, especially not with a possible hostile combatant,¡± Jortun went with a chuckle.


    ¡°Well, won¡¯t be my first dressing down,¡± Maiko replied uncaringly as they kept walking.


    ¡°No it will not.¡±


    Arriving at the cave, both Glira and Baron were rather eager to learn more about what had been found down there, Glira especially being rather disappointed they hadn¡¯t brought anything cool out for her to look at yet.


    ¡°Well have you at least gotten a good look at some of it then?¡± the blue dragon questioned, sounding rather annoyed. ¡°Come on, anything?¡±


    ¡°Well, the gravity oil is made from old dead dragons stuck in the ground somehow, kinda like a mineral. They had a bunch of different flying machines, some even larger than dragons. Like a lot larger. All made of metal and wood and other things,¡± Jortun responded.


    Well, that certainly got Glira¡¯s attention, Baron looking like he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Glira beckoned, lowering her head down to the ground.


    ¡°Can we do the storytelling in flight?¡± Jortun questioned with a slight grumble. "It¡¯s gonna go dark before too long."


    ¡°No, you may not. What kind of weapons can they carry?¡± Baron questioned, sitting down on his haunches and looking down at them with a rather intense glare.


    ¡°Well probably cannons. Tom showed us those. They''re basically just big guns,¡± Saph went, looking up at the old red, slipping out our Maiko¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°I thought guns were cannons, but like all firearms are guns¡­ wait no, that¡¯s wrong,¡± Jacky added, only managing to confuse herself.


    ¡°They are big guns. There were a lot of other strange things on them too. No clue how fast they were either. The little ones looked speedy though,¡± Saph replied, looking up at Baron, who seemed reluctant to ask any more questions, but he didn¡¯t take his gaze away from them either.


    ¡°Surely they would have bombs, no?¡± Glira went, clearly enthralled.


    ¡°I mean, probably? Tom said something about that and rockets too before he got taken away. I think it¡¯s him you want down here.¡±


    ¡°Baron, may I please take my crew to go talk with the weapons expert? Who should definitely be down here right now?¡± Glira questioned, turning to look at Baron expectantly.


    ¡°Fine¡­ I want to know as much as you on this. I want to see those airship drawings.¡± The old red replied bitterly.


    ¡°Sir, yes, sir,¡± Glira went, lowering a wing for them. ¡±How long do you think it will take before we can make them?¡±


    ¡°Tom talked about making planes like that would take years. We had sorta gotten started, but, well, then all this happened. I think these might take even longer though. They look really complicated,¡± Saph replied, trying to sound optimistic.


    ¡°What about just a cannon, could that be done?¡±


    ¡°I mean maybe¡­ Okay, I have no clue here,¡± Saph relented.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes. I¡¯m soo getting myself a cannon,¡± Glira replied seeming very pleased with the prospect.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will. Right now we need to get back home before dark. We will be hunting tomorrow so all those mouths don¡¯t start yapping too loudly. Sounds like Jarix will be too,¡± Jortun replied, looking to Glira.


    ¡°I guess beating that little welp tomorrow is better than thinking about what I can have to beat him someday¡­ Say, you two know Tom very well. What do you have to do to get one of those marvelous killing machines he made?¡± the dragon questioned, looking down at Jacky and Saph as they boarded.


    ¡°I mean for Jarix it was pretty much a lesson on life¡­ and work. Quite a lot of work,¡± Saph replied, Jacky shrugging as she nodded


    ¡°I know a lot about life, mainly how to take it, and my work ethic is impeccable,¡± Glira responded, holding her head high.


    ¡°You have got to be shitting me,¡± Jortun countered, looking up at the dragon, which did rather take the wind out of Glira¡¯s sails.


    ¡°Well for a weapon like that it is. I¡¯ll kill whoever needs killing all day long.¡±


    ¡®There''s a bit more to work than killing,¡¯ Saph went to herself, shaking her head. Jortun and Glira descended into an argument on just what would constitute a good work ethic as they took to the sky and headed for home again.

 Forceful Acclimation

    Chapter 127: Forceful Acclimation


    Working with the investigator had not been a pleasant experience for Tom, despite her friendly demeanor. She was constantly asking questions they didn''t know the answers to while refusing to tell them about what she knew. Aka, the stuff that might have made it possible to figure out what it was you were looking at down there. And if you tried to not answer her, she would just very kindly make it clear why that was a bad idea.


    They had found some interesting things to be sure though. Mostly on mining, though there were some very handy things on metal refining which Tom hadn¡¯t really considered yet. Then again, heavy industry was not really something they could do at the keep. At least not without some really damn big upgrades to the space available. There was definitely money to be made on that though. Assuming the inquisition didn¡¯t decide to fuck it all up.


    The complex beneath them though was huge, and it was indeed a mine. They had found all the schematics on it early on. There were cargo hangars, forges, warehouses, shaft upon shaft of mining corridors, and accommodations for hundreds if not thousands of people. Funnily enough though, they had been revised quite extensively. The revisions added ¡®garrison hangars¡¯ as well as ¡®garrison quarters¡¯ and several layers of defenses all centering on the vaults, which seemed to be the center of the entire operation along with the accompanying workshops, and several ¡®research facilities¡¯ whatever that entailed. Whatever it was, it had clearly been important to them.


    The conclusion had been that it must have been a conversion from mine to a military installation, at least partly, which would explain why there were blueprints for weapons and ships in the vaults. In Tom¡¯s mind it sounded a bit like a blacksite of some kind.


    Glira and Baron had checked on the locations where the openings and hangars should have been, but they had found nothing but old rock. Not even a tunnel leading further into the island. Everything had likely collapsed or eroded away a long time ago. One part, at least according to Zarko, was outright missing, as in a part of the island must have fallen off. That was disconcerting to say the least.


    It had also become clear that the odd fish people had indeed built this place. But they wrote draconic, at least mostly. According to Linkosta, it was tricky as hell to read, especially when more technical words were thrown in which simply held no meaning in modern draconic. Even the investigator admitted that the bugs to the south didn¡¯t speak their language, though that might have more to do with them not really being able to make those kinds of sounds.


    When Tom had pushed for more, she had simply stated that was outside her repertoire and he should get back to work. He had managed to ask Linkosta in private at one point though. Not that she was much help either. All she knew was that they were bug-like people that lived to the south, they were exceedingly hostile in 99% of situations, and they were very territorial. There had been clashes along the borders, which almost universally ended poorly for the bugs, but assaulting a hive was considered suicidal due to the sheer numbers involved. The result was a near-complete stalemate, with neither side seemingly interested in taking ground.


    The worst part of the last week, though, was when the investigator went to the keep. The subject of discussion inevitably fell onto his stuff. Funnily enough, she didn¡¯t seem to care much about where he was from or what he brought, only what he knew and specifically what he knew how to make. This was, of course, rather complicated by the fact that she didn''t want to tell him exactly what it was she wanted made unless they had found it already. So it kinda devolved into a guessing game of him trying to figure out what she was on about.


    He had done his level best to limit what he told her to the same level as what had been found in the vaults. That idea crumbled in his hands when Holdey asked if they could watch another movie today. In hindsight, he really should have seen that one coming.


    ¡°What is this, movie?¡± the investigator questioned in a friendly tone, looking to Holdey who happily replied.


    ¡°Moving images on the wall. Sound too. You can come watch.¡±


    ¡°I would very much so like to,¡± she responded, looking at Tom with a piercingly curious expression and a slight smile still on her face.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s movie time then,¡± Tom just went with a nervous chuckle. ¡°I¡¯ll go get the projector¡±


    ¡°I take it you brought this film projector with you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not quite a film projector¡­ I¡¯ll just show you,¡± Tom replied, gesturing towards the door. ¡®Oh god, what to show them?! What the hell is both kid and Inquisition friendly!¡¯


    Tom had moved them all to the children''s bedroom where his cape was hung up on the wall. Much to the investigators'' bemusement. ¡°I¡¯ll just go get it real quick.¡±


    He had ever so slightly expected Paulin to protest, but she seemed sufficiently busy with the fact she was currently in a room full of kids who found her very interesting. ¡®thank god for kids.¡¯


    Tom just heard Wiperna ask ¡°Is it true you kill people when you are bored?¡± as he shut the door, making his way down the corridors. As luck would have it, he ran face-first into Rachuck, coming the other way almost immediately.


    ¡°Quick Rachuck, what kind of movie do you show an inquisitor!?¡± Tom went, grabbing the surprised guard by the shoulders.


    Rachuck just blinked a few times, looking at him like he had just asked him why the moon had fallen down.


    ¡°Like alone to herself or what?¡±


    ¡°No in a room full of kids!¡± Well, that turned Rachuck¡¯s face into one of near enough total horror.


    ¡°How the hell should I know? Just think of something!¡± he countered, looking at Tom wide-eyed.


    ¡°Right, okay¡­ You got to keep them entertained. I¡¯ll be right back!¡±


    ¡°Wait! Why me?!¡± Rachuck shouted out as Tom just bolted down the corridor. ¡®Okay kids movies¡­ Not Nemo, we found fish people and ocean scary¡­ Cars...? fuck no too many questions, do I even have that? Atlantis maybe? No, submarines would scare shit out of the kids. Fuck!... Treasure Planet. Yes, that will work, god it¡¯s almost too meta. Screw it, I must have that somewhere!¡±


    It took some digging on the hard drives, but eventually he found the precious file. ¡°Awesome! Right, that should fit right on. Even she must be able to tell that it¡¯s just fiction¡­ Fuck I hope so¡­ Oh well¡± Tom went to himself as he packed up what he needed.


    When Tom made it back to the kid¡¯s room, he found Rachuck in the middle of planning strategies with the investigator on the floor, kids arguing wildly as to which side would win a given encounter.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Tom, even you would know this. You can''t just put militia bowmen in a parapet and expect them to keep firing after their friends are overrun. They would break.¡± Rachuck went, looking up at him with genuine fire in his eyes.


    ¡°No, because they know that if they run they will all be executed,¡± the investigator countered. ¡°Which means the dragon you landed is gonna be taking a pounding as it breaks down the gates.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be Heron and Balethon. Believe me, they will run.¡±


    ¡®What the fuck is going on?¡¯ Tom went to himself in disbelief.


    ¡°Hi Tom, we are playing defend the keep. She has all of us and Rachuck has the Royal guard,¡± Kiran clarified.


    ¡°Put Tom in parparet, then dragon is dead!¡± Kiran shouted out, knocking over the blue wooden block that was apparently a dragon.


    ¡°Glira is a tough old bastard, and they don¡¯t have heavy weapons,¡± Rachuck countered, putting the ¡®dragon¡¯ back upright. ¡°Even if they stayed, the damage would be light."


    ¡°This is true¡­ I guess the gate falls then,¡± the investigator went, removing a block.


    Tom just went to stand in the corner and watched. Every second the investigator wasn¡¯t asking questions was gold in his book, so might as well just let her be distracted.


    ¡°So, are you gonna advance and take the keep?¡±


    ¡°No, Glira is ordered to retreat and get back in the sky once the gate is down,¡± Rachuck replied, moving the blue block back.


    ¡°Why? The way is open, my defenses have been swept aside,¡± Paulin went, leaning back, seemingly waiting for him to get on with it.


    ¡°Rule seven, if your attack is going well it¡¯s an ambush.¡±


    ¡°What rule?¡±


    ¡°Murphy''s laws of combat. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make you a copy, it¡¯s not that long.¡± Well, Paulin certainly looked curious at that statement before turning suspicious again as she looked back down at the ¡®keep.¡¯


    ¡®Well someone is bonding?¡¯ Tom concluded, watching the odd spectacle with a smile.


    ¡°Now, Glira is carrying a full barrel of flash powder. And that¡¯s a torch she dropped,¡± Rachuck went, pointing to the wood splint lying in the middle of where the gate had been.


    ¡°Oh, you sly bastard,¡± the investigator went as Rachuck put on a show for the kids of Glira, coming back around for a bombing run and letting the barrel go. ¡°So what were the casualties?¡± he then questioned, expectantly.


    ¡°Lady Nunuk, Jackalope, Dakota, and Tom,¡± the investigator went dejectedly. Kiran clearly was not pleased with that result, though a fair few kids cheered for Rachuck.


    ¡°Why would you put me indoors?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the investigator. ¡°I have range.¡±


    ¡°I read the reports. All of them. They said you were an animal in close quarters¡­ Lost the ¡®fire mage¡¯ to fire¡­ Gods above¡­ Right, I want to see this film projector. No way the keep will stand after that defeat.¡±


    ¡°Right, we are gonna watch a kid¡¯s movie. I hope that¡¯s okay. It''s very good though, I promise. Oh and it¡¯s in my language, so just lean back and watch the pretty pictures,¡± Tom went in his most diplomatically convincing tone.


    ¡°Do I look like a child to you?¡± the investigator questioned, looking very unimpressed.


    Tom took a second before answering that one, looking at her¡­ sitting on the floor, next to a pile of wooden play blocks. ¡°No, definitely not.¡± That was probably not the most convincing thing he had ever said, but he needed to set this up. The investigator seemed more interested in the projector than any perceived insult, so at least that was good.


    ¡°No film rolls?¡±


    ¡°Uhm no¡­ it¡¯s... digital.¡± ¡®What the fuck? She knew what a film projector was? As in what one looked like¡­ shit.¡¯


    ¡°Digital?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Gotta be honest, that¡¯s a bit beyond what even i understand. It''s essentially a thinking machine that runs on lightning¡­ It¡¯s very complicated.¡±


    ¡°So little like an automata in a sense?¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess not. Let¡¯s see this thing in action then,¡± the investigator went leaning back. ¡°Nothing then.¡±


    ¡®What the hell does she mean automata...? Oh shit,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he diligently worked away. ¡®These guys really are steampunk.¡¯ No matter, if they had steam-powered robots he would find out when going through all the records down below when she was gone. Or someone else would find it for him. Right now it was a matter of crossing his fingers really damn hard this worked.


    The kids had absolutely loved the movie, though the Investigator¡¯s expression was more of star-stricken awe. She had even stopped asking questions on how it all worked when Tom kept replying ¡°It just does,¡± or ¡°It¡¯s just a movie.¡± It had felt quite good to use her own poison against her though, without being hit with implied threats in return.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Tom made a note to remember to show the rest of the keep dwellers this movie at some point. It was rather enjoyable after all. When the show had come to an end, the kids had all cheered, the investigator getting up, dusting herself off and leaning in for a whisper to Tom.


    ¡°I want a meeting, you, me, and the old red. I believe we have something to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡± Tom had replied suspiciously as the yammering began if they could see it again, some of the kids, of course, beggin for red tails one more time.


    ¡°Nothing nefarious, I promise. Just a little chat.¡±


    ¡®Yeah, your promises don¡¯t mean much to me woman,¡¯ Tom cursed internally. He knew he should have gone with Thomas the Tank Engine instead.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, whatever Tom had shown the investigator, it had certainly had an effect on her. ¡®Why for the love of all that¡¯s holy did he have to show her a movie,¡¯ Saph cursed as she cut away at the freshly slaughtered deer that was gonna be cured and smoked in preparation for the festival. It was his own fault, though, that he had now become the personal escort of an inquisitorial agent so she could get what she wanted out of him before her imminent departure.


    The investigator had eased up somewhat on the implied threats though, so there was that. Probably because the investigator had finally figured exactly how useful Tom could be. If that rubbed off on the rest of them, Saph wouldn¡¯t mind. But if he became too useful, it might just be worth it to snatch him away. Hell, that was probably already the case. Dakota had theorized that Tom¡¯s reputation probably had something to do with the fact they hadn¡¯t tried to take him away already. A weak-willed academic would be a lot easier to bend to your will than a fearsome warrior after all. That and convenience if what the investigator had said was true, obviously.


    On the convenience front, Maiko had proven remarkably handy. Saph almost felt a little bad about having a Royal Guard do her dishes for her, while she was busy teaching Bo and Pho how to properly butcher a deer.


    ¡°I think I fucked up again,¡± Pho went from where she was working next to Sapphire.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s see then,¡± Saph replied, looking over. ¡°Nah, that¡¯s fine, we are cooking these whole. You did kinda ruin a nice cut of rump though.¡±


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t all be perfect,¡± Pho protested as she stood back to let Saph try to fix her mistake. ¡®The least you could do is pay attention.¡¯


    ¡°No but it pays to try,¡± Saph replied with a sigh. ¡°Now we need to get all those membranes off. They taste nasty. Your go.¡±


    ¡°You mean like when we start hunting with the shotguns and fill the meat with metal?¡± Pho replied as she slowly set to work removing the membranes.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t gonna be hunting with them. Lead is bad for you. Maybe when Tom figures out how to make steel shot. Now don¡¯t push it in, you¡¯ll knick the meat. Drag the knife¡­ Is that thing even sharp?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing it, and yes, of course it is. Do we get to use the guns on the investigator?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. And she will be gone before they are ready. I don¡¯t know if they are gonna give some to Deriva though¡­ probably not yet though,¡± Saph replied, taking the knife to Pho¡¯s evident annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s not sharp¡­ and you burred the edge, honestly?¡± Saph went, lowering the blade with an exasperated sigh.


    ¡°Fine, you sharpen it then,¡± Pho replied grumpily, crossing her arms in protest.


    ¡°No, you do it. Here''s the stone. Now do it right. Or were you not paying attention?¡±


    Pho didn¡¯t reply as she took the sharpening stone and sat down on a stump to try again, roughly running the stone down either side of the blade.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Shiva see you do that. Be gentle with it. It''s a precision instrument, not a club,¡± Saph went, her patience straining a little. Pho just grumped some more in reply as she at least tried to do it more gently.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t we give them to Deriva¡­ or well, sell them?¡± Bo questioned from her station where she was making excellent progress.


    ¡°Because they are all gonna die and give them to the enemy. And they are fucking broke,¡± Pho added as she checked the edge of the blade¡­ incorrectly.


    ¡®For fucks sake,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself. ¡°Right. Firstly, those are not only people but friends you are talking about. Secondly, learn to check a damn edge! It¡¯s not hard.¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m doing it.¡±


    ¡°Like this,¡± Saph went, holding the end of the knife. ¡°Against the side of the edge, not along it. If you actually managed to sharpen that thing, you would cut yourself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you know it¡¯s sharp?¡±


    ¡°For the love of all that¡¯s holy¡­¡± Saph caught herself from launching into a lengthy tirade, instead just taking a deep breath. ¡°Try mine. Feel how it digs into the skin when you do this¡­ That means it¡¯s sharp. Yours is not.¡±


    Pho tried it with both knives and reluctantly handed back Saph¡¯s blade and went back to her own, going more slowly and carefully.


    ¡°Right, there you go. I¡¯m gonna put in a vote that you join them in fighting next time.¡±


    ¡°Why, do they need a hand?¡±


    ¡°No, but you sure as hell do. And it feels like you need to learn it the hard way.¡±


    ¡°Oh sob sob.¡± Pho replied sarcastically, still looking down at her knife.


    ¡°Yes, you will be, all night long. You better pray there¡¯s someone who loves you at that point or else it¡¯s gonna suck a lot.¡±


    ¡°I got Bo.¡± Pho replied seemingly not worried in the slightest.


    ¡°I will take on no such responsibility,¡± Bo replied as she was finishing up her deer, Saph going back to her own. ¡°If you break down, I¡¯ll get you into bed, that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Aww, I love you too.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The investigator had gotten her little private conversation with Tom and Baron. That is to say, the three of them were currently in an open field away from just about everything.


    In a move that had surprised exactly no one, well at least not Tom, she had just started asking questions about some of the designs they had found below, a few copies had been brought up under the supervision of the Investigator. Interestingly they were all ship designs. What caught Tom off guard was when Baron joined in. He just asked question after question about what it was they were looking at on the various sketches. Curiously, the dragon seemed to know more than Tom on some points, correcting him on the propellers having reversible pitch on one of the ships depicted. He also stated that they were capable of much higher degrees of elevation than Tom had thought possible. Then there was the fact that the dragon clearly preferred one of the drawings when it came to asking questions.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen one haven''t you?¡± Tom finally asked, crossing his arms refusing to answer more questions.


    Baron seemed less than pleased with the question, averting his gaze before looking at the investigator, replying with venom in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to answer that¡­ I think.¡±


    ¡°You may answer. I think Tom here might know more than even you on this particular subject. It would seem his people have also dabbled in airships.¡±


    ¡®Oh, you have gotta be kidding me,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself. ¡®I showed you a goddamn kids movie.¡¯


    ¡°Yes¡­ I have seen one,¡± Baron replied reluctantly, looking back to Tom.


    ¡°Hang on, you are like what, four hundred and something right?¡±


    ¡°Four hundred and seventy-eight,¡± the dragon replied pointedly.


    ¡°These are supposed to be thousands of years old?¡± Tom went trying not to sound too confused, gesturing at the drawings.


    ¡°I am aware.¡±


    ¡°Someone built one?¡± Tom questioned. He couldn¡¯t see how that could be possible, unless the dragonettes had regressed a lot over the last few hundred years. It hadn¡¯t sounded like that though. Either that or they were lying about what kind of infrastructure was available in the capital¡­ No, Saph and the others wouldn¡¯t do that.


    ¡°No, they found one. Or stole it, I don¡¯t know,¡± Baron replied, getting up and turning his back to Tom. ¡°They are machines of death, I will give you that.¡±


    ¡°I have only read the reports and some of the fairy tales that resulted from that incident. I would love to hear a first-hand report,¡± the investigator added, rather leadingly.


    ¡°Well then, you better go look for someone to give you one. I¡¯m not discussing that day with the likes of you,¡± Baron replied, swinging his head down to stare at the investigator. ¡°I have kept my promise to you for centuries. I have spread your lies. You can¡¯t have both that and the truth.¡± That certainly rubbed the investigator the wrong way, though she did not protest. ¡°Earn my respect and you might get to hear that one. For now, do your job and do it well.¡± the dragon finished raising his head up to loom over them once more.


    ¡°Understandable. I guess I¡¯ll do the honors then,¡± Paulin replied, turning away from the dragon to look at Tom. ¡°A bit over four hundred years ago, if my memory serves, a ship came down from the north in the middle of a large-scale war with the forces of the dark. Original reports indicated it was made of metal and fire. Most believed to be some kind of infernal machine forged with heat and hate far beneath the waves, but we knew what it was. It carved a path of destruction heading for a place it could not be allowed to reach. Baron was sent as part of the force to stop it on the brink of its destination.¡±


    ¡°So you wanna share some secrets but not all of them?¡± Baron questioned, sounding exceedingly unimpressed. The investigator looked almost equally annoyed as she scowled at the dragon for half a second.


    ¡°It was headed for Cartahega, our most northern city. Specifically, we believe its destination was the inquisitorial vaults beneath the city. With only six cities standing, we have had to make use of what we have available.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you used to have more.¡°


    ¡°We did. There used to be dozens. We lost three in that war, including Cartahega. That is the only one we have managed to fully resettle since then.¡±


    ¡°Why? It sounds like you have plenty of people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and what happens when you send thousands of people to a place with no food and little shelter?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ So make food and shelter?¡± Tom questioned with a shrug. Surely that couldn¡¯t be that hard, they had literal dragons, and they could fly themselves. How hard could it be?


    ¡°We are doing that. You need the keeps before you can re-found a city. A city needs food in large amounts, and that means large keeps well situated to provide food reliably.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Gotcha,¡± Tom replied. He wasn¡¯t entirely convinced, but who was he to judge.


    ¡°We lost a lot of records to that attack, though it is fervently believed the enemy failed to procure anything of import. Most were evacuated or destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Except now they might have found something.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, that is our fear,¡± the investigator replied with a strained expression, before looking back down at the drawing.


    ¡°Based on our dear veteran¡¯s reaction here, I believe this might be the vessel that led the charge on Cartahega. Even if he won''t tell.¡±


    ¡°It was,¡± Baron responded in a very plain voice, not shifting his gaze.


    ¡°No such ship had been seen in centuries before if not millennia, so we assume they found it somewhere and miraculously managed to restore it to working order.¡±


    ¡°Just like that¡­ they just fixed up a centuries-old airship, with guns, what look like bombs, rockets, possibly guided for all I know, and a fighter deck in the rear? No fucking way.¡±


    ¡°Either that, or it was found in working order. There is no telling. I can tell you that some of the vaults beneath the capital could probably house a vessel of this size.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t just happen to have one though?¡±


    ¡°No, we do not. If we do, that information has been kept even from me. Which I find rather unlikely.¡±


    ¡°I know we lost such a vessel under the rule of a mad queen centuries before the loss of Cartahega. That whole situation resulted in the execution of the Lord Inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s the one in charge?¡±


    ¡°It was. Now we are ¡®led¡¯ by a council consisting of all the fully-fledged inquisitors. It is rare for them to convene though, and they rarely achieve much.¡±


    ¡°Well, that sounds depressingly familiar. So the rules have been broken before?¡±


    ¡°They have indeed. We are technically beholden to the crown and the church. I believe that particular queen managed to get the church under her thumb, so to speak. Combined with a¡­ sympathetic lord inquisitor, that led to our order being forced into giving her what she wanted.¡±


    ¡°So how did that go?¡± Tom questioned, hoping for grand tales of progress.


    ¡°She attacked a city that had attempted to rebel against her tyrannical rule. It led to a full-scale civil war. The vessel was destroyed in the skies above the capital when the weak-minded head of the church finally did the decent thing and died in bed. His successor was not of the same opinion regarding the queen¡¯s use of holy technology, leading to the weapons meant to defend the city being turned on the ship.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, your church is armed? With something that can bring down a ship like this? ... Oh, the defenses Nunuk talked about,¡± Tom went, realizing the subject matter.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you know about those defences,¡± the investigator responded, narrow-eyed. ¡°They are relics of an ancient time; the church claims them to be conduits coming straight from the gods. I have never seen one fire, but most cities used to have such weapons, relics of days past. Today only the capital and Bartelion still possess theirs. Our last two undefeated cities.¡±


    ¡°Well shit¡­ I¡¯m guessing you all know what they are?¡±


    ¡°We are well aware. The weapons are maintained by the inquisition and the church, though constructing new ones is quite beyond us at this time.¡±


    ¡°Until you open those vaults again.¡±


    ¡°That is the whole idea of this operation after all.¡±


    ¡°Right, gotcha. Jeez, that¡¯s a lot to take in in one go.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I believe you understand this doesn¡¯t leave this little meeting?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I get you, Fuckin hell this is a lot of secrets. I still don¡¯t get how you keep something like that a secret for this long.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t, you make sure that the people who find out, either go missing, turn crazy, publicly denounced by the church, or just learn to shut up. The things that make it into public knowledge are to be repressed until it slides into legend. Books going missing, reports classified.


    ¡°You know when trying to make people trust you¡­ saying things like that like it¡¯s perfectly normal doesn''t help.¡±


    ¡°Mind your tongue. I do not wish harm to come to the people here, and if everyone cooperates none will come.¡±


    ¡®There it is again¡¯ Tom cursed to himself, why did he say that? ¡°Anyway, the size of this thing,¡± he replied, looking back down to the drawing. ¡±It says frigate, right? I would say somewhere around fifteen hundred tonnes.¡±


    ¡°More like a thousand. It¡¯s lightly built with good range, according to the manual. Apparently it could stay airborne for over a week without refueling.¡±


    ¡°Is that good?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. As you probably guessed, we cannot just open one of our vaults to have a look. We must protect the contents; breaking the seal is highly detrimental to that."


    ¡°Right¡­ I guess that¡¯s the price you pay for 2000 years of storage life."


    ¡°Indeed. Now what I want to know, and what I¡¯m sure our uncooperative friend would also like to know: How do you kill something like that, should we ever face another?¡±


    ¡°Without the god-powered lasers.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what a lasor is.¡±


    ¡°The weapons in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Right, yes, without those.¡± Paulin replied clearly not impressed with him. He could play that game too, and he had over 35 tons of murder lizard on his side it seemed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I wanna tell you.¡±


    ¡°I have just shared with you some of the most intimate secrets I have to offer. Things that would most likely have me executed had I told any regular citizen.¡±


    ¡°To gain his trust I presume,¡± Baron added in his deep monotone.


    ¡°Think whatever you want, Dragon. We need to be ready. If the enemy has found another vessel like this, then we are facing the largest threat in recorded history. We are weaker than ever, and the enemy may be stronger than ever before. I beg of you, help us win.¡±


    ¡°You do your job, I¡¯ll do mine. Or try to at least. There is no magic way to defeat a vessel like that¡­ well there might be¡­ You get what I mean, I¡¯m not your guy for that. It¡¯s a matter of weapons and firepower, tech which you are hoarding, as am I. I can¡¯t help you even if I wanted to if the result is the inquisition coming after us here. And even with assurances that we will be left alone, it will still take a lot of time to get ready for it. That''s what we have been working on after all.¡±


    The investigator stared at him for a few seconds, a slight twitch in her left eye, before her shoulders sagged for a second as she regained her posture. ¡°No, in that sense you are correct. May the gods bless us all. We are going to need it.¡±

 Down to Business

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Chapter 128: Down to Business


    When the time had finally come to send the investigator on her way, everyone had been assembled for the handover of the lists and a few copies of interest. Even the people from the vault were allowed up to get some fresh air and some better-made food than could be managed down below just for the one day.


    ¡°Will that be all?¡± Linkosta questioned the investigator as she ceremoniously handed over the inventory list.


    ¡°I believe so. Thank you for getting this done in such a timely manner. I will be departing post haste with Galaxer heading for the capital, expect company in two weeks¡¯ time. Then we shall see... In the meantime, I recommend you make yourself as familiar as possible with what has been found, we will be getting to the next vaults in due time. So, please do try to refrain from blowing them up unless we say so,¡± she replied, rolling up the copy of the inventory list. ¡°And perhaps make use of the opportunity to relax a little. There is gonna be a lot of work ahead of us.¡±


    ¡°I think we can manage that,¡± Linkosta replied with a bow.


    ¡®Gonna be easier when we don¡¯t have to mind our mouths or risk execution,¡¯ Saph grumbled to herself. They pretty much all let out a unified sigh of relief as Galaxer climbed off into the distance. The precious, if unwelcome, cargo on board. ¡°Right¡­ now what?¡± Saph had questioned, looking around at all of them.


    ¡°Well I guess we carry on where we left off. We have a festival to plan and a literal dragon¡¯s hoard of knowledge to go through,¡± Tom replied with a shrug. ¡°I say we divvy it up and get to work.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re not that greedy,¡± Jarix protested, receiving little sympathy.


    ¡°So, hands up who wants to go look at the most historic find of historical records in our lifetime?¡± Apuma went, excitedly raising his hand. A fair few keep dwellers, including Linkosta, and of course the entirety of the academic division following suit.


    ¡®God, good, it¡¯s like being at summer camp,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, raising his hand.


    ¡°Aww come on, I wanna make more guns!¡± Jacky protested as she saw Tom''s hand.


    ¡°But they have Steampunk airships down there,¡± Tom tried to protest, receiving a disapproving look from Jacky, though it was clear she was running the calculations on what would lead to more awesomeness.


    ¡°Tom, how about we get you some interesting things to look at? Perhaps you could come down every now and again, and then you focus on the defence of our home,¡± Nunuk went in the sweetest, or more likely most diplomatic, voice she could muster.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Tom replied, lowering his hand again. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll get to see it eventually.¡±


    ¡°YUUS!¡± Jacky went with a little jump. ¡°Now, who wants to make shit and throw a party!?¡±


    To no one''s surprise, that resulted in most of the keep dwellers raising their hands, including a rather reluctant Dakota.


    ¡°I guess someone will have to calculate the expenses.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be such a downer, old Dak. Harvest starts tomorrow now that we have miss-troublesome out of the way,¡± Raulf joined in.


    ¡°We are gonna be rich!¡± Wiperna added, the two farmers doing a jumping high five. ¡°Oh you lot don¡¯t need to worry about getting all dirty, we got this,¡± she continued, looking at the bewildered crowd of academics.


    ¡°Very good, everyone go do your thing. Jarix, you are taking your crew and Dakota to go tell Deriva what¡¯s up and the slight change in schedule. Remember, we definitely haven''t found anything down below yet.¡±


    ¡°I got it. There better be a hot deer waiting when I get back,¡± Jarix protested, licking his chops.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can manage to catch your dinner for you while playing ferry,¡± Glira added with a laugh. ¡°Or perhaps his excellence could do a spot of hunting on the way back home?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Mum, it was a joke.¡±


    ¡°Just not a very funny one.¡±


    ¡°I said shut up!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    In hindsight, staying at the keep and just getting the most awesome tidbits of info was great for productivity, but it really sucked that he had to wait for them to get back with more info when they found something really interesting. Then again, judging by the fact even Apuma had been struggling to read some of this stuff, Tom probably didn¡¯t stand much of a chance with anything other than the translated copies anyway. His reading had improved quite a bit, and he was getting better quickly now too. The documents did make good evening reading, and as a side bonus it had proven surprisingly effective at getting Jacky to fall asleep more or less on command. Something about technobabble designed to kill just seemed to calm her right down.


    Things like flash powder injection, variable geometry turbines, self-adjusting airbrakes, and power outputs measured in ox power (which was just too fucking hilarious). He had almost expected thrust to be in dragons and demi dragons, but sadly not. Of course, the heart of the system, the flight core as they called it, was by far the most interesting part. Tom still thought that was a stupid name, but hey, it sorta worked. He needed to crack how the thing worked though, no use to just float upwards uncontrollably after all. Not to mention, his last device couldn''t even lift Sapphire using a full cylinder of the oil.


    The temperatures and pressures they were working with were just hilarious, but throw magic metal and enchantments at the problem and he guessed it would hold. Even if it would be damn hard to replicate. It didn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with propulsion, even if it was a touch hard to tell. He didn¡¯t have anything other than sketched copies made by the academics, and they were skilled, but their technical drawing abilities were a bit lacking for the task at hand to say the least. But rules said no originals came out of the cave, so he had to make do with what he had.


    Judging by what he had, they used mainly big ass propellers and the like to deliver thrust but one of the smaller craft had something that looked suspiciously like a rocket engine. It was all very complicated, but the result did look like a pocket-sized rocket. The fuel consumption rates looked a little crazy, and it definitely used gravity oil somehow, but so did the outputs for such a small device. The little fighter-like craft that they had found the blueprints for only used two of the little rockets, and it should be capable of kissing 700 kph in a dive, despite its less than stellar aerodynamics. This is assuming his conversion had been correct. On the level, the listed top speed was around 450 kph, far faster than any dragon could go to Tom¡¯s knowledge. Hell Jarix was supposed to be one of the fastest around and in the little timed run they had done a while back he had struggled to break 200 without a dive to accelerate. When he was allowed to dive into the run he had managed nearly 250 but it was easy to tell that was not something that he could hold for much more than a minute or two. What really stumped Tom was the realization there was no ratted service ceiling for the fighter. Not even a mention of it. The level speed was rated at something which translated to 40.000 paces, whatever that was.


    The guns of the fighters were rather normal, if a little underwhelming actually. Two machine guns chambered in somewhere around 15mm. The rate of fire was impressive though. Looking at the craft''s design, it would seem weight was still a problem for them. The heavy drives, boilers, flight core control systems, and armament were all packed in as tight as it would go, creating a labyrinth of pipes, hoses, and cables that was nearly impossible to understand, especially on the subpar copy of the design. It seemed that it was mostly made of steel, with a hand-hammered aluminum skin. At least, the blueprints seemed to describe a very light, soft metal, so that seemed likely to Tom unless they had an alternative.


    It was all very fascinating stuff, but sadly he did have more pressing matters to attend to as he got up leaving the snoring Jacky alone in the bed. He did have to admit that he felt a little inadequate looking over at his design for a single-shot shotgun in comparison to the masterclass in mechanical and aerospace engineering he had in his hands. Especially considering that the first one had actually blown up on the first shot. At least he no longer had to argue about safety procedures. In fact, Dakota had made him tighten up on that front. So with a soundtrack of Jacky snoring happily, it was as good a time as any to get this done. They couldn¡¯t have these blow up in their hands after all. Not unless they wanted to give some to the enemy.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Jarix had returned with news that Deriva had accepted their requests. They had gone with the idea of just sending everyone rather than leaving a rearguard, reasoning that there wasn¡¯t really much worth taking back at the keep and what there was they could bring easily enough. Should it happen they had more than enough combat power to take it back should that become necessary. Victoria even approved of the strategy. Saph believed the Colonel was almost hoping any darklings in hiding would take the bait, then have them annihilated.


    For Saph, that meant she had almost come to savor the times when she would sit down with Tom to both help him in the workshop and receive a bit of tutelage in turn. Most of her days were now spent on hunting, gathering, or preparing for both the feast and the supplies Deriva would be taking back home, not that they knew that of course. Today, though, was a special day for all of them. It was harvest day.


    ¡°Time to dig up some money,¡± Raulf had gone, rubbing his hands together after he had finished handing out what implements they had for getting the beets out of the ground. They had pulled the first one yesterday, and it had looked good. Tom gave it the seal of approval despite admitting he didn¡¯t actually know what one was supposed to look like. But the size fit what it said in the book, so they were coming up today. Baron had relieved Glira on hunting duty, which had been quite the sight to see yesterday, even if the results had probably been best served as a stew or maybe ground into pre-smoked sausages. He and Victoria elected to stick around to see what it was they were digging up today before going on another hunting trip.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Looking back, Baron¡¯s display of¡­ firepower, might have been a tactical decision, to avoid being tasked with assisting with the farm work, not that they had any chance of forcing the old red to take part. He and Victoria had decided to watch from a distance with most of their crew. Only Maiko actually took part in the fieldwork, much to the amusement of the rest of his crew. It had certainly been a surprise, though, when Jarix had asked if he could help.


    Saph had nearly broken out laughing at the expression on Baron¡¯s face as he had sat there looking at them all dignified, then the sheer shock had hit him. Followed by an internal debate that shone through like a beacon. The venerable old dragon seemingly was not quite certain if he should reprimand or praise the younger dragon. Victoria had just gone over to give Tom a solid pat on the shoulder when Jarix was distracted by Raulf and Wiperna.


    The farmers and the young dragon soon had a system up, with Jarix digging down either side of the row of beets with his front legs as he shuffled backwards. Then they just had to pick them up and load them into baskets to be taken into the keep. In the end, it didn¡¯t even end up taking an hour, as Jarix backpedaled down the rows, dirt flying everywhere, he even looked like he was enjoying himself. He definitely did when he ¡®accidentally¡¯ flung some dirt at an unsuspecting target. One-shot actually knocked Unkai to the ground much to their amusement.


    ¡°Why oh why didn¡¯t we have you before,¡± Raulf let out in glee as he tossed another beet into Saph¡¯s basket.


    ¡°I was too expensive,¡± Jarix retorted with a deep throaty laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m getting a bath in the lake after this.¡±


    ¡°You can bet your tail on that, you big blue beauty.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I have to ask, how did you do that? You have given him his payment,¡± Victoria had questioned Tom after taking him aside in the middle of all the work. ¡°He¡¯s never wanted to do anything other than sit around before? Maybe show off or take a nice leisurely flight.¡±


    ¡°Sit around with his friends if I remember right,¡± Tom went, gesturing at the field. ¡°His friends are now working. It also helps that when you feel like you are part of something and the others are doing hard work you end up feeling bad. He¡¯s a very good kid after all.¡±


    ¡°Huh, but he has already gotten the machine gun,¡± was all the response Victoria had for that as she stood there dumbfounded.


    ¡°Yup, and this is the reason he got it. He¡¯s done it. He¡¯s now a part of this place. He will fight for it, we will fight for him, as such we will equip him.¡±


    ¡°So what you are saying is... If we fight for your keep. Which we are ordered to do, not considering our little agreement...¡± Victoria replied, rather leadingly before Tom cut her off.


    ¡°What happens if the Inquisition decides to wipe us out? Will you be the one to do it?¡± That comment clearly didn¡¯t sit well with Victoria as she pondered how to respond with a sneer on her face, failing to come up with a reply. Tom knew that wasn¡¯t a fair question, the colonel didn''t strike him as a bad person but she was a colonel after all. ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t want to, but you are also a soldier.¡±


    ¡°And you think Jarix isn¡¯t?¡± She replied with an edge to her tone.


    ¡°Not sure anymore. I think he would at least be torn.¡±


    ¡°And you think I would not be torn when it comes to the extermination of people whose only crime is breathing?¡±


    ¡°I still think you would do it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± Victoria relented, looking back to the merry band hard at work in the field.


    ¡°Do you think they will order us exterminated when they have what they want?¡± Tom questioned going to retie his bootlaces.


    ¡°Sounds like Joelina wouldn¡¯t. No telling about the rest of them,¡± the colonel admitted reluctantly. ¡°If they want to open their vaults they are gonna want you that''s for sure. Knowledge is useless if you don¡¯t know what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°So, our main hope is that an ice-cold woman, who cracks minds open as a pastime, might want me for her pet project,¡± Tom replied with a deep sigh.


    ¡°As much as it pains me to say it¡­ and whatever you do, don¡¯t say that to her face.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much. Nothing we can do to help their case?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make a mess of the current situation?¡± Victoria retorted with a slight sigh. ¡°Atl least I think this is a bit more than a pet project. Knowing her, she will heaven and hell to get it done.¡±


    ¡°Right, don¡¯t die, pretend everything is normal, and wait for the important people to do their thing¡­ Very well. Step one, we have work to do and fun to be had. Then we can pray later that everything is gonna be just fine,¡± Tom replied before walking off back to the field to lend a hand.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, Saph had finally gotten a break from the more tiring work, currently being assigned to decoration creation with some of the kids. They were working with a bit of a hodge-podge of materials: various scraps of leather, parchment, and paper (most of it sketches Tom had thrown out). They had both the red paint that had been bought as well as the old-fashioned blue to make it all look pretty though.


    Esmeralda had taken some of the kids that were old enough to fly out to pick flowers and other pretty things to decorate the tables. That is to say, Saph had Kiran, who had for once been lured away from Tom; the twins, who seemed to like sitting down and be artsy; Turinia who was happily helping Kiran; Lothal, and Jinora, though the baby obviously wasn¡¯t much use aside from crawling around a little and playing a bit with whatever she could get her hands on. It wasn¡¯t good for productivity, but it was catastrophically cute.


    It did feel a little weird sitting here doing arts and crafts while everyone else was doing something incredibly important, and she was making streamers with a bunch of kids¡­ Not that she minded. Saph had gotten her fill of stressful, hard, or important work as of late; this was all very nice and relaxing.


    In her little zone out she had missed the kids¡¯ conversation changing to a one-upping competition on what kind of magic they wanted to get when they grew up.


    ¡°I wanna breathe lightning like Jarix,¡± Kiran had piped up, doing his best little roar then looking very proud of himself.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that hurt?¡± one of the twins had questioned.


    ¡°Not if it¡¯s magic¡­ Right, Saph?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. Never heard of someone breathing lightning before.¡±


    ¡°Jarix!¡± the other twin went, raising their hand. Saph honestly couldn¡¯t tell which was which. It didn¡¯t help that she had never seen two kids look that alike.


    ¡°Jarix is not Dragonette.¡± Kiran Turinia retorted with an exaggerated sigh.


    ¡°Glira!¡± The guy tried again with equal enthusiasm.


    Saph let out a bit of a chuckle as Kiran did his best, and very over-exaggerated, facepalm. ¡°I wanna breathe lightning like Jarix. He''s cool.¡±


    ¡°What about Tom, don¡¯t you think he¡¯s pretty cool?¡± Saph tried with a bit of a snicker.


    ¡°Tom is best, but Tom have no magic,¡± Kiran stated matter of factly. It was hard to argue with that assessment though. ¡°If Tom get magic then I want that.¡±


    ¡°Do humans get magic, Saph?¡± the first of the twins asked, looking up from their delicate project.


    ¡°Not where they come from. Here we have no idea.¡± Saph replied with a smile and a shrug.


    ¡°I heard he has magic,¡± the second twin piped up.


    ¡°Yeah, but Jacky don¡¯t like when he uses it. She keeps screaming and shouting at him when he does,¡± the second twin added, Saph¡¯s eyes going wide as she frantically tried to figure out what the fuck to say in that situation.


    ¡°No, you dumb dumb, they are practicing. Tom need learn sword fight,¡± Kiran stated matter of factly.


    ¡°Ooohhhh,¡± both the twins went in unison, nodding to each other.


    ¡®Oh thank whoever is listening,¡¯ Saph went to herself, noticing her heart was actually pounding a little.


    ¡°Oh Saph, show them yours,¡± Kiran went, looking up at Saph with a pleading expression.


    Saph didn¡¯t need much of an excuse to show off a little and she hardly needed the energy for this job. She took a quick breath then lifted the shears she was holding. ¡°Not bad, hey?¡± She questioned looking around at them. Jinaro crawled over, attempting to grab the shears.


    Saph moved them up a bit higher before grabbing them out of the air, taking a deep breath. ¡°Now, now, shears are sharp. We can¡¯t have you playing with those now can we?¡± Saph went, taking Jinaro into her lap. ¡°And we are all wondering what might happen with you.¡±


    ¡°Guaah,¡± Jinaro went, reaching for the shears in Saph¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do a bit more.¡± Saph got a little brush instead, the shears were a little heavy after all, and lifted it above Jinaro as she played with it. Jinaro sat happily babbling and trying to grab the floating brush, finally managing to grab it and seemingly displeased she didn¡¯t start floating herself, looking pleadingly up at Saph. ¡°I know you aren¡¯t very big yet, but you are still too heavy,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle as she pulled around the brush a little despite the strain. It was just so cute to look at. Then before she really grasped what was happening, Jinaro¡¯s eyes went pale white and the baby lifted off the ground with a gleeful shriek. Saph quickly cut the flow of magic, Jinaro falling back into her lap.


    ¡°That was sooo cool!¡± Kiran shouted out, standing up.


    ¡°Again again¡± the twins went in unison, Turina just looking curiously at her own brush.


    Saph just sat there for a second contemplating what had just happened, looking down at the baby. ¡®I guess that answers that question,¡¯ she finally went to herself.


    ¡°Lothal, keep an eye on them, would you? I¡¯m just gonna go see Nunuk real quick.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The older boy replied not moving from his station of the little assembly line.


    ¡°I wanna come too,¡± Kiran predictably went as Saph stood up.


    ¡°No, you just stay here. We still need to have Jarix decked out. He won¡¯t be pleased if they aren¡¯t up to standard.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Kiran went a little reluctantly, sitting back down with the garlands he was working on.


    Saph had done her best to keep Jinaro happy, letting the baby play with her finger as she made her way upstairs, looking for Nunuk, politely knocking on the door to her room.


    ¡°Come in,¡± the familiar voice came from inside. Opening the door, she found the old lady looking over a large tome full of numbers. ¡°Oh Saph, come in. What is it?¡±


    ¡°I think we just found out what happens with the whole unicorn blood situation,¡± Saph replied, holding out Jinaro a little before clutching the baby back into her chest.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Nunuk replied, turning around to face Saph after putting the quill down.


    ¡°I think she can amplify magic.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ So what you are saying is we have a one-year-old that can do what?¡±


    ¡°She made my magic stronger. I was just playing a bit with a brush. She grabbed onto it and obviously I couldn¡¯t lift her¡­ Then I just could¡­ It was easy too.¡±


    It took a bit of Nunuk looking for the right words, going to speak a few times before thinking better of it. ¡°Why?¡± The lady finally went staring ahead blankly.


    ¡°Why?¡± Saph echoed curiously tilting her head ever so slightly.


    ¡°Why do these things just keep on happening. We have riches of knowledge beyond compare. A person from another world, an ancient tomb of ancient history beneath us, the Inquisition breathing down our necks, Royal Guard everywhere, and now we have a baby blessed by a unicorn which just so happens to develop strong magic at age one!¡± Nunuk replied, shoulders slouching. ¡°What is it with this year!¡±


    ¡°I gave up trying to figure that out a while ago,¡± Saph replied, giving Jinaro a finger to play with again.


    ¡°Gods, I wish I could do that,¡± Nunuk replied, going over to tickle the baby a little.


    ¡°At least there won¡¯t be any young ones this year, I guess you will have to do. You are a cute one though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess no one wanted kids in the middle of all this.¡±


    ¡°And thank Itova for that. Anyway, so how did she do it?¡± Nunuk responded, looking down at the little one.


    ¡°Her eyes just went moon white, then she simply took off.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, I guess we just need to keep an eye on her. She¡¯s just a kid after all; we can¡¯t start training her any time soon... At least none of the other children have magic for her to enhance. I¡¯ll let everyone know at dinner, then I guess we''ll just have to see.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Saph replied, playing a little with the baby¡¯s snout, which earned her a nip on the finger. ¡°Oh, so you wanna fight now do you?¡±


    ¡°Guaahh!¡± Jinora replied, spreading out arms, wings, and legs looking up at Saph.


    ¡°Good, we are gonna need real fighters.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 First The Baking Then The Eating

    Chapter 129: First The Baking Then The Eating


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Things had been coming together rather nicely in preparation for the little festival, it had been a rather early morning for Tom since there was quite a lot to do, but still, today was gonna be a good day. The weather was nice, if a little windy, just like Raulf had promised, even if the ground was still a bit wet from the last few days. Jarix was (somewhat against his will) being decorated by the kids. Red tail paint included. At this rate, Tom would need to make red paint a regular shopping priority. Fires for the spit roasts that would make up the bulk of the meal were well underway, and the kitchen was busy with whatever side dishes they had been able to come up with.


    They had quite a few surprises in store for the day, like corn on the cob for the starters. Tom didn''t consider that much of a starter, but it was sweet and with some salt and butter it should be quite the hit. For dessert they had gone with rather crude layer cakes, made with berries, whipped cream, and, of course, the marvel of sugar. That had been Tom¡¯s little personal project for the day, Essy and Dakota being recruited to help out since, well, they were probably the least likely to eat it all before time. Not to mention their superior skills when it came to keeping kids out of the kitchens, which would doubtlessly be very handy.


    The lack of a fridge to keep the cakes fresh till evening had proven problematic, but just a touch of frost powder added to a bucket of water in the big chest Tom had brought so many of his things in had done the trick. The sugar was brown sugar and was not that uniform in texture, but it was definitely sweet, so it would do the job. Tom was just glad the two women had taken on the duty of whipping the cream. It wasn¡¯t that he was lazy. It was just hard work¡­ and he was busy right now. It was time to get the baked bits out of the tin after they had been allowed to rest a bit.


    ¡°Tom, is it strange I''ve seen you concentrating less when working with explosives?¡± Dakota questioned, with a bit of a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m used to that. I haven''t baked a cake since... since...¡°


    ¡°You don¡¯t know, do you?¡± Essy chuckled. ¡°Well don¡¯t be shy, it¡¯s only the first cake made with sugar anyone around here has ever tasted.¡±


    ¡°... Wonderful weather today isn¡¯t it?¡± Tom went, looking out the window.


    ¡°Enjoy it while it lasts, it will be raining tomorrow,¡± Raulf added from over by the oven as he got a few loaves of bread ready for when Tom was done.


    ¡°We will. Also, don¡¯t change the subject,¡± Dakota replied with a level of sass that was honestly rare for her. Maybe she had finally embraced the Saph and Jacky approach of just going with it¡­ Either that, or she enjoyed the fact that he sucked at baking.


    ¡®Operation smiles, hell yeah,¡¯ Tom mused to himself. He didn¡¯t care that it was a stupid name. It was accurate, so it was perfect.


    ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t rain on the cakes. He¡¯s gonna be absolutely devastated,¡± Essy clucked as she tapped her foot, humming some kind of tune.


    ¡°Yeah, that will be what finally makes me snap. My cakes got ruined.¡±


    ¡°How do you think we will feel? There will be tears in the children''s bedroom, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Essy retorted, head starting to bob as she apparently got to the good part even as she was working away on the cream.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t told them, have you?¡± Tom questioned, looking to the huntress.


    ¡°Hell no, it¡¯s a surprise after all,¡± Essy replied with mirth in her voice, even if she was sounding a touch strained from whipping the cream. Looking to Dakota, she continued, ¡°Your turn.¡±


    ¡°And an expensive one at that,¡± Dakota added, though still smiling, it didn¡¯t seem forced either.


    ¡°God, we should try and make some hard candy too. I wonder if we can make them like little gold bars, with purity rates and everything. I can already imagine the stories of when the school trip got into the bank vault and ate the national reserves.¡±


    ¡°Only if it was a clutch of young dragons, otherwise I think it would end in tragedy,¡± Essy added with a sigh as she leaned against the counter.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a mental picture right there. A school teacher trying to keep 15 tiny dragons in line,¡± Tom chuckled as he set about removing the cakes from the tins.


    ¡°I rate the teacher¡¯s life expectancy at around 12 minutes,¡± Dakota replied with a laugh. ¡°Ready for the cream?¡±


    ¡°Ready when you are. Essy, bring the berries, will you?"


    ¡°Ready to decorate. Want some sugar too?¡±


    ¡°Why not? Go nuts,¡± Tom replied as they started up the process of assembling all the cakes and putting the finished product into the cooling box. ¡°Do they actually have dragon daycare?¡± Tom questioned after they got into the groove with the work.


    ¡°Well sure, I remember seeing a day trip once in Bartelion. It was only four dragons with over ten carers. It was quite the sight.¡±


    ¡°Do they, like, spill acid on the floor when they sneeze?¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t think of that if I¡¯m totally honest with you,¡± Dakota replied with a thoughtful look.


    ¡°They had both a red, green, and a blue¡­ How do you even proof against that?¡± Essy questioned as she expertly covered the side of a cake with whipped cream.


    ¡°Really good insurance?¡± Tom replied with a shrug.


    ¡°... We should get insurance on the keep,¡± Dakota went, looking as if a lightbulb should be hanging above her head.


    ¡°No, cake first, paperwork later,¡± Essy went, pushing Dakota¡¯s head back down towards the work at hand.


    ¡°Man skal yde f?r man kan nyde,¡± Tom went as he got started on the next cake. The two women just looked at him, clearly expecting an explanation.


    ¡°You must earn the enjoyment. Work then fun. That kind of saying,¡± he went with a shrug.


    ¡°Well, this is certainly hard work,¡± Essy went with a giggle as she plonked down the berries in a pleasing pattern, lining the edge with crushed sugar. She paused after a little, the smile fading from her face. ¡°If only Ana had been here to see this¡­¡±


    Dakota dropped what she was doing and went over to give Essy a hug. ¡°Come now, we¡¯ve been over this. It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±


    ¡°We were so close. She could have gotten to see all this. She¡¯d never even seen a cake before,¡± Essy went, beginning to sob into Dakota¡¯s arms. Tom gave a mortified look to Raulf, who seemed equally uncertain of just what to do, gesturing for Tom to just do something.


    Tom went over and joined in the now group hug, just keeping quiet for now.


    ¡°She¡¯s in a better place now, no need to worry about all the horrible things down here. She¡¯s free, forever.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they have music in heaven? What about cake, or movies?¡± Essy went as she grabbed Dakota, clutching her tight.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s watching all the movies right now, doing whatever she wants and waiting for us all to come join her.¡±


    ¡°Where I¡¯m from I think heaven is supposed to be everything you have ever dreamt of. She¡¯ll be as happy as she can even imagine,¡± Tom added, hugging Essy from behind, wrapping his arms around Dakota¡¯s back. ¡°As happy as only a child can be.¡±


    ¡°Sounds nice,¡± Essy relented as she continued to sob for a while longer, eventually calming down.


    ¡°Not everyone makes it around these lands. We have been so lucky yet so unlucky the last half year,¡± Dakota went, patting Essy on the shoulder.


    ¡°I know¡­ but look at it all. She wouldn''t have believed her eyes,¡± Essy replied, gesturing around the room.


    ¡°With a little luck, if there is a next time, they won¡¯t even get to lay a finger on those inside the walls,¡± Tom added, looking at the ground in shame. Essy let go and straightened up again, sniffing a few times and wiping her eyes.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get to look like that. Remember what you did that day. You kicked the crap out of them,¡± Dakota went, forcefully raising Tom''s face with a single strong finger.


    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t enough, now was it? Next time it damn well will be. They will all get to live, and to be happy.¡±


    Then it was Tom¡¯s turn to receive a hug from the now mostly recovered Essy. ¡°Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done. For us. For the kids.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like we can throw the world in there too soon,¡± Dakota added, looking at Tom with a contented smile.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tom replied. ¡°finally found it.¡±


    ¡°Found what?¡± Dakota questioned, still smiling as she tilted her head.


    ¡°A home. A place worth fighting for.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph was pretty pleased with herself for securing the title of games master for the night. It sure beats cooking, even if she was probably missing out on a few samples of sweet goodness. All she had to do was bring out what outdoor games they had and, at her own request, set up the courses around the keep, using a few odd flags. They had never been able to have a leaderboard before, but Tom''s watch had a stopwatch in it. Even if the actual clock apparently wasn¡¯t quite lining up with the days around here, a stopwatch was still a stopwatch.


    It didn¡¯t hurt that the watch looked damn good on her arm, even if it was just borrowed for the day. Once the courses were all set up, it didn¡¯t take long for Saph to start trying them out. She needed to know it was safe, of course. She had made two courses, one where everyone could take part and the advanced one. She had even managed to make a crude approximation of a climb test, going up the side of the keep with chalk marks all the way up. That had been quite the rock climb. Fengi and Unkai had stuck their heads out a window to ask what she was doing.


    Her explanation of how this was a time-honored and probably somehow sacred tradition of their culture was slightly ruined by Herron claiming he had won by sticking his ass over the side of the guard tower and slapping the top marker with his tail.


    ¡°Oh will you fuck off,¡± Saph let out, much to Herron and Fengi¡¯s amusement, Unkai following in the laughing as soon as Fengi got going.


    ¡°I am the champion of this world!¡± Herron let out, trying to sing the odd song Tom had translated for them following his victory at cards after dinner a few days ago.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t even the champion of sleeping. Jacky still has you beat on that when it¡¯s time for work.¡±


    ¡°Oi, I¡¯m not lazy!¡± It came from another window somewhere. ¡°It¡¯s hard work making guns and then hunting without them.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut it. You are the one who gets to sleep with a hot-stone every night,¡± Saph shouted back at her.


    ¡°Yeah, but he gets up like really fucking early,¡± Jacky went, sticking her head out a window further down.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s why you are tired most of the time,¡± someone Saph didn¡¯t recognize let out.


    ¡°We know it¡¯s you Essy!¡± Fengi shouted out, looking around trying to figure out where that had come from. ¡°Are the cakes done yet?¡±


    ¡°I wonder how long she can hang onto the wall,¡± Unkai went thoughtfully, looking to Saph, who was seriously considering if this was worth it.


    ¡°Longer than Jacky in bed,¡± Saph replied, climbing up a few more stones to put down the next mark.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Why am I always the target these days!¡± Jacky protested loudly from her window.


    ¡°Nunuk is gonna be so pissed if that doesn''t wash off,¡± Fengi went with a giggle, ignoring Jacky¡¯s pleas.


    ¡°It¡¯s just chalk for fuck¡¯s sake,¡± Saph replied with a groan as she climbed up higher. ¡°And I swear if any of you wash it off, I will ram Shiva¡¯s favorite hammer up your ass and tell her you did it yourself.¡±


    ¡°Mum, Saph wants to steal the old brass jeweler''s hammer and smear shit on it,¡± Jacky shouted back inside the room she was peeking out of.


    ¡°SHE WHAT?!¡± came from Jacky¡¯s window as Saph hurriedly made the last few marks, then dropped off the ledge, deciding it was time for a quick leisurely flight.


    ¡°She¡¯s lying!¡± Saph shouted out as she made for open-air, pondering just when it would be safe to go back indoors.


    If everything had gone according to plan, then the people from Hylsdahl would be heading out early that morning, which would mean they were gonna be there early afternoon, with Tiguan speeding them up a little.


    First to arrive had been Baron along with Victoria, his crew, and the keep dwellers that had been working down below. Glira had agreed to take first watch at the vaults, then Baron would relieve her later, so they both got a chance to enjoy some of the festivities without leaving the academics either undefended or unsupervised.


    Baron had taken nearly a full minute to figure out what to make of Jarix post decoration, the young dragon starting to look a touch uncomfortable as the war vet stared at him. It was honestly painful to watch Jarix flatten his ears, slowly lowering his head, before the old drake broke out laughing loud enough to make Saph¡¯s feet tingle.


    ¡°You look fit for a parade. Only fitting in my opinion,¡± the war vet finally let out when he caught his breath again. He gave Jarix an almost fatherly slap on the shoulder, which sent the young blue off balance for a second. Cries of alarm emanated from his back as some of the kids struggled to hold on.


    Well, at least Jarix perked back up at that, joining in the laughter after a quick check to see if he had lost anyone.


    ¡°And to think you didn¡¯t believe I would ever make it as a soldier. My crew outnumbers yours now, I think.¡±


    ¡°Put some effort into them and you might owe your life to them¡­ Even if it will likely take a decade...or two.,¡± Baron replied, looking down at Kiran and Holdey, who were already undertaking repairs to some of the decorations. The old dragon''s expression growing a touch strained. ¡°And for the record, I always believed you would. I was simply unsure you would survive the trip. Is that not correct, Colonel Hashaw?¡±


    ¡°That it is. Now I believe it¡¯s just a matter of waiting for the people from Deriva and Grevi. Everyone! Dismissed!¡± Victoria shouted out, looking serious for a split second before relaxing back into a leisurely pose, smiling as she looked around at Baron''s crew scampering off in whichever direction they fancied.


    Tom had seemingly managed to escape kitchen duty for a while to go greet their guests, Jacky trying to explain all the games that had been brought out at the same time. Saph had a quick look around, trying to see if she could spot Maiko anywhere as the various Royal Guard members came over to mingle around the tables that he should have helped set up.


    ¡°Looking for anyone in particular?¡± a familiar voice asked from next to her as she was making her way down a row of benches and chairs that had been dragged out.


    ¡°This slightly short bloke, quite skinny too, have you seen him?¡± Saph questioned, ignoring Maiko walking alongside her pretending to also be scanning for this elusive corporal.


    ¡°I could have sworn I saw him just a minute ago. I heard he¡¯s supposed to be a great guy. Good looking too apparently, at least in his mind.¡±


    ¡°No, that can¡¯t be him. I¡¯m looking for a really sly little piece of work. You know, the kind that sneaks up on you in a crowd and steals your purse.¡±


    ¡°I also heard he is an absolute menace in battle, not that he can match that incredible woman he¡¯s walking with.¡±


    ¡°Few can,¡± Saph replied, laying an arm over his shoulder, pulling a smile against her will. ¡°So, what game shall the game master destroy you at first?¡±


    ¡°Dueling?¡± Maiko questioned with a shrug and a smile as Saph¡¯s ears flattened, her expression turning distinctly unimpressed.


    ¡°I believe that¡¯s Rachuck¡¯s department¡­¡± Saph replied before livening back up, getting an excellent idea. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for you to fight a little for me then. I''ve always wanted to see Rachuck beaten at his own game by someone other than Nunuk. and that tradition is about as old as they get."


    ¡°Uhhh, Okay?¡± Maiko replied, sounding rather less confident now. ¡°So like, is he really good or just quite good?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°Hurray,¡± Maiko let out, not sounding very enthusiastic as he was led over to the training field and specifically the sparring ring.


    Rachuck had been in the middle of explaining the rules for the day, the points system, and how the leaderboards would work.


    Tom and Jacky had also made their way over. Well Jacky had at least; Tom seemed to be mostly in tow right now. It hadn''t taken too long before the boasting had begun around the railing, quite a few of the Royal Guard wanting a go at Tom, or just wanting to see him fight. It had taken quite a bit of work by Rachuck to convince them Tom really wasn¡¯t much of a duelist.


    ¡°Look, I have seen ten-year-olds with more sword skill, and we aren¡¯t wasting expensive ammunition on another firearms demonstration,¡± Saph eventually shouted out with a bit of a snicker as she poked Maiko with her elbow, the corporal just shaking his head and smiling too.


    Tom didn''t look entirely happy with that description, even if it was probably accurate. Still, it had the desired effect, as the focus quickly turned to who would hold the title of best duelist here today.


    ¡°Hey Rachuck, think you can go easy on this one?¡± Saph shouted out again, pushing a rather nervous-looking Maiko into the ring. ¡°Try not to make a fool of yourself,¡± she added in a regular tone. The corporal quickly regained his composure as he strutted up to Rachuck, shrugging as he looked over the keep¡¯s captain.


    ¡°She seems to think you are pretty good. Wanna test that theory?¡± the corporal opened, locking eyes with the rather nonplussed Rachuck.


    Rachuck looked to Saph for a second with a hint of a sigh. ¡°Fine. I guess we have to get this party started somehow. Got a magic sword, or should I bring a lesser weapon?¡±


    ¡°One day maybe. Shouldn¡¯t we be using dulled blades,¡± Maiko questioned with a head tilt.


    ¡°Regular blade, got it,¡± Rachuck replied, unbuckling his very ornate-looking scabbard and walking over to the railing, handing it to Anchor. Walking over to a box, he retrieved two training blades that had clearly been placed there for exactly this purpose.


    ¡®Someone is having fun I see,¡¯ Saph mused, looking at the usually very careful Rachuck, almost wishing Maiko had called him on his bluff as he came walking back over to her.


    ¡°Hold this, would you?¡± Maiko went, handing her his own blade.


    ¡°He¡¯s cautious and great on the defensive, and he doesn''t like fighting dirty,¡± Saph went into Maiko¡¯s ear as she took the blade, giving his snout a gentle nudge. ¡°Go fuck him up.¡±


    The two fighters walked out into the ring and circled each other, still posturing. ¡®Careful now, Rachuck, not like you to feel overconfident,¡¯ Saph mused to herself.


    Predictably, Maiko struck first, moving forwards quickly and kicking up sand as he probed Rachuck¡¯s defences with a stab. The experienced Rachuck easily parried, trying to exploit Maiko''s position to no avail as the Corporal was already retreating after having made his probe. After a brief pause, they were back at it, blades flashing in a battle of footwork as Maiko tried to beat Rachuhck¡¯s defenses, the captain taking a few opportunities to counter-attack when Maiko became too reckless.


    ¡®No, you idiot, that¡¯s exactly what he wants,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself as the crowd started cheering for their respective favorites. ¡°Come on, kick his ass!¡± Saph shouted at the corporal, being drowned out by the crowd.


    It was almost depressing to watch as Maiko kept trying to gain the upper hand and wearing himself out until Rachuck finally decided enough was enough and went on the offensive himself. It didn¡¯t take more than a second or two before Maiko was backpedaling fast, Rachuck managing to step the corporal''s foot and send him over backwards. Moving in for the kill, all the captain got was a face full of sand as Maiko continued the roll, flinging sand at Rachucks face with his tail.


    Maiko didn¡¯t bother standing back up, instead stopping on all fours and launching himself at Rachucks legs, knocking them clean out from under the captain, who was still trying to clear his eyes as he tumbled to the ground. He regained his composure only just in time to block the blade being brought down against his neck. Maiko seemed to believe this meant he had won as he stood looking down at Rachuck with a cocky smile.


    ¡®Oh you idiot,¡¯ Saph cursed as she shook her head, knowing full well what going dirty would entail.


    The kick to the crotch sent Maiko airborne by at least a few centimeters as the cocky expression faded, Saph hearing Tom groan audibly clutching his own crotch. The keep dwellers cheered as Rachuck got back to his feet, even being joined by a few from the Royal guard, notably Baron¡¯s crew.


    ¡°Not fair,¡± Maiko let out as he walked it off, looking a little sore.


    ¡°You''re one to talk,¡± Rachuck replied, switching his grip to hold the blade with one gauntleted hand.


    ¡°Really?¡± Maiko replied, straightening his back before flowing back into a fighting stance.


    He didn¡¯t get an answer as Rachuck charged, getting in close enough that Saph wondered if he was going for a bite. Within a second Maiko¡¯s blade had been trapped and wrested from his grip.


    ¡°Got any more tricks?¡± Rachuck shouted out loud enough for everyone to hear.


    ¡°I could spit at you,¡± Maiko replied with a laugh, holding up his hands admitting defeat. ¡°No hard feelings?¡±


    Rachuck just stared at the corporal, looking rather unimpressed before giving Maiko a bonk on the helmet with the flat side of his sword and smiling himself. ¡°Saph did warn me you don¡¯t play by the rules,¡± he replied, turning away and walking back over to Saph, who found herself surrounded by most of Baron¡¯s crew.


    ¡°Dead people don''t care about cheating.¡±


    ¡°No one''s dying today. Next two,¡± Rachuck went gesturing at the ring.


    ¡°I want a crack at the big guy,¡± one of the swordswomen from Baron¡¯s crew went, vaulting over the railing and pointing at Anchor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up, Liz. He¡¯s taken, I think,¡± Maiko went as he walked up next to Rachuck, his cocky smile turning nervous as he looked at Saph.


    ¡°Ha ha, a great comedian you definitely ain¡¯t,¡± Liz shot back.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t help when someone has the humor of a hundred-year-old librarian,¡± the corporal replied, throwing a glance at Liz as she was apparently called.


    ¡°Right, I''m kicking your ass instead. Come on.¡±


    Maiko turned back to look at Saph, who just lifted her hands as she leaned on the railing.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go another round.¡±


    ¡°Keep going soldier, might beat a civilian one day,¡± Rachuck added as he handed the training sword off to Liz.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had taken a few rounds of fighting before Grevi had been spotted on the horizon just as Victoria was treating them to a right beat down, kicking the ever-loving shit out of Liz after the swordswoman got a little too big for her boots¡­ Assuming she had any. Tom needed a new metaphor for that¡­ Too fat for her wings? Doesn''t matter, Grevi was incoming, and he needed to say hi. He hadn¡¯t done much talking with the green, and it was still a damn dragon after all. Even if he was still a little scared her breath would kill him by accident.


    It wouldn¡¯t do for him to lecture them about Tiguan only to be scared of Grevi himself though. When the green had come down, the crew had disembarked in short order, all of them standing at attention for Victoria real quick before being let off the hook. Tom didn¡¯t have too long before he needed to be back in the kitchen. Dakota had demanded it after how much of a song and dance he had put on about the brown sauce that would be absolutely essential for making the main course something to remember.


    ¡°So what are you three killing machines up to?¡± Tom questioned, starting to pull up a chair for a little chatting session. He quickly abandoned the seating project to catch Kiran as he half fell down from Jarix back with a cry of ¡°Yay Tom!¡±


    ¡°I guess just passing the time, for now. Everyone needs to let off a little steam,¡± Baron went, looking to his crew getting started on some of the various games. They watched as Sergeant Kolinky went over to the little stall Turinia had set up with the help of her mother, where she was selling the closest they had been able to make to lemonade using some sugar and berries.


    Judging by the look on Kolinki¡¯s face, he was not expecting a five-year-old businesswoman, but Turinia knew what the sweet drink cost. She was clearly not giving in to bartering either, much to Tom¡¯s amusement.


    ¡°Not a bad arrangement considering the situation.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s half bad, full stop,¡± Tom countered.


    ¡°For a frontier keep I would say this is very good, no?¡± Grevi added, looking to Baron for confirmation, the old red nodding sagely.


    ¡°It damn better be, we worked our asses off for it,¡± Jarix went, looking to Tom with a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to have a slice of cake.¡±


    ¡°That''s not gonna be the only treat today. Just try not to cost us all the money. It is still expensive stuff.¡±


    ¡°I know I know. But come on, you literally dug it out of the ground,¡± Grevi countered, looking rather excited.


    ¡°Yeah, which is not as easy as it sounds,¡± Jarix went, looking a little proud. ¡°It is hard work.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, anyone can dig a hole.¡±


    ¡°Well you are welcome to help out moving forwards,¡± Tom went with a chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it does come with a bath.¡±


    ¡°I am a war drake. I do battle, not gardening.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, her parents are the ones with green fingers." Jarix went with a cocky smile.


    ¡°Oh, like they are actually farmers?¡± Tom questioned, intrigued.


    ¡°They own an apple orchard, on the northern outskirts of the Capital,¡± Grevi retorted with dignity, holding her head high.


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Tom replied, thinking that one over¡­ Apuma had mentioned greens tended to be more amenable to working with greenery, ironically enough, considering what came out of their mouths... Then again, pretty much everything that came out of a dragon¡¯s maw was bad for your health to an extreme degree.


    ¡°They toil away for meager reward,¡± Grevi continued, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, her inner teenager finally showing like it had in Jarix and Tiguan.


    ¡®Hah there it is,¡¯ Tom went to himself as he just shrugged. ¡°Well, the best soldiers tend to be those who work the most. Laying around doesn¡¯t do much for fighting prowess.¡±


    ¡°Are you questioning my skill in battle?¡± the green questioned, straight back into the cool professionalism he had come to expect from Baron.


    ¡°Hell no,¡± Tom went with a not at all nervous chuckle. ¡°But I do think Jarix has gotten stronger over the last few months.¡± Well, that certainly seemed to make Jarix sit a little bit taller. Much to Tom¡¯s amusement, and to his relief, it also seemed to grab Grevi¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Jarix the interceptor growing stronger?¡± she questioned with a deadpan look, though she was clearly inspecting Jarix to see if she could tell a difference.


    ¡°They do have a rope that should be strong enough,¡± Baron went with a scheming smile, looking at the two dragons measuring each other up.


    ¡°Yeah, we took four lengths of the rope we used for plowing and bound it together. Wrapped the ends in leather scraps. Should be good for it,¡± Raulf added, excited they might get to test out his creation.


    ¡°Winner gets to try against Tiguan,¡± Grevi said, Jarix taking a second to consider before nodding with a grin.


    ¡°Oh this is gonna be awesome,¡± Tom let out from his chair, considering just how long it would take before he would get shouted at for leaving the kitchen. ¡®Nah, everyone is coming over to watch anyway,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, seeing how people were all crowding around.


    That included Jacky, who decided the fact he had a chair was a perfect excuse for sitting down crossways on his lap.


    ¡°So, this seems interesting,¡± she went, giving him a quick nuzzle.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be awesome,¡± Tom replied, kissing her on the neck. ¡°I wonder how many of us it would take to beat one of them.¡±


    That seemed to stump Jacky for a bit as she set to work counting on her fingers. ¡®More than we have Jacky¡­ more than we have,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, shaking his head and giving her a squeeze.


    ¡°Don¡¯t break the rope,¡± Victoria let out, leaning against Baron¡¯s side. ¡°You wanna go at it, old sport?¡±


    ¡°Against who? Also, you are sounding like your father, you know that, yes?¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I''m not that bad.¡±


    ¡°Do we need to go get the harness?¡± Fengi questioned, looking between the two dragons. "Wait no, we only have one.¡±


    ¡°You''re not afraid to pull out a tooth, are you?¡± Jarix questioned with a grin, baring his teeth.


    ¡°No,¡± Grevi replied, picking up the rope in her mouth and taking a ready stance.


    Jarix was a bit less dignified squaring up in front of Grevi, picking up the rope and shifting his weight from side to side, looking like an excited dog.


    ¡°Hey, Games master!¡± Tom shouted out, Saph making her way out of the crowd and digging up a line in the grass with her foot at the center of the rope.


    ¡°First over the line losses,¡± she shouted out, retreating a bit. ¡°Ready, Set, GO!¡±

 Fun and Games

    Chapter 130: Fun and Games


    Saph had seen many things in her lifetime. She had even seen dragon tug of war before too. It was rarely a boring sport, that was for sure. It had been years, and it was normally done on the sand of the arenas she used to compete in, so this should still be quite something. It was rare to be this close too. She had also seen it as part of the Royal Guard training when she had snuck in back in the day. Most of the keep dwellers here would never have seen something like this before though. And Tom certainly wouldn¡¯t have. Looking over, she saw Jacky had decided to try and sit on his lap, which didn¡¯t really work, but hey who was she to judge? What she wanted to see was Tom¡¯s reaction as the rope went taut as a bowstring. Both dragons dug their front legs in deep, trying to backpedal.


    Grevi was bigger than Jarix, there could be no doubt of that. Equally obvious was the fact that Jarix was off to a far more aggressive start. Having dug his front legs in, he started trying to yank Grevi off-balance, her low and wide stance thwarting his attempt to the evident annoyance of Jarix.


    ¡°They have done this before,¡± Saph went to herself as people started cheering for the two contestants. Thus far though, neither of them had even moved from their starting spots. It was clear Grevi was trying to tire out her opponent, Jarix seemingly also realizing this and changing tactics.


    Saph did catch the curious expression on Grevi¡¯s face before it turned to realization, as Jarix abandoned the holes he had dug with his front legs. That yielded a few meters to Grevi, who wasn¡¯t ready to capitalize on it, backing up as quickly as she could. Using his wings, Jarix swung himself around with remarkable grace, planting his hind legs in the ground hard, the rope now running over his shoulder still locked in his jaws.


    ¡°Fuck her up!¡± Saph heard Tom cheer, Jacky joining in. Glancing around, a few of the Royal Guards clearly looked rather taken aback though soon enough they were also cheering Grevi¡¯s crew egging her on. Saph had seen that trick done before, and seemingly so had Jarix. Grevi didn¡¯t stand a chance, as she no longer had the holes she had dug for her front legs. She started skidding along the ground with all four feet as Jarix put his back into it, clawing away at the ground, turning it to muck beneath him.


    He didn¡¯t think to drag Grevi away from the holes she had dug though, an evil glimmer forming in her eyes as she managed to plant her feet back in them, pulling back hard and causing Jarix to rear up, scrambling for purchase with his front legs as the rears did all the work.


    ¡°Come on Jarix! You got her!¡± Saph found herself cheering too, the desperation evident on Grevi¡¯s face as Jarix brought his weight back down once again, backing up a meter or two with his hindlegs then pulling hard. Grevi strained, her front legs digging deeper and eventually buckling, sending her skidding face-first across the ground as Jarix tried to go into a gallop. Likely as much to humiliate her as prevent her from getting her purchase back. Grevi let go of the rope, letting Jarix run with it as she clambered back to her feet on unsteady legs, trying to wipe her face from muck and grime.


    She was still hard at work with that when Jarix came prancing back around, still dragging the rope as he set about his little victory dance.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Fuck yeah, Jarix! Go team Bizmati!¡± Tom shouted out as loud as he could, Jacky clearly taking it as a challenge and cheering louder. Then Tom broke out laughing at the sight of a dragon doing the moonwalk. ¡®Dammit Fengi,¡¯ he went to himself. ¡°I guess that is easier with four legs huh?¡± he continued, poking at Jacky.


    ¡°Well obviously, otherwise I could have figured it out,¡± she replied with a shake of the head like that was the most obvious thing.


    ¡°You tried to learn how to moonwalk?¡± Tom questioned in disbelief, still laughing at Jarix, who was now doing rings around a very displeased-looking Grevi, who had clearly decided to just wait it out as she sat there.


    ¡°Yeah?" she went with a head tilt. "Fengi has figured it out, but it¡¯s damn hard. Weren¡¯t you supposed to be doing something like that too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Tom replied with a snicker, looking at her thinking she was clearly joking right now. Jacky¡¯s head twisted around to look down at him.


    ¡°Yeah, you know. With Unkai,¡± Jacky went, leaning her head in closer to whisper. ¡°You know, the whole Fengi thing you talked about way back.¡±


    ¡°Ahr shit,¡± Tom went, admitting to himself he had completely forgotten about that.


    ¡°Oh you are an idiot,¡± She went with a chuckle, looking around, probably scanning for Unkai. ¡°Oh and a terrible friend too,¡± she went, looking back at him for good measure.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I know. Where is he?¡± Tom went, getting up and taking Jacky into a bride''s carry.


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not wounded,¡± Jacky laughed, flapping her wings and sending them both to the ground. Tom let out a groan as she landed on him. ¡°Sorry, I panicked. It''s very dangerous to pick up a predator like that,¡± she chuckled, clearly finding herself very funny right now.


    ¡°Oh, you are just on fire today,¡± Tom went as she finally decided to get off him, a very pleased-looking Jarix replacing her face above him. ¡°Hi Jarix. Good show,¡± Tom continued, looking up at the dragon.


    ¡°Good show? Good show?! I beat the crap out of her, and she¡¯s over a ton heavier than mem and a green!¡± Jarix went loudly enough for Jacky to hold her ears. ¡°Now I just need to do the same to Tiguan,¡± the dragon continued, looking away with a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he even bigger?¡± Tom questioned, getting up in time to notice Raulf jogging over.


    ¡°Oh you big blue beauty you!¡± the farmer went, holding his arms wide like he was gonna hug the dragon. Which he then did, if only a foreleg. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine how many plows you could actually pull."


    ¡°Uuuhhhh¡­ I think two is fine¡­ Maybe three on a good day,¡± Jarix went, suddenly looking less enthusiastic about his victory.


    ¡°You take the sour with the sweet,¡± Grevi went from behind them, standing up and walking back over to her crew, still flinging dirt and mud off herself.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about her. I have been making plans for winter, and Tom¡¯s book has some impressive-looking farm implements in it. I think we can make one plow with many blades on it.¡±


    ¡°Or you could just buy one for him,¡± Grevi went, seemingly having found her way to get back at Jarix for beating her. ¡°I know they have those on some of the farms, poor bastards trying to make money from grain. Dad always said they were idiots for that.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said your parents got a meager reward?" Tom questioned, looking at the dragon curiously. Raulf seemed to pick on them having a farmer around, or at least someone who knew a little, his attention switching to Grevi.


    ¡°They do, but at least it¡¯s something,¡± Grevi retorted. ¡°But as I think you realize by now, anything sweet is worth money. A good apple harvest is still worth a lot. It¡¯s just a lot of work too.¡±


    ¡®I thought orchards were supposed to be easy,¡¯ Tom went to himself with a shrug.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know what such a plow might cost?¡± Raulf went, as Jacky yanked Tom by the collar.


    ¡°You have work to do. Come on, let''s find Essy¡­ and the guy you promised to wingman for... I still don¡¯t get how you arrived at that expression without wings.¡±


    ¡°Yeah right, got it,¡± Tom went as he was pulled along, giving Jarix a quick salute. The dragon looked on curiously before turning his attention back to Raulf, who was very busy interrogating Grevi on everything she knew about big heavy equipment. The green dragon was only too happy to comply.


    Essy was still in the kitchen, so that was easy enough, and luckily Kokashi was there to fetch some things for the spit roasts. He let them know Unkai was in the tower on guard duty right now.


    ¡®Poor bastard,¡¯ Tom went to himself. Well, at least he should have been able to see the show, even from up there. Jacky and Essy had just nodded sagely at Tom and sent him on his way. Like he should somehow know what the fuck he was supposed to do. He was at least mostly sure that Jacky didn¡¯t have a clue either. Not that it would help much if she did.


    ¡®For fuck¡¯s sake Tom, you suck at all this,¡¯ He went to himself, standing at the bottom of the ladder, pondering what to say. Should he apologize for forgetting? Screw it, Essy had let him out of kitchen duty for this. So here goes nothing. He made his way up the ladder and knocked on the trapdoor. Silence reigning for a few seconds.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± a slightly nervous if equally confused Unkai questioned in reply.


    ¡°It¡¯s Tom. Mind if I pop in real quick?¡±


    ¡°Uhh sure?¡± the reply came, seemingly still rather confused as Tom got up. ¡°Hi... aren¡¯t you supposed to be doing something?¡° the guard questioned, looking up at Tom.


    ¡°I mean probably¡­ No clue what though. I can''t remember,¡± Tom went with a slightly forced smile. ¡°What I can remember is something about a girl named Fengi.¡±


    Unkai just stared at him, glancing left and right once before looking back at Tom as he closed the trap door. ¡°I did what you told me right. Just be nice, not pushy.¡±


    ¡°And¡­?¡±


    ¡°Well, she hasn¡¯t rolled her eyes at me in a while,¡± Unkai admitted with cautious optimism in his voice. ¡°So I was thinking maybe I should try and ask her today, when my shift is done. You promised to teach me a few interesting things¡­ But you have been very busy. I don¡¯t blame you¡­¡±


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s my fault¡­ I forgot¡­¡± Tom scratched the back of his neck. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ Do you think it would be dumb to try again today? Should I wait?¡±


    ¡®You are on thin ice my dude,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, sitting down. ¡®And you are up against three full dragon crews plus the people of Deriva¡­ well, what''s left of them.¡¯


    ¡°I think you are gonna have competition today¡­ Actually¡­ Yeah that might work to your advantage.¡±


    "Uhm¡­ How?¡± the guard questioned, clearly not understanding how that could be an advantage.


    ¡°Fengi is good-looking, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Unkai replied, clearly not sure where he was going with this.


    ¡°Good chance someone is gonna try and hit on her, maybe more than one. And we know she doesn¡¯t like that much,¡± Tom replied. He was grasping at straws here, but that was life sometimes. ¡°Don¡¯t be one of them. Just be there for her to¡­ use as a distraction. You know how to get out of an uncomfortable situation. She knows you like her, so there''s a good chance she¡¯ll prefer you to them if they get annoying enough.¡±


    ¡°You treat girls like battle tactics?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I wouldn¡¯t consider that battle tactics. Just¡­ utilizing the environment. They are the enem¡­. I see what you mean.¡±


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°So hopefully she goes to me to get away, and that¡¯s nice for her,¡± Unkai replied, nodding, Tom guessing he had grasped the concept.


    ¡°Yes. Now, it is very important that you don''t start hitting on her. That would feel like betrayal, then you just pray you''re not heading to the friendzone.¡±


    ¡°The friend zone?¡±


    ¡°Imagine Fengi considered you her best friend, to the point she will not want to be your girlfriend out of fear of ruining that friendship."


    ¡°That sounds¡­ I don¡¯t even know to be honest.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bad, trust me. Cause I know you like her as more than just a friend.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so just tell her she¡¯s really nice?¡± Unkai went, expectation clear in his voice.


    ¡°Sure, that should be fine. Just try not to be too heavy-handed. Wouldn¡¯t hurt to mention how dumb the ones hitting on her are.¡±


    ¡°Says the guy who got Jacky.¡±


    ¡°Fengi ain''t Jacky now, is she?¡±


    Unkai developed a sudden case of a thousand-yard stare for a second before responding. ¡°Nope. Thank the gods for that¡­¡± he replied, looking over the side of the tower. ¡±Oh shit, there¡¯s Tiguan.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had made his way back down, Unkai on his heels, to greet the uncertain-looking dragon as Heron was sent up to replace Unkai in the tower. As Tiguan was coming into land, Saph watched with amusement as he went around to try again, apparently not being happy with the first approach. When he came down it was a very smooth landing though, hardly jolting those hanging on to his back.


    It was a bit of an odd sight to see the black dragon carrying most of the kids, some of his crew, and the adults too wounded to fly for that long of a trip. Or at all in some cases, Saph noted, looking at them all. ¡®They really have taken one hell of a pounding.¡¯


    ¡°Hi, everyone. Are we late?¡± the dragon questioned, looking around at all the people that had gathered to bid them welcome as he lowered a wing to act as the ramp.


    ¡°No, we were slightly early,¡± Grevi replied with a polite nod, which was quickly reciprocated just as the kids of the keep charged at their old friend. She just hoped the dragon wouldn¡¯t run out of patience.


    The dragon didn¡¯t run this time either, instead lowering down to make himself comfortable as they swarmed over him while others were still busy getting off.


    ¡°Hello, little ones, I brought more friends today,¡± Tiguan went, looking at some of the kids from Deriva who were looking a bit more uncertain of the whole situation.


    ¡°Tigi,¡± Kiran shouted, leading the charge, Holdey following closely behind.


    ¡°Oh hello, you here to go climbing again?¡±


    ¡°Yes yes! Up!¡±


    ¡°I think we can manage that,¡± the dragon went, leaning his head down and tilting it so a horn was close to the ground, the two kids grabbing on. ¡°And up we go.¡±


    Looking at the rest of the folk from Deriva, Saph did make out some faces she knew. There was Rekui, Luke, and of course the old lady, looking sweet as ever and giving Tiguan a pat on the side as she got off. She walked over towards Nunuk and Apuma, who came out to greet them.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been too long, Nunu.¡±


    ¡°Long enough for you to forget not to call me that,¡± Nunuk responded, exchanging a quick hug with her counterpart.


    ¡°No, not quite that long, dear.¡±


    ¡°Very funny.¡±


    Lady Deriva just chuckled a bit at that, turning to Apuma. ¡°Apuma you strapping young man. Still teaching the young how to write straight?¡±


    ¡°Sure am, what about you? Still eager to show up my wife for bedtime stories?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you and I both know you are the real competition on that front.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m right here you know,¡± Nunuk went, crossing her arms and looking to Luke.


    ¡°So what about you? You''ve certainly grown up.¡±


    ¡°Kinda had to,¡± the young captain replied, looking at Nunuk with a shrug before she gave him a hug too.


    ¡°I know, not today though. I have been instructed by our¡­ you know who, to leave all the adult stuff for tomorrow. You¡¯ll be staying the night after all, and today we have a celebration to hold, even if it¡¯s a bit late. There¡¯s good food, games, and lots of good company. It would be a shame to waste it.¡± Nunuk gestured around.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think we would get to have a relaxing day this year, let alone a festival,¡± Lady Deriva replied, bowing to Nunuk and Apuma. ¡°We are very grateful.¡± Nunuk just smiled, giving a polite nod, her reply being cut off by Jarix.


    ¡°Hey, Tiguan! I beat the crap out of Grevi in tug of war. Wanna go next? Or do you need some time to get out from under the kids?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t they come?¡± Tiguan questioned, looking to Jarix. Saph looked between them, not sure that was a good idea judging by how the last round had gone. ¡°You look good by the way,¡± Tiguan continued, eyeing the decorations hanging from Jarix''s sides and looking rather perplexed. One of the kids began to slide off, catching themselves on his ear.


    ¡°And you look happy,¡± the blue replied, trying to work out a place to sit near Tiguan and Grevi amongst all the people and tables.


    ¡°I am happy,¡± Tiguan replied, doing a quick check on the current onboard population to see if anyone else was in danger. ¡°I see you finally gave up on keeping the kids away¡­ What¡¯s with the red tail? Lose a bet?¡±


    ¡°They are now part of my crew¡­ The tail is¡­ complicated. I¡¯m paying homage to a noble band of pilots called the redtails, who were shunned because of how they looked,¡± Jarix replied, seeming quite proud of himself.


    Tiguan looked uncertain how to take that one, eyes glancing around at the kids who hadn''t gotten off Jarix. ¡°What¡¯s a pilot?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get Tom to show you. Don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ what¡¯s with the garlands?¡±


    ¡°We are celebrating; Garlands are for celebrations.¡±


    ¡°I have never seen you with garlands on before,¡± Tiguan continued, seemingly not able to make sense of what he was seeing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame yourself, I can¡¯t recognize him either. Baron said he saw him dig up some kind of root fruit or whatever a week ago. Without being paid for it,¡± Grevi smirked.


    ¡°No.¡± Tiguan looked at the blue and smiled. ¡°You''re taking the pi¡­ I mean joking,¡± he finished, glancing at the kids. ¡°I¡¯m not falling for that one.¡±


    ¡°Even Tiguan doesn''t believe it,¡± Grevi replied, sitting down on her haunches. ¡°That seals it. Jarix, you have gone insane.¡±


    ¡°Nah, he just met Tom," Jacky shouted out, Saph turning to look over to where the huntress was sitting at a table, already having found a beer mug. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly normal.¡±


    Tiguan looked like something clicked for him, looking at the kids with a curious expression. Then down to Tom, who seemed happy to just take in the show. ¡°He sure does work wonders. What do you think would happen to Grevi if she stayed here?¡± the black dragon questioned with a soft smile, looking back to Jarix.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Paint black spots on herself to match his camouflage,¡± Jarix replied with a laugh, Tiguan clearly trying not to, looking away from a very offended-looking Grevi. Tom just snickered a bit, clinking his mug with Jacky.


    ¡°Black paint, oh come on! It¡¯s bad enough you have gone for red,¡± Grevi replied, staring daggers at Jarix. ¡°I think I¡¯ll go find some more dignified company,¡± she continued, standing up and turning around to go back over to Baron, who hadn¡¯t moved from an apparently very comfy spot for a while. Tiguan greeted the old red with a polite nod, Baron returning the gesture.


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it, Jarix,¡± Tiguan concluded as the green wandered off. ¡°Where is Ray?¡±


    ¡°Hi.¡± It came oh so delicately. People made way as Ray peeked out of the crowd while waving at Tiguan, wearing her newly made clothes, not looking half bad.


    Tiguan certainly did a double-take of the dragonette, seemingly not even recognizing her before a wide smile grew across his face. ¡°You look happy too,¡± he eventually went, moving his head down towards her and laying it on the ground, Ray going into a little skip as she ran over and hugged his head. The dragon let out a contented rumble, looking at her cross-eyed, smiling wide.


    Saph chuckled to herself a little, her own smile widening at the sight. Looking down the side of the dragon though, Saph noted the kids from Deriva were looking rather skeptical at the situation. Only one or two climbed back up on Tiguan to go say hi to some of the Bizmati and Hylsdahl kids who were busy playing on the big black teddy bear. She didn¡¯t blame them for being scared; he could still send shivers down her spine if she wasn¡¯t thinking. Looking around, she spotted Ylditz, Tiguan¡¯s lieutenant, and made her way over to ask how things had been going for them.


    ¡°So, how''s life been treating you at Deriva?¡± she went, giving him a hand to shake.


    He took it with a smile. ¡°Not bad. Could have been much worse. It helped that the keep was in such bad shape when we got there. They really needed a hand. Don¡¯t think it hurt that they had met Tom either,¡± he went leaning in for a whisper. ¡°Kids still don¡¯t quite trust him, but most of the adults do. I have a feeling that might change today though,¡± Ylditz continued, looking at the kids standing on the ground looking up at the ones already playing on Tiguan.


    ¡°We¡¯ve done it before. We can do it again,¡± Saph replied optimistically as Maiko came up to give the lieutenant a solid handshake.


    ¡°Good to see you are still in one piece. How does it feel to take a whole keep on a field trip?¡±


    ¡°Not too bad. Most of them made the journey on their own wings much of the way. Luckily, Tiguan isn¡¯t work-shy if he can help people out a little,¡± Ylditz replied, glancing to Jarix.


    ¡°Oh, you have some things to learn. Anywho, we have a few people taking bets on Tiguan against Jarix. You want in?¡±


    ¡°10 on Tiguan if the kids are allowed to cheer,¡± the lieutenant replied as if that was a very easy decision to make.


    ¡°Deal. Now, I know you are a Hashaw you know how to appreciate a good drink, so over here we have some delicious berry lemonade. Don¡¯t ask me what lemonade is, but it tastes good.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, it had certainly been an interesting afternoon, too much to do and too little time. ''Just like always,'' Tom mused to himself as they were all called to the tables to sit down and eat. Both Nunuk and Victoria had held speeches about all the hardship the island had gone through and the rough winds that lay ahead. It was all very inspirational. Tom, though, was mainly interested in hearing what some of the scores were for the various games. He had actually done reasonably well in the ring toss with the kids, and he had dominated the little endurance test he had talked Saph into setting up. Push-ups in half grav was just plain cheating. Next year he would have to get a running race set up too, just for the fun of it.


    ¡°Cheer up, Jarix. You won one tonight already,¡± Tom went to try and cheer the mopey dragon up after he had lost to Tiguan right before dinner. It had been a good fight, Jarix trying the same trick he used on Grevi, though someone had apparently told Tiguan what to expect, the black dragon yanking hard just as Jarix tried to swing around, sending the blue to the floor from which he never recovered. ¡°He¡¯s bigger than you after all. I¡¯m sure you can outfly him any day.¡±


    ¡°Of course I can, it wouldn''t even be a competition,¡± Jarix responded with a grumble. ¡°Who did your archery competition go to?¡±


    ¡°Have a guess.¡±


    ¡°Saph won?¡±


    ¡°Saph won,¡± Tom confirmed with a nod, taking note of the sour grump coming from Jacky. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sweetie. You got fifth.¡±


    ¡°Not like it mattered anyway. But I beat the crap out of them at hammer throw¡­ Now I just need to find the hammer again, or mum will kill me.¡±


    ¡°I am not saving you from her. I lost to two of the kids in archery.¡±


    ¡°I know, you are usually the one that needs saving¡­ This is really good,¡± Jacky replied as she worked on her corn cob. Dragonette teeth apparently were not entirely suited for the task at hand.


    ¡°Is our food ready too?¡± Jarix questioned. He was resting his head on his front paws and lying next to the tables. The other three dragons nearly enclosed the sitting area, which was very handy considering the wind.


    ¡°Looks like they are getting ready to take it off the fire,¡± Tom replied, eyeing Kokashi and Heron, who were checking on one of the deer.


    ¡°Awesome, can¡¯t wait to have a proper meal. What is that on your plate anyway?¡±


    ¡°This is sweet corn. Another of the plants we grew. Not sure it¡¯s dragon friendly unless you want to have the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°They turn yellow when you boil them?


    ¡°No, they are yellow inside. We peeled them.¡±


    ¡°Can I try one?¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not,¡± Tom replied with a shrug, taking a cob from the basket in the middle of the table and smearing it with a dollop of butter and a bit of salt before looking to Jarix. ¡°Open up.¡±


    Jarix obeyed and opened his mouth, Tom throwing the cob in, not sure if that constituted more than a very slight snack for Jarix.


    ¡°Crunchy¡­ not bad,¡± Jarix replied as he munched on it a few times before swallowing. ¡°Gahh, gets stuck in the teeth though.¡± Tom did nearly suppress the snicker as the dragon set to work clearing his teeth with his tongue, even resorting to using a claw to get it back out. ¡°What a devilish little thing. Ohh, real food,¡± the dragon continued after having cleared the obstruction, noticing a whole deer roasted on a spit being brought out for him. Grevi and Tiguan also getting one with Baron having two to himself.


    Right on cue, the main course was brought out for the rest of them. Salad greens, freshly baked bread, and a wide variety of game. Mainly venison, boar, various kinds of bird, and some tirox, courtesy of Baron. The massive red had hauled it back in his claws rather than the ad hoc solution they had resorted to with Jarix. For once, though, Jarix had not minded being outdone, Tom believing the dragon was probably happy he didn¡¯t have to repeat that maneuver again.


    Tirox had quickly become Tom¡¯s favorite since he came here, reminding him most of old-fashioned beef. Looking around the tables, the corn had been wholeheartedly devoured already as they all set about the meat with equal enthusiasm. Especially the people from Deriva, Tom noted. Some of the kids further down Tom¡¯s table were asking if they were allowed to eat all this. They hadn¡¯t even taken the time to say yay at the confirmation, but their expressions said it all. Tom smiled contently, Taking note of Unkai, who had taken a seat about three people away from Fengi. ¡®So it begins,'' Tom mused to himself as meat juice of some kind sprayed across his face.


    ¡°Hey?!¡± he went, looking around for the culprit, eyes landing on Jacky to his right.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± she replied half-heartedly, mouth stuffed with some kind of bird. ¡°At least it was a good shot.¡± Tom just looked at her rather unimpressed before wiping his face on her arm with an evil chuckle.


    ¡°Oi, not cool! Aww come one,¡± she responded, trying to wipe it with a cloth napkin.


    It had taken a bit for people to finish, many stuffing themselves to the point they looked hard-pressed to move before the desserts were brought out. It was a rather tactical decision; this was expensive stuff, and they didn¡¯t want a kid to OD on sugar tonight either.


    Tom hadn¡¯t expected quite such a deal to be made about cake, but seemingly even the Royal Guards were impressed by that revelation. Many cursed just how much they had eaten. Tom had to shake his head, though, when Ylditz had to get up from his seat to prevent Tiguan from sharing his cake with anyone. The dragons had damn well deserved a cake each, so a cake they should have. This whole system would have fallen apart long ago if not for them after all.


    The best part though was seeing the kids from the various keeps dig into the sweet construction. Gone was the doubt and the fear, there were no tears, just laughter and joy. They didn¡¯t even fight over what there was, though that might have to do with just how full they were already.


    Tom had to poke Jacky quite a few times before she raised her head from her own piece, looking to the kids as Tom pointed at them and cracking a smile herself. ¡°It might have been a stupid name. But it¡¯s accurate,¡± she went, bumping her head against him once before going back to her own piece of cake.

 Trial by Fire and Steam

    Chapter 131: Trial by Fire and Steam


    When the food was all but gone, the now supercharged kids had been released. Much to Tom¡¯s amusement, even the adults seemed to be moving faster as some set about clearing up, others running games for the kids, and yet more partaking in games themselves. Saph was soon busy getting everyone who thought they could give her a run for her money through the various courses she had set up. Jarix decided that was an excellent idea which resulted in quite the airshow, as eventually even Baron was convinced to try and give it a shot. He overshot some of the turns quite badly, but he did make it around in the end, much to his crew''s approval. Even if his time had been close to the slowest of the day.


    Tom had guessed Saph would make a course that suited her, so he was not surprised when she ran with the title of fastest flier. It was impressive to see her streaking through the tight turns nearly without scrubbing speed, Jarix taking the title for the dragons with an equal amount of predictability.


    It only took an hour or two, though, before the side effects of the sugar became obvious as the kids quickly calmed down, eventually being taken to the keep to rest as the sun started getting lower in the sky. More drinks were brought out as the more adult part of the party started getting underway, the four dragons having laid down close to each other for a chat. Tom and Jacky dragged a bench, table, and some drinks over to listen in on the conversation, Tom guessing an over four-hundred-year-old dragon might know a few good tales.


    The four dragons were currently reminiscing about the years of training Baron had taken them through back at the capital. Tom listened intently to some of the old stories. Mainly looking for some gossip about Jarix After a little while though, just as Tom had hoped, the old red decided to share one of his own stories.


    ¡°Say students, I have a story I have been wanting to tell you for a very long time,¡± Baron started, casting a glance at Tom, who leaned forwards on the bench. ¡°Though I have been¡­ unable to share it for quite some time.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can now?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at the venerable dragon. He had a pretty good idea what was coming and he was not sure that was a smart choice of story all things considered. Even if he would like to hear some of the old Dragon¡¯s tales.


    ¡°The investigator failed to specify who I might be able to disclose information to, simply that I was allowed to do so,¡± Baron replied with a hint of a grin as he made himself comfortable. ¡°Victoria, gather up the crew. If I am right about what¡¯s to come, then they should all hear this.¡±


    The Colonel just nodded once, walking off to wave people over towards the dragons. More than just the crews coming over, most of them with mugs or glasses in their hands.


    ¡°Is it the Battle of Latujha or Feldin? Maybe Luken, or maybe Pelinor?¡± Grevi questioned enthusiastically, leaning her head forwards as she paused to think.


    ¡°Cartehega,¡± Baron replied flatly. Grevi fell silent, and Jarix just tilted his head, confused.


    ¡°I think you told me that one. It was a while ago though. That was your first real battle, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Grevi questioned, Jarix nodding in agreement. Tiguan just looked at the red and waited for whatever was coming, seemingly happy either way.


    ¡°No, I did not. I told you a fairy tale¡­ This was a long time ago. I hadn¡¯t even gotten my first commendation yet. ¡°Baron replied with a bit of mirth in his voice. ¡±I was flying as part of a routine patrol, looking for anything that had slipped through our northern forces during the war. We had heard reports of some ¡®massive metal monster¡¯ as they called it being sighted up north. Damned Inquisition not wanting to tell us the honest truth. We had no clue anything was coming, let alone something like that.¡±


    ¡°For those that don¡¯t already know this, don¡¯t speak of this to anyone. Inquisitorial secrets. You all know the drill,¡± the red dragon went, looking around at the gathering flock of people. The ones from Deriva looked rather worried all of a sudden, their expressions turning to confusion as everyone else seemingly wasn¡¯t scared for their lives at that statement. ¡°Not to worry, little ones. You will be briefed on the wider situation tomorrow,¡± the dragon continued, looking at the folk from Deriva. Tom felt sweat running down the back of his neck. This had definitely not been part of the plan, but he guessed it was now.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was a relatively quiet evening at Royal Guard headquarters, Cartehega. As quiet as could be expected on a military base during a war at least. It was an old base. Many believed it was older than the city itself. The spacious mountainside corridors wide enough for even the largest of dragons to pass each other without much hassle. It was one of the only places Baron had ever felt small unless he was trying to measure himself up against another dragon.


    The young red dragon and his combat wing had only arrived a few days ago. A five dragon formation led by the thirty-ton veteran blue dragon named Forkyr, who had the misfortune of leading the four rookies, even if he seemed to relish the posting. Morale was high at the base, though Baron and the other rookies felt a little cheated by their assignment. They weren¡¯t going to see any real action unless the forces to the north fucked up somehow. That seemingly suited Forkyr just fine though, the old blue having gone on and on about how perfect this assignment was for them. They would get some experience outside of the training fields at the capital and likely a little battle dealing with whatever slipped through to the city, which should be perfectly safe for them. That would ensure that none of the very valuable young dragons were lost before they could reach their proper potential.


    Baron just heard an old man not wanting to do any more fighting. Forkyr was a vet of many battles, and he had lost the taste for it, that was plain as day to all of them. He had never spoken of glorious battles or valiant efforts, only referring to his by all accounts substantial achievements as at best ¡°necessary duty¡± or at worst his own ¡°young-minded stupidity.¡± Tonight¡¯s duty for their wing would be a night patrol. Ever since the war started, the Royal Guard had been patrolling the city in force 24/7 and close formations. It had seemed rather excessive and rather inefficient to Baron, as opposed to spreading the wing out to cover more airspace, especially in the evening and night.


    Rumors of heavy fighting to the north where the majority of the army was busy trying to keep the enemy back were aplenty throughout the base. The four rookies were currently just chatting a little, waiting patiently for their gear to be checked over and the last few pieces strapped on inside one of Cartehega¡¯s massive cliffside hangars.


    ¡°So Kuma, think we¡¯ll get anything interesting tonight?¡± Erdringer questioned the white dragon, always trying to be a little more upbeat than the rest of them. It could often brighten the mood, but it could also get a little grating in the long run in Baron¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°You want the truthful reply or the one you want to hear?¡± The female red replied, seemingly more concerned with the positioning of her wing joint armor, The thick chainmail mats being tied down nice and tight where the plates didn¡¯t cover.


    ¡°I think we are gonna see jack shit,¡± Yldrin grumped, her crew having finished already since the young blue was carrying a lot less armor than the rest of them. That left her and her crew to just lounge around, waiting for the rest of them. ¡°Just like yesterday, and the day before that.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that. It might be something at least. They can¡¯t catch everything up north. What do you think, Baron? Got an opinion today, or do you just agree with Kuma as usual?¡± Erdringer tried again, looking at Baron, who was currently having his helmet strapped on. The heavy leather straps cinched beneath his chin were already feeling annoying, but a helmet was a helmet and he wasn¡¯t going without one.


    ¡°I think there will either be something there or there won¡¯t. If we find it, we will kill it. If we miss it, we will get a reprimand by some kind of officer tomorrow,¡± the red replied with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. This was a routine patrol. It might be from a new place, the four of them having been trained in the capital, but it was still the exact same thing. Go out, fly around, and if you see anything suspicious find out what it is. If it¡¯s nasty, you kill it. Simple and easy.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t have put it better myself.¡± They heard a response come from down one of the corridors, Forkyr walking around the corner in full battle kit, Baron eyeing the ballista on the blue''s back enviously. It shouldn¡¯t be too long before he was allowed to have one, but for the time being he had to make do with the largest crew of the formation, not counting Fokyr of course. He had five people on his back, led by Lieutenant Illmore Hashaw. Baron had heard that family name before, so when it had come time for assignments he was quite pleased the two of them had been put together. The lieutenant was young, but bright. And unlike some of the other younger officers he had been forced to deal with, Illmore managed to not get on his nerves very often.


    ¡°Hurry up you lot, this isn¡¯t a pleasure center. You should have been done by now,¡± Forkyr teased the crews that still weren¡¯t done as he walked towards the still closed outer door. ¡°Would someone mind getting this thing open? We have a mission to fly.¡±


    ¡°Could we not. Weather is terrible,¡± Yldrin pleaded, receiving nods of agreement from the remaining rookies.


    ¡°All the more reason to get wet before takeoff. We don¡¯t want anyone to get a cold shock, now do we?¡± the veteran blue chirped, receiving no laughs from the rookies.


    ¡®That can¡¯t really happen in summer, now can it?¡¯ Baron grumbled to himself disapprovingly. The crews looked even more displeased, sealing up whatever weatherproofing they had as tight as it would go before getting back to work.


    ¡°Open it up. If nothing else, it will make them move a bit quicker,¡± Forkyr went, looking to the work crew responsible for the door. The mechanism slowly came to life, and the door lifted up and away, the biting wind streaming into the now exposed hanger bay.


    Baron felt the final straps being cinched tight as Illmore gave him a pat on the side of the lower neck. ¡°Equipment checked and secured. Ready to fly.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± Baron replied, taking up his position as the other rookies slowly finished their prep work.


    ¡°Now you all know the drill. There¡¯s nothing new about it. Follow my lead, tight formation to combat the weather, and let¡¯s try not to get too tired too quickly. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready,¡± came the well-practiced reply from the four young dragons. Fokyr turned about to face the opening of the hanger again. ¡°On me then.¡±


    As they flew the weather only got worse, low-hanging clouds rolling in above them. They settled for patrolling below them, as it didn¡¯t look like the clouds were small enough to climb through easily.


    ¡°Any chance this gets bad enough we get to land?¡± Kuma had questioned, even the dragon having to shout to ensure Forkyr heard her at the head of the formation.


    ¡°Perhaps. Not scared of water are you?¡± the lead blue replied, Baron grumbling to himself at the knowledge that the old blue likely wouldn¡¯t take them down till they were so worn out they could hardly stand for the sake of training. A large blue dragon was damn near unbeatable in a storm after all.


    ¡°Well I shall pray for shit weather then,¡± Kuma replied, clearly not impressed with the response. Erdringer¡¯s doubtlessly uplifting response was cut off by a quick flash on their right. Baron grew a bit of a smile; if thunder was incoming they would have to land. Then came the boom. It sounded off somehow, not as sharp as he expected thunder to be. Then came another flash also on their right, clearly a lot closer, and it did not look like lightning to Baron. It was more like a ball of bright light at right about the same altitude they were flying at¡­


    ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± Yldrin broke out as all eyes were locked in the direction of the flashes. As the explosion came it was loud, though the piercing screams that followed it were what sent a shiver down Baron¡¯s spine.


    Forkyr swung his head around to shout at them, likely bellowing out orders. Baron looked up hearing a strange whistling sound coming from above them, and it was quickly getting louder.


    ¡°Break Break Bre¡­¡± Forkyr roared out as a strange metallic thing came down from above with incredible speed, slamming into the lead dragon''s back. Baron had thought it was some kind of massive lance but he was soon proven wrong.


    Baron had seen flash bombs at work before, both in demonstration and in practice. Even an entire barrel of flash once. But he had never seen anything make a thirty ton dragon disappear in a blink of an eye. Gore and pieces flew everywhere as the formation scattered in desperation.


    Baron and Erdringer had been taking up the rear of the formation when the weapon hit. Kuma and Yldrin were in the middle, and both of them fell out of formation, turning for the capital, heavily wounded by shrapnel. Baron checked himself for damage, and to his astonishment he found nothing of note, realizing Kuma had shielded him from almost all of it. Looking to his right, he saw Erdringer in a similar situation, the white turning to look at Baron wide-eyed. The young red¡¯s attention soon shifted skywards, though, as brief flashes of light started appearing in the clouds above, all seemingly coming from the same area.


    ¡°What the hell do we do now? Should we retreat?!¡± Erdinger shouted out, the white apparently deciding Baron was now in command.


    ¡°Like hell we do! We kill it!¡± Baron roared in reply, beginning his climb, beating hard as he wiped the remnants of his mentor from his face. Forkyr was a bit of an arse, but he had taught them much. Cowardice was not one of those things, at least not once battle was joined, but navigation a storm had been a favorite of the old blue.


    As they climbed, they began to hear the yammering shrieks of darklings filling the air, great big swarms of them all flying through the clouds.


    ¡°How the hell are they flying in the clouds!?¡± Baron shouted out as the swirling fog surrounded them.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°How should I know?¡± Lieutenant Illmore replied. ¡°What the hell hit Forkyr!?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s gonna die!¡± Baron roared as he climbed up into the clouds. No way that thing could be far away. They just needed to get a little lucky to find the bastard, but they needed to be fast while it was still close.


    ¡°All hands remain aboard! Crossbows at the ready. Fire at your discretion!¡± Illmore shouted out, the four-man crew preparing for the fight of their lives alongside their officer as they hunkered down. ¡°All light fliers considered hostile!¡±


    Baron soon heard shouting behind him as bolts were flung into the dense cloud, drawing an evil smile as he heard the wretched scream of a wounded darkling. What got his attention though was the fact that several of its comrades followed it down.


    ¡°Darklings don¡¯t save each other,¡± Baron went, expecting a reply from his lieutenant. ¡°What the hell is going on?!¡±


    ¡°They must be following the screams,¡± Illmor replied as Barron heard more bolts be let loose at whatever came close enough.


    ¡°Where the hell is it! Where is the monster?!¡± Erdinger, shouted out from behind Baron. ¡°I can¡¯t see it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because we need to hear it!¡± Baron shouted back.


    ¡°What the hell is that supposed to mean?!¡±


    ¡°It means Shut up!¡± Baron roared at the white. He perked his ears and listened intently.


    ¡°Turn left half, it must be heading for the city. I think it passed us!¡± Illmore shouted at Baron. ¡°Darklings are coming towards us.¡±


    ¡°Roger, right half turn and be quiet,¡± Baron replied, executing the turn by feel, continuing to listen and swinging his ears to the front. ¡®What the hell is that noise?¡¯ he questioned himself as he made out a weak knocking sound. ¡°I got something. Target dead ahead, use your ears. Let¡¯s catch that bastard!¡±


    ¡°Right behind you!¡± Erdinger replied, Baron putting on more speed while trying to make out the exact bearing of the noise. That wasn¡¯t helped by the incessant screaming of the darklings trying to make a target of themselves inside the clouds. As their speed climbed, they found themselves outdistancing the original pack and coming up behind another one, seemingly following some kind of leader, be it knight, witch, or worse.


    ¡®Payback time,¡¯ Baron mused as he opened his maw and let loose into the target-rich environment in front of him. The firelight shone off the cloud around him, engulfing them in bright light as he plowed through the slower-moving formation of darklings, turning most to ash in an instant.


    ¡°A fitting funeral,¡± Illmore added. ¡°Keep going like that and we might make it home ali¡­¡±


    That was the last thing Baron¡¯s first Hashaw officer got out before the cannon shell hit him, passing slightly to the right of Baron''s head and just above his shoulder and catching the lieutenant in the chest, not detonating as it kept going into the abyss.


    Baron veered off course, banking hard right to escape whatever had just fired at him. ¡°Ballista, evasive!¡± the dragon roared out, catching a glimpse of Erdinger as the white banked left, disappearing into the clouds.


    ¡°Who''s still back there?¡± Baron shouted out, swiveling his head and ears around and trying to find the noise again, finding he had gone mostly deaf on his right ear.


    ¡°Claus, Unomi, and Jinaro!¡± came the reply from behind.


    ¡°Stay down and hang on!¡± Baron roared at them. He couldn¡¯t worry about fancy maneuvers in here; they had zero visibility and no horizon for bearings. ¡®Why didn¡¯t I get a fucking healer,¡¯ he cursed to himself as he struggled to find the noise with only one good ear. In the end, it was made blindingly obvious as a flash of light could be seen through the clouds, revealing a massive silhouette in the distance. Then there was another flash, and another, all accompanied by the same deafening boom that had signaled Illmore¡¯s death.


    ¡°Oh I found you now,¡± Baron growled to himself, trying to keep low as he turned to intercept the weird monster, putting on what speed he could, then gliding in on locked wings. ¡®Can¡¯t hear me now.¡¯


    The first thing he encountered was yet more darklings, seemingly none the wiser to his approach, nor did they even harry him as he streaked past. Then, seemingly out of nothing, came a building of steel and wood. Baron, not sure what else to do, opened his maw and let fly another stream of fire sweeping across the massive construct. Determined to disable whatever weapons they had he kept up the barrage as he flared his wings to slow down before slamming into the side of the vessel. Thick steel plates not yielding under his weight. ¡®It is a steel monster¡¯


    Latching on, there was screaming and shouting aboard as dozens of darklings and other crew sprinted across the deck, trying to man what must be weapons, some even prying their charred crewmates from their positions. To his right, a strange contraption with two metal tubes was moved to point at him, the darklings seemingly fighting to get their weapon to work. With a mighty heave, he hauled himself up onto the deck, leaving deep gashes in the side of the hull with his rear talons. Pushing aside the tubes, he squashed the weapon by simply putting his weight on it. It flattened with the sound of shattering gears and creaking metal. Then he cleaned the deck before him once more with a torrent of fire, charring most of the crew running out to replace the lost ones. A few exploded violently, taking their friends with them as their dangerous cargo ignited. Baron didn¡¯t have much more to give as he shut his maw to inspect the damage. He didn¡¯t bother to count the forms that were strewn across the now flaming deck. Bells were ringing, and sirens began blaring as he felt the vessel dip downwards, losing altitude.


    ¡°Don¡¯t like it in the clouds anymore, do you!¡± Baron roared in victory as he scanned for anything that looked important, eyes landing on the large rotating things at the back of the vessel. ¡®Let¡¯s rip your wings off,¡¯ he growled to himself, making his way awkwardly rearwards along the deck, darklings pouring out of hatches and doors. He squashed and swiped at what he could manage as he heard his remaining crew desperately fighting on his back.


    ¡°Incoming!¡± a familiar voice came as Erdinger appeared from the rear of the vessel, coming in fast and high.


    ¡°Shoot the spinney things!¡± Baron shouted as he stomped on another mindless darkling, reducing it to a stain across the fine wood decking. Erdinger responded with a shot of ice-cold liquid, which splashed across the rear of the vessel and instantly froze on impact. The noise was deafening as the blades of the propellers snapped, sending the shafts spinning wildly out of control, beating the ice and surrounding metal into pulp. The other noise that filled Baron¡¯s ears at that moment was the sound of the rearmost weapon firing, hitting Erdinger in the shoulder and blowing his side apart with a massive explosion. The crippled white tumbled out of the air, landing in the chaos of his own design as the spinning shafts and propellers ripped apart what was left of him. A final piercing cry rang out as the mechanism froze in place amidst the expanding ice field left by the ruined white dragon.


    Baron stood there shocked for a split second, looking at what was left of his friend before even noticing the rear gun starting to train on him. He dug in with his hind claws and launched himself at the elevated platform the weapon sat on, grabbing ahold of the deadly device and forcing it away from him with a metallic crunching sound. He bent his head down and crushed the darkling weapon crew in his jaws, spitting them out over the side.


    ¡°Kill the damn lizard!¡± It rang out from below. Looking down towards the center of the vessel, Baron saw a pair of dark knights and a witch standing guard over a large hatch, the witch seemingly preparing a spell as patterns running up her arms began to glow. The two knights took up station in front of her, shields raised after seeing Baron had noticed them.


    Baron wanted to let the bastard know just who he was and why they were gonna die today, aside from being traitorous scum who didn¡¯t deserve the air they breathed and having murdered two of his friends already. But that would have made it hard to roast them alive using what he had left to give. Rather hard. As flame poured from his maw once more, the witch got off her spell, a shimmering barrier appearing before the knights. The barrier did last for almost half a second. Then the screams began as they were cooked alive, their fancy armor only prolonging the experience. Baron struggled not to laugh at their suffering.


    Baron was so engrossed by his revenge that he hardly noticed the pricks and slices as the darklings started swarming him, many coming down from above and tearing his crew apart. Instead, he laughed at his achievement once the torrent of flame petered out, liquid flame still dripping from his maw. ¡°Who¡¯s next?!¡± he roared out as they cleared the clouds, a shadowy black dragon landing on the ship amidships and staring at Baron with ice-cold hate.


    ¡°Get off my ship!¡± came the twisted snarl of a traitor of the highest order, Baron¡¯s laughter fading in an instant.


    He knew he stood no chance in a fight with the much larger shadow drake in his current state. As he stared at his doom, he knew this was probably it. Then so be it. ¡°Not a chance,¡± was all he got out before he felt a rumbling beneath him, then the vessel spat back at him. Searing heat and fire shot out the door the witch had been defending, blasting Baron clean of the vessel. He roared in pain as he held up his forelegs to cover his face, hearing another thunderous boom and screaming as he fell.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I managed to crash land in a forest a few kilometers north of the city,¡± the old dragon finished, placing his head on his front paws. ¡°Kuma was the only one who made it back to defend the city. She died in the siege. Had I not been a red, that blast would have been the end of me too.¡±


    ¡°The only piece they found of Forkyr was the horn of one of his crew still embedded in Kuma¡¯s shoulder after the blast. Yldrin didn¡¯t even make it back to the city. Some of her crew made it, saying that she crashed over a kilometer outside the city. Her crew fought to defend her as the enemy swarmed the city, but they were forced to retreat after her lieutenant gave her his final mercy¡­ I quite liked those two,¡± Baron went with a deep sigh laying his head on his forelegs, falling silent for a few seconds before continuing.


    ¡°My landing wasn¡¯t much better. I broke both forelegs, snapped like damn twigs. I couldn¡¯t walk. I couldn¡¯t fly, and I was barely alive as it was. And then along comes one of the guardians of our majestic forests,¡± the dragon continued with dark sarcasm.


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t decided if I was happy to see him. I think it took nearly an hour to convince that damn unicorn that losing every friend I had and being blasted out of the sky was good enough to be allowed to eat a deer or two as he patched me up. I thought a legendary unicorn would have me back in the fight in hours at most. Instead, he took the chance to try and teach me some morals and the way of life¡­ He was more full of himself than even that Flaxen woman.¡±


    ¡°The treatment was so bad I wouldn¡¯t have made it out of that forest even if I tried for the next several days. Then the pretentious creature started going crazy about feeling dark magic at play. I didn¡¯t believe him at first, but he suddenly felt the need to have me ready for battle in a hurry. Bastard healed me in a matter of hours, he could have done it whenever he pleased.¡±


    ¡°So what did you do after he fixed you up?¡± Jacky questioned from Tom¡¯s lap, legs swinging freely like a kid at storytime. Even if said kid did have a mug of ale in one hand.


    ¡°I set about doing my job. I went to war. Never fought with a unicorn before or since and he wouldn¡¯t let me leave. He sure did love those plants. Ever seen a darkling turned inside out?¡± the dragon asked coldly, looking down at Tom and Jacky.


    ¡°Seen one turned to mush,¡± Jacky replied, looking like she didn¡¯t know if that was the right answer.


    ¡°I think there is less screaming for that. It was a stupid battle, but it felt good. There were so many of them just running around, ripe for killing. Darklings without orders beyond just ¡®kill.¡¯ It was easy to kill them, but they just kept coming. Such a startling variety too. To start with it was mostly keep dwellers, huntresses, guards you know the usual.¡± Tom felt Jacky shift a little uncomfortable with a few of the guards letting out a cough.


    ¡°More and more of them came, steadily claiming the forest pushing us back, young and old, rich and poor. I was enjoying myself until then¡­ burning a child put an end to that part. It was hell. I didn¡¯t think a unicorn could be worn out but he spent everything he had to save his forest. He killed himself using his magic, and it was all for nothing.


    ¡°When the army arrived, A scouting detachment found me and brought me up to speed on what had happened. Near enough everyone in the city was either dead or black as soot. When I made it to the city, to join in the assault, they weren¡¯t even daring to set foot on the ground out of fear of what it might do to us. We were just covering the entire city in death, again and again, flying sortie after sortie, killing whatever came up to greet us, spending what breath we had leftover on destroying the city we had tried to protect.¡± With that, the red fell silent again looking around at the other three dragons. ¡°So now you know. The actual battle of Cartehega. The largest military defeat in living memory.¡±


    ¡°Did any of the crew make it?¡± Jarix questioned, shooting a quick glance at Zarko, who had come up next to him to listen in.


    ¡°No... Never even found a piece, or a horn ring, or anything. Illmore¡¯s crossbow was still in its holster, that''s it. It¡¯s still in Lady Hashaw¡¯s collection I think... That''s all I got out with, aside from a ruined harness and a burned face... A damn crossbow.¡±


    ¡°The city fell¡­ We failed. Not due to overwhelming enemy numbers; it was just that damn ship. It wiped out three combat patrols. Cartehega only had seven total. One was half strength, and we were just recruits not counting Forkyr,¡± Baron finished, laying his head down on his forelegs again and staring off into the distance.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us this before?¡± Grevi questioned, looking almost betrayed as well as horrified at the old war vet.


    ¡°Why do you think? If you ask anyone who would actually know, that ship never existed. We fought valiantly against a pack of wild dragons that had been corrupted with promises of power and a life of luxury. Or bound to a witch''s will, you take your pick of story,¡± Baron replied, darkly. He just stared blankly, Victoria walking up to give the old drake a pat on the jaw.


    ¡°Who knows how Illmore really died? Does my mother know?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do a headcount here? His own mother didn¡¯t know,¡± Baron replied, not shifting. ¡°Damn disgraceful. At least the official report gave him an honorable death,¡± Baron replied, shifting his gaze to Tom and Jacky. ¡°Any marvelous ideas for how to fight that?¡± the dragon continued with rather dark sarcasm in his voice. The usual professionalism far gone. ¡°Or were you not lying to the Investigator like you should have been?¡±


    ¡°No, not short of big guns and doing what you did. Get in close. You must have set off a magazine. Surely it crashed after that,¡± Tom had to admit, trying to process the story.


    ¡°Fell out of the sky like a rock. Landed in a canyon. My guess would be that the inquisition has the pieces,¡± Baron replied with a hint of a cruel smile. ¡°The only good thing to come out of that day¡­ How did it know where we were? The first shot found us through the clouds.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, magic guidance?¡± Tom shrugged in reply. ¡°Might have been using acoustics to hear you inside the clouds, hence the shot that killed Illmore¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Baron just gave him a quick nod in appreciation. ¡°I agree, they weren¡¯t ready for me on my second attack; they didn¡¯t hear me coming. What of Jarix¡¯s new toy?¡±


    ¡°Against something like that, it would only take the paint off I''m afraid. Well, it could wreak havoc on the decks for sure. But it sounds like you have that covered. You said the whole city was either dead or turned, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Exactly what I said. A city of nearly one-hundred-thousand people either killed in battle or turned into darklings. The war that followed cost us more lives than even I know. The ground was so cursed it took decades to make Cartehega even remotely safe again, at least that part we could thank the unicorns for. The darklings persisted though, most not leaving the island. It took a century before resettlement began. Today you wouldn¡¯t believe it was once a cursed hellscape where even touching the wrong thing could kill you.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s safe now?¡±


    ¡°There are always rumors of strange things happening in that city. I think it¡¯s fair to say we didn¡¯t get it all. But thus far it seems mostly fine.¡±


    That didn¡¯t sound overly comforting to Tom to say the absolute least. But it sure did explain why it had taken so long to resettle. He also wondered just why investigator Paulin left out that rather sizable detail. Then again, he had only really questioned her about the ship and that damn woman didn¡¯t strike him as someone who would reveal more than she felt she had to.


    As Tom pondered the situation, he almost didn¡¯t notice Baron bending his head down towards him, speaking in a lower tone. ¡°Out of fear of Glira hearing this, I¡¯ll keep this quiet. What about something bigger than Jarix''s toy?¡±


    ¡®Ahr shit here we go again,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself mulling it ower.


    ¡°The agreement was clear, should these weapons become a necessity you would provide them,¡± Baron reiterated though his tone was very respectful, a welcome change from the usual demands and pleadings when it came to weapons.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can strap a big enough ¡®gun¡¯ to you¡­ I would suggest bombs or rockets. They don¡¯t need to be fancy, just a big container full of boom powder and a fuze,¡± Tom replied, thinking back to his conversation with Victoria, pointedly ignoring Jacky¡¯s now very attentive stare. Such weapons would be just as effective against a keep as a ship though Then again if you had a dragon a keep was not a hard target to destroy anyway. ¡°They could be made simple enough that you could make them yourself without too much hassle. It would not be cheap though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Glira,¡± Baron went, his face turning a bit more friendly again.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Jarix echoed with an exaggerated nod.


    ¡°Yup definitely¡± Grevi added, Tiguan just nodding his consent too before speaking up, voice actually quivering.


    ¡°Why are you telling us all this now?¡±


    ¡°Because, if the inquisition is starting to share these things. There is a reason and it can¡¯t be good.¡± Baron replied somberly. ¡°tough Times lay ahead I¡¯m sure of it¡±

 Roll Out the Barrel

    Chapter 132: Roll Out the Barrel


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After the grand retelling, Baron had decided it was time to depart for the mines to relieve Glira. Tom had followed along as the large red got clear of all the people, hoping to get in some slightly more private questions. Baron clearly noticed, walking further away than he would have needed to before turning around looking down at Tom.


    ¡°Soo?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering¡­ The city. did you ever find out what did¡­ that?¡±


    ¡°No, sadly. Some claim it was the work of the shadow dragon that challenged me on the ship. Others claim it must have been the work of a powerful witch or even a doetna.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that one before. Apuma didn¡¯t have much on them that he believed was true¡­ Could you perhaps fill me in?¡±


    ¡°Again, I have never seen one. The stories go that they are hideous grey monstrosities. They like it cold, dark, and wet, and their command over the darker side of magic is beyond compare.¡±


    ¡°So kinda like a dark version of a unicorn.¡±


    ¡°You could say that. I would not take a bet on the unicorn if it came to a fight though,¡± Baron replied flatly. ¡°I personally hope it was a doetna. Far fewer of those around than shadow dragons or mythical witches of insane power.¡±


    ¡°Amen to that?¡± Tom replied, taking a deep breath.


    ¡°Amen?¡± Baron questioned, clearly expecting an explanation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. This doetna, if that was it, what would it need to turn a city like that?¡±


    ¡°We have no idea. They are rarely seen, and most stories of those who have seen them can rarely be proven true. My best guess would be some natural source of extreme corruption, though that could likely be themselves.¡±


    ¡°My father, Lord Hashaw, theorized it was a combination of a doetna, a shadow dragon, and a witch. The doetna provides the corruption, the dragon the power required, and the witch controls the spell,¡± Victoria replied from her perch atop Baron''s back. ¡°He has exactly no proof for that though.¡±


    ¡°Great, so we have steampunk skyships in the hands of people with corruption-based weapons of mass destruction¡­ Hold da k?ft noget lort¡­ Thanks for your time. I think I¡¯m gonna go pretend none of this has happened and get drunk enough to be carried to bed. Take care.¡±


    ¡°Remember, fight with honor,¡± one of the sergeants on Baron¡¯s back shouted out with a laugh, Baron simply nodding at Tom. Victoria gave him a salute as the dragon turned around and set off running and jumped into the air kicking up dirt high enough Tom had time to follow it through the air. ''Damn''


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    War stories were not a new thing to Sapphire. She had heard plenty from trade escorts or other random visitors who came to the keep. Apuma also had quite a few history books detailing epic battles, some true, many probably not. At least not entirely. But actually listening to an ancient dragon who had been there was quite different. Most of the people sat in awestruck silence as the dragon finished. The people of Deriva looked like they had seen a ghost, many glancing around quickly as if they had no clue what to do now.


    ¡°Sorry to put a damper on the mood like that,¡± the dragon went, clearing his voice and raising his head up high once more. ¡°That is all history, old history at that. Should there be the need I¡¯m sure it can be done again. Today let¡¯s celebrate that it might be us who have a weapon like that on our side next time.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Luke, the captain from Deriva, let out in a meek voice a few seats down from Sapphire.


    ¡°Anyway, I think I have to make my excuses. I best be heading for the vault. Crew aboard please,¡± Baron went as he got up, turning to walk clear of the congregation that had formed around him. Going ever so slowly as to give people a chance to get out of the way. Tom had gotten up and trotted along with the big red in a rather hurried step.


    ¡°I guess he would have a lot of questions now, wouldn¡¯t he?¡± Saph mused, gesturing at Tom. ¡°Fingers crossed the guy can figure out a way to kill something like that.¡±


    ¡°Or build it,¡± Maiko replied with a shrug. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe Baron had been lying for so many years only for him to tell us now. Shit is gonna be going down soon. I just know it.¡±


    ¡°Not yet though. Tonight we still have very important work to do.¡±


    ¡°So, do we drink to celebrate that victory, I guess you could call it? Or to forget it all happened so the Inquisition doesn¡¯t kill us all?¡± Maiko went as he got up, giving Saph a courteous hand.


    Looking down the table, she took note of all the terrified faces gathered around. ¡®At least the children weren¡¯t up for this one.¡¯ ¡°A little bit of both couldn¡¯t hurt. You aren¡¯t leaving for the vault?¡± Saph replied, taking his hand, knowing full well he was staying.


    ¡°Nope. Yet another perk of my special assignment,¡± Maiko went with a devilish smile as Latori walked by, heading for Baron.


    ¡°Look at you prancing about like some prince charming,¡± the sergeant went, giving Maiko a jab to the shoulder.


    ¡°Grandpa,¡± Maiko shouted after the sergeant, receiving a rather rude gesture for his efforts in reply. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him, I''m fairly sure he¡¯s just jealous. I heard Tom tried to teach the farmer guy how to make human beer.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± Saph replied, realizing. ¡°We need to try that stuff kilsner or whatever he called it.¡±


    The tables were put back to their original places, Saph and Maiko helping out as Raulf brought out the special barrels. They were set down at the ends of the tables, more being brought out from the stock they had purchased back in the capital, along with some of Raulf¡¯s more regular supplies. Mugs were quickly passed around to everyone at the tables, more than just Saph and Maiok were eager to not only try the selections but likely also needed something for their nerves following the evening''s story. Nunuk and lady Deriva had wasted no time with getting into the wine they had bought, looking like they needed it, especially kind old Lady Deriva. Nunuk had talked about how the battle for her home had really done a number on the old woman. Saph hadn¡¯t been able to tell after she arrived for the festival. It would seem it was starting to show through now though. The rest of the Deriva people had congregated and were vividly discussing things amongst themselves, voices starting to get agitated.


    ¡°Think they are gonna be okay?¡± Saphg questioned as she put a bench in place.


    ¡°Eventually. It¡¯s not like Baron not to think things through like that. The old guy must be struggling right now, even if he¡¯ll never admit it.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully some good drink can fix it,¡± Saph went as she got comfortable. Mugs started being passed down the table, taking her attention away from the bickering people. ¡°Must suck to be on Baron¡¯s crew tonight though.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Then again, Glira¡¯s people missed the food. I think they¡¯ll get some leftovers though.¡±


    ¡°And then there¡¯s lucky you who gets all of it.¡±


    ¡°Come now, that¡¯s hardly why I¡¯m lucky right now,¡± he replied, placing an arm around her waist and setting a mug down in front of her.


    ¡°Is it okay if I sit here?¡± Ray questioned from behind Saph, who turned her head around to greet her.


    ¡°Sure, we¡¯ll scoot up a little closer. I¡¯m sure Maiko wouldn¡¯t mind that,¡± Saph replied with a smile as Maiko made room, shuffling a bit further up the bench. ¡°Ever had human beer?¡± Saph questioned rhetorically, setting a mug down for Ray.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I have,¡± came the delicate reply as Ray eyed the mug.


    ¡°Excellent. Me neither. Cheers,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle, picking up a mug herself and clinking it together, first with Ray, then Maiko.


    ¡°Cheers,¡± both of them replied, taking a first experimental draught.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly different,¡± Saph went, looking down into the mug. ¡°So¡­ fresh and bubbly¡­ It¡¯s cold too? Did they cool the barrels?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Esmeralda replied, sitting down opposite them, Kokashi sitting down too. ¡°Used the stuff leftover from the cakes. Tom insisted.¡±


    ¡°I like it,¡± Ray went, taking another sip of her mug, clearly savoring the interesting new drink. ¡°How do you put bubbles in ale?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not ale, it¡¯s beer. You put it under pressure as it ferments,¡± Maiko clarified. ¡°It¡¯s a little light if you ask me, but it¡¯s very refreshing,¡± He took another deeper draught, the foam sticking to his snout making him look more than a little stupid as he tried to lick it clean. ¡°Definitely had worse.¡±


    ¡°Oh really?¡± Saph chuckled before glancing down the table, spying Tom taking his first draught before he had even sat down. He looked to Raulf and gave the farm/brewer a thumbs up and an approving nod as he smiled.


    ¡°Well, Tom seems pleased, so I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s how it¡¯s supposed to be.¡±


    ¡°Never had bubble beer before,¡± Ray went also looking down at the human as he sat down with Jacky.


    ¡°Ha! That¡¯s what we¡¯re calling it, not that dumb Nilsne¡­ tilsn¡­ forget it. It¡¯s now bubble beer!¡± Saph cheered out, raising her mug. Ray and Maiko joined her. Esmeralda also joined in once she had a taste.


    ¡°Come on hubby, we have to raise the mood a little,¡° she went, poking Kokashi. Her husband dutifully joined in with the little chant that slowly started to spread down the table.


    ¡°Bubble beer, bubble beer,¡± more and more people joined in. Saph laughed at Tom as he heard them, facepalming for a second before raising his own mug joining them in the chant with them, clearly trying not to laugh.


    ¡®Thank the gods for good distractions,¡¯ Saph mused, shaking her head as she took a deep draught of the bubbly liquid. ¡®I¡¯m getting absolutely smashed tonight, that¡¯s for damn sure!¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well whatever makes them happy,¡¯ Tom mused as he raised his mug. ¡®Bubble beer. Goddammit.¡¯


    Silly name or not, it was the first Pilsner brewed in a different world. It wasn¡¯t brilliant if Tom was being honest, but it was good enough to evoke memories of home. That seemed like such an awfully long time ago by now. It had only been around half a year, and yet more things had happened during that time than he had ever thought possible. Death and destruction, battle and murder. Enough political bullshit to satisfy him for a lifetime, not to mention all the insane discoveries they had made. The machine shop, all the farming work. And he better not forget Jacky, who even now was doing her best to get some people together for drinking games, likely aiming to get properly whitegirl wasted for once. Tom had seen the dragonettes party before, but the drinks certainly flowed more easily tonight than ever before, that was for sure.


    Part of that might be down to the new beer, which was certainly a success. combined with the secondary purpose of the berry lemonade. That being serving the people of the keeps the first sweet alcoholic drink many of them had likely ever had. At least in decent quantities. It was quite popular too. They had rationed it to two mugs per person for tonight, and it looked like they were still gonna run out. Even then, it was still pricey for them to hand out this much.


    Jacky¡¯s drinking game had been a simple dice game, insisting that it was far better than the deception-based ¡®Meyer¡¯ that Tom was used to. She favored chance and strategy to lying. Tom didn¡¯t do particularly well, but that was hardly a detriment in a drinking game. Tom only played for a few rounds, though, before looking over to Jarix, who was busy chatting with Tiguan and Grevi again now that Baron had left. It would probably be a while before Glira got here, so now was as good a time as any to go get his surprise.


    Tom had feared the dragon would simply lay down and be done with it when he got his gun, or perhaps only agree to do the work that led to more ammunition being manufactured, but no. If anything, he had gotten more and more enthusiastic about helping out where he could. He had even let Ray use one of his wings for drying clothes that one time. He did fervently claim that he had no idea she had done that though, and that he was just lazing in the sun sleeping, having been unknowingly exploited. At least that was the excuse when Wiperna caught him and had started asking questions.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Tom felt that behavior was in need of a reward besides the cake, and all the other dragons had gotten cake too after all. He had run the math and that around 25 to 30 liters of pure alcohol should do the trick, which would be thinned out of course. And with all their latest discoveries, not to mention the sheer muscle power available to the keep these days, his quad bike hadn¡¯t been doing much driving, nor was there any sign of that changing anytime soon. Despite that, they had been running the still as often as they could manage, to the point that Kullinger had been put to work making additional barrels for the results. In fact, they had enough ethanol to drink every dragonette here under the table several times; hell, they could manage that with only the beer. But they had enough to give Jarix a really fun time if he wanted to. It was definitely not because Tom really wanted to see a drunk dragon. There was no way that could not be hilarious. Even if it might be a touch dangerous.


    Tom was hoping they wouldn¡¯t suddenly need all the precious fuel anyway now that a lot of it had been turned into drinks. He got up, leaving Jacky to her drinking game after promising he would be back to take part, and went and fetched the special barrel together with Raulf.


    ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡± the farmer had questioned as the two of them set about hefting the barrel down the stairs.


    ¡°I asked Baron a while back if he had ever gotten drunk. He said yes and set about telling a lengthy story about some celebration, so they do drink,¡± Tom responded, cursing that he was the one currently walking backward. ¡°And Zarko said Jarix had never been drunk before. Apparently, he didn¡¯t want to spend the money. It would take like half a ton of beer to do the trick. This is a lot more efficient though.¡±


    ¡°Right, but he¡¯s a dragon. Isn¡¯t he like the weight of one hundred people or something?¡± Raulf had tried again, still not sounding entirely convinced.


    ¡°Who has never been drunk before. I have a guess at how much it will take, but I think we have enough here, otherwise, we are gonna have to go get another barrel of something else.¡±


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s hope he likes it then.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Tom replied with a grunt as they made their way slowly down the stairs, Tom cursing that he hadn¡¯t tried to convince Jacky to come along. They made it back to the party and rolled the barrel over to where the three remaining dragons were residing. They propped up the barrel, patting the lid and looking up at the dragons, who had turned to look at the two rather small dudes.


    ¡°Jarix, you magnificent bastard, I present to you a barrel of stuff that probably won¡¯t taste good. But, by the gods, it should see you completely plastered,¡± Tom went in his best salesman¡¯s voice, patting the barrel. ¡®Fuck yeah, I remembered the plural for the gods and everything.¡®


    ¡°What stuff exactly?¡± Jarix questioned in a rather suspicious tone.


    ¡°It¡¯s alcohol. We thinned it down to somewhere around 40 to 50 percent. It won''t taste good, but it should do the trick if you want. The barrel is yours. There¡¯s enough to get you very drunk, or probably a nice buzz if you wanna share it. That¡¯s up to you.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that, like, very expensive?¡± Jarix questioned, eyeing the barrel.


    ¡°So is most of the stuff we have served tonight. We made most of it here, so this is our hard work, which means we get to enjoy the benefits. Consider it a bonus or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Uhm. Thank you,¡± the dragon went, clearly rather surprised and not quite sure what to do in this situation. Leaning down towards them, he sniffed the barrel, gaining a rather funny expression for a second before straightening back up. ¡°Smells like medicine or something.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s not entirely untrue,¡± Tom went with a shrug. ¡°You want it now or maybe later?¡±


    ¡°No, I wanna try. I have tried beer before. Never had enough to get drunk though. You two wanna try too?¡± Jarix questioned, glancing at his two old friends.


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Grevi was quick to answer. ¡°Though it smells like it will be more of a test of your guts than a pleasant experience.¡±


    Tom had to agree with her on that point, at least somewhat. The two dragons looked at Tiguan, who seemed even more unsure than Jarix.


    ¡°I mean if you''re offering¡­ Oh, thank you very much for the cake earlier. That was delicious,¡± Tiguan went, bowing to Tom, who just held up a hand to dismiss him.


    ¡°No worries, friend. Happy you could be here. Sounds like you deserved a reward after your work at Deriva too.¡±


    ¡°Not really, they have been very kind, at least after the first few days¡­ maybe a week or two, but now they have all kinds of things for me to do and help out.¡±


    ¡®Fucking hell. Happy he was allowed to help¡­ Hey Tom can we keep him?,¡¯ Tom mused to himself looking at the big black puppy¡­ who could melt steel beams.


    ¡°Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. Now, I don¡¯t actually know how best to serve this. You three have any ideas?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at the three dragons.


    ¡°Bucket maybe?¡± Jarix responded, Grevi giving a shrug.


    ¡°The biggest shot glass in history. I like it. I¡¯ll go get three buckets,¡± Tom replied, trotting back towards the keep to get the glasses, so to speak. ¡®Oh this is going to be hilarious,¡¯ he mused to himself, quite happily coming back down the stairs just as the sun began to set on the horizon. ¡°I guess Glira will be here soon too. Oh well, we certainly can¡¯t afford to drink her under, unless it takes like nothing.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Who was your first girlfriend, Jarix?¡± Saph questioned, trying to wipe the shit-eating grin off her face. She liked this game Tom had cooked up. So simple and informative¡­ if a little embarrassing at times. Tom had put on some quiet music for them as they sat by the fires to play their little game.


    ¡°Morina,¡± Jarix replied, looking away, Saph guessing the dragon would be blushing bright if he could.


    ¡°Oh please. You were at best slightly good friends.¡± Grevi countered, not sounding very impressed with the reply.


    ¡°We made it official,¡± Jarix protested.


    ¡°Yeah you did, and it lasted all of nearly a month.¡±


    ¡°Still counts. Jarix, your question,¡± Tom interrupted, the human also having gotten rather merry by now. Liquor sure was effective at making people not worry.


    ¡°Grevi, first kill?¡± Jarix questioned


    ¡°Ahr, fuck you. You know that one.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Darkling fucked up a dive and smashed itself on my face.¡±


    Jarix and Tiguan certainly had a laugh at that one. Grevi, though, was clearly not impressed. ¡°Tigs, what about you? Finally had enough to tell us about how you grew up?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the black dragon replied, grabbing hold of the bucket again.


    ¡°Would you stop that?¡± Jarix grumbled, scowling at Grevi, who didn¡¯t look terribly worried about it. ¡°That¡¯s the third time now.¡±


    ¡°What? I wanna know,¡± the green protested.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, old boy. Maybe that¡¯s enough for tonight,¡± Lieutenant Ylditz went, giving Tiguan a pat on the leg.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ I get to try more of this,¡± Tiguan replied as he emptied the bucket down his throat without any fuss; that had gone away after the first few buckets. He did hiccup though, which Tom found quite funny, chuckling until he considered just what might come out of Tiguan¡¯s mouth¡­ Nothing did though. The dragon just scratched the back of his neck and hiccuped again before looking down at Tom.


    ¡°What about you? Where did you grow up? Why did you come here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this should be good,¡± Saph thought, leaning back. She had heard it before, but having drunk Tom try to explain that one to a drunk dragon should be funny.


    ¡°Well, I grew up in the countryside, in a small home. Just me, mum, and dad. I know that sounds strange to you, but that¡¯s how we do it. It was a good life. I tried sooo many things growing up. Most of them stupid, I was bullied a bit¡­ Eventually, I ended up in the army. Then I got bullied a lot¡±, he went with a chuckle before turning more somber. ¡°Some of you know the story about how that ended. After that, I just couldn¡¯t find joy in life anymore¡­ Dad died, mum got sick¡­ Both of them had this brain thing that makes you forget and make things up¡­ It¡¯s horrible. I tried motocross, parachuting, and everything else I could think of that was exciting and fun.¡±


    ¡°I have no clue what any of that is,¡± Ylditz admitted, Tom just chuckling and Tiguan clearly paying close attention.


    ¡°I know. It didn¡¯t work anyway. I was doing it just to do it¡­ Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m getting to a point. I tried everything I could think of and it all just seemed to get boring after a while. Either that or it would have killed me eventually. In that sense, maybe this wasn¡¯t much of an upgrade, but I¡¯ve never felt more alive than here¡­ Sure it¡¯s a shitshow at times. I came ''cause I had nothing better to do¡­ And I sure as shit don''t want to go back.¡±


    Saph just had to take that in for a second in her half-drunken state. ¡®Fuck, he¡¯s only good at speeches when he¡¯s drunk,¡¯ she concluded to herself, trying not to chuckle. That would be very disrespectful.


    ¡°Well, that was a bit more than just ¡®how did you grow up,¡¯ ¡± Jacky chuckled, punching him on the shoulder.


    ¡°No, it just took a few years,¡± Tom replied with a laugh that sounded rather fake. ¡°And you still haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Oh please. You, grown-up?¡± Jacky protested. ¡°You''re a big kid playing pretend.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, what about you and miss racer over there laying out a track she made for herself. and then you come and complain to me it wasn¡¯t fair,¡± Tom replied with a more genuine laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯ll win on any track that¡¯s got a few twisties in it,¡± Saph protested with a smile, knowing she was right and happy that Tom seemingly hadn''t gotten too depressed by the question.


    ¡°Very well then, Sapphire Rayland. Who was your first boyfriend,¡± Tom clearly looking more at Maiko.


    ¡°Oh there were plenty who tried back in the day. Some of them got a chance. Not many lasted.¡± Trying not to snicker, she leaned on Maiko, and felt him squirm a little.


    ¡°One wanted kids. Another couldn¡¯t keep his hands off one of the other racers. One thought I would make a great stay-at-home woman to pamper him all day, for some reason. There was a major once who was quite nice, but he was a bit too old and always away on deployment. We called it quits after a year.¡±


    ¡°A¡­ a major?¡± Maiko questioned, seemingly not quite believing that one.


    ¡°Sure, he was a nice guy and all. Didn¡¯t quite cut it though,¡± Saph replied, looking back at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, little guy. You ain¡¯t here for the depth of your pockets,¡± she went, tickling the tip of his snout with her tongue. ¡®Oh come on, I know you have a spine, show it a little.¡¯ She sighed, looking back to Tom as he interrupted their little moment. She just pushed up a bit more against the corporal, he didn¡¯t need to know that she was lying through her teeth.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m not the only one oversharing tonight,¡± Tom chuckled.


    ¡°Quiet human, or I¡¯ll ask you again,¡± Saph replied with a laugh.


    ¡°Ohh, so you want to know my darkest secrets?¡± Tom replied, trying and failing incredibly hard to look scary.


    ¡°Nah, I probably won¡¯t get it anyway,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle, looking around. She was a touch annoyed that Ray hadn¡¯t joined them. Then again, that was maybe smart. There were a few people here who didn¡¯t know her after all.


    ¡°Hey Maiko,¡± Saph went, turning her head halfway back towards her comfy backrest. ¡°What number am I?¡±


    ¡°Number?¡± Maiko replied, at least pretending to not understand.


    ¡°You know what I mean. You are a soldier. Don¡¯t be shy.¡±


    ¡°No clue,¡± Maiko replied with a snicker, taking a deep draught of a mug of wine. Most of the people around the fire had a laugh at her expense, and she gave him a playful shove with her leg.


    ¡°Damn you,¡± Saph had to reluctantly give him that one was funny. ¡®I guess that¡¯s what I get for wanting him to show a spine.¡¯


    The sun had set by now, and there wasn¡¯t much of a moon, leaving only the fires and torches to light up the evening. To Saph it was all rather cozy, even if they were all starting to huddle around said fires to keep warm as they kept the questions coming. The three young dragons were slowly working their way through the barrel, its contents being mixed with water in the buckets. Grevi called it quits after a few buckets, leaving just Jarix and Tiguan. Saph had taken Tom¡¯s word for it that the barrel would likely only be enough to get Jarix drunk. But soon enough both Jarix and Tiguan were slurring rather badly, Jarix even looking rather unsteady on his feet.


    ¡°Okay now that¡¯s hilarious,¡± Tom laughed out as Jarix tried to pick the bucket back up, missing a few times and grumbling in annoyance to the point Grevi and Tiguan both agreed he sounded almost like Baron. It wasn¡¯t easy for the dragons without a thumb, but the clawed toes of his foot could wrap around most things well enough to pick them up.


    As Jarix put down the now empty bucket, he perked his ears, starting to look around. ¡°Yoo Tigs¡­ You hear that?


    ¡°I do,¡± Grevi replied, getting up as Tiguan looked around, seemingly confused. Tom just had time to start growing concerned as Grevi stood up, turning to look out over the rolling meadows.


    ¡°Oh, someone thinks she¡¯s funny,¡± the green went, sitting back down again and shaking her head. ¡°Glira is trying to scare us¡­ going low and slow. Shame it wasn¡¯t you, Jarix. You might have pulled it off without beating your wings.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Nah, Tigs is the king of stealthy flying, you know that.¡±


    ¡°It has come in handy before,¡± Tiguan replied, the alcohol seemingly having loosened him up a bit, even if he still didn¡¯t look entirely happy. It didn¡¯t take more than a few seconds before Glira swooped overhead, swinging around to come down to land. She came down hard, looking around at them expectantly with an evil grin on her face which faded after a second or two.


    ¡°Oh come on, not even a little?¡± the larger blue questioned, looking down at them. ¡°I would have thought you were deep in the horror stories by now.¡±


    ¡°Heard you coming,¡± Grevi replied with a smirk.


    ¡°You should fly against the¡­ hick... wind when trying to be stealthy,¡± Tiguan replied, slurring a bit.


    ¡°Are you drunk?¡± Glira questioned with a look of disbelief.


    ¡°Yup. Jarix let me share in the barrel,¡± Tiguan went with a happy, if rather dopey, expression.


    ¡°Where the hell did you get a hold of that much ale? We¡¯re in the middle of nowhere? Also, what do you mean barrel? It takes a lot to get us drunk, even kids like you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no kid¡­ Well, I¡¯m yours¡­ You know what I mean,¡± Jarix replied, sounding rather irritated, also struggling a bit with his sentences. ¡°Tom gave me a very nice barrel of this clear stuff. It burns like hell, but it sure does the trick.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t burn for me?¡± Tiguan questioned, peering down into the barrel, shutting one eye. ¡°It¡¯s the same stuff we¡¯re getting right?¡±


    ¡°Tiguan. Your throat is made to handle acid that can eat steel. It¡¯s not gonna burn now, is it?¡± Jarix protested, trying to point at Tiguan with his bucket.


    ¡°Yours can handle lightning,¡± Tiguan protested, still peering into the barrel.


    Saph got an idea now that Glira had arrived, looking to Tom ¡°You got the music box control thingy?¡±


    ¡°Uh yeah,¡± Tom replied, getting out his phone. ¡°It¡¯s playing from the phone right now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been too busy playing games to do any dancing. I think it¡¯s time,¡± She went with an evil chuckle, pointing at Fengi.


    ¡°I got it,¡± Tom replied, fiddling a bit with his phone as Glira was busy trying to convince Jarix to give her a bucket full too. The music eventually switched over to something more up Fengi¡¯s street, the coppered huntress cheering as she got up and did a quick stretch. Saph chuckled to herself as a slowly growing ring of people got up to join her The game had gone on for a while after all. It was time for a change of pace, and it would seem people had calmed down enough after Baron¡¯s story to let loose a little, or at least gotten drunk enough to not care.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t have some. It¡¯s mine. You can buy some in the capital if you want. Tom says they can make this too,¡± Jarix protested as he also plodded over to where Fengi had already set about showing up the competition. ¡°Now excuse me, I have to go express myself.¡±


    Glira just stood there slack-jawed before sitting down seemingly defeated, looking to Grevi and the rather dopey-looking Tiguan.


    ¡°What the hell has gotten into him?¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ aco¡­ alcohol,¡± Tiguan replied helpfully, holding up a foreleg.


    ¡°Fucking hell. What about you two? You get any gifts for showing up here?¡±


    ¡°We had a nice cake earlier,¡± Grevi replied with a snicker.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± Glira protested, laying down her head as her crew disembarked.


    Saph looked to Dakota, Tom, and Essy, all currently busy on the dance floor. Tom was currently held over Jacky¡¯s head as she pirouetted with him until he looked green.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get her cake,¡± Saph let out, loud enough that she was sure the older blue heard her. Glira turned her head to look at Saph, a smile creeping onto her face, her tail doing a slight flick.


    ¡®Yeah yeah, we didn¡¯t forget you,¡¯ Saph mused. She patted Bo on the shoulder as she passed her. ¡°Would you mind getting the last deer from that fire over there? Check that it¡¯s done first,¡± she went before turning her attention to Glira¡¯s crew. ¡°Hey Major, can you spare a few to help me get some chow for you lot?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Keeping Up With Fengi

    Chapter 133: Keeping Up With Fengi


    Tom was quite pleased with how things were going despite the curveball Baron had thrown at them. The music was in full swing, though Tom had been excused from the dancing for a bit. Jacky had managed to get him sick by playing ballerina with him. Even though he was pretty much good to go again by now, he was still enjoying just watching for a bit.


    Glira and crew were busy stuffing their faces, sounding merry as could be. Worryingly, Tom had spotted both Tink and Junior making their way over to her and sitting down for a chat. Tom knew they had worked together before on some of her contraptions, and he had a feeling that Tink¡¯s remarkable constraint was gonna be coming to an end tonight. The inventor had been kept in check thus far mostly by the sheer amount of stuff Tom had been trying to teach him. They guy was bright, and Junior even more so, and Tom didn¡¯t really want to worry about what might come out of those two getting creative. But he had a feeling he probably should.


    A concerned Ray, seeing Tom sitting alone, had come over to ask if there was anything she could help with. Tom had asked her to fetch a bottle from his stores. This seemed like a good enough excuse to use it, even if Tom didn¡¯t plan to share it freely. Ray got a large glass of course, which she actually accepted without trying to refuse it for once.


    Tom almost wanted to pet her for that¡­ good god that was a weird way to think¡­ he settled for a little small talk instead while he sat watching the party unfold. That was probably more appropriate. ¡°Had a good day so far?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray answered, looking genuinely happy, smiling wide. ¡°Look at them all, and Tiguan¡¯s here. We had a good chat, me and him, as you all started dancing¡­ I mean, he¡¯s pretty drunk by now and tried to tell me how if anything had happened to me he would have melted the keep¡¯s foundations. I think he realized how people looked at him after that¡­ He doesn¡¯t like scaring people. He spent the next while trying to backpedal to the point he would just spit at the rock a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Did he now?¡± Tom replied, trying not to let his surprise show.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m sure he didn¡¯t mean it. Apparently Baron told a scary story. Did you hear it?¡± she questioned, looking to him.


    ¡°Yeah I did,¡± Tom replied, pouring another drink for himself, offering her the bottle too. ¡°I did not like that one.¡±


    Ray looked at him for a second as Tom felt the all too familiar sensation of someone seeing right through him. ¡®God dammit, she''s just like Essy isn¡¯t she¡­ Either that, or I¡¯m shit at this,¡¯ he cursed to himself, looking down at the glass. ¡®I blame you for this.¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Everyone keeps talking about everything you have done. I¡¯m sure we are gonna be fine,¡± Ray went as she started petting him¡­


    Tom just looked ahead, taking another drink. ¡®Fucking hell.¡¯


    Esmeralda and Kokashi had come up, Kokashi having his violin in hand. Two royal guard soldiers also backed them up, one being Twitch of all people, holding what looked like some kind flute?


    Twitch caught Tom¡¯s staring, looking a bit annoyed. ¡°What? It¡¯s a perfectly acceptable instrument,¡± he protested, leading Tom to believe he had probably been told otherwise quite a few times before. ¡®This is just getting better,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, looking to Essy.


    ¡°Would you mind... We wanna have a crack at it. Just turn it down so I can ask if anyone else plays,¡± Essy said, nodding back at the little group.


    ¡°Sure thing, go ahead,¡± Tom replied, getting out the phone and slowly turning down the music. Ray was still petting him, as Essy looked at the two of them rather curiously.


    ¡°He¡¯s just a little worried after Baron¡¯s scary story,¡± Ray explained, looking to Esmeralda, who just nodded slowly before looking at Tom.


    ¡°Remember what I said yesterday. You have done so much. Look around. Had you not shown up none of this would be happening. None of it. Half of the people here would be dead. You wanted this little breather for everyone. That includes you,¡± Esmeralda went in a kind but stern tone. Tom raised his glass in reply.


    ¡°Cheers to that.¡±


    ¡°Good man. Just don¡¯t drink yourself to death in one night, okay?¡± Essy replied with a mischievous smile growing on her face that didn¡¯t really match the motherly tone of her advice.


    ¡°If only mum could see this¡­ She would be so proud,¡± Tom went, looking around. ¡°Dad too, for that matter, though he would be asking why I haven¡¯t had Kulinger teach me to make a nice chair or something¡­ He would have loved the bows though,¡± Tom continued, taking another drink as Ray kept petting him. ¡°What a strange evening.¡±


    Essy had seemingly been satisfied that he wasn¡¯t too sad to enjoy the party¡­ or whatever criteria of success she was working by, and she turned to go address the confused dancers, who were wondering where the music had gone.


    ¡°Listen up, everyone. Anyone who has an instrument they play, gather over by the benches there,¡± Essy went, pointing over in front of where Grevi was laying down and still bobbing her head to the quiet music. ¡°That will be all,¡± Essy went with a smile, looking back to Tom before trotting over to the green dragon. ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere. I think you are gonna like this one.¡±


    It had taken a bit, but eventually they got a few extra faces, making a small band. They dragged a few tables together and made a little makeshift stage, Tom turning down the music again when they looked more or less ready. People quieted down going over to the little stage, most sitting down to listen. Jacky came over to Tom and picked him up like some kind of prize sitting down in front of the stage, putting him on her lap.


    ¡°You know I can walk by myself right?¡± Tom chuckled, just finding it funny.


    ¡°I know. I can too,¡± Jacky replied blankly, hugging him from behind, nuzzling him lovingly.


    ¡°Right, okay, ready?¡± Essy questioned, looking back at her little merry band. Tom spotting Luke from Deriva, who had also made his way onto the stage with what looked especially like a guitar. Only now did Tom spot Linkosta seemingly hard at work with Apuma over to the side. He hadn¡¯t even noticed her around thus far today, and judging by symbols she was finishing up carving on the ground around the tables, this was gonna be good. She finished inscribing her symbols before giving Esmeralda a thumbs up.


    ¡°Quiet please¡­ Or I¡¯ll break your ears,¡± Essy went with a smile, foot starting to tap. She snapped her fingers three times before they started their performance. ¡®Damn short notice,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, guessing this was probably one of those songs everyone sort of knows¡­ Well at least Dragonettes.


    The music was pretty damn good. They could clearly play. Well at least most of them, Tom had a sneaking suspicion what those runes Linkasta had carved might be doing. Grevi¡¯s forelegs serving as the drums was a nice touch, they were certainly not lacking for bass. Essy, though, was fucking amazing. She sang her heart out loud enough she might as well have had a microphone. Tom didn¡¯t catch most of the lyrics, just savoring the sound instead. Sure, speakers were good, but this was still the real deal. It was a story about a group of people having to fight at every turn against all the world had to throw at them. Quite fitting, all things considered, Tom thought. As they progressed, the song became quieter and sadder, with tales of sacrifice and loss and desperation sounding like it was all gonna end in tears. Tom was certainly caught off guard when Grevi slammed her tail into the ground, adding her own voice to the song, singing about defiance and the refusal to give up no matter what. She certainly didn¡¯t need any help being heard. Her voice was deep yet feminine, with enough bass to fit in at a car meet.


    Essy countered, singing about everything she had suffered, her will to fight all but gone. The song turned into a discussion between the two of them, Essy finally yielding and agreeing to fight not for herself or those she lost but for the sake of the future and all its people, so they may too have something worth fighting for.


    (For those who would bother, I had a crack at it. I think it must be said that I have no idea what I¡¯m doing here (as per usual), so take it with a grain of salt or just have a good laugh.)


    (¡®Why We Fight¡¯ melody: Nightwish Elan</a>)


    Up In the skies high above, where winds will howl, and the rain will pour


    A realm of the sky and cloud


    We will make our stand, with every wing and claw


    Eternal war, we have fought and shall endure forevermore


    So hear me now, my final song. When it is done I will not be here no more


    Live. Live your life, for me and you, for I can¡¯t so you must do


    My final wish is for you to live!


    So. taste the wine, feel the wind, embrace the light till the end of time!


    Live your life for it is yours!


    So we fight for what is right


    Chasing the beasts from our door


    When they come we shall prepare


    For every wing we know, is our sacred friend


    For their sake, we face the end,


    Side by side, with all who dare.


    We will not flee for if we do, we¡¯ll be lost!


    With every fight comes a cost, alive or dead you may all be lost.


    So, live your life, while you can.


    Live for the lost and those who stand. Their final wish, to buy you time.


    So. you may have, your one true life! Spend it well It¡¯s your only one


    Feel the grass and watch the skies.


    (music slows down and grows more somber)


    But when the fight has been won I stand alone.


    I lost it all without my friends, my life is gone


    Why would I fight for what I have lost? They are gone from my life.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.I want to go where they all went,


    Not stay here where, I have naught.


    I felt the wind drank the wine I felt the grass so nice and green


    I watched the clouds, danced all night I did it all I lived my life


    Now I sit alone in a broken home. Alone


    (Grevi joins in, turning it into a duet. The music grows harder and more agresive, picking up a bit of speed.)


    (melody change: Nightwish Amaranth</a>)


    Grevi:


    Then you fight with all your might! Not for you but them.


    You have lived and so should they.


    Essy:


    But, I fought my war, and I gave it all


    What is left is for me alone


    I have made peace with what I¡¯ve done.


    And you believe it¡¯s not enough?!


    Grevi:


    your final day your breath, your final gift.


    Not for you but those who follow.


    We will fight not for us or our friends.


    We fight for all who count.


    Essy:


    But, I have none to guard, I have none to save.


    I am the last, my eggs gone


    My next of kin won¡¯t see the sun.


    My nearest friend, the depths of hell


    Grevi:


    Then you forget. You did not, come here from naught,


    Those who fought, knew you not.


    Be they from distant lands or neighboring plots, they all fought till death!


    Those you will betray if you give up. So you will stand in their honor


    Stand and fight for what you¡¯ve got. As they once did you shall do.


    Essy and Grevi together:


    So when they come, the night and all its beasts,


    we will not yield, not run, we will face the end.


    For we don¡¯t fight for what we see,


    but for all we know and all that we don¡¯t


    So have a crack we will stand!


    when we give up, Night will endure!


    The kids must learn to live like we have lived,


    To learn it¡¯s call, to pass it on.


    We fight for those who are coming next.


    To give them all they deserve.


    It was certainly quite the performance, Tom had to give them that. He had never quite considered the power behind a dragon''s voice when it came to singing, not to mention that Grevi made a pretty good precusion instrument too. Essy was absolutely amazing as always, but she had been singing her heart out for this one. She was actually leaning on Kokashi as they bowed, looking a little ill. The crowd cheered and Tom joined in too, doing his best cat call, which gained him some curious glances.


    The band had played a few more songs, though they seemingly rather quickly ran out of ones they all knew. Not to mention, they only had Grevi as a singer now, and she wasn¡¯t really able to do anything high pitched so to say.


    When the music had petered out, Tom had put the speakers back on, the dancing resuming apace. Jarix had already slipped up twice on the dance floor. Luckily no one had gotten hurt, and people had learned to keep their distance by now, much to Tom¡¯s relief. Tom was just watching from the sidelines, enjoying a mug of this new ¡®bubble beer.¡¯ Right now he was keeping an eye on Unkai and Fengi to see if he was gonna need to apologize again.


    It was pretty clear Unkai had been practicing dance moves, but as a surprise to exactly nobody it would seem it was all old school stuff. Fengi had clearly been busy on the days she talked Tom into letting her borrow one of the speakers. The result was a whole slew of new moves that everyone seemingly struggled to copy. Just like Tom had predicted, she had gotten a lot of attention on the dance floor, especially once the young soldiers from Glira¡¯s crew finished eating.


    One of the new recruits Tom didn¡¯t quite know yet even tried putting his arm around her waist, near enough resting his hand on her ass. Fengi was very polite about it, simply picking his arm off her and scooting right up against Unkai, who looked like a kid who just had a cat, sit in his lap. She danced close to him for a bit, just as Tom had predicted. ¡®Wait, is this a bad thing?¡¯ he had to question at the thought of trying to make things happen that maybe shouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Still feeling sick?¡± Jacky questioned, trotting over with a spring in her step, though her face actually looked apologetic for once.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m fine¡­ I think it¡¯s working,¡± he said, pointing at Fengi and Unkai.


    ¡°Hah, you finally got back at her for that whole thing in the woods with us two,¡± Jacky replied, turning to look and letting out a gleeful little laugh, Tom looking up at her as she stood nicely silhouetted by the fire light.


    Tom sat quietly for a second, looking at Jacky and thinking back to how Fengi rather forcefully clued him in that Jacky was interested in him, and how he had almost ruined things. ¡°I guess so,¡± Tom admitted with a chuckle, not able to take his eyes off her. ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s just payback,¡¯ he mused to himself. Judging by how he and Jacky had turned out, it probably wasn¡¯t a bad thing either.


    Tom looked through the playlist again, wanting something perhaps a little faster to see what Fengi would do. She was good, but how good exactly? He grew an evil grin as stumbled on a true classic from when he grew up. He put ¡®hamster dance¡¯ on queue, snickering to himself and looking at Jacky. ¡°This ought to be a curveball.¡±


    Jacky just looked back at him, blinking once. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°You''ll see. Come on, you crazy, beautiful woman. Let¡¯s see just how crazy you can get!¡±


    ¡°That better be ¡®crazy beautiful¡¯ and not ¡®crazy and beautiful¡¯.¡± Jacky went with a happy chuckle, letting herself get dragged over to the side of the dance floor as Tom set about taking her through the moves he could remember. He also threw in a few extra moves to take advantage of his¡­ strongly built dance partner and the fact they were in half-grav. ¡°You are kidding me, right?¡± Jacky asked, shaking her head a bit and looking at him like he was a fucking lunatic.


    ¡°Oh come on, it will be fucking hilarous.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but it will cost you a favor for later.¡±


    ¡°Fuck it, deal. You know the rules though. No dakka,¡± Tom replied with a raised finger.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. We¡¯ve been over this,¡± Jacky replied with an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms for maximum effect. ¡°So like, how high do you want me to throw you?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had been enjoying some light hearted dancing with Maiko. Nothing fancy. Just a bit of good fun. He was good. Then again, she had rather expected that. She wasn¡¯t really much of a dancer. At least, not on the ground. But still, it was good fun. Then the music had changed to a song that she didn¡¯t recognize, and it sounded quite ridiculous.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Saph questioned, trying not to laugh. Most of the dance floor came to a halt, even Fengi looking perplexed.


    Then an excited looking Tom made his way into the crowd, dragging Jacky along. She was looking less than confident right now, rare as that may be.


    ¡°Oh, this should be good,¡± Saph mused as the two of them took up positions opposite Fengi and a rather scared Unkai. ¡®Come on you dumb boy. You want Fengi, here you go,¡¯ Saph cursed, though she was soon struggling not to break out laughing as Jacky and Tom set about a truly strange set of moves in front of everyone. They were quite simple, but damn if they didn¡¯t look funny. Seeing Tom act like he was licking an ear that wasn¡¯t there had done Sapphire in for a bit and seeing Jacky actually licking his ear had been even funnier."


    ¡°What a strange display? The dude¡¯s got some nerve pulling that,¡± Maiko chuckled as Fengi inevitably set about copying Tom and Jacky move for move. Saph got her laughter under control in time to see Unkai get his shit together, just about managing to be ready for the part where Fengi needed a partner.


    ¡®There we go. Finally.¡¯ Saph sighed, listening to the strange music. ¡®What the hell is a hamster?¡¯ she questioned to herself as she was grabbed by the hand. She didn¡¯t realize Maiko¡¯s plan until she was standing opposite him as part of a line of half and wholly drunk dragonettes doing their best impression of whatever this hamster creature was. ¡®Okay, this is humiliating,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself, staring at Maiko and trying to convey her displeasure through a stare.


    ¡°Oh come on, you only live once,¡± Maiko let out, Saph not getting the chance to protest before she was whipped around into his arms.


    ¡°I hate you,¡± she grumbled, looking up at him from her precarious position. She was still looking up as Tom sailed skywards with an exclamation of ¡°Fucking hell Jackyyyyyy!¡± The human sort of flailed around a bit, doing an involuntary backflip, which was all very entertaining.


    ¡°What? I got carried away,¡± Jacky had even had time to answer before she caught the human again.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Saph let out, Maiko getting her back on her feet as all the women looked at each other and their dancepartners. Saph took note that Maiko looked a little uncomfortable. ¡®Okay, I¡¯ll play this game,¡¯ Saph smirked. ¡°Hang on, I think I need to see that one again. Hey, Jacky?¡± Saph shouted out, gaining her attention.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Can I borrow you for a second!?¡± Saph shouted out, hoping she could be heard over the music.


    Jacky just shrugged and walked over, leaving Tom to teach his drunken crowd the secrets of this hamster dance.


    ¡°What¡¯cha need?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to see that trick again, it was very impressive,¡± Saph went with a wink. Jacky snorted, seemingly bemused.


    ¡°Sure thing, Saph. What needs throwing?¡±


    Saph just pointed at Maiko, Jacky eyeing the comparatively rather diminutive corporal. Saph just looked at him with a smirk then glanced upwards. ¡°Come on. It¡¯ll be fun.¡± Maiko locked eyes with Jacky, straightening his back as if he wanted to challenge her.


    ¡°Sure why not. Anything for you, Saph.¡±


    Saph just shook her head, leaning to whisper to Jacky. ¡°Everything you got, please.¡±


    Jacky just smiled evilly, folding her hands into a step, having Maiko step up into her grasp. ¡°Right. Okay, I¡¯m¡­Fuuuuuu.¡±


    ¡°And off he goes,¡± Saph chuckled as Jacky grunted, launching the small corporal straight up with enough force to sink her feet into the ground.


    ¡°That was a good one,¡± Jacky replied, looking up and admiring her work.


    ¡°Yeah. He didn¡¯t even scream that much.¡±


    ¡°No, not really. Tom was worse actually, and he knew what was coming too. And I went easy on him¡­ we should try and catch him, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know actually¡­ he¡¯s coming back down though and the wings aren¡¯t out¡­ Wanna give me a hand?¡±


    ¡°Anything for you Saph,¡± Jacky replied sarcastically, doing a rather horrible impression of the corporal as they got ready to catch him.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, Tom certainly didn¡¯t have the altitude record anymore. That had just been ridiculous. He had honestly reconsidered if it had been a smart idea as Jacky¡¯s eyes had flared bright iridescent green before she threw him towards the sky. It was excellent fun though, and he didn¡¯t scream that much. With the living catapult currently being distracted by Saph, Tom¡¯s attention had turned to making the most of his current lack of social sensibilities.


    The best part was that even if he looked like an idiot teaching to poor fuckers who had decided this was funny, they looked even dumber when they messed it up. All in All, Tom was having a great time as Cotton Eye Joe decided it was it''s time to shine.


    ¡®Oh, it¡¯s like partying back at school again,¡¯ Tom chuckled ¡®¡­Good god, I was an alcoholic back then.¡¯


    ¡°Hey, Fengi? Figured out anny I can do yet?¡± Jarix then questioned, peering down on them from above, the dragon having been observing for a bit. ¡°Actually¡­ nevermind. I''ll -hiccup- work it out,¡± Jarix slurred in reply, stepping back to a safe distance


    Tom¡¯s little lesson came to an abrupt end as he tried his best not to laugh his ass off as Jarix did what could best be described as ¡°that damn dancing dog from Dark Souls¡± before looking around at the people now all either gawking or laughing. ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there. The poor guy is dancing alone,¡± Tom replied with a laugh, launching into what he thought was a well practiced if rather old set of moves¡­ that to the outside observer probably looked more like a drunk idiot having a great time¡­ which was also accurate.


    ¡°Where did you come from, where did you go! Where did you come from, Cotton Eye Joe!¡± Tom shouted out as Jarix started hammering away the beat with his tail, certainly lending a different cadence to the song.


    ¡°I wanna dance too, what do I do?¡± Tiguan had questioned, bounding over to the dance floor. A rather concerned looking Ray was hanging onto a horn for dear life. She looked like she was rather secure up there as long as Tiguan didn¡¯t do any head banging, and the dragon had clearly been taking care with his little jump to keep his head steady. Tom couldn''t actually help but feel a little envious. It was always the kids clambering around on the dragons having fun¡­ He kinda wanted to try that too¡­ It just wasn¡¯t really¡­ appropriate.


    Fengi had soon gotten a draconic dancing school going to the merry tune of Cotton Eye Joe, even if Tiguan¡¯s efforts could best be described as ¡°a drunk guy at a disco who had no clue what he was doing.¡± The massive smile on the dragon''s face was more than good enough for Tom though, as he made sure the next song would be equally hilarious. Unkai looked happy to just be the supporting act, doing what Fengi told him. She certainly seemed to be enjoying herself too, even if once again a crowd started forming around the two of them. Tom was considering whether or not he should do something about that when Fengi got another idea, as she waved Jarix down to her, the dragon bowing his head to listen. With a shrug, he lowered a wing for Unkai and Fengi, and they continued dancing on his back even if they needed to have their feet locked in his harness. It ended up looking like some kind of disco rodey and Tom added another thing to the list of ¡®I wanna try that.¡¯


    Tom could see the defeat in some of the other guys on the ground, even if Grevi¡¯s lieutenant got her claws into the recruit that had gotten handsy before, giving him a taste of his own medicine. The two of them soon disappeared for the night.

 Drunken Escapade

    Chapter 134: Drunken Escapade


    Looking around, it would seem the natural endurance of most of the dragonettes had been mostly spent by now, and Tom had to admit it actually looked like it could be quite romantic to dance on dragon back on a fire lit night. ¡®Go get her, tiger,¡¯ he mused to himself as he put on Orinoco Flow, hoping to set the mood, so to speak. Not to mention, that was probably more up Unkai¡¯s street. If nothing else, it should slow Jarix down a little. Even if Unkai probably didn¡¯t have any qualms when Fengi fell over onto him, or needed ¡®rescue¡¯ from a precarious position.


    It seemed to do the trick, as Fengi quickly set about figuring out some new dance moves for the calm song. Unkai was positively beaming as she leaned her head into him, dancing close and slow. While Jarix struggled to figure out what to do now, Tiguan just kept going on as if the music hadn''t changed, with Ray very politely trying to get him to calm down, to little effect.


    Tom watched them for a bit, feeling quite pleased with himself before someone tapped him on the shoulder. Jacky picked him up as he turned around, nuzzling him closely, not speaking as she slowly started almost waltzing while carrying him around.


    ¡°Is this like a traditional dance?¡± Tom questioned, kissing the side of her neck.


    ¡°Nah¡­ I just know you can¡¯t dance for shit.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we were just dancing like a few minutes ago, and since when do you dance like this?¡± Tom chuckled as she rubbed her head against him.


    ¡°Ever since I wanted to¡­ and looking like a happy idiot doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t complain,¡± Tom replied, getting a bit more comfortable, his thighs resting on her hips as she held him. ¡°This is quite nice.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m not even that drunk.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Tom chuckled in response, the two of them just enjoying themselves. He spied Saph and Maiko getting all chummy on the dance floor too.


    Tom had almost hoped Grevi would have joined the boys on the dance floor. She was busy chatting it up with Glira though. Major Latori had given Lady Deriva a dance or two before the old lady had needed a rest.


    Tom had really been enjoying it, but inevitably he felt Jacky start to grow restless with all the calm movements. She had put him down after the first song, with Tom just doing his best to copy those he could see around him and not step on her feet. It helped that Jacky had the strength to mostly fix his mistakes for him, but he didn¡¯t think he was doing half bad.


    ¡°Come on, spit it out. Whatcha thinking?¡± Tom questioned, eyes closed, head leant against her chest. Jacky¡¯s head rested atop his as they danced.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Maybe I should see how high I can throw you again.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t have you all worn out already. Save your strength,¡± Tom replied, with a little chuckle.


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Jacky went, clearly thinking over how else they could have a little fun before it was time to call it a night. ¡°Wanna see how far up Jarix''s neck we can get before he throws us off?¡± Jacky went, pulling her head back to look down at him.


    Tom did quite like that idea. If nothing else, it gave him an excuse to go climbing on Jarix. Looking at the blue, Unkai and Fengi were nowhere to be seen anymore. The dragon was just standing there, swaying in sync with the music.


    ¡°First to touch a horn gets to start on top tonight.¡± Tom snickered at his not so subtle insinuation.


    ¡°Fucking deal,¡± Jacky went, letting go of him in a heartbeat and running off towards Jarix. ¡®That might have been a tactical error,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, setting off after her. ¡®I guess I need to call in a favor then.¡¯ ¡°Hey Jarix, don¡¯t let her touch your horn!¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± the dragon replied, looking confused.


    ¡°Just keep her down. It¡¯s a bet,¡± Tom laughed out as Jacky was already clambering up Jarix''s leg. ¡®Why didn¡¯t she just fly¡­ Oh Jacky.¡¯


    ¡°Shoo¡­ no¡­ shoo...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s cheating,¡± Jacky cried out as Jarix tried shaking her off, Jacky letting out a truly hilarious sound as she tried in vain to protest, her progress coming to an end.


    ¡°Yeah, get her Jarix,¡± Tom laughed as he clambered up the dragon. Jacky seemingly found renewed purpose as she started moving up Jarix''s leg despite the dragon shaking her harder, cursing all the way. ¡°Ahr shit. Hey Jarix, could you be a good friend and reach a horn down here?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­. Nah, I¡¯ve helped enough¡± Jarix replied, laughing evilly at Tom¡¯s dwindling hope.


    Tom did make it to the base of Jarix''s neck before he felt a clawed hand grab his leg. ¡°Come here, little boy,¡± Jacky snarled at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m doomed,¡± Tom squeaked looking up at Jarix.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Jarix replied helpfully with the kind of expression you give a friend when his girl just found out where he actually is. Then Tom was grabbed around the waist and lifted off Jarix¡¯s back by a large black foot, the long slender claws reaching nearly all the way around his waist. Jacky didn''t let go of Tom¡¯s leg though, so Tiguan decided to shake Tom like a dog with a chew toy. Tom heard himself let out some rather funny noises as the world went all funny around the edges of his vision. At least Jacky had grabbed onto both of his legs, which did make it hurt less, but eventually she let go with an annoyed grunt.


    ¡°And the winner is!¡± Tiguan went, more or less just holding Tom against Jarix¡¯s head. Tom wasn¡¯t exactly feeling well anymore as he reached a shaky hand out to touch Jarix''s horn. ¡°Hurray!¡± Tiguan cheered out before putting Tom on top of Jarix¡¯s head with a little pat on the back. It was a rather precarious position, but at least there were some hand holds.


    ¡°It¡¯s fun up here,¡± Ray piped up, waving at Tom, who waved back a little weakly.


    ¡°Hi Ray¡­ just need a minute.¡±


    ¡°Fucking cheaters the lot of you,¡± Jacky protested, having given up after she was shook off. She was currently sitting on Jarix¡¯s back, sulking.


    ¡°Tigs, why did you put him there?¡± Jarix questioned as Tom did his best to try and get comfy, which more or less just resulted in him doing a Kiran impersonation on top of Jarix¡¯s head.


    ¡°Ray said he looked sad and guessed he wanted to go up¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡®Fuck that¡¯s right¡­ nightvision,'' Tom cursed to himself, just giving Jarix a pat on the side of the head. ¡°I feel like Kiran right now.¡±


    ¡°Does that make me Tom?¡±


    ¡°Sure. So big blue Tom, how do you plan on saving the world?¡±


    ¡°I will talk nonsense for three hours and in three different languages when I¡¯m mad,then poop out something ranging from a weapon to change the world to a black writing stick,¡± the dragon replied without missing a beat. ¡°Oh, and say ¡®Fuck¡¯ a lot.¡±


    ¡°Oi! Din nare r?v!¡± Tom countered with a chuckle.


    ¡°Tigs, do you know a language we can curse him in?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly annoyed at not understanding the insult.


    ¡°Tlar rok!¡± the black dragon replied, lifting a foot and pointing at Tom.


    ¡°You just said some gibberish didn¡¯t you?¡± Jarix questioned, Tom having to hang on as his head tilted.


    ¡®Fuck, this is trickier than it looks. How is Kiran so relaxed up here? This is a stressful environment...¡¯


    ¡°Hey Tigs, wanna go have some fun?¡± Jarix questioned with a rather uncharacteristically evil chuckle.


    ¡°Uhh yeah,¡± Tiguan replied, nodding enough that Ray let out a cry of alarm. ¡°Shit, sorry.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Okay it was official, Saph was having a great time. Just drunk enough to want to stay on the dance floor. Just sober enough not to crush Maiko¡¯s feet. Maiko was really good at this. He had looked as much of an idiot as the rest of them during Tom¡¯s little outburst of¡­ whatever that had been, but there was no denying the guy could dance. Saph was not much for dancing normally, but this was good fun.


    Essy¡¯s song had been amazing, the drinks were great, the food was awesome, and they were having so much fun that she didn¡¯t even want to think about all the shit that was going on. ¡®Shit, I¡¯m thinking about it¡­. Where''s the mug?¡¯ ¡°Hey Maiko, want another round?¡±


    ¡°Careful now, you sure you want to get this drunk?¡± the corporal questioned, not letting go of her.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that wasted¡­ You must be even worse than me, little mister scrawny.¡±


    ¡°If you say so. We could also call it for the night. Quite a few people seem to have gone to bed, unless you want in on whatever they are doing over there?¡± Maiko went, gesturing at Jarix and Tiguan, who were definitely having a party.


    ¡°Nah¡­ I think I want it a little slower right now. You know¡­ enjoy the moment,¡± she went, nuzzling up against him. She could feel him holding her a little tighter, letting out the tiniest little purr. ¡®Yeah, yeah, I know,¡¯ Saph mused to herself as the two of them kept dancing. That was a good question though¡­ How much of a test period should she give him¡­ He was being very nice. Everything she¡¯d seen would seem to indicate he really did love her. Well of course he did, she was fucking awesome. But that left the question¡­ What to do? They had been dancing for quite a while, yet he hadn¡¯t even tried to put a hand on her ass or anything like that. ¡®I guess I did set some rather strict rules to start with,¡¯ Saph relented. ¡®Maybe just a little more leeway...¡¯


    She let her hands glide down his upper arms to his elbows, and she guided his hands down a bit lower, then a little lower still. It was such a strange feeling to have a pair of hands gliding over a spot that was normally so sacred. To have someone hold her there of all places was so¡­ different.


    ¡®By the gods, you have gotten uptight, haven''t you?¡¯ she chuckled to herself leaning into him, her hands going back up to start fondling his ears a little. The corporal seemed to just stand there even as they kept slowly waltzing, until his hands finally started moving again and slowly caressing her back.


    ¡°You having fun?¡± Saph asked after a bit.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± came the simple reply as he let a hand run down her thigh.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe here isn¡¯t the best place for this¡­ Would you prefer somewhere more private¡­ or maybe out under open sky?¡±


    ¡°I think you would look good in moonlight.¡±


    ¡°Stop it you,¡± she went, giving him a playful shunt and trying not to giggle. ¡°Fine, come on then. Or are you too lovestruck to walk?¡±


    ¡°If I say yes, will you carry me?¡±


    ¡°I might,¡± she teased, pulling her head back to look at him appraisingly.


    ¡°Pretty please?¡±


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Saph didn¡¯t answer, just picking the guy up with a sigh and carrying him off. She didn¡¯t want to go too far anyway, just around to the other side of the keep and out into the long grass past the bunker should be fine.


    ¡°Now don¡¯t you dare pinch me. I have no intention of waking up right now,¡± Maiko went, looking around to check they were out of sight of the party before he got as cozy as he could in her arms, purring away as they disappeared into the dark.


    ¡°Now why would I wanna do that?¡± Saph said, having a nibble on one of his ears, making sure it hurt just a little.


    ¡°Stop it you. Oi stop it!¡± Maiko protested, squirming a little in her arms. ¡°I get it, I get it.¡±


    ¡°Then say it,¡± Saph snickered before continuing her little assault.


    ¡°I ain''t dreaming.¡±


    ¡°Oh on the contrary, where we¡¯re going it¡¯s gonna get quite dreamy.¡± ¡®Fucking hell, Saph. Why did you say that?¡¯


    ¡°What kind of dream then?¡± Maiko questioned as Saph found a nice thick patch of grass, sitting down with him on her lap.


    ¡°I haven''t quite figured that out yet. Why don¡¯t we start with a little star gazing?¡±


    ¡°Which stars? There are some up there and one right here I think.¡±


    ¡°Waow¡­ I thought I was pushing it,¡± Saph snickered, laying down into the grass with her wings folded out to make it more comfortable, patting the ground to her right.


    Maiko laid down, scooting up against her as they looked up into the mostly clear sky. There were plenty of stars tonight and a little bit of a moon with the odd cloud here and there. Saph let out a deep sigh.


    Soon it would be too cold to do anything like this at night. Right now, though, she felt as comfy as ever looking up at the sky.


    ¡°You know, Essy told me you had tried to get into the guard when you were younger.¡±


    ¡°What of it? I didn¡¯t get in.¡±


    ¡°Exactly¡­ Most people are mad when they don¡¯t make it in.¡±


    ¡°I mean, they made it pretty clear they didn¡¯t want some pretty girl racer who thought she was tough enough to fight for a living, and I didn¡¯t have money to persuade them with, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Ever thought about trying again?¡±


    ¡°Sure, plenty of times. I was mad at them though, and I wanted to show them I didn¡¯t need them to become the best.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are already the best looking, a champion, and definitely one of the best archers I¡¯ve ever seen. You can take a joke, and, by Itova, have I told you how good you look?¡±


    ¡°Next up my eyes shall receive a compliment, I think.¡±


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s too basic even for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, you''re a city boy and a witty boy, get it?¡± Saph went, jostling his side a little.


    ¡°And a pretty boy.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Saph repleid with a chuckle, Maiko feigning insult.


    ¡°I would have you know I am considered most attractive.¡±


    ¡°Is it the lean build and smallish frame that has likely allowed you to wiggle into a lot of places you weren¡¯t allowed to go?¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah it is. Well that and my winning personality.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, how the hell did you end up in the Royal Guard of all places? You haven¡¯t said much about your life before that.¡±


    ¡°I guess not. Well what is there to say? Mum and dad were both lancers. They don¡¯t tend to live that long.¡±


    Saph had heard of the lancers. Those guys were somewhere between the bravest and dumbest people you could find pretty much anywhere. And they were the people you called when you needed to kill a dragon but didn¡¯t have one to do it for you.


    ¡°Mum died when I was little. Dad lasted long enough to see me into the guard. He wanted them to ¡®shape me up¡¯ as he called it. I had gotten a bit too good at running away from whatever they wanted to have me do.¡±


    ¡°Maiko, the rebellious teenager? Oh I¡¯ve gotta hear this.¡±


    ¡°Well, what is there to say? My parents were all rules and strict discipline and I¡­ wasn¡¯t. Dad got me into a good school, and we lived in a nice house. I had a lot of friends.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you were the cool kid.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah, I had money, and I didn¡¯t give a crap. We just hung out and had some fun. Then I fell behind in school, stirred up trouble a few to many times, dad got angry yada yada yada. In the end he decides that if he couldn¡¯t raise me, the guard could. Let me tell you. Me in basic. That was not nice. Every officer soon had it out for me. I¡¯m sure my dad didn¡¯t help on that front. I even had to live on the base, that was so fucking annoying.¡±


    ¡°And all that ¡®winning personality¡¯ was stripped away never to be seen again?¡± Saph chuckled before letting him carry on.


    ¡°I¡¯m still me, I¡¯ll always be me. As soon as I got out of basic, I learned real fast that if you''re useful you can get away with a lot. Like really a lot.¡±


    ¡°So what did you do then, aside from escorting girls in the capital that made you so useful?¡±


    ¡°Victoria often used me to mingle with the new recruits. I''m just a corporal, after all. When working with dragon crews, almost all of them outrank me. I¡¯m not scary to them, so it¡¯s easy to become their friend.¡±


    ¡°You sly little bastard. Let me guess, your magic somehow makes people like you?¡±


    ¡°No, but it can make people not see me.¡±


    ¡°What, so you turn into Tom for a bit?¡±


    ¡°Nope, people just don¡¯t notice me. It¡¯s quite weird. They can see me just fine¡­ they just don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of that before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that common. Neither is your little trick, that¡¯s quite something.¡±


    ¡°Oh shush, there are quite a few out there like me, and you know it. Sure, they might not be as good as me...¡±


    ¡°Oh no, of course not,¡± Maiko replied, piling on the sarcasm.


    ¡°Are you questioning my immense skill with a bow, My little warrior?¡± Sapphire questioned, pulling a sly little grin.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m yours now?¡± Maiko deflected, taking his eyes off the sky and looking to Saph instead, snuggling up with her a little tighter.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll take you. If you are still up for grabs that is?¡± Saph replied, looking at him with an inquisitive glare.


    ¡°All yours¡­¡± the corporal let out, Saph being able to feel his heart speeding up and his breathing quicken a little. ¡°Does this mean I don¡¯t have to sleep on the floor anymore?¡± he asked, clearly trying to remain cool.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± she confirmed with a smile. ¡°If you behave yourself. Sounds like I have to give you something to lose to keep you in check, my little rebel.¡±


    ¡°I can agree to these terms.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________________________


    There were apparently rules against drunk flying but not running. So Tom had gotten a beer relay up, and he was running with those that were still standing. There weren¡¯t that many, to be honest. They did still have all four of the walking tanks still going though, and both Tiguan and Jarix seemed quite sad at only being able to watch¡­ They couldn¡¯t have that.


    Tom had presented his little idea for a race that would include their four largest individuals. Glira had been in as soon as Jarix made a bet against her. Grevi had been convinced by the two guys collectively agreeing that she had no chance because she was so damn slow.


    Dakota had stopped them from doing anything too crazy near the keep since some people had gone to bed by now. So off they had gone, every dragon speckled with torches from those that had decided to come along as they trotted into the dark in a line. Major Jortun had agreed to keep an eye on the lot of them, Glira taking the lead.


    It was quite the merry band they had put together, though Tiguan seemingly decided it was a bit quiet as they walked.


    ¡°Hey everyone, why is Jarix so good?¡±


    ¡°Please no, Tiguan¡­¡± Jarix let out, sounding like depression was imminent.


    ¡°He¡¯s very talonted!¡± Tiguan finished, seeming very proud of himself, though the feeling didn¡¯t seem mutual.


    ¡°Oh god,¡± Tom cursed.


    ¡°What do you call someone trying to board a dragon mid flight?¡± Glira then went.


    ¡°A snack!¡± her entire crew and all the dragons answered in unison with varying levels of exasperation.


    ¡°Heh snack,¡± Tom went to himself as he heard Jarix audibly sigh, a slight feeling of butterflies in his stomach as the dragon dropped his head a little in shame.


    ¡°Oh come on, it wasn¡¯t that bad¡­. What¡¯s Baron¡¯s favorite cut of meat?¡± Tom tried, really liking this little game.


    ¡°Please Tom¡­ I like you.¡±


    ¡°Flaming yawn.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t get it,¡± Jarix replied after a bit of a think break. Everyone else also just looked at Tom weirdly. ¡°I guess that one doesn¡¯t translate¡­ How do you tell what a dragon weighs then?... It comes with scales!¡±


    Jarix did actually chuckle ever so slightly at that one, and a few other likely very drunk people cheered loudly.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do one¡­ When we saved Deriva Keep it was quite the blast,¡± Jarix went, seeming to regret that one as soon as it was out his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°My will to live is dra-gone,¡± Grevi went, clearly not proud of herself either.


    ¡°Right, halt here,¡± Major Jortun went, standing up on Glira¡¯s back to look back at them all. ¡°You two boys," he said, gesturing to Junior and Radexi. "You stay here. Mark the finish line with these two torches. You and your two sweethearts are in charge of having the drinks ready.¡± They did as the major said, and Bolinda and Phospheno went to follow the two rascals. The four of them got a keg from Glira¡¯s harness as well as a bunch of mugs."


    ¡°Rules are simple; we are going for night maneuvers¡­ on the ground, while two of you are drunk¡­ I think you trained in this at some point if not tell Baron he missed a spot.¡± The major was clearly having fun, probably also having had a decent go at the drinks department. ¡°Three person crews. We¡¯ll go down there a bit and mark a startline, then it¡¯s a race back and forth once. You can¡¯t leave this end before your crew has finished drinking. Was that right?¡± The major questioned, looking at Tom who just gave a thumbs up as he checked the two torches he had tied to Jarix¡¯s horns¡­ just because, you know.


    ¡°Right, pick your crews.¡±


    ¡°I want the crazy inventor guy. He¡¯s fun. You can drink too, Jortun. Who else¡­¡± Glira went, looking around. She still had most of her crew to pick from, so was spoiled for choice really. ¡°Twitch, you have decent constitution.¡±


    Jarix looked down at Zarko and Jacky on his back, seemingly content. ¡°I got my crew: Zarko, Tom, Jacky.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take Ray, Luke, and Rekui,¡± Tiguan went, nodding to himself.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m winning today. Shiva, Anchor, and Raulf,¡± Grevi spoke up, seeming rather pleased with her choice. Her only remaining crew member got off to watch instead. ¡°And no, you may not sit on my head. Just try not to fall off.¡±


    ¡°You better not fall off up there,¡± Jarix went to Tom, testing his grip by tilting his head side to side.


    ¡°I¡¯m on here tight, believe me,¡± Tom replied looking over at the ground, only visible through the flicker of torchlight.


    ¡°Awesome. This is gonna be great,¡± Jarix let out as Tom felt him hunker down. ¡°Right one more¡­ What do you do with a green dragon?¡± The dragon tried again as Tom felt Grevi¡¯s head turn to look at them. ¡°You wait until it¡¯s ripe!¡±


    ¡°Jarix¡­ Run,¡± Grevi snarled at the two of them.


    Jarix wasted no time getting moving. Tom struggled to hold on as the dragon kicked off hard enough that Tom guessed they had just dug a pair of trenches. Glira was also quick off the line, probably having seen that one coming, but the larger blue fell behind a little, clearly not able to match the young ones out of the hole. Tiguan was a little slow to catch on, but he got the memo in the end, and he was soon bounding across the open fields at quite some speed.


    Looking ahead, Tom could see absolutely nothing. Just blackness. He really hoped Jarix could see a bit more than him right now since they were going quite fast as the dragon seemed to reach a full gallop, his powerful legs pounding away at the ground beneath them. They were in first place, but Grevi had made it up onto their side, looking at Jarix with murderous intent.


    ¡°Why is Jarix such a coward in battle?¡± Grevi shouted out with an almost evil cackle in her voice. ¡°He¡¯s got no charge!¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck off,¡± Jarix cursed to himself but Tom heard him.


    ¡°What comes next will shock you!¡± Grevi replied with a sarcastic chuckle.


    ¡°Shut up you crazy bitch.¡±


    ¡°You got a poisonous personality!¡± Tom fired back, laughing like a maniac.


    ¡°When I''m done with you I''ll be charged with abuse of power!¡± Glira cackled as she went galloping past them all on the left. The massive dragon was running like a damn cheetah or something, sending dirt spraying everywhere to the point Tom took cover not to catch a chunk in the face. Looking back down at Jarix¡¯s back, he too was going hell for leather, Zarko and Jacky hanging on for dear life.


    In the darkness behind them Tom saw a rather unsettling sight; the black form of Tiguan was all but invisible except for the torchlight shining in his eyes, the people on him probably having dropped their torches. He looked damn scary even to Tom, but he knew in proper lighting he would probably have his tongue flapping in the wind grinning like a happy puppy right now.


    Looking back ahead and thinking happy thoughts he saw the finishing line approaching fast, Glira already fighting to slow down, Jarix holding off a little longer. Tom held on for all he was worth as Jarix slammed on the brakes, the eight ton dragon skidding on all fours, Tom picking a horn to hold onto clinging to it like a child to it¡¯s mother on public transport.


    ¡°Quick quick quick,¡± Jarix went as Tom felt himself go first weightless, then into negative G, and then an abrupt halt as Jarix laid his head on the ground rather hard. Tom stumbled off a touch disoriented towards the row of ale mugs somewhat ready to do his duty.


    ¡°Well hello, old friend,¡± Tom went, picking up a mug and starting to chug. Thanks to Jarix''s little assist he was the first to get going. Jacky and Zarko were close behind as Tiguan came skidding in too, Ray getting the same ride Tom had gotten, though she cheered like she was on a rollercoaster or something.


    Jacky still beat him to the finish, but it was a close thing as Tom clambered back into Jarix¡¯s face. Jacky used her wings to make her way up Jarix¡¯s left foreleg. The dragon was it holding as a ramp for her this time rather than trying to shake her off. Zarko was a little slower, but not too terrible, and their team finished first. Grevi was not far behind though, Shiva and Raulf shouting at Anchor to hurry it up.


    Glira lost precious time simply because it took more time to get on and off her, and the Major was not exactly quick either. The guy seeming quite sloshed already.


    ¡°Right, we got a small lead out of that, up to you now,¡± Tom went, doing his best to get comfy while not falling off as Jarix set off again back the way they came. Only now looking ahead did Tom notice they were not exactly going straight, even if Jarix¡¯s head stayed rather level, he was swerving quite a lot. Whether that was due to him being drunk or just avoiding things Tom couldn¡¯t see he didn¡¯t quite know¡­ Nor did he care. This was epic. ¡°Yeee haaaaaw!¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s my line!¡± Jacky shouted out, sounding like she was trying to hold something down.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare puke on me,¡± Jarix went, looking back. Tom involuntarily went along for the ride, and was now sorta going backwards.


    ¡°Shouldn''t you be looking ahead?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been running befo-¡± Jarix went before Tom felt himself accelerate towards the ground at an appreciable velocity. Drunk as he was, his only concern was really the fact he hadn¡¯t actually wanted to be right this time around.


    ¡°Jarix you idi-¡± Tom shouted before Jarix¡¯s head slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of Tom quite thoroughly. ¡°Aoww,¡± Tom squeaked out, trying to look up to decide whether he would just lie there for a bit focusing on trying to breathe. His sense of time kinda got a little fuzzy, but someone was certainly shaking him by the shoulders now¡­ and he was on his back¡­ in the grass.


    ¡°You okay? Come on, at least say something?¡±


    ¡°Bob,¡± Tom replied, pulling a smile, very proud of his comedic timing as Jacky pulled him into an embrace from where she was sitting on her knees next to him.


    ¡°Oh you damn idiot. You had me worried there¡­ Again!¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Tom chuckled, trying to get up, Jacky not letting him.


    ¡°You are staying right here, little guy,¡± she went, holding him close.


    ¡°Congratulations. You didn¡¯t kill him. Well done,¡± Glira went in a rather mocking tone. Tom just heard a grumble from his left, not really being able to look thanks to Jacky¡¯s iron embrace. ¡°You break something, or did you actually get away with that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ head hurts a little, but I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°So what did you learn?¡± Glira went, tone turning downright mocking.


    ¡°Look where I¡¯m going?¡±


    ¡°Correct! That and you lost.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, mum.¡±

 Resupply

    Chapter 135: Resupply


    ¡°Kill me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jacky exclaimed, sounding rather worried at Tom¡¯s statement to an uncaring world. She clambered over onto him looking him over as Tom let out a pained grunt. It might be half grav but Jacky was still rather heavy as she pushed down on his chest. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You okay?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± was all the reply Tom could manage; this had got to be one of the worst hangovers he could remember. ¡®I didn¡¯t even drink that much,¡¯ he cursed, focusing on just living right now as Jacky¡¯s worried face hovered above him.


    ¡°Was the meta¡­ methcanol... methanul... bad alcohol again? Are you going blind?!¡± she asked. She slurred the words a little, but was very clearly worried as she waved her hand in front of his face.


    ¡°No¡­ just headache,¡± Tom replied, lifting a hand to pat the side of her face reassuringly.


    ¡°How many fingers?¡± Jacky continued, waving her hand around in front of his face.


    ¡°Four?¡± Tom guessed, not actually wanting to try and make them out.


    ¡°Huh¡­ I guess not¡­ Want some water?¡± she asked, relaxing a little.


    ¡°Yes please,¡± Tom sighed as she got off him. ¡®Why do they not get hangovers¡­ it¡¯s just not fair.¡¯ It didn¡¯t take long before she returned with a water skin, clumsily setting about giving him something to drink, spilling a bit on his face.


    ¡°No Tom, no playing with it, drink it. I know you like water, but not in the bed,¡± Jacky corrected him a little sternly. Tom tried to sit up but was pushed back down. ¡°No, you are staying in bed. You are clearly not well. You can play with water later. For now, drink.¡±


    ¡°For fucks sake, Jacky,¡± Tom cursed under his breath ¡°You¡¯re still drun-mrhmg.¡± Tom was cut off as the nozzle from the waterskin was shoved in his mouth, Jacky squeezing the water down his throat.


    ¡°No, you are now in my care. I will protect you,¡± Jacky went before pulling the waterskin back, Tom coughing and spluttering as she laid down on top of him and nuzzled his head, her arms going behind his neck. ¡°You¡¯re always safe here.¡±


    Tom elected not to protest. He had a headache and no excess mental capacity to try and argue with a drunk Jacky, even if this wasn¡¯t the most comfortable position in history.


    ¡°I know Jacky¡­ Thank you.¡±


    To his delight, it didn¡¯t take too long before she started snoring, meaning at worst he had to deal with the sleeping, near two meter tall, killing machine drooling a bit on him in her sleep. He certainly wasn¡¯t in the mood to get up either so why fight it.


    Then there was a knock at the door¡­


    Tom considered just pretending to be sleeping, but the knocking continued, and it sounded rather urgent. ¡°Go away, I¡¯m sick,¡± he finally shouted out, cursing his stupidity as his head rang like a church bell.


    ¡°I think we need you sadly,¡± a worried sounding Tink junior replied, Tom letting out a deep sigh.


    ¡®What did they do this time?¡¯ Tom cursed to himself not moving from under Jacky ¡°No you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Dad¡¯s walking on the ceiling!¡±


    ¡°Oh for fuck sake,¡± Tom replied after a few seconds of very slow thinking, trying feebly to get Jacky off. She just grunted happily, nuzzling up to him in her sleep. He did eventually manage to roll her over to the side, her grunts starting to sound annoyed as she grabbed after him. He skillfully avoided her iron grip as he rolled off of the bed and landed on the floor with a thunk. ¡°God dammit.¡±


    Looking down at himself, he was still buck ass nude, so went to get some pants and undies on at least before covering up Jacky by just throwing the blanket at her and going to answer the door.


    ¡°Oh thank Oleg¡­ had a rough night?¡± Junior asked, looking at the half-awake, all-annoyed Tom.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tom replied flatly looking at the kid.


    ¡°Right¡­ wanna get a shirt on or just¡­¡±


    ¡°Take me to the idiot. I must know who to shout at later.¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡­ right this way,¡± Junior replied, swallowing once and doing a bit of a sideways nod before leading Tom down the hallway.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The day after the big festival everyone had been a little slow getting up. Sapphire and Maiko had made it back up to her room, where they had more or less just passed out and where he was still sleeping. Saph, who was still slightly sleepy, was currently standing at the edge of the platform leading to the greeting hall and looking down. Alongside her stood Nunuk, Lady Deriva, and Luke. Both she and Luke swayed quite a bit in the wind as she wondered if she should really be this close to the edge.


    ¡°I guess apologies are in order,¡± Nunuk went, looking at the sleeping heap down below that was Tiguan, the kids already busy clambering all over him under the watchful eye of Essy and Ray. The black dragon currently sleeping soundly and loudly against the rock outcropping the keep sat on.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite alright,¡± Lady Deriva replied in a kind, motherly tone. ¡°He¡¯s done much already. A day¡¯s rest can¡¯t be too much to ask for.¡±


    Both of the drunk dragons were still sleeping where they had fallen the night before. Tom had been forced to reconsider his dosage calculations since there had still been a bit left in the bottom of the barrel. At least there had been until Glira got Jarix to give her permission to finish it, after which she drank what was left in one go, letting out a mighty burp.


    Jarix had been the first to go, falling asleep while they had been checking if he had managed to injure himself in his little stumble. He passed out in the middle of what had been the dance floor, where he was still snoring away despite Zarko¡¯s best efforts to wake him. Tiguan had drunkenly tried to get up into the greeting hall by climbing. Several deep gashes in the stone betrayed his failed attempt at climbing the keep. Grevi had eventually been forced to tackle the black dragon to the ground so he didn¡¯t hurt himself. He did look rather comfortable laying on the warm rocks though, so perhaps it wasn¡¯t that bad.


    ¡°Agreed. Let¡¯s leave him to it and go get your supplies in order,¡± Nunuk continued after they had all stared at the scene a bit longer.


    ¡°Our supplies? This isn¡¯t the briefing Victoria talked about?¡± Lady Deriva questioned, looking between Nunuk and Sapphire, Saph savoring the confused expression on the Lady¡¯s face.


    ¡®This should be good,¡¯ Saph mused to herself.


    ¡°No, that comes later. Dakota should have the list. Dakota!¡± Nunuk shouted back towards the grand hall. Dakota soon appeared at the door with a list in hand, that she was seemingly still putting the final touches on. Saph knew damn well that list had been done for days, and the gilded huntress had likely been waiting for her cue, but hey, it was a nice effect.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve put a little something together for you. Just the essentials to make it through winter,¡± Dakota explained, standing at attention before them.


    ¡°This¡­ No,¡± Lady Deriva went in disbelief as Luke just stood there, seemingly not sure how to take that.


    ¡°Two barrels of salted meat, fifty kilos each; five crates of dried meats, twenty kilos each; and three crates of smoked meat, same weight. It¡¯s all various kinds that we could find or just what we had. A lot of it we made ourselves. Nothing too fancy, but it should do the trick,¡± Dakota listed off as if that was nothing when in fact that was nearly a third of their stores of cured meat. Most of it had been brought in by Archeon with the intention to pad out their own diminished stocks letting them focus on more important things. They could buy more though if it came to that.


    Dakota had just about finished the list when Luke fainted. Saph had seen it coming though, catching the guy and laying him down slowly, congratulating herself on a good catch for once.


    ¡°Nice one, Saph,¡± Dakota nodded as Lady Deriva went over to do a quick check on her son, before looking back up to Dakota wide-eyed.


    ¡°Moving on¡­ We wanted some livestock for you, but no trader has had any, and we already have too few for our number. Sorry about that. Arch should bring some on his next run though. We also got one hundred kilos of flour in two barrels. So all in all, it might be a bland winter, but we hope it helps. There¡¯s some general supplies in there too. Rope, nets, a little cloth, some of our old tools, and even...¡±


    ¡°Helps?!¡° Lady Deriva exclaimed looking at Dakota slack jawed, turning to Nunuk. ¡°What could you possibly want in return? We can¡¯t afford this, you know that, Nunuk.¡±


    ¡°Well for one thing, you are not gonna blab about what¡¯s going on here. Nor will you try to interfere with our more delicate businesses here,¡± Dakota answered in a slightly more serious tone. ¡°We have the Inquisition breathing down our neck, it¡¯s probably best for both you and us. I hope you understand. Shiva and Tom have also requested whatever decent metal scrap you have left over after the battle. We can always use more metal in these strange times it seems.¡±


    ¡°You will have it,¡± Lady Deriva replied with a deep nod, eyes still wide, quickly looking down to Luke at her side. ¡°Believe me, I want nothing to do with those scoundrels. You cannot be serious though. Yesterday must have cost a fortune. Now you are giving us at least a month''s worth of preserved supplies?!¡±


    ¡°You took quite the hit for us, and we can¡¯t have you not making it through winter. And sitting here with everything we need while you might end up starving doesn¡¯t sit well with me,¡± Nunuk replied, pulling a kind smile.


    ¡°You know at this rate I might as well swear myself to you with all the debts you have gathered,¡± Lady Deriva went, looking to Nunuk in disbelief. She stood back up looking at Saph and Dakota, shaking her head slightly, though she looked very happy. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, we were past that point years ago,¡± Nunuk chuckled, patting the older lady on the shoulder a few times. ¡°Now, I think we have some cleaning up to do¡­ once people start waking up again at least¡­ Honestly, it¡¯s afternoon already,¡± Nunuk went, looking up at the sun, clouds starting to fill the sky. ¡°And why does Raulf always have to be that accurate with the weather?¡±


    ¡°At least it might wake up those two,¡± Saph said, gesturing down at Jarix and Tiguan.


    ¡°If there is thunder, Tiguan will be on his feet in no time; he does not like that,¡± Luke added, seemingly having woken back up again, still lying on the ground, clearly not quite recovered from the news of what they were taking home.


    ¡°Jarix shot him in the ass by accident?¡± Saph questioned, looking down at the captain with a smirk.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. Didn¡¯t wanna talk about it,¡± Luke replied looking up. ¡°I think I¡¯ll just stay down here for a while.¡±


    ¡®Poor guy,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, looking down at the sleeping black pile of scales, kids busy rigging what was left of the various decorations on him. Straining her eyes, there were indeed Deriva kids among them, Saph letting a little smile creep onto her face. ¡®Great success.¡¯


    ¡°No, Tom, not that way,¡± Tink Junior protested from behind them, Saph turning to see a rather ragged looking Tom standing shirtless in the doorway.


    ¡°Oh no, not again,¡± Lady Deriva let out, looking at the human.


    ¡°Well, at least he has pants on this time,¡± Luke added, trying to stumble to his feet. Saph just put a foot on his chest to keep him down. Tom raised a hand as if to protest before sighing and lowering it again.


    ¡°Not dying, just hungover. I promise,¡± he replied, both Luke and Lady Deriva letting out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Tink drank the gravity oil, I think. Nunuk or Dakota, I require you for shouting. I have a headache.¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of all that¡¯s holy,¡± Nunuk went, stepping over towards him as he turned to head for the workshop without saying another word. ¡°Dakota, just start moving things up here for whenever we have a dragon ready to be loaded.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Yes, Mum,¡± Dakota went with a nod as the lady stomped off with Tom and Junior.


    ¡°Someone is gonna have a bad day,¡± Saph chuckled looking down at Luke, who just shrugged.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom found the hapless inventor sleeping soundly on the roof of the workshop. Twitch, who technically wasn''t even allowed in this room, was sound asleep on the floor, clutching what looked like one of his bombs.


    ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake¡­¡± Tom went, finding two layers of ear protection, putting in the ear plugs, looking at Nunuk. ¡°That one for putting his life at risk, and that one for going where he¡¯s not allowed and possibly risking all our lives¡­ one second actually,¡± Tom went. He turned away from the fuming noble and went over to Twitch, inspecting what he was holding before ever so slowly prying it from his fingers.


    ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯m guessing some kind of grenade then,¡± he went with a sigh, looking at the polished metal orb. ¡°Let''s just put this here.¡± He very carefully placed the device in a padded box used for the flasks of blitz gel, then put on his ear defenders. ¡°Okay, you may start.¡±


    He was glad he put his hands over them too, as Nunuk was still perfectly understandable even through the three layers. The two idiots shot to their feet, Tink leaving the ground like he was in moon gravity before slowly gliding back to the ceiling. If Tom was feeling a bit better, he might have found it funny. Right now though, he was just pissed.


    It took quite a while before Nunuk calmed down, Tom being quite happy with the chewing out the Lady had delivered as he took off his hearing protection.


    ¡°Now that that¡¯s been handled, why did you think this was a good idea?¡± he asked, looking up at Tink.


    ¡°I felt tired and didn¡¯t want to walk anymore,¡± the still clearly drunk inventor replied, looking down/up at the ceiling as he stood there in shame.


    ¡°Really¡­ You fucking idiot. For all we know you may be dead in a week¡­ Also, you are likely a cannibal now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Twitch questioned, doing a double take before looking at Tom. To him, Twitch certainly seemed the less inebriated of the pair.


    ¡°One of the books referred to the stuff as ¡®dragon essence.¡¯ You do the math.¡±


    ¡°He drank old dragons?¡± the demo expert asked, looking up at Tink, who seemed deep in thought right now.


    ¡°I got no fucking clue, but maybe. Now, do we weigh you down, or do you wanna spend the next however long it might take on the ceiling?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find something heavy,¡± Tink replied in a defeated tone.


    ¡°You can borrow my weights for the time being,¡± Tom said, turning his attention to Twitch, pointing at the metal orb. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Armor burning bomb¡­ I think.¡±


    ¡°You think?¡± Tom echoed, making it quite clear he expected more of an explanation.


    ¡°Well, it''s a seasoned blitz gel fuze with acid around it. Metal outer protective shell, but glass inside. Throw it at a wall and it will splash it everywhere and burn through,¡± the demo expert replied, cautiously proud of himself.


    ¡®Fuck, that¡¯s actually quite smart,¡¯ Tom cursed, making sure to keep looking angry. Luckily that was not a hard thing to do with his headache. ¡°Is it armed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± Twitch admitted with far less confidence than Tom would have liked.


    ¡°Would you please make sure?¡± Tom went, shaking his head. ¡°The fuck is wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least we didn''t make the one he suggested,¡± Twitch went, pointing at Tink as he walked over to the box. Tom decided to take a few steps back eyeing the box with a cautious suspicion. As Twitch got to fideling Tom switched his gaze to the ceiling bound inventor, awaiting an explanation for that one.


    ¡°Glira wanted something that could kill one of the airships.¡±


    ¡°We agreed not to tell her about all that.¡±


    ¡°Well, she already knows about the ships. It''s not like she just gained the need to blow one up,¡± Tink protested, Tom just sighing and gesturing for him to continue.


    ¡°Besides, you were the one that came up with the bomb idea. I want to talk to you about rockets though. I wanna know more on that point. Do you think¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you come up with for Glira?¡± Tom interrupted, glaring at the inventor that had cost him hours of time in a comfy bed.


    ¡°Well that, but bigger,¡± he went, pointing at the box. I have some drawings here somewhere too. ¡°We went with a glass nose full of acid to burn through the deck. Then the bomb would drop inside and the second charge would go off.¡±


    ¡°Which would be?¡±


    ¡°Either flash or gas. Pick and choose,¡± the inventor replied with a shrug.


    ¡°I still say we use both. Choke the ones that don¡¯t burn to death,¡± Twitch added as he finished fiddling with the grenade. ¡°No fuze. It¡¯s not armed.¡±


    ¡°Well thank whoever for that,¡± Tom went with yet another sigh.


    ¡°That would just burn off the gas. No good, you said so yourself,¡± Tink replied, looking at Twitch, who just shrugged.


    ¡°Eh, maybe. I think we could make it work.¡±


    ¡°Right, we will get back to that¡­¡± Tom conceded. If that could work, it was a way better idea than his of just using more explosives. And that breaching nade could be quite useful too, even if the current one looked to throw the acid everywhere instead of just at a door or wall like a breaching charge. ¡°Where is Glira now?¡±


    ¡°She and the crew set up camp on some dry ground they found, hoping not to get wet when the rain comes. expecting the guy¡¯s t take the greeting hall. Oh, and I think you should know, she¡¯s more than good for any promises she makes,¡± Twitch went, holding a hand to the side of his mouth and winking like he was telling a secret.


    ¡°What promises?¡± Tom asked, crossing his arms.


    ¡°Well, from what she¡¯s been talking about, she wants a machine gun, obviously, and is willing to pay a lot for it. She wants your new shotguns for her crew and the grenades you used at Deriva¡­ In a sense, she wants every weapon you have made.¡±


    ¡°Yay, customers. Might wanna start calling me the lord of war¡­ No,¡± Tom replied, trying to emphasize just how not interested he was. This was not something he wanted to deal with now, to say the absolute least.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, some of these we can make ourselves,¡± Twitch replied, looking down at the bomb. ¡°I¡¯ve been fiddling with this for a while. Tink just helped out.¡±


    Tom rather wanted to protest that but wasn¡¯t entirely sure he could. ¡°Right¡­¡±


    ¡°I will say, though, making that boom powder stuff sounds nastier than expected. Why do you have to use bat shit of all things?¡±


    ¡°You have been liberal with the secrets I see?¡± Tom questioned, glaring at Tink.


    ¡°What¡­ he¡¯s a demo expert.¡±


    ¡°Nunuk, shout some more at him when we are done.¡° The lady huffed a little in response, Tom noting she probably required a bit more respect than that. ¡°Sorry¡­ Right, if you try and make any of that stuff just¡­ at least show me what you are planning before getting started. I would rather you don¡¯t blow yourselves up.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much. I''ll be sure to consult you,¡± Twitch replied with an evil grin.


    ¡®You little fucker. You planned this. You¡¯re hardly drunk,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself. He would have to think about that later. ¡®Well played Twitch, Well played.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m gonna go sleep some more. Come wake me up if that one floats off or drops dead,¡± Tom went, looking at Tink junior while pointing at his dad. Then he turned to leave, putting the ear defenders back on as Nunuk started shouting again with renewed gusto.


    ¡®I hate hangovers.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had gone to help oversee the kids to make sure they didn¡¯t hurt themselves or do anything too stupid. Both male dragons were out cold. Grevi and Glira were seemingly awake, just not moving much, though they had retreated to a safe distance away from the swarm of kids.


    Ray was currently overseeing proceedings on Tiguan while Saph was stationed on Jarix. Zarko and Radexi were currently working on Jarix¡¯s harness, which was quite hard when A) Jarix was sleeping on his side, B) The kids were still trying to decorate him, which included his harness, and C) Jarix wasn¡¯t lying still, often scratching himself and rolling about. He usually moved when a kid decided that dangling from his ear or horn would be funny. or when someone tried to tickle him.


    Of course, the kids were only emboldened when the dragon didn¡¯t actually wake up, and even Saph had to agree it was quite a fun game, but it certainly gave her enough to do. They kept her busy running around to make sure no one got crushed or got too rough in their playing.


    Then the rain came. Saph really wanted to go back inside, but sadly it was actually warm enough the kids didn¡¯t immediately make a run for the keep. Instead, they started to run around, trying to find water to throw at each other as small puddles started to form.


    It did manage to wake the dragons up though, Jarix slowly starting to stir beneath her as she grabbed Turinia before she slid off the now wet dragon.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jarix eventually questioned, head lifting off the ground. ¡°Awww it¡¯s raining¡­ dammit.¡±


    ¡°Morning sleepy head. Just for your information, it¡¯s afternoon, and you might still be drunk,¡± Zarko went, sliding down the dragon¡¯s side as well and walking up to his head, demanding his attention. The apparently slightly confused dragon looked down at her. ¡°How many fingers?¡± she questioned, holding up her hand.


    ¡°Some,¡± the dragon answered disinterestedly, looking around as if trying to figure out where he was. ¡°Why am I down here?¡±


    ¡°You fell asleep while Nunuk was checking you over.¡±


    ¡°Why was she doing that?¡± the dragon slurred, clearly still inebriated.


    ¡®Oh nooo,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, pondering if this would make the afternoon more fun or just more work.


    ¡°You fell during the race¡­ You do remember the race, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ Yeah¡­ My head kinda hurts too¡­ Did I lose a tooth?¡±


    ¡°Yup. The nimblest dragon in the sky, that I know of at least, and you got knocked down by a damn tree root¡­ At least you had the decency to rip it straight out of the ground.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least I beat the tree stump,¡± he chuckled, sounding rather dopey.


    ¡°That you did. Now, more rain is coming. Wanna try and get inside?¡± Zarko questioned, clearly having switched to the best approximation of a motherly tone the lieutenant could likely manage.


    Jarix just looked up at the rather distant platform, then around at the kids playing in the water puddles. ¡°Nah storm¡¯s coming, I like storms¡­ Been a while since we last had one.¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡­ Guess it¡¯s gonna get rather nasty,¡± Zarko went under her breath. ¡°Would you mind maybe moving over next to Tiguan then? You know how it is.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Jarix replied, getting up and spreading his wings out wide, making essentially a walking umbrella. Saph took Turinia and moved to be under Jarix¡¯s left wing, walking with him and keeping an eye on the kids running around. As long as they kept burning energy they should be fine, even in the cooling rain. She just needed to keep an eye on anyone who might be getting too cold.


    Tiguan had curled up on the rocks, head tucked under a wing and tail wrapped around himself as he lay there unmoving.


    ¡°You up, Tigs?¡± Jarix asked in a raised voice as they approached.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m up¡­ Worlds still a little funny though,¡± Tiguan replied, his head rising up from under his wing. ¡°What''s up?¡±


    ¡°Not much. Mind if I lay down here? I think the rocks will be better if it keeps raining. Don¡¯t like mud.¡±


    ¡°Sure, farmer boy.¡± Tiguan chuckled with a big smile, looking back under his wing. ¡°All good in here?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± came the chirpy sounding voice of Ray, a few kids joining in.


    ¡°Looks like you have become a tent, Tigs,¡± Jarix concluded with a chuckle.


    ¡°I guess. If only I was a red, then they would be warm and comfy too,¡± the black dragon replied, seemingly quite happy with the situation, even if Saph had a hard time trying to gauge if he was drunk or not.


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re black, a little soot wouldn¡¯t do much; maybe they could make a fire?¡± Jarix replied, laughing uproariously at his own joke.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ ¡°


    ¡°No, Tiguan, we are not lighting a fire under your wing just to make the kids warm,¡± Yilditz spoke up in a sterner tone, head sticking out from under the dragon¡¯s wing.


    ¡°But why not?¡± the dragon pleaded, looking down at the lieutenant, who looked like the only thing standing between him and a facepalm was his dignity.


    ¡°Because you are drunk, and it¡¯s full of kids in here,¡± Ylditz protested. Saph snickered a little, and Zarko, who was standing next to her, just shook her head and let out a sigh.


    ¡°But it might make me warm too,¡± Tiguan tried again, clearly not willing to yield that easily on this subject.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it done before,¡± Jarix seconded.


    Saph decided to lend her voice. ¡°Yeah, Arch did it back when he was attacked by darklings in the night.¡±


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake, fine. If you want to light yourself on fire, be my guest,¡± Ylditz replied, clearly not happy with the idea.


    ¡°I wanna be warm too. We could make like an even bigger tent,¡± Jarix added enthusiastically.


    ¡®Yup, he¡¯s still drunk,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself as Tiguan¡¯s face came back out of its hidey hole.


    ¡°Great idea!¡±


    ¡°Now hang on a second,¡± Zarko said nervously, clearly not finding it that funny anymore.


    ¡°Too late,¡± Jarix laughed as Tiguan carefully started stirring, making room for Jarix as the two of them formed a ring. Saph was all too happy to go help get some wood once the ad hoc construction was complete. Leaving child supervision to Ray, she took Zarko along to help pick up the few stragglers that were hiding under roofs and by the sides of buildings here and there, coming back with two armfuls of firewood.


    At least they nearly made it back before it turned from rather regular rain into a truly torrential downpour, everyone quickly running back to the dragons to make shelter. Jarix made an opening for them, everyone rushing inside as he closed it behind them.


    ¡°Jarix protects his crew!¡± Kiran let out triumphantly, patting the dragon as Saph placed the wood in the center and tried to shake herself dry.


    To Saph''s surprise, it was actually incredibly cozy in here. They ended up with a roughly circular room, with dragon making up the walls, wings as the roof, and the two heads sticking into the space from opposite directions. The dragon''s legs and tails, some of which jutted into the space, were being used as seating by some of the dragonettes. Saph appropriated Kiran''s seat, picking the little guy up and putting him on her lap as she sat down where he had been, the rain hammering away on the stretched out wing membranes, making quite the racket.


    Not all the water was kept out, of course. Holdey let out a shriek as some of it ran off Jarix¡¯s wing and down his back, soaking the poor kid halfway through. Most of the other kids just laughed though, Vigon being the loudest. Seconds later he was splashed with quite a lot of water Jarix snickering as Vigon protested loudly.


    Yilditz had reluctantly retrieved a tinderbox from Tiguan¡¯s harness and was now getting started helping Zarko with the fire. The kids giggled and marvelled at their living tent, Holdey making his way over to Tiguan¡¯s head, just holding onto an ear and sitting next to the dragon.


    ¡°This is nice,¡± Tiguan almost purred, inching his head just a bit closer to Holdey.


    ¡°I told you kids you were gonna like him,¡± Ylditz added with a chuckle as the fire started sputtering to life.


    ¡°Anyone up for a camp song?¡± Zarko questioned, as the fire slowly took hold.


    ¡°But you can¡¯t sing?¡± Jarix countered, seeming genuinely curious.


    ¡°Thanks, big guy. Really.¡±


    ¡°Essy, can sing,¡± Kiran added helpfully.


    ¡°Grevi too,¡± Ylditz went with a shrug. ¡±There are not a lot of dragons that can sing.¡±


    ¡°I certainly haven''t heard it before,¡± Saph agreed.


    ¡°It was pretty,¡± Turinia piped up, having a go at trying to mimic the song from yesterday.


    ¡°Hang on, you were still up then?¡± Saph questioned, looking quizzically at the kid.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ no,¡± Turinia replied, failing very hard at being convincing.


    ¡°You were quite loud,¡± Holdey added, pretty much lying on Tiguan¡¯s head by now.


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that,¡± Yldtiz went, prodding the fire a little. The rain had intensified once again, to the point that Ylditz had nearly had to shout.


    ¡°I guess we are gonna be here for a while!¡± Saph laughed out, ruffling Kiran¡¯s head a little. Then there was a thunderous boom. All of them gave a quick start at the loud noise, and a few of the younger kids suddenly looked less happy.


    ¡°Now, now. It''s just a little thunder. Everything is fine,¡± Yilditz went, getting up and walking over to the other side of Tiguan¡¯s head, hugging him as best he could manage. Tiguan looked less than happy, to say the very least.


    ¡°I know¡­ I just don¡¯t like it,¡± the dragon whimpered, Saph¡¯s shoulders sagging. Though she smiled a little as Holdey seemed to redouble his hug on the dragon, and Kiran got up from her lap, running over and giving Tiguan¡¯s snout a big hug.


    ¡°Now now, just lightning,¡± the kid echoed as more and more of the kids got up to go hug the dragon. Some of the more scared ones hid under his neck or in the crook of his legs.


    The dragon froze in place, eyes darting around, clearly afraid to squish a kid, though his expression seemed somewhere between incredulity and pure happiness. Yilditz took a step back, smiling wide and clearly admiring the situation. As another thundercrack rang out, Tiguan tensed, a few kids letting out alarmed squeaks as most of them set about either hugging or petting the dragon. Tiguan quickly calmed down again and let out a happy rumble, his smile returning as he looked around the little ¡°tent.¡±


    Saph just leaned back on Jarix, smiling wide. ¡®Now that¡¯s a happy dragon.¡¯

 Debrief

    Chapter 136: Debrief


    It had certainly been quite fun in their "little tent," that wasn''t quite so little. They were singing camp songs as they waited out the worst of the storm. Jarix had decided against joining in, but Tiguan had taken great delight in trying to sing along. The dragon really couldn¡¯t sing, so it had taken quite a while before Saph realized he didn¡¯t seem to actually know any of the songs, even some of the simplest and most well-known ones.


    ¡®Where did you grow up?¡¯ Saph pondered, looking at the happy dragon that only tensed when another lightning bolt struck somewhere before getting back to the happy little songs. Ylditz had come over to sit with her, making a noble effort to sing along as well for a bit, even though singing clearly didn¡¯t suit the lieutenant.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him this happy in well¡­ since last we came here,¡± Ylditz chuckled as he stopped singing. ¡°What is it with this place?¡±


    ¡°What can I say? We are pretty great,¡± Saph smirked before going back to the song. Then a massive crack rang out as lightning struck the keep above them, the glare shining through the dragon¡¯s wings as the kids bolted in horror, hiding wherever they could. Ray let out a squeak as some kids dragged her over backward into cover behind one of Tiguan¡¯s hind legs.


    Yldtiz sprang to his feet, going over the wide-eyed Tiguan, who was seemingly stiff with fear. He just stood next to Tiguan¡¯s head and stroked the dragon¡¯s neck soothingly.


    ¡°That was a big one,¡± Jarix replied calmly, raising his head outside to see what happened. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it broke anything.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. You okay, Tigs?¡± Ylditz questioned after giving Tiguan a few seconds to calm down.


    ¡°Yup,¡± the dragon meekly replied, clearly lying.


    ¡°Maybe we should head inside. Dinner¡¯s probably gonna be done soon,¡± Saph tried, looking down and noticing that one of the Deriva kids had hidden under her left wing. She just gave the kid a little pat on the head and a warm smile.


    ¡°We are not flying in this weather. We are staying here to ride it out,¡± Ylditz protested. ¡°Besides, the keep will shield us from any strikes. We¡¯re safe here.¡± The lieutenant just kept stroking Tiguan, some of the braver kids starting to recover and joining in. After a bit, Ray¡¯s confused head eventually poked up from her involuntary hiding spot, looking around at all of them.


    ¡°Should we maybe try another song?"


    ¡°Yes! We scare storm away!¡± Kiran declared, poking up from next to her with a fierce expression on his face. ¡°Stupid storm scare Tigs!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­ It¡¯s just not so nice,¡± Tiguan replied, looking ready to start shivering as Ray just started another happy song. Saph quickly joined in, putting the kid that had hidden behind her in her lap. Tiguan muttered the lyrics to himself as they went.


    It had kept pouring, and the water running in under Tiguan eventually messed with the fire making it sputter a bit. They retreated up onto the dry dragons, trying not to get cold feet. It kept burning, though, through the constant tending of Ylditz and Saph (though she mainly helped keep it going with a little wing flapping while he actually did the work). Eventually, Luke had stuck his head inside, looking quite miserable.


    ¡°You people free for dinner, or are you having too much fun out here in the pouring rain?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad actually,¡± Ray had piped up, looking around at the kids, who were all huddled in close with each other. ¡°We could just go fetch some food.¡±


    ¡°You want to bring the food down here¡­ It¡¯s literally just up there,¡± Luke protested, slack-eared, pointing back up at the keep.


    ¡°Makes it easier to carry, come on,¡± Ray chirped, getting up. Zarko took the excuse to get away from all the kids and joined her. It was pretty clear her patience had been tested a little thus far, so she could probably use a break by now. That left just Saph and Yldtiz to keep track of everyone. It was at times like this she wished Lothal wasn¡¯t spending so much of his time shadowing Dakota and Nunuk. The kid was in for a crash course on being a noble though, couldn¡¯t both do that and help Saph baby sit.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Dinner had ended up being a pretty cozy affair with most of them packed in tight at the tables shoulder to shoulder. Saph and the kids were apparently taking a dragon-tent based camping trip in the middle of a storm, for whatever reason. At least, Jacky had claimed so as they sat down.


    Tom¡¯s head was doing quite a bit better by now, even if the hangover was not all gone. The extra bit of sleep with the nice cool woman had definitely helped. The mood was still good around the keep, nothing like the day before, but still, it wasn¡¯t half bad. There was a hell of a lot of muttering going on around the tables, and a group of people from Deriva having taken over the kid¡¯s table now that they were otherwise preoccupied. Most of the food was leftovers from the feast, so that wasn¡¯t half bad either. Maiko had come looking for Sapphire only to catch her coming up to fetch some more food for their little expedition downstairs. He had followed her down, arms full of food.


    ¡°I wonder if Glira and Grevi are gonna be jealous the boys are getting company today?¡± Jacky questioned, leaning her head on Tom as she chewed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I heard Grevi and Glira are staying out in the rain voluntarily?¡± Essy questioned, taking a bite of her food. ¡°Four dragons out in the rain and the greeting hall is empty.¡±


    ¡°Well, the two of them set up camp, and I don¡¯t think Grevi could handle any more boy¡¯s talk. Fairly sure they were expecting the two drunkards to end up taking over the greeting hall,¡± Fengi replied with a shrug. ¡°Not like they would want to fly in this weather anyway, and Nunuk would be furious if they scratched up the keep any more than Tiguan managed yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Well, Glira proudly proclaimed that she would be a stout defender of this keep no matter the conditions. Never seen her act this gallantly,¡± Kulk, Glira¡¯s healer, went as she walked up next to Essy. ¡°Okay if I sit here?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± the huntress replied, scooting over a little to make room.


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better, Tom, I would say Jacky was about to get competition from a dragon,¡± Fengi laughed, all the girls except Jacky snickering a bit at that.


    ¡°I think she would meet her match¡± Jacky replied, confident as ever.


    Tom just shook his head a little. ¡®Girls¡¯ he mused to himself as he savored the precious potato with the best approximation of danish brown sauce he could manage. ¡®Not home, but close enough.¡¯


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Afraid she¡¯ll come snatch you away in the night to slave away making weapons for her?¡± Jacky continued, breaking out into full-on laughter, poking at the silent Tom.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly a scary proposition,¡± Tom admitted, taking a drink of water as Jacky¡¯s laughter began anew. ¡®Dammit woman.¡¯


    ¡°There we go, it¡¯s been a while since we got him properly flustered. You¡¯ve desensitized the poor guy,¡± Fengi added. Tom looked back to her, a smile growing on his face.


    ¡°Careful now. Or I might start giving Unkai ideas for you two to try out.¡±


    At that Fengi seemed to somehow choke a bit on some food, reaching for some water. ¡°Whaaat?... nooo...¡±


    Essy just looked at Tom with a knowing smile. He was certain she knew the whole story, but he had no doubt she would not be telling. ¡°Oh come on. He¡¯s a nice guy, nothing to be ashamed of,¡± he tried again, looking at her. He had honestly been expecting the two of them to be sitting together right now.


    ¡°Tillar is not a half-bad name either. You did always want a family name after all,¡± Essy added in a kinder tone, looking to Fengi, who was clearly feeling rather cornered right now.


    ¡°I know¡­ It sucks to always have to say, ¡®Nope¡­ Just Fengi¡¯ to everyone who asks¡­ I hate it,¡± she replied, clearly finding that part of it more comfortable.


    ¡°Fengi. Tillar. I think it works,¡± Essy said with a soft smile. ¡°The real question is: why is he sitting over there?¡± She pointed over her shoulder at the guard¡¯s table, and a quick glance confirmed Unkai was getting a similar treatment from all the guards. If his ears were anything to go by, Unkai was looking rather embarrassed too at the moment.


    ¡°I¡­ Is no one gonna mention Saph wandering off with Maiko?¡± Fengi questioned hopefully, eyes darting around the table.


    Essy stared at her for a second or two before shrugging going back to her food, Fengi visibly letting out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Well, what is there to say? The two seem to like each other. Maiko is completely infatuated with her. Let¡¯s be honest, who wouldn¡¯t be, and she¡¯s clearly testing him slowly, I don¡¯t really know why. I guess she doesn¡¯t quite trust him yet.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t either,¡± Kulk added as she finished chewing. ¡°That guy is trouble most of the time. Never seen him like this before, though. Still, she¡¯ll do well to test him thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°I smell a good story,¡± Essy replied, looking at the healer intently.


    ¡°Guy is great at getting people to trust him quick; it¡¯s literally his job when we are training. Earn the recruits¡¯ trust then report what they are doing. If they do anything we particularly disapprove of, we deal with it. He once ratted on Morina, that¡¯s one of the reds Jarix trained with, for stealing food from... I think it was some of the city¡¯s winter stocks. Result. She¡¯s still in training while the rest of them are out and about being put through their paces.¡±


    ¡°Jarix ever do anything like that?¡± Tom questioned, suddenly sounding interested.


    ¡°No, he was too lazy for any of the more complicated stuff. Most of his grievances tended to revolve around getting out of work however possible. You would not imagine the number of ways a dragon can pretend to be sick. And surprisingly few people are willing to go near a dragon that¡¯s pretending to have a bad cough, lightning included.¡±


    ¡°Then along came Zarko, and she just didn¡¯t give a shit. They were flying, even if they would light up the sky every now and again. Jarix was a lot less sick after he figured that out.¡±


    ¡°I can believe that,¡± Essy nodded as Jacky leaned forward.


    ¡°What about Glira. She¡¯s acting strange, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh hell yeah, she wants a new toy. She¡¯ll chase that goal till the end of the world now. She will have it. It¡¯s just a question of when,¡± Kulk replied flatly, looking to Tom. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s not gonna steal it or blackmail you or anything like that¡­ Actually, blackmail might be on the table in the long run.¡± She corrected with a shrug. ¡°She¡¯ll wait till you¡¯re dead and buy it off the next in line if she has to. For the time being, she¡¯s trying to be ¡®worthy of it.¡¯ ¡±


    Tom just chuckled flatly, pondering just how to deal with that situation. Jarix had been much the same if he was being honest, so it wasn¡¯t hard to see where it was coming from, but still. Glira was both quite a lot larger and didn¡¯t strike him as quite so well adjusted as Jarix had at least become. Nor did she strike him as the type to be easily molded, at least not outside of pretending to be whatever she felt would do the trick.


    ¡°Oh right, by the way. The major would like to ask you to please just keep this whole ¡®work to be worthy¡¯ thing up. She hasn¡¯t been this easy to deal with in years,¡± Kulk continued after she finished chewing.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°I can do that... Actually, why not make use of it? What do you think we could make her do?¡± Tom questioned with a devious smile leaning in. This might be a dangerous game, but why not. Glira was the one that couldn¡¯t take a no for an answer after all.


    ¡°What do you need? As long as she doesn¡¯t figure out you are deliberately having her do dumb things she¡¯ll do it I think.¡±


    Tom just looked around the table as if searching for ideas, eyes landing on Jacky.


    ¡°We could have her fill our pantries for us¡­ pleasure cruise to see the island¡­ A lot of racing. Wait, I could beat Saphire. She¡¯s faster than Jarix, right?¡±


    ¡°Afraid not, nothing can beat the boy for speed or turns. She might outpace him on a long enough distance. But if you want a few tons of supplies moved somewhere in a hurry, she¡¯s your girl.¡±


    ¡°How long would it take for you girls to kill half a ton of prey ?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at the huntresses at the table.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We might need a time limit for this little competition of ours.¡±


    ¡°Oh, a competition,¡± Jacky snickered. ¡°Well, are we hunting rabbits or Tirox? That¡¯s gonna be quite important,¡± she questioned, looking to him with a kind smile.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Tirox would just hand the win to Glira. We saw how he struggled to get airborne last time.¡±


    ¡°You had him carry a whole Tirox home for you?¡± Kulk questioned, tilting her head with a bemused expression.


    ¡°Yeah, in the future we might cut it up instead.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea. Still, thanks for keeping up his training, I guess,¡± Kulk went, holding up a curled fist, Tom giving it a tentative bump.


    ¡°We could do a trophy hunt instead?¡± Jacky added after a few seconds of awkward silence.


    ¡°Oh, looking to finally fulfill your little promise to get me that trophy?¡± Tom chuckled.


    ¡°Well, would you have been happy with some deer antlers or a feather collection?¡± she replied with a chuff.


    ¡°Probably, if you killed it,¡± Tom admitted, taking another bite of food.


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t have. Besides, what would that say about me? A Furlong that couldn¡¯t kill more than a damn crown goose?¡±


    ¡°You got a damn medal; you don¡¯t get to talk like that,¡± Essy corrected with a slight shrug, looking to Dakota, who had come walking over.


    ¡°You are turning into quite the warrior. Just like your mother always wanted. You might suck with a sword, but I don¡¯t think it will be long until you best me in the ring,¡± the gilded huntress replied, giving Jacky a pat on the shoulder.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re just trying to make me feel better.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Dakota admitted, a slight smile showing on her face.


    ¡°Well, we all know one ring she started winning in,¡± Pho piped up from further down the table, clearly wanting to be part of the conversation.


    ¡°Yeah, someone seems to have solved the cooling problem,¡± Fengi added, Tom starting to sense that the level of girl talk in the air was about to become uncomfortable.


    ¡°At least it was over sooner without all those breaks,¡± Essy said, seemingly busier with her food. Tom knew better though; no way she could resist a little gossip after all.


    ¡°Poor Kokashi,¡± Tom just stated, not looking at her. ¡°Imagine having to stay up all night listening to someone else have fun,¡± he continued, sounding a touch unimpressed as Jacky near enough choked on some food. Essy just gave him the stink eye as he smiled at her. ¡°I think those armbands might be useful for more than just fun though.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah, I want to try them with my armor. I¡¯ll beat the crap out of all of you in the ring,¡± Jacky boasted, still trying to clear her throat, coughing and spluttering.


    ¡°What armbands?¡± Dakota questioned, head tilting.


    ¡°Cooling bands, Tom made a pair. They¡¯re silver too,¡± she replied proudly, straightening her back.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s pretty cool,¡± Fengi admitted, looking to Tom.


    Tom just looked at Kulk with a knowing expression, the military healer nodding to him before going back to her food. It had only cost a candy to get her to tell him what she knew of those bands, which had been more than worth it to know that they wouldn¡¯t hurt Jacky unless she forgot to take them off.


    ¡°Oh, so that was the gift,¡± Essy let out before realizing what she just said. ¡°That I heard you might have gotten.¡±


    ¡°Busted,¡± Fengi just laughed out, as it was now Dakota¡¯s turn to give someone the stink eye.


    ¡°We have talked about this, Essy. Privacy is a thing around here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, remember how we punished Tom for breaking into Saph¡¯s room?... Damn, that was a while ago actually,¡± Jacky added, trying to copy Dakota in looking damningly at Esmeralda.


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t just talk about them, show them?¡± Fengi let out, looking at Jacky with big puppy eyes.


    ¡°I really want to have them polished first. He kinda made them without mom knowing,¡± Jacky whispered, leaning in.


    ¡°Oh come on, I wanna see them,¡± Fengi tried again, Jacky shaking her head a bit before leaning back and getting up.


    ¡°Okay then,¡± she stated, walking off towards the stairs.


    Tom just shrugged as they all took a second to ponder what to talk about next.


    ¡°Anywho, anyone heard how Tink¡¯s doing?¡± Fengi questioned, sitting back down with a content smile.


    ¡°In bed now. He¡¯s not doing so hot by the sound of it,¡± Dakota replied with a grumble.


    ¡°Fucking idiot,¡± Tom replied, shaking his head.


    ¡°Now, now, be nice. I think Nunuk did in his ears when he made it to the infirmary, and it¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t done any stupid things while drunk, now have you?¡± Essy questioned, looking at Tom with a rather damming look. ¡°Or do you only get shouted at if you aren¡¯t human?¡±


    Tom Didn¡¯t respond going for another bite of food finding it empty. ¡®god dammit¡¯ he grumbled to himself refusing to look at Essy.


    ¡°He messed up while drunk, go easy on him. Think it¡¯ll hurt him?¡± Essy questioned, her tone growing a bit softer.


    ¡°We got no clue really. Should have done more mouse tests, I think. Even if Wiperna shouldn¡¯t know,¡± Tom relented, turning to look at her. ¡°Not like we would truly know even if we had though.¡±


    ¡°Well, sounds like you got your test then,¡± Kulk added with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s normally hard to find people willing to try out stuff that might kill them.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s worst for Junior. He tries so hard to keep his father in check, I doubt he¡¯s happy right now.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ no, he wouldn¡¯t be,¡± Tom admitted, looking down again.


    ¡°Well, what are you sitting here for? Shoo,¡± Essy went, waving him away. ¡°You¡¯re done eating, and you have work to do. We¡¯ll tell Jacky where you went once she comes back.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Tom replied, cursing himself. Poor kid hadn¡¯t done anything wrong, and now his dad was sick. Still, couldn¡¯t be nice¡­ and he had told him to just come tell him if his dad got worse¡­ ¡®Goddammit, hung over Tom is an arse,¡¯ Tom went, getting back up. ¡°I¡¯ll be back¡­¡±


    Tom made his way to the infirmary, pondering how to be nice to Junior without just letting Tink off the hook. The inventor had seemed fine earlier, if still rather drunk but that had only been a few hours ago after all.


    Opening the door, Tink was lying in one of the beds with a blanket and some weights keeping him in it. Junior was sitting on a chair by the foot of the bed shooting to his feet as Tom entered.


    ¡°No change in¡­ levitation?¡± Tom went, playing with the word and trying not to sound too serious.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Tink replied with a shrug, seeming rather unworried, even though it was pretty clear he was rather weak.


    ¡°I am sorry I didn¡¯t keep a better eye on him, Sir,¡± Junior let out, snapping to attention.


    ¡°At ease, soldier,¡± Tom chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m no sir, we aren¡¯t soldiers, and that¡¯s not your fault nor your job,¡± Tom replied, looking the young man in the eye. ¡®At least not officially,¡¯ he thought to himself, putting on a smile. Junior looked unsure what to do, just nodding instead. The kid clearly liked playing soldier after all. Not that that was a surprise, any idiot could tell he went all starry-eyed when he got to talk with any of the officers they had running around¡­ Maybe Tom should humor him or even call a favor or two? It might cheer the kid up after all... That was for later, though, he concluded as he looked to the stricken inventor in the bed.


    ¡°So, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Not great if I¡¯m honest¡­ Feel like I¡¯m gonna puke,¡± the inventor replied, Tom swearing his cheeks seemed a little blue.


    ¡°Not surprising, all things considered.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Tink sighed, leaning his head back into the pillow.


    ¡°Good. Means you learned something. Now we just need to make sure you make it. How much did you drink?¡±


    ¡°Only half a cylinder¡­ We tried upping the dose until something happened. Junior has the rest.¡±


    ¡°Right, we¡¯ll consider what that was worth later,¡± Tom replied, glancing at the kid then back to Tink. ¡°Have you puked?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ about an hour ago, but I drank it last night.¡±


    ¡°It would be in your system by now,¡± Tom replied, trying not to grimace.


    ¡°Yeah, Nunuk told me.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Gotta be honest, I have no clue what to do here.¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Apuma went, walking in and seeming quite excited. His arms were full of papers, a familiar earring dangling from his ear, Linkosta hot on his heels. ¡°Our dear lady told me you were getting worse and that Tom was unfit to deal with it today. I guess you have gotten better.¡± The old man questioned with a smile looking at Tom.


    ¡°In the future, I would like to be around when you try something like that,¡± Linkosta added with a smile, her attention focused on the inventor before putting down what looked like alchemical supplies on a table. ¡°There we go.¡±


    ¡°You found something that can help him?¡± Junior asked hopefully, looking at the supplies.


    ¡°The colonel might have¡­ or more likely some scared paper pusher working away down in the vault under her watchful gaze,¡± Apuma smile at the kid.


    ¡°Dad, you are a paper pusher,¡± Linkosta interjected as she started arranging her supplies.


    ¡°Oh shush, I¡¯m your father. Show a little respect,¡± the old man grumped, though still smiling. ¡°Nunuk told her of the discovery that the oil worked for dragonettes after your little encounter down in the workshop. Sounds like Victoria decided to take an interest in having a look for anything on the subject.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Tom questioned, hoping this was good news.


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna die,¡± Linkosta interrupted. ¡°If we don¡¯t give him something to cancel it out.¡±


    Tom looked to Junior, who had gone white as a newborn and was staring wide-eyed at the mage, not saying anything.


    ¡°What have I told you about good news first?¡± Apuma scolded her before looking at Junior. ¡°Got that cylinder still?¡± Junior just handed it over absent-mindedly, eyes locking on his dad.


    ¡°Excellent, apparently this stuff can work both ways,¡± Apuma went, shaking the little cylinder. Linkosta was already setting up a little work area, scribbling runes on a little blackboard and arranging some odd-looking ingredients. There were some flowers he didn¡¯t recognize, what looked like sulfur, and some very shiny black shards that looked like glass.


    ¡°So you are gonna make anti-gravity oil¡­ Wait, no, that doesn¡¯t work¡­¡±


    ¡°You can figure out the name later. Now the book said this should be easy.¡±


    ¡°You have a book on this¡±


    ¡°No but Victoria does¡± Apuma clarified tapping the ear ring. ¡°This is exciting, I''ve never tried something like this before.¡±


    Tom could actually hear Tink and Junior swallow in unison.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you two. I told you. This should be easy¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You mean to tell me we have been sitting on top of an ancient vault of who knows what for years?¡± Lady Deriva questioned, not getting up from her chair in the grand hall. After they were done eating and the news from the infirmary seemed to indicate Tink was in fact gonna be fine, they had set up all the chairs to do a little announcement for the sake of the folks from Deriva.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Nunuk replied from her raised seat. ¡°It¡¯s worse than that I¡¯m afraid. As you heard from Baron, these things, these machines, are apparently more than myth and legend. My beloved husband Apuma even managed to find an old storybook of fairy tales talking of ¡®the flying keep.¡¯ It¡¯s just a children¡¯s story, but it may hold more truths than we ever imagined.¡±


    ¡°Now. What we need you to do is simple¡­ Nothing,¡± Dakota added after Nunuk fell silent. ¡°We need to learn and to understand what we are dealing with here. From what we know, many things are gonna be changing in the coming times. The Inquisition has collected and suppressed this knowledge for centuries. Millennia even. Yet now there are apparently talks of opening their vaults too. Mark my words, change is coming.¡±


    ¡°Is it because of the attacks? There have been more like ours, right?¡± Luke questioned anxiously as his mother rubbed her chin next to him.


    ¡°We believe so. It sounds like they fear a war is coming. One we are not ready for. From what the Investigator said, there are split opinions on the subject within the Inquisition itself. This is why we want you to do nothing. There is nothing special under our keep. You don¡¯t even know that we found some old mine shafts. It¡¯s for your own good.¡±


    ¡°What of your new weapons? We have seen Tom fight, and now you carry some of the same weapons. I know it¡¯s asking a lot here, but...¡± Luke tried, clearly hopeful.


    ¡°We won¡¯t arm you. It would only make you more of a target. Some may even attack you just to get their hands on these weapons if they find out.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Lady Deriva added, raising her voice only a little. ¡°My home has endured enough. We would only make ourselves a target¡­ We depart tomorrow morning heading for home. You have been kind in the extreme. You will always be welcome in our halls for as long as they stand.¡±


    ¡°You are more than welcome. We will see the end of this messy year. Who knows, in time we might get to properly reap the rewards of all this work. When that time comes, I¡¯m sure there will be a spot at the table for you all,¡± Nunuk went with a warm smile, leaning back in her chair.


    ¡°What have you got in mind?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t quite know yet, but I have a feeling we will be expanding in the future. That is to come though. For now, let¡¯s have a relaxing evening, and we will see you on your way tomorrow if the weather is willing.¡±


    ¡°By the gods, they are being formal today for some reason,¡± Jacky whispered into Tom¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m surprised it¡¯s not being written down,¡± he replied, looking around, trying to spot Linkosta. Apuma was still with Tink and it would seem so was Linkosta. either that or Tom sucked at finding her.


    ¡°... Should we be?¡±


    ¡°Best not to, secrets and all. Bit bummed out Tiguan isn¡¯t staying longer. Such is life though.¡± Tom shrugged. ¡°I wonder what Dragon camping might be like.


    ¡°Sell Glira some bombs and I¡¯m sure she would take you camping,¡± Jacky snickered.


    ¡°Haha, very funny. We do need to know what to do on that front though,¡± Tom replied, still keeping his voice low. ¡°Let¡¯s start with trying to make some of the new ideas work for Jarix though.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah. We are gonna need more flash powder though, you know that right?¡±


    ¡°I know. I¡¯ll have to have a chat with the major or Victoria about that. It can¡¯t be long until we get a visit from the Inquisition either, which I¡¯m not looking forward to.¡±


    ¡°Just, you know. Don¡¯t try to fight them,¡± Jacky replied with an unusual amount of worry in her voice.


    ¡°If you¡¯re saying it like that, I guess that really is a bad idea?¡±


    ¡°You were considering that?¡± she questioned, clearly swallowing.


    ¡°No, not really. They might force our hand, but I doubt that would end well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ It would be a glorious battle though.¡± Even Jacky¡¯s bravado wasn¡¯t able to hide her discomfort with that idea.


    ¡°If you want fame and fortune remember, history is written by the victor. No one would hear the tale of the mighty Jackalope Furlong.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, how could they strike me from the records?¡± Jacky boasted, puffing out her chest.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it past them,¡± Tom teased, booping her snoot as Fengi cleared her throat next to them.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? You fought bravely on the dance floor,¡± Tom near enough snickered, prompting a glance from Fengi.


    ¡°And other places,¡± Jacky added with a snicker.


    ¡°Oh shut up, you two.¡±

 Hunger Games

    Chapter 137: Hunger Games


    ¡°So then, pipsqueak, ready to get your ass kicked?¡± Glira chuckled as her crew set about adjusting her nets, Jarix looking down to Tom and Saph pleadingly.


    It had been a busy few days of packing supplies and getting the Deriva Keep folk sent home. Saph had kept busy helping plan for winter as well as getting the keep back in order after the festival. It had been a few days, but they had finally gotten around to Glira and Jarix''s little hunting competition. Much to her surprise though, Jarix actually seemed to be less than confident, rather unlike his usual self.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure we can¡¯t convince Tom to let us use the fifty?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Saph replied as she was looking over her own gear, getting a little tired of answering that question. Tom had conceded to let him actually bring it after a lot of arguing concerning several points of varying credibility. Ranging from getting used to flying with it, what to do if the keep came under siege while they were gone, and needing the extra handholds for the huntresses.


    The dragon just grumbled a bit, swinging his head in under his chest to look at Zarko, who was herself hanging by her feet from his harness and working on Jarix''s own net. Glira might have more nets, but Jarix was the more experienced at using them for hunting by now, So their contest would boil down to Jarix''s hunting skill to compensate. It was all about headcount after all.


    ¡°Staring at me won¡¯t make it go faster¡¯,¡± the lieutenant grumbled as Jarix just kept staring at her.


    ¡°Hey, Zarko. How much to lead him astray just a little?¡± Glira asked with a chuckle as her own crew finished prepping for take-off.


    ¡°You think I¡¯m for sale?¡± the lieutenant replied, not looking away from her work, her back turned to the older blue.


    ¡°No, never¡­ I just think it could be funny since I¡¯m guessing he still hasn¡¯t learned to navigate by himself yet.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I can find my way to the forests and back no problem,¡± Jarix protested. Saph just shook her head a little. The guy had the sense of direction of a weathervane in a winter storm, that much she had learned by now. He had Zarko though, so she doubted their party was getting lost today, even if the autumn weather decided to ruffle their wings a little.


    ¡°Sure, and how many trips has that taken?¡±


    ¡°A few,¡± Jarix countered not terribly convincingly. ¡°What about it, old woman, need to send me astray to have a chance? In that case I could just give you a head start?¡±


    ¡°You better shut it or Tom is gonna need a new dragon here,¡± Glira chuckled with just a hint of a snarl to her tone, Jarix clearly not being impressed by her antics.


    ¡°Oh really? And who might that be then¡­ Tiguan?¡±


    ¡°Me, you overgrown lizard. I can do anything you can, but better,¡± Glira snapped, though still wearing a smile.


    ¡°For the small cost of eating three times as much and being completely insufferable,¡± Jarix countered, confidence clearly growing again. ¡°You would hate him if he got his claws into you.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t even have claws,¡± Glira dismissed, not seeming worried in the slightest.


    ¡°You do know this is Bizmati keep and not Hansen keep right,¡± Saph questioned, looking between the two of them. ¡°He hadn¡¯t bought the place yet¡±


    ¡°Well maybe that¡¯s how I prove my worth then¡± Glira all but laughed evily. ¡°I think I could afford the place if I wanted.


    ¡°I doubt it¡¯s for sale,¡± Saph clarified, not sounding terribly respectful. Glira just smirked though.


    ¡°Anything for sale for the right price.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not that rich mom. And I doubt dad is up for giving you finance¡± Jarix interrupted, Glira letting out an annoyed grunt, looking back to Kulk.


    ¡°Ready for take-off?¡±


    ¡°Ready when you are,¡± the healer confirmed, looking back to the three huntresses they were bringing. She would be Glira¡¯s officer for the day. Kulk hadn¡¯t wanted to go, but the major apparently had stuff to do at the keep, and she was Glira¡¯s second highest ranking officer. Saph guessed the majors schedule conflict had something to do with why Linkosta was still at the keep rather than down below. Well, aside from trying to figure out how to get Tink balanced again. Saph would put more money on Tom¡¯s patience with the mines having run out, or perhaps he had another scheme in the works. It was hard to tell these days.


    According to Jacky, Tom had been rather conflicted on the whole situation with Tink. Sure, the inventor should live, at least by the sound of it. Linkosta had assured them it would go away eventually, but for now the inventor had a tendency to start floating off or all of a sudden weighing much more, which had proven nearly catastrophic when he had been experimenting with floating through the air just using the wind to move him along. Further testing had been restricted to only a few feet off the ground.


    For now though, it was all about their little competition. That served Saph just fine too. It was gonna be her, Jacky, and Pho helping Jarix, with Essy, Fengi, and Bo making up Glira¡¯s hunting party. Essy was in charge of the other group¡¯s hunt. Or at least pretending to be in charge, as Glira decided what she wanted them to do. She had made it very clear when they had proposed their little idea that she would be in charge, especially once she found out the major wasn¡¯t coming. It was hardly a surprise though, that was more or less how it had worked up to this point if Glira had been on a hunt. The main difference now was that she was technically hunting for the keep rather than just the combat wing and the people down in the caves below, which was more than enough reason to humor her for the day.


    Glira smirked at Jarix as she took off running. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t wait for you!¡± she laughed out as she ran, eventually kicking off into the air.


    ¡°Sometimes I really hate that woman,¡± Jarix pouted, looking back at Zarko. ¡°We about done yet?¡±


    ¡°Just about. Don¡¯t want them coming off early,¡± Zarko replied as she tightened down the release knots.


    ¡°Well hurry it up, she¡¯ll be insufferable if we lose this. Where is Radexi?¡±


    ¡°Said he needed to grab something,¡± Zarko snarled, clearly quite tired of getting shouted at as Pho tried to help, getting told off once more. ¡°No, you don¡¯t touch anything. I¡¯ve seen the knots you make.¡±


    ¡°Just trying to help,¡± Pho pouted, crossing her arms and looking rather offended as she walked back a few steps to watch.


    ¡°What are we aiming for today?¡± Jacky questioned from Jarix¡¯s back, where she was busy securing the fifty cal one more time. Saph had no doubt that didn¡¯t need doing, but they were waiting on Zarko to finish anyway.


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s quick and easy, it¡¯s fair game,¡± Saph replied with a shrug.


    ¡°So like you on a drink night?¡± Jacky laughed. Saph decided against providing Jacky with a rebuttal, instead just sighing before continuing


    ¡°We are going for headcount here, not amount of meat.¡± Jacky didn''t even attempt to hold in her laughter as Saph cursed herself as she realized what she had said.


    ¡°I think you could have phrased that one better,¡± Jarix added, clearly trying hard not to join Jacky who sounded like she was in danger of falling off from shere laughing. She quickly shut up then when she caught sight of Radexi, who was trotting down the stairs.


    ¡°Sweeet. Did you get it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I got it,¡± the young man replied, clambering up Jarix and handing a satchel to Jacky.


    ¡°Do I even want to know what¡¯s in there?¡± Saph sighed.


    ¡°Shotgun shells. We are going bird hunting,¡± Jacky replied with an evil grin.


    ¡°I thought we were gonna try and net a large herd of deer?¡± Jarix questioned, swinging his head back to look at Jacky.


    ¡°You still are. But we three are gonna blow some ducks and geese out of the sky. It¡¯s migration season after all; they will be flying high and in groups,¡± Jackalope replied as she drew one of the guns from The modified holsters on Jarix¡¯s harness, checking if the weapon was clear.


    ¡°And how did you get your hands on a satchel of shotgun shells?¡± Saph questioned. Jarix did have some rounds on board as his ¡®ready ammo¡¯ as Tom had called it, but there was clearly a lot more than that in Jacky¡¯s new favorite handbag. Saph wasn¡¯t even sure she wanted to know the answer. She certainly had nothing against getting to try their new weapons on something aside from static targets.


    ¡°Battle practice. The duck, goose, or whatever tries to get away and we have to shoot the bugger,¡± Jacky smirked as she retrieved a bandoleer of the shells from the satchel.


    ¡°Is that one of Tom¡¯s belts?¡± Pho questioned, with evident envy in her voice.


    ¡°Damn right it is,¡± Jacky replied with a snicker as she put the belt on.


    ¡°Lucky you, I want a guy like that too.¡±


    ¡°We both know he¡¯s definitely the lucky one in our relationship,¡± Jacky chuckled, doing her best to look imposing, which wasn¡¯t hard standing next to a machine gun with a shotgun in her hand.


    ¡°Sure...¡± Pho replied, looking very jealous. ¡°Got more than just your own belt in there?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Yours are a more personal blue,¡± Jacky snickered, throwing down a leather bandolier for Pho and getting out a third one. ¡°Head¡¯s up, Saph.¡±


    Saph caught the belt and put it on, looking to Jarix. ¡°So what do you think of our chances now?¡±


    The dragon just pulled a crooked smile.


    ¡°Right, there we go. All aboard, and let¡¯s get our asses in the air. Now don¡¯t burn yourself out trying to catch her. We¡¯ll be out here for hours,¡± Zarko went rather sternly as she clambered around onto his back, not dropping off the harness as the dragon sighed.


    ¡°And I can fly for a day if I have to. I¡¯ll take the lead, you stick close,¡± he ordered, lining up for a good run-up between two of the new fields. Radexi jumped on just as Jarix set off, the young man hanging on to the fifty. Saph and the other huntresses got airborne under their own power for now, letting Jarix lead the formation.


    It hadn¡¯t taken very long before Jarix had ordered the three of them aboard though, seemingly not happy with the speed they were making, even with him breaking the wind for them. Saph joined Radexi in hanging on to the machine gun as it sat locked in its mount providing an excellent handhold. Pho being well¡­ Pho decided grabbing onto the dragon''s tail was an excellent idea, cheering as she bobbed up and down with every beat of Jarix¡¯s wings. It certainly spoke to Jarix''s determination to win that he didn''t even complain as they picked up speed, heading for the blue shape quite some ways ahead of them by now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not ruin the surprise, we don¡¯t want them to see the guns or really hear us if we can get away with it. Let''s hunt a bit further south; been a while since we¡¯ve been there,¡± Saph shouted out as they flew.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a lot further,¡± Zarko noted, looking back to Saph with an unsure expression.


    ¡°Yup, but I think it would be worth it, and we won¡¯t be flying into the wind when going home with a full load hopefully.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea. Jarix come right¡­ thirty-five degrees.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a tenth turn, right?¡± the dragon questioned, hesitating on the maneuver.


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Understood, right thirty-five degrees.¡±


    ¡°Thirty-six degrees,¡± Jacky shouted out, prompting looks from both Zarko and Radexi. ¡°It would be thirty-six degrees for a tenth turn¡­ just saying¡­ Well, thirty six point five.¡±


    ¡°No, you muppet, that¡¯s for days in a year. Remember he thinks there are 365 days in a year,¡± Saph shouted out shaking her head smiling wide. good old Jacky.¡¯


    ¡°Fuck, right, yeah thirty six degrees,¡± Jacky corrected with a shrug.


    ¡°Fine. Thirty-six degree right turn,¡± Jarix responded, executing the turn.


    ¡°What would thirty-five degrees be in fractions?¡± Pho questioned from her precarious position as she held on tight.


    ¡°It would be¡­ It would¡­ no¡­ I think¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Jacky admitted after clearly trying hard.


    ¡°This is so confusing,¡± Jarix protested as they changed direction.


    ¡°Stop complaining, it was you he managed to convince into using these degrees,¡± Zarko replied as she scouted ahead.


    ¡°And you were the one that didn¡¯t talk me out of it. He said it was very good for calling out shots and the like.¡±


    ¡°We already called out shots the old way!¡±


    ¡°But now only you would know what you are saying,¡± Jacky added enthusiastically. ¡°Also, are we there yet?¡±


    ¡®Dammit Jacky.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You want me to make sheets how large?¡± Shiva had questioned, clearly not impressed. She glared at Tom and Tink, who, despite their best efforts, were looking like kids asking permission to go outside.


    ¡°I mean, we could make several plates and then rivet them together. And you are a plate smith, right?¡± Tom tried, hoping he might be able to capitalize on the smith''s pride.


    ¡°I am an armor smith. As in plate armor. And correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but your plan is to fling this thing at the enemy, resulting in a fiery explosion?¡± she replied, her demeanor turning even darker.


    ¡°You remember when I promised you to make that cannon waaaay back?¡± Tom tried, still hopeful.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, this is gonna be even more powerful than any cannon we could realistically make. Hell, using this on a dragon would probably be a waste actually. Good chance of it being the biggest explosion this world has seen in decades.¡±


    ¡°No, a blitz gel storage facility blew up a few years ago. Roof tiles were raining all over the city for minutes afterwards. Killed a few people¡­ They no longer use roof tiles,¡± Tink interjected before clearing his throat, looking away as Shiva stared at Tom accusingly.


    ¡°We just used wood and dirt. Should be fine.¡±


    She stared at him for a few seconds, leaning forwards as if she was trying to peer through him before straightening back up. ¡°I see... You want this for killing these massive steel behemoths that apparently tread the skies. Or at least did once?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tom replied, confident he could see the cracks in Shiva¡¯s facade. ¡®Yeah, you know you want a big boom too.¡¯


    ¡°That would be so much work for something that¡¯s a one and done thing,¡± Shiva protested, clearly reluctant.


    ¡°I know¡­ and really we are gonna need more than one,¡± Tom replied, trying not to sound defeated. Shiva rubbed her face with one hand, clearly not happy to hear that either. ¡°Alternatively, we are gonna have to start rolling plates.¡±


    ¡°I think I saw pictures of that in your book,¡± Shiva replied with a knowing nod, Tom raising an eyebrow. ¡°What? I can look at the pictures.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s either that or the huge hammer,¡± Tink added, the inventor currently being grounded, though there was no telling when that might change.


    ¡°Huge hammer?¡± Shiva echoed, clearly also interested now.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a power hammer¡­ and yeah, that would be handy too. As would a million other things. Might look into making some rollers though,¡± Tom admitted, doing his best to do the mental math on how long that would take.


    ¡°Those are a thing, you know, for rolling out soft metal plates. Copper, silver, and the like,¡± Tink added with a shrug.


    ¡°Yes, but we need to roll steel into a thin plate. That means hot rolling. Easier said than done, but not impossible¡­ Either that, or we could use copper or brass plate, but that would be fucking expensive.¡±


    ¡°Tom, help me out here. Should I be happy or worried you are looking to make more machines? Where are we even going to put it?¡± Shiva questioned with a rather tired looking expression on her face.


    ¡°I don''t know. How many more shotgun barrels would you like to handforge?¡± Tom retorted with a shrug as he was rubbing his chin. ¡°Not that you aren¡¯t amazing at it. I don¡¯t have a hope in hell of doing that good a job.¡±


    ¡°No, because you can¡¯t smith to save your life,¡± Shiva replied with a cocky if still tired looking smile.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Still, if we need bigger plates, and thin ones at that, this is the smart way of doing it. at least in the long run.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Back to your drawing dungeon, you two. I¡¯ll get back to melting down the scrap we got from Deriva,¡± Shiva replied, hefting a large hammer over her shoulder and walking back to her forge to kick in the wind powered bellows to get it hot enough. ¡°Well, don¡¯t just stand there. Get to work with you next miracle machine,¡± she scolded as she started poking the coals, Tom eyeing some of the pieces of armor plate in the sack on the floor.


    Then the bell rang.


    ¡°Oh son of a chalk powdered whore!¡± Shiva shouted out. She punched the lever back into place, put down the hammer, and turned back to them with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s go see what has them scared this time. Probably Arch or one of those friends he promised would be swinging by. Would be about damn time.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± the two guys just let out in unison, nodding.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, Saph should have seen this coming. They had three of the most competitive people at the keep currently engaged in a competition with another team, but of course that would lead to competition within the team too. Pho was reckless and took chances to try and keep up, and she burned more ammunition to do so. Jacky was the fastest in a straight line and a scarily good shot with her new gun, and Saph was really wishing they were hunting down in the forest below. Or that she could guide these damn shots. They were just too fast to even see as they shot out at the target. Plus side though was that once a formation of geese started taking shotgun fire they broke up and started flying around like mad, doing whatever it took to shake their pursuer. Just the kind of flying she absolutely loved.


    Tight turns, steep dives, and hard climbs all in quick succession. She had missed a lot of shots to start with but she had started to down birds relatively quickly. And she had to give it to Jacky. This was top notch target practice that was for sure, and with mostly clear skies they could easily tell if they had a clear shot behind the target to avoid accidentally winging each other. It was a good sport too as she latched onto one of the few ducks up here today, getting closer and closer with every piece of straight flying. Unlike Jacky, she could even just about stay in a turn with the little, panicked, and furiously squawking bird. And when the range was finally close enough, one squeeze of the trigger was all it took as a sharp push hit her shoulder, sending the deadly cloud of metal out ahead of her in a narrow cone. The poor target received an unwelcome present up the ass as it let out it¡¯s final squawk, tumbling towards the ground.


    It was an easy enough thing to catch though, the trick was not throwing away any more altitude than you needed too. That was yet another good reason to get as close as possible before pulling the trigger, aside from saving on the precious ammunition. They certainly needed it today, as the air was thick with geese, even if they had been expecting a lot more ducks.


    There were so many, in fact, that Jarix had ditched the idea to hunt deer for the day, instead just acting as an aerial perch for them. Zarko and Radexi worked overtime to stow and secure all the birds the three huntresses brought back in, while Jarix did his best to try and catch some with his net. He did actually get a few, much to Sapphire¡¯s surprise, though it wasn¡¯t many. It certainly brightened his mood though; the amount of kills there were piling up had him down right giddy about their chances of winning today.


    ¡°The hell are we even gonna do with all these?¡± Zarko questioned as Saph came back with another four, two dangling from her belt and one clutched in each foot.


    ¡°I have no idea, but we are having goose tonight, that¡¯s for sure,¡± she laughed as she sat down for a quick breather. ¡°There¡¯s too many to even pick from.¡±


    ¡°And they are too dumb to run away,¡± Jarix laughed out as he scaned around for the next flock.


    ¡°They are damn fast though,¡± Saph countered, taking deep breaths to try and recover as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Nah, the Silver Streak Rayland is just a little slow.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Tell you what, I¡¯ll listen to your opinion when you have a title of your own,¡± Saph chuckled, stretching out on his back and folding up her wings.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good one,¡± the dragon replied, seemingly pondering the proposition for a few seconds. ¡°What about ¡®nightwing¡¯ or something like that. You know, after I killed two night terrors at night¡­. Terror¡¯s terror is a bit much, I think.¡±


    ¡°And the first one wasn¡¯t?¡± Saph questioned, trying not to chuckle too much.


    ¡°What about ¡®the oxen?¡¯ You certainly murdered those fields,¡± Zarko smirked as she crawled down under Jarix''s belly with Sapphire''s kills.


    ¡°Or clothesline,¡± Radexi added as he got out some more shells to replace the ones Saph had spent. She damn near burst out laughing at that one.


    ¡°Careful, or I''ll hang you out to dry,¡± the dragon chuckled in good spirits, Saph gauging his tone as slightly hurt but unwilling to show it.


    ¡°Oh but think of Ray. She would be soo happy,¡± Saph got out, still trying not to laugh.


    ¡°No, because unlike you, she is very considerate and knows I would not like to be called ¡®Jarix the clothesline¡¯ for the rest of my days,¡± the dragon replied, still in good humor.


    ¡°Fine. Jacky would probably call you ¡®the gun platform¡¯ or something like that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what about those planes from the movie? ... Mustangs?¡± Radexi added after he got back to his post as look out.


    ¡°Mustang¡­¡± the Dragon replied, mulling over the word a few times. ¡°That could work¡­ No one would have a clue what it means though.¡±


    ¡°No, because Jarix is a treasure trove of hidden meanings, right?¡± Zarko questioned from down below. She sounded quite amused too.


    ¡°That is a name not a nickname. There is a difference, Grumpy.¡±


    ¡°I think Glira lost a bet or something,¡± Radexi added, sounding quite amused.


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking, ¡®Radexi¡¯. You sound like you were named after some novel type of weather gauge.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Behave, big guy. I could take your head off with this thing,¡± Radexi replied, patting the side of the machine gun. ¡°I could take you hostage and have you do whatever I want.¡±


    ¡°No, that''s a high ranking officer with a power trip, not a private in an outflanked position¡ä.¡± Saph interjected, trying to get included.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, how long are we planning on being out anyway? Weren¡¯t we supposed to be back by midday?¡± Jarix grumbled, seemingly not quite happy with this.


    ¡°I think we can get in one more run, then we are heading for home. Maybe two for Saph if she gets moving,¡± Zarko replied, looking at the sun.


    ¡°Better make it count then.¡± Saph sighed, getting up from her comfy position.


    ¡°Yeah, go get ''em. For me¡­ Or something,¡± Jarix added, looking back at her.


    ¡°Sure thing, Mustang. Now you just need five more machine guns and to not be so spindly.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m lean, not spindly!¡± the dragon protested as Saph turned to face upwind, folding her wings out.


    ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m fat,¡± Saph laughed, kicking back off into the air.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well look at it on the bright side, we got the doors shut in time,¡± Herron shrugged, not seeming terribly worried by the situation. Either that, or he just hadn¡¯t quite woken up from his mid day nap yet, impressive as that might sound. Then again, the poor guy had been the night guard for the previous night, so they should probably cut him a little slack.


    ¡°We have two dragons outside! A nasty looking black and a young red above us! And you think a damn door is gonna help much?¡± Rachuck snapped at the young guard before looking at the ceiling, seeming to mutter a small prayer or something.


    ¡°Well more than if it was open.¡±


    Rachuck looked like he just wanted to punch either Herron or himself right now, but luckily for both of them, they had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, the aforementioned two dragons currently knocking at their door. They had spotted the two dragons incoming quite a ways out. Both had been flying flags identifying them as traders. Luckily for them, Rachuck had been the one on watch, the guy¡¯s paranoia meaning he had kept a close eye on them all the way in with the binoculars Tom had handed over a while back.


    The two of them had been carrying an excessive amount of crew and seemingly next to no cargo. Nunuk had thought that made pretty good sense if they were expecting to simply buy the expensive sugar and transport it back. What hadn¡¯t been so easy to explain though was when the black came into land while the red stayed high in the sky. The cry of ¡®Brigands!¡¯ rang out from the watch tower above.


    It had been a mad scramble to get the doors shut and barred before the brigands made it in. They were not even going to attempt to intercept them, that was for sure. Not that they had the time even if they wanted to try. When Tom had made it back to the greeting hall half geared up, the black dragon had already touched down outside, Rachuck currently busy organizing what they had. Dakota and Wiperna were busy getting Nunuk dressed for battle, and the major was inspecting his troops, consisting of what Glira had left behind.


    ¡°Why haven''t they attacked yet?¡± Tom questioned as he did up a pauldron, half-running over.


    ¡°They are Brigands. Not darklings. They don¡¯t want to fight, they just want money and valuables.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ So we stall them or make it not worth their time?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Rachuck replied, seemingly slipping back into deep thought.


    ¡°So we shoot them,¡± Tom shrugged, running the action on his rifle. ¡°They don¡¯t know what a gun is. That should see them off. Maybe a grenade or two for good measure.¡±


    ¡°They have a red above us. Do you not know a threat when you see one!?¡± Rachuck snapped back at him. ¡°If you manage to hurt them, they will burn this place to the ground to send a message. No, we buy time and wait for Glira and Jarix to get back. No way they are staying in the face of a fair fight. Then when they run, you can shoot all you want. With some luck, it might convince them not to take the time to burn our home down. For now we need a silver tongue and a lot of good excuses.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Fengi when you need her?¡± Herron sighed, looking around the room.


    Rachuck just looked at him rather unimpressed before sighing. ¡°Nunuk, you numbskull.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ That works too, I guess.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still getting into her armor though,¡± Kokashi interrupted.


    ¡°Which is why I¡¯m going to do some stalling.¡±


    ¡°You sure that¡¯s a good idea?¡± Anchor questioned, clearly more than a little sceptical. ¡°What about the major?¡±


    ¡°No, but we are a little short on options. You secure the lower door,¡± Rachuck dismissed his second in command, pointing at Anchor. ¡°Unkai, you are in charge of the watchtower. Take two people each. Tom, Linkosta, you two are in charge of mounting some sort of counterattack to drive them off once our air support gets here. Don''t want them deciding it¡¯s worth it to do a run on us before they bolt. Major Jortun, any idea what Victoria is planning?¡±


    ¡°She will not abandon the caves when Glira and Jarix should be back before she could even get here. It could be a diversion. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± The captain replied clearly, trying very hard not to curse that particular piece of news. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, the blues should be back soon¡­ Apuma, kids in the grand hall ready to fall back whatever way we may be forced. Herron, distribute what guns and other stuff we have. Tom, just help him a bit with that, would you?¡± Tom just nodded; he could do that no problem.


    ¡°Shiva, Ray. Make ready to lock and bar every door in case we need to start falling back, maybe see about a few barricades. We will be falling downwards if possible. I don¡¯t want to give them the armory.¡± The captain nodded to the very nervous looking Ray.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just hide behind Shiva,¡± Herron said, likely hoping to brighten the mood just a little.


    ¡°You are safe with me,¡± The smith chuckled, stamping her halberd on the ground. ¡°Why isn¡¯t Jacky here? She needs to test her new armor.¡±


    ¡°Armor won¡¯t stop dragon''s fire,¡± Rachuck replied dismissively, clearly having little time for their Banter.


    ¡°I know,¡± Shiva all but growled her demeanor flipping like a coin, eyes glaring at him with a gaze that could probably kill right now. The captain looked over at her and simply nodded, before scampering off down the stairs with Anchor.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to fight for what¡¯s worth fighting for ey?¡± Linkosta added in a very meek voice Tom turning to look at her.


    ¡°Yup and I would prefer not dying for it. Let¡¯s tip the scales a bit.¡±

 Unfair Negotiations

    Chapter 138: Unfair Negotiations


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Anybody home?¡± the black dragon had questioned from outside. It sounded female to Tom, but that was sometimes rather hard to tell with their deep voices and all. Said voice was calm and silky smooth though, and they sounded very pleased with themselves right now. ¡°Knock knock.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are home alright. What might I be able to help you with?¡± Rachuck shouted in reply. He was watching the brigands from an arrow slit in one of the covers that had been put over the windows. The Guard captain had been wanting to keep an eye on Tom and Linkosta, seeking to know just what to expect from their little counter attack. Not to mention what weapons they actually had. He had not been pleased to hear that they were down a considerable amount of shotgun shells. Then again, it didn¡¯t look like this was going to be a drawn out engagement. Tom certainly planned on putting on a show, but engaging that red high above was gonna be a touch tricky.


    Linkosta was working on the land mine prototype. She had been so damn busy over the last several weeks with the vault and Tink and all the other shit that had been going on that she hadn¡¯t managed to get the detector to work yet. The manual detonators should work just fine though, and they had one for both the mine and the bunker if it came to it. Of course that stupid fucking dragon had decided to sit down and have a taunting little chat from a relativly safe distance rather than come in nice and close or maybe walk ever to to bunker where they could blow her sky high.


    ¡°Oh, nothing much. Nice little place you got here¡­ I heard there were some interesting things in there. Wouldn¡¯t happen to be up for sale now, would they?¡±


    ¡°We have some pretty nice rope, a few pieces of darkling armor, some ale that is probably an acquired taste, and some really rather nice pelts. Any of that strike your fancy?¡± Rachuck went in a commendably calm tone.


    ¡°Not sure. Would it be possible to see the selection?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I mean we might be able to string something together. Would you want the whole tour or perhaps just a sampling?¡±


    ¡°Oh a sampling, how thrilling. I do trust that this marvelous white powder you are apparently in possession of would be available, or is that only for special guests?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is for very special guests indeed. We only bring that out for the rarest of occasions,¡± Rachuck replied, looking back at Tom and Linkosta with a shrug. He looked like he didn¡¯t believe this was actually working. Tom was just pondering if the fact the dragon was seemingly after the sugar was good or bad. I could certainly have been worse though that was for sure. Then again she could be lying.


    ¡°Oh such as?¡± the dragon questioned enthusiastically. Tom couldn¡¯t even tell if it was genuine or fake though.. She sounded like some posh woman making conversation at a tea party who believed herself superior to just about everyone around her, which was probably accurate.


    ¡°Well, perhaps a royal visit; it couldn¡¯t just be any member of the royal family though. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, obviously,¡± the dragon echoed as Tom just shook his head. ¡°I am very important right now though, wouldn''t you say?¡±


    ¡°Oh, most definitely. Speaking of which, we haven¡¯t done proper introductions yet.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right! Where are my manners? You may call me the tax collector. That will do for now, I Presume.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be the captain then. I guess you came early this year.¡±


    ¡°Indeed Rachuck Bizmati. That does tend to be when peoples¡¯ coffers are the most full after all. Speaking of which, I really must insist on inspecting yours, else a terrible accident might happen,¡± the dragon replied, voice not deviating from the calm, friendly, and incredibly posh tone.


    ¡°I was under the impression you were here for some of our trade goods?¡± Rachuck tried, clearly trying not to worry about the fact their guest seemingly knew more about them than they did her.


    ¡°Gold is a trade good, but I''m not picky. I will take whatever you have. If you cooperate, I even promise to leave you enough to survive the winter.¡±


    ¡°Mighty generous of you. This wouldn¡¯t be for the purpose of coming back next year now, would it?¡±


    ¡°Oh certainly not. I have a very busy schedule. Now what is it going to be, dear Captain?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to think about that for a little bit. My lady hasn¡¯t woken up yet you see.¡±


    ¡°Oh well in that case I recommend waking her post haste. I¡¯m a very busy woman after all haven''t got much time, Chop chop.¡±


    ¡®What does she by ¡®haven¡¯t got much time?¡¯ Tom thought to himself, hoping dearly that she didn¡¯t know the status of their air support.


    ¡°Right away, Ma¡¯am,¡± Rachuck went, trotting back from the window to see what Tom and Linkosta had managed. ¡°She¡¯s certainly full of herself,¡± he whispered to Tom, leaning in. ¡°Any brilliant plans yet?¡±


    Linkosta brought over the mine, not saying a word as she carefully handed it to Tom. He didn¡¯t need to hear her say the thing was live and dangerous, when people handle explosives that carefully you just know. Tom just nodded at the captain. ¡°Payment.¡±


    ¡°And how do you suppose we give that to her? Put it in a bag of gold and hand it over?¡± Rachuck replied, seeming quite annoyed.


    ¡°Could tell her what it is. Sure she would want that.¡±


    ¡°And then she¡¯s just gonna go away? She¡¯s gonna want everything.¡±


    ¡°We just need to buy time,¡± Tom shrugged. ¡°Maybe give her a little. Why not invite them for a nice drink to discuss things.¡±


    ¡°We could try that¡­ I would like to come out of that alive though.¡±


    ¡°Noted. Will see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I¡¯ll go fetch Nunuk and Dakota,¡± the captain went before running off hurriedly. Tom just looked to Linkosta, who also shrugged.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t look at me. I know nothing about any of this.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Their little hunt had been concluded, Jarix currently flying along as they searched for Glira so they could put a stop to her hunting before she actually managed to catch up. The huntresses were flying under their own power as Jarix led the formation. He was absolutely covered in birds by now, to the point they were struggling to find places to put more. That seemed like as good an excuse as any to call it a day and go to find Glira to secure their win.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the total?¡± Jarix asked, voice heavy with anticipation as they flew along.


    ¡°Seventy-Two,¡± Zarko went, clambering back up from under the dragon.


    ¡°Oh fuck yeah,¡± Jarix replied, sounding quite condfident in his imminent victory. Saph, Jacky, and Pho gave each other a wing tip high fives. ¡°Now to go stop that big daft blue thing from taking the win.¡±


    ¡°You know Jarix, all things are relative,¡± Saph shouted out, the dragon looking back at her unimpressed.


    They knew roughly where she was, and it hadn¡¯t taken too long until they spotted a large blue climbing up into the sky.


    ¡°Hah. She has been hunting deer,¡± Jarix laughed as he sold off some altitude for speed. Glira spotted them coming in, turning to intercept them as she continued her climb. After a few minutes, both of the dragons came alongside each other, heading back towards the keep.


    ¡°I take you called it quits, huh?¡± Jarix roared out as Glira came into shouting range.


    ¡°Shut it, tiny. Where the hell did you get all those birds!?¡± Glira protested, not sounding very happy at all.


    ¡°Well we shot them out of the sky obviously. How did your hunt go?¡±


    ¡°Apparently not well enough,¡± Glira grumbled, letting out a dismissive snarl as she looked over Jarix.


    ¡°Wait¡­ You cheated, didn¡¯t you?! You used your machine gun! Or did you zap them out of the sky? We were not allowed to do that!¡±


    ¡°Rules didn¡¯t say anything about shotguns,¡± Jarix laughed back at her, gracious as usual in victory.


    ¡°Hell yeah. He didn¡¯t beat your ass. We did! Aha, oh yeah!¡± Jacky shouted out, launching into a signature set of show off maneuvers.


    ¡°What can I say? Crew is important,¡± Zarko added, also seeming quite proud.


    ¡°I hate you,¡± Glira snarled, looking back ahead.


    ¡°Of course you do. I beat you,¡± Jarix laughed out, followed by some kind of deep gurgling snicker that honestly had Saph wondering if he was choking.


    Glira didn¡¯t humor him with a response to that one. Luckily Jacky made sure they wouldn¡¯t suffer any awkward silences as she started bickering with Fengi about if this was indeed cheating or not. The two of them came alongside, taking refuge in the dragon''s combined wake to bicker. Saph made her way over to listen in, not finding anything else to do right now as they flew. Glira was positively loaded down with deer, to the point Saph had to wonder just how much knife work was in her future right now and whether or not there was even a herd left.


    Aside from whenever someone came up with a new argument either for or against using the shotguns, the trip had been fairly quiet. Glira let out the occasional grump, and Jarix was smiling wide all the while.


    Silence had reigned for a few minutes when Glira spoke up, tone sounding very different.


    ¡°Is that a red dragon circling over the keep?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Jarix questioned, head swinging forward to peer at the keep.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It damn well is. Black on the ground too; that''s not traders,¡± Glira confirmed, Saph and the other huntresses maneuvering to get a better view.


    ¡°Fuck¡­ What do we do now?¡± Jarix questioned seeming stumped for a second or two.


    ¡°Get that gun loaded¡­ A dragon counts for ten, a dragonette two,¡± Glira chuckled in reply, seeming almost thrilled at the prospect of a round two.


    ¡°Are you fucking kidding me?¡± Zarko shouted out, looking at the older dragon. ¡°You want to make battle a competition.


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s just a couple idiots out for a hustle. How else do we keep it interesting?¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± Jarix let out, looking at her. Zarko pretty clearly had something to say too, but she stayed her tongue.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Could you try and be a bit pro about this? What if they know we are here? We don¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°Sure I can do ¡®Pro¡¯ as you call it¡± Glira repleid sarcastically. ¡°How do we trick them into engaging us so we are allowed to turn them into charred corpses?¡± Glira continued, tone changing completely flat and uncaring.


    Jarix just looked at her, seemingly not sure how to reply to that one.


    ¡°Come on now. If they haven''t actually attacked yet, we can¡¯t really go in and murder the lot of them. How do we get them to do it? Want to let them have a run at the keep?¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Good. Then we don¡¯t quite do this by the book. You be a good little boy, snap their neck like you would a deer and you laugh at their misfortune. They¡¯re scum with wings, and we are gonna solve that problem. Now get your new weapon loaded. Kulk, blades out please.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± came the reply from the healer as she scrambled down Glira¡¯s sides, getting to work extending the blades the dragon wore religiously.


    Jarix was silent for a few seconds, glaring at the keep. Saph was keeping an equally close eye on it. There was no fire and no swarming combatants. All seemed in order, in fact, aside from the two dragons, one above and one below.


    ¡°Do we dump the catch?¡± Jarix questioned in a more sombre tone.


    ¡°Yes. We have plenty of height on them. Use the weight to gain some dive speed.¡±


    ¡°I know how flying works, Mum.¡±


    ¡°Good. Cause you are catching that red for me. Do your job and your friends live. Fuck up and you¡¯ll loose a few.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum,¡± Jarix replied flatly, the last scraps of excitement gone from his voice.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom certainly had to admire the balls of Nunuk, who had taken up the mantle of negotiator as soon as she was properly dressed for battle. The sight of the lady sitting at an improvised table and having what looked more like a friendly teaparty down in the courtyard while facing a dragon was an odd one to be sure. Tom and Linkosta had gone to the greeting hall after finishing their preparations, where Rachuck was also ready for battle. Kokashi kept everyone updated on what was going on down below, Tom peeking out a window, rifle at the ready.


    He had finally got a good look at said dragon. It seemed to wear only the lightest of armor, and even that looked bruised and battered. The dragon herself didn¡¯t look much better. She seemed healthy enough, but the amount of scars and rends covering her made her look more like an abused slave than a combat veteran. Her crew was massive too. Far larger than even what Baron brought. Tom guessed people were cheaper than dragons if you were fighting for money. There were four dragonettes on the ground at the moment, the rest circling above outside of bow range. The dragon and her entourage on the ground were smart enough to sit outside of grenade range, even if a bow would have little trouble reaching them.


    ¡®hopefully we are out of acid range too then,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, looking down at the old lady. She certainly wasn¡¯t though.


    The dragon had still not given a real name, nor had any of her crew introduced themselves aside from a lot of poorly veiled threats and posturing according to Kokashi. If Tom¡¯s intuition was to be trusted, which was arguably questionable at best, then there was not a single dragonette down there who enjoyed this whole charade. The dragon most certainly did though, and luckily for them she was the one doing the talking, to the point that nearly none of them had spoken except when she had asked some rhetorical question. To which they would reply ¡°Certainly¡± or ¡°Of course ma¡¯am¡± in a very respectful tone, often accompanied by a small bow.


    Nunuk had been doing her best to pretend like her plan was to strike a deal that left her keep as unharmed as possible. This had clearly been helped by the fact she was willing to come out in such a set of armor, quite a price, ripe for the taking. It had certainly led to some looks and murmuring from the dragon''s escort. When Nunuk had introduced herself in full was probably the only time he saw the dragon hesitate, Tom willing to bet she had heard that name before somewhere.


    That seemed to be confirmed when the dragon started asking questions about her past. Nunuk set to answering diligently, which had quickly evolved into her telling tales of her past. To Tom and likely everyone in the keep¡¯s relief, the dragon lapped the tales up like a kitten with warm milk.


    Their job in the keep, though, was two fold right now. The red could not be allowed to make a run on the keep, and the black could not be alowed to murder Nunuk before she could make it to safety. Armor or not, getting chomped on by a dragon or sprayed in acid would not end well for the old lady.


    They had as many gun barrels as they could spare trained on the black dragon, hoping that the fusillade of firepower would be enough to send the brigands bolting in sheer shock and surprise, letting them switch their fire to the red dragon. Dakota was standing with a compound bow at the ready, one of Saph¡¯s arrows nocked and primed to ruin someone''s day. She hadn''t fired one before, but even if it didn¡¯t hit, the boom should at least help with the scaring away part of the plan. Of course, if they could injure the dragon enough that she couldn¡¯t evade pursuit when their assistance arrived, that was just a nice bonus.


    For the red though, they were going to have to risk an intercept in case it decided to brave the shotgun fire, which at that range would likely not be much of a problem for it. The major and his remaining Royal Guard warriors, with the exception of Twitch, had been put in charge of that perilous operation. Lances had been brought up from the armory to equip them since they were geared for fighting with Glira, not alone. They hoped the younger dragon would simply turn and run in the face of danger with no incentive of reward, but just in case they were all up on the stairwell in the tower ready to take to the sky.


    Linkosta had also been trying to work out what kind of magic they might be facing, but thus far the enemy had played their hand close with that one. One of the dragonette brigands had walked up to the black dragon, demanding her attention for a second, the dragon leaning down to hear whatever they had to say.


    ¡°She is not pleased,¡± Dakota went, drawing a slight smile, standing to Tom¡¯s right.


    ¡°You fucking idiots! They we were supposed to have half a day at least!¡± The dragon roared out turning to glare at Nunuk.


    ¡°You will open your doors right now. and I will keep my word.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Nunuk had questioned looking up at the dragon. Even Tom was able to tell she was having a hard time keeping her cool. ¡°Sure you don¡¯t want to negotiate for a surrender? We might let you go if you promise not to return?¡±


    ¡°I will burn your home to the fucking ground just to hear you scream. now open up or I¡¯ll cut them open! I will take your gold and all those precious documents I was told to get and nothing else or you will die here today¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you would survive that action. Those two are Royal Guard¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t bother lecturing me on how to do my job, you old fang I know who they are. Open your damn doors!¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Nunuk replied, getting up and turning back to the keep, going to walk up the stairs.


    ¡°You stop right there,¡± The dragon chuckled menacingly. ¡°You didn¡¯t think I was letting you back inside, now did you!?¡±


    ¡°I guess not,¡± Nunuk replied, turning around to face the dragon again.


    Tom looked at Rachuck, who had walked up right behind him and had a hand raised in the air, looking like he would be sweating bullets if he could right now. ¡°Aim for an eye if you can.¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes, sir,¡± Tom replied, shifting his purchase on the arrow slit, taking aim as Rachuck put his other hand on Tom¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°People of Bizmati Keep! I have your lady! Open your-¡± the dragon shouted out as Rachuck squeezed. Tom didn¡¯t know if that was the signal, but he pulled. The trigger the dragon roared out in agony, and Rachuck shouted ¡°FIRE!¡±


    Tom just ran the action, going for another round to the head. ¡°And pop goes the eyeball.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    With the catch dropped, much to Sapphire''s despair, the dragonettes had all latched onto the dragons as they made best speed for the keep, maneuvering to keep blue sky behind them. With a little luck they would not be spotted until they were ready to pounce. A few jokes were made about how mad Kalestine would be with this minaly to try and lighten the tense atmosphere a little


    Their plans had somehow been thwarted though. Either they had been spotted or something had gone wrong on the ground, but the explosion that rang out from the keep left little doubt that the battle had just begun. They were too far away to make out what was happening on the ground apart from the black dragon retreating under the crackle of gunfire.


    ¡°And the hunt is on!¡± Glira let out, steepening her dive. Jarix stayed level for now, but picked up the pace all the same. His crew all flattened down as best they could to help with the wind, Saph included. She could hear the dragon muttering under his breath, but as they accelerated the wind eventually drowned it out. Radexi and Jacky went through the gun one more time, trying to stay low as they worked.


    ¡°Hey Saph, are we keeping scores too!?¡± Jacky shouted out, not looking up from her work, Saph recognizing the fear peeking through Jacky¡¯s facade without much trouble. ¡®Don¡¯t worry girl, we prepared for this,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, not entirely sure who she was reassuring.


    ¡°Sure. If you think you can keep up!¡± Saph roared out in reply, with a fake smile before looking back ahead.


    ¡°In your dreams!¡± Jacky shouted, turning to look at the rapidly approaching keep.


    ¡°Black dragon retreating and the red seems to be hesitating,¡± Jarix let out, sounding a bit more optimistic than earlier.


    ¡°Fucker hasn¡¯t learned what a good boom is yet. He¡¯s right to be scared!¡± Jacky went as she slammed the feed tray cover shut on the fifty. ¡°Ready to rock and roll, little fella!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means!¡± Radexi protested, with remarkable professionalism, bringing the gun on target.


    ¡°It means pull the trigger to kill shit,¡± Jacky replied, not taking her eyes off the keep.


    ¡°How are they doing on the ground?¡± Zarko questioned, holding her shotgun at the ready. They had spent a fair amount of ammo, but not all of it. They had a few dozen rounds left. Saph had switched back to her bow though, giving Zarko the shotgun. She knew her bow better, even if she hadn¡¯t brought any of her special arrows. And Zarko would be without a ranged weapon otherwise.


    ¡°Black is running to get airborne,¡± Jarix replied, peering ahead as he kept beating hard for speed.


    ¡°I can see that. What about the people on the ground?¡±


    ¡°A few dead dragonettes shot from the keep, I think.¡±


    ¡°Hah. Tom¡¯s been busy already!¡± Jacky added, jumping at the good news.


    ¡°Some of them are sprayed in acid. Stuff is everywhere,¡± Jarix added, sounding a lot less enthusiastic.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Pho questioned, Jacky and Saph looking at each other without saying a word.


    ¡®No. That¡¯s... no,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, shaking off the thought. They had probably blinded the dragon somehow, provoking it into spraying everywhere. Or maybe it just didn¡¯t give a shit.


    ¡°Someone pissed off their ride!¡± Jacky added, voice positively quivering by now. Even a kid could work out she didn¡¯t believe a word of what she said.


    ¡°Red¡¯s diving!¡± Jarix let out, Saph feeling their own dive steppening.


    ¡°Yup, he¡¯s seen us,¡± Zarko confirmed. ¡°Time to play chicken. We aren¡¯t close enough to intercept. Come in over the keep, height half a kilometer. If he makes a run on the keep, he¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°But what if he still does it!?¡± Jarix protested, clearly not happy with the idea.


    ¡°Not like we can''t stop him. Girls, ready to disembark on my order. Radexi, you will call out before firing!¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± all except Jacky replied, her eyes glued to the scene below. Saph gave her a slight kick to snap her back into reality. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Coming in reply from the slightly dazed looking Jacky.


    ¡°Snap to it, little Jacky. Can¡¯t beat me like that,¡± Saph goaded, hoping to get her friend to focus as she slung her bow over her shoulder.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, shatter-wing. You try not to get grounded for another few months.¡±


    Saph kinda wanted to protest that new nickname, but for the time being she could live with it.


    ¡°He¡¯s still diving,¡± Jarix went, sounding more and more worried.


    ¡°Lancers from the keep!¡± Zarko shouted out, the keep now close enough to make out dragonettes. ¡°Keep your course. He wants you to come down to meet him where he can smash you to pieces. I would say that''s a twelve to fourteen ton red. I¡¯m sure he doesn¡¯t want to die today. Just keep going and don¡¯t miss.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. It¡¯s the major doing the interception.¡±


    ¡°So much for enemy magic then,¡± Zarko replied, sounding unsure if that was good news.


    ¡°Red¡¯s crew is disembarking.¡±


    ¡°Is that bastard really going to keep going?¡± Radexi questioned, standing up to look. Saph¡¯s eyes went wide as the red made for her keep, then she felt the tingling of electricity.


    ¡°Too soon!¡± Zarko cried out as Jarix fired, the blinding light blue beam streaking out, Saph closing her eyes for a second. But there was no explosion. Opening her eyes again, she saw the red had broken off, evading the shot and then pulling up. He was heading straight for them instead, the momentum of his dive carrying him back upwards. Jarix rolled hard right without warning them, pulling into a hard turn, Saph feeling herself get pushed into his back as the dragon strained under her. A torrent of flame shot past Sapphire''s face as she tried to look over the side. Jarix roared out in pain as he cleared the incoming attack, holding his hard turn.


    ¡°Kill it!¡± Jacky shouted out as the red came soaring up past them, not managing to sink his claws into Jarix as the Blue dragon held his turn. Radexi let loose with the fifty, spewing fire over Saph¡¯s head as she clamped her hands over her ears, screaming as the muzzle blast pounded her from above relentlessly. The bright flashes shined through her eyelids with blinding light until her world went dark.


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Exchange of Fire

    Chapter 139: Exchange of Fire


    ¡°Jortun is airborne heading up, red is still diving,¡± Kokashi shouted out. Tom had to commend them on the little system of using his magic hearing to receive messages from above and below. It worked quite well.


    ¡°And the black is running like a stabbed rat. Good. Open the doors and someone get Nunuk! Now!¡± Rachuck ordered as the mechanism came to life, Wiperna and Shiva cranking it open. Dakota was first out the door, slipping under the opening gate and running straight off the edge, diving down towards the stricken lady.


    Tom jogged out onto the platform along with the rest of the dragonettes that had been waiting there, looking down. It did not look pretty. Three of the four brigands that had been on the ground with the black dragon lay dead, strewn around the place. Two of them had been splashed by the black dragon''s acid when she had sprayed around madly after losing an eye. Tom had given the two of them a mercy shot as they lay screaming in agony. The acid had eaten right through their armor, even the steel just seemed to melt. The third had missed the acid but taken a pair of crossbow bolts from the keep for his troubles instead.


    Nunuk had bolted for the keep as soon as the fighting started, but she had gotten splashed across the back by an unlucky spray of acid. By the time Tom made it to the edge, Dakota had already landed, clearly looking to do what she could. Linkosta came running past Tom, also diving down, carrying a bag of that white powder they used to neutralize the acid. Nunuk had stopped screaming, but was still writhing around, clearly struggling with her armor. ¡®At least she¡¯s not dead yet,¡¯ Tom sighed, shoulders sagging, not sure what he could do to help.


    ¡°Red¡¯s still diving!¡± Kokashi cried out, pointing upwards. Rachuck looked up, then glanced at the tower.


    ¡°The Major is already airborne and going for him. Where is Jarix?¡±


    ¡°Over there, intercept course,¡± Tom replied, pointing up as well, having spotted Jarix coming in from the opposite side. The two dragons racing towards the keep.


    ¡°Back inside, now!¡± Rachuck ordered. ¡°Weapons trained on the platform in case they try a landing.¡±


    ¡°How do we fight the fire if it comes to that?¡± Tom questioned, thinking he really should have asked that before.


    ¡°Linkosta and bucket chains,¡± Rachuck replied with an expression that didn¡¯t seem overly confident in the effectiveness of that idea as he ushered everyone back inside, he himself remaining on the platform


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Tom cursed as he checked that his rifle was full, remaining outside next to Rachuck. If it came to it, he could make it inside no problem, and he did have the only gun that might help out a little at this range.


    As the two dragons came closer, he felt himself tense as he raised the rifle. Rachuck didn¡¯t protest, though a quick glance from Tom confirmed the guy was ready to run for it. Then Jarix fired and missed. The red seemingly had been waiting for it and turned up toward Jarix after dodging the beam, bathing the blue¡¯s underside in fire as Tom¡¯s shoulders sagged in despair. Whatever damage had been done wasn¡¯t knocking Jarix out of the sky though, as he turned clear of the red¡¯s attempts at getting into melee, which would doubtlessly have been catastrophic for Jarix.


    Then the fifty cal spoke, the deep thump ringing out as it spat flame from Jarix¡¯s back, Tom straining his eyes to try and tell what damage was done to the red. They were really far away, but he did spot someone jump off Jarix¡¯s back. Alone, much to Tom¡¯s surprise. It didn¡¯t take long for two more to follow, but the first had made it quite far ahead, diving right for the red dragon''s crew which had disembarked, seemingly to attack Jortun and his soldiers.


    ¡°Dammit, Jacky! Don¡¯t go alone!¡± Tom cursed, looking at the lone dragonette in the lead who dove right into the enemy formation before pulling up, looking a touch clumsy for some reason Tom straining his eyes to try and tell what was going on up there.


    Then he heard the sounds of cheers coming from higher up in the tower, Herron shouting out too from next to Tom on the platform. Turning around to see what the commotion was about, Tom saw Glira come flying by the keep, having doubled back a little for some reason. Then Kulk dropped off her, coming in to land in front of Rachuck like lightning from a clear sky.


    ¡°Mind if I borrow him? Old girl wants him for the chase,¡± the healer questioned, pointing at Tom while looking at Rachuck.


    ¡°Chase?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Rachuck, hoping for an explanation. ¡°I ain¡¯t going anywhere, what about them?!¡± Tom protested, pointing up at where Jarix and the red had seemingly gotten into a turning fight. The fifty had fallen silent. ¡®Damn that fucking gun!¡¯ Tom cursed before Rachuck replied


    ¡°She tried to kill my mother, Tom, and I can¡¯t leave. I order you to enact revenge in my name.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± Kulk went, grabbing Tom around the chest and running off the platform with him before he even got off a proper protest.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The next thing Sapphire knew she was tumbling through the air, world spinning and ears ringing. Instincts kicked in as she spread her wings, turning herself into a dive before pulling up and flying around erratically, trying to make heads or tails of what the hell was going on.


    ¡®What just happened?!¡¯ was her first question as her eyes started to focus again. She was greeted with a vaguely dragonette shaped silhouette flying towards her in fairly heavy looking armor. ¡®Oh thank the gods, it¡¯s Jortun¡­ Wait, hang on?¡¯ Saph questioned, her foggy mind starting to clear, noting the spear the guy was holding. ¡°Fuck!¡± she let out, pulling into a hard right corkscrew and heading for the deck. She needed speed and she needed it now!


    ¡®If I live, Radexi, I will draw and quarter you!¡¯ she cursed, looking back over her shoulder and confirming he was on her tail. Much to her relief, he was wearing what looked like slightly heavier guard armor and he was male; out flying him should be no problem. Then she started looking around behind her, eyes darting between silhouettes flying over her. Despair started to set in as she realized just how much trouble she was in. There were at least ten of them, and now she seemed to have the attention of at least a few of them. Looking back ahead as she dived, she spotted the major¡¯s men currently tangled up with more escorts. Saph guessed they might have been from the black dragon.


    Saph only just noticed a woman coming in from the front and above, bow at the ready, in time to bank hard right, trying desperately to dodge the arrow. Saph let out a roar as it buried itself in the side of her thigh just below the skirt. She fumbled desperately to get her own bow off her shoulder, breathing rapidly as she thanked whoever might be watching that she hadn¡¯t dropped it or her quiver.


    She didn¡¯t get to return fire though, as another male tried to swoop at her from above, driving her into an even steeper dive sending her near vertical as she screamed past the major and the others. The guy on her tail just didn¡¯t seem to get the memo though, as he followed her down, Quency turning to dive down after him.


    ¡°Fuck it!¡± Saph let out, folding up her wings and turning around to let herself fall towards the ground back first, knocking an arrow. The guy was still on her, and his heavy armor had let him catch up in the dive, though Quency was hot on his tail. He would make it to Saph first though, but this was as close as he was gonna get. Saph put a shaft in the base of his neck, just grazing the side of his helmet. Giving the guy the finger, she rolled back onto her belly and spread out her wings, pulling up hard and trying to get back whatever altitude she could. She scanned above her for the next incoming threat as her pursuer plummeted behind her.


    Predictably, she was swooped on by multiple enemies, likely having made a target of herself by not only killing one of their friends but also by letting them know she really knew how to use a bow. She didn¡¯t even bother to count, instead just losing a shaft at one of the women who looked lightly armored and guiding the arrow into her gut, making her curl up midair. Then she started juking the incoming combatants, trying to make them miss or overshoot. She managed to evade two of them with the help of Quency, who was flying a bit higher than Saph, managing to score a hit clipping the wing of one woman who got too fixated on Saph. The sword woman''s blade took off a good meter of wing, sending the wounded brigand limping away.


    But the last two who had Saph in their sights came in together, and she only managed to nearly slip past the claws of the first of them. The second, a one legged woman, came roaring past, her remaining foot nicking Sapphire''s right wing. Having rolled out of the way, a guy slammed into her from the other side, spear glancing off her chestplate. The rigid steel plate was likely the only reason the breath wasn¡¯t knocked completely out of her as the two collided. The brigand''s helmet and spear went flying as the two of them fell towards the ground. Saph scrambled to get a grip on the guy to pry him off, knowing she could not have much height left over by now.


    The brigand drew a shortsword and tried to stab her, but Saph beat him to it, biting down on his face and squeezing as hard as she could. The guy screamed in pain, bone cracking in her jaws as he dropped the blade, hands scrambling to claw at her face trying to free himself as she drew her knife and ran him through stabbing up under his armpit. Drawing the knife back she stabed repeatedly until he went limp in her jaws.


    Kicking him off as quickly as she could, the blood from his clawing was running into her eyes as she frantically tried to look for the next incoming threat. She spotted the woman that had shot her once already coming back down, bow at the ready and screaming as she loosed. She missed the first shot by inches then as Saph drew a breath readying to deflect the second shot, the woman¡¯s head just vanished Jacky soaring past above, spent shell diligently being put back in her pocket.


    ¡°Oh you magnificent bastard!¡± Saph cried out, letting out a sigh or relief which soon turned to terror as she saw the massive red shape hurtling down towards her. She pulled up to vertical with what speed she had, wings beating hard trying to evade the dive until she realized she was not the target. Behind the red Jarix was diving after him, only now did she see the blacked and burned underside of the blue dragon, the red seeming desperate to escape retaliation.


    The next thing she saw, mouth agape, was Jacky reversing her own turn heading straight for the dragon, matching its dive and using her knife to latch onto its back as when it roared past. They both came hurtling down past Sapphire, the dragon pulling up just shy of the ground and whipping its head around to try and rip Jacky to pieces. She had moved forwards on his back though, out of reach as she blew apart the last remaining crew member with a point blank shotgun round to the face before advancing up to the base of the dragon''s neck, taloned feet securely gasping the dragon''s harness.


    Saph noticed she didn¡¯t hear that shot either, cursing Radexi once again as she kept watching. The red tried shaking her off, swinging its head around again to snatch at her. Jacky launched herself off the dragon''s back faster than she had any right being able to, clasping onto the side of the dragon''s head, wing claws helping her hang on. Then she shoved her gun into the dragon''s ear and pulled the trigger. Gore splattered out as the dragon shuddered and went limp, pitching down and heading for the ground. Jacky jumped clear, folding out her wings and beating hard for speed and altitude as the dragon crashed under her, liquid fire spilling forth and covering the ground from its ruined chest as it came to an abrupt stop.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­ She just killed a dragon¡­¡± Saph muttered to herself, gliding along gawking until she remembered she was still in the middle of a battle. Scanning above her, she spotted Pho close on the tail of another brigand, shredding their wings with a swarm of lead sending the stricken dragonette spiraling towards the ground, clearly trying for a crash landing. Beating her wings hard, Saph tried to gain some speed as she turned toward the major, who was currently flying in formation with one more dragonette. She couldn¡¯t see who though, as she wiped blood out of her eyes, the world getting a slightly bluish tint.


    She formed up with the major as the fighting seemed to start calming down. Several of the brigands surrendered under the hail of fire, the prospect of fighting without a dragon leaving little hope of escape. Two of them tried to make a run for it, Jarix setting off in pursuit and cutting them off with ease. They were both fried alive when they refused to yield. ¡®Fucking idiots,¡¯ Saph cursed as the two unlucky souls fell towards the ground blackened and burned.


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    The major poked at her wingtip with his own, getting her attention. His mouth moved, and he had a stern look on his face. Saph just pointed at her ears and shook her head, the major¡¯s shoulders sagging. ¡®Well it wasn¡¯t my damn fault.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± he shouted once they were properly airborne and flying towards Glira.


    ¡°Glira wants to show off. And she wants you to see it. Just hang on and be a good boy, won¡¯t you?¡± the healer replied, sounding like this definitely wasn¡¯t her idea. ¡°We are hunting down that wounded black. Can¡¯t let her get away.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going after the black? What about Jarix!?¡±


    ¡°Unless he¡¯s forgotten everything, he¡¯s won already. That was a nasty burn though.¡±


    ¡°And if she¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Not my concern,¡± Kulk replied dispassionately as she set down on Glira¡¯s back, the dragon maneuvering around to come in behind them.


    ¡°Glad you could make it. Now, hang on, and don¡¯t touch anything. It is time for a demonstration,¡± the dragon went enthusiastically as she turned to give chase to the black dragon, accelerating back up to speed as Tom hunkered down.


    ¡°He is not happy with this,¡± Kulk informed the dragon as Tom looked around, seeing a rather apologetic looking Fengi and Essy already hanging onto the harness, lying down on the dragon''s back. Bo just gave him a wave before looking back at the keep.


    ¡°Why? We just saved their home?¡±


    ¡°You snatched me away from defending it, and there is still that red flying!¡± Tom protested, pointing at the red dragon that to his surprise was now flying almost along the deck. Jarix was following along above, clearly looking for a good opportunity to strike. There were two dragonettes on the red¡¯s back now, both moving around. A gun was fired, leaving just one dragonette left, who then jumped onto the fucking dragon¡¯s head. Then the dragon just keeled over in midair and crashed in a fiery explosion, leaving Tom gawking as the still living dragonette flew away, the fighting above coming to a halt for a few seconds.


    ¡°Was that Jacky?¡± Fengi questioned from behind Tom as Glira kept flying further away from the keep.


    ¡°Well, I guess she got her trophy,¡± Essy let out, sounding somewhere between impressed and terrified.


    ¡°I see why you like her,¡± Glira chuckled deeply. ¡°Though I¡¯m gonna have to work on that little blue scamp. You lot have made him weak. Fired too soon, failed to react in time. Actually got out flown by a red twice his size.¡±


    ¡°Only briefly,¡± Kulk corrected, raising a finger as Tom just sat gawking back at the crash site, the remaining brigands seemingly either surrendering or making a run for it after having recovered from the shock.


    ¡°He still did. Fucking embarrassing. Now. We have ourselves a black dragon who thinks she can fly around I¡¯m guessing extorting?¡± Glira went, looking back ahead, Tom''s attention swinging around to look as well.


    ¡°Something like that, yeah¡­ Calls herself ¡®the tax collector.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Oh, does she now? Isn''t that precious. Hey Kulk! Should we add impersonating an emissary of the crown to the list?¡± Glira almost laughed, Tom wondering just what her plan was. They weren¡¯t going that fast right now. It certainly wasn¡¯t cruising, but it was not flat out either that was for sure.


    ¡°Well, if she doesn¡¯t surrender, you still get to kill her. Otherwise it¡¯s just more years in the mines.¡±


    ¡°I know. Remember, Jarix told me to be professional today, so I guess we have to try and capture her. I already lost the competition anyway since Jacky was on his team.¡±


    ¡®Team?¡¯ Tom just thought to himself before sighing, realizing they were still going.


    ¡°Wanna run this one ragged?¡± Kulk questioned, clearly directed at the dragon.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that. Think I¡¯ll get a nice bonus for the capture of a strapping black dragon like that. She looks to be pretty decent size.¡±


    ¡°You are just tiring her out?!¡± Tom questioned, shouting over the wind.


    ¡°Of course. Never fight fair. With the speed she¡¯s going, and the very nice wounds you put on her, thank you very much by the way, she won¡¯t have the strength to make it to the next island. Meaning she¡¯s gotta stay here. We just follow her until she either surrenders or decides to turn and fight¡­ Likely soon after we are out of sight of the keep. Even if she tries to surrender, I would be happy to kill her for you. You know. Good old fashioned revenge?¡± Glira questioned sounding quite serious, Tom honestly couldn¡¯t tell if she actually was, he really hoped not.


    ¡°No. Just capture her or something!¡± Tom exclaimed before thinking it all over. This was a mercenary, brigand, or whatever¡­ and by the sounds of it a self employed one, and Rachuck had told him to get revenge for Nunuk. Then again, what if they had been hired? Hell, they might even have been sent by another faction in the Inquisition. If they could make her talk, they might learn a lot.


    ¡°As you wish. I still think she¡¯s going to try and fight anyway once she figures out she can¡¯t run.¡±


    ¡°You have done this before, haven¡¯t you?¡± Tom questioned, looking ahead at the black dragon who was clearly giving it everything right now.


    ¡°Darling, I¡¯ve killed more dragons than you have fingers,¡± Glira chuckled, settling into a fast cruise and holding altitude. ¡°Now just hang on and enjoy the show. I want you to know what you are missing out on by not giving me what I want.¡±


    ¡°Noted!¡± Tom just let out, moving further back to lie next to Fengi just in case he needed someone to hang onto. True to form, he did not have his parachute due to the rather unorthodox takeoff.


    Looking ahead, they were not losing much distance on the black dragon despite her clearly flying flat out. Tom finally put down his goggles too, to deal with the wind.


    ¡°What happened down there?!¡± Essy questioned Tom, looking back at the three huntresses.


    ¡°Nunuk got hit bad. Otherwise we¡¯re good,¡± Tom replied, not sure just how good news that was.


    ¡°How bad?¡±


    ¡°Pretty bad. But I don''t know how bad,¡± Tom growled, looking towards Kulk.


    ¡°Just following orders,¡± the healer replied, not looking at him.


    ¡°She was splashed across the back. Doubt she¡¯s got wings anymore, but she¡¯ll live,¡± Glira added.


    ¡°And what makes you say that?¡± Essy questioned, not seeming convinced.


    ¡°There¡¯s not an inch of that armor that¡¯s not enchanted, but the wings are exposed. She didn¡¯t take it in the face, right?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tom replied uncertainly, trying to think back. It hadn¡¯t looked like it.


    ¡°And she¡¯s got a healer with her right away. Armor will need repairs, but she¡¯ll live,¡± Glira reaffirmed, seeming quite sure of herself. Then again, Tom didn¡¯t think that counted for much. ¡°Dumb black must have nearly emptied her tank pulling that kind of a display. Stuff was everywhere,¡± Glira continued, muttering to herself like she was scheming or something.


    ¡°Think she¡¯s right, Essy? Nunuk is gonna be okay?¡± Fengi shouted out over the roar of the wind.


    ¡°I hope so,¡± the older huntress replied, looking back at the keep, seeming very worried.


    Tom too looked back, pondering if he should be back there even if he knew jack shit about acid burns. Then it hit him. Kulk was a healer too, and an experienced one at that. If anything, she should be there. Especially considering she was a combat healer; she would have seen injuries like that before.


    ¡°Glira! Send Kulk back to help fix Nunuk!¡± Tom shouted out, raising his head against the wind.


    ¡°You want me to send my only healer away as I go into battle?... Is this a test?¡±


    ¡°Sure, just fucking send her. I¡¯m guessing you know acid burns, right!?¡± he shouted, looking at Kulk.


    ¡°Sure. Plenty!¡± the healer replied, actually seeming a touch relieved.


    ¡°Then go help the one with acid burns!¡± Tom reiterated as if that was fucking obvious.


    ¡°You heard the man. Go fix the old lady. I¡¯ll be back with the carcass or slave eventually,¡± Glira replied, still looking ahead.


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡± Kulk replied, giving Tom a quick salute before opening her wings and letting the wind rip her from Glira¡¯s back, flying back towards the keep and leaving just Tom and the three huntresses on board.


    ¡°I guess I might get to see you fight then Human. She still has two crew left.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be your damn sentry gun.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°Never mind.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    When Saph had tried coming in to land, there had been a flurry of activity on the platform, people everywhere, distraught kids running back and forth. She had real trouble seeing for the blood, her world having a bit of a blue tint to it right now. As she came in, her right leg collapsed under her, leaving her sitting on her ass and clutching her leg, which only made the pain worse. Ray had come running over as Saph tried getting back up. With her help, Saph had gotten back to her feet, hobbling inside while leaning on the older woman, who was already fussing over the wounds to Saph¡¯s face. ¡®Maiko better like scars,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself as she winced at Ray¡¯s touch, trying not to pull her head away.


    The wounded brigands had been set off to the side, one of their own healers seemingly having been allowed to oversee their care. All weapons had been handed over under the watchful eye of Rachuck, who was seemingly split between keeping a close eye on them and looking worriedly at Anchor. Anchor seemed to be bringing Rachuck news, the captain listening intently. Saph just sighed as she couldn¡¯t hear a thing of what was said.


    Maiko had come running over, dropping a bucket of sand he had been carrying, looking at her hesitantly while asking questions by the looks of it. Ray said something in reply before he moved to let Saph lean on him, Ray running off in a hurry. He led her to the infirmary, where Nunuk was lying on her belly in one of the beds, Saph stopping for a moment to stare.


    She didn¡¯t need hearing to tell the old lady was in agony, writhing around on the bed while clutching Dakota¡¯s hand, tears in her eyes as she screamed. Saph had never seen the old lady like this, and she winced as Linkosta removed part of the lady¡¯s wing, still dripping acid. She was wearing the gauntlets from her mothers armor. The bone looked like it had been burned through, flesh and skin actually dripping off as it was set aside. Heron quickly covered it with sand and took it outside Saph noting the acrid smell in the air.


    ¡®I guess the dragon did get her,¡¯ Saph whispered to herself, looking at the scene as Ray came around her side while clutching a black children''s slate, giving Saph a tight hug. Saph returned the favor with the arm not currently warped around Maiko, feeling the two of them pick her up and move her to a free bed where they soon got to work on removing the arrow that was still sticking out of her leg.


    Saph didn¡¯t need to hear what Maiko said as he got out a knife, Ray coming up with a cloth for Saph to bite down on. She had tried this charade before, and she didn¡¯t hold back the screams as Maiko started cutting out the bodkin arrow. It would seem Maiko wasn¡¯t a rookie either on the subject, quickly extracting the arrow and getting to work bandaging it up as Ray started cleaning Saph¡¯s face with water and a wet rag. Saph winced again as Ray touched the back of her neck, Ray quickly pulling her hand back before turning Saph¡¯s head to have a look. Saph knew a burn when she felt one, and she again cursed Radexi. Ray went to get some salves to put on under the bandage.


    ¡®Thank the gods for that shopping trip at Quinlin¡¯s potions,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself as the likely expensive salve was applied to the back of her neck. As Ray worked, Quency was brought in, clearly heavily wounded too. Saph thought back to the woman saving her ass up above. Saph had forgotten to check her six for Quen afterwards, shoulders sagging as she saw the bloody and torn chainmail protecting the woman''s neck, blood still leaking everywhere.


    Unkai had been moved away from his work on Nunuk, leaving just Dakota, Linkosta, and Apuma to work on the lady, who was as best Saph could tell crying into her husband''s arms, Rachuck nowhere to be seen.


    As Saph looked over at Quency, she tapped on Ray¡¯s shoulder, pointing at Quin. ¡°How bad?¡±


    Ray quickly jotted down something on the slate, showing it to Saph.


    ¡°Neck wound, she¡¯ll live just need stop bleeding.¡±


    ¡°Did we lose anyone?¡±


    ¡°No, we stayed inside. Only Nunuk went out.¡±


    Saph allowed herself a bemused little laugh, almost crying a little with relief. That was absurd. Beset by two dragons and not a single dead among them. Nunuk was crippled for life that much was for certain, but they were all still here.


    ¡°That¡¯s incredible,¡± Saph finally got out as Ray started looking at her with concern. Understandably too, in Saph¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Yes, you did good,¡± Ray went with a big smile as the major peeked his head inside the room, walking over to Quency, talking with her for a bit and lending Unkai a hand.


    Saph allowed herself to just lean her head back on the pillow after Ray finished the burn bandages, looking up at the ceiling as she felt Maiko finish his work on her leg for now. When a healer had time, they would take another look at it. He came up to her head, looking down at her before asking Ray for the slate.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Leg hurts, face is fucked¡­ How bad is it?¡± she replied, feeling her face as Ray started laying bandages on the cuts.


    ¡°You¡¯ll look just great,¡± he wrote down, with a smile, caressing one of the few parts of her face that hadn¡¯t been scratched up.


    ¡°Hope you like scars,¡± she chuckled as Maiko¡¯s hands moved to help Ray instead.


    As they worked, Major Jortun came over, Maiko nodding to him and handing him the slate.


    ¡°Thank you. Very good distraction,¡± he wrote, Saph looking at it curiously


    ¡°Distraction?¡±


    The major tilted his head in reply, then went to write some more. ¡°Yes, escorts were diving on us. You broke their attack.¡±


    ¡°I did?¡± Saph questioned, confused.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t mean to?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, definitely, it was all planned,¡± Saph replied with a pained chuckle as Maiko touched a cut in the side of her neck.


    ¡°Then why disembark?¡±


    Saph pointed at her ears. ¡°Radexi fired the machine gun over my head. Blew out my ears and knocked me out cold. I woke up again midair.¡±


    The major looked down at her a touch apprehensively before wiping the slate and writing again. ¡°Must have been quite the ride.¡±


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Saph replied. ¡°How¡¯s Quency doing?¡±


    ¡°She will live. Displeased you did not have her back.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Saph replied, looking away ashamed, the major just holding the slate down in front of her field of view.


    ¡°It makes more sense now why. I¡¯ll hold nothing against you,¡± it said, Saph sighing as Ray and Maiko moved her head back to where it had been as they just kept up the bandaging. ¡®I am going to look like a burn victim at this rate,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, trying to keep her spirits up and looking over at Dakota and the burns covering her face. It was not hidius, but anyone could tell what had happened.


    ¡°I mean still. I knew she was behind me.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll live, might not have if not for you. Too many of them.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± Saph replied, looking at him.


    ¡°Nine total from red dragon. Four dead. Including one you stabbed.¡±


    ¡°And from the black dragon?¡±


    ¡°Fourteen total, five dead, two ran with her.¡±


    ¡°They lost a dragon and nine dragonettes¡­ and we lost no one,¡± Saph went with a smile. Anyone could be proud of that. Better equipment or not.


    ¡°Black still flying,¡± Jortun wrote, showing it to Saph. ¡°Glira took Tom to go after her.¡±


    ¡°She did what!?¡±

 Burns Galore

    Chapter 140: Burns Galore


    ¡°Hah! There we go. Target coming around,¡± Glira let out enthusiastically, Tom perring up to confirm the black was indeed banking into a turn and coming back at them.


    They had only been flying for a while, the keep having slipped out of sight behind them though they were still in the rolling hills.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s surrendering. You want her done quick and painless or slow and agonizing?¡± Glira roared out, Tom swearing he could feel her writhe with anticipation.


    ¡°Just try and take her alive!¡± Tom replied, still trying to come to terms with how nonchalant Glira was being as he shouted over the screaming wind. They were heading straight on, and he very much doubted she was acid proof.


    ¡°Very well, hang on tight, loop your arms through the harness, and enjoy the show. Also, I will be taking suggestions only. You are not in command today.¡±


    ¡°Noted!¡± Tom replied, cursing to himself a bit as he felt her shuffle her shoulders. ¡®You are never getting as much as a damn air rifle you psychopath.¡¯ He did as he was told though as Glira pulled up, beating her wings with renewed effort and climbing fast and steep. Tom couldn¡¯t help but look out to the side to gawk at the massive wings driving them upwards. It was pretty incredible to see them working that fast as they shot upwards. He felt Fengi grab his hand; looking over, she had her head buried in Glira¡¯s back, looking more than a little scared. Tom just gave her hand a squeeze as they climbed, nearly reaching vertical.


    Then Tom heard the, by now, familiar hiss of acid being launched. Glira rolled over onto her back, pulling up further before inverting fully. Tom looked up, which was now down, to see the stream of acid whizzing past beneath them. The black dragon came past a bit below that being forced to evade her own missed acid spray.


    ¡°Missed!¡± Glira shouted out as Tom then felt them go weightless. Glira let herself fall backwards, the massive creature heaving around faster than he thought possible, twisting like a corkscrew. She let herself drop down a bit lower than the black dragon, using the sacrificed height to come back up to speed before beating her wings again as she started chasing the black dragon again. This time, though, she too was beating hard, starting to gain on the black, who now had less than four hundred meters on them.


    ¡°Go on, shake me!¡± Glira shouted out tauntingly, though Tom doubted the black could hear them right now. As she started to close the range enough that the black could probably make her out, she started right back up with the taunting.


    ¡°Tell you what, I won''t even try and shoot you down. Come On! Try and kill me! Or you could just give up. I¡¯ll let you keep your wings if you do!¡± By now Tom was starting to wonder if grabbing Fengi as a parachute was the smart option here. They were well within firing range, which could mean only one thing when it came to Glira¡¯s plan here.


    Their target responded by trying a series of rather desperate looking maneuvers; turns, jukes, and dives as Glira kept getting ever closer. ¡°Nah, fuck it,¡± Glira let out as Tom felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end, the ominous, highpitched hum spooling up for a short second before Glira fired. The black let out a roar as she was hit in the back of a leg, Tom watching intently. The limb was still there, but a large patch of blue flesh had opened up, large enough he could see it from here.


    It took a second for the black dragon to respond. She did so by pulling a cobra, coming to a dead stop, Glira being forced to evade as she turned well clear of the now nearly stationary dragon. The reason for Glira¡¯s caution became apparent as a stream of acid shot out from the dragon''s maw. There was not a lot of it though, and it was a rather short burst, at least in comparison to the massive fountain of acid she had let loose back at the keep or even her last shot.


    ¡°Uh-oh, someone is out of juice,¡± Glira just chuckled before shouting loud enough Tom was sure the black could hear her. ¡°You done fucked up now!¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t she just surrender?!¡± Fengi shouted out, having let go of Tom''s hand to hold on to the harness.


    ¡°I think someone has been to the mines before, hasn¡¯t she!?¡± Glira shouted out as she circled the black dragon, who was now desperately trying to work some speed back up. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, shit stain?! Scared of a little work?!¡±


    They didn¡¯t get a reply as the black started on a new course, wingbeats having slowed slightly by now. Tom was honestly amazed at how well the black dragon had kept flying this hard for so long. Glira had done at least something to conserve energy, and she hardly even seemed winded yet. Surely the black was hard pushed by now though.


    His thoughts were quickly confirmed as Glira rapidly closed the gap this time, having used the spare time to get a bit more altitude, now shadowing her target from above. The black tried to evade, juking left and right as Glira dove on her target, slashing with her blades again and again. It took a few tries before she eventually just managed to connect, clipping the black dragons back, drawing blood before the target managed to drop away beneath them, doubling back the way she had come.


    ¡°Come on. You lost a while ago, just give in!¡± Glira roared before sighing, glancing back at her passengers. ¡°She¡¯s a stubborn old goat this one.¡± Tom was trying to work out if Glira was just playing with her right now. She wasn¡¯t shooting, and surely she could have managed to land a proper slash or stab by now. ¡®Is she playing with her¡­ Or just trying to make her surrender?¡¯ Tom pondered to himself. He decided that it was probably the surrender part, at least he hoped so.


    ¡°Yes, she Is!¡± Tom shouted out in reply, moving to look over the side down at the black, who was still trying to make a run for it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make her yield¡­ Eventually,¡± Glira replied as she turned around again, following the now very clearly slowing dragon. As Glira settled onto the black¡¯s tail again, Tom felt her charging for a second shot when their target abruptly pulled into an even harder 180 degree turn than previously, bleeding a lot of speed doing so. Glira fired and missed, the shot glancing off the black dragon''s ass as she maneuvered into a head on pass once more.


    Glira didn¡¯t climb this time though, instead heading straight for the black dragon on gliding wings.


    ¡°Uhm Glira?!¡± Tom let out in alarm, eyes going wide.


    ¡°Hang on back there!¡±


    ¡°Oh Shit!¡± was all Tom got out as he hunkered down, head peeking up just enough to see. He saw the two dragonette brigands jump off the black just before Glira reared up to vertical, braking hard only seconds before they would have hit. Tom just held his breath as he felt the dragon pull G¡¯s to slow down. Then the two dragons hit, Tom slamming into Glira¡¯s back like he had just been in a car crash, counting his blessings that at least her back was a little soft.


    The black dragon screamed and wailed rather than roared as Tom heard Glira ram her blades into the black dragon''s chest. Her tail swung around like a whip, driving the massive metal spike into her target''s back. The greater mass of the black dragon drove them backwards through the air as they began to fall. Looking up, Tom saw the black dragon¡¯s head lunge for Glira¡¯s neck, only scoring a glancing hit, a smattering of acid dripping off her teeth. Glira retaliated, pouncing at the black dragon''s neck and biting down hard with the sound of yielding steel.


    He felt Glira shake and shudder under him as she contorted her legs and kicked at the black dragon¡¯s stomach. Though the black did not seem to reply in kind, Glira letting out nothing but a satisfied sounding rumble as she tore her roaring target to shreds. Thinking back to her earlier shots, one had the black¡¯s hind legs the other probably had the same destination.


    Tom could see the Black dragon trying to pull her head away, Glira finally letting go with her jaws, though the two remained entangled. ¡°And now we clip her wings!¡± Glira roared out almost maniacally as she drew back a bladed arm and stabbed again. Tom heard yet another gurgling scream escaping the black dragon as he felt Glira let go. She then kicked off against the black dragon''s chest like a swimmer in a pool, Tom hanging on for dear life as he heard Bo let out a surprised scream as she fell off, tumbling backwards.


    Once free, Glira rolled over onto her chest again, beating her wings a few times before starting to circle back. Bo came hurriedly back, wings pumping frantically as she sat down on Glira¡¯s back again, clinging to a leather strap for dear life. ¡°No one told you to disembark,¡± Glira laughed as she admired her handywork.


    Looking over his right shoulder, trying to see past Fengi and Essy, he saw the black dragon plummeting towards the ground, one wing hanging limp, the other desperately flailing around. She hit with a sickening crunch and yet another scream rang out, though it soon faded to sound more like a whimper.


    ¡°How the FUCK! Is she still alive!¡± Tom exclaimed as he stared at the still moving, if clearly completely crippled black dragon that lay ruined on the ground beneath them.


    ¡°I guess she really was as tough as she looked¡­ Fucking idiot though,¡± Glira replied, her demeanor once again flipped totaly, sounding like she was looking at an mediocre sports event. ¡°Honestly. Why tire yourself out trying to run. It¡¯s gonna get you nowhere. And did she not even see the blades, I mean come on!¡±


    ¡°Why did you do that?!¡± Tom broke out. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just have shot her down!¡±


    ¡°Sure, where¡¯s the fun in that? Besides, you said you wanted her alive,¡± Glira dismissed.


    ¡°Then hit a wing or something!¡± Tom protested.


    ¡°Geez fine, I¡¯ll blow her head off if she gets up again. What about those two?¡± Glira questioned, looking to the fleeing brigands, who were booking it towards the forest.


    ¡°I want to talk with her. You said they won''t make it off the island, right?¡±


    ¡°I mean, they might try. Dangerous trip for a dragonette to make though.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Essy, the middle aged mother being the senior huntress present.


    ¡°I mean, they will make it in the wild for a while. But winter is coming¡­ I don¡¯t know. They might make it. I wouldn¡¯t risk it myself though.¡±


    ¡°If they want to be sure they will live, they will come back to the keep,¡± Fengi added. ¡°Even mine work is not worth dying to avoid.¡±


    ¡°Let''s let them go then,¡± Tom replied. ¡°We''ll just let Deriva and Hylsdahl know to keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°Interrogation time it is then,¡± Glira concluded, coming in to land.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ She might have something to say,¡± Tom let out, looking at the stricken beast. She was big. Bigger than Glira, though she could not stand up to Baron that was for sure, meaning she must be old. He couldn¡¯t help but think how much use a dragon like that could have been¡­ if it hadn¡¯t been such an arsehole.


    ¡°SHIT!¡± Glira then let out, sounding genuinely distraught.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°What?! What is it?¡± Tom questioned, fearing they too were going to be making an emergency landing.


    ¡°Are you hurt?!¡± Essy shouted out, seemingly sharing his concern.


    ¡°I broke one of my blades!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Kulk had arrived to help tend to the wounded, Saph getting her leg looked at soon enough, though the cuts on her face would have to wait. She had hobbled out of the infirmary leaning on Maiko to make room for some of the brigands who needed more serious aid, as she was going to be fine after all.


    That and she had someone to go shout at. She had already explained in a bit greater detail what had happened to Maiko, Ray, and the major. Maiko in particular seemed quite displeased with what had happened, the two of them currently heading for the greeting hall where Jarix had come in to land not too long ago.


    It had been quite the sight to see the damage up close when Saph stepped through the door. Jarix was standing in the middle of the hall, Saph guessing it would be quite painful for him to lie down. His underside had turned almost black and the smell of burned meat hung heavy in the air to the point it was almost sickening.


    Jarix, though, seemed more busy talking with Rachuck, who was probably briefing the dragon on what was going on down here. The dragon looked more than a little worried as he kept talking. Zarko and Radexi were hard at work getting the harness and armor off to clean what they could in terms of wounds. He had taken a few arrows, but nothing major. Saph was lost for a moment looking at him. He had taken the hit for them, granted he hadn''t really been given a choice, but that amount of fire would likely have burned her and the others to a crisp.


    Jacky was currently busy cutting off pieces of dead skin, tossing it into a bucket. Maiko set Saph down on a chair that was standing up against the wall just as Jacky noticed them. She quickly sheathed the knife, running over to Saph and giving her a quick once over, mouth moving very fast.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hear shit, dummy. Radexi blew my ears out,¡± Saph replied with a bemused expression. It was nice to know Jacky had gotten out in one piece after her little stunt, which likely had something to do with her current energy level.


    Maiko handed Jacky the slate just as she started doing what Saph could best describe as an interpretive dance, seemingly trying to recount the fighting from her perspective.


    ¡°Calm down, girl, I saw you kill that thing,¡± Saph chuckled, leaning back on the chair.


    Jacky looked quite frustrated, clenching her fists almost like she wanted to punch someone out of sheer excitement. Maiko looked a touch worried as she glanced at him. She just took the slate he was holding though, quickly jotting something down and excitedly showing it to Sapphire.


    ¡°I KNOW RIGHT!!!¡± was all it said as she handed the tablet back and gave Saph a hug that cracked her spine a few times, the chair coming with as Saph was lifted off the ground.


    ¡®Oh, that¡¯s the spot,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, even if she was struggling to breathe. Jacky did at least put her back down again rather quickly. ¡°Glad to feel you¡¯re alright,¡± Saph joked, shuffling her shoulders a little, hoping to make the pain go away.


    Jacky quickly scribbled away again, Saph honestly struggling to read the result once Jacky turned the pad around again. ¡°Did you see the kill?!¡± was Saph''s best guess.


    ¡°Yes, Jacky, I saw you¡­ You¡¯re fucking crazy, you know that right?¡±


    ¡°You mean awesome,¡± came the hurriedly written reply accompanied by what Saph guessed was a raucous laugh.


    ¡°You suck at spelling when you are in a hurry, Jacky,¡± Saph chuckled, sitting back down on her chair. ¡°How¡¯s Jarix?¡±


    Saph could see the dragon reply, Jacky shouting something back. Saph just waited her turn as Jacky got back to writing.


    ¡°Sleeping gonna suck,¡± was all it said, the grin on Jacky¡¯s face confirming that Jarix was probably going to be fine. If not, Jacky hadn¡¯t figured it out yet.


    ¡°Excellent¡­ Could you fetch Radexi for me?¡± Saph questioned, glancing quickly at Maiko.


    Jacky just gave a quick salute before running off to fetch her target, Saph pulling a slight smile. She hadn¡¯t kicked the bucket on his account, but she might as well have. And she still had one hell of a headache right now. By the sounds of what Jortun had to say, that little fuck up might have saved lives, but that was not going to stop her from scolding the guy, that was for sure.


    She had expected him to look like a guilty kid being dragged into her mom''s room. What she got was a soldier at attention looking dead ahead, Jacky blabbering away and pointing up at the machinegun, clearly asking questions.


    ¡°Could you wait just a little bit, Jacky?¡± Saph questioned, looking at Radexi. ¡°Why did you decide it was a good idea to try and kill me?¡±


    Jacky looked a touch apprehensive before handing over the slate to him, looking like she wished him good luck. He remained very professional and took quite some time writing down his response.


    ¡°My lack of familiarity with the weapon led me to forget it may not be fired with the muzzle in close proximity of a person, unlike a ballista, in which I have trained. I am sorry.¡±


    Saph just sighed, looking at him. ¡°You forgot?¡± she questioned, trying to sound as disappointed as possible. ¡°You were told several times, hell even I know. And I was not even trained to fire the damn thing!¡± Saph shouted out. ¡°How the hell do you forget that?!¡±


    Radix didn¡¯t respond immediately, instead mulling it over for a second or two before he started to write again. ¡°My focus was on the target. I had to nail him or we risked losing the fight.¡±


    ¡°Jarix. Losing a turning fight?¡± Saph questioned, trying very hard to sound unconvinced, which she was.


    ¡°Look at him!¡± Radexi put down in a more hurried fashion, pointing back at the dragon, Saph noticing they had gotten Zarko¡¯s attention. She came jogging over grabbing Radix by the ear as she snatched the slate yelling something at him. She then hauled him towards Jarix almost throwing him at the dragon as the young man struggled to not fall over.


    Then she turned back to Saph, looking very unhappy while jotting something down. ¡°Later¡± was all it said as she slammed the slate into Maiko¡¯s stomach, gesturing at Jarix as she shouted something at Jacky, who responded by quickly running over looking like a kid that got caught somewhere she should not have been right now.


    Saph just grumbled as her shoulders sagged. There was no arguing who needed the attention right now after all. It wasn¡¯t like there was anything to do now anyway. They had wounded to tend to after all¡­ Jarix once again one of them.


    Maiko had come around in front of her, sidling into her field of view while holding the tablet.


    ¡°You feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°I guess. Know anyone that can put my ears back together?¡± Saph jested with another sigh.


    ¡°Kulk can. She¡¯s patched Twitch before,¡± came the reply after a bit.


    ¡°Right then,¡± was all Saph could think to answer. The healer would be busy for quite a while, that much was for certain. Lives took precedence over hearing, any idiot knew that.


    ¡°I will go fetch her. She owes me a favor,¡± the young man replied, running off after handing the slate to Sapphire, who just sat there pondering if she should try and stop him, not reaching a conclusion before he was already gone.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Glira had come down in the grass a bit away from the crashed black who, by the looks of it, had finally given up


    ¡°Oh you are in a world of shit now,¡± Glira chuckled darkly as she slowly walked up to the black dragon, lowering a wing for Tom and the others to get off. ¡°You broke one of my blades, my favorite at that.¡±


    The black dragon just moved her head a bit to see them better, letting out a pained breath.


    ¡°Move and I¡¯ll kill you, very painfully,¡± Glira reiterated, staring her down. The black dragon still didn¡¯t reply, instead just staring up at Glira with her one good eye.


    ¡°Mind giving us a proper introduction now?¡± Tom questioned as he walked down Glira¡¯s wing, not walking any closer, rifle loaded and in his hands.


    ¡°Fuck you. You malformed little cunt. The hell are you even?¡±


    ¡°Tom. The resident human,¡± he introduced himself with a slight, sarcastic bow. ¡°I would just like to know a few things reall qui-.¡±


    ¡°Who told me, who am I, and what was I after?¡± the black dragon cut him off, in a very much not friendly tone.


    ¡°Well, that would be a good start.¡± Tom admitted, looking her over. She was a mess, blue blood leaking from the deep stabwounds in her chest, at least one leg that he could see was completely mangled, another twisted the wrong way as she laid on top of it. ¡°Tell us and we might help put you back together.¡±


    ¡°No one, me, and money¡­¡± she coughed up, staring him down. ¡°Now my question... Why do you sound like such a retard?¡±


    ¡°Because this is my sixth language by now. So shut up and listen up,¡± Tom snapped, not really appreciating her tone, much as he could understand her point of view. ¡°Tell me why you came here. What were you after? It¡¯s not like you have anyone left to snitch on. If so, just don¡¯t mention them, I get that part.¡±


    ¡°And why in all of holy hell and heaven would I do that?¡± the dragon retorted, wincing afterwards clearly in great pain.


    ¡°You would get to live. I don¡¯t think you get to your age without a decent survival instinct,¡± Tom countered.


    ¡°Pah, she just hides behind others if she thinks there is any danger. Even killed a few of her own today thanks to her incompetence,¡± Glira added in, Tom cursing a little to himself.


    ¡®Great job convincing the prisoner to speak. Really, thanks a lot.¡¯


    ¡°And you sent a kid in ahead of you to take the brunt of it!¡± the black dragon replied in a pained tone as she moved her head a little, letting out low whimper


    ¡°My son. I needed to see what he would do. Now, tell Tom here what he wants to know and I might actually help them put you back together, so I can get a little bonus for bringing you in alive.¡±


    ¡°For a life in the mines¡­ no thank you¡­ You know Glira, you are a shitty shot.¡±


    ¡°And you are a shitty flyer, Yldrin. It is Yldrin, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck off.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you know each other?¡± Tom broke out, looking back at Glira who had her head held high.


    ¡°No,¡± she replied with a sigh. ¡°But I''ve seen her before. Used to run a mercenary business to ¡®protect¡¯ certain areas about a century ago. But a piece of crap like this can¡¯t do that now, can she?¡± Glira continued very sarcastically, sitting down on her haunches.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t get hurt. We kept the bad crap away... and they paid us for it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, until they didn¡¯t want to pay and then you kinda made them,¡± Glira rebuked. ¡°Some would call that extortion.¡±


    ¡°And the guard is any different? A small keep that gets one of you idiots deployed will be bankrupt by the end of the year, and now you are leaving them all behind as you run away and hide. At least we didn''t run.¡±


    ¡°Tom, have you seen anyone run today?¡± Glira questioned, seemingly unfazed as she glanced down at him. He was trying to keep up up right now with all that info, deciding he might as well play along. Apparently Glira knew at least a little about this particular piece of work, and he was hardly an expert on dragon interrogations anyway.


    ¡°Well none of ours that I could see.¡±


    ¡°Essy, Fengi... uhm... Bo was it?¡± Glira questioned, looking between the three huntresses.


    ¡°No, Ma¡¯am,¡± came the uniform reply.


    ¡°Seems you are the only coward here,¡± Glira concluded, looking back to Yldril. ¡°I¡¯m also willing to guess you are out here precisely because we have pulled back from the frontier.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations, you do have a brain.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know, but you seemingly don¡¯t. Why the hell would you attack a keep with no less than five dragons on the same damn island, you absolute retard?!¡±


    ¡°Cause you had to be sitting on something good,¡± Yldril replied with a sigh, seeming very defeated right now.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not that dumb. You didn¡¯t risk messing with a keep under Royal Guard protection on a hunch. You better tell me and we can make this painless, unless you really would prefer to go back to the mines.¡±


    ¡°Look. Everyone in the capital has been at least mentioning this damn keep. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out there is something special here.¡±


    ¡°And the reports of successfully repelling attack after attack?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if you aren¡¯t home.¡±


    ¡°Well we kinda are,¡± Tom interjected, looking at her quizzically.


    ¡°Well, not according to my scouts you weren''t,¡± Yldril snapped, her tone somewhere between fury and disappointment.


    ¡®This idiot really does like talking,¡¯ Tom mused to himself. ¡®Says she won''t say anything then just doesn¡¯t shut up.¡¯


    ¡°Right, so you hear about a little keep in the middle of nowhere that had something valuable and decide you need help? I don¡¯t believe you. You should have been able to see our deployment orders?... Don¡¯t tell me that red was your prot¨¦g¨¦ or something and just so happened to be coming along?¡± Glira questioned, clearly not impressed.


    ¡°Sure he is, been working on him for years,¡± Yldril responded, Tom catching on by now that she was quite likely lying. ¡°He¡¯s quite the fighter.¡±


    ¡°Was you mean,¡± Tom interjected.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ugly one, say again?¡±


    ¡°He was,¡± Tom reiterated ¡°Dead now, of course.¡±


    ¡°Your son scored a kill?¡± Yldril questioned looking up, seeming more curious than upset.


    ¡°No. That idiot of a red couldn¡¯t even save himself against a keep dweller. Now, I would like to hear some truths, old girl, or this is going to get painful,¡± Glira went, getting up to loom over Yldril, taking a few steps closer.


    ¡°Look, can¡¯t you just be nice and tell us!¡± Fengi broke, moving forwards alongside Glira, looking at the dragon pleadingly. ¡°We have kids. Old Apuma who loves telling stories. Ray who just keeps working away trying to prove she¡¯s a worthy addition here. They took me off the streets, we took in the kids from Hylsdahl after it was burned to the ground. We¡¯re good people! Can¡¯t you just be a little nice and tell us. We need to know.¡±


    ¡°Look girl, life ain¡¯t all cake and rainbows. I¡¯m here for money, and lots of it.¡±


    ¡°Then till some fields or something. It¡¯s not that hard,¡± Fengi protested, holding up her arms.


    ¡°And slave away for the rest of my life for scraps? For people that will throw me out when winter comes or times get tough? Huh?! Is that what I should do?! You dumb little street rat,¡± Yldril replied, raising her head, Glira opening her jaws as Tom felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.


    ¡°They won''t if they need you,¡± Fengi replied, taking a step back defensively.


    ¡°No one needs you forever.¡±


    ¡°You always need friends. You kick out the arseholes. So just try to be nice, okay?¡± Fengi tried again, Glira closing her jaws as Yldril lowered her head back down while glancing at Glira. The blue dragon looking to Fengi curiously.


    ¡°And I need to shut up,¡± Yldril replied, with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m not going to the mines, so I¡¯m gonna die here either way. Just get it over with.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, you don¡¯t want to die. I¡¯m guessing you are planning on trying to escape before you get there. I¡¯ve heard dragons pull that off before,¡± Glira said, still looking at Fengi. ¡°Fengi¡­ Try telling her a bit more¡­ forcefully...¡±

 Alternative Interrogations

    Chapter 141: Alternative Interrogations


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Actually, no. Try telling me. Order me, in fact,¡± Glira continued. She sounded more curious than anything to Tom. ¡®What are you up to now?¡¯ Tom questioned, studying the large blue dragon.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fengi questioned, looking up at the dragon.


    ¡°Order me to stand up. Go on,¡± the dragon replied, leaning back, fixing her posture.


    ¡°Okay?¡­ Glira, stand up,¡± Fengi went, looking up at the dragon.


    ¡°No, order!¡± Glira replied in a harder tone. ¡°Like a soldier. Yell at me, scream if you have to.¡±


    Fengi just looked confused before drawing a breath and shouting at Glira. ¡°Stand up!¡±


    Glira just looked at her for a second or two, seemingly thinking. ¡°You¡¯re shit, but it¡¯s there. It is definitely there,¡± she replied, looking to be deep in thought of all things.


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Fengi demanded, sounding very confused.


    ¡°Just kill me already and be done with this,¡± Yldril interjected.


    ¡°Shut up, you useless coward,¡± Glira went almost absentmindedly before turning back to Fengi. ¡°I suck at breaking news to people. But you, my adorable little friend, are an enchantress.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a what?¡± Fengi questioned, looking up at Glira, Tom just scratching the back of his neck, not sure what that entailed.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Essy echoed, also looking up at the dragon.


    ¡°Woman, me and the major specialize in hunting witches and wizards. I can smell magic pretty well by now, and she is no blank,¡± Glira went, pointing a claw at Fengi.


    ¡°Blank?¡± Tom questioned, looking around even more confused.


    ¡°Person without magic. Do try to keep up,¡± Glira went, glancing at him briefly before looking back at Fengi.


    ¡°Right¡­ gotcha,¡± Tom replied, trying to piece all that together. He knew dragonettes were supposed to discover their magical talents around age 20, and to his knowledge everyone at the keep, older than Fengi, had magic. Apuma had talked about it being a pretty big deal to not have any magic since they usually believed it was because you just hadn¡¯t figured it out yet. That was a pretty bad thing after all, since it meant you didn¡¯t know a large part of yourself. Or you just didn¡¯t want to accept it, which was often seen as even worse.


    He also knew that all those mind messing powers were among the rarest. Things like what Inquisitor Joelina could do had often been enough to see you recruited into powerful organizations when they surfaced.


    ¡°I am an enchantress, an actual, honest to the gods, enchantress?¡± Fengi reiterated, seeming reluctant to believe it.


    ¡°A shit one, but sure,¡± Glira replied with a nod before turning her attention back to Yldril.


    ¡°I¡­ Thank you!¡± Fengi just went, bowing deeply to Glira, Essy coming over to give her a hug.


    ¡°This is amazing news!¡± the older huntress let out as the two of them stood there, Tom looking at Bo who just shrugged.


    ¡°I found it, I found it, I found it!¡± Fengi all but shrieked as it seemed to properly click for her, jumping in place as Essy let go, the two of them looking happy as could be. Tom looked over at the dying dragon. Well, she looked like she should be dying at least. So he took a brave pill and walked a bit closer, wanting to have a closer look at her injuries. There was no telling what was broken on the inside, but her breath was wheezing and blood was leaking into a sizable puddle, much to his boot¡¯s dismay. This was all very useful information though, certainly worth some blood soaked boots.


    Yldril for her part was just lying there, seemingly having taken the chance to think everything over as her captors jumped in delight. It was probably fair to say everything hadn''t gone to plan for her today.


    ¡°So¡­ I could just tell her to give up her secrets?¡± Fengi questioned, looking towards Yldril after she had calmed down a bit, her smile vanishing as if she realized her celebration probably hadn¡¯t been entirely appropriate.


    ¡°In theory,¡± Glira confirmed. ¡°Won¡¯t do you much good today though, unless you have a few spare years to train.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you can clearly boost magic,¡± Tom added in, trying to be helpful.


    ¡°I think we have something for that,¡± Essy piped up.


    ¡°You¡¯re not talking about the baby, right?¡± Fengi questioned, looking at her old friend.


    ¡°The what?¡± Glira asked too, seemingly having lost the train of conversation. It took Tom a second too before he caught on.


    ¡°Yeah, Jinora. Think we can get her to boost you on command?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going to tell us everything down to her childhood fears,¡± Fengi preened at the realization, the smile returning to her face as the two women seemed to fall right into a scheming mindset.


    Tom just looked at the black dragon as he walked back up towards her head to look at the damage to her neck, specifically to the armor there. ¡®I thought the horn could do that just fine, but baby it is I guess,¡¯ he pondered to himself as he inspected the damage. Looking at her head, he noted she looked properly scared right now. Confused, but scared.


    Then she looked over at him. And lunged.


    Tom froze as the huge head was slammed to the ground a bit over a meter from him, a powerful blue leg driving it into the ground.


    ¡°Ah ah ah,¡± Glira let out, pushing Yldril¡¯s head further into the ground, twisting her foot. ¡°You will play nice, or I start plucking scales. Since you so clearly would like to die¡­ Actually, someone fetch the rope from my harness. I want her mouth tied shut. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll have much to say before you get this miracle baby anyway. We¡¯ll get to work trying to keep her alive in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go get Jinora,¡± Fengi let out, nodding to Glira and Tom.


    ¡°What if the last two come back?¡± Bo questioned, stepping forwards too, looking around at everyone uncertainly.


    ¡°Then Tom and I give them the bad news,¡± Glira chuckled, not letting her weight off the black dragon. ¡°Go fetch, you two. We¡¯ll be fine. Perhaps bring a few more hands to help if they can spare them back there. We need planks, beams, and rope. We will need more rope.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡± Fengi went, the two of them taking off running and beating into the sky, heading back towards the keep.


    ¡°Right then. Let¡¯s secure our suicidal black dragon that runs from danger.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had remained seated on her chair in the greeting hall for a bit, watching all the people running around soundlessly. When Zarko and Radexi pulled off a large dangling scale she felt the floor vibrate with Jarix¡¯s roar of pain, making her quite happy she was deaf right now. She didn¡¯t really know what to do with herself right now. So she sat on her chair content to just not get in the way of anyone and keep an eye on the prisoners that had by now all gotten tied up and were sitting in lines on the floor. at least the unwounded ones.


    Maiko eventually returned with the veteran healer Kulk in tow. Saph had tried to protest that there had to be something better for the healer to be spending her time and energy on right now, but she was having none of it.


    It was a mostly painless experience, even if Kulk sticking a clawed finger into Saph¡¯s ear to rummage around was a very different experience to be sure. The tickling sensation Saph could certainly have done without. it was like having a miniature person crawl around in her ear stitching things back together. Kulk wasn¡¯t exactly gentle either as she just yanked Saph¡¯s head over, did the job, moved on to the next ear, and then let her go. Saph shook her head a bit, taking a second to listen, seemingly back to normal again, ¡®Damn¡­ That was easy.¡¯


    ¡°There we go, good as new, only bust the drums. Do you hear any ringing?¡± the healer questioned looking at Saph.


    ¡°... No, my head hurts though,¡± Saph replied after a second''s contemplation, trying to shake it away to no avail.


    ¡°Concussion most likely. Maiko, just wake her up every few hours if she decides to go to sleep and stay with her for now.¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t go all funny in the head now, will she?¡± Maiko chuckled, looking back to Saph with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Twitch has had quite a few. I¡¯ll let you judge the effects,¡± Kulk stated flatly, though her lips did curl into a bit of a smile as she looked into Saph¡¯s eyes and leaned forwards. ¡°Look at me for a bit.¡±


    ¡°How many times have you done this before?¡± Saph questioned as she stared at the healer for a few seconds.


    ¡°More than I can count. Follow the finger¡­ Yeah, I think that¡¯s a concussion. I can¡¯t do much about that, anything else?¡± Kulk asked, pulling back again.


    ¡°No¡­ I think I¡¯m good¡­ Jarix looks like he could use some help though,¡± Saph replied, looking at the wounded dragon.


    ¡°Soapy water, a good trimming, and a few days rest and he¡¯ll be good as new. Maybe a week before he¡¯s presentable again. Bigger scales might take a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°Will there be any scarring?¡± the dragon questioned, looking over, apparently not in too much pain as to not follow conversations.


    ¡°Some, sure. Shouldn''t look too hideous though after the largest of the chest scales regrow. Still, if you¡¯re aiming for any beauty contests, I would recommend hitting next time,¡± Kulk replied, turning to leave as Essy and Fengi came in to land, looking around at the scene.


    ¡°Holy shit Saph, you alright?!¡± Fengi shouted out as her eyes landed on Saph, setting off running towards her and the others. ¡°I didn¡¯t even recognize you at first.¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°It looks worse than it is,¡± Saph sighed, gesturing dismissively at all the bandages. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°What about Nunuk?¡± Essy asked, following up behind Fengi at a more sedate pace. Saph looked to Kulk, hoping she had the latest news.


    ¡°Her wings are gone completely and her acid burns are severe, especially at the root of the wings. The acid made it as far as her spine, only slight corrosion to the bone though. A bit more and she would never walk again. She won¡¯t be leaving the bed for weeks. But I do think she¡¯ll live,¡± Kulk replied calmly and professionally.


    ¡°Well, what are you doing here then?!¡± Essy cried out. ¡°You were told to go help the lady.¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Kulk replied, seemingly not taking any offense, turning around to leave.


    ¡°Hey, she just finished fixing Saph¡¯s ears and checking on her head,¡± Maiko interjected. ¡°Be nice.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡± Essy replied, looking away as she bit her lip.


    ¡°I guess she took another big hit for us huh?¡± Fengi added, looking Saph over, her expression still concerned.


    ¡°Some bastard tried clawing my eyes out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s dead then?¡± Essy sighed after taking a breath to calm down.


    ¡°Oh yeah, he didn¡¯t make it,¡± Maiko mused.


    ¡°Got shot in the leg too, but that is what it is. Why are you back here alone? Where are Tom and Bo?¡±


    ¡°Where is Glira?¡± Rachuck questioned, having hurriedly made his way over.


    ¡°Right, so. We need Jinaro to boost Fengi¡¯s magic so the black dragon, who is named Yldril by the way, will tell us what she knows,¡± Essy¡¯s glance switching between Rachuck and Saph. All other eyes turned to Fengi.


    ¡°You found it?¡± Saph questioned, eyes widening. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Fengi started, voice quivering with excitement. ¡°Am an enchantress.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± was all that Saph said out loud. ¡®No wonder you didn¡¯t figure it out, with those eyes of yours everyone¡­ Oh¡­ oh shit,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, trying to smile mischievously under the bandages as she looked at Fengi. ¡°You sly little bastard,¡± she chuckled. ¡°All this time we thought you were just too cute to say no to.¡±


    ¡°Wait you think-?¡±


    ¡°The mystery of the Fengi eyes has been revealed,¡± Saph laughed, cursing inwardly as all the wounds on her face started to hurt again. ¡°You were enchanting us all this time¡­ only a little though, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn''t mean to,¡± Fengi squeaked out, looking a touch apprehensive as she turned to Essy.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Essy interjected. ¡°You do need to learn to control it though. But with Jinora it sounds like she¡¯s going to do that for you. Saph you weren¡¯t in control right?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No I wasn¡¯t¡± Saph repleid shaking her head looking at Fengi.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing news, but. You can¡¯t expect to just use that on an adult dragon, and an old one at that,¡± Rachuck added in, sounding like he was picking his words carefully. ¡°You need training, and maybe a teacher. This is not something to be playing with. And what about the unicorn horn? We still have some dust left over. and the horn itself.¡±


    ¡°Fengi can¡¯t control it yet. That is why we need Jinora,¡± Essy replied. ¡°If what Saph said was true, then she wasn¡¯t controlling her magic¡­ Well, not the flow at least,¡± Essy protested.


    ¡°Also in kind of a hurry. Yldril didn¡¯t look great, and Glira, Tom, and Bo are currently working, trying to keep her with us. We need some hands to help with fixing her up. Rope, planks, the land mine, and maybe something to cauterize the wounds,¡± Fengi added, speaking quickly as if trying to emphasize the urgency.


    ¡°Landmine?¡± Saph questioned, looking at Essy.


    ¡°Tom wanted it. Don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Will you at least not ask Linkosta and Apuma first. They might know better what can be done with that¡­ spell or whatever it is.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing. wouldnt¡¯ hurt¡± Essy replied giving him a nod


    ¡°Are they planning on bringing her back here?¡± Rachuck questioned, seeming unhappy with the whole situation.


    ¡°Not yet, no. I doubt she could even move on her own,¡± Essy replied reassuringly.


    ¡°Well when you have her secured, could you tell Glira to get back here? Her son took quite the pounding.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ Could you maybe keep her there for a bit¡­¡± Jarix interjected, Saph¡¯s head turning to the rather distraught-looking dragon. ¡°A few days would be nice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Sorry dude. She¡¯s not happy,¡± Fengi replied, also turning back to the dragon. ¡°We¡¯ll try and stall her, I promise. I¡¯m sure we won¡¯t be moving Yldril anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°And she definitely needs to be guarded for now,¡± Essy added, nodding convincingly.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± the dragon went with a nod of gratitude before turning his head back to the burns on his chest and belly. ¡°I owe you one.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. Look at you,¡± Saph protested. ¡°We would have been burned to a crisp by that.¡±


    ¡°You can owe me for killing a red fucking dragon!¡± Jacky shouted out triumphantly as she carried off some of Jarix''s armor, under the watchful eye of Zarko, giving Fengi and Essy a wave, Fengi returning the gesture.


    ¡°Right then,¡± Rachuck interrupted, looking around at them. ¡°Anchor will go with you. I¡¯ll hold down the fort.¡± He then turned to look towards Jarix and Zarko. ¡°Can you spare Jacky?!¡±


    It took a bit before they got a reply from Zarko, the dragon looking back at her. ¡°Fine! We¡¯ll manage!¡± She shouted in reply, sounding quite displeased. Rachuck just replied with a thumbs up and turned back to the huntresses. ¡°Well you better get to it then, sounds like you¡¯re in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go fetch Jinora if you stay here¡­ Actually, Saph, since you aren¡¯t doing anything right now, just try and teach Fengi some basics. We are kinda short on time,¡± Essy said, glancing between the two younger huntresses then finally to Maiko. ¡°You, Anchor, and Jacky fetch ropes and planks for Yldril. Those two are fine for now. I¡¯ll lead you to them when you¡¯re ready. Fengi can follow when she¡¯s ready.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Maiko replied with a salute before running off towards Jacky.


    ¡°Take care, you two. I¡¯ll be back,¡± Essy continued, looking to the rather befuddled Sapphire before she ran off towards the library. Rachuck just nodded at them before walking off back over to the prisoners, talking with their healer, likely wanting to know if he had anyone about to die on him. That left just Saph and Fengi to sit and stare at each other.


    ¡°Okay then, Fen¡­ I guess, let¡¯s get to it?¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, how did you like the show?¡± Glira questioned as Tom and Bo finished tying up Yldril¡¯s snout. Glira had rolled the black dragon over onto her back and was currently holding her head in place just in case she got any ideas. That didn¡¯t mean Tom wasn¡¯t shitting his pants at the moment, the black dragon glaring at him with her one remaining eye whenever she could. It was pretty easy to see Bo was also ready to jump back at a moment''s notice, which really didn¡¯t help Tom¡¯s sense of security.


    ¡°You did what you were told to do, I guess?¡± Tom replied with a shrug, not taking his eyes off Yldril.


    ¡°Hey, I captured a heavier dragon and barely took a scratch doing so,¡± Glira replied, shifting her foot on top of Yldril¡¯s neck. ¡°Most would consider that impressive.¡±


    ¡°I know, but did you need to be that¡­¡±


    ¡°Enthusiastic?¡± Bo finished as Tom dithered on the word. He just gave her a nod as she finished tying the knots. Tom was not trusting himself with that job.


    ¡°Of course I did, I needed her to not think too hard. If you sound like a bloodthirsty killer, people tend to believe they can trick you. Ain¡¯t that right, Yldril?¡± Glira questioned, leaning her head down, her quarry responding in a low growl that made Tom¡¯s chest vibrate before she started coughing again.


    ¡°Even too dumb to shut up when it hurts,¡± Glira Chuckled. ¡°No, I can get a little worked up. It¡¯s just been so boring as of late. Gotta admit¡­ I¡¯m kinda disappointed in her.¡±


    ¡°Why, would you prefer to be the one lying broken on the ground?¡±


    ¡°No, I would prefer an actual challenge. Didn¡¯t even have to shoot her down.¡±


    ¡°I guess you don¡¯t even need that gun then,¡± Tom tried hopefully. Only realizing as he said it how futile an argument that likely was.


    ¡°No. That would allow me to take on even greater odds of course. And as you so finely put it, I don¡¯t want to be the one lying broken on the ground. So, has this little display convinced you I could do with such a weapon?¡±


    ¡°No, you are cruel and vicious.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± Glira replied, sounding almost offended. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her, nor did I maim her for life. If she heals right, of course. I restrained myself,¡± she went, sounding quite proud.


    ¡°You toyed with her and then ripped her apart in melee. Why not just shoot a wing off her or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, for Pete''s sake,¡± Glira cursed, letting out an angry rumble. ¡°You want her captured but not hurt? You think she would ever fly again if I took a wing? I couldn¡¯t let her go, I couldn¡¯t just kill her, she didn¡¯t surrender even with all the ¡®toying around¡¯ as you put it. What did you want me to do!?¡±


    Glira seemed to be getting more and more agitated as she kept talking. ¡°Your people back at the keep would like revenge, I¡¯m sure. You want mercy, yet you won''t let her run away. You want her caught but not injured, Miracles but no miracle weapon. The hell does it take to make you happy?!¡± She growled, drawing more blood from Yldril as her claws dug in.


    ¡°Not that, for starters,¡± Tom pointed at Glira¡¯s clawed foot. ¡°She¡¯s an enemy, but do try to treat her with some dignity.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell. She hasn¡¯t even surrendered yet technically. Have you now!?¡± Glira questioned, craning her head down to look at Yldril. ¡°And you snapped at Tom, didn¡¯t you? You wanted a bargaining chip so i would let you go. Just one squeeze and he¡¯d be done for¡­ Just nod if you surrender, would you?¡± She asked in a more pleading tone, belying she was probably more than done with all this.


    Yldril finally took her eyes off Tom to glare up at Glira instead, remaining silent for the moment.


    ¡°You better nod, or I¡¯ll rip your wings off and tear them apart so you¡¯ll have to work haulage here till the day you die!¡± the blue snapped, going right back to properly furious, Tom wondering just how smart it was to push her when his only backup consisted of a greenhorn huntress.


    She seemed almost unhinged to Tom. Yet he couldn¡¯t say that to her damn face, now could he? She might just decide he had met with an accident or something. Would she do something like that?


    He didn¡¯t notice that as he had been taking his time thinking shit over Glira had taken a breath and leaned back, Yldril starting to nod furiously, remaining eye now wide with fear. ¡°Fucking coward,¡± Glira mused happily as she let her breath back out in a sigh.


    ¡°I take it you would prefer some prim and proper officer then?¡± she then questioned, looking down at Tom instead.


    ¡°It would help, but a compassionate one would be best,¡± Tom countered.


    ¡°Is that why my son has grown soft? To please you?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say soft. He cares now,¡± Tom countered.


    ¡°About something other than winning. That might get him killed, you know.¡±


    ¡°Might save a lot of people too. Maybe even on both sides. Just because someone is in your sights doesn''t mean they deserve to die. Even if they have to.¡±


    Glira just let out another sigh, sounding more exasperated than anything as she looked at the sky. ¡°A dragon warrior that doesn¡¯t want to kill.¡±


    ¡°No, one that doesn¡¯t like to,¡± Tom tried correcting, hoping he wasn¡¯t playing too much with fire right now.


    ¡°And he would risk it all for your little pile of rocks.¡±


    ¡°No. For the people inside it,¡± Tom said in his most diplomatic voice.


    ¡°You get what I mean! Please, don¡¯t tell me you want me to become some old softhearted grandma for you to give me that damn gun. I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see. Let¡¯s start by keeping this one alive so we can learn if she really does deserve to die.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Glira replied dejectedly as she moved to Yldril¡¯s side. ¡°You are a right mess. We¡¯ll just work on the bleeding for now. You two disassemble her pathetic armor. We need the padding underneath and what rope we have to tie wounds shut until the skin heals,¡± Glira went, turning the black over onto her side, Yldril letting out a pained groan as Glira moved to put a doubtlessly tremendous amount of pressure on the larger of the stab wounds. ¡°Sometime today would be nice.¡±


    Tom did as he was told, taking another brave pill, Bo following a bit behind him. Looking at the stab wounds left by Glira¡¯s blades, they were still leaking a very concerning amount of blue blood everywhere.


    ¡°You went for the joints, right? Surely she¡¯s crippled for life?¡± Tom asked, looking at the limp and broken wing that had been responsible for Yldril falling out of the sky.


    ¡°Nah, with a bit of work she¡¯ll be airworthy again one day. Might hurt and ache quite a bit for the rest of her life, but they will work. We aren¡¯t as flimsy as you little people, remember?¡±


    ¡°I guess having to live for a few hundred years poses certain requirements on well¡­ Self-repair I guess?¡± Tom could remember how the damage done to both Jarix and Archeon had healed way faster than it had any right to. These were deep wounds though, and they had mostly taken superficial damage.


    ¡°Most people call that healing, but sure,¡± Glira replied with a smug smirk. ¡°Now Yldril. To encourage cooperation, if you behave I¡¯ll reward you by trying to not make this as painful as possible.¡± Glira went looking down at Yldrils head again, sounding almost like she was talking to a child. ¡°We plug the holes then hopefully the people you tried to rob will bring some splints for you. If you move it might heal wrong yada yada yada. You are old enough to know the drill.¡±


    ¡°Where are you planning on finding splints for a dragon?¡± Tom questioned, looking around at the rolling hills. ¡°Surely they need to be quite big.¡±


    ¡°Well if my son wasn¡¯t currently licking his wounds because he¡¯s become a big softie, I would have sent him to fetch something. As it stands, I guess we¡¯ll have to make do with what you little people can bring. You do have some beams lying around right? Not just boards and planks?¡± Glira questioned, looking to Bo rather than Tom, which he found a touch annoying.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. Plenty,¡± the young huntress replied with a nod.


    "Maybe once we get the mine on her you can go get what we need. Assuming you are right about her not wanting to kill herself" Tom added looking at Yldril, hoping for a reaction. He got none though.


    "Possibly. she can''t run anyway... likely she can barely crawl. Stick close to someone with wings and you''ll be safe enough I think" Glira replied looking down at him.


    ¡°Actually, about that. You hit her joints. What about uhm¡­ the things that hold a joint together? What¡¯s that called?¡±


    ¡°Ligaments,¡± Bo helpfully added.


    ¡°Yes, that. They don¡¯t heal by themselves, do they? They need to be put back together again first.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but they won''t try to heal wrong either. They can be fixed later, and I¡¯m willing to bet you the healers back at the keep have their hands full right now. Plug the holes and set the bones such is a moto.¡±


    "I guess that''s a way to go about it" Tom replied. "To work then."

 Power of Persuasion

    Chapter 142: Power of Persuasion


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®How do you even teach someone magic?¡¯ Saph asked herself as Fengi sat down on the floor in front of her chair. This was a job for someone like Apuma or Linkosta. They were trained in this after all.


    Saph herself had just done a lot of trial and error. That was how she had learned, many nights spent sitting alone in her room trying basic things like moving a twig a bit or seeing if she could lift a feather. She still had that feather actually, come to think of it. That was neither here nor there though. She somehow needed to teach Fengi how to use her magic in the span of an afternoon, not months¡¯ worth of mucking about.


    ¡°Right, okay. Can you feel anything when you use it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± Fengi replied uncertainly, clearly trying to think back.


    ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m fairly sure you should be able to, I certainly can. What did you do when you found out?¡±


    ¡°I shouted at Glira to stand up?¡± Fengi replied almost questioningly.


    ¡°That¡¯s a start. Try doing that to me then. Maybe try willing me to do something at the same time, I don¡¯t know. Try and see if you can feel anything when you do.¡±


    ¡°Okay?... Sapphire, salute me,¡± Fengi went, staring at Saph with what Saph would describe as murderous intent.


    ¡°That¡¯s not doing much if I¡¯m honest,¡± Saph replied, trying to feel if she all of a sudden wanted to do a salute while coming to terms with the very unfamiliar looking Fengi. She was always a happy face at the keep. Well either that or sad; she was so rarely angry.


    ¡°Maybe try asking nicely? That seems more¡­ you.¡±


    ¡°Aww. Thank you,¡± Fengi beamed shuffling a bit on the floor before taking a breath.


    ¡°Would you please salute me, Saph?¡± Fengi asked with big puppy eyes, ears hanging down by the side of her face, head tilted slightly, hands held up in front of her and clenched together. She looked almost like a beggar Saph noted as she tried to feel if anything had happened, not noticing anything.


    ¡°Did you feel anything?¡± Saph questioned, looking at Fengi with a wide smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ A little?¡± Fengi replied almost questioningly. ¡°Did you?`¡±


    ¡°Something I think,¡± Saph lied, hoping maybe a bit of confidence would help.


    ¡°Ohh that¡¯s so awesome! Again!¡± Fengi went as she repeated the procedure, looking even more adorable. Saph felt like her damn heart might melt before she noticed her hand actually twitch a little.


    ¡®Wow¡­ Fuck, she¡¯s not kidding,¡¯ Saph went to herself, looking down at her hand. She hadn¡¯t been expecting Fengi to be lying. But still, this was so rare from what she knew¡­ she didn¡¯t even know anyone who could do that¡­ well until now at least. ¡°I think you want to focus on that feeling. You should be able to choose how much energy you are using.¡°


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll keep trying,¡± Fengi replied enthusiastically, closing her eyes as she tried again, this time seemingly to no effect.


    Fengi kept at it, trying different commands, tones, expressions, and whatever else they could think of. Some made Saph¡¯s hand twitch a little, others achieved nothing no matter how hard Fengi tried. Maiko came back with rope and fire-starting supplies after a while, walking over to check upon them.


    ¡°So, how are you two doing?¡± he questioned, giving them both a nod.


    ¡°Nothing bad has happened at least, so that¡¯s good,¡± Saph replied, Fengi letting out an annoyed sigh. ¡°It¡¯s not doing much, to be honest,¡±


    ¡°Just keep at it. Trust me, I had a hard time of it too. Not the easiest thing in the world to know if people are able to notice you or not.¡±


    ¡°I guess, but still. I feel something¡­ Might just be making it up though. Maybe I¡¯m so weak it¡¯s useless,¡± Fengi replied, looking a bit disheartened.


    ¡°Oh come on you, you haven''t even been at it for an hour yet. You¡¯ll get it, I''m sure.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Fengi sighed, though she was still smiling as she tried again. ¡°Saph. Would you salute me? Please?¡± she pleaded, Saph sighing as she felt her hand twitch a little before looking to Maiko.


    ¡°Heard any news on Nunuk and Quinlin?¡±


    ¡°Quin lost a lot of blood,¡± Maiko replied with a slightly strained expression. ¡°She¡¯s gonna be in for a tough time. The two daughters are still working on Nunuk. They sound confident though, acid is all gone.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me I might have gotten Quinlin killed,¡± Saph all but pleaded, looking up at him as Fengi seemingly took a bit to collect herself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­ But you might want to consider helping tend her bedside for the next while. You know-¡±


    ¡°Try and make up for it,¡± Saph cut him off, getting an affirmative shrug from Maiko.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had been helping Bo with tying in the last of their rope over some of the padding from Yldril¡¯s armor when Anchor, Jacky, and Essy arrived. Tom stepped off the dragon, going to see just what they brought to help.


    Jacky ran right at Tom as soon as she touched down, not even bothering to take off the two coils of rope she had over her shoulders. She yanked him off the ground, squeezing him till his back cracked, nuzzling his head rather violently. She didn¡¯t say anything, Tom wondering if her hearing had gone again as he returned the hug as best he could from his current position.


    ¡°I see you lived through that little stunt?¡± he asked as he gave the side of her neck a quick kiss. ¡°You crazy woman.¡±


    ¡°It was fucking awesome! Did you see it?!¡±


    ¡°I saw it,¡± Tom confirmed in a strained voice, squirming a little in her grasp. The rope was rather uncomfortable, not to mention her breastplate. ¡°Jacky. Hurts a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh shit, sorry,¡± she went, putting him down and dusting off his shoulder like that would do anything. ¡°Anyway, right, so I didn¡¯t even know if that would work, but remember that Tom Cruise guy you showed me. The impossible mission or something.¡±


    ¡°Yeeess¡­¡± Tom replied, wondering just how that had anything to do with this.


    ¡°You know the scene with the plane right, where he hangs off the side?¡± Tom just nodded, a slight smile crawling onto his face. He loved seeing her this excited. More importantly, she didn''t look like she had a scratch on her.


    ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t know if that would even work! He just came past and I went for it. I hung on with my knife¡­ I bent it a bit. But it worked!¡±


    ¡°Oh Shiva is gonna be mad¡± Tom snickered as she drew the now crooked knife.


    ¡°Oh come on, I killed a dragon. She¡¯ll understand.¡± Yldril seemed to squirm a bit on the ground, Tom glancing at her. She looked less than pleased to say the very least. Glira let out a low growl, baring her teeth in a sneer like a dog looking down at Yldril.


    ¡°Right, sorry I killed your friend. He was kind of an ass though,¡± Jacky went, looking at the dragon a bit uncertainly before turning back to Tom.


    ¡°Anyway, so I shoot the bastard that was on his back with my shotgun. He goes fucking everywhere, right? Then the dragon snaps at me trying to eat me and I just scoot over to the other side of his back,¡± she continued, actually laughing at the last part. ¡°So I reloaded and moved up to the base of his neck. I thought about putting it into his neck from there, but I didn¡¯t think that would kill him,¡± she continued, Tom shaking his head in agreement.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so either.¡±


    ¡°We might need something for that actually. Anyway. So I jumped onto his head. Did you see that?!¡± she continued, excitement nearly overwhelming her.


    ¡°Sure did,¡± Tom chuckled with a wide smile.


    ¡°He tried to shake me off, but I was having none of it. So I just stuck my gun in his ear and pulled the trigger.¡±


    ¡°Very inventive,¡± Glira praised, looking down at the huntress.


    ¡°I know right! He was dead on the spot. Didn¡¯t think it would work that great. Like maybe a few rounds, but no! Instantly dead!¡±


    ¡°I think you pulped a good portion of his brain there,¡± Tom replied, thinking that one over. ¡°Yeah, that would do it I think¡­ Hell, the pressure alone¡­¡±


    ¡°So in other words¡­ I got you your trophy.¡± She preened, resting her fists against her hips looking as proud as he had ever seen her. Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure what to say in this situation. He kinda wanted to scold her for being so reckless, but she was so damn happy. And there was no fucking way he couldn¡¯t agree that was awesome in the extreme.


    In the end, he decided to just shut up, instead lifting the bundles of rope off her. Jacky stood looking at him in confusion until he leaned in against her chest, giving her a rather less brutal hug as he just held her.


    ¡°Aww,¡± Jacky let out, patting his head ruffling his hair a little. ¡°I might have broken the gun though.¡±


    ¡°You what?¡±


    ¡°It blew up,¡± Jacky went, showing him her lower right arm that she had been hiding till now. ¡°It¡¯s not bad at all, just hurts a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh you lucky bastard,¡± Tom let out, looking her arm over. Slight burns and a bit of blackening, though it had clearly been cleaned already.


    ¡°Well I did just kill a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Damn right you did,¡± Tom had to agree, giving her a fresh hug.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m confused again now. She gets points for brutally murdering a dragon while I get scolded for taking one alive, just a bit too viciously?¡± Glira replied mockingly. ¡°Come one?!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my girlfriend and she might have saved the keep,¡± Tom retorted. ¡°You didn''t need to be brutal¡­ Just let it lie,¡± he relented. ¡°You did a fine job too.¡±


    Glira just huffed looking at the few wooden planks they had brought. ¡°Bring that over here. I guess it will have to do.¡±


    ¡°Did you bring the mine?¡± Tom questioned, looking back to Jacky.


    ¡°Anchor has it,¡± she replied with a nod, looking back at the man in question, who came walking over presenting the weapon very carefully, clearly not trusting it.


    ¡°Thank you very much. Now, time to get some insurance against¡­ snapping,¡± Tom replied, taking the mine and looking to Yldril, who was once again glaring at them, Glira tilting her head.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°A bomb. One capable of blowing a dragon''s head clean off,¡± Tom replied pointedly while staring down Yldril. ¡°Anchor, you hold the detonator. She does anything stupid blow her head off. Glira, hold her down, would you? We¡¯re gonna tie it to the back of her head.¡±


    ¡°And you called me cruel,¡± Glira replied, eyeing the device.


    Yldril pulled her head back away from them a bit before Glira planted a foot firmly in her head, keeping her in place once again. ¡°I recommend staying still for this one.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Maiko had spent a few minutes trying to convince Saph that Quinlin was gonna be fine and it wasn¡¯t her fault. She just sighed and listened to him. She knew it wasn¡¯t her fault. She had plenty of excuses. Didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t have done better. She just comforted herself with the fact that the swordswoman should recover from blood loss easily enough.


    Then she felt Fengi go and give her a tight hug, clutching tight around Saph¡¯s chest, head pushing in under her arm like a scared kid. ¡°Oh come on. I¡¯m fine, Fengi,¡± Saph chuckled, wincing a bit as pain flared in some of her wounds.


    ¡°Please Saph, salute me.¡±


    ¡®Come on Fen, that¡¯s damn near cheating,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself, as she turned down to look at the younger huntress, being greeted with the sight of her own hand coming up at remarkable speed.


    ¡°AOW!¡± she shouted out as she smacked herself in the face. Fengi went limp, her grip failing as she fell over backward, Maiko just managing to keep her from slamming her head into the floor.


    ¡°I guess she cracked it,¡± Maiko let out, blinking twice as he held Fengi¡¯s head before looking up at Saph, who was just sitting there staring.


    ¡°I think so, yeah¡­ Oh, what are you looking at?¡± she scolded, as Maiko began to snicker.


    ¡°I see you finally learned I outrank you.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck you. Is she okay?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s breathing¡± Maiok confirmed after a brief check, Saph letting out a relieved sigh.


    ¡°What happened!?¡± Rachuck questioned, running over, apparently having kept an eye on them.


    ¡°I think she figured out how to use more energy,¡± Saph replied with a shrug, as she slowly managed to get her hand back down. ¡°It worked very well though.¡±


    ¡°Girl''s a natural,¡± Maiko chuckled. ¡°I doubt she¡¯s coming back for a bit though.¡±


    ¡°By the gods,¡± Rachuck replied, rubbing his temples. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch some water. We can¡¯t have her interrogate a damn dragon like this. I told you this was a bad idea,¡± he went, gesturing at Fengi. ¡°Also what if she had broken something in your mind, Saph? We don¡¯t know how this works.¡±


    ¡°Oh now you have objections?¡± Saph asked in a mocking tone. ¡°Well, do you have any bright ideas? Want her to practice on the prisoners? Doesn¡¯t sound much better to me.¡± Saph snapped back at him looking at the prisoners out of the corner of her eye.


    ¡°No I¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ Just wait for Essy to fetch the mages, ask them... Jortun too for that matter. Maybe they know of a better way. Or at least if it could hurt anyone to keep trying. Aside from her passing out.¡±


    ¡°If there was a better way to learn magic than just trying, I think we would have heard of it by now,¡± Saph defended herself. It wasn¡¯t like she had a chance of knowing even if there was.


    ¡°For the record. I would call this one hell of a success,¡± Maiko chuckled looking up at Saph as he picked up Fengi, moving her to sit against the wall.


    ¡°I guess so¡­ I wonder if-Aouw!¡± Saph cursed as she smacked herself in the face again. ¡°Dammit!¡±


    ¡°Oh no, did something happen?!¡± Esmeralda cried out. It sounded like she was in the grand hall, rapid footsteps now approaching. ¡°Fengi!¡± she shouted out as she rounded the corner, dashing towards Maiko, who just held up a hand smiling.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. Just a little spent it would seem.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank the gods¡­Did it work?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t stop saluting,¡± Saph sighed with a rueful smile. Vigon let out a snicker as Rakshaza peeked over Essy¡¯s shoulder, also letting out a little snicker and saluting Saph in return.


    Essy just shrugged. ¡°I had to let them know I was alright,¡± she apologized, looking back at the clinging kid.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Saph replied in a warm tone, willing her hand back down. ¡°So I think this is progress, but the whole plan about going there right now might be a little problematic.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I guess we have time to work on Yldril first then. Apuma and Linkosta are busy with Nunuk. Linkosta wasn¡¯t sure the trick with the horn could work if Fengi doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s doing. She was willing to give it a shot tomorrow though. Oh, and while you might go a little weird in the head, it shouldn¡¯t be permanent. From what she read the effect doesn¡¯t last. Maybe avoid training on someone from the keep when Using Jinora though.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± Saph replied with a nod.


    ¡°And just don¡¯t let her order you to do something dangerous, of course.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Saph echoed, looking down at Fengi before taking a second to consider what would happen if Fengi told someone to slit their own throat. A chill ran down her spine, ¡®imagine if that Flaxen bitch could have done this.¡¯


    ¡°Everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just dandy¡­ We¡¯ll take her up to my room so we can keep an eye on her.¡°


    ¡°Good idea. Would you mind taking her?¡± Essy went, holding out Jinora, Saph taking her and putting the toddler down on her good leg. ¡°I¡¯ll find a cradle for her.¡±


    ¡°Probably smart,¡± Saph went, tickling the kid a little and getting a happy little shriek in reply, though the toddler¡¯s smile vanished as she looked up at Saph¡¯s bandaged face. ¡°It¡¯s Sapphire. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not scary,¡± she went in the most reassuring tone she could, sticking her tongue out a bit before trying another tickle. She got another giggle from Jinora, though she kept looking at Saph¡¯s face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Saph. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll still be the envy of all the girls when you get that off,¡± Essy chuckled as she walked off with Rakshasa making his way around into her arms.


    Saph just rolled her eyes at her, looking back to Jinora. ¡°We need you to help us, okay? We need your magic. Remember that? Magic.¡±


    ¡°Ganik,¡± came the cute little reply followed by a proud little shriek from the little dragonette.


    ¡°Very good,¡± Saph praised, giving Jinora a finger to play with as a reward. ¡°Magic.¡±


    ¡°Ganik,¡± came the reply again followed by the cutest little laugh.


    ¡°Okay. Now. Sapphire,¡± she went, pointing at herself.


    ¡°Ray,¡± came the proud reply, Saph tilting her head before letting out a little sigh, still smiling.


    ¡°Seems you have been outdone,¡± Maiko chuckled, giving Jinora a little head scratch.


    ¡°Haha funny,¡± Saph chuckled, bouncing Jinora a little on her leg as the two played. ¡°How are you holding up, Jarix? Done trimming yet?¡± Saph questioned, looking up at the dragon as she kept bouncing the baby.


    ¡°I¡¯ll live. It hurts so bad though,¡± the dragon all but whimpered, looking like he was struggling to hold it together right now.


    ¡°Bad news,¡± Radexi went, walking past Saph towards the dragon while carrying two buckets of soapy water and brushes. ¡°It¡¯s about to get worse.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this is going to suck,¡± Jarix let out, ears flattening completely to the back of his neck.


    ¡°Afraid so,¡± Zarko confirmed, looking to Saph. ¡°You might want to go someplace else with the little one. This is not going to be pretty.¡± The sight of the lieutenant walking up to Jarix''s head holding a large log convinced Saph it was probably for the best to get moving. They really needed to get Fengi into bed too.


    ¡°Come on, Maiko. I need you, bud,¡± Saph went as she moved to try and get up.


    ¡°Bud? Have I been demoted?¡± he chuckled, helping Saph to her feet. ¡°I¡¯ll come back for you sleepyhead, don¡¯t go anywhere,¡± he went, looking at Fengi who seemed to be fast asleep, tongue hanging out a little.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°They are gonna be a bit,¡± Jacky announced as she set down with more supplies for patching Yldril back up. Mainly more planks, a hammer, and nails for making the splints for the busted wing limbs.


    ¡°Are they having trouble?¡± Tom questioned as he helped her place down the planks in the correct position. He still didn¡¯t get how she could fly holding on to something like that, but with a falling start it seemed to work. No doubt she couldn''t take off normally with them though.


    ¡°Fengi fainted, and Saph apparently got stuck saluting,¡± Jacky replied with a shrug, looking like she didn¡¯t understand that either.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Not the best of starts,¡± Tom replied. He felt the wind coming from Yldril as she sighed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel smug just yet,¡± Esmeralda went, looking at the black dragon. The huntress had been entrusted with the detonator for the time being. The mine was currently lodged and tied in place between the dragon''s horns on the back of her head.


    Yldril didn¡¯t respond, obviously, her mouth having been tied shut.


    ¡°It happens,¡± Glira added from above as she worked on the leg, trying to set the bone, which looked really hard to do when you didn¡¯t have thumbs. Yldril¡¯s smug demeanor was soon broken as she winced in pain again, Glira likely having done something unpleasant.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get,¡± Tom sighed as he got back to work. ¡°Any idea how long till we can get a try in?¡±


    ¡°Well she kinda has to wake up first.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. So. Is someone camping out here then?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at the sun, which was starting to hang a little low.


    ¡°Well, I heard somewhere you might want to try camping under dragon wings,¡± Jacky let out, giving him a little poke to the side.


    Tom just looked at her rather unimpressed. He would have preferred to go back to the keep. Both to see that red up close and check up Jarix and the others. Specifically what the fifty cal had done and the burn wounds. Perhaps have a look at the brigands too for that matter, to see how the shotguns had performed.


    ¡°But then I wont get to see your trophy,¡± he tried, doing his best to sound devastated.


    ¡°Shit, that¡¯s right¡­ It¡¯s really nice actually. He was a fine young lad¡­ well, until I blew his brains out.¡±


    ¡°Of course, only the best after all,¡± Tom chuckled, wondering just what they were gonna do with that thing. He had looked big. Bigger than Jarix that was for sure, and he was now a trophy he guessed¡­ was that okay?... Could you hang a sentient thing from a wall?... It seemed like that was not something you would do.


    Tom pondered it for a second before deciding he might as well just ask. Surely he was surrounded by people who would know. ¡°What are we gonna do with a red dragon corpse anyway?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know¡­ The head would look nice in the grand hall. Remind everyone who comes to visit not to mess with us,¡± Jacky let out proudly.


    ¡®Yeah, I should probably have guessed that,¡¯ Tom went to himself, not quite sure if he agreed with her on that one.


    ¡°Maybe tap off some blood? I''m sure Linkosta wants that, maybe some other bits and pieces¡­ I wonder if you need bits of red dragon for that potion you bought way back when?¡± she carried on, seeming to ponder that last one for a second.


    ¡°Oh right, those things,¡± Tom replied, thinking back to the flame breath potion that he had bought off of Archeon months ago. ¡°I really should have brought that one, shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You sure it¡¯s safe for humans?¡± Jacky questioned, looking at him skeptically.


    ¡°I guess not¡­ but how would I ever find out?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re starting to sound like Tink,¡± Jacky replied as she started hammering the board in place.


    ¡°Well else could I-¡±


    ¡°Tink, Hansen,¡± Jacky cut him off with a snicker as she got out more nails.


    ¡°Or Tom the hypocrite,¡± Glira added. ¡°What was that about camping?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he was just sad he didn¡¯t get to camp out with Jarix and Tiguan a few days ago,¡± Jacky replied before Tom got a say in the matter.


    ¡°I just said that sounded cozy,¡± Tom protested, holding up his hands. Jacky tapped the board where he had been holding with the hammer, Tom dutifully getting back to holding it in place.


    ¡°Which means you wanted to try it,¡± Jacky replied, clearly unfazed as she kept working. ¡°Glira, we are gonna need something bigger if this is going to hold.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe I can find a big tent pole somewhere,¡± Glira joked before turning to Tom. ¡°Do you trust in that device of yours?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it will work,¡± Tom replied with a nod, not wanting to show doubt in front of the dragon, likely doing calculations right now on whether running could somehow work out for her.


    ¡°So I will be able to go fetch some heavier materials?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I brought Saph¡¯s shotgun,¡± Jacky replied for him, looking up from her work, pulling a smile that let a nail fall out of her mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep the rifle trained on her remaining eye just in case,¡± Tom added with a sigh, looking at what they had been building. The boards were fine for some of the broken bits of Yldril¡¯s wings, but not the main bones of her legs. They needed big beams for that, which only a dragon could possibly carry¡­ well unless he got out the quad bike. ¡°I could probably drag them here otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Nah, dragon is faster than dragging,¡± Glira chuckled, looking down at their work. ¡°I¡¯ll get to it.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph winced as Jarix roared out again, the sound only somewhat muffled by the log he was trying to chomp down on. They had moved to her bedroom, but they could still hear it reverberate throughout the keep. ¡®Poor fucking bastard,¡¯ Saph thought to herself as she looked at the still sleeping Fengi to see if the noise had woken her up this time.


    It would seem not as the rather serene looking Fengi didn¡¯t even stir on the bed. Saph could still see her chest moving up and down, so all should be well on that front. If anything Jarix cries alleviated them of the need to try and wake her up. Saph sure couldn¡¯t sleep through that noise. Arguably more incredible was that Jinora was also still sound asleep in the cradle Essy had brought up to them, though the toddler let out an odd little sound every now and again.


    For now, Saph and Maiko sat and chatted about everything that had just happened. All the kills dropped on the way back. What had happened back at the keep while Saph was away and so on.


    Unkai had dropped by to check up on Fengi once he learned what had happened. It was only a short visit though, as the healer was rather desperately needed to help tend to the brigands; apparently one more had already died of their wounds, though another two had been found in the fields. One had limped back to the keep to surrender, the other being spotted from above by Anchor as he came back for more supplies.


    Saph and Maiko had assured Unkai they would take good care of her and that they would let him know as soon as she woke back up again. Saph had tried to convince Maiko to go help out the others since hands were clearly needed. He had point-blank refused, stating he had been told by Kulk to keep an eye on her, so he would do so.


    It wasn¡¯t like she minded the company. He took her hand, looking into her eyes with a warm smile. ¡°I bet you¡¯re gonna look so badass when that eventually comes off.¡±


    ¡°Now you are just trying to make me feel better,¡± Saph replied, not sure if she should sigh or chuckle.


    ¡°No, think about it. You are gonna look like a warrior princess or something.¡±


    ¡°You think I look like a princess?¡± Saph chuckled. ¡°Come on, dude.¡±


    ¡°No, I guess that¡¯s not fair¡­ Your jaw is straight after all. Not some poor inbred fucker,¡± Maiko chuckled as Saph shook her head, actually letting out a snicker at that.


    ¡°Classy. Better not pull that one with actual royalty around. Have you met many princesses before?¡± Saph questioned, leaning forward. ¡°I guess I kinda have.¡±


    ¡°Not met as such¡­ I did shake hands with Aquilani once. She¡¯s a tough woman too, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°Not all show and no go then, I take it?¡± Saph questioned, leaning back in her chair with a warm smile on her face.


    ¡°Hell no. She¡¯ll rip you apart. She¡¯s the one that taught me that joke though.¡±


    ¡°Sense of humor too then. I think I¡¯m outmatched,¡± Saph joked, thinking back to when she had sort of met that particular princess in the war room of the Royal Palace.


    ¡°Oh gods no. If you ask Victoria then she¡¯s not the smartest, and certainly not the calmest, but only the dumbest would ever challenge her to a straight fight. She¡¯s a telekinetic like you actually.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Saph questioned, taken aback. She wasn¡¯t quite sure what to think of that particular piece of news.


    ¡°Bloody good one too. Then I guess that comes with being a Leviticus. That and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a bit of unicorn horn at work too. Or maybe an expensive potion or two, you never know with people like that.¡±


    ¡°What has her family got to do with it?¡± Saph questioned with a head-tilt. ¡°I¡¯ve always been told it¡¯s random.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I haven¡¯t even heard of a member of the royal family that didn¡¯t excel in magic. She can push you to the ground with nothing but a flick of the hand. Saw her do it in a duel once.¡±


    ¡°Just like that?¡± Saph went, doing a dismissive motion with her hand, looking skeptically at Maiko.


    ¡°Yup, just like that,¡± Maiko confirmed. ¡°It was just a sparring session I think, but still. I was damn impressed.¡±


    ¡°I might need to spend more time with Jinora,¡± Saph mused, thinking of just what she might be able to achieve with that kind of power. Sure, she could probably move someone a bit if she wanted to, but not without ending up like Fengi.


    ¡°What do you think would happen if little Jin gave you a boost?¡± she asked, looking at Maiko.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Go invisible maybe,¡± he joked, looking at the little kid.


    ¡°Hah. And before I know it you¡¯ve stolen everything I own and I¡¯ll never see you again.


    ¡°Oh please¡­ I just want your heart.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ was terrible.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought it was quite endearing,¡± Maiko let out, suppressing a laugh.


    ¡°The floor is still an option you know.¡±


    ¡°Not if I have your heart it¡¯s not. I think you need that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve met some really heartless bitches over the years.¡±


    ¡°Now now. You mustn¡¯t talk about yourself like that, young lady,¡± Maiko replied with a joke, standing up and doing a rather well-honed impression of an old aristocrat.


    ¡°Lady? I don¡¯t seem to recall dumping you for some prancy noble recently?¡±


    ¡°Hey now, I¡¯m very noble, and I can prance with the best of them¡±


    ¡°Compared to¡­ never mind,¡± Saph replied, looking at Fengi. ¡°What does blood matter anyway?¡±

 Jump Start

    Chapter 143: Jump Start


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had taken some improvisation but with the mine in place, Glira had gone for a quick jaunt back to the keep. They needed some of the large beams originally meant as replacement floor supports for the keep that had been sitting in the wood barn to dry out.


    But to Tom¡¯s surprise, Essy had tried to talk the dragon out of it, though she had failed to come up with any good arguments, leading to Glira¡¯s swift departure. When he had inevitably inquired, she let slip that Jarix really did not want Glira to come back today. Essy had apparently promised him she would stall for at least a while. Tom just sighed and added another conversation he needed to have, since, at least according to Glira, he was kinda responsible for what had happened to Jarix. Not that he knew jack shit about what the young dragon should have done differently, but he doubted that was the picture Glira intended to paint.


    It had been one hell of a nasty-looking hit. Cruel as it may sound, he really wanted to know how much damage had been done too. By the sounds of it, Jarix was expected to recover fully. Mainly due to how damn tough dragons clearly were, but still. It was clear that death by fire breath was certainly possible, even for dragons.


    Maybe if Glira was doing another run he could hitch a ride¡­ or perhaps he could convince Jacky. That shouldn¡¯t be hard considering she was nearly bouncing with excitement to show him her kill.


    They had kept at it, trying to fix up Yldril. Mainly as a reward for her not trying to kill any of them since Glira left. If nothing else, it might just make her a bit more amenable to work with.


    He didn¡¯t know if it was worth it to try and win her over. Rachuck might just demand her head once they were done getting her to talk. Otherwise, she did represent quite the problem. She would need a lot of feeding, and winter was approaching. Tom didn¡¯t even know if they could feed her till then. By the sounds of it, Glira wanted to march Yldril back to a big city and turn her in. ¡®Could she be flight worthy before winter?¡¯ Tom pondered, looking the dragon over. He didn¡¯t know how long a bone would take to heal, so that would probably end up being the deciding factor here.


    Much like Saph back when she had saved his fat arse, come to think of it. He allowed himself to scoff a bit at that memory. It was almost funny to think about now. ¡®Everything can become a joke in time I guess.¡¯


    When Glira had returned, she brought a bit more of her crew to help out with the work. Yldril was splayed out so Glira could set the larger bones and the beams were strapped to her limbs to brace them as best they could.


    Tom had taken a step back to look at the very odd spectacle. Yldril positively oozed defeat. Whatever strength the dragon might have had left, was being spent fighting the pain of Glira trying to put her back together. Tom had to admit the old blue had done a far better job that he had thought possible. At least when she was in fact trying to do good. Not having thumbs was a problem, but she could still grip alright and this was very clearly not her first rodeo. Once the braces and splints had all been completed, they had hauled Yldril out of the muddy pit that had formed under her from all the spilled blood.


    With the majority of the work done, only further cleaning work and guard duty remained, Tom had been freed up to go back to the keep. He needed to check up on what was going on with Fengi as well as see first hand how the younger red had been brought to an end. Not to mention, he needed to check in on Jarix. He also had a plan for maybe cheering Tink Junior up just a little.


    ¡°So, hun, feeling tired yet, or could you take a passenger?¡± Tom had asked when Jacky had come over to rinse off a cloth in a water bucket.


    ¡°Now why would I be that? I¡¯ve only been hunting, fighting, hauling, and working since the sun rose?¡± Jacky replied sarcastically. Tom could tell she was looking pretty spent though.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m camping out here then, huh?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll manage. Besides, you have to see that red. You really should have been there with me when he crashed. That was just amazing. Fire everywhere, my arm got burnt and the gun broken. It was awesome.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to convince me. We need to see what the fifty did too.¡±


    ¡°You mean aside from blowing Saph¡¯s ears out?¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what she said,¡± Jacky laughed, giving him a shunt to the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in the air. You know the drill,¡± she went, pointing back in the direction of the keep.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want a hand with me?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve got a plan.¡±


    ¡°Does it involve dropping me?¡±


    ¡°What? No¡­ I would never,¡± Jacky replied with a laugh, running off herself before quickly beating into the air.


    ¡®Yeah, she¡¯s gonna drop me,¡¯ Tom sighed, waiting for her to come back around again before he took off running, arms up like an idiot.


    Jacky snatched him up, beating skywards at speed, climbing fairly fast.


    ¡°Careful now. We wanna make it home.¡±


    ¡°If you wanna be the one driving, get some wings,¡± Jacky retorted. ¡°Or at least a license, don¡¯t humans need those?¡± Jacky asked, panting slightly as she climbed.


    ¡°Ha ha, very funny. Who might issue such a license?¡±


    ¡°Well an experienced flier, of course.¡±


    ¡°Well give me one then?¡±


    ¡°Hell no. I know better than that. And that¡¯s saying something,¡± she replied with a snicker, Tom moping a bit, wondering just what she was planning today. Even she would not be flying all the way back with him dangling in her arms.


    He got his answer when she leveled out and then promptly yet still unexpectedly dropped him.


    He briefly lost the ability to speak as he plummeted towards the ground before a hysterically laughing Jacky swooped down beside him.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± she shouted out, following him down before moving in under him and pulling up. ¡°I swear I slipped.¡±


    ¡°I hate you.¡±


    ¡°No you don¡¯t,¡± Jacky grinned as they made for the keep at a more leisurely pace, gliding most of the way. ¡°So, where were we?¡±


    ¡°Saph¡¯s ears,¡± Tom replied reluctantly as he made himself as comfortable as he could, going to tickle her a bit behind the ear for some petty revenge.


    ¡°Right yeah, she¡­ Oh would you¡­ Radexi¡­ oh come on!¡± Jacky protested as her ear flicked in annoyance, Tom giggling just a little. ¡°That¡¯s quite annoying.¡±


    ¡°Just testing your reflexes, you clearly need them.¡±


    ¡°Think I could catch you from this height too?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not find out,¡± Tom replied, ceasing the tickling¡­ for now.


    ¡°Radexi fired the gun over her head. Knocked her out cold and she fell off. Took out her ears too, obviously.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that should do it. Fucking hell,¡± Tom replied, taking that a bit more seriously. ¡°That could have killed her, dropping in the middle of a battle like that.¡± ¡®Damn she got both ends of the luck stick today.¡¯


    ¡°I went after her, thinking she was out for good, but she came back pretty quick,¡± Jackalope continued. ¡°Then she just cut her way straight through the very confused brigands, managing to gain the attention of quite a few of them. We blew a few to pieces and generally just gave them a bad day. Then the dragon came down trying to run from Jarix and you know that part¡­ It was still awesome though.¡±


    ¡°You can say that twice. Imagine if it had got a run on the keep. It could have burned it down in one go.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I can imagine that,¡± she replied in a far more somber tone.


    ¡°Sorry. Well this time, we got the bastards. We did damn well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Why were you after Glira then? She even took that black alive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ She¡¯s cruel. She toyed around with her like a play thing. She says that was all part of the plan, but I don¡¯t believe her. She enjoyed that whole thing. In the end she was only annoyed it wasn¡¯t more of a fight. She¡¯s damn crazy.¡±


    ¡°Sounds useful if this happens again. Just send her out first.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right. No doubt she¡¯s good. She might even have the best chance of surviving being the point woman.¡±


    ¡°You mean second to me.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, obviously,¡± Tom chuckled, grabbing a horn and jostling her head a little.


    ¡°But seriously, dude¡­ that was fucking scary,¡± she replied, back to a bit more serious tone. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Damn if that didn¡¯t feel good. I mean, I know that wasn¡¯t Rashan-¡±


    ¡°But you imagined it was.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­ kinda got caught up in the heat of the moment.¡±


    ¡°Well it was quite the moment,¡± Tom replied, giving her a hug from behind. ¡°Brave Jacky. Ace of the battle. Slayer of dragons.¡±


    ¡°And layer of Humans,¡± she snickered in reply.


    ¡°Oh no, I thought we agreed I landed you?¡±


    ¡°Bitch, the only way you are landing is in a crater,¡± Jacky laughed as she looked ahead, the keep coming into view. ¡°Unless you want to disprove that theory.¡±


    ¡°No, I think that¡¯s enough heroics for one day. I mean all I did, really, was shoot out her eye. That was still a decent shot.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you were the one that took that out. I guess that¡¯s what made her run like a little girl.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she didn¡¯t see that one coming.¡±


    ¡°Oh my fucking god.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Looking over to the Fengi, she still seemed to be sleeping soundly. Saph gestured for Maiko to check on her again, just to be sure. It had been awhile since the last check.


    Maiko got up and moved over to the bed, finger pressing against Fengi¡¯s neck to take her pulse, holding his other hand in front of her snout.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°She¡¯s still with us,¡± he shrugged as Fengi moved a bit, letting out a slight grumble. ¡°Oh. Someone is coming back around. Should we wake her?¡±


    ¡°Probably a good idea,¡± Saph concurred, Maiko going to shake Fengi a bit by the shoulders. That elicited some annoyed grunts before her eyes finally blinked open, staring up at him skeptically.


    ¡°You¡¯re not my¡­ oh. Hi, Maiko,¡± Fengi let out as she lay there staring up at him.


    Maiko for his part just pulled back, standing up straight. ¡°Welcome back, had a good nap?¡±


    ¡°You could say so¡­¡± Fengi replied, looking around, eyes landing on Saph. ¡°Hi¡­ did it work?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Saph replied with an exaggerated nod. ¡°I had to keep my hand down for quite a while after that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she just couldn¡¯t stop saluting,¡± Maiko chuckled, Fengi looking between the two of them like she was trying to figure out if they were lying or not.


    ¡°No¡­ Really?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Saph confirmed. ¡°It''s gone by now. It wore off slowly, but to start with I couldn¡¯t even will it down.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s amazing!¡± Fengi replied as she looked down at the sheets before taking them off and getting out of bed. ¡°How long was I out?¡±


    ¡°A few hours,¡± Maiko replied. ¡°I¡¯ll go let the significant other know. Fengi, keep an eye on her, she¡¯s not allowed to go to sleep yet,¡± he instructed, gesturing at Sapphire before walking out the door, closing it behind him.


    ¡°Can do,¡± Fengi replied curiously, looking after Maiko as he left the two of them alone, then looking to Saph as if expecting an explanation.


    ¡°Oh you know who. He was very worried.¡±


    ¡°OH¡­ Oh gods dammit Maiko. Significant other,¡± Fengi replied in a mocking tone. ¡°Well he can¡¯t be that worried, he¡¯s not here.¡±


    ¡°Be nice. Unkai is a nice guy. You¡¯ll break his heart talking like that. Also, He¡¯s more than got his hands full right now too.¡±


    Fengi huffed a bit at that before looking away. ¡°I guess. Now I could just tell him to not worry, couldn¡¯t I¡­ would that even work? Could I tell someone to be happy?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Saph replied, mulling it over a bit. ¡°Would you want to?¡­ I mean be told to be happy and then just be¡­ Would you know that¡¯s why you are happy?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know? What would that feel like?¡± Fengi questioned, seemingly as much to herself as Saph. Then there was the sound of rapid footsteps going up the stairs from outside, their privacy coming to an end as Unkai stuck his head through the doorway, looking at Fengi and seeming to freeze there.


    ¡°Hi there,¡± Saph let out, breaking the silence, Unkai looking to her instead. ¡°Come on in, she¡¯s fine.¡±


    He didn¡¯t reply as he opened the door, trotting inside looking rather cautious, Fengi tilting her head at him. ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No no. Nothing wrong,¡± he replied as he knelt down in front of Fengi, who was still sitting on the bed. ¡°Are you feeling okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Fengi replied, seeming a bit confused too, tilting her head ever so slightly and looking at him. You?¡±


    ¡°Little tired,¡± Unkai relented, peering into her eyes and looking more like he was checking something. ¡°And a lot more to do.¡±


    Fengi glanced at Saph briefly before looking back at him. ¡°Well don¡¯t be such a scaredy pants. Come here,¡± she went, holding out her arms. ¡°Happy to see you are alright too.¡±


    Unkai actually hesitated, to Saph¡¯s near-complete confusion. Even if it was a trap, he would have pounced at that opportunity before. He did eventually lean in, taking her into a hug and nuzzling up against her neck.


    ¡°You too¡­ You too,¡± he replied as he finally closed his eyes. Fengi looked to Saph with a questioning expression.


    Saph just shrugged, trying to look as confused as she could while watching the guard, trying to work out what had gotten into him. ¡°Did the prisoners say anything yet?¡±


    ¡°Not much. Most of them claim to have just been hired for this job. Rachuck obviously doesn''t believe them,¡± Unkai replied as he seemed to hold Fengi a bit tighter.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Saph echoed. Then there was a knock on the door. Saph looked over to see Major Jortun standing there, helmet under his arm.


    ¡°May I have a word?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had wanted to go check on Jarix, but there had been no stopping Jacky from showing off her kill, so down they had gone. Even Tom could tell Jacky was a spent force by now, shoulders sagging and panting even as her enthusiasm drove her onwards. He wanted to tell her to slow down, but he knew better.


    ¡°Look. His head still looks good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the damage isn¡¯t that bad¡­ I guess the skull keeps the blast inside,¡± Tom admitted, looking at the large dragon head.


    ¡°Yeah, his brain is still leaking out too,¡± Jacky pointed out, pushing the head over a bit to show the wound. The damage looked rather mild, Tom thought, but the dried pool of gore betrayed the damage that had been done. It looked more like a chunky milkshake made with blue paint, the stain running down the dragon¡¯s ear and onto the ground.


    ¡°Ewww.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll get him cleaned up first¡­¡±


    ¡°How would you even preserve something like this? It¡¯s a big fucking head.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was thinking just the skull. Otherwise it would be a lot of work. But what do you think?¡±


    ¡°He certainly looks like a fine specimen¡­ not much scarring.¡±


    ¡°No, I think he was rather new to all this. Certainly had spirit though.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm,¡± Tom replied as he started walking down the dragon¡¯s side looking for bullet holes. He quickly found what he was looking for, the little round holes highlighted very well by the splotches of blue.


    Pho had come down to greet them, looking about as excited as Tom had suspected, setting down uncomfortably close to him while holding one of the shotguns.


    ¡°This thing¡­ is amazing!¡± she all but shouted.


    Tom smiled kindly at her, looking down at the gun to see if he could see any damage. ¡°Glad you like it.¡±


    ¡°Have you cleaned it properly?¡± Jacky interrupted, walking up and taking the gun, forcing Pho back a bit. Tom let out a slight snicker at the younger huntress¡¯s confused expression.


    ¡°I mean, I was working on it,¡± Pho replied as Jacky opened the gun and looked down the barrel.


    ¡®I mean, at least she unloaded it,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as Jacky¡¯s finger came away black from inside the chamber.


    ¡°Oh really?¡± Jacky questioned accusingly, looking at Pho.


    ¡°I said I was working on it¡­ look I even have the cleaning rod thingy,¡± Pho countered, producing the modified stick.


    ¡°Oh, do you mind?¡± Tom went, taking the stick and turning back to the red dragon.


    ¡°What do you need that for?¡± Jacky questioned, turning to see what he was up to.


    ¡°I wanna see how deep they went,¡± Tom replied, going up to one of the more conveniently placed holes and sticking the rod inside. ¡°Damn,¡± he let out as it went in all the way.


    ¡°Oh, he had a bad day,¡± Pho added, now peeking around Jacky.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom replied, turning back to them. ¡°We intend to burn him, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know actually. That¡¯s up to Nunuk in the end.¡±


    ¡°I do not want to carry him to the edge.¡±


    ¡°Well would you rather eat him?¡± Jacky questioned, looking down at her, head tilted.


    ¡°Fuck no,¡± Pho replied with disgust in her voice. ¡°That¡¯s just not okay.¡±


    ¡®Well thank God for that,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, feeling quite relieved that at least that moral question wasn''t gonna come up.


    ¡°Well I would like to cut him up a bit to see what happened inside if possible.¡±


    ¡°You got it, boss. But could that maybe wait for tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go check on our people. I need a chat with Jarix and a visit to the infirmary,¡± Tom replied. ¡°Wanna take the stairs?¡±


    Jacky stood there looking back at the keep for a second before nodding. ¡°Yeah¡­ see you up there, little scamp. That gun is clean next time I see you,¡± Jacky went, going to follow Tom, taking his hand once Pho had taken off again and going up to the open ramp.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The major had let Unkai finish his little snuggling session, the healer eventually scampering down the stairs to get back to work. Jortun had closed the door behind Unkai and gone to take Maiko¡¯s chair, glancing at the baby briefly as he sat down.


    ¡°So.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Saph echoed, looking at him.


    Jortun glanced at her, his expression still seeming quite serious and not much like his day to day demeanor. Then again, they were still only just on the other side of a battle. He had looked back to Fengi almost appraisingly, letting his eyes run over her from horn to toe. Saph had no problems discerning Fengi¡¯s discomfort.


    ¡°She may want privacy for this,¡± he began, not taking his eyes off Feng. Saph guessed it was directed as much at her.


    ¡°No, she can stay,¡± Fengi piped up, sounding rather uncomfortable as well, looking to Saph.


    Saph just nodded and leaned back in her chair, making it clear she wasn¡¯t going anywhere. The major certainly hadn¡¯t struck her as a creep before, but neither was he acting normally right now.


    ¡°A friend might do good too,¡± the major replied as he leaned back as well, seeming to make himself comfortable. ¡°So¡­ Enchantress,¡± he said, eyes locked on Fengi.


    ¡°That¡¯s what Glira said,¡± Fengi replied.


    ¡°And I think she¡¯s right,¡± he replied, glancing to Sapphire. ¡°Proof was pretty hard to deny. You are a natural it seems. Quite surprising it took you this long to notice.¡±


    ¡°The others thought I was just very likable,¡± Fengi replied with a smile, though it seemed to vanish after a second. It was replaced by a rather apprehensive expression, eyes looking into the middle distance.


    ¡°And that is why I¡¯m here,¡± Jortun went, pointing at her head, Fengi snapping back to look at him. ¡°You have been given a great gift¡­ and a terrible curse.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s just found her magic,¡± Saph replied with confusion as Fengi seemed to keep thinking. ¡°And it¡¯s so rare. That¡¯s hardly a curse.¡±


    The major turned to look at her, his expression dead serious as he took a second to compose his reply.


    ¡°A curse because of what her magic means. What happens when she asks you to do something? Do you do it because you want to?... or cause you were forced to? Why do people like her? Why does she seem so nice?¡±


    ¡°Cause she¡¯s the sweetest thing since Tom¡¯s candies,¡± Saph replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. A statement she wholeheartedly believed.


    ¡°If she learns her new craft, and learns it well, she could make anyone adore her and do her bidding. She would not have to work another day in her life.¡±


    Saph didn¡¯t have a reply for that as she just turned to look at Fengi who was still sitting on the bed, though now she was looking away.


    The major turned back to look at Fengi again, clearing his throat, gaining her attention as she looked back at him.


    ¡°I am here to tell you a very important thing. And to teach you a very important lesson. You have to learn how to control this. You have to learn when to use it. And to only use it then. Else you risk no one ever trusting you again. This is not to be trifled with, or played around with. You can topple keeps with this power and it can turn away every last person who has ever liked you.¡±


    Saph could see Fengi¡¯s breathing quicken even from across the room as the coppered huntress stared wide-eyed at the major.


    ¡°But if you do it right, it¡¯ll work out just fine in the end. I¡¯m willing to bet you are currently sitting there wondering if everyone who likes you only does so because of your magic. If it¡¯s all fake. A charade.¡±


    Fengi looked down and took a few seconds before replying with a very slight nod, Saph swallowing once.


    ¡°No. No I¡¯m not having that,¡± Saph protested, leaning forwards and trying to stumble to her feet. The major grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to force her back down. ¡°Why the hell are you telling her such nonsense? Look at her,¡± Saph snapped, gesturing at Fengi. ¡°She¡¯s been looking for so long. She was so happy, and now look at her.¡±


    ¡°But what if it¡¯s true?¡± Fengi replied, looking up. ¡°I¡¯m just a street rat. No one wanted me¡­ until I was what? 15?¡±


    ¡°But you are the nicest person ever. How can you even say that?¡± Saph questioned honestly, hurt by even the accusation. ¡°Sure you can be an arse at times, but think for a second. I don¡¯t even hate Jacky¡­ I fucking love that woman. And she¡¯s a piece of shit most of the time compared to you.¡±


    ¡°Would you two calm down?¡± Jortun growled, getting up and forcing Saph back into her seat before turning his attention to Fengi. ¡°Look at me, huntress.¡± Fengi looked up to the now standing major.


    ¡°I see I can skip the first lesson. You figured that one out by yourself. Time for the second one. Sapphire, try lifting that¡­¡± he went, looking back at the table pointing at a feather quill. ¡°That quill. That should be possible, yes?¡±


    Saph nodded, looking to the quill, not sure what the major was after. As she tried to lift the quill she just felt¡­ nothing¡­ and the quill didn''t move.


    ¡°You see? She can¡¯t,¡± Jortun went, looking back to Fengi. ¡°This is my doing. You can¡¯t tell her what to do right now. Nor can you make her like you. Yet she still does,¡± he continued with a genuine sincerity in his voice. ¡°It is real. They do like you.¡±


    Saph looked back to Fengi, not sure what to say.


    ¡°I will do you a favor, young huntress, though I will want one in return. Whenever you are in doubt if something is real, come fetch me and we¡¯ll set things straight.¡±


    ¡®I guess he¡¯s not so bad after all,¡¯ Saph thought to herself as she saw the smile return to Fengi¡¯s face.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she let out, almost choking on the word.


    ¡°What kind of favor?¡± Saph questioned, being a bit more suspicious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. But it does pay to have favors with a woman like her. You never know when the Inquisition is hard to get a hold off. Now, don¡¯t be mistaken. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Fengi. You are going to need friends you can depend upon for your training. Whatever you do, don¡¯t betray that trust.¡±


    ¡°I would never-¡±


    ¡°That means always telling them what you are doing, exactly, and when you are doing it,¡± Jortun cut her off. ¡°While I¡¯m here, feel free to train on the prisoners. Though I must warn you against using your power outside on any unwilling parties not deserving of such. I have the title of witch hunter for a reason, and my prey is not only those that have fallen to the darker powers.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Yes, sir,¡± Fengi replied with a nod, recognizing the threat for what it was.


    ¡°Now I heard talk of a very special individual,¡± Jortun continued, looking to the small cradle on the floor where, incredibly enough, Jinora was still sleeping.


    ¡°That would be Jinora, yes,¡± Saph replied, cursing to herself and hoping really badly that the fact that kid was likely the equivalent of a living holy artifact would not produce problems with someone named witch hunter.


    ¡°And your plan is to use her to assist Fengi?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ She¡¯s quite the special little kiddo.¡±


    ¡°So I heard. I read the agreement on the horn you have¡­ I take it she was omitted.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Saph replied, averting her gaze.


    ¡°Good idea. The church will want her. Though I would recommend doing a better job of not mentioning her around people who shouldn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ we probably should not¡­ oh dear,¡± Saph replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I was her guardian, I would have her under lock and key. Stand fast and vigilant. People might try to take her, either through force or subterfuge.¡±


    ¡°Can do. Not like we have any precious secrets hidden around here.¡±


    ¡°No, but this one is a bit different,¡± Jortun replied as he got up, going over to look a bit closer at Jinora. ¡°She might be the only one of her kind alive.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of others? Maybe before?¡±


    ¡°Stories, sure. Hard to tell what¡¯s true, but if half of them are, she¡¯ll do great things.¡±


    ¡°Well may this be the start of an illustrious career.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. By the sounds of it, Yldril will make it through the night. At least the old girl believes so. Get some rest and find out how to do this properly. There is still time to work with.¡±


    ¡°Will do. Maybe a bit more training before proper bedtime?¡± Saph replied, looking back to Fengi, who was still just watching from the bed.


    ¡°Sure¡­ Jortun, do you know what was up with Unkai before?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I do sadly¡­ I recommend asking,¡± the major replied before stepping out the door, closing it behind him.

 Prison camp

    Chapter 144: Prison camp


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    When Tom and Jacky had made it up into the keep, Jarix had been sleeping soundly. The remnants of the trimming, as they called it, lay strewn about the place and were in the process of getting cleaned up. The dragon had about half the greeting hall to himself, the other half being dominated by tied-up prisoners currently under guard by Kokashi and Herron.


    They had exchanged greetings, and Tom gave the prisoners a quick once over. They had quite a few, a quick headcount coming to 9 total, Kokashi explaining they had another 3 in the infirmary.


    They had all looked at Tom with a mix of confusion and fear. Tom guessed they might recognize the odd weapons he was carrying and they were certainly acquainted with what they could do. At least two of them had caught some lead shot, one of them in the face which looked rather nasty.


    He made a note to tell the healers those pellets needed to be removed if they were to live. He had no clue how quickly lead poisoning would set in, but it couldn¡¯t take long.


    It hadn''t taken long before Rachuck had showed up, the captain likely having been informed Tom had returned.


    ¡°So, how¡¯s this Yldril doing?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll live. Get anything useful out of this lot yet?¡± Tom replied, gesturing around at the crowd of prisoners, who in turn glanced around at each other.


    ¡°Nothing useful, no. They have been quite forthcoming with what they know¡­ Which is little to nothing. All hired within a few weeks for this job, from various places, mostly smaller towns and villages strewn around the capital or en route here.¡±


    ¡°Think they are lying?¡± Tom said rather pointedly while looking around at them.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not,¡± Rachuck replied, looking around at the prisoners as well. Tom felt rather conflicted looking at the brigands before him.


    They were a rather varied lot. Some had fine looking armor. One who looked no older than Boor Pho was wearing only simple and rather ragged looking leather clothing. Maybe the kid had been desperate. The few stories they had gotten out of Ray certainly made it sound like she wasn¡¯t alone in her situation.


    Then again, they knew what they were doing, of course they did. They were organized and following orders. It had felt a lot more like a battle than a robbery to him, that was for sure. And technically he guessed they might be considered mercenaries. So were they prisoners of war? Or common criminals? What were they gonna do with them all? Were they just going off the edge? He didn¡¯t even know if this was considered treason or not.


    Tom heard a grunt and a rattle of plates from the door to the stairs, turning to watch Ray struggle with the door, Jacky already trotting over to hold the door for her. Ray walked past with a ¡°Thank you,¡± as Jacky looked down into the pot she was carrying looking less than pleased.


    ¡°Dear god, is that dinner?¡±


    ¡°No no. This is for the nasty ones. Still¡­ Dinner won''t be much today. But tomorrow¡­¡± Ray replied with a convincing nod and a smile. She quickly went to start ladle out food into the plates and started handing them out.


    Rachuck cleared his throat and gestured for Tom to follow him as he started walking towards the stairs going up to the next level.


    Tom followed, looking to Jacky, who gestured for him to just go with Rachuck as she started helping Ray.


    Tom just nodded, following the captain up into the library and closing the door behind himself.


    ¡°So, think they are lying?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. They are all very similar stories,¡± Rachuck replied, ¡°But believable ones. They claim to have had one veteran officer who served with Yldril. And he''s dead by her hand down below. The red had one too. She¡¯s gone as well, shot down by Sapphire.¡±


    ¡°Well isn¡¯t that convenient,¡± Tom sighed. ¡°Yldril killed her own captain or whatever you would call him?¡±


    ¡°Quite. He was one of the two that got sprayed with acid down there. We had to scoop him off the ground. The other one was a woman apparently.¡±


    ¡°So we might just have Yldril left unless some of this lot is lying.¡±


    ¡°I think so, yes. And if I¡¯m being honest¡­ I think she has a lot to say.¡±


    ¡°Like who hired her?¡± Tom replied with a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t buy her story of just coming here for the money. All these people hired that quickly and by the sounds of it no questions asked. That sounds like this is not something she does on the regular.¡±


    ¡°Unless the crews are lying, this was their first raid with her. A few admitted this wasn¡¯t their first run at something like this. Even sounded proud of it,¡± the captain said, sounding more despairing than anything else.


    ¡°I could believe that. Some of that equipment doesn''t look cheap. Some of those people must have been expensive to hire.¡±


    ¡°Unless they were swayed by the possible prize.¡±


    ¡°Or that,¡± Tom relented.


    ¡°They certainly come from all over. Quite a few far off accents too. But I guess people can come from far and wide to towns near the capital. No keep dwellers though, not even inner keeps by the sounds of it,¡± Rachuck added, sounding rather thoughtful. ¡°Guess it would leave a bad taste in their mouth if they understood what this would mean for a regular keep.¡±


    ¡°Well Yldril did sound like she rather dislikes people who live in keeps. Apparently someone kicked her out right before winter once.¡±


    ¡°That would be a death sentence for a dragonette in some cases¡­ I guess it would be hard even on a dragon,¡± Rachuck replied, clearly not pleased with that either.


    ¡°So we have no clue if they were hired or just decided to have a go at this?¡± Tom sighed, pulling at his hair in frustration.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to see what Fengi can manage, but by the sounds of it she¡¯s spent,¡± the captain replied with a sigh, sounding no more pleased with the situation.


    ¡°Spent? I thought she couldn¡¯t really use it yet?¡± Tom asked, looking back to Rachuck.


    ¡°Well apparently she figured that part out. Made Sapphire salute for a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Okay that¡¯s¡­ quite scary.¡±


    ¡°And useful,¡± the captain replied with a knowing nod. ¡°The major apparently advised training on one of the prisoners. They will be starting with that tomorrow at first light.¡±


    ¡°I see. So when they get it to work they go and try it on Yldril? Sounds like a better plan than just winging it,¡± Tom admitted. ¡°Where is she now?¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s sleeping for now. Maybe she¡¯s still in Saph¡¯s room. The major had a talk with her. Apparently he knows a thing or two about this stuff.¡±


    ¡°Well at least we have an expert. Can we trust him with all this?¡±


    ¡°As you said, he¡¯s the expert, and I get the feeling he will find out by himself otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Fantastic,¡± Tom replied sarcastically. ¡°What are we going to do with that lot up there? We can¡¯t keep them around.¡±


    ¡°No, I intend to hand them over to the Inquisition when they get here,¡± Rachuck replied with what Tom swore looked like an evil glint in his eye.


    ¡°I think you would be doing a favor by sending them over the edge there.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, but it would send quite the message. It would look like we are under Inquisitorial protection.¡±


    ¡°Which we kind of are.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we can¡¯t really go saying that aloud, now can we?¡±


    ¡°I guess not quite¡­ Not actually sure about that?¡±


    ¡°We were told to pretend like nothing has happened, Tom,¡± Rachuck replied, not seeming very impressed with him.


    ¡°Fair enough. How long is that though, might be weeks?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it. I think a week is generous. I say we lock them up in one of the sheds. They know they can¡¯t run, and we¡¯ll feed them some crappy food and plenty of water so they don¡¯t feel they need to break out. Then we hand them off. Just don¡¯t tell them what their fate will be. Say we are sending them back home on the next trader to face justice in the capital. I¡¯m willing to bet they will think they can just escape from the trader.¡±


    ¡°You sly little bastard.¡±


    ¡°What is it with you today? You seem so soft.¡±


    ¡°Hell no, I like it. Should be very effective. They will face justice, and we don¡¯t have to put down a kid that might have gotten suckered into this.¡±


    ¡°The young guy in the rags up there?¡± Rachuck asked with a slight head tilt. ¡°He knew what he was in for. Give him a few years, he would probably have ended up dead or a hardened killer.¡±


    ¡°Fengi and Ray didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Fengi and Ray didn¡¯t agree to go murder innocent people for money,¡± Rachuck snapped back at him. ¡°There''s some damn difference between a common criminal forced to steal food and a killer willing to sell lives for money.¡±


    ¡°No no. I get it. I already said I agreed. Fuck it, who knows? Inquisition might decide the kid is useful or something.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that.¡±


    Tom just sighed looking at the captain. Of course he was right, but the kid upstairs couldn''t be much more than teen. No one was smart enough to figure shit like this out as a teen.


    ¡°¡­ Come on, let¡¯s get to moving those guys. Don¡¯t want them hearing more than they already know¡­ Actually it might be best to send them with the Inquisition just for that alone.¡±


    ¡°See? Two birds, one stone.¡±


    ¡°I guess some sayings stay the same.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The following day things were rather strange at the keep. Saph had this sense of being behind, yet they had to take their time. They were messing with magic they really didn¡¯t quite understand, yet they needed to find some answers.


    Hence why they were currently in the kitchen with a prisoner lashed to a chair looking around at them curiously.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s the closet we are gonna get¡­ and I would rather not let you try this on me. I have secrets to hide, even from you,¡± Saph shrugged, giving the unlucky guy a slap on the back. They had come up with the brilliant plan to just keep Saph and Jinora behind him for now, with Essy ready to keep his eyes pointing forwards if necessary. No reason to let him know more than needed, just in case the Inquisition or someone else got their claws on him in the end.


    ¡°But, it still feels wrong. You¡¯re sure I won¡¯t hurt him?¡± Fengi asked, looking at her pleadingly.


    ¡®Why are you suddenly concerned about that now?¡¯ Saph thought to herself, looking at Fengi with an unamused expression.


    ¡°No, the effects are not permanent. I¡¯ve certainly never heard of that being the case. You are not a mind reader,¡± Linkosta replied, notebook already open. ¡°Now please, I don¡¯t want to leave mother for too long.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Thanks for¡­ Just being here I guess,¡± Fengi replied, still not sounding convinced before looking down at the prisoner.


    They had moved him into the kitchen and sat him down at the large work table so they would get a bit of privacy with him. For his part, he had been promised better food in addition to better treatment if he cooperated, which had apparently been sufficient for this guy.


    Initial questioning had revealed that he didn¡¯t know much, if he was telling them the truth, but he was a guy Fengi didn¡¯t know and could ask just about anything and not know the answer. So a perfect subject to train on. That and the major had rather hinted at this being the right way to go about this, not to mention giving his consent.


    ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m gonna ask you some questions. You might feel a bit weird, and then you should answer willingly or not. Try to resist.¡±


    ¡°This is the strangest interrogation I¡¯ve ever been in?¡± the guy replied, looking up at her then down to his restraints before sighing.


    ¡°Have you tried many before?¡± Linkosta questioned, looking ready to write the answer down.


    ¡°... Is that part of the try to resist part?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Then yeah¡­ I''ve had a few.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, should be a bit harder to break then,¡± Linkosta replied, sounding quite chipper.


    ¡°Oh to the contrary, I¡¯ve learned it¡¯s easier to just spill the beans,¡± he said with a grin on his face, stumping Linkosta for a bit.


    ¡°Then¡­ why has no one killed you yet?¡± she asked, not seeming able to make heads or tails of it. Saph had to admit he didn¡¯t sound like he would last very long.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡° ¡®Cause I tell them that I''ll just spill the beans, so they don''t tell me shit.¡±


    ¡°Hey that¡¯s pretty smart,¡± Fengi admitted, looking at the others. Saph just sighed at the conclusion they weren¡¯t getting anything useful out of this guy even by accident.


    ¡°Why did we pick this guy again?¡± Saph felt she had to ask, looking around at the others.


    ¡°Cause he was willing to play catch¡­¡± Linkosta sighed, shoulders sagging. ¡°Fucking hell.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Try to resist now,¡± Fengi said before kneeling in front of the increasingly confused looking prisoner. Much as that seemed hard to believe.


    ¡°Please¡­ I beg of you¡­ Just tell me what I want to know,¡± Fengi pleaded, ears dangling and pupils nearly going round.


    ¡°Okay, magic,¡± Saph whispered into Jinora¡¯s ear, pointing to Fengi as she held the sweet in her hand like a treat for a pet.


    Jinora seemed more interested in the candy, having been allowed to get a lick before they started. She had pretty quickly grasped that using magic meant getting another lick of the candy when they had been training/experimenting. The tricky part was getting her to do it for long enough and on the right person on command.


    Saph had to admit this seemed a little wrong doing it like this, but it was effective, and it wasn¡¯t that far from giving her some other kind of reward for being a good girl. Jinora let out a happy little shriek before reaching her hand out towards Fengi, her eyes turning pale white and starting to glow.


    ¡°The fuck is wrong with you people?¡± the prisoner had let out at the sight of Fengi pleading, pulling back against his restraints.


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s just special,¡± Saph replied with a smile, looking at Fengi as she let Jinora get in a lick, eyes still glowing.


    ¡°This feels weird,¡± Fengi replied, looking down at her hands and studying them. ¡°It tingles¡­ a lot.¡±


    ¡°I think you need to ask him again,¡± Linkosta added, pointing at the prisoner with her pencil.


    ¡°Oh, right. Please, sir. Just tell me what I want to know.¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am¡­ What is it?¡±


    ¡°Did you feel anything?¡± Linkosta asked, looking at the prisoner, who just returned her gaze, not saying a word.


    She just let out a deep breath, sounding more than a little irritated and looking back to Fengi. ¡°Maybe you should try asking him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right¡­ Feel anything?¡±


    ¡°Nah. Not really¡­ Wait¡­¡± he replied, before furrowing his brow at the realization. ¡°The hell?¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s something,¡± Linkosta added, taking down a quick note.


    ¡°Okay¡­ What¡¯s your name? ¡±


    ¡°Arro... Okay this is trippy,¡± the guy seemingly unwillingly replied as he tried to wiggle free of his restraints. ¡°The hell did you do to me?¡±


    ¡°Okay, Arro. How did you end up here?¡±


    ¡°No, my name is Arr¡­ Arro¡­ Arrovita,¡± he finally let out, looking like he was fighting every word he was saying, eyes wide.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just call you Arro,¡± Fengi replied, looking at him, seeming rather unsure of herself and talking in a careful tone. ¡°So how did you get here?¡±


    ¡°I got hired¡­ I have a guy¡­I¡­ I don¡¯t wanna tell you,¡± Arro finally stammered out, seeming to win his fight against her, breathing hard and looking around with wide eyes. ¡°The fuck is she?¡±


    ¡°An enchantress. Didn¡¯t you hear?¡± Linkosta replied, looking to Jinora, who had been denied further candy licks and was sitting in Saph¡¯s lap, looking grumpy. ¡°I guess we found a time frame of sorts.¡±


    ¡°In better news, Fengi didn¡¯t fall over,¡± Saph went, giving the kid a bounce on her good leg and nuzzling the toddler¡¯s snout gently. ¡®Very well done, Jinora. You are such a good girl!¡¯


    She got rewarded by a happy smile and a giggle as Jinora reached out to touch Saph¡¯s snout.


    ¡°Like you saluting. It lingers,¡± Linkosta observed. ¡°I wonder if we can make that any longer?¡±


    ¡°That was pretty awesome, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Saph questioned, looking to Fengi, who just nodded, seeming deep in thought.


    ¡°Really damn awesome¡­ Do we wanna try again?¡± she asked in a meek voice, not looking up.


    ¡°Just ask him if he really doesn¡¯t know anything.¡±


    Fengi had done as instructed and with a simple question and a glowing baby they had gotten their confirmation. The guy knew fucking nothing. Not even what the target had been called. Just that they were raiding a frontier keep that was heavily defended.


    Linkosta had noted it all down and they had dragged the prisoner back off after letting him munch on some fresh bread and a bit of jerky, promising he would be getting a better dinner today. Saph had just stayed in the kitchen playing with Jinora for a bit. They would be heading out for Yldril shortly anyway.


    ¡°Is she feeling tired at all?¡± Linkosta had asked as she made it back into the kitchen after a short visit to the infirmary.


    ¡°No, not at all. Is that good or bad?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t the faintest clue. Maybe she can keep going forever?¡± Linkosta replied with a shrug.


    ¡°She¡¯ll get bored eventually,¡± Saph chuckled, continuing to play with the kid. She did have a tendency to be distracted at times.


    ¡°Or that¡­¡± Linkosta relented, looking at the little kid. ¡°I can only imagine what she might one day be able to do.¡±


    ¡°Might even boost your magic enough to rival a proper witch,¡± Saph retorted.


    ¡°And without any nasty bargains too.¡±


    ¡°Unless you count paying in candy,¡± Saph chuckled as Jinora perked up at the mention of candy.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a decent trade,¡± Linkosta said with a soft smile, looking at the kid before straightening back up. ¡°Right then. There is work to be done.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a fairly long day in the end yesterday. Tom had helped to move the prisoners to the rather chilly outdoor shed after he had secretly moved the quad bike and parked it behind another building. Rachuck and the others seemed to all agree that the cool bulding would at least help keep their prisoners from doing anything stupid in the night. Even so, the building was put under guard, though only from the outside. They didn¡¯t want a few prisoners breaking free and taking a hostage for use in negotiations.


    Tom was quite sure by now that these people had already seen enough to constitute a serious security risk, but what did it matter if the whole lot was going to get executed by the Inquisition anyway?


    Now it was morning though, and he was standing in the mostly empty and once again clean greeting hall looking at a sleeping dragon, rolled over onto his back with all four feet dangling in the air like the largest great dane ever.


    ¡®Fuck, that¡¯s hillarious¡¯ Tom thought to himself, taking a few steps back and taking a picture before going up to Jarix¡¯s head and giving the dragon a slight tap on the lower jaw.


    ¡°Wakey wakey, sleepy head. You doing okay?¡±


    ¡°I was¡­ What now?¡± Jarix questioned as his eyes slowly blinked awake, the young dragon stretching slightly before wincing. ¡°Ohhhhh gods, that hurts.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ ahr shit,¡± the dragon groaned in reply, letting his head rest back on the ground again. ¡°But it fucking sucks.¡±


    ¡°Well if it helps, if I got burned like that, I would be down for months.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like I can feel the pain go away already,¡± Jarix groaned, moving his head just enough to look at Tom. ¡°Mum¡¯s pissed.¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom replied, nodding in agreement. ¡°Real pissed.¡±


    ¡°Anything you can do about that?¡±


    ¡°Short of giving her what she wants? Don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°I almost want to tell you not to give her anything just to spite her.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°I did my damn best, okay? Everyone else seems damn happy. But no, not Glira. Glira think¡¯s I''ve lost my edge. Glira think¡¯s I¡¯m a big softy just cause I didn¡¯t let my friends get murdered.¡± The amount of sarcasm the wounded dragon managed was honestly impressive to Tom. ¡°What about you? Heard you were happy with her?¡±


    ¡°Jarix¡­ Is your mother in the habit of killing for fun?¡±


    ¡°Sure. She¡¯ll kill anything she feels warrants it. If she¡¯s allowed to, obviously,¡± Jarix replied perfectly bluntly.


    ¡°Right¡­ so-¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been like that since before I was born. Don¡¯t bother.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t really know what to say to that as he stood there scratching the back of his neck.


    ¡°The gun jammed again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I noticed.¡±


    ¡°Radexi said it felt like it had some weaker shots here and there.¡±


    ¡°Bad ammo. Not much we can do about that except try and be a bit more careful when loading. How did it do against the red?¡±


    ¡°Marvelously. He had no idea what it was. As soon as we got him into a turning fight even the few shots it got off were enough to scare him into a dive. From there I had him.¡±


    ¡°I guess that counts as good enough then,¡± Tom nodded, looking down the side of the stricken dragon.


    ¡°I know it might not feel like it, but damn if that wasn¡¯t a clean win.¡±


    ¡°Last one wasn¡¯t painless either.¡± Jarix seemed to sigh. ¡°But it was worth it this time too.¡±


    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t¡­ Look, do you think it would be better in the future if I just let Glira have what she wants?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll do more or less whatever for it. Including taking the hits for you,¡± Jarix replied. ¡°If you are worried about her giving it away, don¡¯t worry. She¡¯ll pay even more to have the only one.¡±


    ¡°i guess that¡¯s something¡­ what do you want to do with the prisoners?¡±


    ¡°Have I become your moral guide or something?¡±


    ¡°No, but you''re the only proper soldier around here with training that I trust properly.¡±


    ¡°Aww. Thanks man,¡± Jarix replied, actually pulling a bit of a smile as he thought. ¡°I would kill off the lot of them. They have seen too much and the Inquisition will throw an epic fit if we let them get away.


    ¡°Rachuck wants to hand them over; I guess maybe they might want to do their own interrogation.¡±


    ¡°Such is the life of a brigand. Losing once might be enough.¡±


    ¡°Doesn''t that describe most fighting?¡±


    ¡°Depends on the enemy, but yeah I guess¡­ Speaking of which. What¡¯s the black like?¡±


    ¡°A real bitch.¡±


    ¡°Another one?¡± Jarix joked, letting out a snicker, which it sounded like he regretted shortly thereafter.


    ¡°Think they¡¯ll kill her off too? Your mother wants to hand her in for a bounty.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she told me¡­ Really damn happy about that one,¡± Jarix replied, taking a breath and a second to think. ¡°Depends on what she knows. They might just put her back in the mines.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s something I guess. The Inquisition will take care of it.¡±


    ¡°If Saph was here, she would be telling you not to worry about it I¡¯m sure. Jacky too for that matter. Did she get to show off her kill?¡±


    ¡°Yeah she did. Big bastard that one.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a good few weeks or maybe a month in a maggot pit and he¡¯ll be a fine wall decoration.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a problem with that?¡±


    ¡°With what?¡±


    ¡°Having a dragon skull hanging on the wall?¡±


    Jarix just strained his neck a bit more to look directly at Tom, tilting his head. ¡°Why is that? Glira has my grandad hanging in her cave back in the capital.¡±


    ¡°You have your grandad''s skull hanging over the fireplace back home?¡±


    ¡°How did you know it was over the fireplace?¡± Jarix asked as he lowered his head back to lie on the floor with a sigh.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I didn¡¯t?¡± Tom tried, with a shrug.


    ¡°Eh, fuck it. You should see it one day. Quite a nice place. Maybe one day I¡¯ll have a place just like it. Not that the keep sucks or anything¡­ But I kinda wish I at least had a proper bed.¡±


    ¡°Dragons have beds?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? I mean, I¡¯m a soldier and all,¡± Jarix replied, back to laying on the the sarcasm. ¡°So I have to learn to live and sleep wherever I need to.¡±


    ¡°Arch just had like a room back at the guild? Didn¡¯t see any bed.¡±


    ¡°Was there straw on the floor?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Tom replied tentatively, not sure if that constituted a bed.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet he has a nice wooden platform under that. No cold stones.¡±


    ¡°I think we could slap something like that together.¡±


    ¡°That would be pretty sweet. Might have it made out of the planks you all used to fix Yldril, that would be funny.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Kullinger. Sounds like a project he would actually like to work on.¡±


    ¡°Oh the wood guy?... I guess¡­ he seems a touch strange.¡±


    ¡°I just think he liked it the way things were. Actually, speaking of other people. You¡¯ve met Junior, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Jarix replied as if that was obvious, which Tom admitted it of course was.


    ¡°He and Radexi are getting along alright aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Seems so. Them against the girls and all that.¡±


    ¡°You know he really likes anything military.¡±


    ¡°I noticed. He¡¯s been helping me out when he has the time.¡±


    ¡°Think you could maybe¡­ do a bit more for the kid on that front? Think he could use some cheering up with his dad and all.¡±


    ¡°The old geezer didn¡¯t die on us, did he?¡±


    ¡°No, but still. Junior is basically the adult in that situation. He needs to relax too.¡±


    ¡°Look at you, being all caring and everything. I¡¯m not gonna be doing much for a while though. Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Maybe just a chat. Tell him stories.¡±


    ¡°About my training?¡±


    ¡°I think that would work, or just stories you have heard. Might help pass the time.¡±


    ¡°Sure. But he¡¯s damn busy, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try and help with that part. I think we earned a little respite for this.¡±


    ¡°Until the Inquisition gets here.¡±


    ¡°Until the Inquisition gets here, yes,¡± Tom echoed with a sigh. He was not looking forward to that.


    ¡°Oh by the way. How are you planning on dealing with the pissed off unicorn? You know after we dumped nearly a ton of meat out there.¡±


    ¡°what?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we are actually doing this,¡± Jacky chuckled, sounding more excited than anything.


    ¡°Shsss, she needs to concentrate,¡± Essy reprimanded as they all stood in a half circle around Fengi and Saph, Jinora currently residing in Saph¡¯s arms and taking another little nap.


    ¡°Now remember, concise points, and get what you want in one go. No need for subtlety here,¡± the major added. He had come up with what exactly to say to Yldril just to make sure that part was at least a little bit by the book.


    ¡°What is the point of this circus? Yldril asked, looking at them with the one eye that could see them. Glira and the major had come up with the rather smart idea to have Yldril look away from them, with Glira standing ready to prevent any unwanted movements, meaning they should be perfectly safe.


    ¡®You know, stop trying to act dumb,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself as she started trying to rouse Jinora. ¡°Wakey wakey, there is candy to be had.¡±


    That seemed to do the trick as her eyes shot open and started looking around for this magical candy. ¡°There we go. Up you come. Yes, it¡¯s candy time,¡± Saph went with a nod, getting Jinora to sit up in her arms before looking to Fengi. ¡°I think we might be ready to begin.¡±


    ¡°So we weren¡¯t trying the horn first after all?¡± Rachuck questioned, sounding cautiously hopeful that idea might still be on the table as he looked at Linkosta. Dakota and Apuma were still back at the keep with Nunuk, leaving just the two Bizmati¡¯s here for this.


    ¡°If it doesn''t work. One thing at a time. We know this at least sort of works, and it¡¯s free too,¡± Linskota replied unconvincingly as she paged through a book of hers. ¡°I did bring the powder we have left and what we need to turn it into paint if we need it.¡±


    Yldril had at least shut up and was instead just glaring at them now, Saph meeting the gaze of her massive eye. It was unmoving, unblinking, and clearly scrutinizing them. ¡®Let¡¯s get this over with,¡¯ she thought to herself, suddenly feeling quite a bit more uncomfortable. They had removed the mine because it might just take a few of them with it if it came to that. It wasn¡¯t like it was needed now that Glira was at hand.


    ¡°Okay Jinora. See Fengi. Magic,¡± Saph went, holding up the candy, Jinora quickly turning in her arms to look at Fengi, having very much so figured out what she was supposed to do by now.


    Fengi stepped forwards as Jinora¡¯s eyes began to shine, Yldril not moving a muscle, Glira leaning forwards and raising a foot just in case.


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s try this,¡± Fengi went, taking a step forward and kneeling in front of Yldril. ¡°You will not harm my friends. You will tell us what we want to know. And do what I tell you.¡±


    ¡®Might have overreached yourself there,¡¯ Saph thought to herself.


    ¡°No I will not,¡± Yldril sneered in reply. ¡°You think I¡¯ve not been here before?¡± Her voice sounded rather strained.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet on it,¡± Saph replied, stroking Jinora and letting her have a few licks at the candy. ¡°Okay, Jinora. We''re gonna try again.¡±


    ¡°Agai?¡± the child replied with a tilted head and a curious expression.


    ¡°Yes, again,¡± Saph grinned as Jinora let out a little shriek. ¡°Oh, you are so clever, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    A short belly tickle later Saph held up the candy again. Jinora just bounced a little in Saph¡¯s arms before turning to Fengi holding out her hand. ¡°Actually Fen, think it¡¯s a good idea if you hold her.¡±


    Rachuck seemed rather worried at the idea, looking to the Major who in turn just shrugged looking at Yldril.


    ¡°Can¡¯t see the harm in that. She would want the child as a bargaining chip anyway.¡±


    ¡®Nice way to fucking put it,¡¯ Saph sneered to herself as she walked up to Fengi, handing the kid over. ¡°There we go. And the obligatory candy.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Fengi replied, letting Jinora sit on one arm as she held the candy with the other.


    She turned to Yldril and once again kneeled before her, Jinora looking a touch confused.


    ¡°You will not harm my friends. You will tell us what we want to know. And do what I tell you.¡±


    Jinora didn¡¯t seem to get the insinuation this time around, Saph walking up and kneeling next to Fengi, taking the candy and holding it up. ¡°Magic.¡±


    ¡°Magniks,¡± Jinora giggled as she reached for the candy.


    Saph pulled it back, tapping Fengi on the shoulder. ¡°Magic.¡±


    Jinora seemed to think for a second before plonking her hand down on Fengi¡¯s shoulder, eyes glowing bright as she reached for the candy with her other hand.


    Fengi clearly felt¡­ whatever it was, happen as she repeated her phrase once more. Yldril¡¯s snout curled into a sneer before she tried to turn to face them, being rewarded with Glira forcing her head into the ground once again.


    ¡°Get that stupid little creep away from me!¡± she roared out, Glira letting out a snarl in reply as the black dragon tried to wrench free, Jinora starting to cry as she clung to Fengi who in turn started to backpedal away.


    Yldril tried lashing out with a foreleg, black claws reaching, heading straight for Saph and Fengi. Saph tried to yank Fengi away, who instead just hunkered down, protecting Jinora. The kid screamed in fear as she clutched Fengi who was just curled up around her. Time slowed down for Saph as the clawed hand came towards them, stopping short of its target, Yldril having reached the end of her reach. Then Fengi lit up like a glowant on a moonless night.


    Saph turned her head to look at Fengi, even the blue ribs on her back were glowing as she stood back up again, green light pouring from her eyes like Tom¡¯s flashlights, clearly visible even in the middle of the day. And she spoke in a disembodied voice Saph swore came as much from inside her head as from her ears.


    ¡°You dare harm what I saved! What are you!?¡± It did not sound like Fengi either. It was a deeper tone, yet still feminine, and it sounded pissed. ¡°I see. Thank you, Fengi¡­ You come here. To my home. A forest under siege from the dark, and you dare attack those who defend it, inadequate though they may be. You force them to throw away my precious friends. Those who I care for! Just to take some trivial things you want like coins. I would rip you apart if I were there. But I can do this. I sentence you to servitude. Let these people do what they want with you, this one feels pure enough, possibly even kind-hearted. Hopefully, they will work you to death so you can repay some of what you cost me.¡±


    Then Yldril screamed out in pain, Saph looking up to see Glira clearly struggling to keep the black dragon down as wounds ripped and braces snapped like twigs. Everyone quickly turned and ran except for Saph, who tried her damndest to move Fengi back. The young huntress just stood there though, as if glued in place. Skin glowing and eyes still shining bright as she stared at the black dragon.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you move! FENGI!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Reeling Mind

    Chapter 145: Reeling Mind


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°We are moving!¡± Jacky shouted at him. Tom had just about registered the need to get back when she had yanked him off his feet and bolted with him over her shoulder. Looking back, he saw Saph desperately pulling on Fengi, her feet digging in deep. Esmeralda was rushing to her aid, Rachuck putting himself between them and Yldril, shield raised for all the good that would do.


    Glira fought to keep the screaming Yldril down, which was clearly easier said than done. The black dragon had broken just about every brace they had put on her. Her tail thrashed around wild until a deafening crack snapped the end off to Tom¡¯s astonishment.


    ¡®The fuck is going on?¡¯ he asked himself as Jacky put some distance between them and Yldril. The screaming was high-pitched and unnatural, like nails on a blackboard mixed with the howling of a wounded dog. Tom already had a mean migraine, though it felt like it wasn¡¯t just the screams causing it. It was a familiar pain, like the headache that damn unicorn had given him back at their first meeting.


    Then as abruptly as it had started, the light faded from Fengi and she fell into Saph and Essy¡¯s arms, Yldril too going limp under Glira¡¯s weight. The scream turned into a whimper, then mewling as Tom tapped on Jacky¡¯s back. ¡°Slow down. I think- I think that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡± Jacky asked as she slowed down, turning to look for herself. ¡°Like completely sure?¡±


    ¡°I have no fucking clue,¡± Tom admitted as she put him down, though she didn¡¯t let go as she moved behind him instead.


    ¡°What the fuck was that!¡± Tom asked Linkosta, who was already walking back towards the dragon, having bolted too. ¡°Was that fucking Kalestine?!¡±


    ¡°I-I I think so,¡± the mage stuttered, seeming utterly dumbstruck as she stared at Saph and Fengi. ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Blessed be her holiness, I guess,¡± Jacky added as Tom cautiously started walking back up towards Fengi.


    Saph and Essy had started carrying her to a safe distance, Jinora still clutching Fengi¡¯s chest. ¡®I swear to god, gods or whatever, if that pope horse hurt the kid doing this,¡¯ Tom caught himself thinking as he quickened his pace.


    After a bit of resistance Jacky let him, following close behind. Walking up, Fengi was already stirring, Jinora crying her heart out as Saph pried the kid off of Fengi and tried to console her as best she could.


    ¡°Is she breathing?¡± Rachuck had asked, not having left his shielding position.


    ¡°She¡¯s still with us. How are you feeling, Fengi?¡± Essy asked as she held the young woman''s head.


    ¡°Pretty rough, not gonna lie¡­ I think I just¡­ I might like carrots now,¡± Fengi replied, staring up at the sky with a serene expression on her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s a carrot?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Fengi replied, seeming totally serious.


    ¡°A vegetable. It¡¯s like an orange stick?¡± Tom added, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Have you got some?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ there are some in the vegetable garden though.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. I want one.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get you a karot. Do you know what happened?¡± Essy asked, still cradling Fengi¡¯s head, moving to put it in her lap instead and starting to stroke the young huntress¡¯s face.


    ¡°It hurt a lot¡­ Then it all got a little weird.¡±


    ¡°Could you be more specific?¡± Linkosta questioned, also kneeling down next to her, already scribbling away.


    ¡°Not really. I¡­ I wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°Did you see any images flash, maybe emotions that weren¡¯t yours?¡±


    ¡°I was angry¡­ Very angry¡­ and I heard bird song.¡±


    ¡°No birds out here, that¡¯s for sure. Think she snapped?¡± Jacky questioned, looking around for any possible stray birds.


    ¡°Jacky!¡± Essy snapped, Jacky raising her hands defensively.


    ¡°What?! We just saw her glowing like crazy. Apparently Kalestine talking through her and Yldril just got her mind spanked. I say she just tried sharing a mind with a unicorn.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s incredible,¡± Linkosta added, the pen still working furiously. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of people sharing thoughts, and mind readers can get some of the same effect at times. You just tried getting¡­ Mind melded?¡± she continued, not seeming quite sure about the word. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go with that for the time being. Mindmelded with a unicorn.¡±


    ¡°And she liked you,¡± Essy added, while caressing Fengi¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°And she had a sentence to pass down,¡± Major Jortun added, having walked up next to Rachuck''s hand, blade drawn and looking at Yldril. ¡°Decent work, old girl. Little slow on the uptake.¡±


    ¡°Dragons can get surprised too you know,¡± Glira replied, the blue dragon clearly keeping very close tabs on Yldril right now. The black dragon was by now full on bawling into the grass, a trickle of acid coming out the sides of her mouth. ¡°Never seen that before. Did you see her tail?!¡±


    ¡°I did. Kulk, mind fetching the tip?¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes, sir,¡± came the quick reply as Kulk trotted off to fetch the lost piece.


    ¡°She¡¯s in poor shape now, boss,¡± Glira added as she inspected Yldril in greater detail. ¡°She ruined all our good work.¡±


    ¡°Then we start over¡­ Can you stand?¡± the major asked, looking behind him to Fengi.


    ¡°I would rather not,¡± came the meek reply as Essy kept stroking her face. Jinora had calmed down a bit and was by now merely sobbing into Sapphire¡¯s shoulder, also receiving caring strokes.


    ¡°Then simply stay put,¡± the Major said with a kind smile before looking at the rest of them. ¡°To work people. I want that one alive. If nothing else, the inquisition will want her now, that¡¯s for damn sure. Stop the bleeding. Glira, pin her like an oiled up green trying to sneak a snack.¡±


    ¡°You got it, boss.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell, here we go,¡± Tom went to himself as he felt Jacky draw him in a bit closer.


    ¡°You are staying with me for this part.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he replied with a chuckle, it wasn¡¯t like this was funny or anything, but fuck him if he knew what to make of it.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I wanna try sitting up,¡± Fengi had quietly stated after a few minutes of staring at the sky. She¡¯d been given water, some trail mix, and what was left of the candy they had used for Jinora. It was pretty clear this had taken its toll on Fengi, yet she hadn¡¯t passed out this time.


    Linkosta believed it to be due to her not having been the source of the energy for the effect, whatever it might have been.


    Yldril, for her part, hadn¡¯t moved a muscle willingly or otherwise since the event. She was just lying there crying. A several hundred year old black dragon. A veteran of both slave labour and likely quite a few battles. She was crying like a little girl and had been at it for minutes by now.


    It did at least mean she hadn¡¯t resisted their attempts to fix her up once again. She did whimper in pain when something particularly nasty was done, but she didn¡¯t fight it. Nor could they get any kind of proper response out of her.


    ¡°Feeling dizzy or anything?¡± Linkosta asked, Saph noting Kulk was paying very close attention right now.


    ¡°No, just sore¡­ and tired,¡± Fengi replied, sounding exactly as spent as she looked.


    ¡°When you can manage it, maybe you should try giving Yldril a command,¡± Linkosta added, seeming to have finally concluded her note taking.


    ¡°Just¡­ maybe a few more minutes.¡±


    ¡°It might drain her even more. I wouldn¡¯t try it,¡± Essy added, clearly very concerned. ¡°And Yldril isn¡¯t doing anything right now anyway.¡±


    Saph just nodded as she kept stroking Jinora. ¡°And by the sounds of it, Jinora is just fine. Scared, but fine.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ This is just very exciting. Can you still hear or feel Kalestine in any way?¡± Linkosta asked, eagerness clearly not dampened by either crying kids or dragons.


    ¡®And here we thought the academy might temper you a bit¡­ oh we were fools,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself, glaring at the young mage.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. Not hearing voices or anything if that¡¯s what you mean.¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡­ not¡­ lingering,¡± Linkosta muttered to herself as she wrote a bit more. ¡°What about Yldril?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Fengi just replied flatly after a brief pause to think.


    ¡°Maybe just let her rest. Go look at some of the fascinating injuries Yldril just acquired. Surely that¡¯s worth your time,¡± Essy said with just a hint of sternness in her voice as she glared at the mage before turning back to look down at Fengi. ¡°Just you relax , okay? You did amazing today already.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Fengi replied with a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t have to do it again, right?¡±


    ¡°No, no you don¡¯t,¡± Essy chuckled with a warm smile. ¡°Just rest. We will take care of the rest.¡±


    Saph just nodded her assent to that part, still clutching a trembling Jinora.


    ¡°I think we should take the little one home. She needs her friends.¡±


    ¡°I told you we should have tried the horn first,¡± Rachuck grumbled, his concern seemingly having failed to leave him.


    ¡°And then we wouldn¡¯t have gotten to see whatever that was. Do you have any idea what we just saw? If Kulinger was here, we would be prying him off the ground cause he wouldn¡¯t stop praying!¡± Linkosta replied incredulously. ¡°We just saw a unicorn take over, not just the kid she saved, but the person holding her too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, because we put said kid in danger.¡±


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t in any danger, she just thought she was,¡± Jortun added. ¡°Yldril couldn¡¯t reach her. Glira did her job.¡±


    ¡°Quite the gamble, don¡¯t you think?¡± Rachuck retorted, turning his attention to Jortun instead. ¡°With a child of less than TWO!¡±


    ¡°You two stop your shouting,¡± Saph snapped in a more hushed tone as Jinora ducked back under her armpit, sniffling once more. ¡°I¡¯m taking her home, and you go sort that out someplace else¡­ It isn''t fair to Fengi either.¡±


    Rachuck just grumbled a bit before looking to the major who gave Saph a courteous nod before walking off, gesturing for Rachuck to follow.


    Saph had continued to calm down the little one before sitting down next to Fengi. ¡°You wanna say hi to Fengi? She¡¯s alright too,¡± she tried in the warmest, most caring voice she could manage.


    Jinora did peek out from her little hiding spot to look up at Fengi, who in turn just smiled weakly.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Jinora didn¡¯t look particularly happy, eyes once more tearing up, though she did reach out for Fengi. Saph put the kid in Fengi¡¯s lap, Jinora hugging the young huntress, tears still in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m fine. You were such a brave little girl,¡± Fengi crooned, patting Jinora on the back before clutching her slightly. ¡°Such a good girl.¡±


    ¡°I think Jin might need to get back with the other kids,¡± Essy added, watching the interaction. ¡°This has clearly been a lot. Maybe entrust her back with Lothal. She likes him a lot.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea,¡± Saph replied, nodding before getting up.


    ¡°And you need rest too, Saph. You still look like that¡¯s painful.¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± Saph reiterated with a shrug.


    ¡°All the more reason.¡±


    ¡°She needs it too,¡± Saph replied, giving Fengi a pat on the back. ¡°We¡¯ll get a tent or something and make do.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you stay Saph? Fengi tried in a meek voice. Just in case I need someone scared off¡±


    ¡°Hah. You don¡¯t think Essy can manage that?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s getting the tent, you shouldn¡¯t be hauling looking like that,¡± Fengi replied, turning to essy instead with pleading eyes.


    Essy didn¡¯t look convinced before Fengi laid her hand on Essy¡¯s thigh, looking up at her. ¡°Please?... Also, I¡¯m not using magic,¡± she let out after realizing what she had just done.


    Essy just smiled warmly, caressing her face. ¡°I know¡­ Fine, I¡¯ll get a tent for you and take Jinora back. I think we can get away with borrowing Tom¡¯s for now. I¡¯ll send Unkai too. If nothing else, he might fix up Saph a little.¡±


    Fengi just nodded slightly before looking at Saph.


    ¡°Hey, I am not leaving you if that¡¯s what you are scared of,¡± Saph chuckled, giving Fengi a bit of a side hug before turning down to Jinora. ¡°Okay, you are going with Essy now. Can you say Essy?¡±


    ¡°Esski,¡± Jinora went, looking up still with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°Awww,¡± Saph let out involuntarily as she picked the kid up, giving her a bump with her snout before handing Jinora off to Essy. ¡°Be a good girl now. We¡¯ll be back tomorrow I hope.¡±


    ¡°Sapir.¡±


    ¡°AWWWW!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had certainly been yet another eventful day as Tom sat staring at the flames of the fire they had used to cook some dinner. Glira had not left Yldril ever since the incident, but Jacky and a few of the others had managed to go to the dumping site and at least salvage a little of the meat. So tonight''s menu was this strange colorful goose and some completely brown and green colored ducks with only some bread on the side.


    Fengi was sleeping like a rock inside his old tent along with Sapphire; Essy and Unkai were inside keeping an eye on them. Tom knew the older woman cared a lot for Fengi, but it probably helped that the position came with a warm sleeping bag too. And Unkai had apparently been spared to help Saph a little more. Tom had to admit she had to be a damn tough bastard after the bandages were taken off so Unkai could work his magic.


    She had looked lucky to still have both of her eyes. She had caught him staring too, looking away and not seeming too happy with the situation. Jacky had been right on point though, cracking jokes at Sapphire''s expense, much to Tom¡¯s dismay. His surprise had been equal when Saph cracked a smile at it and started firing back about Jacky¡¯s slightly wounded arm.


    Now though, it was just Jacky, Jortun, and himself around the fire, not counting a few of Glira¡¯s crew who were more busy tending to Yldril and Glira herself. She had earned a few scratches after all, and they did need at least cleaning.


    ¡°Well you got your camping trip,¡± Jacky goaded him as she munched down on a gose leg.


    ¡°I guess so¡­ At least Yldril stopped crying.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping,¡± Jortun added, taking a bite of his own dinner. ¡°Gods know she needs it.¡±


    ¡°Feeling sorry for a traitorous mercenary?¡± Jacky questioned with slight amusement in her voice.


    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t live, we won¡¯t know what was done to her.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh,¡± Jacky replied, with what Tom knew as genuine surprise.


    ¡°Guess I don''t need to ask if that whole thing was normal?¡± Tom asked, looking up at the major.


    ¡°Never seen nor heard of it. I¡¯ve heard tales of a unicorn forcing someone to act against their will. Or passing down cruel judgments and punishments, as well as great boons. But never through someone else, let alone two. And an Enchantress at that. This may never have happened before.¡±


    ¡°So you mean a slow day around here,¡± Jacky joked with a cocky grin, one which the major did respond to with a chuckle.


    ¡°It is certainly far from a normal place, this keep. Once this is all over and done, there will be many good tales to be told.¡±


    ¡°Aww. We can do more than make tales¡­ Though if you''re into that business, you know who needs to be mentioned.¡±


    ¡°Jackalope Furlong¡­ Dragon slayer,¡± the major chuckled in reply. ¡°I reckon you can earn a free drink or two with that story.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to do that¡­ Have a story that¡¯s mine,¡± Jacky replied with a genuine smile on her face as Tom turned to look at her.


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve gotten quite a few by now,¡± he chuckled, receiving a confused look from Jacky, which soon turned to realization.


    ¡°Oh, you mean netting you. Well I guess that is quite one of a kind.¡±


    ¡°I am not going to be dangling from your wall,¡± Tom retorted with a laugh, the two others joining in.


    ¡°What would I put you up there for. Much easier to bring you with to show off.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Tom laughed, feigning insult as he shook his head, looking back into the fire. ¡°But no, you are worth telling stories about.¡±


    ¡°Says the only human in the world!¡± Jacky chuckled sarcastically, uncorking her drinking horn and taking a draught before holding it over.


    ¡°Nah, I don''t much like that spruce stuff.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good for the body, ale¡¯s for the soul.¡±


    ¡°Only cause you refuse to eat your damn veggies.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I like corn,¡± Jacky replied with a laugh. ¡°Besides, an egg is nearly a vegetable too.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t count,¡± Tom chuckled, taking out his own water skin instead. ¡°You need to be educated in the merits of the glorious potato. They can make anything, fra vodka till fritter.¡±


    ¡°Gods you sound strange in your own tongue,¡± the major added before shaking his head a little. ¡°It better be Joelina that shows up.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tom questioned, not sure where he was going with this.


    ¡°Because I believe she might leave you alone if you do what she wants.¡±


    ¡°As opposed to stealing everything and then either wiping us off the map or forcefully hiring the lot of us?¡± Tom replied dryly.


    ¡°Indeed. I just hope Victoria knows her as well as she thinks.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just, like, tell them no? We have the blessing of a unicorn, go away,¡± Jacky added, sounding a bit dubious.


    ¡°I mean do we though?¡± Tom had to ask, looking to Jortun, who just shook his head.


    ¡°No, you have a child blessed by a unicorn through a heretical act. Truly a conundrum from anyone more devoted to the faith.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe the Inquisition won¡¯t know what to do either then,¡± Jacky added optimistically.


    ¡°They certainly won¡¯t agree with themselves,¡± Jortun admitted with a sigh. ¡°I believe you have two options when it comes to it. You can trust Joelina, assuming she is indeed the one to come here, or you can hold her prisoner.¡±


    At that Jacky just spat out her newest sip of spruce beer, most of Glira¡¯s crew joining her in staring at the major.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t just say that.¡±


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t put her in a cell. But you can impose demands. She wants what¡¯s in the vaults, and she will get it. But she needs you,¡± he continued, pointing a clawed finger at Tom, staring him down. ¡°You are her key. Either you cooperate fully or you make it known that you want something in return. I think you could name quite the steep price.¡±


    ¡°You want me to withhold knowledge from the Inquisition.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me. You are already planning on that option, the question is what, if you tell her you are doing so.¡±


    ¡°But can¡¯t she like, pluck things from your mind?¡± Jacky asked, clearly skeptical.


    ¡°Indeed. But not without making an enemy of you. And what use is a book you don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t get it cause he speaks like he¡¯s strange in the head?¡± Jacky asked bluntly, Tom looking at her not quite sure what to make of that.


    ¡°No, though it might help. She has access to a wealth of knowledge already, but she doesn''t understand how to use it. At least if the Investigator was to be believed.¡±


    ¡°So even if she can pluck it, she won¡¯t get everything.¡±


    ¡°And thus still needs you. Another Inquisitor might just rip what they can out of you and call it a day. Quite likely before executing you for being a threat. But I think she needs you not only alive, but as a friend.¡±


    ¡°And you are telling me this now why?¡±


    ¡°Because you need to make one of your demands the secrecy of Jinora¡¯s gifts.¡±


    ¡°Because?¡± Tom questioned leadingly, waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Because, the Church will want her. And they will take her by any means necessary.¡±


    ¡°And what means would those be?¡±


    ¡°Our church is far from fangless my friend, they are no standing army. But taking a small keep like this, even defended as it is?... That¡¯s well within their grasp.¡±


    ¡°Oh, for fucks sake.¡± Tom let out burying his head in his hands.


    ¡°Unlike you people though, the Inquisition is highly adept at keeping secrets.¡±


    ¡°So what else could I ask for¡­ That they leave us mostly alone here?¡±


    ¡°Sounds reasonable. The investigator sounded like that was their original plan. Leave you to your work, likely provide you with what you need. And if you wish to stay as far away from any big city and the political turmoil within, all the better for Joelina and Jinora.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph was lying in a nice comfy sleeping bag, eyes closed and pretending to be sleeping. By the sounds of it, Fengi was sleeping soundly. She just thanked the gods she had been sleeping by the time Unkai had gotten there. Because of course the guy had been too shy to wake her up, and she had some damn questions.


    She had let him fix her face up first though, and she had slightly hoped Essy would leave, but after some time it had become clear that wasn¡¯t happening. Some time to think hadn¡¯t hurt. That and she wanted to make sure Fengi was in fact sleeping, unlike herself.


    ¡°So¡­ little guy¡­ mind telling us what¡¯s going on?¡± Saph asked and she heard the young guard give a little start as she spoke.


    ¡°Do you mean like generally or¡­¡± he tried, clearly aiming to deflect the question.


    ¡°No, you know what I mean. You¡¯re scared of Fengi.¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not.¡±


    ¡°Stop insulting me. Why?¡± Saph retorted, opening her eyes and turning her head to stare at him from the comfort of her sleeping bag.


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± he tried more fervently, receiving a shush and a stern glare from Essy for his troubles.


    ¡°She needs you, dude. She¡¯s more scared than you right now,¡± Saph replied, turning her gaze to Essy, who was looking at Saph with a rather worried expression.


    ¡°Well what am I supposed to do about it?¡±


    ¡°Be there for her,¡± both Saph and Essy replied in unison. He just looked ashamed, ears drooping and turning to look at the ground. ¡°How can that be so hard? You like her¡­ Right?¡± Saph asked, voice wavering a little. She really hoped she was at least right on that one. How couldn¡¯t she be?


    ¡°She¡¯s a monster. I love a monster,¡± he broke out, looking back up, switching his pleading gaze between the two of them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you ever say that,¡± Essy snapped, grabbing him by the snout. ¡°She might actually believe you.¡±


    ¡°She already does to an extent,¡± Saph added in, staring mournfully at the healer before shaking her head slightly. ¡°You can¡¯t let her hear it from you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on, we¡¯ve only been together for a little bit¡­ not like she would listen to me on most things anyway.¡±


    ¡°No, but she considers you a good person¡­ perhaps even a bit too good.¡±


    ¡°Which is why she did find you a touch boring,¡± Essy added frankly.


    ¡°In other words, if you tell her she¡¯s a monster, she will believe you.¡± Saph clarified, trying her best to sound sincere.


    ¡°But I¡¯ve seen what she can do¡­ Hell there is a rather big piece of evidence lying outside.¡±


    ¡°So is Baron a monster too?¡± Saph questioned rhetorically. ¡°She¡¯s powerful. Possibly extremely powerful. But she¡¯s still Fengi, isn''t she?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Unkai admitted looking shamefully at the ground.


    ¡°Slap him,¡± Saph commanded, looking to Essy, who diligently complied with a rather strong whap across his face.


    ¡°She damn near cried her heart out when the major told her about some of the possible consequences. She¡¯s scared shitless of what she can do and what it means. For a minute she even belived the only reason anyone liked her was because of her magic, which is fucking oxshit by the way. We checked. She is still Fengi. Hell, if you¡¯re smart you will use the fact she¡¯s gonna be needing a little boring in her life.¡±


    ¡°But what if she gets mad at me? She could make me do anything.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s Fengi. She¡¯s the sweetest girl anywhere around. Worst she might ever do is tell you to go away.¡±


    ¡°But she could make me slit my own throat with just a single fit,¡± he pleaded with them, Essy once again shushing, this time both of them.


    ¡°She would never do that,¡± Saph tried, doing her best to sound angry in a hushed tone.


    ¡°My grandma did.¡±


    ¡°Your what?!¡± Saph whisper-shouted, tilting her head at him, Essy simply gaping at him.


    ¡°My grandma made my grandfather kill himself. Don''t know why exactly. Family always claimed it was just some petty squabble.¡±


    ¡°You said your grandpa commited suicide,¡± Essy replied in a confused voice.


    ¡°Which is technically accurate. And she was quietly executed for it. Official story reads ¡®Suicide due to grief,¡¯ ¡± he replied, looking devastated. ¡°They had been married for over forty years, then just like that. Snap.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ you can control magic,¡± Saph tried. ¡°I don¡¯t use mine by accident.¡±


    ¡°Well she already has,¡± he whispered as if suddenly afraid Fengi might hear him now all of a sudden.


    ¡°And do you think she¡¯s happy about that?¡±


    ¡°No, obviously,¡± he relented, looking down at the floor.


    ¡°Then help her. Please. You love her, so trust her.¡±


    ¡°Not like she couldn''t kill you before if she got mad enough,¡± Essy added, looking very sad.


    ¡°No, but pretty hard to do it by accident,¡± Unkai all but whined.


    ¡®Fucking coward,¡¯ Saph just cursed to herself. ¡°You got a medal for trying to save people. Just get in there and give her a damn hug,¡± Saph sighed.


    Unkai didn¡¯t respond, just giving them a low nod before going over to Fengi¡¯s sleeping bag, slipping in, and cuddling up with some effort, Fengi letting out a few low grunts before pulling a smile in her sleep.


    ¡°Thanks man¡­ She needs you,¡± Saph said, doing her best to put on a smile too, before nodding to Essy. ¡°I¡¯m going outside for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, leave them to it for a bit¡± the older huntress replied, also getting up to open the tent zipper thingy.


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 At My Command

    Chapter 146: At My Command


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom and the others had ceased their chatting as the discussion inside the tent had started heating up inside the tent, even if they couldn¡¯t hear most of it. Himself, Jacky, and Jortun were sitting around one of the small campfires relaxing a bit after a long day''s work. Yldril was still sleeping soundly even as Glira¡¯s crew were putting the finishing touches on the latest set of bandages.


    ¡°I see why Essy likes Koko so much,¡± Jacky said as she looked back over her shoulder at the tent.


    ¡°Knowledge is power,¡± Jortun simply added, though clearly not pleased. ¡°And that kid is an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Unkai?¡± Jacky questioned, turning back to look at him, Tom also giving the major a curious glance.


    ¡°He knows what she can do. And he¡¯s scared.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s that exactly?¡± Tom questioned, tilting forward, leaning on his thighs.


    ¡°That she can kill as easily as you can sneeze,¡± Jortun replied flatly. ¡°At least one day, if she¡¯s good at this.¡±


    ¡°What? It¡¯s not like you can tell me to just break my own neck,¡± Jacky scoffed, clearly not buying it.


    ¡°There is nothing voluntary about it if she¡¯s strong enough. He lost some grandparents to it. I ended up having to hunt down someone in the end¡­ his grandma I think. She was apprehended by the city guard after the incident, and when she worked out what the likely sentence was going to be she used her magic to make a guard help her escape.¡±


    ¡°Did she hurt anyone getting out?¡± Jacky questioned, suddenly seeming more interested.


    ¡°No. She was skilled and by no means as dumb as he is. She knew what her power could do. But apparently, she had grown complacent with it. She didn¡¯t respect it. As such, she made a mistake.¡±


    ¡°A murder by accident then?¡± Tom added with a slight nod.


    ¡°In a sense. I was tasked with finding her. Which I did, eventually. She was a damn slippery one once she went on the run. But as far as I can tell, she didn¡¯t hurt anyone directly. I can respect that.¡±


    ¡°So what happened to her? What might happen to Fengi if she slips up?¡±


    ¡°She was handed over to the Inquisition and posthumously executed for being a threat and a murderer.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean postemusli?¡± Tom asked, looking to Jacky for an indication if he¡¯s fucked up a word that time.


    ¡°You cannot lock up people like that or sentence them to labor. It¡¯s either a slap on the wrist or the long way down. And if they know they are gonna die, they pose a massive threat to those holding them captive for even a short time. The verdict is made ahead of time and they then are hunted down and killed. Yet the body is still thrown off for the sake of tradition.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Jacky let out quietly with an understanding nod.


    ¡°And this makes Unkai an idiot how?¡± Tom questioned, hoping there was some twist to the story.


    ¡°Because the kid loves her. At least for now. She needs all the help she can get to learn to live with all this.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s really not helping,¡± Tom sighed in reply, straightening his back at the sound of a zipper. He and Jacky looked over their shoulders at the tent as Saph¡¯s head poked out.


    ¡°So is it a decent evening or how¡¯s it looking?¡± Saph questioned with a rather fake-looking smile as she exited, Essy following close behind.


    ¡°Not half-bad. I don¡¯t like the look of those clouds though,¡± Jacky replied, glancing north.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s too cold to sleep under open sky anyway,¡± Saph sighed, going to sit down at the fire too.


    ¡°So. Anything interesting to talk about?¡±


    They all stared at the tent for a second.


    ¡°You heard all of it didn¡¯t you,¡± Saph then let out with a sigh, ears going droopy as she looked into the fire, Essy also sitting down silently.


    ¡°Did he at least smarten up a little?¡± Jortun questioned, his tone low yet serious.


    ¡°Well, he got in the bag with her. That¡¯s a start.¡±


    ¡°A start,¡± Essy added, shaking her head, Jortun just nodded.


    ¡°We were just talking about other enchantresses that Jortun here knows about,¡± Tom replied, trying to sound a bit more cheerful, even if it hadn¡¯t been the most cheery of subjects thus far.


    ¡°Yeah. Like how many are there even?¡± Jacky questioned, clearly wanting to try and liven the mood up a little.


    ¡°I have no idea. What ones there are rarely disclose their abilities. Imagine a diplomatic meeting. Most people would be uncomfortable with having such a person present.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense I guess¡­ you don¡¯t even have a guess though?¡± Tom pushed. He really wanted to know just what it would mean that a talent was very rare. Was that tens, hundreds, or maybe even still thousands of dragonettes who could do this?


    The major seemed to ponder it for a second before sighing. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe fifty, maybe a hundred. Maybe there are no more than ten that are actually practicing. I know of five now that are alive counting Fengi.¡±


    ¡°And how many have you killed?¡± Saph asked, staring at him.


    He just returned her gaze, not moving for a second or two. ¡°Only one by my own hand. And I have a feeling most of the ones I captured are still around. They are too useful.¡±


    ¡°Does that include¡­ you know?¡± Tom went, giving a sideways nod towards the tent.


    ¡°Yes, I don''t think she¡¯s dead. With how beaten up the body was they threw over the edge¡­ It could have been anyone. But if so, she¡¯s now working for the Inquisition. Not the Royal court.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Saph asked, looking around at them confused.


    ¡°Unkai¡¯s grandmother. I would be willing to bet she still lives¡­ at least if she hasn¡¯t died of old age or some other reason,¡± Jortun replied. ¡°I was the one that hunted her down back in the day.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he knows?¡± Jacky asked, sounding quite conflicted right now as Saph just sat there pondering, Essy not looking like she knew how to take that either.


    ¡°No. Nor does it matter. I¡¯ll have a chat with him in the morning before he does any more damage. Might be able to spin a tale or two of the boons that can lie in store too if that girl plays her cards right.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind some boons,¡± Jacky chuckled softly before looking back into the fire and unfurling her wings a little to catch more of the heat as the flames flickered. ¡°Winds picking up again.¡±


    ¡°I guess we should have asked Raulf if there was another storm coming,¡± Tom sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. The sun was long gone, but it wasn¡¯t quite dark yet and there were certainly a lot of clouds to the east. ¡°But I think we¡¯ll be fine on the boons front. We just need it to make it through whatever is coming.¡±


    ¡°Either it rains or it doesn¡¯t,¡± Jortun sighed, getting up. ¡°I¡¯ll be in my tent if you need me. I wanna be up early tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Good night,¡± Saph replied, scooting over to take his place, which had a bit less smoke blowing through it.


    ¡°So then¡­ where are we sleeping?¡± Jacky asked, inching a bit closer to Tom, wrapping him up in one wing. ¡°Your tent seems to have been captured already.¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought they would be taking Fengi back home. And Saph too for that matter,¡± Tom defended himself. How was he supposed to know?


    ¡°Infirmary is full and all the geeks who know what''s going on are out here save for Apuma,¡± Saph added with a shrug.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think the poor guy is gonna feel lonely?¡± Essy asked with a careful chuckle.


    Saph just snorted, pulling a smile. ¡°Maybe. I think he¡¯s just enjoying the bed all to himself though. There are still some spots in there if people want,¡± she continued, flicking her snout back at the tent.


    ¡°And some over in Glira¡¯s crew tent too,¡± Jacky added.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t make me sleep with the soldiers,¡± Saph chuckled. ¡°Maiko is bad enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh no Tom, we¡¯re running out of tents,¡± Jacky snickered, giving Tom a poke in the side. ¡°WE don¡¯t want to sleep with the smelly soldiers.¡±


    ¡°They fart and everything,¡± Saph added, equally teasing. Essy just shook her head, pulling a smile as Tom did his best to sigh loudly.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it. Well, maybe one day we¡¯ll find a blueprint for a magic pop-up tent down below.¡±


    ¡°Dibs,¡± Jacky half-shouted, raising her head towards the sky just as the first drops started falling, her expression turning to one of defeat. ¡°Ahr no.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let''s find some cover. Think Glira would be helpful?¡± Tom asked, standing up.


    ¡°Only if you stop bitching about how I fight,¡± the dragon rumbled, lying by herself a ways off, curled up on the grass. Her crew had seemingly abandoned work on Yldril likely due to the waning light, and with the coming rain, they were all making for the tents.


    ¡°If you will keep the rain off us, I¡¯ll make him shut up,¡± Jacky chuckled, not getting up.


    ¡°A temporary truce then,¡± Tom added with a shrug, looking at Glira, who had raised her head to look at him.


    ¡°Fine¡­ just keep the fire lit. I¡¯m cold too,¡± she sighed, moving over in a few short steps and spreading a massive wing out over their little campfire. And don¡¯t burn me. That would be embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Tom nodded in reply as the slowly dripping rain went away.


    ¡°Hah. Now we''re camping properly,¡± Jacky chuckled as she got up. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch the bedrolls and sleeping bag.¡±


    ¡°It will still get colder out there than in the tent,¡± Glira added, looking down at them all.


    ¡°Jacky and I will stay outside. We¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Damn hot rock,¡± Saph chuckled, looking into the fire and poking some of the stones on the brim with a stick. ¡°I¡¯ll stick out here for a bit longer then head inside. The fire is nice.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Good morning,¡± Saph heard Fengi squeak out as she felt the younger woman stretch next to her. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°Work time,¡± Saph sighed. She really couldn¡¯t stay in here even if the tent was so nice and warm now that the sun had gotten up. It had sucked so bad that she needed to be woken up every few hours thanks to this whole concussion thing. She felt fine, if a little sick at times. But it had at least been an excuse to sleep in.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Right,¡± Fengi added with slightly less enthusiasm. ¡°I guess we need to get to it¡­ Where is Unkai?¡±


    ¡°Up and about already. He couldn¡¯t stay in here with us lazy girls after all. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better,¡± Fengi replied, not sounding entirely convincing.


    ¡°It will be fine I¡¯m sure¡­ You basically just got blessed by a unicorn yesterday. Not many that can brag about that,¡± Saph tried in her most encouraging tone


    ¡°I guess so,¡± Fengi replied with a mild sigh. ¡°Just saying that aloud sounds insane.¡±


    ¡°If the church ever finds out they will make you a high priestess or something.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t those only be like completely white people?¡±


    ¡°Albino¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I think they would make an exception for you though. Or come up with some other title.¡±


    ¡°Imagine that¡­ A street girl playing at being a priest.¡±


    ¡°I think you would make a damn fine priest¡­ Even if the robes would look ridiculous on you,¡± Saph snickered, worming over and giving Fengi a poke with her snout.


    ¡°Hey! I think I would look great in one of those robes. Just think of all the snacks you could hide under there,¡± Fengi replied with a snicker, turning over to look at Saph in her little cocoon of comfort with some effort. ¡°No one would ever know.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you can get a prayer started so you can snack in peace?¡±


    ¡°Oh, have jerky in the censer!¡±


    ¡°Oh they would kill you,¡± Saph snickered.


    ¡°Not if I¡¯m holy¡­ Nah, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s worth the hassle.¡±


    ¡°What, to have your every whim cared for?¡±


    ¡°No, to be surrounded by nothing but religious nutjobs all day long. I¡¯m fine with a bit of praying, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Gonna be a bit much?¡± Saph tried, looking to give her a less heretical way out of that one.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Bit much,¡± Fengi replied with a smile and a nod.


    ¡°Anyway. I think we do need to get going,¡± Saph said as she went to extract the now cold hot rocks from her sleeping bag, all wrapped up in leather sheets and some extra cloth so as not to risk burning the precious human silk, nylon, or whatever it was.


    Fengi also started to rummage around in her bag, and before too long Saph poked her head out the tent flap to see plenty of activity going on. Yldril was still just lying there, seemingly asleep. At the center of camp, Glira was also still snoozing, though people were already busy running around.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s get a move on,¡± Saph went, forcing some enthusiasm into her voice, climbing out and doing her morning stretches. Fengi followed suit, though a bit less enthusiastically.


    ¡°Good morning you two. Or noon. Feeling better?¡± Maiko half-laughed at them from behind the tent, surprising Saph.


    ¡°Well, I was till you showed up,¡± she replied with a snarky smile, going back to her side stretches, Fengi just nodding.


    ¡°Dammit, I knew I should have stayed home. Are we ready to go?¡± he asked, looking at her and Fengi.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Saph replied, looking at Fengi, who just shrugged and glanced at Yldril before looking at the ground.


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh cheer up, please,¡± Saph tried getting her attention. ¡°Please?¡± Fengi did pull a bit more of a smile, though Saph had little trouble telling it was fake.


    ¡°I''ll let the old man know,¡± Maiko added before setting off in a trot towards the larger tent.


    The two of them had just started making their way over to Yldril, looking at the huge wounded dragon. ¡°What do you think Kalestine did?¡± Fengi asked in a careful voice. ¡°She really didn¡¯t feel happy.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Saph replied truthfully, looking at the stricken dragon. ¡°What did it feel like?... You know, having her in your head.¡±


    ¡°It was so strange. It was like I was hearing everything she thought¡­ well, feeling it more like.¡±


    ¡°So you actually tried being in the head of a unicorn?¡± Saph asked, looking at her friend, brows raised.


    ¡°I think so?¡± Fengi answered meekly, looking like she shrank a little under Saph¡¯s stare. Saph quickly turned away, looking back to Yldril as her ears swiveled, picking up the sound of boots behind her. ¡°Morning, Tom.¡±


    ¡°Morning,¡± Tom replied as she turned around, eyes locked on Major Jortun currently standing on top of Glira¡¯s head.


    ¡°The hell?¡± she let out, tilting her head at the odd display as the major stamped on Glira¡¯s face, getting only an annoyed rumble in reply.


    ¡°Someone is not a morning person,¡± Fengi let out with a careful chuckle.


    Eventually the major did succeed in rousing Glira, the old blue letting out one hell of a yawn as the major jumped off. ¡°Right¡­ who needs killing?¡± she questioned much to Saph¡¯s alarm as she looked around the camp, eyes landing on Yldril. ¡°Right¡­ Fucking hell, black bitch needs watching,¡± she let out, getting to her feet before shaking herself awake for a second, livening up as she walked past them take up station on the far side of Yldril.


    ¡°Nothing like a bit of torture to start the morning.¡±


    Saph could hear Tom sigh next to her as the major came trotting up. Linkosta joining them as well, coming over, pencil already out. ¡°Morning¡±


    ¡°Morning,¡± they all replied before turning their attention to Yldril.


    ¡°Wake her up, would you?¡± Jortun said, looking up at Glira.


    ¡°Wait, just try with her asleep first,¡± Linkosta added, holding up her hand. ¡°You never know.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well Fengi, all yours,¡± the major replied, gesturing at the black dragon as he looked at Fengi.


    ¡°Okay then¡­ Uhm, Yldril, wake up,¡± Fengi tried in a careful tone, not getting a reaction.


    ¡°Perhaps just a bit louder,¡± Linkosta encouraged with a delicate smile on her face.


    ¡°Right¡­ Uhm. Yldril, wake up!¡± Fengi ordered more forcefully, the dragon¡¯s ears swiveling up listening to them as if by command Yyldril¡¯s eye shot open. It took a second to focus before her gaze turned to stare at Fengi otherwise not moving a muscle.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± Fengi tried cautiously, waving at the dragon, not getting a reply.


    ¡°Try allowing her to speak,¡± Linkosta added, sounding like she was barely containing her excitement.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Yo- You may speak.¡±


    ¡°I HATE YOU!¡± Yldril roared at them as she glared at Fengi.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Fengi squeaked out recoiling.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say you¡¯re sorry, she tried killing Nunuk!¡± Jacky protested, gesturing at Yldril. ¡°She¡¯s a piece of shit, and she wants to kill us too I bet.¡±


    ¡°More than you know,¡± Yldril snarled, turning her glare to Jacky for a second before switching back to Fengi.


    ¡°Look. The way I see it¡­ You just got judged by a unicorn for being an asshole. Yet she didn¡¯t kill you outright. So I think I kinda need to give you at least a chance now,¡± Saph added, hoping to help Fengi however she could right now.


    ¡°You¡¯re fucking kidding, right?¡± Jacky questioned, a sentiment that seemed to be echoed by most of the people present. ¡°Make her tell us what she knows and be done with her. Maybe just tell her to work the mines like a good little bitch till the day she dies.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if it quite works like that,¡± Linkosta added, for once looking rather conflicted.


    ¡°No, she thinks we¡¯re the bad guys, why not just show her we aren¡¯t?¡± Fengi protested, raising up her arms and her voice.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if it works like that either,¡± Linskosta pointed out.


    ¡°Kalestine did say servitude,¡± Saph pointed out.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s find out then,¡± Fengi replied, turning back to Yldril with seemingly renewed determination.


    ¡°So, Yldril. You are not allowed to harm ANYONE without me saying so. Do you understand?¡±


    There was no reply as Yldril just glared at her, a slight smile creeping onto her face.


    ¡°Answer me when I ask you a question and you will tell the truth.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Yldril replied clearly against her will as she snarled.


    ¡°Very good. Now I am not evil. But apparently, I¡¯m now in charge of you, and I won¡¯t disappoint a unicorn. But if you keep being an arshole like this I¡¯ll be mean. But be nice, and I¡¯ll be nice too. This is a nice keep. We are good people, we have great fun and there is so much stuff happening. And you are going to help. Do you understand?¡±


    Yldril just nodded in reply as Fengi took a deep breath.


    ¡°Okay then. So to get started, who sent you?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yldril replied cautiously before pulling an evil grin and glaring down at Fengi, who seemed to think for a second.


    ¡°Well, were you hired then?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, by who?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yldril asked, her grin widening.


    ¡°Do you have an idea?¡± Fengi tried again after a second''s thought.


    Yldril tried not to reply, the words getting caught in her mouth, her grin disappearing. ¡°Tsarina. Tsarina Kosvo¡­ I think,¡± she then let out, while looking for all the world like she would tear them all apart if she got the chance. ¡°I HATE YOU!¡±


    ¡®Well that was easy,¡¯ Tom muttered to himself as he looked around trying to gauge if anyone recognized that name. The sea of confused faces left him to just sigh. ¡®Well maybe not then.¡¯ ¡°Fengi, could you ask her who that is?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, sure,¡± Fengi replied with a nod, looking back at him for a second before turning to Yldril again. ¡°Who is that?¡±


    Yldril once again tried to resist, though she did not last long before she answered forcefully. ¡°Prominent member of the Engi-Engineering G-Guild,¡± Yldril let out with a sigh before seeming to deflate. ¡°Pompous arsehole with an affinity for backstabbing.¡±


    ¡°Oh not again,¡± Jacky let out before she and Tom locked eyes. ¡°It¡¯s another damn Flaxen.¡±


    ¡°Why did she hire you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yldril replied, seeming to have given up on resisting.


    ¡°Okay, why do you think she did?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue. I was tasked to recover drawings, any odd-looking items, and a strange man named Tom¡­ Alive¡­¡± she replied, her single eye locking on Tom.


    ¡°So it is not the Inquisition then?¡± Tom asked, looking at the black dragon, Fengi taking a second to catch on, relaying the question again much to Yldril¡¯s evident annoyance.


    ¡°Not, that I know.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s something at least,¡± Tom had to admit, thinking it over.


    ¡°Do you know, think, and/or believe anything else about her?¡± Fengi asked again, looking pleadingly up at the dragon.


    ¡°She is short like you and petite of build, fiercely competitive, very self-important, fairly rich, and a self-made noble. She has five kids, most of them still young. Is often seen with a young white female dragon who I believe is a kind of bodyguard for her. She also has guards with her much of the day. I believe she¡¯s paranoid after¡­ taking advantage of so many people. She pays very well and might like purple.¡±


    ¡°Purple?¡±Fengi asked, tilting her head as if that was the strangest thing in there.


    ¡®Fucking girls,¡¯ Tom just sighed, doing his best to come up with a solution to that whole situation.


    ¡°I saw her in a dress once.¡±


    Fengi just stared at her for a second before looking back to Tom and the others. ¡°Will that do?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s all she knows,¡± Tom replied with a shrug. ¡°We can have a chat with Tink too once we get back. Ask her what she was paid,'''' Tom replied, gesturing at Yldril.


    ¡°Right. What did they pay you?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred gold upfront, the promised there would be plenty of loot here that she cared little for, and five hundred more upon completion. She just wanted all the odd items and drawings. Nothing else.¡±


    ¡°A thousand gold isn¡¯t much for two dragons and this much crew on a dangerous mission,¡± Jortun added, Yldril refusing to respond.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like two year¡¯s pay for Jarix?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the major. He still had some problems working out what things were worth around here.


    ¡°Indeed, but that is with all his needs taken care of. And mercenaries rarely fly for honest pay,¡± Tom kinda had to agree with that one. Killing for money was a lucrative business everywhere it seemed. Jortun looked back to Yldril, clearing his throat. ¡°Well?¡±


    She refused to even look at him, instead starting to scan around everyone else present, gaze lingering on Tom for a bit.


    ¡°Okay, either you answer him or I force you to answer everyone till I make it stop. Okay?¡± Fengi went looking up at the dragon. ¡°Just play along.¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± Yldril snarled in reply.


    ¡°Yldril, answer every question asked of you,¡± Fengi went, looking both saddened and disappointed as she looked back at the Major. He just nodded at her with a somber expression on his face and repeated his question.


    ¡°I have worked with her before- AHRG! I hate you!¡± Yldril roared, though it soon turned into a whimper. ¡°I knew this would be something special. The guy that actually came to hire me showed some of the things you had come up with. He told me of the guard stationed here. I knew you had to be sitting on something worth a fortune¡­ all I had to do was snatch it.¡±


    ¡°What exactly was the report on us?¡± Tom asked, looking at her curiously. He really wanted to know just what kind of image they had cultivated.


    ¡°One young dragon stationed at the keep, likely necessary to take out. One combat wing patrolling the island. Wait till they are out,¡± Yldril replied with a whimper, though the snarl didn¡¯t leave her face for even a second this time.


    ¡°How long did you sit in wait?¡±


    ¡°Not over a week. I had two scouts check you out daily. Would have struck sooner if not for that blasted party you held.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Yldril! Do you dance?!¡± Jacky asked with a cocky grin on her face.


    ¡°No, you little bastard!¡± she snapped in reply, the fire coming back into her eyes. ¡°Not unless it¡¯s on your cursed and rotting corpse!¡±


    ¡°Oh? I think she did like the red guy.¡±


    ¡°Jacky!¡± Tom snapped in reply, looking up at her and trying his best to look disappointed.


    ¡°She damn near killed Nunuk, I don¡¯t give a fuck about her feelings,¡± Jacky replied flatly. ¡°Hey, fuck face! How many people do you think you have killed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t answer that,¡± Fengi cut her off right as Yldril started to answer.


    ¡°What?!¡± Jacky asked, raising her hands in the air.


    ¡°Just¡­ please don¡¯t,¡± Fengi tried looking pleadingly back at Jacky.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t using your magic right now right?¡± Jacky asked, looking a touch perturbed at Fengi.


    ¡®Dammit woman,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself, not able to do much out of fear of making it worse.


    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m not¡­ I think,¡± Fengi replied, looking down at the ground, ears drooping a bit. ¡°Just¡­ I mean come on, look at her. She can¡¯t do anything¡­ and by the gods, it sounds like she¡¯ll be like this forever. Isn''t that bad enough?¡±


    ¡°... Fine¡­ But you better make her work her ass off or something if you wanna keep her as a pet.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a person too gods dammit!¡± Fengi protested, looking back to Yldril pleadingly, the black dragon refusing to look at her.


    ¡°Just a shitty one.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ A shitty Person,¡° Fengi snapped at Jacky with renewed determination, before turning back to Yldril with a stern look on her face. ¡°Yldril, why did you do it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± the dragon replied dismissively, not acknowledging her.


    ¡°Why did you take the job¡­ You''re a damn dragon, and one that¡¯s apparently willing to fight too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s debatable,¡± Glira added with a huff as Fengi sighed, glaring at the blue.


    ¡°Why did you take the job? You didn¡¯t need to, surely,¡± Fengi tried again, in a calmer tone.


    ¡°... Because it works,¡± Yldril replied flatly, seeming completely disinterested.


    ¡°It works?¡± Fengi asked, looking a touch confused.


    ¡°I get what I need and want and it¡¯s just me. No arseholes to kick you out, or turn you down¡­ no wheels to run in, no sleds and carts to pull. I go out. I do one job. And I sit back and relax for months.¡±


    ¡°To make sure you are hard to find¡­ no path to follow just one hit, then fade away,¡± Jortun added, seeming more than a little understanding of what she had been doing.


    ¡°Yes¡­ precisely,¡± she replied, glaring at the major. ¡°So precious little fuckers like you won''t find me.¡±


    ¡°I hate dragons like you¡­ Damn shame Ylditz isn¡¯t here to shout at you. It¡¯s drakes like you that¡¯s the reason Tiguan can¡¯t set foot in a keep without hands landing on hilts,¡± the major replied, his voice low.


    ¡°Boo-hoo. Grow a spine.¡±


    ¡°Says the thief taking from those with the least to spare.¡±


    ¡°Well, what the hell can I do about it, huh? Riddle me that you silver old mayfly. You want to send me to the mines and get your precious little reward?¡± Yldril replied mockingly


    ¡°No¡­ this will be worse¡­ and a good lesson for Fengi too, I believe. You have been sentenced to servitude. So you will serve.¡±


    ¡°And in turn, she will be treated properly!¡± Fengi shouted back at Jortun, seeming to take a second to realize what she had just done. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Jortun for his part did look stunned for a second before pulling a smile and nodding. ¡°I think you will do well, Fengi.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 More Pieces

    Chapter 147: More Pieces


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    They had continued their questioning session for a while longer till Fengi finally decided enough was enough. Even Linkosta couldn¡¯t come up with any more relevant questions, so it was probably the right call.


    So Linkosta and Saph had headed back to the keep to discuss what they had learned with the others, as well as question Tink on what he might know about this Tsarina. Dakota had called a quick emergency meeting to get everyone she could in one place to figure out just what they were going to do about this. They were currently all bickering and talking amongst themselves as they waited for Junior to return with Tink.


    ¡°Right, I''m here, what is it?¡± the inventor questioned as he came running up the stairs, tools in hand.


    ¡°Do you know someone called Tsarina Kosovo?¡± Dakota had replied with a cold expression.


    ¡°Tsarina? What does she want?¡± Tink asked, seeming quite confused though clearly recognizing the name.


    ¡°She was the one that sent Yldril and the red. Who was apparently called Tarak, by the way. Not that it matters now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± was all the reply they got out of the now genuinely baffled looking inventor as he went to take a seat, Junior sitting down next to Saph. ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°She wanted designs, drawings, items, models. Whatever she could find of worth.¡±


    ¡°And Tom,¡± Saph added rather pointedly.


    ¡°Ohhh¡­ ¡° Tink let out, looking like he had just realized something that they would doubtlessly like to hear. ¡°I would never have taken her for going that far.¡±


    ¡°Care to elaborate?¡± Dakota questioned, leaning forward in her chair.


    ¡°I mean¡­ all I know is she once stole one of my inventions and claimed it was one of her people that came up with it¡­ damn thing might have been the only invention I made that really ended up earning a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± Linkosta asked, ever inquisitive.


    ¡°It was a new kind of metal tooth gear I came up with when I was trying to make a much smaller grindstone for flour. You see what I-¡±


    ¡°That will do¡± Dakota cut him off. ¡°Tsarina please.¡±


    Tink just grumped a bit, though he seemed to falter under Dakota¡¯s stare and sprung to it. ¡°She stole the invention and made some money from it¡­ And she really doesn¡¯t like Craftsmaster Jakolev. I guess she wanted to be in charge of the guild instead,¡± Tink chuckled before starting to flat out laugh, clearly finding that very funny. ¡°Dumb woman can¡¯t even make a flower garden, but she wants to run the Guild¡­ Oh that would be funny.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Dakota replied with a sigh. ¡°So we have a businesswoman looking to steal everything we have to advance her own position. Marvelous.¡±


    ¡°Fits with what Yldril said,¡± Saph added with a nod.


    ¡°She¡¯ll do more than that,¡± Junior then went, looking a touch uncomfortable as all eyes turned to him. ¡°She will want to humiliate you afterward¡­ she took most of what dad had in lawsuits over the whole gear thing.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t talk about that one, Junior. It doesn''t matter,¡± Tink added, giving him a caring, if rather sad, look. ¡°That was just me being dumb again.¡±


    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t. You came up with it. And it was smart!¡± Junior protested.


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t even realize¡­ It was just a bit I needed for something else.¡±


    Saph could see Junior''s face twist, though he held his tongue. ¡®I guess that explains the rented workshop,¡¯ she sighed to herself.


    ¡°Besides. Look at where we ended up. It all worked out just fine,¡± Tink let out with his usual enthusiasm.


    ¡°I guess it did¡­ But now she¡¯s back for more.¡±


    ¡°And she just lost two dragons and five hundred gold trying to get it. I doubt we will be seeing her again anytime soon,¡± Dakota went, looking like she was thinking hard. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be worth it.¡±


    ¡°She might try some different way. More subtle perhaps,¡± Junior tried, not sounding like he actually knew how she might go about that.


    ¡°Then we have the Inquisition inform her she¡¯s flying over cold water,¡± Dakota retorted. "Might as well make them work to our advantage.¡±


    ¡°So we just give her a warning and that¡¯s it?¡± Rachuck asked, seeming outraged. ¡°She ordered an attack on our home! She crippled our mother!¡±


    ¡°And we don¡¯t have the time to deal with her!¡± Dakota countered. ¡°Not properly at least. We will let Jakolev know, maybe he can do something about it. Sounds like he might hate her just as much as us if we are lucky.¡±


    ¡°And if they like each other? Or just made common cause for a bit?¡± Saph asked, feeling she at least partially agreed with Rachuck here.


    ¡°Then I doubt she wouldn¡¯t just get in on the deal we made with him.¡±


    ¡°And what if this Jakolev decided this deal wasn¡¯t good enough?¡± Rachuck added, seeming like he was barely keeping himself from shouting again.


    ¡°No, Jakovlev isn¡¯t like that. He¡¯s an engineer, a proper one,¡± Tink protested, looking around at them. ¡°He wants great things built. Just with his name on it, you know.¡±


    ¡°And he knows he needs smart people and money to make that happen,¡± Junior added. ¡°Plus he¡¯s helped us before.¡±


    ¡°To keep the smart minds on the same team, you know,¡± Tink added with a wink, looking at Dakota as he tapped his temple.


    ¡°I see¡­ Then we use the Inquisition. The last thing they want is people snooping around for secrets. Just tell them what we know and I¡¯m pretty damn sure they will deal with the problem,¡± she replied as she looked to Rachuck, who just gave her the stink eye.


    ¡°If not deal with her for good,¡± Saph heard Junior mutter under his breath, sounding quite content with that possibility.


    ¡®Well, you never know, little guy,¡¯ she thought to herself as they got back to discussing just how to deal with Yldril. Mainly how the hell she was going to be housed. Not to mention what preparations they needed to complete in time for the inquisitorial visit they were expecting.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Everyone had been wondering just how long they would have before their next guests came in. As it turned out, three days of hard work trying to get things back in order was all they got. That meant Yldril was still out by her little camp, with Fengi not leaving her just in case. She and Linkosta had been experimenting with how far away Fengi could get from Yldril and still command her. Linkosta had been wary of having Fengi stay far away from the dragon for long, at least until they knew more. According to her, rule one of magic was ¡®never sleep with an enhancement turned on¡¯ else you might risk never waking up again; increasing the range always leads to more energy being spent.


    Whether Fengi was actually spending any magic constantly was rather hard to work out all things considered. For now, they would take it slow and steady. It wasn¡¯t like Yldril would be of much use yet anyway.


    ¡°Well this should be good,¡± Tom sighed, looking at the horizon. The weather wasn¡¯t great, but it was dry and the clouds were high. The four dragons were coming in under them, making them stand out quite clearly. One blue, one white, and two reds.


    ¡°You know, I was kinda expecting half an army. This is positively tame by comparison,¡± Rachuck replied, nodding & looking at least a little relaxed considering what the cargo probably was.


    ¡°Thank the gods for that. It is Galaxer, right?¡± Tom questioned, peering at the grey muddled sky.


    ¡°Yup, Galaxer and Arch in the lead according to Dakota. We don¡¯t know the reds. Flags are out and clear,¡± the captain replied, straightening his back. ¡°Let¡¯s get lined up.¡±


    They had spent a bit of time over the last three days making the place look a bit more presentable. They¡¯d mainly cleared the evidence of the battle. The dragon¡¯s corpse had been cut up and carried off piece by piece by Glira. The well-behaved prisoners had been put to work as well in exchange for extra rations. Jacky had obviously kept the head, Trimming off what skin and meat she could before putting it on top of an ant nest that Wiperna had been kind enough to find. By their reckoning, it would take a few weeks tops. The remaining bodies had been thrown off the edge unceremoniously, every last one.


    Tom hadn¡¯t protested; it wasn¡¯t like he had much to say on the subject of their afterlife. When he had asked Rachuck why they didn¡¯t deserve a proper funeral, he just replied that they didn¡¯t fight or die with honor.


    Nunuk was still bedridden and being tended to nearly around the clock, the old lady had even conceded to taking some of Tom¡¯s painkillers, though she had refused the antibiotics on Apuma¡¯s advice. So without consulting her mother, Dakota had taken one to test if they were safe. They were still waiting on the results of that particular experiment, but thus far she hadn¡¯t gotten sick.


    They had all gotten lined up and looking presentable. Tom felt very appreciative of not having been dressed up this time either. It wasn¡¯t like the Inquisitor they were expecting wouldn¡¯t know that he was here after all.


    The four dragons had come in to land in the grass since there was no way they were fitting in the greeting hall. Jarix had come down to join them as well, even if his underside was looking rather odd with pale baby blue skin covered in little nubs of scales and the beginnings of what Tom guessed would become the plates covering his underside. Glira was out at Yldrils camp and Victoria hadn¡¯t left her post in the mines save for a short visit flying under her own power to get a face-to-face update on how they had all fared. Thus, it was Apuma, Dakota, and Zarko that were out in front today.


    Archeon had come in first with what looked like his regular crew, only a few new faces were onboard, looking like passengers. In addition, he was carrying a sizable amount of cargo, much to Tom¡¯s joy. Galaxer though appeared to be carrying passengers only, with next to no cargo. In fact, it looked almost cramped up there despite the size of the venerable white dragon.


    The two reds were of middling size and were carrying what looked like full crews, all armed to the teeth, not to mention armored, though Tom couldn¡¯t make out any Royal guard insignias on said armor. They both had a decent amount of cargo on board too, though not as much as Archeon was hauling.


    To his eyes, there was only really one candidate for the title of inquisitor, that being a tall slender woman riding on Galaxer, dressed in what he could only guess was an incredibly expensive hide cloak with fur trimmings and lining. By the looks of it, it was form-fitted too, and with an intricate-looking hood that left the horns jutting out. To Tom it didn¡¯t seem overly practical, though it did manage to keep her face mostly hidden, only her snout sticking out until she took it down.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    It was hardly necessary to look at her clothes to work out she was likely his person of interest though. Galaxer¡¯s navigator got up and lent her a hand as they walked down the wing, the woman¡¯s head on a swivel, clearly taking in what information she could, focusing mainly on the keep as far as Tom could see. Not to mention, she definitely looked like she felt she owned the place. She walked with a straight back, her head held high, and an almost regal gait. ¡®Yeah¡­ that¡¯s her.¡¯


    With her leading the way, most of the other passengers on Galaxer had gotten up and started to disembark after her. Tom guessed this was what an inquisitorial retinue looked like. They looked like a mixed bunch, though most of them were clearly more academics. Tom¡¯s best guess was they would be overseeing the ones down in the caves to make sure they didn¡¯t do anything dumb.


    The woman following right behind the assumed inquisitor looked rather interesting though. She wasn¡¯t that large or imposing, but she was carrying two boxes that looked a lot like tool chests to Tom, and she had a very intricate set of goggles on with what looked like polished brass mounts for some kind of gizmo.


    A third woman was backing her up close as well. She was also wearing a hooded cloak, though the armored covers on her feet were a dead giveaway that she was likely kitted out for battle underneath. Behind that came two people who looked a bit like the fake priestess that had arrived with Galaxer originally, only these were wearing cloaks made out of a metallic thread rather than white which made it look like they were draped in flowing metal. On a second glance, the woman with the goggles had a similar cloak; her hood was just down at the moment. ¡®Maybe those are actually priests?¡¯ Tom thought to himself with a sigh, as he spotted investigator Paulin, the woman they had been so graciously introduced to previously. This time around she was not in priest¡¯s robes, instead sporting a thick traveling coat and some sort of headwrap that looked rather thick and comfy. She was currently talking with some of Galaxer''s actual crew while still on the dragon¡¯s back, her demanding gestures towards the other three dragons seeming all too familiar.


    ¡®I guess we get to enjoy her company again then,¡¯ Tom sighed to himself, looking down their line of people.


    The people of the keep were all lined up in the traditional fashion for receiving formal guests. Tom had lined up with the guards this time around, feeling he really did fit in best here. Not to mention, he would not stand getting dressed up for this.


    The Inquisitor had rather quickly got her eyes on Tom as she scanned over the people assembled before her, staring him down as she walked up towards Apuma.


    She had started off with greeting Apuma. She barely glanced at the old guy though as he did his best formal greeting, wishing her welcome to their keep. She had quickly greeted the rest of the Bizmati family, as well as Zarko, before making her way straight to Tom, walking with purpose, eyes firmly locked on him as she approached. Tom just straightened his back and stood at attention, looking ahead waiting till spoken to.


    ¡°So¡­ You are the cause behind all this trouble? Well, some of it at least?¡± she asked, standing in front of him about a pace away, staring him down.


    The smaller woman with the goggles had put down her boxes, going to circle around him like she was inspecting a statue, shooing the others out of her way with a dismissive wave. ¡°Fascinating,¡± she finished, stopping in front of him and looking at his head, tilted face far too happy for Tom¡¯s liking.


    ¡°Edita,¡± the assumed inquisitor interrupted after clearing her throat, the smaller woman quickly stepping out of the way without saying a word, though not taking her eyes off Tom.


    ¡°Tomas Hansen, pleasure to meet you. Call me Tom,¡± he said plainly, sticking his hand out, looking at the taller woman.


    She looked at it for a second before taking off her thin blue leather gloves and giving his hand a gentle shake, holding his hand awkwardly. ¡°Inquisitor Joelina Hashaw. The reports seemingly haven''t done you justice. You look nothing like what I had imagined.¡±


    ¡°Is that good or bad?¡± Tom felt he had to ask, looking at her emotionless face and trying his best to gauge her.


    ¡°Your looks are irrelevant for this. But you are not as hideous as one might expect a semi-haired, pink-skinned freak missing three limbs to look. I take it you know who I am.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had a quick run down,¡± Tom replied with a nod, not quite sure if he had just been insulted by an inquisitor.


    ¡°Very good. We can skip the nonsense then. This is Artificer Edita. She is now your personal aid,¡± Joelina stated, gesturing to the curious woman.


    Tom just turned to look at the excited-looking woman, swallowing once. She for her part rushed up to him, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯ve got to say I¡¯m so excited for this. You are going to teach me so much!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Edita,¡± Joelina said in a slightly annoyed tone, the artificer taking a step back again, eyes wandering over Tom as he just stood there.


    ¡®Artificer¡­ you have got to be shitting me,¡¯ Tom lamented to himself, turning his gaze back to the inquisitor, not sure if screaming internally was the right response.


    ¡°Edita has always felt she needed to do more than simply maintain the equipment she¡¯s been working on. I trust she will be a fine fit for this operation. Unlike some of her previous postings.¡± There was quite an edge to the inquisitor''s words, though this Edita clearly failed to care completely.


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡± Edita just replied with a fast nod, then went right back to staring at Tom. ¡°We will not disappoint in bringing the world new holy machines.¡±


    ¡®Oh no. It¡¯s a female Tink, and she¡¯s religious,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself as he looked into a pair of eyes with a far too the familiar spark of madness embedded within. She was staring at Tom like a kid looking through a shop window at a new toy. ¡®Jacky is not going to like her.¡¯


    Rachuck came over and cleared his throat. ¡°Inquisitor, a moment of your time.¡±


    Slowly Joelina turned to face him, though her face didn¡¯t shift in the slightest. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°We came under attack a few days ago. We have taken prisoners.¡±


    At that, the inquisitor did raise an eyebrow. ¡°Continue.¡±


    ¡°Well most of them are over in that building,¡± he explained, pointing at their little improvised holding cell.


    ¡°Most?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We also cripled and captured a black dragon named Yldril. She¡¯s currently camped a short flight that way.¡±


    ¡°That complicates a few things¡­ I will deal with the prisoners here. The dragon will come later. She is not allowed to return to the keep, understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. That won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    At that, Tom felt he needed to barge in, clearing his throat as well. ¡°When you say deal?¡±


    The inquisitor¡¯s head turned back to look at him, once again perfectly straight-faced. ¡°Then I mean deal with.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I do have ears,¡± Tom tried again, not breaking his stare.


    She did cock her head a little at that before answering. ¡°I see. Well, I have four dragons at my disposal. I believe I have the capacity to send them to the bastion.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°A training complex.¡±


    ¡°You want to recruit criminals?... into the Inquisition?¡± Rachuck asked, sounding dumbstruck.


    ¡°Maybe. They will be tested there. Who knows, there might be someone we can use. Or they might be of interest in other ways. Anyway, does that alleviate your concerns?¡± she asked, staring at Tom.


    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Tom replied with a nod. He didn¡¯t for a second believe that going there was going to be a pleasant fate, but at least some of them might live if they weren¡¯t all bad. Either that, or he guessed they might have been better off being granted the mercy of being put down like a dog once they surrendered.


    ¡°Very good. Let¡¯s get to work.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®And there he is,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, as she saw Balethon disembark from Archeon, looking a bit clumsy. Then again, that was to be expected with the odd wood and metal contraption hanging off the stump that was left of his tail. ¡®And the girl is nowhere to be seen,¡¯ she chuckled to herself. It was a bit cruel, but she loved being right. There was a small flying lizard sitting on his shoulder though, oddly enough. She wondered where he had gotten that.


    The inquisitor seemed busy with Tom, and then she had just walked off with him in tow, not even giving an explanation, the armored woman and the one with the strange goggles following after. Saph wasn¡¯t quite sure how she felt about not even being greeted; then again, she had not exactly been looking forward to coming face to face with an inquisitor.


    ¡®Probably a blessing,¡¯ Saph thought to herself as Balethon made it over to start greeting his old friends, mainly the guards running up to him. They had kept it formal till¡¯ Rachuck gestured for them to go ahead after the inquisitor had made it out of sight up the stairs.


    After the proper welcome back, they had all been set straight to work under the gaze of a familiar-looking face, their old friend Investigator Paulin. She had quickly determined the prisoners were not allowed to witness or listen in on what was going on right now. The prisoners had thus been rounded up and marched off blindfolded, carrying tents and other supplies to set up a prison camp a safe distance from the keep.


    Saph did wonder just what might be going through their minds right now. Blindfolds or not, they were quite aware that someone had just landed and they had brought four dragons, even if only two of those seemed ready for a proper battle. There was certainly plenty of murmuring as they were marched off.


    Victoria and Baron had also been sent for right away, one of the reds being unloaded in short order to go replace Baron down in the mines. The two reds were apparently acting as escorts for Joelina, making Saph question just what was in the crates they were currently unloading. There were so many of the damn things that they had been forced to start moving their own things around. Non-essential supplies were taken out of the keep and some of the new crates had to be stored in the various small buildings they had down on ground level.


    Tom had obviously been spirited away to show the inquisitor around together with the Bizmati family, save Dakota who was helping organize the unloading, though having two trade dragon crews helping out did mean they were getting an incredible amount of work done.


    Still, that didn¡¯t make the crates go up by themselves, so Saph found herself standing in line at the second red waiting for her crate, together with half the keep.


    ¡°Think Rachuck will be able to relax for a bit now that we have the literal Inquisition here guarding the place?¡±


    ¡°Never,¡± Dakota replied as she noted down the size and content of the crates. ¡°I wonder what ¡®Tools¡¯ covers in this case?¡± she mused aloud, looking up at Saph.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s pots and pans,¡± Saph chuckled with a smirk, going to lift it up, Wiperna taking the other end as they started to carry off the crate. It was certainly heavy, and there was the distinct clank of metal coming from inside it as they went up the stairs.


    The next time she came down the first of the reds was already gone, crew and all, leaving just a pile of boxes for them to deal with. ¡°Damn grunt work.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± It came from Wiperna as they both sighed. ¡°Still beats fighting for your life.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Joelina had insisted on a tour before they sat down to discuss what had been happening as of late. It had been a quick affair, the inquisitor seemingly not having any complaints. Though she was obviously taking note of all of Tom¡¯s things for later. He did admire her professionalism though, as she didn¡¯t even question what any of it was. Only how much there was and where it was. Edita did not possess the same level of restraint, though Joelina once again came through for Tom, shutting up the artificer on more than one occasion.


    Once the little tour was complete, they had all gone to the library. It was just Tom, Rachuck, Apuma, Jortun, and the Inquisitor''s retinue, minus Investigator Paulin. The major had joined them after arriving under his own power, Glira remaining on watchdog duty over Yldril.


    ¡°So. I hear things have not gone as smoothly as we had hoped,¡± Joelina started, sitting down in what was normally Apuma¡¯s chair. The rest of them all stood around the room. Tom glanced at the floor but decided standing was probably better in this company.


    ¡°It could have been worse,¡± Rachuck insisted, standing straight. ¡°They never made it inside our walls, the mines have been kept safe, and we took minimal losses.¡±


    ¡°None, last I heard. Very impressive. I also saw your collection of prisoners. Now, this dragon you talked about, they could be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Yes. She is an adult black named Yldril. I believe that has been taken care of,¡± Rachuck replied, looking rather uncomfortable now.


    ¡°How so?¡± she asked, tilting her head and staring at the captain.


    He just cleared his throat before speaking. ¡°A unicorn intervened.¡±


    ¡°Excuse you.¡±


    ¡°Kalestine, your¡­ I¡¯m sorry, what is your title Exactly? I don¡¯t want to be rude.¡±


    ¡°Inquisitor or Joelina will do to you,¡± she went with a smile, though clearly wanting him to get to the point.


    Jortun cleared his throat, gaining Joelina¡¯s attention as she looked at him expectantly.


    ¡°I trust we have the word of the Inquisition for absolute secrecy on this subject,¡± the major replied, standing at attention.


    ¡°We expect nothing less of you,¡± Joelina replied with a nod.


    ¡°Naturally. Here at the keep lives a very young girl, who was saved by the grace of the unicorn Kalestine.¡±


    The Inquisitor just narrowed her eyes and stared at the major, waiting for him to continue.


    ¡°She has been blessed with the gift to enhance magical abilities in the same fashion as can be achieved using unicorn horn.


    ¡°I see¡­ How is this of pertinence to the black dragon?¡±


    ¡°A young woman of the keep named Fengi was recently revealed to be an enchantress.¡±


    ¡°So you used the child to force Yldril into cooperation,¡± the guard-looking woman from the inquisitor¡¯s retenue answered with a slight huff. ¡°Hardly a show of gallantry witch hunter, but effective.¡±


    ¡°And where does Kalestine¡¯s intervention then fit in?¡±


    ¡°The child got scared during one of the attempts. We believe Kalestine then took over Fengi and bestowed a sentence upon the dragon. Yldril is now bound to the young woman''s will. As far as we can tell¡­ permanently.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± the goggled woman added as Joelina rubbed her chin, thinking. ¡°Sounds heretical as all hell, but fascinating.¡± Tom just swallowed once at that.


    ¡°Putting a child blessed by a unicorn in danger. Definitely¡­ But her will being allowed to be carried out¡­ The exact opposite,¡± Jolina replied, staring down the major. ¡°How was this child blessed?¡±


    ¡°With blood willingly given, Inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± the armored woman interjected, receiving a quick glance from the inquisitor.


    ¡°That is¡­ Not unheard of, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever met one,¡± Joelina replied after looking back to the major. ¡°I believe the horn you were reported to possess belongs to Kalestine as well. Was this all part of the same exchange?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Jortun replied with a prompt nod.


    ¡°I see¡­ I guess this may work to our advantage then. A bound dragon is a rare luxury indeed.¡±


    ¡°Planning something I guess?¡± Tom asked, looking around to see if speaking up had any negative reactions.


    ¡°Yes. I have plans for you people, but the less interference the better. An adult working dragon already on the island certainly helps. Am I correct in the assumption that Jarix can also be relied upon to assist with construction?¡±


    ¡°I would think so, yes.¡±


    ¡°What are you planning to build?¡± Apuma asked, seeming quite confused.


    ¡°All the facilities required to make use of him,¡± she went, pointing at Tom.


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Tech Talk

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well then, I guess that part worked out,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he stared at the inquisitor, who was still sitting comfortably in Apuma¡¯s big chair.


    ¡°You want to build a big workshop¡­ at our keep?¡± Apuma had to let out, clearly quite taken aback. To be honest, Tom had sort of been expecting something like that to come to fruition. He¡¯d just been wondering how exactly.


    ¡°A factory,¡± Joelina clarified politely. ¡°Paulin made it quite clear he wouldn¡¯t be leaving. And I don¡¯t want him in one of the big cities anyway. Here will have to do, even if I would prefer an Inquisitorial stronghold loyal to me.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can skip that argument then,¡± Tom shrugged, pulling a forced smile.


    ¡°Quite,¡± Joelina replied, not sounding that happy with it. ¡°My little tour confirmed my suspicions that this place is insufficient for the tasks ahead. More buildings are to be constructed, and what personnel I can find flown in. I have had to pull a lot of favors to be the only inquisitor here today, arranging people I can trust will take time,¡± Joelina said calmly, with what Tom at least believed to be a fake smile plastered on her face.


    ¡°I see. I believe we got a quick run down from the investigator last time. Not everyone wants me meddling, do they?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No, though luckily the Inquisition is rather busy at the moment with the war going on. We have recovered another of those accused blades, and we have reason to believe more are out there. So as long as I can manage to play down the effects of what¡¯s going on here, I do believe I can keep unwanted attention away from your island.¡±


    ¡°Actually, speaking of that¡­¡± Racuck added, the inquisitor turning to look at him, the smile gone from her face. ¡°The attack that we suffered...¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°We found out who organized it,¡± he let out, seeming to bind up and trying to clear his throat.


    ¡°A Tsarina Kosovo. An aspiring businesswoman. Wants to run the engineering guild,¡± Tom added, Rachuck looking more than a little thankful.


    ¡°I see,¡± Joelina replied, not looking pleased. ¡°I believe it would be possible to deal with that problem.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Inquisitor,¡± Rachuck said with a bow. ¡°She crippled my mother. Revenge would be a great boon for us.¡±


    ¡°I see. And I take it I need to keep the church from interfering here as well,¡± she continued, glancing at Jortun.


    ¡°That would be for the best,¡° the major replied with a nod.


    ¡°And here I thought you would be the ones helping me¡­¡± she let out with a very slight shake of the head. Tom guessed that was the closest you were getting to a joke from this woman.


    ¡°About that,¡± Tom interjected. ¡°What exactly do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°I believe Paulin put it best. ¡®He can¡¯t make equipment he does not have the equipment to make.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°You want me to set up a machine factory?¡±


    ¡°If that is what you call it, then yes.¡±


    ¡®Well it beats building weapons,¡¯ Tom admitted to himself. In fact, he was struggling to find a catch with that right now¡­ aside from the fact it would mean the Inquisition had quite the say in what was made. ¡®It¡¯s gonna turn into a weapons factory isn¡¯t it¡­ god dammit.¡¯


    ¡°And how do you plan on defending that¡­¡± Rachuck asked, Tom making out the hint of hopefulness in his voice.


    ¡°And I¡¯m sure my daughter Dakota would ask how you will feed so many people too,¡± Apuma added in his best formal tone.


    ¡°We expect to have three keeps on this island once spring comes. For now, you will receive more supplies for the new year from wherever I can source them. I expect the construction of a warehouse to commence shortly. Perhaps more of those bunkers Paulin told me of would also be in order. Once the new year comes the proper construction will commence. I¡¯m hoping the war will have won me enough support by then to allow me to send a more substantial force of Inquisitorial personnel here.¡±


    ¡°Oh my gods,¡± Apuma let out, looking a little weak in the knees, Tom helping him to sit down in one of the remaining chairs. ¡°Thank you, Tom.¡±


    ¡°No worries.¡± He stood back up, looking to Joelina. ¡°What kind of personnel?¡±


    ¡°Soldiers, workers, paper pushers, artificers, priests of technology, whatever will be needed.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Did you just say Techpriest?¡± Tom blurted out.


    ¡°I guess the abbreviation works¡­ why?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing,¡± Tom tried as he looked at the empty expression of the Inquisitor, fairly certain he wasn¡¯t fooling her about anything.


    ¡°That¡¯s my title. Well, that and Artificer. I can both create and sanctify holy technology,¡± Edita let out with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to help you understand what we know, translate, and make sure you don¡¯t commit any grievous errors.¡±


    ¡°She will also oversee possible dangerous technologies and items of religious significance,¡± Joelina added in a slightly pointed tone.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am! Don¡¯t you worry. No people are ending up in jars on my watch.¡±


    Tom couldn¡¯t help but feel Edita and the Inquisitor weren¡¯t quite on the same wavelength, which did lend the question of why Edita had been picked for this as he just stared at the artificer.


    ¡°Do pardon her behavior, I believe this is her first time outside.¡±


    ¡°You mean like literally?¡± Tom questioned skeptically, looking at the excited-looking woman. ¡®What did she mean, people in jars!?¡¯


    ¡°I have seen the sun before!¡± Edita protested before shutting up as Joelina cleared her throat.


    ¡°No, as in outside the holdings of the Inquisition. She has been briefed on what you are allowed to know, and I believe you will have plenty of time to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I will learn everything.¡±


    Joelina sighed ever so slightly before regaining her composure. ¡°Very well. I want to see this Yldril in person. Tom, if you wouldn¡¯t mind Showing Edita her workspace, she has quite a lot of unpacking to do. After that, I believe we have some more vaults to inspect.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph could see Glira busy napping, though she seemed to be stirring now as their small formation circled above, Fengi and Essy standing in front of Yldril and looking up at them.


    ¡°So this is the lucky individual,¡± Joelina said, somehow managing to still sound dignified over the roar of the wind as Baron circled above the camp, looking down.


    ¡°From my impression, I believe she would disagree, although we are hoping to change that,¡± Saph replied, shouting over the wind.


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Fengi is insistent on proving we are nice people! Yldril hates keep dwellers. She has some history!¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Joelina chuffed a bit at that, not seeming very convinced. ¡°A novel sentiment. Still, a noble pursuit.¡±


    Baron came in for a landing a short distance from Yldril and well clear of the small campsite. The old red dragon had only just arrived after being relieved from the tunnels by one of the younger reds. He and the colonel had both joined them for the little expedition. Victoria had taken the time to meet Yldril on her short visit a few days ago, but Baron was yet to receive the privilege. It had taken a little pleading from Saph, but Dakota had let Saph come along too. She was hoping to help Fengi stay calm just in case.


    Glira had gotten up and walked to meet them, exchanging a quick nod with Baron before looking down at their little group and tilting her head.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get the impression she thinks she¡¯s lucky either,¡± the dragon went, giving a quick head bow to the inquisitor. ¡°Joelina.¡±


    ¡°Glira,¡± Joelina replied, returning the slight bow. ¡°Now. Where is this Fengi?¡±


    Dakota cleared her throat, looking at the two huntresses who were walking over from the small campsite. ¡°Good afternoon girls. Anything to report?¡±


    Fengi and Essy just froze under the inquisitor''s gaze as all eyes turned to the two of them.


    ¡°Nothing much. Though the healing seems to be going well,¡± Essy replied as Fengi stood there staring at Joelina. The armored woman that had not yet left Joelina¡¯s side cleared her throat slightly, making Fengi jump a little.


    ¡°Hi. Yes uhm, I¡¯m Fengi,¡± she got out, Joelina nodding. ¡°Joelina Hashaw of the Holy Inquisition. I hear you have had an extraordinary week.¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Fengi replied with a nod, clearly having no clue what to say or do right now.


    ¡°No need to be scared. Major Jortun has already made your case, and I have already agreed to keep your encounter out of any official reports. Not your gift, of course.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± was all Fengi got out in reply, standing there staring.


    ¡°Thank you, Inquisitor,¡° Esmeralda interjected, taking a step forward and bowing.


    ¡°Yeah, the last thing we need are nosey priests right now,¡± Glira chuckled from above. ¡°She¡¯s not gonna be flying for weeks, but walking might only be days away. Well, limping.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± Joelina responded, looking over to the dragon. ¡°I guess we need to have a chat then.¡±


    ¡°... Oh right, sorry,¡± Fengi squeaked out after a brief awkward silence, the armored woman shaking her head a bit as Joelina just stood there patiently. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll just go wake her up.¡±


    Saph could see Fengi¡¯s hands shake as she pointed at the dragon, the young huntress turning to walk towards the dragon.


    The rest of the group followed a few steps behind, Saph taking a few quick strides to make it up next to Fengi and putting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Hey, It¡¯s okay. Relax. They¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± She muttered in a low tone as their little party walked up to Yldril, who was clearly already awake and staring at them.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°You heard my introduction, dragon,¡± Joelina responded flatly. ¡°I would much rather you know you are the single luckiest creature I have encountered in a while.¡±


    ¡°And what gave you that idea?¡± Yldril sneered, Saph swallowing once. Disrespecting an inquisitor had to be one of the most dangerous games she could think of. Then again, they might just get their revenge for Nunuk out of it.


    ¡°The fact that even I am hesitant to defy a unicorn. Otherwise, I would have worked you to death someplace very far from sunlight.¡±


    ¡°Joy of joys. I get to stare at the sun as I work till I die. I know your type. You will take Fengi¡¯s friends hostage and force me to do your bidding anyway. It¡¯s just semantics.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Fengi turned to look at Joelina with wide eyes, the inquisitor''s gaze turning to meet hers. Saph swallowed once more, patting Fengi¡¯s shoulder a few times before giving it a soft squeeze; she could feel how fast Fengi was breathing right now.


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t think I will. Besides, making an enemy of an enchantress is a remarkably short-sighted idea,¡± she went, giving Fengi what Saph guessed was her best reassuring smile, an expression she was very clearly not familiar with using, before turning back to look at Yldril. ¡°And since this unique situation incredibly enough manages to make you trustworthy, I¡¯ll be more than happy to have you slave away with construction work here.¡±


    ¡°And what might the Inquisition be building out here? This is the middle of nowhere,¡± Yldril scoffed, clearly finding that notion quite ridiculous.


    ¡°Fengi, would you mind forcing her to never spill these secrets? I believe the rest of you already know what can and can¡¯t be talked about.¡±


    Fengi just nodded quickly. ¡°Yldril. Uhm¡­ You can¡¯t tell anyone anything about what you are about to hear,¡± she went before looking to the inquisitor with a careful smile. ¡°Was that okay?¡±


    ¡°A bit blunt, but it will do. Now. I believe it¡¯s time for me to get to work.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wow¡­ It¡¯s amazing what you managed to make out here. You built this yourself?¡± Edita asked, admiring the milling machine, fingers touching absolutely everything as she inspected the smithy in detail. Tom was quite happy that Jacky was busy working when his clothes were also investigated in great detail. Thankfully no one else was actually present for that to tell her either, since Tink and Junior were busy helping with all the supplies for the moment.


    ¡°Yup. Well, mostly. I brought some important parts from home. ¡°


    ¡°Like that,¡± she pointed at the lead screw then turned to look at the tool bits he had brought. ¡°Those are not from here either.¡±


    ¡°Uhm yeah¡­ how can you tell?¡±


    ¡°These are compressed metal powder. You lack a press to make them,¡± she went, holding up one. ¡°And there is itamen in that,¡± she went, pointing at the lead screw.


    ¡°Wait. Is that like your magic?¡± Tom asked, looking at her hands.


    ¡°Yeah, I can tell what it is just by touching it.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ what happens when you don¡¯t know what it is?¡±


    ¡°It feels strange,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Like tasting a new thing.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ what is iteman?¡±


    ¡°Itamen,¡± she chuckled happily, turning away from her inspection. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain. You find it in steel sometimes. It makes it harder. Makes it less prone to rust too.¡±


    ¡°Chrome?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know your word for it, but maybe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Chromoly steel. Some kind of 4100 series, I think. It¡¯s high in chrome.¡±


    ¡°Then there you go. Chrone,¡± she replied, playing with the words before once again going back to her search. ¡°I was wondering how much you would know about metal. I now guess it¡¯s more than me.¡±


    ¡°Quite a bit, I would say¡­ but how do you know? You guys don''t make anything with chrome, right?¡±


    ¡°No, not anymore. But we still have knowledge of it. And we have stores for maintaining holy artifacts that require it. That¡¯s my job. Well, it used to be at least. Now I¡¯m apparently supposed to help you make new stuff. That¡¯s so much more exciting.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess it''s more just gonna be things you have already seen before, but built a bit more crudely.¡±


    ¡°But it will be new. I have never seen a machine like this without Runes of warding and protection engraved wherever they would fit. It won¡¯t even last a decade, this thing.¡±


    ¡°Glad you have faith in our work,¡± Tom replied, thinking about just what magic machines like that could do. ¡®Drill bits that don¡¯t dull maybe?¡¯


    As he pondered, Edita knelt down next to one of the tables, taking out one of the laptops.


    ¡®Oh shit, here we go,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself. It was bound to happen eventually, but still.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°A thinking machine, do be careful please,¡± Tom tried in his calmest voice.


    ¡°A thinking machine,¡± she echoed, looking it over. ¡°More of your plastic stuff for the shell. You people seem to love that material. What¡¯s inside? The gears must be tiny to make one this small.¡±


    ¡°We are quite good at plastic, yeah. That is electronic, not mechanical¡­ Do you have thinking machines then?¡±


    ¡°A few have been preserved. They are massive constructions though. Thousands of gears, shafts, clutches, and linkages all built into a massive machine. The largest we found records of was larger than this keep,¡± she let out, looking out the window wistfully. ¡°Sadly that was lost long ago. I once worked on one we could never fix. We could find no error in the construction, yet it always returned the answer forty-two?¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I-¡±


    ¡°I never understood that.¡± Edita cut him off. ¡°But according to the holy scripts we once had a truly vast one that couldn¡¯t be moved. Its splendor was too great. So it withered away¡­ such a shame,¡± she replied plainly, turning back to the laptop. ¡°Even in pieces there apparently wasn¡¯t room.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ These vaults. Where exactly are they?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to know?¡± She chuckled, standing up and putting the computer on the table. ¡°Show me how this works and I might tell you.¡±


    ¡°I believe you are supposed to be my assistant. Not the other way around.¡±


    ¡°I am still a member of the Inquisition. Even if you rarely see people like me out in public. Or even outside various secure locations.¡±


    ¡°Secure locations?¡± Tom asked, hoping he might get some more info out of her as opposed to Joelina or Paulin.


    ¡°Places you will only find inquisitorial or validated personnel. I guess this place is gonna become one soon enough.¡±


    ¡°In some senses, I think it already is¡­ Where did you come from then?¡±


    She just gestured at the laptop, taking a step back. ¡°Something for something.¡±


    Tom just sighed, going over, opening up the screen, and hitting the power button.


    She watched thoughtfully at the screen as it started booting, finally nodding when it had stopped at the login screen for a bit. ¡°I was working in the inner sanctums of the Capital.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ What¡¯s in there then?¡± Tom tried, receiving an expectant stare from her after she had touched the screen and the buttons then nodded towards the laptop. ¡°I see. Okay, then I can play that game.¡±


    Tom put in the password, hiding his hand from her as he did so, then showed off the desktop. ¡°And now it¡¯s unlocked. Battery only lasts a few hours then it needs to be recharged.¡°


    She just chuckled. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± She went to play with the mouse pad after Tom showed her. ¡°I worked with weapons maintenance. Joelina thought I would be a perfect fit for this mission.¡±


    ¡°Well, we do have guns on the workbenches,¡± Tom replied with a nod, looking over to one of the cut-down shotguns for Dakota and Jacky.


    ¡°I want to take those apart later. How does this thing work? It¡¯s not alive, right?¡±


    ¡°No no,¡± Tom went, shaking his head. ¡°I swear, I¡¯ll try to teach you, but... You must understand; Some of this equipment is beyond even me.¡±


    ¡°That is your whole purpose. You are going to teach me how to bring back the glories of industry.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I know. But let me put it this way.¡± Tom plucked a hair from his head, holding it up. ¡°There are wires in that thing so thin you could spin tens of thousands of them together and they would still be thinner than this hair.¡±


    Edita just stared at him, her jaw-dropping. ¡°You know, I¡¯m gonna make Joelina test if you are lying to me.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t. I¡¯ll show you what I have on how that thing works, but we aren¡¯t making one any time soon. We have engineers, hell several kinds of engineers, dedicated just to working on machines like that.¡±


    ¡°And you are a different kind of engineer? What does that mean to you anyway? You clearly don¡¯t build bridges and ballistas.¡±


    ¡°Person who designs things of a technical nature. I¡¯m a mechanical engineer. I design machines.¡±


    ¡°Oooohhh,¡± Edita let out, looking at him and nodding. ¡°So you can¡¯t make thinking machines.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tom replied, shaking his head.


    ¡°And using a person¡¯s mind is considered heretical,¡± Edita let out, sounding more disappointed than anything.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°Automatons. They need to be able to think somehow. A mechanical brain can only do so much. We have found several using organic components for thinking. Even have some locked away. Fascinating machines, but they are anathema to our way of technology. It¡¯s the closest I know to what that is, if it can indeed think.¡±


    ¡°I can see why¡­¡± Tom replied. ¡®Well at least they don¡¯t think sentencing someone to being a laptop is a-okay.¡¯


    ¡°Good. Then we won¡¯t have any problems with that. What can you make then? It¡¯s not like we are bringing back industry by ourselves after all. No wait, we are. Ohh, this is going to be great!¡± she laughed out, Tom just nodding carefully. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like we can just magically conjure parts,¡± Edita chuckled to herself. ¡°We¡¯re gonna have to make it all from scratch.¡±


    Tom just stared at her for a second, waiting for her to elaborate.


    ¡°What?...¡±


    ¡°Well can you?¡± Tom pushed, staring at her.


    ¡°No?... You can''t just make something from nothing.¡±


    ¡°Ahr. Well you never know with magic¡±


    Edita just shook her head looking back to the laptop. ¡°Okay. Now how do you make it calculate something? And how much can it remember?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The questioning session that followed made Saph re-evaluate her stance on them having been thorough with their questioning. Joelina took that metric to a whole new level, and Fengi clearly didn¡¯t dare put a stop to the questioning this time. Joelina had more or less managed to map out Yldril¡¯s entire life, private or not, nearly from when she was born, going back far enough the dragon could honestly answer because she had no clue whatsoever. To Saph¡¯s surprise though, she was being very sparse with the note-taking.


    She had also refrained from using her magic on the dragon. Saph¡¯s best guess was that reading someone¡¯s mind is clearly quite the mental battle, and doing so with a dragon when you didn¡¯t even need to might be a bit much of a risk. The thought did make her wonder just how long Tom might be able to escape that fate though.


    It had seemingly dawned on Yldril as the questions continued that this wasn¡¯t some kind of sick joke or pitiful attempt to scare her. Saph had no clue what the names of her childhood friends had to do with anything, but she wasn¡¯t questioning the methods of an inquisitor.


    ¡°So to recap. Do please interrupt me if anything is wrong,¡± Joelina went as she put down some final remarks in her book.


    ¡°Interrupt her if anything is wrong,¡± Fengi echoed, looking at Yldril.


    ¡°You were born at a large inner keep outside Cartehega sporting some 1200 dragonettes and 4 dragons. 5 counting yourself. You were sent on your way at age 40 along with your mother after said keep decided not to renew your mother¡¯s contract. You both took a job as farmhands outside the capital shortly thereafter.¡± Joelina looked up at the by now very calm dragon.


    ¡°That partnership came to an end when your mother was rightfully accused of theft. She was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor¡­ You then took up a job as hired muscle at a lumber yard. You stayed there for nearly 5 years before taking up mercenary work instead with a group of upstarts out to make a name for yourself. You had a decently long and fairly uneventful career of some 80 odd years. During this time your mother was released and returned to your home to be with your father. That lasted all of a couple of months, your mother ending up back as a farmhand before she was again sentenced to hard labor, this time for extortion and blackmail.¡±


    ¡°Your life continued uneventfully after you distanced yourself from your mother, settling down at a middling keep as the only dragon following your mercenary career. There you stayed for the better part of 90 years and were generally happy, even visiting or receiving visits from your father on multiple occasions.¡±


    Yldril just nodded, head resting on her forelegs as the inquisitor kept going. ¡°The keep then proceeded to fall on hard times following a change in leadership as a result of a death due to old age. Two years following the death of the last lord, supplies had gotten tight enough the new Lady decided you could not be fed through winter, and as such, she kicked you out¡ªwhich was a breach of contract.¡±


    ¡°You managed to scrape through winter, managing to get in a small amount of hunting before wintering in a natural cave found on the side of the island. You came out the other side malnutritioned and sick. You traveled overland to 6 other keeps on the island only to get turned down, most citing lack of supplies, two wanting nothing to do with you. You hunted in these keep¡¯s hunting grounds to survive, eventually earning the ire of said keeps. That lead them to chase you out of their lands and off-island.¡±


    ¡°You, through great difficulty, managed to make it to a nearby town where you were shortly chased back out. You then re-engaged in illegal hunting, though with more luck, before the nearby town contracted a group of mercenaries to chase you out. Instead of chasing you out, they offered you a job. You then proceeded to raid the smallest keep on the island successfully. Henceforth your record consists of raiding keeps, racketeering, piracy, and extortion. Punctuated by your attempt to reconnect with your father, which ended with him disowning you and a fight to drive you from your childhood home.¡±


    ¡°You and your mother managed to reconnect very well though, which led to the two of you taking up raiding together. That came to an end with a lucky hit from a hidden ballista purchased by one of your regularly extorted keeps. Is this accurate?¡±


    Yldril just nodded silently, Saph spotting the hint of a tear in her eye.


    ¡°So disowned by your father, your mother dead, all the keeps you knew despising your existence, you elected to head for Bartelion, wanting to turn yourself over to the Royal Guard, hoping to pay off your crimes through service. You were rejected and sentenced to life in servitude for multiple counts of murder.¡±


    ¡°You eventually managed to escape thanks to the help of some of your previous connections as well as several of your old crew ending up in the same mine. Following your escape, you went right back to your life of crime, which brings us to today¡­ Was this recounting accurate?¡±


    Yldril just nodded once again silently.


    ¡°Very good. I believe you know that failure to comply with the terms presented to you here will lead to your immediate execution, but then again I believe this factor is irrelevant in this case. Fengi, we will be discussing this further soon. Will you be able to attend me at the keep?


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t think so,¡± Fengi stammered out, looking at the inquisitor and swallowing once.


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Linkosta believes I might be burning magic.¡±


    ¡°Does Major Jortun not possess the ability to nullify such an effect?¡±


    ¡°He said so, yes, but Linkosta says you can still be burning magic just without result¡­ and his magic didn¡¯t stop me from commanding Yldril yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Intriguing¡­ Glazz, gauge please,¡± Joelina went, holding up her hand expectantly. The armored woman produced a small metal collar-looking thing from her under her robes, handing it to the inquisitor.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ what is that?¡± Fengi asked, voice quivering a little as she looked at it.


    ¡°We call it a gauge. It measures if magic is being used. It can¡¯t cancel it, but it is nice to know either way.¡±


    ¡°Handy,¡± Saph went with a nod, looking at the odd device. It looked just like a simple metal collar that you would use on a slave. But it was decorated in more tiny runes than Sapphire could count. Doubtlessly enchantments of various kinds.


    Joelina put the collar around Fengi¡¯s neck checking it before looking back to Glazz, much to Sapphires surprise.


    ¡°Anything?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, boss.¡± The armored woman replied with a slight shake of the head.


    ¡°Do please try to issue a command.¡± Joelina questioned turning her attention back to Fengi.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Yldril. Uhm¡­ say hi, please.¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± Yldril echoed, pulling a slight sneer, glaring at Fengi. ¡°You promised.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of anything better.¡±


    ¡°You are apologizing to her?¡± Joelina remarked with a raised eye ridge.


    ¡°I promised not to force her to do things unless it was necessary,¡± Fengi defended herself, looking down at the ground.


    ¡°Well, this was necessary. Glazz?¡± Joelina questioned, looking back at the armored woman.


    She for her part just nodded. ¡°Yup. Just a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Very good then. Fengi¡­ I don¡¯t believe I have gotten your last name.¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ haven¡¯t got one ¡­ yet,¡± Fengi replied, looking at the ground before quickly glancing at Unkai, who was keeping a safe distance from all of them.


    ¡°I see. Fengi, you are clear to return to the keep, though I believe the young mage¡¯s advice on magic is sound. Do remember not to issue an order when that far away.¡±


    ¡°I shall. You need not worry.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Now, I have plans to rewrite. Good day, ladies.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Settling In

    Chapter 149: Settling In


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, showing off the computer had taken quite a while. Notes had been taken in great quantity as well, Edita almost managing to remind Tom of Linkosta when something new was brought up. They had been interrupted by the arrival of several boxes of inquisitorial goodies, so they had started putting things away. Goodies in this case meant some of the finest tools Tom had ever seen. Even the damn brass hammer she had brought was engraved with magic runes and polished to a mirror finish.


    ¡®Oh, when Shiva gets back up here¡­ oh boi,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he pried off the lid of another crate. ¡°Oh, this is brilliant. A micrometer.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. It is one of our most sacred instruments. Without it we can¡¯t ensure we are following the holy scriptures.¡±


    ¡°You mean designs.¡±


    ¡°They are ancient, possibly older than any living being. Not slapped together yesterday,¡± Edita replied with a slight frown, going over to the workbench and inspecting the half-finished shotgun. ¡°It¡¯s so different though. Rough and ready, the finish looks like an afterthought.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Just good enough to work,¡± Tom replied. ¡°More than that is a waste of time.¡±


    ¡°You would get beaten severely for having this on your bench back in the capital.¡±


    ¡°I guess Shiva would like it there then. Everything polished to perfection.¡±


    ¡°And machined until you can''t measure the difference.¡±


    ¡°You know I made all this hoping to help your people start industrializing. You know, get better lives?¡±


    ¡°Machines are expensive. Most people would never be able to benefit from them.¡±


    ¡°With machines comes more and better machines. Cheaper too. In my world marvels like this are at the fingertips of everyone. I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t make that happen here.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ The marvels of technology brought to the masses¡­ all hail industry.¡± Edita¡¯s expression went a little vacant as she stared at nothing before snapping back to reality. ¡°Well, I¡¯m here to help innovate for once in my life. We will be walking a thin line to be sure.¡±


    ¡°And if the wrong people find out it¡¯s not good?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I once got put in a cell for a month for trying to design a new focusing lens.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right? Just for an experiment?¡± Tom let out. If that was true, the line they had to walk might be thinner than he thought.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Something about how I didn¡¯t understand the purpose of the part. The head artificer on the project claimed that if the weapon had been fired with it installed it could have destroyed it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that does make a bit more sense¡­ Was this one of those big weapons?¡±


    ¡°A bright lance, yes.¡±


    ¡°How do they work?¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s a question and a half¡­¡± Edita replied, seeming to ponder for a bit as she put down some tools on the table. ¡°It draws power from the central hub under the Royal Palace, deep inside the cliff. The energy is dumped straight into light and heat. You can¡¯t make matter with magic, but magic is just a form of energy you see.¡±


    ¡°I think I follow,¡± Tom replied with a nod, feeling like maybe he was the one that should be taking notes right now.


    ¡°The energy is directed through a series of arcane lenses. There we can change the focus and the size of the beam. The entire contraption is fixed on a large rotating mount to make it possible to point it.¡±


    ¡°How big is it?¡±


    ¡°What were your unit conversions again?¡± she asked, taking out her little booklet and paging through it. ¡±Arh. 4.69 meters long and 2.45 meters tall.¡±


    ¡°You know your stuff,¡± Tom went with a nod.


    ¡°I worked on that weapon for most of my life. I know every nut and bolt.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ you know how it works?¡±


    ¡°Of course?¡±


    ¡°Could you make one then¡±


    ¡°Here? No way,¡± Edita laughed, gesturing around at the workshop. ¡°I helped with the project to create some for Cartahega. we''ve been working on that for decades. Largest manufacturing project of our generation¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t sound like those weapons were gonna be coming back to Cartehega from what Paulin said?¡± Tom replied curiously. ¡®I guess they do try to fight back a bit then.¡¯


    ¡°Well, why would she know? Besides, the problem is the energy supply. The lances have been ready for years. First one was completed before I even earned my cloak.¡±


    ¡°Your cloak?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this thing,¡± Edita replied, billowing her cloak a little. It looked almost like flowing mercury in the light coming in the window.


    ¡°Is that like your rank then?¡±


    ¡°It means I''m an artificer.¡±


    ¡°Sooo¡­ what¡¯s the mark of a tech-priest? Or Priest of technology?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. You will never know unless you have to. Some random preacher might be one. It¡¯s basically everyone in the church or Inquisition who¡¯s allowed to handle our sacred lost technology.¡±


    ¡°Which is another reason why you are here?¡±


    ¡°As well as the two that will be assisting Paulin. But yes, I¡¯m here to make sure our lost artifacts are treated properly,¡± she replied with a smile and a slight bow.


    ¡°So those lances of yours¡­ what can they do?¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, cut through anything you can see and hit. We can¡¯t test fire for more than a few seconds because we can''t lift up rocks big enough to survive it


    ¡°Yeah, I can see why that would be useful¡­ and the power source?¡±


    ¡°In the capital, we call it the core. It draws magic from the entire surrounding area. by our best estimates up to ten kilometers out.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ keep firing?¡±


    ¡°And everyone is dead,¡± Edita finished, not seeming perturbed in the slightest. ¡°That¡¯s not even the worst part. That has to be the shield for the central spire. I¡¯ve never even witnessed that thing turned on. But I know one like it was used in the battle of Cartahega, only their core wasn¡¯t quite as big.¡±


    ¡°Wow¡­ wait, you have shields? Linkosta said that¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°Sure it is¡­ with her magic,¡± Edita chuckled as she walked over to the half-built shotgun, running a hand along the barrel. ¡°We don¡¯t have any of that here¡­ But Joelina gave me free reign to innovate as long as it stays here. I will figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Well, we are making production equipment, not arcanely enhanced shotguns. And personal shield generators.¡±


    ¡°I think Joelina is crazy for trying this. But people are getting desperate. Maybe it¡¯s a chance we need to take. I don¡¯t care, I think this is the most exciting thing I¡¯ve ever done.¡±


    ¡°Well. pardon me for asking, but if you can already make machine parts, what do you need a machine factory for?¡± Tom asked, hoping he might get a bit more detailed answers out of Edita.


    ¡°For this,¡± Edita replied, gesturing at the shotgun. ¡°To make something new. Even if they manage to agree on letting us innovate, that is still a fair way away from letting the holy sanctums of the tech-priests produce holy artifacts for our people and armies. That will require more work. And we would be slow¡­ glacially slow.¡± Edita grumbled turning her attention not leaving the crude shotgun.


    ¡°So we are the next best thing?¡±


    ¡°Not just that. This is a long-term solution. The restoration of technology to this world. The fires of industry lit anew. The coming of a new age,¡± Edita replied reverently as she looked at the homemade lathe that hadn¡¯t even been painted.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna need some kind of nap time.¡±


    ¡°You can sleep when you are dead,¡± Shiva then interrupted, bursting in through the door with another box and looking around. ¡°Someone is busy making themselves comfortable?¡±


    ¡°Yes, master smith. I must say this is a fine forge for the frontier.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Sure is,¡± Shiva replied, setting down the crate and peeling the lid off with her own hands. ¡°But this will make it even better.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tom questioned, going to have a peek inside.


    ¡°Files,¡± Shiva replied with a wide smile on her face.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, those. I didn¡¯t know which ones you might have, so I just brought them all.¡±


    Shiva picked on out of the straw-filled box. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful¡­ is this enchanted?¡± Shiva asked, tilting her head as inspected the exquisite-looking tool.


    ¡°Why of course, can''t have a faulty file leaving scratch marks,¡± Edita replied as if that was perfectly normal.


    ¡°Incredible,¡± Shiva let out, running her fingers along it.


    ¡°Got another one,¡± Jacky then added, stepping in the open door with yet another crate. ¡°Where does this one go? It was just labeled something I couldn¡¯t read.¡±


    Edita walked over, taking a quick look at the box. ¡°Alloys. It¡¯s bars of metal, some quite rare. Be careful with that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, a bar of copper doesn¡¯t break easy. What did you do to her?¡± Jacky replied delicately, putting the box down and looking at her mother. ¡°Also, that¡¯s not how you spell alloy.¡±


    ¡°It was,¡± Edita replied with a smile.


    ¡°They brought enhanced tools, Jacky. Look at this,¡± Shiva almost chirped, turning around to show off the file to Jacky.


    ¡°Ooh pretty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not seen her this excited since¡­ well ever actually,¡± Tom chuckled, looking at the old smith who didn¡¯t even acknowledge the joke as she carefully put the file away, picking out another one.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Where would you like these, master smith?¡± Edita questioned, holding up a selection of small hammers and one big one.


    ¡°I-¡± Shiva let out, looking up from the box, eyes locking on the large mallet-looking hammer. She then straightened her back, walked over next to the anvil, and removed one of the forging hammers, putting it in a box under a table before walking back over and holding out her hand for the large inquisitorial hammer.


    Edita just shrugged, handing it over, Shiva treating the implement with near-religious reverence as she walked back over to the anvil and hung the hammer on the wall. ¡°There.¡±


    Jackalope just leaned in, whispering to Tom. ¡°I think she has a new favorite.¡±


    Tom just nodded, whispering back. ¡°Where is Tink?¡±


    ¡°Oh I think he¡¯s organizing inside the workshop.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go keep an eye on him. Edita, why don¡¯t you and Shiva figure out where everything goes. I¡¯m gonna go make sure our inventor doesn¡¯t get too curious with anything.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Let him know I want to pick his brain too later. He sounds interesting,¡± Edita replied as Shiva simply nodded without looking at him, picking up another hammer and looking at a wall with too little space on it, seeming conflicted on what to do.


    As it turned out, Tom¡¯s decision to let the two craftswomen sort out the tools in the smithy was an excellent idea. As he stepped in the door to the workshop, he was greeted by Tink examining a very intricate and delicate-looking piece of who knows what.


    ¡°I think you should put that down,¡± Tom went, looking at the Inventor, who in turn just turned to look at Tom.


    ¡°But I just picked it up? Where do you want it?¡±


    ¡°Just put it on the table gently. We have no idea what that does.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably fragile too,¡± Junior added, clearly sharing Tom¡¯s concern, the kid currently trying to put an ornately decorated box up on a tall shelf.


    ¡°It said ¡®Acronometer¡¯ on the box,¡± Tink continued as he held it up for a closer look.


    ¡°And you think I know what that means? Jus-¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t,¡± Tink interrupted, lowering the thing back down and turning it over in his hands.


    ¡°Just put it on the damn table, Tink.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. Could you get the artificer? I want to know how this works.¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s busy reorganizing Shiva¡¯s hammer collection.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t get her, I¡¯ll start pushing buttons¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Tom replied, turning back to the door to fetch her only to watch it swing open as Edita strode in carrying a usb stick.


    ¡°What is the purpose of this item?¡±


    ¡°I was just about to ask the same thing,¡± Tink went, gesturing at the device on the table.


    ¡°Oh that thing? It measures resistance in runic inscriptions.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating.¡±


    ¡°And what is this, Tom?¡±


    ¡°Data storage¡­ that one has kids'' movies on it?¡±


    ¡°Why was that in the forge?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to make a translation, it¡¯s sorta working¡­ it¡¯s just gonna be a lot of work.¡±


    ¡°Translation?¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t peeked in any of my books yet?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ you write in a different language?¡±


    ¡°... Yes¡­¡± Tom admitted after a bit of hesitation, not quite sure he was prepared to answer that one.


    ¡°Curses that aren''t allowed near the machine!¡± Edita let out in pretty evident frustration.


    ¡°You okay there?¡± Tink questioned, tilting his head, looking at her.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Edita replied with a very false calm. ¡°So. How hard is this language to learn?¡±


    ¡°I mean, by now Saph and Essy might be able to take you through the basics.¡±


    ¡°Where is this Saph? I have to schedule classes.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯m not that bad at it either,¡± Tink let out, looking at her, the artificer¡¯s head swinging around to look at him. ¡°It can get a bit boring to just be working the machines all day¡­ been doing a little reading¡­ I suck at speaking it though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a spoken language too?¡± Edita asked, gaze snapping to Tom.


    ¡°Selvf?lgelig,¡± Tom replied in Danish, trying not to smile at the lack of comprehension on their faces.


    ¡°What did he say?¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t English,¡± Tink protested, glaring at Tom.


    ¡°No, but he can actually read a bit of English. Might help the two inventors get to know each other too,¡±Tom admitted, turning to Edita. ¡®And make it not my problem if Tink breaks something for at least a bit.¡¯


    ¡°We will discuss the rest of the languages you know later. Inventor? You¡¯re Tink?¡± Edita asked, eyes locking on the diminutive man.


    ¡°That¡¯s me, yes,¡± Tink replied with a nod, looking a tad perplexed.


    ¡°I remember you from the report¡­ Oh, I have so many questions for you as well. I¡¯ve never invented anything before¡­ Not really at least. Just slight modifications of existing components.¡±


    ¡°Dad¡¯s your guy then. He can¡¯t stick with an idea for long enough to make it work right, but he¡¯s got plenty,¡± Junior joked, receiving a stink-eye from his father.


    ¡°I believe I can be of help with that, yes,¡± Tink answered, raising his chin a little, looking at Edita. ¡°I have invented many things over the years.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so. How would you structure an enchantment to heat a cutting edge to the point the metal turns liquid while still keeping the structure of the blade?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I made a rotary washing line once,¡± Tink stammered out, looking at her, clearly not quite expecting that. ¡°But¡­ why would you even use a blade in that case? Or even why heat your weapon. I would heat the target instead.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a bright lance at that point.¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s wrong with that? Didn¡¯t the investigator that wanted to be a priest say you have something called that already.¡±


    ¡°Because a bright lance uses enough magic to burn through a small village in a couple seconds.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I may have some more questions.¡±


    ¡°Of course you do. But mine first.¡±


    ¡®Thank goodness, they are self-sustaining,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, letting out a relieved sigh and looking to Junior. ¡°So kiddo¡­ enjoying all the soldiers around?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had chosen to stay behind after the inquisitor left, mainly as an excuse to have a chat with Fengi, something which was quite clearly needed.


    ¡°So¡­ that wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± Essy had opened as soon as Joelina was ascending back into the sky aboard Baron, the venerable red having done nothing but sit and scowl at Yldril the entire time.


    ¡°No¡­ I guess not,¡± Fengi replied meekly as Unkai quickly walked up, putting an arm around her shoulder and guiding her back to camp.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go sit down for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Essy echoed as Saph just followed along keeping an eye on Yldril, the black dragon clearly tracking them as they walked. ¡®You¡¯re a piece of shit¡­ but not without reason,¡¯ Saph begrudgingly thought to herself, doing her best to win the staring competition.


    They had gone to sit down at the small campfire. It was currently nothing but a pile of burnt-out chunks and ash, but the weather wasn¡¯t half bad, so relighting it could wait till evening.


    ¡°So. How does it feel having met an inquisitor?¡± Saph said, sitting down, hoping to lighten the mood a little.


    ¡°I think you did very well,¡± Unkai added, giving her a little squeeze.


    ¡°No no, it was fine. I was just a little scared, that''s all,¡± Fengi replied.


    ¡°Hey, that''s fine. But she clearly trusts you¡­ at least enough to not start prying around in your mind,¡± Saph mused, trying to keep it light.


    ¡°Think she¡¯s scared of upsetting Kalestine?¡± Fengi asked, looking up at Saph.


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s possible. Think of it like that. You have a friend that outranks an inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°And a big scary dragon,¡± Unkai added with a nod. Saph narrowed her eyes a bit, trying to gauge him.


    ¡®He¡¯s still scared,¡¯ she concluded, turning her attention back to Fengi. ¡®Noble effort. Here''s to hoping she won¡¯t notice.¡¯


    ¡°I didn''t ask for either,¡± Fengi replied, putting her head in her hands and letting out a strained sigh.


    ¡°No but you got them. Just make the most of it,¡± Saph tried with a shrug.


    ¡°I know I know. Just give me a minute, alright?¡±


    They all nodded in agreement, looking around at each other as silence reigned around the burnt-out campfire. Fengi did eventually look up, glancing around at them and pulling a slight smile, which Saph guessed was at least a bit fake.


    ¡°Quite the day, huh? You should have seen the look on Essy¡¯s face when Glira worked out who was coming.¡±


    ¡°That was not quite who I had expected to interrupt lunch prep, I must say,¡± Essy added, shaking her head, a smile on her face as she let out a giggle that most of them joined in on. ¡°What¡¯s next, the king comes calling?¡±


    ¡°Now now. A prince at best,¡± Saph joked as they all laughed a bit at that.


    ¡°With our luck, that¡¯s exactly what will happen,¡± Fengi sighed, turning her attention towards Yldril, who was without a doubt listening in. ¡°What do you say, Yldril. We¡¯re in this together now, aye?¡±


    ¡°Since when were we not,¡± the black dragon sneered.


    ¡°Well she could just have killed you before the inquisitor came here, but now we can¡¯t get away with that,¡± Saph added in, turning to look at the dragon as well.


    ¡°And defy the prancy horse?¡±


    ¡°Kalestine¡­ she¡¯s called Kalestine,¡± Fengi corrected.


    ¡°What does that change? It¡¯s just a name. I have been bound to the will of a stupid little street girl playing at knowing how the world works.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Saph sighed, glaring at the dragon. ¡°You know, maybe the people that kicked you out weren¡¯t that shit. Maybe you were just insufferable!¡±


    ¡°And maybe I should have had you as a snack when I could.¡±


    ¡°Like you could ever catch me,¡± Saph chuffed, turning to look at Fengi, who was staring angrily at her. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you kicked out from home too?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah,¡± Saph replied, ears dropping a bit, looking off to the side.


    ¡°You heard the shit she¡¯s been through. Isn¡¯t that enough to at least earn her a bit of pity?¡± Fengi snapped, Saph catching Yldril pulling a slight smile out of the corner of her eye.


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t run around trying to kill regular people,¡± Saph protested, throwing up her arms.


    ¡°No, and neither will she from now on. And you can wipe that smug smile off your face,¡± Fengi carried on, turning to glare at Yldril. ¡°Just cause your life has been shit doesn¡¯t mean you get to make it worse for everyone else. All you end up with is more stories like yours. I promised you I would not take away your ability to speak freely. And I already made good on that promise. That doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t punish you for being an arsehole.¡±


    ¡°And how do you intend to do that? I can''t do anything!?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a list for when you can,¡± Fengi replied, staring daggers at the dragon. ¡°You will do good to repay for not being a good person.¡±


    ¡°That has got to be the most naive thing I have ever heard.¡±


    ¡°And yet I can still do it.¡±


    ¡°I am going to be worked to the bone either way. You forgot the incentive in your little plan, mayflies.¡±


    ¡°Getting a bath, better food, brushing and polishing, days off, finishing early. I can do a lot of things to make your life easier. Isn¡¯t that what you wanted? A nice place to stay where they won¡¯t kick you out? Well I¡¯m giving you one. So just be a little bit grateful!¡±


    ¡°I think she wants to lean back and relax while having her every need taken care of,¡± Saph replied, trying not to growl as she turned back to glare at the burnt-out fire.


    ¡°Well, that part we don¡¯t need to worry about, now do we¡­ come girls, I think she needs a bit of alone time. Since I¡¯m not burning magic right now, I think I¡¯m allowed to go back to the keep. Yldril, don¡¯t hurt anyone or break anything. I¡¯ll be back tomorrow when you have had a chance to think for a bit.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even get a tent over my head,¡± Yldril protested as they all got up.


    ¡°Tough shit,¡± Fengi replied as she walked off, receiving nothing but an annoyed grumble from the dragon. Unkai seemed a touch conflicted, looking between Fengi and Yldril.


    ¡°S-Should I stay here? In case she needs me?¡±


    Fengi stopped in her tracks, turning around glancing between the healer and the dragon.


    ¡°... Yes, that¡¯s probably the smartest. I can only imagine how angry Joelina would be if something happened to her new oxen.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I believe this will work, yes¡­ It will need to be flattened, obviously. Is there a quarry anywhere near here?¡± Joelina questioned, looking over the site they had selected for the possible warehouse.


    ¡°It''s old and overgrown, but the place they cut the stone for the keep is about twenty minutes that way. I believe there would still be plenty of good stones,¡± Kuliger replied. The resident carpenter was the most knowledgeable person around when it came to construction work, from the keep at least.


    ¡°Very good. And we save the open field over there for the factory floor.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know construction planning was part of the inquisitorial job description,¡± Kulinger replied in a truly astoundingly kind and even interested tone.


    ¡®Even the old grump knows when it¡¯s time to behave,¡¯ Tom pondered to himself. ¡®Either that or these folks are religious enough to meet his standards¡­ both could be possible.¡¯


    ¡°It is not. But I need a factory, so a factory I shall have. How about wood. This Kalestine. How would you describe your standing with her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a most magnificent creature. I am sure she will understand the importance behind the work being done and mark out some trees useful for the project,¡± Kulinger replied, making no effort to hide his reverence for the unicorn.


    ¡°I see,¡± Joelina replied, turning to look around at the other people assembled for the little surveying trip. ¡°Any other remarks?¡±


    ¡°It might take some convincing to get any good trees near here,¡± Dakota admitted. ¡°It¡¯s already a fair flight to the forest.


    ¡°I think mentioning who would be hauling them might at least help with getting some large ones,¡± Tom added. ¡°More work equals more punishment and all.¡±


    ¡°Also, do you intend to build using fresh timbers?¡± Kulinger asked, sounding fairly skeptical.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for drying it or whatever needs to be done. If you can have some ready for spring next year you can use them for the factory.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Well it won¡¯t last then.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Hylsdal being built with fresh too?¡± Tom asked, looking at Kulinger.


    ¡°They need a roof over their head. They will be fighting those beams for years unless they just take them out and replace them¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ now I¡¯m not an idiot, but why?¡±


    ¡°They will warp, shrink, and if under load crack and split and more warping obviously.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    ¡°But this is just a warehouse. The factory sounds more important.¡±


    ¡°That it is,¡± Joelina agreed. ¡°But construction will start in spring.¡±


    ¡°Timbers like that need years to properly cure. It will look like a crooked mess.¡±


    ¡°Then a crooked mess it will be. Just make it work,¡± Joelina replied, setting off at a walk towards the bunker. ¡°You needed more of those, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, for the explosive¡­ well anything really,¡± Tom replied, jogging after her to catch up, feeling as much as seeing the armored woman keeping an eye on him.


    ¡°How long would it take to make one?¡±


    ¡°A few days to put together. More to make the beams and planks.¡±


    ¡°I would say a week at best,¡± Kulinger added, clearly having decided to keep up as well.


    ¡°Could it be done faster?¡±


    ¡°Not really if you want to keep it dry,¡± Tom replied politely.


    ¡°Very well, let¡¯s see then,¡± she replied as they came upon the small structure. ¡°A hole in the ground with a roof.¡± Joelina went to walk around it, appraising it. ¡°I like it. Nice and simple.¡±


    ¡°The simple solution is often the best.¡±


    ¡°Wishful thinking, but a noble sentiment nonetheless,¡± Joelina replied, arriving at the door. ¡°I wish to see the inside as well.¡±


    ¡°Of course. But it goes without saying, no touching and no fire.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Right then, follow me,¡± Tom replied courteously, going down to the door and cracking it open before pushing it up and over to let gravity hold it open. ¡°There we go. It¡¯s a little dark but no fire inside.¡±


    ¡°Not to worry,¡± Joelina replied, holding up her necklace as it started to shine bright. ¡°I come prepared for dark places. By the way, I would love to pick your brain in private a bit later if that would be possible.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe this is a yes or no question, is it?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Library after dinner. I need to know if betting this much on you even has a chance of working.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 150: Mental Trauma

    Chapter 150: Mental Trauma


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Oh, look who¡¯s back,¡± Fengi grumbled as she walked through the door to the grand hall, Saph and Essy close on her heels. Balethon and Heron were apparently on kitchen duty today. Balethon was just finishing setting the tables, while Heron was carrying in a pot of what Saph suspected was a stew of some kind. They were using all the tables and benches today with all their extra guests, so there were likely extra people in the kitchens too.


    ¡°Now now, he¡¯s not that bad,¡± Essy protested once they¡¯d all made it inside the hall proper. ¡°And he was wounded fighting alongside Saph here. Some respect is in order.¡±


    Saph winced a little at the memory; the sound of the snapping chain still burned into her mind. ¡°That is true¡­ and he was useful in the city after all.¡±


    ¡°Never said he wasn¡¯t useful,¡± Fengi retorted. ¡°Just annoying¡­ and an arsehole at times.¡±


    ¡°Just ask Jacky about that last one,¡± Saph added as they started looking for a place to sit.


    ¡°Well, he got humbled quite a bit after that. Maybe the second humbling is what he needed,¡± Essy replied with a smile that was just a bit too wide.


    That was when the recognizable voice of Jacky rang out from across the room, the tall woman waving at them and jogging over.


    ¡°There you are, you work shy bastards. Took you long enough.¡±


    ¡°Like you would want to be the one to show an inquisitor around,¡± Saph joked, receiving a slight poke from Fengi.


    ¡°They¡¯re everywhere right now. Be respectful,¡± the small woman whispered in a hard tone, her eyes glancing around.


    ¡°Right¡­ anyway, so mum got a lot of new tools. She¡¯s damn near losing it right now I think.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing inquisitorial hammers are up to standard then?¡± Essy asked with a chuckle, her smile turning more genuine.


    ¡°Oh you bet. So¡­ all good with Yldril? You don¡¯t have to keep her company at night?¡± Jacky asked, looking at Fengi with a rather genuine look of concern on her face.


    ¡°Yeah she¡¯s good¡­ I could use a proper meal.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, campfire food ain¡¯t that bad,¡± Saph protested with a smile.


    ¡°No, but this is better.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think food should be about ready,¡± Essy said, taking the lead, the rest of them going to follow towards the big pot. ¡°I think it might get a little tight today.¡±


    They had all gotten their meals and gone to sit down at the huntress table. Essy had been proven right, as a couple of guards from both Galaxer and Archeon came over to sit at their table.


    ¡°Well this is cozy,¡± Saph chuckled as Fengi scooted a bit closer to make room. ¡°I guess you got the company you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I love you too,¡± Fengi sighed with a smile, taking another bite.


    ¡°Anyone seen Tom yet?¡± Jacky added as the din of conversation started picking up around them. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him for a bit.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Jacky? Afraid he¡¯s alone with his new personal assistant?¡± Saph chuckled mischievously.


    ¡°Who?¡± Essy asked, looking around at them.


    ¡°Tom¡¯s latest headache I guess,¡± Saph chuckled, glancing at Jacky, who was herself also busy looking around the room. Right on cue, Joelina strode into the room with a rather tired-looking Tom following, Edita hot on his heels. ¡°And there he is.¡±


    ¡°Well, Jacky, I don¡¯t think you need to worry much there. He looks sick of her already,¡± Saph chuckled, taking another bite of food.


    ¡°Still¡­ she is very¡­ friendly.¡± Jacky replied in a sceptical tone, tracking them, eyes narrowing.


    ¡°Now Jacky, no fighting with the inquisition over your boy toy,¡± Fengi snickered as she too tucked in.


    ¡°My what?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind her, she¡¯s just in need of stretching her wings a little,¡± Essy interrupted in a calming tone, a warm smile on her face.


    ¡°No, I just wanted to make a little fun of Jacky,¡± Fengi said straight-faced, food still in her mouth. ¡°Kinda want to not worry about every word I say for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case, did you see Balethon is back?¡± Jacky retorted, seeming rather unamused.


    ¡°Oh yeah, Saph said that. Where is he?¡±


    ¡°Guard table,¡± Saph pointed out helpfully, pointing with her fork. ¡°I still wanna know where he got that little lizard at.¡±


    ¡°Canabrera got it for him,¡± one of the guards sitting at the end of the table said, Saph looking down and recognizing Udanti, the archer she had battled with back in the spring.


    ¡°Hi there,¡± Saph went with a wave, happy to see the older woman again.


    ¡°Hello¡­ Canabrera got it for him as a present I believe.¡±


    ¡°Well you mean she left him with it,¡± Tirox, the little energetic guy, added with a laugh.


    ¡°Well, the thing was probably expensive. It¡¯s a kind gift.¡±


    ¡°Expensive to care for you mean. I bet you she got it for free. It belonged to that mercenary you guys saw go splat,¡± Tirox snickered, the little guy gamely stealing a slice of bread from his neighbour despite being two heads shorter then both the women on either side of him.


    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s called Skitters,¡± Udanti sighed with a shrug.


    ¡°Oh¡­ right,¡± Saph let out, staring into the middle distance for a second. ¡°Well, is it sweet?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s terribly behaved. Bites at ankles and ears and has a horrible temper,¡± Udanti replied, shaking her head once and taking another bite of bread, noticing she was missing a piece and glaring at Tirox.


    ¡°Hah, and now he has to take care of it,¡± Fengi added with a smile, gesturing with a half-full spoon. ¡°I bet he¡¯s gonna get into so much trouble with that thing.¡±


    ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t end up breaking anything expensive,¡± Saph shrugged, looking up to see Tom glancing around looking for a seat.


    There were some free at the crafters table but their own was full. He seemed to think for a second before his shoulders slouched a little and he began walking towards the kids table to sit down.


    ¡°Someone is tired of answering questions,¡± Saph let out nodding towards the human.


    ¡°Yeah they have been at it all day¡­ and most of yesterday,¡± Jacky added with a grumble.


    ¡°Jacky, you better give him a quiet evening. No dumb scheems or brainless ideas.¡±


    ¡°Not yet she won''t. Inquisitor is having a chat with him in the library after this, closed doors. Heard it when they were putting shite in your bunker,¡± Tirox added in a whisper that still carried to the whole table.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Oh shit¡± Jacky let out as she looked up, glancing between Tom and the inquisitor, who had sat down at the Bizmati family table. ¡°Well at least he wormed his way out of her questions for¡­ oh no you don''t,¡± Jacky continued, Saph looking up to see Edita walking towards the kid''s table with a big smile on her face.


    ¡°Now Jacky, before you¡­ uhr never mind,¡± Saph tried as Jacky got up, taking her food with her. Essy and Fengi just looked at each other before scooting together making use of the newly found space. ¡°Should we go over there too?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. This was always going to happen,¡± Essy replied, not seeming overly concerned.


    ¡°Maybe it will take that Artificer''s mind off asking him questions for at least a bit in order to figure out how to appease an angry Jacky,¡± Fengi snickered, also looking over at the kids¡¯ table.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t strike me as one with overly many social skills,¡± Saph admitted before going back to her food. ¡°Do speak up if something interesting happens. I want to eat while it¡¯s still hot.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So she¡¯s like your assistant too?¡± Kiran asked as soon as Tom had finished explaining who the woman in the workshop had been.


    ¡°Yes Kiran, she¡¯s my assistant too.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m still firstest assistant, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, little fella,¡± Tom chuckled, ruffling the little guy¡¯s head, Kiran letting out a little happy shriek.


    ¡°Is this where you normally sit?¡± Edita then asked from behind him. Tom let out an internal sigh as he tried not to wince.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°You sit with the children. Fascinating. Is it because of their many ideas?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Just sorta ended up being tradition¡­ I started out on nanny duty here,¡± Tom replied reluctantly.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding. They had you watching the kids?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s more important than the future generation?¡± Tom replied, paying more attention to his food.


    ¡°You seem slack eared all of a sudden. Something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Might just need some time to think before Joelina goes through my noggin, that¡¯s all. Maybe you could sit with the craftspeople for now? I¡¯m sure both Tink and Shiva have a lot of questions.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s doing a big think!¡± Kiran declared loudly, before climbing up into Tom¡¯s lap and looking at Edita defiantly.


    ¡°I¡­ Who are you?¡± she replied, staring down at the kid, clearly more confused by what she was seeing than anything else


    ¡°I¡¯m Kiran. Tom¡¯s bestest friend.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Hi, I¡¯m Edita.¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± Kiran replied pointedly, chin raised. ¡°Tom is thinking. I can answer questions.¡±


    Tom had to do his very best not to giggle at that as he hid his face in his hands.


    ¡°Okay?¡­¡± Edita questioned, looking like she had no clue what¡¯s going on.


    ¡°Or you could leave him alone for a bit,¡± Jacky then said, Tom shooting up and turning to look at her, not having heard her approach. Kiran for his part latched onto Toms chest, hanging there, maintaining his stare at Edita the whole time.


    ¡°Oh.. you¡¯re the smith''s daughter, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m also his girlfriend,¡± Jacky replied in a familiarly unfriendly tone.


    ¡®oh shit, here we go,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Edita asked, tilting her head and looking at Jacky. There was no sass or sarcasm to be found in her tone. Just genuine confusion.


    It would seem Jacky, just like Tom, had not quite been ready for that reply as they both stared at the artificer for a second or two.


    ¡°It¡¯s your bestest girl friend,¡± Kiran let out with an over-exaggerated sigh, like anyone should know that.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°No, it means I love him and he loves me,¡± Jacky corrected after taking a few seconds to get back on track. ¡°And he needs just a little bit of peace and quiet right now I think.¡±


    ¡°Love him?... I mean, I love his work.¡±


    ¡®Oh boi,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, not sure if he should find the current situation funny or scary as Jacky stared down the artificer, a hint of a snarl creeping onto her face.


    ¡°No Edti¡­ Eda¡­ You,¡± Turinai spoke up, raising her spoon and waving to Edita, getting her attention. ¡°Love is when two people like each other so much they want to stay together forever and ever.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s marriage,¡± Holdey corrected, launching a mini argument on that small topic. ¡°My mum and dad are married.¡±


    Edita just looked more confused, and Jacky was clearly fuming.


    ¡°Oookay, I think, Edita, you should just go over there and sit with Shiva and the other crafters. You¡¯ll get your questions answered, but maybe just wait till tomorrow please¡­ I have a feeling Joelina is going to be knocking me for a loop after this.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right,¡± the artificer let out in a low tone, looking really quite sad, confusion clear on her face as she looked around at the kids, ears hanging down the side of her face.


    ¡°Go ask Tink or something. Or maybe have a talk with Essy about what love is. I¡¯m sure she would love that particular topic,¡± Jacky added, putting an arm around Tom¡¯s neck and resting it on his shoulder leaning in for a whisper. ¡°You need some peace and quiet for just a bit come on.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Okay¡­ Right, she¡¯s coming over here, make some room or something,¡± Fengi said as the clearly lost-looking Edita apparently decided their table was the right one, walking over slowly with her food.


    ¡°At least Jacky didn¡¯t hit her,¡± Saph sighed as she made room.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Essy?¡± the Artificer asked, coming to a stop.


    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± Essy went, raising a hand.


    ¡°Hi¡­ Jacky said I needed to ask you something, can I sit down?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Essy replied with a big smile, gesturing at the by now many free spots as they all scooted away a bit more.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Edita went with a fake-looking smile, her ears hanging too low as she set down the food before stepping over the bench and sitting down. She looked around at them all with a perturbed expression, eyes stopping on Essy. ¡°So uhm¡­ What is love?¡±


    They had already quieted down a little watching the exchange between Tom, Jacky, and Edita, but now they were silent as they all stared at Edita. The woman clearly grew quite uncomfortable under all the staring, glancing from side to side getting smaller in her seat.


    ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s uhm,¡± Essy slowly replied, clearly not quite sure where to start with that one.


    ¡°Have you never really liked a person before? Felt like you would do anything for them?¡± Fengi tried, leaning on her elbows.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I don¡¯t think so?¡±


    ¡°How is that even possible?¡± Essy let out, looking like she regretted it immediately, covering her mouth.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know?!¡± Edita squeaked, shrinking down in her seat even further.


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s fine. Uhm¡­ I¡¯ve just never heard of anyone who¡¯s never been in love before,¡± Essy replied in a careful tone, sounding like she was really trying her hardest to pick her words. Saph was just sitting there trying to work out how the hell an adult could not know about love.


    ¡°I love my work?¡± Edita tried equally carefully looking like she hoped that was the right answer.


    ¡°Right, okay. That¡¯s a start.¡± Essy replied in a kind motherly tone, clearly thinking hard about a response.


    ¡°How many people did you grow up with?¡± Saph then interjected, tilting her head just a little bit.


    ¡°Oh, hundreds,¡± Edita replied seeming more comfortable with that line of questioning.


    ¡°And for how long was that¡­ As in, how old were you when you were sent off for training or however that works?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been trained from birth.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ that clears some of it up,¡± Essy replied, looking like some pieces were at least falling into place. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell us a bit about how it is, growing up as an artificer.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can,¡± Edita let out sheepishly, shooting a glance towards where Joelina was sitting. ¡°Many secrets involved.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so, no details about secrets then? Did you ever get to play with other kids?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, plenty. We would assemble things against the clock, compete for the best polish, play ¡®guess the thread,¡¯ loads of fun stuff.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding¡­ How long did this go on?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ forever to an extent. Some people got sent off to other places.¡±


    ¡°You lived your entire life¡­ where exactly?¡± Udanti the archer asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°The capital¡­ I- I¡¯m not saying more than that to you¡­ sorry.¡±


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t wanna get shot in the back cause I heard too much.¡±


    ¡°No one is getting shot around here,¡± Saph clarified, looking rather sternly at Udanti. ¡°But no. No secrets¡­ If you can manage that.¡±


    Udanti just shrugged, not looking overly bothered as she took another bite of food.


    ¡°So you spent your whole life in one place with both guys and girls around?... And no one ever loved anyone?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ we had good friends¡­ But the machines. The machines are everything,¡± Edita went, shoulders sagging a little, looking off into the middle distance.


    ¡°You¡¯re creeping me out just a little right now girl,¡± Saph let out reluctantly.


    ¡°But¡­ Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No no, don¡¯t be sorry,¡± Essy tried in a comforting tone. ¡°So¡­ no one was ever¡­ together?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± the artificer let out, looking very sad.


    ¡°No one got married?¡± Essy tried again, clearly grasping at straws.


    ¡°You mean to say lots of people in one place and no kids resulted?¡± Fengi interrupted, sounding more than a little skeptical.


    ¡°Oh no. We can¡¯t have kids.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Essy blurted out as they all stopped to stare at the artificer.


    Edita just froze, staring around at them all and looking almost scared. ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Edita¡­ Where do you think kids come from?¡±


    ¡°Outside obviously, from the cities.¡±


    ¡°A little more literally.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Well, a man and a woman come toget-¡±


    ¡°Right, that will do,¡± Essy interrupted, shifting a little in her seat. ¡°But you can¡¯t have kids?¡±


    ¡°...No.¡±


    ¡°Is everything alright over here?¡± the familiar voice of Investigator Paulin rang out with an air of authority.


    ¡°Oh yes, perfectly,¡± Saph replied with a forced smile.


    ¡°I see someone forgot how my ears work¡­ Edita, you are at liberty to discuss your work with these people. Not the inner workings of your order¡­ Understood?¡±


    ¡°Perfectly, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Carry on. It is not illegal for you to learn of the outside world any longer after all.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡®You have got to be shitting me,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself, looking after the investigator then back to the scared-looking artificer.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll work it out,¡± Saph tried comfortingly, reaching over the table to take Edita¡¯s hand and holding it for a bit. ¡°We can just tell you everything we know instead.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Jacky had come to the rescue in his hour of need. She had whisked him away to their room to eat and just have a bit of peace and quiet. He hadn¡¯t said much aside from thanks as they both ate, trying to work out what he should do about an inquisitor going to probe inside his head.


    The results had been pathetic. He had no clue what to do. Could he hide anything? Could she feel if he tried? There were always things one wanted to keep private. And what about emotions? Could she feel them too?


    So here he was, standing in front of the doors to the library. He was fairly sure Joelina was inside, and he knew Jacky had followed him, likely dead set on trying to listen in through the door. It wasn¡¯t like he could stop her anyway.


    Swinging open the door, he was confronted by Joelina sitting in Apuma¡¯s chair and the armored woman standing in the corner looking at him.


    ¡°So¡­ is this the part where you go through my childhood memories?¡±


    ¡°Some of them, maybe,¡± Joelina replied, gesturing for him to come in. Tom complied, closing the doors behind him. Joelina for her part got up, tilting her and head looking him up and down.


    ¡±I will be completely honest. I first and foremost want to work out just where you are lying and about what. It¡¯s clear you have ended up so deep in a web of deceit, at which you are hopelessly incompetent, that you have no idea how to get back out. Certainly a useful thing in some situations, but I would quite like the big picture.¡±


    ¡°And if my memory serves, the fighting ends poorly,¡± Tom replied with an understanding nod. ¡®Called a liar before sitting down. Strong start.¡¯


    ¡°Quite. I would also like to know if this would even work. You are everything but a standard subject after all.¡±


    ¡°Not scared you might fry mine, yours, or both our brains doing this? Linkosta had her doubts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite certain I¡¯m safe,¡± Joelina replied with an ever so slight smile, gesturing at Apuma¡¯s big chair.


    ¡°Marvellous,¡± Tom replied, sitting down in the comfy chair. He knew Jacky was standing right outside the door by now, so a cry for aid would likely have him freed in short order. But he got where Joelina was coming from. She wanted to know if he was full of shit and what was actually on his mind. He would be pulling the same trick in her shoes right about now.


    ¡°So. As you have clearly heard, do not try to fight me or it may¡­ fry you. As you so eloquently put it. Do try to get comfortable. The rest won''t be. I will be going through the memories that are most burned in. The big points, so to speak. Don¡¯t bother trying to hide anything. It will only draw attention to it.¡±


    ¡°This better go in a damn good commendation that I¡¯m doing this willingly. Ever tried reading the mind of a non-dragonette?¡±


    ¡°I started with rats. Don¡¯t worry, I think you will be quite different. And I do promise to try my best to make this¡­ less uncomfortable,¡± Joelina replied as she leaned in over him, placing her fingers on his temples and forehead.


    What followed was a strange sensation as Tom started feeling like he was drifting off to sleep. The strange spiraling colors one so often sees started to spring into his vision even though his eyes were open.


    He decided closing them was probably a good idea, as he started developing a slight headache which quickly turned into a full migraine. He took a breath, clutching at the armrest of the comfy chair, as the pain increased. Images started to form like he was in a lucid dream.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start from the beginning,¡± he heard a voice boom out. It sounded nothing like Joelina, a deep echoey tone to it that seemed to come from everywhere at once. He started seeing places he recognized as well as people¡­ he felt something with each one. Hate¡­ longing¡­ happiness. The pain was still there like a bad migraine, but it was bearable, and this¡­ this was certainly something.


    ¡°You are a natural I see. Let it flow nice and slow,¡± the voice boomed as the pictures kept coming. Tom felt a spike of pain when they stopped on something before continuing, not a word spoken.


    Happy memories, sad memories. All things he could remember to some extent from his past. Going to the beach with his parents, falling off a bicycle when he was a little kid, being bored in class. On and on they went, stopping on what he figured Joelina found interesting. A few were even replayed, like a happy memory of getting his first computer. Those hurt a lot, like Joelina''s fingers were driving hot nails into his skull..


    They just keep coming though, nice and steady. School days, good days and bad ones. All the memories becoming newer and newer. His parents aging before his eyes. His dad starting to fade away. He felt more and more sadness, not sure if it was the memories or watching his dad¡¯s mind-breaking in front of him emphasized by all the bad times.


    His last day of work, the day they had to take his driver¡¯s license away, the last time he remembered who Tom was, and finally the day he managed to slip in the bath and break his neck. Joelina lingered on that memory. Tom didn¡¯t care why. Nor did he care that it hurt. He just looked through his own eyes at his dad lying on the floor in the bathroom, blood pooling on the floor¡­ and all he felt was relief.


    It was cruel¡­ It was horrible. But it was likely the best day Tom had that year. ¡®Cause, it was over and his dad had been dead for a long time by then. Every day had been hell for both him and mum. Especially mum, and it was finally over.


    ¡°You loved him, didn¡¯t you?¡± the voice rang out, sounding surprisingly tender and caring compared to before. Tom didn¡¯t answer, instead just staring blankly, knowing what was coming next.


    Next memory was his first day of boot camp. He needed to get away from it all, and what better place to do it than one where thinking got you shouted at. At least that had been the idea.


    It had sort of worked. Just not quite how he expected it. He had made some real friends there, people he trusted and felt he understood. None of the corporate bullshit and empty smiles. Just a bunch of dudes laughing at a racist joke cause it was actually funny.


    ¡°And there¡¯s the soldier,¡± the voice rang out again as the memories became less spread out, smaller things getting picked out. Mostly about his training. Then came his first deployment. His mom saying goodbye with tears in her eyes. He knew she would be crying her heart out that night, all because he had to get away from it all.


    Joelina slowed down to a snail¡¯s pace now, the pain growing unbearable as he felt himself writhe in agony through the sleeplike memory.


    ¡°Shsss now¡­ I want to see this¡­ this is new. You remember it well.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t share her enthusiasm as he sat there powerlessly, staring at his old friends walking around smiling, joking¡­ happy. And she made him watch it all in detail. He tried to shout at her. Or just do something¡­ But he couldn¡¯t even move, despite feeling his body writhing and protesting in the chair. He started feeling tight in the chest, struggling to breathe as he involuntarily climbed back up into the passenger seat of the truck.


    ¡®No no, please. No please no!¡¯


    ¡°Why is this so vivid?¡± the voice asked, confusion showing as they drove along, Tom looking out of the window and not doing overly much. It was a quiet drive. Even sort of pretty if you liked barren dirt with mountains in the background. All Tom could do was stare in horror, heart in his throat as he tried to remember what building it was.


    He failed as the explosion rang out, throwing him forward into the windscreen, the armored glass holding. He could feel the pain, every ounce of it, as he tumbled around the cabin before the truck came back down with a crash, Tom landing in the footwell.


    He clambered around aimlessly as his head cleared, blearily looking around the cabin. The driver was already opening his door, dropping to the ground. Tom could hear the shouting and screaming from the back. He clambered over the broken seat to the door, fumbling with it before kicking it open, crawling out and half falling down into the sandy dirt. Looking up, he called out for the rest of his squad as he crawled along the side of the vehicle.


    ¡°What happened?¡± the inquisitor asked confusedly. Tom could feel himself starting to cry as the crater hove into view along with the ruined rear of the truck. Tom propped himself up against it to look into the gaping hole of shredded metal left by the IED. Then the gunfire began as he instinctively hit the deck, crawling into the crater and looking around for anyone he knew.


    Vigo was sitting in the dirt, leant back against the wall of the crater and staring at him blankly. The white of his eyes was the only bright left on his blackened face. His pants were a ruined mess of black and crimson laying loosely and holding the remnants of his ruined legs. Tom scrambled through the dust and dirt to his side, taking Vigo¡¯s IFAK and putting the lollipop in his mouth, looking for the tourniquet and starting to tie off the thigh.


    ¡°Det er okay. Du skal nok klare den¡­ det er slet ikke s? slemt.¡±


    Tom could do nothing but watch himself fumble with the soon bloodied equipment, getting out his own kit as well to tie off the other leg, the gunfire deafening him as he scrambled with wet gloved hands. He was stopped by a hand yanking him away, sending him to the dirt looking up at Morten, his squad lead, standing above him. Morten went to speak, but suddenly the man¡¯s brains were blown across the crater, the once brave man collapsing into a pile at Tom¡¯s feet.


    He kicked and scrabbled back from the dead man, looking to Vigo, who was just staring at the body while sitting perfectly still. Tom looked back towards the truck, seeing more men jump off and down into the crater as the bullets whizzed around them. All were injured to some extent, and there were a lot fewer coming out of the truck than had gotten in. Torben was shot in the shoulder as he jumped down, the bear of a man letting out a roar as he rolled around clutching the wound.


    Tom just sat there next to Vigo, watching his squad get torn apart and pinned down as they all huddled against the sides of the crater for cover. There was not an able body among them, some shouting into radioes, Tom wondering where everyone else was. This was a convoy. Where the fuck was everyone!


    ¡°HVOR FANDEN ER DE ALLE SAMMEN!¡± he shouted out, looking around but receiving no reply. A mortar round missed their crater, deafening all of them for a second.


    ¡°DE FUCKING BOMBER US!¡± Vigo screamed out in panic as he clutched Tom¡¯s arm.


    ¡°JEG VIL IKKE D? I ET HUL!¡± Torben shouted out, writhing in pain as dirt rained down over them, the incessant gunfire continuing, the vehicles behind them having pulled up and commenced fire on the enemy.


    Tom just patted Vigos arm, not sure what that would do, before pulling free and crawling towards Torben. ¡°JEG KOMMER!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 151: Live and Relive

    Chapter 151: Live and Relive


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had helped clean up after dinner, taking the chance to get out of educating Edita about things like holding hands and what nuzzling someone meant.


    ¡®Honestly, you would think that if you are gonna be sending someone out into the real world, you would teach them the damn basics first,¡¯ she cursed as she walked up the stairs towards her room. She wouldn¡¯t mind a slow evening today, or at least a little nap before seeing if anyone was up and doing something later.


    Coming up the stairs, she glanced down the hallway and spotted Jacky standing impatiently and looking at two of Baron¡¯s guards outside the library, a warhammer hanging from her belt.


    ¡°Jacky, you aren¡¯t trying to get in there are you?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m just standing guard,¡± Jacky replied, rising just a little on her feet to look down at the guards in front of her a bit more steeply.


    ¡°Right¡­ Have you considered that barging in if, say, Tom starts screaming while someone is in his head might not be the best idea?¡±


    ¡°If he calls for me, then I¡¯m going in there. End of story. But they won''t let me put an ear against the door.¡±


    Saph just looked to the two guards, who didn¡¯t look overly amused as they just stared ahead. ¡°You think you wouldn¡¯t be able to hear him through that door?¡±


    ¡°What if they gag him or something?¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that, Jacky¡­ She said she wanted to work with him. Tom¡¯s not hiding anything that would make her hurt him, right?¡±


    ¡°No, never.¡±


    ¡°There we go then. Nothing to worry about.¡±


    Then the screaming started, all of them snapping to stare at the door.


    ¡°I am going inside,¡± Jacky snarled, determination clear in her tone, putting a foot forward as Saph slammed her in the chest with a hand. The two guards widened their stance.


    ¡°No, you are not.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?!¡± Jacky snapped, head turning to stare at Saph.


    ¡°Cause what will that do, huh? Are you gonna waltz in there and smack her in the face with a hammer? What do you think that will do?¡±


    ¡°Get her to stop fucking around with his head. The hell makes her think she¡¯s allowed in there!?¡±


    ¡°The fact she is an inquisitor,¡± one of the guards helpfully pointed out in a calming tone.


    ¡°Which means that¡¯s gonna end up getting the both of you killed, minimum. So stay the fuck here, Jacky!¡± Saph snapped with equal venom in her voice.


    Jacky didn¡¯t respond, instead just glaring at Saph before trying to stare down the guards one at a time, both her and Saph wincing as Tom screamed once more.


    ¡°It hurts a lot to have your mind read¡­ Especially if you are fighting,¡± one of the guards said, staring straight ahead once more.


    ¡°So, you think he¡¯s lying?¡± Jacky asked, trying her best to stare him down.


    ¡°Maybe. Or he¡¯s trying to keep something private. Hard to tell.¡±


    Tom screamed once more, sounding more and more desperate, crying out like a wailing kid once the screams died down.


    ¡°You said he would call for you¡­ just wait till he does. It clearly hurts. Don¡¯t go in and spook the inquisitor. It would probably only make it worse,¡± Saph tried as she heard footsteps coming up and down the stairs, curious heads peeking around the corner to see what was going on before hurriedly moving on.


    Jacky just stared at the door, clearly tense. ¡°Fine¡­ I will wait¡­ I swear by the gods if he¡¯s hurt¡­¡±


    ¡°Then you will do something that will result in your death. Understood,¡± the guard replied, not looking at her, Saph making out just a hint of uncertainty in her tone.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Where the¡­ what¡¯s¡­ where¡¯s the gun!¡± Tom stuttered out, looking around the strange room before looking down. ¡°Where¡¯s the¡­ Gun! I need the gun!¡±


    ¡°Hold him down, will you?¡­ god good my head,¡± the strangely Russian accented voice said. He remembered that voice¡­ He didn¡¯t like it for some reason¡­ It didn¡¯t matter. Where was everyone? What just happened!


    ¡°I-I I¡¯ll find one. I need a weapon!¡± Tom shouted out, trying to get up but getting pushed back into the chair by a pair of strong hands. ¡°Help!¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you wanted to go easy on the guy¡­ You were in there for a long time, you alright?¡±


    ¡°I know I know, I¡¯m fine¡­ I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t want to see more¡­ There is no doubting the man''s claims of being from another world, that much is for sure¡­ just¡­ keep him down, will you?¡±


    ¡°Who¡­ wha¡­¡± Tom let out, looking between the two women, not sure what to do. He had to get to Torben¡­ and Vigo¡­ Torben was dead. Where were Sam and Jack? He hadn¡¯t seen Jack yet¡­ Jack¡­ Jacky. Where was Jacky! ¡°Jacky!¡± he cried out as he tried to get up, the two women pinning him down.


    He received a slap to the face for his trouble as one of them snarled at him. ¡°Get it together man. It will be over soon. You are just confused.¡±


    Then he heard a door get kicked in somewhere. He couldn¡¯t see anything, though the two women turned to look over their shoulders.


    ¡°Good you might be- CEASE!¡± the inquisitor demanded as the armored woman was flung off him. ¡°What are you-!¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t understand what the fuck was going on. He just kept sitting there, jittering and staring up at where the two lizards had been as a new face rushed into view. He took the chance to try and get up. He needed a gun. He was unarmed, defenseless. He only just about got out of the chair before he too was yanked off his feet with a yelp, though he was brought into a tight bearhug rather than getting flung across the room.


    He tried to break free to no avail, pinned by an iron grip. ¡°Jack! I need to find Jacky! SAM!¡± he shouted out, pushing against the white lizard with all his might, not moving an inch. ¡°SAAAAAM! PLEASE! WHERE IS MY GUN!¡± he cried as he struggled futilely to get free, tears running down his face. Where were they? Why were they gone? Why did he know they were all gone?


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The second Tom had cried out for Jacky the two guards had frozen, Jackalope taking full advantage, bringing up a leg and kicking in the door before trying to rush in. Saph had done her best to try and stop her friend as the guards moved to try and help, but there was no stopping Jacky. She barged through the two of them. Saph was dragged along before she let go, falling to the ground. Looking up she saw Jacky charge at the two women standing over Tom, who was sitting in the comfy chair screaming and writhing, trying to get free.


    Saph just stared in horror as Jacky flung the armored woman off to the side, grabbing her by the shoulder before pushing the inquisitor off with a hand on the chest.


    ¡®Oh shit,¡¯ was all Saph could think as she saw Joelina stumble over backward, hitting the ground like a sack of grain, hardly putting up a fight at all.


    The armored woman rolled to her feet after landing, claws digging into the floor as she kicked off towards Jacky, drawing something from under her cloak.


    ¡°Wait stop!¡± Saph cried out as she tried to scramble to her feet. ¡°She didn¡¯t mean it!¡±


    ¡°Glazz, hold it!¡± Joelina shouted out as she too tried to raise herself up on her elbows, clearly panting for breath, glaring at Jacky.


    Jacky didn¡¯t react, instead just hugging Tom tightly, wings wrapping around him, a hand hurriedly stroking the back of his head as she tried to calm him down. Saph held her breath as the armored woman skidded to a stop, the strange metallic device stopping mere inches from Jacky¡¯s neck.


    Glazz¡¯s head snapped to look at Joelina, who was just lying there on her back, watching intently as Saph slowly got to her feet properly, quickly glancing at the two guards who had made it into the room and were just standing there staring, weapons at the ready.


    ¡°Let her¡­ Might calm the man down,¡± Joelina grumbled weakly. ¡°Gods, I need a minute.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, inquisitor,¡± Glazz replied, standing back up straight before taking a few steps back and holstering the device under her cloak, covering it once more.


    Tom was just muttering and crying violently into Jacky as she kept trying to shush him, nuzzling his face, not giving a toss about what was around her.


    ¡°What did you show him?¡± Saph tried, voice quivering as she looked at Joelina.


    ¡°His past. I learned a lot¡­ Though we didn¡¯t manage to finish,¡± she replied with a sigh before slowly starting to get back to her feet, shaking her head. ¡°I believe we hit a soft spot.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Saph didn¡¯t know what to say to that, looking at the crying mess that was Tom right now as Jacky turned to face the inquisitor, still clutching Tom, a snarl on her face.


    ¡°What did you do!?¡±


    ¡°I just told you,¡± Joelina replied, dusting herself off and standing hunched over slightly.


    ¡°What did you show my Tom!¡± she demanded.


    ¡°Someplace with a lot of sand¡­ I don¡¯t understand what happened. There was an explosion¡­ and those weapons of theirs firing all around. Rifles¡­ yes rifles they said that during training,¡± Joelina replied, swaying a little on her feet as she spoke, not looking up at Jacky.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°The ambush,¡± Saph gasped involuntarily.


    ¡°You took him back there?!¡± Jacky snarled, clearly furious, Glazz taking a step forward, hand once again reaching under the cloak.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know what it was. Just that it was important to him¡­ he remembered it so vividly. It was almost like being there¡­ So much killing¡­¡± Joelina replied, sounding nearly delirious.


    ¡°Joelina¡­ I believe you require resting,¡± Glazz interjected, looking at the inquisitor.


    ¡°I am fine¡­ I have dealt with worse¡­ Didn¡¯t get to see it all. He started going blurry as the fight went on¡­¡±


    ¡°No. You spent nearly half an hour in there. No more,¡± Glazz stated in an authoritative tone before stepping in front of Jacky. ¡°And you will think very carefully about what you do next, young woman.¡±


    ¡°Or what¡­ you¡¯ll snap his mind and break my back? Come at me, bitch. You said it yourself, the same team. Fucking act like it,¡± Jacky retorted, holding Tom away from the woman.


    Glazz just stood there staring Jacky down, face not even twitching. ¡°Calm the man down at put him to bed. Joelina will discuss further in the morning,¡± she replied, turning to look at the guards. ¡°You two idiots, dismissed!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Shsss. It¡¯s okay¡­ It¡¯s okay,¡± Jacky all but purred as she stroked the back of his neck as they sat on the bed.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not¡­ Why did I have to go back there?!¡±


    ¡°Cause she made you. It¡¯s okay. It didn¡¯t happen again¡­ It was a long time ago.¡±


    He knew she was right. Didn¡¯t make it any better having to see them all die again¡­ all the killing. He had at least forgotten some of it¡­ Now he had to watch it all again like some twisted documentary. He cried; he cried a lot into her. He hadn¡¯t even really figured out what had happened before they had made it to the bedroom. Jacky refused to stop holding him, nuzzling him as he screamed and cried.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rough¡­ I know. It was a long time ago and it¡¯s over. Nothing to do about it now,¡± Jacky cut him off, giving him a nearly painful squeeze. ¡°It¡¯s over¡­ it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ she didn¡¯t get to see it all¡­ She will want more.¡±


    ¡°Well she won¡¯t get it then. You can¡¯t take it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Why would she care?¡±Tom sobbed.


    ¡°Cause she needs you. Saph said so. Just¡­ I don¡¯t know, make some damn rules or something. Maybe¡­ Maybe no seeing private stuff¡­ did she see you go to the toilet?¡±


    ¡°Now you are just trying to distract me,¡± Tom sighed as Jacky leaned back on the bed, dragging him with her.


    ¡°I learned from the best.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t reply, instead just closing his eyes, head resting on her chest. As soon as the world went a bit black he saw a flash. Vigo sitting there trying to hold his legs together. He recoiled with a start. Jacky quickly caught him and pulled him back in. ¡°Now now. You¡¯re staying here¡­ Everything will be just fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I just saw them again?...I-I¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°Shsss. No, no. Don¡¯t think about it¡­ What about all the new tools? My mom loved those hammers, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Tom once more didn¡¯t reply, just lying there in shock, trying not to cry and struggling to breathe as he felt her keep stroking the back of his head, giving him another rough nuzzle with her snout. ¡°Or that annoying Edita woman with all her questions? What do you think she¡¯ll ask next?¡±


    ¡°I-I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Tom stammered out, doing his best to at least get his breathing under control. ¡°Maybe¡­ M-Maybe welding?¡±


    ¡°Welding?... I don¡¯t think I even know how that works?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you do¡­ I told you¡­ and showed you?¡±


    ¡°Did you? Must have forgotten¡­ Could you tell me again?¡±


    Tom knew that wasn¡¯t true. She just wanted to distract him. She might have the right idea though¡­ Thinking about anything other than that¡­ Welding would do. Anything would.


    ¡°I-I mean. D-Do you mean MIG or TIG?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with MIG. How does that compare with forge welding?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°No. I spoke with him already. He¡¯s staying in bed today. You dragged him through a memory bad enough to turn a killing machine into a gibbering mess. You don¡¯t look right either yet, Inquisitor,¡± Dakota stated, sitting in her mother''s chair in the grand hall, looking down at the inquisitor standing before her.


    ¡°I am quite alright. But I did not finish,¡± Joelina protested half-heartedly. Even Saph could work out she was not at her full fives even after sleeping on it.


    ¡°Then we may be able to help fill in the gaps with what we know. We are here to help each other, but I will not let you tear the man''s mind apart. My sister does know a thing or two about the effects. He WILL be allowed to recover.¡±


    Saph swallowed once, watching from where she was seated at the once more crowded huntress table. Edita was among their number this morning too. All of them were staring at the arguing Dakota and Joelina. Even Jarix had his head stuck through the hatch above them.


    ¡°You are playing a dangerous game, Dakota,¡± Essy muttered under her breath next to Saph.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t let her break Tom,¡± Saph replied, leaning in to whisper. ¡°What are we supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Essy replied as Fengi shushed them.


    ¡°We are racing against time here. I need to know him, through and through,¡± Joelina protested, straightening her stance a little.


    ¡°What time? Construction of the factory won¡¯t start till next year, and the warehouse and bunkers are hardly a grand investment for you.¡±


    ¡°I cannot stay here for long. I am needed back in the capital if this plan is to have any hope of succeeding.¡±


    ¡°Then choose. Go or stay. You will be allowed to speak with him once I deem him fit. You will be allowed to work your magic once Linkosta has determined he is ready.¡±


    ¡°You have no authority to order me about, Bizmati.¡±


    ¡°No. Only our cooperation. We have stood by our own for over 200 years. It won¡¯t be the day when my mother is bedridden that we stop. We are allies of both church and crown here. We will do our duty. You know what I think, but If you doubt it you may take me in for interrogation next.¡±


    ¡°Might I ask¡­ Why is knowing every memory of Tom¡¯s life so important?¡± Apuma interjected in a far more diplomatic tone ¡°Have you not been able to judge his character?¡±


    ¡°I- No, I have not,¡± Joelina replied in a hard tone. ¡°He is a broken man inside. An easy target for corruption.¡±


    ¡°An easy target? With all that we have been through and all the inquisitorial personnel currently inside my keep. Even if he is, how would such forces get to him?¡± Dakota protested clearly trying hard to keep an at least semi-respectful tone while making it very clear she did not buy that explanation.


    ¡°It is not possible to be too careful with the future of our people.¡±


    ¡°Quite. Hence why Tom¡¯s mental health is of utmost importance, fragile as it is. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± Dakota replied, leaning forwards in her chair. ¡°Let us be of assistance instead. We have learned quite a bit about him and his home since he came here.¡±


    Joelina took a few seconds to glare at Dakota before straightening her back. ¡°You are quite right. I would like to spend the time till he recovers researching his literature. I will require a translator.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Inquisitor. From the bottom of my heart. I believe Sapphire may be able to assist you. Or Linkosta, when she is not tending to my mother,¡± Dakota replied in a far kinder sounding tone, giving the inquisitor a deep nod.


    ¡°I can help too,¡± Apuma added. ¡°He has brought many interesting pieces with him.¡±


    ¡°That will do¡­ I will get started immediately. Apuma, Sapphire, follow me please. I do not intend to waste my day.¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am,¡± the old man replied with a curious nod, getting up and hurriedly following her towards the stairs, Glazz staying on the inquisitor''s right-hand side.


    ¡°I guess she got away with it,¡± Essy let out in a low tone as all eyes followed the inquisitor out the door.


    ¡°I guess so¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have dared that,¡± Saph replied as she too went to follow.


    ¡°Me neither¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom lay there on the bed, fully awake and staring at the ceiling, he had to ponder. The nightmares of the ambush had been fading as of late. It had been weeks since he could last remember even having one.


    And now they were back in full force. He couldn¡¯t even close his eyes without seeing the muzzle flash of the MG burn into his irises, and he could swear he still heard the ring of an explosion or the faint rattle of gunfire as he tried not to fall asleep through the night.


    Jacky had not left him, though she had fallen asleep rather quickly once he had gotten started explaining the intricacies of why you needed inert gas for MIG welding. She had held out longer than usual when it was time for explanations, but the outcome was inevitable. It was still nice not to be alone as he hugged her in her sleep, weeping quietly. His fits and starts as he heard an explosion had woken her up more than once during the night.


    She hadn¡¯t gotten mad, instead just lying there hugging him and starting to ask distracting questions, trying to get him to think about anything else. She was about as subtle as well¡­ Jacky about it, but he didn¡¯t care. It was exactly what he wanted. Once it became clear the sounds were not going away, he had put on some music. Sharing one earbud with her for a bit before she once more fell asleep, leaving him alone once more.


    Now it was morning. She was still sleeping, and he could feel how heavy his eyelids were as he tried taking out the earbuds. The sun was peeking in through the window and all he could think was how much he didn¡¯t want to go see that inquisitor right now. He didn¡¯t know how that whole thing worked. But she clearly had some sort of control over what they had been seeing. So why could she not just have let that lie?


    ¡®Maybe I should have told her¡­ No, she would just have been even more set on seeing it then¡­ God fucking dammit, I won''t be sleeping for weeks, will I?¡¯ he asked himself, letting out a sigh and squeezing Jacky a little. She answered with a bit of a grump, moving around a little.


    Then there was a knock on the door.


    Tom considered just not answering in the hope they would leave him alone, but looking at the sun peeking in the window, it was likely already past breakfast by now.


    ¡°You up yet?¡± the voice of Essy rang out from the door. That was at least better than having it be Joelina or the armored woman, for sure.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m up¡­ she¡¯s still sleeping.¡±


    ¡°Can I come in?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Tom replied after looking down. They had a blanket over them and they weren¡¯t naked at the moment either.


    Essy creaked open the door and stepped inside, looking at them with a very concerned expression. ¡°How are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Not great¡­ haven''t slept yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you poor thing,¡± she let out, walking into the room and closing the door behind her just slowly enough that Kiran managed to run between her legs and up to the bed.


    ¡°Why? Did the woman make you sad?¡± the kid asked worriedly, lying down next to Tom and staring at his face.


    Tom had to let out a chuckle at that, looking at the kid. ¡°You could say that,¡± Tom sighed. Kiran started climbing the bed and over Jacky to lie down between the two of them instead.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. She¡¯s dumb¡­ And Edita is strange.¡±


    ¡°Yes Kiran, she is quite strange,¡± Tom mused, a bit of a smile creeping onto his face as he looked up at Essy.


    ¡°Well I think you are quite comfortable here¡­ Dakota managed to get you some peace and quiet. Joelina will be studying your books for the day, and she has promised not to try reading your mind until Linkosta says you are ready for it. Will that work?¡± Essy asked in a delicate, hopeful tone.


    ¡°That will do nicely¡­ Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Call if you need me or something¡­ Would you like some food?¡±


    ¡°...Food?¡± a groggy voice murmured from next to Tom, Jacky starting to move about the bed. Kiran let out a little yelp as he fell down between her and Tom. ¡°Oh¡­ Morning, Essy.¡±


    ¡°Good morning¡­ I take it you¡¯re hungry and will be staying here?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± the very sleepy-sounding Jacky replied with a big yawn, baring her scary set of teeth.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back then. Take care, you two.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Essy,¡± Jacky murmured before trying to turn to face Tom, Kiran letting out a squeak as she turned, causing her to stop. ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good!... I¡¯m strong,¡± Kiran let out defiantly as Jacky chuckled, using her elbows to move away from Tom a bit.


    ¡°I see we got company?


    ¡°Yes!¡± Kiran let out, taking the chance to climb up onto Tom, lying on his chest like a lizard in the sun. ¡°I¡¯m here too now. Here all day. Mum said so.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m guessing Apuma¡¯s lessons are on hold for the moment then,¡± Tom chuckled, rubbing the little guy¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Yup. No school.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good,¡± Jacky went, also petting his head a little, turning to look at Tom. ¡°Feeling any better?¡±


    ¡°A little¡­ I don¡¯t think I hear the guns anymore¡­ I can still see it though.¡±


    ¡°Damn, her magic is some strong stuff.¡±


    ¡°You see guns?... Is that how you make them?¡± Kiran questioned, staring at Tom with big wondrous eyes.


    ¡°No. The inquisitor made me see some bad memories¡­ and I can still see them when I close my eyes.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that not fair! Dreams stay in dreams¡­ Well, not when they are vision. Then they happen.¡±


    ¡°Well, these are no visions, I can assure you of that,¡± Tom chuckled, rubbing the little guy¡¯s head.


    ¡°That good,¡± Kiran stated with a prompt nod, hitting his jaw on Tom¡¯s chest.


    ¡°It is indeed¡­ But I can¡¯t sleep for it.¡±


    ¡°It will come, don¡¯t you worry,¡± Jacky tried, worming an arm under his neck and giving him a side hug. ¡°She won¡¯t be able to keep you down forever.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­ it¡¯s gonna suck for a while I think.¡±


    ¡°Hey now. You¡¯re doing much better already. You aren¡¯t crying anymore. No screaming about people who aren''t there. No mistaking me for a human man.¡±


    Tom had to admit her attempt at humor didn¡¯t really work as he thought back to Jack¡­ He and Jackalope were about as different as they came. A quiet man content to be left alone or to jog along, not saying anything as the rest of the squad chatted. That did at least bring a slight smile to his face. Further from Jacky, you couldn¡¯t be.


    ¡°And look at it this way¡­ You got me a day off too¡­ and breakfast in bed. Thank you,¡± she went, pushing her snout against his chin, trying to mimic a kiss.


    ¡°Jackyyy¡­ You can¡¯t do the kiss thing,¡± Kiran protested as they all three had a bit of a chuckle.


    ¡°Always look on the bright side of life,¡± Tom tried humming, looking up at the ceiling. ¡®I guess it could certainly be worse.¡¯

 Chapter 152: Substitutes

    Chapter 152: Substitutes


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I want to know what happened. I didn¡¯t see the end of it and I want to know,¡± Joelina demanded as soon as they stepped inside the library, Glazz closing the doors behind them after Apuma hurried inside, leaving the four of them alone.


    ¡°Of course Inquisitor. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s opposed to you knowing¡­ Just the way you went about finding out,¡± Saph replied in her most diplomatic tone as she glanced at Apuma¡¯s chair in the corner of the library, gulping once. She really didn¡¯t want to end up in that chair today. Even the old man himself was looking rather apprehensive of it.


    ¡°And I should trust him to answer accurately about something like this? it is clearly not something he wishes to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are right about the unwillingness to talk about it,¡± Saph concurred with a slight nod. ¡°It hurts him a lot to even think about it.¡±


    ¡°So he hasn¡¯t told you what happened then?¡±


    ¡°No, he has. He was crying and blabbering through most of it, but he did,¡± Saph confirmed with another courteous nod.


    Joelina didn¡¯t exactly look convinced by that, instead just staring at Saph expectantly.


    ¡°He Had a really sh- unfortunate time during his first fight here. He fell in a lake with a woman deathly afraid of water, at night, in a storm. Something clicked in his head.¡±


    ¡°I believe you said ¡®snapped¡¯ last time,¡± Apuma added, looking like he was unsure if he should be saying anything.


    Saph threw him a quick glare before answering. ¡°Yes, snapped¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you recount the story of that ambush for me then? Let me work out if he lied to you too.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Inquisitor. Though I am quite certain he did not lie. At least not intentionally. He and Dakota crashed in the big lake northeast of here. Normally a death sentence, but Tom swam her to shore using a crate dropped by Archeon to keep them afloat. When he was dragged ashore, he was blabbering about ¡®just keep swimming'' and laughing and giggling like he had gone truly mad.¡±


    ¡°Which he had to an extent¡­ I believe,¡± Apuma added with a bit of a cough.


    ¡°Yes, he probably sorta did¡­ Despite his efforts, Dakota was at best half-dead by the time we got her out of the water. Nunuk did what she could, but it didn¡¯t seem like it would be enough. So Tom had us fetch his medical supplies and used a very powerful drug called adrenalin to bring back Dakota from the brink.¡±


    ¡°He revived a person from death!? With a drug? Do you people not know why people are not to be brought back through any means from beyond the veil!?¡± Joelina protested, even Glazz looking a touch worried at that.


    ¡°We know. Dakota was still there, merely getting worse and worse with little to be done,¡± Apuma retorted. ¡°Too much cold for too long with no preparation.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Joelina replied skeptically with a slow nod, eyes narrowing.


    ¡°After managing to bring her back he muttered something about ¡®didn¡¯t lie this time¡¯ or something like that,¡± Saph continued. ¡°We, of course, asked what he meant. If he had been lying to us, to which he responded no. He hadn¡¯t lied to Dakota. He said it would all be fine you see.¡±


    ¡°Yeees¡­¡±


    ¡°We started prodding at what he meant and¡­¡±


    ¡°He broke down completely,¡± Apuma added with a gulp.


    ¡°Yes. He fell apart and started bawling like a little kid, retelling the story that I¡¯m guessing you got to experience.¡±


    ¡°Some of it, yes. Do please recount it,¡± Joelina egged on, crossing her arms.


    ¡°The ambush¡­ all his friends slowly dying. Him surviving somehow, followed by the murderous charge which he then also somehow survived through luck alone. Then waking up in a hospital bed alone, unable to do anything except scream.¡±


    ¡°Poor guy,¡± Apuma added in a sorrowful tone.


    ¡°And you dragged him through all of it again.¡±


    ¡°Not all of it¡­ I didn¡¯t witness the charge. I was yanked out of him while still in the pit trying to save his friends,¡± Joelina replied in a pondering tone. ¡°I would like some more details here. Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I know they were fighting in a place where it was very hot and full of sand. I believe he called it Afganista.¡±


    ¡°Yeees.¡±


    ¡°They were just riding along on a thing called a truck when they hit a nine as he calls it. An explosive device-¡±


    ¡°That is triggered when you step on it. No, they hit what the instructor called an IED. Apparently, it is a type of improvised weapon used by civilians in their world.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Apuma questioned, clearly finding that curious¡±


    ¡°His memories of his instructors. Tom''s training was very enlightening,¡± Joelina retorted with just a hint of a pleased expression on her face. ¡°But please carry on.¡±


    ¡°Right. After the explosion, the ambush was sprung and the enemy started shooting at Tom and his friends. Tom does not believe the other parts of their group or whatever they call the people he was traveling with did enough to help and his friends slipped away from him one by one while being shot at,¡± Saph continued, Joelina just nodding in agreeance.


    ¡°It was here Tom finally snapped. I guess maybe for the first time¡ªI do not know¡ªand decided to die fighting back rather than sitting there, as he put it. He failed. He ran at the enemy with a gun he took from one of his friends. As he put it ¡®I had grenades so I used them, I had a machine gun, so I used it. I fired till the barrel melted, then I just got another one.¡¯ I think you get the picture.¡±


    ¡°I believe so. He then somehow miraculously survives, and with his mental state at the time I doubt even I could deduce how¡­ convenient.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Apuma questioned, clearly not understanding. To be honest, neither was Sapphire really.


    ¡°I still do not know what sent Tom here. But if they intervened earlier in his life, or perhaps later as well. That is certainly something I wish to know.¡±


    ¡°You think something saved him?¡± Saph had to question. She had heard of divine intervention before, though mostly in stories she kinda doubted the truth of, but she would have thought it would be pretty obvious if it ever actually happened.


    ¡°His survival is miraculous, and he may be the only witness. He does not remember, I believe, no?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he has a clue, no. He just knows he woke up in a hospital sometime later.¡±


    ¡°That is where they take their wounded,¡± Apuma clarified, Joelina just giving him a kind smile.


    ¡°Yes, I know now. But thank you¡­ Out of curiosity, do you know who he was fighting?¡±


    ¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡± Apuma replied with a gulp, taking a step back looking a little ashamed.


    ¡°I see. Well, I do know. He was fighting other humans far away from his home. Warring with another kingdom. Their tactics were cruel and despicable. Targeting civilian targets, first of all. No honor of any kind.¡±


    ¡°Tom fights with honor,¡± Apuma protested. ¡°I have seen it.¡±


    ¡°His enemy did not. If his officers and friends in arms were to be believed, they would readily strap bombs to children for use in the fighting as well as pretending to be a civilian until they revealed their weapons. The odd part was, Tom¡¯s people were the invading force.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ is that good or bad?¡± Saph tried, not sure where the inquisitor was going with that. It certainly didn¡¯t sound like the rhetoric Tom has been spouting about defending one¡¯s home and only fighting for what¡¯s worth fighting for if he was invading some other place.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He and his friends certainly believed their cause to be honorable, like they were helping these people who were far more primitive and poor than Tom¡¯s. Their world is massive and so are their wars. And if they believe people who are behind them in technology should be helped with force. I believe the estimates we have of the threat these humans pose to be massively understated.¡±


    ¡°We know,¡± Saph replied with a nod. ¡°As Tom put it, if they find out how to make it here by themselves. To quote, ¡®You guys are all fucked.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­¡± Joelina agreed. ¡°Well, it is nice to know he agrees with my assessment.¡±


    ¡°He also said ¡®best not to dwell on what you can¡¯t do anything about.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Yeees¡­ about that. Do you two think he would ever try to make it home?¡± Joelina questioned, tone softening a little.


    ¡°No, probably not,¡± Saph replied with a shake of her head. ¡°If so it would be with us in tow. Didn¡¯t sound like he had much back there.¡±


    ¡°His mother might still live. She¡¯s sick, but she still had time when I was yanked from him. A sickness I think we can cure¡­ Are you still sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Didn¡¯t think of that,¡± Saph admitted, looking to Apuma, who looked like he didn¡¯t know what to think.


    ¡°No¡­ If he works that out, I believe he may try¡­ But he would need to act fast. If she is not already dead,¡± Joelina continued.


    ¡°And we have no clue how something like that could even be done¡­ I¡¯m quite sure he left not expecting to ever see her again. He isn¡¯t even a mage either. Surely it would take a god or similar to make something like that happen?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that brings me to my next point. Short of verifying his claims on what he has done here thus far ¡ªhis thoughts and intentions behind it¡ª I would like to learn just how he got here. In addition, I want to know if anything divine or otherwise supernatural has happened to him since he arrived here. He wouldn¡¯t happen to have given a more detailed account of the voice that brought him here, now would he?¡±


    ¡°Well, the story he gave me went, ¡®I was sitting in my office doing boring work when a disembodied voice spoke to me. It offered a deal to go to the world of my wildest dreams. It showed me a glimpse through a portal to convince me I was not going crazy. I got two weeks to prepare, I got what things together that I could, and off I went through the portal that was opened at will by the voice. Haven¡¯t heard a word since ¡±


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Yes, reads like the report I got¡­ Do you believe him?¡±


    ¡°I think so. We haven¡¯t caught him lying yet. He tends to just tell you ¡®No, I won¡¯t tell you that¡¯ when you pry. Or he will do his best to change the subject. He has not avoided that one ever.¡±


    ¡°He just doesn¡¯t seem to have much to say,¡± Apuma added with a cough. ¡°I tried to ask him about everything back when he first arrived. But he knew preciously little. Poor guy didn¡¯t even understand what magic was back then.¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­ Right, do you think he would let me try again, IF I restrict my searching to the time after going through the portal? And perhaps right before?¡±


    ¡°You are leaving out the battles too, bare minimum. It is too hard on him. Especially poor Anastasi,¡± Apuma interjected in a sad tone, looking down at the mention of the little girl.


    ¡°And probably also private time with Jacky,¡± Saph added, clearing her throat.


    ¡°Right¡­ Damn and blast. I wanted to know how he fought the dark knights!¡± Joelina let out rather uncharacteristically, taking Saph off guard for a second.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be enough to confirm he¡¯s not lying to get his intentions while working? The reports are basically true, just replace fire magic with guns and you have the full picture.¡±


    ¡°I want more than that. I want to know how he thinks when in battle, I have got most of that by now¡­ But that was from years ago. Much has clearly changed in him. I want to know who he is. Who he really is. You two have no idea what might be resting in someone who isn¡¯t even one of us. His intentions must be pure. Damn near infallible, in fact.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t ask more of him than you can of anyone else. He¡¯s just a dude,¡± Saph added with a shake of her head.


    ¡°Yes, I understand¡­ If anything that has been made abundantly clear¡­ But he is secretive, unpredictable, and turns malicious if hurt sufficiently,¡± the inquisitor replied in cold and calculating terms as she started pacing around the room, clearly thinking.


    ¡°Just a thought. Might be a good idea to not hurt him then,¡± Saph got out with a gulp. ¡°He is so nice and kind to those he cares about. Help us out and I think you are going on that list,¡± Saph tried hoping the half-delirious inquisitor would be easier to persuade than normal.


    ¡°Yes, Huntress¡­ Do believe me on at least this. I am not here seeking enemies¡­ But if he tricks us, it may well be the end.¡±


    ¡°You think a single frontier keep, not to say just one man, could bring us all down?¡± Saph let out in surprise. ¡°Come on.¡±


    ¡°I do. Not with force, but with knowledge. Both ours and his.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just one man?¡± Saph protested.


    ¡°Which is all it will take. The only reason this is even being considered is your implacable performance thus far. And the voice said he was sent here to ¡®change the world.¡¯ I must know if that is for good or bad. Which begs the question, who was the one talking?¡±


    Saph just stood there, not quite sure how to take a compliment like that as well as the thought Tom might just actually be here by divine destiny. ¡°So you want to do this to all of us?¡±


    ¡°No. I cannot. But he is alien. An unknown. I know keep dwellers, and your keep has decades of faultless service under its belt. Not to mention what you went through earlier this year.¡±


    ¡°So we get an easy pass, but he does not for everything he has done?¡±


    ¡°I am being cautious. If you are curious, no, I have not found anything that convinces me he is a danger yet. But his mind is weak and easy to twist. He will require protection at least.¡±


    ¡°Well if it helps, he has tried very hard to convince us that starting an arms race with the darklings will only end in catastrophe.¡±


    ¡°He has learned the lessons of history then. Even if his people have not. Sadly for us, much like his home, it takes two people to deny a race. The other may go on ahead as they please.¡±


    ¡°The darklings are making new weapons?¡± Apuma asked cautiously as the inquisitor kept pacing.


    ¡°Reinventing.¡± Joelina corrected. ¡°You named them night terrors. We have them on record as Fellbats. The knives were not known to even us. So either they are unimaginably old¡­¡±


    ¡°Or they are new¡­¡± Apuma muttered out.


    ¡°Which is much more terrifying,¡± the inquisitor replied with a nod. ¡°I do not believe that though. If so, they would have to have been bestowed by some dark entity.¡±


    ¡°How did they get on a trader then? If they made them, surely they would not just sell them off or lose something like that,¡± Saph questioned worriedly.


    ¡°That I do not know¡­ I am praying they are an old lost artifact that got uncovered somewhere without our knowledge, or perhaps the records of them have been lost. Our preservation is not without fault.¡±


    ¡°Either way, you are scared they will start making advances we can''t easily match,¡± Apuma said in a serious tone. ¡°Just like Investigator Paulina feared.¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°But yes, we have been over this, you want him to make weapons to help with that. The one thing he really doesn''t want to make but somehow always ends up making,¡± Saph added, trying to get to the end of the inquisitor¡¯s line of logic here.


    ¡°He really just wants to make life better and easier I think,¡± Apuma added carefully.


    ¡°Quite. But we do not need better writing implements and easier ways to light a pipe. We need weapons of war to win a war.¡±


    ¡°In such quantities as to arm our people, the one thing he doesn''t want to happen ¡®cause he thinks it will just lead to more death and destruction. Which I am inclined to believe,¡± the old man continued.


    ¡°I also know he struck a deal with my sister for if the time came we needed his inventions of war. I fear that time may come soon, but if we realize too late we won¡¯t be able to respond. This is not a war we have the option of losing.¡±


    ¡°Hence the factory,¡± Apuma asked, seeming a bit lost in all of it by now.


    ¡°Yes, we have been over this.¡± Joelina sighed.


    ¡°So you want to go back into his head, and you would be happy with just seeing what he would allow you to see in order to assure you of what? I don¡¯t get it.¡± Saph tried.


    ¡°We need to know that once we give him the ability to make weapons on a scale to win a war for good, he will not abuse or sabotage them. Or, more importantly, we need to know that he won''t try to use what we teach him of advanced enchanting to try and go home.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you think he might be able to pull that off!?¡±


    ¡°He has had divine intervention or something else of great power on his side once in order to get here, I am sure. With such help, no one can say for certain. What is worse is most of our records of such experimentation ended catastrophically. We cannot afford that here.¡±


    ¡°Then tell him that. If he¡¯s scared to touch it, he won''t. I know him well enough for that,¡± Saph tried to add, thinking back to all the times that hadn¡¯t happened before.


    ¡°And risk planting the seed he might be able to go home?¡±


    ¡°Well if you teach him the means, he will work that out for himself, I can assure you of that,¡± Apuma went with a nod. ¡°He is a smart kid.¡±


    ¡°I will consider it¡­ Once I have my assurances.¡± Joelina relented, tiredness showing for just a second as she sighed.


    ¡°Right, going through his thoughts after he came here,¡± Saph reiterated.


    Joelina let out a long, strained sigh, staring at the two of them with near murderous intent. ¡°If that is how it must be.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case, should we actually get started on these books then? We have quite a lot to go through, and he will not be up for talking for a while I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes¡­ I was told I would enjoy the one with ships in it¡­ Some cruel joke, I assume,¡± Joelina replied, shoulders sagging slightly, leading to a short silence.


    ¡°No, they are quite impressive, I promise,¡± Apuma added, clearly trying to fill the air. The inquisitor just stared at him, looking less than pleased.


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Essy had upheld her promise to bring food. Jacky, deciding he required the full royalty treatment, sat up against the wall playing backrest as they ate together. Kiran was sitting up against their side on the right, and of course had a go at scoring some extra bacon from the big plate, sometimes successful, sometimes not. One attempt ended with Jacky prying it from his mouth ¡®cause that one was hers, Kiran letting out a distressed grumble as he stared at the reconquered strip of bacon.


    ¡°You know¡­ there might be more downstairs,¡± Tom chuckled as Jacky wiggled the piece in front of the poor kid.


    ¡°Then why can¡¯t I have it?¡± he sobbed half-heartedly, clearly going for pity points.


    ¡°You had two already. And it¡¯s your second breakfast.¡±


    ¡°But I want three.¡±


    ¡°Tough shit,¡± Jacky retorted, snapping the crisp strip in her mouth, chewing happily. Tom was rather failing to find his appetite. It didn¡¯t help that he dropped his fork more than once, flinching at an imaginary explosion or an indistinguishable cry for help.


    Jacky just picked it up and put it back on the plate as he tried to laugh it off. ¡°Silly me.¡±


    ¡°Silly silly you¡­ You know this almost reminds me of the time after you poisoned yourself.¡±


    ¡°Nah, that was worse¡­ that was constant. This is just every now and again. Little spurts, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Do they make mind-fix potions, Jacky? It was his head last time too, right?¡± Kiran tried, sounding like he hoped he had just solved everything.


    ¡°No, Kiran, not quite that¡­ it was sorta the whole body last time¡­ and this time it¡¯s memories I think¡­ Nothing I haven¡¯t dealt with before,¡± Tom tried, not quite sure he managed to pull off a decent convincing tone.


    ¡°You strong. You beat quister.¡±


    ¡°You mean Jacky beat the inquisitor? She was the one that decided to throw the most powerful woman within a several days'' flight through the air.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Damn right I did¡­ do I hear a thank you in there somewhere?¡± Jacky mused, shuffling around a little.


    ¡°Jacky, she could wipe out the keep on a whim.¡±


    ¡°She needs you. There is so much money in those crates. She¡¯s all boss and no bite. No way she would go back on that investment easily.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ Maybe? She clearly has impressive resources at her disposal,¡± Tom tried as he tried to work out if this was just Jacky trying to justify what she did, or if she actually believed that.


    ¡°True, but she has to have broken so many rules to make this happen. If we are barely allowed to know what¡¯s in the boxes as we¡¯re carrying them into our own keep, I bet you it¡¯s not allowed to be out here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m smelling a plan slash hair-brained scheme.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jacky questioned from behind him, her head tilting to the side as it rested on top of his head.


    ¡°What¡¯s a what?¡± he had to ask, more than a little confused.


    ¡°What¡¯s a hair brain? Are there hairs inside your head?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ No. No there aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Soo¡­.¡±


    ¡°Actually it might be hare-brained instead¡­ Gods, I¡¯m too tired for this. It means a really dumb idea.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so having the brain of a hare is, like, really bad?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they are idiots, running around madly not sure what to do, why?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing,¡± Jacky replied, her voice a fair hint colder.


    ¡°Huh?... Wait no, not like that, a hare and a jackalope aren¡¯t even the same things.¡±


    ¡°Is that so, huh? Tell me then, what¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ antlers? And they are smart,¡± Tom tried hopefully.


    ¡°No, they are magic hares. At least that¡¯s how I was told the story. They can run faster and harder. Jump higher and further. They are a pain in the arse to catch.¡±


    ¡°A fitting name then, right? I mean that is basically you.¡±


    ¡°But they are no smarter than a hare¡­¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, you definitely are,¡± Tom tried in as good a salesman''s voice as he could manage right now. He was so damn tired, and his head hurt so bad. He just wanted to try and sleep a little, maybe a minute or two, but he knew what would happen the second he tried.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ fine fine. Just don¡¯t call me harebrained, okay? Back to the inquisitor, who is also smarter than a hare if only by a little.¡±


    ¡°Hoo boi. Well then, wise Jacky. Do I need to be hard to catch like you?¡±


    ¡°No, just don¡¯t let her push us around quite so much. She and Paulina keep saying we are on the same team. Force them to prove it. Give them some, but ask for something in return.¡±


    ¡°We did already ask for that Tsarina woman to be handled, and we are getting a lot of money and the like, I think. That equipment Edita was unpacking sure looked like it was worth a fortune.¡±


    ¡°No, dummy, ask for her to not be such a bitch or something. Or just leave you alone. That¡¯s free for her, and she doesn¡¯t have to break any rules to do it.¡±


    ¡°Since when did you become the planning and conniving sort? Not to mention a character analyst?¡± Tom had to ask. He could scarcely believe his ears right now.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, Essy said so,¡± Jacky replied promptly with a hint of a chuckle. ¡°And she is always right.¡±


    ¡°Ahr¡­¡±


    ¡°Hehe, egg,¡± Kiran chuckled, sneaking a bit of egg off the plate and chomping on it happily, seeming quite unbothered by it all for the moment.


    ¡°But she does have a point¡­ I¡¯m just quite sure she¡¯s better at that game than me,¡± Tom replied, giving the little guy a scratch.


    ¡°The whole ¡®Do as I say, or else¡¯ game?¡± Jacky questioned as she joined in the Kiran scratching.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ not so great at that.¡±


    ¡°No, you are a bit of a push over really.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Jacky,¡± Tom let out with a slightly annoyed sigh as his head twitched to the side again. ¡°Next you¡¯ll tell me I will have to develop more of a warrior spirit,¡± he said sarcastically.


    ¡°There there, no need for that. It won¡¯t be all your problem either. Sounds like Dakota already did some pushing for you. She¡¯s smart. She¡¯ll work something out.¡±


    ¡°She would be infinitely better at this than me, that is for sure,¡± Tom concurred, not quite sure what else to say to that. He had no idea how to handle an inquisitor like her. It wasn¡¯t like Jarix back in the day either. A missed step didn¡¯t mean his ass was on the line. This was everyone here. But he had no idea how hard he could push back. Just one push too far might be the end.


    ¡°Yup. She¡¯s just like her mum. Shame she¡¯s in bed right now.¡±


    ¡°Is she doing any better, do you know?¡±


    ¡°Lots of sleeping and resting¡­ and then shouting about what¡¯s going on apparently.¡±


    ¡°That is an improvement¡­ Think she would be able to at least have a chat? I might need to talk with her and Dakota.¡±


    ¡°I can go ask for sure. Just say you need to visit the infirmary for something. I¡¯ll figure it out. Later though. I wanna enjoy my time off, you know?¡±


    ¡°Thank you Jacky¡­ So what now?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ we could get some more food.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that one!¡± Kiran let out, leaning over Tom¡¯s lap and looking up at him with big begging eyes. ¡°I want more bacon.¡±


    ¡°Damn little criminal.¡±


    ¡°Noo. I¡¯m good. I just want bacon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go fetch some. Defend Tom while I am gone,¡± Jacky smirked as she started to wiggle out from under Tom.


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡± Kiran declared, doing a salute to Jacky before laying himself over Tom¡¯s lap.


    ¡°Never felt safer,¡± Tom had to joke as Jacky gave him a quick nuzzle, receiving a kiss to the side of the snout for her troubles. ¡°Good speed oh queen of bacon.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up you.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 153: Counseling

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom was just sitting on the bed, back up against the wall with a sleeping Kiran in his lap, as he focused on the light coming in the tall narrow window.


    ¡®Just look at the bright parts. There is nothing else in here,¡¯ he repeated to himself as his eyes snapped to a quick-moving shadow on the far wall, the unmistakable feeling of being watched weighing heavier on him than he could ever remember.


    He flinched once more as he heard the creak of the door handle followed by the slight groan of wooden hinges as he stared at the very slowly opening door.


    ¡®Fuck, I really am starting to see shit,¡¯ he cursed to himself as he just keep staring, his sleep-deprived brain debating on if this was real or not.


    Then the bright white head of Jacky stuck itself around the corner, staring at him silently.


    ¡°What are you doing, Jacky?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to know if you were sleeping,¡± she replied, sounding a little guilty. He just let out a sigh as he started petting Kiran again.


    ¡°Little guy is.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Put him aside, all clear, Joelina is in the library.¡±


    ¡°Right that¡­ yes. Didn¡¯t forget, I promise.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only been gone half an hour at most?¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. It¡¯s a little hard to keep track right now.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Paulina went with Fengi out to Yldril after breakfast too by the way.¡±


    ¡°Wow, we might have some actual privacy then,¡± Tom huffed sarcastically as he delicately started moving Kiran off onto the actual bed.


    ¡°Yup, Dakota is already down there, and Nunuk is awake. Come on now,¡± Jacky went, still in a hushed tone as she opened the door fully and walked over to the bed.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming,¡± Tom protested as he got off the bed.


    ¡°Can you walk?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tired. And maybe a bit delusional¡­ But I can walk.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Jacky, I am sure,¡± Tom grumbled, getting off the bed and cursing himself as he stumbled just a little bit, Jacky moving to catch him, earning a glare from him. ¡°See. I can in fact stand up.¡±


    ¡°Hey, just making sure here.¡±


    ¡°I-... Thanks¡­¡± Tom reluctantly whispered.


    Jacky though didn¡¯t seem to mind his grumpiness, moving to the door and sticking her head outside, checking for people he assumed.


    ¡°God dammit I¡¯m tired,¡± he let out with a yawn, flinching at the sound of running footsteps from the corridor. He just stared at the door to see if anyone was actually coming this time, Jacky tilting her head and looking at him.


    ¡°Everything alright?¡±


    After a second''s wait, the sound vanished with no one sticking their head inside or coming into view. ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ Just hearing things, that is all.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, the coast should be clear. Off we go,¡± Jacky let out, taking his hand and delicately dragging him towards the door.


    He followed, groggily dragging his feet out into the familiar hallway and turning right towards the stairs. He glanced left, feeling uneasy like someone was watching him once more. He was greeted by a dark hallway, unable to see the end of it. There was no denying that the floor and walls were changing as they entered the darkness. They were turning sandy, the walls made of the oh so familiar yellow clay or mud. ¡°Uhm¡­ Jacky?¡± he let out in a careful tone, swallowing once.


    ¡°What is it?¡± she asked, clearly confused, looking back at him with a head tilt.


    ¡°You don¡¯t see anything strange down there, do you? Right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just an empty hallway? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jacky replied, promptly throwing a glance down said hallway.


    ¡°Oh nothing¡­¡± Tom went, looking at the floor, which definitely transitioned to sand just before the darkness. ¡°Let¡¯s not go that way.¡±


    ¡°Okaaay¡­ you sure you¡¯re okay?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not. Let¡¯s get downstairs. I want to talk with Linkosta as well. I am definitely seeing things.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡±


    Tom elected not to let go of her hand as he was dragged towards the stairs, checking over his shoulder a few times as they walked to see if the darkness was following. Much to his relief, it didn¡¯t seem to be as they started going down the stairs.


    Then he felt a hand try and grab his foot. A wet, cold hand. He tried to yank his foot away, looking down and seeing a blackened draconic hand reaching for his other foot, slick black icor dripping off of it. Not thinking, he jumped away from it, right into Jacky, who was just turning around to see what he was doing.


    ¡°What the? Tom!¡± she let out as she did her best to catch herself, skidding a few steps down the stairs before regaining balance. ¡°What the hell?!¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Was all he could let out, slightly ashamed as he looked down at his leg, the black mark already gone.


    ¡°The fuck are you seeing man? That ain¡¯t normal.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t really want to answer that one not in private, so leaned in to whisper to her. ¡°Darkling that tried to grab my leg. Felt cold, wet, and sticky¡­ and I heard it screech.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s messed up, man. Wait, didn¡¯t you just show her things from home?¡± Jacky replied, if not quite whispering, then at least keeping her voice down.


    ¡°Yup,¡± he agreed with a quiet nod. ¡°Which means I¡¯m seeing more than just the fight.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still sure I can¡¯t just smack her head off?¡±


    ¡°Jacky!¡±


    ¡°What? I hate that bitch,¡± Jacky protested as she started carrying him down the stairs. Tom wasn¡¯t really sure if he wanted off right now. It would be pretty damn embarrassing to be carried around like a scared kid¡­ And none of it was real after all.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Jacky¡­ could you maybe put me down?¡±


    ¡°And have you tried to knock the both of us down the stairs again? No chance.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡± Jacky cut him off as she walked past the library where Tom was quite sure the inquisitor was.


    ¡®Think you idiot, think. This is embarrassing¡­ Uhm¡­ Right, I¡¯m sleeping. Perfect, no you retard, you can¡¯t close your eyes!... God dammit,¡¯ he cursed to himself as he glanced back, seeing the corridor dimming behind them. A pair of red glowing eyes peered out from the encroaching darkness.


    ¡®You aren¡¯t real. You are not here,¡¯ Tom just thought to himself, staring at the eyes as they tilted to the side, a bit of hideous cruel laughter filling the air loud enough that he clutched his ears to no effect. ¡°Oh please make it end,¡± he all but whimpered, feeling Jacky pick up the pace.


    ¡°What is it this time?¡±


    ¡°Just a dark knight following us, I think,¡± Tom replied, trying to close his eyes for a second, opening them to said dark knight standing like a stiff puppet in full view. The darkness lifted as it raised its arm, pointing at them once more and laughing almost maniacally before Jacky rushed down the stairs.


    The second he could not see it anymore, the laughing ceased. Tom looked around frantically for any sign of what might be next. In the grand hall sat some of Baron¡¯s contingent, all of them turning to stare as Jacky jogged by with him.


    He just didn¡¯t pay them any mind. A bit late to do anything about it either way now. ¡®Calm down, retard, just magic mind messing shit, that¡¯s all¡­ just stick your tongue out at the next one or something,¡¯ he tried to himself, letting out a slight chuckle at the joke.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t start babbling in Danish or something. I don¡¯t understand,¡± Jacky pleaded, just a hint of fear shining through her voice too as Tom just gave her a hug. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine. None of it is real¡­ and I have to be sooo tired by now hehe.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The inquisitor had indeed gotten to work on the books. It was abundantly clear from working with her that she was more than used to long hours and little sleep, much to Sapphire''s dismay. She guessed this probably wasn¡¯t the first time Joelina was working right after being inside someone else¡¯s mind either, even if the strain was showing every now and again.


    Of course, the problem was that Joelina couldn''t read anything the books said, nor did Saph and Apuma know what everything meant, even after translating it to the best of their ability.


    Luckily for them, Linkosta had come back to help after a few hours, stating Nunuk was sleeping soundly, which had been a rare thing for the last several weeks. It was no surprise to Saph that the bookworm had in fact already been through a few of the books they were reading and as such proved very useful for trying to explain some of what Sapphire and Apuma could not. As time went on, Saph found herself just sitting there more and more. Which, if she was honest, wasn¡¯t that bad at all.


    Glazz, for her part, seemed utterly uninterested in what was being said and instead focused entirely on them and the inquisitor as she stood guard, unmoving. Their little session was eventually interrupted by Edita sticking her head in the door, looking around after having been allowed to enter.


    ¡°I require assistance, Inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°What with?¡± Joelina replied, looking up from the book, clearly trying to hide some annoyance.


    ¡°I cannot operate his thinking machine.¡±


    ¡°You got out his computer?¡± Saph questioned.


    ¡°He showed it to me yesterday. I wanted to learn more. I can¡¯t find the books he showed me on it. I would like an assistant. I believe Sapphire knows.¡±


    Joelina just turned to look at Saph with an expectant expression.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Saph let out, doing a bit of thinking herself. ¡°I mean, I have used it a bit before. Essy might be a better choice though.¡±


    ¡°Esmeralda is tending to the children. ¡®They need playtime¡¯ she said.¡±


    ¡°Go with her will you, Sapphire? I believe we will manage without you for now,¡± Joelina added, not taking her gaze off Saph.


    ¡°Of course,¡± she replied, trying her best to put on a genuine smile. ¡°I¡¯ll help out.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I will send for you if we need you here. And Edita¡­ Do try to remember where any books of note may be found on the machine. I may wish to study them later.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Inquisitor. Thank you,¡± Edita let out excitedly, clearly not needing help with managing a genuine smile right now, unlike the rest of them. ¡°Follow me, Sapphire.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Predictably enough, Edita had taken Saph to the workshop where she had the machine sitting on a workbench plugged into the solar charger which was hanging out the window.


    ¡°I wanted to find what he based that thing on and see how much inventing he did as opposed to simply repurposing,¡± she opened, pointing at the lathe before sitting down in front of the computer.


    ¡°I think he drew that up on paper by hand.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, but he said he didn¡¯t invent all this. They must have some truly impressive things where he¡¯s from, I bet. I want to see them.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ I don¡¯t know where that might be. There has to be soo many things on that computer.¡±


    ¡°No no, we will work it out,¡± Edita replied as she tapped away on the keyboard. ¡°The buttons are so strange. How did you spell it?¡±


    ¡°L-A-T-H-E,¡± Saph went helpfully, Edita consulted her notebook lying on the table next to the laptop where she had noted down the letters and their names. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything with that name¡­ What does that say?¡±


    ¡°Progran¡­ it says the same thing there, but with x86 afterward,¡± Saph said pointing at the screen.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s like ¡®plan¡¯ or something. You know as in planning something¡±


    ¡°Well that sounds interesting,¡± Edita went clicking it. ¡°Right. What have we got?¡±


    ¡°Well, that says. Windows¡­ And that says little-soft¡­ What is this? It says windows defender there.¡±


    ¡°Think it¡¯s window bars or something? Maybe shutters? I wonder if they make different glass than we do?¡± Edita went, clicking the name, which just resulted in another list of even more strange names. ¡°I don¡¯t see any drawings or pictures.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure we should be doing this? We might break something.¡±


    ¡°But we are just looking through its memory.¡±


    ¡°But what if this is more like its brain?¡±


    ¡°Why would there be windows in its brain?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It might mean something else for all I know,¡± Saph protested, shrugging. ¡°I can show you where the movies are at.¡±


    Edita just turned to look at Saph, not seeming quite convinced. ¡°But I want to know what he used to design the lathe. I need to know how he made it.¡±


    ¡°Well, you can talk with me and Shiva about that. We also have the drawings on paper.¡±


    ¡°But I want to understand this thing too.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Tell you what, there is a movie where it showed some factories full of machines. I remember he was showing Tink. I¡¯ll try and find that. Then I can go ask Tom if he knows where he might have something about lathes at.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he staying in his room? I¡¯m not allowed to go in there now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he will be happy to see me. Here, let me,¡± Saph went, leaning in and starting to click through folders. She remembered where the movies were after sitting with Essy as the older woman had showed off the impressive machine and what she had learned about it while she was sick.


    ¡°No, I want to do it. What do I press?¡± Edita protested, putting her hands in the way.


    ¡°Right¡­ so you go to files. That¡¯s that one on the left with the F. Then that one with an M as the first letter.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ This is so exciting. I need to learn this language.¡±


    ¡°You were the one that wanted to see the computer first. I offered.¡±


    ¡°I know I know¡­ But this is too exciting.¡±


    ¡°We have many exciting things¡­ Tell you what, I¡¯ll check if maybe he has a book with the machines in it. You¡¯ll love that, and we can practice English at the same time. For now, just watch the movie.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Would you show me the movie¡­ There are two ¡®m¡¯ ones,¡± Edita replied a little slack-earedly.


    ¡°Right yes, of course,¡± Saph tried in her friendliest tone, going to find it for her.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ Saph¡­ did I make him mad with all the questions? Jacky seemed mad,¡± Edita asked, looking up at Saph, seeming rather worried.


    ¡°No, just tired. He¡¯s been answering questions every day for half a year. I¡¯m fairly sure he enjoys being the smart one, but everyone gets tired out eventually. After what Joelina did, he¡¯ll need some time¡­ Quite a bit I fear.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll do my best to learn so I don''t have to ask so much then,¡± Edita replied a little slack-eared looking back at the screen.


    ¡°I think he¡¯ll appreciate that¡­ Oooh, I see. It¡¯s a bunch of little things about how stuff is made¡­ I don¡¯t know what half of it is though?¡±


    ¡°It shows you how it¡¯s made?! Yes! Yes, I want to see that!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working on it¡­ Do you just want to start at one end and work your way through?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I want to see everything!¡±


    ¡°You got it,¡± Saph replied with a sigh of relief. ¡®That should keep her entertained for quite a while¡­ Maybe I can just sit here and watch. That doesn¡¯t sound too bad¡­ Yup, I am doing precisely that.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, now they were in the infirmary with Dakota and Nunuk just as planned. Tom was a little worried someone from Baron¡¯s crew might have followed them down through the grand hall to listen in. He was at least not feeling like someone was watching him without knowing it at the moment. Mainly because the effects seemingly weren¡¯t limited to darklings and war. He was in fact currently staring at a rather attractive human woman who looked ready for a trip to the beach. He had definitely seen her somewhere before, but he just could not remember where. She was currently standing behind Dakota like nothing was out of the ordinary and listening in on the conversation, though not saying a word, even if her mouth moved at times.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s full-on losing it,¡± Jacky declared after a few seconds of awkward silence.


    ¡°I am not. I¡¯m just seeing and hearing things.¡±


    ¡°And feeling.¡±


    ¡°And feeling,¡± Tom relented with a grumble, averting his gaze a little from the nice-looking woman.


    ¡°What do you mean? How exactly?¡± Dakota questioned in an authoritative tone, though her face betrayed she was a little confused, looking back once at where Tom had been staring.


    ¡°Some weird dark knight puppet looking thing tried to grab my foot. It was all cold and slimy and left a black spot on my foot. I blinked and it was gone, see?¡± Tom went, lifting up his trouser leg to reveal nothing out of the ordinary.


    ¡°That is no laughing matter, Tom,¡± Dakota replied in a very worried tone, looking to her bedridden mother, who was lying on her belly in the cot and looking at them.


    ¡°No, it is not. Joelina claimed this would recede, but you are claiming it is getting worse?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s only been a day,¡± Tom defended as he went back to staring at the woman. She had freckles¡­ and long flowing red hair¡­ She was very pretty.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t seeing things like this in the morning. Only when he shut his eyes,¡± Jacky clarified, also throwing Tom a confused glance as he kept staring.


    ¡°Is this true Tom?¡± Dakota tried once more, glancing behind her. ¡°Is something behind me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah and¡­ yeah,¡± he replied reluctantly. ¡°Been hearing things all the while. When I shut my eyes, I could see things from what she showed me yesterday. Now it¡¯s all the time. And there is currently a human standing behind you, I don¡¯t know who they are. Don¡¯t worry, they aren¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Dakota replied cautiously as she studied the area behind her more closely.


    ¡°So it is not just nightmarish apparitions?¡± Nunuk questioned, sounding like that at least wasn¡¯t terrible news.


    ¡°It would seem so, yeah. But this is definitely the first case.¡±


    ¡°So it is getting worse,¡± Nunuk sighed, looking to Dakota.


    ¡°I will have to discuss this with the inquisitor. She is the only person here who might know if this is worthy of concern,¡± the gilded huntress replied with a prompt nod.


    ¡°She will just say what she thinks makes us do what she wants,¡± Nunuk interjected. ¡°Pay extra attention to her demeanor. If this is truly a worry, it will show there when you tell her. She must be tired.¡±


    ¡°I will do so, Mother,¡± Dakota replied with a slight bow towards the aging lady.


    ¡°I think she will just try to get back into his head if we ask her like that,¡± Jacky grumped, crossing her arms. Tom was inclined to believe her on this one too.


    ¡°Then we will make clear that that is off the table.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is why we were here actually,¡± Tom interjected. ¡°We were talking about how to get her to not be such a¡­ Difficult person to work with.¡±


    ¡°I commend the effort,¡± Nunuk added rather dispassionately. ¡°It would be easier if she was not the nearest expert on what to do about this.¡±


    ¡°Or we could wait and see. Maybe she is still right that it will fade away.¡±


    ¡°It may be necessary for her to intervene¡­¡± Nunuk admitted, clearly reluctant to say it. ¡°If she broke anything in his mind, how would we fix such damage?¡±


    ¡°What if she just causes more damage? He is not a dragonette. Or even worse, she doesn¡¯t even try,¡± Dakota countered, arms crossed. ¡°I would not put it past her.¡±


    ¡°Ehm¡­ Essy said ¡®she needs Tom,¡¯ ¡± Jacky interrupted in a hopefully but clearly not happy tone. Tom guessed she wanted to agree with Dakota here. He honestly wasn¡¯t sure right now, ''cause this is trippy as hell. ¡°Cause all the things she¡¯s bringing here are worth like, a lot, and probably not allowed to be here.¡±


    ¡°Uhm girls¡­ would you let me try something?¡±


    ¡°What is it, Tom?¡± Nunuk asked in a caring tone, looking up at him.


    ¡°I want to see if I can touch them. They are just standing there.¡±


    The three women exchanged some glances for a bit before Dakota spoke up.


    ¡°Why exactly?¡±


    ¡°Just wanna know if it feels different, or if I can even feel them.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a bad idea,¡± Jacky protested, Tom nodding a little.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ but I want to know if I can tell the difference.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a reply, instead walking past Dakota up to the woman and putting a hand on her shoulder, which went straight through like she wasn¡¯t even there. ¡°Huh¡­I guess not.¡±


    ¡°You really are messed up, dude,¡± Jacky added, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him back in. ¡°What do we do? We wanted to talk about how to make Joelina not be a bitch to everyone, but now¡­ please tell me we don¡¯t need her.¡±


    ¡°Dakota, I want you to have that chat with the inquisitor, as few eyes as possible to start with. Let her know. If she doesn¡¯t already, she will soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± Dakota replied with a prompt nod before throwing a side glance at Tom, who was still trying to touch the woman. His hand just went through her, but she seemed perfectly solid, and he couldn¡¯t see his hand through her either.


    ¡®Okay, this is sorta funny¡­ I wonder if this is what it is like being on LSD?... Is this like a bad trip or something?¡¯


    ¡°We need to do something about that,¡± Dakota continued nodding at Tom.


    ¡°He was doing better than this until we left the bedroom,¡± Jacky added in a mix of confusion and worry.


    ¡°Then take him back there and see if it helps.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Jacky went with a nod as Tom felt her start to drag him off.


    ¡°What if I just need to think happy thoughts?¡±


    ¡°You need sleep, my dude. You are starting to sound drunk.¡±


    ¡°No really, I think it could work.¡±


    ¡°Okaaay. Think happy thoughts then. We¡¯ll be going,¡± she went with a quick nod to Dakota and Nunuk. ¡°I¡¯ll stay with him.¡±


    ¡°Godspeed,¡± Dakota sighed looking at Tom with a perplexed and rather pissed expression. Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure if she was mad at him or not, but this was so surreal.


    Jacky had borderline dragged him out of the infirmary and back up towards their room. There were not actually any darklings or dark knights waiting for him around the corners. Instead, they encountered a flock of kids, who managed to perfectly fool Tom until they ran through him and down the stairs, playing some sort of game.


    ¡°Huh¡­ I really thought they were here¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, it had certainly been educational watching some of those videos. And it did answer some questions as to just how Tom¡¯s people had so many things. And such big things for that matter. Most of it was not even made by people. Edita had been beside herself throughout much of it, to Sapphire''s relief. As they were watching, Tink and Junior had popped in to ask a question about some of the new equipment only to get dragged into watching the movies. When they found one about what the humans called a foundry, Saph had gone to fetch Shiva too.


    It was all quite enjoyable really, but when Edita discovered how to go frame by frame through the videos, Saph had called it quits as it all turned into a documenting exercise. It was getting rather late anyway, so she decided to go check up on Tom and Jacky and then maybe go help out with dinner or something. Couldn¡¯t hurt to check up on how they were doing.


    She knocked on the door before slowly prying it open, being quite surprised by what she saw. On the bed sat Tom and Jacky. Jacky held him tight from behind like she was scared he would run away. He was in turn staring at the far wall talking away in his gibberish language. Essy stood by the side of the bed, Kiran sitting on Tom¡¯s lap, looking up at the human. Jacky and Essy both looked over as Saph opened the door. Both simply stared at her. Her best guess was they had no clue what to do right now.


    Jacky glanced back and forth between Tom and Saph, looking torn on if she should speak or not. Saph for her part just stood there staring worriedly for a few seconds, thinking that it was a mistake coming here. Jacky turned to Tom and broke the awkwardness.


    ¡°Look Tom, it¡¯s Saph. She¡¯s come to say hi.¡±


    This finally got Tom¡¯s attention, as he turned to look at Saph with a genuinely happy smile, giving her a wave. ¡°Oh hello. Just having a chat with my Dad. Haven¡¯t seen him in decades. This mind-stuff is trippy as all hell.¡±


    ¡°Your what?¡±


    ¡°My dad. I know he¡¯s not really here, but still. It¡¯s amazing. There were two Jackys before.¡±


    ¡°And you couldn¡¯t tell who was me,¡± Jackalope grumped, Essy looking a little ashamed.


    ¡°How could I tell the difference? I made up the other one.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how that works. The one you made up was Essy.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± Saph let out, staring at the two of them.


    ¡°Oh yeah, apparently I¡¯m losing my ability to distinguish what¡¯s real and what¡¯s memories. A bit like dreaming while awake. Joelina came up to try and check me out after Dakota told her it was getting worse.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s bad¡­ that¡¯s quite bad, right?¡± Saph questioned, turning to Jacky Worriedly.


    ¡°How should I know? All that damn woman said was ¡®Interesting, I will have to consult someone¡¯ then she fucked off.¡±


    ¡°Consult who?¡±


    ¡°Well, shock of shocks, Essy thinks she has something like our earrings so she can talk with, well someone.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ she could have mentioned that.¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure she has plenty more surprises,¡± Tom chuckled, going back to chatting away in Danish. Saph¡¯s mind flashed back to the device Glazz had almost used on Jacky in the library.


    ¡°Probably¡­ still, would have been nice to tell us we could talk with the capital.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is the capital,¡± Essy added in. ¡°or if it is, then it is probably not just her mother or something of the like.¡±


    ¡°I get it, I get it. Could we talk about why Tom is sitting there talking to thin ai-¡±


    Essy cut saph off, shushing her with a finger. ¡°It is very important he believes it is real. Else his mind just fills in the blanks.¡±


    ¡°No no, I think I¡¯ve got this now. I think,¡± Tom interrupted, looking at Saph with a big dumb grin on his face before looking back to the far wall. ¡°Ain¡¯t that right, Dad?¡±


    ¡°Essy, would you mind?¡± Saph asked, giving a sideways nod towards the door. The older huntress obliged, following Saph out of the room and shutting the door behind them. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fucked up. What the hell do we do?¡±


    Essy eyed down both sides of the hallway before leaning in for a whisper. ¡°I have one idea.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say ¡®trust the inquisitor¡¯ right now. That woman is single minded as all hell.¡±


    ¡°Fengi.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me, right?¡± Saph replied with a nervous chuckle. ¡°Right?¡±


    ¡°No. He has some control over what he sees. Maybe Fengi telling him to not see imaginary things would work? Do we even know how her magic really works now?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s an enchantress, right? The whole thing with Yldril didn¡¯t change that. Even if it works, it would only be for a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, you¡¯re right. It may be better than nothing. Perhaps he could at least get a bit of sleep.¡±


    ¡°But Fengi has gone out to be with Yldril.¡±


    ¡°Then we get her back for this evening, Saph. Come on now.¡±


    ¡°Right right¡­¡±


    Then they heard crying coming from inside the room. Human crying. Essy swung open the door in a hurry, revealing Tom sitting and bawling in Jacky¡¯s arms as she tried to shush him back down again.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Essy was quick to ask, rushing to the bedside.


    ¡°His dad got an illness that made him forget, then he died.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Essy all but whimpered, going to give the crying human an almost motherly-looking hug. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It isn¡¯t real.


    Tom for his part just kept crying, Saph guessing the poor guy was probably so sleep-deprived by now he was barely functioning as is.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go fetch Fengi. Dinner shouldn¡¯t be too long now either.¡±


    Essy just looked back at her and nodded her consent. ¡°Go. We¡¯ll handle this.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Saph just agreed, backing out of the room and debating on whether she should go out the greeting hall or up the tower. ¡®I think tower. Nooo need for more questions.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 154: Role Reversal

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was not a long flight, but, nonetheless, Saph could see the sun getting low on the horizon as she made for Yldril¡¯s camp, pushing rather hard.


    ¡®That stupid fucking piece of shit. ¡®Eeeh, he can¡¯t be trusted, he¡¯s dangerous, he¡¯s the key to everything.¡¯ Dumb bitch¡¯


    ¡°WELL DON¡¯T FUCK HIM UP THEN!¡± she shouted out in defiance, taking a moment to catch her breath again afterwards.


    ¡®Honestly... the hell do you think you¡¯ll learn¡­ and what does it matter if he goes completely cuckoo afterwards¡­ can¡¯t really trust a crazy person, now can you¡­ hang on¡­ no no way¡­ Is she trying to drive him insane? No, she¡¯s a mind reader... She could do that with ease¡­ yeah like the guy in the capital¡­ but if she did that we would know¡­ but she still needs him right? Yeah she needs him. Or she wants him for a collection or something. Lock him away for hundreds of years in one of those vaults of theirs. Yeah that¡¯s probably it.¡¯


    ¡®Arrogant, self-righteous, incredibly dangerous woman with trust issues it is then¡­ Fuck me,¡¯ she cursed to herself. As the camp came into view down below, Saph pitched into a fast dive and aimed for a group of people standing just outside of snapping range from Yldril.


    The large black dragon was lying on her side, looking away from the people who seemed to be discussing something as the sun was setting. As Saph came down she could make them out as Fengi, Paulin, and Jortun. They all three turned to look as she came down, Fengi tilting her head, clearly confused what Saph was doing out here at this hour.


    ¡°Everything okay, Saph?¡±


    ¡°No, not really,¡± Saph replied with a pained smile. ¡°Tom¡¯s getting worse. Quite a lot worse.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t possible, the effects always recede afterwards,¡± Paulin protested, crossing her arms in defiance.


    ¡°Well he is. When I left he was busy talking to his dad, who has been dead for quite a while last I checked, not to mention buried on another world.¡±


    Paulin didn¡¯t counter that statement, though she looked far from convinced at what Saph was saying.


    ¡°While that is certainly bad news, why are you out here?¡± Jortun asked, also sounding a touch skeptical. Saph¡¯s eyes turned to Fengi who shrunk just a little, shaking her head.


    ¡°Uh uh, I am not gonna try and mess with his head. I¡¯ll just mess it up more.¡±


    ¡°I must concur,¡± Jortun added with a nod. ¡°Does Joelina know you are out here?¡±


    ¡°Not aaas such,¡± Saph had to admit, feeling the eyes of Paulin burrow into her but refusing to look at the investigator. ¡°She was busy attempting to contact someone far away. She apparently didn¡¯t think we should know she has something that lets her talk with home, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°She is an Inquisitor, her arsenal includes the finest of equipment,¡± Paulin said after clearing her throat. ¡°Huntress?¡±


    ¡°Yup?¡± Saph replied, turning to face the investigator.


    ¡°Does Joelina concur that Tom¡¯s condition is deteriorating?¡±


    ¡°I believe so. She went to see him then she decided to contact home. Esmeralda came up with the idea that maybe Fengi could help, since it is Tom¡¯s mind that is producing all these strange illusions.¡±


    ¡°How? You want me to just tell him ¡®Stop seeing things?¡¯ Even if that works, it will only work for a little bit, you know that. And what if it makes things worse?¡± Fengi protested, clearly not happy with the idea in the slightest.


    ¡°Please, Fen. Just, you know, come back with me and ask Joelina if it¡¯s a good idea,¡± Saph replied, doing her best to keep a straight face. ¡°He couldn¡¯t even tell which Jacky was real when one of them was actually Essy. Maybe it will work for just long enough for him to get some sleep. He hasn¡¯t closed his eyes since the mindreading.¡±


    Jortun cleared his throat, seeming a touch uncomfortable all of a sudden. ¡°That is certainly¡­ a difficult position to be in.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Besides, the inquisitor has many more questions for him¡­¡± Saph threw a slightly guilty glance at Paulin. ¡°I-i mean she is clearly in a hurry and such. Maybe we just need a short-term solution.¡±


    ¡°But what if I make it worse, Saph? Yldril is not exactly having a fun time because of all this!¡±


    ¡°I know I know, but the dude is gonna go completely cuckoo if we don¡¯t do something¡­ is there anything wrong with Yldril though?¡± Saph asked, really hoping it was at least nothing like what Tom was experiencing.


    ¡°The dragon is perfectly fine,¡± Paulin interjected. ¡°She is simply struggling with having lost her freedom of will.¡±


    Fengi shrank even further at that, throwing a shameful glance at Jortun, who for his part just gave her a conceding nod. ¡°It is what it is, Fengi,¡± the old major tried in a comforting tone, eyes quickly darting to Paulin and back to Saph as he straightened his back. ¡°I believe Inquisitor Joelina Hashaw is the only available expert on the effects on the mind in regards to mind reading. If she believes such an action has merit, I would obey if it was me. Though of course, any resultant negative effects would also be her responsibility.¡±


    ¡®Like that¡¯s gonna help Fengi¡¯s conscience,¡¯ Saph all but snarled to herself, struggling to keep a straight face.


    ¡°Will she force me to do it?¡± Fengi asked almost pleadingly, looking up at Paulin.


    The investigator took a second to think, opening her mouth twice before speaking, which was clearly all the confirmation Fengi needed. ¡°You don¡¯t need to lie,¡± the young huntress let out, looking down at the ground.


    Paulin for her part just remained silent for a bit longer, then looked toward Saphhire. ¡°I believe Inquisitor Hashaw has the best intentions in regards to our work here. Tom is an important piece of her plan. She would not waste him like this.¡±


    ¡°Waste?! He¡¯s a fucking person and you know that!¡± Saph finally snapped, immediately regretting it, swallowing once and looking down as she took a half-step back. ¡°Sorry Investigator, I-¡±


    ¡°Pay it no mind. I am quite aware these are difficult times for you all.¡±


    ¡°Then how about not continuing to make it worse while filling our ears with how much you need us?¡± Fengi broke out, Saph looking at the young woman worriedly.


    ¡°Do you blame us for everything that has happened here, Huntress? By the sound of it, we arrived just in time to provide you much-needed security.¡± Paulin retorted though to her credit with no venom in her voice.


    ¡°I believe what Fengi means to insinuate is that she and the others do not feel much safer after your arrival,¡± clarified Jortun.


    ¡°Despite not having done anything wrong?¡± the investigator questioned turning her attention to the major. ¡°How long do you believe an inquisitor would live if she was not utmost careful and vigilant, hmm? Our profession is a most dangerous one, and our enemies have never been above using deceit to get what they wish.¡±


    ¡°But we aren¡¯t the enemy! How much do we have to do to prove that?!¡± Fengi protested. ¡°What even could we do!?¡±


    ¡°Yes oh, wise investigator. Whatever should they do?¡± Yldril joined in, sounding almost amused for the first time Saph could remember as her head rose up to look down at them.


    Paulin for her part did not seem pleased in the slightest, gaze darting around at them all and up at the dragon. ¡°Cease this insubordination this instant to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Well, that will definitely make them feel safe.¡±


    ¡°As if you contributed to that, dragon¡± Paulin retorted with the familiar venom starting to peek through. ¡°I will not be lectured by a brigand like yourself.¡±


    ¡°And I not by some tiny woman throwing around weight she does not have.¡±


    ¡°Yldril¡­ maybe that¡¯s enough,¡± Fengi let out, clearly having had just a second to think about what she just did.


    ¡°Indeed it is,¡± Paulin snarled in reply. ¡°Petulant whelp of a dragon. Knows more about the mines than the world outside them.¡±


    ¡°Please let me snack on this one, Fengi. Just one word and she¡¯s not a problem anymore,¡± Yldril let out with a dark chuckle, looking down at the investigator. ¡°I promise you I would enjoy it.¡±


    ¡°No. Sit down¡­ go over there or something,¡± Fengi snapped in reply, pointing away. ¡°You are still not allowed to hurt anyone without my express permission. Not even a damn field mouse. Is that understood?!¡±


    ¡°You know it is,¡± Yldril snarled in reply, getting up gingerly and moving herself a bit further away before setting down.


    ¡°Well that was interesting,¡± Paulin went, glancing around between the four of them, seeming to calm right down in an instant. ¡°The dragon is no use without Fengi, i shall be accompanying you.¡±


    Saph tried real hard to get a read on if the investigator was even showing an emotion right now, but she was blank as a slate.


    ¡°Of course, Investigator,¡± Saph went, doing a quick, sharp bow before turning to more or less run off, stopping in her footsteps turning back to Paulin. ¡°I do apologize.¡±


    ¡°It is quite alright. I understand your frustrations and doubts. But do please let us do our job, even if you sometimes don¡¯t understand why our job is necessary.¡±


    ¡®Honestly, just a little people skills wouldn''t¡¯ hurt, woman,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself. ¡°I will try to keep it in mind. Come on, Fengi. Let¡¯s try to see if you can at least give him a little sleep.¡±


    ¡°Coming,¡± Fengi replied, almost squeaking then running past Saph and taking to the wing in a hurry. Saph gave another quick bow to the investigator before going to follow, beating skywards hard as the sun set in the distance, the soft red glow casting long deep shadows over the hilly terrain as they headed for the keep.


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    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Okay, I think I¡¯ve got the hang of this,¡¯ Tom thought to himself hopefully. More wishfully, if he was being entirely honest. He had no idea if this whole situation was a blessing or a curse, but it was certainly an opportunity. His dad had just sorta appeared by accident when Essy was being a little condescending but since then he had managed to make even more people he remembered show up by just sorta imagining the people in front of him as someone else. he did feel quite bad about Linkosta ending up a german shepherd but he really wanted to see Tajs again.


    After having put together a congregation of the people he remembered quite well, and that he trusted most, at least in some areas, he had them all sit down in a nice half-moon to hopefully interrogate an answer to ¡®what the hell he was supposed to do now¡¯ out of his own brain, or whatever he was talking with. He honestly neither knew nor cared anymore.


    ¡°Right. We are gathered here today because you are all here and I don¡¯t know what to do about that.¡±


    ¡°Hear hear,¡± Tom¡¯s dad went with an agreeing nod from his chair next to his, by now, probably dead wife.


    ¡°You do know we¡¯re not actually here, right?¡± Vigo sighed, Fengi playing her role nicely. Vigo had always been a touch shy when he was not in work mode after all.


    ¡°Yes yes. It¡¯s all a bit strange, but I wanted to see you all again now I had the chance. Isn¡¯t that what everyone would want to do?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± Morten grumbled, leaning back in his little folding chair. The poor thing groaned under the weight of the hulking man even if his head was mostly missing, meaning Tom was actually taller than him now.


    ¡°Now, first of all, I want to thank you all for coming and for playing along. Let¡¯s do some quick introductions shall we. Starting from the right, Morten, my squad leader in Afghanistan, played today by Jackalope Furlong. Next we have Vigo. One of my friends all the way from bootcamp till the murder hole, played by Fengi. That is Torben. I actually knew him back in primary where he was a bit of a bully. Then we met again in the army. Quite the coincidence really. He is being played by Sapphire Rayland. Next is our old family dog Tajs. Say hello, Tajs.¡± ¡°Woof!¡± the old and very obedient german shepherd replied, tail wagging enthusiastically. ¡°Good boy. I¡¯m so sorry, Linkosta, but I really wanted him here. I haven¡¯t seen him in a long time. Now next is my mother Vibike, played by the lovely Essmeralda, she really is a sweetheart, and finally we have J?rgen¡­ my dad.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± the old gray man waved to all of them. ¡°I am played by some bitch named Joelina, apparently. I have no idea how any of this works or what is going on¡­ But then again that¡¯s nothing new¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you, dad.¡±


    ¡°Tomas, who is the nice woman playing your friend there?¡± his mother Vibike asked, pointing at Morten. ¡°I heard you thinking about her earlier. Is she someone special?¡±


    ¡°Oh I guess you could say so,¡± Tom snickered, looking away, a little afraid he was blushing.


    ¡°Fine work, son. I still remember when we were scared you were actually gay,¡± J?rgen went with a proud dad nod.


    ¡°J?rgen! We weren¡¯t scared. We simply wondered,¡± his mother corrected, the old gray man letting out a bit of a huff before looking back at Tom apologetically. ¡°You were just quite lonely, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Sure didn¡¯t seem gay at the club.¡± Torben added in with a chuckle, rubbing his beard. ¡°Then again, you did once visit Thailand. I remember you talking about that,¡± Vibike looked downright horrified at that, while J?rgen just pulled a sly smile and a deep chuckle.


    ¡°Dude, not in front of his damn parents, you fucking miscarriage,¡± Vigo added in, shaking his head as he leaned forward on his remaining knee. ¡°You sure this is smart, Tom?¡±


    ¡°Well, my thinking was maybe one of you would know what to do. You are some of the smartest people I know after all.¡±


    ¡°Cause we died?¡± Morten questioned, confused. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like the best council to me.¡±


    ¡°I mean I wish I had been smart enough to do so back then,¡± Tom replied with a wistful sigh.


    ¡°Tomas Hansen! I will not hear such talk! Especially not in front of your new girlfriend,¡± Vibike interrupted.


    ¡°Indeed you¡¯ll scare her with such talk, son.¡± J?rgen agreed with a stern expression.


    ¡°Eeeh¡­ I don¡¯t think so, dad. She¡¯s more man than you, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Tom retorted with just a bit of sass in his tone.


    ¡°I find that unconvincing?¡± J?rgen replied with a grumble crossing his arms again.


    ¡°Yes. She¡¯s a flying warrior with a set of magic armor fit to fight an army and has killed more by weight than you have ever eaten, and that¡¯s saying something.¡± Tom retorted, sounding just a little bit proud.


    His dad just looked like he didn¡¯t quite know how to take that one, letting out a bit of a huff while his mother swallowed once.


    ¡°D-d-do d-does she like cake?¡± Vibike stuttered a touch of real fear on her face as she looked at Morten.


    ¡°Yes mom, she loves sweet things and she is even sweeter, she¡¯s the one who has been staying with me in bed all day long. Yesterday too for that matter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I kinda want a piece of candy right now,¡± Morten went with a nod. ¡°Damn strange.¡±


    ¡°I just want a carrot,¡± Vigo went with a sigh. ¡°But I don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°Hey can we congratulate the dude on landing a warrior princess or something?¡± Torben laughed out smacking his knee. ¡°Little Tom the housewife.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, laugh it up tough guy. You¡¯re the dead one here.¡±


    ¡°Touch¨¦, touch¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Now let¡¯s get to the matter at hand. I need to first work out if I should trust the inquisitor who put me here to also fix this. Or go with the option set forth by my new friends here at the keep, mainly Linkosta. Keep in mind that the Inquisitor is an expert on this stuff, and Linkosta has only read about this somewhere a while ago and then a bit more after this whole incident.¡±


    ¡°I told you already, son. I believe you simply did not cope well with being ripped out of the reading so¡­ violently,¡± J?rgen added, giving Morten the stinkeye.


    ¡°Joelina, play your role! My dad would not say it like that, just let him speak.¡± Tom snapped looking back at his father as sternly as he could manage.


    J?rgen let out a far more characteristic grumble, gritting his teeth just a bit. ¡°You got fucked in the head ¡®cause you hopped out the car at 80¡­ happy?¡±


    ¡°Much better, thank you Inquisitor,¡± Tom replied with a happy smile, turning to the dead soldiers. ¡°You four have a different idea, right?¡±


    ¡°Well I just wanted to tell you to stop being so weird and hope you get better,¡± Vigo added cautiously. ¡°It should still go away, right? With time and all that.¡±


    Tajs just barked, tail wagging, looking like he thought a treat was in order.


    ¡°Jup. So those are the options.¡±


    ¡°I vote for actually trying to fix it rather than applying a bandaid,¡± J?rgen went, raising his hand. ¡°You too, Vibike.¡±


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t get to order me around,¡± she huffed, glancing at Vigo and Morten, clearly conflicted. ¡°Fengi is it?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yeah,¡± Vigo replied with a nod, looking at the older woman.


    ¡°Your¡­ thing that you can do¡­ Have you done this before?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Oh this is trippy¡­ I have apparently told a dragon what to do¡­ and she is now my slave¡­ I think that¡¯s a yes?¡±


    ¡°Yldril, yes. Though that did take the power of a unicorn,¡± Tom clarified helpfully for them only, receiving a strained expression and shake of the head from his dad for his troubles. ¡°What? Look, I can¡¯t explain half a year¡¯s stuff in 20 minutes or however long this will last before the dark knight under the bed and in the dresser finds us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the darklings you ordered to sit down in a corner in the round tower,¡± Morten added with a reassuring smile.


    ¡°Heh classic,¡± Torben chuckled, sticking a finger through the hole in his chest. ¡°You know¡­ that really hurt.¡±


    ¡°Mine didn¡¯t¡­ but I¡¯m never getting laid again,¡± Morten joked, waving a hand where the top part of his head used to be. ¡°Still smarter than you though.¡±


    ¡°Could you all concentrate please?¡± Tom pleaded. ¡°I need to work out what to do.¡±


    ¡°Oohh, I don¡¯t know,¡± Vibike let out, fanning her head with a hand. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to say. What about the unicorn? I know those, they are good, right? I think it was the Scottish who came up with them you know.¡±


    ¡°They are indeed mum.¡± Tom replied with a warm smile mulling it over for a bit. ¡°Problem is I don¡¯t think we know where she is and we certainly can¡¯t just summon her here.¡±


    ¡°What, the narwhal pony doesn¡¯t have a cellphone?¡± Torben chuckled clearly trying not to laugh too much at his own joke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there would be cell reception here¡± Vigo added with a sigh, shoulders sagging as he looked away from Torben who just leaned in close.


    ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡±


    ¡°I trust in friends,¡± Morten went, looking to Vigo.


    ¡°This.. Fengi woman seems nice¡­ I think she¡¯ll do the right thing. But she seems damn scared to do it.¡±


    ¡°Dad?¡± Tom asked, looking to J?rgen ¡°... Can you tell what the inquisitor is thinking?¡±


    ¡°Nope. This bitch is cold as a corpse on Svalbard. Just like my arse back home.¡±


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Tom snapped, before sorting himself back out again. ¡°I really wanted to know if she could be trusted. She¡¯s been so busy trying to test me. For all I know she¡¯s a dark knight in a glamour or something.


    ¡°Dark knight?... That doesn¡¯t sound that original, now does it?¡± J?rgen chuffed merrily. ¡°Sounds like a bad 80¡¯s crime series come to think of it¡­ might have watched that actually.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the Batman movie?¡± Vigo asked, looking around at them all, Morten nodding in assent.


    ¡°As I said, 80¡¯s crime series,¡± J?rgen retorted, receiving a fair few stares from around the room.


    ¡°Dad please. I need you. Just give me anything here,¡± Tom pleaded, ignoring the soldiers¡¯ staring. ¡°Just something.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do? I don¡¯t know how any of this mind malarkey works?¡±


    ¡°No, but you are stubborn as a mule. I¡¯m pretty sure that has something to do with it.¡±


    ¡°Our son is right about that one, J?rgen. I am still mad you didn¡¯t go and get that mole checked out for 4 years after I told you,¡± Vibike interjected, clearly not happy. ¡°It could have been cancer, you know.¡±


    ¡°Well it wasn¡¯t that which killed me, now was it?¡± J?rgen grumped looking away from his wife indignantly.


    Vibike just looked at Tom with a slightly annoyed ¡®I told you so¡¯ expression.


    ¡°Come on, old man. Show a bit of backbone for the boy,¡± Morten added in, puffing out his chest. ¡°Can¡¯t be that hard.¡±


    ¡°Alright alright. I¡¯ll try something¡­ Uhm woman? She is a woman, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dad. She is a woman.¡±


    ¡°Hmpf. Right listen up, woman. You apparently messed around inside my son¡¯s head. Now you better fix it or I¡¯ll show you my collection of-¡±


    ¡°J?rgen!¡± Vibeke shouted out. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±


    ¡°What? I needed a threat, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Not in front of people!¡±


    ¡°Dad, I think you can just think it. You don¡¯t have to say it aloud,¡± Tom explained, swallowing once, starting to wonder if this really was a memory or if he had something really repressed somewhere in the back of his skull.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Well you could have said so sooner.¡± J?rgen retorted, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.


    ¡°Dad, we are already just inside my head¡­ I think¡­ I¡¯m actually a little confused on that one, but mostly at least.¡±


    ¡°You have always been very smart dear,¡± his mother went with a big smile, rubbing her knees, clearly agitated. She glanced at J?rgen, who was clearly concentrating hard right now.


    ¡°What are you doing, dude?¡± Vigo asked tilting his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking loud so she can¡¯t ignore me.¡± the old man replied as his face contorted even more.


    ¡°About what?¡± Tom had to ask with a raised eyebrow as Vigo shook his head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you want an answer to that one, Kiddo,¡± Morten went from next to him. ¡°Have I ever told you, I like you a lot¡­ like really a lot¡­ are you free on Tuesday?¡±


    ¡°Jacky, not okay! No making Morten gay. He has a wife and kids.¡± Tom snapped at the squad lead before turning back to his father. ¡°Dad, what are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Abba¡­ It¡¯s psychological warfare, son. I have had to listen to it for over 30 years. If it can drive me mad, she doesn¡¯t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about Abba songs?... This is a trained inquisitor, Dad. Music won¡¯t faze her.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Son¡­¡± his dad groaned, pinching his eyes shut harder as he clearly struggled to ¡®think louder.¡¯ ¡°30 years of Swedish pop music and finally someone to share my pain.¡±


    ¡°Dude, Abba ain¡¯t that bad,¡± Torben protested.


    ¡°Yes it is¡­ Especially the Christmas CD.¡±


    ¡°I quite like that CD,¡± Vibike added in, sounding a little hurt. ¡°It brings out such a festive atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ and I am playing it all at once¡­


    ¡°This has to be against the Geneva convention or whatever you boys were going on about.¡±


    ¡°It does state that audio-based torture is not allowed,¡± Vigo added in sagely.


    ¡°All torture is not allowed, squirrel brain,¡± Torben snapped in reply. ¡°Okay, that was odd¡­¡±


    ¡°You never said that before,¡± Morten chuckled. ¡°Was that¡­ uhm¡­ the blue gem one?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yeah¡­ Trippy. Is there one called Diamond too? She¡¯s a play on Emerald for sure¡± Torben replied pointing at Vibike with a chuckle. ¡°I think they sound like strippers if I¡¯m honest.¡±


    ¡°Oh my gooooood. People come on, take this seriously, please,¡± Tom went, squeezing his temples and dragging at the bottom of his eyes. ¡°Gods, I¡¯ve got such a headache. Right, while dad works on that, any other good ideas?¡± he pleaded, looking around at them, really hoping someone had something better than Abba torture.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I just tell the inquisitor to spill the beans?¡± Vigo shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re¡­ allowed?¡±


    ¡°Well what¡¯s she gonna do, open your head to pry me out? If it¡¯s me doing it, then it¡¯s not Fengi if that¡¯s what you are worried about.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it works like that¡­ But I guess we can try¡­ just don¡¯t kill Fengi.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Vigo asked, clearly confused but suddenly on his toes.


    ¡°It¡¯s her magic. Using it drains¡­ I guess life force. Run out and, well, that¡¯s kinda that.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ so what do I do then?¡±


    ¡°Just go slow. If she faints it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°How the fuck do I ¡®go slow`?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Tom admitted a touch guiltily. ¡°Maybe she¡¯ll manage that part herself.


    ¡°Maybe?!¡±


    ¡°Talk about an abusive relationship,¡± Torben snickered. ¡°What can mine do?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s telekinetic,¡± Tom replied trying his best to think right now.


    ¡°SWEET! I¡¯m a fucking jedi!¡±


    Then there was a flash of light as J?rgen seemingly just vanished from existence, being replaced by a panting, wide-eyed Joelina Hashaw as she sat on her chair staring around at them all.


    ¡°What the fuck is that thing?!¡±

 Chapter 155: Where am I?

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    Well, Saph was at least glad she had fetched Fengi. Things were moving fast, and Tom was clearly completely out of it by now. Essy had taken the time to bring them all up to speed on what was going on as soon as they made it back. There were a fair few people outside the door to the small bedroom, rumors clearly spreading quite quickly that at least something was going on right now.


    Tom had apparently managed to get a hold of even more people from his past, not just his father. Saph and the others had slowly been assigned a role one by one, as he thought of more people he wanted to talk to. The human was switching willy nilly between Danish, English, and Draconic, often getting things confused to the detriment of them all, as he got quite angry when they didn¡¯t do as he said.


    Saph was apparently playing a bit of a playboy and a bully Tom had known since he was little. To that end, she had been told to sit down on a chair, don¡¯t move, and look pretty essentially. She was not quite sure if it was the strangest Tom related thing she had been part of yet, but it was certainly up there. When neither Joelina nor Paulin had been able to come up with an alternative solution to letting Tom try and work this all out for himself, at least for the moment, they had all obeyed.


    While chairs were found for a little half-circle, Saph had gotten away with presenting the idea of using Fengi to try and help to the inquisitor. Joelina seemed rather sceptical of the idea, agreeing with Fengi that there was a real chance of worsening the situation.


    So there they were, Tom happily chatting away in Danish with all the people in the room. For some reason Linkosta had to sit on the floor, and he did only allow 6 of them to stay. Dakota, Glazz and Paulin had not been given roles and when all of them refused to leave, Tom had started trying to fight them starting with Glazz, which had been a pitiable sight to say the least. It had soon turned from sad spectacle to rather scary as the man had started shouting and screaming about darklings and knights crawling into a corner like a scared child, clutching his knees and only daring to peek up at the bodyguard, who for her part simply stood there staring at him unmoving, clearly having no idea what to do nor the inclination to move.


    ¡°Just get out of sight, all of you,¡± Joelina had then finally ordered in a rather displeased tone. ¡°Glazz, stand by the door and do your job¡­ he is not much of a threat right now, is he?¡±


    ¡°As you wish, Inquisitor,¡± the large woman replied stoically, going outside the door and closing it behind her almost robotically as Paulin decided Jacky¡¯s dresser would do the trick and started taking out things carelessly throwing them to the floor to make room as she climbed in.


    Jacky for her part did not even seem to notice. She was just sitting on her chair like she had been told, straining her neck trying to look over at where Tom was sitting curled up, a tear in her eye. He had shouted at her very loudly the last two times she had tried to comfort him and had seemingly learned her lesson, sad as it was to watch.


    ¡°Dakota, you have to go I think,¡± Essy pleaded with her old friend. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine I¡¯m sure.¡±


    The gilded huntress threw an almost hateful glance at the inquisitor, who was luckily looking at Tom right now, seeming puzzled by his behaviour more than anything right now.


    ¡°No, I am staying. I just hope Jacky didn¡¯t skip on cleaning duty,¡± Dakota replied, getting down on the floor and crawling under the bed, letting out some noises that suggested that Jacky had in fact skimped on some of her chores, rather unsurprisingly.


    The saying ¡®out of sight out of mind¡¯ apparently applied here as Tom immediately stopped yammering, looking up and glancing around the room like a kid checking if the adults were gone. ¡°Where did they go? Are they gone?¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom, they are gone. Far far away,¡± Saph tried in as soothing a tone as she could muster, being rewarded with the human standing up and looking around, fear seemingly gone for now.


    ¡°May we commence?¡± Joelina asked, still staring at the human.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, dad¡¯s always so impatient,¡± Tom responded, going to sit down on the bed cross-legged. He was about to speak when Jacky reached out to touch his shoulder. Tom stopped in his tracks and turned to her, slapping the hand away.


    ¡°No, you have to play your role. Morten would never get handsy ever. Even with his wife¡­ probably,¡± he reprimanded as Jacky recoiled back, holding her hand like it had hurt, which Saph could guess it probably had, just not physically.


    Tom had then switched into Danish again and started spouting gibberish as he looked around at all of them, seeming quite content to just ramble along, an actual smile now on his face.


    ¡°There must be something we can do, right? Right?¡± Fengi pleaded, looking to the inquisitor, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed with her head now resting on her fists, staring at the human.


    ¡°I do not know¡­ This has never happened before, not with a person at least.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like he¡¯s not a dragonette or something,¡± Saph sneered from her chair, staring daggers at the inquisitor.


    ¡°Who was it you contacted, or is this a secret?¡± Dakota asked from under the bed, letting out a grunt as she moved around a bit.


    ¡°My old master. The man who taught me how to use my powers.¡±


    ¡°You have a master?¡± Saph asked, cocking an eyebrow as Tom apparently did a round of introductions around the room.


    ¡°Everyone must learn from somewhere. He is my master in terms of skill. Not rank,¡± Joelina clarified, throwing a glance Saph¡¯s way with just a hint of smugness in it.


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ¡°Did he say anything?¡± Fengi interjected, a desperate hope still in her tone.


    ¡°He reminded me of something¡­ I might have seen something like this before, But never in a dragonette.¡±


    ¡°What then?¡± Saph asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°You have mindread something other than Tom and dragonettes?¡± Linkosta asked, tone heavy with apprehension of what that could mean. Her notebook was out and ready, as always. ¡°Oh dragons, of course. I¡¯m dumb.¡±


    ¡°No. Not a dragon. We don¡¯t train on people¡­ not to start with, at least,¡± Joelina admitted. ¡°We start on animals. It is easier, even if there is not much to learn.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like animal cruelty if ever I¡¯ve heard of it,¡± Saph retorted, slightly disgusted. She was a huntress, but a hallmark of the hunter is killing without suffering after all.


    ¡°Would you rather we spend a few more criminals, Huntress? Not to mention inquisitorial cadets? Yours is not the only mind in danger when I work my magic.¡±


    ¡°Would you just skip to the useful part!¡± Jacky let out, holding back tears as she looked at Tom, who seemed utterly oblivious to what they were saying.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t one¡­ We never bothered trying to fix a rabbit or a rat for that matter¡­ this merely seems similar to that. We believed it was due to how simple their brains are compared to ours. They would run around confused, seemingly unable to get back to normal after a session. We used to just get another one when it happened.¡±


    ¡°Tom¡¯s mind is anything but simple, I can attest to that,¡± Linkosta interjected, eyes in her book.


    ¡°It would seem there is more to it than that, yes.¡±


    ¡°Fucking spill it, woman! What do we do?!¡± Jacky protested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Joelina replied, leaning back. ¡°All I can think of is to try and ease him back into the real world. We can see symptoms like this after rough transitions, but they fade, as has been stated many times by now. His, clearly have not.¡±


    ¡°So you want to go back in there in the hope that will make it better?¡± Saph asked skeptically, looking to Linkosta hopefully.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t touching him. None of this would have happened if you just trusted him!¡± Jacky shouted at the inquisitor, seeming quite ready to tear her apart on the spot.


    ¡°Which I could not do under any circumstance.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you! He didn¡¯t lie! None of us have. He didn¡¯t even hate you that bad after what you did. He showed you trust and you shat on it!¡±


    ¡°Jacky, cool it just a bit,¡± Dakota went in a clearly worried tone from under the bed. ¡°Throwing punches won¡¯t fix anything now.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Jacky sneered in reply, putting her head in her hands. ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Shush,¡± Joelina then let out, earning some rather angry stares from around the room as she started looking around curiously. ¡°What on¡­ I hear someone.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean you hear someone?¡± Saph sighed, shaking her head a bit.


    ¡°What a strange noise¡­ No wait, that is Tom¡¯s language.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hearing Danish?¡± Saph asked, glancing at Tom who was still babbling on, looking around to the various people in the room. ¡°Aside from Tom, that is.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s losing it too¡± Fengi pleaded, looking more than a little disheartened.


    ¡°I am¡­ It is faint¡­ It¡¯s male¡­ I would say an older male¡­ Fascinating.¡±


    ¡°Tom was talking with his dad earlier,¡± Essy tried cautiously, looking at the clearly concentrating inquisitor.


    ¡°Or one of the soldiers. I¡¯m very sure soldat means soldier. He was going on about them before,¡± Saph added thoughtfully.


    ¡°I do not understand a word he is saying,¡± Joelina grumbled, looking at Tom rather annoyed. ¡°Tell whoever it is to speak Draconic.¡±


    Tom for his part did not react, simply carrying on like he had before, talking with the various people they were apparently playing.


    ¡°He can¡¯t hear you okay. You know that!¡± Jacky half-sobbed, half-sneered as she did her best to stare daggers at the inquisitor.


    ¡°I understand that I wa- What the. What is that?!¡± the inquisitor asked, eyes darting around the room. ¡°That¡¯s music?! How in the heavens is he doing this?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the expert, figure it out,¡± Jacky snapped at her as she leaned over, trying to take Tom¡¯s hand to hold. Tom just pulled it away sternly and told her something in Danish, Jacky¡¯s shoulders sagging further than Saph thought they could as she sat back down on her chair, staring ahead aimlessly.


    ¡°What is going on¡­ my eyes! This isn¡¯t possible!¡± Joelina protested, holding a hand up in front of herself waving it as she stared blankly ahead, slowly leaning back in her chair, arms flopping to the side as her head lolled back.


    ¡°What just happened?!¡± Essy let out in alarm, staring at the woman next to her, placing a hand on the inquisitor''s thigh and shaking gently. ¡°Joelina?¡±


    ¡°Please, not you too,¡± Fengi squeaked out, looking at the limp inquisitor. ¡°Oh we are gonna be in so much trouble.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°What is going on in there?¡± Glazz questioned in an authoritative tone from outside the door.


    ¡°No clue, ma¡¯am,¡± Saph tried with forced calm in her voice.


    ¡°I think the inquisitor might be in there with Tom now.¡±


    ¡°You have got to be joking,¡± The bodyguard retorted, clearly not pleased in the slightest.


    ¡°Would you state this is ordinary behavior?¡± Linkosta tried as she scribbled away. ¡°Has it happened before?¡±


    ¡°No and no,¡± Glazz responded very pointedly before grabbing at the locked door. ¡°Open at once!¡±


    ¡°What would you do, sit with her?¡± Dakota countermanded. ¡°If she is talking with him then let her do her job. Not like we are of much help at the moment. Remember your inquisitor¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°This is madness,¡± the bodyguard huffed from outside, though to her credit she did in fact not try to force down the door.


    ¡°Yeah, try being me for once!¡± Jacky shouted at the door, clearly eager to let off some frustration. ¡°Fuck off and do nothing!¡±


    ¡°You will both have faith in Joelina¡¯s ability as an inquisitor. She will set this right, I am sure of it.¡± It came from the closet where Paulin had been rather quiet till now.


    ¡°Really now? So sit here and trust the reason why this all happened?¡± Jacky snarled, turning to stare at her own dresser.


    ¡°You were the one who cut their seance short. Anyone should know that is a dangerous thing to do. She was in his mind at the time.¡±


    ¡°Oh should I now? You don¡¯t tell us anything! How the fuck could I ever know that?!¡±


    ¡°Jacky! Cool it,¡± Dakota ordered from under the bed. Jackalope stared around the room at them, tears in her eyes before just starting to sob quietly to herself. Saph couldn¡¯t even get up to do anything or Tom would just start shouting at her.


    ¡®This is a fucking shit day.¡¯


    And then to make it all that much better the inquisitor started screaming and writhing in her chair.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom¡¯s mother looked rather surprised at the inquisitor, who had just appeared where her husband had been sitting, taking the time to look her over wide-eyed. In fact, everyone was currently staring at the white-skinned draconic figure as if they had just seen a ghost.


    Joelina on the other hand was the exact opposite of calm as she sat there eyes darting around at all of them, wearing an expression Tom could best describe as Manic.


    ¡°I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THAT STUFF FOR 3 STRAIGHT MONTHS! I counted. WHAT IS IT?!¡±


    ¡°His mum¡¯s playlist, didn¡¯t you like it?¡± Torben asked mockingly, finding this all rather amusing if he was being perfectly honest.


    ¡°Huh¡­ didn¡¯t even think it had been a minute yet,¡± Tom pondered aloud, staring at the inquisitor. ¡°That really does sound like Geneva wouldn¡¯t be happy with it.¡±


    ¡°Where did J?rgen go? Is he alright?¡± Vibike asked innocently, looking between the irate inquisitor and Tom. ¡°Do you know, dear?¡±


    ¡°WHO IN THE HEAVEN AND HELLS IS J?RGEN?!¡± Joelina snapped in reply, clearly not appreciating Vibike¡¯s calm and collected demeanor.


    ¡°Shssss be quite!¡± Tom ordered, trying to keep his voice down as there was a crash at the door. ¡°You¡¯ll draw them in!¡±


    ¡°What in the name of all the gods are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Some strange soot-covered things that look a bit like you, come to think of it. They are all around the place. Don¡¯t worry, they are dumb as bricks. We¡¯re safe here for now,¡± Torben chuckled looking her over, clearly amused. ¡°Does that go for you too?¡±


    ¡°You insolent little!¡±


    ¡°Are they zombies then?¡± Vigo interrupted, turning to look to Tom, leaving the inquisitor hanging mid-sentence.


    ¡°Sorta, I guess¡­ They die quite normally though.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s damn strange looking¡­ is this what we look like?¡± Morten asked, rubbing his chin, looking over the inquisitor as she quickly glanced around the room, eyes darting from face to face. It likely didn¡¯t help that was the only non-human here and half of said humans were dead with very obvious signs as to how. Not counting Tajs, of course.


    ¡°More or less yeah,¡± Tom confirmed reluctantly. ¡°Not quite sure how she got in here though.¡±


    ¡°Eh, could be worse I guess.¡±


    ¡°WHAT DO YOU MEAN WORSE?! WHO IS J?RGEN!¡± Joelina demanded, clearly not even halfway to her senses yet.


    There was yet another knock at the door, a piece falling away and revealing nothing but darkness outside, a single eye peeking through letting out a horrid screech that certainly got the inquisitor¡¯s attention. The dresser also started bouncing ominously side to side, the doors clattering alarmingly like they were bound to spring open at any moment, the infernal screeching of a dark knight bellowing orders in some dark twisted tongue slipping through the gaps.


    Tom just motioned with a hand and the piece flew back into place sealing shut. ¡°Would you please stop that?¡±


    Joelina now seemed more than a little scared, slowly nodding and turning back round in her chair to stare at Tom ¡°What is going on?¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t know either. But J?rgen is my husband,¡± Vibike said in her always helpful and kind tone, trained over many years of dealing with small children. ¡°We are having a council to try and help my son Tomas. Tom dear, do you know where J?rgen went?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue really. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine,¡± Tom replied with a forced smile, looking to his mother.


    ¡°I hope he didn¡¯t go and see your new friends. He¡¯s so bad at first impressions. We need this Jacky to like you.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, mum. I didn¡¯t do much better.¡±


    This is madness! Let me out of here at once Human!¡± Joelina demanded, looking at Tom wide-eyed, though she was now keeping her voice down.


    ¡°Hey now, be nice. We¡¯re trapped too,¡± Torben went, cocking his head at the inquisitor.


    ¡°Not to mention dead,¡± Vigo added with a shrug. ¡°You¡¯re the one that fucked him up, right?¡±


    ¡°I am Inquisitor Joelina Hashaw. I have the authority and might of both the church and the crown behind me. I demand you release me from here at once!¡° she declared, getting up and looking around at them all, seeming to more be operating on reflex.


    ¡°Sit down, woman,¡± Vigo tried ordering with a bit of an edge to his voice, the inquisitor just turning and pointing a finger at him.


    ¡°You do not have the authority to order me about, human!¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that answers that question,¡± Morten went with a shrug. ¡°So much for mind controlling her into submission.¡±


    ¡°Joelina, sit down, would you?¡± Tom went with a wave and flung her back in her chair. ¡°I¡¯m in control here¡­ at least sorta.¡±


    ¡°You little!¡±


    ¡°Ah ah aaah. You fucked me up so bad I don¡¯t even know if you are real or not. Now I am going to need you to promise to help me in whatever way you can. No betraying, no backstabbing, no stupid little schemes. Just fix me and then proceed to help out, okay?¡±


    ¡°Or else?¡±


    ¡°Bitch, you need an ¡®or else¡¯ in order to help someone you fucked over?¡± Torben huffed, looking anything but impressed.


    ¡°She¡¯s a nasty piece of work,¡± Vigo added with a nod.


    ¡°Is that how you see me, huh?! I have dedicated my LIFE to serving this kingdom and its people. I have fought things you have never even dreamt of, I have lost friends too just like you, Tom! I bring you materials, workers, and security and you do not trust me. I bend the rules to let you know things you should have never learned and you don¡¯t trust me. What more do you want!¡±


    ¡°A better attitude maybe?¡± Torben questioned, clearly not sounding impressed. ¡°You seem like a bit of a bitch. I¡¯m dead and I¡¯ve got better manners than you.¡±


    ¡°Fuck man¡­ You know it¡¯s bad when Torben finds you to be an obnoxious arsehole,¡± Vigo let out, voice heavy with apprehension. ¡°Like geez.¡±


    ¡°She likes to constantly remind us that if we don¡¯t do as we¡¯re told there will be consequences. Think living in China, basically,¡± Tom added in, not looking at the inquisitor. He quite liked this if he was being honest. What was she gonna do in here? Shout at him? ¡°Also, I did trust you to read my mind, I did not resist. What more do you want?! Huh?¡± he tried, turning her own words against her, feeling very pleased with himself.


    ¡°Oh like the old British commander we had to deal with¡­ what was his name?¡± Torben questioned, rubbing his chin a little.


    ¡°Stanford,¡± Morten added helpfully. ¡°That man really hated us.¡±


    ¡°Of course he did. We were better than his guys,¡± Torben laughed, smacking his knee. ¡°And our weapons tend to work.¡±


    ¡°I would say they were less shit. And remember folks, we kinda died,¡± Vigo interjected ¡°Kinda hard to judge from here.¡±


    ¡°Tom, shut this lot up. They must be figments of your imagination. I will not stand for this,¡± Joelina demanded, voice still hushed but very hard in tone.


    ¡°Hey Tom, the loud, obnoxious, shit stain of a woman wants your attention,¡± Torben laughed out, clearly finding his joke VERY funny.


    ¡°How dare you!¡± Joelina snapped, looking at the laughing soldier with a hole in his chest.


    ¡°Dare what? I¡¯m dead, girl. Not gonna be able to punish me anymore, now are you? Or imaginary, I guess. What¡¯s the damn difference?¡±


    Joelina just snapped back to Tom, rage evident in her gaze.


    ¡°What? You want me to apologize for having my dad play music for you? Look what you did to me,¡± Tom went, gesturing around the room. ¡°Also, why the hell do you expect people to like you? I get why we would obey, but like you? Be nice? Fuck no, they are right. You need to start behaving yourself around here. Everyone hates you and wants you and your goons gone. We¡¯re safe from brigands and such, but now we have to fear you¡­ Between you and the brigands, I¡¯d choose the brigands,¡± Tom tried in his most diplomatic tone. ¡°We have only been nice to you since you came here. We kinda expect some in return. Minus Edita though, she¡¯s quite nice. Funny even.¡±


    Joelina just stared at him, clearly wanting to shout her lungs out, but instead she did actually contain herself to just staring at him with murderous intent.


    ¡°You seem like a troubled woman,¡± Vibike went, laying a calming hand on Joelina¡¯s thigh, resulting in the inquisitor immediately turning around to stare at the human woman. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Tomas is a good kid. I am sure you can trust him with what it is you need to have made. He has worked on so many important projects over the years. We are all very proud of him.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, mum,¡± Tom went, putting on a smile for her, trying not to think of all the useless menial work he had spent his time on over the years.


    Joelina took a bit, staring at the woman, seeming to glare straight through her before she slowly started to return to her senses, looking down at the hand and tilting her head a little. ¡°Are you Vibike?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is me. Vibike Hansen.¡±


    ¡°Tomas¡¯s mother?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is me.¡±


    ¡°J?rgen is your husband.¡±


    Vibike just nodded to that one, keeping a hand on Joelina''s thigh.


    ¡°He loves you very much to have put up with that abyssal music.¡±


    ¡°Why thank you. I still do not believe it is that bad.¡±


    ¡°Noted¡­¡± Joelina went, clearly not agreeing, turning around to look at Tom, her expression having seemingly calmed down just a little, or more likely she had given up trying to shout and order her way out of this shit show. ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°You tell me. You¡¯re the mind reader.¡±


    ¡°I know your father now¡­ Everything. Or something¡­ I am not sure.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ I think you know my memory of him¡­ I tried to ask him things I didn''t know but I knew he did¡­ Didn''t work.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I made a deal with Sapphire,¡± Joelina admitted as she looked around at the soldiers with a more inquisitive gaze rather than a lust for blood.


    ¡°I know. She told me already. I would probably accept. You know, if I could.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I do feel an apology is in order. This was not supposed to happen.¡±


    ¡°She changed in a mighty hurry,¡± Morten noted, crossing his arms. ¡°Are you sure, Miss Inquisitor?¡±


    ¡°It has been some long days,¡± Joelina responded, looking at the half-headless man. ¡°I believe I know you¡­ you were the one whose face was blown off in the ambush.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me, yes,¡± Morten replied, gesturing at where his face used to be.


    ¡°I see,¡± she went with a slight nod. ¡°You are also but a memory¡­ Tom, how do we get out of here? I am not in control right now.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m honest, I¡¯m not even sure if you are the real inquisitor or just my memory of you¡­ You are here, right? Like in the bedroom right now, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am here,¡± she went with a nod. ¡°I have been for some time.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case I really don¡¯t know¡­ I mean Fengi might be able to fix it. But I think I¡¯ll keep you here till you make that promise¡­ God, I¡¯m too tired for fancy words. You WILL treat people better at the keep or wherever around here. You get the idea. Be nice or leave. Can you do that?¡±


    ¡°I have treated you fairly. More than fairly at times.¡±


    ¡°You have been such a bitch, throwing your weight around like a 5 year old who wants ice cream and we have to give it to you cause if you start crying people start dying. Sorry not sorry, but it¡¯s true,¡± Tom sighed, not really having the energy to be nice, his headache was bad and it hurt like a motherfucker.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s her told,¡± Torben just chuckled with a wide grin as the other two soldiers just looked at the inquisitor, gauging her reaction, ready to deliver a smackdown if so needed. Tom¡¯s mother just cleared the throat, looking away and seeming a touch embarrassed by it all.


    It took a second or two before Joelina decided to respond, though her expression was still calm and collected. ¡°I would not be able to stay for much longer either way. This is why I needed things done in short order. I had a week at most here. I am expected in Bartelion. No time for arguing you see.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need time to be nice, everyone here would do what you wanted either way. But fiiine, order Paulin to be nice and I¡¯ll take that instead, she¡¯s a right piece of work too sometimes.¡±


    ¡°I would ask you to honor the deal struck with Sapphire. If we manage that, I will yield. Then you are Paulin¡¯s problem. At least for now.¡±


    ¡°Bitch, you want to read him more after what the last round did?¡± Torben asked with a sneer. ¡°And they call me dumb. Hey boys, think they have a bucket of water around here somewhere, we can use my shirt it¡¯s already got blood on it, no one will know.¡±


    ¡°Dude¡­ Quit it,¡± Vigo tried looking at the rambunctious soldier.


    ¡°What? There aren¡¯t any conventions here, and not like anyone can do anything to us, just a little torture to help our boy Tom.¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up. You think that¡¯s gonna help?¡±


    ¡°I mean maybe,¡± Torben just retorted, shrugging as he leaned back again.


    Tom just sighed, shaking his head and turning his attention back to the inquisitor, who for her part seemed perfectly unfazed. ¡°You wanna get in my head about everything that has happened from the portal till here, right?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I want to know, precisely, how this has all come to be. It may be of extreme importance.¡±


    ¡°Or it might tell you nothing, I sure haven¡¯t noticed anything interesting. Aside from how strange and downright fucking wacky it all is.¡±


    ¡°For starters, I want to learn the voice of the voice that sent you. I want to be able to recognize it should I find it again.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that is actually a little smart,¡± Torben relented, swaying his head side to side a bit. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t explain the rest of it.¡±


    ¡°If I know why he has done everything thus far, I may infer what he will do in the future and why. He has changed much since Afghanistan. I need to know the new him too. That, and I am hoping that chasing his memories all the way till current time would smooth out the transition.¡±


    ¡°Fine fine, I consent. Now what?¡± Tom asked dejectedly, gesturing around the room. ¡°Not like you can do it now, can you?¡±


    ¡°I do not know¡­ But one can always try. In the interest of trust and openness, I am working off an idea and nothing more,¡± she replied with a fair touch of passive aggressiveness in her tone. ¡°May I stand up?¡±


    Tom just looked at her a little uncomfortably. ¡°Not sure if that¡¯s better or worse than you hiding everything. You may stand up, sure.¡±


    Getting up and moving to sit on his bedside, reaching a hand over to touch his temple. ¡°As I said, I will try and follow your memories all the way till now if I can. Make the memories become the now, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Not the dumbest idea ever¡­ sure why not,¡± Tom agreed with a sigh, not like he had an overabundance of options to choose from after all.


    ¡°Hey Tom. Just if it doesn¡¯t work. Being dead doesn¡¯t feel so bad if you ask me,¡± Torben added with a nod, clearly trying his best to cheer Tom up.


    ¡°You are such a fucking moron, Torben,¡± Vigo just sighed, shaking his head as the inquisitor¡¯s hand descended on Tom¡¯s forehead.


    ¡®Yeah¡­ he really was.¡¯

 Chapter 156: Rewind

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I demand you open this door at once!¡± Glazz ordered from outside the door before there was a thunk like she tried shoulder-checking it. The old sturdy oaken door held though, their home was built to take a pummeling from time to time after all. Saph just thanked her lucky stars the bodyguard hadn¡¯t gotten her hands on a key or thought to try and pick the rudimentary lock.


    ¡°Stay your post, Glazz,¡± Paulin ordered from Jacky¡¯s closet. ¡°Matters of the mind are rarely painless.¡±


    ¡°I am well aware, Investigator. I also know that it is rarely good when Joelina is the one doing the screaming!¡±


    ¡°This is no ordinary procedure. I doubt she is even the one in control at the moment. Resistance is to be¡­ expected.¡±


    ¡°Geez, at least you¡¯re not just cold in regards to us,¡± Saph let out, throwing a glance back at the closet.


    ¡°I am an investigator. It is my job to be thorough yet impartial.¡±


    ¡°Impartial to suffering maybe,¡± Fengi half-whispered from next to Saph, looking at the floor as Joelina writhed on her chair. Her face contorted and twisted into a vicious snarl, though the screaming did stop, at least for now.


    ¡°It does seem to be getting less,¡± Essy tried in a cautious tone, though speaking loudly enough for Glazz to hear outside the door. ¡°Shsss it¡¯s okay. Just. Do your best, okay?¡± the kind older woman tried, placing a calming hand on Joelina¡¯s thigh. ¡°Just get him back, okay?¡±


    ¡°What is she doing?¡± Paulina demanded from the closet, leading to a moment''s awkward silence as they all stared at the inquisitor. Her mouth started to jitter almost like she was whispering, or perhaps more accurately talking in her sleep.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s talking,¡± Essy confirmed, head tilted, staring at the inquisitor''s face. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea what she might be saying though.¡±


    After that, they all sat just there for a bit staring at the inquisitor as she slowly calmed down, mouth continuing to move slightly. No one found much to say aside from the low sobs of Jacky as she sat miserably in her chair staring at the floor and Linkosta scribbling away on her notes.


    Saph kinda wanted to ask just what they should do now, but she stayed her tongue. Not like anyone here had an answer anyway, so she just turned to look at poor Jacky, who wasn¡¯t paying any of them much mind as she sobbed curled up on her chair, clutching her knees.


    ¡°Hey, Jacky¡­ It¡¯s gonna be fine I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Jackalope didn¡¯t respond aside from looking up at Sapphire.


    ¡°Yeah. Besides, if it¡¯s a fight they are having in there, Tom will whip her ass,¡± Fengi added with what Saph could easily make out as faked confidence in her voice.


    ¡°Now now, I am sure they aren¡¯t fighting. Just talking,¡± Essy responded in her calm motherly tone. ¡°Look at her. They are simply talking things out. Maybe planning what to do about this whole mess.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how this is possible,¡± Linkosta added from her spot on the floor, pencil busy scribbling away on page after page. ¡°And for this long? Normally a mind reader touches the target, but this is being done at a distance of several meters. Where is the energy coming from?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it is more akin to long-range telepathic communication?¡± Paulin went from inside her closet.


    ¡°Like the earrings,¡± Linkosta agreed, noting something down while nodding. ¡°That could explain it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe leave the technical stuff for later,¡± Saph let out, clearing her throat a little. ¡°It will be fine, Jacky.¡±


    ¡°He slapped me¡­¡± Jacky just let out in a low and very sad tone, the heartache clear as day.


    ¡°He has no idea what is going on, Jacky. And I think you are a gruff soldier right now to him.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ I know,¡± Jacky replied with a sad sigh, laying her head on her lower legs, neck drooping over her knees. ¡°I wanna smack that inquisitor soo hard.¡±


    Saph could almost feel the breath being drawn inside the dresser. ¡°Cut it, Paulin,¡± Saph interjected, before the reprimand could come from behind her. ¡°Please.¡± There was a slight pause followed by a sigh from inside said dresser, but no bitching followed. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    More awkward silence followed as Saph glanced at the inquisitor. Her expression didn¡¯t exactly seem happy, rather she looked just like she always did. Cold indifference was how Saph would describe it. Honestly, she was starting to believe that expression was part of the inquisitorial basic curriculum.


    Then after minutes of waiting the inquisitor just stood up, all heads turning to look at her in surprise. Her eyes were still closed as she slowly and shakily waddled up next to the bed like a puppet on half its strings, sitting down on the bedside, her hand going to rest on Tom¡¯s forehead in an all too familiar fashion.


    ¡°No no. No, she shouldn¡¯t do that, right?!¡± Jacky let out in a panicked voice, shooting upright in her chair.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Uhm,¡± Saph let out, not sure what to say or do. ¡°She and Tom had a chat. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°If you interfere again, huntress, he would most certainly deteriorate,¡± Paulin let out from her closet in her signature commanding tone. ¡°Let the inquisitor complete her work. I am convinced she will see your friend returned.¡±


    ¡®You know that might be worth something if we thought you knew what you were talking about,¡¯ Saph snarled under her breath as Jacky sat on her chair looking at the inquisitor, horrified. ¡°Please Jacky just¡­ I guess give him a hug or something. Don''t try and stop her. We¡¯ve got no fucking clue what to do anymore.¡±


    Jacky had jumped at the idea, not waiting to let anyone protest as she hopped on the bed just in time to catch Tom as he curled up into a ball, face contorted in agony.


    ¡°Shsss. It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Everything is fine. You¡¯re gonna be fine,¡± Jacky half-sobbed, half-cried as she clutched him close, rocking the scrunched-up human side to side on the bed. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be fine. Please be fine.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°There we go, gently does it,¡± the somehow gentle voice of Joelina went as Tom felt himself drift off to what felt like sleep.


    ¡®She really is scared shitless,¡¯ Tom thought to himself before realizing she might actually be able to hear him right now and promptly shutting up. He remembered to close his eyes this time around as the swirling colors and strange patterns returned. He braced himself for the headache, and it hit him full force. A migraine to put his methanol hangover to shame washed over him, and he felt his body convulse and curl into a ball. The feeling of his body was slowly replaced by nothing save the piercing migraine and blackness.


    ¡°Right¡­ So far so good,¡± Joelina¡¯s voice rang out entirely into the void, but still entirely too loud for Tom¡¯s sore head.


    ¡°Could you keep it down please?¡± he tried whispering, hoping to whatever god she could hear him.


    ¡°Right¡­ apologies,¡± she actually responded, to his relief in a much lower tone, sounding more like a secretive whisper. ¡°Shall we begin?¡±


    ¡°Might as well, doubt there isn¡¯t a timer on this.¡±


    ¡°Quite. I shall look for your meeting with the strange voice. This will be uncomfortable.¡±


    She was not joking as Tom felt his mind ripped through, memory after memory flashing before his eyes in a furious blur. Like an Asian accountant flipping through pages, Joelina scrolled by literally years of his life in what felt like seconds and an eternity. She briefly stopped on a few for a moment before carrying on at a breakneck speed. The pain was unbearable as he tried to close his eyes or scream to no avail, he could do nothing but follow whatever memory was passing by at the moment.


    Finally, she seemed to find what she was after as a blurry image of a computer screen sat in front of him.


    ¡°You know, if you really want to live an exciting life you¡¯re gonna need an exciting place to do it.¡± The familiar voice sounded from behind him and he felt himself jerk around to look at it, feeling his previous suspicion loud and clear. ¡°Come on, you know you don¡¯t want to waste away the few years you have, sitting here, staring at a screen waiting for something interesting to happen!¡±


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Joelina interjected in a whisper as Tom looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice.


    ¡®I¡¯m sure it is,¡¯ Tom whispered as his headache slowly got at least a bit better after all the searching. He felt like he wanted to puke right now, that much was for certain.


    ¡°Show yourself! What makes you think you can just come into my house?¡± the memory of himself demanded, still searching around.


    ¡°You were telling the truth,¡± Joelina whispered as the conversation played out in front of them.


    ¡°I do that a lot actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Will you let me watch the whole interaction?¡± she asked in what he just assumed to be fake courteousness, no way she would skip this even if he said no, and the slow going was certainly helping his head a bit.


    ¡°Sure¡­ but thanks for asking,¡± he whispered, receiving no reply save for the conversation carrying on between him and the mysterious voice. ¡°Have you heard it before?¡±


    ¡°Sadly not, no¡­ But it is distinctive.¡±


    ¡°Glad you¡¯re happy,¡± Tom let out as the mini-portal was opened, blasting paper and dust everywhere, his former self staring dumbstruck at the beautiful scene in front of him.


    ¡°That was no window,¡± Joelina let out, clearly taken aback by the display.


    ¡°What do you mean? It literally was.¡±


    ¡°I thought you meant a scrying window or something. Not an actual miniature portal,¡± the inquisitor replied in a slightly sharper, more annoyed tone.


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s the difference?¡± Tom had to ask with a sigh, lowering his voice further, hoping she would follow suit.


    ¡°Whoever did this has enough power to spend it this callously¡­ There are very few things who could open a portal to another world, even theoretically.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°There are even fewer who would do it just to argue a damn point.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Tom just replied as the mini-portal shut and the voice asked its question.


    ¡°Do you agree?¡±


    ¡°If I go, will I ever get to return?¡± his memory replied, staring awestruck at where the portal had been.


    ¡°Not until the experiment is complete, but in time... maybe,¡± came the reply from the voice as Tom shivered a little. ¡®I forgot about that clause.¡¯


    ¡°What are your terms?¡±


    Tom and Joelina said nothing as the voice listed off what Tom had to do, the time he had, how much he could bring, and so forth till finally the voice simply stopped answering Tom¡¯s questions on things like. ¡°Will there be people?¡­ Are there roads?...¡± The human fell silent and slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples, clearly not quite sure what to do now.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°You struck a deal to return home?¡± Joelina questioned in a rather cautious tone, all things considered.


    ¡°Yup¡­ I honestly forgot about that part.¡±


    ¡°And the part where they claim this to be nothing more than an experiment?¡±


    ¡°I did remember that part.¡±


    ¡°Yet you neglected to mention it.¡±


    ¡°Well, what if they¡¯re lying?¡± Tom protested, still in a calm, quiet tone. ¡°What if they are some evil power or perhaps this really is all just funny to them? What does it matter?¡±


    ¡°Because I was starting to believe you may have been sent by the gods themselves. I have never spoken to the gods myself, and they hold many secrets¡­ But I know people who have.¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?¡±


    ¡°I will be seeking out a high priestess of Lotek¡­ the god of travelers and trade. If it was any god, chances are good it was him.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you are just gonna go ask him if he did it? Don¡¯t you think he would have mentioned it if he did?¡±


    ¡°I do not need his affirmation. Merely the sound of his voice will likely do.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right¡­ Are you¡¯re gonna mind rape a priest then? Sounds heretical.¡±


    ¡°I read minds¡­ Not rape them. And no, not if they comply¡­ Which I feel they might.¡±


    ¡°And if it isn¡¯t the gods?¡±


    ¡°Then I have learned nothing. Shall we continue?¡±


    ¡°Fine. You wanna see my pack next?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°You wanna know how I prep in case I can¡¯t be trusted due to my pick of boots?¡±


    ¡°Would you be surprised if I told you an inquisitor may wish to know how a person from another world would pack for a trip to an unknown world?¡± the inquisitor whispered, though Tom was actually hearing a hint of sarcasm in her voice, which was certainly new.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Tom responded, accepting, waiting for things to start hurting again. ¡®I guess she liked the voice being more powerful¡­ yay?¡¯


    ¡°It narrows down the possibilities,¡± the inquisitor responded, right back to sounding perfectly unfazed, though she was at least still whispering. Tom just cursed his stupidity as the memories once more started gliding by, though much slower this time.


    She stopped from time to time and he diligently answered questions about what he was doing when she was confused. It took a fair bit, but slowly the deadline crept closer as did the note on the table, the drive to get flowers, and finally arriving at the old person''s home.


    ¡®Ahr shit¡­¡¯ Tom admitted to himself, not really caring that she could hear as the door opened to his mother''s small apartment in the building.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± the old, frail voice rang out. A stark contrast to the Vibike he had spoken to what felt like mere minutes ago.


    ¡°It¡¯s Tom. I¡¯ve got a present for you.¡±


    Tom just stared as the door opened, revealing the old, grey, frail woman his mother had become. He just sighed at what he was seeing as the pleasantries started and his younger self walked inside. ¡°She seems¡­¡± Joelina questioned in a low and more careful tone.


    ¡°Old?¡± Tom asked, cutting her off with a sigh as he stared.


    ¡°Alive,¡± the inquisitor let out, sounding deep in thought.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Was all Tom could think to say as he drank the coffee. It was a taste he would have savored if not for everything else right now.


    ¡°Yes, she still lives.¡±


    ¡°Only sorta,¡± Tom relented, slightly surprised by that line of reasoning. ¡°Why would she be dead?¡±


    ¡°You were afraid she would not last much longer in the memories years ago. Remember?¡±


    ¡°Fair¡­ She held on for a very long time¡­ Far longer than she should have.¡±


    ¡°The disease?¡±


    ¡°Dementia, yeah¡­ You will get to see it in full today.¡±


    ¡°Would you rather we move along?¡± she asked again, much to his surprise, as his mother sat down at the small table she had, pouring him a cup of coffee.


    ¡°Nah¡­ this is the last I¡¯ve got of her.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Joelina replied and she remained silent for the rest of the small talk as Tom felt tears in the eyes of his former self. How it slowly became too much for his mother and she started forgetting faster and faster, soon not even remembering what she was trying to say. Goodbyes were said, and then he left. He left her alone to her fate. All the people around her were strangers to her. He was maybe the last person she could remember. At least the last one alive. And he had left her.


    Joelina just let the memory unfold as he drove home, eventually stopping by the side of the road for a bit to cry. There wasn¡¯t much else to do. It wasn¡¯t like this was a fight he could win. He cried together with his old self. It might only have been around half a year, but it hurt. It hurt so bad to see her again. To know what he had done. For all he knew, she was gone by now. She had already hung on longer than the doctors had thought by a long way. But even he could tell she was a spent force.


    ¡°Strong of body¡­ weak of mind,¡± Joelina finally whispered as the old BMW got back on the road heading for home.


    ¡°You fucking idiot¡­¡± Tom just groaned, unable and unwilling to care. She did not respond as the car drove quietly down the road. ¡°How can you be a mind reader and be such a fucking idiot at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Her mind is broken? Faded away?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and she fought for years against that illness. So did dad, and maybe so shall I,¡± Tom replied with little more than a hard edge to his tone. He didn¡¯t have the strength to shout. ¡°Some people last months. Some years. She lasted for a fucking decade. Do you understand that?¡± Tom tried speaking slowly and methodically, like he was talking to a child.


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Fucking marvelous. Shall we get on with it then?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Is that it?... Is she doing it?¡± Fengi carefully asked, looking at Tom and Joelina, who now both wore expressions that betrayed they were not having a fun time.


    ¡°I think so, yeah,¡± Saph nodded before turning her head around to look at the dresser. ¡°I think it¡¯s okay to come out now, Investigator.¡±


    It did not even take a second for the investigator to fling open the doors and step out of her hideyhole, taking a deep breath while looking a bit ill. Saph did want to take just a little delight in Paulin¡¯s discomfort, but right now was not the time. She glanced at the door, at the sound of a distinct click and it slowly opened, revealing a mighty pissed-looking Glazz. The burly, cloaked woman stepped inside, looking at the bed. What she saw clearly did not improve her mood as a hand went to rest on her hip under the cover of the cloak.


    ¡°Now Glazz. The inquisitor seems to be in control of the situation,¡± Paulin clarified, clearing her throat a bit as she took in large breaths of fresh air. ¡°All we must do is wait.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Glazz replied, eyes not leaving the bed save for a quick sweep of the room and all the people in it, which coincided with Dakota emerging from under the bed.


    ¡°Be honest with me, Investigator¡­ Is this good or bad?¡± the gilded huntress asked, still laying on her back, looking up at them.


    ¡°I assume the inquisitor has conjured a plan and is attempting to execute it. It is better than what we have managed thus far.¡±


    ¡°Marvelous.¡±


    ¡°Could you not say execute¡­ please,¡± Fengi pleaded in a low and very meek tone. ¡°Maybe, trying to do it, or something?¡±


    ¡°We are not here to exe-¡±


    ¡°Shush,¡± Dakota ordered, finally extracting herself fully and getting up dusting herself off. ¡°We have heard that one enough.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Paulin retorted, raising her snout a bit. She glanced around the room, eyes landing on the inquisitor on the side of the bed, staring at them for a few seconds as silence reigned.


    ¡°Should we go, or?¡± Fengi let out in a very low tone, looking to the sad sight that was Jacky.


    ¡°I believe they could do with some privacy,¡± Dakota agreed, turning to Paulin with a rather unkind expression on her face.


    ¡°I believe this may take time,¡± the investigator responded, not paying the gilded huntress much mind. ¡°Glazz, you will guard your charge, of course. I believe the rest may return to their duties for now. Fengi, do not leave the keep. We may yet have use of your skills if their condition deteriorates.¡±


    Glazz just nodded her assent, going to a wall and leaning against it, eyes locked on Jacky and the inquisitor. Fengi swallowed once before nodding and getting up, followed by Essy.


    ¡°You too, Link. I believe the investigator may have use of your skills and notes,¡± Dakota added, looking to Linkosta, who was sitting on the floor still working away on her notes.


    ¡°Huh wha? oh¡­ right,¡± the young mage replied, putting some finishing touches on whatever she was writing before closing the book and getting up.


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving them alone?¡± Saph had to ask, doing her best to convey her doubts through expression. She had not gotten up from her chair, and if she was being frankly honest she had no desire to.


    ¡°No. I am staying,¡± Dakota replied, giving Saph a glance before looking back to the investigator. ¡°I am not sure I trust the one that nearly attacked Jacky.¡±


    ¡°After she attacked my charge,¡± Glazz added flatly, clearly not impressed by Dakota¡¯s posturing.


    ¡°Now now. You may stay, Bizmati. We are dealing with your people after all,¡± Paulin retorted sounding superior as ever. ¡°There should be no need for drawing arms, understood Glazz? Should it come to that, I want everyone involved. Alive. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard, now should it?¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Glazz replied almost reluctantly. Paulin gave Dakota an apologetic look, which Saph guessed was rather fake.


    ¡°I guess that will do then,¡± Dakota grumbled, clearly not pleased in the slightest, before gesturing for Saph to get up. Saph did so with a sigh, going to leave the small bedroom. ¡°Saph¡­It¡¯s getting late. Go check on Tink and Edita. I would rather the floors not be blown out from under me. Then get some sleep¡± Dakota continued just as Saph entered the doorway.


    Saph just turned back and nodded. ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom felt his body freeze with the cold of the portal as the burning heat pushed him through into the world he now called home. It was no less comfortable a second time, and he honestly felt relieved as his former self crumbled to the ground and puked in the grass.


    ¡°Ohr¡­ that¡¯s the spot,¡± he sighed as he hurled once more before rolling over onto his back and staring up into the trees, doing his level best to forget where he had come from. ¡®Things are better here,¡¯ he agreed with himself, taking a moment to just enjoy the grass despite the headache.


    ¡°Even with everything that has happened following your arrival, you find this place more comfortable?¡± the inquisitor questioned, sounding rather skeptical.


    ¡°Yup¡­ Here there is good shit too¡­ Even if I guess minds melting away hasn¡¯t gone away. It still gets me how fucking big those trees are¡­ Yet I haven¡¯t seen any giant squirrels yet,¡± Tom carried on, not bothering to let her respond.


    He could feel the judging eyes of the inquisitor in the back of his head as he slowly stumbled to his feet, swaying as he turned around, still staring at the massive tall trees. He swore he heard the slightest of chuckles as he worked out just how high he could jump here. He had to admit it was not a dignified scene seeing a grown man jumping around on the moss like a kid on a bouncy castle.


    ¡°Behold the threat to end all threats,¡± Tom commented sarcastically, expecting some kind of aloof remark.


    ¡°Quite so¡­ hardly a graceful arrival though.¡±


    ¡°And there it is. So are we going to be skipping through some things? Took about a day before I met anyone. If so, you¡¯re looking for when I decided going climbing was a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I believe we can,¡± Joelina replied, Tom making out a bit of reluctance in her voice as he winced under the spike of pain as she started to sift through, though she was clearly going slowly and methodically, not wishing to miss anything. Curiously, the pain was not as bad as he remembered the last couple times. Maybe he was just so tired that his brain had turned to soup, or he really was getting used to this unique kind of torture.


    The inquisitor stopped on a few points he guessed she found interesting. Getting on the move, shooting his first deer, and making camp. She stopped at him tasting the small wild berry though, lingering on the memory.


    ¡°You know those are poison, right?¡±


    ¡°I only had a little bit,¡± Tom protested, not feeling up for any arguments on survival tactics right about now.


    What followed he would best describe as a judging silence before she once more moved on, not commenting further. Next, she let the scene of him going climbing play out. The vargulfs came in behind him. Looking back now, he had taken a damn age to see them. The brief panicked fight felt more like an embarrassment to watch now even as he once more saw just how lucky he had gotten that he had chosen the resting spot of a whole ass hunting party to climb up.


    ¡°Would have been funny if I made it to the top,¡± he chuckled a bit as his old self stiffened into a human plank.


    ¡°Do you not feel the pain you are in?¡± Joelina questioned, Tom not really sure what her tone was.


    ¡°I mean it stings¡­ Get it? Cause stinger on the tail?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ yes I understand,¡± Joelina replied flatly, leading to further silence as Tom was carried off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you do¡­heh. I¡¯m really having a bat time, ey?¡±


    ¡°Are you alright, Tom?¡±


    ¡°The fuck do you think?¡±


    ¡°Understood¡­ condition deteriorating.¡±


    ¡°I can still hear you,¡± Tom replied tauntingly. ¡°Not just my thoughts that aren¡¯t private anymore.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you propose we proceed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t fucken know¡­ Take this baby for a ride?¡±


    ¡°Tom¡­ Please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fucking serious. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on anymore. I haven¡¯t slept in days. I don¡¯t know what this all means. I haven¡¯t had a coffee that wasn¡¯t in a memory for six months. I just had to say goodbye to my dying mother AGAIN! And now I¡¯m the guinea pig of a woman with the emotional depth of a Japanese dad with a son who just failed a math exam.¡±


    ¡°I underst-¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even fucking know what Japan is!¡± Tom cut her off, trying his best to shout as his old self slowly started to move again. ¡°Just get on with it.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± the clearly annoyed woman replied, not like Tom gave a fuck, either this worked or it didn¡¯t and he didn¡¯t feel like thinking right now. In fact, he felt like getting shitfaced once this was all over. First a nap though. He would kill for a nap right about now.


    There was no further commentary as the chase played out, the expert marksmanship of the huntresses on full display as vargulfs were downed one by one.


    ¡°And here it comes,¡± Tom sighed as his impromptu transport banked around the big ass oak and hurled him back into the face of the unsuspecting Sapphire.


    The hit fucking hurt, but he still found it funny, especially as he started screaming, hanging onto the poor unconscious woman like a scared toddler.


    The crash hurt like a bitch, but it was followed by a bit of blissful blackness, leading to staring at Fengi¡¯s drawn bow once he woke up.


    Tom tried to let his thoughts lull a bit. Relaxing as much as he could while the girls set to work figuring out just what exactly he was. ¡°So fucking tired.¡±


    There was no reply from the inquisitor as the scene carried on in front of him. How he wished he could close his eyes right now. ¡°Could we skip to a memory of me sleeping or something?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    And once more there was no reply. Tom let out an annoyed grumble as he looked at Jacky, who was currently fighting with Essy over the bit of Muesli bar he had given them all to share. She was fucking adorable. In her own way. And he could really do with a nap between those thighs right now.


    ¡°Tom¡­ Please control your indecencies,¡± Joelina let out in a slightly stern tone.


    ¡°Oh shut up¡­ I bet you like watching¡­ creep.¡±


    ¡°You will cease this at once human!¡±


    ¡°Or what? You¡¯ll give me another headache? Already got one. And she¡¯ll skin you alive if I don¡¯t get out of here,¡± Tom chuckled darkly. ¡°And if you kill her the others will have your head. But I think you know that.¡±


    ¡°Then so be it. My failure to return would lead to a full purge of your new home. But I think you know that, let us not rattle swords right now.¡±


    ¡°Joy killer,¡± Tom grumbled in reply before looking at Dakota¡¯s expression when she took a bite of the sweet confection. It was so fucking funny, this whole trip was supposed to be funny. Instead, it had been more war, death, and struggle with guilty fun moments thrown in here and there.


    ¡°What is joyful about having me killed when I am trying to help you?¡± Joelina protested with clear disdain in her voice now.


    ¡°You know the problem with religious types?¡±


    ¡°What does the church now have to do with this?¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t take a joke without getting stabby,¡± Tom joked, not even finding it that funny himself.


    ¡°Please be quiet, Tom.¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh! Cause I can¡¯t take a fucking nap!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 157: B-Team

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had done as Dakota ordered and gone to check up on what was happening in the workshops down below. The rhythmic beating of Shiva¡¯s forge rang out clear and steady as Saph threw a glance at the door leading to the smithy, wondering just how Shiva was taking all this. She didn¡¯t even know how much the smith had been told. But knowing Shiva, she likely knew enough to know her last daughter was once again in perilous waters.


    ¡®Best not to disturb,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, instead trying the door to the workshop.


    To her near immeasurable relief, nothing seemed to be on fire as she got there. Instead, she found Edita, Tink, and Junior glued to the laptop screen watching something. She honestly didn¡¯t care much, her mind racing on what had just transpired in Jacky¡¯s room. Even the investigator did not seem to know what was going on, and Saph believed her for once. Saph could be mad all she wanted at those good-for-nothing, possibly murderous, cunts with sticks so far up their asses it counted as a holdout weapon¡­ But she and the others at the keep likely couldn¡¯t do shit now.


    It wasn¡¯t like just trying to have Fengi fix it was smart. She was a young woman with less than a full week¡¯s experience with her powers. Paulin was probably right. It would only make it worse. She felt damn sorry for Jacky too. At least once Tom had been out completely she had been able to cuddle up with the poor guy, sobbing despite the lack of privacy.


    So it was with a feeling of helplessness that Saph walked up behind the technically inclined trio and cleared her throat to not much effect. Junior did at least acknowledge her, glancing back and giving her a quick nod before focussing back on the laptop screen. Saph just sighed. She just had to keep them out of trouble. If they could manage that by themselves, then job done she guessed.


    ¡°What are we watching?¡±


    ¡°They are making something called a chocolate dar¡­ It must be a type of survival food,¡± Edita responded, eyes wide with awe.


    ¡°Oh yeah, those? Tom gave me one back when we first met I think. They¡¯re pretty good.¡±


    That certainly got their attention as they all turned around to look at her, Saph taking a quick second to ponder if speaking had been a dumb idea.


    ¡°But it¡¯s full of sugar!¡± Junior let out.


    ¡°Were there any negative side effects?¡± Tink was quick to add. Saph just sighed a bit. She was more than certain the inventor would happily eat one regardless of the answers.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad. Maybe a bit sweeter than the cake. Sure was a nice pick-me-up though.¡±


    ¡°Would you describe it as survival food?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ sure I guess. Wasn¡¯t gonna make me not hungry though, that¡¯s for sure. Not much in it really aside from sweet and some grain.¡±


    ¡°There is no grain in this one. You must have had something different,¡± Junior corrected, Saph just shrugging.


    ¡°I believe it is supposed to be used as a combat stimulant,¡± Edita added, seeming very sure in her assumption, which was rather undermined by the announcer on the laptop describing the ¡®Nars Dar¡¯ as a ¡®children''s confection loved by all.¡¯


    ¡°Sure,¡± Saph sighed, trying and failing to seem convincing. Edita didn¡¯t seem to pick up on it in the slightest, instead growing a big smile on her face.


    ¡°I meant to ask ¡®How is Tom doing¡¯ by the way?¡± Tink interrupted, clearing his throat a little. ¡°We were wondering if perhaps he would be able to come down¡­ just for a bit of course. We had some ideas to discuss.¡±


    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t make any threats or accusations of heresy,¡± Edita added as if on cue, looking like she honestly meant it.


    ¡°Thank you Edita, but¡­ No I don¡¯t think Tom is leaving that room for a while¡­¡±


    ¡°He got worse didn¡¯t he?¡± Junior asked, clearly picking up on Saph¡¯s less-than-happy demeanor.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ He¡¯s talking to people who aren¡¯t there anymore, and I think he just puppeteered the inquisitor into reading his mind¡­ without even touching her.¡±


    ¡°That sounds significant¡­ How so?¡± Tink questioned, looking to Saph as Edita just stared, mouth open.


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­ she¡¯s one of the best there is?¡± the artificer questioned in clear disbelief.


    ¡°I think she let him though¡­ we were trying to work out a way to get him back to the real world. He can¡¯t tell the difference anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ obviously. Of course,¡± Edita stammered out before swallowing once. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s not coming, right?¡± Tink tried again, hope dwindling but still there.


    ¡°No, Tink. He¡¯s not coming,¡± Saph replied, trying her best not to sound mean. ¡°You get me in the meantime. Basically, everyone else is busy right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Would you help with the machine gun then? We want to take it apart,¡± Tink continued, clearing his throat a little and fixing his posture as Junior put the laptop on pause.


    ¡°Yes, I might have some ideas for improvements,¡± Edita added with cautious optimism. In fact, her tone was almost bordering on slightly ashamed, like she knew she was asking for something she shouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Saph replied with a shrug, trying to stare at the artificer, before instead turning her attention to Tink. ¡°Pretty sure you could just go do that yourselves though.¡±


    ¡°Well, we would have liked Tom to be here for it, to hear his thoughts,¡± Tink replied. ¡°It is with our young dragon at the moment. I will fetch it. Come along, Junior.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late¡­ can¡¯t we wait till tomorrow?¡± Saph replied, not needing any help to sound tired.


    ¡°Oh¡­ right¡­ We will just fetch it then. We can take it apart tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Fine, you two go then. We can stay here I think,¡± Saph added as Junior went to follow his father.


    Edita for her part looked to Saph with a worried expression before something seemed to dawn on her. ¡°Do you want to keep watching?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Just wanted a quick chat,¡± Saph replied, trying to sound calm and nice despite her rather dour mood right now.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know much about reading minds and all that. I promise,¡± Edita protested almost defensively.


    ¡°No no, I know,¡± Saph tried, raising her hands and trying to calm down the artificer. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t lying, right?¡± Edita questioned, her eyes betraying that she honestly had no clue.


    ¡°No no, do not worry¡­ Tom has proved tough in more ways than one, I am sure this will be no different. Not to mention he was somewhat crazy even before this all started,¡± Saph tried, still trying to seem as calm and collected as possible.


    ¡°O-okay¡­ I just. Don¡¯t want him to hate me like Joelina.¡±


    ¡°I will be honest, I don¡¯t even think he hates her with all that she has done. He can be quite forgiving.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± she let out carefully before growing the slightest of smiles.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he would be very pleased. You are taking initiative. Just as long as it is safe¡­ You did want to do something that would be safe, right?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Tink had a strawbrain idea and you helped him didn¡¯t you?¡± Saph let out, trying and failing quite hard to hide her disappointment as the artificer glanced to the side, scratching behind one of her ears.


    ¡°Well¡­ Sort of. We had an idea for cooling down the gun. Tink said it gets too hot a lot.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡± Saph tried a glimmer of hope returning to her voice. Something to keep it cool couldn¡¯t be that bad, surely.


    ¡°Well, frost powder can be used in many ways. The problem here will be keeping it from freezing solid. I made a drawing already. I cannot remember the last time I did that.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t make drawings?... Tom spends sooo much time on those I thought you had to?¡± Saph questioned, tilting her head a bit. Thus far this didn¡¯t sound too bad.


    ¡°We use them. We just don¡¯t make them. It is all ancient designs¡­ I don¡¯t know how to make the water move though. I¡¯ve never made a pump before. Well, not a little one.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ have you even seen the gun yet?¡±


    ¡°Not up close¡­ But Tink showed me one of the drawings Tom created. It was very exciting.¡±


    ¡°I swear if you had just gotten here any other time than when all ¡®this¡¯,¡± Saph gestured at everything around her, ¡°was going on, he would have loved you¡­¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ why?¡±


    ¡°The dude really loves his drawings. Linkosta is the only one here who even understands them half the time.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t read what any of it said.¡± Edita interjected looking a little slackeared. ¡°So not much better.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe we just take it apart and put it back together again while looking at said drawings. Then maybe tomorrow get Shiva, I¡¯m sure she would want to be involved if we are talking about changing anything.¡±


    ¡°Tink said she was in a foul mood.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I know. Maybe she just needs some time to think. There is always tomorrow after all. It¡¯s been quite the day.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Tom whispered in as low a tone as he could manage, looking around, blinking his eyes and trying to get them to focus. He had the mother of all headaches and, considering his past experiences, that was no mean feat. He couldn¡¯t even put together an internal monologue for the sheer skull-splitting pain of what felt more like a shattered cranium tossed in a roaring fire.


    He felt some kind of movement as his body shifted. He was lying down, that much he could work out, but aside from that, he didn¡¯t have the faintest clue.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake? Tom, please look at me, look up,¡± a very loud yet somehow still tired sounding voice went as Tom flinched. He tried to cover his ears, but his arms refused to move more than a little twitching.


    ¡°Please¡­ quiet,¡± he groaned, pinching his eyelids closed as about the only protest he could manage.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± the voice replied, still entirely too loud as he felt his sore body get pulled into a hug, a hand stroking the back of his head. He felt incredibly shit right now, and he really hoped this was not just a figment of his imagination playing tricks on him¡­ at least it seemed to be a kind-hearted one if that was the case.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    He tried to probe his burning mind for something. Anything really about where the hell he was now. He couldn¡¯t make out if this was a memory or real in his current state that was for sure. The last thing he could remember was being forced to fight back down in the tunnels below, and he really didn¡¯t want to dwell on that right now.


    He lay there trying futilely to concentrate even just a little before he finally gave up with a strained sigh. ¡°Joelina?... Where are we?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not here Tom,¡± the voice replied as he felt his head get turned around to look up at the ceiling. The voice sounded so soft, almost divinely so. So caring and compassionate. If this really was his mind fucking with him, he certainly didn¡¯t think this was a memory.


    He once more tried to blink his eyes open, being greeted with a big white shape in front of him, almost seeming like it was glowing.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± he groaned in a quite pathetic-sounding voice. ¡°Are you an angel?¡±


    He felt the slightest little chuff reverberate through whatever it was that was holding him as he tried to make out the blurry shape in front of him. ¡°I-it¡¯s me. It¡¯s Jacky¡­ can you see me?¡± the voice asked, tone heavy with anticipation and hope. She sounded so kind and caring. Definitely not Joelina, but it didn¡¯t sound like Jacky either, so calm and so quiet. At least after he told them to quiet down.


    ¡°Bit blurry,¡± Tom replied in a whisper, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. The hug tightened again, Tom winching and shutting his eyes once more. Real or not, even fake Jacky was a massive upgrade from fighting in the mines, and if he really was trapped inside his own head right now, then what better place to be.


    ¡°He¡¯s awake, girls. He¡¯s up,¡± the voice whispered, as Tom just tried to focus on breathing and not dying for right now at least.


    ¡®What even happens if I die in a memory¡­ I don¡¯t even wanna think.¡¯ But he failed miserably at it as the memories started coming back one by one. Everything he had just been dragged through.


    He heard the rustling of someone moving around the room, it sounded like multiple people to him, and a door being opened and shut. He just lay there listening to his mind replay what had happened. Trying to piece together everything. The sheer wonder he felt, on the hunting trips, the laughing, the games they played, the festival, the time at the lake, the kids fooling around, the movie nights, Jacky... All the fighting, all the killing, the death of Anastasi, the kids from Hylsdahl, the goodbye to his mother, his old lost friends, the long days of hard work, the vaults, the inquisition, the weapons production. The good, the bad, and the ugly¡­


    It was all just too much right now, and he didn¡¯t want to think about any of it. He just couldn¡¯t bear it right now as he began to sob, soon starting to cry what he could as he was held there near motionless. He was spent, he couldn¡¯t just give up or stop, but he couldn¡¯t carry on either. He didn¡¯t know if anything was real, he couldn¡¯t even answer when he last slept. Everything hurt and he could barely move. But he had to. For the sake of everything here, he had to keep going. For Jacky, for the kids, by the sounds of it for the future of a whole world. He just couldn''t right now¡­ So he cried instead.


    Jacky or maybe the memory of her rocked him back and forth ever so gently. Stroking the back of his head slowly and carefully. Eventually, she even began to hum a little tune. He didn¡¯t know it, but it was nice and soothing in a low deep tone. He wasn¡¯t keeping track of time, he just laid there, eyes shut, crying before slowly calming back down. He had no clue how long it took. He heard the door open and shut a few times while Jacky kept on humming, switching from one tune to the next.


    What could he do?... He couldn¡¯t just stop. What had happened had happened. Good and bad. Giving up would only lead to bad things happening. He just needed a little break. If only he knew if this was all real, or if he was still inside of his own slowly melting mind and Joelina had finally given up on him.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± he whispered carefully, eyes still wet with tears.


    ¡°My room. Just like before,¡± Jacky replied, whispering, sounding a touch apologetic. She lifted him up and held his head against hers, hugging him tight once more.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here¡­ Don¡¯t care about anything else. Are you still seeing things?¡±


    ¡°Not a thing¡­¡± Tom tried, opening his eyes and squinting into the dark room. His eyes hurt like hell, and he couldn''t see shit save for a weak firelight coming from somewhere. ¡°Think I need a minute.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have all year,¡± Jacky replied, squeezing him tighter once more. Tom did his best to not sound like a squeaky toy.


    ¡°Joelina?¡±


    ¡°Carried off to sleep it off¡­ Did you break her?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue,¡± Tom admitted, sighing contentedly to just believe this was all real for now. ¡°How much trouble?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue. I don¡¯t care¡­ how did you puppet her around? That was maybe the best thing I¡¯ve seen in a week.¡±


    ¡°I did what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just rest. I¡¯m still here¡­ I¡¯ll always be here.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had taken a while before the boys returned with the gun, Radexi having come along to oversee what they were doing. It sorta made sense Saph guessed, he was more or less responsible for the gun when it was on Jarix¡¯s back, and he was trained to take it apart by now. At least enough to clean it, which she was told was rather important.


    Saph had found an unexpected ally in the quest to keep them from doing anything more than take it apart. Edita had treated the weapon like a religious artifact, getting out an exquisite-looking white glimmering sheet to take it all apart on. In the low light, it almost sparkled like the few dimmer stars one could see in the night sky when there was little or no moon.


    The sheet had covered most of the workshop floor, and even Tink had been a little timid about spilling oil on it. Edita had, however, assured them and even demonstrated how it was nearly impossible to get dirty. Apparently, it was made from silverbear wool. Saph had never actually seen one, but it sure was pretty. Saph had of course asked what it might actually cost to have clothes made from this, but to her disappointment, Edita had no idea at all. That had devolved into a brief discussion on what one could actually get for a gold piece. Saph quickly concluded she would need to make sure the poor woman wasn¡¯t scammed when their next trader came by.


    To say Edita was impressed by the weapon was an understatement. Apparently, the revelation that the humans had made such a weapon without the use of flash powder or metal working magic like Shiva¡¯s was near impossible for her to believe. It was abundantly clear, though, that Edita knew exactly what she was doing in regards to machinery like this. Every bolt had a place, every bit laid out meticulously like a grand puzzle on either the cloth-covered floor, chairs, tables, or whatever else she could find.


    ¡°If only we had more space to work with. This is soo messy,¡± the artificer complained as she put down another piece in its newly designated spot. Saph had honestly no idea what she was on about; she could still walk between the parts as they sat in their little groups, but she didn¡¯t voice her objections as the artificer seemed to just keep working regardless.


    ¡°We could take it to the halls and lay it out on a tarp there,¡± Tink suggested, picking up a part to inspect it, which was quickly snatched by Edita.


    ¡°No, we cannot move it now. How does this get too hot? The barrel is just plain steel, is it not? It feels like it?¡± the artificer replied, rubbing the barrel once she had returned the doohickey to its rightful spot. ¡°It is very thick. This would take a lot of heat.¡±


    ¡°It does, but it makes more. You can feel the heat on your face when it fires. The fireball is like this big coming out the end,¡± Radexi added, spreading his arms out wide enough Saph did think it was at least a little bit of an exaggeration. Damn if she could not still feel the pounding it had given her when the kid had fired over her head with it though. ¡°Problem is ours is yet to fire for long enough to overheat before it stops. Jamming as Tom calls it. It is a problem.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm Interesting¡­ what about in here?¡± Edita questioned, lifting the barrel up to look down the bore. ¡°Uuuh¡­ Spirals. Is that to make it spin like a top?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Rifling he calls it. It was a pain in the butt to make,¡± Saph replied, trying to remain enthusiastic. ¡°Tom says if it was perfect, this thing could hit something over a mile away.¡±


    ¡°Amazing,¡± Edita responded with wonder in her eyes as she rubbed the inside of the barrel with a pinky finger. ¡°Does it not just get worn away? I have seen drawings of similar weapons, but they all used harder metals in the barrel''s construction. Either entirely or as an internal lining.¡±


    ¡°Tom did grumble about that,¡± Saph echoed. ¡°We put what hardening we could on it. Though a mithril sleeve would be most desirable according to Tom, or some other very hard metal apparently.¡±


    ¡°We were just planning on making a new barrel if we wear this one out. Well, Shiva would,¡± Tink responded, Junior nodding his agreement.


    ¡°I suggested making the bullets softer but then they won''t do as well against armor,¡± the young inventor added with a shrug, not seeming entirely sold on why that was a bad idea. ¡°Oh and something about the bullet holding its shaping going down the barrel, I think.¡±


    ¡°No, it was so the barrel isn¡¯t filled with lead shavings. The pressure is too high for that, hence the copper,¡± Tink corrected in a soft, fatherly tone.


    ¡°You used lead for the bullets, right? With a copper shell?¡± Edita just looked at them before glancing back down at the round ¡°Why not steel?¡±


    ¡°Tom said heavier is better with this. Though apparently, bullets with steel cores or tips do exist. But the soft copper is needed to not destroy the rifling. Yet it is still better than pure lead for everything else.¡± Junior responded seeming quite confident in his knowledge on the system.


    ¡°Tom refers to it as a jacket,¡± Tink added with a nod. ¡°I personally find the system quite clever.¡±


    ¡°If it is Tom¡¯s design, I am certain it is fit to the task at hand¡­ It¡¯s so elegant¡­ yet simple,¡± Edita went, turning the bullet around in her fingers, testing its balance and checking the primer. ¡°Beautiful.¡±


    ¡°If what Tom has said is accurate, they have been making these for hundreds of years with little to no change,¡± Saph interjected, breaking the inventor out of her admiration. ¡°Apparently even they struggle to find improvements to it.¡±


    ¡°A masterpiece then. I see why he chose it to be the first of its kind to be brought into our world,¡± the artificer all but chirped. Saph couldn¡¯t work out if she was sounding more excited or awe-inspired right now, both worried her just a little.


    Tink let out a little chuckle, Resting on his knee as he leaned in. ¡°They learned to fly in that time, but decided this was perfect as it is.¡±


    ¡°Then it is perfect,¡± Edita declared, placing it back down. ¡°I shall note it down as such, in time this may become a new standard unit,¡± she all but giggled, looking back to the gun and picking up a piece of the bolt.


    ¡°That one not so much, sadly. It is just as old as the bullet, and just as perfect apparently. But we can¡¯t get the damn thing to run right.¡±


    ¡°It is a complex marvel to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe you could improve upon it?¡± Radexi asked, crossing his arms, Saph suppressing a chuckle at the young man¡¯s tough man stance.


    ¡°Maybe just make it work right for starters?¡± Saph added hopefully. ¡°That would be a good start.¡±


    ¡°Any enchantment would need to draw power from somewhere. We have still not understood how our forefathers managed to convert movement to magic and other such marvels of enchantment.¡±


    ¡°But if the bolts movement could be assured through magics, this may solve any stoppages. How does it jam?¡±


    ¡°Usually it either fails to kick out the old round and it gets stuck, or it doesn¡¯t pull back far enough to even try,¡± Radexi clarified, still holding his cross armed stance.


    ¡°Sounds like we need Linkosta for that one,¡± Saph shrugged. ¡°Or is it just flat-out impossible to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ What do you do to get it going again when it happens?¡± the artificer asked, looking to Radexi.


    ¡°Yank on the charging handle as hard as you can, hoping it budges. If it does get a new round in and try again.


    ¡°That could be done¡­ though this spring is very stiff,¡± Edita commented, trying to compress the main recoil spring in her hands, which just resulted in a poorly controlled wobble before she put it back down, patting it a little.


    ¡°And what if it gets stuck completely?¡± Saph questioned, also throwing a glance Radexi¡¯s way. ¡°That has happened before?¡±


    Radexi just nodded before looking away a little, finding something else interesting on the floor.


    ¡°It may kill the user,¡± Edita admitted. ¡°If a safety is not made of some kind. That would be very complex and very expensive.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ that would take a while right? Couldn¡¯t you just cut the flow?¡±


    ¡°You could, but in the middle of battle, it might not be the best¡­ Perhaps designing it to only draw on touch wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.¡±


    ¡°What about cooling then? You had an idea for that, no?¡± Tink tried, seeming a little disappointed at that answer.


    ¡°Yes, I want to use water and frost powder somehow,¡± Edita replied enthusiastically, picking up the shroud that went over the first bit of the barrel. Saph honestly didn¡¯t quite know what it did, but it was full of holes and Shiva had been cursing a lot when she had to make it.


    ¡°Tom did mention using water to do it,¡± Tink added. ¡°We were planning on doing that for the second gun destined for the guard tower.¡±


    ¡°Why not use it on this one?¡±


    ¡°Weight,¡± Radexi added with a shrug.


    ¡°And the fact it¡¯s already not working that well,¡± Saph tried hopefully. ¡°Why make it more complicated?¡±


    ¡°I can try and see if I can improve on it,¡± Edita went, looking back at them. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I know enough to make it better as is. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Well, Tom definitely won¡¯t mind you reading up on this stuff,¡± Saph countered. ¡°I think he would be quite thrilled.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ What about Joelina?¡± Edita asked, a dawning realization on her face indicating to Saph she had only just thought to ask about the woman who actually brought her here, seemingly against quite a bit of better judgment.


    ¡°I have no idea. Last I saw she was once more locked in a trance with Tom. I don¡¯t think we will be seeing her again at least till tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ does that mean we have free reign?¡± Tink asked, looking around the room, seemingly getting just a little bit excited.


    ¡°No, because I am here. And I will be making sure you behave at least somewhat smartly,¡± Saph was quick to shut him down. ¡°But yes, we will be working by ourselves I think.¡±


    ¡°Does this mean Linkosta might be free to help me learn to read?¡± Edita questioned, with what Saph presumed was her best impression of puppy eyes¡­ It was not all that effective to be honest. She was used to Fengi¡¯s magic variant.


    ¡°I believe so. At least once she is done with tidying up her notes on what Tom and Joelina got up to in the bedroom. She was not allowed to stay so she won¡¯t be collecting any more.¡±


    Junior suddenly choked on something, and Radexi seemed a touch uncomfortable all of a sudden. Tink went to quickly pat the young man on the back as Saph sighed. ¡®God dammit Saph.¡¯


    ¡°Yes, you must tell me what happened up there? I wasn¡¯t there for it¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t even really notice something was going on up there.¡±


    ¡°That is impressive¡­ Not that important now. I am sure the inquisitor will hand you a report¡­ or something,¡± Saph replied, growing a little uncomfortable herself as Radexi bit his lip, looking unsure what to do right now.


    Junior at least stopped coughing and straightened up, drawing a deep breath.


    ¡°There we go, careful when swallowing. It can go wrong for the best of us,¡± Tink added in his best kindhearted, fatherly tone, not picking up on a thing.


    ¡®Fucking hell dude¡­ and I¡¯m shepherding you lot for god knows how long¡­ yay.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 158 Oddballs

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well this seems familiar,¡± Tom blearily blinked his eyes open. His head hurt like all hell, but it was more of a tired, worn-out pain. As if his head was full of soup and had been battered to hell and back, which he guessed wasn¡¯t too far from the truth. He was still thoroughly secured in Jacky¡¯s arms as she was playing big spoon, her steady breath blowing past his ear. She was not the one doing the snoring though for once, that would be the little bundle of cuteness in front of him, which he concluded must be Kiran, who was sleeping happily curled up on the mattress.


    His head hurt, but he could actually put a thought together now. He could think! It was semi-clear at best, but it was better, and as he looked around he could actually see. He could even remember the last time he woke up, at least blurrily. It was still dark, so he guessed it had not been a very long nap. ¡®Improvement¡­ Fucking glorious. Maybe it really is real this time¡­¡¯ he pondered to himself hopefully. As far as he could tell, it sure seemed like it.


    He gave the little guy a neck rub as a quick glance around confirmed he was still in the bedroom and they were actually alone at the moment. At least as far as he could see. Judging by the light, it was still bum fuck early in the day. Or late he guessed. He didn¡¯t want to bother thinking about it. He just kept petting Kiran nice and gently, hoping the kid wouldn¡¯t wake up.


    He got away with it for a surprising amount of time too, and it really helped to just keep focus on the little guy as he lay there waiting for something strange to happen. A hand reaching out from under the bed, a piece of the roof coming down. He eyed the darkness at the corner of the room suspiciously, but rather than growing it receded ever so slowly as the sun started to rise.


    ¡®Bum fuck early it is then¡­ Marvelous,¡¯ he sighed, tucking the blanket a bit closer to him and moving Kiran in with it. The little guy let out a mighty yawn, all the little chops on full display. Tom stopped the delicate maneuver before the kid stopped moving again then just pulled him in close, wrapping up the blankets as tight as he could get them right now.


    Only after he did so did he stop and consider he could move his arm right now. He had been completely stuck before as if in sleep paralysis, but now he could move. He just let out a sigh of relief. As he lay there staring at the wall, he remembered the last thing Jacky had said before he apparently fell back asleep last time. ¡®What did she mean puppeted?... What did I do?¡¯


    He tried to think back to the adhoc council he had put together after working out he could make memories of people manifest. ¡®How did Joelina make it in there and not anyone else? Also how on earth did Abba work?¡¯ He grew a little somber thinking back to his father. He had been dead for years. Hell, he had died even before all of his squad mates. He didn¡¯t know if he was happy he got to see them all one last time, at least in some sense. Could they really have been the real ones? No, he remembered the questioning. They were nothing but memories, sad as that was. But he had still gotten to see both of his parents one last time. And not the stricken, sick versions either. They had been healthy, happy even.


    He pulled a slight smile despite the headache as his eyes got a little wet again. But that begged the question. Was the Joelina he talked with real? She did certainly seem like it. ¡®I am gonna have to ask her. If she remembers then¡­ ho boi if she does.¡¯


    ¡°Jacky¡­ You up yet?¡± he tried in a low, careful voice. If nothing else, he could really do with a painkiller right now.


    There was no immediate reply aside from another slow steady breath rushing forth from her snout.


    ¡°Jacky, please¡­ Maybe just a glass of water or something.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wake her. I will fetch it.¡± The recognizable voice of Shiva came from somewhere behind him. Tom swallowed once as he heard the floor squeak under the weight of someone getting up and starting to move around the room.


    He didn¡¯t move a muscle after that as he waited. ¡®Is this good?... Is it bad? Is she angry? Why would she be angry? She¡¯s a woman Tom, they don¡¯t need a reason. Fuck, I¡¯m right! Uhm uhm¡­ she didn¡¯t sound mad. Then again, she usually doesn¡¯t unless she¡¯s trying to kill someone. She didn¡¯t sound happy either. Just play it cool, it¡¯s fine. She won¡¯t hurt Jacky, and Jacky ain¡¯t going nowhere. This is fine.¡¯


    Tom¡¯s little thinking session came to an end as Shiva walked into view, squatting in front of him as he lay there looking at her, perfectly still.


    ¡°Here, you need this,¡± she went, reaching out a hand holding a small cup of what he presumed to be water, Tom still struggling to read if she seemed happy, mad, or anything really. She just sounded indifferent. He carefully extracted a hand from under the blanket to take the cup and twisted his head to try and drink with some success. At least he didn¡¯t spill any of the cold water on Kiran.


    ¡°So then¡­ How are you doing?¡± Shiva asked plainly, looking at him while still squatted down beside the bed.


    ¡°Head hurts like fuck¡­ and I¡¯m rather confused.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Jacky says you hit her while you were¡­ elsewhere,¡± Shiva replied, sounding perfectly calm still.


    ¡°I what?!¡± Tom questioned, finding himself cursing his raised voice as his head throbbed.


    ¡°You do not remember?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Tom replied as heartfelt as he could manage for the headache. He still felt like shit too, sore and stiff all over at the same time.


    ¡°I understand¡­ She tells me you chose her to be your old leader. Even when not with us, you value my daughter. He was a wise man, no?¡±


    ¡°Morten? Definitely. A bit¡­ calmer,¡± Tom responded carefully as he saw Shiva¡¯s brow furrow just a smidge. ¡°He was a good man.¡±


    ¡°Very good. You will need this too I believe,¡± she replied, putting a single recognizable pill on the mattress in front of him before getting back up. Tom snatched it and quickly swallowed it, washing it down with more water. ¡°Rest. We will need your strength,¡± she continued, seemingly turning to leave.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Tom squeaked out once he had the pill down, Shiva coming to a halt and turning her head to look back at him curiously, raising an eye ridge. ¡°What happened to the inquisitor?¡±


    ¡°You won, she was carried off defeated. Aside from this, we know nothing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean defeated?¡± Tom pleaded, starting to feel a knot form in his stomach as he stared at the imposing woman.


    ¡°She fainted. Surely this means she was defeated. I have heard of such battles in stories. It is rare for the mindreader to fail. They often face an untrained mind, and she called you weak of will. Well done.¡± Tom wasn¡¯t entirely sure, but she sounded genuinely impressed right now. He even spied a bit of a grin on her face. ¡°Now I must leave you two. I have heard rumors the artificer wishes to work upon your weapons. I will make sure no harm is done. So sleep, that is an order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Tom simply replied, not sure what else to say as Shiva turned her head back to the door, walking out and shutting it behind her.


    He just felt the knot release as he sagged a little in Jacky¡¯s arms. ¡®Holy shit dude¡­ The fuck have you just done?... and what is Edita up to? Oh no, she has Tink as well.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®This is gonna be a long day,¡¯ Saph grumbled to herself, still a touch sleepy. She found herself once more in the workshop where the soon to be totally disassembled machine gun was being examined and measured up once more. Shiva was here as well this morning, though she was the opposite of talkative. She had found the original drawings Tom had made of the gun for them though.


    Said human was apparently up and kicking, at least in some sense. Dakota had told them all at breakfast that Tom had woken up again last night. After Saph had left, Tom and Joelina had remained unmoving for hours. It had been far from calm though, both of them attempting to talk in their sleep like they were in a trance, which Saph guessed they sort of were. Tom had started to sweat, despite not being warm at all according to Jacky, while he writhed and twisted. More than once he had broken out screaming in pain. Dakota described it almost like a battle of the minds had been taking place, and it would seem Tom had emerged victorious when the inquisitor fainted into a heap, having to be carried off, leaving the human out cold but still breathing.


    Paulin had seen to the inquisitor, taking her to one of the provided guest rooms and shutting the doors. They still knew nothing of how she was doing, meaning she was probably not with them yet. Saph had heard the guards chatting on if she might have kicked the bucket burning magic like that, but she had a feeling they would likely be seeing Paulin if that was indeed the case.


    She was also confident that if something important was being discussed in that room, they would all know soon enough since she was certain Kokashi wasn¡¯t getting much sleep either as of late. As it stood, there was not a single member of the inquisition at breakfast save Edita. Nearly all of their number were in the cave or with Yldril for the moment. Still, it was an odd sight to see that, for the time being at least, their keep seemed devoid of those scheming arseholes. Of course, they still had trader escorts from Achheon and Galaxer here so the tables were far from empty.


    As breakfast had come to an end, she had a brief chat with Dakota. It was clear Saph was to carry on as the impromptu ¡®oversight¡¯ for their technically inclined trio for the time being. Apparently knowing how to make the gun keep firing didn¡¯t mean you knew not to stick your finger in a blitz gel container¡­ or eat it, much to her dismay.


    Saph had done a good enough job at not blowing anything or anyone up or spontaneously lighting on fire or something and she at least knew most of Tom¡¯s safety warnings and had enough brains to heed them. Hence she was Dakota¡¯s best pick to keep things running safely and smoothly for now. Not like it would be very hard work either. The people involved were more than eager to get something done. She knew that from last night. She just hoped she wouldn¡¯t be held responsible for any fuckups that might occur while she was looking the other way.


    Radexi had been delegated to other duties today, which was probably good as the workshop was already getting a little crowded with this many people as well as gun parts strewn all around the place. At least Shiva was here too, so Saph wouldn¡¯t be the only responsible woman present.


    Edita was comparing back and forth between the drawings and the real weapon as the solutions for how to keep the weapon cool took shape in front of them. Tink provided the ideas with Junior toning them down to a reasonable level, Shiva the knowledge of what they could make at the keep, and Edita the technical expertise of what systems had already been developed for this purpose. All in all it was running remarkably smoothly.


    The results had been several different options, and the more they worked the faster they managed to put together ideas, ranging from the basic, to the outlandish, to the downright strange. Saph had no idea how the water evaporating could run a pump to put more water in the barrel. It sounded like some sort of perpetual motion machine which Tom had made very clear wasn¡¯t possible.


    Still, Edita insisted it had already been done and she was not making it up. Saph had lost the plot completely when she started talking about turning the steam back into water by running it through some copper pipes with thin metal sheets on them, but Tink had certainly been all ears. The idea wasn¡¯t shut down until Shiva pointed out that it would not only weigh much more than Tom¡¯s original idea of just using more water, but it would also cost a fortune and be rather fragile.


    Tink had reluctantly conceded, but Edita was not slowed in the slightest as she soon cooked up yet another way to solve the problem. Her enthusiasm was somehow still growing, which honestly baffled Saph even more. ¡®It¡¯s like a Linkosta, but for machines¡­ and Lin already finds this stuff amazing¡­ay ay ay.¡¯


    ¡°But what if we simply use Tom¡¯s design and make the Jacket thinner?¡± Junior had finally suggested after yet another idea, this time involving mixing frost powder with the propellant in order to cool down the charge, It was an idea that apparently even Edita had no idea if it was even feasible, though it was also shot down, this time for having too large a risk of something catastrophic destroying the precious weapon.


    ¡°Then it would still overheat. But it would take longer,¡± Shiva conceded. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if it keeps seizing.¡±


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Then we just use a smidge of frost powder to keep the water cool. I can make a clockwork dispenser for it. When the weapon gets too hot, pull a lever and powder is added. Or perhaps a mere button push,¡± Edita offered with a nod, seeming quite confident, even if Saph doubted how much of it was just enthusiasm.


    ¡°But then we still run the risk of it freezing solid, right?¡± Saph tried, feeling here she could at least partake in the discussion, and maybe try and reign them in a bit.


    ¡°Only if added to cold water. We may need circulation though. It would reduce the chances dramatically. It would also help keep the barrel a uniform temperature. It might warp if it gets too hot in one place.¡±


    ¡°Then we are back at the pump again,¡± Shiva grumbled. ¡°Is there nothing for that?¡±


    ¡°We could drive it magically. Or what about the recoil of the gun? The bolt goes back and forth. That could easily drive a piston.¡±


    ¡°It already struggles when it gets a bad round. We would need better made ammunition,¡± Shiva countered, shaking her head and crossing her arms.


    ¡°Could we increase the recoil somehow? the excess would need to be absorbed to save the receiver though.¡±


    ¡°Or you could just put Balethons lizard in a little wheel and have him run it,¡± Saph interjected with a bit of a chuckle, doing little squeaky sounds like she would expect a little wheel like that to make.


    Shiva clearly got the joke, rolling her eyes and providing no further comment. Tink let out a bit of a huff, seemingly rather amused.


    ¡°Would it not just get scared and try to run away?... It seems wrong to use the fact that it is scared of the gun to drive the gun,¡± Edita then replied, clearly putting serious thought into the idea even if she did not seem happy with it.


    ¡°No-... No, it was a joke,¡± Saph tried to clarify, raising her hands.


    ¡°Ooooh¡­ sorry,¡± Edita responded a little slack-eared and looking a touch nervous. ¡°Yeah, who would even suggest that, hehe. silly me. It would be too light too, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Yeaaahhh¡­ Anyway, what about just a little handle you have to turn a few times, then back to shooting? Surely that wouldn¡¯t be to bad. Not like Jarix¡¯s gun has to fire for that long at a time.¡±


    ¡°And the insufficient recoil leading to jamming could just be fixed by putting a proper man behind the gun, or even better a proper woman,¡± Shiva added with a stern nod. ¡°Radexi is too small and weak, he struggles to pull the handle back.¡±


    ¡°Be nice now, Shiva,¡± Saph tried, even if she did sorta agree with the smith here. The kid was indeed young. Quite young actually, and he was only supposed to be acting as ground crew for Jarix. ¡°Also not really a fix, just makes it less of a problem.¡±


    ¡°Good enough. I say in future a proper guard or huntress will man the weapon. Else Zarko will do. Get it cool and trust the gunner.¡±


    ¡°What about checking the ammunition?¡± Junior suggested, looking around at them with a shrug. ¡°Where Tom is from it¡¯s not a problem clearly.¡±


    ¡°How would you check it without firing it? They are sealed,¡± Shiva questioned, the young inventor shrinking a bit under her gaze.


    ¡°You could weigh them?¡± Edita offered, clearly hoping she was being helpful. ¡°Or perhaps create a better test for the powder. I could test it just by touching it.¡±


    Shiva just grumbled a bit, scratching her cheek, seeming to struggle to find a problem with that. ¡°We do weigh them, but the bullets are not the same either. The copper cladding is¡­ difficult.¡±


    ¡°I have brought some very fine scales, perhaps they will help. I would love to assist in producing this holy round.¡±


    Saph choked just a little at the mention of ¡®holy,¡¯ but other than that she couldn¡¯t see a fault in the plan. They had expended quite a lot of ammunition during the last battle, and since the inquisitorial delegation¡¯s arrival they had all the raw materials they could ask for. They needed to get production back underway. And not just on the ammunition she noted, looking to the half-finished shotguns sitting and standing in the corner, having been set aside for now to make room for the machine gun¡¯s disassembly.


    ¡°More hands are always needed around here,¡± Tink added enthusiastically with a huge smile on his face. ¡°Perhaps I should show you how we turn down the items for the shotguns... Once Shiva has made the required forgings,¡± he hastily amended, throwing a slightly nervous glance at the smith.


    ¡°I will resume work today. My forge has been reorganized with the many gifts I have received. Thank you, Artificer,¡± Shiva replied, actually giving Edita a slight bow, Saph being left grumbling a bit. ¡®She never bowed to me before¡­¡¯


    ¡°I want to do all of it. I don¡¯t know how much time I will have though.¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you going with Joelina too?¡± Saph questioned, looking at the artificer. She hadn¡¯t heard anything about that yet.


    ¡°What? No, no. But mastering such a machine must surely take years?¡±


    Tink and junior just coughed a bit, Tink clawing at the floor as the clearly confused Edita turned to look at them. ¡°Tom taught me in a few weeks at most¡­ But there is still much to learn, I¡¯ll grant you that,¡± Tink replied, still looking at the ground.


    ¡°That is¡­ incredible!? Are the machines so well made they can be operated by children even then?¡±


    ¡°Now hold on,¡± Saph objected, raising a hand. ¡°No talk about child labour¡­ Tom is a bit touchy on that one.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ they help with the ammunition, no?¡±


    ¡°Yeees¡­ but that is mostly just running around with all the little bits we need.¡±


    ¡°But that includes explosives, no?¡± Edita questioned, seemingly not finding anything overly wrong with having kids perform that kind of work. Saph had to admit that as long as it wasn¡¯t too hard work, she didn¡¯t have that much of a problem either, but Tom sure did.


    Tink responded to the artificer¡¯s question by having a further fit of coughing, Edita walking over to him and giving him a few sturdy pats on the back. ¡°Now now, your service is not over yet. Oleg still has need of your work.¡±


    ¡®Ay ay ay,¡¯ Saph just sighed to herself, throwing a glance at Shiva, who was for once looking a touch uncomfortable as she shrugged.


    ¡°What can you do?¡± the old smith dismissed, looking back to the artificer. ¡°I started learning my craft when I was no more than 6 years old. Even if I did just blow on the fire at times¡­¡±


    ¡°Ooohhh¡­ You do know that doesn¡¯t help much, right? You need more air than lungs can give¡­ unless you have many I guess.¡± Edita replied, expression turning to one of pondering as she started thinking on that last conclusion.


    ¡°Hey Edita, when did you start becoming an artificer? Were you chosen or something? I never heard of anyone talking about becoming that before? Well, unless you count clockmakers or stuff like that.¡± Junior then tried in a happy optimistic tone clearly not overly comfortable with the current subject.


    The room got very quiet as they all looked at the young man. ¡®Couldn¡¯t you just not dig, dude? What if she doesn¡¯t wanna talk about it?¡¯ Saph grumbled to herself, though her fears were seemingly unfounded as the artificer took a second to think before happily answering.


    ¡°Oh no, I was born to be one. Uhm¡­ They did give me a bit of a¡­ what did Essy call it?... pep talk. Sure, pep talk on how it is outside. When you were born, right, you had a family? Mum, dad, siblings, maybe friends, all that stuff?¡±


    The young man just stared at the woman for a sec or two, throwing a quick guilty look at Saph, as he seemingly worked out why they had all been staring at him.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that¡­¡± Junior replied. Saph caught Tink looking away a bit, the smile fading from his face as Junior just scratched the back of his head. ¡°What did you have?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I had classmates and masters. Don¡¯t worry, it was very fun. We got to play with all these toys and things. Getting to learn to read all kinds of strange scripts and runes. And it wasn¡¯t like we had to, those who weren¡¯t so good at it got to go somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± was all Junior got out in reply as Saph narrowed her eyes at the artificer.


    ¡°Do you know where they went exactly?¡±


    ¡°I mean some of them, sure. I even got to work on a few. Glazz for example She got banged up quite a few years back.¡±


    ¡°But you are not a healer?¡± Shiva questioned, apparently joining in Saph¡¯s suspicion.


    ¡°No no, left arm¡­¡± Edita replied with a big smile. ¡°don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t see it?¡±


    ¡°See what?¡± Saph had to ask, tilting her head. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her arms; they look quite normal to me.¡±


    ¡°Woooow¡­ Tink?¡± Edita tried, seemingly baffled by this ¡®news,¡¯ looking over to the inventor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I only got to see her once or twice, and she likes that cloak of hers.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Edita let out with a bit of a nod like she had just been proven wrong. ¡°Joelina was right. Her arm isn¡¯t hers, it¡¯s just illusion magic. It¡¯s all made out of metal. Very fine work, if you ask me. I still don¡¯t understand why she hides it so much.¡±


    ¡°Wh- what in the devil do you mean!?¡± Saph broke out, flabbergasted, Edita taking a step back in surprise, clearly not having expected the outburst.


    ¡°It¡¯s a metal arm!¡± the Artificer squeaked out defensively. ¡°Wait, should I not have said that? I don¡¯t think they told me not to say that. I know Glazz doesn''t like it that much, but I think it is very pretty. Much stronger too.¡±


    ¡°Her arm was replaced with one of metal? How is this possible?¡± Shiva questioned as Saph changed tack to try and calm the spooked artificer back down again. Tink and Junior just stared at her then each other.


    ¡°It is a relic. It was grafted to her after she lost her original arm years back. I don¡¯t know more than that. I promise I just performed the rituals of maintenance upon it.¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Saph just let out, shaking her head. ¡°I guess Balethon should have gone to work for the Inquisition then.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, Tom considered the world to be on the mend at the moment. The painkillers had helped with his headache, and he had even managed to conscript Ray to get him some more when she came by with breakfast. He had only left the bed for a quick piss before returning to the warm and cozy sheets where he had both Jacky and Kiran for company.


    He had decided against any phones or laptops this morning, likely wouldn¡¯t help with his remaining headache. For the most part he had just slept the day away, which had worked until the kid could seemingly sleep no more


    He had unfortunately refused to leave though, so Tom and Jacky, well mostly just Jacky had to put up with the energetic kid running around. The two of them had made a rather nice pillow fort Jacky had told some stories and Tom had even joined in with a few of his own before dozing off again.


    He was woken up again by his stomach informing him it was time for food of some description. Jacky was laying with him, acting as the big spoon again, though he didn¡¯t honestly believe she was actually sleeping. More likely she was just enjoying the warmth and the fact she didn¡¯t have to do any back breaking work right now. There was no Kiran to be seen though, Tom guessed someone must have come for him during his little midday naptime.


    The quiet tranquility in the room was broken by Tom¡¯s rebellious stomach as it rumbled rather loudly. Jacky¡¯s left ear perked up and she let out a slight giggle before she turned it towards the door. ¡°I think your stomach might be psychic too Tom,¡± she mused, not moving yet as Tom also started hearing footsteps approaching outside.


    Tom looked over just as the handle turned and the door slowly opened, the burn-scarred head of Dakota poking its way inside. ¡°Oh good, you are up. I have dinner if you are hungry.¡±


    ¡°Sweet,¡± Jacky let out as she yawned.


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Tom just replied as he and Jacky moved about a bit on the bed, going to sit up against the wall, Jacky providing a wing to hold him close still.


    Dakota did her best to navigate the pillow fort, but some remodeling was still needed to make room as she set down the plates of food on their laps. ¡°Raulf thought maybe you could use a beer, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Eeeh¡­ Let¡¯s save that for when we¡¯re sure it is actually gone,¡± he replied in a low, considering tone. He could really do with an ice-cold beer right now, that was for certain but probably best not to.


    ¡°But you are feeling better? This does not seem like the last time you woke up following one of her sessions?¡±


    ¡°I have not seen anything yet, I am quite sure¡­ and the pills helped with the headache, but then again those are another reason to hold off on the beer.¡±


    ¡°I see. Paulin has informed me that Joelina has woken up as well. She believes the inquisitor will need some time before she is ready to talk.¡± Dakota said with a rather strained expression like she didn¡¯t quite know if that was good or bad yet.


    ¡°Did she get a taste of her own medicine and go full cuckoo?¡± questioned Jacky, Tom feeling quite sure she was hoping the answer was ¡®yes.¡¯


    ¡°I do not know exactly¡­ But what Kokashi heard was certainly disturbing.¡±


    Tom just raised an eyebrow as both he and Jacky looked at the gilded huntress standing by the side of the bed.


    ¡°There was some screaming and yammering,¡± Dakota finally relented. ¡°And a lot of incoherent babbling¡­ some of it not in draconic. Some of it sounded like singing almost. His rendition was quite poor, but Essy claimed it sounded familiar. At least somewhat.¡±


    ¡°... Not Abba, right?¡± Tom asked despairing, thinking back to his dad¡¯s impromptu torture technique. He still had no idea if who he had talked to was actually Joelina inside his own mind, but if she was trying to replicate a Swedish pop song in her seemingly delusional state, that did at least confirm that part had actually happened.


    ¡°I am afraid I do not know, I will ask Esmeralda later.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ about the whole puppet thing-?¡± Tom asked cautiously, not quite sure how to approach that subject.


    ¡°It was quite disturbing.¡± Dakota cut him off with an expression belying that yeah, she certainly believed that statement.


    ¡°You mean cathartic, right?¡± Jacky interjected with a rather cruel smile, Dakota staring unamusedly at her for a second before turning back to Tom.


    ¡°We still have not worked out how that might have been possible. Linkosta and Apuma know of a spell which should be able to dominate a mind, but that is dark magic, very dark, and not something they know how to do, merely that it exists. Though it is possible to imitate the effect to some extent using magics like what Fengi possesses.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I can like¡­ what did you call it?¡±


    ¡°Domineer and no, they agree it seems unlikely in the extreme. But there is no denying that something happened, and it was not natural.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Norik decided enough was enough,¡± Jacky smirked, taking a bite of what looked like chicken wings but was probably some other kind of bird.


    ¡°Sadly I doubt we have drawn the attention of the god of justice. Inviting as the thought may be.¡± Dakota sighed, shaking her head a bit.


    ¡°Then what about Tula?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that one again?¡± Tom had to ask, Dakota biting her lip for a sec before looking at him and answering.


    ¡°God of war and retribution¡­ I guess this could be seen as retribution for what she did to you, knowingly or not.¡±


    ¡°Oh she knew. She just didn¡¯t care, that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t want anyone in there when she did it the first time.¡± Jacky snarled, her snout actually wrinkling as she picked out another chicken wing looking thing.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that, Jacky, and even if she did know, I believe it is safe to say it went further than she had planned, else she would be walking around right as rain giving orders in my keep,¡± Dakota replied with a hint of reluctance in her voice, clearly not overly pleased with defending the inquisitor.


    Jacky just grumped a bit and went back to eating


    ¡°What do you think their response will be? Once they get their shit together?¡± Tom tried hoping Dakota had the situation worked out a bit better than he did.


    ¡°Hard to say when we don¡¯t know how she will fair. Paulin didn¡¯t seem worried, but I am starting to believe she might think the inquisitor can actually piss excellence,¡± the gilded huntress grumbled, all three of them staring a bit. ¡®Yeah, she¡¯s had it with these arseholes,¡¯ Tom concluded, taking a bite for himself. ¡®Hmm¡­ almost tastes like duck, this one.¡¯


    ¡°Do keep me posted¡­ I¡¯m not that out of it.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Dakota replied with a nod, turning to leave.


    ¡°Oh one sec,¡± Tom broke out as she was opening the door again. ¡°What¡¯s been going on in the workshop and such?¡±


    Dakota sighed a bit before closing the door, turning back to him. ¡°Sapphire is keeping an eye on them as well as Shiva. I do not believe we need to worry too much. They are working on your machine gun. Something about cooling it and stopping it from jamming.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Well I guess that¡¯s better than making bombs,¡± Tom said, trying to sound light-hearted.


    ¡°Quite,¡± Dakota agreed with a nod, opening the door once more. ¡°Enjoy your meal, I¡¯m sure Ray will come by to pick up the plates in a bit.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 159: Not Mine

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    The following morning. Tom had been left alone as Jacky had gone to get a bite to eat. She had protested at first, wanting to stay, but he had insisted. She needed to talk with people and not just spend days cooped up with him in bed. That, and Tom was hoping the girl''s table gossip might filter through and give him a bit of insight on just how things were going.


    Kiran was picked up a bit later by Apuma after once more having slept the night. The old man had been keen on at least getting in some lessons, despite the trying times. The fact their loremaster wanted to hold one at all had to mean Nunuk was doing much better which was definitely good.


    So Tom laid there alone with his thoughts for a bit, still tired as all hell for some reason. He hadn¡¯t done much except sleep and rest all day, but he still found himself yawning and his eyes falling shut for a bit as he tried to stay awake. His head was feeling clearer for sure, and he felt some relief that at least brain-wise it looked like he should be fine. Maybe he just needed to keep sleeping. It had been working well thus far after all.


    He didn¡¯t end up making the choice as he once more felt himself drift into slumber. It was not a restful slumber though, as he soon started dreaming, quite vividly if he was totally honest. A memory of his childhood, running along the beach and being yoinked aloft between his mum and dad. It made sense that it was so vivid; he had relived it only a day or two ago after all. He found himself smiling, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.


    He was eventually put down and he ran out into the ice-cold water to play, shrieking as it splashed up his legs much to the amusement of his dad, who laughed heartily, pointing at him. Tom turned around to stick his tongue out but stumbled over backward into the icy ocean, his dad bending over and laughing his ass off at Tom¡¯s expense.


    Next, a set of unfamiliar hands that should not be there yanked him from the water and he was greeted with a very different scene, a dungeon lit by plenty of warm torches, the ceiling bathed in dancing reds and oranges, the heavy-cut granite stone slick with moisture. Above him an old heavily scarred dragonette immediately began shouting at him as he felt fear run up his spine, he didn¡¯t even manage to make out what they were saying before being pushed back under.


    He struggled and fought to make it back out to no avail, the strong set of hands pinning him against the bottom. Tom held his breath till his lungs were burning before finally, he gasped for air, getting nothing but water as he coughed and choked, getting hauled back out of the water.


    He was hoisted into the air as he spluttered before getting thrown to the floor, his jaw hitting and throwing his head back. No¡­ not his jaw. His snout? He coughed an alarming amount of water onto the floor as he tried to haul himself onto all fours.


    ¡°You will tell me what I need to know. The passphrase! Now!¡± a booming female voice rang out from behind him as he received a solid kick to the side, being sent flying once more, fetching up against the wall before slumping into a seated position, looking up at his assailant.


    They were scarred and marred from head to toe and wearing little but a leather apron and a belt festooned with what he assumed to be torture implements of various kinds. They had only a single eye left and a pair of small metal caps where once horns might have been.


    ¡°Never!¡± he coughed out defiantly as he continued to splutter, getting a glimpse of himself as he did so. He was definitely a dragonette and wearing some sort of pure blue robes, quite dark looking actually, though that might be the dim light.


    ¡°Right, next then,¡± the imposing woman went, picking a strange metallic tool from her belt. It was polished and certainly didn¡¯t look like it would be a pleasant experience, whatever was to come. He didn¡¯t know what it was for, just that he instinctively feared it. He looked frantically from side to side, spying two entrances to the dungeon. Both had a single guard posted dressed in armor, helmets covering their faces and carrying very ornate-looking halberds.


    The scarred woman grabbed a hand as he let out a distinctly girly scream¡­ not a very old-sounding one either. He, or she as it might be, fought and struggled, though he felt weak and powerless. Soon the tool was strapped to his forearm and wrist as the woman overpowered him. Only now did he work out what it was for as the five little jaws became apparent.


    He screamed and battled as his little finger claws were forced one by one into the jaws, which bit down on them, only getting tighter the more he struggled.


    The scarred woman seemed to take pleasure in her work, a wide smile on her face as she forced each and every claw into a jaw on Tom¡¯s right hand. ¡°Now now. It will only hurt a lot. Do you have a favorite?¡± she chuckled darkly as Tom gave up, slumping against the wall, looking at the device with horror as she got out a wrench and ever so slowly started turning a screw, beginning to stretch Tom¡¯s index finger.


    ¡°Or you know¡­ You could talk.¡±


    Tom responded by spitting in their face, receiving a blow to the side of the head with the wrench as he felt his jaw crack and go limp.


    ¡°Oops, now where was I?¡± Tom felt the despair set in as the screws were slowly tightened one by one and he felt his fingers start to get pulled apart. The pain was immense and he screamed between frantic breaths.


    The woman just kept going, humming a jaunty little tune as the joints popped one by one, then with a sickening crunch and the sound of ripping tendons a claw came free on his index finger. And he screamed as much as his lungs could muster.


    The woman gave pause for a moment, waiting for Tom to run out of air, a smile still plastered on her face as he looked at her through teary eyes.


    ¡°So?... The passphrase to get past the guards? I know you have it.¡±


    ¡°DROWN IN HELL!¡± Tom spat back in defiance sounding a bit stupid on account of the broken jaw. He felt spent and sore, like he had been struggling for days on end and he was definitely crying too when his breath allowed.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Very good then,¡± the woman replied, putting the wrench back on as Tom¡¯s heart sank at the thought of even more pain. But the wrench was turned the other way, relieving the tension. Slowly, one finger at a time, the tool was released. Tom just stared at it in disbelief, glancing at the woman''s belt, trying to work out what might be next.


    When finally the tool was removed, the one claw still dangling from its jaws, the woman stood back up, turning around and giving a nod to one of the door guards, who in turn slammed a fist into the door behind him twice.


    Tom scooted into a corner, cowering, eyes darting around trying to ascertain what was going on as he clutched his bloody hand. His jaw was still hanging limp on one side and he could taste something. It tasted foul and toxic, making him wonder if he had been drugged too perhaps.


    The door opened and an older man stepped out, walking with a hunch, hands clasped behind his back and looking like he needed both a cane and glasses.


    ¡°Inquisitor?¡± Tom let out in a weak and surprised tone, his stomach sinking before he felt anger boil up inside himself. ¡°TRAITOR!¡±


    The old man seemed to pay her no mind, though the guards moved to flank him, lowering their weapons and pointing at Tom.


    ¡°How did she do?¡± the old man, who was apparently an inquisitor, asked the woman who had been torturing him. Her expression had turned from jovial and happy to a far more serious one.


    ¡°Acceptable. Decent fighting spirit. Tough to break¡­ But she does scare easier than I would like. She tends to panic when she loses control.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Well, there is time to remedy that yet, bring her,¡± he replied, gesturing for the two guards to snatch her. They both moved up, keeping weapons leveled as Tom cowered in a corner.


    ¡°Congratulations, Hashaw. You made the cut. Now quit the jammering and stand up at once. Fenic, claw please.¡±


    ¡°Here you go, sir,¡± the woman replied, extracting the pulled-out claw from her tool and handing it over. ¡°It¡¯s fresh, so not too much of a hurry.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I¡¯ll take her by a healer. Anything else missing?¡±


    ¡°Nothing aside from that, but I broke some bones, obviously.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I¡¯ve done this before. Come on now. We have work to do. Actually, wash her off, would you? I don¡¯t want blood on the carpets.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir,¡± the woman went, grabbing a bucket of water and simply hurling it at Tom. He shot awake at the freezing sensation, sitting up in the bed with a start, looking around the room in a panic and hyperventilating like mad, eyes darting, but there was no one. He was all alone.


    Completely alone, in fact. He was still in the bedroom, and judging by the light coming in, the sun was noticeably lower in the sky. ¡°Well, at least she¡¯s getting in some good chit-chat¡­ only fair,¡± Tom sighed, laying back down on the pillow and staring at the ceiling. ¡°Did I just dream about Joelina¡¯s past?... Fuuuuuuuck.¡±


    He shut his ass up as he heard footsteps approach the door outside. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t have said that. Should not have said that.¡¯


    The handle turned and he stared at the door, expecting Investigator Paulin or maybe someone else he didn¡¯t want to see to burst in. Instead, the door slowly opened, Jacky sticking her snout inside to check if he was awake or not.


    ¡°You up?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom replied with a nod and a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Ray said you were sleeping, so I brought dinner instead.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with you scoring a second round of dinner now, would it?¡± Tom asked, trying to sound light-hearted.


    ¡°Never,¡± she replied with a smile, slowly stepping inside with the tray and shutting the door behind her. ¡°Sleep well?¡±


    Tom hesitated for a second before shrugging. ¡°A nap is always good. What¡¯s for dinner?¡±


    ¡°Eh, nothing special I¡¯m afraid. But it¡¯s food. And you need to eat up, pretty boy.¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted me trimmed down for acrobatics.¡±


    ¡°Trim, but not spindly. Don¡¯t want no weakling,¡± Jacky countered in good humor, going to sit down on the side of the bed and handing him the tray before scooting in under the covers.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Whatever shall I do then?¡± Tom chuckled in response, setting the tray down once she had gotten comfortable.


    ¡°You¡¯ll listen. I have news,¡± Jacky replied, leaning in close to his ear and quieting down to a whisper.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well, the good news for Saph was that Tom seemed to be in the real world, if rather tired and with a seemingly perpetual headache. Jacky had actually joined them for breakfast before going back up to the stricken human, bringing food with her.


    It wasn¡¯t like Saph blamed the poor dude for staying bedridden, nor did they really need Jacky or herself out hunting right now with all the supplies that had been brought in or were apparently coming. The inquisitor had also remained indoors for all of yesterday, despite apparently having regained consciousness at some point in the day according to Kokashi, who had to no one''s surprise been keeping an ear out for that room.


    It would seem that today Joelina was feeling a little better, as orders had started coming out of the room. Namely that Archeon would be departing, heading for the capital shortly and taking with him what items the keep wished to sell off on her bill. Galaxer would remain for now to assist in ferrying the prisoners when Joelina felt able to make the journey to Bartelion. Both traders would be returning with yet more supplies, which Paulin and Joelina assured them they would be able to order from a distance if needed.


    They had all had a little meeting after dinner, Dakota taking them aside down in the armory as per usual for when a secret meeting was in order, even Jacky showed once more, as well as Rachuck and most of his guards. Apparently, both reds were to remain at Joelina¡¯s disposal for now, even if Dakota had been quite sure one or both would be taking Joelina to Bartelion before too long. Tom had spoken about the Inquisitor being on a timetable, and it sounded like it was a tight one.


    There were sighs of relief that at least they might be back down to just Paulin. She might be stubborn as a bull, but she was a slightly less scary prospect to deal with as opposed to Joelina. They had all given a little update on how things were moving. Essy and Kokashi had expressed some concerns that Joelina definitely was not at her full senses after the ordeal. If anything she seemed as badly off as Tom, if not worse.


    ¡°She¡¯s not babbling about things not there, right?¡± Saph had questioned at the table.


    ¡°I¡­ I am quite convinced I heard her speaking Danish¡­¡± Kokashi replied, with a gulp.


    ¡°Do you have any idea how bad it might be if an INQUISITOR loses her mind?¡± Dakota growled, still trying to keep her voice down. Clearly not happy with that piece of information.


    ¡°If it helps, I believe Paulin is quite aware,¡± Essy added in a calm, caring tone, clearly aiming to calm Dakota down a little.


    ¡°Great, so the one with delusions of grandeur among the two of them might be giving the orders at the moment¡­ I shall take what she says with skepticism.¡±


    ¡°Probably not a bad idea¡­ I just hope the rule Joelina talked about holds true for her.¡±


    ¡°Rule?¡± Balethon questioned with a head tilt, clearly trying quite hard to keep up. Poor dude had been out of the loop for months. It was hard to blame him for that.


    ¡°That it should only last for a day or two. That is how she thought it would go with Tom, till he started getting worse.¡±


    ¡°Would be some pretty cruel irony if it didn¡¯t,¡± Herron snickered, seemingly finding that quite funny.


    ¡°Oh lords in heaven, I have a wish,¡± Jacky let out, turning her head skywards. ¡°If Karma is up there, then please. That bitch deserves hell for what she did.¡±


    ¡°Jacky¡­ I don¡¯t think Tom¡¯s gods are up there,¡± Saph sighed, not sure if she should say anything to the whole ¡®calling the inquisitor a bitch¡¯ when it was quite possible they were currently being spied on.


    ¡°I know. Maybe they¡¯ll pass it on or something.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Dakota declared, clearing her throat and giving Jacky a not-so-kind glance, yet Saph could see the pity shining through it. ¡°Fact of the matter is, we need to just wait it out, until such a time as she is recovered or leaves regardless. Until then, I want you to be on your toes. Just in case Paulin tries something, or maybe Joelina decides we are all darklings or lost family members.¡±


    ¡°What do you propose we do, sister?¡± Rachuck countered, crossing his arms. ¡°Mother is still weak and in no state to lead, even if she is able to stand once more.¡±


    ¡°Keep your weapons with you, but for the love of the gods don¡¯t draw them unless you have to.¡±


    ¡°You want us to be ready to fight agents of the inquisition?¡± Balethon questioned skeptically. Saph noted the little lizard sitting on his shoulder looking at them all commandingly, despite having to look up at everyone here. Its tongue slapped up against an eyeball, licking it clean with an expression reserved for creatures of absolute minimal intelligence.


    ¡®Fucking hell that thing looks dumb¡­ if a little bit adorable.¡¯


    ¡°Only till calmer heads prevail and whatever delusion or deranged thought passes. Just in case.¡±


    ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am,¡± Balethon replied, seeming more than a little perturbed.


    ¡°Hopefully nothing interesting will happen on that front. Fengi, how long until Yldril may be moved back here?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be very long. I think she might be able to limp the journey already. Glira certainly thinks so, and Kulk has seen to ligaments, joints, and all that.¡±


    ¡°But a few more days would be good?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yeah.¡±


    ¡°With some luck, Joelina is in enough of a hurry that we can send her off before we have to deal with that. Rachuck, what of the prisoners?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, but I believe they are planning on taking them with the reds. Certainly didn¡¯t sound like they wanted them aboard Arch. But maybe the white guy gets to help out.¡±


    ¡°Right, I guess that camp gets to stay then. Sapphire, your progress?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m keeping them busy. I¡¯m sure I can keep it that way. I¡¯ll relay questions up to Tom when he feels like it, just so he doesn¡¯t have to deal with them in person,¡± she replied, giving Jacky a glance. She just nodded, seeming quite relieved with that way of going about it.


    ¡°Very good. Best behavior then, people, but ears on swivels. Dismissed.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom woke with a start once more, looking around the still dimly lit bedroom. ¡°Ahr, morning I guess¡­ Right then.¡± There was a knock at the door. ¡®I guess that¡¯s what woke me up¡­¡¯ He turned to Jacky to check if she was up just as she let out a little cute snore. Tom couldn¡¯t help but pull a slight smile as a hand under the sheets gave her ass a little pat before he turned his attention back to the door. Once more three equally spaced knocks were heard as he sighed.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°May I enter?¡± the recognizable voice of Paulin responded, though she did not sound like her normal, highly confident self. If anything, she sounded just a touch rattled.


    ¡°Fine. But any funny business and I have a gun under the sheets,¡± Tom lied in response. There was a gun somewhere in here, he was sure. Well, his rifle was leaned against the far wall, and Jacky¡¯s revolver was hanging from the wall beside the bed securely in its holster. He was pretty sure his own was actually in the dresser, but no matter.


    The door was opened slowly and meticulously. The investigator stepped inside, seemingly alone, shutting the door after her.


    ¡°So¡­ didn¡¯t feel like leaving me alone like you were told? What time is it even?¡±


    ¡°I do not know,¡± she retorted, seeming quite genuine. He knew better though. This could all easily just be a front or something. No telling what she was actually up to.


    ¡°Well, what is it?¡±


    ¡°You are not feeling any ill effects anymore?¡± she questioned in the same kind of formal tone Tom would expect from a doctor.


    ¡°I¡¯m not seeing shit if that is what you mean?¡± Tom replied flatly, not willing to give more than that. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what he should tell her, but dreams of Joelina¡¯s past were definitely off the table.


    ¡°How much do you remember?¡±


    ¡°Of what?¡± Tom countered, leaving her to explain herself properly for once. He had no patience for her roundabout way of trying to get information out of him right now.


    ¡°Of your last session with the inquisitor¡­ Her memory of it is¡­ It doesn¡¯t add up,¡± Pauling finally yielded, though she did not seem to enjoy it one bit.


    ¡°This is the part where you tell me what she remembers so I can see if it matches what I remember,¡± Tom replied with just a bit of sarcasm, hoping to rub it in a little.


    ¡°She talks of torture through music and talking with dead or mutilated humans, only to willingly enter you mind proper or the next layer down whichever it might be. What we saw was her being puppeted as if on strings¡­ I guess my question is did you see her in your visions? Did you and her talk with your deceased friends and family?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom just replied plainly, with a slight nod. ¡°That about sums it up. Then she tried to drag me to the present through my memories here thus far¡­ didn¡¯t quite make it before I crapped out.¡±


    ¡°Crapped out?¡± Paulin questioned with a very slight head-tilt, not looking like she was sure she wanted to know the meaning of that.


    ¡°The last I remember was fighting down in the caves against those big fuck off spider things. After that, it gets too hazy to piece together. Until I started remembering things from the real world that is,¡± Tom clarified, leaning against Jacky just a bit more, getting a nuzzle in reply.


    ¡°I see¡­ Joelina¡¯s memory does not stop there¡­¡± Paulin grumbled, looking down a bit, scratching her chin.


    ¡°Cards on the table, please. I¡¯m not playing guessing games today.¡±


    Paulin gave him a not-at-all-appreciative glare before straightening back up and sighing a bit. ¡°What came next Joelina described as a ¡®Maelstrom of visions, memories, and impossible sights that held no bearing on the world she knows.¡¯ Yes, those were her exact words. She saw stars and massive constructs of metal floating in a dark yet somehow bright void. Massive constructions, buildings that would be impossible. People she had never seen yet somehow knew. Nothing matched up. Clothing, language, location. Even time seemed to hold no meaning. She witnessed people in metal armor carrying swords and shields, what she thought to be but common peasants but human. Some who carried just a sword but in modern colorful clothing like you showed her, soldiers like she witnessed from your past as well as many other people. Armed or not.¡­ Do you have any idea¡­ at all¡­ what she experienced? Any at all?¡± Paulin¡¯s composure finally broke, seeming genuinely lost as to what to do as she pleaded.


    ¡°Oh yeah, those sound like dreams. I¡¯m guessing she got stuck when I fell asleep.¡± Tom countered after taking just a few seconds to think, savoring the investigator''s helpless expression.


    ¡°YOUR DREAMS?!¡± Paulin burst out, clearly not so willing to accept that explanation. Or perhaps just a little taken aback that Tom had known something. Whatever the cause, it certainly woke Jacky back up, the woman turning around in bed a little, eyes blinking open as she raised her head to look at the source of the disturbance.


    ¡°The fuck are you doing in my room?¡±


    ¡°The interrogator is interrogating,¡± Tom responded with a slight chuckle before taking a deep breath as Paulin took a second to compose a presumably more lengthy reply.


    ¡°I required clarification on Tom¡¯s side of what has transpired. And what kind of deranged mind dreams of events throughout time?! If our theories of technological progress are to be believed, the prerequisites for making a skyship capable of leaving the world behind would not be possible for thousands of years!¡±


    ¡°Spaceships.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°A Spaceship,¡± Tom reiterated, pointing up at the ceiling. ¡°Our word for what lies beyond what¡¯s down here is space. They travel around up there. Always liked them, but no, we don¡¯t quite have anything like what I probably dreamt of.¡±


    ¡°You dream of heaven?¡±


    ¡°Not quite, no¡­ Think what lies up there if you do not go through one of those gates you have. Which we don¡¯t, by the way. There are more worlds out there. The little specks you see in the sky are other suns with other worlds orbiting around them. I know it¡¯s all a bit much, but hey, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I¡¯m your expert after all. So maybe the fact that you don¡¯t quite know all that I do should be comforting¡­ Investigator.¡±


    ¡°Good to have you back,¡± Jacky whispered into his ear as they both leaned back, staring at Paulin who once more needed a second before having an answer for him.


    ¡°This is insanity, you must be lying. How could you not be? What would become of you if you lived through such a charade every night? I have had visions of the future in my time, but to suffer them every night!?¡± Paulin responded sounding almost desperate as she argued, probably as much against herself as Tom.


    ¡°Wooo there. I¡¯m human. We work different, I probably remember 1% at best of my dreams, and even then only bits of it. Add to this that I might remember when I wake up pretty well what my last dream was, but ask me a few hours later and it¡¯s probably gone. Changes from person to person, of course.¡±


    ¡°A natural defense mechanism against the horrors of your own mind¡­¡± Paulin let out in a flat tone, staring at him, mouth hanging like she just cracked the code to what a human was. ¡°I see¡­ I apologize for the outburst, but you must understan-¡±


    ¡°I get it. My head¡¯s strange to you. For the record, I find rather incredible the whole ¡®seeing the future¡¯ thing. Haven¡¯t really heard anyone at the keep say they had visions though, come to think of it?¡± he questioned, turning to look at Jacky a touch expectantly. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I did have one about you once. Waaay back before. Well, you know.¡±


    ¡°Was it a good dream?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t really tell, to be honest. We were just working together down in the forge with my mother. I felt happy, so I took it as a good omen. Didn¡¯t know¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± Tom replied, giving her a smooch on the side of the snout and turning back to Paulin. ¡°Yes. That, we don¡¯t get that. What Joelina saw is not real and it will not come to pass. It¡¯s all either made up by my mind or things I remember. The spaceships for example were probably from a movie or something.¡±


    ¡°That would explain her insistence on some people seeming like they were drawn or painted,¡± Paulin responded, clearly deep in thought before nodding. ¡°Thank you, this will prove useful. Now I just have to attempt to explain this to Joelina¡­ Gods preserve her soul.¡±


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Jacky added, sounding just a touch cocky, throwing a glance at the door.


    Paulin paid her no mind, though she did turn and slowly walk out said door, closing it behind her, seemingly more busy with thinking rather than saying goodbye.


    ¡°Well then¡­ I guess Shiva was right,¡± Tom mused once he was confident Paulin was a ways down the corridor.


    ¡°About what?¡± Jacky questioned, pulling him back down under the sheets and pulling him in close for warmth.


    ¡°I really did beat an inquisitor at mind games.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 160: Outbound traffic

    After Paulin had left them, and with Jacky now awake, Tom found that for the first time since his first acquaintance with Joelina¡¯s mind reading, he didn¡¯t actually feel sleepy. Not really surprising considering just how much sleeping and resting he had been doing over the last two days, but still, it was the first time.


    He still felt a bit shit and had no qualms about adhering to Jacky¡¯s demand that he stay in bed. He needed something to do though, so Jacky was instructed to fetch one of the laptops. A request she eagerly obeyed. She soon returned with the magic plastic rectangle under her arm and a smile on her face.


    ¡°I wanna watch a movie,¡± she declared as she shuffled in under the sheets, eagerly getting the laptop opened up and placed on their laps.


    ¡°Not a half-bad idea¡­ I think it¡¯s your pick on this one,¡± Tom chuckled, pushing up against her as they both got comfortable. He knew he had not exactly been easy to handle as of late. Not that the reverse was true of Jacky, obviously. She could be an arse at times for sure, but she had stuck by his side and just taken the abuse from what he could remember and piece together. He hadn¡¯t exactly been kind while he was trying to conduct those mind games. ¡°Jacky ar-¡±


    ¡°I wanna watch an action movie,¡± she cut him off, typing in the password. ¡°I did Rambo already, all of them. Got anything else?¡±


    ¡°Oh sure, plenty¡­¡± Tom relented, taking over and navigating to the folder of most certainly legally obtained movies. ¡°What to pick, what to pick?¡­ hmm¡­ Oh, that should do the trick. You¡¯ll love this one. Expendables.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean unimportant?¡±


    ¡°Ehhh, sorta. It will make sense, I promise. And it has quite the exotic firearms collection and minimal realism,¡± Tom reassured her as he fiddled.


    ¡°Sold,¡± Jacky mused in reply, settling down under the covers and getting comfy. ¡°And whatever you were gonna ask, just don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°But?...¡±


    ¡°Nope, I know you love me and would never hit me or shout at me¡­ unless I was doing something very dumb, then it¡¯s sorta okay,¡± she interjected, not looking at him, instead watching the opening credits accompanied by some probably Chinese subtitles, which Tom hurriedly turned off. ¡°So whatever you did is on that bitch Joelina¡¯s ass. Or Paulin if you would rather I smack someone less important.¡±


    ¡°You know we can¡¯t just start laying into the Inquisition¡­ Even if this was all one hell of a shit show that achieved fuck all.¡±


    ¡°Fucking depressing when you put it like that¡­ Did you not get anything out of her?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess she got what she wanted in the end. Hopefully, that¡¯s enough to make her leave us alone. If nothing else then it might get her to try and pay us back for this whole thing. She did at least sound a bit sorry.¡±


    ¡°Assuming she isn¡¯t the fried one now. Paulin did NOT sound happy.¡±


    ¡°Then let her be unhappy. I get the distinct feeling she is very hard to please.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth? And if she is smiling, everyone else probably isn¡¯t,¡± Jacky sighed in reply, though she did pull a slight smile at her little joke.


    ¡°Well, maybe the vaults are better for her. She¡¯s an archivist after all. Maybe she likes books more than people.¡±


    ¡°Hurray for that if it means she stays far away from us.¡±


    ¡°And hopefully Joelina takes most of her goons with her. Only Edita was staying of the three artificers, right?¡± Tom questioned hopefully. Edita was a handful, but certainly possible to handle from what little he had learned. Mainly due to the fact she almost seemed to revere him. Hopefully, that wouldn¡¯t wear off too fast.


    ¡°No clue there, for now the other two are down at the vaults¡­ Oh it¡¯s starting proper¡­ what¡¯s going on there?¡± Jacky responded as the movie started properly, leaning forwards a bit to get a closer look at the rather dark screen, Tom¡¯s head sliding off her shoulder.


    ¡°Hostages aboard a ship. Don¡¯t you worry, they are gonna get saved nice and proper,¡± he let out as he caught himself instead going to lean up against the wall at the end of the bed.


    ¡°These shits seem like real arseholes.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Pirates. A bit like brigands, but they sail the high seas. They want a ransom for the crew.¡±


    ¡°They ain¡¯t getting that, are they?¡± Jacky questioned with a mischievous smile.


    ¡°Nope,¡± Tom replied, trying to match her tone. ¡°They are gonna have a really bad time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they have those laser things from before. Don¡¯t suppose you could make those, right?¡±


    ¡°Nah, sadly not,¡± Tom mused as he sat here, waiting for the arse-whooping to start. Jacky was probably right. This was the correct way to deal with all the bullshit. A dumb movie about people getting blown up and smeared on the walls. He could actually feel himself looking forward to the senseless violence.


    ¡°Ooooohhhh! I want that one,¡± Jacky let out laughing as the lead pirate was blown in half, followed by the thermals coming on. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°Glasses that see heat rather than light. Damn useful at night, or if you need to see through cold smoke.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s cold smoke?¡± Jacky asked after the initial carnage had been allowed to play out.


    ¡°Most smoke grenades make it, that¡¯s what they used there. You can see the enemy, they can¡¯t see you.¡±


    ¡°Sounds incredibly handy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the goggles are the hard part though.¡±


    ¡°I bet. They are full of the lightning stuff, like the laptop, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup, and a bunch of stuff I don¡¯t even have a clue how it works.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s just impossible,¡± Jacky snickered as the pirate was given a last chance to surrender.


    ¡°Sadly not. Aaaaaand there we go,¡± Tom snickered, as Sylvester Stallone did his best old western gunslinger impression and mowed down the last of the pirates.


    ¡°Fuck! What? He did that with a revolver!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a movie,¡± Tom tried in a calming voice, patting Jacky on the shoulder a bit as she leaned forwards even more.


    ¡°I know I know, but like. He had the gun and the black ones are dead now. How did he shoot that fast?¡±


    ¡°Pirates, Jacky. Just pirates,¡± Tom tried with a sigh, growing a smile.


    ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re right, the good guys have a black one too.¡±


    ¡°God fucking dammit, Jacky,¡± Tom snickered, trying not to laugh. ¡°You would not pass racial sensitivity training, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Teaches you to be nice to people you think are worse than you.¡±


    ¡°That sounds more like ¡®don¡¯t be an arrogant arsehole.¡¯ Well what if they were a piece of shit?¡±


    ¡°Then you get into a very very lengthy discussion with a human of the blue-haired variety.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Trust me, you don¡¯t wanna meet one.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with blue now? I¡¯m kinda partial to it,¡± Jacky chuckled, seemingly happy enough to let it slide, eyes still fixed on the screen as Gunner lost it and tried to hang a pirate.


    ¡°We don¡¯t come with that color naturally. It¡¯s dyed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, like war paint! Imagine dressing you up in white and dying your hair blue. That would be brilliant. What the fuck are they doing? Why are they fighting now?¡±


    ¡°The others didn¡¯t like Gunner hanging someone.¡±


    ¡°Fair, I guess. From a height like that, it might break your neck.¡±


    ¡°For a human, definitely. We¡¯re a bit more fragile in that department. Not to mention less stretchy.¡±


    ¡°My neck doesn¡¯t stretch. It bends,¡± Jacky clarified teasingly as she leaned back, laying her head on his far shoulder and still watching the screen just about.


    ¡°Potato Potato,¡± Tom retorted with a sigh, giving her a scratch behind the ear with his left hand. ¡°Now I¡¯m afraid the talking starts proper.¡±


    ¡°Translation is on you for not working out subtitles yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working on it, okay?¡± Tom chuckled in reply, leaning back to enjoy some senseless violence. ¡®I so need to get Die Hard done for Christmas.¡¯


    ¡°Well more working then, look at the arms on that guy,¡± Jacky went, pointing at Terry crews. ¡°You¡¯re slacking, my guy.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, one bundle of muscle in the room will do, surely.¡± Tom sighed, shaking his head a bit as Jacky went to give his biceps a squeeze.


    ¡°But Tooom. Think of all the big hugs you could give,¡± she carried on teasingly, clearly having great fun right now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll still give three times the hugs you can manage before you have to be carried home and you know it.¡±


    ¡°Cheater,¡± Jacky just concluded with a huff, going back to watching the screen as the crew was now flying home.


    ¡°Says you.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Time tables being what they were, the traders had been prepped for departure despite Joelina not leaving her room. Paulin had also decided forces ought to be consolidated, which meant moving Yldril back to the keep as soon as she was able, leaving just the prisoners in their little camp for now. Paulin had confirmed that the prisoners would be leaving with Joelina, so that was another thing off their minds, at least in the near future. Arch had been prepped, their usual bounty of hides, even if they wouldn¡¯t be sending any cured food as they usually would. It was quite a light load, pathetic some might even say, but Arch didn¡¯t mind. His pay in all this was quite sufficient according to his reckoning, even if he didn¡¯t want to disclose just what said payment had been, much to the amusement of Galaxer who had always shared a similar sentiment.


    It was normally the job of the keeps to supply the cities, but their situation was pretty far from normal this year. They would still be sending what they didn¡¯t need though, both to free up space and to try and limit suspicion, at least a little bit. Archeon would also be carrying one Inquisitorial trooper that had arrived with the two reds to act as a messenger.


    Their cargo being, as Paulin put it, ¡°Nothing more than paperwork, both a report to inquisitorial headquarters and some orders to guarantee one Tsarina Kosovo would be a problem no more.¡±


    If Saph didn¡¯t know better, she thought she actually spied a smile on the investigator''s face at that remark. Even if it was a rather sadistic one. Even Rachuck and Dakota seemed satisfied that their debt would be settled with the business woman. Saph for her part was quite relieved, since it meant that they didn¡¯t have to go back to the capital for another round of noble intrigue. This time it would be handled by the professionals, and much as the Inquisition had failed to impress thus far, Saph did still have faith this was a problem they would be very good at solving.


    Other than the morning briefing, there had not been much of note going on. Saph had been overseeing Edita and the techies to the best of her ability. They had collectively decided on progressing with multiple ideas on the cooling solution, trying to work out as many kinks as they could before presenting their work to Tom.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    They had of course also taken the artificer through making the shotguns and even finished one that was mostly done with a promise of a test firing tomorrow. They would also be going over how their ammunition was made, something which clearly excited her greatly.


    Much to Sapphire¡¯s surprise though, after dinner she had been approached by Paulin. Surprisingly the investigator had been present for the meal, food likely being sent up to the Inquisitor.


    ¡°Would it be possible to confer with you in private, Huntress?¡± Paulin questioned, in a quiet tone, but not seeming overly concerned with if she was heard or not.


    ¡°Just four eyes and no magics or macguffins?¡± Saph had countered, weighing if she really wanted to be alone with Paulin.


    ¡°Preferably, unless you feel the need to bring someone else?¡± Paulin offered, seemingly picking up on Saph¡¯s reluctance.


    ¡°I think Essy might have the time,¡± Saph replied after a quick sweep around the room, finding the older huntress busy with clearing tables. Essy, who Saph guessed had done her best to not make it obvious she was listening in, perked up at the mentioning of her name, turning to look with a kind, helpful expression.


    ¡°Would you mind? The investigator has something she wishes to ask,¡± Saph continued, pulling a slight smile before turning back to the investigator. ¡°Are we allowed to know about what?¡±


    ¡°Not for everyone, I am afraid. Follow please.¡±


    ¡°Well who can resist inquisitorial secrets,¡± Essy replied, seeming a touch confused and likely at least a little worried as she set down the dishes neatly, clearly intending to follow them.


    ¡°Lead on, Investigator,¡± Saph added, gesturing around the room, Paulin deciding up was the way to go and heading for the stairs.


    She had predictably enough taken them to the library, where she promptly began pacing back and forth, Essy watching her thoughtfully as Saph closed the door before going to sit down in Apuma¡¯s comfy chair.


    ¡°So what is it only we are allowed to know about?¡± Saph sighed as she got comfy.


    ¡°No, it is not that,¡± Paulin denied. ¡°I merely wished to consult you first. That and I am confident you would not want this to be spilled to everyone,¡± she continued, shaking her head a bit as she paced.


    ¡°We traditionally are not much for secrets here. We do prefer the cards to be above the table,¡± Essy added, not sounding terribly convinced.


    ¡°I have become aware¡­ though I do feel you have performed adequately. That is not what I wish to discuss for now though. The inquisitor wants to offer an apology.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Saph all but snickered, Paulin throwing her a not so kind look in reply.


    ¡°How exactly so?¡± Esmeralda questioned in a much kinder tone, even if she too was sounding a touch confused.


    ¡°I believe she has concluded that she must appease Tom. I do not know what she has seen, but it did not sound pleasant,¡± Paulin replied with a reluctance that betrayed that she definitely did not agree with the inquisitor for once.


    ¡°What, she thinks a few bottles of sweet cider will have him back on side again? I sorta doubt that,¡± Saph retorted. She wasn¡¯t quite sure how to feel about this, but she sure was gonna milk this for all it was worth. She hadn¡¯t been able to do much to help as of late, so it was the least she could do for Tom and Jacky.


    ¡°I pointed out to our dear inquisitor that we have already bestowed upon you treasures beyond measure. Surely that should be a sufficient apology.¡±


    ¡°None of that stuff is ours though. Not really at least,¡± Saph retorted skeptically. ¡°A gift is something you are allowed to keep after all.¡±


    ¡°I take your point,¡± Paulin conceded, not looking very happy about it. ¡°Besides, orders are orders, much as her ability to give them may be questionable at this moment¡­ That detail you will not share with anyone,¡± the investigator continued, looking for a second like she had said too much.


    ¡°We will not, you don¡¯t need to worry. Though the state of the inquisitor is not exactly secret at the moment,¡± Essy replied, picking her words much more carefully than Saph.


    ¡°I am aware. But words out of my mouth are, so thank you. And yes, a gift for Tom must be found.¡±


    ¡°Tom and Jacky,¡± Saph interjected.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Tom and Jacky. She¡¯s been through it too, and I guarantee that if she hates you then so will Tom.¡±


    Paulin took a second to stare at Saph, presumably trying to gauge her seriousness.


    ¡°Tom does take his friends very seriously. I believe giving gifts to those he cares about may actually be more beneficial if you want him to appreciate you. And the opposite is equally true,¡± Essy added a bit more diplomatically.


    ¡°I see, an empathetic man. I should have guessed as much. I apologize, it has been a long few days for all,¡± Paulin grumbled, not sounding at all happy about the notion.


    ¡°But Jacky at the minimum, cause she sure hates you right now.¡±


    ¡°She has already been pardoned for assaulting an Inquisitor and her bodyguard, that is no small boon.¡±


    ¡°After you had a go at torturing the man she loves, and boi does she love him,¡± Saph countered with a shrug.


    ¡°That and the slight misunderstanding about Tom calling out to a Jack rather than a Jacky,¡± Essy added as well.


    ¡°Yes quite so¡­ Fine, what would you two suggest then? That is the reason I brought you. I require your expertise on what would be a suitable peace offering. Joelina seems satisfied that Tom may be trusted and your keep is not in doubt, but relations have soured as of late.¡±


    ¡°You could say that twice,¡± Saph agreed, taking a deep breath, trying to think what one could ask for. She had no idea what an inquisitorial gift entailed, but it was likely a bit more than a bottle of good liquor. At least she bloody well hoped so. ¡®Eh, fuck it. Might as well just ask.¡¯


    ¡°What kind of gift are we talking here? A nice drink? A set of magic armor? Jacky already has a set, but give Tom some and that would certainly please her too.¡±


    ¡°I am afraid we do not have much Human-specific equipment available,¡± Paulin countered with a slightly strained expression, Saph guessing the cost was likely more of a problem.


    ¡°Maybe something could be modified to fit? I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What about just some enchanted items? Edita brought several arcane instruments and tools, but perhaps something for Tom specifically could be good?¡± Essy added in, more reasonably.


    ¡°That could perhaps be done, yes,¡± Paulin agreed, even if she didn¡¯t seem overly happy about it still. Saph couldn¡¯t really blame her. Items like that cost a fortune, but it wasn¡¯t like the inquisition was poor, now was it?


    ¡°I think he would be very happy with anything he could use regularly. Tools would be an idea,¡± Essy added with a nod, sounding like she approved of the idea.


    ¡°Maybe vision-enhancing goggles or something like that? Surely that has to exist,¡± Saph questioned. ¡°Also a knife for Jacky, she¡¯s always wanted that, even if she would probably prefer if her mum made it.¡±


    ¡°There are many relics of the Furlongs spread around the world. Would an old family blade suffice?¡± Paulin questioned, rubbing her chin a bit.


    ¡°Oh absolutely, she would be chuffed,¡± Saph countered, letting a smile crawl onto her face.


    ¡°Very good. Maybe not a knife, but it would be preferred. If not, then another piece of their history. I do not know what could be dug up. Goggles like that could be procured. Edita has a set in her possession, but they are needed for her work. What I do not know is if they may be modified to fit him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing those are for seeing things up close though. Tom¡¯s a bit more¡­ Well he likes to shoot at you from far enough away you can¡¯t see him.¡±


    ¡°He does have the telescope on his long gun for that though,¡± Essy added, not seeming convinced.


    ¡°True¡­ forgot about that,¡± Saph grumbled, having another think. ¡°back to tools then?¡± she tried with a shrug.


    ¡°There are more tools in this keep than any place I know of outside of the major cities. And from your stories and reading the reports, weaponry would not be needed.¡±


    ¡°No, he has that one covered. Nor do I think he would mind someone else doing the fighting moving forwards.¡±


    ¡°A wise line of thought, Joelina did fear that his reckless nature would be a problem.¡±


    ¡°If you want him to live, we might be back at the armor. He sorely needs that. He learned the hard way that that vest of his ain¡¯t too great at covering all the vital areas.¡±


    ¡°He was shot at the base of the neck,¡± Essy clarified, tapping her collar bone.


    ¡°Strange that his people haven¡¯t learned to protect that, but understood,¡± Paulin sighed. ¡°Such equipment would have to be tailor made.¡±


    ¡°Could Edita and Shiva not pull it off? Linkosta ain¡¯t half bad with enchantments either. she did pull of the mine after all,¡± Essy asked curiously.


    ¡°Are we seriously gonna make the Inquisition¡¯s gift for them?¡± Saph protested, giving Essy a slightly scathing look.


    ¡°I would have to consult with your smith and artificer, and perhaps Tom. If one might be so bold, it would rather spoil the surprise.¡± Paulin interjected clearing her throat.


    ¡°I mean yeah, but in this case would you not wish for Tom and Jacky to start warming up to you sooner?¡± Essy tried in her best saleswoman voice, wearing a kind smile as per usual.


    ¡°A sound argument¡­ If you believe it will please him, then I see no issue sending out a request for the closest we can find a set which fits him then you will have to do the rest. Thank you,¡± Paulin responded, giving them both a nod.


    ¡°Any time, Investigator,¡± Essy replied with a big smile.


    Saph just sat and watched as Paulin left them, probably heading to the inquisitor¡¯s room. Remembering the dear woman had magic hearing, she waited a bit, staring at Essy and raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well that was something, ey?¡±


    ¡°I must say I am rather surprised,¡± Essy replied with a slow nod, staring after where the investigator had wandered off.


    ¡°Yeah. Well, I¡¯m not convinced. Can¡¯t just buy us like that. Didn¡¯t even offer to get us any gifts.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t getting jealous now, are you Sapphire?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the meaning of the word,¡± Saph retorted, getting up with a huff. ¡°Just saying, not just the two of them they have been treating like shit.¡±


    ¡°Now now Saphire, mind you tone¡­ Though I wouldn¡¯t mind a nice bottle of something for winter,¡± Essy sighed, looking down at the floor.


    ¡°Well maybe that¡¯s gonna be on our own dime¡­ I think I¡¯m gonna order some cider from Arch when he¡¯s ready to come back.¡±


    ¡°Sure is nice being able to just call in what you want rather than wait for the whole round trip¡­ Do you think we could get some toys for the kids?¡±


    ¡°I will be right back, Tom would love that!¡± Saph let out, going to open the door, trying to work out which way Paulin had gone. She didn¡¯t actually know where the inquisitor was at the moment, but she guessed she could find out.


    ¡°Kid¡¯s toys. Understood,¡± the very familiar voice rang out, coming down the stairs from the floor above. ¡°I am assuming they want something in red?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It was official. Tom had transitioned from sick as a dog and wanting to stay in bed to cabin fever. He and Jacky had watched movies, chatted, and just generally passed the time basically all of yesterday. He had even resorted to minesweeper in the end.


    She hadn¡¯t even allowed him to go for a walk of the keep, since as she so nicely put it ¡°Then the bastards will think you¡¯re fine and all come running wanting a piece of you.¡±


    But the following morning, Tom had woken up at the crack of dawn, if not a bit before that actually. Jacky was still sleeping soundly, letting out her rather signature rumbling snore. Everyone at the keep probably was, save for the night guards, and Tom desperately needed to stretch his legs.


    Not only because of the cabin fever, but also because he had once more had an odd dream. A short one this time. He had been sitting in a rather ordinary-looking classroom, and they seemed to be studying history. Only it didn¡¯t feel quite right. Everyone was dead quiet. These were children, by his guess maybe 12 or 13 years old, yet they all sat perfectly still and listened to a history class of all things. The subjects had been grim. Mostly various disastrous events through recent memory. The core of one tale being one Inquisitor Enala Harky, who had in her travels stumbled upon an ancient temple dedicated to the dark gods, whoever they were? She had sought to understand it in a bid to undo its evil, or perhaps even counter it. She had succeeded in understanding its function. It was an altar upon which the will of a darkling could be bound to a new master. A rare site to be sure, and an important one to the enemy.


    Following the discovery, it was theorized that such sites were the tools used to trade control of subjugated darklings between masters. Inquisitor Harky had in her studies gone too far though and attempted to bind a darkling to her own will in the hopes it would make it possible to control them, or perhaps even to cure the curse. In doing so, her own mind was ripped asunder, leaving her a half-dead husk and a reminder to all. Including the students of the class it would seem. The powers of the dark are to be understood, for one must know their enemy. But doing so never comes without risk, and one should never pry further than needed.


    Tom just hoped Joelina remembered that little memory and had decided that she had maybe probed a bit too far for her own good on this one. For now though he desperately needed to stretch his legs. And so he left Jacky behind with a little note on the pillow. ¡®Just out for a walk, promise.¡¯ Just in case she woke up while he was gone and decided to murder the nearest member of the Inquisition.


    He had made it out of the bedroom undetected, and the keep was indeed dead quiet as he walked the halls and corridors, only coming across Heron, who gave him a simple and silent greeting, seeming quite happy to mind his own business.


    Jarix was sleeping soundly in the greeting hall, still on his back so as to not lie on the still rather sensitive-looking skin covering his chest and underside. The scales had started growing already, didn¡¯t even look like it would take that long until they covered fully again. ¡®Good to see the young guy is on the mend,¡¯ Tom mused to himself, carrying on downwards. The mess left after the inquisitor¡¯s arrival had mostly been cleared up, boxes and crates no longer crowding the hallways, even if he was quite certain every storage room they had was filled to bursting at the moment.


    Down in the workshop, he got himself a surprise as paper and blueprints were strewn all around, some haphazardly, others more in a more organized manner. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from perusing some of them. Paging through a few, they were all designs relating to the machine gun, more specifically they seemed to be possibilities for improvements. Many of them contained odd runes which he couldn¡¯t even begin to read.


    ¡®Magics for the machine gun¡­ well that can¡¯t possibly go wrong,¡¯ he chuffed to himself, picking up another sheet. ¡®And that looks like water cooling¡­ way too little water though, maybe frost powder? Crack goes the jacket,¡¯ he mused as he kept paging through them. ¡®Nah, I¡¯m sure they know what they are doing. Not like a burst water jacket would be a huge problem either. They have it right up against the barrel though. That won¡¯t work, needs to move¡­ I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t mind a visit from the drawing fairy,¡¯ he chuckled to himself, grabbing a pencil from the table and setting to work altering the design more to his liking.


    It took a bit, especially as he took care to make it look at least half decent. Edita¡¯s work was exemplary in its quality in his opinion. It certainly looked the part of a person trained from birth in the arts of technical drawings. If her two colleagues down below were of similar skill, then his days of not being able to decipher what was on one of those copies from down in the vaults might be over.


    ¡®There we go. Hehe, I wonder what else they have been up to,¡¯ he snickered once he was happy with the drawing, walking over the seemingly finished shotgun that was lying on the table with Edita¡¯s fancy glasses next to it. He picked it up and opened the action. It was not exactly smooth, but not much they had made thus far was really. Despite Shiva¡¯s best efforts.


    ¡®I need to get Jacky something¡­ I tried to smack her and she just took it¡­ even if by the sounds of it she¡¯s just blaming the inquisitor for all of it¡­ but what to do?¡¯ Tom pondered as he gripped the gun in his hands, turning it over. ¡®What to do?¡¯


    ¡®What about¡­ uhm¡­ Oh fuck come on, can¡¯t be that hard to think of something?¡¯ Tom sighed, looking around the room. It really ought to be something other than a damn gun. That ball was kinda already rolling. ¡°Can¡¯t exactly pop down to the shops for some flowers and a box of chocolates, now can I? We don¡¯t even have shops here.¡± He sighed to himself, putting down the shotgun and picking up Edita¡¯s glasses.


    ¡°I guess I could get Archeon to pick up something? What though? I can¡¯t get her clothes, don¡¯t know her sizes or anything and the whole use your own blood stuff. Magic shit is fucking expensive, and I have no clue how much money we have¡­ All I¡¯ve got is the stuff from the damn pencils and all that crap.¡±


    ¡°You could try jewelry. That¡¯s usually a hit with the girls,¡± Maiko interrupted calmly. Tom spun around with a start, finding the guard standing in a corner with a shit-eating grin on his face. ¡°Sorry. Promise I haven¡¯t been here that long.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 161 Dreamscape

    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You sneaky bugger¡­ You¡¯re up early?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on guard too. Rachuck ain¡¯t happy with just one guy walking the corridors with everything going on.¡±


    ¡°You mean he now has enough people to have two guys down here? Who¡¯s up in the tower?¡± Tom sighed in response as he felt his heart slowly calm down again.


    ¡°Balethon and his dumb lizard. I¡¯m betting he¡¯s trying to teach it tricks rather than actually watching for anything. Not like that¡¯s much worse than Herron though.¡±


    ¡°Probably not, no,¡± Tom relented with a sigh.


    ¡°But yeah, jewelry is the safe bet, always. Get her something with a bit of green, an emerald would be perfect, then just say it matches her eyes. Guaranteed win.¡±


    ¡°You have done this before, ey? Gotten Sapphire anything?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, I¡¯m but a poor poor guardsman. That, and I¡¯ve been saving up for a proper blade for years.¡±


    ¡°Fair¡­ But still, come on.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve been with Jacky much longer than I have with Saph, and it¡¯s not like traders come by here that often. It¡¯s not even been a month since I got upgraded from sleeping on the floor. But I have considered it.¡±


    Tom had to suppress a chuckle at that, he couldn¡¯t imagine Jacky pulling a stunt like that no matter what he did. And if it ever happened, he might want to steer clear of Shiva for a day or two. Or a month.


    ¡°Fair fair¡­ joint order?¡±


    ¡°I mean, normally I would say no cause those two are competitive on everything, so they would take turns declaring their thing the best and shitting on what the other one got. Might work if they got a matching set though.¡±


    ¡°I see your reasoning,¡± Tom agreed, nodding slowly while stroking his beard despite not having a damn clue and just agreeing with the guy who seemed better at this.


    ¡°So then. You know anything Jacky is missing? Earrings, necklace? Actually no, not a necklace. Maybe a ring?¡±


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. Not often she bothers wearing much really¡­ Unlike all the others.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if there is anyone who really wants it, it¡¯s probably Fengi or Ray, isn¡¯t it?¡± Maiko chuckled a bit before his expression turned forlorn.


    ¡°Hey Maiko, you don¡¯t have any Christmas celebrations here, do you? You know, middle of winter, you have a big party and exchange gifts?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± the guard asked, seeming a little confused. ¡°There is the coming of spring though. That is always a happy time, and gifts made during the winter are sometimes exchanged. Homemade stuff, you know? Whatever it might be.¡±


    ¡°Sounds kinda nice actually¡­ No, our Christmas is a bit different. Big presents, good food, all nice and cozy inside.¡±


    ¡°Sounds nice¡­ aside from all the work, and I bet you this place isn¡¯t the warmest in winter.¡±


    Tom had a bit of a look around at the walls and window slits. It was thick granite. Very thick, in fact. The floors were wood though, little more than planks resting on support beams. Places that dealt in fire had stone tile coverings to at least reduce the chance of fire. The windows were open, no glass. They had those wooden coverings they put up if there was a siege going on or something. Tom guessed those went on when winter came too. He was fairly sure they were always on in the storage rooms and such.


    ¡°No, you are probably right¡­ Central heating would be killer in a place like this.¡±


    ¡°Killer?¡± Maiko questioned, sounding a touch worried and certainly looking confused.


    ¡°Great. It would be great.¡±


    ¡°Ahr¡­ also that Christa- kristia-Chriest.¡±


    ¡°Christmas.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that one. What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ long story. In my language it is just called Jul. Is that easier?¡±


    ¡°Jul,¡± Maiko echoed easily enough. ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°I guess you can use that one then¡­ But no, it¡¯s complicated and involves religion, let¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°You got it,¡± Maiko chuckled, seeming quite happy to stay out of that particular rat¡¯s nest. ¡°So, something about heating?¡±


    ¡°Central heating¡­ Heat is made elsewhere and you pipe it into your home as warm water, then you use that to heat the place up and send the cold water back.¡±


    ¡°I see a flaw in this plan,¡± Maiko chuckled a bit, leaning on a wall.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. We would need a boiler, probably in the smithy or further down. That makes hot water and you send it around the keep to radiators where they then shed the heat where you want it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds very complicated, why not just use the chimney stacks?¡±


    ¡°Cause they aren¡¯t that efficient?¡± Tom tried with a shrug. The keep had three chimney stacks, he knew that much. One on the north side which ran from the forge and upwards and two inside the walls that ran from the Kitchens and upwards. All three had fireplaces in the grand hall too.


    ¡°Usually works quite well really¡­ as long as you aren¡¯t in the basement. Heat goes up after all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Hence why the bedrooms are all up in the top of the keep. Trust me, I thought of that.¡±


    ¡°Bingo,¡± Maiko chuckled, giving him a wink. ¡°But no seriously, if you could run hot water through say the bed and make it warm, that would be amazing.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s not a bad idea actually,¡± Tom had to concede after thinking on it for a second. ¡°Still gonna need to make a LOT of pipe. It would probably have to be copper. And how to run it?¡± Tom asked, looking around at the walls of the workshop. Nothing was hollow here, which he guessed was both good and bad for plumbing. It would all be exposed and ugly, but at the same time easy to get to.


    ¡°We get Edita on board and you can just have her ask for materials. If anyone asks, it was her idea. And we unloaded a shit ton of metal from those dragons. We might have all you need already,¡± Maiko replied optimistically.


    ¡°Or I could just ask for it myself. I think I can do that,¡± Tom pondered, stroking his beard a little.


    ¡°Or that I guess. Call it an upgrade to the working environment,¡± Maiko retorted with a shrug.


    ¡°I always wanted to make a steam engine¡­ I wonder if I could get away with adding that to the system, even if we don¡¯t really need one.¡±


    ¡°Winter project maybe?¡±


    ¡°Nah. We¡¯ve got too much on our plate as is. But maybe the whole heating thing should at least be considered.¡±


    ¡°Hey man, you do you. I¡¯m just happy you¡¯re on your feet again. Even if miss inquisitor isn¡¯t doing so hot,¡± the guardsman replied, pushing back off the wall and standing upright again.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know¡­ and I think I better get back to bed before I am missed.¡±


    ¡°Good luck, pal,¡± Maiko snickered, giving Tom a double pat on the shoulder. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t piss that woman off.¡±


    ¡°She is quite something, in more ways than one,¡± Tom replied with a sigh, shaking his head despite not being able to avoid pulling a slight smile as he walked off.


    ¡°Oh, and mister human,¡± Maiko let out as Tom had made it about halfway down the corridor to the stairs.


    ¡°What?¡± Tom asked indignantly, expecting a bad joke as he turned to look at the guard.


    ¡°If you do heating stuff, me and Saph first. I¡¯ll give you fencing lessons if you do.¡±


    ¡°Need a better bribe, bro,¡± Tom just chuckled, turning back to the stairs. ¡®Fencing lessons¡­ dumbass.¡¯


    Upon making it back to the bedroom he very gingerly opened the door, peeking inside and being greeted with a loud snore.


    ¡®Brilliant.¡¯


    He proceeded to expertly sneak his way back in under the sheets with the stealth of an experienced fox. The expedition was only slightly endangered when Jacky decided to yawn, swinging her head back and nearly poking Tom in the face with the tip of a horn before settling back down, smacking her mouth a bit and licking her chops.


    Not even Tom cuddling up behind her and wrapping his arm around her chest woke her up, she was truly out cold. It had gotten rather late last night in the end, so it made sense. Tom had made the grave mistake of whipping out the computer games. They had watched so many movies that he just needed something else. That and Jacky¡¯s taste in movies was quite specific, though Tom could hardly blame her for wanting to watch something where all the talking wasn¡¯t that important, but he could have done with something besides action movies for a whole day.


    But with all three expendables getting a go and, of course, a rewatch of Rambo followed by the first two Terminators, Tom had made the decision it was time for Minesweeper. Mainly cause this shit box PC was definitely not gonna run Crysis. They were bought for toughness and battery life, and It wasn¡¯t like he had an internet connection either. He did actually have Age of Empires 2 on here as well, but Minesweeper was a nice easy one to explain.


    To say Jacky was a touch skeptical at first would be an understatement, but curiosity had gotten the better of her, along with Tom¡¯s assurances that while it was a puzzle and a thinking game, it wasn¡¯t that bad. It hadn¡¯t taken long before she had also gotten the hang of it as the two of them tapped away, getting blown up again and again.


    It had been very good fun, at least Tom thought so, Jacky sure had gotten invested in the couple of rounds they managed to get close to completion, and when they finally managed one she was quite pleased with herself. Of course, the predictable result of the late-night gaming session was that neither of them had any clue what time it was when they finally turned in for the night.


    The fact he had still gotten up at the crack of dawn he just took that as an excellent sign that he was in fact improving rapidly. Being up before everyone else was quite common for him before this all kicked off after all. So there he lay, snuggling up with his murder machine, quite content to wait untill she decided it was time to get up.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    That turned out to be quite a while. It would seem a certain someone had perhaps grown accustomed to not getting up to do chores or really any kind of work aside from guard dog and movie critic. As such, the serene morning scene came to an end with a knock on at the door, one ear rising and turning to face the new noise as Tom felt her starting to stir.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Tom tried in his practiced greeting, even though he could still hear his own accent loud and clear straight through it. ¡®One day maybe, one day.¡¯


    ¡°Are you in the mood for conversation today?¡± came the reply of one Investigator Paulin, Tom letting out a loud sigh. Perhaps he hadn¡¯t in fact quite gotten away with his morning walkabout.


    ¡°Depends. Not much for interrogation, I believe,¡± Tom replied as Jacky came to proper as well, slowly forcing her way out of his grasp and sitting up in bed, staring at the door. Tom didn¡¯t budge, lying on the bed, arms still where Jacky had been a moment ago and trying to look miserable.


    ¡°The Inquisitor wishes to speak with you. If it calms your nerves, I do not believe she is in any condition to wield her magics. Though she does seem to be improving. Marginally,¡± Paulin responded, sounding rather reluctant. Like a Jockey being forced to admit his prized stallion just didn¡¯t have it in him anymore.


    Jacky for her part looked down at Tom without replying, raising an eyeridge and looking a touch confused at him, who was still holding up his arms like he was waiting for her to lay back down. ¡°Oh sit up, damn you,¡± she whispered, shaking her head, Tom spying a smile creeping onto the side of her face.


    ¡°Fine fine,¡± Tom sighed quietly, sitting back up like he had been told, though he still scootched up against her, leaning his head on her shoulder. ¡°If she¡¯s getting better, then why not just let her?¡± he then asked, turning his attention back to the door.


    ¡°Because she has reached the point of being able to issue coherent orders and she wants to speak with you.¡±


    ¡°I thought it had been agreed I would be left alone here?¡±


    ¡°That was the plan, yes¡­ But I believe the inquisitor needs your help now, just like you needed hers¡­ So please.¡±


    Tom and jacky turned to stare at each other for a second or two. Hearing ¡®please¡¯ out of anyone from the inquisition, save Edita, was certainly new. Jacky did still look less than pleased to say the least, and Tom couldn¡¯t blame her. He would perhaps rather have his first day back up and about be in the workshop, or perhaps even in the classroom if it came to that, but it would seem he would be afforded no such luxury. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with then. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Hmpf¡± was all the reply he got out of Jacky as he started to get up. She didn¡¯t stop him, but instead threw off the blanket and got started putting on her things as well. Thigh holster and revolver included.


    ¡°He will not be talking with her in private. And tell Glazz that Tom too has a bodyguard here. I¡¯m sure she can understand what that means.¡±


    ¡°Trust me, I know. Dakota made that abundantly clear to me yesterday,¡± Paulin sighed, sounding for all the world like she knew just where that might be heading.


    ¡°I will be there too. As will Linkosta, not to worry,¡± Dakota added in also from outside the closed door.


    Jacky did actually seem pleasantly surprised at that, letting out a little huff as Tom tied up his boots. ¡®I guess there really was no saying no then. How the hell did Paulin convince Dakota though?¡¯


    ¡°Well then. Off to talk with the important person then,¡± Jacky jested half-sarcastically trying her best to sound snarky. She got up from the bedside and grabbed the halberd which had been leaning against the far wall ever since the last invasion of her bedroom.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll need that?¡± Tom tried, knowing quite well his position was untenable.


    ¡°Yup,¡± was all he got in response as Jacky walked to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open while he was still doing up his boots.


    Outside the door had been just Dakota and Paulin, much as Tom expected. Paulin glanced up at the halberd, eyeing it suspiciously while Dakota looked down at Jacky¡¯s thigh with a more pleading look, shoulders sagging a little.


    The three of them stood there having a little staring contest until Tom got up from the bed and walked over to join them. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    ¡°I believe so. And Miss Furlong. I can assure you the threat to Glazz is reciprocated. She takes her duty quite seriously.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the heads up,¡± Jacky replied indignantly, Tom swearing she was making herself just a touch taller right now while pointedly ignoring the investigator.


    ¡°Jacky, please don¡¯t try to kill anyone,¡± Dakota had to plead as Paulin turned to start leading them down the hall.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I brought the halberd. It¡¯s perfect for keeping someone away,¡± Jacky replied with a hint of a sneer, throwing a hateful glance at Paulin.


    ¡®Oh this is going to be fun,¡¯ Tom sighed, wishing back to when Edita¡¯s clinginess was his main concern in regards to Jacky not committing manslaughter in his name.


    Dakota had gone to follow Paulin, who was just walking like she wasn¡¯t hearing a word being said, Tom following with Jacky taking up the rear.


    They came across a few other people in the hallways. Notably Essy, who greeted them with a kind smile like always, looking like she had to restrain herself from stopping and asking questions. Most likely about how Tom and Jacky were feeling.


    Tom had been expecting to be led to the bedroom the inquisitor was staying in, but instead Paulin was heading for the library. As if on cue, Paulin piped up. ¡°The bedroom would have been a touch cramped. Especially considering tensions at the moment. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± she asked, looking over her shoulder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind a bit of range,¡± Jacky retorted, Dakota sighing from in front of Tom.


    ¡°Yes, there is no need to stand shoulder to shoulder more than necessary,¡±  the gilded huntress added with a slight shake of her head.


    They made it to said library where there were once more a pair of guards posted outside the doors from Baron¡¯s crew. ¡®Deja vu,¡¯ Tom sighed to himself, giving them a nod, which they returned before going back to eyeing Jacky.


    ¡°Yes, she is coming too. Show of good faith and all,¡± Paulin informed the guards before either of them could move to block Jacky from entering. Tom had looked down at Dakota¡¯s hips while they were walking, spying her mothers blade hanging from her belt.


    ¡®They are not fucking around today, are they?¡¯ he thought to himself, trying to work out the rather sudden change in attitude. Dakota had been acting less and less friendly towards the inquisitor and Paulina as of late. At least when they weren¡¯t present. But he didn¡¯t think she had actually threatened them. Bringing a magic sword to a chit chat did rather strike him as such though.


    Paulin had swung open the doors in her usual style, that is to say like she owned the place, before stepping inside. The three of them followed close behind, the two guards stepping well aside.


    Inside Tom was greeted by the inquisitor sitting at the far wall next to the blackboard with Glazz at her side. Once he stepped into the room he noticed Nunuk sitting in her husband¡¯s chair, Linkosta and Rachuck at her sides.


    ¡°Glad you could make it,¡±  the old Lady greeted them, a hint of the pain she was likely still in slipping through into her words as she spoke.


    ¡°Mother?¡± Dakota broke out, seeming a touch surprised. ¡°Would you not rather stay in bed for the moment?¡±


    ¡°No, I would not. Lin told me what you were up to this morning. Grab some chairs and let¡¯s get on with it.¡±


    Paulin kept walking towards the inquisitor as the rest of them found chairs and made themselves comfortable. Jacky stood next to Tom and glared at Glazz, who was returning the gesture in kind.


    ¡°I take it the privacy of what you wished to discuss was of lesser concern then?¡± Paulin asked Joelina as the investigator took her seat next to the inquisitor.


    ¡°It is not to protect my privacy,¡± Joelina retorted, her stare resting solidly on Tom.


    ¡®Uh oh.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well then, Tom¡¯s up and running about again and he¡¯s gone straight to the library with Joelina¡­ Gods give him strength¡­ and me too, just a little bit,¡¯ Saph sighed as she stopped before the old metal braced door leading to the workshop. ¡®Gonna be a long day. Might as well start off on the right foot.¡¯


    ¡°Morning girls, sleep well?¡± she chirped slightly mischievously as she opened the door, stretching as she yawned just a little bit. ¡°Or have you been up all night?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I take offense to that,¡± Tink responded with mock seriousness before going right back to fiddling with some fancy-looking clockwork screwdriver.


    Edita didn¡¯t even look up from the various drawings where she was clearly pondering something she didn¡¯t understand until Junior gave her a slight poke to the side, causing her to look up, confused till she noticed Sapphire.


    ¡°Oh good morning, Saph. Sleep well?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes I did,¡± Saph just smiled in return. She was lying, but she had at least slept.


    ¡°Oh perfect. Could you tell me Saph, you didn¡¯t do this, right?¡± Edita then questioned, pointing back at the sheets of paper. ¡°Because it wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°No?... What¡¯s wrong?¡± Saph questioned, giving a silent prayer it wasn¡¯t the kids that had gotten into the technical documents again. They still had dumb-looking eyes and a crooked mouth on the shotgun receiver drawing and no culprit.


    Edita turned the drawing around to show nothing much, at least to Sapphire¡¯s eye. She did try rather hard to work out what was different, but she only succeeded in straining her eyes. ¡°Uhm¡­ is that new?¡± she eventually tried, pointing at a small doohikey where she was quite sure the water was supposed to be filled in for the water-cooling jacket.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s the drain cock. Look at all that there. It¡¯s a whole different mount, and it now has an inner lining.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I guess Tom¡¯s been down here then,¡± Saph concluded. Not like there was anyone else at the keep, not in this room, who could have done it.


    ¡°Tom came and changed my design in the night?¡± Edita asked, looking up at Saph and seeming rather sceptical, like a kid being told stories of what happened if you didn¡¯t eat your veggies.


    ¡®Right, good or bad? Think Saph, think, would she think that¡¯s good or bad?¡¯


    It would seem Saph¡¯s thinking wasn¡¯t quite fast enough as Edita looked back down at the drawing, running her fingers along the newly redrawn lines. ¡°Oh, what a blessed day!¡±


    ¡°No, hang on a moment,¡± Saph tried in vain as Edita set aside the drawing like the royal crown rested upon it before going back to looking through her stack of papers.


    ¡°Another one, another edit. Saph, this must mean he now agrees the designs are worthy, right? They are good!¡±


    ¡°I mean maybe? You should probably ask him first. I know he¡¯s up today. I¡¯ll ask him later how about that.¡±


    ¡°Of course, whenever you think it would not disturb him. I cannot have him find me annoying already. Oh this is spectacular!¡± Edita carried on giddily before just stopping in her tracks and leaning back, closing her eyes, holding her arms at her sides, and taking a deep breath. ¡°Now, now. Calm¡­ Shaky hands cannot be allowed to risk the holy scriptures.¡±


    ¡°He just put down a scribble, hardly rare around here,¡± Tink interjected, clearly feeling a little left out. Something dropped out of the fancy screwdriver, sending Junior diving to the floor as Tink looked at the two women, oblivious to his blunder.


    ¡°No no, This is no mere scribble, this took time. Remember yesterday we didn¡¯t know which idea he liked. I believed the answer would be none. But it was this one. He liked this one!¡± Edita replied, holding up the first drawing triumphantly. ¡°Saph, are you sure we cannot begin at once?¡±


    ¡°Quite sure. Not to burst your bubble or anything, but Tom edits a lot of things. Including things we never end up making. But hey, he certainly likes it more now. And I promise I¡¯ll ask if we can start later, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Edita replied reluctantly, ears droopping a little as she looked down at her drawing. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just put this one over here for now.¡±


    ¡®Oh, dammit,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself at the rather sad sight, but come on it¡¯s just a damn drawing.


    ¡°But hey, remember this too. If there is something Tom really likes, it¡¯s overthinking stuff. Get him a bunch of different options and I guarantee he¡¯ll find something he likes in all of them then make some¡­. super design in the end,¡± Saph tried, a big smile on her face and wide arm movements as she spun her yarn.


    ¡°What is a super design?¡± Edita asked, looking up at Sapphire like some doe-eyed kid.


    ¡®Dammit Saph, you fucking phesant,¡¯ Saph cursed as she kept up her smiling facade.


    ¡°It¡¯s a¡­ Aaaa¡±


    ¡°A combination of all the best ideas into one functional whole which may prove applicable in any conceivable situation. I have made a lot of those,¡± Tink added, seeming quite proud of himself. ¡°Glira¡¯s arm blades, for example. Excellent for sharpening palisade logs too.¡±


    ¡°Or chopping wood if you have like¡­ a really big log or something,¡± Junior added a little shakily.


    ¡°A general purpose design¡­ Like the little knife with all the tools built into it?¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± Saph questioned, tilting her head and looking at Edita, who in turn snapped to look at Saph, swallowing once like she knew she should not have said that.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that. I don¡¯t even know what it is,¡± Edita said, still looking guilty eyes darting around for a second. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I looked in Tom¡¯s toolbox. I know I¡¯m not supposed to do that when the owner isn¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you were going through his laptop. Pretty sure there is some much more private stuff hidden in that one than the toolbox.¡± Saph replied not really sure why that was such a big deal, she¡¯d gone through those boxes many times before looking for whatever strange thing she needed.


    ¡°There is?¡± Edita questioned, turning to glance at where one of the magic plastic boxes lay on the table. ¡°Oh dear¡­ I thought of it more as a library.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong there, just a private library. Like the one you might find in someone¡¯s house, I guess,¡± Saph tried with a shrug. She was quite sure Tom wouldn¡¯t mind in the slightest as long as they didn¡¯t break anything. Hell, he knew they were using it and he hadn¡¯t protested yet.


    ¡°Oh no¡­ no no, I¡¯m not allowed to look in private places. You never know if you¡¯re allowed to see what you find.¡±


    ¡°You mean as in a drawing of his old sweetheart or something heretical?¡± Tink questioned plainly, tilting his head.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand the first one? Is sweetheart someone you love?¡± Edita replied, turning to Saph, her expression one of cautious curiosity.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that¡­ I¡¯m guessing you mean the other one though, right?¡± Saph tried, spying Tink looking a little crestfallen.


    ¡°You should mind your own work, yes. You might not understand what someone else is making. I always keep my orders in my tool box.¡±


    ¡°So I wasn¡¯t allowed to look in there?¡± Tink questioned, receiving a slap to the back from Junior as Edita turned to look at the two of them. ¡°No, of course not, I would never do that,¡± the old inventor chuckled falsely, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°Aow,¡±


    Edita just looked at him for a second or two then turned back to Saph, her expression unchanged. ¡°Should I put them somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Maybe in your room¡­ You have gotten a room, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, I found a nice place to sleep on top of one of the big crates in there. It is quite cozy.¡±


    ¡°No no, that¡¯s a storage room. We didn¡¯t clear a room for you?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, it is my room¡­ I just brought a lot of things.¡±


    ¡°You mean more than ended up down here and in the smithy?¡± Sapphire questioned, looking around at the workshop where strange equipment and tools could now be found nearly wherever you looked.


    ¡°I mean¡­ This isn¡¯t a very big workshop¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s even smaller than my old one,¡± Tink added with a chuckle. ¡°And that one was a rental.¡±


    ¡®Oh Tom, I need you please.¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 162: Magic Osha

    Tom stared at Joelina, who was returning the favor, leaning forward in her chair and staring him down like she was eyeing up a snack. It was really rather unsettling if he was being totally honest. Nunuk then decided to break the silence, clearing her throat and sitting up straight in her chair.


    ¡°I believe the more private matters can be discussed later. First, we have some practical matters to attend to. While my daughter has done well in my absence, I get the distinct impression her relative inexperience has been taken advantage of,¡± Nunuk opened, in the very recognizable tone of someone who had ruled for decades and knew what was up. Dakota for her part looked more than a little hurt, her head lowering a bit before she straightened back up, clearly trying to look unfazed.


    ¡°How so?¡± Joelina questioned, turning to the old lady and leaning her head on curled fists. Her eyes were different to how Tom remembered them. She had a more ¡®wild¡¯ look about her as she sat in her chair. She was seemingly content to let her own questions wait, at least for now though, as she listened intently.


    ¡°Merely the amount of threats and general ordering about of people proven loyal to the king and by extent the disrespect placed on a bloodline that has stood by the crown for centuries. This keep was bestowed on us, and we have honored that trust ever since. You have not. We present you with the find of the century, a black dragon enslaved to our beck and call, and we place our keep and our resources at your command, yet you still feel the need to threaten my people to the point they feel the need to push back against the holy Inquisition. Spite growing in them, and only then do you start to realize you overstepped. The fact you did not double down upon them betrayed that you know yourselves to be in the wrong. And that is before we even broach the subject of what you did to Tom. Who, I must remind you, is more than your personal toy. He is of my keep. Sworn to me and my family alone. He is not for you to use like some serf or common criminal.¡±


    ¡°Everyone falls under my jurisdiction, Lady Bizmati, and most certainly everyone unknown to our people. I won¡¯t bore you with stories of why I did what I did. I have a sneaking suspicion Tom already knows. Or at least he may soon,¡± Joelina replied, returning to staring at Tom, her voice quite calm. Respectful even. ¡°I am correct, yes? You have been having dreams, visions in your sleep if you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡®Ahr shit,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself. He didn¡¯t have any clue how Joelina would react to him knowing secrets of both her childhood and the Inquisition. ¡®Would she bet I would understand better if I know? Or kill me for it?.... Ahr, fuck me.¡¯


    ¡°I believe that is a yes,¡± Joelina continued before Tom could fumble together a reply. ¡°I must say I am starting to understand why you were as hysterical as you were. The visions and hallucinations are quite real. I have yet to feel anything like it. I have a dagger at my throat right now, yet no one can see it. But I think I know what it means.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right,¡± Tom replied, staring at the perfectly serious Joelina, trying his very best to read the stoic woman, which was easier than normal actually. She was tense, but she seemed pleased, the edges of her mouth twisting upwards just a bit as he had answered in the affirmative.


    ¡°Quite. So then. Since, unlike you, my symptoms seem to be receding, I believe we may both agree not to try another session. End while the going is good and all that.¡±


    Tom just stared for a second, no one making a sound before he nodded. ¡°Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea.¡±


    ¡°Very good, you may then count on me to spread the information that humans are not to be mindread. It should not be very hard to convince anyone if I show them but a smidgen of what I have seen and been through,¡± she replied with a slow sincere-looking nod, head still resting on her hands.


    ¡°Out of curiosity, what might that be?¡± Tom asked, not sure if he really wanted to know or he would rather live in blissful ignorance.


    ¡°Well, that brings us to the matters I wished to discuss. But it sounded like we had something else to get done first?¡± Joelina questioned, looking around the room, letting her gaze rest on Nunuk.


    The lady hadn¡¯t seemed overly surprised by anything that was said thus far, Tom guessing Kokashi¡¯s ears deserved the credit for some of that at least. But she did look a little less pissed than when she started at least.


    ¡°Yes, I will try to calm my people down and reestablish some of their faith in the Inquisition, and I believe my daughter has made some of our demands. But, to put it plainly, I will not tolerate my people being treated as anything less than trusted and valued allies, for that is what we are.¡± Nunuk laid out, keeping up the commanding tone despite the slight improvement in demeanor.


    ¡°I have already agreed to as much, though not to your daughter,¡± Joelina replied, shifting her attention to Tom once more. ¡°Do you remember that part by the way? It was towards the end of everything going on.¡±


    ¡°I do, at least sorta. I feel like I should apologize for some of the language used,¡± Tom replied, picking up on the rather formal tone everyone was using right now.


    ¡°Marvelous,¡± Joelina replied with an over-exaggerated smile, clasping her hands together. The smile didn¡¯t suit her in the slightest. It wasn¡¯t a warm smile. In fact it almost made her seem cruel as she turned her attention back to Nunuk. ¡°But yes, for the sake of everyone else: I completed my goal of evaluating Tom¡¯s character as well as understanding his motivations. I have found no problem with them, much as his people terrify me. As an apology for some of the grief caused I agreed to his terms as well as a bit extra. They are much the same as yours if I remember accurately. I do not believe my recollections can be trusted entirely though.¡±


    ¡°It sounds about right. I just put it less nicely,¡± Tom replied with a strained chuckle, trying to think back. ¡®What does she mean ¡®extra¡¯? Did I forget something¡­ not too hard to believe¡­¡¯


    ¡°Very good then. Does that address your concerns then, Lady Nunuk?¡± Joelina replied, leaning back in her chair, staring at the woman with what Tom recognized as false calm. She was tense as a bow, yet she let her fingers dance on the armrest. Then again, Tom guessed thinking there was a knife at your throat could do that to a person.


    ¡°On that point yes. However it was implied that Investigator Paulin is the one that will be in charge here in the future though. Correct?¡± Nunuk questioned with an unamused expression, looking at the investigator, who in turn looked to Joelina.


    ¡°I believe so, yes. She is not easily replaced, though she will now have orders to treat you all more¡­ decently,¡± Joelina replied, the smile on her face sticking like glue. ¡°I am leaving a counterpart for her in the mines too. I doubt you will see him much, but he will be given the same instructions.¡±


    ¡°That will do then. Paulin, I now have your orders, attempting to get around them will not be tolerated,¡± Nunuk replied, staring daggers at the investigator to drive home the point. ¡°Now, we have prisoners, a black dragon, and buildings to deal with. Are those plans changed?¡±


    ¡°No, get the dragon back here as soon as possible and consolidate. We do not want someone breaking her out too easily. The prisoners depart with Joelina,¡± Paulin responded in prim and proper fashion, not seeming to take the lady¡¯s insinuation to heart.


    ¡°I leave the day after tomorrow. If I am not recovered yet, then I shall have the flight to do so,¡± Joelina added in no uncertain terms.


    ¡°One last matter of practicality,¡± Paulin carried on clearing her throat and looking to Joelina, ¡°Your gift, Inquisitor?¡±


    ¡°Oh of course yes. Paulin assured me that despite some of your memories you would not mind if a gift is not a surprise. What was is you found out, Paulin?¡±


    ¡°Suitable gifts would be a magic blade for Jacky, preferably a hunting knife, and a set of armor for Tom, even though it comes with considerable difficulties.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Tom blurted out, staring at her a touch dumbfounded. He had not seen that coming with everything that had been going on. Glazz did not look happy in the slightest, a sneer creeping onto her face as she stared at Jacky.


    He threw a quick glance up at Jacky, who was staring at the inquisitor now with an equally dumbfounded expression on her face like she had no clue what to do with that.


    ¡°That is a mighty generous gift, Inquisitor,¡± Nunuk interjected, breaking the slight awkward silence. ¡°How do you plan on finding a fitting set though?¡±


    ¡°I ask for the closest we can find, then you will have to handle the rest. I am sure you won¡¯t be that busy during winter.¡±


    The Lady nodded slowly, not disagreeing with that statement though clearly pondering the proposition.


    ¡°It will be a proper set? Plate and everything to keep him safe?¡± Jacky questioned, conflict clear in her voice.


    ¡°It will be the best we can find. I do not know what can be scrounged up, but gold talks, and frankly I would rather pay my way out of this mess than spend time I do not have.¡±


    ¡®Not a terribly nice way to put it, but I guess fair enough,¡¯ Tom sighed to himself. He knew a set of armor like that cost a fortune, but so did most of everything that had been brought to the keep, so what was a bit more gold he guessed.


    ¡°That is¡­ acceptable,¡± Jacky finally replied reluctantly. ¡°Eye for an eye.¡±


    ¡°Marvelous, Paulin will talk with your smith. I am sure she could help with what we would have to look for. Now is that the end of the practical matters?¡± Joelina questioned, looking around at the room.


    ¡°One thing,¡± Rachuck interrupted, clearing his throat. ¡±Would a round of the island perhaps not be a good idea, if for nothing else then to relay some information to the two other keeps?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a fine idea. Might turn up our two missing brigands too. The construction team at Hylsdahl needs to be informed they are being requisitioned as soon as they can finish their work on that little keep. Who to send¡­ Send Glira once Yldril is secured here at the keep. If any of them can find the stragglers it¡¯s probably her.¡±


    Paulin cleared her throat a little, gaining the inquisitor''s attention and leaning in to whisper something into her ear. Joelina took a second to think before nodding her agreement to whatever it was that was said. ¡°Also yes, a gift for the Bizmati family for all the trouble caused. I believe we can do without a visit from the tax man this year. It¡¯s my understanding you already had one such visit after all,¡± Joelina carried on with what Tom could only imagine was her best attempt at being funny.


    ¡°That would be most appreciated. I am sure you don¡¯t want anyone trying to take exhaustive records of most of the things that have¡­ ended up here,¡± Nunuk replied with a nod, her expression warming up a little further. Tom could almost feel the sigh of relief from Dakota as the old Lady continued, looking to him instead. ¡°Now Tom, would you like us to leave for whatever the inquisitor has to ask you next? I believe our concerns have been settled without a fight. Counter to expectations.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably for the best,¡± Tom sighed in response. He had no clue what was gonna be on the table, but he had a feeling it might be rather embarrassing.


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Nunuk replied with a nod, getting up with the help of Rachuck, Dakota soon at her side too, the two siblings escorting her out the room. Linkosta followed, writing things down in a booklet hurriedly as she went.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you look at me, I¡¯m not going anywhere,¡± Jacky let out just as Tom started to turn his head to look at her standing at his side.


    ¡°I was gonna ask you to stay,¡± he just chuckled, leaning back in the chair. ¡°Right then.¡±


    ¡°Right then indeed. So, Mister Tomas Hansen. How do you dream again?¡±


    With what followed, Tom had to commend Jacky on keeping a straight face for as long as she did. It likely helped that she could revert to trying to kill Glazz through staring whenever it got too much for her. As for Tom, having to stay perfectly straight-faced and tell a grown woman what pop music was, not to mention the internet, was near impossible. He had really wanted to avoid certain subjects, but she knew too much. That had led to 4Chan, Reddit, youtube, and, possibly worst of all, live leak. How on Earth or whatever this planet was called she knew about them he could not fathom, and he didn¡¯t have the discipline leftover to think about it either. The last bits of her calm demeanor had slowly started to crack. It was replaced with what Tom would call a more ¡®wild conspiracy theorist vibe.¡¯ It had not started getting properly absurd until she reached the subject of her latest dreams though.


    Apparently, she had been blessed with a childhood dream of him having a nice day at an aquarium back when he was just a little crotch goblin. He had done his best to explain what a tropical fish was, why anyone would go to a place where you could see fish, and why on god¡¯s green Earth they were so pretty and colorful. Her mad rambling about how they were supposed to be cruel coldhearted killing machines incapable of feeling even a sliver of guilt as they devoured an entire school trip from the Saint Nicker¡¯s school for the mentally disabled orphans had damn near broke him.


    The following tirade about why one would even make a school for such unfortunate children or how you even ended up with enough of them in one place to make such a thing viable had left him nearly weeping trying not to laugh, but incredibly Joelina didn¡¯t care at all. He didn¡¯t quite know where she had gotten that whole thing from, but he suspected that he was probably somehow responsible, maybe dark humor didn¡¯t translate well through dreams. The inquisitor¡¯s comment about why one needed to give such children brightly colored helmets as opposed to the means to blend into a crowd had done the trick though as he broke out laughing.


    It would seem the inquisitor had some time ago left the realm of reason since she simply carried right on with him cackling away. Next up had been a memory of a snowball fight Tom remembered losing¡­ badly. Try as he might, Tom couldn¡¯t explain to her it was in fact a game and not a mass torturing ritual carried out by mere children upon each other to weed out the weak willed.


    To Tom¡¯s relief she had eventually come back to his taste in music, which she had apparently been intimately acquainted with. ¡®Damn, I wish I got to see this much of my own dreams¡­ 500 says she started poking around her own dreams and it went downhill from there,¡¯ Tom wheezed to himself as he slowly got his laughing under control again, monumental as the task was.


    Jacky was chuckling too. Glazz was shaking her head slowly by now, seeming more embarrassed than anything, and Paulin was looking very cross indeed. The inquisitor herself seemed ready to get out the pins and red thread and go to work on the nearest wall, granite¡¯s unsuitability be damned.


    ¡°You know what, Joelina?¡± Tom tried, earning the inquisitor¡¯s undivided attention after having taken a few more seconds to get himself in order.


    ¡°I think you just need to see more. It will make sense eventually. Not like it matters if you wanna judge my people, but you said so yourself. You found no flaw with my motivations or way of thinking. It makes sense to me. So good luck, and yes it is all quite normal. For the record, the answer on the fish is they are too stupid to think much. Hell sharks are terrifying, yet they are so stupid turning them upside down in the water literally turns some of them off.¡±


    ¡°Impossible, they must be machines then. Underwater craft, the crew was dislodged by the flipping.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am¡­ A shark can be this small,¡± Tom replied, holding out his arms to indicate a rather benign specimen. ¡°And the Chinese and Japanese cut up more than enough of them for us to be quite sure what¡¯s inside.¡±


    ¡°Right, of course. There is much more to discover. Tom, I must ask you though, you said to me before that you do not dream like us. You simply experience something made up by your mind. Not a memory, not a vision. Correct?¡±


    ¡°More or less, yeah. Sometimes it¡¯s pure fiction, sometimes memories are mixed in. It¡¯s always strange though. It¡¯s basically whatever our mind can come up with,¡± Tom tried, keeping close tabs on his breathing as he tried to calm down. Jacky actually placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a little squeeze. A quick glance up at her revealed she was struggling not to smile herself.


    ¡°I concur. Tom, I believe you have taught me to dream, only what I am seeing is your dreams, most bizarre,¡± Joelina replied perfectly seriously, rubbing her chin and putting a foot up on the chair she was sitting on so she could rest her head on her knee.


    ¡°Sounds like it. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll learn a lot then. Isn¡¯t that what you always wanted?¡±


    ¡°But I will not be able to tell what is real and what is not? This is a blessing and a curse. In equal measure!¡±


    ¡°Eh, you¡¯ll learn at some point, I guess. Can you like walk around and do things in the dreams?¡± Tom questioned, starting to actually take this a little more seriously. He pondered if maybe some of that lucid dreaming stuff his mother had talked about years ago would actually work on a dragonette.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Are you lucid? Or just along for the ride? So to speak.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have not considered this. I have simply attempted to understand these visions. I live them much like when reading someone¡¯s mind. It is exhausting but exhilarating at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re not just watching like an eye in the sky? You feel it all? Touch, smell, sound, and so on?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Joelina replied with a nod, pulling back and crouching down on the chair, looking around the room like a scared predator afraid it was being watched, which he found a touch odd. Were the hallucinations fucking with her maybe?


    ¡°But you have only had a couple days to sleep, how many dreams have you had?¡± Tom questioned, eyeing her more closely as her head flicked around. He didn¡¯t seem to be the object of attention anymore, but her ears remained swiveled his way.


    ¡°Dozens. I have made note of everything.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ that¡¯s odd,¡± Tom let out, trying to not sound concerned that the Inquisitor was still appearing almost animalistic in her motions as she sat on the chair curled up like a tight spring, ready to launch herself at the ceiling like a startled cat. ¡°Some memory you got there.¡±


    ¡°My memory is always perfect. This is what I do, Human,¡± Joelina snarled in response, Glazz stepping forward and clearing her throat.


    ¡°Inquisitor. You are going to have to calm down now.¡±


    Joelina looked at Glazz before starting to survey the room, blinking a couple times, ¡°A tall order, Glazz. We are not alone, you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up. You know none of it is real. Stand up and get on with your job, Ma¡¯am,¡± Glazz ordered, Joelina complying, standing up slowly and turning to face Tom, a slight twitch at the corner of an eye.


    ¡°We¡¯re done here¡­ For now. Paulin is keeping an eye on you. We know you are remembering things you shouldn¡¯t,¡± Glazz carried on in a professional if a little tired-sounding voice, staring at Jacky before giving Tom a quick nod.


    ¡°But so do I now. For me it is my job. For you, it is a danger,¡± Joelina added in, almost hissing, Glazz moving an arm under her robe.


    ¡°Only if you¡¯re the heretic here,¡± Tom replied, doing his best to stare down the manic-looking woman. ¡°Not my first shit show, I¡¯ll do my best. I won¡¯t go spilling your beans. And you don¡¯t spill mine. All good?¡±


    ¡°All good¡­ In exchange for answering more questions in future. I am sure there will be many,¡± Joelina replied, still seeming lucid enough to think and answer questions, but damn if she didn¡¯t look just a little creepy right now. Glazz didn¡¯t move from her spot right next to the inquisitor, her gaze locked on Joelina unblinkingly.


    ¡°Oh you have no idea. Let¡¯s go Jacky. I¡¯m sure we have shit to do.¡±


    ¡°Yup, such as finding civilized company,¡± Jackly replied, promptly hefting her halberd as Tom got up, turning for the door.


    No one stopped them or objected as they left, but Tom could feel the eyes of at least Joelina follow him. Then Jacky started humming to herself.


    ¡°*gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight.*¡±


    Tom hurried up just a bit, as he could actually hear Joelina¡¯s teeth grate as she let out a growl. He imagined that had cost more than a couple of blood vessels in her eyes, and he sighed a sigh of relief as the two guards outside shut the door behind them. ¡®Oh Jacky, you beautiful maniac.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It turned out Saph didn¡¯t even need to go fetch Tom to inquire about the meaning of his changes to Edita¡¯s now favorite pieces of paper. The human had elected to show himself willingly. It was quite a relief to see him walking around and not looking too bad at all, but she knew better than to judge a book by its cover by now. His smile was just a touch too wide and he was a little too happy considering everything that had happened since Joelina arrived.


    ¡®He¡¯s bluffing,¡¯ she concluded a little sadly. Still, it was good to see him on two feet again. And he sure seemed to be thinking clearly once more. He also had the energy to answer the avalanche of questions that faced him the second he entered the workshop. They mainly came from Edita, but Tink and Saph herself had also gotten in a word or two. She had tried to get him to talk about how he was feeling, but it hadn¡¯t really worked since the current company soon had them careening down the slope of technobabble.


    Saph decided that waiting till some other time was probably the smarter option, and so she instead took an interest in Jacky, who had been watching from the sideline aside from adding in a word or two whenever something she found interesting came up. It was clear it was Tom she was actually keeping an eye on as the discussion carried on.


    Her old friend was lugging around her halberd despite not being in full armor. She was sporting bracers, greaves, gauntlets, and the breastplate from her huntress armor. In short, the things one could put on in a hurry and still be comfortable in all day. As the geeks settled in properly to their discussion, Saph managed to gently drag Jacky into a corner. Jacky for her part didn¡¯t seem to mind much, though she kept her eyes on Tom as he chatted merrily with the other geeks.


    ¡°So¡­ how are you doing?¡± Saph asked in a whisper, hoping to have a little private conversation between just the two of them.


    ¡°Marvelously,¡± Jacky replied disinterestedly, still looking at Tom, though she did bother to reply in a whisper at least.


    ¡°You know what I mean. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Ehhh¡­¡± Jacky replied with a long sigh. ¡°Yesterday was pretty nice. Watched movies and cuddled all day, pretty much. I got to play a computer game too¡­ it was a bit strange, not really what I had imagined.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good¡­ has he said sorry for any of the things he did?... I mean, I know tha-¡±


    ¡°He tried, I didn¡¯t let him. What¡¯s the point, not like it was his damn fault¡­ That, and it might be nice if he can¡¯t be too mad about me doing something dumb at some point.¡±


    ¡®That¡¯s a remarkable amount of foresight¡­ I guess,¡¯ Saph pondered to herself. Jacky was possibly the least conniving person she knew. ¡®This doesn¡¯t sound like her at all.¡¯


    ¡°Oh and he stood up to the inquisitor for the first time. Well, it¡¯s the first time I actually got to see it at least. Apparently, she got a taste of some human swear words when they were both under.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ Is that a good thing?¡± Saph questioned, throwing a glance at the overenthusiastic Tom, who was now trying to explain something he was apparently quite impressed by them working out.


    ¡°Fuck yeah it is, she didn¡¯t even try to fight him really. We¡¯re on top now. The bitch is cracked. You should have seen her, she¡¯s soo pissed she can¡¯t work out what it is she¡¯s seeing half the time. Don''t tell this to anyone, but she got to see an aquarium through his dreams. Oh she hated it,¡± Jacky replied, getting a little carried away, her voice raising a bit.


    ¡°If you say so¡­ I heard Nunuk went too,¡± Saph tried in a quieter tone, gesturing for Jacky to maybe cool it just a bit.


    ¡°Oooh yeah, she¡¯s pissed too. She went in there with demands and everything. And those inquisitor people just nodded and said yes like I said they would. I told you they want this stuff too bad to say no to us.¡±


    ¡°For now,¡± Saph replied a little more cautiously, thinking back to yesterday¡¯s chat with Paulin. ¡°Did they say anything about apologizing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, something about not paying taxes this year. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    ¡°Nothing about gifts or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ She wants to get me and Tom some crazy gifts. She wants to get armor for Tom and a blade for me. Magic armor and blade. Not just nice or even mithril¡­ I think Tom scared the shit out of her.¡±


    ¡°Or there is actually some compassion in there somewhere?¡± Saph tried, pleased it didn¡¯t seem like Jacky had worked out Saph had a hand in those gifts.


    ¡°Nah, she¡¯s crazy right now. You should have seen her sitting on all fours on the chair, behaving like an animal. Gods that was funny.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Saph replied rather worriedly, staring at Jacky and trying to work out if she was perhaps embellishing the truth a little. It didn¡¯t seem like it though, which was a little unsettling.


    ¡°Oh, but she¡¯s fucking off soon enough. She¡¯ll leave Paulin, and she¡¯s been ordered to play nice. We all heard it too. Including Nunuk, Dakota, and Rachuck. She ain¡¯t getting out of that one. She¡¯ll have to be all sweet and ¡®Yes of course,¡¯ ¡®Right away,¡¯ ¡®Oh why didn¡¯t you say so sooner,¡¯ It¡¯s gonna be great.¡± Jacky chuckled evilly. At least she did seem to be in a genuinely good mood. It probably helped that Tom seemed to be enjoying himself, but still. It was nice to see her friend smile again. She had been through it, to put it mildly.


    ¡°It sure sounds nice¡­ Anything about Yldril? Does Fengi also get to do what she wants, or did she draw the short straw?¡±


    ¡°She just wants her back here, didn¡¯t give a shit beyond that. She¡¯s busy trying to make heads or tails of Tom¡¯s dreams. It was fucking hilarious, I gotta tell you.¡±


    ¡°Tom¡¯s dreams?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah don¡¯t tell anyone, but the two of them have been dreaming about stuff the other one knows. It¡¯s not just the whole mind-reading Tom stuff she has to deal with now.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ll be sure not to tell anyone,¡± Saph replied, still keeping her voice well in check, hoping Jacky would be a bit quieter. ¡°Even Essy and Fengi?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ Sure Fengi. Let Essy work it out for herself. No doubt she will eventually.¡±


    ¡°10 silver on it taking less than a week for her?¡± Saph questioned, turning to look very closely at her friend''s face, trying to gauge her reaction.


    Jacky finally turned to look at Saph, her smile turning a touch evil as she held out her hand. ¡°Whatever happened to betting is stupid, ey? Miss Silverstreak.¡±


    Saph smiled in reply, content that Jacky at least seemed genuinely happy. She wasn¡¯t faking it at all. She took her hand and shook it. ¡°No cheating now.¡±


    ¡°How could I be the cheating one? You are the one who could chicken out and tell her.¡±


    ¡°Me cheating? Impossible. I don¡¯t even know what the word means,¡± Saph snickered in reply.


    ¡°Oh you suck at lying and you know it girl.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 163: Beehive

    Tom had been a little anxious about going back to the workshop, fearing that dealing with Edita would sour the thus far rather good day. But after all he had gone through, she too seemed a bit different. She was still absolutely bubbling with questions. and her doe-eyed admiration of him was a little unsettling. As was the fact that she treated the drawings he had changed with near reverence. But Jacky hadn¡¯t swung in to pry them apart or made any threatening noises and Edita had adopted a more respectful attitude. Like she was talking to a superior, he kinda liked that if he was being totally honest at least just a little bit.


    Tom guessed it had all been a bit much on the first day. And thinking back he had done a rather shit job of saying no to her. He thanked his lucky stars that she was better behaved now, but deep down he knew Saph and Essy were probably the actual reason. Hell, he might not even have lucky stars here.


    He could hear Jacky and Saph chatting in the corner, catching each other up on recent events while everyone else got down to work. while the rest of them got to work. Shiva had eventually come in from the forge to hear what all the commotion was about, and after a short rundown, she had left with Jacky. Tom guessed she wanted a little bit of one on one with her daughter after all that had happened. Quite understandable in his mind, and frankly he would have expected her to do it much sooner. Jacky had handed Sapphire the halberd along with instructions to ¡®stand guard for me,¡¯ which did seem to surprise Saph just a little. But, to her credit, she still did it.


    He couldn¡¯t help but feel much safer and happier down here. Even he and Shiva were definitely on the same team, and he couldn¡¯t imagine a scenario where he would have to worry about Edita short of him making some very egregious error in her eyes. And thus far she had seemed rather loose when it came to rules. Thinking back, that was probably his answer as to why Joelina had chosen her for this job despite the rather extreme difference in personality.


    They had gone over the designs for the water jacket and made some more changes, including a new tighter recoil spring to compensate for the lighter inner barrel. The second Tom approved them Edita had wanted to get started. He had managed to talk her into telling him a bit about what she knew of arcane machinery first though. It had been a rather enlightening tale, if a little depressing too. She knew how to make enchantments, and with Apuma or Linkosta providing the actual magic they should be able to replicate many enchantments that Edita was quite certain not even Linkosta knew about. Even if the two mages might need some more training on some of the finer points.


    But her tales of magic shields and such apparently lay beyond them. It turned out what was needed for enchantments like that was beyond simple hand-carved commands. She had fished out a book detailing among other things how the central core at the capital worked. Before starting though, she gave the most half-hearted ¡®don¡¯t say this to anyone¡¯ speech Tom had yet heard. He just nodded as did the rest of them as she opened the locked tome with a key produced from under her flowing metallic robes.


    ¡°See all these pages?¡± she went as she rapidly paged through page after page of solid text.


    ¡°Yeah?... I can¡¯t read any of it. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Looks like magical runes to me,¡± Tink interjected, clearly trying to be helpful. Edita nodded to the inventor.


    ¡°Precisely. Hundreds of lines of enchantments. This is all that we have found in just one finger responsible for suspending the energy inside the core. There are 24 fingers in total. 24!¡± she reiterated, looking around at them with wide eyes.


    ¡°Must be in a tiny script then,¡± Tink concluded, clearing his throat and huffing a bit. ¡°What did they do, shrink down the one who scribed them in?¡±


    ¡°No no, you don¡¯t understand. It is tiny. Some of what we have found is so small that you could write thousands of words just on a finger claw.¡±


    ¡°Miniaturized technology,¡± Tom replied with an appreciative nod. ¡°Like our computer tech.¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± Edita went, pointing at him before returning to paging. ¡°But if we try to scribe runes even several times that size, we can hardly get anything to flow through them. The enchantments are powerless.¡±


    ¡°The resistance Linkosta talked about a while back. The reason she wanted dragon¡¯s blood for Jacky¡¯s armor.¡±


    ¡°Dragon¡¯s blood is alright¡­ did you use some of the unicorn horn you have?¡± Edita asked cautiously, looking up from her book.


    ¡°Sure did.¡±


    ¡°Very good. That will make it much better. But yes, the resistance becomes far too high in such inscriptions if they are made normally. But with machines and precision, it can be done better and smaller. But the key is inscribing using pure essence. The stuff you found in the cylinders down below.¡±


    ¡°The gravity oil?¡± Tom asked. ¡°Problem solved then, we have plenty of that.¡±


    ¡°That is the base ingredient. We tend to just call it essence in the form you have. More work is required though. And then the enchantments must be bound with what the ancients call an eldritch forge. Normal containment spells cannot contain the inscribing. They will rip apart and break immediately.¡±


    ¡°The stuff Linkota did after she painted the runes.¡±


    ¡°Yes. The enchantments are first etched, then inscribed, then bound. Often you seal them too to try and protect them from damage. You know, to prevent scratches and such.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense I guess. And a person can¡¯t do that well enough, so you need a magic machine to make magic machines.¡±


    ¡°More or less, yes.¡±


    ¡°And you have some.¡±


    ¡°We do¡­ just not out here. They are rather big, and the power draw is immense, we would need a core. And I know of only two left.¡± Edita apologized, looking truly sorry. ¡°Even if we did, doing that amount of etching and inscribing would be near impossible to do by hand.¡±


    ¡°I bet,¡± Tom sighed. ¡°Well then, I guess we can¡¯t rely on that anyway then. We¡¯ll have to go with what¡¯s actually available. So those enchantments of yours¡­ How could they affect, say, barrel life?¡±


    ¡°They could nearly eliminate wear if that is what you mean. But they must be powered.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ power.¡±


    ¡°Everything comes with a cost,¡± Edita apologized once more, like it was somehow her fault how the world worked.


    ¡°Not your fault, don¡¯t feel bad about it. Oh right, that core of yours. It contains energy¡­ Like a battery of sorts. What about that, can we make that? I guess not if there are only two left.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I¡¯m sorry. The enchantments that contain the energy are immensely complex. The ones used to capture it even more so. Those can be replicated rather primitively though if they don¡¯t need to reach far and wide without becoming hopelessly inefficient.¡±


    ¡°So snatch it from the enemy then? Why not just do that?¡±


    ¡°Because they can cut off the flow of magic? That is part of the immense complexity of the cores. We do not understand how it was achieved but they can bypass such restrictions¡­ Have you not tried using magic items before?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ a pair of earrings once,¡± Tom admitted with a shrug. ¡°They are quite expensive, okay? we only had like 4 magic items here before you showed up.¡±


    Edita just stared at him then looked around at the others with a look of betrayal on her face. ¡°You didn¡¯t teach him what to do if someone tries to drain him? What if you had fought a witch or something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he did at some point actually,¡± Tink added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before Saph poked him rather hard in the side with the haft end of the halberd. Something which Edita did in fact seem to notice, turning her attention to the huntress.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you teach him?¡±


    ¡°Because no one would ever try that? Everyone can just go ¡®No, fuck you¡¯ and turn off the flow. Why waste a complicated spell on it?¡±


    ¡°A lot of animals don¡¯t know how to. What if they didn¡¯t know what he was?¡± Edita countered, clearly appalled by this apparent lack of training.


    ¡°Dude is talking and running around with a magic fire stick. Pretty sure they wouldn¡¯t mistake him for an animal, in fact he would seem more like a mage himself,¡± Saph replied, seeming less than pleased at the accusations as Tom just blinked a couple times trying to work out how he should feel about this. He was pretty sure he had been told by someone at some point that he could just turn off the flow of magic if he wanted. But if he was being totally honest here he couldn¡¯t quite work out how. When he had the earrings on he had just started feeling sick.


    ¡°Uhm question?¡± he interrupted as Saph and Edita were having a little discussion about whether anyone born in the last thousand years would ever bother trying to magically drain an opponent in combat.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Saph questioned, turning to look at him, Edita¡¯s head quickly snapping to look at him as well.


    ¡°How exactly would I do this? Sounds important.¡±


    ¡°Simple. You feel the flow of magic and shut it off just like when you are using your own magi¡­¡± Saph started before trailing off.


    ¡°I see a flaw in this plan.¡±


    ¡°He must learn this. If anyone finds out he cannot fight such an attack he could be doomed,¡± Edita interjected, seeming deathly serious.


    ¡°Never even heard of anyone getting killed like that,¡± Tink added in, scratching the back of his neck, seeming a little stumped as well. ¡°Well, aside from people who managed to off themselves by accident when mucking about with magic that is.¡±


    ¡°I guess we put a magic gizmo on him and work out if he can cut the flow then?¡± Saph questioned, still sounding a little annoyed  as she looked at Edita.


    ¡°Yes, right this instant. Wait here,¡± the artificer replied with a new and certainly surprising determination entering her voice. Like she was dealing with a serious matter. ¡°Imagine what would happen if one of our enchantments failed and he couldn¡¯t stop it from killing him! Oh by the gods!¡± she complained as she started going through boxes.


    Tom did as he was told and waited. Insane as it sounded, he trusted the slightly nutty artificer not to want to kill him. He didn¡¯t have to wait long before Edita returned with a small lacquered wooden box with a very extravagant set of decorations on it. She unceremoniously popped the lid off of it, setting it down gently and lifted out a small octagonal metal rod with inscriptions running down each side, little metal sliders also sitting in various positions along said sides. To Tom the inscriptions looked tiny enough to be a real fucking bitch to do by hand, but he guessed they were nothing compared to what she had been talking about earlier.


    ¡°This is a load. It can be used to, well¡­ put a load on an enchantment,¡± Edita explained with a nervous chuckle, looking at him.


    ¡°But a person can use it too?¡± Saph questioned, tilting her head.


    ¡°Yes. You need that sometimes. One moment,¡± Edita went as she started fiddling with the sliders. ¡°Right, minimum setting. Run it for long enough and it should start getting warm. Should take a while, it is designed to be very inefficient. And you can turn it off there or just drop it. Just please¡­ on the table, not the floor,¡± she explained, almost pleadingly on the last bit, clutching her hands after putting it down on the table for him.


    ¡°Well then¡­ I guess only one thing for it. This should be interesting,¡± Tom shrugged as he scanned the room to confirm Jacky had still not returned.


    ¡°I swear by all the gods if this puts you back in bed,¡± Saph let out, shaking her head as Tom picked up the small device.


    ¡°Oh relax, I¡¯ve done this before. Worst that¡¯s gonna happen is I can¡¯t stop it and I have to put it down,¡± Tom replied sarcastically as he held the rod with just a bit of apprehension. ¡®You better be right this time, knucklehead.¡¯


    he hesitated for a second holding his hand over the little slider, before manning up and moving it upwards one notch. The tiny runes started to glow a dim blue, almost like there was LED backlighting at play.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It certainly felt funny. It was hard to describe. It was almost not noticeable. Like the life getting drained out of you by discussing politics with family at Christmas or something.


    ¡°Okay, now try and feel the magic flow and cut it off,¡± Saph added in hopefully.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t feel much really.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Saph questioned, looking to Edita.


    ¡°How should I know? He is not a dragonette. Not born with magic.¡±


    ¡°But he can still use it,¡± Saph protested.


    ¡°Evidently,¡± Edita responded, sounding a little disheartened as she looked at the rod. ¡°We could try pulling more to help you feel it.¡±


    ¡°Or we could not,¡± Saph squeaked out, not sounding overly pleased with that particular idea.


    ¡°Worst that happens is I faint, right?¡± Tom questioned looking at the strange device.


    ¡°In theory,¡± Edita relented, though not sounding overly convinced. ¡°Unless you hold onto it after fainting, at which point it will drain you until you die¡­ it¡¯s not a bad way to go really,¡± Edita replied very reluctantly. ¡°We would pry it away from you before that happens. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°Yes, obviously,¡± Saph echoed as Tom turned to look at Tink and Junior. Tink was just giving him the thumbs up with a big smile on his face, Junior looking rather more worried.


    ¡°Well what are the chances of me being the victim of two different life threatening magic phenomena that can¡¯t be explained in the same week, ey? Don¡¯t tell Jacky,¡± Tom chuckled though not quite as calmly as he would have hoped. Still he felt fine¡­ just a little funny. So he moved the slider with the numbers on it up a little, giving Edita time to stop him if it was the wrong one he had grabbed.


    She didn¡¯t and he felt the sensation grow stronger. Now there was no doubt as he felt his breathing quicken and fingers start to ache a little. He then proceeded to close his eyes in the hope some Jedi zen shit would help him close his chakras or whatever it was he needed to do here.


    He honestly didn¡¯t expect much success from that idea, but what he got as he settled down a little and tried to feel what was happening was best described as continuous shiver running down his spine. It was faint. Not much of note, only really enough to be annoying once he noticed it. So he did what he always did with shivers. He focused on it to make it go away, releasing that nice sensation all throughout his back that wasn¡¯t ever really enough.


    He got the exact same result here and opened his eyes to find the rod inert in his hands.


    ¡°Well that worked, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Baah, I wasn¡¯t worried,¡± Tink loudly proclaimed, giving Tom a good slap on the back as the two women stood there staring at him then to each other, both pulling cautious smiles.


    ¡°Better safe than sorry, I guess?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are they putting her to work right away?¡± Saph asked, looking out from the greeting platform over the green rolling hills and two small shimmering lakes surrounding the keep. Change was in the air, the small patches of trees starting to yellow and the grass was starting to fade a little too. The wind was starting to bite a bit more to the point Saph was wondering when winter clothes might be needed.


    When the cold started to hit properly they would need to stay moving when outside, which was good for working spirits but still sucked. In the distance the glinting black form of Yldril slowly grew larger as she crested a hill heading towards them slowly and steadily.


    Behind them, inside the shelter of the greeting hall, Archeon was being loaded for his trip to the capital. Dakota was overseeing as Vulzan and his crew labored. Saph and Ray had lent a hand earlier, but they were mostly done by now so they had excused themselves to go watch Yldril¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°Fengi will go easy on her I am sure,¡± Ray replied a little forlornly. ¡°Is she as mean as the other said?¡±


    ¡°Downright evil,¡± Saph sighed, shaking her head a bit. ¡°And Fengi is dead set on trying to fix that.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she can?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. What I do know is she will try her damndest. I hope that damn dragon doesn¡¯t make her anymore depressed¡­ It¡¯s gonna suck next time Tiguan swings by too.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not gonna like her is he?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so¡­ she¡¯s a real piece of work,¡± Saph sighed, trying not to sound too depressed at the notion.


    ¡°Where is she staying? Just down in the grass next to Galaxer?¡± Ray asked cautiously.


    ¡°Yup. Just in the grass and outside every night. Fengi wants her to have nothing so she can make her earn it slowly. Make a lesson out of it. I think she¡¯s trying to do what Tom did with Jarix. Biggest difference being that Jarix isn¡¯t an evil murderous arsehole, she is.¡±


    ¡°What about winter?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, dragons hibernate all winter anyway. Might just get her some cover if she comes around enough to earn it.¡±


    ¡°Are the winters bad here? It normally feels warm, but it¡¯s starting to get quite chilly,¡± Ray asked carefully, rubbing her shoulders a bit.


    ¡°We¡¯re pretty southern. Usually isn¡¯t that bad, but we do get snow most years.¡±


    ¡°I hate the snow,¡± Ray responded, sounding quite unhappy. Saph could guess why easily enough. If the cold was rough on folk with a roof over their head, she didn¡¯t want to think about what it did to people living on the streets.


    ¡°Well here you¡¯ll have a warm bed, even if it gets a bit chilly outside. Woodstocks are more than plenty too, our dear Rachuck makes sure of that.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s very nice isn¡¯t he? He cares so much.¡±


    ¡°I guess so, I think Dakota put it best. ¡®Don¡¯t tell him a horror story or he¡¯ll try to prepare for it and then you¡¯ll be working all night,¡¯ ¡± Saph chuckled, letting a cautious smile creep onto her face.


    Ray chuckled lowly as well, still looking out over the changing landscape. It was still quite beautiful, and the sun was shining. That was likely to become a rarer and rarer sight moving forward though. She would miss bathing in the sun to relax. This year had been so damn busy they hadn¡¯t really gotten away with much relaxation.


    They weren¡¯t exactly lazy normally, but one needed breaks every now and again. She let her mind drift back to the time at the lake, the movie nights, the little festival and the various feasts they had held. It had been a good year in its own insane way. Maybe winter would be cozy if a little boring just like the old days.


    ¡®Who am I kidding. It will be crazy all winter long.¡¯


    ¡°Who did she say that to?¡± Ray questioned, Saph taking a second to remember what she had said.


    ¡°Oh¡­ me. She told me that back when I came here. Gotta say, she was certainly right. She still grumbles about giving Herron the same advice. Little did she know he would take that one a bit too much to heart.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, he¡¯s not that bad¡­ He¡¯s just a bit sleepy.¡±


    ¡°At all hours of the day¡± Saph replied, finding it her turn to chuckle a bit. ¡°You wanna go say hi to our first unwilling member?¡±


    ¡°Not really, no¡­¡±


    ¡°Me neither,¡± Saph echoed reluctantly. ¡°But Fengi needs friends right now. Gotta go give her a hand.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt, she sounded real mean. Oh, maybe have her bring some water. Rachuck wants the emergency barrels changed before winter.¡±


    ¡°I think that can wait till it starts getting a bit colder, we want it fresh for winter don¡¯t we,¡± Saph replied with a reassuring smile before letting her wings fold out, starting to feel out the cold air. ¡°See you in a bit, and don¡¯t let old Rachuck work you to the bone.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be busy with the floors and the dishes.¡±


    Saph stood there watching Ray, letting her wings feel out the wind for a second longer as she sighed, still smiling. ¡°Well, no taking everyone¡¯s chores either, gods know least of all Herron¡¯s.¡±


    And with that Saph let herself drop off the platform, wings catching as she silently glided down towards where Tom was busy planning out their next bunker while Kulinger had a second group of people planning out where their new warehouse would go. All in all the whole place was bustling with activity both inside and out. Even the techies were out lending a hand with construction planning.


    Saph had a hard time believing they would get it all done in time for winter, but with the workers assigned to Hylsdal and Grevi helping out, they might just manage it, depending of course on how soon said construction crew could move their asses over here.


    ¡®There¡¯s gonna be a lot of hard work this autumn isn¡¯t there¡­ fucking hell we better get paid good.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a while since Tom had last seen the black dragon, and that encounter had left her with freshly broken bones, the tip of her tail snapped off, and blood leaking from reopened wounds everywhere.


    ¡®... I want healing like that,¡¯ Tom concluded to himself as the dragon limping her way past them. It was several kilometers to her little camp. It was only a short hop on the wing, but it was still quite the walk. And she was evidently still in far from good shape. She wasn¡¯t dripping blood or anything, but she was definitely limping quite badly. Enough to make Tom wonder if some bones hadn¡¯t quite set right. Or perhaps she was just sore after walking for several miles while not quite healed.


    As she came by she didn¡¯t seem to pay him or anyone else any mind whatsoever. Work came to a halt as people stopped to stare, most of them hatefully. Yet she simply carried on as if they didn¡¯t exist. No prancing, no cowering or looking worriedly around trying to guess who was gonna throw something at her first. She just carried on like a wounded robot.


    ¡®I guess Fengi has been working her magic then,¡¯ Tom just noted for himself solemnly. It made sense. Yldril wouldn¡¯t really be up for walking several kilometers while wounded to a place she hated for its mere existence and which hated her just as much in return.


    Everyone wanted a good look at the dragon. Some hadn¡¯t seen her since the battle, and the mood had grown very grim to say the least. Tom didn¡¯t know how to feel about it all. There could be no doubt she was guilty of some truly heinous crimes, yet here she was, a slave for eternity. Fengi walked out front, doing her best to stare down most of the keep. She wasn¡¯t stupid, she knew half the keep didn¡¯t want Yldril anywhere near here and the other half would quite happily see her worked to death in short order, at least before the whole Kalestine mess which made it all rather complicated.


    Tom couldn¡¯t decide what he wanted. What he knew though was that Fengi wasn¡¯t letting either happen. ¡®Damn girl is even more naive than me,¡¯ he caught himself chuckling quietly as everyone else remained somber. There was the odd spitting in the dragon''s direction, but mostly just staring and hateful glances before people started to get back to their jobs, turning their back on the dragon.


    Tom had a feeling that if anyone had some rotten tomatoes, Yldril would have gotten a face full, but as it was he just stood there and stared.


    ¡°Well, at least she¡¯ll be useful,¡± Raulf the gruff old farmer let out from next to him, leaning on his shovel like a pro and looking after the dragon as she carried on toward the base of the keep. ¡°Are they letting her sleep that close to us? Really?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe they just want to unload the camp supplies. I see they made her carry most of it.¡±


    ¡°Well it was her camp, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Raulf replied with a chuckle, standing up straight and hefting his spade. ¡°Think she¡¯s in shape to dig yet?¡±


    ¡°At least give her a bit to rest after that walk. Maybe we just set out the markers today and get to work on the wood we have. Plenty of work to do before we start digging anyway.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Raulf concurred. ¡°Think we can convince the white one to help haul some logs until the tax collector there is ready to pull her weight?¡±


    ¡°I guess we can try. I think we might want to try and have a meeting with dear Kalestine first though. I have a feeling she¡¯s not in a great mood.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making it rather hard to get to work, you know that right?¡± Raulf jested as Tom sighed deeply. ¡°I guess so¡­ I was just gonna send Kulinger and cross my fingers.¡±


    ¡°Brilliant plan, I¡¯ll fetch him right away. Should have thought of that.¡±


    ¡°Wait, no.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Soo how is she doing?¡± Saph asked once she managed to spot a rather distraught-looking Fengi wandering away from everyone else. She probably wanted some peace and quiet, but Saph wasn¡¯t sure that was smart right now.


    Fengi was a little startled before turning to look at Saph with a forced upon looking smile. ¡°Oh you know. Everyone hates her and she hates them, both convinced they are in the right.¡±


    ¡°She thinks she¡¯s in the right?¡± Saph questioned, trying not to sound disrespectful and failing at least a little bit.


    ¡°Yes, she somehow does,¡± Fengi admitted. ¡°In her own stupid, selfish way.¡±


    Saph walked up and placed a reassuring hand on Fengi¡¯s shoulder giving her a little shake. ¡°Hey, you got this. If anyone might rub off on her it¡¯s you. Heavens know you can be infectiously happy sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Not right now I¡¯m not¡­ And if I mess up, she will hurt someone. Probably out of spite more than anything else. I can¡¯t let her do anything. She¡¯s gonna hate me for it. Well more than she already does.¡±


    ¡°Normally I would say some trust is in order to prove you mean well, but¡­¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not trustworthy at all. Doesn¡¯t even try to hide it,¡± Fengi carried on, sounding defeated, ears hanging limp by the side of her head as she looked down, kicking the ground a little. ¡°She¡¯s a fucking arsehole.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll crack eventually. Sounds like she might have been at least decent at some point¡­ even if it was a few centuries ago. If nothing else, she might behave just to get a tarp over her head.¡±


    ¡°That was the plan, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Fengi sighed nervously as she looked up at the keep, the blue sky silhouetting nicely behind the tall stone structure sitting perched atop the outcropping. ¡°I just hope people at least leave her alone in the night.¡±


    ¡°Might wanna tell Rachuck and the guards to keep an eye on her¡­ How¡¯s Unkai doing by the way?¡±


    ¡°Oh he¡¯s over there,¡± Fengi replied, gesturing over her shoulder at the diminutive dude who was currently talking with Rachuck about something next to the wood-drying hut.


    ¡°I mean how are the two of you doing?¡± Saph reiterated gingerly, hoping there was at least some good news on that front for the young huntress.


    Fengi turned to look at Saph, clearly trying very hard to not look sad, which only made her look more tragic. ¡°He told me why he was so scared of me¡­ What do you even say to that?¡± Fengi pleaded, eyes starting to turn wet.


    ¡°Oh come here,¡± Saph went, hoping a hug would at least help as she embraced Fengi, stroking the back of her head. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be fine I¡¯m sure. He just needs to get used to it, you know? Like when we went swimming. Remember that?¡±


    ¡°Mhmhhm,¡± Fengi nodded, burying her face against Saph¡¯s chest.


    ¡°It was scary, we had all been taught to fear the water, right? What can be in it, the cold, drowning, all that? Right from when we were little.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Fengi sniffled, not letting go.


    ¡°Well, he has to go swimming now. He is scared, he¡¯s been told to be scared all the way since he was little. Maybe he¡¯s like Dakota, but the little bugger loves you. I mean come on, he would be over the hills hiding if he didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s scared of me. I can¡¯t even whisper in his ear without him going stiff as a plank. Talking around the fire at night, he just sits there with fear in his eyes.¡±


    ¡°Well even with that medal he got, he¡¯s never been the bravest, now has he? Keep trying. He¡¯ll grow used to it. He¡¯ll learn to trust you just like Yldril will. I have to say I don¡¯t envy you right now. Even with a dragon at your beck and call.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say it like that. Makes me sound like some evil witch from the stories when we were little.¡±


    ¡°Well, remember what one evil witch could do in those stories. Now imagine what you can manage. You could turn out a damn hero one day, you know that, right?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± Fengi had to concede, even if it didn¡¯t seem to cheer her up overly much. She didn¡¯t even move a muscle from where Saph was holding her tight, still stroking the back of her head. ¡°She might have got her ass beat by Glira, but she is incredibly strong. If I can somehow bring her around, she could make everything so much quicker without making every day a living hell.¡±


    ¡°And hey, it would only be the what¡­ fourth, fifth, sixth? miracle to happen here this year?¡± Saph tried jokingly, giving Fengi a bit more of a squeeze and holding her close. ¡°Odds are on your side there¡¯s a couple left before winter.¡±


    Fengi did let out a chuckle at that before sighing and looking up, though still not letting go. ¡°Thanks, Saph.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Now I think I better go have some stern words about not giving our not-so-nice black dragon further reason to hate our guts. Think you¡¯ll be okay in the meantime?¡±


    Fengi just nodded, sighing a bit as she let go. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°You know what you could do? Go find Ray, it¡¯s been a bit, she might have some ideas too. She won¡¯t admit it, but she¡¯s actually sorta smart.¡±


    ¡°You know what¡­ I might just do that,¡± Fengi replied with a cautious smile as Saph gave her a last rub on the back, wearing a big smile.


    ¡°Catch you later then. I won¡¯t be long, I promise.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 164: Cha-Ching!

    Saph didn¡¯t really know if work was progressing well or not. Plenty of people were doing shit that was for sure, so she guessed so. Yldril had been camped a ways away from the keep to rest after she had been unloaded, and Glira had been loaded up for her scouting run now that she wasn¡¯t strictly needed to guard the black dragon anymore. Their oldest blue hadn¡¯t seemed to mind that it would be well past dark by the time she got to Hylsdal, so once both she and Arch were loaded, the three blues wished each other good luck (and a speedy recovery in Jarix¡¯s case) and set off on their respective missions. Jarix¡¯s belly was mostly healed, and he certainly didn¡¯t shy away from helping out with the digging work, even if it came with a few nasty comments directed at a certain someone who should probably have been doing it in his stead.


    Project Talk to the Unicorn had been a hot topic. Rachuck had wanted to rely on what they knew worked and just send Tom on the quadbike with the chainsaw. As for the dragons, they had Baron and Galaxer left who could fly. The two inquisitorial reds were busy on vault duty, at least for now, but they would be back soon.


    Galaxer wanted absolutely nothing to do with this stupid idea, pointing out that technically they didn¡¯t need to strike any deal whatsoever. Kalestine had to give up the wood without a fight, such were the terms of their agreement. It wasn¡¯t even like it was a large amount of wood compared to the size of the forest. Hardly a drop in the bucket. Hell, most inner keeps likely took several times more wood for the same amount of forest every single year.


    Kulinger had of course been vehemently against invoking the unicorn''s wrath by not informing her of what was going to happen. He wanted to strike a deal with her, and Rachuck and Dakota had agreed, though Tom suspected they were both hoping for the unicorn¡¯s assistance rather than just her consent. It would be quite a lot easier if they had her on their side after all. Kalestine wasn¡¯t used to her forest getting ¡®exploited¡¯ as Kulinger so eloquently put it.


    In the end they had agreed that not sending a dragon was an acceptable risk. They were fairly confident that the island was clear of all hostiles, save for the two brigands on the run. And they knew Kalestine did not like dragons in the slightest, so sending one on a diplomatic mission didn¡¯t sound overly smart.


    Victoria had volunteered to come. She was well-versed in the intricacies of the various laws and agreements between the unicorns and the kingdom. Plus, this would not be her first time negotiating with one of the wardens of their forests. Rachuck was going too, to represent the keep if a deal was to be struck. Apuma had apparently really wanted to come along, but the old man still had a wife to tend to and Linkosta had more work to handle than she had time to even catalog, so that left her out.


    They had also wanted to send some people whom Kalestine knew. Tom was considered, but everyone knew he was needed back at the keep, and Jacky refused to leave him just yet. Wiperna and Raulf were considered, but in the end dismissed since they were at least quite skilled in woodworking. And since Kulinger would definitely be going if they wanted to keep him sweet, the two farmers were the next best option they had to keep people moving on the warehouse project. They had also wanted Fengi since she clearly knew the unicorn better than anyone else in her own unique way, but that had been vetoed by both Nunuk and Paulin. So they went for the second, third or whatever best option, Saph and Unkai.


    Saph had looked rather distraught at the idea of going on a trip with some of the least fun people at the keep to look for a not-so-kind unicorn in a cold dark forest while she really had better places to be. Not to mention taking Unkai away from what he really should be dealing with. At least Paulin hadn¡¯t been able to go since she had an inquisitor to tend to, and as a closing note Victoria had wanted Maiko for his ¡®people skills¡¯ as she put it.


    ¡®Well at least he¡¯s coming too¡­thank the gods for that I guess.¡¯


    Getting ready to depart had taken a bit. Kulinger had needed to go through some things with Tom before they got underway, Victoria had gone to procure some supplies, equipment, and documents of her own from Baron and Rachuck likewise from his father. That had left the rest of them with the task of gearing up for a night in the woods. It was already early afternoon, and Saph was far from optimistic that Kalestine would just show up right away to hear what they had to say.


    She had brought hot rocks, fire-starting supplies ¡ªnamely kindling¡ª and the lighter they had gotten as a sign of gratitude from the crafters guild in the capital. And one of Tom¡¯s, just in case the guilds was shit. Tom¡¯s nice tent was also light enough for her to carry as opposed to the heavy canvas affairs they had at the keep. She had considered some nice warm pelts for the night, but the fact they actually had to carry it dissuaded her in the end. She was wearing her winter coat though, even if she didn¡¯t have it filled with warm rocks out the gate.


    On the wing the heat she made would be more than enough to keep her warm with the extra insulation, but if or when it was a cold night the inner rock pockets might come in handy yet.


    The weather had at least been kind to them as they flew aside from the slight biting cold gnawing at her wings as her body kept warm inside the coat. It was clear and not overly windy as they flew, reaching the forest in good time and starting to scan for a good spot to set up camp. They didn¡¯t want to just sit by the outskirts where they would be easier to ignore.


    Saph led them to a suitable clearing they had used many times before when out hunting, it had a small waterhole that cleared a opening in the massive heaven oak trees which stood all around. The massive crowns of the ancient trees had started slowly turning yellow, but coming down between the trees they were greeted with a sea of green, almost like autumn had yet to set in, the giants shielding their smaller brethren down below.


    ¡®Fingers crossed it¡¯s a bit warmer in there too,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, smiling at the sight. She knew it would at least be shielded from the wind, and the pond was crystal clear, the bottom mostly lined with moss. It was one of the few places Dakota dared to set foot in water since the bottom could be seen from above across the whole waterhole, making it quite obvious that nothing was hiding down below.


    The small group came in to land along the edge of the water, all of them soon down safe and sound, looking around at their surroundings. Saph took a second to take in the rather empty forest. A group of dragonettes tended to have that effect, white and blue was rather easy to spot once on the ground after all and Saph very much doubted a deer could tell the difference between them and a hunting party.


    ¡°So then, what¡¯s the plan?¡± She tried a little brazenly strutting around the clearing letting her claws sink into the soft leaf-covered ground.


    "We make our wishes known,¡± Kulinger replied as he confidently strode forth into the forest, leaving the rest of them behind all probably wondering just how he planned on doing that.


    She was pretty sure he was just playing for dramatic effect and didn¡¯t actually have that much clue either, but hey, better he make an arse of it than her.


    Victoria didn¡¯t seem to have any input yet as she unslung her pack of camping supplies and leaned it against a small shrub, head swiveling around as she surveyed the area. Saph decided to follow suit. What was the point in carrying a heavy pack of stuff now anyway? If they were camping, they were camping here.


    ¡°Warden of the forest! We have come to seek your aid in honoring our alliance with you!¡± Kulinger shouted out, arms spread wide as if venerating the ancient forest.


    ¡°Think the trees have ears, or are you hoping there is a squirrel left hiding somewhere?¡± Saph jested, rather confident this wouldn¡¯t work. If it were this simple, their carpenter would spend more time in the forest than doing his job. He did often go on the logging trips, at least back when Tom wasn¡¯t around ¡ªor even worse, Tom¡¯s noisy equipment.


    To her total lack of surprise there was no response as they waited in silence.


    ¡°So then? Take a walk or make camp for a bit? She might notice a fire in a hurry?¡±


    ¡°As long as it is a campfire and not a forest fire,¡± Victoria added in with a huff, continuing to look around at the empty forest. ¡°Give it a minute and the birds should at least come back. Then you can try to get her attention again.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t do us any harm to wait a little. I am sure she already knows we are here,¡± Kulinger replied with a sagely nod like everything was going according to his plan or something as they set about unpacking.


    ¡°Question is, does she care?¡± Saph sighed as she started scratching away wet grass with a foot from what looked to her like the best place for a fire.


    ¡°She will care,¡± Rachuck added in a calmer, more diplomatic tone. ¡°It has been a while since last we tried to hold an actual meeting, even if we have had a few unconventional ones this year.¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± Saph replied, trying not to show that she did not particularly want to be here, heretical as that might be to say. She had been so excited to meet Kalestine the first time. She was more than a little worried this wouldn¡¯t go well though.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been smooth sailing all the way until dinner for Tom. He didn¡¯t feel sick or exhausted, even after putting in just a little bit of actual work. Jacky had soon put a stop to it of course, relegating Tom to watching and talking for now. They were gonna stick with just the one extra bunker, but they might need more next year by the sounds of it. The warehouse was gonna be big though. Not as big as what they would probably be looking at for the factory, but still big.


    Tom thought they were mad for even trying to get it done before winter, but that was the plan. He guessed they were envisioning something like what happened when the Amish decided they needed a new barn and just whipped it together in a day or two. He didn¡¯t actually know how the hell they did that, but he was guessing a lot of prep work, none of which they had done.


    If they didn¡¯t get it done they would have to finish it in spring before the next shipment of toys arrived, which sounded like it could be a cold affair. The warehouse, or large barn depending on how you wanted to look at it, would be about two stories tall but with no actual second floor inside. The idea was apparently to use Jarix as an improvised crane to get up to the higher boxes that would be stored inside. It sorta made sense to Tom. Jarix wouldn¡¯t even be able to get in there if it wasn¡¯t two stories tall without ducking his head and getting low to the ground after all. But the planned size meant he would be able to reach all the way to the roof if he stretched a bit.


    Kulinger had been doing the first rough drafts on what they would be building here. He was their carpenter after all. He¡¯d kept the keep in good shape for decades, so he knew his way around construction work, even if this was quite a bit bigger scale. His excitement was palpable though. Tom hadn¡¯t seen the guy this excited about anything before. ¡®Guy really loves his wood I guess, or maybe it¡¯s about going to see the unicorn that has him all cheery.¡¯


    The group that had headed out to see said unicorn hadn¡¯t made it back for dinner, but that was hardly surprising really. They had packed for a night in the woods after all. At dinner Tom had sat down with Jacky at the huntress table. Saph might be missing but Fengi was back so it didn¡¯t feel overly different. Bo and Pho had for once agreed on complaining about something together rather than bickering with each other. That being how for the foreseeable future they would be placed under Kulinger¡¯s tutelage along with most of the guard.


    They both had their own unique style of complaining of course. Bo argued rather adeptly while Pho mostly flung accusations around and generally acted like a bit of a bitch. Tom could sorta see how a pair of racers who had expected to be out here hunting down critters would be a little miffed about getting reassigned as carpenters, but he did have a feeling it would be good for them. Especially Pho.


    Edita had of course also taken a seat at their table, but there was no outpouring of questions towards Tom. In fact it was Essy and Fengi who had most of her attention. Tom had picked up on the artificer being¡­ a bit out of touch with normal people. But he had not noticed just how bad it was. She had almost started reminding him of Linkosta as she lapped up all the girl¡¯s gossip at the table, even taking a few notes. The mood was much improved today, even Tom could feel that. According to Jacky things had been rather bleak while he was out. Dakota had even gone so far as to ready them for a fight just in case Joelina¡¯s delusions got the better of her.


    After the meeting that morning things had loosened up somewhat though. Nunuk¡¯s chair was still empty, Tom hoping she was at least in her own room as opposed to the infirmary, resting after her ordeal this morning. The inquisitor for her part was nowhere to be seen either. Tom guessed she was busy unraveling the mysteries of the human condition. He wished her good luck on that one.


    As they had all finished and started collecting plates Dakota had made her way over, clearing her throat behind him. ¡°Could I perhaps bother you for a bit?¡±


    ¡°I believe so,¡± Tom replied, turning around to face her, still sitting on the bench.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Things are moving quickly and with the inquisitor departing. I would rather we went over our finances, at least roughly. Especially with the opportunity to make one last round of orders before winter.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I guess you want a damage report for my ideas for the future?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± Dakota admitted with a slight chuckle.


    ¡°Is my loyal bodyguard allowed to come along too?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Come on then,¡± she agreed, waving the two of them along. Jacky had dropped the halberd, at least for now, but she still had her favorite piece of jewelry with her. It honestly made Tom wonder if he could somehow get her a set of revolver earrings or something. She would love that he was sure.


    Dakota led them up to her room on the top floor where, much as Tom had expected, everything was meticulously organized except for the desk which was dominated by a very large tome and scraps of paper flung randomly around the place. To his surprise though, Lothal was there sitting on a chair next to the table, clearly waiting for them.


    ¡°Well hello there,¡± Tom greeted as they all stepped inside, Jacky giving a curt nod.


    ¡°Hello, glad you could make it,¡± Lothal responded, far too smoothly for a kid his age. It was clearly a well-practiced greeting, though it seemed to come naturally to the teen.


    ¡°On the mend so I thought why not,¡± Tom tried to respond a bit more jokingly, the young man replying with a kind smile as they all got comfortable.


    ¡°Yes. Lothal has been taking part in my work as of late, I¡¯m sure you know,¡± Dakota explained as she started running a finger down the page of the tome.


    ¡°I will have to see to the finances of my keep in the near future. Or at the bare minimum know them well enough to determine if I am being taken for a fool.¡±


    ¡°You are a wise one,¡± was the best reply Tom had as Dakota apparently found the line she was looking for.


    ¡°Very. Right, so, firstly, it has been a rather odd year to say the least. We have not actually made much on hunting at all, which is normally the backbone of what we do here. But, the sugar sold well. Very well. And we won¡¯t be paying tax on any of it, which is a relief. That leaves us looking rather good indeed. Now of course the more we spend leading up to winter the less people get in the way of their own money. I would also rather see that we pay people before we have to give Archeon the word on what we want.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Galaxer will keep flying throughout winter?¡± Jacky questioned, tilting her head. ¡°Maybe the Inquisition would be willing to pay him?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Dakota admitted, rubbing her chin a little. ¡°I do not think we should be betting on it. It was my understanding that our next shipments of inquisitorial goods would not arrive til spring.  Now I have been over this with mum after she decided against better judgment to get up this morning. As well as dad and Rachuck, of course. As it stands, we have just shy of 6,000 gold in profits this year.¡±


    ¡°Holy fuck man!¡± Jacky spat out, seeming quite taken aback by the news. Lothal seemed rather taken aback by the outburst, looking at her and blinking a few times before returning to his previous posture. Jacky didn¡¯t seem to notice; she seemed too busy with trying to rack her brain for an answer on what that number meant Tom guessed.


    ¡°Indeed. We normally turn over for 1,000 gold a year total, and most of that we spend on what we need. Supplies, equipment, raw materials. There¡¯s not much profit left usually. The sugar alone sold for nearly 12,000. We have spent a lot of money this year too though.¡±


    ¡°We spent 6,000 gold?!¡± Jacky exclaimed, disbelief rising in her voice. Tom just stood there trying to remember how much that roughly was. He remembered that they had been expecting to sell the sugar for it¡¯s weight in silver and it was 10 silver to a gold.


    ¡°More actually,¡± Dakota interrupted. ¡°There is also the 2400 from the Flaxens to consider. About 150 from our own produce, which is the lowest we have ever had on record. And nearly 300 from our royalties. Not bad for a side venture,¡± Dakota went with a somber nod, looking at the book.


    ¡°How much sugar did we make in the end?¡± Tom asked curiously. He couldn¡¯t actually remember what the final tally was. It had been a fucking lot though.


    ¡°A bit over half a ton,¡± Dakota replied. ¡° And Arch managed to sell it much better than we had thought. Apparently, some noble family decided to corner the market in a hurry and were willing to pay for a monopoly. Good for them, I guess. We were afraid he would struggle to sell this much quickly without having to lower the price substantially. Instead we sold it for nearly one and a half times the cost of honey,¡± Dakota replied with a nod. ¡°In short, we Are rich, Tom. Just like you said we would be,¡± Dakota finished, turning to look at Tom with an unusually crooked smile for the woman. She seemed downright mischievous if he was being brutally honest.


    ¡°Why thank you very much,¡± Tom replied snarkily, giving a little bow.


    ¡°Now the question is: Do we apply normal shares to this? It¡¯s an awful lot of money.¡±


    ¡°Well we did also work rather hard this year. And nearly got killed a few too many times,¡± Jacky interjected, clearly doing her best to be very convincing right now.


    ¡°What would it work out to per share?¡± Tom questioned. He knew Jacky got 4 shares. He only got two though. Didn¡¯t quite seem fair. ¡®Wait, do I get paid for being both a hunter, a guard, and a crafter? Hmmm¡­.¡¯


    ¡°Well that¡¯s the thing now, isn¡¯t it. How many shares do we even have? Do we pay Jarix? What about Edita? Sounds like she will be staying for quite some time.¡±


    ¡°What about Ray? She¡¯s just a greenhorn, right?¡± Tom questioned, trying to work out what that would equate to.


    ¡°She is indeed. There is also the question of you. I have no idea where to even start with you,¡± Dakota sighed, pointing at Tom.


    ¡°He is, an atypical situation,¡± Lothal added, his tone prim and proper but a smile showing on his face.


    ¡°I mean, I think I¡¯m a silver, copper, and greenhorn depending on who you ask?¡± Tom jested, trying to work out if he could get away with calling himself a silvered craftsman. Gold was out of the question, Shiva would beat him senseless, but he felt he at least deserved silver.


    ¡°Oh please, let¡¯s not forget why we have these lovely sugar beats in the first place now shall we,¡± Dakota chuckled in reply. ¡°How about this? You get a full 8 shares just like me. So does Jarix ¡®cause the gods know he¡¯s earned them and gold doesn¡¯t go far for a dragon. We get Zarko 4 and Radexi 1. I have Tink down as coppered so 2. Junior gets greenhorn so 1, that way the boys don¡¯t think one is worth more than the other and get into a fight. That and we have Bo and Pho to think about. I don¡¯t think they would be happy if the boys got more than them. Ray is just a greenhorn. The contract says so; not much to do there. I was thinking maybe we get her a little something on the side though,¡± Dakota continued, looking around at them, clearly trying to gauge if they agreed about Ray.


    ¡°She deserves it more than most,¡± Tom agreed. ¡°Even if she would probably be very happy with what she gets just from the one share.¡±


    ¡°Might be more money that she has made in the last decade¡­ or two,¡± Jacky added, Lothal nodding his agreement. ¡°If it was that long she was on the street.¡±


    ¡°Several times over,¡± Dakota added with a solemn sigh. ¡°Maybe some nice things then instead. Think she would accept them?¡±


    ¡°Not without a fight,¡± Tom replied, Jacky nodding her agreement. ¡°But I¡¯m sure she would love it afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Might even teach that bitch Yldril a lesson or two about what we do with nice folk around here,¡± Jacky added with a grumble, crossing her arms.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Dakota concurred, not seeming thrilled. ¡°Though that dragon is not getting a penny yet, that is for certain. That leaves Edita undecided¡­ hmm¡­¡±


    Jacky grumbled a little before she reluctantly spoke up. ¡°I think she should get something¡­ Make her feel welcome. It¡¯s bad enough as is.¡±


    ¡°Bad?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Jacky, suddenly worried something nasty had happened while he was out. It hadn¡¯t seemed like it to him though. In fact, she seemed extremely happy.


    ¡°She is strange, Tom. Essy had to tell her about what loving someone meant. She¡¯s not even on par with a five year old when it comes to dealing with people.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± was all Tom could say in response to Jacky¡¯s little outburst. He guessed her arriving at that conclusion at least somewhat explained why she had seemed more okay now than she was before the whole ordeal.


    ¡°I believe giving her a rank such as greenhorn or coppered would only make it seem like we do not value her. She is highly skilled and her skills are rare too.¡± Lothal interjected helpfully.


    ¡°Aye, I guess,¡± Tom agreed, looking to Dakota as she thought on it some more.


    ¡°I concur. Besides there would be the matter of swearing her to our keep and questions of loyalty from the Inquisition. I would rather not poke that bee¡¯s nest more than absolutely necessary right now,¡± Dakota concluded. ¡°Besides, looking at what she has brought us, I find it hard to believe simple gold would hold much value to her.¡±


    ¡°They probably pay her too,¡± Tom tried, not actually sure if that would be true or not. ¡°Or if they don¡¯t, perhaps we can get her a little spending cash so she can feel included. I don¡¯t know if she wants a personal thing or perhaps she would want to buy a gift for someone or something,¡± Tom backpedaled, thinking back to his little chat about Christmas with Maiko.


    ¡®Edita the elf in Santa¡¯s workshop¡­ wouldn¡¯t that be an upgrade from weapons factory, heh.¡¯


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Dakota responded with a quick nod, going back to her tome and writing something down. ¡°I guess that is the matter of shares sorted. Let¡¯s see what we have then¡­¡±


    Dakota had ended up scribbling away in her tome for some time, Tom considering if he should bring out his phone when she produced his trusty old Ti-84 calculator from a drawer in her desk and started punching in numbers.


    ¡®Ooohhh. I forgot that¡¯s where that went¡­ I¡¯d been looking for that,¡¯ Tom grumbled to himself as Daktoa finished up on her math.


    ¡°Also I tried to work out what the Inquisition has brought us,¡± she then spoke up, still running numbers. ¡°They have been acting like petulant children at times, but it is hard to be mad at someone who brought us tens of thousands of gold in materials alone. Did you know back in those crates we got nearly fifty kilos of mithril. Of mithril!¡± Dakota repeated. ¡°I know they probably didn¡¯t buy it as such, but that is still of considerable value. Thousands I would guess just in metals.¡±


    ¡°And what about what we turn it into? Is that ours?¡± Tom had to question as he pondered just what the ownership rights were gonna be on this.


    ¡°Not quite. The factory comes first, and it will be them dictating what is to be made. But we will be paid handsomely, of that there can be no doubt. And anything you may convince them is worth making I would see us simply being allowed to make.¡±


    ¡°So convince Paulina?¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps Edita, I do not know how rank works between the two of them,¡± Dakota countered, seeming more confident in the second option. Tom had to agree there, Edita certainly seemed the more excitable of the two. Not to mention less scrupulous.


    ¡°Okay this could actually be quite good.¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­ so anyway, that comes to 93 shares total. Half the profits go to the shares normally. There is no tax man this year, but considering it may be a bit until our next big payday, I propose we hide away a lot of it. Not likely anyone will be hurting for money, and we may need substantial reserves for¡­¡±


    ¡°Unforseen expenses of abnormal magnitude,¡± Lothal finished with a slight nod to Dakota. She cracked a smile and nodded in reply before turning to Jacky and Tom expectantly.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom just agreed with a nod. ¡°What were we paying for cast iron by the way?¡±


    ¡°Not terribly much, why?¡±


    ¡°Oh I might just need a rather large amount for an idea. Gonna need a lot of pipes¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I believe around 3 silver pr kilo. But we do have a considerable amount in storage now, at least a few dozen kilos I am sure more could be brought by our new friends if they find this idea of yours interesting.¡±


    ¡°Not so sure on that one, but might be worth the try. anyway sounds like we can afford it.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. This will still be quite some payday.¡±


    ¡°yeah, I remember when I made a whole gold for the first time. I was ecstatic.¡±


    ¡°Well you are about to make a whole lot more, Dragonslayer,¡± Dakota smirked as she glanced at the calculator again. ¡°Even if we spend half of what we have on savings and more winter supplies, this still comes to 32 gold 2 silver a share. Some copper too, but who¡¯s counting?¡± Dakota half laughed as she shook her head, clearly not quite believing what she was saying.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna make, what. Over 120 gold?¡± Jacky just asked, dumbfounded.


    ¡°256 for me,¡± Tom chuckled, giving her a little poke in the side. ¡°Booyah.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit man!¡±


    ¡°A regular trader¡¯s escort may make 25 gold in a year, perhaps double for someone like Sergeant Tyborg. We may be the highest paid keep on the entire frontier.¡±


    ¡°Frontier?¡± Jacky questioned. ¡°I¡¯ve heard plenty of stories. We might be the best paid keep in the world!¡±


    ¡°Numbers can get quite high in the inner keeps for upper positions,¡± Lothal countered, though he didn¡¯t seem overly convinced by his own argument.


    ¡°Yeah, but they would have me labeled a copper, and I doubt even then they would give me one-fourth what a gilded makes.¡±


    ¡°Also true¡­ Benefits of the frontier, aye?¡± Lothal replied with a big smile on, Dakota shaking her head just a little, seeming quite bemused.


    ¡°Oh, so shares are different further in?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Dakota replied with an over-exaggerated nod. ¡°Such keeps may employ hundreds or thousands of people. If we are talking inner keeps at the very least. The higher-ups tend to want a larger slice of the pie when commanding a hundred huntresses as opposed to five or six.¡±


    ¡°Some things change, others stay the same,¡± Tom chuckled, pondering what life would be like in a keep like where Saph grew up. He had a feeling paychecks wouldn¡¯t have been great in a place like that.


    ¡°All the more reason to celebrate what we made this year. Let¡¯s do it again next year. We¡¯ll be the richest keep in the world in no time!¡± Jacky broke out, seeming on the verge of jumping up and down, likely hugging Tom and shaking him like a toy all the while.


    ¡®We are soo having a sweet christmas,¡¯ Tom just chuckled to himself as he pondered just what one could do with nearly 250 gold. Counting what he already had he probably was well over 270.


    ¡®Oh shit, right.¡¯ ¡°What about Maiko?¡± Tom then went as he realized. ¡°He¡¯s working around the keep I guess. At least sorta.¡±


    ¡°Gods know he¡¯s done plenty of Saph¡¯s chores,¡± Jacky grumbled in agreement, sounding maybe just a little jealous, though it soon burned away as she went back to pondering what to do with her new paycheck.


    ¡®Hey, I¡¯m not doing your dishes for you,¡¯ Tom just chuckled to himself as Dakota thought about it.


    ¡°He is paid by Victoria. And once more a pledge of loyalty would be a problem. Perhaps a little something under the table. I don¡¯t want three whole dragon crews wanting a piece of us too. We made a lot of money, but not quite that much. I am also quite sure Rachuck will be looking to hire more guards next year. We have found ourselves constantly outnumbered within our own walls for the last several months now.¡±


    ¡°How many more beds have we even got?¡± Tom questioned. ¡°And with construction crews and who knows what coming next year?¡±


    ¡°They will not be staying inside our walls. Even reaching parity on numbers would be close to impossible. But maybe it could help a little.¡±


    ¡°I say you put Jarix down as the added security. I have a feeling we might just be able to make him a permanent resident if we try. And don¡¯t forget Yldril.¡±


    ¡°A frontier keep able to call on two combat-trained dragons¡­ now there is something you don¡¯t hear every day,¡± Dakota chuckled. ¡°Would it be a good idea to give her a crew though?¡±


    ¡°Eeeh. Maybe leave that one for next year,¡± Tom tried. It was pretty clear Dakota was just pondering right now, but still. It may be best not to try out Yldril in battle till they knew how this all worked at least a bit better.


    ¡°I¡¯m not fighting from her back,¡±  Jacky declared, shaking her head. ¡°No way.¡±


    ¡°You sure? She could carry such a big gun though. She¡¯s larger than Glira you know,¡± Tom tried teasingly, receiving a rather unamused look from Jacky as she crossed her arms and raised her snout.


    ¡°Not in a million years. No way.¡±


    ¡°From what I heard Glira may be swayed too with the right promises.¡±


    ¡°Eeeh¡­ maybe,¡± Tom admitted reluctantly. ¡°Not really my first choice though.¡±


    ¡°Quite,¡± Dakota echoed. ¡°Well I do believe we have our affairs in order then. I will run it all by mother and father one final time, do try to keep quiet for now. I think we will let everyone know at dinner after Joelina has departed. I have a feeling there might be some celebrating to be had.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Jacky replied promptly, Tom taking a second and receiving a slight poke in the side from Jacky for his pondering. In his defence, he was busy trying to work out how bad things would have to get before he would consider giving in to Glira¡¯s demands.


    ¡°Oh right, sure.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 165: Divine Sanction

    ¡°So how long should we be waiting again? I hear some bird song,¡± Saph questioned indignantly as it became apparent she wasn¡¯t winning this hand against Maiko. ¡°You are too good at this to be trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°Oh no that one was just luck,¡± he reassured her, taking the cards and starting to shuffle anew. Not much had happened yet if they were totally honest. They were sitting in a forest with a campfire and some cards. It was a pretty spot, but it did feel sorta wrong to have so much to do back at the keep and yet be out here, playing cards and contemplating if they needed to get dinner going on the fire.


    As Maiko shuffled he turned over to the brains of the operation, Kulinger, who hadn¡¯t deigned to give Saph an answer to her quite reasonable question. ¡°Well old man, think she¡¯s listening?¡±


    ¡°I believe she knows we are here¡­ I feel her presence,¡± Kulinger responded perfectly seriously, not turning to look at them as he kept scanning the forest like a guard on watch.


    ¡®Sure thing, buddy,¡¯ Saph just sighed, knowing full well Kulinger could do no such thing. ¡®Damn nut job.¡¯ Then a small red songbird landed on Maiko¡¯s horn, hopping around peacefully and taking a look around at all of them. ¡®Oh.¡¯


    The bird turned to look at Sapphire, its little head tilting as the black beady eyes stared at her, devoid of emotion. ¡®I see you brought a familiar face, Kulinger,¡¯ she heard emanating from the back of her mind in the all too familiar fashion.


    ¡°Ahr, yes. Sapphire has met you before. I apologize for the disturbance, it has been an interesting few days your holiness,¡± Kulinger replied right away, assumedly having gotten that message too, bowing seemingly just angled towards the forest in general.


    ¡®I guess her holiness is having a chat,¡¯ Saph thought to herself before she remembered there was a pretty good chance Kalestine could hear what she was thinking. ¡®Shit right, respectful¡­ oh this is hard! Okay, no thinking. You got this.¡¯


    ¡®Well hello there, Sapphire. I see the proper titles have been remembered. How is Fengi?¡¯ Kalestine¡¯s voice rang out inside her head once more. This time it didn¡¯t seem like anyone around her got the message too though. The unicorn didn¡¯t sound overly upset, much to Saph¡¯s relief, but there was something she struggled to put her finger on there. An intensity like someone smiling through gritted teeth. Saph did try to scan around without making it too obvious, finding no sign of the unicorn.


    ¡®She¡¯s doing well. A touch worried and uncertain, but she will be fine, I¡¯m sure,¡¯ Saph tried, hoping that didn¡¯t count as a lie.


    ¡®And the dragon?¡¯ Kalestine questioned expectantly, like she expected some good news.


    ¡®Miserable in the extreme,¡¯ Saph responded more confidently, feeling quite sure Kalestine would like that part.


    ¡®Marvelous,¡¯ Kalestine replied with what Saph could best describe as malicious glee. She could almost feel the malicious intent radiating through the words.


    Maiko had just been sitting very still and staring at Saph, the small bird still perched on his horn, likely having worked out what was going on. Saph gave him a little nod, hoping to confirm his suspicions as everyone seemed to perk up at the same time.


    ¡®So what brings you all here seeking me out? It has been a long time since a meeting was sought. And no trace of Nunuk?¡¯


    ¡°My mother is still recovering following the battle with the brigands. Her wings have been lost,¡± Rachuck spoke up, putting on a stern face.


    ¡®How unfortunate¡­ but I feel that is not why you have sought me out, no?¡¯


    ¡°No, warden. We have come here to seek your blessing, and perhaps to exchange information on how the year has been progressing. Things have been¡­ abnormal, to say the least.¡±


    ¡®Well, my forest got infected with darklings, one of your stupid little keeps fell, I broke my horn, my forest has been hunted like never before, and the only good thing to come out of all of it was nearly snuffed out by a dragon- and a black one at that-¡¯ Kalestine replied, not sounding impressed in the absolute slightest. In fact, she sounded sad more than anything, like she might actually have to sniffle. ¡®Did you at least manage to save most of that outrageous amount of life you took that one day?¡¯


    ¡°Why yes we did manage to salvage most of the honored animals, despite the best efforts of those dastardly brigands,¡± Kulinger tried, even Saph being more than able to make out the quivering in his voice. Glancing over at him, she also found he was on his knees just like last time.


    ¡®Well that is at least something, and my horn has started growing in beautifully. One day I might just be able to look in a lake again.¡¯


    ¡°That is good to hear, I believe you will be delighted to know that your last horn is still safe within our walls. We promise we will keep it safe.¡±


    ¡®No¡­¡¯ came the apathetic reply. They all froze, not quite sure what she meant by that. Saph certainly didn¡¯t know what to say to that.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Rachuck tried in his most diplomatic tone.


    ¡®I want you to use it. It is already lost. Make them pay!¡¯ Kalestine ordered, anger seeping into her words once more and Saph feeling just a smidge of that familiar headache she remembered so sorely from last time.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Kulinger let out. ¡°We have many new people at the keep. Masters of weapon making. I am sure it can be put to good use.¡±


    ¡°You would not happen to know how one may go about making the most of your horn, your highness?¡± Victoria questioned, taking a knee as well.


    ¡®Whatever you want, I don¡¯t care. I don¡¯t want to hear about it again. I don¡¯t want to see it. I don¡¯t want to learn where it went. Just make it go away,¡¯ Kalestine answered accompanied by even more headache, even if it went away quickly this time.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Kulinger added in a strained tone as the pressure lifted. Saph and the others just noded their agreement.


    ¡®Now I know you all are hiding something. Why are you actually here? What is this you seek a blessing for?¡¯


    ¡°More means to fight the enemy,¡± Victoria responded, still kneeling.


    ¡®More dragons?! Oh don¡¯t let it be so?¡¯ Kalestine all but whined.


    ¡°No, we seek lumber to build factories for making weapons. Weapons designed by Tom. Do you remember Tom? The maniac with the machine saw,¡± Kulinger got out before anyone else could answer.


    ¡®Yes, I do. He was the one who bled me and reclaimed my horn,¡¯ Kalestine replied, uncertainty in her tone, like she didn¡¯t know what to make of the human after everything that had happened.


    ¡°He believes we can produce more weapons to help fight all this corruption. The enemy is advancing; we are losing ground. Not just this island, but hundreds are under threat. We must fight back,¡± Victoria added, Saph praying the unicorn¡¯s thirst for revenge extended beyond just their island. ¡°We have the backing and blessing of the Inquisition in this matter. We must not fail.¡±


    There was silence for a bit, Saph waiting with bated breath as they all sat still.


    ¡®Where would this all be taken?¡¯ Kalestine finally answered skeptically. ¡®My precious woods?¡¯


    ¡°Our keep,¡± Rackuck answered in a determined tone. ¡° We would have Yldril drag it there as punishment and then put her to work assisting in the construction. Work her to the bone.¡±


    ¡®I see¡­ Why did you seek me out to ask this? You know I cannot refuse you even if I want to?¡¯


    ¡°We wanted your blessing to take the finest of woods for the building. We do not have the time to dry it out. Is it within your power to help us so we will not need to spend more of your precious forest to replace the warped and broken beams in time?¡± Kulinger asked, or more like pleaded¡­ you could maybe even have called it begged as his head was now pressed into the grass with his arms spread out in front of him.


    Once more there was silence for a time as they all waited.


    ¡®You will make my sacrifice count. Or I will make you pay for what you took,¡¯ Kalestine finally responded, the reluctance clear in her voice. ¡®I want tales of darklings slain by these weapons you speak of. I will be able to tell if you are truthful. So you will prove to me this was not in vain. Oh my blessed forest, how has it come to this,¡¯ she carried on, voice turning to a whimper once more.


    ¡®I will bleed a heaven oak for you. Once it has killed itself cut high above the root and you shall have your dry lumber. Devoid of all the life that makes it so precious.¡¯


    ¡®Holy shit,¡¯ Saph let out, blinking a few times as everyone looked around at each other, minus Kulinger of course, who was thoroughly glued to the ground by now. They had thought they might receive some regular trees, not a Heaven Oak.


    ¡°Thank you very much. That is too kind of you. I do not even know if we can see this much lumber transported to the keep. Or stored. A heaven oak must be hundreds of tones, we only have a month to two before the cold sets in,¡± Kulinger let out, clearly awestruck.


    ¡®Oh¡­ I cannot do it that quickly¡­ It will be dry come spring,¡¯ Kalestine responded, seemingly very surprised they didn¡¯t know that. ¡®You wish to start already this year?¡¯


    ¡°We wish to construct a warehouse for the materials needed to construct the factory. Your gift is generous beyond measure. It will make for the finest lumber for the factory,¡± Kulinger replied. ¡°This year we would ask for smaller straight trees, fine straight wood good for beams and planking. Perhaps a regular oak?¡±


    ¡®Then I shall bleed them too as best I can. Oh the gods have mercy upon me for what I am about to do. You will have your wood. And that dragon, work her to the bone. I want my vengeance, and you shall give it to me, against all who have harmed my forest without my permission.¡¯


    ¡°Of course, it will be done,¡± Kulinger replied like a laborer trying to suck up to his boss. ¡°How will we know the chosen ones?¡±


    ¡®Follow the little blue songbird. He will come when they are ready. Do try and keep up. Harm him and you will answer to me.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Kalestine. It will be done.¡±


    ¡®Very well, and protect the child. I will not tolerate harm befalling her. Tell that to your Inquisition friends. Delusional as they are.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°A heaven oak? She will let us cut down a heaven oak?¡± Shiva had questioned as Saph broke the news to the workshop the following morning. Tom still found it funny to see the smith get taken completely aback by something. It wasn¡¯t often it happened, even if Edita¡¯s Hammers did have a similar effect. Or the armor recovered from the Flaxens.


    ¡°She will even bleed it first, whatever that means,¡± Saph continued. ¡°All winter so it is dry for spring when we need it.¡±


    ¡°She must be making it draw all the fluids down into the roots. I have no clue if that will be dry enough though?¡± Tom pondered aloud, it was magic so who was he to say, but it sounded a touch far-fetched if he was being completely honest.


    ¡°Heaven oak is strong. Immensely strong, but heavy, and this wood would carry the blessing of a unicorn. Kulinger will be beside himself,¡± Shiva let out, shaking her head a little. ¡°There should be plenty enough wood that we could take some for weapon making. A heaven oak stock would make for a fine substitute, we could make it thinner and slimmer yet just as strong. Something worthy of being put in a collection.¡±


    ¡°I think any gun we make would warrant that,¡± Junior tried with a bit of a coy smile. ¡°I mean they are pretty unique.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was that rare?¡± Edita spoke up, seeming confused. ¡°Don¡¯t inner keeps cut them down from time to time?¡±


    ¡°Yes on occasion, and often when one is dead or dying. But Kalestine can be difficult at the best of times, and she has given her blessing and even her help in cutting down one of her treasured trees. A fresh and strong one too. Often much of the wood has started to rot and is ruined by the time the tree dies.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t even a little bit rare in the stockpiles where you come from, is it?¡± Shiva asked, seeming a lot less amused as she stared at the now very uncomfortable artificer. Edita just shook her head, looking worried. Shiva just sighed, crossing her arms.


    ¡°Now now, can¡¯t be jealous of someone having what we will also have soon. I for one cannot wait to get started on this whole factory thing,¡± Tink added happily. ¡°Having a workshop I have designed myself once more. And with all the fine equipment we have gotten now. Oh it will be marvelous.¡±


    Junior just cleared his throat a bit at that, Tink looking a touch confused before correcting himself. ¡°Had a hand in designing¡­ yes definitely.¡±


    ¡°It will sure be an upgrade from this place. We haven¡¯t got room for anything more in here really. Speaking of which, I think we should just get on with it,¡± Tom interjected with a bemused chuckle. ¡°Kulinger is working on lists of everything we need for the warehouse out of here. Mostly nails and brackets and such. Get that done first. Work on the shotguns when we can, save the machine gun ideas for free time or later when we hit winter or something. I will be outside a lot helping there, we will probably also need some of you from time to time. Sounds like a plan?¡±


    There were some nods from around the shop of general agreement, even if it was quite clear none of them were that happy about the far more interesting projects getting moved back in favor of making nails and building a warehouse, but that was just life. They needed to get this warehouse done in a hurry, and there were still the bunkers to get done too.


    ¡°Actually, why do we need to get on with that if the wood isn¡¯t here yet?¡± Tink questioned, a hint of hope in his voice.


    ¡°She is bleeding some smaller trees for us too. I don¡¯t know when they will be ready, but apparently we have to follow the blue bird. Should make for an interesting flight, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Saph replied with a shrug. ¡°But I don¡¯t know when that is.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get the stuff done and then we can do more interesting things. Not like it doesn¡¯t need to be done,¡± Tom interjected, looking around at the whole group. ¡°I¡¯m sure we will find some time here and there, but¡­ well¡­ Let¡¯s just get it done in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°Could I go keep an eye on Fengi?¡± Saph questioned, clearly directed at Tom and Shiva as she glanced between the two of them. ¡°Sounds like you have things in hand here, and we need to work out how and where to go fetch those trees Kalestine is preparing for us this year.¡±


    ¡°Sure. No experimentation today.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± the huntress replied, giving them a quick nod before she was out the door and down the hall.


    ¡®Good speed and good luck, race girl.¡¯


    ¡°Tom, we need to go that way too. You said you wanted to help start the digging on the bunker, remember?¡± Jacky added from next to him, seeming a touch confused.


    ¡°Oh¡­ right. Well you see, I just wanted to finish up the list of stuff we needed made,¡± Tom countered, not willing to admit that he might have forgotten.


    ¡°I know how to make nails,¡± Shiva added, not sounding overly impressed with him.


    ¡°Right¡­ Oh, well in that case I¡¯ll be going. Catch you all later.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going anywhere, no need to catch me,¡± Edita replied enthusiastically as she rubbed her hands together excitedly.


    ¡°Good to hear,¡± Tom just let out with a smile, heading out the door. ¡®Marvelous performance that one, Tom.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Feeling a bit better today?¡± Fengi asked in a cautious yet caring tone. Saph guessed Fengi was as much worried about the dragon¡¯s mood after having learned just how much wood she would be hauling as she was the progress of the healing.


    ¡°No,¡± Yldril just replied flatly, clearly intent on making today as difficult as possible. Fengi just sighed, knowing what came next well by now.


    ¡°You know the deal. We have talked about this, and you aren¡¯t that stupid.¡±


    Yldril didn¡¯t respond, instead she just slowly got up and lumbered towards the markers set out for the first bunker. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± she finally asked in a tired and disinterested tone, staring down at the marking stick and bits of string lining everything out.


    ¡°You will dig down, making a hole and putting the dirt over there. The hole must be square and with vertical sides. It will slide down a bit, but get it as good as you can, okay? We will use what wood we have to make a frame and a roof. You will then cover it all back up again and that¡¯s that,¡± Fengi explained.


    ¡°Sounds easy enough,¡± Yldril sighed as the massive dragon raised a clawed paw and started carefully scratching at the ground along the marker line as they watched. Tom was here too at least for now. He and Jacky were watching from a safe distance.


    Saph had helped last time they made one of these and could mostly remember what they had to do, so once they were underway the human could probably run off to do other important things. They wouldn¡¯t be bothering excavating a bit at a time this time around since there was no way Yldril would actually fit in the hole even if this bunker was gonna be a bit bigger than the first one. She was mostly just hoping to at least help Fengi out a little with all this today. If nothing else she could give a hug if needed.


    There were some other folk watching, but no one seemed overly interested in helping, all keeping a safe distance just like Tom. Jacky was of course by his side acting as a bodyguard, but that was likely not against Yldril. At least Saph hoped not.


    Yldril had been gentle at first, carving out the hole nicely then slowly starting to take layer after layer off. When Fengi had let slip that once she had dug out both of them she would be done for the day, she had sped up quite a bit. All the woodwork would take time and they still had to fashion a harness for her to haul the logs from the forest, not to mention find out just which trees Kalestine had selected for them and cut them down.


    Fengi had started off the day very tense, Saph could feel it, but after they got going and people started to lose interest she eased up quite a bit. They even got away with telling a joke or two. Even if Yldril did not partake, instead just getting on with it and working in silence, the scowl never leaving her face.


    ¡°So then, is this the worst job you have had yet?¡± Saph questioned, crossing her arms. ¡°Not actually that bad, is it?¡±


    ¡°I am digging a hole,¡± Yldril replied disinterestedly.


    ¡°Ever done that before?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yldril growled in reply as she carried on trying to straighten off a side.


    ¡®Doesn¡¯t take much to get on your nerves does it?¡¯


    ¡°Just let her be¡­ she¡¯s not much for talking,¡± Fengi added, clearly rather annoyed with the dragon too.


    ¡°What is there to talk about? You already know all about me, and I don¡¯t care about you,¡± Yldril replied, turning around while digging so her one eye was facing away from them for now.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s a way to put it,¡± Saph just sighed as they watched the dragon work on in silence.


    The end result wasn¡¯t too bad. They were done in a couple hours, which was longer than it should have taken really. But Fengi didn¡¯t seem willing to tell their digging machine to hurry up. It was mostly straight too, so it wasn¡¯t a terrible effort. Even so it was a bit big, so Yldril would have to fill in the gap between the wooden framing and the dirt sides.


    Yldril had been walked back to her sleeping spot where she was allowed to lie down. They needed some measurements from the dragon for the pulling harness anyway, so she could have a bit of a rest as they got that done.


    After that Yldril had been put to work with even more digging, this time for the foundation for the warehouse. That project was quite a lot bigger. A lot of grass needed to be ripped up and the ground below made as flat as possible. Then holes for the support beams would have to be dug. All in all it was more than a single day''s work, and Fengi had Yldril digging away all the time until dinner, which left the dragon dirty and grimy all over.


    Her mood had turned quite grim after the long day''s work, which Saph guessed had been a painful affair for the still slightly wounded dragon.


    ¡°At least it isn¡¯t raining, then you would be all muddy too,¡± Fengi tried, apparently feeling that cheering up Yldril was worth the effort. Saph could only sigh at her optimism.


    ¡°Marvelous¡­ Can I go lay down now?¡± Yldril grumbled reluctantly with labored breaths, not looking at them.


    ¡°Do you want to go have a swim to rinse off first?¡± Fengi replied with what Saph could best describe as cautious optimism.


    ¡°No,¡± was all the answer she got as Yldril looked up, staring at her while otherwise unmoving, waiting for permission.


    ¡°Okay, go lie down over there. I¡¯ll see about your dinner.¡±


    The dragon didn¡¯t acknowledge her, instead just walking off silently towards her sleeping spot from last night.


    The two women along with the rest of the hands who were working down stoped and stood there watching the dragon wander off.


    ¡°Well I guess she saved us the trouble then¡± Saph tried, trying to find and up side to cheer Fengi up a little. Fengi just let out a long, tired sounding sigh in response.


    ¡°She is such an arse¡­ But you have to feel a bit sorry for her.¡±


    Saph took a a second or two to think before deciding that tough love might be what was needed in this case rather than sympathy. Much as it pained her to do that to Fengi. ¡°Fengi¡­ She tried to kill us and nearly got Nunuk. We don¡¯t know how many people she has killed, but it is a lot. If she was a normal person she would be given a mock trial and thrown off the edge. Beat her into shape, don¡¯t take pity on her. If you¡¯re soft she¡¯ll just pretend she¡¯s changed when in reality you are the only thing keeping her from killing us all in our sleep. It might not even be possible to fix her. If so then you will be her moral compass.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be,¡± Fengi all but whined in response. ¡°You know that.¡±


    ¡°I also know it¡¯s not your choice. Remember the stories. Make her do good and you¡¯ll be a damn hero. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot.¡±


    ¡°I could just tell her to be nice to everyone,¡± Fengi tried to haggle. Saph knew she was hoping for an easy way out. Who wouldn¡¯t?


    ¡°And then it would all be fake. The moment you let her be free it falls away and she¡¯s back to murdering people. She might be even more evil than before. It could drive her completely mad.¡±


    ¡°What if it lasts forever, Saph? No one knows.¡±


    Saph needed to think on that one for a bit. Could you really just force someone into being someone else?


    ¡°Are you sure you want to try that? Remember what Major Jortun told us.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ but she¡¯s not a nice person, you said so. Would it be too wrong to force her into being one?¡±


    ¡°... I think so, yeah¡­ Maybe just try to fix her right. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to trust her. What if it doesn¡¯t last? If it wears off one day or she get¡¯s out of it somehow, then think what she would do to us.¡±


    ¡°You are starting to sound like Unkai¡­ he doesn¡¯t say it but he doesn¡¯t trust me. Not even sure if he ever did or he just thought I looked nice¡­ or the fact I¡¯m literally the only girl his age around here.¡± Fengi complained throwing her arms up.


    ¡°No no. He¡¯s just scared. The fact he hasn¡¯t tucked tail and run must mean he still loves you. He doesn¡¯t want to give up he¡¯s just¡­ Well he¡¯s a coward if we¡¯re being honest.¡± Saph sighed giving Fengi a pat on the shoulder. ¡°He¡¯ll get over it I¡¯m sure. I know Jortun is very proud of you for taking this all so seriously. I might just try to have fun with it you know.¡±


    ¡°No you wouldn¡¯t¡­ You would use it to win¡± Fengi chuckled reluctantly though a tear could be seen in the corner of her eye.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ But hey, think about what Joelina would have done?¡± Saph tried in a more humorous tone.


    ¡°She would ask for the world then try to work out what went wrong when she got a bag of dirt,¡± Fengi retorted mood lightening a little.


    ¡°Yeah, her having this power would be a fate worse than death for all of us,¡± Saph chuckled  in reply, ¡°Tom would have it worst though that¡¯s for sure. But remember, no messing with the humans brain even if it¡¯s to get some sweets.¡±


    ¡°Yeah now that wouldn¡¯t do no would it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Just keep at it, Fengi. You¡¯ll get there, You¡¯re doing great.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had thought the keep was busy the two days before, but preparing for the inquisitors¡¯ departure had been something else. The reds had returned with most of their crews some having been left behind down below. Baron had left the evening before to take up station down in the caves though that still left them with five dragons mulling about the keep three of them getting ready to leave.


    Galaxer would leed being the better long distance flier compared to the two reds and he wanted to get out of dodge as early as possible, once the reds had landed. Everyone helped because no one really wanted them to stay any longer than needed especially after the prisoners were marched out to board.


    Said prisoners were tied down to the dragon¡¯s harness with arms, legs, wings, and mouth tied up. Even if they did manage to get free, they would be in for a very bad time. Blankets were provided here and there to those who looked like they would be in danger of freezing on the trip. The crews were in thick traveling clothes, so at least they should be comfortable, or at least sorta it was getting colder after all.


    Tom didn¡¯t spy the two other artificers he had seen earlier amongst the people departing, so he guessed those two were indeed being left down in the tunnels to work their magic, or something like that. Edita had helped out with preparations for departure, and when all was more or less complete Joelina had emerged from the keep in her thick traveling clothes once more.


    She did look slightly better than the last time he¡¯d seen her. That had been the evening before when she had come by his and Jacky¡¯s room to ask some more questions. Jacky hadn¡¯t been pleased in the slightest, but neither had Tom when he worked out that she had been keeping the revolver under her pillow. The inquisitor hadn¡¯t seemed to mind at all, and Tom did manage to get Jacky¡¯s hand back under the blanket before Glazz managed to stick her head in the door to see what the fuck was going on.


    Apparently, the problem was that the inquisitor had now experienced what an amusement park was and had been suitably confused by everything, including the food and especially mascots. It was to the point that she had to question if it was a movie of some strange imaginary place rather than an actual thing.


    Tom had confirmed that, yes, amusement parks were real, they were good fun, especially when you were little, and they were very expensive if you were the one paying. Everyone could actually afford a car if they wanted one. Yes, there was warm running water in every house, it was not just for the stinking rich, and ninjas were at least sort of real. He had no clue where the last one came from, but he had a feeling human sword wielders in all black would not have been a pleasant dream for her.


    Now though she walked along seeming at least mostly normal, Glazz right behind her as they headed over to the lined-up members of the Bizmati family. They were all there save for Nunuk, which was understandable. They wished her a good flight, and the odd goodbye between people who knew each other was said goodbye.


    Then onwards aboard one of the reds the procession went. The dragon wasn¡¯t carrying any prisoners, but did instead have some extra crew aboard. Likely so Joelina could have some privacy during her flight to ¡®recover¡¯ as she had put it herself.


    ¡®Best of luck you crazy bitch,¡¯ Tom just sighed, still not sure if he should be pissed at her in the extreme or thankful for all the stuff she had given them. By the sounds of it she might have been the best inquisitor whose attention they could have caught, depressing as that sounded. And now she was going, and they had everything they could possibly want now.


    Galaxerhad set off at a trot before eventually kicking himself into the air, wings catching as the two smaller reds gave chase. Soon enough they were standing on the ground watching the trio of dragons grow smaller and smaller in the distance as they climbed up and away from the odd little keep, now left mostly to its own devices save for Paulin and a pair of inquisitorial troopers left with her.


    Tom didn¡¯t know what those two were supposed to do if it came to it, but he had a feeling they were as much eyes and ears as they were muscle for her. ¡®Marvelous. Right, let¡¯s get to it.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 166: Pay Day

    That evening, after the inquisitor''s departure, the kitchen had put in just a bit of extra effort. Yldril and Jarix had both been treated to spit roasts with some actual spices being used for once. It wasn¡¯t what Tom would call spicy, at least Saph didn¡¯t think so. But with the knowledge that they could just order from the big cities, they could get away with using what they had at least.


    Tom had decided to make a small pot of some kind of stew that he believed was actually a touch spicy. Jacky had claimed to love it, the amount of water she suddenly needed would seem to dispute it though. For the rest of them they munched on pies courtesy of Essy in the kitchen. A simple pastry base baked in the oven, filled with venison stew, and a lid of the pie made up of thinly sliced cured venison. Hindquarters in this case, woven into a square shape. It looked quite pretty really, and Tom certainly seemed impressed.


    Saph¡¯s favorite still had to be the sweet corn served on the side, grilled on the same fire as Yldril¡¯s and Jarix¡¯s spit roasts. It just went so well with a bit of melted butter, which they could also use more readily now. They had never really gone hungry at the keep, but certain things they could make themselves and others had to be bought. And if you wanted to turn a profit then keeping expenses down was imperative.


    ¡®I like having money and connections,¡¯ Saph just mused as she dug in. The upgrade in food might also have a little bit to do with the fact there were only around half the heads to feed at the keep now. The dragons had all left, save Jarix and Yldril. But Zarko and Radexi were welcome at their table anytime, that much was assured. Well, they all were technically, but at worst they had been looking at feeding three large dragon crews. Five if the medium-sized reds were also there. Just making the amount off food every day had put quite the strain on the kitchen and the poor sods on kitchen duty each day.


    ¡°I could live like this,¡± Bo rumbled happily as she munched on a corncob, getting rather messy in the process.


    ¡°Even if you have to do woodworking?¡± Pho jested as she too bit down juices spraying all around.


    ¡°Kullinger said I could make some spears for training with if I prove that I can make a joint with the little decorating axe he has. Could I have a bit more of the pie please?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a decorating axe,¡± Saph chuckled as she cut a pieces of pie and handed it down. To Bo¡¯s Excitement ¡°Here we are.¡±


    ¡°This is great, so crumbly. Who made it?¡±


    ¡°Essy. She¡¯s the pie master around here,¡± Saph responded, peering at Essy out the corner of her eye, the older huntress pretending to not hear.


    ¡°Thanks, Essy, these are great,¡± the greenhorn called out, looking down the table and giving an appreciative nod.


    ¡°Yeah, really damn good,¡± Pho echoed as she finished her second sweet corn. ¡°Do you think you could put corn in it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know¡­ maybe? There are some apple trees in the forest near the outskirts. I would love to make some apple pies before winter,¡± Essy replied with a warm smile, taking the praise to heart.


    ¡°Oh, that sounds delicious. Tom, have you brought some magic fruits too?¡± Pho asked away as she grabbed another cob from the bowl on the table.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so really¡­ Maybe I should have thought of that. Do you have¡­ Uhm¡­ right yeah that¡¯s a problem. Berry¡¯s on straws¡­ shit. They grown down near the ground and a red, sorta look like a little cone?¡±


    ¡°A berry on a straw?... Like what or grass or something?¡± Sapphire questioned between bits. She had rather hoped he would rattle off a list of berries he had or something, but no matter. Money could solve that problem if it had to. ¡°Is it like a long straw or?¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s a terrible word name really. It¡¯s like a tinny little plant like this big-ish¡± Tom went holding up his hands. ¡°And they grow in patches spreading almost like weeds.¡±


    ¡°Sounds almost like grass berries, those a green though.¡± Bo replied thoughtfully scratching her chin with a finger claw.


    ¡°Do they have the seeds on the outside?¡± Essy questioned taking an interest and leaning in over the table a little.


    ¡°The do actually.¡± Tom affirmed, clearly in thought as well. ¡°Are they only green?¡±


    ¡°I remember seeing some red and white stripy ones at a market years ago,¡± Esmeralda merrily. ¡°They weren¡¯t really sweet but had an almost mint-like taste to them.


    ¡°Okay, that we ain¡¯t got for sure¡­ Blueberries?¡± Tom tried, sounding unsure of what to expect.


    ¡°What kind?¡± Saph just answered with a chuckle. ¡°I really like Delmont blues. They have a great tang to them.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like maybe a box of berries or two should be on the shopping list.¡± Essy chuckled probably quite willing to undertake that responsibility, at least is Saph knew anything about the warmhearted woman.


    ¡°Picked berries don¡¯t last that long, but it is their season in the forest. We could see what we can find here and there.¡± Saph offered, chances of getting to go foraging probably weren¡¯t great with all the things going on, but a girl could dream couldn¡¯t she?


    ¡°We could go to the big patches of red rolics. You know, the ones that like to grow in the valley about 20 minutes that way,¡± Essy added helpfully, pointing over Tom¡¯s shoulder. Saph caught the human almost starting to turn around to look behind him before he quickly turned back to his plate, probably hoping nobody saw.


    ¡°They are so sour though,¡± Fengi complained, clearly distraught at the idea. They did often use those berries for trail mix. They were easy to find and dried well enough. But Fengi was right. Even at the best of times, they were really quite tart, especially if you didn¡¯t pick them just before winter. Which did sorta make the drying thing hard. They needed frost to sweeten up a little.


    ¡°Sounds almost like bird berries,¡± Tom snickered, finding that funny for some reason as he hunched a bit lower, looking around at all of them, apparently expecting someone to smack him.


    it took them all a second t work out what shitty pun the human had made this time. ¡°Oh you bitch,¡± Saph let out as it clicked. ¡°Jacky, smack him for me.¡±


    Jacky obeyed, giving him a gentle slap across the back of the neck before looking back up to Saph with a wide grin on her face. ¡°What for?¡±


    They all had a slight chuckle at that one as Tom rubbed the back of his head excessively, pretending like that had hurt.


    ¡°Damn birds peck around here. Maybe it should be Jacky the seagull instead.¡±


    Jacky rewarded him for his insolence with another gentle slap across the back of the head, to which Tom replied by letting out a hilarious squawking sound. It sounded more like that goose that Pho had caused to hit a tree flat out months back. ¡®Oh that was a funny noise now wasn¡¯t it,¡¯


    ¡°Seems we found the bird. Anyone got any feathers?¡± Saph questioned, looking down the table. Much to her disappointment, the hunting party didn¡¯t actually have a feather between them at the moment. Luckily Jacky improvised and put a fork sorta into Tom¡¯s hair, which looked like it wouldn¡¯t stay there very long.


    ¡°The rare iron-crested dumb-bird. Only seen in the wild near areas of extreme heat with a chance of boom.¡±


    Tom seemed to accept his role and let out another squawk, which caused the fork to clatter to the table. Tom put on his best distraught face and stared at the lost fork with nearly genuine sadness in his eyes. ¡°Ahr shit, I guess I just kicked the bucket¡±


    ¡°I guess we get his ass for dessert then,¡± Pho piped up, brandishing her utensils and licking her chops.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t nobody eating my dumb-bird, ¡®cept me,¡± Jacky let out, pulling Tom into a protective embrace and holding him away from the greenhorn.


    ¡°Help help, I¡¯m being oppressed,¡± Tom squawked in alarm, sounding about as disingenuous as Saph thought possible.


    ¡°No no Tom, you can¡¯t oppress dinner. Now be a good boy and don¡¯t squirm too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dinner, I¡¯m you all¡¯s payday,¡± Tom protested, putting on a pouty face as he struggled a bit to no avail before giving up. ¡°Can I bribe my way out?¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know sweetie, can you? I think we all have a lot of coin coming down from upon high. It¡¯s gonna be very expensive.¡±


    As if on cue Dakota stood up at the Bizmati table. Nunuk was sitting in her high chair once more, notably with quite a bit of extra padding around her back, but she was there which counted for a lot really. They had the whole ruling family back at last, a sure sign things were going to be improving moving forward.


    ¡°Could I have your attention please!¡± Dakota shouted out, gaining everyone¡¯s attention as the chatter died down among the tables in the torchlit hall. The warm glow of licking flames from the fireplace behind the Bizmati¡¯s silhouetted Dakota and cast her long dancing shadow upon the ceiling.


    ¡°I just thought a few words were in order¡­ We have once more made it through in one piece. There was a price, yes,¡± she began, turning to her mother with a sad but tender expression upon her face, the old lady reciprocating with a kind nod, smiling warmly as Dakota turned back to the hall and raised her finely engraved wooden mug. ¡°But we are still here!¡±


    The hall echoed her cheer as mugs were raised. It was mostly water, but the sentiment still counted for something.


    ¡°But as Tom has tried to teach some of us, regardless of if we knew it already,¡± she carried on a touch jokingly, giving the human a glance. ¡°Hard work pays off. And we have worked very hard this year.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah, we have,¡± Pho muttered to herself. Bo rolled her eyes as Saph sighed just a little bit.


    ¡®Kids.¡¯


    ¡°So it¡¯s time for payday. Now, I want you all to remember that much of this is the fruits of our labor. And the Flaxen family¡¯s¡­ unwillingly of course. The Inquisition waiving this year''s taxes, certainly played it¡¯s part too. But without further ado, this year''s share comes to 32 gold and six silver. And I think that calls for some celebration, for you all earned it!¡± the gilded huntress finished, giving them all a stern nod and looking around with a steely-eyed determination a smile on her face as the mugs were raised once more. Especially at the guard''s table, where things got a little rowdy already.


    ¡®Holy shit¡­ we¡¯re rich. We¡¯re actually rich,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself, looking around at the astonished-looking huntresses.


    Saph hadn¡¯t known exactly how much money they would be talking about, but this was soo much more than she had hoped for. This was several years'' worth of wages for some poor fucker that still had to pay for his own food and roof.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had leaned back against Jacky to revel in all the expressions as the final number was revealed. Jacky had done much the same, the two of them savoring all the dumbstruck expressions and gawking grins that spread all around. It would seem the secret had in fact been kept, which sorta surprised Tom if he was being honest. Even Essy seemed to be taken by complete surprise, with her suddenly turning to stare at Kokashi across the hall, once she had recovered from the initial shock.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Fengi had promptly spat out some water she had been drinking her attempt to remain calm and composed only resulted in said water coming out her nose too. Tom wasn¡¯t sure why she bothered, maybe she had been scared of being disappointed or something, but it did look damn funny. It had been rather hard to work out just how much money they would actually be talking ahead of time. Tom sure hadn¡¯t managed to guess it right. He knew it mattered a lot to her, she had told him so herself way back when they had gone swimming. She had always been poor. Dirt poor even. Now she was about to receive two or three times a year''s salary for a trader¡¯s escort in one go. In back home money, that had to be something like 150 grand US or something. He knew it didn¡¯t really translate, but still. He was damn sure she could buy a quite nice house for 64 gold in the city if she wanted.


    He had a feeling that the people of the keep would probably not be too eager to leave, even with all the danger that had come their way and was likely to do so in future. Looking around, the looks on everyone¡¯s faces were certainly best described as revelry, Balethon having managed to drag Maiko up onto their table for a little dance, much to the other guards¡¯ amusement.


    Tom took a look over to where Ray was sitting at the end of the table. She had been rather quiet as they talked so far, seemingly happy to play the third wheel to a friend group as per usual. Right now though, she was staring at Dakota, who was still standing and surveying the hall with a proud grin on her face. Tom couldn¡¯t really move over to try and poke her to see if she was still with them since Jacky hadn¡¯t thought to let go of him yet, which was getting a little uncomfortable by this point if he was being totally honest. Saph did seem to pick up on it though after she followed his stare.


    ¡°So, Ray. How do you like Bizmati keep?¡± the racer questioned, leaning over as Ray¡¯s attention switched to her, her expression still blank with her jaw hanging a little.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting thirty gold?¡±


    ¡°Thirty-two I think actually, and a couple of silver,¡± Saph clarified with a bit of a jest, giving the older woman a wink.


    Ray just grabbed the nearest thing to hug, which just so turned out to be Fengi, who hadn¡¯t quite recovered from the shock either. Being squeezed tight did seem to knock her out of her stupor though.


    ¡°Oh, hi. Thanks Ray¡­ It¡¯s alright,¡± the young huntress went, starting to stroke Ray, seemingly more on reflex than anything else as the cripple started sobbing slowly.


    ¡®Maybe that was all a bit much,¡¯ Tom concluded, quite safe in the knowledge that those were tears of happiness rather than sorrow. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with that; it had been a wild ride these last few weeks.


    ¡°If you should be hugging anyone, I guess it would have to be Tom or Essy. They brought home the meat this year,¡± Saph said with a warm smile, watching the two hug.


    ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t let getting stabbed be the best thing I¡¯ve ever done. That would be embarrassing,¡± Essy protested with a laugh, clearly not too upset.


    ¡°Hey now, you need to learn how to sell it. Local huntress manipulates noble shithead into a fit of anger, costing her and her skank family thousands of gold!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right you know. She did only stab you because you worked out the whole cousin fucking thing,¡± Tom chuckled, as Jacky let out a rather obscene sound he had definitely heard before. That earned her a smack from Saph as they both started laughing together.


    ¡°I guess that is one spin to put on it,¡± Essy replied, her expression turning a little forlorn as she looked to Fengi, who had still not been let go. Ray was still sobbing quietly against the young huntress. ¡°Just give her a minute, she¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry either,¡± Fengi let out with a bewildered expression that betrayed that she was probably telling the truth. ¡°I¡¯ve never had money like this either¡­ I kinda wanna buy a coat or something. Maybe a nice hat.¡±


    ¡°Careful you don¡¯t end up looking like a traveling musician, green feather and all,¡± Essy retorted with a happy smile as they both started chuckling a bit.


    ¡°I am sooo getting some drinks. Oh Tom, remember that wildbrew stuff they gave you at Deriva?¡± Jacky then broke out, clearly having had an idea.


    ¡°No,¡± Tom protested, trying his best to sound unyielding as stone. It didn¡¯t really work, as Jacky tightened her grip a little, his attention shifting to not making any funny wheezing sounds.


    ¡°Ooooh come on. It sounded very fun.¡±


    ¡°Jacky, you high on a bottle of hallucinogens and likely hyper from the sweet stuff you would mix it with is possibly the most terrifying thing I can imagine having running around the keep,¡± Saph also protested, Tom sighing in relief that at least they hadn¡¯t ganged up on him.


    ¡°Worse than a dark knight?¡± Jacky countered, tilting her head and looking to Saph.


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    ¡°I concur,¡± Fengi added, raising a hand before going back to petting the slowly calming Ray. ¡°Trying to catch him after he got all oiled up is THE hardest thing I¡¯ve ever done. It was just impossible without digging your claws in.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the restraint, I would rather not look like a¡­ aaa¡­ Cat scratched me to shit,¡± Tom replied, not remembering if there was a name for those here.


    ¡°What¡¯s a cat?¡± Bo questioned, seemingly having missed the chit-chat on that particular small murderous fuzzball.


    ¡°Think part hot-water bottle, part mini murder machine. Great for mice and rats¡­ and scratching you to shit.¡±


    ¡°I want one,¡± Pho added in, raising her voice a bit over everyone else.


    ¡°There¡¯s probably some around here somewhere. Don¡¯t you guys have rat problems and such?¡±


    ¡°Sure do, in the cities¡­ especially the not-so-nice part,¡± Fengi answered, a hint of reluctance in her voice as Ray nodded her agreement.


    ¡°I will never have to eat rat again.¡±


    ¡°Damn right¡­ Or haul bodies after winter,¡± Fengi echoed, her stare growing long and empty.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would make it through the last one before I found that warehouse,¡± Ray carried on, her weeping coming to an end, though she refused to let Fengi go. ¡°That stupid pile of boxes might just have saved my life that year.¡±


    ¡°Is that so crazy? A clumsy black with a heart of gold trying to play city guard saved the rest of it,¡± Fengi joked, eliciting a slight chuckle from Ray.


    ¡°I guess so¡­ Is Tiguan coming back from Deriva before winter?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I believe they have a lot of work to do getting ready for winter. But we¡¯ll have a get-together in spring, I¡¯m sure,¡± Saph replied optimistically. ¡°Maybe Tom has an idea for that?¡±


    ¡°Spring sounds like it¡¯s your specialty. I might have some fun during winter though.¡±


    Jacky found that quite amusing, letting out a burst of raucous laughter and letting him go. ¡°Oh you know it.¡±


    ¡°Jacky!¡± Essy tried scolding to little effect as Tom took the chance to sit back up again, stretching a bit after being stuck in that really rather uncomfortable position, only for Jacky to grab him by the chin and force him to look at her.


    ¡°See, this is the part where you don¡¯t eat me,¡± Tom tried to joke as she stared into his eyes, a slight smile creeping onto her face.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay then,¡± she snickered in reply, giving his nose a lick. ¡°But only for a little bit¡­ I¡¯m so getting that bottle.¡±


    ¡°Oooh gods no.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The decision had made to put hunting on hold, save for a few scheduled gathering trips and just enough hunting to get a touch of fresh meat to round out their menu for the rest of Autumn. Not only did the keep have plenty of food stored away for the moment, but there was also a certainty that they could buy whatever they needed additionally for winter. By the sounds of it, most everyone in the keep had plans to order some luxury goods many of the edible variant. The keep''s kitchen''s supply of more luxurious food items like smoked hams, sausages, and fruits¡ªboth preserved and fresh¡ªwas to be restocked and then some as well. They would be eating like kings this winter.


    They really had better things to do than hunting anyway, and Saph had ended up volunteering to help with the building. Her job had mainly ended up being hauling things around and keeping track of Bo and Pho since she wasn¡¯t actually much good at woodworking, nor did she have any desire to learn.


    Pho had ended up taking to it rather well once she worked out that most of it was done with an axe rather than a knife and the fact you could race people when using a saw, which Saph did indulge her in a few times. Bo had been less enthusiastic, but she did at least have a good enough mind to be able to understand what it was Kullinger wanted, and her patience came in quite handy more than once.


    Saph, quite content to leave them to it, of course also took what chances she had to keep Fengi company. It just so happened that every now and again that lead to the two of them standing around watching Yldril do the work instead, but really who could blame them? She was soo much better at moving things around than Saph.


    The last of their dried wooden beams from storage were used for making the bunker framing, and the dragon had then merely filled in the area around it, resulting in a mostly finished bunker. Kullinger just needed to get around to making a door and maybe some shelves for the inside at some point.


    Next up had been the warehouse foundation, which they just about got started on the day after the inquisitor left. By day two it had also been coming along rather nicely, but there was a lot of planning to be done and a lot of deep holes that needed to be in just the right spots. The dragon had settled into a sort of quiet brooding as she worked, only punctuated by irritated outbursts when something became too much. It didn¡¯t always take a lot to set her off really. A rude comment by someone, a bit of dirt sliding down so she would have to fix it, or¡ªrather more amusingly¡ªwhen Yldril had let out a roaring shout at Pho, who had walked along the edge of the foundation for the warehouse and caused a mini landslide.


    Saph had let out a repressed snicker as the greenhorn damn near took off on the spot, hurling herself clear of the whole building site with a powerful leap and beat of her wings before coming back tumbling down in the long grass next to where they had been working. There she lay for a bit, flailing around like an idiot, trying to get back up again before the perceived threat could end her, swearing viciously all the while.


    Yldril hadn¡¯t actually moved, nor did she seem to find the situation overly funny. She had just stared hatefully at Pho as she finally got back up to her feet and ran off. Then she turned to look at Fengi, who had been rather startled by the outburst, to ask if she could go fix it so they could be done with it.


    Fengi had nodded at first, leading to the dragon just staring her down until she got some words out allowing the dragon to get on with it. Yldril had then proceeded to carry on with her work, which she was rather swiftly getting better at.


    ¡°We might have the pilling holes done by dinner at this rate,¡± Saph tried with forced optimism, as Fengi still hadn¡¯t moved after the dragon had gotten back to work.


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± Fengi let out, uncertainty clear in her voice as she took a step back and leaned in to whisper. ¡°Should I do something? That wasn¡¯t very nice.¡±


    Saph took a second to ponder, glaring at the piece of shit dragon.


    ¡°Nah¡­ that¡¯ll just make her hate you more. And Pho was being an arse.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ But only because Pho was an arse,¡± Fengi replied, letting a very low and cautious chuckle creep into her voice, almost like she was scared of it.


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Saph agreed with a nod, Yldril¡¯s head turning just a touch to let her one eye look back at them. ¡®I guess her ears survived then¡­ dammit.¡¯


    Fengi didn¡¯t seem to notice or care. She probably knew the dragon could hear them just fine and it was just Saph being an idiot. Either way, Fengi kept standing there before leaning in for her own whisper.


    ¡°What are you gonna do with all your money?¡±


    ¡°... Nice food and drink?¡± Saph replied. She would be lying if she said she hadn¡¯t spent some time at night considering it, but there were so many options. And she didn¡¯t have a clue what most of her options cost really. ¡°Maybe some new jewelry?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I want something in gold¡­ I always dreamed of having just a bit of it to show off. Do you think I could get away with a horn ring, or would Dakota be mad?¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t get a golden crown, I think you¡¯re fine,¡± Saph snickered, tapping Fengi¡¯s copper huntress crown.


    ¡°Right,¡± Fengi chuckled a little nervously. ¡°A ring with a gem in it would be really cool too.¡±


    ¡°It would, yeah¡­ I guess I should get one with a Sapphire eye?¡±


    ¡°That would be quite funny. Think your mother would ever have believed you would have sapphire jewelry one day?¡±


    ¡°Hell no¡­¡± Saph replied, turning a touch solemn and remembering how her parents had lived. Cramped, poor, and worked to the bone for food and shelter. The life of an overcrowded keep with too little or too shitty territory.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even think she ever made it past copper. Dad did at least make silver in the guard though. He had a little bit of silver on his helmet here,¡± she replied, running her finger along the side of her snout where the lower edge of the helmet would be. ¡°I thought it was soo cool back then.¡±


    ¡°Same¡­ My ¡®mother¡¯ I guess had some nice jewelery way back when I was little. I do remember some of it¡­ by the time I was grown up a bit though, she had sold all of it to pay for the orphanage.¡±


    ¡°Life is shit at times,¡± Saph replied, reaching her arm around to give Fengi a bit of a side hug.


    ¡°Think she¡¯s still back in the capital?¡±


    ¡°Who? Miss Doray?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t remember what she was called,¡± Saph admitted, feeling a little ashamed.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ not like I talk about it much. Yeah, that¡¯s her. I have no clue though, she was both poor and old¡­ maybe, I guess?¡±


    Saph stood there pondering the predicament for a second or two. ¡°Think you could find her maybe?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue,¡± Fengi admitted. ¡°She might be at the orphanage still, or she could be in an entirely different city.¡±


    ¡°Fair¡­ But maybe you could get someone to go check? We can make calls now, you know.¡±


    It took a second before Fengi turned to look up at Saph, the idea seemingly clicking for the young huntress. ¡°You¡¯re a genius, Saph!¡± she let out, a smile of pure happiness shining from her face. ¡°If she¡¯s still there, I can pay her back! Well, at least something!¡±


    ¡°Damn right you can,¡± Saph echoed, turning to look up at the small keep. From down here, though, it seemed awfully big as it sat atop its rocky purchase. ¡°Damn right we can.¡±


    Fengi interrupted Saph¡¯s reverie with a poke to the side, pointing to the stairs where Ray was coming down with a pair of buckets. Probably dirty water to throw away or slop for the animals.  ¡°What about her, think she needs a hand?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­ I mean she lived a normal life once, I¡¯m sure she remembers what money can get aside from food and a roof over your head.¡±


    ¡°I mean think she has folk back in the city too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know actually,¡± Saph replied, trying to think for a second. She hadn¡¯t heard Ray mention anything like that. The only family she really talked about ever was her brother, who had run the jewelers she used to guard, and he was definitely dead, so not much to do there. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°I guess she¡¯s got it all to herself then, ey?¡± Fengi tried with fake optimism.


    ¡°I guess¡­ I hope she spends it on some clothes and jewelry, no need for fakes or copper. Gold and silver jewelry. I think it¡¯ll help her a lot to look like she¡¯s well¡­ worth something,¡± Saph sighed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it to her like that,¡± Fengi protested as Saph shook her head.


    ¡°I know I know, but it¡¯s true. I mean the clothes we gave her are nice and all, but I think this should be good.¡±


    ¡°Fingers crossed as Tom says.¡±

 Chapter 167: Spending Plans

    ¡°I propose an idea,¡± Jacky proclaimed proudly once they had made it to their room after dinner.


    Tom merely gulped a little as he tried to work out what she might have come up with after having had a day to work out what to do with all her newfound money. At dinner they had learned that Saph and Fengi had come down with a case of charity. Tom certainly couldn¡¯t blame them. They had both come from not-so-nice backgrounds. Fengi had come from the struggling orphanage and Saph from a crowded keep that had to kick her out since she was a mouth they couldn¡¯t afford to feed.


    ¡°What you got in mind?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not about that bottle,¡± she reassured him with a wink that didn¡¯t leave Tom even slightly comforted.


    ¡®She¡¯s so trying to get her hands on that isn¡¯t she¡­¡¯


    ¡°We need weekends,¡± she interrupted his line of thought, looking at him dead serious.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Tom questioned, taken completely flat-footed by that response. He had perhaps more expected a rescue mission to Vulcha keep, Sapphire¡¯s home, or something like that. Certainly sounded like it was a place where a bit of workforce could be scrounged up for next year.


    ¡°We need weekends. You know, like you had back before. We got rid of Joelina, but there is so much work to be done now. Normally we just do what needs to be done, hunt a bit then chill out. And I know you. You¡¯ll just work till you get sick. These last few days have been really nice¡­ I just want a few more like that every now and again, you know?¡± she carried on in a caring, sweet tone.


    ¡°... Right¡­¡± Tom needed a sec to think on that one, rubbing his chin. ¡°I can¡¯t say it¡¯s a bad idea,¡± he replied as he tried to mull it over, eliciting a rather cold expression from Jacky. They had so fucking much to do though, but that probably just meant she was right after all. He could only imagine the grumbling in the workshop if days off took priority over the more interesting projects though.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not. I just stole that stuff Saph came up with way back, remember? The day at the lake and all that. Okay maybe not ¡®weekends,¡¯ but at least a day off or something!¡± she bargained, getting a little agitated.


    ¡°Hey now. It¡¯s a good idea. I just need to work out what to do about Edita and Tink and all that lot. I bet you they would spend the weekends doing wacky shit I should probably be around for.¡±


    ¡°Urgh,¡± Jacky protested, letting herself flop over backward onto the bed. ¡°Can¡¯t you just let them? What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Edita sounds like she¡¯ll ask you about everything anyway.¡±


    ¡°I mean maybe¡­ She might know more than me on a lot of this actually,¡± Tom sighed reluctantly. A statement he felt might be a substantial understatement.


    ¡°And you want her to teach you, right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Tom admitted. ¡°I mean come on, I don¡¯t think I have any of my own magic, at least not anything I wanna touch if it has to do with that mindreading stuff. And I¡¯ve just not had the time to do much with it at all. I wanna fuck around with it a bit.¡±


    ¡°FINE!¡± Jacky grumbled, clearly not happy. ¡°Two days off then. Every week. And in exchange for me getting more time off, you promise you don¡¯t spend all of it down there,¡± she carried on, lifting her head to look at him, a smile growing on her face once more. ¡°And when you do make cool shit, I¡¯m going too.¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Tom snickered in reply, shaking his head a little. ¡°What about Dakota? Pretty sure she might have something to say.¡±


    ¡°With the amount of money we made we deserve time off. We worked our asses off for this. It¡¯s only fair.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with you there. When is the first day off then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, ask Dakota. Maybe she¡¯ll ponder that one rather than if we should have them¡­ Oh she is so going to make us train and stuff on those days, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°That would sound like her, yeah. Also, tomorrow morning bright and early, we¡¯re going running. You know the whole morning routine like we used to.¡±


    Jacky rolled around in the bed to lay on her chest, looking at him, head resting on one hand. ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?


    ¡°Why would I be joking? I¡¯m putting the weights back on too. Can¡¯t let a bit of mind fuckery get me out of shape too.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Jacky mused, tilting her head looking at him. ¡°Remember to take the boots off near the door¡­ actually put them outside.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tom sighed, hoping he could get away with not putting the boots where some kid was likely to steal them.


    ¡°Oh shut up and come here. I¡¯m cold.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck you, I washed them you know that.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After yet another long day of work, that evening''s dinner had once again been a rather tumultuous affair. Drinks were had and plans were laid as more and more thought was put into what people could do with their money. Not many were thinking of saving it away for a rainy day, safe in the knowledge that next year would probably be even better.


    From the keep¡¯s side, new animals, equipment for seed making, and farm implements for Jarix were on the table too so they could expand their crop as much as possible. It was a real money maker and they needed to make the most of it while they had a monopoly on the stuff. And thanks to the Inquisition, their fears of the secret getting stolen were probably taken care of, at least for a while.


    It would also seem Tom had at some point had a chat with the Bizmatis, as Dakota once more had an announcement to make. In the light of the rather different working conditions that would be awaiting them moving forward, there would now be a free day every week.


    Paulin didn¡¯t look pleased with the slowdown that would probably cause, but the rules were pretty clear on how she was supposed to behave at the moment. If Saph was being totally honest, she could live with a slight pay cut if she ended up with full days off like that. What would she even do with all that free time? She should definitely buy some more books or something. Dakota would definitely try to take them training since that had fallen by the wayside.


    The news was received with enthusiasm, as was only right. In the old days time off came when there wasn¡¯t much to do and the hunting parties were resting or grounded due to bad weather. But someone like Shiva used to be able to do all the work she needed done for a while in a matter of days and then spend her time keeping busy with whatever project she¡¯d come up with to pass the time.


    ¡®Maybe I should get back into sewing? I still don¡¯t know what Jacky wanted that spare leather for, but it has to be for Tom somehow.¡¯ As the food was cleared away it seemed that she wasn¡¯t the only one who was thinking of clothes. Much to her delight, Ray, Essy, and Fengi started talking about what kind of stuff they could get and for how much. They had even managed to recruit Linkosta for a bit of insider knowledge on what was in fashion in the capital and what things cost there. The young mage hadn¡¯t been much help with that since the best she could come up with was ¡°Dresses, I think?¡± and ¡°A couple of gold probably.¡± But she could draw and she had both paper and pencils, so they had gotten to work sketching out what they might want.


    Saph had gotten curious and taken a seat next to Ray to watch along. She wouldn¡¯t mind a dress either. She¡¯d only ever worn one for that ball way back after she won the championship, and that had been a rental.


    ¡°Do we have anything to put on it so people can see where we are from?¡± Ray had questioned, looking around at them as Linkosta sketched away, Edita following along closely.


    ¡°Well the Bizmati¡¯s have their family crest. Not something you would put on your clothes normally though,¡± Saph replied.


    ¡°Oh right¡­ so we don¡¯t have one at the keep here? We¡¯re all like a big family here though, right?¡±


    ¡°We are indeed,¡± Essy said with a warm smile. ¡°But no, we don¡¯t have anything like that really.¡±


    ¡°There is the inquisitorial insignia,¡± Edita tried, clearly just trying to be helpful, though it earned her an odd look or two to say the least.


    ¡°Maaaybe not that one¡­ We could just make one. With the factory and all that, wouldn¡¯t we end up being a company or maybe even a guild?¡± Saph countered, a few of the others starting to ponder that on.


    ¡°Does that mean we get to design our own coat of arms or something?¡± Ray let out, sounding like she quite liked the idea really.


    ¡°Tom Industries,¡± Fengi chuckled, looking to Linkosta, who was clearly trying to work out just what was actually going to happen if they did make a company.


    ¡°I think you are right actually. Unless we want the factory to just be under my family. It is our keep, but well¡­ Tom certainly had a part in it. So does the Inquisition now, like it or not.¡±


    ¡°I guess you need to adopt him then,¡± Fengi joked, Linkosta looking a little worried and Saph trying not to chuckle. ¡°Oh Shiva would kill Nunuk if she did that.¡±


    ¡°Hey it¡¯s better than having a go at marrying him, then Jacky will kill you,¡± Saph chuckled, having a quick look around to see if Jacky was anywhere to be seen. Thankfully her search came up empty.


    Linkosta just cleared her throat a little, going to scratch the back of her head. ¡°Yeah, that would be bad.¡±


    ¡°But hey, think of the names,¡± Fengi snickered, standing up on the bench and putting a foot on the table. ¡°Hello everyone, welcome to Bizlong Bits and Bobs. If nobody else can make it, we can. Pleased to meet you,¡± Fengi parodied, reaching her hand out to Essy across the table.


    Essy played along, taking it and giving it a shake. ¡°Hello, yes I would like a warm bath, a dragon-killing thingy, and some candy please.¡±


    ¡°Now now don¡¯t be ridiculous, we don¡¯t do bathtubs here,¡± Fengi countered. ¡°But we can get you some strange bubbling ale if you desire.¡±


    ¡°Hey that shit tasted quite good, you''re not selling off the bubble beer,¡± Saph snickered, keeping an eye on Ray, who was just watching but with a happy smile on her face.


    ¡°Not even in exchange for cider, good ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°I know a place we could get some good cider¡­ If it¡¯s still around,¡± Ray broke in, all heads turning to her. ¡°It¡¯s a little shop next to my brother''s shop, always had great treats and drinks. It was a bit expensive, but well¡­ What sweet things aren¡¯t?¡± she chuckled a little nervously, looking around at all of them and getting a little smaller.


    ¡°Sounds great to me, I¡¯ve only ever gotten cider from a bar before. What¡¯s it called?¡± Saph questioned.


    ¡°Oh, well it is a bar too. But they sell bottles as well. The owner is from Perniot Keep. They have a lot of huge orchards apparently, they make all sorts of ciders and wines. The bar is also just called Perniot¡­ It¡¯s quite nice really.¡±


    "Sounds like an expensive place,¡± Fengi let out with a bit of apprehension.


    ¡°Well we¡¯re rich now, so why not? Ray, what would, say, a bottle cost?¡±


    ¡°Ehhh¡­ it¡¯s been a while,¡± Ray responded cautiously.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be more than a few silver, I think. Maybe a gold at a stretch,¡± Essy added in. ¡°My sister got me a pair last year for winter. I think they might have cost three silver each.¡±


    ¡°Sounds about right, it¡¯s the liquor stuff that¡¯s really expensive. Cider ain¡¯t that bad. A mug of it is often around a silver from what I¡¯ve had,¡± Saph added in with a nod. ¡°Maybe a small keg would be better value though.¡±


    ¡°We could pitch in and get a big one,¡± Fengi suggested, Saph thinking on it for a second.


    ¡°Jacky and Shiva would just get all of it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°You could do little kegs. You know around this big,¡± Ray added, helpfully gesturing for a keg that looked maybe around 5 to 10 liters. ¡°I know they had those, they sold them to bars and such. At least those that didn¡¯t want the big casks.


    ¡°Makes sense. So what would that be? Around a gold?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, yeah. Maybe your trader friend can haggle a bit on it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, well I¡¯m having one that¡¯s for sure,¡± Saph declared, treasuring the widening of the smile on Ray¡¯s face.


    ¡°Me too, I would like one as well,¡± Fengi and Essy added in, Linkosta nodding her assent too.


    ¡°Sounds quite nice¡­ we should probably let the others know as well.¡±


    ¡°I can ask them,¡± Ray offered cautiously, but still smiling wide. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind getting a bit from there too.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. We¡¯re gonna drink that place dry,¡± Saph chuckled warmly, looking to Edita. ¡°What about you Edita? You want in?¡± The artificer had fallen back to just watching them as Linkosta had finished her sketching work, seemingly not actually paying that much attention as she snapped to after hearing her name.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Uuuuhm. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never actually bought anything before¡­ Or really drunk much. I was given a bit of money though.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never been drunk before?¡± Fengi questioned rather skeptically, looking at the artificer.


    ¡°No no really¡­ I had some ale before at a meeting with some important guy. It tasted odd.¡±


    ¡°Eeehhhh, one often needs to grow accustomed to the taste,¡± Saph granted, rocking side to side a bit. ¡°It can be real nice though.¡±


    ¡°Especially if you get enough of it.¡± Fengi snickered, ¡°And one thing is for sure. Tom loves the stuff.¡±


    ¡°He does?¡±


    ¡®Oh dear.¡¯


    ¡°Sure. He even outdrank Shiva way back when he first got here. Not to mention Jacky.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯ll have to give it a go then,¡± the artificer responded with a proud-looking smile.


    ¡®And there it is.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Things had gotten off to a rather late start the following day as they received a visit from a small blue flyer in the shape of a rather insistent little songbird. It had been noticed by Herron up in the guard tower. Though there was widespread agreement that it was a bit more likely he had been woken up by the thing pecking him on the forehead since he hadn¡¯t actually come down to wake up Unkai when he was supposed to that morning.


    That lack of a wakeup call had led to a rather late breakfast, which meant everyone knew who had probably been snoozing¡­ again. That wasn¡¯t really Tom¡¯s concern though. That was Rachuck¡¯s department. That and he didn¡¯t want anyone asking why he hadn¡¯t woken up Unkai or maybe Wiperna and Raulf, who were on kitchen duty. The answer to that question was that he had been fucking around with Edita¡¯s special glasses and the magic load thingy. He could only get a lens over one eye at a time, but it did seem to work well enough for him. The results were almost like watching an augmented reality overlay of the flow of energy. It was all very intricate and colorful, and he had no idea what it all meant, but it was very fascinating to play with. Lenses could be flicked up and down to change the colors or hide certain paths. One would light up the runes in bright white if it was down which really made reading the tiny script much easier. The magnification lenses did fuck up focus rather badly for him, so he refrained from using those.


    He had actually asked permission to ¡°examine¡± them and Edita hadn¡¯t even hesitated in saying yes. That being said, these things looked VERY expensive, so he was being extremely careful. They were just soo cool though, and the craftsmanship. All polished hand fitted brass, every joint and fixture working so smoothly and perfectly. Probably magically fitted actually now he came to think of it. He had been so enamored that he had completely forgotten about the promise of a morning workout, but the steady rumble of Jacky¡¯s snoring was a good enough excuse to maybe let that slide for today. Not like that would ever become a habit.


    He was rather startled when there was a loud knock at the door. Wiperna loudly announced food was ready before going to the next door and doing the same thing. Tom blamed the earbuds that he had in at the time. He was trying to see if the glasses could see electricity, which sadly didn¡¯t seem to be the case.


    At the rather late breakfast, the plan for the day was discussed. Tom had been wondering if maybe he should be bringing out the quadbike for this, but it seemed not. Yldril would be made to pull her weight as thoroughly as could be managed.  There had been some back-and-forth discussion on if Yldril was ready to fly out to said forest, but in the end that had also been decided against.


    They might be able to push the dragon as hard as they wanted, at least in theory, though Fengi might have something to say about it. But even so, having something snap and send her plummeting from the sky didn¡¯t seem worth it, even if she would probably survive if she stayed low. So Yldril had been sent lumbering out ahead as soon as they had her rigged up and loaded down with everything they wanted. A party would head out soon thereafter to go start cutting and trimming, getting the logs ready for departure. It would take the dragon the better part of the day to get there at walking speed, so there was a good chance they would be all done long before she got there.


    ¡®The party¡¯ had ended up quite considerable. All the huntresses were going as well as Kulinger obviously. Shiva, Anchor, and even Linkosta were coming since she wanted to see what Kalestine might have done to the trees they would be cutting down.


    The dilemma Tom had been facing was how to get there. He wasn¡¯t overly fond of the idea of going with Yldril together with Fengi and Saph since, well, the dragon was an arsehole and it was a very long walk. Even getting a ride on her probably wouldn¡¯t be that comfy. And since Jarix wasn¡¯t going, the second option was of course going with the keep dwellers. This meant hitching rides with the girls cause Jarix wasn¡¯t leaving the keep until at least Glira came back. They were hoping for yesterday, but today wasn¡¯t unexpected either, if she stopped for the night at either keep.


    He didn¡¯t mind the bit of the journey that would be with Jacky, but he wasn¡¯t exactly thrilled about riding someone like Essy, even if she might not mind. At least Saph and Fengi wouldn¡¯t be there. He was also just a touch worried about the trip home with all of them nicely tired out from cutting wood all day.


    So when he and Jacky once more found themselves back in the bedroom with Jacky busy gearing up, Tom just sat on the bed still toying with the goggles before deciding to put them on as best he could and start flicking through the lenses while looking at her.


    ¡°Like what you are seeing?¡± Jacky questioned, clearly noticing but not turning to acknowledge him as she fiddled with her grieves, leaning over forwards.


    ¡°Always,¡± Tom retorted as he kept flicking lenses down. There was a slight¡­ Shimmer he guessed was the best word for it, about her, but nothing concrete really. Might just be the goggles picking up on any sort of life force like he knew powered the spells.


    ¡°What do those do anyway?¡± Jacky then asked, straightening back up again and picking up her bracers from the little table she had.


    ¡°They show the flow of magic as best I can see. You¡¯re not doing much right now though.¡±


    ¡°Want a flex or something?¡± she chuckled, turning to look at him, one hand resting on her hip, the other holding the bracer.


    ¡°If you would be so kind?¡± Tom chuckled as she struck a pose, flexing her biceps. The goggles did light her up, though it looked way different to the ordered organized lines and junctions of the magical load he had been looking at earlier. It looked more like a glowing nervous system arrayed out all over her body, or more accurately running inside her. The effect was a little wonky to look at if he was being totally honest, maybe it worked a bit better for dragonettes.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s cool looking,¡± he let out giddily, closing one eye to better look through the set of lenses he could get over an eye.


    ¡°What¡¯s it look like?¡±


    ¡°Like a million little bright white blood vessels running all through you. Well, like a nervous system I guess more accurately.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen that before somehow,¡± she chuckled sarcastically as the magic faded and she relaxed once more. ¡°Remind me to try those on later, sounds like a great opportunity to gawk at some boys.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut it you,¡± Tom laughed, knowing damn well if she had ever wanted to gawk at boys she would not have needed an excuse before¡­ Well unless she ended up turning it creepy, which he could certainly see happening.


    ¡°Awwwww, you getting jealous?¡± she quipped, slowly walking towards him, placing one foot in front of the other like she was going down a catwalk.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re just sounding a little Sapphire-ish, you know?¡± Tom joked, Jacky coming to a stop a pace from him and also starting to chuckle a little.


    ¡°Now we can¡¯t have that. Imagine the horror of having to be so perfect at everything.¡±


    ¡°Except math.¡±


    ¡°True that one¡­ It is just sooo damn boring though,¡± she pleaded, turning around and sitting down on his lap rather forcefully. Tom let out a little squeak as she continued where she had left off on the bracer. ¡°Just one big mess of numbers and a bunch of dumb rules on what they do.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, I find it strangely satisfying what you can do with a bit of good math. Sure beats language lessons. Gods I hated German back in the day.¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t wanna learn about it, I don¡¯t even think I wanna know,¡± she snickered before whipping her head around to look at him. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you getting ready to go?¡±


    Tom took a second to answer, mulling it over how to put it right now. If he was being totally honest, he would rather just go to the workshop and get on with things so they could get back to the interesting stuff as soon as possible. Namely some more actual enchantment work. He also wanted Edita to explain some of the designs they had gotten from down below. He still had that shitty copy of the old flier after all.


    Speaking of which, they really should have gotten that third vault open by now, they were way behind schedule. They were trying to open this one without blowing it up though, so that had probably delayed efforts considerably.


    ¡°You¡¯re daydreaming again¡± Jacky interrupted, sounding a little miffed at being left hanging. Understandably enough really.


    ¡°Right. Sorry. Well¡­.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t wanna go, do you?¡±


    ¡°I mean it sounds fun and all. But I¡¯m kinda busy,¡± Tom tried hopefully. It was the truth, he would rather stay, he just wasn¡¯t so sure she would take it kindly. She hadn¡¯t actually left him willingly since the whole mind reading fiasco, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure if she was even willing to.


    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll have Rachuck watch over you instead.¡±


    ¡°You what now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one staying here who¡¯s paranoid enough to be just perfect. One condition though.¡±


    ¡°... you don¡¯t have to do the running part tomorrow morning?¡± Tom tried, not sure where this was going.


    ¡°No, no I¡¯ll just piggy back when by feet hurt. This is much more important. I want the chainsaw.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Welp, there she was. Just her and Fengi riding atop dragon-back, slowly lumbering towards the forest. The view was rather bland. The rolling grassy hills had lost their green splendor ever so slowly, and with an overcast sky things really were looking rather gloomy. It was fairly windy too which really didn¡¯t help matters either. Worst in Saph''s mind had to be the darker-looking clouds on the horizon. If it rained this would turn into a truly shitty job. She just wrapped the furs she and Fengi had brought a little closer. Wolf fur was nice and warm, even if she only had part of one with her today. It was still more than enough to wrap up in. It would keep her dry too, at least for a while if it came to that.


    Someone had to stay with Fengi, but there hadn¡¯t exactly been an overabundance of volunteers. Saph was really cursing the fact that Unkai seemingly hadn¡¯t even tried to get cleared to go along. Instead, he was the one tending to Nunuk today with so many other people out and about. ¡®I mean come on, surely Apuma could have managed. Not like she needs to do much aside from just rest¡­ gods fucking dammit.¡¯


    At least Yldril wasn¡¯t making that bad time. They would certainly have to jog if they wanted to keep up on foot. The swaying walk of a dragon wasn¡¯t the most comfortable to be sure, the constant side-to-side motion getting really rather repetitive after the first ten minutes. At least Yldril wasn¡¯t jogging. Saph would have flown by herself at that point. It might actually even have made Tom sick if he had come along for this bit. Saph chuckled thinking back to the few times the human had been given a spin.


    It all probably sucked worse for Yldril though. They still didn¡¯t trust her wings, so they wouldn¡¯t force her to fly. The dragon for her part had actually agreed when asked what she thought was best, not that they valued her opinion overly much. Such was her punishment though, and Saph couldn¡¯t really feel bad for her. Yldril did make it real easy to not like her, that was for sure.


    For now, though, the dragon was walking in silence, simply aiming for the nearest part of the forest. The bird was being kept with the rest of the crew back at the keep. Once they were ready they would fly out ahead of them and get started on the chopping down and prepping the trees for transport.


    The two huntresses didn¡¯t really feel like chatting either considering their company, so silence had reigned for quite a while. It was really getting rather sad and solemn. Fengi didn¡¯t seem to be in too bad of a mood, but she certainly wasn¡¯t happy or bubbly like yesterday either. Things had been improving over the last couple of days. The Fengi Saph knew and loved even showing a few times, usually when something else had her attention. Like clothes, or food and drinks.


    ¡°You could just fly off, you know¡­ I cannot do anything,¡± Yldril grumbled as she kept walking.


    ¡°We could yeah¡­ but then we would miss out on a free ride, now wouldn¡¯t we?¡± Saph countered with false bravado, looking to Fengi and trying to work out what she wanted to do.


    ¡°Marvelous¡­ You know you aren¡¯t the only ones who wouldn¡¯t mind a bit of privacy?¡± Yldril grumbled in response, sounding pissed as usual.


    ¡°Who are you gonna have a chat with, the wind?¡± Saph questioned intentionally, trying to sound a touch rude.


    ¡°I could scream at a rock for half an hour¡­ I¡¯m sure that would cheer me up.¡±


    Fengi just let out a rather unhappy-sounding sigh, looking down at the dragon¡¯s head, who was refusing to look back at them.


    ¡°Do you want us to leave? Or do you maybe want to actually say something now no one is here?¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to say? You can just make me, you know?¡± the dragon grumbled with dark sarcasm. ¡°Yes, master, I love being a slave. It¡¯s so amazing how you stand up for me when people are being mean?¡±


    Fengi didn¡¯t counter, instead just letting her ears drop, staring at the dragon.


    ¡°Right okay, here¡¯s a question for you then to pass the time. What would it take, that we can actually give you, to make you happy?¡± Saph interrupted in a stern tone, not too happy about what Yldril constantly did to Fengi¡¯s demeanor.


    ¡°Say, Yldril you are free to go,¡± the dragon replied with a chuff, seeming quite pleased with her reply.


    ¡°I said that we could actually do. Can''t just let you go, you know that.¡±


    ¡°How about letting me lay down until I can work without everything hurting? That would be nice.¡±


    ¡°We have deadlines to make. At least it should be getting better, right? And after winter you should be good as new,¡± Fengi pleaded, sounding almost like Ray when she was afraid she was asking too much. Saph didn¡¯t actually believe the dragon that everything hurt that bad. Besides, she could have just surrendered if she didn¡¯t like getting fucked up.


    ¡°Gee, thanks. How gracious of you. How many trips like this will I have to do? In autumn and probably in the cold rain most of the time.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t really know yet. We don¡¯t know how many trees we¡¯re getting, nor how much you can drag each time.


    ¡°Soo pull more and it is over sooner?¡± the dragon sighed in response, at least seeming to drop the dark sarcasm for now.


    ¡°Well that is the idea at least,¡± Fengi replied, still holding her cautious tone.


    ¡°Fantastic. And with no wings, it is a two-day round trip¡­¡±


    ¡°That about sums it up. No way we can cut the wood up faster than that anyway¡­ actually Saph, what was the plan there? We don¡¯t have a sawmill or anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Handsaws and guides by the sound of it, just like the old days. We do have Tom¡¯s chainsaw at least. That should help,¡± Saph responded with a shrug. She¡¯d not done much woodworking, aside from helping out with collecting firewood of course. They always needed that stuff. Every now and again she had come along when they went and cut down a tree and dragged it back with the team of oxen for Kulinger to work on. They did use wood at the keep after all, be it for repairs or Kullinger having a go at some new furniture or even just for tools.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right? Aren¡¯t we talking like at least a dozen trees?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, do you think so?¡±


    ¡°Well they were talking about multiple trips. Look what we are sitting on.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m a what now¡­ fascinating,¡± Yldril grumbled, sounding more annoyed than upset.


    ¡°A 30+ ton mound of bitching by the sounds of it.¡±


    ¡°Ouch¡­ right in the heart,¡± Yldril let out disappointedly, like she really had expected something better.


    Fengi just sighed before seemingly deciding not to comment on that. ¡°A 30+ ton dragon who can easily haul a tree or two, now can¡¯t she? Especially if they are trimming them first. The way I understood it we were only bringing the logs back, right?¡±


    ¡°Probably yeah¡­¡± Saph replied, a horrifying realization dawning on her.


    ¡°There is no way we are cutting up that many logs into planks by hand.¡±


    ¡°... Fengi?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Remind me to poke Tom about making that problem go away somehow. Even if I have to owe him enough favors to make Jacky jealous.¡±


    ¡°Hey if you are taking the fall, I¡¯m all for it,¡± Fengi snickered, seeming rather overwhelmed by trying to work out just how much work they were talking.


    ¡°As long as they don¡¯t put me in a wheel to power it I am happy,¡± Yldril grumbled, managing to sound remarkably depressed.


    ¡°I think you will be plenty tired when you make it back home tomorrow, don¡¯t you worry,¡± Saph retorted, the dragon letting out an annoyed grunt.


    ¡°I better be allowed a proper night''s sleep tonight. I promise I will flay anyone who wakes me up.¡±


    ¡°No you won''t,¡± Saph just stated matter of factly, shifting around on the dragon''s back a bit, trying to get more comfortable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone will be staying the night aside from us really. Shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right Saph?¡± Fengi added, looking at Saph rather pointedly as she found a nice spike to lean against that wouldn¡¯t poke her. It fitted rather nicely between her wing shoulders really, even if she was lacking a headrest.


    ¡°Right¡­ fair enough, yeah. If anything wakes her up in the night it probably should die, all things considered, as long as it¡¯s not me or you. Don¡¯t wanna be taken in the night by a wolf or something, am I right? You wouldn¡¯t let that happen, now would you?¡± Saph asked rather sarcastically, leaning to the side a bit and trying to see Yldril¡¯s head without success.


    ¡°Of course not. I would encourage it,¡± the dragon retorted dryly.


    ¡°Atta girl,¡± Saph just joked, knowing full well that Fengi would see to that.


    ¡°Saph, please?¡± Fengi pleaded, looking rather miserable. ¡°Could we at least try to be nice to each other? Maybe just a little bit?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that to me? She¡¯s the one that just admitted she wants us dead,¡± Saph protested. She could understand Fengi wanted to make some progress, but come on. ¡°Fine¡­ It was an okay joke at least.¡±


    ¡°Oh I wasn¡¯t joking,¡± Yldril added, to Fengi¡¯s evident annoyance as she too turned her gaze towards where the dragon¡¯s head would be if she wasn¡¯t hanging it low like she was walking home in defeat.


    ¡°Yldril¡­ You have to defend us against any threat encountered until we are back at the keep, understand?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do¡­ I have to. Why am I surprised a pair of huntresses can¡¯t even fend for themselves out here?¡± the dragon complained, clearly not impressed with the choice of tactics.


    ¡°You do know we are only down here cause you can¡¯t fly yet. And we aren¡¯t leaving you unsupervised either.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 168: U-Haul

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    Tom was still rather worried he had made a big mistake as he watched Jacky fly off towards the grey horizon, chainsaw dangling from her chest. He felt a little odd actually. He had come running out to say goodbye and to give Jacky her pair of ear defenders and some safety glasses that sorta fit, at least a little bit. He had also reminded them to pack some tarps. Just in case it rained since it might help keep the wood mostly dry. Honestly, he felt like a worried mother or housewife.


    The image hadn¡¯t really been helped when Ray had also come running up carrying some bundles of food someone had apparently forgotten. Maybe he should go do a load of laundry next and complete the image.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s them gone,¡± Tom shrugged as he lost sight of Jacky against the grey skies.


    ¡°Yup¡­¡± Ray answered, also staring up at the sky, watching them.


    ¡°You got anything you have to do or?¡±


    ¡°Oh eh, not that much¡­ I really should wash the floors in the armory though, a lot of muddy feet,¡± Ray joked a little unsurely.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, it¡¯ll be just as dirty tomorrow anyway, and ten times so if we get rain.¡±


    ¡°Raulf thinks so¡­ About the rain that is. So you¡¯re probably right,¡± Ray agreed, turning to look at him instead. ¡°Do you need help with anything?¡±


    ¡°We just have some stuff to do in the smithy. I don¡¯t think so¡­ Actually,¡± he replied, turning to her as well, tilting his head a little. ¡°I heard Fengi mention that you were looking at getting dresses made. Is that right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Ray responded with a quick nod. ¡°You know. It would be nice to have, even if it wouldn¡¯t be so good to wear every day. It is going to be hard with the silks though.¡±


    ¡°Everyone needs some finery,¡± Tom replied with a wink. Of course she should have some nice clothes, maybe she would even start wearing what they had gotten for her in the capital then. She looked quite nice, all things considered, when she tried. ¡°You went for silk? I guess that¡¯s a bit expensive,¡± he carried on, having no clue what silk they might be talking about. The only silk that he remembered them having was the changeling silk of his cloak¡­ maybe he should revisit the idea of getting that turned into a proper uniform. He would need a bit more of the stuff though.


    ¡°Well that too, but I¡¯ve never sewn silk before. It¡¯s always so expensive. And it¡¯s hard to make look just right.¡±


    ¡°I know Essy is pretty good at sewing. I¡¯m sure Wiperna is too.¡±


    ¡°Oh of course,¡± Ray giggled, though still looking a little uncertain. ¡°But not to be mean or anything, but a dress is quite different from some armor or a simple shirt.¡±


    ¡°Well, I certainly wouldn¡¯t know. Only sewing I¡¯ve done was to fix things¡­ It usually didn¡¯t end well,¡± Tom joked, hoping Ray wouldn¡¯t be quite so skittish. They hadn¡¯t talked that much, but everyone knew she was sweet as pie.


    ¡°I could teach you if you want? I was helping Jacky a little before all this stuff with the inquisitor happened.¡±


    ¡°Jacky was taking sewing classes?¡± Tom questioned, raising an eyebrow. That was honestly quite the surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while. She¡¯s been busy and all,¡± Ray replied a little meekly before changing the subject. ¡°How have the two of you been doing? You have had a very hard time.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Oh yeah, it¡¯s been¡­ well it sucked a lot. Jacky blames the inquisitor rather than me, even if I wasn¡¯t that nice all the time, so I guess that is a plus.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, everyone has bad days. You especially so,¡± Ray said in a very soothing voice, going to put a hand on his shoulder with the most tender and caring look on her face Tom could imagine. ¡°Just try not to, okay?¡±


    ¡°You know Ray, this is why everyone here likes you so much,¡± Tom chuckled softly, giving her a pat on the shoulder in return. ¡°You¡¯re a good egg as we would say back home.¡±


    ¡°But humans don¡¯t lay eggs,¡± Ray replied, turning her head to the side a little, looking adorably confused.


    ¡°No, but we still know what eggs are¡­ Anyhow, Jacky thought you would want to buy some jewelry with the money? I guess that falls under clothes to some extent.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Yeah, I guess so. It is going to be so strange having to buy something not from my brother''s shop.¡± She laughed hollowly. Tom hadn¡¯t thought about that part. He didn¡¯t even know if the shop was still around.


    ¡°We could also try making some? I know Shiva will be quite busy, but we certainly have plenty of materials to work with. Silver and gold too. I have a feeling that maybe she will want to do something other than entertaining us lot as winter goes by.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she would do that? It is a lot of work,¡± Ray questioned meekly, clearly worried time would be spent on her that shouldn¡¯t. Tom couldn¡¯t really blame her. They would probably be busy all winter, but surely Shiva could whip up some earrings or something.


    ¡°Well, she sure loves polishing everything. Do you know her magic?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I more or less worked it out¡­ My brother had the same talent. Let him make things without solder. He made these earrings out of very thin gold wire all fused together into little designs. They were beautiful,¡± Ray replied, turning sadder and sadder as she explained.


    ¡°Oh I believe it. Maybe Shiva can replicate one?¡± Tom tried cautiously, not sure if he should change the subject or if this was a good thing to talk about. ¡®God dammit Tom, why are you such a numpty with all this stuff?¡¯


    ¡°Perhaps?... It was very fine work. They easily broke too. He just called that a business opportunity since not many places could fix them. I often wore some of them when standing outside, at least during the day, you know? Advertising. He never even got mad every time I broke one,¡± Ray replied somberly, her expression going blank. ¡°Times change, I guess.¡±


    ¡°They sure do. I had never worn jewelry before coming here. And then what do the girls do? They take every chance they get to dress me up with whatever they can find. Even cut my hair to leave a damn heart and a lightning bolt. Wore a cap for months after that. It¡¯s still not quite gone,¡± Tom joked. It seemed to help as she looked at him with big eyes like she had just realized something embarrassing.


    ¡°I remember those¡­ I thought they were religious or something like that.¡±


    Tom suppressed a snicker at that, not wanting to laugh at her. Shortly thereafter Ray too let out a little giggle, confirming that she found it funny too.


    ¡®Oh thank god for that.¡¯


    ¡°And the time they tried to do my hair into horns, oh that was soo stupid.¡±


    ¡°They really tried that?¡± Ray questioned, suppressing another snicker.


    ¡°Yup, I think Saph just panicked. Dakota basically just told her ¡®Make him presentable!¡¯ and then left. She didn¡¯t have a clue what to do,¡± Tom carried on, breaking out laughing properly at the stupid memory. That had been so damn dumb, but it was a good story at least. Ray joined in too, though she was more snickering and giggling at his misfortune than outright laughing.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that is funny,¡± Ray apologized as she kept snickering at him.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, it was damn funny. Afterwards at least,¡± Tom got out after catching his breath real quick. ¡°Or the time when Kiran attacked my foot ¡®cause of how bad it smelled. That really hurt. Bastard has sharp fangs.¡±


    ¡°He is a spirited one,¡± Ray remarked, the two of them continuing to snicker like idiots.


    Then there was a bit of a cough from behind them. Tom turned to see Junior and Radexi standing there, Junior at attention for some reason.


    ¡°At ease gentlemen,¡± Tom joked, watching the young man switch to a more relaxed stance, almost mirroring Radexi who just shook his head the tiniest amount. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Shiva and Edita want you in the forge, and Jarix would like a word as well.¡±


    ¡°Right. I guess the fun is over then. Run along you two, I¡¯ll be right up.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    Tom let out a sigh as he watched them run off ¡®I guess he¡¯s not quite over playing soldier¡­ I guess it still beats him taking after his father. Oh well, to work.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph¡¯s day had been rather boring thus far. It had been such a long walk, and it was more or less around late afternoon by the time they had made it to just the treeline. It had taken some walking back and forth from there before Essy had come descending out of the skies towards them to lead them to the camp.


    It had turned out to be another half-hour walk through the forest to get there, which had left everyone save Essy a little travel sore. One might laugh at the idea of sitting down for a whole day being tiring, but Saph had actually gotten off to jog alongside just to have something to do for a bit. That and she was sore and stiff from all the hours sitting on Yldril¡¯s back.


    At least the forest was beautiful though, much better than the rolling hills. They really did get boring after a while. Here, though, it was all full of color. Especially on the outskirts of the forest. The leaves were already a dark yellow and falling, coating the ground in a colorful blanket. A few piles could be seen here and there where the wind had swept them up. Saph poked one to check for any surprises with a long stick before taking a run up and just jumping in backward, letting her wings catch the leaves to give a soft bouncy landing.


    Fengi had kindly asked the dragon to walk by the pile of leaves, causing Saph to vacate to the shout of ¡°Clear below!¡± followed by Fengi letting herself fall off the dragon¡¯s back and down into the pile of leaves, using much the same trick as Saph had, though the cushion of leaves caught under her wing and sent her bouncing off. Essy stuck her head over the side to better watch as Fengi sailed gracelessly through the air and landed with a thunk and an ¡°Aooow¡­¡± on some rather less well-padded ground.


    The two silvered huntresses both chuckled a bit as Fengi held up a hand showing the OK symbol. ¡°Nailed it.¡±


    ¡°Well if there had been a nail there then absolutely. You didn¡¯t hurt anything, right?¡± Saph snickered, walking up to look down at the younger woman.


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m fine,¡± Fengi replied, standing up and dusting herself off, still looking like that had hurt at least a bit.


    ¡°Well at least the kids aren¡¯t around to learn about that maneuver,¡± Essy added with a shake of her head. ¡°I could see someone breaking a wing doing that.¡±


    ¡°You can break a wing doing the dishes,¡± Fengi retorted, going to jog after the dragon who hadn¡¯t stopped or even slowed down. ¡°Yldril, I¡¯m climbing up your tail, just so you know.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful. At least you don¡¯t want me to pick you up when you fall off,¡± The dragon retorted sarcastically, not seeming to care overly much. It wasn¡¯t like she could stop them anyway. Fengi hopped up onto her tail and started climbing. Saph was half expecting the tip to fall off again, but it did seem to have survived the reattachment pretty well. Even if it was just the tip that had come off, it was certainly more than could be said for Balethon.


    Saph followed Fengi¡¯s lead, taking a running start and using a few powerful flaps of her wings to send her up onto the dragon''s back. ¡°All aboard.¡±


    ¡°Chuu chuu,¡± Essy let out playfully, pumping her fist in the air twice, leading to both Fengi and Saph tilting their heads looking at her. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a thing Tom said¡­ Not sure what it means, probably Danish.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Ahr yeah, that makes sense,¡± Fengi and Saph both agreed as they made themselves comfortable once more.


    Saph went to lay down alongside the spines on the dragon''s back, looking down at the ground moving slowly by below them. The dragon¡¯s steps had slowed a bit as the hours had gone by, and she just watched the ground glide past. She thought back fondly to old times long ago. Playing in the rustling leaves as a kid had always been good fun. They used to take the kids of the keep to the forest just to see how different it was on a normal year. It was good to have a trip to see something other than just the rolling hills around the keep after all. For the last while though the kids had more or less just been cooped up inside the keep. She didn¡¯t see that changing this year either.


    ¡®Maybe next year. With some money, surely we could take a trip to the capital or something. Been a few since last we did that after all I think.¡¯


    They didn¡¯t so much see the camp as hear it. Specifically, the roar of Tom¡¯s chainsaw cutting through the woods. At first it was faint in the distance, almost like a shriek of a wounded animal, but as one came closer the true anger of that strange tool could be heard in full song. Accompanied by a familiar if rather manic-sounding laughter¡­


    ¡°Wait¡­ Did they give it to Jacky?¡± Saph broke out, sitting up and trying to look ahead.


    ¡°Well that can¡¯t possibly go wrong,¡± Fengi said sarcastically, shaking her head a bit, standing up, and walking up to Yldril¡¯s shoulders to get a better view.


    ¡°It gets worse I¡¯m afraid,¡± Essy added, having taken a comfy seat on Yldril¡¯s back as well.


    Fengi and Saph both didn¡¯t say anything, instead just turning to look at the oldest huntress.


    ¡°Tom isn¡¯t here either¡­ and he gave it to her for the day,¡± Essy carried on reluctantly, apprehension clear on her face.


    ¡°Dakota did come, right? You know, just in case something needs to be put back on,¡± Saph tried half-joking, half-serious. A healer sounded like something they could definitely use if they ended up in that situation.


    ¡°I am not sure Dakota could manage that if I¡¯m being honest. I wouldn¡¯t like to think what that thing could do to flesh and bone,¡± Fengi added, also not seeming overly thrilled with the news.


    ¡°Is anyone going to tell me what that noise is?¡± Yldril protested, shaking her head a little as Jacky let loose once more, the screaming saw chewing its way through a log somewhere in the forest. It was hard to even work out where it was coming from with the echo bouncing off the trees all around them.


    ¡°Just think of it as a magical item that cuts wood and to do it, it burns stuff rather than magic. And is incredibly loud,¡± Saph responded as she tried to tell what parts of the noise were the saw and what might be Jacky screaming with glee.


    ¡°Am I the only one who would be quite scared to hear this? Say in the dark of night all alone out here?¡± Fengi questioned, sounding like maybe there was a little fear in there already as she looked around, the sound overwhelming them from all directions.


    ¡°Please tell me I do not have to listen to that all day?¡± the dragon grumbled, seeming a lot less impressed by the noise.


    ¡°If it helps, we all do. If Jacky¡¯s got the saw, then she ain¡¯t putting it down till it doesn¡¯t wanna go no more. Or when we are done, I hope,¡± Saph sighed, the sheer disappointment radiating off the dragon feeling almost thick in the air as she walked along.


    ¡°Who knows, maybe they will be done soon?¡± Fengi tried in a cheerful tone. ¡°I mean cutting trees down with that thing and branching them can¡¯t take that long, and they must have been going for a while by now.¡±


    Rounding a large path of bushes, the source of the noise came into view. Jacky stood with her back to them complete with her red-furred ear-defenders as woodchips flew all around, before the tree she had been working on creaked and cracked, slowly starting to topple over. ¡°TIIIMBEEEER!¡±


    There was a brief panic as the tree fell the wrong way, and several keep dwellers ran for it before the tree slammed into the ground. Jacky stood there looking quite pleased with herself.


    ¡°GOT IT!¡± she shouted out as grumbling faces started returning to the site, some having fled quite far away. As order returned some of them noticed the massive dragon staring at them. ¡°Sorry about the bad guess. I really thought it was going that way.¡±


    ¡®Gods give me strength,¡¯ Saph sighed, clutching her temples a bit.


    ¡°Now now Saph, I¡¯m sure she tried to make it go the other way. The saw does look like a handful if you ask me,¡± Essy let out, clearly trying to mediate things before anyone got shouted at. ¡°Looks like they have come a long way already too.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Yldril replied, looking around and not sounding overly thrilled as she started walking up to the latest trunk to hit the ground. Looking around, the victims were quite spread out, and Essy was right too, there were quite a lot of them.


    Jacky apparently hadn¡¯t noticed them until Yldril was but a few meters behind her. She turned a bit to the right, probably sensing something was behind her, and let out a yelp of surprise as she noticed the massive black dragon standing just behind her. In true Jacky fashion, her finger was seemingly still on the trigger as the chainsaw roared to life, revving wildly before she managed to get her finger off the trigger, stumbling back a step or two. Some people averted their gaze once more, fearing Dakota¡¯s magics were about to be needed, though others simply shook their heads or giggled a bit.


    Yldril just stood there staring at the huntress unflinchingly. ¡°Would you please shut that thing up?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right. Fuck man, you can¡¯t just sneak up on me like that,¡± the chainsaw-wielding huntress countered, shutting off the chainsaw with a flick of a switch.


    ¡°I was not. You are simply oblivious. How many trees are there?¡±


    ¡°Oh uuuhm¡­¡± Jacky paused, looking back at her path of destruction. "Well¡­ You know, I think I stopped counting.¡±


    ¡°There are twelve in total,¡± Dakota responded, walking up to the dragon. ¡°And I must say, things have been going far swifter than we imagined. So far we are talking two logs per tree, we will cut them in half again when back at the keep. So two trees cut into four logs a trip was our idea. You will have to put together your cargo though. Do you think you can handle that?¡±


    ¡°Just fine¡­ what even is that, a couple tons? Might as well take eight just to get it done with. That would mean I only need to do three trips, right?¡±


    ¡°That would be correct, yes. It is an awful lot of wood though,¡± Dakota replied, not seeming quite convinced that was a good idea, looking to Fengi for confirmation.


    The young huntress just shrugged, clearly not knowing either. ¡°If she thinks 8 logs is fine, why not? Not like we know what she can pull.¡±


    ¡°I have hauled far worse. But first I want to lay down somewhere with a bit of peace and quiet,¡± the dragon rumbled unenthusiastically, looking to Jacky, who was already making her way to the tree she had downed, fiddling with the saw.


    ¡°You can rest for a little. Afterward, we would have you stack the lumber up over there. We¡¯re laying down two logs to put it on so it doesn¡¯t get wet. In the meantime, Saph, we have a little foraging to do. I hope you brought your knife.¡±


    ¡°Always,¡± Saph replied, sliding down Yldrils''s side and landing in a crouch, steadying herself with an arm before standing up again. ¡°What are we looking for?¡±


    ¡°Heaven oak bark and anything else of use. A tasty snack wouldn¡¯t go amiss either. By the looks of it, we might be able to finish up here today. Actually, remember to grab a hatchet for the bark while you are at it.¡±


    ¡°I saw some berry bushes when looking for you three. Worth a look I think,¡± Essy added enthusiastically as she too slid down Yldril, as the dragon started walking off to go have a nap somewhere a little quieter.


    ¡°Could I come too? Once I¡¯ve seen where Yldril went to sleep at?¡± Fengi questioned hopefully, looking to Dakota. ¡°I¡¯ll be back so we can have her ready stuff for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not, as long as we get the prep done properly. Apparently it is going to rain tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah we heard,¡± Fengi sulked, glancing to Saph.


    ¡°Not much we can do about it. We better get going then before she wanders too far off. Do try to keep Jacky from killing anyone,¡± Saph chuckled, feeling a little glad she didn¡¯t have to be too close to the saw either. It made her ears ring, and since Jacky had it there was not much chance of her getting a go at it anyway, and where was the fun in that?


    ¡°No faith at all,¡± Jacky laughed loudly with a big smile on her face as she yanked the cord and the device sprang to life once more. There was no denying just how quick work it made of those branches though. Each was gone in a matter of seconds as she walked up the side of the trunk.


    ¡°Well, good luck. See you later!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom came up the stairs to the greeting hall, the sight that greeted him was a young and slender blue dragon laying on his belly, head turned to face the horizon while completely overrun by kids. Said gaggle of kids seemed to include nearly everyone, save Lothal. Last Tom had seen him he had been shadowing Rachuck, who was supposed to be with Paulin at the moment so he guessed the kid was getting his first proper lessons on inquisition wrangling. Someone had to keep an eye on her.


    The investigator hadn¡¯t actually been causing much trouble as of late. Whether that came down to the orders she had been given or to the fact that Tom had a suspicion that she and Rachuck actually saw eye to eye on many things was hard to say. They were certainly both rather paranoid and beset by an impeccable work ethic.


    For now though, Tom guessed he had kids to worry about, as well as whatever Jarix wanted to do. As he made his way over he saw Zarko holding the basket with Jinora, looking less than thrilled about the whole situation. It was rather funny to see the strict and uptight military woman being forced to babysit. And in all due honesty, she should probably be sawing planks or something instead. But they wouldn¡¯t have any more wood till sometime late tomorrow, so here she was. He guessed that she hadn¡¯t gone logging because if it came to it Jarix needed his crew for a fight.


    ¡°Ahr Tom, listen bro, I need to ask a favor,¡± Jarix called out, seeming quite delighted once he spotted Tom and Ray.


    ¡°Name it big guy,¡± Tom called back, walking up and watching as the kids all turned to look, a few hopping down to come his way with Kiran leading the charge.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you. Remember back before Joelina came here, well mostly even longer back than that. You used to run around in the morning and lift things?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Tom replied, bending down to pick up Kiran as he came running with arms raised. ¡°Up we come.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that stuff. Does it actually work?¡± the dragon questioned as the rest of the kids running up went right by Tom and instead ran up to Ray, who had already bent down arms open to welcome them in.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tom asked with a chuckle, watching Ray with a big smile.


    ¡°He¡¯s just trying to get out of having to do the training, that¡¯s all,¡± Zarko interjected annoyedly, also walking towards Ray, Jinora¡¯s basket in hand.


    ¡°No, not me. Radexi. He¡¯s just embarrassed to ask, that¡¯s all,¡± the dragon clarified. ¡°I don¡¯t need more flying practice, I¡¯m the best already. And look at this now,¡± he went, flexing a foreleg which was showing some rather nicely defined muscle underneath the scaly hide.


    ¡°All that fieldwork was good for something, aye? Maybe you should be helping out log hauling.¡± Tom chuckled, watching the dragon¡¯s expression go from proud to rather annoyed.


    ¡°Yeah, right,¡± Jarix chuckled sarcastically. ¡°Why not do the work of someone 4 times my size, might be 5 actually. I think I¡¯m good.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t done anything for weeks you big baby. It¡¯s time to get to work again,¡± Zarko corrected as she gingerly gave the basket to Ray like she was defusing a bomb. Ray took it right away and stuck a hand down for Jinora to play with to the sound of happy baby giggles.


    ¡°Oh come on, I was wounded.¡±


    ¡°And now you¡¯re fixed. I think it¡¯s an excellent idea. It will take Yldril more than one run I hope, otherwise it¡¯s not gonna be anywhere near enough wood.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan to me. Though flying practice should be a thing too, right?¡± Tom questioned, looking to the now much more comfortable-looking lieutenant.


    ¡°We really should be practicing with Dakota and her girls, yes. Rachuck and the guard too for that matter, in case we get locked up in here with you for winter.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. I for one would love to see some aerial exercises.¡± Tom mused glancing to Jarix hoping the dragon would pick up on a possible way out of hauling duty.


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t plan on falling off, I think the big baby could use some weight. Much like yourself,¡± Zarko agreed, gesturing at Tom. Tom had indeed resumed the practice of walking around with the weights on. He was more or less mended after all. The last two days hadn¡¯t even come with dreams of Joelina¡¯s past. Even if that wasn¡¯t really enough to have him discount that side effect as dealt with. ¡°Perhaps a few of the guards would be willing to come along for target practice. They will be fine in the belly netting I am sure.


    ¡°Oh come one, I¡¯m supposed to fight using speed. Don¡¯t go weighing me down now.¡±


    ¡°Of course, and if you are faster with passengers, imagine how well you will do in a proper fight. Besides, I already talked with Dakota. She found the idea quite ideal,¡± Zarko retorted with a grim smile on her face, Jarix deflating noticeably.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jarix! We coming too!¡± Kiran shouted out, raising a clenched fist.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t,¡± Tom chuckled, lowering the hand back down again. ¡°It¡¯s bad enough for them if I fall off.¡±


    ¡°But I fly already.¡±


    ¡°Yes, when you weren¡¯t allowed to¡­ and were high on sugar.¡±


    ¡°I still want more sweets. They taste good!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes I know. I promise when you¡¯re older,¡± Tom tried, Kiran¡¯s expression turning exceedingly grumpy as he crossed his arms. ¡°I am three. That¡¯s a lot!¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t feel bad, kid. My dad didn¡¯t let me try flying till I was 10,¡± Jarix added in helpfully, Kiran turning to look at the dragon, mouth agape.


    ¡°Oh nooooo.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t give me that,¡± Zarko let out, clearly not impressed ¡°I know your mother. No way in hel-¡±


    ¡°Heherm!¡± Ray cleared her throat, looking rather scathingly at Zarko, who for her part just shut up.


    Tom just watched in awe. He had never seen Ray do anything like that before. And Zarko was not exactly the most lenient of people. Even Kiran didn¡¯t seem to have a funny quip.


    Jarix just looked rather smug at the whole thing before slowly and with head held high turning to look at Tom and Kiran.


    ¡°Anyway, I just wanted to ask if you could help Radexi out. He¡¯s a bit spindly.¡±


    ¡°And he can¡¯t pull back the bolt on the 50 properly¡­ I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± Tom promised, not quite sure how this would end. Hopefully better than his attempt to wingman for Unkai. Even if that had been more or less successful in the end.


    ¡°Thanks bro. Now I think if I have to go out and start hauling trees, I¡¯m gonna need to look good. Who knows who might see us out there? We have to put on a good image after all,¡± Jarix chuckled, laying his head back down on the sun-heated stone and looking rather comfy really. Even if Tom still needed to make good on that promise of a bed.


    ¡°What¡¯s next, do you want white enameled armor too? Maybe a huntress crown as well? I¡¯m sure I could put in a good word with Dakota and get you at least a copper one,¡± Zarko retorted sarcastically, crossing her arms and looking unimpressed.


    ¡°Did you forget how much I was paid? I am a gilded, I would have you know.¡±


    ¡°Still only made half of a normal year¡¯s commission, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, I made half on top of a normal commission, remember?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Tom let out, blinking a few times. ¡°Forgot just how expensive you lot are.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think most keeps out here don¡¯t have dragons? At least not normally. They are putting a fortune into this place,¡± Jarix countered. ¡°I know mum¡¯s place back home cost thousands. Food is the big one though. In the big cities, it¡¯s just crazy.¡±


    ¡°There is also the small matter of asking someone who can live for hundreds of years to risk their life for you. No keep dweller dragons making 500 a year out here.¡± Zarko added apathetically.


    ¡°Well duh, just like there aren¡¯t any dragonettes making 50, or even like what? 10 gold.¡±


    ¡°Quite, most would be more like a couple on a good year¡­ if you''re a higher rank,¡± Ray interjected cautiously, clearly not quite comfortable with the huge numbers.


    ¡°Damn¡­ actually, what would a dragon make out here?¡± Jarix proceeded to ask, looking to Zarko, who just shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe 100? Maybe only 50? Some might only be paid in food and shelter, you are expensive to feed after all. From what I heard many are usually hired rather than part of the keep too.¡±


    ¡°Welp, even more reason to join the army,¡± Jarix mused, seeming quite content with his lot in life. ¡°So much more worth it.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 169: Quite Nice Really

    Essy had led the three of them through the forest, looking for the elusive berry bush. It had only taken about 5 minutes of searching on the wing before they had found it. Covering ground was really a lot easier when on the wing, even if they had to duck and dive around the massive tree trunks. Saph had of course decided to try and have a little fun, flinging herself over branches and diving down between the smaller trees to run the slalom between them.


    Fengi had followed, the smaller very nippy huntress managing the tight turns just fine. So Saph had put on a little more speed to see just how fast the diminutive Fengi could go down here. They were soon racing along with Essy putting on some more speed too, keeping watch from above as the two of them had their fun. Before long it became rather clear Fengi was trying to catch Saph. ¡®Tag it is then. I¡¯ll show you.¡¯


    Finding a small stretch of open air, Saph put her larger stronger wings to use, accelerating away from a struggling Fengi. Down here straight line speed wouldn¡¯t win her much though, nor was it much fun. So she locked her wings and banked a full 90 degrees, pulling into a sharp turn around a young ash wood and savoring the familiar feeling as her wings bent like springs under the load, leaving her suspended on a rather smooth ride hurtling around the sharp corner. Fengi could turn sharply, even sharper in fact, but she could not hold her speed in the turn as well. Her wings were smaller and she weighed less.


    Saph wouldn¡¯t much approve of anyone calling her a fatarse, but she had to concede that she was larger than Fengi. Glancing behind her, Fengi was indeed falling behind as Saph reversed her turn, rolling back over and pulling up hard once more, looking to bleed all the speed out of Fengi behind her.


    Fengi sadly wasn¡¯t stupid though and didn¡¯t follow into said turn, instead pulling up and out through the loose branches, folding up her wings and simply slamming through with a crash of snapping twigs and small branches. ¡°Well I guess that¡¯s one way to do it¡­¡± Saph let out, looking at the beam of light peeking through where Fengi had vacated the battlefield.


    ¡®So, where is she going?¡¯ Saph pondered as she slowed down, gliding along while trying not to make noise. Soon enough she spotted Fengi through a hole in the lower treecover, the young huntress flying up under the cover of the heaven oak, clearly searching for prey. Worryingly she had definitely seen Saph and began a dive down at speed.


    ¡°Ahr shit,¡± Saph let out as she tried to pile speed back on again. A quick check behind her confirmed that wasn¡¯t happening before Fengi managed to dive on her back. So instead she flared up to vertical, wings spread wide and tensing from nose to tail tip as she pulled a fair amount of G¡¯s, coming to a near stop in less than a second. Sure enough, Fengi came hurtling past with much swearing as she had to pull up to not smack into the ground. Saph beat her wings just enough to get enough speed to stay airborne then watched what the young huntress would do next.


    Fengi elected to bleed her excess speed in a sharp right turn, whipping around with frightening ease. Saph carried on steadily, heading right at the much faster flying Fengi, trying to see if maybe she would be up for a game of chicken.


    From above Essy shouted out for them to stop this nonsense, as Fengi took the bait. Saph needed to make sure Fengi didn¡¯t just slap her with her tail or something as the two passed each other, as well as avoiding a collision of course. Luckily forests were full of trees, so with a quick bank she pulled up and to the right, right up into a nice protective treetop where she deftly landed, claws digging into the soft bark.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Fengi shouted out, seemingly rather upset at her continued failure as Saph snickered, watching the young huntress go by once more having carried far too much speed. Saph had ended up in a rather precarious situation though, and it didn¡¯t take Fengi long to come around and come in for a landing in Saph¡¯s precious treetop. ¡°Come here!¡± Fengi half-laughed as Saph retreated in among the branches, trying not to giggle too much herself.


    ¡°Intruder. Get out of my tree you brute!¡±


    ¡°Damn traitors hiding from the law,¡± Fengi snapped in reply, clearly having just as much fun as Saph as the two chased each other from branch to branch. Fengi was smaller and faster here, Saph soon finding herself pushed into a corner out on a long lone branch. She considered taking flight once more, looking behind her to check if anything was in the way in case she wanted to jump. When she looked back to Fengi the young huntress had already launched herself kicking off the tree trunk with wings folded out just enough to carry her to her intended target.


    Saph did try to duck out of the way, but there was no time as Fengi slammed into her, shoulder-checking her right in the stomach. Arms wrapped around Saph¡¯s waist as she stumbled over backward, landing on the branch rather hard. Fengi let out an involuntary grunt as she landed on top of the older huntress, not letting go.


    ¡°Got you!¡± Fenig laughed out, scrambling for a better hold on her prey.


    ¡°Aow,¡± Saph let out with a groan, rubbing the back of her head, which had slammed into the branch. Then there was a rather concerning cracking sound. ¡°Ahr shit.¡±


    The two entangled huntresses were suddenly reminded that they were currently about 10 meters off the ground as the branch gave way, sending them tumbling toward the ground. They both instinctively flared their wings to make as much drag as they could, result being it only hurt a lot when they slammed into the flat forest floor below, Fengi clutching Saph¡¯s waist all the way down as the two of them screamed together.


    Saph had to admit she was a little hazy following the impact, contenting herself with staring at the tree top as broken twigs and leaves rained down around them.


    ¡°That hurt,¡± Fengi let out groggily, head rising up from her rather unfortunate position, looking around and seeming to be just as out of it as Saph somehow.


    ¡°Says you. Who was it that just got headbutted in the stomach¡­ twice?¡± Saph protested, taking a labored breath, lungs raspy.


    Then a pair of feet landed next to the two of them, an unimpressed Esmeralda looking down at the mess, shaking her head. ¡°So. What did we learn?¡±


    ¡°Saph sucks at picking branches?¡± ¡°Fengi¡¯s a fat ass?¡± came the replies.


    ¡°No, Both of you should take a lesson from Kullinger on what something can carry¡­ Honestly.¡±


    Fengi finally moved to get off Saph. Unfortunately she did so by pushing on Saph¡¯s already rather sore belly, eliciting another grunt of pain. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Sorry¡­ I did win though,¡± Fengi apologized once she managed to sit up, looking down at the defeated Sapphire.


    ¡°Sure¡­ just give me a minute.¡±


    ¡°Well if it helps, I don¡¯t think your antics have broken anything,¡± Essy added as she started to pace  arround the two huntresses looking them up and down. ¡°Well done.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, training hurts from time to time. I would like to see you catch me down here,¡± Saph retorted, Essy letting out a long sigh, indicating she probably agreed on that one. Besides, Dakota had been talking about upping training again as soon as they could get away with it. Then again with the amount of construction work ahead of them, that wasn¡¯t seeming too likely outside of those weekends.


    ¡°Only when you do it poorly. You also failed to notice the berries. They were back there.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    In the forge, Edita and Shiva had set up what Tom could best describe as a sampling. Only instead of wine they had brought out and organized what looked like every single type of metal they owned. Some in the form of bars, some as scrap, others yet as fine instruments. Tinks, Junior, Shiva, Linkosta, and of course chief assistant Kiran had been assembled, though Kiran was only there due to the fact he had refused to climb down after Tom had gone to check on Jarix.


    As it turned out, Edita mostly just wanted to work out what Tom called them all. And he did have to give her that would be quite useful down the line. What he was interested in, though, was some of the things that he didn¡¯t have any clue what they were.


    ¡°Soo¡­ It¡¯s not tungsten?¡± Tom questioned, inspecting the odd dart Edita had produced. According to her, it was supposedly used by an ancient type of arcane firearm. One which relied on externally supplied steam pressure to fling the dart at terrifying velocities. Quite why they weren¡¯t going with gunpowder or even blackpowder was beyond him, but one thing at a time for now.


    ¡°Which one was that again?¡± Edita replied, paging through her notes. ¡°No, not that one. Assuming we got it right. This is also a magically forged alloy, much like mithril as you call it.¡±


    ¡°Fair¡­ well what can you tell me about this one?¡±


    ¡°It is incredibly hard yet surprisingly resistant to shattering hence its use for many types of projectile.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like another miracle metal. Any downsides?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is very sensitive to heat. Melting point is a mere 500 degrees: that is still a substantial improvement over the lead and mercury it is made from.¡±


    ¡°Ahr¡­ so wait, the what now?¡± Tom said, looking up at her before putting the dart back down gently. ¡®Maybe gloves for that one.¡¯


    ¡°Oh not to worry it is quite safe¡­ until you melt it.¡±


    ¡°They said the same thing about both lead and mercury back in the day¡­ out of curiosity, what happens when it melts?¡±


    ¡°Oh it splits, but at that point it is beyond the boiling point of the mercury.¡±


    ¡°Mercury gas¡­ noted. Let¡¯s not try to do that.¡±


    ¡°It would probably be for the best, yes. It is quite useful though for any low temperature applications. When used together with cold steam it works wonderfully.¡±


    ¡°With what now?¡± Tom questioned. He had heard of superheated steam alright, but what on earth was cold steam?


    ¡°Cold steam¡­ You know what you get when you boil¡­ oh you wouldn¡¯t have that either now would you?¡±


    ¡°I am very confused,¡± Tom admitted, bracing himself for some laws of physics to get buttfucked beyond recognition.


    ¡°If it is any help, I don¡¯t know what she is on about either,¡± Tinks added, giving Tom a pat on the shoulder, the inventor having taken a seat and watching the artificer intently.


    ¡°Right, so we call it okraz xarzith.¡±


    ¡°That means ice water, or liquid ice, I think¡± Linkosta added helpfully, Tom giving her a polite nod before looking back to Edita.


    ¡°Riiight,¡± Tom replied slowly, as Edita waited to see if he had any questions.


    ¡°It is made from frost powder and water through a rather basic ritual I could teach Linkosta¡­ you know, if you want to.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± the young mage responded enthusiastically. ¡°Is it much like the rituals upon the blood for inscribing?¡±


    ¡°A bit like that, yes. I do recommend thick gloves though, it¡¯s very cold to work with.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t even comment, instead just watching and trying to work out what the use of what sounded more or less like supercooled water with extra steps might be.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Edita seemingly got the memo as she noticed Tom staring. ¡°Right yes, the result is a liquid that stays well¡­ liquid all the way down to negative¡­ one hundred fifty degrees by your measurements,¡± she carried on paging through her notes, probably for a conversion chart of some sort.


    ¡°Riiight¡­ why?¡±


    ¡°So that it may be boiled at room temperature of course.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ wait if this stuff is sitting it just returns to minus a lot or something then?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, once it is made it cools down to at least minus one hundred, but if it is then heated from there it boils into a gas. At room temperature as much as¡­ 40 bar can be achieved. I am sorry I would need to calculate the exact conversion, but it is approximately that.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a cheatcode for making high pressure gas. No need for a pump to put it in there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I know what a cheatcode means.¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry¡­ well what is it used for then? Forty bar is a heck of a lot.¡±


    ¡°Not sure what a heck is either. But yes, and if the temperature is raised further even higher pressures can be achieved. The weapon which fires that dart on the table is said to operate at seventy degrees to offset the cooling effect of the gas expansion.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ yeah, wouldn¡¯t want your hands frozen off,¡± Tom replied, deep in thought of just what this all meant. He knew the grav oil was all about heat and pressure. It would seem the route of dragonette tech had a theme almost. Or whoever it might be who had come up with all this stuff.


    ¡°Precisely. The product is often known as cold steam. Not many such devices remain since they are all classified as old tech and thus locked away securely except for rare occasions.¡±


    ¡°All hail the Inquisition, I guess,¡± Tom remarked, taking a seat as well and leaning back a bit. Edita looked a touch confused at the comment, glancing to Linkosta before continuing.


    ¡°Yes of course, but with our mission we should see such weapons restored, but we will be using your technology of boom powder.¡±


    ¡°Right then, I¡¯m guessing we don¡¯t need to worry about any steam rifles getting pointed our way, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Edita replied, smiling with confidence for a second or two until she broke into a more pondering expression. ¡°Well unless they were found alongside the vessel Joelina fears they may have uncovered.¡±


    ¡°Marvelous. So we may or may not be seeing dark knights wielding some sort of high caliber armor piercing rifle¡­¡± Tom sighed, trying not to sound put down by the notion. At least it sounded like the chance was slim to none. ¡°Were they at least single shot?¡±


    ¡°The one firing the dart I brough, yes.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t happen to bring the gun, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I did not have access to one. I have seen one though. It was quite fascinating. The steam is delivered either from an external line or a backpack due to the raised temperature requirement, though some fully handheld versions operating at room temperature existed.¡±


    ¡°Marvelous, guessing the rounds for it simply became material stockpile then.¡±


    ¡°Precisely, we cannot melt them down, but if heated up they forge very well.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s maybe hold off on forging the metal with a tendency to boil into mercury gas for now. At least until we know we need it for something.¡±


    ¡°It would present a fine challenge if you ask me,¡± Shiva added, seeming confident as ever in her abilities to work the fancy metal. Tom had to grant it to her that if anyone could pull it off, it was probably her. But it didn¡¯t sound like a risk he would like to run unless he had to. ¡°But should we not get to work? This has gone on long enough, is it not possible to work and talk at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I guess we did get everything here more or less. Actually Edita, what was the mercury for if I might ask?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that was for the mold I was given by acolyte Hanna. She wanted me to bring it for if ever I managed to incur the wrath of a huntress. She had read they can be vicious and unforgiving creatures.¡±


    Tom blinked a few times, thinking back to some of his memories of the keep¡¯s huntresses. There was at least some grain of truth in there, but still¡­


    ¡°Well what is it then? Why would a huntress want a metal mold anyway? If needed, I could trade you for something,¡± Tinks offered.


    ¡°It makes mercury arrowheads.¡±


    ¡°But that stuff is liquid?¡± Tinks questioned, rightfully puzzled as Shiva let out an annoyed grump at work once more not continuing. Tom was guessing it purely to hold up appearances; she wanted to know this as much as anyone.


    ¡°Not when cooled down by means of magic. You fill the mold and insert a shaft, then you hold it with both hands and the arrowhead is cooled down by the enchantments until it becomes solid. Once solidified it is far stronger than even crucible steel. Heavier too.¡±


    ¡°No kidding,¡± Tom let out with a huff. He had never thought of using a metal like that before. Didn¡¯t sound nice to get hit by at all either. What would even happen as a chunk of mercury started to melt inside you? On second thought, that didn¡¯t sound like something he wanted an answer to.


    ¡°I concur, that would make a fine gift, now can we get to work already? Oleg knows we have plenty of it. Edita, would you mind sharpening the big saw? We will be using it plenty, that is assured,¡± Shiva then grumbled, even if her tone was not so hard as was often the case when people were being lazy.


    ¡°Oh of course. Right away, master smith.¡±


    ¡®Well she sure knows how to play to Shiva¡¯s weaknesses,¡¯ Tom mused to himself as he watched the approving smile on Shiva''s'' face. One which promptly vanished when she noticed him staring. ¡°And what are you looking at? Get to work, you¡¯re the one who wanted all this done first thing. Act like it!¡±


    ¡°Yup, right away!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Who is the god of weather again?¡± Yldril sneered, fangs baring as she trudged along, chains dangling along her sides like wind chimes. Chimes that were letting them know that the wind was in fact picking up right now. It had been raining even before they got up in the morning, though the trees had taken the worst of it before they got waterlogged. It had been going so well yesterday, even if the little training accident had left Saph sore all day, and she could still feel it for that matter. They had gotten the berries, the bark, and even found some tasty mushrooms.


    Before dinner all the trees had been either packed up ready for hauling or stowed up on top of a pair of sacrificial logs to keep them dry, and the people had headed for home. Fengi and Saph had made dinner in the clearing while Yldril turned in early. Saph thought it was more about the dragon not wanting anything to do with them right now. She could understand that after the long walk. She didn¡¯t much care for the company of the murderer either. Dinner had been quite good. They¡¯d prepared salted venison fried up with the mushrooms and some bread also crisped off in a frying pan. It wasn¡¯t like they were lacking in wood, and a cast iron pan was suddenly not a problem to bring when you had a dragon with a harness you could just hang things from.


    That was yesterday though. Today had started out with getting Yldril hitched up all while listening to a considerable amount of bitching from said dragon. No matter though, they had every intention of being home for dinner. If for no other reason than to keep from getting too wet in the rain.


    Forwarding a few hours and it was pouring down, and they were all completely miserable. Not at all the ¡®bit of rain¡¯ Raulf had promised, Saph couldn¡¯t remember the last time that guy had been wrong about the weather. His magic had always been infallible. So infallible in fact that she was starting to suspect some foul play was at hand. Her money was on Dakota telling him to underplay it so Saph and Fengi would actually go with a minimal amount of complaining. She would never risk them though, so surely it couldn¡¯t be that bad, it would just be a rather shitty day that was all.


    If the water kept coming, they would soon be walking through a quagmire. Well, they wouldn¡¯t be. Yldril would, and the dragon was already struggling with the heavy load. Saph was starting to wonder if perhaps the dragon had been boasting about her abilities. Or perhaps her weakened condition or constant hills were to blame. The terrain was almost like a washboard once they were clear of the forest. Most of the hills were easily a few dozen meters tall.


    Fengi and Saph had set up camp on the black dragon¡¯s back using the furs and blankets they had brought to try and keep the rain off and stay warm. It was getting damn cold already though.


    ¡°I said who is the damn weather god!¡± Yldril snarled again, after having been ignored for a bit.


    ¡°Kinda depends on who you are asking. For this I would say Lotek, since we are traveling,¡± Saph replied sarcastically, trusting the dragon¡¯s ears to pick her up without a problem.


    ¡°It could also be Micka, if you consider this farming,¡± Fengi added as thunder cracked in the distance, illuminating the skies above them for a split second.


    ¡®He was soo told not to tell us how bad it would get, the bastard,¡¯ Saph cursed, watching as the rain once more turned everything into a grey haze above them. ¡°I¡¯m blaming Raulf for this.¡±


    ¡°Well they can all kiss my ass!¡± Yldril roared out as she started climbing the next hill, rear claws digging in deep as Fengi and Saph felt her put her weight into the harness. It was sturdy work, but even so that was an awful lot of weight. Saph really didn¡¯t wanna be around in case a chain snapped.


    ¡°You can take a little break if you want,¡± Fengi shouted out, sounding more than a little concerned. ¡°They won¡¯t mind if we are a little late I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°And do what?! Sit in the rain! Look around, it¡¯s completely open. Where would we go!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ If you find some place, maybe we just stop there for now. It looks like it might get worse.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you know if the gods give us a cave to hide in,¡± Yldril sneered angrily, clearly not convinced by the prospect. Saph was just looking back at the logs concernedly.


    They had been wrapped up in tarps to try and keep them dry, but surely they were still getting wet right now. Meaning all this work would not come to much. Saph didn¡¯t know much about wood though, so maybe they could save it? Kullinger hadn¡¯t sounded that happy about how dry it had been to begin with even, and it took quite something to make that man criticise someone like Kalestine.


    ¡°We could really use a fire right now,¡± Saph grumbled as she felt her fingers starting to go numb where she was holding the pelts and getting wet. ¡°And a dry place.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you two little leeches go find it?!¡± Yldril roared out, easily enough picking up on what was being said despite Saph not talking overly loudly.


    ¡°Cause the chances of us finding you again in this weather are next to nothing. I mean look around, what do we have? 20 meters of visibility, maybe!?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, yeah,¡± Fengi echoed, peeking out from under her wolfskin. ¡°Next time we will bring more blankets.¡±


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t have wings maybe we could steal one of Tom¡¯s Jackets. They look nice and warm.¡±


    ¡°Or just go with full travel clothes. I didn¡¯t think we would need them yet.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, maybe that was quite dumb not bringing those. A coat would be nice right about now.¡±


    ¡°Fucking princesses. I don¡¯t have anything!¡± Yldril complained, for once rightfully so. Saph wouldn¡¯t be happy if she had to be out here buck-ass nude aside from a harness. But Yldril was a dragon. Not like they really had anything to fix that problem with either. Well maybe short of trying to sew a bunch of skins together to make a sort of makeshift coat¡­ skins that they had sent to be sold not even a week ago now Saph came to think of it. At least most of them. ¡®Maybe we shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°That isn¡¯t looking like just a little rain,¡± Tom grumbled, looking out one of the window slits of the forge at the increasingly darkening sky. The rain was already falling, so he went to close it up again before he got too wet. It had been raining ever since they got up, and steadily so. Raulf had begrudgingly admitted that maybe it had felt more like a mild storm yesterday rather than just a constant steady rain, but he had maintained it was nothing to worry about. This morning though he¡¯d shamefully admitted that his estimates might have been off a little bit.


    Tom didn¡¯t know much about how magic weather prediction worked, but if it was anything like meteorologists back home then he was not comforted by the trend. He had been up early as usual, wanting to get some work done before Jacky rose so they could actually keep up their little workout routine. One look out the window slit though had more or less convinced him a cheat day would be fine.


    Right now Tom was considering going to ask for an update on if it had gotten even worse still. He didn¡¯t know much about storms around here aside from how to crash during them and how hard flying in one was. Or the art of hiding indoors with the rest of the dragonettes, which he certainly preferred to being the one designated to go get whatever might have been left outside that day. A fate he was sure would befall him more and more as winter approached.


    ¡°Do you think they will be alright?¡± he asked, looking into the warm yet dark smithy, the fire of the forge illuminating all the faces either looking at him or busying themselves with their work. The only exception being the bright white light which Edita¡¯s fancy goggles had apparently been able to project. Tom guessed that he just hadn¡¯t found the button when fumbling with them.


    ¡°They have been doing such work for years. It isn¡¯t rare for hunting parties to get caught by bad weather, even if it is rather cold today,¡± Shiva replied reassuringly, her stern face lit up further by the springing sparks as she brought her hammer down on the anvil.


    ¡°It¡¯s damn cold. I had to go out and take in the washing earlier, much colder than yesterday. It didn¡¯t look like something I would try to climb above either. Or fly much in for that matter wind is getting worse too.¡± Jacky added with a shrug, as she worked the bellows to heat up the forge, Shiva putting the metal stick back in.


    ¡°No, that would be reckless. If they are smart they will simply hunker down somewhere, they have their shelter walking along with them.¡± The old smith replied without a hint of worry.


    ¡°I guess a slave dragon really does have its advantages, huh?¡±


    Tom sorta wanted to say something to that, but she was right in the end and Fengi wasn¡¯t here. He just hoped it wouldn¡¯t get that much worse. Things had been going so well thus far.


    Yesterday Jacky hadn¡¯t hurt anyone with the chainsaw and her ears were still working, so she had probably used the eardefenders for most of it. And they had in fact finished all the cutting and trimming in just one day. Glira had returned home with good news. Everything seemed to be in order. The construction crew hadn¡¯t been thrilled, but the promise of some rather above-standard rate pay soon enough had them on side too. More to the point, they had a mobile saw with them for cutting beams for the keep. It was designed to be packed up and transported by dragon. And they just so happened to be done with it. At least Glira claimed so.


    Said dragon had looked like she was expecting a medal for carrying it all the way first to Deriva and then back to Bizmati ¡°free of charge¡± as she put it. And she had brought along one of the workmen from the crew to help them use it. That had of course led to a discussion of how Tom might be able to speed up the device. At the moment it was powered by a rather intricate system of wheels, pulleys, and rope that allowed either a large group of people or, more practically, a dragon to use it by pulling out a length of rope.


    Tom rather quickly saw a chance to put the quad bike to use. Much as he would find it funny to see Jarix walking up and down all day, the dragon would be useful for other things. And Yldril would be hauling for at least a while. That would have to wait for tomorrow though, since he was not going out to start taking measurements in this weather if he didn¡¯t have to, even if the thought of snuggling up with Jacky to keep her warm after she inevitably went with him didn¡¯t sound so bad.


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 170: Not so Nice Anymore

    As the thunder boomed, clearly heading towards them, Saph had to admit she had no clue where they even were anymore, nor what time it was. Visibility was next to nothing, they were getting pounded by some of the worst rain they had seen all year, and she and Fengi were too busy huddling up atop the swaying dragon¡¯s back to really be in a position to find much out.


    It was getting damn cold, and the wind was picking up to a full-on storm. At least the skins and furs were shielding them quite nicely, but if they broke cover things could actually start getting quite dangerous for them. Yldril was still lumbering along, the steady smack of giant feet stamping onto soft soggy ground keeping steady at least for now.


    Fengi was currently sitting in Saph¡¯s lap with all their skins and furs wrapped up around the two of them to make a little cocoon. The water was still getting in though, and it wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable as the wind howled and the flash of lightning shone through the cracks in their armor against the wind.


    ¡°I think I get why Tiguan hates storms so much now,¡± Fengi all but squeaked out in a low voice, a hint of fear showing. ¡°What does a dragon even do when there is nowhere to hide?¡±


    ¡°You weather it and you just keep going, never stop, never look back,¡± Saph responded, clutching the younger huntress tight. Neither of them was dangerously cold yet, but caution was certainly advised.


    ¡°First wise thing you have said. A dragon should always learn to fear the storm,¡± Yldril rumbled, breath labored and heavy as she stopped for a second, the logs behind her slumping to the ground with a wet thud. Fengi and Saph felt it as she looked around, swaying as she was buffeted by the storm with the now loose chains clanging against each other. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything! What stupid good-for-nothing pieces of half-fermented boar shit came up with this idea!¡±


    ¡°Language,¡± Fengi responded in a quiet, half-hearted tone, letting out a deep sigh afterward. A noble effort, but Saph figured this was maybe not the time.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t know where we are, we might as well be walking in circles,¡± Saph added a little louder.


    ¡°Congratulations, your brain isn¡¯t frozen yet¡­ I¡¯m making for that high ground over there,¡± Yldril grunted in reply, turning sharply to the left and carrying on, chains pulling taut with a twang as she leaned into the harness. It was clear the dragon was pushing hard despite any lingering wounds and the pain they might be causing her.


    Saph certainly didn¡¯t have a problem with that. If the dragon gave up on them, they would be stuck in this gods forsaken weather until it chose to clear. They would be fine if they found shelter, but they would need to find it quickly if they didn¡¯t want to freeze. As it stood though, it was sounding more and more like they would have to make camp sooner rather than later and use Yldril for cover instead.


    What was worse though, it hadn¡¯t rained for a while despite the cold autumn weather. Which. With rain like this, meant flooding was a real possibility out on the plains. Saph had already been hearing Yldril walking through standing water when they were going through a gully or other low in the terrain. Streams or even temporary rivers could become a very real problem if this kept up.


    From her little cocoon she couldn¡¯t see or do much though, so reckless as it seemed she was quite happy to let the dragon work out how to make it home. It wasn¡¯t like she could betray them after all. Even if she did somehow break the magic, she would probably be dooming herself too.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Water was pounding down like some sort of monsoon. It wasn¡¯t quite the worst Tom had seen yet but it was certainly getting there. Nunuk had called a meeting in the grand hall for all to attend. The lady had been resting and so didn¡¯t know quite what had been going on. She had been less than pleased when she learned they had huntresses stuck outside in an autumn storm, but with Yldril there too they all agreed there should not be much cause for concern. It would however mean that Saph and Fengi would have had to make camp. Hence they were not getting the wood today. Not that it mattered much cause in this weather there was nothing they could do with it.


    According to the farmer, it didn¡¯t feel like it was going to be getting any better. In fact, the worst was yet to hit them. That had led to some concerned faces among the huntresses, which Tom really didn¡¯t appreciate. The possibility of bringing them home had been raised, possibly through the use of Jarix or Glira. Glira especially would make for an excellent stormrunner. Tom had proposed using the quad bike, but both had been shot down by the same problem.


    Their chances of even finding them would be slim to none. Visibility was measured in hundreds of meters and falling, they would struggle to even find them, and only Zarko stood much of a chance of navigating back home safely.


    No, they would simply have to wait this out and have some nice hot food ready for the two of them when they made it back. Even Yldril would probably be deserving of at least a decent meal, provided she had not let them down now.


    On the home front, the main concern was the construction efforts. The building site was already flooding, and with the rain due to continue the chance of the newly dug walls caving in seemed almost like a certainty. To at least attempt to prevent that from happening, Glira and Jarix had been told to go dig trenches to lead the water away. Tom wasn¡¯t too sure it would do much and they couldn¡¯t actually cover the foundation since every scrap of tarp they had was sent with Yldril to protect the dried-out wood. But Tom was no civil engineer, so what did he know.


    Tom¡¯s mind was elsewhere anyway. As the meeting carried on discussing if there was anything else to be done for the foundations, he found himself staring at Unkai from across the room. The healer hadn¡¯t volunteered to go with Fengi. Even if he did have some excuse, it wasn¡¯t anything he couldn¡¯t easily have gotten out of. And if something did happen out there, Fengi and Saph were without a healer. Tom couldn¡¯t actually decide if he wanted something to happen or not.


    Maybe just a little thing like Fengi spraining her foot or maybe a finger. Yeah, a finger would be good. Just enough to make him feel bad about it in future. As Tom zoned out he thought back to how completely determined Unkai had been, weathering rejection after rejection and carrying on chasing a woman that honestly didn¡¯t seem to care for him much. And here he was, making sure she never would again. At least not if she found someone else to lean on besides Saph and Essy.


    Tom let out a sigh, leaning back against Jacky a little, which seemingly got her attention as she followed his gaze. ¡°Oh what now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just scared, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°I mean, probably,¡± Jacky shrugged in reply. ¡°Not like he was ever the brave sort, despite being given that medal.¡±


    ¡°Question is should we try and fix that? I mean, Fengi is sweet as a pie. Does he even deserve her?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I mean he¡¯s not an arsehole, unlike some people. Just a bit of a coward.¡±


    ¡°I will take that as a yes.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, you are not taking relationship stuff from me. No way.¡±


    ¡°I disagree, I couldn¡¯t even think of anyone better,¡± Tom tried, pushing up against her a bit more.


    ¡°Essy,¡± Jacky stated flatly.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Essy is better. Come on, you know that,¡± Jacky responded, looking down at him as he just gazed back.


    ¡®I guess so much for that compliment.¡¯ ¡°Should I ask Essy then?¡±


    ¡°Nah, if you can fix him have a go at it. Worked well enough last time, and Saph sounded worried. Fengi needs some help right now, and having goodie two shoes over there be scared of her is not helping. She can dump his sorry ass later then.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ll look in to it.¡±


    ¡°Got any brave pills in the medicine box?¡±


    ¡°Short of alcohol, no. A shame that also makes you stupid for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, I just get a bit more free-minded,¡± Jacky joked, ruffling his hair a little.


    ¡°If you say so. But he needs his head to talk with her, else he might just do more harm than good. Saph has had a chat with him, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure think so. Essy too probably.¡±


    ¡°And it didn¡¯t work. I guess the Russian approach then.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡± Jacky questioned as a few heads around them turned look.


    ¡°Well you put something even scarier behind him than is in front of him.¡±


    ¡°Have you considered talking with the other boys about it perhaps?¡± Zarko added in, seeming unimpressed with him. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you humans don¡¯t know the value of a bit of peer pressure¡­ and perhaps the threat of a little shame if you fail.¡±


    ¡°That is true. You almost always just sit over here. Or with the kids. Perhaps you are a woman after all,¡± Pho added in with a snicker. Tom was really wishing he hadn¡¯t just started talking about all this at a meeting with nearly everyone in attendance.


    ¡°Why would he want to go over there? They are loud and annoying,¡± Jacky countered perfectly seriously. Tom locking eyes with Zarko for a second, the lieutenant rolling her eyes.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s just scared of Anchor or Rachuck beating his ass again.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t even here for that, remember? Oh wait, no you don¡¯t,¡± Jacky countered, the young racer not seeming perturbed in the slightest.


    ¡°Well maybe I just wanna see it then? Is that too much to ask for or what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go have a chat¡­ Just been a bit busy that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with then?¡± Jacky declared, already shifting and clearly ready to go at a moments notice.


    ¡°Eeeh, hold your-... oxen there for just a second. Maybe this is a boy¡¯s talk.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Right. In that case, I will be watching.¡±


    ¡°Great. And Paulin will be listening, I¡¯m sure,¡± Tom replied, trying not to sound too defeated by the notion he would for some reason be partaking in a boy¡¯s talk about girls while being tailed. What made it even worse was that the whole reason seemed to be that the allure of sex was somehow not enough to make a dude stick his dick in crazy, even when Fengi wasn¡¯t actually crazy at all. ¡®What a shit show, oh well then.¡¯


    ¡°Well what are you waiting for then? Get moving, groundling,¡± Pho snickered, receiving a very cold glare from Jacky.


    ¡°Geez calm down, didn¡¯t call him a cripple or anything.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut up, greenhorn, I think you might end up as one,¡± Zarko huffed in an amused fashion.


    ¡°Cripple my ass. I¡¯ll run your legs off any day of the week.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I still can¡¯t see anything. Do either of you even know what way we are going?¡± Yldril roared out in frustration, having dragged the logs all the way up a rather tall hill, at least a hundred meters by Saph¡¯s reckoning. ¡°There is nothing! And I do mean NOTHING! But rain and fucking hills out there!¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Saph sneaked a peek out from her and Fengi¡¯s protective hut of fur to at least try and see if she knew where they were. A very quick scan around revealed nothing immediately familiar to her, so she quickly got her snout back inside. ¡°Not a clue, sorry. We fly high above the ground. We don¡¯t walk around down here like crippels,¡± she shouted out in annoyance as she got the furs tightened up as good as she could get them.


    ¡°Wonderful, just wonderful. So much for getting anything to eat today. Not that you fed me yesterday either.¡±


    ¡°We will get you something when we make it home, I promise,¡± Fengi replied, clutching Saph before speaking in a lower tone to her. ¡°What should we do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Go high it¡¯s wind. Go low it¡¯s water everywhere. But we can just camp and hide under her wings or something, so I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been walking all day yesterday and today, and she¡¯s still a bit banged up at that. Least we could do is find something a little better than open ground for her,¡± Fengi replied, still in a low tone.


    ¡°Speak up back there. Wind is howling!¡± Yldril snarled, clearly out of patience as she looked around from her vantage point.


    ¡°No point in carrying on. See anywhere at all where we might hide from the wind at least?¡± Fengi retorted, worry evident in her tone now. ¡°Just something, okay?¡±


    The dragon rumbled angrily in response before speaking up. ¡°Got it. The back side of this hill is rather steep. Not even much grass on it. Might just break the wind.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good!¡± Fengi shouted out, Saph turning her ear away from the loud sounds as Yldril was already stepping forwards.


    Her back tilted to go down the steep incline, almost sending Saph and Fengi tumbling off. Saph managed to grab a spike with one hand, Fengi just holding on to Saph.


    ¡°Fucking hell. Are you sure this is smart?!¡± Saph groaned as she held on. ¡°Grab the spike would you?¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± Fengi apologized, shifting her weight off of Saph to the convenient backspike.


    ¡°Shut up back there, unless you feel like helping for once,¡± Yldril snapped in reply as she started carrying on down the slope slow step by slow step.


    ¡°Wait, what about the logs?¡± Fengi questioned just as the two of them heard a series of wet thunks behind them.


    ¡°Well maybe I don¡¯t have to AHRG WHAT THE-¡± Yldril roared out as the sound of the logs sliding down the slick muddy embankment was replaced by them slamming into her hind legs. The dragon was sent sprawling to the ground as Saph and Fengi held on for dear life. The some 26 odd ton dragon slammed into the wet muddy embankment with a wet thud that sent mud flying in all directions. Then she too started to slide along with the logs.


    Saph and Fengi could both see nothing from their cocoon save for slivers of light as the furs flapped in the rushing, biting wind. Yldril roared furiously as she struggled with the now loose logs, trying to regain purchase. Then Saph felt the all too familiar sensation of first going heavy then weightless as Yldril slid over a bump in the terrain. The dragon went airborne for a second, coming down with considerable force and knocking both Fengi and Sapphire from their perch.


    The two women careened down the dragon¡¯s slick side, clutching each other and screaming. The cocoon was ripped away by a spike, the force sending them both spinning out of control. Saph could make out nothing save gray and black as she spun and rolled down the dragon¡¯s side like a helpless child.


    Fengi let out another scream as the two of them slid off the dragon and fell the last meter or so into the mud. Saph landed face first in the muck, spraying liquid mud into both her eyes and mouth. Now blind, she tried her best to just breath and steady herself into a controlled slide. She was sliding on her chest with no idea where Fengi or the heavy logs could be, praying that she would not end up squashed like a bug.


    ¡°Yldril! Help! We¡¯ve fallen off!¡± Fengi shouted out from somewhere behind Saph. She tried to arch her neck to look at the younger woman, wiping mud from her face with her left arm as her right tried to keep her steady. ¡°Saph look out!¡± Fengi all but shrieked as Saph made out the sound of massive claws carving a deep groove in the soft, sloppy mud. Her vision all of a sudden became a touch brighter as the big black mass to her right disappeared.


    ¡°What is it?!¡± she cried out. Scared for her life, she tried once more to wipe her eyes so she could at least see, tearing up as she forced one of them open only to see a log flying through the air, tumbling end over end as it headed right for her. There was nothing she could do as she just screamed in terror as she watched certain death approach.


    There was a crunch of wood and a groan of monumental effort as Yldril¡¯s head snatched the end of the log, halting it mid-flight. ¡®Holy shit¡¯ was all Saph could think to herself as the dragon strained, the far end of the log slamming into the ground, leaving it dragging after the dragon. Yldril tried to flick the log away with some success, sending the end she had caught flying off to the side.


    With one eye clear, Saph could see that the dragon had spun herself around and was now sliding backward down the hill, which was finally starting to flatten out. Yldril dug in her rear legs like massive brakes, and Saph found herself sliding into the dragon¡¯s arms. ¡°Climb up, moron!¡± Yldril commanded, Saph doing as she was told, in near-blind panic.


    Staring back over her shoulder as she scrambled up into relative safety, she saw Fengi sliding in front of the remaining logs. ¡°Fengi!¡± Saph screamed out, trying to point behind the young huntress and hoping Fengi¡¯s eyes were still clear. Fengi¡¯s head  turned to look behind her before going stiff at the sight of the wall of wood hurtling along behind her. Then she screamed for all her lungs could muster.


    ¡°Oh shut up both of you!¡± Yldril commanded, clearly furious as she stretched her neck, reaching towards Fengi.  Yldril opened her maw and snatched up the huntress with a care and delicacy that had to be down to the magics affecting her. Fengi had run out of breath but remained stiff with fear as she was lifted out of harm¡¯s way, the logs sliding past and into Yldril who caught most of them, arms still spread wide and Sapphire hanging on for dear life. Finally after what felt like an age the hill started flattening out and they began to slow down, Yldril continuing to brake and digging a pair of trenches all the way down the hill.


    By the time they finally ground to a stop, Saph was clinging to one of Yldril¡¯s forelegs and panting for breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stared up at the track of carnage they had left heading up the impressively tall hill.


    ¡°Wh-What just happened,¡± Saph stammered out, still jittery with sheer fear after the horrifying experience that had to be up there with the least pleasant things she had ever done.


    ¡°I slipped,¡± Yldril replied, mumbling angrily due to Fengi still being in her mouth. Her head arched down to deposit the young huntress next to Saph. Fengi was still, laying on her back with eyes wide as she tried to process the fact she had just been inside the mouth of a murderous venerable black dragon. ¡°One job. You had one job,¡± Yldril snarled, sounding ready to snap them both in half.


    Saph simply wasn¡¯t ready to come up with a snarky reply right now as she slowly calmed. As she did, she finally noticed the cold rain still pounding down. At least it was slowly washing the mud from her face. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she questioned, looking to Fengi, who also seemed to be slowly getting her act back together again.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah, I¡¯m good¡­ I think¡­ That was terrifying.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± was all the response Saph got out as she cleared her other eye, though it still stung as she opened it, looking around and raising her ears to try and listen for anything else bad happening. All she got was the panting of Yldril, Fengi, and herself, as well as the pounding rain.


    ¡°Yldril please¡­ the rain,¡± Fengi said quietly as she sat up with a grimace on her face, likely having taken quite the pounding going down the hill. Saph felt sore too, having hit a fair few bumps. Her chestplate likely had earned its keep once more today.


    Yldril just grumbled in response as a great big black wing folded out above them, the rain drumming loudly on the membrane. ¡°Useless children.¡±


    ¡°Children¡­ Children!¡± Saph shouted out, finally having regained enough composure to fight back a little. ¡°You just walked off the side of a cliff, look at that! How in the blue water hell did you expect to just walk down that!¡± Saph shouted angrily, gesturing at the very steep though not quite sheer hill they had come sliding down.


    ¡°Fuck you, that¡¯s how,¡± Yldril rumbled, raising her head up and looking around as the rain drummed away.


    ¡°No fuck you, did you think the logs would just stay behind you? Have you never tried rolling something down a hill before? You damn near killed the both of us!¡±


    ¡°Only reason you were in any danger was because you managed to fall off. The least I¡¯ll expect of my crew is that they will stay put when told so, kids as young as 12 can manage that,¡± Yldril snapped back, lips pulling back into a snarl as her head came around to look in under her wing. ¡°And after you fucked that up, I still saved both of you, so I think a thank you is in order.¡±


    ¡°A thank you?!¡± Saph let out staggered by the arrogance. ¡°You barely managed to undo your own fuckup, and look at the logs!¡±


    The dragon reluctantly looked down at the logs, which had broken free of their restraints and were laying scattered around the area. Some had been caught by Yldril as she braked, the one that had nearly smashed Saph had slid on by them and one more seemingly had gotten caught a bit further up the hill. What was left of the tarps were all in front of them together with all the smaller branches that had made up the ¡®roof¡¯ of the bundle of logs they had been hauling.


    "...Useless junk.¡±


    ¡°We can worry about that later okay! When the rain goes away I say. Let¡¯s find a place to make a fire, get dry and perhaps a bit more clean then work out what to do,¡± Fengi interjected, tone still rather scared.


    Saph really wanted to keep shouting at the cruel, self-centered, arrogant ass of a dragon they had somehow ended up with, her heart still pounding and the fear replaced with fury, but Fengi was probably right. They needed to make camp to get out of the rain. There would be time for shouting and pointing fingers later. Right now they needed a fire.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Actually getting to talk with just the guys had proven more difficult than he had imagined. For starters, he needed to swing by the workshop to make sure everyone was indeed on track and he wasn¡¯t needed right now. Edita had looked like a sad puppy when he let her know he sadly had something he needed to do real quick. Then he had headed off to work out what the guards were actually doing.


    When he discovered the answer was either ¡®sitting in the guard tower in a storm¡¯ or ¡®up to their asses in mud helping the dragons,¡¯ he had elected to postpone the operation till dinner and gone back to the nice warm workshop, which had certainly made Edita¡¯s afternoon.


    Jacky had followed up with a snarky remark about how he couldn¡¯t stay away from her for long, much to everyone¡¯s amusement. Edita had shown off some of her ideas for where to make use of the rather more exotic materials the Inquisition had so kindly made available to them all while they got on with all the menial labour for a bit.


    When dinner had rolled around, Tom had kept his promise and gone to sit with the guards, which earned him quite a few looks from around the table. It wasn¡¯t like it hadn¡¯t happened at all before, it just wasn¡¯t often. And certainly not for the last month or so. The guys were all here, including both Radexi and Junior as well as much of Glira¡¯s crew down at the far end. Major Jortun was seated at the high table with the Bizmati family.


    The storm was still raging outside, and all the outer doors had been sealed shut as soon as Glira and Jarix had made it back inside. Looking around, Tom was more or less the only one not covered in mud, including the dragons, who took turns sticking their heads through the hatch to grab a bite to eat out in the greeting hall.


    With the rumble of thunder and the pounding rain, all the shutters were in too and the only light making it through them was the flash of lightning somewhere off in the distance. The entire hall was thus dimly lit by torches and the fireplaces. Usually it would only be the fireplace behind the grand table that would be lit, but ever since temperatures had started dropping the two smaller ones spaced out into the hall had also been put to use. The temperature was really rather cozy in here, even if it also ended up looking like some scene out of a bad horror movie starring Dracula in his castle or something.


    ¡°Well then, what brings you to our neck of the woods? Need a ghost story?¡± Balethon chuckled as Tom sat down with his rather unimpressive plate of food.


    ¡°Really, bro?¡± Herron let out, shaking his head and clearly finding the joke rather distasteful.


    ¡°Nah, my dad doesn¡¯t scare me. Now Morten, that¡¯s another matter. If I was a darkling, I would be scared shitless he might be around to give you the bad news.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t actually believe the things you saw were real, right? They couldn¡¯t actually do anything?¡± Radexi questioned, looking like maybe they had already gotten started on the ghost stories.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Tom chuckled, trying to sound at least a little bit dark and mysterious. ¡°But he sure did a number on that inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re scared of the guy who sang the stuff Essy likes?¡± Herron questioned, tilting his head. ¡°Not gonna lie, that¡¯s a bit strange, bro.¡±


    ¡°No I¡­ oh never mind.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s what you sing in the army back there. Not gonna lie, that would make you a lot less scary.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Imagine a company of soldiers marching towards you singing that one about the Dardi girl,¡± Kokashi interjected.


    ¡°Barbi girl¡­ it¡¯s pronounced Barbi girl,¡± Tom sighed, hiding his head in his hands and thinking back to a few incidents of precisely that sorta shit.


    ¡°Hey now, you know we can¡¯t make that noise, now you¡¯re just being mean.¡±


    ¡°No, me being mean would be me telling you some proper horror stories,¡± Tom sighed, hoisting his head out of his hands, taking a slice of the fried salted boar, and dipping it in the thick gravy-looking stuff. It tasted quite alright, but it was really rather tough for his poor teeth. Of course, the other guys didn¡¯t struggle at all, ripping the pieces apart with ease with those oh-so-brilliant teeth of theirs. ¡®I swear to all the gods if Jacky has to chew my food when I get old I¡¯m making a set of mithril dentures or something.¡¯


    As he ate and pondered if such a device could perhaps be steam-powered, he noticed that most of the table was looking at him now for some reason. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well go on, can¡¯t just tease us like that and not tell one.¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ You sure you girls are not gonna piss your pants and run back to your rooms?¡±


    ¡°Please, some of us have killed before,¡± Balethon boasted, brash as ever. Only now did Tom notice the lizard sitting on his shoulder. Since last he saw it, a small collar and leash had seemingly been fashioned. It was currently tied to a hoop that was part of securing the pauldron to Balethons armor. Possibly an anti-food theft measure.


    ¡°Well tried to at least. Of course not everyone can be equally lucky,¡± Herron snickered, taking a drink of water. ¡°Let me guess, your stories involve going someplace high and falling off or something.¡±


    ¡°I mean a lot of humans are scared of heights, pretty healthy response for us all things considered. But nah, I think I could come up with something better,¡± Tom said, pondering for a second just what might do the trick best. He sure wouldn¡¯t mind something that could scare Balethon at least just a little. Might even let him see if Unkai really was such a coward.


    ¡°So who wants to hear about some of the craziest humans to ever serve in the military?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Right then. I cannot even remember how far back the idea for a proper submarine horror story/movie was floated. Or I guess sunk badumtssss...


    Anyway I we''ll finally be getting it. Next week haha.


    What we do get though, is a special chapter. So watch out for that one it will be out just after this one.  I hope you like them both if not. Then well shit.

 Chapter 171: Horror Sub

    Well, Tom certainly got their attention with the notion of some of the craziest humans to ever serve. He had the perfect mood for a horror story too. It was dark and stormy, the only light inside being that of torches and the warm hearths. He didn¡¯t have the faintest idea if this was in any way, shape, or form a good idea, but he knew Unkai was already scared. So maybe tough love would work this time around, the soft and sweet approach had already failed by the sounds of it anyway.


    ¡°Well this should be good then. What did they do, sing their opponents to death?¡± Balethon chuckled as the lizard started to slip from his shoulder. The little critter was somehow not smart enough to work out that its perch was moving, said perch being Balethon¡¯s shoulder. Just as it started to slip it scurried back a few frantic steps, before going back to sitting there perfectly immobile, staring out into the nothingness.


    ¡®That thing is dumber than a box of rocks¡­ anyhow,¡¯ Tom sighed, finding he had already forgotten where he was going with this before snapping back to it.


    ¡°Well I hope so. I¡¯ve talked about ships before, right? You all know what that is. Huge big steel constructs the size of keeps happily motoring across the oceans at about running pace.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so big they don¡¯t have to worry about anything lurking below the waves¡­ what about them?¡±


    ¡°Oh just let him speak, would you?¡± Unkai grumbled, clearly not having worked out Tom was actually telling the story for him here.


    ¡°Right. Fine, fine.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I mean they are safe from anything ¡®natural¡¯ living down below the waves. Today¡¯s topic of discussion, not so much. Even those huge steel monsters are no more than target practice for a submarine.¡±


    ¡°Oh you talked about those a while back. The underwater ships.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± Twitch broke out from further down the table, clearly not having heard this tale before.


    ¡°Well yeah more or less. You take a huge metal tube the size again of maybe a decent size keep and you make it go underneath the waves by weighing it down with ballast. Then follows a lot of praying that the tube doesn¡¯t buckle or spring a leak. Now, you see, water is very heavy, so the deeper you go the higher the pressure. The way you go up and down is by letting in water or pushing it back out again with pumps. So what do you think happens if, say, a pipe bursts and water starts to rush in?¡±


    ¡°You start going down if water goes inside,¡± Junior replied quickly, seeming quite entranced by the more technical side of the storytelling.


    ¡°Very good. So now as you sink deeper and deeper you struggle to fix the leak until the pressure is so high the jet of water coming in will literally cut your hand off, so you aren¡¯t fixing that. And you can hear the steel creak and groan under the pressure, knowing it will not last forever. Would you be scared? If anything gives way, the flash flood of water will fling you through the boat like a doll, while the pressure will squash you like a piece of bread under a dragon¡¯s foot. But on the bright side, you probably won¡¯t drown. If you¡¯re deep enough it might even be over before you notice anything at all, just ¡°What was that?¡± then darkness. Not the worst way to go.¡±


    ¡°And people do this? Poor fuckers,¡± Balethon interjected again, Tom just ignored him.


    ¡°Oh no, they volunteer mostly. We call them submariners, and they are who I wanna talk about a little today. They are the wolves of the oceans, and all who tread it do so at their mercy. They are all completely crazy if you ask me. They run silently beneath the waves, the perfect mechanical predator just waiting for its moment to strike. So those on the surface would live in fear too during times of war. The first thing you might know of a submarine being the wake of a torpedo just before it blows your ship clean in half.


    ¡°I think you made your point, Tom,¡± Kokashi intervened, looking like he at least thought it was time to get to the story rather than the lesson.


    ¡°Right yeah, sorry¡­ Remember that film about the planes that did, well, not so well at flying? The funny one with all the failures of engineering.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, that was hilarious,¡± Balethon chuckled nonchalantly.


    ¡°Why have I not been around more for this stuff?¡± Twitch once again interjected in a humorous tone.


    ¡°Cause you aren¡¯t part of the special club, duh.¡±


    ¡°Hang on,¡± Junior then let out, seemingly having worked out where Tom was going with this. ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me you-¡±


    ¡°Oh yes we did,¡± Tom replied with a smile.


    ¡°People went below the waves in some barely working wood and canvas bucket of disappointment?¡± Junior questioned with a horrified expression on his face, likely trying to work out how many lives that could have cost.


    ¡°Well, not canvas, otherwise it¡¯s pretty accurate. Even about the same time period surprisingly enough. Most early subs used boilerplate riveted together. It wasn¡¯t very good at all really.¡±


    ¡°Oh gods above.¡±


    ¡°Oh it gets better.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does, I promise. This brings us to the tale of the German Submarine, U-96. They made a movie about it, if you would dare watch it, called Das Boot. It just means ¡°The boat.¡± It¡¯s great, I promise.¡±


    ¡°Why do I get the distinct impression you are lying and just want to see someone shit their pants,¡± Unkai protested.


    ¡°Well it would be very funny for me at least,¡± Tom snickered in reply.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to wonder if we get to hear the story or not,¡± Kokashi shrugged, leaning back in his chair while most of the other guards remained hunched forward.


    ¡°Patience now, Tom has never been swift about it when it comes to saying what he wants,¡± Anchor added in with a fair amount of mirth in his tone.


    ¡°Hey come on now, I¡¯m trying to tell a scary story here.¡±


    ¡°And next up I¡¯m sure will be a slew of important numbers about this here submarine, no?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Tom replied, hoping he was doing a good job of looking unimpressed all while he mentally noted that yes he really should skip the numbers.


    Anchor didn¡¯t look terribly convinced, but the big brute didn¡¯t make any further comment.


    ¡°Okay so I want you to imagine this if you can. You, and I do mean all of you, all the guys here at the keep cause girls aren¡¯t allowed in, have been stuck together in a metal tube about as long as the keep is wide and only as wide as from bench to bench here where we are sitting. You sleep in shifts ¡®cause there aren¡¯t enough beds. You work around the clock. The air is days old and it stinks of rot, piss, and decay as your food is going off. Your water is weeks old and everything is cold and wet as water condenses on the cold steel of your prison cell. Said prison cell creaks and groans whenever you try to sleep, and you know you are so far from home that even if you were above the water you could never see land even if you sailed for days straight.¡±


    ¡°Imagine that day after day after day. Your friend who you have worked with for the past year has started getting the ticks. Nervous twitches at the slightest noise, you know he can¡¯t be trusted anymore. One day he will snap like a twig. But you can¡¯t do anything about it. You¡¯re stuck down here trying not to go mad yourself. And this is the good times.¡±


    ¡°One day your captain finally declares ¡°Target in sight.¡± You have found your prey, your reason for being here. A convoy of cargo ships carrying enough food and supplies to feed a small army for months. You have to sink it no matter the peril. It is defended by ships that can hear you coming, and they can attack you even deep down below the waves. They have killed your comrades, they have tried to kill you before, and you know it is a game of chance if you live or die tonight.¡±


    ¡°As the sun sets you slip in, your captain watching through a periscope as you sail just beneath the surface. You are running on engines that are as quiet as possible, else they will hear you coming. But you only have so much power, and you move slowly. So painfully slowly. Will they notice you coming? You have no idea. All you have are some valves and wheels you have to operate. You can do nothing, you know nothing except the fact someone is about to die.¡±


    ¡°Then you hear it. The thunk of a torpedo being launched. A fish as you call it. The attack has begun. But did you fire at a defenseless cargo ship or a destroyer coming to hunt you down? If it is the destroyer, there is little hope for escape. It is many times faster than you. If it wasn¡¯t, then they will be coming as soon as they notice the convoy is under attack. And torpedoes can be followed home.¡±


    ¡°Your captain orders a change of course to try and get away from where you fired, will it work? You have no idea. After that there are no orders coming down. Everyone is waiting with bated breath, you are soaked to the bone from sweat and condensation, but your heart is in your throat beating like a jackhammer.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Balethon.¡±


    ¡°Then you hear it. A ping. *Ding* like a loud high pitched bell. The enemy is searching now. And still no explosion, did you miss? They know you are here now. Or is it just a random sweep at the worst possible time? You can do nothing, you have your station, a few gauges and dials that is all. Still no orders.¡±


    ¡°The ping sound again, is it getting closer? You can¡¯t quite tell. Still no orders¡­ Then another ping. That one was louder. You and your friends look at each other, the enemy is closing in. You all know it now.¡±


    ¡°Then comes the orders. Captain is turning back towards the convoy, he¡¯s going to attack the destroyer. If you make it, you will get medals, probably. If you don¡¯t, your parents will. Another thunk, you fired another torpedo. If it hits the ship will be little but a smoking wreck. You all wait, another ding. It¡¯s definitely getting closer. The captain orders dive to 100 meters. Did you miss? No, it¡¯s not been long enough.¡±


    ¡°You concentrate on your work. Forward tanks to be filled fully. The seconds tick by as the boat starts to pitch down into the depths, towards both safety and death. The hull creaks and groans as you descend. Still no explosions, you must have missed every shot you took. You¡¯re too deep to fire now, the enemy is coming for you and they are coming with a vengeance. You attacked what was to feed their families ashore. The life of their nation. They will see you dead.¡±


    ¡°The faintest thump is heard amongst the creaking and the sound of the engines spinning up to go faster, and no order to level out is given. You pass 100 meters, then an ear-shattering boom rocks throughout the sub. The lights flicker and die, leaving the boat black as pitch, the panting of terrified men all you can hear past your ringing ears. The red backups turn on, bathing your whole world in crimson light. Then another boom shakes the boat, knocking you to the cold wet steel floor. The world goes black once more as your friend starts to sob, as the lights return, crimson red, you look up to see a grown man sitting curled up next to his station clutching his knees as he rocks back and forth, sobbing like a young child.¡±


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    ¡°You get back to your station. You are working for two now, you dare not touch him. You have no idea what he might do. Orders come down from the captain, ¡°Level the boat.¡± You quickly open the valves to purge the tanks, then the third boom flings you and rocks the boat. You hear a pipe burst with a sickening metallic clang, a sound you have dreaded ever since you set foot in this accursed machine. But there is no rush of water.¡±


    ¡°You are confused, you look around at your comrades who do the same. You ignore the sobbing mess that is your friend until he lets out an ear piercing scream, like a toddler wanting his mommy. Then you hear it. The rush of air, the whistle of life draining away. You look back to your station, muttering a prayer. Please no, please no, gods have mercy upon your soul. With the horror of a doomed man you watch the needle sag further and further down. The air. The air to blow the tanks is leaking away. Without it you can never make it back up. You will sink deeper and deeper.¡±


    ¡°You shout as loud as you can hoping the captain will hear. Maybe the engines can save you, just maybe. Against all odds the captain hears your plea, the planes are ordered to full climb and the engines to flank speed. You cannot start the diesels, they would steal all the air in seconds, so electric motors only. You hear them spin up, nothing but a faint whirr as the boat pitches up, trying desperately to climb back to safety. You watch the needle on your station fall to zero, you shut the valves from the tanks to the ocean. Maybe you got some water out. Maybe it was enough.¡±


    ¡°You watch the depth gauge as the ping of the enemy sonar sounds once more, 140 meters¡­ come on, come on. You stupid old bucket of bolts climb! Another ping. Then the needle starts to move 135¡­ 120¡­ IT¡¯S WORKING! You are ascending, you might actually make it! Then comes another boom, you didn¡¯t even hear the splash this time.¡±


    ¡°The entire boat shakes. You fall to the floor once more, your ears are ringing, your vision is blurry, and there is yet another clang and the sound of screaming, shouting men¡­ and the rush of water. The rush of water. You scramble to your feet like your life depends on it, no no no. You were going to make it. You were so nearly there! You stare down the length of the boat at three men trying their hardest to stop the leak. 10 bar of pressure behind the stream, enough to break bone and tear flesh. The pipe burst inside the boat. You have a chance, if the out valve is shut maybe you can stop the leak. Just maybe. You have been on this boat for 2 years. 2 nerve frying years, you know what to do, so do your comrades. You are all veterans. The valve is found and shut and the flow of water stops, giving way to more wailing as you watch your third officer clutching his ruined hand. He tried to stop the water, to plug the pipe, to save you all. Now it¡¯s nothing but a mangled mess.¡±


    ¡°Another ping sounds. You want to scream ¡°Leave us alone!¡± but they might hear you. They have gotten close, but they haven¡¯t hit yet. No use giving them a better chance. If you can just make it up you can surrender. You look to the depth gauge, 90 meters. You are still ascending! Hope fills you once more as you feel water run over your shoes back down to the end of the boat¡­ towards the engine room. You hear watertight doors swing shut to stop it, but what about the batteries? Were the batteries okay? What if one cracked and leaked¡­ then you hear the sizzle. The sizzle of acid and water reacting.¡±


    ¡°You know what comes next. Gas, chlorine gas. Used as a chemical weapon. It will fill the submarine and choke you all to death if you cannot make it to the surface. You look to the depth gauge, 80 meters. It¡¯s going so slowly, you can barely see the needle move. Come on, come on, come on.¡±


    ¡°Then the unthinkable. You hear the engines slow down, a slow gracious death as they spin down to nothing. You can¡¯t even hear them anymore. There is frantic shouting and men running past you. Covers are taken off the floor to get to the batteries, and poison gas spills out leaving men coughing and hacking. They might not survive going down there. They will do it anyway. It¡¯s the only chance for the rest of you. Brave men with no time for protective gear go below to try and fix the batteries.¡±


    ¡°It could work¡­ but you don¡¯t believe it. Next to you your deranged friend is wailing like a child once more. You just watch the gauge, 80¡­ 85¡­90¡­ 100¡­110¡­125. The world goes quiet around you, the lights flicker, and you hear a faint sonar ping. The enemy has passed, soon you will be too deep to hit anyway. The creaking returns, the hull already battered by the explosions put under more and more strain as you dive back down. 140 meters. 150. You don¡¯t know how deep you can go. The gauge goes to 200. The red zone starts at 150. You have once been to 170, but the boat was new then, not 2 years old. There is rust to be found, dents and scrapes, a loose bolt somewhere maybe.¡±


    ¡°150 meters, you watch the pipes above your head as men frantically work. Posion gas is filling the boat and you cough. You cough your very lungs out. It burns. It burns in your eyes, your nose, your throat and lungs, and you squint. You watch the gauge. There is nothing else left to do. Around you men give up and sit to pray while others work trying desperately to save the boat. You hear the captain bellow orders. But it is too late, the boat is slipping. The angle increases as water runs to the rear. It is nearly 45 degrees now. Men start to slip, bashing against steel bulkheads on the way down. They are probably dead. They are lucky.¡±


    ¡°You think of your family back home, your mother and father, your wife and child. You will never see them again. 180 meters. The boat shudders and groans. It threatens to collapse around you. You hear a pipe forward burst, men springing into action to fix the leak. 200 meters. The needle goes outside the gauge. You are in uncharted territory now. Is there a bottom beneath you? It would only prolong your suffering. Another pipe goes right above you, spraying you in ice cold salty water. On instinct you spring to your feet to shut it off. The valve won¡¯t even budge. The pressure is too great. You comrades try to help you. A large wrench is put on for more leverage, and you pull. You pull for all you are worth like it would make any difference. The valve moves, it turns and shuts off the rushing water. You did it!¡±


    ¡°You cough and splutter as you force your burning eyes to open once more. You can feel them melting in your skull as you want to scream, but it will only make the pain worse. You watch the gauge. It is off the scale now. You guess 240 meters. You haven¡¯t heard of boats going this deep before. Another shudder, and the sound of rending metal. You look down towards the rear of the boat as it slices deeper into the dark depths of the ocean, and you watch as the bulkhead twists and bows. The aft section just collapsed. Everyone there is dead. You will follow.¡±


    ¡°You watch the door bow and creak as men go to try and reinforce it with whatever they can find. You pray. You pray that someone will take care of your wife and children. Then the bulkhead blows. Two men are sent flying along with the heavy solid steel door. They are smashed to pieces against the hull. And you stare at death itself. The column of water, oil, men, and machinery bursts forth from the aft of the ship and all you can do is stare. It is over in the blink of an eye as the rising water engulfs you. Your ears pop and your eyes are blown out of your skull as you are hurled like a doll upwards towards the front of the boat. Your body is battered to pieces against the pipes, valves, handles, and doorways. You live just long enough to know what happened, before mercifully your head snags a sleeping cot and is ripped clean off.¡±


    ¡°A submarine and crew, never to be seen nor heard from again. 35 men, never to make it home. A single kill for a destroyer which will return to her convoy happy in the knowledge she managed to save the lives of a dozen sailors and who knows how many back home. All it took was the sinking of a mere submarine.¡±


    Tom leaned back in his chair quite pleased with his little story, the looks of horror on most of the guys¡¯ faces betraying that, yeah, he¡¯d done just fine. Unkai especially wasn¡¯t looking too hot, nor was Junior if he was being honest.


    Radexi was the first to speak though. ¡°Okay, that was wicked.¡±


    ¡®Not quite the response I was expecting, but okay¡­¡¯


    ¡°And you claim hell is full of fire,¡± Anchor added with a grunt. ¡°Crazy bastards indeed. And you said they volunteered for such a position?¡±


    ¡°Every last one,¡± Tom confirmed. ¡°Whackjobs the lot of them. And brave beyond measure. I¡¯m betting most were scared shitless throughout.¡±


    ¡°Quite, so Balethon, got your curiosity sated?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, of course it¡¯s nothing I couldn¡¯t handle. Sit down at twist thingies. I could do that.¡±


    ¡°Suuure buddy,¡± Herron chuckled, seeming the least affected out of all of them. Then again he could probably wake up with his pants on fire and still take time to ponder if he could get in five more minutes.


    ¡°Good thing we don¡¯t have to do anything like that, hey guys?¡± Unkai questioned, looking around the table and receiving some nods and a few shrugs. ¡°Try not to think back on it when it¡¯s time for bed, or you¡¯re all alone up in the tower.¡±


    ¡°You know, speaking of bravery and what people have to do. Unkai, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have any idea about someone who should probably really be doing something that they might be slightly scared to do now would you?¡±


    ¡°Eeehh Tom, are you sure this is the time?¡± Kokashi interjected, the silvered guard using a cautious tone.


    ¡°Well from the sounds of it the girls playing nice didn¡¯t work, so I¡¯ll put it straight. People have had to do things they don¡¯t want to for as long as people have been able to tell who they are in a mirror. Be they soldiers, fliers, gods forbid a submariner, or even just a friend of someone. Or perhaps a bit more. Man the fuck up and get on with it, or I¡¯m melting that medal down into something more useful. It could be a heck of a lot worse than having to spend time with a pretty and truly sweet woman.¡±


    Unkai didn¡¯t immediately respond, instead he just looked down at the table as everyone else tried to work out what to say. ¡°So that¡¯s why you came over here and decided to tell a story.¡±


    ¡°Well that and it¡¯s been a while. I¡¯m sorry I suck at this stuff, but you have it damn easy by comparison. So man up. Or would you have me believe you are more like the girls back home?¡±


    ¡°Fuck no, I¡¯ll do it then,¡± Balethon interjected once more with rather forced humor.


    ¡°Shut up, kid,¡± Anchor grumbled in a deep rather disappointed dad tone which did the trick for now.


    Junior just coughed a little uncomfortably, shuffling a bit further away on the bench, Radexi following his lead, all while Kokashi was staring at Tom, certainly not approving. Unkai stared at the table a bit more before looking up. ¡°Look, it¡¯s not that easy, okay?¡±


    ¡°Really now,¡± Tom cut him off. ¡°She¡¯s pretty, she¡¯s sweet, and she really needs you. We both know that, else you¡¯re a damn idiot. I also know you like her, even most of the kids do. So you get on with it. She could kill you easy, but so can Jarix. You don¡¯t run away from him all the time and pretend he doesn¡¯t exist unless forced, now do you?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± he looked properly ashamed of himself now. Tom didn¡¯t know how to feel about it, but that was life it would seem.


    Balethon looked like he was about to say something before a stern stare from Anchor solved that problem.


    ¡°People have done so much worse. But it gets better. You get used to it. Even the wackjobs who spend every day on an old deathtrap of a submarine. Sure, they still get scared when in battle, but that¡¯s what bravery is for. Every day though? You get used to it. You can get used to a lot of things. Half a year ago you would have given your left¡­ something to have ¡®being with Fengi¡¯ being what you needed to get used to. So come on man, for the sake of being a dude. Go get the girl.¡±


    ¡°Laying it on a bit thick, don¡¯t you think?¡± one of the swordsmen from Glira¡¯s crew added in. Tom didn¡¯t even know his name, or if he did he had forgotten it.


    ¡°If that is what it takes,¡± Tom replied flatly, looking back to the now thoroughly ashamed looking Unkai. ¡°When she gets back here you are spending every possible moment with her, and you are definitely not letting her go out alone in a storm with a murderer and just one friend. Saph¡¯s great and all, but she needs you right now. Who knows you might even get something in return.¡±


    At that Unkai had to cough a little before looking away from Tom, who just leaned back a little, relaxing. He¡¯d gotten all tensed up with all that serious talk, which he really didn¡¯t feel like was his responsibility, and it was damn cruel to do it infront of all Unkai¡¯s friends, but damn if he hadn¡¯t managed to avoid the responsibility before if the girls were to be believed.


    ¡°Deal?¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± Unkai let out with a sigh like he just lost his freedom, receiving a pat on the shoulder from Herron. ¡°Cheer up man, it¡¯s not marriage after all. And she¡¯s not like Saph, I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no running around doing her bidding and sleeping on the floor. Who knows, maybe you¡¯ll even get some,¡± Balethon added in his own sincere yet somehow still vulgar tone.


    Unkai didn¡¯t seem to take the latter remark terribly well, averting his gaze and looking back down again.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I think I¡¯ve done enough damage. Do let me know if you would like to see a movie about that whole submarine thing,¡± Tom tried in a more lighthearted tone, it didn¡¯t come across well at all.


    ¡°Maybe some other time¡­ We do have this new-fangled weekend to look forward to, maybe then?¡± Kokashi replied, seeming to at least appreciate the effort while moving a touch closer to Unkai, looking ready to give him a pat on the back, yet he stayed his hand for now.


    ¡°Oh right, yeah¡­ I thought we only went with one day for now?¡±


    ¡°For now. Once winter arrives we will get plenty of free time.¡±


    Anchor grumbled his consent as all around the table people seemed quite relieved by the thought.


    ¡°Not too fast, we have a lot of work to do that can still be done while it is cold outside,¡± Junior added in, receiving some not so appreciative glances for the trouble.


    ¡°He¡¯s right though,¡± Radexi defended, taking the time to glare at everyone giving Junior the stink eye. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, you all gone lazy?¡±


    ¡°Kid, I have been working since before your parents even decided to have you. Some time off is needed every now and again,¡± Anchor grumbled, the rest of the guys and especially Herron nodding.


    ¡°Hear hear. Hey Tom, do we get to have a drink on the weekends too?¡±


    ¡°I think that could be managed. It¡¯s almost a tradition to get shitfaced on the weekends back home. In future though, it might be coming out of your own supply. All that money should be spent on something, am I right?¡±


    ¡°I already made a list,¡± Balethon proclaimed proudly. ¡°This is going to be the best winter ever.¡±


    ¡°Just a bit lonely, ey?¡± one of Glira¡¯s crew chuckled, raising a mug of water with a knowing smile on his face.


    ¡°Oh shut up.¡±

 Chapter 172: Waterlogged

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    They had labored in the cold pouring rain to get Yldril detached from what logs were still lashed to her harness. The dragon had tried her best to shield them from the weather, not that it was entirely of her own free will, but it did still help somewhat. Both she and Fengi were moving slowly, and Saph could even feel how slowly she was thinking. This was cold. This was far, far too cold to be good. They needed a fire and shelter. The only bright side was that Yldril had at least been right about the wind. The tall, sheer hill that looked more like a cliff to Saphire did indeed shield them from the worst of the biting wind.


    ¡°We need a fire, we¡¯re freezing to death here.¡±


    ¡°And where are you going to find dry wood out here!¡± Fengi replied slowly yet loudly to make her voice carry over the wind.


    ¡°There!¡± Saph just responded, not willing to give a lengthy explanation as she pointed at the bundle of logs. All of the branches that had been laid atop them were strewn all about, but surely there was somewhere still nice and dry inside there. ¡°Yldril, help me.¡±


    ¡°Do as she says,¡± Fengi almost instinctively shouted, mind only halfway there as Yldril was already moving around to snatch away the tarp to provide cover for the pile of wood, a large black wing spreading out to keep the rain at bay..


    ¡°I want a fire too, idiots.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the idiot here,¡± Saph grumbled aloud as she trudged towards the wood. She had kindling, oil, and Tom¡¯s lighter with her. She had been more than a little relieved to find that the satchel in question was still in its place dangling from Yldril¡¯s harness. They had been camping in the forest after all, so they had at least taken the precaution of bringing extra supplies.


    For once Yldril didn¡¯t respond, though neither the trip down the hill nor the weather seemed to have impeded the dragon overly. With the rain off the wood, Saph went to work trying to clear away enough of the tarp to get to the precious dry branches within. Soon enough Fengi joined in the efforts as they dug away until finally their hands touched something dry for the first time since yesterday.


    ¡°Oh thank the gods,¡± Saph sighed as she started pulling out branches, Fengi taking them and starting to build a fire a little ways away from the pile and a bit closer to Yldril.


    ¡°Here is as good a place as any I think.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± was all Saph could say as the small pile began to mount. They didn¡¯t have the tools, time, nor strength to do much aside from just pile it high and maybe make some more kindling using their knives, so bare branches would have to do.


    ¡°Give me that,¡± Yldril ordered as Saph tossed down a rather large branch. It was probably too big to just go on the fire, but they could let one end stick out and feed it in slowly if they had to. Not thinking much of it, Saph tossed it clear. Well she tried to, and the result fell rather short. Yldril just sighed like she was cleaning up after a pair of messy children and grabbed the branch between two claws. Then she squeezed and with a crunch popped it more or less in half.


    ¡°There you go, better. Want me to break that one too?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right,¡± was all Saph could say, going to grab another large one. ¡°Sure, here. One more.¡±


    ¡°Unicorn-blessed wood split by a dragon¡­ If people didn¡¯t have a clue how we got here, we could sound like royalty on a picnic,¡± Fengi let out, betraying a hint of careful optimism that the worst of it was over while Yldril dutifully snapped the branch in half.


    ¡°Fengi¡­ I have never felt less royal than I do right now. This sucks,¡± Saph countered, rather failing to mimic the cheery attitude. ¡°My tail is frozen¡­ Can¡¯t feel the tip. I¡¯m wet, soon to be hungry, and I¡¯m camped in a storm in Autumn¡­ I hate it.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least we won''t die out here. And with a fire, it might even get a little bit comfy.¡±


    ¡°Talons crossed,¡± Saph agreed as she tried to throw another piece of wood, this one closer to an actual log, towards Yldril, who picked it up and cleaved it with her talons.


    Once the fire had been properly built they made some extra kindling just in case and even poured some oil on it for good measure. Dakota would probably be giving a talk on how you didn¡¯t need that if you knew what you were doing, but Saph somehow found it impossible to care right now.


    Saph brought out the lighter and with a few flicks of her thumb she had lit an oily stick and stuck it in the fire. It took a few tense moments as they all three watched to see if the fire would take as the rain pounded away, a flash of thunder lighting up everything brightly even under Yldril¡¯s black leather wing.


    Saph found herself releasing a breath as the flames started licking up the roughly split logs and branches, a warm yellow glow starting to light up their small, impromptu camp.


    ¡°So far so good,¡± Fengi sighed, going to sit by the fire, spreading her wings out and holding her hands close. Saph mimicked her position trying to soak as much heat as she could from the flames, remembering to wrap her tail around so it too could get warmed up a little. She did not want to lose the tip to frostbite. If it had to go, surely battle or a flying accident would be a better story.


    Soon the fire was burning brightly and Fengi added a bit more wood, looking to the dragon as she moved to coil fully around the flames. ¡°At least the fire is nice.¡±


    ¡°You know that might be the first nice thing you¡¯ve said,¡± Saph countered, not feeling terribly forgiving right now, though she did appreciate the last of the wind getting shut out.


    Yldril didn¡¯t bother with a rebuttal, instead just laying her head in the mud close to the fire, making three people who were now staring into the dancing flames. ¡°Remember to make a hole for the smoke somewhere,¡± Fengi added. One annoyed sigh later and Yldril¡¯s wing had been moved just enough to make an opening at the top, even if it did let a bit of water, which ran down the dragon¡¯s side.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the camp then¡­ Actually are the skins still up there?¡± Saph questioned, looking up at what she could see of the dragon¡¯s fire-lit sides.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be soaked through by now. Won¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go check,¡± the dragon rumbled, probably sensing an order in the works and beating Fengi to it, her head sliding back out of the impromptu tent and letting wind and water in along with what little light was left outside. Luckily it didn¡¯t take long before the great big dragon head returned to plug the hole, this time with a ragtag bundle of wolf furs in her mouth. ¡°Still here.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yes please,¡± Saph all but gasped. She did not want to sleep without any covers in this weather that was for sure. ¡°We¡¯re gonna need to dry them.¡±


    Both huntresses turned to look at the dragon, who just dumped them next to the fire. ¡°Tadaa,¡± she said in the most unenthusiastic tone possible.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s mud. Oh come on,¡± Fengi protested, getting up and saving the soaked furs from getting even worse. Then she started looking around for somewhere to lay the furs out to dry, not finding much except for a black dragon and a pile of branches.¡°Mind if I just lay them on a leg?... What about that one, rear right?¡± the young woman questioned, pointing to the dragon¡¯s hind quarters.


    ¡°Urgh fine,¡± Yldril relented, sticking the leg out to be at least somewhat close to the fire.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Not like I¡¯m wet or cold or anything.¡±


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± Saph grumbled as she pulled her tail a bit further away from the fire. It was getting really nice and hot now, and getting burned would just be embarrassing. ¡°We all fucked up, now we have to live with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you do admit to being a useless little mayfly?¡±


    ¡°No, I admit that I should have guessed you can¡¯t even work out how to walk from one place to another and demanded we make camp sooner, you useless reptile.¡±


    ¡°I am a dragon¡­ Some of us are treated with respect.¡±


    ¡°Those that have earned it-¡±


    ¡°Or born to it.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, for what you did even a white would be put to death and you know it. You¡¯re the luckiest bastard to ever dare set foot on this island.¡±


    ¡°Lucky!? Lucky!¡± Yldril snarled with ill-concealed outrage, baring her teeth at Sapphire.


    It took all that Saph could muster to not flinch away from the display, remembering the screams of the guardsmen down in the tunnels and what the dragon¡¯s acid could do. But she was safe in the knowledge that Yldril could not hurt them. Not anymore. Much as she might wish to.


    ¡°Oh would you just stop it, both of you,¡± Fengi finally cried out, the desperation in her voice only stifled by the cold and tiredness they both had to feel right now. ¡°This won¡¯t make anything better, now will it?¡±


    ¡°Well letting her get away with calling everyone else idiots and useless children will certainly make it worse,¡± Saph snarled, head snapping to glare at Fengi, a reaction she would immediately regret seeing the hurt on Fengi¡¯s face. But Sapphire was angry, and rightfully so.


    ¡°I know, I know¡­ just please¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Saph reluctantly agreed, not out of agreement with Fengi¡¯s sentiment but for the younger¡¯s woman sake instead. Yldril let out a bemused rumble like she had somehow won that. ¡®Arguing with idiots, I tell you¡­¡¯ Saph cursed, consigning herself to simply not letting her irritation show too much.


    ¡°Maybe we should think about something to eat, Saph? We could at least warm up some things. And it¡¯s not like water is scarce.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say,¡± Yldril grumbled with disdain. Saph didn¡¯t even spare the big scarred head a glance, keeping her eyes locked on Fengi.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ we could even make some tea if we wanted. You know, just to warm up?¡± Fengi continued, also ignoring Yldril.


    ¡°Now that sounds like a properly brilliant idea. The little kettle is in there, I think. I¡¯ll get it,¡± Saph agreed, getting up and walking over to the packed travel supplies, notably ignoring the large pot they had brought too. Yldril let out a long drawn-out sigh, head turning slightly away from the fire.


    Saph desperately wanted to make some remark about how that¡¯s what she got for being such an insufferable arse and risking their lives for no gain, but she had promised.


    ¡°Do dragons¡­ drink tea?¡± Fengi then asked cautiously, and Saph¡¯s shoulders dropped a little as she just stared at the dull black side of Yldril. Even from here, she could hear Yldril¡¯s head turn back to look in towards the fire and Fengi. ¡°I am not sure we brought enough tea. But maybe just hot water?¡±


    Yldril didn¡¯t immediately answer, Saph turning around to look at the dragon, whose head was simply lying there looking at Fengi, then glancing to the warm dancing flames. ¡°I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be the worst.¡±


    Saph just closed her eyes and took a breath. ¡®Can¡¯t even say ¡°Yes please¡± or Thank you¡± after nearly getting us killed.¡¯


    ¡°Saph, could you bring the pot too,¡± Fengi asked, getting up and walking to the pile of branches, likely looking for some wet ones for making a stand to hang the pot from.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Saph responded with false cheer, going to grab the large pot as well and hauling it over.


    ¡°Put it over there,¡±Yldril said in her least disrespectful tone yet, gesturing where her tail wrapped around to go back outside and the wing covering them hung the lowest.


    Saph looked at Yldril skeptically for a moment before the dragon grumbled. ¡°With how it¡¯s raining I¡¯ve been washed quite clean. I can assure you of that.¡±


    Saph didn¡¯t say anything, just walking over and setting down the pot, stepping back as the dragon shifted her wing a little. She broke the seal and the wind howled inside, Saph stepping back from the cold and only now really feeling how much warmer it already was inside, not just feeling the heat from the fire itself.


    Water came pouring down Yldril¡¯s wing, though most of it missed. The dragon shifted her wing multiple times to try and improve the situation. The pot was still getting filled though, and the wind was nowhere bad enough to blow away all the nice warmth the fire was providing.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite neat,¡± Fengi added, standing next to the fire, busy tying together some sticks into a basic three-legged frame.


    ¡°Especially when there is no one willing to fill a water skin for you,¡± Yldril grumbled broodingly, watching her work as she kept on trying to fill the pot faster.


    ¡°Gonna be quite the waterskin for a dragon, surely,¡± Fengi responded, seemingly aiming to try some small talk of all things. ¡°I remember seeing the one Jarix has. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen him bother to fill it though?¡±


    ¡°They all had one, Arch and Galaxer too. Galaxer filled his before he left. Arch didn¡¯t bother I think.¡±


    ¡°They are heavy, and it¡¯s easier to just find a lake or a stream somewhere, now isn¡¯t it?¡± Yldril countered. ¡°But it sucks if you need it one day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I bet.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The wind was blowing gently across Tom¡¯s snout, ears laid flat back though still picking up the forced calm in the breathing of the dragonettes standing at his sides. They were his fellow cadets. He was outside, standing in a courtyard. The low walls all around were set with thick, tall, round towers, solid granite construction to his eyes.


    ¡°Aaaaattention!¡± a much older and well-dressed dragonette called out.


    They all straightened, hands clasping behind their backs and looking dead ahead. There had to be at least 40 of them assembled in the yard, three officers walking up and down the line and inspecting them from top to toe. At the far wall behind the speaking man stood the inquisitors. Tom knew the man, but not those who stood beyond. He felt excited as his eyes darted down the line.


    Flanking their 40-strong square stood 12 dragons. Two were wearing armor much like he remembered Baron carrying, while others wore little but light travel rigging. But one caught his eye, a massive white dragon with the coldest bright blue piercing eyes he had ever seen. The massive dragon was draped in thick padded coverings tied tight with leather straps and gilded buckles, only the glinting bare metal visible near the edge betraying what lay beneath.


    Tom felt his heart climb into his throat and his breath become labored as one of the officers strode by, his eyes snapping back to the front and holding at attention. The officer looked him up and down before grunting approvingly, giving a slight nod before carrying on down the line.


    ¡°I know you have all waited for this day. And there is no one left not worthy of the chance to serve our great nation,¡± the officer spoke up again, his voice carrying with authority all throughout the courtyard. ¡°Today you join the ranks of the Inquisition proper. Today your true training will begin. Some of you will become legends, others silent heroes working in the shadows. All will do their duty to ensure the safety and stability of the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°You will each be assigned a duty becoming of your skills. All of you here today will serve an honored inquisitor as a member of their retinue. You will serve them well, and in return you will learn the ways of our order in the field.¡±


    ¡°Do not fear, do not falter. The enemy will not. And you all know well the consequences of failure¡­ Do not bother making requests or demands, your posts have already been assigned. Step forward when you are called¡­ Kareli Quaren! Revan Letho, Ternari Estan,¡± from three different places three dragonettes stepped forward, two female one male, all looking stern as stone though a hint of pride was to be seen in them all.


    ¡°Inquisitor Belatrax Misinati, Fort Jakova,¡± the three cadets gave a quick nod before jogging off in an ordered fashion towards one of the inquisitors standing at the far wall, being received with stern glances and salutes.


    ¡°Kolek Ignari, Victoria Jelar, Orko Finkeri, Inquisitor Vintar Hashaw,¡± Tom found himself turning his head to stare at the inquisitor in question. They did not seem to have noticed Tom, his attention instead being placed upon the three new recruits jogging towards him.


    ¡°I guess no family privilege this time then?¡± a male dragonette behind Tom and to his right let out in a tone somewhere between teasing and malicious. Tom¡¯s ears didn¡¯t even flinch, attention instead turning back to the man speaking.


    ¡°Estafan Vik, Tritari Cartha, Joelina Hashaw. Inquisitor Harvik Sheen,¡± Tom stepped forward, moving between the lines to get up front and standing at attention once more before going to jog towards his new master. Inquisitor Harvik was a ravaged old man who stood hunched over, though he had a fierceness of expression Tom had only rarely seen. His face was scarred, his left eye milky and white, horns replaced with metal ones worn smooth by decades of use, runes lining their full length.


    The three cadets stood at attention before him, saluting though receiving none in reply. Instead he slowly lumbered forward, looking for all the world like he could use a cane, his singular clear eye inspecting them in detail once more.


    ¡°Young¡­ Tender¡­ comfortable,¡± he let out in a low predatory tone as he circled them. ¡°Hardly a scratch or a pain to be seen¡­ We will fix that. Oh yes we will¡­ Follow.¡± The old man led them towards the waiting dragons and Tom felt his spirits sink as their destination turned out to be the ancient white. The dragon was staring right through them, eyes seeming to be glowing with reflective light even in the overcast weather and biting wind.


    ¡°Only three this year?¡± the dragon questioned in a deep sonorous voice loaded with skepticism.


    ¡°So it would seem¡­ We will make do,¡± Inquisitor Harvik responded, turning back around to face the cadets, who once more stood at attention.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know nor do I care if you know who I am. We are going north. As far north as we can. Notify your armory master, he will give you what you require to survive the trip. Behind me stands Chaika. Him you should damn well know, so I need not tell you the respect he deserves. We depart tomorrow at dawn. Write to your families if you wish, you will not be able to again until winter sets in. If you survive that is.¡°


    ¡°Permission to speak, sir,¡± the male cadet, Estafan, let out, still standing at attention.


    ¡°If you wish,¡± the old inquisitor responded, looking to the young cadet.


    ¡°What is our mission?¡±


    ¡°We are to watch our northernmost bastions and settlements for any signs of corruption, intrusion, or danger. But I can assure you, our largest enemy will be the weather¡­ and the natives.¡±


    ¡°Natives sir?...¡±


    ¡°The ice grows thick. It can carry more than you think,¡± Harvik muttered with a cruel expression as he looked at his other two new cadets.


    ¡°A Hashaw. I didn¡¯t think they would ever give me another one. Are you sure your mother would not rather have you directing armies without worrying about orders or consequences?¡±


    ¡°My mother is the general of the army. She takes orders only from the king and the council,¡± Tom found himself answering in the by-now-familiar female tone. Though his voice was deeper than in the dungeon, yet it was not as hard as he remembered Joelina¡¯s to be.


    ¡°I suppose so¡­ Who bothers with children when you can do it yourself. After all, you might get it wrong.¡±


    ¡°Am I to take it that my family line will be a problem on this mission?¡± Tom questioned with defiance in his tone, turning to look the inquisitor dead in the eye even as he felt his heart pounding in his chest.


    It took a tense moment before the inquisitor smiled evilly. ¡°Noooo¡­ I think you will be perfect. Stubbornness has saved many from the cold¡­ I hear you are a mind reader?¡± he would carry on, his tone turning more curious.


    ¡°Correct, sir. Though I can melt them too.¡±


    ¡°Very good, veeeery goood. I will make good use of you. It is harder to lie to your kind after all.¡± He turned back to the rest of the retinue all standing arrayed at Chaika¡¯s feet at ease. ¡°Glazz. Do try to keep this one alive. I want her set upon lord Tikka as soon as we get there.¡±


    ¡°Understood, sir,¡± a tall woman clad in padded, warm looking armor responded, helmet held under her arm and spear leant against her shoulder. ¡°Though I might recommend something more than mere padding once they discover your new toy.¡±


    ¡°Now now Glazz, you heard the fortress master. These are honored members of the Inquisition destined to become heroes one and all,¡± Harvik retorted sarcastically, turning back to peer at the cadets. ¡°Well¡­ maybe one in three.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph and Fengi had made some tea for themselves, joking to themselves that they really should have taken Tom up on the offer of bringing sugar for the tea. But with the money it had proven to be worth, they hadn¡¯t thought they could bring themselves to drink it on a simple camping trip. Right now though she was sure they could have managed to justify the expense just fine.


    It had taken some time to boil the big pot of water, and Saph had burned herself a little lifting it off the fire. Yldril had refrained from making a rude or snarky comment at Saph¡¯s expense when she burned herself. She had dropped the pot spilling a bit of the hot water, though luckily not on her feet. At least most of it stayed in the pot. The dragon had instead delicately picked up the pot between two long slender claws as Saph cursed and clutched at her hand, bringing it to her mouth and tipping it in still steaming. It made a good mouth full and she seemed to enjoy it, letting out a contented rumble followed by a long sigh as she put it back down again a little clumsily. Then she laid her head on the drying ground near the fire and stared into the flames. Saph supposed it might soon even be warm.


    Her suspicions had been happily confirmed as they had sat around the fire, Fengi helping to bandage up the burn. Saph once more silently cursed Unkai for not coming. It was only a slight burn, but infections were always a pain to deal with, especially if they ended up stuck here for a few days or however long this storm decided to last. Saph was still hopeful that they would be home by the end of the day tomorrow. They just needed good enough weather for her or Fengi to take flight and they would be alright.


    As they sat around the warm fire Fengi soon began to nod her head, heavy with fatigue. Yldril had seemingly already fallen asleep, the rushing air from her nostrils fanning the fire with every long slow breath. Agreeing to turn in for the night they had grabbed the furs, still not quite dry but certainly better than nothing. They added a bit more fuel to the fire, wrapped up one by one, and lay down beside it to stare into the flames. It would last for a few hours and with a little luck some of the heat wouldn¡¯t escape their improvised tent. Saph had wanted to perhaps chat just a little now that the dragon had given in, but found her question of-


    ¡°So do you think it will clear up tomorrow?¡± met only with silence, and then a snore. ¡®Yeah, fair enough,¡¯ she conceded, closing her own eyes. Sleep came swiftly and suddenly, when next she blinked her eyes open it was morning. A slight beam of dim grey light peeking in through the gap left by Yldril for the smoke to escape.


    The acrid smell of woodsmoke filled the air and the fire was but a patch of cold dead charcoal in the middle of the dim space. Not even a wisp of smoke rose from it.


    Fengi didn¡¯t seem to be up yet, but Yldril¡¯s eye were open, the faint amber glow to the large single Iris standing out clear in the dim light. The dragon was staring into the middle distance and seemed lost in thought. The rain was still drumming, though more gently, and the ground had remained dry, the great dam that was Yldril¡¯s body having spared them a soaking through the night.


    Saph spent some time just watching the dragon, who did not seem to have noticed her stir yet. ¡®And just what are you thinking about right now,¡¯ Saph pondered to herself as she kept watching. ¡®How much you fucked up yesterday? How much you messed up coming here? Memories of when life was fun thanks to all the shit you stole? Hmpf¡­ yeah, you better ponder.¡¯


    ¡°Morning, busy considering just how much you messed up?¡± Saph asked in a low tone, hoping not to wake Fengi up. She would not approve of what Saph had to say.


    ¡°No¡­¡± came the flat response from Yldril, who didn¡¯t even spare Saph a look and instead turned her head away, leaving nothing but black scales for Saph to study. She had rather expected a bit more than that, so she pushed a little harder.


    ¡°Come on, all that ill gotten gold. Life must have been nice. Enough ale to get a dragon drunk, good food, slaves to tend to your every need?¡± Yldril didn¡¯t answer, which was answer enough for Sapphire. ¡°Come now, Fengi¡¯s sleeping. This is your time to gloat about what you used to do to people like me. You made it quite clear, you hate keep dwellers. So what did you do?¡±


    ¡°Oh many things¡­ not sure what I would like to do to you though¡­ probably eat you alive. You would be surprised how long someone can make it if you don¡¯t crush them. It makes it more personal, I think. That or maybe squash you slowly under foot. Then I could see your face, no more smug self-satisfaction. Just fear, fear of death. Oh I used to love it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m quite smug. Sure you could wipe it all off?¡±


    ¡°A stick in the mud had you screaming like a three year old. Don¡¯t flatter yourself.¡±


    Saph responded with an indignant huff, looking up to the wing and trying to see where the raindrops landed as the light from outside barely shone through, making the membrane look more grey than black.


    ¡°I guess you have never been scared then? Never been the little one? Oh no, I seem to remember something different happening? Something with a unicorn I think it was.¡±


    ¡°Very funny. No, real fear takes longer,¡± Yldril replied glumly, though not defensively as Saph had honestly expected. The dragon could be rather touchy after all. ¡°You need to let it sink in.¡±


    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t know real fear then,¡± Saph said with a huff, rolling her eyes freely. ¡®What an idiot. Hur durr, I wasn¡¯t scared when I screamed and cried, that¡¯s not real fear. Honestly.¡¯


    ¡°No, I guess you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Does getting kicked out from home to live on the streets of the capital count? I was 15, scared shitless and had no clue what I was doing. But it wasn¡¯t really that bad, I worked it out in the end. Food, roof, a little fun here and there. Just took a bit.¡±


    Now it was Yldril¡¯s turn to huff indignantly, still not turning to face Sapphire. ¡°Is this your plan? Compare yourself to me? Kicked out into the cold, alone in winter, with nothing worth carrying to help you? Was that your plan?¡±


    ¡°No not really, but I am curious, why did they do it? I mean really. Sure they might have said food, but why? If it was just that, why not let you go in spring? And surely you would have known they were in trouble. And you sleep for most of winter anyway.¡±


    ¡°And why should I tell you? Why were you kicked out? Parents didn¡¯t love you enough?¡±


    ¡°Oh no not that, too many mouths to feed. And parents wouldn¡¯t stop adding mouths to feed. So they were told to give some of us up. Me and two older siblings were chosen. Out we went early in spring. First trader out of there.¡±


    ¡°And what does a little orphan girl do in the capital with a pair of siblings, please tell me I¡¯m ever so interested?¡± Yldril replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.


    ¡°I did what I did best, that¡¯s to say I became the best.¡±


    ¡°I find that statement hard to believe.¡±


    ¡°Well I won the championship eventually. I¡¯m pretty sure that is what Champion means actually.¡±


    ¡°Champion of what? Pathetic peasant hollow bragging?¡±


    Saph rolled over a little to get the furs off, tapping a claw against her now rather dirty and slightly dull necklace. ¡®I really need to polish that thing¡­ oh well¡¯ ¡°Tonselra. Not some little league either.¡±


    Yldril¡¯s head did finally turn around at this, her singular bright yellow eye staring at the necklace intently before she turned away again.


    ¡°No you didn¡¯t. That¡¯s a fake.¡±


    ¡°Well fuck you too, I guess. No it¡¯s not a fake. Sapphire ¡°Silver Streak¡± Rayland, 2341.¡±


    ¡°Silver Streak,¡± Yldril echoed in a low, disappointed tone.


    ¡°Oh, I guess I am not a big fat liar then, huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve maybe seen a game before¡­ you are still a fat liar. Why would she go out here? The arse end of nowhere. Answer that for me why don¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Maybe she got tired of dipshits proposing to her? Or the attention? Or she wanted a job less likely to get her killed.¡±


    ¡°Guess it¡¯s not the first time you¡¯ve spun this one. Congratulations, your story almost makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Right, ask me a question then? If you can think of anything only Silver Streak would know.¡±


    ¡°And how would I know that, ey? I know jack and shit about that prancy fuck aside from having to listen to constant droning on about how amazing she and the other racers were.¡±


    ¡°Aww, you didn¡¯t even come watch?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t exactly let dragons like me come watch.¡±


    ¡°Shame, I guess I¡¯ll have to show off one of these days then. I quite like doing that.¡±


    ¡°I would never have guessed. Maybe you could have convinced that little dipshit¡­ who was it?... Terno, or something like that, you¡¯re the real deal. He said he proposed to her once. We all laughed at the idiot when he came back all slack-eared. Maybe he would have been happy here living a lie. If he even actually did it, bloody coward.¡±


    Saph couldn¡¯t help but let out a chuckle at that. She couldn¡¯t remember anyone by that name. Still, it was an amusing thought. She guessed mercenary dragon crew weren¡¯t the sort disposed towards being shy or scaredy, even if this guy had apparently been a coward. There had certainly been plenty of shady ones, she remembered that much.


    ¡°What? Who proposed¡­ huh?¡± Fengi let out, groggily rubbing her eyes open.


    ¡°Oh nothing. Just reminiscing on old times,¡± Saph replied as Fengi made it to proper consciousness, eyes darting between the two of them.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t fighting, are you?¡±


    ¡°Nah, just learning a little,¡± Saph chuffed with a snarky grin on her face.


    ¡°Thank the gods¡­ has the rain got any better?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yldril added flatly, letting out a long sigh. ¡°But the wind mostly fucked off.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 173: Return Leg

    ¡°Well shit,¡± Tom mumbled to himself as he lay there staring at the wooden ceiling, Jacky snoring at his side. ¡°I guess the dreams are sticking around a bit longer then¡­ huuuhr god dammit.¡±


    It had been one hell of a dream, so vivid and lifelike, and he could remember it perfectly. Even so, he did grab his little notebook from the nightstand and start  jotting down some details just in case they came in useful. They would help him remember. It was like some episodic series ¡°The Fucked Up Life of an Inquisitor¡­ Joy of joys,¡± he muttered to himself as he tried to recall, which was not tricky in the slightest, unlike dreams he had before Joelina went spelunking in his brain.


    The courtyard, the dragons, faces, names¡­ He remembered it all. So it all got documented in a notebook that he would most certainly not be sharing with Paulin or even discussing with anyone. Even telling Jacky ran the risk of that damn spy Paulin overhearing. It had been bad enough when it was just Kokashi listening in to sate Essy¡¯s appetite for knowing how and what everyone was doing.


    ¡°Uuurg, fine, time to get going,¡± he complained to himself as he finished his write-up. Gently he removed the blanket, trying not to wake Jacky just yet, and sat up on the bed, doing a slight stretch. She grumped a little but other than that didn¡¯t seem bothered. That would likely change once she started getting cold under there.


    He rubbed his eyes and yawned, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he got up, grabbing the chamber pot to relieve himself. ¡°Running water, you will be a godsend,¡± he mumbled before setting it down and putting the lid on it. He would take it down once they went for their little morning exercise routine¡­ If they even would today.


    He walked to the window and opened the wooden shutter a little, letting the cold wind buffet his face together with a smattering of rain droplets splashing off the window sills. ¡°Still raining. Still windy. Not as bad though¡­ I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll be fine at least¡­ But I ain¡¯t getting Jacky out in that without a really nice carrot on a stick. Oh well,¡± Tom mumbled to himself as he felt his sleepy self slowly get brought kicking and screaming into proper wakefulness by the cold water.


    ¡®Right so, sit-rep. Saph, Fengi, and Yldril are out in the rain, not much to do there. Inquisition working away down below. We¡¯ve got a whole stack to go through, and they¡¯ll probably be getting another vault open any day now. Even if it does take longer when you don¡¯t feel like blowing the hinges off. We have a swamped building site and no pumps to clear it, so all the nails and brackets we have made are useless for now. Winter is coming, but we¡¯re at least ready for that, or we will be once we get our shopping list back. Shotguns are nearly rolled out, but we¡¯re stuck making stuff for a warehouse so we can scramble to put it together if the water clears. Rifles are next. I need to finish drawing those up. We¡¯ll make them through winter, then that¡¯s that for weapons, for now¡­ Well perhaps some better grenades, but that can wait. Then they can¡¯t reasonably ask for anything more. Christmas needs to be celebrated too, stuff will need to be made for that, but that comes later. Dakota wants to take us training, but then the storm happened¡­ Maybe we are just gonna need tomorrow off as well. That would be a shame now, wouldn¡¯t it?... I also kinda want to go fishing¡­ hmm¡­¡¯


    ¡®For now, today is a weekend, no training with Dakota. Rachuck might try and get some hours in, but I would rather not. So what should I do?...¡¯ he shuttered the window again to ponder to himself, sitting down by the small table and rubbing his bearded chin a bit. ¡°Kinda funny Paulin hasn¡¯t even objected to the whole ¡®days off¡¯ idea, at least not where I could hear it. No way she¡¯s not hating this. Unless she has something she wants to do today? What would she even spend the day on? Nah, who am I kidding, she¡¯ll be spending the day spying on everyone to work out who she likes and who she doesn¡¯t¡­ Yeah, that would make sense now wouldn¡¯t it?¡± he mumbled as he glanced over the drawings strewn over the table and the shut-down laptop.


    ¡®Do I wanna just relax for a day? I¡¯ve done plenty of that though, and with winter will have oceans of free time by the sounds of it¡­ No fuck it, I¡¯m grabbing Edita. I want to know how all this crazy anti-grav stuff actually works. And that weird cold steam stuff¡­ The keep could really use central heating, maybe just use regular water steam though. Kinda defeats the point if the radiators are cold¡­ else it sounds like we would need really high-pressure pipes. Yeah, that ain¡¯t happening. How the hell does that even work? Do you just vent the ice cold steam after you¡¯re done with it? Steam cools when it expands after all. This stuff might even make a cryo gun or something¡­¡¯


    ¡®And is it just wasted? Edita was talking about rituals and frost powder. Doesn¡¯t sound like something you want to just vent¡­ but a condenser won¡¯t work unless you can somehow cool the spent steam down to minus whatever the fuck¡­ magic heat exchanger maybe? But that would need to be powered. No such thing as free energy, even with magic by the sounds of it.¡¯


    ¡®And surely the expansion wouldn¡¯t sap enough heat to condense it either, even if it did that would lead to vacuum in the cylinder, not exactly optimal¡­¡¯ Tom let out a groan, grabbing his hair and resting on his elbows as he tried to come to terms with whatever fuckery this stuff was. ¡°Now I know how Edita feels about the laptop and plastics¡­ Urhg¡­ Right, no. No use theory crafting, just ask the damn woman. So for now, keep central heating using old fashioned steam.¡¯


    ¡®So have the heat come from the forge, and have some kind of engine work as the pump too. But we¡¯re mostly out of space down there. Can¡¯t really just put in a steam engine and boiler. Well, maybe a little one. Enough to drive the lathe and mill perhaps, use the waste heat to heat the keep somewhat. They would love that¡­ Ooor. Maybe convert a storage room a level further down into the boiler room. Would just need to work out how to connect up the chimneys somehow.''


    ¡®I need pipe to do that though¡­ Both hot gas and water pipes. High and low pressure. That means either cast iron or we need to start rolling plate. The factory would need a plate roller, but ain¡¯t no way we¡¯re fitting one in here¡­ Cast it is, I guess. Iron is the cheapest metal they have after all. Well, second to lead¡­ I guess. High temp and lead pipes is not something I¡¯m messing with though. If we do make cast iron pipes, it would be in segments¡­ How do we join them? Can¡¯t just braze it. We would need threaded joints. Oh that is going to be hell to make on any sort of scale. We can''t cast that so we need to cut it, which means making thread-cutting tools able to chew through cast iron¡­ god dammit, I guess maybe that adamantine stuff would be useful for that.''


    ¡°Anyhow, to work. Better to worry about what I can do something about for now,¡± he sighed to himself as he turned in the chair to face the desk, scratching the back of his neck.


    ¡°Right, where were we? Yes, caliber choice. No need for necked-down rounds, we¡¯ve got chamber pressure for days. Single shot for now at least and sticking with 45 caliber straight wall since it¡¯s easier to make¡­ gonna need new bullets though. Don¡¯t want the old flatnose ones for the Marlin¡­ Urgh that would mean designing a new bullet. I know jack and shit about that¡­ I wonder if something else might fit?¡¯ he pondered to himself, getting out the laptop to do a quick search through the old manuals he had. Nothing useful seemed to pop up. Most 45 caliber as it turned out was either for pistols, or old as balls rifles much like his Marlin lever gun. And it wasn¡¯t like he had google to narrow down some handbuilt monstrosity, likely from Texas or something. Sharing calibers was a bit of a moot point anyway the pointy bullets of what he wanted might just set off the whole magazine tube on his gun when fired, or if he dropped it. And he would want more pressure than it could handle anyway. Actually, it sounded like an accident waiting to happen.


    After some more searching for something at least close to wha he had, he was left disappointed, though it did highlight another slight problem with his plan. Making a long slender 45 caliber bullet would put it within spitting distance of something like 50 BMG from the heavy machine gun. That was far, far too heavy a bullet to be using for any of this. And if he wanted a rifle that big for killing dragons or some kind of dangerous game perhaps, he would just use the damn 50 BMG they already had tools to make.


    ¡°So either stick with something like the 45/70 from the Marlin and don¡¯t worry about it, or go with a lower caliber faster round¡­ urgh, decisions decisions.  We want it putting holes in armor first and foremost. And mithril is a light, strong, and tough bastard, not to speak of that magic that messes with inertia. They can probably strengthen the metal too with it somehow¡­ So .30 cal then. It¡¯s the most common caliber for a reason, universal incarnate. Use straight walls and rely on the flash to get the pressure of a spitzer round like 308. Much easier to make and no need for filler, just a bit of messing around with case length¡­ I really would want something that could measure the chamber pressure or at least just the muzzle velocity for getting rifling right though. Oh why didn¡¯t I bring a chronograph?¡± Tom sighed, leaning back in the chair and cursing the fact he hadn¡¯t just brought every scientific instrument he could think of and reasonably afford.


    ¡®Might need to ask Edita if she has any good ideas on that one. Otherwise, make one and keep test shooting until the fucker at least doesn¡¯t keyhole or wobbles too bad. Don¡¯t need to be perfect the first time around after all. A good guess should see us close enough.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The weather hadn¡¯t suddenly turned into a sunny summer¡¯s day, but it had gotten a bit better as the sun climbed lazily behind the cloud cover. The rain was still falling, though it was no longer the torrential downpour of yesterday evening and the wind had indeed died down considerably. It was still bitingly uncomfortable, but if they kept moving they could just about keep their fingers from freezing off in this sort of weather.


    Trusting that the weather would carry on the trend they had delayed setting off on the scouting flights to instead see about what they could do to fix the broken bits of harness and scattered logs laying about the place.


    Yldril had been able to get the logs all gathered up in one place once more, walking with wings outstretched the whole time to give Fengi and Saph cover from the rain as they worked with the chains, straps, and ropes.


    The wind still buffeted the dragon from time to time, knocking her off balance. One time she even fell over completely, which of course led to no end of complaining, but neither Saph nor Fengi felt like getting any more wet than necessary before having to go fly in the autumn rain. The logs were all soaked, so Kalestine¡¯s hard work had been for nothing on this whole load.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t going to be happy back home are they?¡± Fengi questioned, kicking a wet log a little.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s pissed, fucking Raulf and his damn weather magic. What¡¯s the point if you can¡¯t trust it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s just get this home¡­ Today was supposed to be a day off after all.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I am taking tomorrow off too if we make it home today, and the day after that. I don¡¯t give a damn thing what they think. They can send Jarix or bribe Glira once she gets back if they are in such a hurry.¡±


    Fengi looked about to say something before Saph brought up Jarix and Glira. ¡°Yeah, hear that, Yldril? A few days off. It¡¯s not like we can work on the warehouse anyway with all this water. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s looking like a lake right about now.¡±


    ¡°Thank the gods above, wouldn¡¯t want to do it all over¡­ Oh wait,¡± Yldril replied darkly, glaring at the bundle of logs. ¡°Are you about done with that?¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°It¡¯s only two of us, give us a damn minute here,¡± Saph grumbled, getting back to wrapping rope around the end of the log Yldril had perched so it had an end sticking into the air. ¡°Keeps aren¡¯t built in a day after all.¡±


    ¡°Well you better get this done in a day.¡±


    ¡°You know, once we get home we¡¯ll be in for a warm meal and a warm bed too. We aren¡¯t being slow because we want to.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re being slow because you suck at this. Hurry up,¡± Yldril snarled, annoyed, before a gust of wind nearly knocked her off balance again. ¡°Stupid fucking weather!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re huntresses, not loggers. And keep the wind off us please,¡± Fengi pleaded Yldril, groaning as she leaned into the wind before a massive wing came down to touch the ground between them and the wind. ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    Yldril didn¡¯t respond, instead just grumbling angrily and looking around the landscape. With the field repairs complete they finally managed to get her hooked up to what was left. Staling for time a little longer to let the weather clear a bit more, Saph and Fengi had rebuilt their shelter on Yldril¡¯s back. Though this time they had rigged additional straps for them to hang onto between the spines on her back. Handrails if you would.


    Finally out of excuses, The two dragonettes had taken to the skies together to scout out the path home, looking for any landmarks they could find. They had flown these areas for years, over a decade in Saph¡¯s case so they know plenty of interesting spots.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that hornlake ever there?¡± Saph shouted out over the wind, pointing at a shimmering bit of water inlaid between the rolling hills and surrounded by a few trees. If one looked at it from above it did look a bit like a horn¡­ if there was something wrong with you that is.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s find Tritop. Has to be that way, right?¡± Fengi replied, pointing along the valley of the hills the lake was nestled in. Saph nodded in agreement and the two set about following the valley until it led into three soft hilltops, each one a bit bigger than the last.


    ¡°There it is!¡± Saph shouted out, seeing it first as she was in the lead breaking the wind for Fengi.


    ¡°Great! We¡¯re going that way then!¡± Fengi replied, pointing left towards where the keep would have to be.


    Saph replied with a thumbs up held high up so Fengi could see before the two of them banked into a turn heading back towards Yldril. They would luckily be flying with the wind heading back, which also meant less water pummeling them as they went along. Flying helped with keeping warm, but Saph could already feel her wings going numb.


    Linkosta had once gone on in great detail about how blood was cut from the wing membranes when you were cold to help keep warm and how that was perfectly natural. That didn¡¯t make it any comfier though. Visibility still wasn¡¯t great, but at least they were used to seeing the terrain from up here as opposed to on the ground.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back down in a hurry,¡± Saph shouted out as they made good speed through the rain.


    ¡°Yeah, I feel like my digits are freezing off,¡± Fengi echoed. Clearly the smaller woman was suffering even more than Saph was right now. They hadn¡¯t gone far, so finding Yldril shouldn¡¯t be that hard. Fengi had told her to sit down before they left so she didn¡¯t just wander off on them too. Just in case.


    It was a brief search as they came back down to an impatient-looking dragon, who was more than ready to get a move on. Saph even caught an actual sigh of relief when Fengi answered in the affirmative to whether or not they had worked out which way they were going.


    And so they set off, with what they had been able to save in tow. A lot of the smaller branches, sticks and twigs were left behind, not worth the effort. And the tarps were just rolled up and laid on top with the rest of it, rather than spread out to cover the logs. It was too late for them anyway. The small skid at the front had also been destroyed in the slide, meaning they were carving thick grooves in the ground behind them almost like when Jarix was plowing. And it showed. Yldril was straining far more against her patched up harness just to move the logs along on level ground.


    Sapphire didn¡¯t feel any inclination towards trying to fix the problem though. The trip had been miserable, but not as bad as yesterday. The furs were at least mostly dry when they set out, Yldril having kept them under wing as the two girls scouted the way ahead.


    Several more times Saph and Fengi had to go up to make sure they were on the right track, and they soon started taking turns doing it. The result was a little zigzaggy, and they had been far off track yesterday. If they had pushed on, they would have hit the edge long before they hit the keep. Today though they were making good progress. And Yldril seemed to have learned her lesson, even if she refused to admit it, taking the time to go around rather than over anything that looked too steep.


    The dragon was also showing signs of the strain, taking a break every now and again, legs quivering slightly before she forced them to stop. ¡®Stubborn to a fault,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself as she felt Yldril tremble for but a moment, for once feeling a touch sorry for the dragon. The feeling soon vanished as the next string of complaining began. About how stupid this idea had been. How incredibly useless whoever had planned it all was. How she was going to bury Raulf somewhere no one would ever find him, and how everyone including the gods were to blame for how miserable this all was.


    Saph did have to concur about the planning part. This had all been a stupid idea to try and get things done sooner. For the future she would only support flying the logs back, damn it if they would need to do many times more flights and wait until Yldril¡¯s wings could be trusted. If nothing else, they could just set Jarix to it too. He could carry a few of these logs lashed to his sides surely. Yldril certainly could once she was flight worthy again.


    ¡®You live and you learn I guess¡­ What a shitty way to learn though.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Back at the keep, Tom had spent the morning working on ideas for the rifle now that he at least had some idea what it was supposed to be firing. The design was nothing fancy at all, quite the opposite in fact. About as bargain basement simple as one could make a rifle really. A barrel, a bolt, a simple trigger, some sights, and a stock. The problem would be the ammunition, but that was a bridge he would cross when he came to it. He had mostly agreed with himself by now that the rifle ammo should be in .30 caliber with a straight-walled cartridge though. Then he would just have to see if his boom powder mix could make it go fast enough. If not, a longer case was always an option.


    With a fast round and perhaps even with a steel core, it should be capable of dealing with even magically enhanced Mithril plate armor from his experience. Though that should of course be tested at some point. The action might be worth thinking about too. Who was to say a bolt action was the smartest option? He knew that older breech loaders had often been block drop, rolling block, or even trapdoor. What he didn¡¯t know was which one could both survive the pressure he wanted and be the easiest to make. The falling block had less lathe work than any of the other options, and he had seen an old Martini-Henry rifle a while back at a museum. It was almost a little too ironic to give the Bizmati redtails a redcoat gun though. He guessed there was the American Sharps, which were pretty similar as far as he knew. Both would need to be scaled down to take 30 caliber rounds for his use, rather than those big old black powder rounds they had been designed for. There was also the Remington rolling block guns he had seen at the Danish armory museum. He knew some of those were converted to smokeless and kept in service, likely longer than had been a good idea in true Danish fashion. But if it could handle smokeless it would probably survive what he had planned.


    His work was interrupted by a grump over from the bed as Jacky turned over to grab at where he used to lay. ¡°Someone¡¯s gotten cold I see,¡± he snickered, getting up and bringing the chair along as he sat down next to the bed.


    ¡°Morning, sleepy head.¡±


    There was no meaningful response, Jacky instead just rolling back to where she had come from, laying on her side facing him on his little chair. She had also developed a very annoyed look, almost snarling in fact.


    ¡°Oh someone isn¡¯t happy the hot rock is gone,¡± Tom gave her a poke on the shoulder to see what that would do. She rocked back and forth a little but aside from that there wasn¡¯t much reaction.


    ¡°Come now, give a me a bit more than that,¡± he chuckled as he tried again to the same effect.


    But his pleas were met with nothing save for Jacky pulling the blanket up a bit further and tighter before deciding to lick her chops in her sleep. Tom took his chance and grabbed the tip of her tongue and gave it a bit of a yank before letting go like a pull start lawnmover. That did the trick as her eyes shot open and her head snapped up, looking around in confusion.


    ¡°Whaaa?¡±


    ¡°Brum, bre, brumb brum,¡± Tom let out in his best Briggs and Stratton impression, doing his best to remain serious.


    Jacky¡¯s head turned to him slowly, eyes narrow with suspicion as Tom did his best to look perfectly innocent, still trying to sound like an idling lawnmower.


    ¡°Did you just¡­ Do something funny?¡±


    ¡°No no, I¡¯m unable. Engineers don¡¯t know what a joke is you see.¡±


    Her eyes narrowed even further till they were but slits and they settled into a staring contest.


    ¡°Right, come here!¡± she finally broke out, Tom scrambling to his feet.


    ¡°Braaaaaaaa!¡± he shouted out, sending the chair flying in his exuberance to get off the line and away from Jacky, who was still struggling with the blanket.


    Tom did consider going for the door, but since Jacky wasn¡¯t really wearing much he decided the door should probably remain closed, leaving just the far side of the rather small room. In a few bounding steps he made it to the far wall and turned back to face his fate. Jacky had managed to stand up on the bed, throwing the troublesome blanket off.


    ¡°I can taste your salty ass. Should I take the fingers? Or perhaps just retaliate?¡± she questioned as she walked to the edge of the bed before hopping down, landing on the floor with grace, double-jointed legs absorbing the hit like a Rolls-Royce¡¯s suspension.


    ¡°I plead innocence!¡±


    ¡°You are anything but innocent,¡± she growled, baring her teeth as she stalked forward. There wasn¡¯t really much space on either side of her to get past, and Jacky wasn¡¯t exactly slow on her feet¡­ but she had just gotten up.


    Tom took his chance and tried to dart left before juking right, trying his level best to see if he could get around her. Jacky fell for it, lunging left with her arms outstretched before planting a foot in front of her, trying to wheel back about.


    ¡°Hah, got yo-¡± Tom got out just as his right foot snagged on Jacky¡¯s outstretched tail.


    He promptly stumbled to the floor like a drunk idiot, and by the time he was back up onto his knees Jacky¡¯s arms were wrapped around his waist and he was hauled into the air, kicking and writhing as she licked him in the ear.


    ¡°I taste you. I know who is to blame now.¡±


    ¡°Let me go you foul woman. I¡¯ve done nothing wrong,¡± Tom protested as he tried to kick and flail to get free, with predictably little effect. When he finally gave up, Jacky threw him onto the bed and tossed the blanket over him afterward, blinding him.


    Not quite sure what she had planned, Tom looked for the edge of the blanket as he heard her call out ¡°Cannonball!¡±


    He immediately threw himself to the mattress and covered his head, expecting an impact at any moment. Jacky was kind enough to give him a few seconds to duck before jumping. But she still came down rather hard on his back, even despite the lower gravity. It didn¡¯t hurt much, but Tom still let out an involuntary groan before he started struggling once more to get out from under the blanket. Jacky now, lying on top of him


    He couldn¡¯t see anything, so it was more of a token effort that soon had him pinned down under Jacky, who had decided wrestling practice was in order. Though he did manage to stick his head out from under the cloth bed sheet, though more so by accident than any skill on his part.


    ¡°Oi! Fat ass, get off!¡± Tom laughed out as Jacky froze.


    Tom continued to struggle, for a while longer snickering all the while. ¡°What, do you give up? I¡¯m not out yet.¡± Then he noticed the open door, a staring Edita standing there looking more like the dragonette embodiment of a question mark than the horrified or perhaps abashed expression Tom would have expected from anyone else walking in on this.


    ¡°Is this some sort of training against attack by assassins? I can assure you the Inquisition has no wish to see you killed in the night,¡± the artificer tried, with what Tom guessed was the only reasonable explanation the woman could come up with.


    Tom just stared, Jacky throwing a quick glance down at herself before looking back to Edita with a strained smile. ¡°In future, we tend to knock first.¡±


    ¡°Oh I know, I thought something was wrong¡­ Everything is perfectly fine then? I do not need to fetch the others?¡±


    ¡°Nooo, no no no,¡± Jacky quickly scrambled off of Tom, waving her hands in front of her. ¡°Everything is just dandy.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Okay¡­ Do we have to do anything today?¡± Edita then questioned, looking to Tom, who was lying on his chest and trying to look up at her, with just his head sticking out from under the sheets.


    ¡°Only what we want to¡­ I might have some questions for you. But I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll catch you in the forge or some such later. For now I guess¡­ Go have some fun?¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± she replied cautiously, like she wasn¡¯t ready for that consideration. ¡°I- I will think of something. I know several games, perhaps Ray and the children would find them entertaining.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a brilliant idea,¡± Tom replied, quite pleased her idea of fun didn¡¯t seem to be making something go boom, like Tink or Twitch.


    ¡°Thank you. I will see you later. You may come to me at any time,¡± the now rather excited looking artificer replied before turning to leave, thankfully closing the door behind her.


    ¡°You know, you really should have locked that,¡± Tom said after staring at the door for a little, honestly finding it all rather funny.


    ¡°I did,¡± Jacky replied, staring at the door.


    ¡°Ahr¡­ Right, where were we?¡±


    ¡°Here!¡± And Tom promptly had his face smashed with a pillow.

 Chapter 174: Cards and Colds

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    ¡®Oh whatever,¡¯ he sighed. A few kids noticed the human and turned to say ¡°hi¡± as he walked up to the tables with Jacky hot on his heels, if walking a little funny and still breathing heavily. ¡°Someone is having fun I see?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we are building keeps,¡± Edita replied, placing another pair of cards atop her considerable construction, most of the children struggling to get more than one layer to stand. Holdey was doing quite well though, he was trying for three layers at the moment.


    ¡°Holdey good at it,¡± Kiran added a little dejectedly, shoulders sagging as his keep once more collapsed into a pile. Then the little kid had a brain wave and looked to Tom. ¡°You help! Come here, here,¡± he went, getting up and tapping the bench with his little foot. Tom complied and went to have a seat, Kiran immediately hopping into his lap to get comfortable. ¡°You beat Edita.¡±


    Tom glanced at the really rather impressive construction the artificer had going on and tried to think back to when he last tried to do a house of cards. To his dismay, all he could think of was as part of a drinking contest at least half a decade ago, where he had lost horribly. Beside him, Jacky sat down, picking up Turinia mid card placement, the child not giving up and continuing to try and place the card. She ultimately failed and collapsed her house, letting out a sad whimper that soon turned to crying as she was put down in Jacky¡¯s lap.


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure on that one, but I can take a stab at it,¡± Tom said with false cautious optimism. Jacky tried to console the now rather distraught Turinia by building the house back up for her but to little avail.


    With not-so-steady hands he began the delicate task of erecting his own house of cards, tuning out the crying from beside him. Laying down the first layer was easy enough. From there, though, it didn¡¯t go so well. Tom glanced longingly at Edita¡¯s tower. The artificer hadn¡¯t stopped building yet, and it had a full five layers standing proud at this point. ¡®I guess I know how Kiran feels then,¡¯ Tom sighed as he went back to his sad pile to try again.


    After some time, Linkosta had joined them as well. She confirmed that there had not been any sighting of Yldril yet, though the weather was flyable so it would hopefully not be too long. The scholar had joined in the card building, Tink and the two women going over how the enchantments for the actively cooled machine gun were to function. Tink weighed in when able, as did Tom, though the constructing demanded nearly all of his attention and what was left over was gobbled up by Kiran and Jacky.


    For Kiran¡¯s part it was mostly questions about what else they were gonna do today and if Tom knew any games. As well as complaining that Jacky was doing better than them, the woman having seemingly decided to just make the house for the little girl. It had stopped the crying though, and before long Tom had more or less just given up to watch Jacky¡¯s efforts rather than carry on his own. Besides, he had questions to ask.


    ¡°Soo¡­ I wanted to ask something, Edita. That cold steam stuff we talked about¡­ How do you condense it back into liquid?¡±


    ¡°Oh, most machinery would simply vent it to atmosphere,¡± Edita replied absentmindedly as she placed another set of cards, tongue just peeking out from the corner of her mouth.


    ¡°No no no, you wouldn¡¯t simply vent something that valuable away? Frost powder is very valuable. Well, at least compared to water it is,¡± Linkosta protested as she too started making relatively quick progress on her own tower. ¡°How would you ever get it back?¡±


    Edita just blinked, not seeming to understand the fact that water could in fact become valuable by adding frost powder to it and taking the time to perform a magic ritual over it. She honestly left Tom stumped. Up to this point the artificer had been very particular about proper usage of the valuable things she had brought, and she had been very protective of them. She did seem to have a rather twisted idea of what things were worth, but then again so did he around here.


    ¡°It is not a very complicated ritual. I am sure you could make many dozens of liters per day and not feel overly tired. One could also make the substance by machine. Such a device would require power, of course. But it could be anyone who does so then.¡±


    ¡°Dozens of liters?¡± Tom questioned, cocking an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s not a lot for a steam engine.¡±


    ¡°Well no, not for the purposes of driving large machinery, of course. Cold steam is often reserved for smaller more important endeavours you see. Though there have been tales of even large vessels employing it. For such vessels the cold water would have to be mass produced by machines much like we have seen for mass production of magical equipment. Fueling such machinery is¡­ problematic though,¡± the artificer finished, suddenly growing uncomfortable as if she remembered something she should not talk about.


    ¡°The energy requirements would surely be enormous, would they not?¡± Linkosta questioned, scratching an ear a little. ¡°Would it be driven in the same fashion as in the capital?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ do not know,¡± Edita replied, glancing to the children before putting on an incredibly poorl forced smile. ¡°Besides, such technology is well beyond us. For our applications, I believe rituals conducted by people such as yourself would be the way to proceed,¡± Edita replied with a gesture towards Linkosta.


    ¡°Riiiight,¡± Tom let out, letting his doubt show. ¡®Magical energy needed on an industrial scale. And it can only come from living creatures, preferably magically potent creatures¡­ Yeah, that can only go one way, can¡¯t it?¡¯


    ¡°Oh yeah, that would make sense,¡± Linkota relented, rubbing her chin as she looked up into the middle distance. ¡°Still need the frost powder though.¡±


    ¡°Of course, or one can do it more directly if a white dragon is willing to cooperate. I have seen it done so in the past. The cost would be lower as such, I believe, since that cuts out all of the cost of drying dragon spit into powder in the first place.¡±


    ¡°I guess we do sorta have one around we can ask. Galaxer is definitely coming back¡­ but how would we store it once it is made?¡±


    ¡°In pressure vessels. The liquid will suck up heat from its surroundings, and  it will evaporate if not contained. Such pressure vessels can be used to drive any manner of lower performance or mobile equipment.¡±


    ¡°Right yeah, you talked about that¡­ should we get some of those made? Do we have a use for this ¡®cold water¡¯ yet?¡± Tom replied, doing a pair of air quotes around the slightly silly name.


    ¡°I do not know. I would believe it unnecessary for the factory. Hot steam should suffice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that. I was thinking... Central heating for the keep. Could we pull that off? Gonna need to cast a lot of pipes and just sorta run them wherever we can fit them.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you talked about that. Heated beds¡­ Yus,¡± Jacky added in triumph as she managed to complete her third layer.


    ¡°That is a luxury reserved for only the most opulent within the cities and such. Also, well done, Jacky,¡± Linkosta added, praising the huntress and gesturing at the construction just as it fell apart into a pile of broken dreams.


    ¡°Awwwww,¡± Turinia broke out in dismay, Kiran joining in as the flying cards knocked his and Tom¡¯s  tower over too.


    Edita¡¯s hands shot out to defend her tower, though no threats headed her way.


    ¡°That is a shame¡­ Anyway,¡± Tom carried on, looking back to Edita, Jacky letting out an annoyed grump. ¡°We would need pipes for something like that. Cast iron probably, to transport hot water around.¡±


    ¡°It will be hard to avoid, yes¡­ Are you wanting to ask to have such pipes produced to order? Personally, I would use rolled and brazed copper. The temperature and pressure requirements should not be high for a simple heating solution.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, if heating is so simple then why don¡¯t we have it out here?¡± Jacky protested. Tom just smirked a little and went to lay a hand around her waist.


    ¡°Now now, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not what she meant,¡± Tom tried with a chuckle as Turinia started to build the card house anew.


    Edita for her part just stared blankly before continuing. ¡°It would be an important consideration for its construction. In the case of a¡­ very complex heating system, low pressure could be used. But if it is to supply pressure to drive machinery on the same circuit, then stronger pipes and joints would be needed.¡±


    Tom tried not to chuckle at her deliberation on complexity, though Jacky certainly seemed satisfied, nodding approvingly.


    ¡°Separate circuits then?¡± Tom questioned. It wasn¡¯t a terrible idea. A simple heat exchanger should do just fine, even if it did present a couple extra challenges. ¡°If we set up a high-pressure circuit then we could maybe install a small engine for use in the forge or workshop? We could replace the wind-powered bellows perhaps, or the electric motor on the lathes and mill. I¡¯m sure we could find use for them elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°There is not much space to spend there, unfortunately,¡± Tink weighed in with an apologetic shrug. ¡°But maybe? How big will it be?¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know¡­ The engine would be like this, maybe?¡± Tom held out his hands about a meter apart in front of him. ¡°Just a little one. Boiler would be much bigger though. I was thinking of putting it in the storage room down below.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, very good. Junior could perhaps be responsible for keeping the fires lit. He has been talking about responsibility and duty as of late. I believe he would much enjoy it,¡± Tinks added with an affirming nod.


    ¡°Where is he by the way?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he is with Jarix. I believe they were to be discussing something with Dakota.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, practice I¡¯m betting,¡± Jacky joined in, having given up on her house of cards, leaning back and letting Turinia have another go at it. ¡°But that¡¯s not happening until they get their asses back here.¡±


    Linkosta cleared her throat a little at the curse word, a few of the children looking up from what they were doing, looking oh so innocent.


    ¡°Sorry. But yeah, once they get back I think they¡¯re gonna need a nap.¡±


    ¡°They are okay? Right?¡± Holdey questioned cautiously, a twinge of fear on the little guy¡¯s face.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be fine,¡± Jacky dismissed with a sigh. ¡°But in this weather they are gonna be miserable, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason to have a look at this heating idea,¡± Tink interjected with his usual bravado, Jacky nodding in approval, a serious expression on her face. ¡°Sure, nothing would beat a nice warm bed to get into at night. I heard people often use servants to fetch them hot rocks through the night. Or perhaps leather water bottles with hot water within.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°They do indeed. What you can take with you only lasts so long after all. It is rather annoying to have to get up in the middle of the night to fetch more.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and then you scald your hands in the middle of the night trying to pour in some fresh water from down in the kitchens,¡± Jacky added, shaking her hand. ¡°It fu-... Hurts really bad, that.¡± Tom let out a repressed chuckle at the notion before he felt himself get pulled in towards her. ¡°Not a problem anymore though.¡±


    ¡°Har har,¡± Tom let out, bemused, looking to Linkosta. ¡°Oh so that¡¯s what all those extra waterskins were for. I thought those were just spares or something. How does that work?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we just tend to have a cauldron of hot water in the kitchen or on the big fire over there,¡± she replied, pointing to the fireplace behind the high table where the Bizmatis sat normally. ¡°For everyone to take from. We put some rocks in the fire too, of course.¡±


    ¡°I prefer the rocks,¡± Tink added. ¡°I once broke one of the waterskins, you see. Let me tell you that is not how you want to wake up in the middle of the night. Popped just like that. Must have rolled over onto it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a pretty poor quality waterskin to me.¡±


    ¡°I once had the cork come out of one of mine. It had already gone cold though. Still a cold wet bed. Sucks during winter.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it,¡± Tom concurred. ¡°But it sounds like we might have a solution to all of this then. Edita, you said something about being able to get pipes?¡±


    ¡°Why yes, of course. I trust the factory would possess the ability to produce something like it, but as it stands casting sounds to be our only realistic option. But copper pipe is something we could request. It is a standard part often needed for maintenance. The request would have to be made to Joelina though. We may actually have some within the supplies we brought, though I doubt it would be enough.¡±


    Tom sighed a little at the mention of the woman he was starting to become more familiar with than he really wanted. ¡°I guess that makes sense, yeah¡­ Well I don¡¯t see why we should spend the time on it if our inquisitorial goodwill could get us it. There is still the boiler and possible engine to consider. And a pump to move the water around, of course.¡±


    ¡°I believe it would pose a fine challenge, yes,¡± Edita concurred.


    ¡°And it sounds a lot more like something you actually want to work on,¡± Jacky added with a loving nudge.


    ¡°No arguing there. It¡¯ll be good fun.¡±


    ¡°Now though, that is not an excuse to spend our day off on it.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, fun and games today only, I know¡­ Actually on that point, I really wanted to go fishing at some point.¡±


    ¡°In this weather?¡± Jacky protested, pulling her head back with a very reluctant smile on her face. He guessed she might even say yes if he asked. He wouldn¡¯t do that to her though.


    ¡°No no, far too bad weather. But I¡¯m gonna need something to catch them with. I need a fishing rod or something like that. At least a line and hook.¡±


    The kids all looked at him with various grimaces on their faces, some funny, others quite disturbing really, Edita staring at him and tilting her head rather far to the right. ¡°You want to catch water demons on your day off?¡±


    ¡°I did make the promise after all. I¡¯m gonna catch a fish and show you how to cook it.¡±


    ¡°Eeewww,¡± Turinia broke out from Jacky¡¯s lap, looking at him with disgust.


    ¡°No, Turi! Remember Nemo! He was so pretty. He has to taste good,¡± Kiran counterd from Tom¡¯s lap. Turinia¡¯s expresion switched to pondering as she considered that one.


    That wasn¡¯t really the message Tom had hoped they would get from that movie, but better than nothing he guessed.


    ¡°Yeah, and they are really fucking dumb,¡± Holdey added. Linkosta looked at him with an shocked expression.


    ¡°Holdey!¡±


    The child just giggled, looking at her with a big wide grin, as only a child that had just broken the rules could.


    Tom just shook his head a little in bemusement as Jacky let out a chuckle.


    ¡°I blame you for this,¡± said Linkosta, looking at Jacky, who held up her hands defensively, leaning back.


    ¡°What? Me? I never swear. Promise.¡±


    ¡°Jacky is a fucking liar,¡± Holdey carried on, giggling like a gremlin.


    ¡°That will do, young man. You are coming with me,¡± Linkosta said, getting up and taking the kid with her, still giggling. ¡°We are going to go ask Esmeralda what to do about you.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Holdey let out, the grin vanishing from his face as he was carried off. He was a bit big for Linkosta to haul around, but stubborn determination carried the day as the other kids looked after him then to each other.


    Kiran letting out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. ¡°He gonna fucking die.¡±


    ¡°Bad mouth!¡± Worpock shouted out, trying to throw a card at Kiran, the little rectangle spinning as it flew through the air and arced straight into Edita¡¯s by now extremely impressive construction. The artificer actually had to stand on the bench to reach by now. The whole thing came crashing down to both laughter and cries of dismay, leaving Edita standing holding two cards that were supposed to have made the new peak as she just looked at the child with a sorta sad and dismayed expression.


    ¡°Whyyy?¡±


    ¡°Sooorwy¡­¡±


    ¡°Accidents happen,¡± Tom tried, privately finding it at least a little funny. The artificer just looked so sad, though not mad in the slightest.


    ¡°Well to be honest, any keep that can be knocked down by a single rock really needs to be looked at,¡± Jacky joked as she picked up a card and sent it flying across the hall.


    ¡°Are you going to go get that?¡± Tom questioned, looking after the card.


    ¡°... I should, shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes you should.¡±


    As Jacky got up, the door to the greeting hall opened, everyone turning around to see if maybe it was Saph and Fengi returning. Instead it was just Junior sticking his head in.


    ¡°Daad. Can I go flying with Jarix? He wants to show off how you use clouds to hide in, and I like storm flying.¡±


    ¡°Not much of a storm anymore,¡± Jacky let out with a snicker as she walked to grab her lost card.


    ¡°Sure son, have fun. Try not to fall off,¡± Tink replied, not seeming overly worried and quite happy all things considered.


    ¡°Thanks, dad,¡± came the quick response followed by a door slamming shut once more. ¡°Quite unlike him to ask me. He is a young man by now, not some boy,¡± Tink replied bemusedly, seeming quite happy that Junior had wanted his opinion.


    Silently Tom guessed Zarko had probably demanded the father¡¯s consent, but there was no reason to let the old man know that.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As they finally saw the keep just peek into view over the horizon, they guessed it was perhaps already afternoon. Saph had honestly considered taking off and just going to get a hot bath and a clean change of clothes, leaving the damn dragon to trundle along by herself.


    If Fengi hadn¡¯t been there she might have done it. But she was, and Fengi couldn¡¯t leave, or perhaps more so wouldn¡¯t. Saph knew that. So she stayed. Yldril had grown quiet for the last couple hours as they trudged through the dripping cold rain. The ground had turned into a soft soggy mess, and behind them Saph could see the deep grooves their cargo was dragging, the improvised skid sled at the front having been wrecked in the slide. An ugly brown scar ran across the wet soggy green that made up the plains.


    ¡®At least we¡¯ll have a marker to go by for some time, I guess,¡¯ she sighed, looking to the horizon behind them, trying to follow the trail. It would be visible for miles and miles. Some keeps liked to point out where they might be found on the frontier. She had heard traders talking about keeps that maintained arrows pointing towards them throughout their territory. It worked both ways though. To any darklings passing though it might as well say ¡°Food that way¡± after all. And it wasn¡¯t out of the question some of the wildlife could perhaps decipher the meaning too.


    She certainly wouldn¡¯t put it past a drakyr. They hadn¡¯t seen one for at least a decade, but they were on the island, and every now and again they would find some remnants of a kill or tracks if they were spending time on the ground. It was stuff like that which tended to keep them in the air if possible when out hunting. The ground held dangers, after all. She was currently smothered in one. It was very comfy though.


    ¡°Hey Fengi¡­ Imagine if Tom had run into some wolves or worse,¡± she chuckled out, somehow bemused with the little theoretical situation. It wasn¡¯t really something to be joked about, but Tom would at least have stood a decent chance of just scaring off a pack. Not like they would have any idea what he was after all.


    ¡°That would have been a mess. What about a silver bear? At night that could have been sooo bad.¡±


    ¡°By the gods yeah, if he got caught in his sleep that would have been the end probably.¡±


    "Imagine all the trouble that would have been saved,¡± Yldril wheezed out between laboured breaths. The fatigue was really showing by now as she once more stopped, limbs trembling under her. ¡°I am going to lie down for a little¡­ Then¡­ Then the last bit,¡± she carried on, head hanging low as she settled onto the cold wet grass with a groan.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ Once we¡¯re back maybe we go by the little lake so you can have something to drink.¡±


    ¡°And a wash,¡± the dragon added, shoulders sagging as she tried to relax upon the ground for a little. Saph had to agree. The dragon was caked in mud and gunk.


    Much as they wanted to get home, Fengi let the dragon rest for a bit, and Saph wasn¡¯t gonna argue. It was clear Yldril was pushing herself, though it seemed to be out of spite rather than anything noble like duty or self-sacrifice. Still, shouting at her to go faster would likely not get them home any sooner.


    Awkward silence reigned for a short while as the rain kept falling before Yldril once more rose to her feet. Her breathing had calmed, but her head was still hanging low as without a word she proceeded to lumber on.


    Once the keep was at last properly in view, though still hazy through the misty rain, a large blue shape had taken to the skies, heading their way. It had soon been revealed to be Glira once she started getting closer. Yldril had raised her head to watch them come in, not saying anything, though Saph believed she was silently hoping she wouldn¡¯t have to drag the logs any further.


    Any such illusions had soon been shattered though as the laughing Glira set down in front of them, demanding to hear how they had ended up a day late for a day off while looking like hogs in a mud bath.


    She had only found it even funnier when it became clear what had happened and what the state of their cargo was. Rachuck and Kokashi were along for the ride together with a few of Glira¡¯s own crew. They seemed somewhat less pleased by the news, though they didn¡¯t seem angry. How could they? It was pretty clear the trio had been through hell just to make it home.


    When Ylril had asked if she could be allowed to leave the logs for Glira to haul back the blue had nearly doubled over, laughing so hard sparks had started jumping between her teeth. She even managed to unseat her helmet, requiring some assistance from her crew.


    ¡°Noo, no you may not,¡± the blue had replied once she finally was able to get a good breath in. ¡°But I guess you might get something to eat seeing as you didn¡¯t kill anyone. Not like we can take the damage to the logs out of your paycheck, now can we! Aah hahah! Oh I¡¯m so sorry¡­ Wait! No, no I don¡¯t think I am!¡±


    Yldril lowered her head as the laughing continued, Fengi¡¯s ears flattening and even Saph growing some fresh pity for the black. This surely had to have been her life at some point in the past. Yldril had been to the mines after all. This sounded a lot like what Saph would expect life to be like down there. There were no quibs, rebuttals, or sarcastic remarks from Yldril, which in Saph¡¯s mind only served to confirm her assumptions. Though sheer fatigue likely had much to do with it as well.


    As Glira quieted down and instead moved to walk alongside the slow moving Yldril, Rachuck and Kokashi hopped over to Sapphire and Fengi. Rachuck had of course insisted on checking if anyone had gotten hurt, as Kokashi set about getting Fengi some dry clean furs and, joy of joys, a pair of hot water bottles he had apparently fetched right before they departed. Fengi had taken one with near reverence as she wrapped up dry once more.


    Saph had reluctantly brought up her finger as well as the general battering both she and Fengi had taken, leading to Rachuck demanding she go to the keep at once to have it taken care of properly. She didn¡¯t wanna leave Fengi though.


    ¡°It is only a short walk. I¡¯ve been out with it all day, not gonna make much difference.¡±


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not true,¡± Fengi countered. ¡°The sooner the better, that is always how it goes.¡±


    ¡°Yes Sapphire, you really should go. We¡¯ll go together. I am sure everyone is quite eager to hear that you are both, mostly, alright,¡± Rachuck added with a sharp nod.


    ¡°It¡¯ll spare Fengi having to tell what happened too,¡± Kokashi added, tone softer than usual.


    ¡°Fine fine, I¡¯ll go. Here, have this at least,¡± Saph replied, handing the hot water skin Kokashi had given her to Fengi. The young woman accepted it without complaint, which made it quite evident just how cold she was still.


    And with that Sapphire had taken to the skies and made for the keep, flying slow on half-closed wings so she had to work a bit harder to stay airborne. There was still water in the air, and the fast wind cooled you rapidly the faster you went. She could see her target, she could afford to be wasteful in her flying, better tired than frozen after all.


    As they passed the halfway point, she saw the door to the greeting hall crank open slowly, Jarix sticking his head outside and soon taking flight. He had clearly seen them and came to meet them. The dragon easily outflew the two dragonettes, especially with them going as slowly as they were. Jarix had come around behind them and pulled in under them to get his head as close as the weather would allow, seemingly wanting a chat.


    ¡°Fancy the timing, we¡¯re gonna go play in the clouds, wanna come?¡± the dragon asked enthusiastically, Saph glancing at his back where Zarko, Radexi, and Junior were all sitting. The gun was not present, nor was what armor the young dragon wore for battle.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll skip. I¡¯ve had enough rain for a year,¡± Saph retorted, giving Rachuck a questioning glance.


    ¡°I am afraid I need to see about this first.¡±


    ¡°Well you¡¯re the one that wanted bad weather training while we had it¡­ Very well, suit yourself,¡± Jarix replied, seeming a touch bemused as he unceremoniously turned away, before pulling up towards the oppressive cloud cover that was still spilling rain in a steady stream.


    ¡°Well you know what they say about blues and storms!¡± Rachuck shouted out as they carried on, clearly aiming to break the silence that ensued.


    ¡°Yeah, what I don¡¯t get is why the rest of them wanted to come along.¡±


    ¡°Zarko believes he is behind on his training, Radexi doesn¡¯t have a choice, and Junior will be thrilled to be along by the sounds of what I heard.¡±


    ¡°I guess that figures.¡±


    ¡°By the way Sapphire. Do you think you would be ready for some formation training tomorrow perhaps?¡±


    ¡®Oh gods no.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 175: What Did We Learn?

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    The door to the greeting hall had been left open after Jarix departed, Sapphire and Rachuck coming in for a hurried landing. The door started to drop down behind them as soon as they were through with the Clack clack clack of ratchets. There was no one there, save for Herron who  was working the winch with practiced efficiency, that was to say nonchalantly leaning on the brake lever, giving them both a chin nod.


    ¡°Welcome home, all good?¡± The young guard questioned looking them up and down.


    ¡°Very good yes, make sure the door is secure.¡± Rachuck ordered, getting a half hearted salute in response along with an¡°Of course, sir,¡± as the door continued to slowly creep closed.


    ¡°One must be able to fight in any weather after all. I had rather been hoping to see about joining Jarix today, but that is life, ey?¡± the captain questioned in a slightly more upbeat fashion, looking to Saph.


    ¡°Very sorry our near death experience got in the way of your training routine,¡± Saph rebutted, not cruelly, but with a fair pinch of sarcasm. Rachuck didn¡¯t mean it in any bad way, and he would likely get his chance to see the dragon navigate the poor weather soon enough. Though if she was being honest, the real test would have been yesterday if he truly wanted ¡°any weather.¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­ quite. That and I do believe Jarix wanted to show off too. Expect thunder of the unnatural variety.¡±


    ¡°That figures,¡± Saph muttered back, silently wishing that anyone willingly out in such weather could damn well have gone with Yldril instead of her. But this close to the keep, they could just come right back down when they got too cold. Which certainly was a luxury she would have appreciated.


    They had all made for the door to the grand hall where, upon Rachuck opening it for her, she was met with the most warm pleasant breeze of dry air she had felt in a long time. She hurried inside as to not let the wonderful warmth escape. All three fireplaces crackling gently and a fair deal of people sitting at the long tables playing with cards by the looks of things.


    Rachuck hurried inside as well, closing the door behind him. He noted Sapphire looking down the length of the tables to where people had started to notice her. They were looking up and either waving hello or trying to gesture her over. ¡°Why, yes, we have been enjoying the day off thus far. Once you have made a quick report of everything that happened, you are free to do as you please.¡±


    ¡°I better be,¡± she chuckled. She fully intended on tomorrow being a day off too, even if everyone else would be busy. It might end up a touch lonely, she realized with a touch of bitterness. ¡°Also, I¡¯m going to the kitchen first. And I need a bath.¡± She tried not to leave any wiggle room in her statement. She wanted something warm and she wanted it now. The damn finger could wait.


    ¡°Of course, I shall find someone to take a look at you, then please meet us in the library. I am sure mother and Dakota will want to hear of all this.¡±


    And with that she set off trying to walk past the folk at the table. She gave them a friendly smile and a wave. They wouldn¡¯t have it though. Tom, Jacky, and several children, as well as Edita, cut her off to say hi and hear what had happened.


    Saph spared them all but the shortest version of how shit the last two days had been before extracting herself from the small crowd to the sounds of children either finding the brief story cool as hell or arguing about how they could have done it much better. She didn¡¯t care though, and she headed down to the kitchen. She could feel her legs protesting, moving slowly and unsteadily, but with the warm gentle air caressing her it would soon pass.


    Down in the kitchen she was in for a pleasant surprise. Ray was already there and she was making tea as well as heating some stew. Saph eagerly lapped up the tea, almost earning herself another burn from the scalding liquid. But, with a little careful slurping, the divinely warm liquid soon made it to where it was meant to go as she savored the warmth spreading through her neck and chest. She set the mug down with a relieved sigh. It wasn¡¯t until the third sip that she had even noticed it was sweetened.


    Looking up from the warm mug, she saw Ray was standing there rubbing her hands shyly. The older woman looking like she wanted to ask something but didn¡¯t quite dare.


    ¡°Thank you Ray. It is delicious. And sorely needed.¡±Saph all but poured letting a warm smile spread across her face.


    ¡°Oooh. Don¡¯t mention it. The stew is nearly hot too. Is Fengi coming?¡± Ray questioned cautiously, glancing away towards the stairs. Saph noticed the empty mug sitting on the table.


    ¡°She will soon. They are still walking back. Yldril will need some tending to as well I fear.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I will keep it warm then. Here, I think this is warm now as well,¡± Ray added, starting to pour out a bowl of stew for Saph. ¡°If it needs a bit more just say so.¡±


    With slightly more caution Sapphire tried out the hot stew, and all the bullshit seemed to slowly fade away. Hungry stomachs made the best chefs, and Saph hadn¡¯t had a proper breakfast today. The cold had made even hot water taste good, and this was a good, thick stew. It was herby too maybe even a little spiced.


    ¡°Nutmeg?¡± Saph asked, looking up from the bowl after the first spoon full.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ray answered with a smile. ¡°Pepper too, lots of it. Helps make you warm.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, that¡¯s why it¡¯s so warm. It¡¯s lovely.¡±


    ¡°I wanna make it into pies later. Wiperna got me some eggs for pickling too. Winter is coming after all. Anchor wanted to make some potted meats, but we need to get more butter.¡±


    ¡°Well, the shopping list should be going out tomorrow, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right after breakfast. Good thing you didn¡¯t miss that.¡±


    ¡°Oh I would have been soo mad. You got everything you want worked out?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, It is going to be amazing. Best winter I have had in years¡­ nono even better. It might be the best winter ever,¡± Ray quickly corrected as Saph grew a bit of a smirk.


    ¡°Certainly sounds like it¡¯ll beat the best I ever had. Normally we¡¯re bored senseless by the time spring comes around here. I have a feeling that won¡¯t be a problem this year.¡±


    ¡°Nooo¡­ Saph?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Am I allowed to say thank you one more time for all this?¡± Ray asked in her usually cautious tone, though her head wasn¡¯t held low, and there was a twinge of a smile on her face, her eyes bright and just a little bit mischievous.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle. ¡°I guess you¡¯ve decided on cooking for your day off then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Oh I¡¯m making a roast goose with some of those dotato things as a side. The children really like them even if Essy and Wiperna cannot decide if they count as a vegetable or not.¡±


    ¡°They come out of the ground, of course they are a vegetable,¡± Saph protested as she started stirring around her stew to see if there were any in there and indeed there were. ¡°Seee. Looks like a vegetable, smells like it.¡±


    ¡°But it tastes more like grain,¡± Ray countered with a shrug.


    ¡°Bread is basically a vegetable too. Just don¡¯t eat too much of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh I know that one¡­ People always got sick when there was only porridge to go round,¡± Ray let out, ears drooping as she thought back to worse times, but to Sapphire¡¯s delight it did not take her long to recover. ¡°So yes, I think it is more like a grain that grows underground and is big and plump.¡±


    ¡°Fine fine, you win,¡± Saph snickered, silently relieved Ray hadn¡¯t started into a spiral of sadness.


    ¡°And they are very tasty. I am going to be trying to fry them in the big pan.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s gonna be a hell of a lot of work, you know that right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯m just hoping they won¡¯t get soggy and sad from being kept warm till dinner time.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re making pies too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, after dinner,¡± Ray replied with a big smile as she went and took the stew off the fire. ¡°I made far too much for breakfast.¡±


    ¡°You made that for breakfast?¡± Saph questioned, doing the headmath on how early that meant Ray had to have been up on her day off.


    ¡°Why yes, and everyone liked it.¡±


    ¡°If you need a hand later let me know, I¡¯m hoping to get tomorrow off as well. Though I might just fall asleep in my room after all this.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, you should rest, definitely.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­ checkup first though. Say hi to Fengi once she gets here. I¡¯ll head down. Stew was great by the way,¡± Saph said as she got up and put her bowl and mug with the rest of the dirty dishes near the washbasin. Ray had clearly been in the middle of those as well. ¡®I guess I¡¯m not the only one not taking a day off today¡­¡¯ Saph sighed to herself. She had rather hoped Ray wouldn¡¯t spend the day working, but she seemed happy enough as is.


    With the warmth of the kitchen, food, and tea as well as the pleasant chat she was feeling much better. Inside the walls of the keep it was nice and warm after all in general. Fires were being kept up in the kitchen and grand hall, and Shiva probably had the smithy lit too today.


    In the infirmary it had been Unkai who had come to tend to her first. To say the guy looked miserable was certainly an understatement. She knew why of course. He hadn¡¯t wanted to come. Yet here he was, face to face with why someone like him coming along had been proposed to begin with. The only bright spot Saph could find was that it hadn¡¯t gone any worse. A burnt finger was just a fact of life. But say a crushed leg, being left for a day without tending. That would not have been good. And she was quite certain that was precisely what was going through the guy¡¯s head right now as she saw to her finger.


    They didn¡¯t speak. Not aside from ¡°Does this hurt? Is this better?¡± and such. When they were done, he had stepped back and given her a nod. ¡°I think that is as good as I can get it. Dakota will want to see you in the library, though I would get cleaned up first.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Saph replied curtly, rubbing the new bandage a little.


    ¡°Is she okay?¡± he then asked in a more quiet tone, looking down at the floor.


    Saph hesitated for a moment before answering, glancing at the guy before looking off into the middle distance towards the door. ¡°She is fine. Sort of¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± was all the reply she got from him as he stood there head ducked in shame. She got up from sitting on the bed and walked to his side, giving him a pat on the shoulder.


    ¡°That is how it is sometimes¡­ But if I was you, I would be heading out in a damn hurry right now. Easier to make her believe you care if you aren¡¯t hiding away in here.¡±


    ¡°Yes of course,¡± he replied, almost like speaking to his mother after getting scolded. Saph had a suspicion the scolding part might already have happened, but either way he should really be beating his wings right now rather than hiding indoors.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for then? Get a move on¡­ and try to bring something warm to drink. At least it¡¯s an excuse for why it took you a while,¡± Saph added. Unkai turned to hurry out the door without another word, leaving her alone in the infirmary.


    ¡°Are you in here playing games, or have I been left out in the cold too?¡± she questioned, sorta hoping Maiko would answer, but no reply came. Her shoulders sagged a touch as she turned, glancing about the dimly lit room. A pair of glowing eyes opened in the corner soon followed by a smug looking grin.


    ¡°Never.¡±


    ¡°Oh you bastard,¡± Saph chuckled as she livened up a little again.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s a shame not to use it,¡± Maiko protested, clearly pleased with himself.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Fucking catch then,¡± Saph retorted as she raised her hand. Reaching out with her mind, she picked up a small wooden cup and flung it at him as fast as she could.


    Maiko, seemingly expecting it to hurt, ducked to the side in good time, the cup sailing past and clattering against the wall.


    ¡°Fine throw miss.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, you¡­ you,¡± Saph repeated, struggling to find the right insult.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Sly bastard?¡± Maiko tried with a shrug as he got up and sauntered up to her.


    ¡°I already called you a bastard,¡± she countered as he wrapped his hands behind her waist, nuzzling her gently.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Handsome boy then?¡±


    ¡°But that would make me a liar?¡± Saph questioned, pulling her head back a touch and smiling evilly.


    ¡°Oh well we definitely can¡¯t have that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so sleeping on the floor again.¡±


    ¡°Aaaaw man. Anyhow just wanted to say hi. Vicky has me running errands up here. Get a na-¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa hang on a minute,¡± Saph interrupted him for a moment. ¡°Who¡¯s Vicky?¡±


    ¡°Victoria of course, just don¡¯t let anyone know we still call her that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡±


    ¡°No, she really doesn¡¯t like it,¡± Maiko replied with a snort as he backed out of the quick embrace and moved to head out of the room. ¡°I¡¯ll catch you once you have your nap. Or in the morning if it¡¯s that bad you know.¡±


    Saph would rather he didn¡¯t have stuff to do, but that¡¯s life she guessed. She gave him a halfhearted wave as he left sight and soon enough she heard him running down the hall and up the stairs.


    ¡°Least you could do was to lead me up there man¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The catastrophic loss of Edita¡¯s card house following Worpock¡¯s slight accident had managed to kill interest in the game at hand, and shortly after Saph¡¯s arrival home Essy had returned with a crying Holdey to find out what was going on. It had been a delicate operation, but one by one they had all managed to make excuses to get away from the angry mother before any of them ended up taking the blame. Well, everyone save Edita, who was seemingly quite interested in these disciplinary actions and willing to give suggestions, including coal carrying duty, isolation, and latrine washing. Though Edita was of the belief the punishment should go to Worpock for knocking down her house of cards rather than Holdey for his foul mouth.


    The following discussion on how to raise children had even allowed Jacky to make her escape despite Essy¡¯s correct assumption that the silvered huntress was certainly to blame in some capacity.


    Tom had made for the refuge of the forge, finding Twitch already there and doing his best on his own, which was not saying much. The demo expert had clearly been trying to hammer out plates of iron from straight ingots, with reckless abandon. The shape he was going for seemed to mostly just be described as ¡°ball.¡± Tom had a feeling that the reason Shiva wasn¡¯t here to oversee him might be to avoid having an aneurysm while looking at the dented mess Twitch had managed to produce.


    In stark contrast were the fine pieces of machined brass left seemingly abandoned near the filing bench, which certainly caught Tom¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Did you make these?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the funny little half-finished contraptions and picking one up.


    ¡°No, that was of my making,¡± Tink responded proudly, the inventor having followed him down as well. He proceed to walk over to Twitch, grabbing a pair of tongs to hold the ¡°plate¡± to the anvil for him and letting Twitch swing with both hands. ¡°It is a fuze.¡±


    ¡°Really now?... How exactly?¡± Tom questioned a touch bemused as he tried to work out just how that was supposed to work.


    ¡°Oh it is quite simple really. It is a spring powered flywheel that slowly unscrews its own axle. When it hits the opposite side of the housing the circuit is complete and kaboom.¡± Tink replied just as Twitch whacked the plate, sending sparks flying. ¡°Edita showed it to me.¡±


    ¡°... Okay, that¡¯s actually kinda smart¡­ if a little unreliable. Wait, circuit? This is an electric fuze?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±


    ¡°Where are you getting electricity from?¡± Tom questioned with a hint of worry.


    ¡°The payload. Remember? Blitz gel in the center to spread the acid out nice and wide.¡±


    ¡°Riiight,¡± Tom replied, trying not to let the apprehension show. ¡°That would mean running electrical wires into a container of blitzgel which is itself suspended in acid. Right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that about sums it up,¡± Twitch added in, enthusiasm utterly unbridled.


    ¡°And you don¡¯t see aaanyyyy problems with that whatsoever?¡±


    ¡°Well you better not drop it,¡± Tink added as if that was all that could go wrong there.


    ¡°Well you are right on that one¡­¡± Tom yielded as he scratched the back of his head. ¡°How are you gonna make the glass?¡±


    ¡°Oh that is the best bit. Edita promised to teach me about how to blow glass. She brought a fair amount apparently. I am so very excited, even if she did say she was by no means a master herself. But how hard can it be, really?¡± the inventor boasted, doing a little hop as if to show his excitement. Said hop moved the pieces of metal a bit on the anvil, leading to Twitch missing his swing and putting a massive dent in it where one clearly shouldn¡¯t go.


    ¡°Oops,¡± the demo expert blurted out with a shrug, not seeming bothered as Jacky winced audibly from behind Tom.


    ¡°Well that sounds wonderful¡­ Best of luck to the two of you. I¡¯m gonna go see what Shiva is up to,¡± Tom replied. He didn¡¯t know much at all about glass blowing, but what little he did was mostly on how difficult it was. But if Edita could do it, or at least knew where to find someone who could, then that would be of immense value in the future, that much was assured.


    ¡°Of course, don¡¯t you worry. Do you want us to come get you when it¡¯s time to fill it?¡± Tink questioned, thoughtfully and with genuine care in his voice.


    ¡°Maybe just hold off on that part for a little bit, and at least don¡¯t do it indoors.¡±


    ¡°Oh of course, what do you take us for? We will be keeping a safe distance of course. Nowhere near the keep, I assure you.¡±


    ¡°And what about those who have to pour it all in?¡± Tom questioned leadingly, hoping against the odds that this would have been considered already.


    ¡°Well we were rather hoping we could get Jacky to do it in her armor,¡± Twitch added with a shrug. ¡°She can take a hit in that set.¡±


    ¡°Nuh uh, not happening,¡± Jacky protested to Tom¡¯s immense relief. ¡°I¡¯m all for a good boom, but not in my face and certainly not combined with acid.¡± As if to emphasize her point, bright light shone through the cracks in the shutters covering the windows, followed by a boom that made everything rattle around the room.


    ¡°I guess plan B then,¡± Tink replied, looking to Twitch, who didn¡¯t look overly upset either. Both of them shrugged in unison before Twitch gave the plate another whack, this time seeming to achieve next to nothing.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll do it. You remember where I put the letter?¡±


    ¡°What letter?¡± the inventor questioned, seeming to be quite honestly baffled by the question.


    "Seriously? The letter to my mum. The one that just says, ¡®You win.¡¯ Come on, I told you less than a week ago.¡±


    ¡°Ooh that one. Yes yes of course¡­ Where was it you said you put it?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had been fearing a stern talking to, or perhaps even a full on reaming once she stepped inside the library. What she got was a lot of concerned faces and a tight hug from Dakota while the rest of the room watched. Which, she noted, included both Investigator Paulin and Major Jortun.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that was a stupid risk to run. Are you okay? How is Fengi?¡± the gilded huntress and de-facto boss of Sapphire in all of this asked as Saph was set back down again, a little bit flabbergasted.


    ¡°Oh, uuh, yes. Yes she is perfectly fine. We just took a few knocks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we heard,¡± Dakota replied, throwing a glance at Rachuck, who was standing next to his mother¡¯s chair. The captain replied with a slight nod as the old lady rested her head upon her folded hands, a concerned expression on her face.


    ¡°And the condition of Yldril?¡± Paulin then questioned in a far less tender tone.


    ¡°She has suffered no major injuries, but the loss of the sled, the cold, and her previous injuries in addition to the beating she took¡­ saving the two of us has her trembling and struggling to even walk,¡± Saph replied with a touch of reluctance. They would know the whole story soon enough, that didn¡¯t mean she had to like the fact the dragon had saved her life. Even if said dragon was also who had endangered it in the first place.


    ¡°Yldril saved the two of you? I am assuming from the slide?¡± Nunuk questioned from her chair, sounding rather surprised. ¡°Under orders?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no¡­ Ma¡¯am, Fengi¡¯s magic is a bit hard to understand, but Fengi wasn¡¯t spouting much that made sense while sliding through the mud. But it was also her own bone headedness that got us into that mess.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the old lady replied with a thoughtful expression. ¡°And the logs?¡±


    ¡°Soaked through, ma¡¯am.¡± There was a bit of a wince from the whole crowd at the rather bad news. ¡°In the future I would suggest sticking to flying¡­ with the benefit of hindsight, this was a terrible idea.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Dakota sighed, pinching her temples with one hand. ¡°How long until Yldril can fly?¡±


    ¡°If no further damage has been done, half a week to a week,¡± Jortun added with a curt nod.


    ¡°We can¡¯t work in this weather anyway. I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°There is always Jarix and Glira?¡± Saph tried, not sure she even wanted to raise the point.


    ¡°Jarix is able, though Glira would need to be bribed I believe,¡± Dakota replied in a sharper tone towards the end, looking to Jortun, who didn¡¯t seem to pay her much mind. ¡°But I suppose a load from Jarix could keep us busy for a short while.¡±


    ¡°We would also need a new harness for Yldril. Unless you want to just lash the logs to her and hope for clear skies,¡± Jortun added with a grumble. ¡°It would be rather uncomfortable, but not unbearable.¡±


    ¡°Then lash them? A harness like that is expensive. Both in time and materials. We can have a proper one done for spring,¡± Rachuck added in a stern and dismissive tone. ¡°She is to work so she will work. Is there anything else we can make her do in the meantime?¡±


    ¡°Rachuck¡­ she can barely stand. She might be an arse, but give her a rest,¡± Saph spoke up just as reluctantly as before. But it was the truth. For the moment Yldril was a spent force. ¡°Besides, I doubt Fengi will let you.¡±


    ¡°She is an asset, sometimes assets should be protected,¡± Paulin added with a nod, seemingly agreeing with Sapphire. She couldn¡¯t actually remember the last time that had happened, nor did it in any way make her feel better about it.


    Rachuck for his part straightened up immediately, giving an appreciative nod to Paulin. ¡°Well that is only logical.¡±


    Nunuk gave a bit of a side glance to her son before turning her attention to Sapphire. ¡°What about you, Sapphire? How are you holding up?¡±


    ¡°I will be honest ma¡¯am¡­ I feel like shit. I am tired, I didn¡¯t sleep much, I¡¯ve been freezing all day, and I¡¯m sore all over.¡±


    ¡°Yeees¡­ Unkai¡¯s work leaves something to be desired,¡± the old lady agreed, looking her up and down. ¡°Take tomorrow off for a start, then we shall see how you feel. Currently I think we shall have to turn our attention to what preparations we can get out of the way while it rains. Dakota, we should send a hunting party tomorrow, weather permitting. Take Jarix out to make up for the loss of Sapphire and Fengi. Load him up. We will have the time to smoke and cure the meats while the building site dries.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum.¡±


    ¡°And Rachuck,¡± the old lady continued, her son standing to attention. ¡°Take up Jortun on his offer to help train the guards. With this many experienced dragons and crews, you would be remiss not to take advantage. Besides we shall be fighting alongside them in the future by the sound of things, both above and perhaps even in here.¡±


    ¡°Should we perhaps not leave the skies to those best-suited, mum? Train for corridor fighting with the new equipment?¡±


    ¡°No, leave that for winter. If the enemy is bringing dragons and those blasted bat things, we would rather they never touch the keep.¡±


    ¡°Of course, mum.¡±


    ¡°He is correct though, ma¡¯am,¡± Jortun interjected. ¡°In such a fight the enemy may well attempt to strike at the keep while we keep any larger threats at bay.¡±


    ¡°We are not untrained, major. We should make best use of the time. Before long we will be barred from any meaningful practice in the air. Winter is coming, the end of campaign season with it. I am more worried for spring.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we shall take to the skies then. Might I add once Yldril is fit for flying, it would be a waste not to see her crewed.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s gonna be a sight,¡± Dakota added indignantly glancing at her brother who did not look pleased in the slightest by that idea, likely quite able to work out who that crew would consist of.


    ¡°Then I suppose a crew must be found. As you said yourself the keep cannot be left undefended,¡± Nunuk retorted with a bit of a smirk, glancing at Rachuck as his expression lightened considerably.


    ¡°I doubt you will appreciate the offer, but procuring such a crew would be well within our ability,¡± Paulin added, all the faces turning to her with suspicion.


    They had just gotten rid of the inquisitorial forces that had plagued them recently, and it had taken quite some work, protesting, and even borderline treason to do so.


    ¡°I believe we would rather see such forces found¡­ elsewhere,¡± Nunuk replied in a measured tone, giving the investigator a slight nod. ¡°Though the offer is appreciated.¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the guard could be of service? It is quite possible to, if not hire such a crew, then perhaps¡­ influence where such soldiers may be sent,¡± Jortun added, seemingly seeking to give Nunuk a way out of the situation he put her in.


    ¡°I believe that will warrant further discussion¡­ For now, Sapphire, go rest. Rachuck, help me up would you? I could do with a touch of fresh air before dinner.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had quickly abandoned the works going on in the smithy before anything could happen that he might be held accountable for. That and he intended to make good on his promise of making a fishing rod for which problem number one was the line. And he wasn¡¯t going to fix that in the smithy.


    When he had tried to open the door to the workshop it was flung right back into his face with considerable force. His hand slipped on the handle, leading to him taking the solid oaken slab right to the face.


    ¡°Aoow,¡± Tom protested, rubbing his now sore nose, trying to work out just what the fuck as he heard the door lock for some reason.


    ¡°Is that you Tom?¡± the voice of Wiperna of all people came from inside. Tom had expected the farm woman to be busy with making sure her precious animals were safe during the cold, but apparently she had set up shop in the workshop for whatever reason.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it is?¡± Tom replied in a questioning tone, feeling rightfully confused.


    ¡°Oh, sorry. Didn¡¯t hear who it was, you really should knock, ya know?¡±


    ¡°Right, got it,¡± Tom replied, rubbing his nose a little more, Jacky letting out a snicker from behind him.


    ¡°Kinda impressive you managed to hurt your snout even though you don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha. Very funny¡­ can I come in?¡± Tom questioned as he heard some rather frantic sounding moving about of things from inside.


    ¡°Just a moment,¡± came the reply, now clearly not at the door anymore.


    Then he felt Jacky pull him back towards her, a hand going to gently rub at his now likely red nose. ¡°Awwww, you got a little boo boo.¡±


    ¡°The hell¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Tom questioned as he heard the door hasp get unlocked. It opened to a smiling Wiperna, who looked like she was suppressing a slight pant.


    ¡°Right, how can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I was just gonna have a rummage around to see if I could find something that could make for a decent fishing line¡­ and maybe something to make the pole out of.¡±


    ¡°Sure, just promise not to spill the beans,¡± she replied, sounding all chipper as she stepped aside.


    ¡®The hell are you hiding?¡¯ Tom mused to himself as he walked inside, Jacky letting him go.


    ¡°Sorry about that by the way.¡±


    ¡°No harm done¡­ at least not much,¡± Tom replied. ¡°What are you doing in here anyway?¡±


    ¡°I am working on some jewelry for Ray,¡± Shiva replied before Wiperna got a word out. Once inside Tom saw the smith standing at the lathe working on something very small indeed.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re turning down a ring?¡±


    ¡°It is very swift I must give you that,¡± Shiva replied as she spun down the lathe, going to inspect her work. ¡°And a leather sheet can catch most of the filing for reuse, even if it is only copper.¡±


    ¡°Yup, makes sense¡­ You could also try and use it for inlays or something. With your magic you wouldn¡¯t even need welds or glue.¡±


    ¡°Glue?¡± Shiva questioned with a confused expression. ¡°You would glue metal?¡±


    ¡°Well more glue something to the metal¡­ But yeah that could be done. What kinda ring is it?¡±


    ¡°Plain copper band with a small topaz. I wanted to use a diamond, but Nunuk didn¡¯t find it appropriate, and she had a nice little one stored away.¡±


    ¡°Oh that sounds quite nice¡­ But diamond on a copper ring. Ain¡¯t that a bit of an odd combo?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shiva questioned, brow furrowing as she looked up.


    ¡°Well they are very precious are they not?¡±


    ¡°No, not particularly?¡± she questioned, seeming honestly confused.


    ¡°I have a pair of diamond earrings. Raulf got them for me for our anniversary years ago. 5 stones in each, ten total. Ten years of marriage¡­ he can be romantic when he wants to.¡±


    ¡°They are quite nice indeed. Silver too,¡± Shiva added, clearly familiar.


    ¡°Yes¡­ They sparkle a lot in the light.¡±


    ¡°But they were expensive, no?¡±


    ¡°I mean the stones cost more than silver¡­ I¡¯m not sure about gold though. What do you think, Shiva?¡±


    ¡°I think they would still be the most valuable part¡­ depending upon the quality of the cut.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± was all Tom got out, staring at the two of them. ¡°I guess we should get to work on some diamond tooling then,¡± he snickered.


    ¡°I do not have any gem-cutting tools. It is my understanding that it is mainly diamond dust that is used in the cutting. But I suppose we could order a set if you wish? I did consider it in case winter led to any free time for us crafters. And this year¡¯s paycheck has been¡­ considerable,¡± she replied with a bit of a smirk at the end, though it soon disappeared.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Wait, you use diamonds to cut other gems with?¡±


    ¡°Why would you not? They are very hard if rather brittle. And rather cheap for a gem.¡±


    ¡°... I mean I suppose so,¡± Tom admitted, trying to come up with a reason for why diamonds could be considered cheap all of a sudden. But he wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. ¡°I mean, it sounds useful. How expensive would those be?¡±

 Chapter 176: Fishing for Friends

    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had spent much of yesterday trying to figure out how to put a fishing rod together. He hadn¡¯t wanted to spend too long on it. It had been complicated a little by the fact that Wiperna had really wanted him out of the workshop and had been doing a poor job of hiding it. When Essy had swung by a touch later she had been somewhat surprised to see him and seemingly completely forgot what it was she wanted to say.


    So all in all it wasn¡¯t hard to work out that they were definitely up to something, but he didn¡¯t know what. Nor did he think he wanted to know, since it seemed likely to be some sort of surprise. Though what they had in mind, he had no idea.


    So with him gently evicted from the workshop, he had two choices. Go back to the smithy and risk his sanity, or go looking for somewhere else where he could get away with trying to put a fishing pole together. When he had remembered that nearly every tool in the keep was in one of those two rooms, he had swallowed his concerns and gone to the smithy. Perhaps he could get some guide rings made, or mayhaps a hook or two. If worst came to worst he could always just have a go with just a line and hook after all. It sounded easy enough, so he figured he would have a crack at that forging thing.


    He knew everyone had always told him it was damn hard, but a simple hook? How hard could it be? He had watched Shiva work iron or steel a thousand times by now, so he ought to have picked up something by now, and she made it look so incredibly easy.


    Roughly three hours later he was sitting in Shiva¡¯s rocking chair, pouring sweat, and watching Jacky make the simple little hook for him, with Tink and Twitch waiting their turn rather impatiently. Twitch was holding a by now truly mangled-looking piece of iron, Tink having had his hammer taken away by Jacky as she worked. To Tom, they looked like a pair of children waiting for their turn on the swing set, which he would have been laughing at if he wasn¡¯t so damn tired after fucking it up for what felt like the quadrillionth time.


    His mood was only worsened when Jacky triumphantly put down the hammer after little more than 10 minutes of work and let the two eager men have another go at their project. She came walking back over to Tom holding up the very crude and certainly too large hook she had fashioned. It was so much better than anything he could ever have forged though, that was for certain.


    ¡°Tadaaa.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just not fair,¡± Tom let out as the hook was deposited in his outstretched hand. He rocked back in the chair while inspecting it closely, it would probably do the trick.


    ¡°No you just suck at forging¡­ Kinda thought you would learn quicker if I¡¯m honest,¡± Jacky grinned, grabbing a cloth to wipe away at least some of the soot given off by the forge.


    ¡°But it just wasn¡¯t working. It would snap, not turn out straight-¡±


    ¡°Melt in the fire,¡± Jacky added, referencing the few ¡®accidents¡¯ he had suffered when trying to heat the delicate piece back up again.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t my fault. You got the forge too hot,¡± Tom protested. He was certain that at least one of the times she had put on a big blow with the bellows which was not needed, leading to him just getting the end of his hook back out of the coals.


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t,¡± Jacky protested, crossing her arms and snatching back the hook. ¡°I kept it perfectly steady at all times.¡±


    Tom grumbled a little. He really wanted that hook. If it came to it he guessed he could make do without the rod, but he needed that hook no matter what. ¡°Could you maybe harden and temper it? You know, in case you people are actually right about what¡¯s down there?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ sure I guess?¡± Jacky replied, looking at the small metal item. ¡°Pretty sure you¡¯ll break the line first though.¡±


    ¡°That is true¡­ We also need bait and a pole for it. You know those little rings I talked about?¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t making those for you, get mum to do it, or use the lathe thingy. I¡¯m sure we can work out bait though. What do fish like, hopes and dreams?¡±


    ¡°Baby children,¡± Twitch merrily suggested, as the two started hammering away once more with no sign of a change in tactics.


    ¡°Noo noo, some kind of smelly meat should do well. Normally you would use some smelly fish, but- well, we¡¯re kinda short on that,¡± Tom clarified, shaking his head.


    ¡°Maybe some old potted venison that¡¯s gone off?¡± Jacky asked curiously.


    ¡°That¡¯s the stuff where it¡¯s just in a claypot with something in the bottom and butter to seal it tight, right?¡± Tom questioned, trying to think back to some of the odder ingredients he had encountered at the keep thus far.


    ¡°Well you cook it first, but yeah pretty much. Smells like a rotten carcass when it goes off.¡±


    ¡°That should do I guess¡­ so rings and a rod to go then.¡±


    ¡°As I said, I am not making those rings for you,¡± Jacky reiterated, crossing her arms in defiance while still hanging on to his hook.


    ¡°Fine fine¡­ I¡¯ll probably just ask Shiva. Might be a good idea to burn them onto the rod or something. Don¡¯t think we have any decent glue.¡±


    ¡°Would hoof glue work?¡± Tink questioned as the now cold plate was stuck back in the fire. With a big yank, Twitch pulled on the bellows with reckless abandon, the coals spewing sparks and embers as they glowed nearly white at the center.


    ¡°What is hoof glue?¡± Tom found himself asking, having no idea at all really. The only natural glues he knew of were tree sap and that joke about boiling a horse down for glue, so maybe it was like that?


    ¡°It¡¯s made from hooves, connective tissue¡­ Skin I think. All sorta connecty bits. We must have some, right?¡± The inventor questioned, looking to Jacky of all people.


    ¡°I think so, yeah? Kinda hard to make bows without it.¡±


    ¡°Oooh right, composite bows, forgot about that,¡± Tom let out as it clicked. He had no idea if that would work, but he supposed it was worth a try at least. ¡°That still leaves the rod though?¡±


    ¡°You should ask Kullinger about that, even if you don¡¯t like him that much. Not that I blame you by the way. He would also know where the glue is.¡±


    ¡°What about using an old bow for the rod? Surely you would have a broken one somewhere,¡± Tink suggested as he stuck the metal plate back in the fire after checking how red it had gotten, Twitch continuing to pump away.


    ¡°Actually¡­ that¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± Tom agreed. ¡°At least on paper. Well-seasoned wood, nice and springy, tough but light¡­ yeah that should be perfect. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a longbow, would you?¡±


    ¡°Like¡­ a bigger one?¡± Jacky questioned, tilting her head.


    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s just wood. It would be taller than me,¡± Tom went, holding up his hand to as high as he could without getting up from the really rather comfy chair.


    ¡°No¡­¡± she answered, a little unsurely. ¡°Why would you want a bigger one? I mean, I guess it could look cool.¡±


    ¡°Long story I guess. But a regular one will do, I think. Unstrung it¡¯s sorta straight, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I mean not really, but I hate to break it to yah, that¡¯s also Kullinger you want for that.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. Do you know where he is? What would he even spend his day off on if he¡¯s not down here?¡±


    ¡°Probably in his room praying or whittling away on something. Come on, let''s check before those two cause a fire and it¡¯s our fault.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I have worked here for months,¡± Tink objected, looking up from his work. ¡°Not once have I caused a fire¡­ only minor explosions.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, and that plate is gonna melt soon, even if it¡¯s just hot in the middle,¡± Jacky retorted as Tom got to his feet, finding himself pushed towards the door with a slap on the bum, a snickering Jacky following behind.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had gone to have a nap once they had finished in the library. She had just been so damn tired.


    ¡°Saph? You up still... Saaaaph?¡± came a tired-sounding call from outside her door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Saph replied groggily, not actually wanting to wake up yet. Nor did she care if anyone could hear that fact. She didn¡¯t even know what time it was, but there wasn¡¯t any light peeking in anymore through the narrow windows.


    ¡°Fengi¡­ Can I come in?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ didn¡¯t lock the door I don¡¯t think.¡±


    Sure enough, the sound of the latch sliding up was soon heard, followed by the door slowly creeping open. Saph turned around in bed to watch Fengi step inside, carrying a small oil wick lamp, closing the door behind her. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be sleeping?¡± Saph questioned, peeking down the dark unlit hallway, the torches and lamps long since extinguished.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I should,¡± Fengi replied, slack-eared in the dim light of the lamp. Her face was hard to make out, but she sounded ready to drop where she stood that much was clear to Saph. ¡°I just¡­ I was thinking¡­¡±


    The young huntress didn¡¯t make it much further, seeming lost in thought or perhaps on the verge of falling asleep while standing. It was warm enough inside, so it at least shouldn¡¯t be the cold.


    ¡°Sit down Fengi¡­ please. There¡¯s a chair over there,¡± Saph tried, pointing into the darkness.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± was all the reply she got, as Fengi went to fetch the chair, scooting it across the floor to sit down next to Saph¡¯s bed with a long sigh.


    ¡°So, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Saph, do you think Yldril tried to kill us today?¡±


    ¡°Uuuuh¡­ no?¡± Was the best Saph could come up with. She wasn¡¯t even sure the dragon could. ¡°She¡¯s under orders not to, she can¡¯t break that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Do you really think it was just a mistake? Seems a little far-fetched.¡±


    ¡°Even if she did try, she then saved us afterward. You weren¡¯t shouting any coherent orders as we slid, right?¡±


    ¡°... Probably not, no¡­¡±


    ¡°So she could just let us die then, right? If she¡¯d meant to kill us to start with.¡±


    ¡°I suppose¡­ it just¡­ felt off. How could she not know that would happen?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s an arrogant bastard who thinks she¡¯s invincible and probably hasn¡¯t done honest work in decades if not a century?¡±


    ¡°Fair point I suppose¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s got you thinking all this?¡±


    ¡°Just some things she said¡­ Mind you, she had a really shit day today.¡±


    ¡°She managed to get under your skin with something she said?¡± Saph countered, trying to sound disapproving.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Fengi admitted, ducking her head in shame.


    ¡°Oh come on, can¡¯t be that bad. What did she do? Make another threat? Tell you how dumb and stupid we all are around here?¡±


    ¡°No, she begged.¡±


    ¡°For what? A bath?¡±


    ¡°Saph she wanted me to let her kill herself¡­ I said no. She begged me to tell her to keep her head under the water till it was all over¡­ She uhm¡­ had a little snap I think we can call it,¡± the young huntress clarified, not sounding too convinced in her own reasoning. It was certainly clear where her foul mood stemmed from now.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, it¡¯s hardly surprising. This whole thing is supposed to be a worse punishment than death. Or at least a more useful one for us,¡± Saph replied, not sure what else to say. Yldril had been bound to service, and she had to serve or there would be hell to pay most likely.


    ¡°Could we not aim for the latter of those two? I think being a slave till forever is bad enough,¡± Fengi countered. Saph couldn¡¯t give much of a counter. In reality she probably agreed with Fengi, but what more could they do?


    ¡°Fengi¡­ Fen, we have treated her better than she has any right to. You have been better to her than pretty much anyone she could have hoped for. And she did ask for this it to put it fucking mildly¡­ How is she now?¡±


    ¡°Brooding, I guess... Had her lay down on the other side of the keep so Glira at least can¡¯t see her from her spot. Else she would probably be mocking her all night.¡±


    ¡°Probably yeah,¡± Saph concurred with a nod. ¡°Got any plans for what to do? She did seem a little more¡­ well maybe less shitty is the word earlier today when we were camping. Maybe she¡¯s just having to deal with emotions for the first time in a while. That or she¡¯s trying to guilt trip you into doing what she wants.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Saph. I just don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯ll just keep trying. With a little luck maybe she¡¯ll stop hating at least someone around here. That sure would help. Doesn¡¯t matter who, just someone who¡¯s on her side I guess.¡±


    ¡°The easiest way to make someone open up to a person they dislike is to convince them you both stand together against something worse,¡± Maiko then added from next to Sapphire, both women giving a start. Saph flipped around in the bed to look at the Royal Guard, who was just staring up into the ceiling without a care in the world. ¡°Like grunts against the officers. Or Children and mums against stingy dads.¡±


    ¡°You were here the whole time?!¡± Saph demanded in a forced hushness, not wanting to wake anyone up in case they had gone to bed.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like the floor. Sorry,¡± he replied with a dumb chuckle, turning to look Saph in the eyes. ¡°Have I ever told you how fierce you can look in dim light? Enough to make my heart pound a little.¡±


    ¡°Damn you and your magic,¡± Saph grumbled, though she wasn¡¯t too mad. Not like he wasn¡¯t allowed in here after all, but he could have said something at least. She turned back around to look at Fengi, pushing up against him so she at least knew where he was. An arm reaching around her chest from behind, holding her gently. ¡°Sorry about that, Fengi.¡±


    ¡°Noo noo, it¡¯s okay¡­ I just forgot. That¡¯s all,¡± the young copper dismissed, though clearly seeming a little uncertain about the situation.


    ¡°I wanted to just be quiet and let you talk. But I¡¯d bet you 5 copper the easiest way to get her to trust someone is to give her an ally. Perhaps not you though. Someone who can¡¯t actually do anything, but who agrees with her. Or at least pretends to.¡±


    ¡°I guess so, yeah¡­¡± Fengi responded in a slow pondering voice, silence hanging in the air for a moment after. Then she looked down at Saph, lamp light glinting off her white snout, eyes dim in the shadow cast up against the ceiling.


    ¡°Uh-uh, don¡¯t you look at me. I¡¯m not doing it,¡± Saph countered, wanting to kill that thought dead before it could take off.


    ¡°You sorta did with Tom back when he arrived,¡± Fengi tried, clearly looking to try and haggle here.


    ¡°Okay, first of all, we do NOT talk about that. Second of all, he¡¯s not an insufferable arsehole and a literal cold-blooded murderer.¡±


    ¡°No, he¡¯s quite warm from what I hear actually,¡± Maiko added in from behind her, giving her a little squeeze.


    ¡°Very funny¡­ I¡¯m not doing it.¡±


    ¡°Well then who?¡± Fengi questioned, Saph spinning just her head around to try and look at Maiko, which only sorta worked. The corporal shuffled down a bit towards the foot of the bed, sneaking in under her head and pretending to not be there.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the guy Victoria used to do, literally this?¡± Saph questioned rather pointedly, Maiko pushing in further.


    ¡°Maaaybe,¡± the guard replied in a far too childlike tone for Saphs liking. This was not a laughing matter after all.


    ¡°Maiko, please,¡± Fengi tried, voice heartfelt and almost pleading. ¡°If half of what Saph said is true, then I¡¯m sure you would do great.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, I¡¯m not actually that great of a liar.¡±


    ¡°I counter that one,¡± Saph objected before he could carry on.


    ¡°Wow. What about Tom? He sounds like he¡¯s great at this stuff too. I mean just look at Jarix.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ We already have her working her butt off. That was about all Tom had to teach. Don¡¯t think that would do much with her¡­ Please Maiko.¡±


    ¡°Hooo boi. You know I do have stuff to do, right?¡±


    ¡°Like what? Spying on Paulin?¡± Saph questioned with a huff. She knew full well that Nunuk or perhaps Rachuck were making full use of their little spy. He was rarely seen actually working after all.


    ¡°No never. Who would ever be that reckless,¡± came the reply, followed by a big overexaggerated sigh. ¡°But fine¡­ I¡¯ll try and befriend the murderous slave we have on hand. Just checking, she can¡¯t hurt me, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, no,¡± Fengi offered. Saph could feel him swallow behind her. ¡°At least not directly.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. I see no way this could possibly go wrong.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom could feel as much as hear the wind howling over them. They were all trapped under what they called a dragon tent. Tom called it a tarp, and it was barely being held up by a few rickety poles. It didn¡¯t seal properly to the dragon''s back either, but it broke the worst of the wind as they flew. Snow was getting in, and freezing cold air. The only heat they had came from some small metal and glass contraptions that looked a lot like a lantern but were squatter. Thankfully they were able to burn more oil than a normal lantern, even if they did make some soot, but with how cold they all were no one cared. Tom had tried to move his arms and legs into a slightly more comfortable position while he waited for himself to freeze to death, but they barely budged. Everyone except the inquisitor himself was tied down tight. ¡°You can¡¯t trust the grip of an ice shard,¡± he had said with an almost evil grin as they were secured for that day''s flight.


    Tom was happy he had done it though. Or perhaps it was Joelina who had been so relieved after a patch of turbulent air had cost her footing, leaving her hanging from the ropes alone, not that they let her slide far.


    He had lost all sense of time. The flight was supposed to be but a 6-hour hop, but that was before they encountered the storm. Neither Inquisitor Harvik nor Chaika seemed to care, simply letting the cadets know that it was going to get colder. And by the gods did his promise come true.


    Tom had ended up so cold his or more accurately Joelina¡¯s memory had started to lapse. First in blinks, then a bit longer, soon he woke with a start only to find the light bleeding through the tarp had gone. His whole world was reduced to the glow of the oil burners, the constant howl of wind, and the incessant flapping of the tarps they were hiding under. He could not move, and he felt like he could barely breathe or look around. It was claustrophobic, and his mind was so slow he could not even panic.


    Everything was cold, numbness, and deafening howling wind. No one was talking. No one bothered. He doubted he could even scream over the noise. He didn¡¯t have the strength. ¡®This must be what Dakota felt like back at the lake¡­ only drowning too.¡¯


    When they set out, they had joked and jested about ¡°How bad could it be?¡± They had the finest traveling clothes. Thick luxurious coats, hoods, even pants and foot covers. He couldn¡¯t really call them boots. But they were warm. They were lined with sheep wool and made from sturdy treated leather. He remembered a rainstorm they had faced shortly after departing the capital. It had barely fazed them. And here they were. A collection of barely breathing popsicles heading towards their new home.


    The fortress of Gul Nyrelion.


    ¡°Ahr there we are! I was worried we missed it for a moment there!¡± Chaika called out, seeming to take delight in the storm, banking into a downward spiral. Tom could not see anything. But maybe it would soon be over. Surely it would be warm inside. People lived here. If only for three quarters of the year. A frozen bastion held by the Tikka family, supposedly tough as an old pulling harness, but not crazy enough to stay through winter. They were apparently paid handsomely to guard the northern approaches and provide a bastion where others may seek refuge should it be needed.


    Tom had not even seen a painting of the gods-forsaken place, but it had been described as a low, fat, round tower with a few stocky buildings sticking out from its base. No more than 8 stories tall, not much for a keep, but it had walls as thick as any fortress ever built to keep the cold out.


    Tom once again started to lose track of time. They stayed in the turn for what felt like an eternity, the constant turbulence throwing them around like a toy. An over 30-ton toy. And Chaika seemed to only grow more amused with himself as he came down for a landing. Suddenly they could see light, just a sliver, peaking out from under the tarp where it failed to seal.


    Then they came down, draconic feet setting down in the snow with claws hitting stone underneath. The wind kept howling despite them being on the ground and slowly the dragon trudged forward towards the light.


    Tom could feel his heart in the top of his throat. It was over. They were gonna get into the heat soon. They were not going to freeze to death. He just felt so relieved. Soon they could make out the clacking of winches working away as the light brightened enough that it almost started shining through the tarp. Willing his head to move, he looked around at the rest of the passengers. Glazz was lying next to him with a dumb grin on her face.


    ¡°Best wake up in a hurry cadet. You are on point, remember?¡±


    He didn¡¯t even answer, he didn¡¯t even nod. He just stared at her and let out a tired grunt, head still resting upon the padded back of Chaika.


    He had forgotten about that, and he could feel Joelina had too. Her heart started to pump faster as the howling of the wind was replaced with a bustle of people outside and the measured steps of the dragon. Light and heat rushed in faster and faster, his heart pounded until it was all he could hear. Joelina had to confront the lord of this keep. And Harvik had wanted it done as soon as possible. She was not fit to try something like that now. She needed rest. But would the inquisitor care? He had not seemed the sort to wait for others to keep up thus far.


    ¡°Do or die trying,¡± had been uttered more than once upon this trip already¡­ ¡°You still in there?¡± Glazz carried on. Tom hadn¡¯t even registered that she had been the one speaking. ¡°You¡¯re on, cadet. Get that shit off and Run some laps of the hall to warm up. Harvik will not be left waiting.¡±


    ¡°U-u-und-d-der stood-d.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°And that is all you will need?¡± Dakota questioned, looking to Pho as she and Linkosta did the final rounds. They had apparently gotten confirmation that Archeon had indeed arrived in the capital yesterday evening after a rather lengthy detour around a storm had added another two days to the trip. But they had landed safe and sound. Once they had sold their cargo they would be ready to start acquiring their orders. By the sounds of it, Galaxer might need to help out. Cause there were a lot of wishes being made, and some of them were quite heavy. Others not so much. Like Pho¡¯s golden earrings, she wanted six of them.


    ¡®I guess her chances of ever making gilded aren¡¯t much, as long as she doesn¡¯t try for a golden tiara,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself.


    ¡°No, I think that¡¯ll be most of it.¡±


    ¡°I believe if you run out they will leave out what¡¯s on the bottom or the list or anything too hard to find.¡±


    ¡°I get it, yeah. God this is so much harder than just swinging by the market.¡±


    ¡°Quite,¡± Dakota acknowledged, more busy with her clipboard and Tom¡¯s calculator. ¡°Right next, Fengi did you have anything more? Last chance.¡±


    ¡°Some waterproof playing cards would be nice¡­ and dice box. I think I¡¯m gonna be out in the rain a lot.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ What about your travel coat? We made that one right?¡±


    ¡°Oh Fengi, what about some more proper all-weather gear like the traders have,¡± Bo added in, seeming quite enthused by the idea.


    ¡°Not a half-bad idea,¡± Dakota agreed, seeming to ponder for a moment.


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Fengi said cautiously. Saph knew well enough what stuff like that tended to cost. A lot of work went into equipment like that, and she also knew Fengi had plenty of things she wanted to spend money on, not to mention keeping some held back.


    ¡°I will put it at the bottom then,¡± Dakota went with a nod, throwing a quick glance at Sapphire, winking. ¡°I already have your size, but we can always adjust it a little once it arrives.¡±


    Saph pulled a gentle smile looking to poor Fengi, who seemed resigned to the fact this was a good idea, despite the cost.


    ¡°What about you Saph. Any last additions?¡±


    ¡°No, just what¡¯s already on there. Have you got it all right there?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, would you like to check your shopping list?¡±


    ¡°Yes please,¡± Saph replied, holding a hand out for the clipboard, which was promptly handed to her. With a quick look over her list all seemed to be in order. Some of that cider Ray had talked about. A flask or bottle of whiskey that would be just hers, and a silver ring with a sapphire in it. She just had to get that after all. There was a sapphire in her necklace, but it wasn¡¯t really center stage. This time it would be.


    She had also taken a chance asking for a ¡°Good book to read in winter, maybe something romantic.¡± She knew this was Vulzan they were talking about here. So she wasn¡¯t expecting anything too extraordinary. Hopefully, there would be a nice woman working in a bookstore or stand where he goes looking to help him out.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s all there,¡± she confirmed, handing it back to Dakota.


    ¡°Excellent. Anyone else?¡±


    ¡°Oh oh, a bottle of cinnamon whiskey,¡± Pho added excitedly, Dakota looking a little less bemused.


    ¡°I see¡­ I will add it at the bottom.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡±


    With another glance around the table to see if there were any more last-minute additions, she had retreated back to the family table where Jortun just managed to get something added as well before leaning back in his chair, looking quite comfortable sitting next to Apuma. Nunuk was in her seat like in the old days, surveying the hall before her. Everyone was done with the food and some had even started clearing away plates and the like.


    As the cleanup progressed the old lady stood up clearly intent on addressing the room, and everyone started to quiet down at least a little.


    ¡°Very good, I believe that concludes the shopping lists. Now for today, we will be sending out our first hunting party for a little while. We will not be able to do much to the construction site. Jarix is going with you, make good use of him. Gods know how many runs we will get in before the cold sets in. Saph and Fengi are staying here to recover. Tomorrow we will hold exercises with our allies here in the royal guard. Victoria too will be attending though without Baron sadly.¡±


    ¡°So take a moment to freshen up your craft if you can find it. I would rather we not be humiliated tomorrow,¡± the old lady carried on in good humor, looking towards Jortun who seemed quite merry at the prospect as well.


    At the huntress table, they all started eyeing each other a little, many looking to Bo and Pho. The two had barely received combat training, not that it was their fault of course. Saph supposed it was ¡®better late than never,¡¯ but the tardiness would certainly show tomorrow that much was assured.


    ¡°I have also heard a little bird sing that perhaps we shall soon have another vault open. Likely the last before winter hits. We have little clue what lies inside, but I am sure it will be of quite some value to either us or the noble inquisition.¡± This time the old lady looked to Paulin, who nodded courteously.


    ¡°I hope you enjoyed the time off yesterday, even if it did not quite go as intended. There is much to do! Spring to it and I am sure we shall have the time to take a slow enough winter, but hopefully not as boring as we are used to.¡±


    ¡°Cheers to that!¡± rang out from the guard''s table, the rest soon enough joining in with a varying degree of enthusiasm. All in all, spirits were high though. Not hard to guess why as everyone had just handed in the final few wishes for what they wanted, getting to actually spend some of all that money they earned. And, despite the trials of the last few days, everyone had made it back home in one piece. Only Yldril would need true recovery time. She would get however much turned out to be convenient, or just enough to see her airworthy, and that might even give Fengi a bit of time to work on her.


    Tom was sitting at the huntress table too today, beside Jacky right at the end. He only half-heartedly joined in the cheer. He didn¡¯t seem happy or bubbly at all to Saph, nor did Jacky really. The two sat almost apart a little, and it was clear Jacky was holding him against her for pretty much the whole meal.


    ¡®Someone had a bad night again, I guess,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself, her own enthusiasm dampened a touch. A quick glance towards Paulin revealed that she most definitely was paying attention to the duo, which certainly didn¡¯t help Saph''s mood. ¡®Oh you better not be to blame for this one too.¡¯

 Chapter 177: Hells Kitchen

    ¡°Are you sure it didn¡¯t¡­ you know? Stick?¡± Jacky asked in a worried tone as she and Tom made it back up to the bedroom. She was going with the hunting crew, so she needed her kit, and while Tom was sure she would want him to come along, sadly, that wasn¡¯t really happening. There was work to do, even if he may just take some time out of his day to finish up his fishing rod project.


    ¡°Quite sure. Not a mark on me, you saw so yourself¡­ I only felt like I was freezing to death a bit after waking up, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I swear you felt cold,¡± Jacky protested, looking ready to strip him bare again for another exam. He knew the dragonettes took frostbite seriously, and he had woken up with chattering teeth, but it had only taken moments for his body to realize it was in fact quite warm and cozy. Incredibly uncomfortable and rather unnerving, yes. Dangerous or something they could do much about seemingly no.


    ¡°I was not cold. I just thought I was¡­ You¡¯re just imagining things.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not, you were cold. I would know. I¡¯m the one who feels it more.¡±


    ¡°Right, right. I was cold then. Still doesn¡¯t change the fact I¡¯m quite fine now. How about this? I promise no naps till you are back and if Paulin wants something I tell her to take it up with Shiva.¡±


    ¡°And you let Shiva know in advance you are having a bad day and if Paulin gets to talk to you she will be alone with Tink and Twitch for the rest of the day.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can do that,¡± Tom promised, not actually seeing a downside to that idea. Aside from the perhaps undignified usage of Shiva as an attack dog slash angry roadblock. But she had seemed quite happy to play that role in the past so what was the harm?


    ¡°I guess that¡¯ll do,¡± Jacky relented, clearly still not pleased. ¡°I will tell Mum though¡­ and no naps at all, and definitely not without someone there with you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll mind me not sleeping on the job,¡± Tom sighed, trying to force a bit of humor back in his voice.


    ¡°Serves you right you lazy bastard,¡± Jacky snickered, picking him up into a tight hug which only got tighter till there was a crack from his back.


    ¡°Ahr there we go¡­¡± he let out in a pained voice that had more to do with struggling to breathe.


    ¡°Now don¡¯t do anything stupid till I get back,¡± Jacky replied, setting him back down again.


    ¡°No no, I promise, you won¡¯t miss a thing.¡±


    ¡°Damn straight.¡±


    With the day''s initial negotiating over, Jacky had grabbed what gear she needed. Which is to say what she thought she needed. After yet more friendly bickering, that had been limited to just her compound bow. No shotguns, no shotgun rounds just by themselves. No hand grenades and most certainly no blitzgel jars even if those were comparatively cheap, especially with Jarix and Glira on hand.


    ¡°You¡¯re no fun at all, you know that right?¡± she had protested, slinging the bow over her shoulder and doing her best to look grumpy.


    ¡°Awww, you¡¯re going to break my poor little cold heart. Now go on, bring home the bacon.¡±


    ¡°I will kill a hog for you sweetie. Or should I say sweaty?¡± Jacky joked as she made for the door, Tom following behind. He had work to do, especially if he wanted time to finish up his fishing rod in the evening.


    ¡°Be careful or I¡¯ll take your buns away,¡± Tom replied, giving her a smack on the arse as she opened the door. One quick flick of a tail and an audible whack later and Tom was standing cross-legged leaning against the wall, life flashing before his eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get, boyo¡­¡± Jacky snickered, looking over her shoulder, expression growing confused that he wasn¡¯t following. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?... OOH the balls! Fuck I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    ¡°Forsaten da mi kugler!¡± Tom complained, seeing double as Jacky tried to help him to his feet again. A very confused-looking Bo walked past looking at the two of them with a mix of curiosity and apprehension, taking as wide an arc as possible around them.


    ¡°Are you okay? I promise that wasn¡¯t on purpose.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll live¡­ I think¡­ Hoo-hoo holy shit that hurts.¡±


    ¡°In my defense, you slapped first,¡± Jacky tried, half-heartedly, clearly distraught by the results of a simple joke.


    ¡°I know, I know, but why there¡­ Oh no no please no don¡¯t do that,¡± he pleaded as Jacky picked him up in a bridal carry and quickly moved him to the bed, tail slamming the door behind her. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. It¡¯ll go away I promise.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure? I don¡¯t need to get Nunuk?¡±


    ¡°NOooo no no. Don¡¯t get Nunuk. Or Dakota or Unkai¡­ But especially not Nunuk or Dakota. I can¡¯t have kids here anyway, who cares? Hooo that stings.¡±


    ¡°Fair point,¡± Jacky conceded, tone still rather worried as she put him down before taking a step back and looking at her handiwork. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to stay? Just in case¡­ I could send Ray to check on you. The others are definitely waiting on me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ just¡­ Need a minute¡­ promise.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I will send Ray to check on you later¡­ Byeee, promise I¡¯ll be back for dinner.¡±


    ¡°You always are,¡± Tom joked, trying his best to massage some feeling back into his nether regions. Holy hell could that whip do some damage if it wanted to.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ you sure you don¡¯t want me to-¡±


    ¡°No, see you later, love you,¡± Tom cut her off as he kept rubbing.


    ¡°Right¡­ don¡¯t love yourself too much, byeee.¡±


    ¡®Fucking women.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Ray?! You down in here?¡± Saph shouted out as she and Fengi descended the stairs into the kitchen. Both of them had taken the opportunity to relax a little in front of the fires in the hall after breakfast.


    They had both agreed while at said fireplace that they would go and help Ray out a little in the kitchen. Saph rather doubted that she would have gotten done with all the work she had laid out yesterday, and later today they would definitely be busy with meat prep once the hunting party returned.


    Saph and Fengi also agreed they didn¡¯t really want to take part in the washing up after breakfast so they waited a very measured amount of time, that was to say roughly one nap and a round of cards, before heading down to see if they could find Ray.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s here?¡± Fengi responded when nothing else did, going to have a look next to the water barrel to see if there was any sign of leftover washing up. ¡°Whoever was on dishes is done though. Maybe she¡¯s cleaning then?¡±


    ¡°I guess so. Let¡¯s check down below, she might be clearing out stuff from storage,¡± Saph replied with a sigh just as she heard the door to the grand hall swing open, hitting against the stone wall, the trudge of hurried boots coming down heralding Tom¡¯s imminent arrival.


    The human was walking a touch funny, well more funny than he always did.  He hadn¡¯t seemed to be in pain for breakfast, just a little melancholy, though that look was certainly gone, replaced with a pained smile as he waved to the both of them. ¡°Hello, just passing through.¡±


    Behind him came Ray walking briskly to keep up. ¡°Are you sure it is alright, Tom? We could also have Unkai take a look. I am sure he would be happy to.¡±


    ¡°No no, I¡¯m fine. Jacky is just making a fuss.¡±


    ¡°Jacky would never say she broke anything if she hadn¡¯t. I don¡¯t even think she would admit it if she did normally. Please, it must be very bad!¡± Ray tried again, and Saph honestly had to agree with the sentiment, Fengi nodding in agreement as well.


    ¡°What did she break this time?¡± Saph questioned, looking after the two-person procession and moving to follow, Fengi bringing up the rear.


    ¡°His balls,¡± Ray answered, Tom letting out a very indignant sound at the word.


    ¡°His what now?¡± Saph replied, trying to think back if Tom had ever talked about balls before. ¡°Is it a tool?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but they must have something to do with walking.¡±


    ¡°Not important, and no she didn¡¯t break them, I checked. And trust me I would know if she did. Now, please. I have work to do and this is embarrassing,¡± Tom countered, not stopping and in fact speeding up as they all carried on following.


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay,¡± Ray let out, slowly coming to a stop with Saph and Fen behind her. Tom carried on down towards the workshop, almost up to a jog by now despite the odd but very evident limp he was sporting.


    ¡°I was just trying to help¡­¡± Bemoaned Ray, looking after him a little sadly, though she did slowly come to a stop, Saph and Fengi coming up beside her, Fengi laying a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine¡­¡±


    I still don¡¯t know what he was on about though¡­¡± Saph added, rubbing her chin as she tried to think back. She had heard that before. ¡°Aren¡¯t those the little sack thingy on the back of a buck?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, makes a decent snack,¡± Fengi piped up. They were a favorite of hers, Saph remembered that much. She also remembered something else.


    ¡°Yeah, those¡­ Remember Apuma¡¯s lesson on how baby deer are made?¡±


    ¡°But that would mean that¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, Fengi. Yes, it would.¡±


    ¡°Oooohhhhh¡­.that¡¯s private!¡± Fengi cried out, covering the tip of her snout abashed.


    ¡°Did I do something bad?¡± Ray interrupted, sounding mortified, Saph getting right to calming the woman down before she could do anything rash.


    ¡°No no no. I¡¯m sure he understands. Just, please. Don¡¯t say it to anyone else okay.¡±


    ¡°Say what to anyone else?¡± It came from further down the corridor, Herron heading back up in about as much kit as they ever saw him wearing. ¡°And why is Tom walking funny?¡±


    The three girls had done their best not to clue in Herron on exactly what was going on, instead trying to substitute in a little story about how Jacky had punched Tom on the thigh thinking it was funny. Well, Saph had at least. Ray had point-blank refused that anything was wrong, while Fengi went with Tom having fallen down the stairs which only led to a very, very confused Herron who luckily decided to just give up on working out the clearly complicated situation and instead inquire as to what was for dinner.


    That had also resulted in a few answers. Fengi was thinking fresh meat from the hunt roasted, depending on what they brought back of course. Ray really wanted to try a recipe for a boiled pudding she remembered, though for some reason she insisted that was a main course. Saph had rather wanted to help Ray with her pie work she had talked about yesterday and thought that was supposed to be dinner.


    Herron, as always taking the easy way out, elected that the answer was all three, concluded that sounded sweet, and went off to tell the others.


    ¡°Aaaw maaan¡­ we¡¯re gonna be here all day now,¡± Saph sighed, contemplating if they could just make some sort of simple thing instead and blame Herron for being a dumb-dumb and not understanding what they were saying.


    ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t have to. It won''t be that hard. I have some pie crust leftovers from yesterday. I wanted to bake them for breakfast, but well¡­ didn¡¯t get up early enough to light the oven.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°No, you are not making all that by yourself,¡± Saph protested, Fengi nodding her agreement.


    ¡°Damnstraight. I¡¯ve haven¡¯t had a boiled pudding since¡­ hmmm¡­ by the gods. Years I guess?¡± Fengi reminisced looking up into the wooden ceiling.


    ¡°You have never made boiled pudding?¡± Ray questioned, seeming outright confused by the statement.


    ¡°Nope, had it a bunch though when I was little. Always wanted to make one¡­ Do we have everything? I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s not that uhm¡­ expensive,¡± the copper huntress carried on a little cautiously.


    It made sense. Fengi was an orphan, and Ray a hopeless cripple. Any food they remembered from those times was not likely to be extravagant. Sapphire was pretty sure she had eaten it before too. Probably at an inn somewhere or perhaps back in the city when she was just starting out as a racer.


    ¡°I checked yesterday. The suet was a little dusty, but I found it, still smelled good.¡±


    ¡°I guess we are making puddings then. I think we have some dried fruits somewhere that should work great in it,¡± Fengi added, enthusiasm growing by the second.


    ¡°Plums are the best. I am sure I saw a box of them. Looks a little fancy, but I¡¯m sure Nunuk won¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Not these days, no, I don¡¯t think so. But that¡¯s a dessert, it¡¯s sweet?¡± Saph questioned, still not quite getting that part.


    ¡°Oh, we only got it on special days. Like maybe a festival or something¡­ often it was all we got on days like that. It¡¯s quite filling though.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense, it¡¯s rather dense after all. Being boiled and all,¡± Saph replied, not quite sure if that was a good thing or not.


    ¡°Could we maybe make one for Yldrill too¡­ she did get us home yesterday, maybe say Maiko talked us into it,¡± Fengi tried, cautiously glancing between the two of them.


    ¡°I thought she tried to kill you two?¡± Ray questioned in an equally cautious tone. ¡°You want to give her a pudding?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think she just messed up and got hurt. She had such a shit day and still saved us both¡­ and kept us warm and dry through the night. Even if she didn¡¯t have a choice, she still did it,¡± Fengi pleaded, Saph believing it was as much herself that needed convincing as Ray.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± was all the reply Saph could think of. It wasn¡¯t like making one more would be that much work after all. And it might do at least something to make the dragon more bearable to be around.


    ¡°We should make one for Jarix too then, since he¡¯s out hunting,¡± Ray then added with a determined nod. ¡°It is only fair.¡±


    ¡°You both know Glira is gonna be impossible if she doesn¡¯t get one too then,¡± Saph pointed out with a sigh as she started doing the mental math. ¡°Maybe we could get her to go get some logs if we gave her one? Think she would do that for a pudding?¡± she questioned, not believing for a second that it would work.


    Fengi clearly shared the sentiment, putting on a courteous smile but slowly shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think she would do that, no.¡±


    ¡°Well then she doesn¡¯t get one. Fair is fair,¡± Ray decided with quite some determination. ¡°We just make one for her to keep it a surprise, and if she says no everyone else gets to share her bit.¡±


    ¡°... Do please remind me to not be near her for the next week if she says no then,¡± Saph sighed, quite sure that wouldn¡¯t end up great.


    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t go for it maybe Yldril can have one over her. I think she would like that,¡± Fengi pointed out, Saph grumbling in agreement


    ¡°Yeah probably.¡±


    ¡°I guess three extra then¡­ do we even have enough pots?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    He had gotten some odd looks showing up for work limping and red in the face, but soon enough they had gotten their little morning meeting going to lay a plan for the day.


    To his delight, Shiva had in fact agreed to make him the rings for his little fishing pole project at some point. But he still needed the pole done. Kullinger had promised he would find something suitable even though he made it quite clear that was only so Tom may be convinced that nothing good hid beneath the surface.


    After a long day of making brackets and nails, Kullinger made good on his promise. He had indeed found an old broken bow that had apparently been used to tell a wolf to fuck off by Dakota a year or so back.


    That of course lead to a bit of story telling. One thing had led to another and Tom had been allowed - or more so forced - to go see the pelt of said wolf lying on the floor of Dakota¡¯s room where it belonged. When he had first been in there he had thought it was a bear or maybe a moose. It was fucking huge, but after a bit of back-and-forth questioning Dakota had confirmed it was indeed what they considered a wolf. A brown forest wolf to be exact. It was a light color and the size of a damn pony if he had to give a guess.


    ¡°Remind me never to go out wandering those woods alone¡­ ever.¡±


    ¡°Oh you haven¡¯t seen that half of it,¡± Dakota added with a nonchalantness that really didn¡¯t comfort him much, giving the rug a kick. ¡°This bastard got sloppy. Must have been hungry, normally they are smarter than this. Lone one too, they tend to stick to packs of at least half a dozen.¡±


    ¡°You got worse than that?¡± Tom questioned, glancing at the rather large rug.


    ¡°Sure. Bears. Drakyr are never funny. You¡¯ve met the Pjeltor. Vargulfs too for that matter. That¡¯s about all the big stuff we need to worry about. Oh, or bees, can¡¯t forget about bees. Don¡¯t think we¡¯ve seen any here for years though. All in all we¡¯re quite lucky with the local wildlife here, all things considered.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ And the small stuff?¡± Tom questioned leadingly.


    ¡°Parasites, little insects. Saph got a leech once when we were picking moss in the swamps near Nalridge.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Nalridge is.¡±


    ¡°It is a ridge with an old ruin on it, east of here. It is quite a useful marker, but that doesn¡¯t matter. Those things are no joke let me tell you. It was on there good and proper by the time we noticed it. Add it to the reasons never to go into the water, at least if it¡¯s murky.¡±


    ¡°And what are those exactly?¡±


    ¡°About this big,¡± Dakota replied, indicating something maybe 10cm long. ¡°Likes to stay in muddy water or swamps, you won¡¯t feel them latch on. Saph didn¡¯t notice till we went to leave and it was stuck on the back of her leg. Nasty I tell you.¡±


    ¡°Ew¡­ is it dangerous or just, well, nasty?¡±¡±


    ¡°Can be. Her leg was gray for weeks afterward. Apuma and Anchor had to watch over her in case it got worse.¡±


    ¡°Why Anchor?¡±


    ¡°In case it got worse,¡± Dakota reiterated, tone turning darker as she stared at Tom. ¡°Thankfully she got better.¡±


    ¡°Riiight¡­ yeah. So it spreads corruption then? Is it like the armor that dark knight had? You didn¡¯t seem too keen on touching it.¡±


    ¡°Some say they do. Others claim it¡¯s harmless. I don¡¯t see how something that blackens skin could be good for you though. Apuma has a book claiming they are often used to turn prisoners slowly after they have been captured. A fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy.¡±


    ¡°Well shit,¡± was all of the intellectuality Tom could muster as a response. It sure sounded like a shit way to go.


    ¡°The dagger you saw was unique due to how fast it worked and the fact it apparently bound its victims to new masters almost immediately even more so if what we know is true. A person who falls to something as tragic as a simple leech may just wander about like a deranged monster until bound through some dark ritual¡­ Much like those darklings Baron described from Cartehega actually, come to think of it,¡± Dakota reminisced, looking into the middle distance, likely trying to recall the tale.


    ¡°I see¡­ And can anything be done?¡±


    ¡°There are treatments¡­ some better, some worse. Apuma thinks half of them are pure claptrap and superstition, but I''ve got my doubts he knows which half,¡± Dakota sighed, evidently not liking speaking ill of her father. ¡°But Saph did get better. We do not talk about such things normally. I am sure you understand.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ But eeeehm- why tell me then?¡±


    ¡°You need to know. Can¡¯t have you fall just because you don¡¯t know. Assuming it even works on you,¡± Dakota declared, tone quite firm.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll put that one under ¡®find out never¡¯ if that¡¯s fine with you.¡±


    ¡°Quite, No reason to tempt fate. Heaven knows we have done that plenty as of late. Often without sucsess.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that. We¡¯re still here, and no one¡¯s gotten killed or hurt too bad. for the last¡­ If it stops raining, we might even be able to get some work done outside.¡±


    ¡°It has Tom¡­ have you not looked out of a window yet today?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I did yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m an engineer. We¡¯re afraid of sunlight.¡±


    ¡°... But it is not sunny?¡± Dakota replied blankly, not seeming quite to understand what the joke was. ¡°It is quite perfectly overcast in fact. Of course, that means the rain could be back at any moment.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, I should be fine then. A little water neve¡­ I¡¯ll live,¡± Tom dismissed, glad he didn¡¯t quite finish that sentence as he hurried out of the room. ¡®Well done Tom, fucking pro.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wiperna!... You down here?¡± Saph called out, glancing about the buildings, looking for any sign of the farm woman. But there was no reply. ¡°Raulf!?... Gods dammit¡­ Right, listen up in there, you''d better behave or we will have another dish for dinner, you hear me?¡± she carried on before gingerly trying the door. It had been rather funny when the chickens had decided to attack Tom all those months back, but Saph definitely preferred laughing to being laughed at and she had been scratched up more than once before.


    And so, with no sudden movements, she stepped inside the small building that made up their coop. About two dozen chickens called it home, though that number would soon start falling as winter progressed. A steady stream of clucking and a few more agitated calls rang out, followed by a chicken fleeing the nest as Sapphire advanced.


    ¡°Stupid fucking chickens. Right shoo, I¡¯m here to steal your eggs,¡± Saph tried when faced with a particularly stubborn hen. Shooing it away achieved little save several complaints from the clucky bird, who pecked at her hand when she tried to grab the eggs from under their mother. ¡°You bastard! This is why we don¡¯t keep you inside even if you are nice and warm. That and you crap everywhere.¡±


    After the third time getting her hand pecked, a little blue spot emerging at the base of the thumb, Saph grabbed the culprit by the neck and held it up at arm''s length as she raided the nest. ¡°Just one egg? That¡¯s all you got?! Useless fucking feather ball, we¡¯ll make stew out of you as soon as winter sets in.¡±


    ¡°Bakbak bakaaaw!¡± the chicken protested, still trying to peck and scratch at Saph, unable to escape.


    ¡°Shut it, you don¡¯t get a say in this. Should I leave a few hoping for chicks?... They are damn delicious after a few months. You make more babies.¡±


    With the eggs stolen, the irritated mother was placed back on the nest to brood on where her eggs had gone. Saph placed her catch in the woven basket they always used for collecting eggs and moved on. A few more nests were raided before she turned back to said basket, finding the stubborn mother now brooding on the whole basket instead. ¡°Really?... Really? You think that¡¯s a nest.¡±


    Saph once more grabbed the bird and this time threw it at the roosting bars where many of the other chickens were sitting. That resulted in a mighty flapping of wings as some fled, others made room, and yet more took the chance to fly down to their empty nests. The noise was deafening and Saph decided to just hurry up with the rest of the nests lest her ears be ringing for the rest of the day.


    Then, with a furious flapping of wings and a truly ear-piercing ¡°Bakaaaaaaw!¡± the colorful bundle of feathers that was their rooster, Kick, landed on her neck and started pecking and scratching.


    ¡°Oh, fuck off, Kick!¡± Saph complained, grabbing the green and purple shiny bird by the neck as she set the basket down, off-hand going to check the back of her neck. It did indeed come back with a slight smear of blue on it. ¡°I will revel in the day we eat you too. You and that stupid, stubborn one.¡± Saph let her eyes gaze about the coop, but it seemed the rest of them were content to let her be, for now, and instead just flew or walked about making one hell of a racket. ¡®Better wrap this up.¡¯


    And so she did, collecting the last few eggs all while keeping a firm hold of the pissy rooster. It made 50 in total, not as many as she had hoped for, but it was getting colder. With her catch secured, she had opened the door and stepped outside, once more being careful not to let any of them escape and holding Kick at arm''s length still. The rooster was then thrown back from whence he came and the door slammed in his face before he managed to fly back out to cause more trouble.


    ¡°Hah, better luck next time, dumbfuck,¡± Saph chuckled, feeling a touch relieved.


    She remembered well enough some time last year where the troublesome bird had escaped along with several female compatriots. She really didn¡¯t want to be the reason they all had to run around catching chickens for the next hour or so. But now she wouldn¡¯t be, she thought to herself contently, standing outside the now sealed coop and listening to the cawing and bickering of the chickens inside, all seemingly still quite upset.


    ¡®Still no Wiperna though?¡¯ she wondered, looking around once more. ¡°She normally comes running whenever there is a commotion down here. Oh well, at least she milked Daisy and Rose this morning,¡± Saph muttered to herself, throwing a glance at the small stable where their two oxen lived. They probably weren¡¯t even in there right now, normally Wiperna or Raulf would take them out to a fresh bit of grass and hammer in a stake to tether them to. It was bad enough having to cut hay for them in winter, but at least they could feed themselves for most of the year.


    Saph liked those two a lot more than the chickens. They were docile and really rather lazy if she was being honest. Making them do their job would at times require treats or some persuasion, but they sure could pull a plow. These days though, they were living the luxury life. First Jarix and now Yldril had more or less put them out of a job after all. ¡®If ever we need those two again I¡¯m betting money they won¡¯t do it now they¡¯ve gotten used to this¡­ I wonder if they would be tough after all that work or tender after standing about munching grass all year this year? ...Hmmmm.¡¯


    Saph pondered that question as she trekked back up the stairs towards the kitchen with her delicate cargo hanging from one arm. They would need every single one for what they had planned so she was being extra careful. That and this was technically a day off, so she was taking it nice and slow.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this on my day off?... Why am I doing this?¡± Saph questioned herself as she came to a stop just short of the door. ¡°... Because what else would I be doing¡­ Gods I need some sun, drink, and books. Arch hurry up old boy. I¡¯ll bake you a cake if you do,¡± she chuckled as she opened the door, revealing Fengi and Ray both busy with the preparations.


    ¡°We have eggs, what else do we need?¡±


    ¡°Perfect,¡± Ray cheered, face lighting up with a smile as she saw the overloaded basket of eggs. ¡°Ohh they did good today. I am nearly done flaking the suet. I think Fengi is washing the berries.¡±


    ¡°Yup, we have red rolics . Most of it was for trail mix and snacks, but we haven¡¯t been doing anywhere near as much hunting this year as normal, so we¡¯ve ended up with too much.¡±


    ¡°Question, should we really be using dried berries for this? Wouldn¡¯t it be best to save those for winter?¡± Saph questioned gingerly, setting the basket down. ¡°Also those are sour.¡±


    ¡°We are buying so much stuff for winter we will be living like queens,¡± Fengi replied with a grin. ¡°We even got some of that sticky syrup stuff we got from making the nice white sugar. It may look like tree sap, but it is delicious. Sour berries, no problem.¡±


    ¡°I may or may not have had a taste back when we boiled that down, yeah,¡± Saph admitted, a smile creeping onto her face as the plan came together. The whole kitchen seemed happy and lively, so it was hard not to let it rub off a little. It was warm too with all the pots they could manage being placed over fires and slowly being brought up to a boil.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even have sweetened it, but this will be much better,¡± Ray interjected, also in great spirits, ¡°This will be even better than the ones I remember.¡±


    ¡°Like I said, queens,¡± Fengi reiterated with a girly giggle as she removed a fresh handful of berries from the bowl of water she was using to rinse them off. ¡°Do you think Jarix has ever had one before?¡±


    "Perhaps? It is quite easy to make a large one. And not that expensive,¡± Ray replied, Saph nodding a little in agreement. It was a rather simple recipe - flaked deer suet, flour, eggs, milk, assorted dried berries, and something sweet if you got it. All mixed up in a bowl and bound in cloth to be boiled for a few hours. Take it out, let it cool, cut, and serve. Easy as that.


    ¡°I am sure they will all love it after a long day. Even Yldril.¡±


    ¡°That is the hope I guess. Who can be mad when there is dessert?¡± Saph chuckled as she set to work cracking the eggs into the big bowl ready to be mixed with flour. ¡°And if she is, we¡¯ll damn well have Jarix fly it to Deriva instead and give it to Tiguan.¡±


    ¡°Damn right¡­ so pies after this, right?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 178: Busy Day Off

    It had ended up being a busy day in the kitchen, but with three of them, at least they did not need to run around like panicking deer in order to get it all done. Wiperna and Raulf had showed up a bit before dinner as it was technically their job to cook said dinner today. To say they were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. They had just planned on some simple stew and bread baked for breakfast, so with a little credit given they were gonna be very popular tonight.


    Wiperna of course had some questions about why her chickens had been so riled up when she had checked on them earlier. Luckily for Saph she didn¡¯t find the scratch on her neck, so she got away with some mild chuckling rather than getting laughed at like Tom. With the return of the hunting party came yet another influx of people to the kitchen, but with the the pies were already in the oven to bake they were out of there anyway. They had put in a few clay pots filled with the bones and trimming as well as water, which would boil down into broth. It might take a second firing of the oven to let them carry on overnight, but that wasn¡¯t too much of a problem. They wanted the keep warm anyway, might as well make broth with the same fire. Then tomorrow Ray wanted to reduce it down to gelatin so they could dry it into pocket soup for use as rations both for winter and any trips they might have coming up.


    But as the puddings were also done, there wasn¡¯t that much more they needed to do, and so Saph and Fengi had tried to covertly exit along with Ray, but the older woman would have none of it.


    ¡°Come on, we¡¯ve done enough already,¡± Saph pleaded in a hushed tone as Jacky piled into the kitchen too along with Bo and Pho.


    ¡°Yeah just let the others handle it,¡± Fengi joined in as she gave Jacky a chin-up nod which was reciprocated.


    ¡°But, they went with Jarix. There must be so much to do. I will get a bucket and water. I¡¯m sure he is very dirty.¡±


    Saph and Fengi looked at each other to see if the other had a plan before they just sighed and looked back to Ray. ¡°Right then. Go make him sparkle then.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, I should bring polish.¡±


    Saph did a quite gentle facepalm as Ray merrily ran off towards yet more work, being replaced by Jacky who had the sort of overly kind smile on that you expect when someone wants to ask a favor.


    ¡°Sooo. We shot a couple deer and a few-¡±


    ¡°Nope, day off, see ya,¡± Saph cut her off before hurrying out, Fengi turning to follow equally hurriedly.


    ¡°Enjoy the nice dinner.¡±


    Jacky just looked after them, smile fading as her expression grew more tired. ¡°Geese¡­ ahr fuck.¡±


    Once clear of the kitchen and anyone else who might be intending on putting them to work the two women had looked to each other, Saph getting to speak first. ¡°So, what now?¡±


    ¡°We could go check on Yldril?¡± Fengi tried, sounding a touch conflicted. Saph certainly didn¡¯t blame her if she didn¡¯t want to go see the dragon just yet after their little chat the night before. Besides, Maiko was likely busy with her.


    ¡°I think maybe we should leave her be,¡± Saph reluctantly answered.


    ¡°Or you could come with me. I have something I believe I should discuss with young Fengi,¡± came the gentle voice of Apuma, much to Saph¡¯s and Fengi¡¯s surprise. They both turned to see the old man making his way slowly down the corridor. ¡°If you would not mind of course.¡±


    Saph looked to the younger huntress to answer. It was her that he was asking for after all.


    ¡°Sure, uhm¡­ what is it about?¡±


    ¡°Yldril I am afraid, though I hope it will be more pleasant than her temper.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Fengi replied, ears dropping a touch.


    ¡°Linkosta is waiting for us in the library, not to worry. Paulin is busy inquiring with Dakota and our lady. Oh I hope it won¡¯t put her in a bad mood tonight. Anywho, come along now.¡±


    And so they had followed the old man, making chit chat as they made for the library where Linkosta had indeed been waiting. That is to say she was sitting at the large reading desk with an equally large tome in front of her.


    At the sound of the large double doors opening she looked up from her studies, head turning to greet them with a large, almost ecstatic smile. ¡°Hi Dad, I found another one I think we could manage. Telekinesis, just like Saph has.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± was all Saph got out as Apuma quickened his pace, walking over to his daughter and leaving the two huntresses to shut the door.


    ¡°Really? Do show me. Come along you two, we have got something most exciting.¡±


    Saph and Fengi once again exchanged glances before following to see what the fuss was about, Linkosta moving over to make room for her father, the huntresses taking up station behind the pair of them to get a look as well.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Fengi questioned, craning her neck to have a look at the pages. To Saph it was all strange symbols and diagrams. None she could read, but some she could recognize.


    ¡°That¡¯s a spellbook, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Linkosta replied enthusiastically. Saph wasn¡¯t quite sure why. They owned spellbooks already. They had done so since before Apuma even moved to the keep, long before her time. She was even quite certain that Linkosta even had a personal one which she had made herself.


    ¡°What kind?¡± Fengi questioned, curious as to why this was all so exciting. ¡°Is it a special one?¡±


    ¡°It was a gift from our¡­ tolerated, Investigator Paulin. She was somewhat hesitant to hand it over, though she admits this was brought¡­ Oh, how did she put it?¡± Apuma questioned, racking his brain for an answer.


    ¡°In case there were indeed people at this keep who could be trusted to wield it,¡± Linkosta said with a giggle, running a finger down the page. ¡°I have read these kinds of books before. They had them at the academy. I never got to take any classes on them though. They can be rather dangerous. Not to mention we didn''t have any dragons back home then.¡±


    ¡°Okay, will you just put me out of my misery and tell me what it is?¡± Sapphire chuckled as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at.


    ¡°It is a book on draconic sorcery. It''s full of spells so powerful I could not cast them. Not without dying anyway.¡±


    ¡°Okay, a what now?¡± Saph questioned again as Fengi went a little quiet.


    ¡°Even so they are quite dangerous to wield, and rarely done so by a single mage. Luckily, we have two,¡± Apuma added with a chuckle. ¡°Blessed be.¡±


    ¡°Blessed be indeed, Dad. Think we can do this?¡±


    ¡°I do not see why not. I have done so before, though that was quite some time ago. And I was the young one then,¡± the old man responded, looking into the middle distance, reminiscing about the good old days. ¡°But I never thought the opportunity would arise again.¡±


    ¡°Lucky thing she overheard you talking with mother about if we could afford such a book, ey?¡±


    ¡°Oh most certainly. Though I have a feeling Jortun had a hand in it too,¡± he replied, turning back to look at Saph and Fengi. ¡°Would you believe it? They came to our room and sat down with me and Nunuk to explain the dangers and the problems with all this. The look on her face when she learned I already knew. Most marvelous.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Nunuk would have been pleased with that one,¡± Saph chuckled, looking to Fengi, who seemed rather worried.


    ¡°What do you mean dangers?¡±


    ¡°Well you see, Fengi, what these spells do is they take the power required not from you, but from a dragon or other willing creature really.¡±


    ¡°If abused, it¡¯s some dark stuff,¡± Linkosta added. ¡°But with consent it can really make some things happen.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ so how is that dangerous?¡± Fengi tried again as the two mages seemed to be dodging the question.


    ¡°Oh well it is a lot of energy. If anything goes wrong it could be¡­ rather bad,¡± Apuma replied a touch dismissively.


    ¡°No walking on the ritual lines basically. It will also hurt whoever we are taking the magic from. Not as in ¡®it kills them¡¯, but you know. It burns a bit,¡± Linkosta added, also not seeming too concerned about the down sides.


    ¡°Ahr,¡± Fengi replied, rather less enthusiastically as she stared at the page. ¡°I suppose that doesn¡¯t matter when it¡¯s just Yldril then?¡±


    ¡°Well when you put it like that,¡± Apuma protested, clearing his throat a little. ¡°I was rather hoping she wouldn¡¯t protest too much. It might even speed the work up a touch.¡±


    ¡°Or we may save it for another battle. I haven¡¯t fought before. Not really. But I know a few things, and there must be something in here that¡¯s useful in a fight,¡± Linkosta added, starting to flip pages.


    ¡°I suppose if it¡¯s between a bit of pain or death, it sorta makes sense,¡± Fengi relented, though it was clear she wasn¡¯t happy about it. ¡°I am guessing you will want to train beforehand too?¡±


    ¡°That would be for the best, yes, though we have quite some studying to do first. We were just hoping you would broach the subject with her. Or perhaps Jarix even?¡± Apuma questioned in a hopeful tone.


    ¡°Those puddings are going to look like a peace offering now, you know that right?¡± Saph sighed.


    ¡°Or a bribe,¡± Fengi added with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll ask her.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank you, Fengi. It will be worth it in the end, I promise,¡± Linkosta said once more, looking up from her book. ¡°Some of the spells are incredible. The last one talked about lifting hundreds of kilos.¡±


    ¡°Able to, my dear. There is a difference. Even Yldril would only provide so much energy, and it is just the two of us after all,¡± Apuma corrected, in a calming tone. It did at least make Linkosta look a touch abashed, but Saph doubted it actually did much to dampen her.


    ¡°Might as well throw Glira in there too. This all sounds right up her street,¡± Saph added, not sure what to make of it all. ¡°As long as she thinks it¡¯ll please Tom at least.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®What the fuck is that?¡¯ Tom questioned as he looked at the odd, jiggly mass sitting on his plate. They had been spoiled today with both fresh meat, pies, and even some roasted potatoes courtesy of Raulf. By the sounds of it they had Saph, Fengi, and Ray to thank for most of the meal though. Notably the pies and whatever this was.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Glancing down the table, he could see Saph and Fengi both looking around at people expectantly. Some had already dug in and seemed to find it enjoyable enough. And unfortunately for him, it would seem he had caught Sapphire¡¯s attention, which soon had Fengi looking his way too.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ what is this again?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pudding, with some dried berries in it and some of that sticky sweet stuff we got from the sugar.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tom replied, looking back to the pudding. It had holes in it almost like a cheese, but much smaller. It certainly didn¡¯t look like any pudding he had ever seen. It wasn¡¯t clear at all, but he could definitely see the berries in there so that was something. Aside from the splotches of color, it looked more milky to him, a touch yellow perhaps. Turning to Jacky beside him, he was surprised to find that she was already wolfing down the sweet dessert.


    ¡°This is tasty. Thanks!¡± she called down the table, mouth half-full before going back for more, seeming quite sold.


    At least somewhat encouraged, Tom stuck his spoon in to cut a piece off. It wiggled back and forward on the plate a little, and he held it up for inspection. ¡®Oh well, here goes nothing.¡¯


    It had a weird chew, not that it was chewy. More like a fudge cake mixed with gel. It reminded him a bit of a lemon curd, but the holes were much bigger and the taste quite different indeed. There was some sweetness, but not much. The berries certainly dominated when you got one, but they weren''t in every bit and they were a touch sour. The rest of it was just¡­ milky. To him at least. Not that it was overly offensive really.


    Looking back at the two chefs, he became acutely aware they were still staring at him, both looking a touch worried by his reaction thus far. He nodded a little as he swallowed, trying to look pleased. ¡°Not bad¡­ how do you make the holes?¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s suet. It melts away after it has set.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I know what that is.¡±


    ¡°Kidney fat,¡± Fengi helpfully replied. ¡°From a deer, of course.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tom chuckled in reply, trying not to seem too worried. ¡®Well, it certainly sounds like a huntress desert.¡¯


    ¡°Once dinner is done we have three more for the dragons,¡± Fengi declared with quite some enthusiasm.


    ¡°You must have been busy,¡± Tom replied with a smile, not that he had any clue how much work this would have been. Around the table there were a few odd looks, while to his right Jacky finished chewing.


    ¡°Is Baron back or something? I didn¡¯t see him outside.¡±


    ¡°No Jacky, Yldril is getting one too. Hopefully it¡¯ll warm her up a little,¡± Fengi dismissed,  enthusiasm seemingly a little dashed as she went back to her plate and took another bite.


    ¡°I am more surprised you are giving Glira one. Are you getting anything in return?¡± Bo questioned, ever practical.


    ¡°We thought maybe it would help with getting her to fly some logs over. But maybe not, I don¡¯t know,¡± Fengi replied half-heartedly.


    ¡°Best of luck, I think you will need it¡­ Even if this isn¡¯t half bad.¡±


    ¡°I am sure she will be quite happy,¡± Essy added, in a warmer tone. ¡°Yldril too for that matter.¡±


    ¡°She really did save your arses out there, didn¡¯t she? If you¡¯re bringing her sweets?¡± Pho questioned with a chuckle, seeming to find it a little funny, which certainly didn¡¯t earn her a kind look from Essy.


    ¡°As a matter of fact she did,¡± Fengi retorted with some finality in her voice.


    ¡°Maybe we should go see then?¡± Sapphire questioned in a softer tone than she would normally use. Tom furrowed his brow a little; this must mean quite a bit to Fengi. Either that or they didn¡¯t like the thought of a day¡¯s work being wasted. ¡°Before the surprise is ruined by gossiping and sharp ears.¡±


    ¡°Oh I haven¡¯t heard a thing,¡± Jarix then called out merrily, the dragon¡¯s head peeking through the open door near the ceiling that allowed him to peek inside. ¡°And I won¡¯t say a thing if I get to try mine.¡±


    ¡°Right on you big blue bastard, I¡¯ll fetch it,¡± Saph called out, getting up as she stuffed the last bit inside her mouth, chewing as she jogged off. Fengi took a moment before getting up, though once she did it was with purpose.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m glad you all enjoyed it. See you all later,¡± the young woman declared, setting off after Sapphire.


    There was some silence at the table following the unexpected display, though once the young huntress was out of sight Essy released a pent-up breath. ¡°Oh poor girl, do try to go easy on her.¡±


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Jacky questioned with a touch of real worry, though it was a little dampened by her mouth still being full.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know what to do about that dastardly black dragon. But she is certainly trying some things.¡±


    ¡°Is that good or bad?¡± Tom found himself asking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. One could hope she would give up and just give Yldil her damn orders and leave it at that¡­ But she can¡¯t do that, it¡¯s Fengi,¡± the older huntress conceded, looking rather solemn.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Jacky concurred with a shrug, giving Tom a slight bump to the side. ¡°At least you¡¯re not the only one who can¡¯t work out what to do half the time. No offence.¡±


    ¡°Some taken,¡± Tom half-joked back. He could understand Fengi¡¯s problem, and it wasn¡¯t like he was any better.


    ¡°With some luck she will break that black-souled wench and get her to understand that being an arse doesn¡¯t tend to get you very far. Unless being left alone is what you want,¡± Essy continued with rather rare malice in her voice.


    Tom could only remember a select few times she would ever take to swearing, even Bo and Pho paid heed, stopping their whispering amongst themselves as they stared.


    ¡°Perhaps disciplinary action is in order,¡± Edita added, clearly trying to help.


    ¡°No, nooo. Leave it to Fengi, even if it was to work it would only make her doubt herself more¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see,¡± Edita replied, not looking like she quite understood it, but Tom was quite confident she would not take matters into her own hands.


    ¡°How do you even discipline a dragon? In the inquisition, I mean?¡± Jacky questioned, but if it was real or fake interest Tom couldn¡¯t discern.


    ¡°I¡­ Well mostly labour, I guess. Maybe a muzzle. Or lashings, of course.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think any of those would help here,¡± Tom added, trying not to be rude.


    ¡°Quite. I do not believe for a second Fengi would allow it anyway. She much prefers to use the carrot as opposed to the stick. The smart choice if you ask me,¡± Essy agreed with a sagely nod.


    ¡°I sure don¡¯t mind, we got dessert out of it,¡± Pho added with a chuckle, scooping up another bit and looking down the table towards Tom. ¡°If you don¡¯t want yours, I¡¯ll happily snatch it.¡±


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m having this one.¡± And so he did, even if it tasted a bit odd. At least Fengi wouldn¡¯t have to worry about if her cooking sucked.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Jarix had snapped up his pudding in a few quick mouthfuls, and he made no effort to hide the fact it was quite enjoyable. He even gave Saph and Fengi a little bow. Zarko had stuck her head through the door from the grand hall to see what was going on and was certainly less impressed with them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get used to that, I am not your personal chef.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe I shall have to hire one then,¡± Jarix countered, not seeming willing to let his lieutenant dampen his spirits. ¡°Besides, I believe food preparation falls under the duties of the ground crew.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve tried Radexi¡¯s cooking,¡± Zarko replied with a huff before retreating back to the dinner still unfolding on the other side.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it was that bad,¡± Jarix protested, looking down to Saph and Fengi, still smiling. ¡°There were far more leftovers that day, even if it was quite salty.¡±


    ¡°What did he manage to mess up?¡± Saph questioned, suddenly curious. Over-salting was a rather easy thing to prevent after all.


    ¡°Oh just some plain stew. He forgot to wash the salt pork.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that would do it,¡± Fenig concurred as she hefted the second pudding the two of them had been carrying. ¡°Glad you liked it, but we have to get this one down to Yldril.¡±


    ¡°Your funeral, but if she doesn¡¯t want it I sure do,¡± the dragon responded with a chuckle before letting out a deep breath and coiling up on himself. He didn¡¯t have much to do for the evening, so he might as well sleep it away after all.


    ¡°Night Jarix, don¡¯t you sleep till noon tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Of course not, we¡¯re doing exercises all day. But it pays to be well rested¡­ I¡¯ll give you a silver if you can keep mother up.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. I¡¯ll consider it,¡± Saph chuckled in reply. ¡°Is she ticklish by chance?¡±


    ¡°Try the feet, but I warn you: she kicks.¡±


    ¡°All you, Sapphire. I like living,¡± Fengi added in, already starting to move off.


    ¡°Maybe with a stick or something? Keep out of reach you know,¡± Saph tried as she went to follow, soon leaving the slumbering teenage dragon behind. ¡°We could also give her that pudding in an hour or two, maybe spike it with some more sugar.¡±


    ¡°That sugar is worth more than what you are getting paid. You know that.¡±


    ¡°Well yes, but Glira can be such an arse.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡±


    Descending the stairs, the duo soon made it to the platform outside the armory and took to the skies. It was a brief hop, circling around the rocky outcropping on which the keep stood, a sliver of red still on the horizon mourning the setting sun. The air was crisp and clear, but with a touch of wind buffeting the two of them about ever so gently.


    Saph let out a chuckle, looking at the black ground below hidden even from what light the sunset provided. ¡°I think she¡¯s gotten lost again,¡± she called out in a raised voice so that Fenig, to her front, could hear.


    ¡°Yldril! Where are you?!¡± Fengi shouted out into the darkness, an annoyed rumble coming up from below followed by a hiss of displeasure.


    ¡°Why, what do you two want?¡±


    ¡°We brought dessert!¡± Fengi called out, which was met with a moment''s silence as the two huntresses turned to follow the sound.


    Flying low and slow, a bright yellow eye soon shone in the night, looking up at them. The pitch-black body melded well with the dark stone until they were very close indeed.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yldril questioned, her annoyance now blended with skepticism. The two made their landing well enough, the dragon¡¯s looming head soon making out the linen bag Sapphire was carrying.


    ¡°We mean we brought dessert,¡± Fengi reiterated, gesturing at Saph who held up the bag to show it properly.


    ¡°... What kind?¡± the dragon asked with suspicion, though they clearly had her interest as she eyed the bag.


    ¡°Berry pudding, sweetened too. A thank you, you could say.¡±


    ¡°A thank you?¡± Yldril responded, starting to stir, the dragon uncoiling before them and not taking her gaze off of Sapphire. ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°It was a shit trip, and we all had a shit time. But you got us home. As well as some logs which I¡¯m sure will dry out one day. That¡¯s something, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Well you are right about the shitiness of that trip, but I would rather be told we won¡¯t be doing that again. It was stupid.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be. Dakota and Nunuk both agree. No more hauling until you can fly again. Cheer up, not gonna be much to do for a few days.¡±


    ¡°Blessed be the idiots in charge,¡± Yldril grumbled, lowering her head before stopping to inspect them closer, looking at the pudding Saph was holding. When it wasn¡¯t offered, she sighed deeply and looked back to Fengi. ¡°You didn¡¯t finish, did you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Linkosta and Apuma have a favor to ask of us,¡± Fengi admitted reluctantly.


    ¡°Us,¡± Yldril snorted, not impressed by the sentiment. ¡°Am I to fetch some rare moss from deep in a swamp, or perhaps kill some dangerous creature to sate their magics? Or do they want me to tell stories to be written down?¡±


    ¡°No. No, it¡¯s not any of those,¡± Fengi deflected, twiddling her fingers as she rocked back and forth a little.


    At that response, Yldril grew even more suspicious, lowering her head down to eye level and staring squarely at Fengi. ¡°What is it then? Spit it out.¡±


    ¡°They were wondering if you would let them practice some spellcraft with you. Dragon spells.¡±


    ¡°Bwha! And why would I agree to be bled and then tortured for their entertainment?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s not that bad. Lin said it would just sting a little. You know, some discomfort,¡± Saph added in  dismissively. ¡°Besides, Linkosta doesn¡¯t have the stomach for hurting anyone. Nor does Apuma really.¡±


    ¡°Yet she would have no problem tapping my blood and painting pretty pictures on me with it?¡±


    ¡°I will be honest, she didn¡¯t tell me about that part.¡±


    ¡°Does it have to be yours?¡± Fengi questioned, likely hoping that maybe a deer would suffice.


    ¡°No, I will just rip a deer in half and use it like fucking charcoal to draw pretty pictures. Of course it has to be mine. Or dragon¡¯s blood at least. Think they wanna tap Jarix for it?¡± she questioned sarcastically, already knowing what the answer to that would be.


    ¡°Well that settles that then, no,¡± Fengi replied, the certainty from dinner once more back in her voice. Saph nearly dropped the pudding, Yldril did little better in hiding her surprise. The dragon had looked ready to set off into another sarcastic litany. The grim smile immediately vanished, replaced with shock and then suspicion.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the dragon demanded, her singular eye glaring at Fengi as if trying to see what she was up to, head even moving around to check if she was hiding something behind her back.


    ¡°If you are speaking the truth, then I won¡¯t let them do it unless we truly need to. Or if you agree in the future. They can try to persuade Jarix or Glira for all I care.¡±


    ¡°What if Nunuk tries to force you?¡± Yldril tried, clearly aiming to poke holes in the young woman¡¯s resolve.


    ¡°Then she will have a good reason I am sure. Alternatively, if you do not play nice it may come up for discussion again. But for now, I will not allow it. And there is little they can do about that.¡±


    Yldril craned her neck even closer, body shifting to face them as she nearly touched Fengi¡¯s snout, singular large yellow eye staring at her intently. But Fengi did not falter, returning the gaze. ¡°You want me to have something to lose then, ey? Okay. I can play that game. Do your bidding without complaint or I get experimented on and tortured.¡±


    ¡°If you want to look at it like that, so be it. Enjoy the pudding and the time off. I think you can sleep in tomorrow, unless you want to watch everyone training up in the skies. Sooner or later we are going to have to see about that too. If you live at this keep, you fight for it too.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Yldril replied begrudgingly, har gaze moving to Sapphire. ¡°Now¡­ My dessert as you put it, even if I was fed over 4 hours ago.¡±


    ¡°Here you go,¡± Saph went, unpacking the pudding as Yldril opened up. For Jarix the big thing did at least make for a few bites; for Yldril it was all gone in one big one. ¡®Bye bye to all that work I guess,¡¯ Saph sighed to herself as the white-yellowish wheel vanished from sight.


    Yldil did at least chew it a little before swallowing, letting out a pleased rumble, not something she did often.


    ¡°What did they give you for dinner?¡±


    ¡°All the offcuts, of course, though Maiko got me a boar leg. A day for treats it would seem,¡± the dragon replied indignantly, looking at the both of them. ¡°Thank you, my gracious masters. Could I please have another sometime before winter?¡±


    ¡°Cut the shit and you might,¡± Saph replied as she turned to leave. Fengi remained for a moment longer, staring the dragon down.


    The dragon bowed, the stupid grin not vanishing from her face. ¡°Do tell Maiko I would quite like another, if he can manage.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Fen. Let¡¯s go see if Glira wants to haul logs.¡±

 Chapter 179: Practice Makes Perfect

    It had been decided that today was to be the day for the keep to get in some actual practice fighting alongside a dragon and their royal guard allies. That meant Jarix, Glira, every royal guard present, and the keep¡¯s guards and huntresses would be going through formations, tactics, and some general combat practice. The day would be rounded out by a mock battle with Glira and crew standing in for a hostile raiding force.


    Jarix hadn¡¯t sounded too confident about that last part early this morning when Tom had come down to go over just what was supposed to be happening. He didn¡¯t really know much so an early morning crash course had seemed like a good idea. Now though, it was go time.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ What am I supposed to do? Find a comfy chair and wave my boom stick at anyone getting close to the keep?¡± Tom questioned, looking about the greeting hall where everyone was assembling and getting ready without a single clue what he should be keeping himself busy with.


    ¡°What? Is someone getting cold wings? Or feet I suppose?¡± Rachuck questioned in a bemused tone, looking Tom up and down.


    Tom had already been done up in his ragtag selection of protective equipment. The old vest still covered his chest, which together with the green and black camo rather stood out against the polished steel plates and blue and brown leather that made up the protection afforded to his limbs.


    They had been talking about what to do about his vest earlier. It left both his neck and gut dangerously exposed, as he had learned the hard way at Deriva. There had not been time to do anything about it though, and besides, he was quite unlikely to need it today after all. The parachute on his back was a different story. That had been repacked and double checked. Just in case.


    ¡°Me? Backing down? Never,¡± Tom replied with a chuckle, thinking back to all the stupid things he had done in his life just to feel alive. ¡°I¡¯ve just spent a fair amount of luck as it stands already. Maybe no acrobatics today?¡±


    ¡°I have no intention of luck coming into things. And you will find yourself fighting in the skies at some point I am sure. As for your post, I believe you have an obligation to fulfill,¡± Rachuck countered, checking over Herron¡¯s equipment.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ My obligation to Nunuk? That whole guard oath thingy?¡± Tom questioned, trying to pick his brain but having no clue what Rachuck was on about.


    ¡°It is not thingy,¡± the captain replied in a disapproving voice. ¡°But no. Your promise to Jarix. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten.¡±


    ¡°Uuuuhmmm,¡± Tom replied, glancing to Jarix, who was waiting for Radexi and Zarko to finish rigging his harness. The dragon had noticed the conversation, likely picking out his name being spoken, but didn¡¯t look like he knew the answer either.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ the promise¡­ what promise?¡±


    Rachuck stared at the two of them clearly not wanting to be rude. ¡°Do you not remember? The promise given when you first arrived¡­ That Tom would indeed fly with you if you submitted to his lessons¡­ Would you not say he has done so, Tom?¡±


    There was a combined ¡°Ooohhhh¡± from the two of them before they turned to stare at each other.


    ¡°Weeeell?¡± Jarix tried, very leadingly.


    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a pass,¡± Tom reluctantly said, trying not to let a smile creep onto his face before raising a finger at the dragon. ¡°But don¡¯t you dare run off, we need you.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he already get the machine gun for passing all that?¡± Jacky questioned as she stood at T pose with Shiva busy helping with her armor. The mother had a hard time letting anyone else handle that job after all.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell him that now, do you?¡± Jarix pleaded, sliding his tail about to partially hide her from Tom¡¯s view. Jacky of course craned her neck to look over said tail, receiving a knock to the back of the helmet from Shiva¡¯s curled fist. She promptly went back to staying still, much to Jarix¡¯s amusement.


    ¡°My snout is tied,¡± Rachuck added with mirth in his voice. Tom¡¯s best guess was that he was quite pleased people seemed happy enough with having to spend much of the day on practice and drills.


    ¡°We can still pretend, right? Besides, think of poor Jacky. She would have to carry him all day if I don¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Rachuck yielded with a shrug, looking towards the doors leading further in where Ray and a gaggle of kids emerged, the woman carrying a bucket of red paint. ¡°What is this now?¡±


    ¡°Jarix needs red tail!¡± Kiran shouted out, leading the group, a wooden sword at his side and a far too large helmet on his head. The dents and scratches it had suggested that it was likely one of the helmets used for training which had been ¡°liberated¡± from the armory.


    ¡°I was wondering when you might come back. I was hoping to get my claws sharpened.¡±


    ¡°No need for that now,¡± Rahuck interrupted as Ray made her way towards Jarix¡¯s tail, which was still trying to hide Jacky.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t much paint left. We will brush it on rather than dip it I think.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± the dragon mused, looking around the hall. ¡°Is it just me who gets the special treatment?¡±


    Ray raised her head and looked around the hall. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have the paint, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Besides, we will be mixing it up a little today. It isn¡¯t just going to be us against them now is it?¡± Rachuck added as the kids went to work. Or at least made it look like work was being done. All the buckle checking and claw cleaning soon caught the ire of Zarko as Worpock decided to use his mouth to tighten a strap.


    Tom watched, a little bemused, as he fiddled with his rifle. ¡°There is gonna be so much shouting ¡®bang bang bang,¡¯ ¡± he sighed, looking down at the weapon in his hand then glancing around at what everyone was packing.


    All the huntresses save Sapphire had their shiny new single-barrel shotguns. They were really little more than a water pipe with a stump of wood on the end, though Shiva and Kullinger¡¯s collective OCD had managed to make them look at least halfway professional. To a trained gunsmith Tom was rather sure the result was more reminiscent of a sweatshop in Afghanistan that had just spent more time on polishing to try and make up for the lack of quality. But it was the best they could do and hopefully good enough.


    The pistol version had been taken to heart by the guards. Originally they had just wanted to make one each for Dakota and Jacky, but now Rachuck and Anchor also sported one. Herron had the only double barrel present, that being Tom¡¯s own weapon. That left Unkai and Balethon as the only ones not carrying shiny new weapons from the keep. Instead, they had gotten out the old sword and shield combo as well as a pair of lances, which were being secured to Jarix¡¯s harness. More of the weapons had been brought up from the armory and handed to Glira¡¯s crew, apparently for when they were to pretend to be a formation of so-called lancers set on bringing down Jarix. They would do the same against Glira.


    On Jarix¡¯s back was found only Radexi and Zarko, both busy going over the dragon''s armor, harness, and the extra equipment being brought on. The dragon had grumbled a little about being slowed down, but when asked if the big baby would rather Glira took it all he had shut up promptly. His crew had also outfitted themselves with a pair of the shotguns for the day¡¯s training. If anyone could make good use of the weapons in a fight it was likely them after all, even if Radexi was supposed to be working the fifty most of the time.


    Tom¡¯s biggest concern for that was how they would decide if they had managed to shoot down an enemy or not. Shouting ¡®bang bang bang¡¯ was probably not gonna help much short of boarding action.


    No one was carrying a single round of ammunition just to be on the safe side, and all weapons were to be confirmed clear before they took off.


    When she had finished getting her armor checked over, Jacky had tried to sneak up behind him, probably for a surprise hug or something. The clack of claws and clatter of plates rather ensured failure from the start, Tom whipping about and going ¡°Boo!¡± just as she came up behind him.


    Her expression flashed gleeful anticipation to shock as she briefly recoiled. He tried his best to look scary which had her doubled over in laughter about as quickly. ¡°What is that face?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my war face,¡± Tom replied, trying very hard, and failing, not to snicker.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Try this on for size,¡± Jacky retorted, and promptly roared in his face, which resulted in a bit of spittle splashing all over his face. It actually even hurt his ear a little, and it certainly got the attention of everyone around. Most likely wondering if they were about to be down one human.


    Tom just stuck his hand in her mouth, grabbing a canine and giving it a bit of a shake. Jacky just looked at him with the most confused expression. Utterly adorable in his eyes. ¡°Gotcha now.¡±


    ¡°Groo coom oome, eht go,¡± Jacky mumbled, trying to close her mouth but not wanting to bite him, even if the bracers should do their work.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Auuuuw. Guge!¡±


    ¡°No shouting then.¡±


    ¡°Fiiie,¡± she responded, rolling her eyes, and Tom let go. Immediately afterward he found himself dragged into an arm hold and receiving a noogie.


    ¡°Aaaow aoow, stop that! Not my fault you sound like an assault chicken¡­¡±


    ¡°You little-¡± and the rubbing intensified to actually painful levels before he was finally let go, stumbling to his feet and rubbing the sore spot on the top of his head.


    ¡°Aouw, that hurt,¡± he chuckled. It wasn¡¯t that bad but still, ouch.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get. Chicken.. pwfeaaa,¡± she all but spat, but still with a grin on her face, arms crossed and looking rather sassy.


    Tom straightened up, taking a deep breath and letting his eyes wander up and down her figure. ¡°Looking good though.¡±


    She looked fierce to say the least. Aggressive sharp edges and visibly thick plates made up the heavy set of enchanted mithril armor she was wearing. To the untrained eye she looked nigh impervious to any assault, and he knew from his facing a dark knight in the past that even his rifle at point-blank range was by no means guaranteed to go through.


    ¡°Not bad aye? Gonna be fun to try and use it in the air for once. Rachuck says I should take a crack at the lances too at some point. Been a while since I tried that.¡±


    ¡°I think you proved last time that you don¡¯t need no lance,¡± Tom countered, looking to Rachuck, who was still paying attention. The captain tilted his head side to side a little, likely seeing some truth in the statement.


    ¡°Well if that red baby had a good crew, Jortun says they would have just shot me for trying that. But hey. They didn¡¯t so here we are,¡± she replied nonchalantly, Tom trying not to think too hard about that.


    ¡°Well even if they did I¡¯m sure this should put a stop to it,¡± he replied, giving a tap on her shoulder with the backside of his gauntlets.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t scratch it,¡± Jacky protested with a chuckle. ¡°Mum will fucking kill you.¡±


    ¡°I would be more worried about denting mine,¡± Tom chuckled while checking for damage. ¡°So, lancer then?¡±


    ¡°Yup, been forever. It¡¯s good fun though. As long as you don¡¯t have to do it for real.¡±


    ¡°One of the first wise things you have said,¡± Zarko called down from Jarix¡¯s neck, the woman currently securing the helmet in place.


    ¡°Hey, that wasn¡¯t called for,¡± Jacky protested, though not seeming upset in the slightest.


    ¡°They are a crazy bunch though. The ones that do it for a living,¡± Radexi joined in, the harness man busy clambering down to the ground again.


    ¡°That¡¯s like an actual job? Like they are just lancers. How does that even work?¡± Tom questioned, trying to add it all up. It sounded a bit strange to him to have a soldier that was only supposed to fight what you, as far as he could tell, really didn¡¯t want to fight and rarely had to. Dragonettes¡¯ tactics for dealing with a heavy flyer tended to just boil down to ¡®bring your own¡¯ after all.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Well only in the cities and such, maybe some of the larger forts,¡± Radiexi clarified as he hopped the last few feet down to the ground. ¡°I suppose they could have another job too as well. I heard it pays pretty good though, so why bother?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t Maiko¡¯s parents lancers actually?¡± Jacky questioned, starting to look around, probably searching for the young man. He was not to be found though.


    ¡°Were,¡± Zarko corrected as she carried on her work. ¡°It is hardly an enviable job though, now is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know about that. Not much chance you have to do anything. Then you just sit around all day. Sounds good to me,¡± Jacky offered, sounding like she probably wouldn¡¯t mind a life like that.


    ¡°They are still Royal Guards, you know that, right? They fight just as well and just as much as anyone else. Only real difference is they are expected to give their lives willingly and freely when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°Arh. That is a bit of a bummer.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean?¡± Tom questioned, looking to the lieutenant.


    ¡°Do you think ramming someone like him with a pointy stick at full speed is something you fly away from?¡± Zarko questioned rather expectantly.


    Tom took a second to ponder before glancing at the weapons strapped to the dragon''s back. ¡°I suppose not, no¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, better hurry up with that dragon-killing cannon you promised mother waaaay back. Remember that? You just wanted to make a tube and put powder and lead down the front of it I think,¡± Jacky chuckled, giving him a hard pat on the back.


    ¡°Iron, but yeah¡­ That really wasn¡¯t a good idea, but what was I supposed to do? She was quite insistent.¡±


    ¡°She gets like that at times, yeah-¡±


    ¡°I can hear you two,¡± Shiva spoke up, glaring at them from where she had been helping Unkai. The young healer was standing there stiffly, clearly not wanting anything to do with this.


    ¡°But hey, she sure loves you helping make this happen,¡± Jacky carried on with a slightly too wide smile, gesturing at the fancy armor and giving her helmet a few knocks with the armored gauntlet that he guessed would make for a mean boxing glove. Tom¡¯s gauntlets just covered the back of his hands, but Jacky¡¯s had tiny little individual links covering each finger. To Tom it looked like it would be hell to make.


    Then the sounds around them slowly died down, the chatting and ordering about were replaced with quiet murmurs as heads turned to the door leading to the grand hall.


    Where Dakota now stood.


    Wearing her mother''s armor and sword.


    The older woman looked really rather uncomfortable in her position, soon enough having to bear the stares of everyone present. Slowly a proper silence descended as Nunuk herself came walking out from behind her daughter, walking to her side, her gaze sweeping around the room and trying to meet every stare directed at her daughter.


    ¡°Now don¡¯t go getting any ideas. I¡¯m not giving in just yet¡­ But flying is not easy without wings. Just go ask Tom. And what are traditions but bumpy air to get in the way? Dakota will lead you all today. And she will do so in the future too. My days of fighting appear to be behind me. Be kind to her and I am sure she will do you proud. Now get your behinds moving unless you want the likes of Glira to think you all tardy! Go on, move it, people!¡± the old lady ordered with the same air of authority Tom had remembered so well.


    Those were some mighty big shoes for Dakota to fill. He cast his mind back to the flight back from the lake, months ago now. The woman had been scared he was stealing away the respect she needed to do her job and he watched her waver under the responsibility placed upon her. He guessed she had likely not even been warned of it, yet here she was.


    But everyone sprang to obey Nunuk. The pace of preparations redoubled, Jarix rising to his feet and turning to face the door, which started to crank open, revealing a grey drizzle outside.


    ¡°First time in charge and it¡¯s raining. Go figure,¡± Jacky muttered from next to him as he kept an eye on Dakota. She was walking to the front in that brilliant-looking set of plate armor, polished to perfection. Lighter, lither, and much more elegant than what Jacky was wearing. Less protection, but also less hindrance.


    On her hip hung the Talon blade that normally heralded the Lady of Bizmati keep. On her thigh was a fine-looking leather holster with her short barreled pistol-style shotgun and 6 spare shells sitting on display. It seemed so out of place yet still beautifully made, and luckily it concealed the rather crude weapon beneath. At least the wood was finely sanded and freshly oiled.


    ¡°You heard my mother. Let us put on a good showing, I would rather not be ridiculed at dinner,¡± Dakota called out in a forced voice, the air of authority seeming thin and fake.


    ¡®She¡¯s scared,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, not sure if there was anything to do about it.


    As she walked out into the drizzle, the gilded huntress glanced back at them and gestured for them to follow. ¡°Come on then! And for the love of the gods, try not to hit anyone.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Much as Saph had feared, this had ended up being a long, grueling, boring day. Flying maneuvers more or less just boiled down to hard flying for hours on end. Steep climbs, hard turns, and crash dives. Whenever anyone ended up out of position they had to dash back to their spot, which quickly wore on all of them.


    They had been split into three separate formations. The keep¡¯s guard led by Rachuck, Jarix flying alone, and the huntresses led by Esmeralda. Dakota had decided Jarix would make for a fine place to give orders from since he was most likely to maintain some semblance of battle awareness and crucially was fast enough to reach any troublesome position.


    There had been some debate on where Jacky should go. Tom was on Jarix¡¯s back, and the dragon didn¡¯t need further protection for close quarters. It was far more important for Jarix to maintain what speed advantage he could, he was already carrying a lot more compared to his original training as it was. The dragon was only supposed to carry Zarko into battle along with his minimal armor rig after all. As such, Jacky had been placed with the keep¡¯s guards. They were the only formation who would be looking to get in close.


    That left just Esmeralda, Sapphire, Fengi, Bolinda, and Phospheno in the huntress formation. Rachuck, Anchor, Kokashi, Herron, Balethon, Unkai, Maiko and Jacky in the guard formation. They would need the numbers though. In a melee, numbers meant victory with far more certainty than in a ranged engagement.


    The Royal Guard had two formations in the air. Glira with a minimal crew, Jortun among them, and Victoria leading the dismounted contingent from time to time to give some more flexibility in what they could train with and against.


    The huntresses especially had it hard as the day progressed. With two dragons in play, they were constantly out of position and having to play catch up or react to a new threat, usually above them. The keep¡¯s guard stood no chance of escaping a dragon''s sights either way, so they would turn to face them down instead, hoping to break formation just before they get blown from the skies by the dragon''s breath. Even if done right it only limited how many got hit, unless the dragon somehow missed at point blank. But it gave them a chance to land hits as Glira roared by, the wings being the preferred targets.


    They practiced the maneuver several times on both Glira and Jarix. It took nerves of steel to pull off, and it was abundantly clear, watching them, that a blue like Jarix or Glira would easily manage to hit one or two of them. If someone was crazy enough to attempt to intercept the diving dragon with a lance, it more or less became a guarantee, and the chances of a good hit on the dragon were small indeed.


    The only real respite from the climbing, diving, and scrambling around were the quick breaks on the ground, either to have something explained again, or to go over something new. Bo and Pho were both working overtime to try and keep up. Dakota was pushing hard, and Saph knew why of course. It was her first time ever properly in charge of everyone, and they had an audience to boot.


    More than once either Bo or Pho slipped up, even if they never had to lead any maneuvers. That honor and horror fell to Esmeralda, and she slipped up more than once too. Dakota did not discriminate, coming alongside to shout orders and corrections when hand signals didn¡¯t do the trick.


    It clearly took a toll on Essy having her childhood friend shout at her in front of everyone. But she couldn¡¯t play favorites, and Saph took a few turns taking the lead too. It did not go that well. They were always slow and out of position, and when she finally got into position she would check over her shoulder, only to find half the wedge no longer where they should be.


    ¡®Never put your fastest flier in front,¡¯ she sighed as Dakota swung by to remind her of said fact. Essy took back the lead and they carried on. They did learn some, and the formation did get better at sticking together, and especially reforming it after a break got a lot better. But as they grew more and more tired they slowed, and soon enough they were run ragged.


    Essy had taken them into a steady cruise position above and behind the guards, who were trying their hand at enveloping Glira after she let herself get caught in a turning fight. It was at least something interesting to watch. Dakota flashed out signals for ¡®dive¡¯ and ¡®attack¡¯ from Jarix¡¯s back, but Essy didn¡¯t move. She only wiggled her wings in reply and held course. The wind was behind them so they could just glide along.


    ¡°We need a bit girls¡­ just coast,¡± Essy called out, not even turning her head, letting the wind carry it for her. Saph glanced around at the wedge formation. Fengi¡¯s arms were hanging and her tail was drooping, chest heaving. Essy was looking even worse for wear, and Bo and Pho to the rear weren¡¯t doing much better. Saph guessed she was the best off, and even she was feeling all tired and hazy.


    ¡°Steady, catch your breaths,¡± she called back, repeating Essy¡¯s order for those in the rear.


    Glancing back ahead, Jarix began the dive they should have been a part of, Dakota dismounting and heading their way. The young blue carried on alone, which soon saw him interdicted by some of Glira¡¯s disembarked crew lead by Victoria. They should have been there to cover him and keep them busy while Jarix went for the kill, instead Sapphire suspected they were in for a verbal reaming.


    As Dakota approached they all closed the formation from battle spacing to help hear what she would have to to say.


    ¡°Why are you still up here? You acknowledged the signal!¡± the gilded huntress shouted out as she came alongside Esmeralda.


    ¡°We need a break Dakota¡­ We can¡¯t keep doing this,¡± Essy replied plainly, clearly thoroughly tired.


    Dakota didn¡¯t reply, immediately looking them all over. They for their part made no effort to try and hide the fact that they were exhausted. They needed a break, preferably in the sun or inside. The weather wasn¡¯t bad, but the wind was cold. They could keep warm flying hard, but gliding along like this would soon see them freeze.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Dakota finally snapped out, a shock rolling through the whole formation. Essy in particular, who was normally so good at reading people, was taken completely by surprise and actually banked away for a split second as if looking to escape before she got back on a level wing.


    ¡°I am sorry Dakota!¡± the older woman called back, her tone as sincere as could be managed between the pants.


    ¡°No, it is not your fault! Jortun and Victoria have played me for a fool. Back to the keep, nothing for it. Get something warm!¡±


    And with that their leader dived away towards the mess of a fight down below. Jarix was keeping the pursuing royal Guard dragonettes out of close range, Radexi likely shouting at everyone behind them how they were all dead, while Glira had decided to stick it out with the keep¡¯s guard even further down despite her minimal crew.


    They glided along for a touch longer, Essy¡¯s shoulders drooping as she turned her head back. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Thus far Tom was rather enjoying his day. He had been a little concerned he was going to be spending half the day freefalling. Instead he got to enjoy several hours worth of airshow all from a nice comfy spot sitting down. The rifle scope, useless as it was up here, even made for a decent monocular to watch things from afar.


    Radexi was having a less good day. All he got to do was point his gun at anything in pursuit and clamber around checking on the harness to make sure nothing was amiss. Dakota had it worse though. The future lady had adopted an extremely serious attitude to things. When combined with Zarko¡¯s usual temperament, which was often described as militaristic, the mood aboard had ended up feeling quite dour indeed. Not even Jarix seemed set on cheering things up. It was clear the dragon was working today and he was doing his damndest.


    The lieutenant had done her best to help Dakota with strategy and maneuvers fit for dealing with veterans who knew them all like the back of their hand. Slip up after slip up were exploited by Glira and her crew, the only true level fights resulting from when the Royal guard were split up between the teams.


    It wasn¡¯t her fault of course, but she sure seemed to take it that way. Tom couldn¡¯t really blame her. She was playing deadly chess against grandmasters, and she knew if it had been for real they would have lost more than once already.


    Tom didn¡¯t really have any useful tactical input, so he busied himself with watching, learning, and trying to come up with a way to train gunnery up here. They really needed something, cause this pointing and going bang just wouldn¡¯t do. He was of course not much better off than Radexi himself. He had spent the day pointing at dragonettes and going bang, and he guessed the keep¡¯s guards were having similar problems. Only real excitement were the few exercises they had done for counter boarding.


    Much to his relief, they had refrained from the joked about tactic of just knocking him off. But they had still proven decidedly tricky to deal with if they did manage to somehow get a boarding action going. Jarix had to humor them slightly when they did so, slowing down a touch. Both to make it possible for them to catch him as well as making it a little safer for all involved.


    The soldiers from the Royal Guard were good at being sneaky, attacking from both above and below. Maiko had managed to latch onto Jarix¡¯s belly rigging and clamber up to nail Tom from behind with a crossbow bolt. Assuming the weapon had been loaded of course.


    The keep¡¯s guards had the numbers to simply overwhelm them before Tom and Radexi could reasonably take enough of them down. And they had firearms of their own of course. Even if a shotgun wouldn¡¯t do much more than lightly wound Jarix, it was not the same story for his crew.


    During the quick breaks on the ground there had been much discussion of engagement ranges, what the approach angle would do, how to lead targets, and so on. The dragonettes were used to relatively low velocity weapons after all. The shotguns when firing buckshot would kill a man at 50 meters just fine, double that with a slug. The problem quickly became hitting anything. At much larger ranges the pellets were still dangerous, but the spread would be massive. It didn¡¯t help that their guns didn¡¯t have chokes. Tom couldn¡¯t help but agree with himself that rifles would be a godsend against dragon crew. They moved far more predictably, and they were tightly spaced if the dragon happened to be carrying a large crew. The shotguns were undoubtedly effective, but range and velocity were holding them back.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they coming down to help us! We would have this if they did. She told them to!¡± Radexi called out, the little guy downright furious at the fact that all he got to do was point the fifty rearwards and pretend to track targets.


    ¡°They are spent. She ran them ragged,¡± Zarko called back, she and Tom both watching Dakota beating hard for the formation of huntresses. ¡°They will need some rest then they will be good as new.¡±


    ¡°For all the good it does us now! I get tired too you know!¡± Jarix complained as he kept up the pace, Junior calling out range to the pursuers.


    Tom did feel a little bad. The most strenuous thing he had done all day was clamber around a little on Jarix¡¯s harness, and even then he didn¡¯t get too daring out of fear of falling off.


    ¡°Quit your whining, they have guys with them. They can barely make half your speed when you are trying.¡±


    ¡°When I don¡¯t have four people, armor, and the fifty on my back.¡±


    ¡°Three people,¡± Zarko corrected as she switched her attention to the boarding action unfolding around Glira.


    ¡°Speaking of slow, I am guessing Jortun wanted to make it interesting¡­ not like her to let someone on her back she doesn¡¯t like.¡±


    ¡°She could just rinse them off with a crackle and pop,¡± Jarix retorted, looking towards his mother as well. ¡°One of the upsides to minimal crew, they are all up by her neck.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that, you know. Hurt?!¡± Tom shouted confused.


    ¡°More of a nasty tingle really. Of course you only let the lighting roll out, not the full blast.¡±


    ¡°I could see how that might be a problem, yeah!¡± Tom shouted in reply, thinking back to the battle at Deriva where he had seen Jarix blanket a whole area in crackling lightning, tiny tendrils of light streaking out in all directions.


    ¡°And there it is¡­ Well, they are all dead.¡±


    ¡°Only most of them, those up by the front would have escaped¡­ and the coward at the back probably got away too,¡± Zarko commented as Tom brought up the riflescope, looking towards Glira¡¯s tail where, sure enough, Unkai was attempting to hide behind the dragon¡¯s own arse.


    ¡®Classy move, bro.¡¯

 Chapter 180: Tactical Prowess

    ¡®Oh gods, could we at least sit down?¡¯ Saph thought to herself, despairing. They had been training all day, and even with being afforded a decent break before the last few drills where they would not know what Glira and her crew would try, they were still completely worn out by now. Yet Dakota was seemingly not. Nor was Tom, of course, but that was hardly unusual, and they had both spent much of the day riding with Jarix after all.


    They were all gathered around a table in the grand hall to discuss how things had gone. The table had been dragged over towards where the hatch up under the roof was located so Jarix could also see the table in question. Sapphire¡¯s main complaint was the fact that the benches had been left where they were to make room for more people around the table.


    The keep had been thoroughly trashed during the final exercise, fancy weaponry notwithstanding. Had it been for real, Saph still felt reasonably sure they would have won. Certainly, if Glira and her crew didn¡¯t know ahead of time what they were in for, like any future hostiles hopefully wouldn¡¯t. That sadly did not excuse them from trying to do better.


    ¡°No, Dakota, the strategy was sound, but the execution was lacking,¡± Victoria replied as they moved the small wooden pieces back to the starting points. ¡°You will simply have to train such maneuvers more frequently in the future.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case then we shouldn¡¯t have used it during a final exercise. We should have run through it during the earlier stages of the day.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, but there was no time to train for every contingency.¡±


    ¡°In which case I should not order them to do something which I should be fully aware of them not being able to pull off reliably.¡±


    Saph saw Essy shrink a little out of the corner of her eye. Dakota would never blame her lifelong friend for what had happened, even if it was Essy who had misunderstood the signal and intercepted Glira¡¯s crew head on rather than going to follow them from behind. It was an honest mistake. Saph still wasn¡¯t even sure it counted as a mistake since it was a perfectly viable tactic in that situation and one often used. But apparently not in this case for some reason.


    ¡®I¡¯m fucking happy I¡¯m not the one leading if you have to know what Dakota is thinking all the time.¡¯


    Next to her, Fengi had been getting a little anxious, or at least as anxious as you could get while so tired you might be ready to drop dead. Pho sorta had, laying down flat on the floor in protest. The greenhorns had done well enough. They had certainly kept up, which was hardly surprising for racers, but only Bo seemed to have any real eye for tactics. Perhaps one day she could make a decent formation lead.


    ¡°I won¡¯t argue that,¡± Victoria finally relented, clearly reluctant to do so as she leaned back, crossing her arms.


    Dakota just leaned forward harder, both arms planted on the table, a slight sneer on her face, eyes darting over the pieces. ¡°If I ordered a general retreat they would have flown over to the keep. Glira would get her run nonetheless, but she would be vulnerable to a counter.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, though she would be coming out of a dive. Her speed would be quite high, and the huntresses would only catch her for but a moment.¡±


    ¡°With some of our new weaponry a moment will do. Firing from above, Sapphire¡¯s arrows will not struggle for range.¡±


    Victoria did not have an easy counter for that one, rubbing her chin slightly, thinking. ¡°It may not hit¡­ but if it does, it could put her out of the fight. Sapphire, if you get such a chance, don¡¯t waste your time on the head and neck. Too slender of a target, and able to dodge if they see your arrow coming. Between the wing shoulders.¡±


    ¡°Yup, center of mass will be harder to move out of the way,¡± Tom agreed, the human likely having picked up on something he actually understood well enough about the day¡¯s fighting.


    ¡°Quite¡­ an-¡±


    ¡°And she¡¯s eating dirt if you hit her there,¡± Jarix joined in enthusiastically. The dragon had been quite pleased with his performance today, even if he too seemed rather worn out. The enthusiastic smile did wash away swiftly following a scathing look from Victoria though.


    ¡°And a hit to the chest would still see her gravely wounded, and I need not explain to you what shattering her spine would entail.¡± She continued, the dragon looking away for a moment.


    ¡°Well she can¡¯t use her tail for starters, hehe,¡± Balethon added in with a chuckle, tapping the ground with the wood and metal prosthetic attached to his backside. Anchor rolled his eyes at the shitty joke while Rachuck just shook his head.


    ¡°And with her retreating as a minimum and perhaps down for good it would be two on one,¡± Rachuck added, gathering up the remaining three pieces. ¡°If they run, the huntresses will harry them all the way out. If they fight, only we would give them melee with the huntresses picking off stragglers. If they try to engage the huntresses closely, they will be outrun.¡±


    ¡°Though you must be careful not to let us chase your huntresses away from the field. We may manage to run while pursuing you if you are not careful. Herded like sheep. Even if pursued, stick with your other formations,¡± Major Jortun grumbled, sliding the two blue pieces together. ¡°I have seen it done many times before against undisciplined fighters.¡±


    ¡°Not that I think we will find that here,¡± Victoria added, pointedly throwing a look Rachuck¡¯s way.


    The captain had given her a run for her money more than once. He did of course have superior numbers and the shotguns on his side, but it was rather hard to agree on just how effective the guns would be before they truly tried to test them out. And well, that was a day best left waiting.


    ¡°I will try to remember it,¡± Essy spoke up, clearly uncomfortable, keeping her head low. The others hadn¡¯t even been looking at her, but they all turned to pay attention. Rachuck nodded sagely, Victoria and Jortun glanced first to each other then to Dakota, not seeming so sure, while the gilded huntress just looked at her old friend¡¯s face, worry starting to show on her own.


    ¡°Essy¡­ none of this is your fault, I should have known what you would do.¡±


    ¡°No you shouldn¡¯t, it was a mistake. You shouldn¡¯t predict mistakes. I thought you wanted us to do a Reji Cut, not a¡­ I don¡¯t even remember what it¡¯s called,¡± Essy blurted out, clearly distraught. ¡°I¡¯m not much of a soldier.¡±


    ¡°On the frontier we always end up being a bit of both,¡± Rachuck added calmly. ¡°This is what practice is for. And we have not had enough lately.¡±


    There was a collective groan from the guards, likely having heard that line many times before. They had played their part well too. All the extra time spent on said practice while the huntresses were busy putting food on the table had indeed shown.


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna be doing more of this then? When? In between debarking logs and doing laundry?¡± Balethon had questioned, speaking everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°If necessary,¡± the captain replied unfazed, looking to Jacky, who was indeed quite worn out too. Her heavy armor didn¡¯t do much for endurance when flying, but at least she had not needed to keep up with the other huntresses today. ¡°For starters, we need to make better use of our latest asset.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ yeah,¡± Jacky replied sheepishly with a forced smile on her face, shrinking a little. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to get in the way next time.¡±


    ¡°Of course, though some sparring practice would not go amiss either. Whenever you do not feel the need to act as Tom¡¯s personal bodyguard.¡±


    Tom pulled her in a little closer, a hand patting her on the mithril armored back. ¡°I think I could survive for a little bit at least.¡±


    Jacky didn¡¯t exactly look sold on the idea, but she didn¡¯t say anything to counter it either, likely resigned to her fate. Saph knew she quite enjoyed sparring after all. At least when she was winning. The burly woman had been the only problem child for the guard¡¯s formation today, but that was hardly surprising. She had never trained with the guards in the air, and she had little training fighting like they did at all. The large, heavy-set woman had rather managed to mess up Twitch¡¯s day though after the demolition expert had failed to notice her diving down towards him in the middle of a big melee. Normally when practicing you would pull up to avoid collision so the defending flier could dive down freely to get away.


    Jacky had indeed pulled up, believing the small guy had seen her. He had not. The resulting collision as he beat upwards to altitude had apparently knocked him out cold. Jacky had reported barely feeling anything aside from her fingers aching and a bit of a headache as the armor drew from her to soften the blow. The enchantments may even have saved the man¡¯s life, alongside the fact that he had been relieved of any explosive components prior to going airborne.


    There had been some debate on how long he had been out for though; it was certainly quite convenient that he woke up just after Jacky had finished carrying him back to the keep. Everyone had taken the chance to get something to drink, and Tom had as always come through for them -In the shape of candy.


    All the huntresses had eagerly scarfed down the sweet treat. Sapphire had barely even taken the time to savor it as they climbed back up to continue the exercises. It did wonders, for a short while. But then it all fell apart. It had been humiliating as they were forced to retreat and admit they couldn¡¯t fight on. Victoria and Jortun had of course worked out what had happened. They didn¡¯t say anything aside from advising that they bring enough sweets for the whole fight if they felt like doing it for real.


    ¡°Either way that is a future concern¡­ I think this is going to be all for today,¡± Dakota sighed, finally standing up straight after having been hunched over the table for the whole conversation. ¡°Get some rest.¡±


    ¡°Cheers to that,¡± Saph said with a sigh of relief, the sentiment soon echoed by most of the people around the table.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Inquisitor Harvik! What a pleasant surprise! To what do we owe the pleasure?¡± the deep booming voice of Lord Tikka called out. His tone was warm and welcoming, much like his halls. Everywhere Tom glanced there were dragonettes, winter coats flung open to let the heat of the fires in. Some, more set on staying within the walls, wore clothes no thicker than what Tom knew the dragonettes of the keep to wear. With every step taken and moment within he could feel his body move more easily, and his mind clear. Which only raised his anxiety.


    He could feel his heart pounding. Just getting here had been near fatal, or at least felt like it. And what was to come might be no easier.


    ¡°Thank you, sir. Our visit is nothing unusual I can assure you. We are simply¡­ doing the rounds,¡± Harvik replied as the lord got up from his seat, which looked more like a throne. Elevated, with gilding upon the wood where it could be seen, and covered in grand furs, which Tom had no idea what might be. Joelina glanced about the room at the many trophies lining the walls. Some looked wolf-like, or perhaps bear. Others were clearly draconic in nature, but they lacked horns. And two were far too small to be anything but a child by dragon standards. Surely they must be something else.


    Pride of place given to three dragon skulls hanging behind the lord¡¯s seat. The center one must surely be as large as Arch. It was flanked by smaller ones, and they all had different horns and spines protruding from the bone.


    ¡°Naturally. I take it Chaika is hungry as ever? Shall we slaughter something for him perhaps?¡±


    ¡°I think it best we leave his dinner for the morn. He had a hearty breakfast,¡± Harvik lied, or was it true? Joelina couldn¡¯t even remember. ¡°Besides he will need it I believe. We depart come morning, weather permitting of course.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Spares us a good ox,¡± the lord replied in good humor, though the inquisitor¡¯s demeanor did not match it. He was cold, and calculating. He was working, and the lord likely knew so. ¡°But a decent meal for you and your people is the least we can do.¡±


    ¡°Quite so, quite so¡­ But first I have a young one I must test. Joelina, do please put your talents to use.¡±


    Tom felt the woman stiffen before she took a step forward, almost mechanically, looking to the lord. She gave him a nod, eyes never leaving his. She stared him down, watching every twitch on his face. Confusion at first, but then a flicker of worry, soon replaced by his warm welcoming facade.


    ¡°Oh I see. What a delight. I take it you want to do my damndest to keep our secrets from her?¡±


    ¡°Nooo. I would not recommend that. Not unless I am to start instructing one of your sons in his duties,¡± the inquisitor replied with a touch of a snicker. The lord took it well, like a good joke. He laughed in reply and even slapped his thighs as he sat back down upon his throne.


    ¡°Well then. You best not upset my wife? She will be watching from up above.¡±


    ¡°I make no such promises,¡± Joelina replied, stepping up, eyes starting to dart side to side, heart racing. There were less than half a dozen of them here. The rest were still with Chaika, in the middle of a fortress where they should feel safe¡­ But they were vastly outnumbered if it came to it.


    The lord waited patiently as she made her way up the steps to the raised platform upon which his throne sat, his attention shifting between her and the inquisitor behind her. Harvik had not moved, nor did any of the others. Save for Glazz. She remained to Joelina¡¯s left, but a step behind her.


    ¡°This will be quite uncomfortable, Lord Tikka,¡± the young cadet clarified as she sat across his lap. He seemed surprised by the act. She knew she was a fine-looking woman. Even a touch of distraction made her job all the easier. ¡®Let your mind wander¡­ yes, look away. Very good.¡¯


    She placed her hands on the sides of his skull, fingers pressed into the leathery skin. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She concentrated on that which lay beyond the grasp of her fingers. Tendrils of magic poking and prodding at another mind.


    A shiver ran down her spine; it felt good. Tikka did not resist her. He welcomed her with memories, sweet delicious memories. Happy times. His childhood running around playing with kites before he could fly. Playing games in the snow only to quickly run back inside before his tail froze off. Stealing food from the pantry with some mischievous friends. It was all very idyllic. An impossibility for this part of the world.


    ¡°Very impressive. You have done this before. I did not come here for a puppet show, Lord Tikka,¡± Joelina commanded. He could hear her, and what he was showing was of little interest. The lord changed tack, bringing forth memories of fighting against the biting cold. The howling wind, numb fingers and toes.


    Terrifying beasts that had someone''s heart pumping, though Tom knew not if it was his or hers. The memories were picked through and one stood out. For all the wrong reasons. When probed the lord resisted. He dared to resist her after letting her in the door? This warranted further investigation.


    He writhed under her as she pushed. She pried the memory open against his will and he felt him shake and twist. ¡°Do not resist, I will know all.¡±


    He grew still, limp almost. His mind but a whisper in response. ¡°Of course.¡± There was defeat and sadness in his tone. Tom could feel Joelina grow excited. She might have found something. With a rush, as if going weightless, Tom found himself immersed in the memory of a dragonette he had never even met. On a frozen sheet of ice, the wind howling around them.


    It was grey, dim, and stormy. The icy wind bit at his snout, even covered as it was. He could make out sleds with strange four-legged creatures hauling, their gray muddled coat matched his own. Their fur was long and silky, and looked to be a double coat. He had seen it at the fortress too but seconds ago. They were the size of Shetland ponies perhaps, four to a sled, faces long and angular without any sign of ears. One turned to look back at him, its eyes black and beady, there were four of them in total, much like the Vargulfs he had been so acquainted with before.


    He wanted to stare but could not, the lord''s gaze instead turning to his comrades. In front of him another sled could be made out, behind him a third. Everyone was stopped. Everyone was quiet as could be. Then he turned to face the unknown, shrouded by dim light and a flurry of snow.


    He could feel the warmth coming from within his thick suit. Either rocks or water bottles he assumed. They could not be far from shelter. He raised a spear, which looked a touch odd - it had rope tied to it, and a weird second stick actually held it.


    ¡°What is so special about this? What are you hiding?¡± Joelina questioned, receiving no response as through the stormy winds a rumbling was heard. A deep guttural rumble. Then from beyond the the snow came flying through the air a massive six legged, tailless creature. Its fur was long, white, and shaggy. Huge horns swept down by the sides of its neck, turning to face forward below the chin.


    ¡°Ferinix!¡± Tikka shouted out as he threw his spear and it hit its mark. But he was spared, the sled in front of him was the target. The massive multi-ton beast came down upon it with a shattering of wood and a quick scream cut short but a moment later. More spears were flung, ropes being let out as the creature carried on its bounding run, flinging itself into the night once more. A dragonette lodged betwixt its teeth.


    ¡°Jinka!¡± someone called out, the three other dragonettes with the forward sleigh setting off running after the beast. Tom felt the certainty of steel descend over his motions. He lept atop his sled, drawing a saber and severing the lines binding the ¡°dogs¡± to the sled.


    ¡°Hold on tight!¡± he called out as he crouched low, arms grabbing hold of the wooden frame. He watched the rope uncoil before going taut. It was secured to the heavy sled. And with a yank, they set off into the darkness.


    Faster and faster they went into the flurry of snow as the beast made its getaway. More spears were flung and a crossbow loosed against it. ¡°Tire it out. Let the poison work!¡±


    As soon as he made his call the massive creature turned side on, coming to a skidding stop, the sled sliding helplessly towards it. ¡°Scatter!¡± the lord called, jumping from the sleigh as the Ferinix pounced once more, hurling itself at Tikka¡¯s sled. The lord staggered back, landing upon his back and watching as the dragonette steering from the rear was snatched up in a single bite. The scream cut painfully short with the crunch of bones.


    ¡°Tetraia!¡± the lord screamed, a pained, bloodcurdling scream, hand held high in front of him as he froze in place. The hulking creature turned to look at the source of the noise, a lifeless body of a woman hanging from its mouth. It remained staring for but a moment before another spear hit its mark, this one exploded upon impact into a flash of fire and heat. The creature startled back from the flash, its fur singed and smoldering before it charged the remaining sled, reducing it to kindling. It took a moment to gulp down its prey before bounding into the storm once more, a lone dragonette being dragged screaming after it tied to one of the spears.


    ¡°Tetraia¡­¡±


    Tom felt the pain, the horror, the pure, unrelenting, crushing loss. He did not know who that woman might have been, but he knew who she was to Tikka.


    ¡°You hunted a Ferinix¡­ That is a grave offence, Lord Tikka,¡± The judging voice of Joelina rang out through the memory as Tom felt the ice cold of the snow, wind, and despair overtake him. ¡°I trust you had a reason.¡±


    ¡°It killed my oldest son. It hunted dragonettes right up against our keep¡­ It could not be allowed to continue,¡± the lord replied quietly, calmly, solemnly. ¡°Please, it was the right thing to do.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Though I believe the punishment fitting of the crime. Besides, you failed to fell the beast, did you not?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ It succumbed to the poison. It sits mounted above you right now.¡±


    And with a rush in his stomach like the sensation of falling he returned to the warm pleasant hall, the sensation of loss and utter despair remaining within him. Though it hardly seemed to faze Joelina. She looked up to the massive dragon skull mounted to the wall in surprise. It was no dragon skull at all.


    Behind her she heard a rumbling laugh, followed by a lone, slow, clapping.


    ¡°Very good. Well done, Joelina. You will do quite nicely indeed. Thank you, lord Tikka. As always you provide a great service.¡±


    The lord did not answer, instead simply glaring at the jovial Inquisitor Harvik. ¡°Inquisitor?¡± Joelina questioned, clearly confused as to what was going on.


    ¡°Relax young one. That trophy is our little secret. Has been for some time¡­ You will now keep it too. Well done. Not everyone managed to pick out his little secret. Least of all so swiftly. And without hesitation might I add.¡±


    ¡°This was a test?¡±


    ¡°I do not believe in the training master of citadel. He is too soft. Come on, I believe there will be a feast soon. We have planning to do.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So¡­ you look tired,¡± Saph commented as Jacky stepped into the workshop. The woman hadn¡¯t been there for breakfast, so something was definitely up.


    Saph¡¯s job for the day was to help Fengi and Yldril, as the worksite had dried out enough that they were going to try and have Yldrill rebuild the foundations. To add to the day¡¯s labor, through some miracle Glira had taken the pudding the day before yesterday, agreeing to fetch some logs for them. That of course meant they needed to get the saw working, which looked like it may be easier said than done. Saph suspected she was perhaps still under the impression that hard work would impress Tom into giving what she overtly wanted. Saph was crossing her fingers that might make her work the saw once she made it back.


    She probably wouldn¡¯t stand doing manual labor around Yldril because there was no way in even the deepest crevasse of hell that black dragon wouldn¡¯t rub Glira¡¯s snout in it. Saph didn¡¯t care though. They still got to brag about having gotten a royal guard dragon to fetch wood for them. Fengi thought it came down to said dragon not wanting to end up on the bad side of the inquisition. which was certainly also a possibility, even if Glira rarely had a problem with ending up on people''s bad side. But whatever worked.


    ¡°I am tired¡­ Tom had a shit night again,¡± Jacky responded, for all the world looking like she hadn¡¯t gotten more than a half-night¡¯s sleep.


    ¡°Not again,¡± Linkosta complained, looking up from her book which she had annoyingly placed on the worktable Saph was trying to use to organize the brackets she had been told to fetch. The mage had been pestering Saph ever since breakfast hoping she could get Fengi to change her mind on barring them from experimenting with Yldril.


    Saph was not one for stabbing her friends in the back though. She understood what Fengi was trying to do. That and she also believed Yldril would mess up sooner or later so all parties could get what they wanted. Jacky¡¯s position was far more interesting, and important.


    ¡°How bad?¡± Saph questioned, hoping that the news would at least not be catastrophic.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Jacky let out, exasperated. ¡°He muttered in his sleep. He tried to throw something and then the shouting began¡­ Something about a Tetraia. He won¡¯t say who that was. He¡¯s like super depressed about it.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you down here? Go stay with him,¡± Wiperna questioned, rightfully confused.


    ¡°To ask a favor¡­ Lin, would you mind?¡± Jackalope questioned, turning to the mage.


    ¡°Mind what? You need me to help with something? I do not think I can make the symptoms any less prevalent. We have already tried that.¡±


    ¡°Noo¡­ not that. He wants to know about a big dragon like snow monster. Would you mind? I haven¡¯t heard of something like that before. Maybe find him something else to read too? Something that can take his mind off this one.¡±


    ¡°Oh of course, I can bring this,¡± the mage declared, triumphantly holding up the book of draconic sorcery. ¡°It contains some speculation on the origins of dragons. Maybe he is talking about a Ferinix.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I think he said something like that¡­Yeah very good¡­ just something other than that too¡­ Oh who am I kidding? Yeah, just take that one. He won¡¯t wanna hear anything else. He wants to work out what he saw, for sure.¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s rare, but thank fuck for Jacky,¡¯ Saph went to herself as Linkosta started packing up her things. She had wanted to snap at the mage for continuing to pester her about Fengi.


    ¡°Wip, I know I¡¯m being an arse, but could you like¡­ keep working on the¡­ thing?¡± Jacky continued, looking at the farm woman who had been grinding away on an axehead in the corner. They would need them sharp for the work to come after all, so nothing strange there.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Jacky, of course. Just remember to get the last few measurements, okay?¡± the farmer replied to Saph¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°What thing?¡±


    Jacky looked a little hesitant, glancing between Saph and Linkosta before sighing. ¡°Okay don''t tell anyone, but I¡¯m getting some clothes made for Tom. He needs something nice, you know¡­ something that¡¯s from here. Even if the T-shirts are quite nice.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get why you haven¡¯t grabbed one of those yet. I can¡¯t imagine he would mind,¡± Wiperna replied, shaking her head gently as she started to pedal on the grind wheel once more.


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ I¡¯m so doing that,¡± the only half-awake Jacky replied, though it did seem to wake her up a little.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what you have been cooking up. I was wondering what all that leather would turn into in the end.¡±


    ¡°Yeaaaah¡­ I wanted to do most of it myself, but well¡­ I¡¯m not that great at sewing and well¡­ Everything.¡±


    ¡°Won''t¡¯ tell a soul, promise. What are you making for him?¡±


    ¡°Shirt, pants, coat¡­ maybe something to wrap around his neck¡­ he hasn¡¯t got much of a neck though.¡±


    ¡°He is going to love the coat. We got some nice fox fur for that one after your last go,¡± Wiperna joined in, her voice kind and caring.


    ¡°Yeah, but I feel like wolf or something would have been better. But we haven¡¯t seen any this year¡­ like at all.¡°


    ¡°Fox is very soft, I don¡¯t think he needs something as warm as wolf. You''re just doing trimmings, right?¡± Saph questioned, really hoping the answer was yes. A patchwork of foxes would not look very good at all.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Wiperna replied merrily before Jacky got a word out. ¡°It will mostly be leather. I was thinking perhaps with some sort of fur lining if we could scrape it together. Deer or Boar isn¡¯t much good after all.


    ¡°But for now, plain leather. Just something for everyday, you know?¡± Jacky interrupted, clearly wanted to say a word too. ¡°His stuff won¡¯t last forever, amazing as it is. Might also make him look a little less ridiculous if we get any new guests in the future.¡±


    ¡°That would be nice, yeah¡­ even if it was quite fun to do up his hair.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll love it much more than he did the hair,¡± the farm woman reassured her. ¡°The lightning bolt is pretty much gone now too.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he needs another trimming then,¡± Saph snickered. ¡°But I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll love the clothes.¡± She wholeheartedly believed that fact. In fact, she was quite certain Jacky could give Tom a shiny rock and he would love it. Tailored clothes? Not even a question in her mind.


    ¡°Oh also, don¡¯t forget the dragon skull. Surely that has to be about done by now.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ thanks,¡± Jacky replied, gesturing for Linkosta to follow her. ¡°Come on Lin, I make no promises about not falling asleep. And I am the one cuddling him¡­ you are like¡­ storyteller. Like Apuma when we were little.¡±


    ¡°Oki doki,¡± the mage responded, unfazed, following the slow-moving Jacky out of the workshop, leaving Saph and Wiperna staring at each other.


    ¡°Soooo, think I can help you instead of having to hammer in nails all day?¡±


    ¡°I think I will be fine,¡± Wiperna replied with a knowing smile on her face as she held out the axe. ¡°Axe is sharp though. If you hurry you might be done in time to get to see what I¡¯ve been working on. It¡¯s turning out great.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, weren¡¯t you supposed to be the one doing the joinery? I don¡¯t know how to do that?!¡±


    ¡°No, Kullinger is. You¡¯re just helping him.¡±


    ¡°Aw fuuuuu.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 181: Evolution and Design

    Jacky had returned with Linkosta, and she was carrying a large fancy book that Tom hadn¡¯t seen before, which boded well for his hopes of her knowing more about what it was he had seen. As it turned out the ferinix was the believed ancestor of the white dragons, which had sent him down a whole new line of questioning. Luckily Linkosta was more than happy to help.


    Jacky had crawled in under the covers next to him, with Tom embracing her in a side hug, while Linkosta sat down next to the bed on a wooden chair. She had ended up putting the book on the bed as it really was rather heavy.


    Tom did feel a little bad watching her lean in over the book across the bed, but he really did not feel like going anywhere just yet. Besides she didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡®Dragonette spines are flexy, right? She¡¯ll be fine,¡¯ he thought to himself, having a little chuckle as he thought back to some of the more odd positions he had sometimes found Jacky in when she decided naptime was in order.


    It had been quite easy to find the creatures from his dream slash vision since Lord Tikka had been so kind as to shout out the name of the monster that had killed his wife. Tom was still coming to terms with the fact Joelina had made the guy relive that¡­ just like she had forced him. She barely even flinched at it. And Inquisitor Harvik had seemed overjoyed. It even sounded like this wasn¡¯t the first time he had done this. ¡®There is not flinching in the face of it and then there is enjoying it,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as Linkosta explained. He was only half listening, thoughts still lingering on the dream. With some luck perhaps the inquisitor was long dead. It must have happened decades ago. Joelina was not a young woman anymore after all.


    He could of course not tell Linkosta or Jacky the full details. He was keeping that all a secret. Safe in his little notebook. Well safe as he could at least. There was no hiding that he¡¯d had one hell of a night, and he had seen some shit to go with it. The aftereffects of the dream were strange. He had felt so sad. Like he could feel the Lord''s loss as if it were his own, an empty feeling like there was just nothing there. It had faded slowly, so he took heart in Joelina''s promises that the effects did usually pass in time. Even if those promises had often proven empty in his case before.


    ¡°But its horns didn''t look like that,¡± Tom objected as Linkosta showed him a diagram of one of the beasts. Compared to a dragonette figure it was massive, and it was six legged and covered in fur and ice. No tail oddly enough. He supposed it was to help with the cold. The creature acted much as the white dragons in absorbing the heat from around itself to keep their centers warm. How the skin could ¡°live¡± while being in subzero temperatures he didn¡¯t really understand. His best guess being they were 70% antifreeze rather than water. But it was no dragon that much was obvious, as it was smaller even than Jarix. Even if that was hardly saying much.


    ¡°Horns can change between individuals. Simply look at me and Jacky. Notice the slight spiral curve to hers. Almost wavy from the right angle. Mine are nearly straight,¡± Linkosta replied, running a finger back along her horn. They were indeed very near straight, with only a slight soft curve to them.


    ¡°Does that¡­ mean anything?¡± Tom questioned, glancing between them. They were indeed quite different. Come to think of it, all the Bizmatis had rather straight backward-swept horns. And some dragonette¡¯s horns curled around to point forwards, be it just the tips or the whole horn like Esmeralda.


    ¡°No, not really. But it will often run in the family. I had a classmate in the capital who had split ends. Never seen that before. Her father had it too.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so she had like, four tips?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it looked quite weird. The others called her antlers.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe, that¡¯s pretty good,¡± Jacky chuckled, while Linkosta looked a little less amused. ¡°Antlers¡­ hehe.¡±


    ¡°What else is in there?¡±


    ¡°Magics mostly. One day I should teach you to read the runes, glyphs, and sigils.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Jacky questioned, moving about a bit under the sheets, one leg getting laid across Tom.


    ¡°Tom is clearly a man of knowledge, why wouldn¡¯t he want to know?¡±


    ¡°Cause he can¡¯t use it and we have a lot of work to do?¡±


    ¡°Now now,¡± Tom interrupted. ¡±We do right now. Maybe on a rainy day. Or a cold one. Is there anything else in there? Something I might understand?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Linkosta responded with a nod, starting to flip pages. ¡°There is the ancestry of all the true dragons here in the back. The ferinix is rumored to be the long ancestor of the white dragons. They share many traits. That is why it is in here at all.¡±


    ¡°It had long fur and six legs, no tail, and no wings,¡± Tom questioned a little skeptically, not quite able to see how those two could possibly be directly related. That was quite the deviance in his mind at least.


    ¡°Of course, all the progenitors vary considerably from the true dragons as this book calls them. The ferinix can be found on some very far north islands. But mainly they reside on the ice sheets down on the northern ocean. The ice wastes as some call them. But supposedly they are very resistant to corruption, which lets them prey on the dark beings that tend to congregate far up north. This makes them quite valuable for controlling the populations.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I guess that is a quite nice feature.¡±


    ¡°And the white dragons inherited it. All dragons are quite resistant to corruption, but whites especially so.¡±


    ¡°Hence why the church loves them?¡± Tom recounted.


    ¡°Exactly. It is also why hunting the ferinix is very illegal. Too valuable.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense¡­ But you said the ancestries of all dragons. What else is in there?¡±


    ¡°Right, yes,¡± Linkosta replied, starting to page through the book before turning it around to show. ¡°Here look. These are known as demon hunters, though the actual name is zahicar. I didn¡¯t actually know that. They are quite rare, but there are many kinds that are often unique to a given island. Blue crested, black crested, mountain zahicar. This book only mentions some examples, but look, it hunts in the water.¡±


    Tom looked curiously at the strange drawing, a rather long hornless thing with short legs that all seemingly sported webbed feet, at least according to the diagram. ¡°What color are those?¡±


    ¡°They are the ancestors to the blue dragons. They hunt using electricity. The zahicar are quite a dark blue though, only natural considering what they eat. Rumor has it they get more and more vicious the older they get. They might hunt demons, but they will hunt you too.¡±


    ¡°Riiight¡­ So can they breathe lightning?¡±


    Linkosta took the book back and started reading, finger running down the page. Tom waited patiently as she flipped to the next page and carried on reading before finally looking up. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ seems like a bit of a jump.¡±


    ¡°The ferinix does not possess a breath weapon either. The true dragons were made by the gods you see.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight,¡± Tom responded, slowly nodding. In his mind, it was perhaps a bit more likely the dragonettes hadn¡¯t quite worked out the evolutionary line yet. It had taken humans a very long time after all. It was nothing to be ashamed of.


    ¡°Now this one is luckily not found on this island, but if you travel you might have to look out for it,¡± Linkosta went, paging a little more before turning the book to show. ¡°The nauliker. Relatively small, six legs, no wings. Fast in both sprint and endurance, but its bite contains a similar poison to a true green dragon. Only this one is a bit better at making you ready to eat¡­ Assuming you are a nauliker that is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a venomous dog?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the helpful diagram. It certainly looked like it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really remember what a dog is, but-¡±


    ¡°Cute little fluffy thing, but it can bite and run like really far¡­ Unless it¡¯s that one breed uhm¡­ what was it called,¡± Jacky interrupted, Tom waiting to see what she would say, honestly curious. ¡°Couch potato, that¡¯s the one.¡±


    Tom did his best not to snicker, Linkosta tilting her head.


    ¡°What a strange name for an animal.¡±


    ¡°You called an electric otter a demon hunter, call it even,¡± Tom responded, still pulling a slight smile.


    ¡°I suppose¡­¡± Linkosta relented as she went back to her book, seemingly none the wiser. ¡°But yes, be wary of this one. It will attack anything it thinks is food, and they hunt in packs. Their aim is almost always to get one member of the pack into position so it may land a bite on the prey. After that they simply follow and wait.¡±


    ¡°That is one nasty sounding mother fucker.¡±


    ¡°That is certainly a word for it. I¡¯ve heard of places that have those kill on sight so that they don¡¯t decide you are prey rather than danger.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± Tom concurred. The discussions back home on how wolves were to be handled echoed in the back of his mind, along with the remaining shards of longing for a wife that was never his. He hugged Jacky a little tighter as Linkosta took the book back to change pages again.


    ¡°This one is fascinating. I had not actually heard much of these before. They are scarce and elusive. Oh and they only live in desserts. The glassmole.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± Tom questioned, tilting his head.


    Linkosta cleared her throat and began to read an excerpt, seemingly finding that the easiest way to explain. ¡°The glassmole, also known as the sand drake, water hoarder, and sand dweller. They use their fire breath and extreme temperature resistance to melt desert sand into crude glass. They build burrows in the sand and make bowls to collect water during rain. Some have even been known to put a lid on the bowls to store the water for later.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They use the water they have collected to lure in possible prey. If you do ever end up wandering a desert, do be wary of any sudden pools of water you find.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Tom replied with a nod, trying to think how something like that might come about. ¡®It¡¯s a living 3d printer¡­ that¡¯s amazing.¡¯


    ¡°Then there is the black dragon¡¯s ancestor¡­ or assumed ancestor I suppose I should say. The uhm¡­ the mountain worm or ordahir.¡±


    ¡°Not the most glamorous name,¡± Tom admitted, not quite sure what to make of that one. Jacky let out a surprised snicker, so it probably wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Oh poor Tigaun.¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Yeaaah,¡± Linkosta sighed reluctantly before hefting the book and beginning to read aloud once more. ¡°The mountain worm spends its days burrowing through solid rock using its corrosive acid. It is a slow and laborious process for a slow and laborious creature. It is believed that much of the day goes with sleeping while the acid does its job, while at night the worm comes out to feed upon mosses, lichen, and other vegetation. One of only a handful of draconic creatures noted to be almost entirely herbivores in nature. Despite the name, the worms do indeed possess legs, though they are but short, stubby appendages, well suited for their life underground. The average size of a specimen is not believed to exceed 3 feet in length, making them one of the smallest members of the draconic family.¡±


    ¡°Oof, someone got the short end of the stick,¡± Jacky joked, this all seemingly not news to her.


    ¡°I mean the blues live in the water, isn¡¯t that almost as bad?¡± Tom tried while making a mental note not to bring these possible ancestors up while Tiguan was around.


    ¡°Yeah, but come one, dumb little worm that only comes out at night? And eats moss. Waow. They taste like shit too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve tasted one?¡± Tom questioned, turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Yeah, we got plenty of them in the mountains running along the spine of the island. Remember the ones we saw when flying to Deriva way back?¡±


    ¡°Oooh yeaaah.¡±


    ¡°Probably shouldn¡¯t eat that¡­ But they prefer moss. I suppose they would eat any vegetation they could get their hands on. Oh according to this they are not above scavenging either. And apparently they live in colonies. Look at this one,¡± Lin went, once more turning the book to show a sketch of a mountainside which had been perforated with little holes, one or two of which had one of the little buggers looking out, likely as artistic liberty.


    ¡®Damn they are ugly.¡¯ Tom mused to himself looking at the rather unflattering depiction.


    ¡°Heh, just like they claim we used to do,¡± Jacky snickered, looking at the funny picture.


    ¡°That is an established fact backed up by observations of more¡­ feral dragonettes that have been observed over the years,¡± Lin countered. It sounded like this was maybe not the first time they had this discussion at the keep.


    ¡°Oh please. Us? Living in caves? At least pick a tree and build a nest or something like a normal person.¡±


    ¡°That would not be very suited for winter, now would it?¡±


    ¡°Eeeh.. fair point,¡± Jacky had to concede, even though it looked like she was thinking hard on a rebuttal.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how all of these turn into dragons like Jarix and Tiguan. There is quite the jump between all of these, not similar at all,¡± Tom questioned, wanting to steer the conversation back to these progenitors.


    ¡°The gods made them of course,¡± Linkosta reiterated. ¡°These creatures were only the inspiration. Building blocks if you may. Good ideas which could be molded and shaped into what we today know as the five true dragons. It isn¡¯t that hard to understand.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ No I suppose not,¡± Tom yielded, not wanting to get into an argument right now.


    ¡°In combination with this,¡± Linkosta went, flipping to where Tom was pretty sure the appendices began. ¡°The silver dragon. The original.¡±


    ¡°Oh there we go,¡± Tom went, looking at the very familiar-looking creature. ¡°Four legs, wings at the back of the ribcage, long neck, long sturdy tail¡­Wait, are these things still around?¡± he questioned, suddenly confused. He felt he would have heard of those.


    ¡°The are believed extinct millennia ago. The book even makes mention that this diagram is a copy from older works as no specimens were believed to be in existence when this was written¡­¡±


    ¡°How old was that book again?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know to be honest. It¡¯s likely a later volume of the same book.¡±


    ¡°Why did they go extinct actually? I remember Apuma talking about those being where we came from.¡±


    ¡°Wait, hang on a minute. Where you came from?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Linkosta.


    ¡°Oh yes, right. I am sorry. I keep forgetting we never got quite so far with your uhm¡­ basic education and history?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t need the 2+2 classes, but uhm¡­ what the fuck?¡± Tom replied, pointing at the diagram. It might be a copied diagram, but there was a dragonette in the corner for scale, and this silver dragon was no smaller than the true dragons. ¡°That¡¯s a lot bigger than you.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ we aren¡¯t quite sure.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you were quite sure about the others?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, the church confirmed them as being the progenitors. They asked Itova and he confirmed it. He was the one who made them after all,¡± Linkosta replied, Tom continuing to stare at her, hoping she would carry on, which she seemed a little reluctant to do.


    ¡°Buuut¡­¡±


    ¡°But when we asked as to our own ancestors¡­ he wouldn¡¯t tell us.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Damn gods can be a finicky bunch, am I right?¡± Jacky replied with a sigh. ¡°Can¡¯t just be upfront about it.¡±


    ¡°It is their choice to make. Even if I think the church has tried many times to get an answer to that question.¡±


    ¡°Actually about that. Asking the gods. Uhm how?¡±


    ¡°The high priests. The gods may choose to speak through their priests if they so desire.¡±


    Tom had a slight flashback to some of earth''s ¡°speakers of god¡± and tried not to let his considerable skepticism show. Besides, one could see the gods with a good telescope around here, so maybe it was actually true¡­ which was a terrifying prospect.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about just, you know, random visions and the like,¡± Jacky added in.


    ¡°It is very rare that those are actually the gods talking through you¡­ Rare enough there is some debate on if it¡¯s even possible. Visions may be a gift from the gods, but not the gods per say.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say. I¡¯ll just say a little prayer I get to have a vision about puppies one day.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a thought right there. Have you ever tried to domesticate any of these? The nauliker seem smart enough,¡± Tom tried, curious if perhaps the dragonettes had tried their hand at something more impressive than Balethon¡¯s braindead lizard.


    ¡°Oh yes. I remember hearing stories of a tame glass mole once. It could do tricks and even walk on two legs. And the book even states Nauliker are quite commonly tamed thanks to their pack animal nature. They are used mostly to guard places, though they remain dangerous even after being tamed.¡±


    ¡°I suppose a puppy with teething problems is¡­ well problematic if its teeth are full of poison,¡± Tom mused in reply. He had perhaps been hoping for a possible keep dog. But alas, possibly not the wisest option with children running around.


    ¡°I still think we should sacrifice a shadow drake to the gods and ask for a golden retriever,¡± Jacky grumbled, retreating further down under the blanket. ¡°It looked so cuddly.¡±


    ¡°Do you have pictures? I don¡¯t think I have seen a gold fetcher before,¡± Linkosta questioned hopefully, eyes big and bright. She was clearly enjoying herself this morning.


    ¡°Sure, dog videos it is then. Maybe you can tell me if you have something similar.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I swear by the gods, above AND BELOW! If it rains before you get those fucking sticks in the ground I will eat the lumber!¡± Yldril growled out, her fury hanging in the air as silence reigned for a bit. The wall had slid in again on the hole she was digging. It was her own damn fault for standing so close to where she was digging. Saph wasn¡¯t gonna bring it up though. Yldril was plenty pissed already. Sadly Raulf had no such reservations.


    ¡°Well, you could try to get your fat arse clear of the hole! It¡¯s not fair on the hole; it¡¯s not made for a girl like you!¡± the old farmer called out jovially while leaning professionally on his shovel.


    Yldril froze in place and turned to glare at the farmer. She took a good three seconds trying to come up with a response, failed, and instead picked up a fistful of dirt and went to throw.


    Raulf¡¯s eyes widened for just a bit before Yldril¡¯s foreleg stopped mid-motion. The dragon¡¯s face grew strained as she struggled against her magical bindings.


    ¡°Now now, you¡¯re wasting your breath,¡± the guy hummed, relaxing on the shovel once more once he realized he was quite safe.


    ¡°Yldril¡­ just leave it,¡± Fengi tried, in a calming tone. ¡°The quicker it¡¯s done with the quicker we can get you washed off¡­ Then no more digging.¡±


    Yldril strained for a moment longer before she let her leg fall to the floor, her shoulders sagging and wings drooping in defeat. ¡°What a surprise, Fengi has forgotten what we have to do next¡­¡±


    ¡°Quit your yapping. There¡¯s plenty more digging to do¡­ and you all know it. Get to it.¡±


    Dejectedly the dragon got back to work, slowly and clearly trying her hardest to pretend that Raulf didn¡¯t exist. Fengi didn¡¯t look much happier, mouthing something to herself.


    ¡°There yah go. Good dragon. Now dig that hole so we can get this done before it rains again like you said,¡± Raulf heckled with a chuckle at the end. ¡°You are quite wise on that one.¡±


    ¡°If this ever wears off I will wear you like a fucking necklace you petulant oaf.¡±


    ¡°I am sure I¡¯ll look smashing. Now dig, would yah? Jarix is working faster than you are.¡±


    Saph rather involuntarily glanced towards where the blue dragon was hauling away on the pulley mechanism to drive the big saw. Glira had already delivered her first load of logs for the day, and they were getting sawed into square beams in record time as Glira went for a second load right away.


    The first couple of posts were already in the ground, though what was to become the floor would need some work. It was nice and flat, Yldril had made sure of that, and Tom had even checked with that odd water bubble stick he had. The floor was just dirt though, soft if slightly clayish soil. They had considered a plank floor, but that did not tend to mesh well with dragons and heavy items being moved around. What they really wanted was thick tiles or stones, but there was no way they were getting that done in time.


    Tom had grumbled something about concrete, but when pushed he¡¯d gone ¡°Nope, we ain¡¯t making that on time either.¡± So instead they were going to use better dirt. Clay to be specific. They had a spot down by the lake where they could dig some okay clay up. It was pretty crap by pottery standards, but it would do fine for this. Once dry at least.


    Of course, digging said clay up was going to be Yldril''s problem. Which was likely what she was so pissed about, or at least part of the reason.


    The day had progressed smoothly for the most part, following Yldril''s little outburst. There were a few more, and even Jarix complained at the hard work when the sun started to get low in the sky. With the temperature dropping and most of the vertical beams in place, they called it for the day as Yldril finished the last hole. Glira had managed a total of three loads, using a jury-rigged harness to carry 6 logs at a time. The harness should also fit Yldril with some modification, so that was a relief. Raulf was very proud of it, he and his wife having put it together during the rain.


    Tomorrow Yldril was supposedly cleared to fly though, at least if Quinlin¡¯s medical checkup agreed she was ready. Then she would have to spend the day hauling logs rather than digging. Saph thought she would prefer that, at least now that it was by wing rather than by foot.


    As they had been wrapping up Jacky had come gliding down, looking a lot better than earlier that morning. She did a quick circle above the worksite before coming down to land amongst them. Saph was gathering up tools to put away before intending to go with Yldril and Fengi to the lake for a wash. Her feet especially could do with some water even if it was cold as fuck this time of year.


    ¡°Nice to see someone is making progress,¡± she called out as she came jogging to a halt. ¡°Saph, you got a minute?¡±


    ¡°Sure, what have you got in mind?¡±


    ¡°I wanna go check the skull. Tom is still at it with Lin. Now they are in the library looking for more books.¡±


    ¡°More stuff on dragons, or has she started teaching him about magic all of the sudden?¡±


    ¡°They got out Haldex¡¯s Tales and Tribulations.¡±


    ¡°I thought Tom heard some of those back when he was taking lessons with the kids, didn¡¯t he?¡± Fengi questioned, receiving a shrug in reply from Jacky.


    ¡°Oh dear,¡± was all Saph could say to that. Sure, it had plenty of fantastical stories, most likely recited by a drunken buffoon in a bar somewhere and then rewritten by a person who had never set foot outside city limits and considered going to the outhouse an expedition. ¡°But why though?¡±


    ¡°It has a bunch of tales from far-off places. The frigid north, islands covered in desserts, putrid swamps, mountain ranges. Remember those islands close to the ocean full of massive bugs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I still don¡¯t buy that shit and you know it. Bugs live in the Southlands. We all know that. Well, the big ones at least.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they are just you know¡­ analyzing the text for what might be real¡­ Linkosta says that a lot,¡± Fengi added, seemingly trying to play the optimist, even if it was putting a toll on her.


    ¡°Sure sure¡­ Either way, it¡¯s working. Tom¡¯s going full nerd. I wanna keep it that way¡­ aaand show off my cool skull.¡±


    Sapphire was perfectly sure this in no way had anything to do with Linkosta succeeding where Jacky had failed. And certainly not any sort of jealousy on Jacky¡¯s part that Lin was getting all of his attention. It wasn¡¯t the first time the two of them were nerding out over something Jacky couldn¡¯t really partake in after all. Saph had handed over the dirty tools to a not-so-appreciative Raulf. ¡°Well we¡¯re heading to the lake too. You good to go, Fengi?¡±


    ¡°Just waiting on you? Why?¡±


    ¡°Jacky¡¯s coming with. Let¡¯s get the muck washed off. Maybe Yldril could lend a hand with that skull. The ants are nasty little fuckers.¡±


    ¡°You want me to dig out the cleaned skull of Tarak¡­ And I presume carry it back here where it will be mounted as a trophy¡­¡± the black dragon replied in a low indignant grumble.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go all soft and squeamish on me now,¡± Jacky chuckled, leaning on her hips. ¡°I thought you only just hired the guy. Besides there ain¡¯t no way I¡¯m not showing off after a kill like that.¡±


    ¡°I did¡­ I suppose he should have learned to do as you say here¡­¡±


    The dragon''s mood had been rather foul all day, and this was certainly not improving matters. But dragon scales were antproof. Dragonette skin wasn¡¯t. At least Saph was fairly sure Yldril would be ant-proof. Then again, the thought of getting some of the buggers up under the scaly plates on her chest sent a shiver down her spine. One she involuntarily tried to shake off.


    ¡°Why have you got the shivers¡­ I am the one you want to dig out a friend of mine. A friend you denied the chance to go to heaven¡­ remember that?¡± the dragon sneered, the venom back in her voice with full force.


    ¡°Like a piece of shit like him deserves to go. See you down there, come on Saph,¡± Jacky retorted before taking off running, soon beating skywards, leaving the fuming dragon staring after Jackalope.


    ¡°You don¡¯t actually give a shit, do you?¡± Saph questioned once Jacky was well underway.


    ¡°No¡­¡± she admitted, tone lightening just a touch. ¡°He was a shithead.¡±


    Fengi let out a long pained sigh, rubbing her temples with both hands. ¡°Of course you don¡¯t.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 182: Lakeside

    ¡°Awww yeah, look at this. Maybe the dude wasn¡¯t so bad after all!¡± Jacky went excitedly as she rubbed away on the big skull. Saph was helping out with the final cleaning. The ants had done a brilliant job, but even so, a final clean and a bit of polish was needed.


    They were down in the workshop. The sun was nearly down, so it was only really Shiva, Tink, and Edita who were still working.


    ¡°Oh yeah. This is gonna look sweet up on the wall in the Grand hall. It¡¯s going in the Grand hall, right?¡± Saph questioned as she rubbed a bit more wax on her cloth. ¡°It¡¯s gonna shine.¡±


    ¡°Damn right. It won¡¯t fit in the bedroom. I checked. Tom would hit his head on it in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Aww, poor guy.¡±


    ¡°You know it¡­ gods he was fucked this morning. But hey, maybe this will cheer him up. Look look, that¡¯s where I stuck the shotgun in. I blew a hole at the base there.¡±


    Saph craned her head over to have a look, and there was indeed a hole with a bit of cracking in the bone around it, leading into the braincase. ¡°Oh yeaaah. Gods he had a shit day.¡±


    ¡°Same with my gun. Tom wants to fix it. I wanna mount it below the skull as part of the trophy: the second time a gun has tried to take my hand off.¡± She chuckled as she stuck a finger in the hole, feeling around a little with a reminiscing smile on her face.


    ¡°Not gonna lie, it would look pretty badass. But those guns are a bit too valuable to just hang on a wall you know.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know! But it¡¯s a damn dragon! That¡¯s gotta be worth it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see¡­ it is bloody cool though. We wanna shine the horns too?¡±


    ¡°Pfff, of course,¡± Jacky replied, getting up and going to the shelves to start looking through the various pots and jars.


    ¡°I do have some metal polish if that would work?¡± Edita questioned as she looked up from her work at the filing bench. ¡°Though I have not tried it on horn or bone before.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll just stick to what we know works,¡± Saph replied with a gentle nod. ¡°But thank you.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± came the reply as the artificer once more engrossed herself in her work. Saph didn¡¯t even know what she was making, but it was probably some sort of tool or something. It sure looked too fancy to be for the warehouse.


    With a bit more work, the whole skull shone. The backplate would have to come later, but for now it was looking fantastic.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s go show it off before they get called down for dinner,¡± Jacky went, throwing a glance out the window, the red shimmer on the horizon betraying they were about to run out of light.


    ¡°Oh yeah, dinner. I need to get this done,¡± Edita spoke up, fiddling with her goggles, a bright white light coming on and illuminating her work. ¡°I will be here if anyone asks.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t miss the bell this time,¡± Saph joked as she got up to help Jacky carry the skull. It was a rather ungainly thing after all.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the looks on their faces,¡± Jacky joked as she opened the door with a foot, using her tail to steady herself.


    ¡°Or all the traders and travelers. You get to spin a story now.¡±


    ¡°That too, that too.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°And you think that¡¯s real? That actually happened?¡± Tom questioned as Apuma finished reciting enthusiastically as ever. He had only just finished the day¡¯s lessons with the kids, handing them over to Essy for some flying practice before dinner time, but the old man did not seem tired in the slightest.


    ¡°Well, it is hard to say of course, but someone did bother to write it down.¡±


    ¡°Riiight,¡± Tom replied, not feeling overly convinced. ¡®And Wikipedia is pure gospel.¡¯


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Do you doubt wild creatures can show kindness?¡± the old loremaster questioned, seemingly not taking Tom¡¯s side in this discussion. Apuma did have a tendency to regard his books quite highly.


    ¡°No, I just doubt that a pack of wild predators would bother returning a child-shaped snack to a place they probably don¡¯t know it came from. Seems a bit much doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°A Nauliker is quite intelligent. I remember another tale of a keep who used them to guard their prisoners, of course it ended in tragedy when a child elected to play with the beast. I believe it is supposed to be a cautionary tale for any place that keeps such creatures. But in the tale, it could even do tricks. Quite amusing if I say so myself.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Tom replied, looking at the crude drawing which didn¡¯t look anything like what was in the draconic sorcery book. The two were clearly completely separate calibers of work. The color was about right, and there was something at least resembling scales on the things back, like an armored back protector someone might expect for a motorcyclist. But over all Apuma¡¯s book reminded him more of one of those medieval paintings they sometimes ran at pop quiz nights. The ones where you had to guess what the medieval monk had tried to portray. It was often very hard indeed.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t get hung up on the depictions. It is¡­ uhm¡­ charming,¡± Apuma mused, looking upon the pages. ¡°I am sure the artist did their best.¡±


    ¡°Either that or they were high as a kite while drawing it,¡± Linkosta added with a huff. ¡°It is shoddy workmanship.¡±


    Then the sound of the double doors opening had them all turning to look, Investigator Paulin waltzing in, Glazz steadfast at her side as per usual.


    Tom''s shoulder sagged a touch at the sight. ¡®You know I had almost forgotten you were here for a moment.¡¯


    ¡°I see someone is engrossed in reading. Things are coming along well outside. How goes things in here?¡± Paulin started in the entirely unnatural, friendly tone that she had adopted quite frequently ever since Joelina¡¯s departure. Her expression did dull a little as she laid eyes on the book they were reading, likely expecting it to be her book which had them all so interested.


    ¡°Indeed, we thought it prudent to try and fill some of Tom¡¯s many holes in regard to his knowledge and understanding of our world,¡± Apuma responded with only the slightest hint of distaste showing through in his voice.


    The investigator walked up to have a peek at said book, Glazz remaining at an almost comfortable distance. ¡°Hmmm¡­ interesting choice I must say. But either way, I bring news of all sorts.¡±


    ¡°Oh tell,¡± the old man inquired, turning on the bench to face her a little better. Linkosta also piqued up, her ears betraying her interest.


    ¡°We have received word that the next door is soon to be openable. A few days at most. They have successfully managed to bypass the enchantments upon it without permanently damaging the precious vault¡­ unlike some,¡± she for some reason elected to give Tom a rather hard stare at that one. He had only supplied the explosives. Sapphire had set them off. And Twitch had helped make the stuff, so he was hardly responsible for that slightly singed door.


    ¡°That is very good. I would not mind being there to witness the opening. I must admit I had hoped the process would be faster.¡±


    ¡°We are of a similar mind in that vein, loremaster, but the preservation of the vaults outweighs the cost in time.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ are we to make any preparations for departing, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Not quite yet, but I do believe we want you all three there for it. Now I have also spoken with Glira. I understand Linkosta was not able to persuade either Fengi to change her mind or Sapphire to assist in the matter?¡±


    ¡°What matter?¡± Tom questioned, glancing between Lin and Apuma. Both looked a touch uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°Fengi has elected that Yldril is allowed to say no to partaking in your keep¡¯s studies of draconic magics. I must admit that was not something I foresaw, but as has been made quite clear, it is an internal matter to the keep. Nunuk was quite assertive in that.¡±


    ¡°You talked with mother too?¡± Linkosta questioned, sounding conflicted on what she thought of that.


    ¡°Of course, Fengi is one of her subjects. Normally I would instruct her to comply for the good of all. But alas, I cannot do so here it seems. No matter, there is a solution. Glira is more than willing to do her part to serve. With some incentives,¡± Paulin continued, sounding like the last part had been a considerable concession on her part.


    ¡°Give her some time to rest following a hard day¡¯s work, and I am sure she will be able to satisfy your requirements once Yldril is fit to fly the logs for Jarix to saw. Or vice versa, we shall see.¡±


    ¡°Oh splendid. That way we don¡¯t need to upset Fengi,¡± Apuma broke out, seemingly finding it a perfect solution. ¡°Oh I am ever so excited.¡±


    Tom took a moment to mull over just what sort of incentive the inquisition could give Glira that she actually wanted. There was money of course¡­ Hopefully it had just been money.


    ¡°Indeed. Perhaps you would like to witness their workings out. If you are so inclined towards studying of magic?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Tom blurted out, having been caught mid-thought.


    ¡°Excellent¡­ though I am curious, are you not needed elsewhere at the moment?¡±


    ¡°With construction back underway, I¡¯m sure they have plenty to work on¡­ and I would rather not touch Tink and Twitch''s personal project¡­ in fact on that note.¡±


    ¡°Yeees.¡±


    ¡°Might be a good idea to build a shed somewhere a little aways from everything for that sort of work. You know. In case they mess it up.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I suppose that shall be added to the construction plans. If the weather holds, perhaps we can even manage it before winter hits,¡± Paulin replied, not seeming dismissive of the idea. Tom knew as well as her that things might end up right on that front though. But if it came to it that it was too cold, he could maybe even cobble something together himself.


    Then the door opened once more, the whole group of now five people turning to see Jacky and Saph come waltzing in carrying a massive skull, big smiles on their faces. Those lasted until the saw who was present aside from Linkosta, Tom, and Apuma, the two of them coming to an abrupt stop. Jacky gave a chin-up nod to Glazz. ¡°Sup.¡±


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    _________________________________________________________________________________


    It had been a good day''s work. All the holes were dug, there were beams in them, and the bottom ends had been charred and everything. So they had taken a little midday break. It was hard work, that was for sure, and they had earned it. Just an hour or so to get back on their feet. Fengi had decided that they should instead use that hour to make a little something for Yldril, or at least present the idea.


    ¡°Right okay, you have done a very good job today, minimal swearing¡­ okay, not minimal, but you have done good. All the beams are up, now it¡¯s just planks and the floor.¡±


    ¡°Digging and walking in circles, wonderful,¡± Yldril grumbled in return, though the dragon did seem at least a slight touch more respectful than normal. Likely sensing there was a possible reward on the table.


    Saph didn¡¯t know if she agreed that the dragon had earned anything, but Fengi did have a point. They needed to both look nice, and have something to take away. Maiko had learned that Yldril wasn¡¯t exactly a fan of the cold wet grass outside. Hardly surprising, but he had promised he would sing a little tune to Fengi about working out something better. All they had to do was play along.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget flying. Quinlin said you¡¯re all good to go. So starting tomorrow we are going to have another go at those logs. Apparently, Glira has promised to help with something else. But we thought¡­ remember the tarps we sorta¡­ ruined with our little logging expedition?¡± Fengi carried on cautiously, like she was unsure how to word all this.


    ¡°How could I forget?¡± the dragon responded in a decidedly unimpressed tone, but Saph could tell she was at least a little curious where this was going.


    ¡°Well we thought if we span that out from the wood barn, where we dry it all you know, it would maybe make a decent awning to sleep under. Even if you would have to duck.¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t knock the woodbarn down,¡± Sapphire added


    ¡°That too.¡±


    The old black looked at the two of them, eye narrowing. ¡°Are you trying to get me in trouble?¡±


    ¡°Why no?¡± Fengi replied, taking a step back. ¡°Why- why do you say that?¡± Saph knew she was telling the truth.


    ¡°Why would a dry place to sleep get you in trouble?¡±


    ¡°Because if I shift in my sleep or wake with a start, I will at best rip the roof off that barn.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right. I suppose it isn¡¯t that tall,¡± Fengi admitted, looking to the small single story barn. It was honestly one of the nicer buildings they had. But still, she could see the problem.


    ¡°Do you not have any rock anchors?¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡± Saph questioned. She didn¡¯t think she had ever heard of those before.


    ¡°For climbing equipment. I know you lot can all fly, but sometimes you need something heavy up high and you don¡¯t have a dragon around. Don¡¯t you have any climbing kit?¡±


    ¡°Tom does,¡± Fengi responded truthfully. ¡°What do they look like?¡±


    ¡°You gonna nick them off Tom?¡± Saph broke out. That had not been the plan. They were just using random bits and pieces no one would miss and a bit of work, which Saph had agreed to help with.


    ¡°No no, I would just ask him. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s gonna need those again any time soon, right? And I don¡¯t think we need to use any of his fancy rope.¡±


    ¡°What, the super light soft stuff that could supposedly carry tonnes worth? No, I guess that would be overkill,¡± Saph responded with a nod, Yldril just huffed, likely not believing it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go ask him, just¡­ wait here or something. Or go get the tarp,¡± Fengi said, gesturing them both away as she turned around, wings spreading wide. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Progress was good on the warehouse. The limit now was how quickly they could saw out planks. The beams were up, as were a lot of the roof frames. Turns out, having two dragons on hand to hoist up the wood and hold it there made erecting what was essentially a glorified barn very swift indeed.


    Fengi had asked for some climbing anchors for some reason, Tom guessed it was to do with the construction. Maybe they wanted to make a hoist or something. Gods knew the old hoist on the keep was in disrepair, so they couldn¡¯t ransack that for supplies. He didn¡¯t see a problem with it so he let her have free run of his box of climbing supplies. After a quick explanation of what everything was of course, and a stern reminder not to dangle anyone from it lest he had seen what they had done first.


    He didn¡¯t doubt their knot-tying skills for a moment, but she had picked out a pair of rock anchors, and those could be a little tricky to get in right.


    But with the roof frames nearly done they would be waiting on planks for coverings and shingles. Tom couldn¡¯t do much to help with that. They hadn¡¯t even needed the quad to power the saw. The fuel they had distilled for the quad wouldn¡¯t be good for much longer though, else it would need to be redistilled, or at least have the settling water separated off. And so, he had elected to go fishing. He had a bucket, some different kinds of bait ranging from fragrant to repulsive, one homemade fishing rod, and one Jacky.


    He had set up by the big lake. It was a bit further away, but it was prettier, and more importantly, it might hold some actually decent-sized fish. He had promised he would catch and cook one. With a little luck, today was the day.


    The hook was baited, the line cast, and with a sigh Tom leaned back on the tree root belonging to the old gnarled oak they had set up next to. The trunk even worked as a backrest. Wonderful.


    ¡°Soo¡­ do we just sit here?¡± Jacky questioned, looking out over the quiet calm lake from astride the quad. It was the calmest weather they had seen yet since the storm, with nary a jostle in the branches.


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah. It¡¯s quite relaxing actually. If the bobber goes down, we¡¯ve caught something,¡± Tom replied, pointing out to the little red cork. It had come from some bottle, he didn¡¯t know. Kiran had found it and helped dip it in the red tail paint. It was remarkable how good claws were for paint dunking. They hardly stained at all, even if a polish might be needed to get rid of the red scratches.


    Silence reigned as Tom looked out over the water. So calm, so tranquil. He could feel himself relaxing. It had been ages since he had gone fishing. Normally it wasn¡¯t his sort of thing. Too boring. Right now though, he could do with a little boring. Well, some boring that wasn¡¯t being stuck in bed, even if the company was very good.


    The tranquility lasted for some time, but it was not the cork bobbing in the shining silver water that broke the silence, or a songbird. It was Jacky.


    ¡°...It¡¯s cold,¡± she complained, shifting a bit on the quad as she laid herself over the handlebars. ¡°The engine isn¡¯t warm anymore. Not really.¡±


    ¡°It is autumn, yeah¡­ You could start a fire?¡± Tom tried, hoping this wasn¡¯t about to be tonesetting for the little trip. He didn¡¯t want to be alone out here, not if he could help it. Sure, he could see the keep. That didn¡¯t mean they could help him if there truly was something nasty in the water.


    ¡°It¡¯s wet¡­¡± Jacky countered mopingly. ¡°I thought I would have to save you from a lake monster or something. But nothing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been five minutes. Maybe ten. Why don¡¯t you try a fire, we got plenty of lighting fluid.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring any oil?¡± Jacky questioned, seemingly not quite understanding.


    ¡°The quad jacky. There are liters worth of Ethanol and gasoline in there.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯ll get some wood,¡± she quickly declared, hopping off the machine gracefully and setting to work creating a pile.


    Tom just chuckled a little and turned his attention back to the lake. The cork was still bobbing merrily, but he thought he saw rings further out. Something had breached the surface. ¡®I wonder if they have carp here?¡¯


    As he waited, he saw another few plops here and there out over the lake, the odd fly or mosquito coming a bit too close to the water for its own good. ¡®There are definitely fish out there. Come on, don¡¯t you want a little sausage? Here fishy fishy.¡¯


    Jacky came back a few times, plonking down stacks of sticks and scratching a fire circle around them with her feet. Tom doubted it was needed, but she seemed to be running on autopilot as she whittled away at a small stick to carve thin strips into the end of it¡ªa fire-lighting stick.


    Tom watched her work with a smile. She didn¡¯t even seem to pay him mind until she was done assembling the fire.


    ¡°How do we get fuel back out of it?¡± Jacky questioned as she plonked down next to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle that. You keep an eye on the cork?¡± Tom questioned as he got up, bringing the rod along.


    ¡°It¡¯s still there,¡± Jacky replied jokingly, peering out over the lake before taking the rod with a smile as Tom handed it over. He let out a reluctant chuckle as she walked up to the farming quad. He grabbed the jerry can, lashed to the rear rack. He¡¯d never bothered to take it off since it might come in handy on the one day he forgot to top up before heading out. On the front rack they had a pair of baskets with picnic stuff. It might take awhile after all.


    With Jacky watching the line, he splashed a bit of petrol on the wood pile and stepped well back. The frayed stick was dunked in the petrol and the cap went back on. He looked to Jacky to confirm that she wasn¡¯t looking yet, which she wasn¡¯t. She seemed engrossed by the calm lake for now.


    Then with a flick of the thumb the lighter caught and the burning stick was flung into the campfire.


    whooosh


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± Jacky let out in alarm, turning to see the brief fireball and Tom laughing his ass off.


    ¡°Oh that ought to have scared the fishes.¡±


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Jacky laughed out, looking down at herself. ¡°You better not have singed my tail.¡±


    ¡°Nope, still white¡­ though I think your arse is starting to look a bit like a cr¨¨me br?l¨¦e.¡±


    ¡°That better be something which looks delicious.¡±


    ¡°Oh definitely¡­ it¡¯s a right old snack.¡±


    Jacky just sighed and shook her head, glancing to the fire. ¡°Well I suppose that is that sorted. Not much luck with this though,¡± she said, giving a bit of a tug on the line.


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s reel it in and see if maybe the bait fell off.¡±


    Winding the line back in was quite the hassle without a wheel, and even with Jacky helping it turned into a mess anyway. And once the hook emerged from the water there was indeed nothing left on it.


    ¡°Oh god dammit.¡±


    ¡°I think you are feeding fish rather than catching them.¡±


    ¡°Shut up you. I¡¯m getting the stinky stuff.¡±


    ¡°Stinky stuff?¡± Jacky questioned, looking after him as he returned to the quad, fire snapping away happily, though it was throwing off quite a bit of smoke.


    ¡°Yes, the potted beef.¡±


    ¡°The stuff that had like liquid at the bottom and mold on top?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s see if these things like it with a stink.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t eating anything that willingly eats that.¡±


    ¡°I bet you a boar would eat this. You like boar, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­ I suppose,¡± she countered half-heartedly. He knew damn well she loved the stuff.


    ¡°Jesus fuck. It really does stink,¡± Tom went as he took off the impromptu lid. Jacky wrinkled her nose and held her head away as he set about getting it on the hook. It stuck like sludge, so at least it likely wouldn¡¯t fall off. Even if it might wash off instead, and with the procedure complete he went to wash his fingers in the lake water.


    ¡°Oi! Take your fishy stick, get that stuff away from me!¡± Jacky demanded, holding the pole at arm¡¯s length, head stretched as far in the other direction as it would go.


    ¡°Since when did you grow squeamish?¡± Tom laughed, shaking his hands dry as he went back to take the fishing rod.


    ¡°Since I had to share a room with a human. You guys are the king of stink.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t smell like rotten beef god dammit.¡±


    ¡°Gods dammit. Plural.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ Linkosta,¡± Tom replied, which put quite a sour face on Jacky as he walked back to the water''s edge, laying out the line. ¡°And one¡­ and two¡­ three¡± and back out the hook went, dragging the line behind it.


    ¡°What, just cause she went to the academy she¡¯s all smart and stuff?¡±


    ¡°Jacky, you know she¡¯s smart. Book smart. Ain¡¯t gonna ask her to tie a knot to save my life, now am I?¡± Tom replied, looking back to the pouting Jacky now that the line was cast. ¡°Wait, you ain¡¯t jealous, are you?¡±


    ¡°Noo¡­ but she better not start getting any ideas.¡±


    ¡°Relaaax Jacky, think back. Just what you have done for me in the last what¡­ gods how long has it been? A month? I can¡¯t even tell anymore. Do you know how rare it is to find someone willing to both fight the world and sit with you night after night?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you are supposed to do, isn¡¯t it? A couple sticks together.¡±


    ¡°There is a world of difference between supposed to and reality,¡± Tom went, lodging the rod in its little resting spot and walking back over with his arms spread wide.


    Jacky let out a little huff, though she did crack a smile as Tom embraced the far larger woman. ¡°For the record¡­ those were some tough nights. Really tough.¡±


    ¡°I know they were. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± she let out happily, nuzzling him close. ¡°...Fuck, Tom, the thingy!¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at her confused.


    ¡°The cork is gone!¡±


    ¡°Fuck fuck fuck fuck.¡± He let go of Jacky, leaving her standing there as he hurried up to the rod as he watched the line run out through the metal eyes. He snatched it up and held on tight just as the line ran out. ¡°Right, got i-¡±


    Whatever sort of fish it was yanked him clean off his footing, sending him sailing through the air into the shallow water. He landed with a splash as the line went slack for a moment, and he heard Jacky shout behind him as he fumbled to get up, not wanting to let go of the rod.


    ¡°Oh you idiot, what are you doing?!¡± he could hear her feet splashing in the water as he finally got up.


    ¡°Well I can¡¯t just let it go. What sorta fish is that?¡± he called out as he started backpedaling, this time ready for a yank.


    ¡°Why are you asking me?¡±


    Jacky wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as the line went taut again, though this time they were ready. They gave a little reluctant ground before starting to backpedal once more, soon getting back up onto shore and fighting with the creature all the while. To be honest, all Tom did was hold on to the rod as Jacky lifted him off the ground to get back up onto the shore.


    ¡°Well, anything big enough to do that is definitely gonna make dinner.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s edible. What if it¡¯s just like a giant worm or leech or something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be just a big fish or something. Go to the tree, let¡¯s just brace the rod. I¡¯m surprised the hook hasn¡¯t come out yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed by that line,¡± Jacky replied as she tried to walk with her arms still wrapped around him. The fish pulled once more and they both tumbled as their legs intertwined. ¡°Right. This is awkward.¡±


    Tom still just held onto his rod as Jacky found her footing once more and got them both back upright.


    ¡°Could you be any more difficult to help?¡± she complained, though she did make it to the tree, Tom bracing the rod against it.


    ¡°I try my best¡­ so¡­ what now?¡± Tom chuckled, looking down at himself dripping wet.


    ¡°Why do you keep asking me?¡± she replied, joining in the chuckling. ¡°This whole thing was your idea.¡±

 Chapter 183: Caught

    Well then folk last chapter for couple months probably, I hope you enjoy


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°He is a persistent fucker,¡± Tom chuckled as they both watched the splashing move around the lake. ¡°He is getting tired though.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think it¡¯s a he? That¡¯s clearly a woman. Too much fight in her,¡± Jacky countered, still helping brace Tom against the tree even though that really wasn¡¯t needed.


    ¡°No comment,¡± Tom replied with a shit eating grin on his face, and he could almost feel Jacky fuming.


    ¡°Well if it is a guy I guess we just need to tap it between the legs and it will be curled up in misery for hours.¡±


    ¡°Oi! That was a bit more than a tap you know.¡±


    ¡°Hardly. Is it still not getting tired?¡±


    Tom watched the splashing in the water, spying what looked like a long slender tail poking out for a moment. ¡°I think so, but IT is taking IT¡¯s sweet time about it¡­ definitely not a dragonette then: they tend to tire out in minutes.¡±


    ¡°You cheat and you know it, besides overheating is impossible in water that cold. It is cheating too. It¡¯s like super sweating. Maybe that¡¯s why they are so nasty.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mock it till you try it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried smelling your sweaty ass plenty of times.¡±


    ¡°You smell my ass? That¡¯s kinda weird you know, I almost feel violated.¡±


    Tom got a gentle smack to the back of the head for that one as he tried not to laugh.


    ¡°You little bastard, keep this up I¡¯ll show you violated, mister pinned against a tree,¡± Jacky replied, pushing up against him and pinning him to the trunk with contemptuous ease.


    ¡°Well now I am definitely not going anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Now if only that neck of yours wasn¡¯t so badly made you could even give your saviour a little kiss,¡± Jacky whispered into his ear.


    Tom twisted his head around about as far as it would go. ¡°Gotta meet me halfway I¡¯m afraid.¡± Jacky didn¡¯t seem to have a problem with that, leaning her head in to let him give her a smooch on the side of the snout before they both looked back to the fighting fish, or whatever it was. ¡°I think we can start trying to haul it in?¡±


    ¡°We can try. But how do we do that?¡± Jacky questioned, looking at the taut line.


    ¡°We use the rod. It¡¯s got notches at either end,¡± Tom replied, trying to push back against the woman. The rod was pinned between him and the tree and he kinda needed it. Jacky wasn¡¯t moving though. ¡°Or not I guess.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, this is quite comfy. You are warm after all.¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not. I¡¯m wet and cold.¡±


    ¡°It must be love then,¡± Jacky let out with a purr, giving his head a nuzzle from behind.


    ¡°... Jacky, that might be up there with the corniest things you have ever said,¡± Tom snickered once more, trying hard not to break out laughing.


    ¡°I am not sorry,¡± she replied mischievously,


    ¡°You shouldn''t be. But let¡¯s try and get that fucker up on land.¡±


    ¡°Right yes, I have the revolver,¡± Jacky replied as she finally lifted off his back, letting him push off from the tree.


    ¡°I suppose that will do the trick,¡± Tom admitted as he twisted the fishing rod, that was really a recurve bow, to have his end pointing at the water and got the line to run through the little notch where the bowstring would normally have gone. ¡°Right, back and forth till we have a fish,¡± he declared and set to work drawing in the line, one bowlength at a time.


    It took forever, and the fish certainly made efforts to yank him back into the water, but Jacky was on hand this time and its efforts were much reduced. His arms eventually grew tired though, so Jacky had to do a stint hauling the beast in. That of course didn¡¯t stop him from standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist, even if he did grow worried for a moment as he felt her tail caress his inner thigh. His knees nearly crossed involuntarily in fact.


    But in the fish came, length by length, until they could see it splashing around in the shallows. It had whipped the once clear water into a murky mess, but it was certainly long and slender, and with a few more lengths it was near enough the shore.


    ¡°Right, Tom, you take the rod, and just walk that way, drag it out, then I¡¯ll kill it.¡±


    ¡°Hells no, my fish, I caught it. I¡¯m whacking it on the head.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± Jacky questioned, looking around.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ not sure really¡­ I haven¡¯t fished since I was little. Dad normally did that part.¡±


    ¡°Well why don¡¯t you take a page out of his book and let the adults do it then? Hmmm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m older than you.¡±


    ¡°Only by about five years!¡±


    ¡°Gods that makes me feel old.¡±


    ¡°You arsehole,¡± Jacky complained as she wrestled with the rod. The fish clearly had worked out it was now or never, but it didn¡¯t have the water depth to do much save thrash around.


    ¡°You brought that one up to start with. I¡¯m killing it, get it out¡­ please.¡±


    Jacky stared at him indignantly for a moment before relenting with an audible sigh. ¡°Fine. But kill it properly, it might be dangerous. In fact, just shoot it, okay?¡±


    ¡°Fine fine, I¡¯ll shoot the helpless fish,¡± Tom grumbled as he drew the holstered revolver. One should always be packing when outside around these parts.


    Jacky obliged him by hauling back on the rod and line, the sizable long slender fish sliding up onto the bank, thrashing all the while. It was a mottled green color mostly, with splotches of darker green upon its back, the fins almost reddish in hue. It looked like a cross between a marlin, a seabass, and an eel to him. It was an odd fish to find in a lake, far too big in his mind. Not that he knew much about lake fish. He guessed it might weigh in at around 20 to 30 kilos. He knew that was a big fish but even so, it had put up quite some fight for its size.


    ¡°Just shoot it already,¡± Jacky called out as Tom admired the catch with a tilted head.


    ¡°As you command,¡± he replied, leveling the gun against its head, keeping a safe distance. Its empty eyes betrayed the fish-like intelligence within. It didn¡¯t even look at him, just staring blankly at the sky. ¡®Dumb as a box of rocks.¡¯


    Bang


    A single shot was all it took and the big bastard was lying there, perfectly still. Tom knelt beside it, running a hand along the scaly skin. It was a fish alright, and it wasn¡¯t black as pitch, so maybe it was safe to eat.


    ¡°By Itova only a mother could love that face. Are all fish that ugly?¡± Jacky questioned, walking up to the fish and poking at it with her foot.


    ¡°No not all, remember Nemo? But most you¡¯ll find in a lake probably are. Any clue what it is?¡± Tom tried, looking up at her.


    ¡°A demon.¡±


    ¡°Very helpful. Nah it¡¯s a fish alright, the question is, can we eat it?¡±


    ¡°You wanna eat that? Are you mental?¡± Jacky protested, clearly not fond of the idea. ¡°It¡¯s all slimy and hideous.¡±


    ¡°I promised I would serve fish. I¡¯m going to serve fish.¡±


    ¡°Nunuk is going to have your head if half of us turn up sick because of that thing. You don¡¯t even know what it is¡­ How much meat is on that?¡± Jacky questioned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Fish are normally pretty good when it comes ti yeild¡­ 10 kilos maybe?¡±


    ¡°Think Yldril will eat it? Might save us a deer.¡±


    ¡°You just wanna see if it will kill her or not don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I mean, rather her than me.¡±


    ¡°Oh Fengi is gonna love that. But it¡¯s a lake or river fish. Those aren¡¯t poisonous.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure. Definitely,¡± she replied, picking up the tail of the odd fish with her foot and letting it flop to the floor again, looking dejected. ¡°Does it not have bones in it?¡±


    ¡°Of course it does, it¡¯s got¡­ well it¡¯s a bit like a spine running down the length of it.¡±


    ¡°Shame we don¡¯t have the prisoners anymore. Maybe they could try it.¡±


    ¡°Screw you, I¡¯m eating it.¡±


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°No, dare Balethon to do it or something first¡­ or Paulin. Yeah Paulin.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling she might not go for it,¡± Tom sighed, shaking his head as he started to wonder if he should gut the fish here or take it back home and do it for the show. ¡°Besides it would make me such a hypocrite. Basically no fish are poisonous, so why would this one be? It¡¯s a big bastard, not some little thing getting eaten by everyone else.¡±


    ¡°What has that got to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t little things tend to be more poisonous? You know, frogs, slugs¡­ uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Green dragons?¡±


    ¡°Ahr right yes, those might be an exception,¡± Tom agreed, raising a finger.


    ¡°You think? I¡¯m sure Grevi would love to hear how she¡¯s a little thing that gets eaten by everyone,¡± Jacky chuckled, giving the tail a gentle kick and watching it flop over in the grass. ¡°What is that bit called on the end? It looks like a really strange wing.¡±


    ¡°We would call it a fin.¡±


    ¡°Hiin¡­ siiin¡­ I can¡¯t say that,¡± she grumbled, kneeling down to poke at it. ¡°Ew it really is slimy.¡±


    ¡°Just gotta give it a wash.¡±


    ¡°It lives in the water; how could it be any more washed!¡± Jacky called out in outrage.


    ¡°Fair but¡­ I mean we have to take the scales off first and then¡­ well it will keep on being slimy I guess, but the skin can go nice and crispy if you fry it. We got a fire going after all.¡±


    Jacky visibly shuddered at that thought, looking like she just got something really nasty in her mouth. ¡°You do you man, but I swear if it makes you sick, I will beat your ass.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a fish from the lake. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone catching a fish in a river or lake that wasn¡¯t edible¡­ but maybe we¡¯ll cut off the head just in case it has a nasty bite or something.¡±


    ¡°Fine fine, you do you. I still think it¡¯s stupid.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna love it. It¡¯s a whole new kind of meat. So much to learn and love¡­ I¡¯m gonna try and catch another.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I guess they ain¡¯t coming back for dinner then?¡± Fengi questioned as she and Saph looked out from the platform, the small fire just about visible in the distance as the light started to fade. The dinner bell had been rung, but in true Herron fashion the food wasn¡¯t actually ready yet. So everyone was just sorta milling about for a bit while they waited.


    ¡°I guess not, they better get home in time for bed,¡± Saph replied as she peered through the one lens of Tom¡¯s strange looking-glass. ¡°I am sure they will be fine. We have lights lit, and there are lights on the front of the quad thingy.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ Hopefully they won¡¯t get jumped by anything out there.¡±


    ¡°What is gonna be dumb enough to try that¡­ I mean many things I guess, but nothing is gonna survive that. Not like a pack of wolves could just sneak up on them out here. We would have seen the pack from miles off.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ think they caught anything?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t tell from here. Who knows. I¡¯m sure Tom knows what he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°That statement is both very true and completely false I feel¡­ and I don¡¯t know which one it is today.¡±


    ¡°His map-making skills won¡¯t get him lost at least, and he knows more about water than anyone I know about at least. And Jacky won¡¯t let them sleep out there. No way.¡±


    ¡°What if a monster comes out of the lake or something?¡±


    ¡°Fengi, we have bathed in that lake. Big monsters only live in big uhm¡­ big lakes I guess, you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°I heard they can be very deep, so they look little on top but they are big down below.¡±


    ¡°And how would you find that out, huh? Get a dragon to check the depth with their tail? Not gonna be long enough now is it?¡±


    ¡°I suppose¡­ but what if it is?¡±


    ¡°Well nothing big has come out yet and I¡¯m sure Unkai is watching. If we hear a panicked bell ringing then we know there¡¯s trouble.¡±


    ¡°We could also go down and try to talk them out of it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯d rather not interrupt their private time.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ yeah¡­ It is just the two of them isn¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Come ooon. It¡¯s pretty good,¡± Tom pleaded as he chowed down on the really rather delicious fresh fish. It could do with some lemon or something, but salt and pepper would have to do for today. The big bastard he had elected to save for the folk back at the keep, but it was roasting nicely. An evening snack for those who wanted it. He didn¡¯t really know what time it was, but the sun was setting, so they likely had a few hours before people went to bed.


    He was instead chowing down on a small trout-like fish he had managed to catch after having the line out for nearly an hour. It was certainly plenty of food for both him and Jacky though.


    ¡°It smells weird,¡± Jacky protested, sticking to her jerky and trail mix. ¡°Besides if it does make you sick, who will be getting you back to the keep? Hmmm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯ll be fine. Come oooon,¡± Tom teased, holding a bit of steaming fish out on the end of his knife. ¡°It¡¯s tasty, I promise. It¡¯s even good for you, basically halfway a vegetable.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that,¡± she pouted in reply, ripping off another bit of Jerky.


    ¡°Your loss,¡± Tom chuckled as he bit into the crispy skin. It was a quite oily fish, with just a hint of pink to the meat. ¡°But once we¡¯re done I guess we should pack up.¡±


    ¡°What, you don¡¯t wanna just carry on sitting out here doing nothing?¡± Jacky jested, shaking her head slowly as the firelight danced off her armor, her white skin taking on the orange hue of the dancing flames.


    ¡°Come now, it was relaxing, you have to give me that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t argue with that one¡­ even if I wanted to. And we caught a demon. That doesn¡¯t happen every day. Damn it was dumb though, imagine if a deer would just walk up and bite onto a hook dangling from a tree branch with some grass on it. It would make our lives sooooo much easier.¡±


    ¡°You can set traps for deer and the like.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I know, but they are normally a bit smarter than this.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­ But yeah, if you¡¯re ever starving near a lake now you know what to do.¡±


    ¡°I will eat the grass and leaves first I think.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ will you have some if I¡¯m not dead in half an hour?¡±


    Jacky stared at him a little through the flames before sighing and shaking her head just a little conceding. ¡°Fine fine, just a nibble, but only to shut you up¡­ Also get over here. You¡¯ve been holding that rod more than me this whole time. I thought this was supposed to be a little trip for the two of us.¡±


    ¡°Well normally you hold me.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we both get what we want,¡± she replied, holding out her arms invitingly.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t saying no to that,¡± Tom chuckled, getting up and hurrying over while he stuffed the last bit of fish he was holding in his mouth. He plonked down on her lap like an excited toddler and gave her a hug.


    ¡°Aow,¡± Jacky complained halfheartedly as she wrapped him up in arms and wings. ¡°God you smell like it too now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll wash off. I think.¡±


    ¡°It better,¡± she replied as she lay down on her side, taking him with her. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable spot she had picked. They both lay there for a bit, not saying anything. ¡°This isn¡¯t very comfy, is it?¡±


    ¡°No, not really.¡±


    ¡°Dammit¡­ I thought I was being romantic.¡±


    ¡°The quad¡¯s seat is padded¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try that, yeah.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom and Jacky had finally returned well after dinner was over, even with Herron the slowpoke in charge. Unkai had been in the tower and watched them come in all the way from down by the lake, the very white lights showing the way for them as they slowly rolled back up to the keep. They had taken the stairs as well, and when they finally made it up into the grand hall where a few people were still playing games, Linkosta reading a book in the corner, silence fell as everyone stared at the strange brown thing Tom was carrying on a stick.


    ¡°I caught a fish!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ my gods,¡± Saph let out, staring at the strange thing. It didn¡¯t have a head anymore, that had clearly been chopped off, but it was long and slender, the skin wrinkly and¡­ strange looking.


    ¡°We cooked it over the fire. Anyone want a taste? It¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°It actually is,¡± Jacky reluctantly admitted a little sheepishly, almost ashamedly.


    ¡°You ate waterdemon?!¡± Fengi called out, sounding like she would have spat out her tea if she had any.


    ¡°I mean if anyone was gonna do it of course it would be her,¡± Balethon added with a huff, going back to playing with his lizard. Or ¡®training¡¯ as he called it. Saph was quite confident the little bugger couldn¡¯t even be trained to piss outside let alone do tricks. But it was amusing to see him fail.


    ¡°No, Tom tried it first cause he¡¯s stubborn like that¡­ nothing bad happened, so I thought what¡¯s the harm? It¡¯s not half-bad actually.¡±


    ¡°You ate all the rest of the trout, a fair few bones included.¡±


    ¡°Well you could have warned me it was full of little spikes like that. Those weren¡¯t bones.¡±


    ¡°Well they were fish bones,¡± Tom protested, ¡°and I showed them to you.¡±


    ¡°Well I couldn¡¯t see the little ones in the firelight. I thought you just meant the big ones.¡±


    ¡°Of course, they are full of needles, why wouldn¡¯t they be,¡± Saph muttered to herself, sighing. ¡°Well, welcome back. Happy to hear you didn¡¯t get yourself eaten by a lake monster.¡±


    ¡°Oh there¡¯s nothing that bad in there I¡¯m sure. Water is damn cold though,¡± Tom replied in good humor, walking into the room with the odd spitted animal.


    ¡°Well it was you that decided to dunk yourself in it.¡±


    ¡°You went swimming?... I guess I¡¯m not surprised,¡± Saph countered, shaking her head a little, noting Jacky walking up, breaking a bit of the fish off, chucking it in her mouth, and barely chewing before swallowing. ¡°Is it really any good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s soooo tender, you wouldn¡¯t believe it. It falls apart in the mouth. It¡¯s quite fatty too,¡± Jacky replied with a nod.


    Saph glanced at the fish then back to the both of them. ¡°And you are sure it¡¯s not tainted or anything?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it wasn¡¯t black when we caught it,¡± Tom countered with a shrug. ¡°Look, the meat on this one is almost white actually. It¡¯s even more white when fresh.¡±


    ¡°White meat¡­ from the water?¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a nice clean lake, not a swamp or anything. You drink the water from there, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I mean, yeah¡­¡± Saph said unsurely, eyeing the odd demon.


    Fengi didn¡¯t seem to have the same reservations though, walking up and picking a bit off to inspect. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of people eating this before, usually desperate people. But some old drunkard swore he knew a few keeps that did actually live off it, at least mostly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding,¡± Jacky protested, clearly not believing that one.


    ¡°Why are you just saying that now?¡± Tom questioned, looking at the small woman that was still about eye level with him.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe him,¡± she replied, flicking the chunk of fish into her mouth and starting to chew, the care in her movement betraying she wasn¡¯t quite as confident as she sounded. ¡°I do now though¡­ yeah, that¡¯s not bad at all. Very, hum¡­ flaky?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it just falls apart, right? Forget chewy game,¡± Jacky replied with a nod, taking off a bit more herself. ¡°But it took forever to catch it.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now I¡¯m curious,¡± Saph admitted, walking up and breaking off a very small piece, Tom holding out the spit for anyone who wanted some. Linkosta had gotten up and was watching from behind them all as the fish slowly disappeared.


    It truly was tender and flaky¡­ fatty and oily. She didn¡¯t really like the taste, but the texture was very strange. It was certainly not a vegetable or real meat, and she honestly wasn¡¯t sure she liked that bit either.


    Tom looked at her expectantly as she gingerly chewed. ¡°Weeell?¡±


    ¡°I mean it¡¯s edible¡­ I¡¯ve had worse.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say good¡­ it¡¯s almost too tender. Feels like it a bit rotten almost.¡±


    ¡°Could I try a little?¡± Linkosta tried cautiously, clutching her book and looking around Saph as people started flooding into the grand hall slowly, likely wanting to know if anything interesting had happened on the little expedition.


    A few had been convinced to try it, with mixed reactions. Most weren¡¯t too thrilled about it, and everyone soon scattered once Paulin and Nunuk came down to see what the fuss was about.


    ¡°Tom¡­ is that a water demon?¡± Nunuk questioned in what Tom felt was a slightly pandering tone.


    ¡°Yes. I caught two,¡± Tom replied with pride. He wasn¡¯t gonna let them put him down.


    ¡°I see. Of course you did,¡± the old lady replied, looking to Paulin.


    Tom didn¡¯t really know how she might take all this, though he was guessing not well. But she didn¡¯t look too mad.


    ¡°I must say I am surprised the lot of you tried it so willingly,¡± the investigator went, looking around at the huntresses.


    ¡°It¡¯s meat that¡¯s white, how could that be bad for you?¡± Jacky questioned with a shrug.


    ¡°No, you are quite right, huntress. I believe these species are edible¡­ if you are desperate.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t more places catch fish?¡± Tom questioned. ¡°Seems like it would be well worth the time?¡±


    ¡°I have heard of some places doing so, often when their worried neighbours saw fit to contact the church or us directly, worried that their neighbours might have fallen to the darkness¡­ As it stands, most such creatures do not risk corrupting the consumer. Though there are exceptions of course. Look for white or red meat. They will be safe, as the huntress pointed out.¡±


    ¡°Name¡¯s Jacky and you know it,¡± she grumbled, taking another bite as if to prove her point.


    ¡°I know¡­ I would recommend not doing that in finer company. Wouldn¡¯t want people thinking you were starving with hunting grounds like these.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I just want something different every now and again.¡±


    ¡°That might be very well. But I recommend keeping a chamber pot close, if the rumors are true.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°It will be a rough night.¡±

 Chapter 184: Doors Open

    The investigator¡¯s words had come true, and oh how Tom wished she had spilled the beans earlier. As it stood, he was confident that even baked beans and cabbage could not match the devastation unleashed by Jacky that night.


    Tom honestly thought she had shit the bed when he woke up at god knows what in the morning. But no. She had simply turned into a fart producing machine of near unparalleled efficiency. It had gotten so bad he had actually had to leave the room for a breath of fresh air, only to hear the sound of a fart emanating from across the hallway as well.


    ¡°Oh uh¡­ I might have fucked up here.¡± A cough or two could be heard from further down the hallway followed by some rather loud complaining. ¡°Shieeeet.¡±


    Fearing an angry mob, he had eventually taken refuge in the library and finally fallen asleep in the large reclining chair blissfully separated from the carnage that was unfolding. The following morning had been a disaster. The smell was unbearable, and it was too cold to air things out properly. Tom honestly feared a gas explosion might be imminent during breakfast, though he supposed they did save on the food because not many people had much of an appetite.


    At least it was only those that had had more than a nibble that were affected, but it was still quite bad. And Jacky of course was hit worst of all. She had tried to play it off as funny to start with, but that very soon grew old. She had of course also panicked when she got up and worked out she was alone in her room.


    She had at least found him quite quickly as he had already been up and about. It had taken some rather hurried running about asking people if they had seen him, and unfortunately her list of priorities for what to grab before commencing the search hadn¡¯t included much save for her helmet and halberd. That had certainly amused some of the guards, most of all Balethon.


    All in all she was not having a great morning, and it was Tom¡¯s fault. He just didn¡¯t really know what to do about it. And so they sat in near silence at the tables scarfing down breakfast.


    ¡°So¡­ what do you-¡±


    ¡°If you mention fishing I am whipping you in the nuts again.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ maybe something else outdoors?¡± Tom tried in vain as Paulin walked up, looking smug as ever. ¡®Oh for the love of god what now?¡¯


    ¡°No, I believe you two at least are heading below. You on account of being needed, and her on account of being unwilling to leave you. Unless anything has changed in regards to that today?¡± the investigator questioned, clearly taking joy in what she was doing.


    ¡°No,¡± Jacky replied plainly, not looking up from her food.


    ¡°Very well. There is to be an attempt upon the vault doors. I take it you want to be present, no?¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t saying no to that,¡± Tom replied as Jacky knocked her head against the table.


    ¡°You mean I have to go meet other people¡­ today?¡± Jacky questioned, evidently dismayed.


    ¡°Academics and inquisitorial personnel no less,¡± Paulin specified, clearly finding it quite amusing. ¡°At least it is not a first impression.¡±


    ¡°How lovely.¡±


    Tom couldn¡¯t do much save pat her on the back a little. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine. Plenty of air down there.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, that¡¯s what tunnels are famous for¡­¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Have you two got the shits as well?¡± Yldril questioned as Fengi and Saph came down with some of the leftovers from the breakfast. Jarix had munched up a fair bit, but Fengi had managed to secure some for Yldril as well.


    ¡°No,¡± Sapphire lied. She too was rather regretting trusting Tom on this particular occasion. Fengi had it worse though.


    ¡°Shut up and have a bite, will you? Freshly baked,¡± Fengi said, holding up the sack.


    ¡°Fresh bread for me?¡± the dragon asked with sarcastic surprise. ¡°What a luxury, did your appetites fail you or something?¡±


    ¡°Do you want the bread or not?¡± Fengi asked in a tired tone.


    ¡°I would love some bread, any meats?¡±


    ¡°No, you get bread. How¡¯s the tent?¡± Fengi questioned, putting down said bread in its sack.


    The dragon grumbled a little at not being humored. ¡°Well I am not wet with dew, so that is nice,¡± she admitted begrudgingly.


    ¡°Very well. Also Glira is not gonna be around today; they are going¡­ somewhere.¡±


    ¡°How interesting¡­ more digging?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, more digging for us. See you again in a bit. I¡¯m gonna go take another shit.¡± With that Fengi unceremoniously walked off, leaving Saph and the dragon to look after the normally rather cheery little dragonette.


    ¡°Someone had a shitty morning,¡± the dragon rumbled, amused as she skewered one of the loaves of bread with a claw, bringing it up to eat.


    ¡°Careful now, that one was almost funny,¡± Saph replied, not in much higher spirits herself. At least the air was clean out here.


    ¡°Why did you come down?¡±


    ¡°Cause there is air worth breathing and I would rather not be found right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh? They want you to go with Glira do they?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe? I would rather not find out.¡±


    ¡°Afraid of the dark are you?¡± the dragon asked, with the biggest shit eating grin on her face.


    Saph wasn¡¯t overly surprised the dragon knew what was going on today, and she didn¡¯t care about who told her they were going below either, it was not her problem.


    ¡°Scared of the dark? Why? Do I seem scared of your big black behind?¡±


    "Oh, you do flatter. Meee? Darkness? Reeally?" The dragon questioned, words dripping with sarcasm and evident enjoyment. ¡°Why thank you, I always wanted to be seen as a dark day approaching.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up.¡±


    ¡°Oh and here I thought we were getting along so well,¡± the dragon replied in a mockingly sad tone.


    ¡°I hate cramped spaces and I have yet to have a nice trip down there. I would rather dig.¡±


    ¡°Oh how fantastic. I can take a well deserved break then.¡±


    ¡°In your dreams. I¡¯m gonna go take a shit too¡­ Enjoy the tarp.¡±


    ¡°Oh I will. See you later, Sapphire.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    They all stood gathered in the atrium, staring at the two giant vault doors and the two gaping holes left by previous, less refined methods of entry. It was clear what the inquisitorial personnel had been up to though.


    The two heavy, reinforced doors had both seemed identical when last Tom had paid them any mind. with their complicated locking mechanisms visible all along their edges and the large heavy set contraption in the center. Now though, the next door in line had been covered in new runes, with what Tom assumed to be wires criss-crossing between the strange spider-like inscriptions placed on its surface.


    ¡°They have been busy, haven¡¯t they?¡± Tom opined towards the bookworm, Linkosta. She had come along as well of course, as had her father, just like they discussed. She was staring up at the massive door with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what half of that is,¡± the young mage exclaimed quietly, almost like she was afraid someone might hear her.


    ¡°Me neither¡­ and I¡¯m 90 years old,¡± Apuma joined in with a chuckle, as they both watched Paulin and the others mill about at the base of the door. Edita had also been brought along by Glira, with the blue dragon and Baron enjoying a brief chitchat in the entrance cave. When they were done here the two would be switching places, with Baron flying those back home that needed to get back to the keep.


    Tom was not sure if maybe he would stay for a day. It would come down to what was within.


    Would it just be more of the same? Maybe a mountain of gold? Precious metals? Tools and equipment? Who knew. Maybe this one would be full of strange people preserved in big glass cylinders. That would be quite something.


    ¡°Are we just waiting, or do we need to do something?¡± He asked, glancing around the cavernous room.


    ¡°Once they are ready they might need us for something, for now just watch. Look at all the work they have done, just to open a door.¡± Linkosta said in response not taking her eyes from work being performed. Her father let out another chuckle.


    ¡°We should get them to help Tom make something. They would have that project you talked about done in a jiffy.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°No, Edita is working on that. I think she will do a good job.¡± Linkosta countered. She had grown fond of the artificer, that much was evident, and the two worked well together. Perhaps it was the shared social awkwardness.


    ¡°Some more help from down here would be nice,¡± Tom added with a nod. He wouldn¡¯t say no to a few extra hands, that was for certain.


    ¡°It has been quite the project, yes, but I am afraid you will still have to make do with Edita for the time being. There is another still to go, though Losev assures me it should now go much faster,¡± Paulin added, walking up behind them, of course likely having listened to the whole thing as she was wont to do.


    ¡°Spring then,¡± Tom replied with a shrug. ¡°How long till they have that one open?¡±


    ¡°A matter of moments, Losev told me they have had to prevent the lock from noticing that no key is present, likely a necklace or ring of some description. we will move the mechanism directly instead. While of course tricking the safety functions into believing all is well. Luckily our dearly departed friends had already solved that problem for us.¡±


    ¡°So you spent all this time just on moving the locking pins essentially?¡±


    ¡°I can assure you it is no simple feat. They also had to replicate the work of the witch in addition to disabling the ancient and highly advanced security mechanism. Easier said than done, and hardly a task to be completed in haste.¡±


    ¡°We managed to do that by ourselves,¡± Lin added, sounding a touch sheepish to bring it up. The brief moment of confusion on Paulin¡¯s face made it more than worth it in Tom¡¯s books though.


    ¡°Right sure did, and it isn¡¯t like the door was completely destroyed,¡± Tom mumbled in response as the head artificer turned back to them and waved.


    ¡°Merely mostly, I should never have waited till you blew those charges, such a shame¡± Paulin lamented. ¡°And now the volunteers,¡± she carried on as if that was of no consequence, and with a wave of her hand a handful of the various academics moved over in front of the vault door. They all started taking off any clothes covering their chests and arms as they walked.


    ¡°Whoo woo woo, wooo volunteers?¡± Tom questioned, all of a sudden a bit more worried what the investigator was up to.


    ¡°Yes, the spell must be powered, and unlike the witch we do not have a dragon or night terror to work with for the purpose. Thus volunteers. Do not worry. If everything goes well no harm will come to them, though they might feel a touch tired afterwards.¡±


    ¡°And if it doesn¡¯t go well?¡± Tom questioned still far from convinced.


    ¡°Then hopefully Losev will be able to halt the ritual before any damage is done.¡±


    ¡°Oh, she is the mage?¡± Linkosta interjected. Her demeanor was hard to pin down, somewhere between apprehensive and excited to Tom¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Indeed. She is herself too important to risk though. Work such as this is her specialty.¡±


    ¡°How many times before has she done this to be considered a specialist?¡± Tom questioned rather warily as he watched the gaggle take up position, Losev and the other silver cloaked individual getting out pots of a blue paint like substance. This definitely didn¡¯t sit right with him.


    ¡°Once¡­ It is more than anyone else can claim. A malfunction that had to be sorted out at the temple of light. Why, would you prefer we had retained the prisoners for this purpose?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No other way I take it? Explosives worked just fine.¡±


    ¡°Without damaging the vault, or somehow acquiring the original key. Not that we know of no,¡± Paulin retorted rather pointedly.


    ¡°We could attempt what the witches did, and try to teleport a dragon down here? We do have a unicorn horn.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever performed such a spell?¡± The investigator questioned, turning her attention to Linkosta.


    ¡°Noo.¡± The mage had to admit, her father giving her a gentle, reassuring, pat on the shoulder.


    ¡°And neither has Losev, our only other mage present, save your father,¡± the investigator continued, turning to look at the elderly gentleman.


    ¡°Oh no no, I have never tried something like that¡­ but perhaps one of my books-¡±


    ¡°Then we shall proceed,¡± Paulin cut him off. ¡°This has already taken too long.¡±


    Tom just released a pained, drawn out sigh, Linkosta giving him a worried glance. ¡°I¡¯m sure it is going to be fine, Tom.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ Why don¡¯t you put your own ass on the line Paulin? Rather than these volunteers,¡± Tom tried putting weight on the ending. He didn¡¯t believe for a second they were actually volunteers; they weren¡¯t even here by choice really. Not anymore at least.


    ¡°I am in command, as such I am required. Should Joelina return, I shall happily do so.¡±


    ¡®Yeah right,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, letting out a huff. He didn¡¯t believe that for a second. Joelina would never endanger her precious chess piece either. And so he stood, not sure if he should do anything. He could probably stop all this, at least for a while, but that meant no vault. ¡°What are the chances?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue. I have been led to understand it worked a treat last time. I don¡¯t see why it shouldn¡¯t once more. Would you prefer everyone take part instead? That way it is perfectly fair even if Losev then has to juggle a good dozen additional sources.¡±


    ¡°Is he really going to try with all five at once?¡± Linkosta questioned cautiously as they watched the volunteers get marked up with runes painted in fresh blood.


    ¡°Yes, it should provide a sufficient reserve to allow him to terminate the spell before the source is killed. Unlike if he attempted with a single very unfortunate soul.¡±


    ¡°Damn shame we don¡¯t know anyone who could teleport Jarix down here, are you sure we couldn¡¯t find someone?¡± Apuma added with a huff and a shake of the head. Tom glanced to Linkosta, who was looking at her father, then glanced away towards the floor.


    ¡°It would seem not, loremaster, do not forget, there is a war on. Now let us begin,¡± she replied, stepping forward and nodding towards the artificer. Only Losev remained as Edita and the other one got well clear along with everyone else. Tom didn¡¯t know why, but likely something to do with how the mage was apparently planning on using five dragonettes as living batteries. He wouldn¡¯t want to be caught in the middle of that either.


    ¡°Just let them do their job, Tom. I am sure they know what they are doing,¡± the kind voice of old Apuma came from his right. There was a hint of worry there, but what could they do really. They had to crack it open, and blowing it up was such a waste if there was another way.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ better fucking work.¡±


    ¡°Better be fucking quick or I¡¯m gonna need to find a corner,¡± Jacky complained, which soon had everyone¡¯s noses wrinkling. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, not my damn fault.¡±


    And so with the squeak of a reluctant fart the ritual seemingly began. The volunteers clasped hands as the artificer Losev placed one hand upon the nearest of their foreheads and the other at the center of a complex circular ring of inscriptions at the doors base. And much as Tom had seen before with magic rituals, the lines and letters began to glow a brilliant bright blue, the glow quickly spreading throughout the inscriptions all over the door and along the lines and runes painted upon the volunteers.


    There was silence as the spell glowed, then a clunk was heard and the volunteers as one winced, Losev¡¯s eyes starting to burn a bright green that almost blotted out the whites as gears were heard starting to click and whir.


    ¡°By the gods, I think it¡¯s working,¡± Linkosta all but squeaked, watching in awe. Tom glanced to Paulin, who was watching with a smile growing on her face, and not the warm comforting kind. There was a touch of madness in it, or perhaps reverence.


    The band of volunteers fell to their knees, seemingly not in pain but rather from the strain much like Tom had seen when they used their innate magic. With a hiss the seal was broken, air whistling through the edges of the vault door and kicking up dust and dirt. The door itself hardly moved though, the spider web of runes ceasing to glow like a lightswitch had been flicked.


    ¡°I suppose it worked, ey?¡± the old man called out, breaking the silence before Jacky could. Tom looked at the dazed bunch of volunteers now stumbling around while the artificer was inspecting the face of the door seemingly without a care in the world to spare for them.


    ¡®Could have done it with one, yeah right.¡¯


    ¡°It would appear so indeed,¡± Paulin added with a curt nod, clearly containing her excitement.


    ¡°Sweet, how do we open it now? Get a rope or something?¡± Jacky questioned, sounding far less thrilled and no less strained.


    ¡°Or something similar, yes,¡± the investigator replied, striding forth along with the two book worms.


    Tom looked back to Jacky instead, she had a funny expression on and just shooed him forwards. ¡°Right right, I¡¯ll get some rope, go do some inspections or some shit,¡± she said dismissively before Tom actually got to say anything and then she was off, walking with a very funny gait.


    Artificer Losev, with assistance from Edita and the others, had started to dismantle the network of wires, a fair few of which would have kept the door from swinging open. It was tedious work, slow and methodical. Tom had asked if he could help, being told simply, ¡°No¡± in a cold plain voice by Losev. Edita looked at least a little apologetic as she carried on assisting with the work.


    The volunteers were dragged off to the improvised camp which had been set up and fed some hot tea which seemed to liven them up a bit. Perhaps it was sweetened or something.


    Ropes were brought up along with a relieved looking Jacky, and she set to work showing up the academics on how to tie knots in ropes as thick as Tom¡¯s upper arms. Two lines were laid out in front of the door, the people not needed by the ritual slowly starting to take their places, getting ready to pull.


    Losev and Edita took up position in front of the door, Edita with her fancy goggles on and some lenses lowered. Tom¡¯s best guess being that she would be looking for anything bad happening as they started to pull.


    When the pair of artificers gave the ready signal, ropes were taken up and with grunts of effort they were pulled tight. At first nothing happened, but after some words of encouragement and Jacky digging in her claws and putting in a mighty heave, the massive door finally yielded and with a groan it swung open on ancient yet freshly oiled hinges.


    Edita and Losev watched intently, both nodding, indicating all was well as the door kept moving inch by inch.


    Everyone was arching their necks to try and get a look at what was inside. Tom couldn¡¯t actually see much on account of being a good head or two shorter than the girls in front of him, which was rather annoying but as the light slowly started to spill in he did catch a glimpse or two of something big.


    Paulin commanded ¡®stop¡¯ and the hauling ceased, everyone putting down the ropes and shuffling to try and get a better look.


    Last time it had been drawings and schematics, before that,  capsules of grav oil, but when Tom managed to push himself to the front, he saw instead some large mechanical contraption. Or perhaps it was contraptions?


    It seemed to be an amalgamation of tubes, wires, wood, and metal, with a large central tower standing at least 5 meters tall in the center with a large polished metal ball at its peak. Around it were strewn what looked like large barrels or cylinders with glass side panels facing the ceiling.


    The base of the tower had what looked like connections of all sorts. Like something was missing, it looked as if the big cylinders might fit into it somehow. ¡®Are those like cryopods or something? But it¡¯s disassembled?¡¯ Tom pondered to himself, briefly hopeful there might have been one of the ancient fish people, or whatever they were, inside. But the more he looked, the more the machine looked like a giant jigsaw puzzle.


    ¡°The hell is it?¡± Tom broke out, looking at the odd contraption, glancing to Paulin who looked just about as confused, her gaze turned to the artificer that had cracked open the doors. Both Losev and Edita stood staring up at the machine, silently and unmoving.


    Paulin did take note of his question, though seemingly not able to answer as she walked up to the two artificers in her usual confident gait. ¡°Yes, what is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a Renderer, I think,¡± Edita replied absentmindedly, her gaze not leaving the presumably arcane machine.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± was all Paulin could reply as the archivist seemingly recognized that word. Tom guessed she had likely never seen even a drawing of it, even if she had read of them. She too turned to stare at the machine, falling silent. Tom pondered what the hell they were so upset about.


    Then the gears started to click for Tom. This place had been a mine before, a mine for dragon essence as the previous residents had called it. It was then turned into a military blacksite of some sorts where apparently experimentation and development had taken place, presumably after mining operations had stopped. ¡®They still needed a source of the stuff¡­¡¯


    ¡°A Render what?¡± Jacky called out, still confused, though the murmurs were growing amongst the crowd.


    ¡°I think it might be for rendering down¡­ people, Jacky¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh shit.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 185: They Found a What!?

    They had spent hours going over just what it was they had found. It was indeed just as they had suspected; a machine for turning dragonettes, or bits of dragons that would fit in the chambers, into grav oil, with the leftover waste being discarded as water and a sort of sludge.


    Edita had explained what it was they were looking at as they toured the accursed machine. Torches and lanterns had been brought into the vault to illuminate it, along with a few shelves of various books that the academics had set about taking out to examine.


    At the front there was a single receptacle for one of the little canisters; they had found thousands of them in the other vault, which gave Tom a sinking feeling. On the back there were fittings for a pipe to carry away the wastewater and the bio sludge came out a chute. Supposedly the sludge would be pressed into bricks to be used as fuel. ¡®Nice touch¡¯ Tom thought grimly to himself as he rested a hand on the steely cold metal.


    Thousands of grav oil capsules, most of them likely made using this thing. How many people had been processed to make it all?


    ¡°Not enough that they render you down, they also have to burn what¡¯s left of you?¡± Jacky commented darkly from behind him. ¡°Wait, does that mean these poor fucks got a chance at heaven at least then?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Linkosta replied meekly.  Her enthusiasm had evaporated the moment it became clear what they were dealing with and just what they had in their possession at the keep. They had hoped the grav oil was mined, but now that looked increasingly unlikely.


    ¡°It is still hotly debated whether the soul survives the process, though the consensus back then, I believe, was no,¡± Edita added, kneeling down in front of a panel and flipping down some lenses on her goggles. She was looking at the blank metal sheet, likely looking at what is beneath. ¡°Others believed it stays with the essence, part of why it got the name.¡±


    Tom had to think back a bit for that one. Normally he would scoff at the idea of someone having a soul, but the dragonettes seemed able to see them ascend to heaven through those stellar gates as he was pretty sure they called them. Like Linkosta had shown him.


    ¡°Wait so. Just to clarify, you¡¯re saying there might be actual souls in those little canister things?¡±


    ¡°Supposedly, it is hard to verify, especially after having undergone such a procedure, but some remnants are to be expected.¡±


    ¡°Remnants¡­¡± Tom echoed quietly, looking at the empty slot where the cylinder would go.


    ¡°So burning the oil might let them return?¡± Jacky questioned cautiously, not sure it was a question she wanted to ask.


    ¡°No, I do not believe so. You may ask Paulin if such experiments have been conducted. She is an archivist,¡± Edita deflected as she brought forward a satchel next to her and started to take things out of it.


    ¡°Right¡­ cause she would answer truthfully,¡± Jacky sneered in reply.


    Tom had to agree with Jacky on this one, but at the same time the oil was worth a fortune, and they had only just started grasping at what it might be able to do. It would be a shame to lose it¡­ but if there were thousands, or maybe even tens of thousands of souls locked away in their storage lockers right now, then shouldn¡¯t they at least know for sure?


    There was silence for a bit as Edita worked. Tom watched her as she seemed to be getting out incense sticks and burners as well as a holy symbol of some kind, which she laid in front of the panel, then the reverie was broken, as pair of footsteps approached from behind.


    ¡°Remember, the Inquisition carries the authority of the Crown and the Church,¡± it was the very familiar and unwelcome voice of Paulin. ¡®Damn ears,¡¯ Tom cursed as he and Jacky turned to face her.


    ¡°This machine is the work of the devils below. Attempts have been made to save the souls possibly locked within, but it proved no more use than trying to free the soul of a corpse from the land. They are lost to us. Our best course of action now is to not let their sacrifice be in vain. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Tom only answered reluctantly, looking at the womanand trying to discern if she was for once genuine. It was a game she was far better than him at. ¡°I suppose so¡­¡±


    ¡°Very good. Now, I can assure you, this cursed thing will never work again. Edita will see to that. But I am sure there are many useful things to be learned, and things to be saved. What was the saying, Edita?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame the bolt for being part of the automaton,¡± the artificer replied as she finished arranging what Tom now had to assume was some sort of religious ritual.


    ¡°Yes, very good. Find what is worth saving. We will destroy the rest. There is no need to keep such a thing for the future,¡± Edita did not reply, instead sitting still with her things at the ready. Paulin gave her usual curt nod and walked off to go about her business.


    ¡®At least she seems genuine,¡¯ Tom pondered, looking after her.


    ¡°Is that true, Edita? You¡¯re gonna smash this thing to bits?¡±


    ¡°When we have what we may be able to use, yes. The parts that should not survive will be taken to a forge and melted down for the metal, and the wood burned. It is the way.¡±


    ¡°Pheew finally we agree on something¡­ any good loot in it?¡±


    ¡°A lute? It does not play music¡­ I think¡­I do hope it does not like music, I was always terrible at it.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean likes music?¡± Jacky questioned as Edita lit the first incense stick.


    ¡°Oh, nothing.¡±


    Tom raised an eyebrow at the artificer, glancing towards the machine briefly. ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Just don¡¯t say anything mean to it, we don¡¯t know if it is sensitive.¡±


    ¡°Ahaa,¡± Tom let out sceptically. Then again, if earth bound engineers believed stuff like this for even an old steam engine¡­ maybe, just maybe, there could be some truth to it when dealing with a thousands of years old alien arcane distillery machine.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Linkosta and Edita had returned from the mines, being carried up by Baron, though it was a brief visit. Edita had needed some tools and Linkosta was after some books her father thought might prove useful. Tom and Jacky had taken the chance for a meal at the keep as opposed to down below since it was around dinnertime anyway, so what was the harm? It wasn¡¯t as if Baron would mind the extra pair of passengers.


    Knowing Tom he probably wanted to pick up some things as well before heading back down. The engineer and the artificer were sitting at the craftspeople table discussing and explaining away. Jacky had also chosen that time to reappear after another toilet break and was sitting next to Tom, much to the dismay of the rest of those at the table. For the rest of them the fish had just about worn off, and they were all hungry after the decidedly light breakfast. Jacky, though, still smelled quite severely.


    Linkosta, on the other hand, had been lured over to the huntresses¡¯ table. Sapphire thought it was probably as much to get away from the smell as anything else, but it also meant they could get some answers from her. But as Lin sat down, everyone looking at her expectantly, it had been Pho who broke the silence first.


    ¡°So, what is it you found? Go on, spill the beans.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­A big machine of some kind,¡± Linkosta began, a little uncertainly as she looked around at them all, only just having gotten her bum on the bench. ¡°It¡¯s for rendering, you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Saph asked, hoping she had misheard.


    ¡°Oh I know that one. It sucks magic out of people till they die,¡± Pho explained confidently, Linkosta shaking her head.


    ¡°No, no it isn¡¯t. It is for making grav oil¡­ it boils you down and spits out the remains. You know¡­ like rendering skin into glue,¡± she clarified, clearly not overly happy to be talking about it.


    ¡°But it does kill you,¡± Pho tried, still taking the discussion with humor of all things.


    ¡°Yes¡­ yes, it does kill you,¡± Linkosta admitted, Pho nodding contently.


    ¡°Told you.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°You are such an arse, Pho,¡± Saph sighed, waiting for Linkosta to look back at her. ¡°So what are they going to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Strip it for stuff apparently. It¡¯s already somewhat disassembled so they could move it into the vault, gods know how long ago. It¡¯s big, real big.¡±


    ¡°I guess Edita is having a field day then.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ she seems¡­ off.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You know how she¡¯s normally all excited and bubbly? Like she can¡¯t keep up with everything she just can¡¯t wait to do?¡±


    ¡°Yeaaah?¡± Saph questioned, tilting her head. The artificer could certainly be like that at times, especially when she got something interesting to work on.


    ¡°Well she¡¯s not¡­ She¡¯s just sorta; getting on with it, you know? She¡¯s been saying prayers over pretty much everything she¡¯s taken off. I don¡¯t even understand what it is she¡¯s saying half the time.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Saph questioned, furrowing her brows.


    ¡°This is heretical according to her. Even Paulin seems to think it¡¯s some terrible thing, and went on and on about how we need to destroy it once they have what they want.¡±


    ¡°Paulin? Paulin thinks this thing is evil?¡±


    ¡°Push it off the edge right away,¡± Fengi added, glancing to Essy, everyone having put down the spoons by now.


    ¡°Jacky said that. Edita made a point about how they should ¡®not give hell its machines back¡¯. They want to melt it down and burn it.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that works,¡± Fengi shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, sounds to me like they¡¯re right for once,¡± Essy added, nodding. Saph was inclined to agree. Leaving such a device around surely only risked it being used. ¡°Think of what could happen if the darklings got a hold of it.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have any use for it as far as we know. What would they do with grav oil?¡± Linkosta questioned.


    ¡°You do remember they were trying to get in to steal the grav oil, right?¡± Saph questioned, looking at the young mage.


    ¡°Oh right¡­ I did forget about that part.¡±


    ¡°Does it even work on darklings?¡± Saph questioned. She knew the buggers didn¡¯t have magics and she was pretty sure she had heard they couldn¡¯t be used to drive magics either. But maybe they could still be turned into grav oil?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Linkosta replied apologetically. ¡°But I want to find all that out. I¡¯m going back down and I¡¯m gonna stay for as long as they let me. The enchantments on this thing, you should see them. It¡¯s unlike anything I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, gotta know your enemy and all that shit,¡± Pho added with an approving nod.


    ¡°Just. You know¡­ Don¡¯t let them do anything evil with it,¡± Essy tried to add, cautiously, Linkosta turning to the older huntress.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Inquisition, Essy, there isn¡¯t that much I can do,¡± Lin dismissed with a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what the bits they are taking off are for. Let alone what they could do with them.¡±


    ¡°You can go tell Major Jortun if it comes to that, if you think anything is wrong,¡± Essy replied, tone growing rather more serious. ¡°He is a nice upstanding man. He will help, I am sure.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ okay okay, but I¡¯m pretty sure he will know before me, he¡¯s keeping an eye on everyone, especially after we discovered what the thing was.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Do try to help him, don¡¯t hide anything from him. After what he did with Fengi I think we can trust him,¡± the older huntress added, looking towards their only copper, Fengi seeming to be lost in thought.


    ¡°I will, I will, don¡¯t worry,¡± Linkosta assured her, forcing a small smile.


    ¡°You might not need to. Tom will make enough of a racket to wake Baron up if he finds out they are playing the guard for fools, or us for that matter. How¡¯s he taking all this?¡± Saph added with a chuff.


    ¡°Hard to say. It¡¯s a fascinating machine, for a dark purpose. He¡¯s been grumbling a bit about souls and genocide. So I doubt he¡¯s in a great mood.¡±


    ¡°Probably a good thing all things considered.¡±


    ¡°Anything we need to do up here?¡± Fengi questioned, breaking off the line of discussion. ¡°Aside from flying supply, it won¡¯t be too long before Yldril should be able to go down there. We¡¯re doing logging runs tomorrow by wing. Then we¡¯ll see how it goes.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Maybe, I don¡¯t know. Glira is staying down there so you get Baron and Victoria for now, ask them.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still gonna need that warehouse after all so we best get to it, and I doubt we can get Baron to fly logs like we did with Glira,¡± Saph added, looking to Fengi.


    ¡°Yeah, but Yldril is flying again now. She can bring them in faster than Jarix can saw them.¡±


    ¡°Then put Yldril on the saw.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Fengi replied with a sigh. Saph guessed she had hoped for something a bit more interesting for the black dragon to do. It might make her a little less insufferable afterall.


    ¡°It could be worse. It¡¯s not raining.¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s coming.¡±


    ¡°As is winter. It¡¯s not gonna get any better,¡± Essy added in a troubled tone, looking at Fengi.


    ¡°I know I know¡­ How long till Vulzan and Arch are back?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t be too long, they left the capital, right?¡± Saph questioned, trying to remember what the timetable was.


    ¡°A few days ago, yes,¡± Essy confirmed, seemingly more willing to talk about that subject.


    ¡°A few more days then and we¡¯ll have all the shit we could dream of hahaaa, oooh it¡¯s gonna be the good life this winter,¡± Pho broke out triumphantly. For once Saph couldn¡¯t technically disagree, it was going to be a very nice winter this year. Bo still shook her head though and carried on eating.


    ¡°I ordered some very nice yarn as well, to keep me busy in winter, it¡¯s going to be fantastic¡­ what did you all order?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The evening of the first day had been spent studying, categorizing, and disassembling parts of the machine. The following day while the dissasembly work continued, technical diagrams started to get drawn up as well. Manuals for its operation had been found and given over to the various academics from the capital to translate into something actually readable by normal people.


    To Tom, regular draconic runes were definitely bad enough, but this stuff made next to no sense whatsoever to him just looking at it.


    He had spent much of his time following Edita and assisting her however he could manage. Losev had made it quite clear he wanted no help from Tom in any way shape or form, but it did seem he had found use for Linkosta. Apuma had eventually returned to the keep to manage the influx of stuff they were bringing back home for storage, mostly translated texts.


    By the start of the third day, Jacky had started going on about how they really weren¡¯t needed down here, but Tom didn¡¯t want to go. Edita had been showing him so many things he barely understood. She was putting in an admirable effort to explain, but he felt like a first grader being shown calculus by his older brother ¡®cause he thought it would be funny.


    But certain things he did understand, like the flow of magical energy used by the machine for example. It was passed along conductors much like electricity, the simplest part of the machine in theory, but an extremely hard part to implement in practice. Resistance was the enemy of any enchantment, and the extremely low resistance of enchantments the fish people had been able to produce were the most valuable part of the accursed machine. At least to the dragonettes. When questioned about where the power to drive it had come from, Edita had answered plainly. ¡°Slaves.¡±


    It hadn¡¯t even surprised him at that point. He knew anything alive held magical power which could be harnessed, from the smallest blade of grass to the largest dragon. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what darklings were for then, ey?¡± Tom questioned darkly, having made the forgone conclusion long ago.


    ¡°No, darklings would be useless for this,¡± Edita replied as she carried on with her work, unscrewing tiny little plates of mithril covered in runes and glyphs too small to be seen without a magnifying glass.


    ¡°But¡­ huh?¡± Tom muttered in reply, getting caught quite off guard by that answer.


    ¡°Darklings cannot be used to power magics. It is one of the great mysteries of their curse.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ do we have any idea why that is?¡±


    ¡°Only speculation. Two thousand years of records yield many possibilities. Many think the doetna made them so, precisely so the dwellers below could not use the darklings if captured. Unlike a dragonette or dragon.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ sorta smart I suppose¡­ but how does a magical curse take away magic? Sounds a bit contradictory.¡±


    ¡°We do not know. If we knew how the curse worked, we could likely lift it,¡± Edita sighed as she gingerly lifted out the small metal card and handed it to Tom, who wrapped it up in very fine soft cloth and put it down in the small hay filled box.


    Tom wondered if perhaps the real answer was that Edita didn¡¯t know, but if she didn¡¯t then he doubted Paulin would be willing to spill the beans to him, or maybe she didn¡¯t know either. He doubted it truely was a mystery though.


    ¡°What if it¡¯s like, using all their magic?¡± Jacky questioned as she took the lid of another storage crate, starting to get it ready to be loaded up.


    ¡°Then they would be dead, no?¡± Edita countered as she started to unscrew once more. ¡°I think they are changed so their magic becomes something else, like a wrong fuel. You don¡¯t need to make it disappear, just make it useless and then the spells won¡¯t work¡±


    ¡°Sooo. Are there darkling spells then?¡± Jacky questioned, seemingly knowing as little as Tom on the subject.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Edita responded, looking up at the huntress and pondering that for a bit. ¡°But even if there were, then we could not cast them now could we? Because our magic is different.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should stick with what we do know. Where are these going?¡± Tom questioned, patting the soon to be full crate.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know actually,¡± Edita replied chipperly, ¡°but I would guess Galaxer is taking them somewhere. Him and Arch are returning together, right?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ maybe?¡± Tom replied. He couldn¡¯t actually remember if that had been the plan. There had been talk of how Arch might not be able to carry everything that had been ordered, and they all knew Galaxer¡¯s approach to getting hired on, so it was certainly possible.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for what I ordered,¡± Jacky interjected, happy for the distraction. ¡° It¡¯s gonna be the best winter ever.¡±


    ¡°Are we gonna be sleeping on top of boxes and crates?¡± Tom questioned jokingly.


    ¡°Weeell¡­ you might.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m putting your stuff in the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°No way, it¡¯s my stuff, and that place doesn¡¯t have a roof yet, the walls ain¡¯t even done,¡± Jacky objected, crossing her arms in defiance. ¡°Your stuff can go, you got those nice box thingies.¡±


    ¡°Your stuff fits in that box too,¡± Tom countered, crossing his arms as well and trying not to chuckle.


    ¡°Too much work¡­ also my room, my rules.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m having Nunuk give me that room.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell my mother.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s just cheating.¡±


    ¡°Eherm,¡± Edita cleared her throat, sounding almost apologetic, as she was holding out the next plate for Tom. He took it off her hands and started wrapping it up tight.


    ¡°Personal log, mid to late autumn, working on a strange magic machine¡­ We have been defeated in the battle for the bedroom. Will have to sleep on the floor, great discomfort expected.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do you have something which records what you say for later?¡± Edita questioned, looking up from her work, the notion of a possible new gadget apparently enough to draw her attention away.


    ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s a joke¡­ sorry,¡± Tom clarified as the wrapped up plate was placed down in the box.


    Edita¡¯s ears did droop a tiny bit, but she didn¡¯t seem too upset by the accidental deception. ¡°Oh, sorry¡­ I would offer for you to sleep in my room, but it¡¯s full of stuff too.¡±


    Tom turned to look at Jacky with a shiteating grin on, the woman gritting her teeth just a touch. ¡°No there is no need¡­ I will make some room.¡±


    ¡°Oh okay¡­ or you could ask Nunuk about one of the empty rooms up top? Tom is very important, maybe she would give you one of those rooms?¡±


    ¡°The family rooms? Last I checked I was a Furlong, not a Bizmati.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Jacky, I kinda like the sound of Tom Bizmati to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Oh mum is gonna kill you if she hears that one.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 186: Christmas Come Early

    The work had carried on above and below, and the progress was stark. On the third day following the opening of the vault, a fair few of them had returned to the keep in anticipation of Arch and possibly Galaxer arriving with their various ordered goods. Tom definitely wasn¡¯t gonna miss it, and neither was Jacky. The warehouse had been coming along well, and the weather was holding for now. The framed walls had been erected and mostly clad, with Jarix working the saw while Yldril had flown for more timber. The young blue had in turn gone on a hunting expedition the day before once Yldril was back and able to work the saw, so they may hold a proper welcome feast for the arriving traders.


    Tom was rather astonished by the rate of progress, but he supposed the Amish could raise a barn in a day, so doing it over several weeks was not much of an achievement. But they had done it alongside getting all of the wood cut and prepared to be put up, which had in reality been most of the work.


    Kullinger had shown him around the new building in a bit more detail than could have been arranged previously, the carpenter eager to show anyone who made the mistake of asking about what he was clearly beginning to see as his work. It would have been hard to replace him, but the obvious metal flanges visible all throughout the building were certainly something Kullinger didn¡¯t draw attention to during his showcase. Tom knew the man could do wooden joinery as well as the best of them, but it was a slow process. And with price being of little concern, nails and flanges it was.


    ¡®I need to start making screws,¡¯ he pondered to himself, thinking of the frightening difference that would have made. Though to make them in the needed quantity would be a vast amount of work. ¡®Something for the factory that isn¡¯t just killing people¡­ a power drill would be nice too.¡¯


    The real meaning of the tour had been to kill some time. Baron had only arrived just after noon, just in time for Tom to get in a midday snack, and they had hoped the traders would arrive by late afternoon. Some work was going on, but it was half-hearted and had mostly devolved into idle chatter. Even Shiva was affected.


    The hours crept on by and the light started to wane, with more and more dragonettes starting to conclude that maybe it wouldn¡¯t be today anyway. Then the bell rang, Herron for once not sleeping at his post.


    ¡°Two dragons spotted, white and blue,¡± the call came down.


    In an instant the keep came alive once more, the chatter flowing like beer at a tractor pull. There had hardly been the need for Nunuk and Dakota to start giving orders, everyone had started preparing for their arrivals. It would not be a full feast, but the tables would be decked extra well, many likely wanting to try some of the things they bought. Tom knew a lot of them had come together to buy some small kegs of cider, which did sound quite interesting to try out.


    There had been some contention about where to get it from. The girls decided on a small bar which Ray remembered going to in the past, and the guards had been talked into buying some from Grevi¡¯s family estate on the recommendation of the various Royal Guard present at the keep.


    Tom was hoping to stay impartial in the name of becoming the judge, certainly not because he would quite like to try both, and cider was quite unlikely to cause any problems unlike last time he had indulged in alien alcohols. Though he should probably take it quite slow to start with just to see if he suffered any ill effects.


    He knew Jacky had bought some stuff too, so that was likely a tactic he would have to use more than once in the near future. He hadn¡¯t actually bought anything specifically for himself, and he had scrapped Maiko¡¯s idea for getting Jacky and Saph a matching set of jewelry after a chat with Essy. With the green light from the older huntress, he had instead sprung for a set of earrings with dark green emeralds in them. At least that¡¯s what he had asked for. If Vulzan had been able to deliver remained to be seen.


    As the dragons drew nearer, fires were lit and spits mounted with a couple of hastily prepared whitetail deer from Jarix¡¯s little hunt. They would all be able to get a slice, but the kitchen was also working on a few things. Jacky had been talking about how Essy was making some sort of pie or tart with berries from the same patch Saph and Fengi had stumbled upon during Yldril''s first fateful logging expedition. With the use of some sugar to balance out the tartness, it should make for a pretty good bite.


    ¡®Oh yeah, food machines, pasta makers, a blitzgel powered blender¡­ so much potential there,¡¯ Tom had pondered, as he tried to think of anything nice and simple which would still be new and useful to them. It was a thought for another day though.


    As swiftly as the preparations had begun they soon stopped again, save for those who could not leave their posts as everyone made ready for the greeting parade. It was hardly needed with Arch and Galaxer, neither of whom seemed to be sticklers for tradition, or even decorum in Galaxer¡¯s case, unless it suited him. But, understandably enough, no one wanted to wait too long to figure out what they had managed to get from their wish lists.


    And so they all lined up. Dragonettes in front, dragons behind. Meaning Jarix and Baron, since Yldril was told to go lay down under her little pavilion, so she wouldn¡¯t sour the moment with some rude or snarky comment.


    As the traders came in for a landing it was indeed Galaxer, and Tom could feel the whole keep sigh in relief after the two dragons¡¯ backs came into view and the elaborate fur coat of Joelina was nowhere to be found. In fact there wasn¡¯t anyone aboard Galaxer who stood out as inquisitorial personnel, though of course that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t. Tom guessed they were trying to keep suspicion to a minimum.


    The crews had dismounted, and Vulzan along with Galaxer¡¯s partner ¨C Tom wasn¡¯t sure, but he was pretty sure he was called Carnegie or something close to that ¨C had greeted the Bizmati family, who officially welcomed them to the keep. There were smiles all around and an air of anticipation as Vulzan stepped forward, Carnegie standing just behind him and to the right. Both traders had most definitely done well off this trip as well and it showed. Vulzan had a big welcoming smile on his face as he stepped towards the lined-up keep dwellers after he finished greeting Linkosta, producing a rolled-up parchment from inside his fur-lined coat, the mage stepping aside and trying to sneak a peek at the parchment.


    ¡°Very well then folks, it is good to be back out here with yah. I carry letters, news, and all manner of goods and goodies, as I am sure you all know by now. So I¡¯m thinking we best get on with it. We have labeled the crates with names, often more than one name per box. I trust yah can all work out who¡¯s who. When you find yah things come by me or this sprightly young gentle man here and we shall cross it from the list. Sound good?¡± The trader called out gesturing back at Galaxers partner.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± the keep dwellers echoed in a discordant chorus. It almost reminded Tom of a summer camp roll call or something, it was quite funny all things considered.


    ¡°Very well, no pushing, some things are delicate.¡±


    And with that, the trader stepped aside gesturing towards Arch and Galaxer. The blue dragon had been mid-wave to his son, who was watching bemused from behind the Bizmati line, and Galaxer had his eyes trained on Tom.


    ¡®Oh does he want scritches again I wonder? Very well then, I¡¯ll see if I can make time,¡¯ the human chuckled to himself. The keep dwellers advanced on the dragons and their crews in a hurried but mostly orderly fashion, and then Jacky grabbed him by the arm.


    ¡°Right, come on!¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh this was exciting. Saph didn¡¯t know what she had actually gotten after all, nor what it would cost. She hadn¡¯t been too extravagant with her spending. There were many other things to spend money on after all, chief amongst them her family back at Vulcha, and maybe even her brother and sister.


    She had pitched in a share for the cider that Ray had recommended, but her big ticket items had been the books she had asked for and the sapphire ring. She really hoped it hadn¡¯t been Vulzan himself who had gone shopping for reading material. It wasn¡¯t like she had any specific titles in mind: her request had just been for ¡°leisure reading, not too expensive.¡± Hopefully Udanti or Canabrera had picked out some popular printed books for her.


    It had taken some time before her crate was found, since they had to be unloaded first after all. But eventually, Unkai had called out that he had found it and she made her way over, pushing around and past the crowd going through boxes. A quick hop and flap of her wings later and she gracefully set down next to the young healer, who was already rummaging through the box. Apparently they both had stuff in here. Picking through the straw Saph soon dug out what felt a lot like a book, wrapped in some sort of simple cloth. Unwinding it she was indeed correct. It was a brown leather-bound book, rather unassuming looking all things considered. It looked brand new. She had thought that she might get something second hand, but if the price was good then she was very happy. Opening up to the first page, it read The Chronicles of Hanik Stone, Explorer of the South.


    ¡®Well that¡¯s certainly not the worst thing he could have gotten,¡¯ Saph pondered to herself. It certainly sounded interesting, even if she had no idea who this Hanik Stone was. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t complete fiction.


    Unkai picked out a small wooden box painted a beautiful blue, Saph cocking her head looking at it for a moment. It looked a lot to her like a jewelry box.


    ¡°Oh uhm, it¡¯s uhm. I wanted something uhm¡­¡± the healer stumbled as Saph kept staring, wondering if that was his or hers. It soon clicked why the guard had a box of jewelry and she chuckled a bit.


    ¡°Oh I won¡¯t tell, do open it though. Might be mine.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, yeah.¡± He gingerly opened the hinged lid to have a peek inside, closing it back up again and holding it over towards Saph with a slightly embarrassed expression. ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s yours.¡±


    Saph took the small box without any complaint, after all how could he have known? Peeking inside she was shocked to see a beautiful golden ring, polished to a mirror finish and with an almost flowerlike pattern at the top like two leafy twigs sliding past each other. In the center sat a large beautifully square cut Sapphire, which was flanked by no less than six smaller ones set in the leaves of the two twigs. It was beautiful.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Saph didn¡¯t want to think about what it might have cost, maybe Vulzan had taken her rather short list to mean she wanted to spend it all on this. Then again it all would be like 120 gold, and that was impossible to spend on a ring, at least she thought so. But it truly was beautiful.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Unkai let out quietly as he peeked inside a box that looked awfully similar to the box Saph¡¯s ring had been in. Saph glanced over to see what it was, but Unkai quickly shut the lid again before she could see.


    ¡°Oh a secret is it?¡± Saph questioned. She knew full well what it was, and it was nice to see him make some sort of effort towards Fengi, at least it probably meant he hadn¡¯t given up.


    ¡°Ye-yes,¡± he stammered in reply, putting the box away inside his armor.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she will love it,¡± Saph replied with a chuckle. Going back to the box she fished out another book. Opening it, this one read The Mystery of Tashkent Keep. ¡®Huh, I guess a horror story or something? That should be good.¡¯


    For her there had also been some of the dried cured pork sausage she remembered from her time in the capital. It was a snack she would often spend some of her winnings on back when she didn¡¯t make much at all and treats were few and far between. She had enough here to last the whole winter if she only had a bit every now and again. It would definitely beat the jerky and trail mix they made at the keep, and winter rations normally got rather boring after the first few weeks of being stuck on them.


    Looking around she saw huntresses, guards, and crafters alike trying on new items, tasting snacks, and looking in boxes. It was a merry scene to be sure. She noticed Galaxer¡¯s trade partner walking up to Dakota and Rachuck and presenting them with an ornate looking box, Dakota opening it and taking out a stoppered fine glass bottle with a yellowish liquid inside. It almost looked like it glowed to Sapphire. ¡®Oooh, they bought potions.¡¯


    ¡°Awww yeaaaa, check this one out guys!¡± Saph heard Balethon break out, Unkai looking up as well. He was holding a very fine looking blade in one hand and a blue leather sheath in the other, even the sheath had silver decorations on it at both hilt and tip.


    ¡°Oh you got that one aye? What did it cost?¡± Herron asked, he himself looking up from whatever he was doing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care, Mithril Blade Baby, come at me.¡±


    Saph stared a little, pondering if that was a good or bad idea the guard had there. They were making brand new weapons unlike anything ever seen and here he was buying what was surely a very expensive sword, even if it didn¡¯t look enchanted. It didn¡¯t sound like Tom intended on making any superior swords, so maybe it wasn¡¯t the dumbest thing ever.


    Looking back to the box she found what looked like another book. Unwrapping it, this one was smaller and looked a bit more elaborate. It was bound in blue leather and even had some gold leaf on it. Turning to the first page she was a touch surprised to see it say Scriptures of Itova.


    Initially she thought she might just have gotten her hands on a collection of smut, whether she liked it or not. Turning a few pages it turned out though to be quite the opposite. It was a holy book, full of scriptures and prayers of all things to the goddess of life and love, Itova.


    ¡°Uhm, Unkai¡­ is this yours?¡± Saph questioned holding up the book. The young guard took it and paged a bit before nodding.


    ¡°Yeah, you know, for good luck¡­ in not dying that is¡­ oh god,¡± Unkai replied, seemingly working out halfway how that could definitely be interpreted wrongly. ¡°No-not like that, like¡­ you know. I like her¡­ I just wanna give a proper prayer that it¡¯ll all be alright, that nothing bad happens.¡±


    Saph could understand the sentiment, and she was sure guys had beseeched the gods for less in the game of love than to pray their beloved wouldn¡¯t kill them by accident. Glancing at the guard¡¯s other hand he had a small silver figurine, with what looked like some sort of tiny pink gemstone for eyes.


    ¡°Well¡­ best of luck. Hopefully she¡¯ll watch over you,¡± Saph just said, not sure what else to add as she shrugged. Looking back into the box there was one more book and Unkai had seemingly ordered some sort of smoked meat she didn¡¯t recognize, other than that the box was now empty.


    Opening to the first page of the book it read The Legend of the Silver Wing.


    ¡®Silver wing? I¡¯ve heard that before I¡¯m sure¡­ huh very well.¡¯ Looking into the now empty box she did ponder to herself. ¡®No cloth though?¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had ended up watching Jacky unpack a few things. It had mostly been harmless: some bottles of nice looking fruity liquor, a vast amount of various kinds of meaty snacks, and even some kind of little biscuit or cookie. Apparently they were called honey bites, and she had always wanted to try some after being told they were only for rich people by a trader years ago.


    They had both tried one and come to the conclusion that they were alright. To Tom¡¯s relief, though, there was no sign of a bottle of wild brew. But when he brought up that fact she answered ¡°Noo, sadly¡± with entirely too much snickering.


    Tom just sighed as he once more tried to run through the contingencies for just what he was going to do in case of a drunk, high, Jacky. It was a futile situation even in the world of the imagination.


    They had tried some of the snacks, and to be honest, a lot of them were very, very good. Maybe that was frontier cooking starting to lower his standards, but the peppery strips of fatty cured meat were absolutely delicious.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Jacky questioned, pulling out a small bottle with a stopper cap sealed with wax. It looked to Tom like it might even be a potion of some kind, dark red but very thick. ¡°Ooooh. This is for you,¡± she went, seemingly recognizing the writing on the little tag dangling from the chain.


    She held it out for him and he took it, curious what she might have gotten him. He already had two potions, but, well, those had been handed over to her cause¡¯ he no longer actually dared to drink them, so surely it wasn¡¯t actually a magical potion. Flipping the tag so he could read it he strained to make out the small runes. That stuff was hard enough to read when it was large and clear, and whoever had written this had not done well in handwriting class.


    ¡°Fi-Fir¡­Firkoune?¡± Tom tried. ¡°Is it like some sort of fire oil?¡±


    ¡°No no, firesauce,¡± Jacky corrected. ¡°It¡¯s for cooking, it¡¯s from down south.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ ooooh,¡± Tom went, realizing what he was holding. ¡°Chili sauce.¡±


    ¡°No? It makes things hot. You know, spicy, hot like fire,¡± Jacky explained, Tom chuckling.


    ¡°Right yes, fire sauce. Huh¡­ thank you.¡± He was really hoping this stuff was safe for humans, ¡®cause as it stood his spices would not last forever and they were probably worth more sold, being exotic as they were. But locally produced hot sauce opened up all sorts of possibilities for everyday cooking, rather than just special occasions. He really should have brought chillies too, but they hadn¡¯t really registered as essential in his packing lists, nor was he sure they would do very well here without a greenhouse.


    They would definitely need that at some point anyway, but that was something to consider for later.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Jacky replied, magnanimous as ever. ¡°I think that¡¯s about it¡­ where is your stuff by the way?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. Didn¡¯t order that much,¡± Tom admitted, looking around for where it might be. Secretly he also knew that at least one of the things in there she shouldn¡¯t know about just yet, so it might be best if she wasn¡¯t there when he unpacked. Then again, when was he gonna give them to her? Later that night maybe? She had also just given him an assumedly pricy gift. He had no idea what firesauce might sell for, but it had to be from somewhere far away.


    Then someone he didn¡¯t really recognize cleared his throat behind him. Turning around to look, it was Galaxer¡¯s trade partner.


    ¡°Hello again Tom, been some time.¡±


    ¡°A bit yeah,¡± Tom responded politely, wondering what the man wanted.


    ¡°I have a few messages for you, as well as a small private package. It is from Joelina.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Tom said, not sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but it was hardly unexpected. He held a hand out and received the handful of letters, which did surprise him. ¡®Why not just write one long one?¡¯ They were all wax sealed too, which he supposed made some sense. With the other hand he received the small parchment and twine-wrapped box. It felt like wood underneath.


    ¡°I was instructed to be careful with that. It is probably fragile.¡±


    ¡°Got it¡­ I wonder what it might be?¡± Tom questioned, resisting the urge to shake the box. ¡°How private we talking?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she didn¡¯t give any instructions, other than it was for you personally.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case.¡± Tom handed the letters to Jacky, who dutifully took them as he started to unwrap his package. He was kinda hoping for some sort of magic device. As the waxed parchment slid away it did indeed reveal a box with a sliding lid. Tom didn¡¯t see any reason to delay, letting the parchment fall to the ground and sliding the lid off the plain-looking box.


    Inside was a stark contrast to the simple outside, it was lined with fine blue silk and had soft pillowy sides divided into three compartments. In one lay a single earring along with a small piece of card. In the next two were a pair of polished, seemingly steel cylinders, with what he assumed to be magic etchings covering them and another small paper card with some writing on it wedged down by the side of one of them.


    ¡®Great, more handwriting. I wonder what those are though?¡¯ he pondered, taking out the card and having a read. Having a look at it, it was at least substantially better than the label on the hot sauce.


    ¡°For you and li-link- oh Linkosta. To ea-ease her¡­ troubles?¡± Tom read aloud, looking at the odd cylinders.


    ¡°What troubles?¡± Jacky questioned, mimicking his own sentiment.


    ¡°No idea, but there is a card with the earring too. I¡¯ll ask Lin, maybe she knows,¡± Tom added, picking out the second small card. ¡°I have¡­ questions.¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of the gods,¡± Jacky complained as they both worked out what that earring was likely for. ¡°Could she not have at least given us a set so we would have some use out of it?¡±


    ¡°That would have been nice, yeah,¡± Tom concurred, picking out the small silvery earring, though he guessed it was actually mithril or some other magical alloy.


    ¡°It is still a quite generous gift,¡± Carnegie the trader pointed out. ¡°Such items are not cheap.¡±


    ¡°That much is true,¡± Tom concurred, putting the ring back inside and closing up the lid. ¡°Thank you. I should probably put this somewhere safe.¡±


    ¡°Yes, a fine idea, but Arch does have another package for you. It¡¯s a bit more sizable. Jacky if you wouldn¡¯t mind giving Vulzan and his crew a hand with it. I do have some lists to check off.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ that big? Well, good luck on the paperwork,¡± Jacky replied, already having her attention turned towards the large blue dragon and setting off at a brisk walk. Tom just followed with his new box wondering what this might be about.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After Saph had gone to get her personal items struck off the list and paid up to Carnegie, she had asked what had happened to the fine cloth she had ordered. She had sorta been hoping Essy would help her turn it into a dress or something along those lines, for any more festive events that might be coming up.


    ¡°Oh you were not alone in your wishes for that. Vulzan bought a few larger rolls, got a better price. Then you can all divide as yah see fit,¡± Carnegie replied chipperly before getting on with working out how much Pho owed him, which seemed to be quite a lot.


    ¡°Oh I see¡­ uhm where is it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, it¡¯s a big box. Arch should have it. Over there somewhere,¡± he said pointing with his pencil, which now that Saph noticed was definitely a capital design.


    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll leave you to it,¡± Saph replied gratefully, jogging over to where a larger-ish chest was being lowered down from Archeon''s harness by some crew, Tom and Jacky standing on the ground ready to receive it.


    ¡°Need a hand?¡± she questioned, as she stepped in to help lower the box down into the soft grass. Vulzan came up fiddling with a keychain, finally getting out a rather elaborate-looking one.


    ¡®Damn, this must be some fancy fabrics,¡¯ Saph went to herself in surprise as the presumably arcane lock was opened with the special key. Her total had only come to about 9 gold, which was still a LOT of money, but it shouldn¡¯t warrant something like this. Unless there was something else in here too.


    ¡°Right, there we go,¡± the trader said as the click was heard, and with a solid yank on the two handles affixed to the lid the chest opened up.


    ¡°Oh,¡± was all Saph got out as the contents were revealed.


    ¡°Joelina Hashaw sends her regards,¡± Vulzan went with a smirky grin, leaning on the chest lid and looking to Tom, who was staring down into the chest along with everyone else.


    ¡°I know, I told her it would win you over, but damn¡­¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 187: Up Armor

    As Saph laid eyes on the rather eclectic collection all she could think was ¡®So that¡¯s what the magic lock was about.¡¯


    There was a set of goggles that looked a lot like what Edita often wore, some boxes with what Saph assumed to be tools, or magical items in them, and what were unmistakably bits of armor. Enchanted too by the looks of it. But it wasn¡¯t plate armor. Saph didn¡¯t think she had ever seen enchantments used on something lesser than plate. She had heard of it, but here it actually was.


    Brigandine, made from a rather dark blue leather, far from the bright clear cobalt color normally seen. And there wasn''t even a single shiny bit of trimming to be found, not even copper. In the few places it was visible the metal itself seemed dull too. Presumably it was mithril, but it sure didn¡¯t look like it.


    ¡°Did they forget to polish it or treat the leather or something?¡± Jacky questioned, tilting her head, looking at the odd set. ¡°No helmet? If not for the runes, I would think that stuff came out of an abandoned armory!¡±


    ¡°I do not believe so, no. If there was a helmet it would hardly be useful after all,¡± Vulzan replied, looking to Tom with a grin on his face. ¡°But it¡¯s hardly some storeroom find.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s for me? I won¡¯t fit that,¡± Tom questioned, clearly confused.


    ¡°You will. There¡¯s extra bits and bobs in here too to help Shiva and Edita fit it up to you. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It looks pretty hideous,¡± Jacky interjected before Tom could get a word in. Saph had to agree with her there. Most people wouldn¡¯t be caught dead in armor looking like that. Well, save for the unsavory types.


    Tom took a moment looking at the dull looking set, clearly pondering just what to make of it. ¡°It¡¯s perfect¡­¡± he then declared, much to Saph¡¯s surprise. ¡°No shine, no chain or scales to jangle. Is it leather? Studded I guess?¡± he asked, reaching down and running his hand across the leather face.


    ¡®Of course he loves it¡­¡¯ Saph sighed to herself, pondering if this would be better or worse for greeting travelers than his old getup. ¡®At least it¡¯s blue¡­ and not THAT much black on it¡­ god dammit Tom.¡¯


    ¡°No Tom, why would you put studs in leather armor anyway? That¡¯s brigandine you clutz. You know, the stuff the guards all wear,¡± Jacky clarified, picking up a shoulder pad.


    ¡°Oh¡­ right, well that¡¯s appropriate I guess. It doesn¡¯t jangle right?¡±


    ¡°No no, at least it shouldn¡¯t. It has to be coming apart for that to happen. Small metal plates riveted to leather face and backing¡­ this is some thick stuff too,¡± she noted, giving it a shake and a flex. ¡°Ooh, so flexy. Wait, is this membrane leather?¡±


    Tom perked up at that mention and Saph could make a good guess as to why. He had always been a bit unnerved about where certain things came from. She still remembered how strange he found it that they used blood as dyes.


    ¡°Oh you haven¡¯t heard the half of it,¡± Vulzan interrupted, clearly quite excited as well to be showing off such a set, perhaps the natural salesman coming out in him. ¡°It¡¯s dragon wing leather. Sadly I don¡¯t know who it belonged to beforehand.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s not made out of people?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Well I¡¯d say dragons are people, wouldn¡¯t you? This belonged to some big old lad, or lady I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Riiight,¡± Tom responded, Saph believing he didn''t quite know how to feel about that.


    ¡°It was probably a traitor, or a peaceful passing,¡± Vulzan dismissed, picking up a piece himself. ¡°But no, there¡¯s more. Cloth stripping between all the plates inside, no matter how hard you try it won¡¯t make a sound. And that¡¯s a guarantee,¡± he carried on, giving the piece a smack with the back of his hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s fucking stealth armor?¡± Tom broke out, the human growing more ecstatic by the minute.


    ¡°I suppose you could call it that, yes. Belonged to a famous assassin from what I could gather. Well, formerly famous, now not so dearly departed. I believe someone might have picked an unwise target.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ and making it fit me won¡¯t break the enchantments?¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s what Edita is for, isn¡¯t it? Linkosta can probably lend a hand too, and that other one with a silver cloak, can¡¯t remember what they were called. Joelina said it should be doable. I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s right on this one.¡±


    ¡°That would be nice, yeah¡­¡± Jacky yielded, the gears clearly turning in her head too. Saph knew she had been wishing for a set of armor to help keep Tom safe ever since the raid on Deriva. And here it was. Tom might even put it on willingly by the sounds of it, which was a big plus. Even Saph could see there was a lot of work to be done.


    ¡°Speaking of enchantments, it does have some of the more standard stuff you know. Impact mitigation and such. Nothing like your armor, Jacky, but it counts for something. But the real treat is the quieting.¡±


    ¡°Quieting?¡± Tom questioned, tilting his head.


    ¡°Yes, you heard right, at will you¡¯d be able to become quiet as a field mouse even at a full sprint. Magical silence. Joelina said it even works for shutting up the target, so to speak. If they¡¯re nice and close of course. Apparently, the old assassin had a saying. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. Nobody will hear you scream.¡¯ Sounds like a nasty bugger if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tom replied, sounding less enthused. But Sapphire knew the man. He would make good use of this to scuttle about, there was no doubt about it.


    ¡°It is Mithril, right?¡± Jacky asked. ¡°Inside that is.¡±


    ¡°Sure is, plates and rivets. It should be quite tough, at least for brigandine,¡± Vulzan confirmed proudly.


    ¡°Saves on magic¡­ very good. They got him a huntress knife too?¡± Jacky questioned, looking at the incredibly ornate hunting knife which was laying in its ivory scabbard. The trimmings were gold and a massive perfectly smooth red gemstone made up the pommel, probably a ruby. It was even shaped to flow seamlessly into the rest of the hilt. That just had to be magic, at least to Saph¡¯s knowledge.


    ¡°No, that is for you I believe,¡± Vulzan replied with a big smile. ¡°You might wanna fetch your mum.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Jacky questioned, having already leaned down halfway to pick it up.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s family history after all. That¡¯s the blade that killed your Lady way back. Joelina thought you¡¯d want it in case you got the chance to use it for a wee bit of revenge.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go get mum,¡± Jacky concluded, apprehension clear on her face as she let the knife be before running off in a hurry.


    ¡°That¡¯s uhm¡­ an interesting gift,¡± Tom tried, clearly not quite sure what to think either. Saph couldn¡¯t blame him. She couldn¡¯t work out if Shiva and Jacky would love it or hate it either.


    ¡°I thought so too,¡± Vulzan agreed. ¡°But since they didn¡¯t get the privilege of killing the bastard then perhaps sticking it in Rashan would be a nice alternative. Or whoever that red devil has recruited to take up the spot as second worst traitor in recent memory.¡±


    Saph knew that name well, and it looked like Tom remembered too. That was the red dragon that had led the assault that destroyed Furlong keep all those years ago. Nunuk had been there and offered shelter to Shiva and Jacky after the fall of their home. They had both lost near enough all their friends and family there.


    ¡°You know of that bastard?¡± Tom questioned voice turning hard, likely remembering tales told by Jacky.


    ¡°That I do. He¡¯s big news back in the city. Apparently, our dear dear beloved arsehole ain¡¯t so red anymore. You can bet your arse the hunt is on.¡±


    ¡°Rashan is a shadowdrake now?¡± Saph asked. That was definitely not good. There was working with the forces of the dark, and there was becoming part of them. Willingly even if she had to guess in this case.


    ¡°Sounds like it, no one heard of a red that size going missing, and no sight of Rashan all year. But now there is a shadow flying around, about the right size, and was clearly a red before. It¡¯s a pretty safe bet I think.¡±


    ¡°Well shit.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    It had not taken long for Jacky to return with Shiva hurrying along behind her. It was not a dignified sight watching the old smith try to jog on a pegleg, but Tom doubted she cared right now.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± Vulzan said in good humor as the two women lined up to look into the box.


    ¡°That is the knife? That is really the one?¡± Shiva questioned, looking down at it.


    ¡°That it is, yes. If the story is true that Lady Furlong was killed by a huntress blade, then that¡¯s the one. Personal knife of Guri Fawks. Former second most hated man in the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Former?¡± Shiva questioned looking up at the trader, whose jovial demeanor was shaken a bit by the hardness of the stare.


    ¡°Well yes, he¡¯s dead after all.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm eeh¡­ I think about¡­ some years ago at least.¡±


    ¡°AND YOU ARE TELLING ME THIS NOW!¡± the towering woman demanded, the diminutive trader shrinking under her ire.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I didn¡¯t actually know till this trip¡­ I thought he was still out and about. Some rumors say he still is. But you know how rumors can be.¡±


    ¡°What changed?¡± the smith demanded, clearly not appreciating the idle conversation.


    ¡°Well uhm¡­ Rashan is well¡­ not so red anymore. Everyone is talking about it.¡±


    ¡°Rashan¡­ That Rashan?¡±


    ¡°Yes that would be the one,¡± Vulzan replied, suddenly starting to sound a bit worried. ¡°He¡¯s been seen at a few sites about the lands. Nothing good of course.¡±


    Shiva didn¡¯t give him a reply, Jacky watching on as little more than a spectator as her mother bent down and picked up the knife, sliding it open and looking it over.


    ¡°Joelina assured me it¡¯s quite safe. They checked it over for anything. You know¡­ Nefarious.¡±


    ¡°The blade of Rashan¡¯s second in command¡­ somehow not tainted¡­ How is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t know if you know, but¡­ he wasn¡¯t exactly the blade¡¯s first owner you see,¡± the trader interjected cautiously as Shiva turned the blade over in her hands, admiring it.


    ¡°Then who was?¡±


    ¡°That would be Inquisitor Harvik¡­ Whom I¡¯ve been led to believe was Victoria¡¯s mentor.¡±


    Tom¡¯s heart sank as he thought back to the memories he had seen in his dreams. It was a strange feeling. He had never met the guy, not really. And he seemed like a terrible person to him¡­ yet he still felt¡­ loss.


    ¡°Inquisitor Harvik Sheen?¡± Tom questioned. ¡°The one flying with the white dragon? That one?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± the trader replied, tilting his head as he looked to the human. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯ve heard of him.¡±


    ¡°Oh I have¡­ I know that one very well.¡±


    ¡°Riiight.¡± The trader was evidently quite confused but not willing to push any further. ¡°But yes, quite the personal gift. I would have suspected she wouldn¡¯t wanna give this away to anyone.¡±


    ¡°Probably not, no,¡± Tom concurred, looking at the box containing the single silver earring she had sent. ¡°But I think I know what she wants in return. Does it do anything or is it just a really nice knife?¡±


    ¡°Oh right, yes. The blade will, when given a wee bit a power-¡±


    ¡°It points at the thing it last tasted the blood of,¡± Shiva interrupted with a grim look on her face. ¡°Especially useful against a retreating enemy or someone wishing to hide.¡±


    ¡°Right, yes¡­¡± Vulzan said, not seeming to have much more to add as he looked at the slight snarl on Shiva¡¯s face as she stared at the dagger.


    ¡°I suppose I could see the use in the hands of an inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°Indeed yes, Joelina said one should remember that blood from a vial will do just dandy. I don¡¯t know where she knows that from, but it pays to keep in mind.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°One question. If you give it blood from a random deer, will it point to more deer or only the one you cut?¡± Jacky interjected, eyeing the blade from the side.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s possible it might just go with next best or something I suppose?¡±


    ¡°Riiight. Oh well, we¡¯ll have to test that, right mum?¡±


    ¡°Yes we will have to Jacky,¡± Shiva replied absentmindedly as she resheathed the blade and stuck it down the side of her belt. ¡°One day. But not today.¡±


    Tom thought that was probably the end of the conversation for now, so he tapped the chest twice on the lid. ¡°Let¡¯s get this all inside and get it unpacked.¡±


    ¡°Aye, let me give you a hand, can¡¯t forget about the toys in the pretty little boxes,¡± Vulzan added going to shut the lid.


    ¡°Did you just say toys?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As the others carried off the chest, Saph stood there watching.


    ¡®Magic armor, Rashan is a shadow now, and we have a knife of an arch traitor¡­ lovely¡­ Joelina even went through with the damn toys.¡¯


    She did kinda wanna follow along to see just what said toys might actually be. She had no clue whatsoever what an inquisitor might consider toys, nor just what they were doing in a chest like that. But she did still have that fine cloth to find.


    Throwing a quick glance around it at least some people had stopped what they were doing to see what was in the big chest. Notably, she spied Nunuk and Apuma watching from a distance, Apuma going to follow the chest after a brief word from the keep¡¯s lady.


    ¡®Might be about time to let the kids back out too. Or at least make sure they haven¡¯t done so themselves,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself, conjuring up a mental image of Kiran with a set of lockpicks trying to remember how it was Tom used to do it.


    ¡°Hey Saph! We found the cloth!¡± Fengi then cried out helpfully, Saph snapping her head around to look. Another large box had been lowered down from the trade dragon''s side, who was patiently waiting for them all to be done with the unloading. Springing into a quick trot, she jogged over to get a look inside as the lid was pried off.


    ¡°Wooow,¡± echoed from the few huntresses watching, Essy reaching inside and lifting out a whole roll of what looked like fine blue silk.


    ¡°How much did we pay again?¡± she asked, looking to the rest of them, which was quickly growing to include the whole team of huntresses, as well as Wiperna and lastly Ray.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ it wasn¡¯t that bad,¡± Saph said confused. That roll had to be worth several gold by itself at least.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t pay for all of it,¡± Dakota clarified. ¡°We have a few plans too¡­ remember you were all talking about dresses and emblems?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Saph questioned as all heads turned to Dakota.


    ¡°And remember when we went to visit the Hashaws, you two?¡± she carried on, looking to Saph and Fengi.


    ¡°I do yeah,¡± Saph replied, still not sure what she was after.


    ¡°Oooh, the uniforms!¡± Fengi broke out, Dakota replying with a nod.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting silken uniforms? Oh that is just baller,¡± Pho broke out. She was one of the few huntresses that had not actually ended up pitching in for getting a fine dress or other nice clothes done.


    ¡°Indeed. I had a talk with Victoria earlier, and it is not as if it¡¯s a secret that frontier dwellers aren¡¯t generally looked that kindly upon in the larger cities. Appearing presentable outside of just armor couldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh I see¡­ wait, are we going to the city?¡± Fengi questioned, ears perking up.


    ¡°No, not for the moment. But surely it will have to happen sooner or later with the way things are going. We shall have to see. Besides, getting this all sewn up will take some time.¡±


    ¡°You sure we¡¯re up for all this, Dakota?¡± Essy asked, voice sounding just a little unsure. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve ever sewn something this fine before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a damn sight better than trying to have a tailor make it from descriptions given by letter. Besides, we still need to work out what has to be on the chest now, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I thought uniforms were for families¡­ you know like the Hashaws?¡± Fengi questioned, head tilting.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say it would be exactly like them. It was merely an inspiration. And no, I don¡¯t think Tom would much approve of that now would he?¡± Dakota asked in turn with a slightly cocky smile.


    ¡°Nooo, no probably not.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ This will be for all of us?¡± Ray questioned, looking at the very fine fabrics.


    ¡°I believe so yes, in case of formal events or some such. Maybe something more every day can be worked out too, complete with this new sigil. Have it so people know where you are from should the need arise.¡±


    ¡°Should we add it to the armors too this new uhm¡­ sigil?¡± Saph questioned, scratching the back of her neck. ¡°I kinda like the old antler-like crest.¡±


    ¡°I always thought it looked more like spiky branches,¡± Fengi added with a shrug.


    ¡°I was wondering what that was supposed to be,¡± Bo added in, looking around to see what the consensus would be.


    ¡°Shiva came up with it a while ago. But yes maybe it will need to be replaced. Or perhaps we will just add a heartplate or something,¡± Dakota replied, nodding a few times. ¡°Should be less hassle. I kinda like the old ones too.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, a heart plate. Will we have to join the order of Bizmati then?¡± Saph chuckled, thinking back to the city. Such plates were often used to denote who someone served, like say a guard in service to the engineers guild would often have one with the seal of the engineers guild painted on.


    ¡°Sounds to me as if it will be more like a company, but we shall see. I am certain Tom has something to say on the subject.¡±


    ¡°Oh also not to be rude¡­ but has anyone seen a really big tarp?¡± Ray questioned as she was looking through the crate of various cuts of cloth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. How big is it, Ray?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty big,¡± she deflected, looking a little unsure of herself as she glanced around at them all then up at the trade dragons.


    ¡°What do you need a tarp for anyway?¡± Pho asked, clearly finding the notion rather odd.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s not for me.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The chest was to be taken to the workshop where they could start unpacking it and get a feel for just what needed to be done. Jacky was already going on about what changes she thought would be smart to make the new armor fit him. Finding a helmet was of course the main concern, seeing as there wasn¡¯t one.


    Tom doubted that even if there was it would be possible to bash it into the shape of his head without absolutely destroying all those lovely enchantments. Which was kinda the point of magic armor after all.


    ¡°You talked about how humans used to use bows, swords, halberds, all that stuff. What sorta helmets did they have?¡± she questioned as she took lead down the stairs, Tom taking the rear handles along with Vulzan. The far smaller trader had to almost jog to keep up.


    ¡°Oh uhm¡­ all sorts. Don¡¯t actually know much about any of that.¡±


    ¡°Do you at least have a book with some pictures?¡±


    ¡°Uuuuhm¡­ I¡¯m sure there is something on the laptop.¡±


    ¡°Mum can make anything. A mithril helmet will have to do for now, with plenty of padding.¡±


    ¡°Yeaaah. About that. Gonna need to, you know, use a rifle, and the goggles when it¡¯s night time. Probably gonna end up being a pretty unique helmet.¡±


    ¡°And we have many other things to do as well,¡± Shiva added, though Tom knew the stoic woman well enough to know she was thinking about it.


    ¡°What about making your current helmet better then? Could that work?¡± Jacky questioned, head turning to look back at them rather than where she was going.


    ¡°I mean with the facemask and goggles it¡¯s not half bad. Also Jacky uh- door.¡±


    ¡°Wha- oh.¡± Jacky did swing her head around in time to see and make it through the doorway to the workshop. ¡°All good.¡±


    ¡°Your neck is exposed,¡± Shiva added after sighing a bit at Jacky¡¯s antics. ¡°And it is not easily fixed. Put it over there.¡±


    The three carrying did as they were told, placing down the chest next to some mostly clear worktable space with a fair amount of grunting from the two men.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, most things there get in the way of looking down sights. It¡¯s quite the hassle really,¡± Tom replied, not sure what to do about it himself.


    ¡°Indeed, I believe you may have to do without for now. Wrapping your neck in padded coif would do little. As would simple mail curtains. No, something more proper is needed.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll work something out. Until then, no getting decapitated. I¡¯ll kill you if you do,¡± Jacky replied almost jovially. She even giggled at her own joke, leaning on the table as she stared Tom down.


    ¡®I guess someone is happy about the new armor,¡¯ Tom thought to himself before answering. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be smarter to just not go getting stabbed at? Being the only human in the world and all that,¡± Vulzan added as he once more got to unlocking the chest, and with a click the lid was swung open.


    ¡°It would yes¡­ but where is the fun in that?¡± Tom jested halfheartedly. The man did have a point, but he was sure time and circumstance would see his ass in the deep end once more at some point. It couldn¡¯t hurt to have some magic and fancy alloys between himself and any harm. ¡°But by the sounds of it, the enchantments on this stuff should help with that quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, and we should add in the lacewing cape, maybe even get some more of that stuff. Silent and invisible.¡±


    ¡°Not quite invisible, but point taken,¡± Tom replied. He quite liked that idea. Ghillie armor that could change with the terrain. Didn¡¯t sound like it could get much better than that to his ears.


    Vulzan lifted out the main brigandine of the armor, laying it upon the table, Shiva letting out a displeased grunt as she ran her fingers along the darkened leather.


    ¡°Before you ask, no you may not make it bright and shiny.¡±


    ¡°This is unbecoming of anything not living in the shadows. Imagine going to the capital in something like this.¡±


    ¡°I rather like the shadows. It does tend to be safer there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but walking down a street you would struggle to feel safe in this,¡± the smith corrected, still grumbling.


    ¡°Well then maybe the lacewing stuff could pull its weight. Couldn¡¯t you line the face with it perhaps?¡±


    ¡°I suppose¡­ but it is quite delicate indeed. It is a fine silk after all.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not planning on doing a great deal of fighting,¡± Tom countered, looking to Vulzan, who looked like he was adding up numbers. He certainly had four fingers showing on one hand. ¡°How much would that much lacewing silk cost?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t the faintest idea I¡¯m afraid. I have never bought it in bulk. You would also need to place the enchantments upon it, and I sadly do not know how that is done. It is a closely guarded secret of the tailors guild in Bartelion.¡±


    ¡°Is it now¡­ well we shall see about that at some point. For now, the cape will do I think.¡±


    ¡°Yes I suppose,¡± Shiva yielded reluctantly, letting go of the armor, which true to the trader¡¯s word hardly made a noise as it was put down. Well, no more noise than a heavy leather jacket would at least.


    ¡°Now what was this about toys?¡± Tom questioned, turning his attention back towards the chest, Vulzan springing to life.


    ¡°Ahr yes, I know not what it is, but judging by the boxes I would assume some fine toymaker in the capital is to be commended for these,¡± he went as he lifted out one of the very pretty rosewood boxes.


    They weren¡¯t overly fancy, no elaborate patterns or polished metal detailing, it was just a very nicely made, polished rosewood box with a sliding lid on it.


    Their heads all turned around to look at the doorway as they heard a creak of floorboards, finding Apuma standing there, frozen after getting caught sneaking in.


    ¡°I, uh uuuhm¡­ should I go fetch the children by any chance?¡±


    Tom just nodded twice, finding it rather amusing. ¡°Sure, it is for them after all.¡±


    He had briefly considered if maybe this should be saved for christmas, but he supposed that was a bit cruel to leave the little ones waiting that long when everyone else seemed to be getting their gifts today.


    ¡°Okay then¡­ I¡¯ll be. Back¡­ yes.¡± And with that the old man gingerly backed out of the room and carried on down the hallway, even Tom picking out the lack of footsteps past the doorsill where they could not see him anymore quite clearly.


    ¡°The stairs are a bit further down Apuma,¡± Jacky called out jokingly just as Vulzan was about to carry on his presentation. A few more slightly more hurried footsteps were heard and they all had a bit of a chuckle. ¡°Silly old goat.¡±


    ¡°He wishes to know what else is here I am sure,¡± Shiva dismissed, she too finding it at least slightly amusing. ¡°Speaking of which, let us see the craftsmanship.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes of course,¡± Vulzan echoed as he slid the lid off the first box. ¡°Oooh, I know these.¡± He picked out what looks like a loose rag, or maybe a flag to Tom. It looked light but seemed sturdy enough, Vulzan certainly wasn¡¯t careful with it.


    ¡°Tail flags? Really?¡± Jacky questioned, tilting her head. ¡°We got those.¡±


    ¡°Not in red,¡± Shiva noted, rubbing her chin. ¡°Nor such fine linen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what are those for?¡± Tom asked, looking to the trader for an explanation. He put down the box and folded out this tail flag thing. It seemed like a long banner with two lengths of string to tie it on with at the wide end.


    ¡°It is for playing tag you see. It is tied to one¡¯s tail and streams after you as you fly, then the pursuer must snatch the flag.¡±


    ¡°Kids use flags so they don¡¯t get hurt so easy,¡± Jacky added for clarification. ¡°We just slap each other, you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah I remember that, well this should work quite well for flying lessons, no?¡± Tom questioned, looking to Shiva, who shrugged.


    ¡°Either way I am sure they will like them.¡±


    ¡°Yes very good,¡± Vulzan chuckled, putting it back in the box and setting it aside and picking out the next one. ¡°Now what have we got here? Oh yes very nice. More acrobatics toys, dive horns and some kites for those yet to take flight.¡± Vulzan held up the mess of wooden sticks and linen which Tom guessed was to become a kite once assembled. ¡°To teach the young ones how the wind works.¡±


    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s a pretty nice kite, gotta give em that,¡± Jacky weighed in, reaching a hand out and receiving the kite. ¡°Duuude, the thread is silk or something. What kinda toys are these?¡±


    ¡°Toys fit for nobility,¡± Shiva chuckled, seemingly warming to the situation that was today. ¡°What else do we have?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, oh there is this, for the very youngest, maybe,¡± Vulzan said, picking out a parcel of grease paper which he quickly unwrapped revealing a very nice if a little funny looking wooden sculpture of a dragon head. A blue one, in this case.


    ¡°Hah. Kinda looks like Jarix with constipation,¡± Jacky declared, having a quick laugh about it.


    ¡°Indeed, perhaps a bone ended up sideways,¡± Shiva added in.


    ¡°It is a looker isn¡¯t it?¡± Vulzan chuckled. ¡°But alas some assembly is needed. It is a rocking dragon.¡±


    ¡°They put that much effort into a rocking dragon? Hot damn,¡± Jacky chuckled as Vulzan put the head on the table and started fishing out what Tom could best describe as flat-pack furniture.


    ¡®Wooden sticks and kids toys¡­ in a magically locked chest¡­ what the¡­¡¯ Tom thought to himself, wondering if perhaps the inquisitor had been going a touch mad when she packed up this chest. Or perhaps it had just been more convenient¡­ actually.


    ¡°Wait, Vulzan, do we get to keep the chest?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes! I forgot to mention that part. She thought perhaps it would prove useful for any delicate information. It is quite impossible to get inside of without some serious tools.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good¡­ anything else?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, one moment.¡± Yet another wooden box came out, but this one was far nicer looking. It was polished and lacquered with dark and light wood used in bands forming a checker pattern on the back of the lid, but with a circle in the center made out of an elaborate little jigsaw pattern of black and white. ¡°This is a boardgame called defender, any of you ever played?¡± he asked, looking to the two Furlongs.


    ¡°Uhm, not really no,¡± Jacky admitted, shrugging and looking to her mother.


    ¡°I have heard of it¡­ but no.¡±


    ¡°Ahr right. Well let¡¯s see,¡± the trader went as he cleared space to set it up. Opening the lid, the inside revealed rows of intricately carved figures of white and black. Tom almost got vibes of a chess set or something along those lines. ¡°You take out all the pieces like so, they are very pretty, If you ask me, and the black ones don¡¯t smudge I promise. And you set up the white pieces on top of the box lid, that is what the lines are for. Then you take turns playing, black wants to get to the middle of the box where you see the circle. White wants to stop them of course.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, the circle is a keep?¡± Jacky questioned, seeming amused.


    ¡°Well most would call it the city, but it should be fine either way. But yes, the black have this piece called an-¡±


    ¡°I belive Nunuk or Apuma may know how to play, is there anything more in the box?¡± Shiva interrupted, seemingly not having the patience for a full explanation of the rules at the moment. Tom was a bit intrigued though. It certainly seemed like something which could help with winter boredom.


    ¡°Oh uhm yes, nothing too wild uhm¡­¡± and the trader started digging out boxes and packets showing them off one by one. ¡°Some figurines for the little ones to play with: dragons, dragonettes, oxen, deer¡­ Here we have some little plates, all wood so they can be dropped, but they almost look like porcelain wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°Yes, plenty of white lacquer was used,¡± Shiva agreed before falling silent once more.


    ¡°Right yes¡­ Oh some puzzles, those are always good for winter for all ages yes¡­ yeees. I believe that was all.¡±


    ¡°Not half bad,¡± Tom concluded, nodding and looking at the selection. It was clearly all some quite expensive stuff, and there were definitely a few things he knew the kids would love.


    ¡°They are gonna love it. Speaking of, where is the old man?¡± Jacky questioned, looking towards the doorway.


    ¡°And before we forget, do remember the letters and our dear Joelina. I am sure she is anxious to hear from you¡­ you know¡­ the earring?¡± Vulzan interjected, sounding perhaps a touch anxious.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten, Vulzan. I¡¯ll get around to it,¡± Tom promised with a bit of a grumble. ¡°For now let¡¯s get all this organized. And I would love to try and test that armor a bit, even if it won¡¯t fit perfectly.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, also don¡¯t forget your own box, I put in something a little special for you.¡±


    ¡°Just put it in our room at some point. I¡¯ll have a look later.¡±


    ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll get that done, don¡¯t you worry.¡±

 Chapter 188: Charitable Concessions

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    ¡°Right. Tarp,¡± Saph muttered to herself as it became evident where the rather massive section of canvas had been hiding. Galaxer had been using it as harness padding, which was mostly due to there really being nowhere else to put it. Even folded in on itself twice it still covered all of the venerable dragon¡¯s back.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get what you want that for? Don¡¯t we have tarps? Actually, no, I know we have some. We used them for the logs and shit,¡± Pho complained, still not having worked out the purpose of a keep-dweller getting a few dozen square meters of stout waxed canvas.


    Saph had to admit it looked to be quality stuff and brand new. It was laid out in the grass for inspection by the buyer, Ray walking along the sides of it, looking it over and passing Saph on her walk  round.


    ¡°Sooo who is it for?¡± Saph questioned as she came by.


    ¡°Tiguan. For when it rains,¡± Ray answered meekly as she carried on.


    ¡°Ahr I see.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you got this for a dragon who is staying at a keep? Don¡¯t they have a greeting hall?¡± Pho piped up again, clearly wanting to be heard today.


    ¡°Yes, but the floor is stone. It gets cold in winter. Also he gets to keep it. He told me about all the times he has had to sleep outside before. Now if he has this he could stay dry. Or have something nice to lie on.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it can certainly help make a campsite more comfortable,¡± Galaxer agreed, giving the woman a nod. ¡°But it seems you know that already. Is that for Glira by chance?¡± he questioned, glancing towards where Saph and Fengi had set up the other tarp for Yldril, to give her some shelter from the rain.


    ¡°No, that is for our resident black dragon,¡± Saph clarified. ¡°I believe she is currently napping in protest.¡±


    ¡°Ahr¡­¡± the dragon responded, glancing to Baron, the decorated war veteran. ¡°A peculiar allocation of resources isn¡¯t it, sir?¡± he asked, with what Saph thought to be humor in his voice.


    Baron and Jarix had been sitting behind the line of dragonettes, waiting patiently and having a chat with the two new arrivals when they weren¡¯t busy with all the unloading and various questions.


    ¡°It is indeed¡­ but she is of the keep. We are not. If we wanted a tarp we best bring one ourselves,¡± the red dragon responded, calmly and seemingly not upset about the fact he was sleeping outside still.


    ¡®Didn¡¯t think of that,¡¯ Saph cursed to herself. Glira had of course complained, but, well, she was a bit of an arse too. Baron though, he didn¡¯t deserve worse hospitality than a slave. That wasn¡¯t right.


    ¡°Maybe I should bring you one for next year old sport, if they let you out here again that is of course.¡±


    ¡°If they do not, then they best find a suitable replacement. We need every dragon currently on the island, and I doubt that is to change soon.¡±


    ¡°Right you are, well I suppose a lesser teacher will have to do for the recruits. I am sure they will find someone.¡±


    Baron did raise an eyeridge at that comment but didn¡¯t offer anything further.


    ¡°Right, okay, my question now. Why don¡¯t you bring a tarp along if it is so nice ?¡± Pho tried again, glancing between the red and white dragons.


    ¡°It is heavy of course, and I do not plan on staying in the wilds any more than is needed. That and I have cargo to carry of course,¡± Galaxer deflected with a huff, not paying the young huntress much mind.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that gonna be a bit heavy for a dragon who¡¯s supposed to fight then? I swear I¡¯m not trying to be an arse here.¡±


    ¡®Well you are failing there Pho,¡¯ Saph grumbled to herself, as she watched Ray look down at the tarp, ears lowering slightly.


    Saph knew getting something that big couldn¡¯t have been cheap though. Perhaps the greenhorn did have a point. Tiguan couldn¡¯t even be half the weight of Galaxer. But on the upside he didn¡¯t have a shred of armor to wear, unlike Jarix and especially Grevi, so perhaps it would be fine. Might even make his harness a bit more comfortable. It hadn¡¯t looked to Sapphire like the finest of work.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he will be fine. If luck would have it I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be sticking around this island for some time. Then he can just leave it at whatever keep is closest to what he¡¯s doing, isn¡¯t that right you old grizzled veteran? You must have done that a few times, no?¡±


    Ray¡¯s ears did raise a little at the hopeful words as she looked to Baron.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t get any worse than he leaves it somewhere for a time if he is expecting battle, no. And I do not believe he has a place of his own in the city yet. If what Galaxer says is true and they have taken new recruits, then the shared stables would be quite packed indeed.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, a fair few young and old. It seems news of the fighting on the frontier lit a few souls.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Well in that case he might be most appreciative. Some privacy is always nice, even if it is only a clearing somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Oh that is good, I was worried for a moment there he wouldn¡¯t like it,¡± Ray said happily, giving the tarp one last final glance. ¡°It looks good too. I am very happy with it.¡±


    ¡°Well then I guess we can knock you off the list as well then. I will tell Carnige. Is this black dragon going to come and get it here?¡±


    ¡°Oh I hope so.¡±


    ¡°He will, ain¡¯t no way he¡¯s heading home for winter without swinging by to say hi. If he ain¡¯t staying the winter that is,¡± Saph declared. She was quite confident in that statement all things considered. Tiguan was a big softy and Ylditz wouldn¡¯t be able to stand the complaining if they didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Very well, will you all put it away or should I take it up to the greeting hall when time allows?¡±


    ¡°Oh if you wouldn¡¯t mind. I think it would be quite hard to get up the stairs.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Perhaps before dinner, I do seem to smell something quite lovely yes.¡±


    ¡°We have some stuff on the spits, yes. I hope you will like it. We know you have flown a long way.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it is always rough doing such a long stint in one go, and I would hazard a guess we aren¡¯t getting more than a few days here before heading home this time now are we?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure just yet Galaxer,¡± Saph interjected. ¡°We did find something more down below which they are very busy with.¡±


    ¡°Of course you did. Well I am sure we shall hear more of that very soon. Did you hear that, Arch? More stuff down below,¡± Galaxer called out towards Arch, who seemed to have been having a conversation with Jarix upon being reunited. He did turn his head towards them to answer though.


    ¡°Well yes, there were two more vaults. Did they get them open?¡±


    ¡°Well, did you?¡± Galaxer questioned, looking down to Sapphire.


    ¡°Only the one.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, very well. Maybe a chance of a winter flight out here for the inquisition then, that should pay nicely.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom looked about the library that was now filled with playing children, all having fun with their various new toys. The strange board game pieces were currently being used to depict soldiers around a keep made of wooden blocks, which Tom was quite sure the craftsman who made the set would have been appalled by.


    Essy and Lothal had come up to oversee the kids after the unloading had been concluded and all the stuff had been stashed away wherever it was destined. Sadly that meant Tom probably couldn¡¯t put off having that chat with Joelina much longer, though he was seriously considering putting it off till after dinner time. Sadly he had a feeling they might have a drink or two tonight, so that probably wouldn¡¯t be such a great idea.


    Vulzan had gone down to assist Arch, promising to bring up Tom¡¯s box of stuff sometime later, after he was assured that they would read the letters he had given them today. The trader had brought it up a few times, so he had probably agreed to make sure Tom did indeed read them.


    ¡°I think the quality assurance department has declared the toys satisfactory, don¡¯t you think, Jacky?¡±


    ¡°Well nothing has broken yet, so that¡¯s good,¡± Jacky replied, stepping aside as a pair of kids came running by with red flags strapped to their tails. Said flags were more dragging along the floor than flapping in the wind, but Tom supposed they weren¡¯t made for running speed.


    ¡°No, no, they are being very careful. I must say some of these things are very nice though,¡± Essy added as she arbitrated just how many pieces Revo and Hulunar could have so they could try actually playing said board game. This was met with vehement opposition from Kiran, who needed every soldier for his keep.


    ¡°True that. Well best of luck. I¡¯ll go read the mail, shall we Jacky?¡± Tom questioned, resigning himself to just getting this over with.


    ¡°I suppose we shall, yes,¡± Jacky grumbled in reply, seeming less than pleased.


    The two of them made their way out of the library, leaving the kids in the capable hands of Essy, Apuma, and Lothal.


    ¡°Probably best to read the letters first. Upstairs?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s. If it says something we don¡¯t like we can always burn it and pretend we didn¡¯t get it then.¡±


    ¡°I somehow doubt that would work, but I suppose,¡± Tom half-sighed and chuckled.


    The two of them made their way up to Jacky¡¯s room as she got out the letters she had stashed away inside her breastplate. Tom shut the door behind them and Jacky laid down the letters on the bed so they could have the sun behind them to help read what they said.


    ¡°Right then, what are the chances some of this is good news?¡±


    ¡°About the same as Kalestine deciding that we have been working very hard and she¡¯s going to send a herd of tirox marching past the front door,¡± Jacky replied as they both took a seat on the bed and Jacky took out her knife.


    ¡°You know, maybe Shiva will let you have that fancy one with the ruby in the hilt?¡± Tom tried in good humor as Jacky set about looking through the envelopes, presumably looking for the oldest.


    ¡°I wish. Can you imagine what she would do if I dropped it or something? Maybe for some special occasion.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it can sniff out deer hiding in the bushes then surely it¡¯ll be fine. Are you in the habit of losing things in the forest?¡±


    ¡°It has been some time¡­ but it has happened,¡± Jacky admitted a little sheepishly as she found what she was looking for and started opening one of the envelopes. Inside there was a folded up crisp white paper.


    ¡°Oh my, look at this stuff, it¡¯s almost as nice as some of your paper.¡±


    Tom just nodded, watching as she unfolded it, revealing an utter mess of what Tom could only guess was the equivalent of dragonette cursive. ¡°Oh you have to be shitting me, what the hell is that?¡± he protested, looking at the nearly impossible to decipher scribbles.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Fucking city dwellers,¡± Jacky agreed, squinting as she held the letter up a bit closer. ¡°I guess I need to make Apuma proud.¡±


    ¡°If you could, yeah. I¡¯ve got no chance.¡±


    ¡°Dear Tom. I hope this finds you well. -Oh you wish for that now- Since last we met I have formulated some questions for which I would like you to provide me with an answer. Send your reply via Vulzan if you are able¡­ -What is she on about, she sent us a pair of those earrings?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ is that it?¡±


    ¡°Well no we got questions you see,¡± Jacky replied, tapping the paper with the claw on her thumb.


    ¡°How do your people know of dragons? Why are infants thrown into pools of water? What is the point of a cat? Where do cars come from? Are they grown? Why is there music everywhere? Is it true that giving birth is truly the most painful thing in the world to a human? -It just goes oon and oooon. Look at this shit, she really fit it in here.¡± Jacky turned the letter around to Tom to see and it ruely was packed, line after line. ¡°She ran out of space¡­ oh no, bit on the back here. What is the meaning of the combat simulations displayed by the thinking machine, is it training? And why is it not take more seriously if it is? Are you tricking the children into accepting grueling training for more than 12 hours a day?¡±


    ¡°Oh my, yeah she¡¯s in my younger years I guess¡­ I used to love going to the swimming halls, you know¡­ and I might have liked my computer a bit too much.¡±


    ¡°I never would have guessed.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, it was good fun at the lake.¡±


    ¡°Get me warm water and then we are talking.¡± Jacky dismissed, looking back to the letter.


    ¡°We do have that actually.¡±


    ¡°Oooh.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, next letter please. I have a feeling this isn¡¯t the end of the questions.¡±


    ¡°Yeah probably,¡± Jacky agreed, trimming the top of the second envelope with a claw and taking out the letter. ¡°Oh she¡¯s uhm¡­ her writing is a bit worse on this one. Where are the ships that breach the heavens and the universe itself? I have seen movies and imagery of them, but never in your memories do they appear! Do they exist?! Are you from a backwards country without lance weapons and teleportation machines? And how were dogs produced from wolves!? I must know this!¡±


    ¡°Oh my¡­ someone has been to the mental cinema I guess¡­ Wait. I thought she already knew about what a movie was? I could have sworn she saw a movie in my memories.¡±


    ¡°Paulin did get to see one if I remember right. She must have told her all important Joelina about it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Tom replied, thinking further on the implications of this. ¡°She is definitely seeing more than I am too. I¡¯ve only seen a few flashes of her childhood and younger days, though it seems to be slowly advancing towards the current time.¡±


    ¡°Maybe she can use her mind magic stuff to see more? I don¡¯t know. I bet you a gold she¡¯s trying to make the dreams worse, not better like us. Maybe it¡¯s driven her a bit mental? Well, more mental.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so yeah¡­ Another one,¡± Tom replied, gesturing for her to continue.


    ¡°Yup. Next one it is¡­ Oh dear. Right.¡± Jacky squinted at the paper. Tom leaned over and confirmed that the letter was indeed a mess, complete with drips of ink and smudged out symbols. ¡°I ha-have. Discovered. What a motion image is¡­ -Well that¡¯s good-. I understand the art of the computer¡¯s hallucinations. They are not real. But rockets! Are rockets real Tom? Have your people visited the gods! Why is there only one god at the churches where you grew up? Yet there are other churches, the other gods are seen as alien, or different, why? Where are the gods Tom! Why are they disparate!... -Man, I think she¡¯s about lost it.¡±


    ¡°Oh dear¡­ Yeah, might need to clarify some things¡­ And sweep some under the rug. If she¡¯ll even believe me,¡± Tom said doubtfully, grimacing as he looked at the remaining letter. ¡°Let¡¯s get it over with, last one.¡±


    ¡°Right oh, let¡¯s see what this one says¡­ Oh¡­ I think this one is for you.¡± She simply turned the letter around and showed the contents, big bold drippy latin letters¡ªin Danish.


    ¡°SVAR MIG.¡±


    ¡°What does it say?¡± Jacky questioned, sounding a touch worried.


    ¡°Answer me¡­ I¡¯m guessing this is where she decided on sending those earrings.¡±


    ¡°Ahr yeah that would make sense,¡± Jacky agreed, glancing at the wooden box which contained the lone earring. ¡°Wait, why did she bother leaving in the first letters when she sent this anyway?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, why did she feel the need to put childrens toys in the same box as a suit of enchanted half-heretical armor and the blade of... what was he called again?¡±


    ¡°The second most wanted man alive¡±.


    ¡°Yeah that¡­ I don¡¯t think she¡¯s doing so hot.¡±


    ¡°Think she¡¯ll be very mad if you wait till tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± Tom conceded as he slid the lid off the box, picking up the small silvery piece of jewelry. He took a deep breath, looking to Jacky. ¡°Right, safeword is spaghetti. If I say it thrice in a row, take it off.¡±


    ¡°Right, sounds like a plan. Good thing Paulin isn¡¯t here, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ actually,¡± he leaned in and whispered, ¡°Go check the corridor, someone might be listening. Quietly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the quiet one,¡± Jacky complained as she got up, Tom picking up the earring and studying it in his hands.


    It had fine intricate runes running along its surface in little channels. It was exquisite handiwork, that much he could tell. ¡®And not cheap like we know.¡¯


    Jacky went up to the door and with a rapid jerking motion opened it, sticking her head out to glance down either corridor. ¡°All clear¡­¡± She pulled her head back in and locked the door. ¡°Put the damn thing on then. No promises I won¡¯t fuck up your ear if I have to rip it off.¡±


    ¡°Rather that than something worse happening. I kinda wished I¡¯d gotten to see more of her life before this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡± Jacky questioned as she sat down next to him on the same side where a hole had already been punched for the last time he had a crack at this sorta thing. ¡°You always wake up, shaking, cold, crying, screaming or whatever the fuck might have happened that time. And you want more?¡±


    ¡°Well not that part¡­ I guess she has already been through my memories once before, and not like she knows something about me I don¡¯t¡­ but still would be nice to know how the hell she ended up where she is. She knows that about me.¡±


    ¡°Or how her mentor¡¯s knife ended up at Furlong keep.¡±


    ¡°That too¡­ that too¡­ maybe I¡¯ll be able to ask.¡±


    ¡°You do that¡­ now, get it over with.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Tom held the earring up to his ear and started to fiddle with it a bit. A bit turned into a while and soon enough Jacky grew impatient.


    ¡°Really? You can¡¯t put on an earring?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s something I do often. Damn thing is fiddly, don¡¯t wanna break it either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mithril, it won¡¯t just break. Here let me.¡±


    Tom resigned himself to being helped as Jacky quickly put in the little thing and slid in the locking pin. ¡°Right, there you go. Have fun I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, try not to rip my ear off if I start making funny noises. Remember, safeword is spaghetti.¡±


    ¡°I got it.¡±


    ¡°Right, how was it? I close my eyes an-¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Anyone seen Tom and Jacky? Dinner is almost ready,¡± Ray questioned as she came up the stairs from the kitchen into the grand hall where everyone was starting to congregate. Well, all of the dragonettes at least. The dragons had elected to eat all together down in front of the keep, rather than having one or two of them eat in the greeting hall.


    That was all the dragons save for Yldril though. She was consigned to her awning and would get what was left over. That should still be a fair bit of food, and certainly better food than she got normally, but Saph doubted it would do much for her demeanor. Said demeanor was why she was consigned however; no one wanted to put up with her at a feast.


    ¡°No, we were told not to disturb them. I think they got something to do. They are up in Jacky¡¯s room,¡± Saph replied on her way to sit down at the huntress table.


    ¡°Ahr okay¡­ should I put something aside for them later?¡±


    ¡°That might be best. We don¡¯t know how long they will be.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be back in a minute then. Tell the others to start taking seats, we are nearly there.¡±


    Saph just nodded and smiled as Ray turned back and hurried down the stairs, but a moment later Balethon and Herron came up said stairs with a spitted deer, which was to be their main course for the day. ¡®Oh this should be lovely¡­ Do I wanna try out some of the ham too today I wonder?¡¯


    As she sat down at the table it was pretty evident that most of the others had decided that yes, they would be trying out some of the interesting new things they got. It was rather hard to complain after whoever had sold you something had already left.


    There had been a lot of chatting and a few good laughs as they all got settled in, and true to Ray¡¯s word they were soon called up to come get their portions of meat and sides. It was good stuff. Someone had snuck in some extra herbs and spices either at the last minute or possibly used the last of old stores now that they knew resupply was coming.


    They did have a few guests at the huntress table, namely Udanti and Tirox from Archeon¡¯s crew. They were of course interrogated thoroughly for any news about how things had been going in the world at large.


    Tirox spoke highly and with his usual brash bravado about tales of battles fought all along both the frontier and even some middling keeps. He did not seem worried in the slightest, relating victory after victory. Udanti seemed less enthused, and as the meal progressed hushed murmurs and gossiping began to spread among all the tables, as far as Saph could work out from where Udanti was sitting.


    Darklings attacking middling keeps, or ring keeps as some would call them, like the one where she grew up. That could not be good. The darklings were growing bolder. Udanti had heard rumors that the guard had suffered losses too. Last time they had received much news of the war, there had been no mention of any defeats by the guard, only keeps raided or besieged. But according to Udanti, an entire combat wing of rookies had not been heard from for some time, and no one was being told what had happened to them.


    Tirox didn¡¯t think much of it. Maybe they were just holed up, and even if they had been lost it was only one wing of dragons. That was to be expected in war. By the time the dinner was more or less finished they had also all heard the rumors about Rashan. Bo and Pho had needed to be brought up to speed on just who that was, but everyone who had been with the keep before all this started knew well enough who that was and what this all meant.


    ¡°I guess Shiva is gonna need to try again to convince Tom to make that dragon killing cannon then?¡± Fengi questioned, seeming almost apathetic about it.


    ¡°Or something like it,¡± Essy echoed, nodding as she sipped a cup of a special tea she had bought.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push him on that. I¡¯m sure all the stuff we¡¯re already doing will be plenty. There are so many other things he wants to do. Most sound like they would be good news for us too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah speaking of good news, miss silver streak, I heard you found someone special. Where is he at?¡± Udanti the archer questioned, seemingly wishing to change the subject as well.


    ¡°Oh Maiko? I don¡¯t know actually?¡± Sapphire admitted, looking around to see if he was sitting at the guards table like he usually did, but there was no sign of him.


    ¡°I think he is with Yldril,¡± Fengi added, sipping the tea a little as well. ¡°I¡¯m sure he snuck her some food or something.¡±


    ¡°Maiko got a soft spot for a traitor dragon or something?¡± Tirox questioned with a huff, tilting his head.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s trying to get on her good side. Might be handy one day,¡± Fengi answered plainly. ¡°¡­ And it might make her a little less insufferable.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see, so it¡¯s like a mission you put him on?¡±


    Saph wasn¡¯t sure this was something that should be discussed openly at the dinner table, but she wasn¡¯t about to stop Fengi. At least not yet.


    ¡°Yes, don¡¯t blab to the dragon about it. Then it won¡¯t work. And her ears are good, remember that.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay,¡± the male trader escort replied, looking at Fengi a little confused.


    He likely remembered a far happier and more bubbly girl than who was sitting at the table now. Saph sighed to herself. These past months had been hard on Fengi. Very hard. Hopefully things would get better. Maybe they could do something about all that now. Then it clicked for Saph why Fengi might not be so cheery today. It wasn¡¯t just that Yldril had been segregated around the back of the keep.


    ¡®Maybe she got some bad news from those trying to find Dorae for her¡­ Probably best not to bring that up here.¡¯


    ¡°Oh yeah by the way, I heard some talk you got the hook up too, didn¡¯t you Fengi?¡± Udanti questioned, once more trying to steer the conversation back to something positive, obviously not knowing that was a touchy subject.


    Fengi put on a forced smile. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough to show she at least appreciated the gesture. ¡°I did¡­ it¡¯s been a little rough though with all this¡­ stuff going on¡­¡±


    ¡°Ooooh riiight,¡± Udanti replied, seeming to catch on now. ¡°I¡¯m guessing he isn¡¯t much for getting bossed around.¡±


    Before Fengi could reply, Essy interjected. ¡°Oh no, quite the opposite. He¡¯s a right little knight so he is. But he is at times a bit of a¡­ oh speak of the devil,¡± she carried on, her gaze carrying past Udanti to the young guard approaching the huntress table. Saph spied a familiar looking small box in the palm of one of his hands.


    By the time he made it up to the table all heads were turned to look at the young man, which seemed to unnerve him just a touch, which was understandable to be fair.


    ¡°Hi uhm¡­ Okay. So many more people hehe¡­ Right,¡± he went, seeming to steel himself, Fengi turning around fully on the bench to face him. ¡°I know what you think of me¡­ that I¡¯m a weak willed coward¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll try to do better, but I can¡¯t promise anything. Here,¡± he went, holding out the little box towards Fengi. ¡°I know you don¡¯t like flowers much¡­ So I got you this instead.¡±


    There was perfect silence at the table, especially from the trader escorts who had no clue what was going on.  Fengi gingerly held out a hand and took the box, looking up at Unkai with a curious expression then down to the box as she opened it, revealing a beautiful pair of silver earrings with rectangular cut emeralds set in them.


    ¡°I hope you like them.¡±


    Fengi stared at them for a moment, one hand going up to touch the plain copper ones she wore most days. Saph couldn¡¯t actually remember, but she guessed Shiva had made them some time back. They were not overly remarkable, almost rugged looking by comparison to the new silver ones.


    ¡°I love them,¡± Fengi finally declared just as it seemed like Unkai was losing hope. Looking up at him she wore a far more genuine smile than before. ¡°Though I could do with some flowers too one of these days. Those times were simpler.¡±


    The guard let out a slight involuntary chuckle and nodded. ¡°I think I can manage flowers.¡±


    ¡°You used to be quite good at picking out the prettiest ones,¡± Essy added in her motherly tone. ¡°Maybe there are still a few who haven¡¯t succumbed to the cold and rain.¡±


    Fengi took one of the earrings out of the box and held it up to her ear, looking around at them all. ¡°How do they look?¡±


    ¡°Elegant,¡± Saph said, nodding her approval. It was the truth. They weren¡¯t overly ostentatious, and they wouldn¡¯t have suited Fengi if they were. And who knew, with everything happening at the keep, she might find herself with a matching silver crown before too long. ¡°Silver suits you.¡±


    Fengi even let out a little giggle at that, putting it gingerly back in the box and looking back to Unkai, who had not moved a muscle, probably having run out of planning 30 seconds ago. And Fengi¡¯s smile faded a touch. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but¡­ I didn¡¯t think to get you anything special¡­¡±


    Unkai had seemed worried for a second as her smile had faded, but livened right back up as the reason was made plain. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that¡­just try not to hate me. That will be plenty.¡±


    Fengi¡¯s smile faded a little further. ¡°I don¡¯t hate you, I¡¯m sorry if you thought that.¡±


    Saph and the others did exchange some glances. There could be no doubt they had been hard on the guy, but it did seem to have worked.


    ¡°No no, it is okay. I get it¡­ I was a jerk¡­ I might be again. But I¡¯ll try not to be, okay?¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll try not to be so scary¡­ no promises either.¡±


    ¡®Awww that¡¯s nice,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself, a smile starting to grow. ¡®Ooh I wonder if Maiko got me something?¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 189: Reporting In

    As the world faded away into nothing but a dark void, Tom felt the only mildly familiar sensation of magic flowing like a gentle stream. It wasn¡¯t much of a draw, but it was certainly noticeable.


    ¡°Right, best make this quick then,¡± he tried thinking to himself, feeling the flow peak as he did.


    ¡°Who is this? Make what quick?¡± an ethereal sounding female voice replied. It did sound a bit like how he remembered Joelina sounding. Though she did not exactly sound calm.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Hello? Anyone there?¡±


    ¡°Yes hello. Who is this? What must be done quick? Answer me at once!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Tom¡­ Is that you, Joelina?¡±


    ¡°Yes of course it is! Stupid dragons taking ages, I have questions for you! So many questiiioooonssss...¡±


    ¡°Yeah I figured that¡­ Fire away I suppose.¡± Tom replied a little uncertainly as to just what he might be in for.


    ¡°Firstly! Did you read the letters?¡±


    ¡°I did yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Disregard them, I have learned much since they were written! So much more yes, cursed blessed knowledge¡­¡±


    ¡°So you do know we have gone to space then?¡±


    ¡°What? No, I re-experienced the memory you had of the movie about the moon mission. It was evident on the second watching that it was trickery of the eye! Spaceflight is but a myth!¡±


    ¡°Riiight.¡±


    ¡°Then how have your kind visited space? And what of the gods above!? it was evident that the woman with the crystals was but a fraud!¡± Joelina explained with all the calm and restraint of a shoppingmall Karen


    ¡°Well the rockets to the moon, that did happen.¡± Tom attempted, doing his best to remain calm and diplomatic. ¡°The movie you saw was probably a recreation¡­ Tell me, did things go wrong on that trip but they made it home anyway?¡±


    ¡°Yes, do you know of what I speak? Ahr what am I proclaiming! of course you do it is your own memories, how could I forget.¡±


    ¡°Yea¡­, you watched a movie about Apollo 13 I think. Good movie, and that all happened too. Like for real happened¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Joelina replied, sounding rather unstable. ¡°And what of the gods?¡±


    ¡°We ain¡¯t got any. Well not in space at least.¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    ¡°No, quite possible. Many still believe in gods though, but let¡¯s not get into that too much. It¡¯s a right old mess.¡±


    ¡°No, you must tell me what happened to the gods? Have they left you?¡±


    ¡°Well some think so, but no. I just think it all works a bit different for us. They might be a little more hands off.¡±


    ¡°But the churches¡­ and these religious warriors you did battle with,¡± the inquisitor all but muttered to herself, sounding like she was struggling to put pieces together. ¡°Do Jesus and Islam fight for power then? no no, they would have long since lost the battles to the ancient gods of war the teachers spoke of¡­ though why they were always naked eludes me yeeees¡­¡±


    ¡°No, again we don¡¯t really have gods just floating around... Could we please talk about something else? Or is that all you wanted to know?¡± Tom tried, hoping he really didn¡¯t have to dive deeper into that particular subject.


    ¡°No no don¡¯t you dare cut me off! I have seen what you talked of, nuclear fire and missiles, ships of the oceans and planes soaring in the skies. But is it not all fake? Surely it must be! It must be? It must be¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you saw¡­ but we have ships sailing around. If you¡¯ve ever seen flying ships like you have here then that¡¯s fake I can assure you of that. We do have airships, but they look more like really big long balloons.¡±


    ¡°But we could make such vessels, or someone could from times past. If you can visit the moon then surely you can make a ship for the skies!¡±


    ¡°No no, we ain¡¯t got grav oil. Or dragon essence as I guess it¡¯s called. That means no anti gravity, and that means weight is a very very big problem for anything you wanna make fly. Planes and helicopters are how we fly. Remember how I flew to Afghanistan on a big ass plane? Or when I learned to parachute later?¡±


    ¡°What is parachute? is it the ham from your times doing, vacationing? what has dried meat products got to do with flying machines of battle!¡±


    ¡°Wooo easy now easy. I guess you didn¡¯t get that far yet. Uhm. It¡¯s a cloth kite you dangle from and then glide to the ground. Very good fun.¡±


    ¡°A cloth kite used to fly?... such strange inventions. Wait was there not a movie of with something of that nature? yeeee¡­ there was a song. I liked that song¡­ something something brains upon his chute. Yeesss¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ You¡¯ll know it when you see it. I have one actually.¡± Tom clarified trying not to get too weirded out.


    ¡°You must demonstrate on a  suitable occasion.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I do have a question too though,¡± Tom replied, letting silence reign for a short time. ¡°...Your last letter was in Danish.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uhm yes. I- I was having some difficulty separating what was real and what was not¡­ I still am. Do not tell Glazz, she musten know the truth yet. She seeks to limit my excursions.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve ended up like I did, have you?¡±


    ¡°No no no, the effects do indeed recede as expected, everything is in good order¡­ But I had to know more. So so much moooore.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should cool it a bit. You never know when a brain snaps. Or how,¡± Tom tried, confident his advice would be ignored.


    ¡°There is not time!¡±


    ¡°And why is that? How is it going in our beloved Inquisition?¡±


    ¡°Mind your tongue, human! Things are progressing, but so are our enemies. Infiltrators have been caught, traitors within our ranks are making their moves. The reemergence of Rashan, attacks on mines, keeps and a daring heist attempt at a Royal Guard fortress! The game is afoot, we cannot delay.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t overreach yourself either. Weren¡¯t you supposed to be winning over the rest of the inquisition right about now? Can¡¯t do that as a gibbering mess.¡±


    There was silence for a while more after that. ¡°Glazz sent you a letter? What did it say?! You may not keep secrets from me- wait not¡­ I should confiscate her arm¡­ she cannot write with her left. Yes far better plan, avoid upsetting him. And fill her pen with invisible ink. Yes very good.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just obvious to any idiot. But what about winter, won¡¯t things slow down?¡±


    ¡°They should, yet as autumn progresses it has only been picking up. I hope they too are running out of time¡­ But time for what? I must know what they are planning. They might be behind schedule. But what SCHEDULE! sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°Well you¡¯re not gonna find the answer to that in my memories, now are you?¡±


    ¡°You were sent by someone. You are here for a purpose. I must know this purpose. It will help me understand. The puzzle is large and much of the box kept from me.¡±


    ¡°As far as I¡¯m concerned, I¡¯m here to help you guys get in gear. That¡¯s a decades to centuries long sorta problem, not a couple of years. Sounds like this war will be in the couple of years category.¡±


    ¡°Then why now? Why did you arrive now?!¡±


    ¡°Shitty luck? Sounds like 10 years ago would have been a lot better¡­ Oh on that note, did you hear? We found something down below.¡±


    ¡°No, Paulin would have told  me.¡±Joelina dismissed, he could almost feel her turning her snout up and away from him.


    ¡°Well we opened the vault like 3 days ago,¡± Tom replied, quite surprised Paulin hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°Wait yeah she can send you messages, no? She sent the message about what we wanted to buy too, didn¡¯t she?... How did she do that by the way? Why didn¡¯t you just have her ask me questions?¡±


    ¡°That is not for you to know, and this is not for her.¡±


    ¡°Really? More secrets still? Come on, tell me or I¡¯ll let you think flying whales exist.¡±


    ¡°I know those are not real. If they were, you would have harvested them long ago! likely for some deranged snack¡­ or facial decoration.¡±


    ¡°True, but you get the idea,¡± Tom persisted, feeling like this was something worth pushing for. Why would Paulin not have let her precious Joelina know?


    ¡°Very well. This does not leave your mind¡­ In the name of, what was it called¡­ camaraderie. Paulin is in possession of joined paper. Messages may be written down and read by anyone with similarly joined paper. Unsecured. Originally believed to be fore love letters¡­ dastardly studs and wenches using perfectly good magic for such trivialness¡­ simply tie the message to a rock and throw it though the window. Most peasants cannot even afford glass¡± Joelina trailed off, seemingly zoning out once more.


    ¡°You have magical paper that can relay written information¡­ and you don¡¯t fucking use it!?¡± Tom explaimed, not quite believing what he was hearing.


    ¡°No, we do not know how to make freshly bonded paper¡­ only more linked to all other paper in existence¡­¡± Joelina agreed. He could almost feel her looking at the floor in shame. ¡°But it is not as if you are infallible, why did you not bring one of these radios?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?!¡±


    ¡°I forgot,¡± Tom admitted, thinking back to his packing days. Of all the things that could have proven useful, that one might have been his biggest blunder.


    ¡°For the love of all that is holy! You are our saviour?!¡± Joelina scolded, understandably so, but still.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Hey I never claimed to be smart!¡±


    ¡°I have lived your dreams. That is a lie! You very much claim to be smart!¡±


    ¡°Fuck off, I know you are just a scared little insecure girl.¡±


    ¡°She died 30 years ago!¡±


    ¡°Well I haven¡¯t gotten to that bit yet!¡±


    ¡°What in the devils do you mean?¡± Joelina questioned calming right down in a fraction of a second.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only had like three proper dreams about you¡­ wait no, not like that,¡± Tom blurted out as it clicked just how wrong that sounded. Joelina didn¡¯t seem to care in the slightest though.


    ¡°Three? That is it!?¡± going right back to outrage.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Wait, how many have you had?¡± Tom questioned. He rather wanted to know just how much she might know about him in addition to the memories she had already picked through when inside his head.


    ¡°Several a day!¡± the inquisitor exclaimed in reply.


    ¡°Okay, I can see how that would drive someone a bit mad.¡±


    ¡°I am not going mad!¡±


    ¡°Did Glazz say the same thing?¡± Tom questioned, quite certain he was striking a nerve.


    There was no reply for quite some time, Tom feeling the headache growing as things grew tranquil once more. He could feel his breath. It was rapid, and his heart was pounding. He probably shouldn¡¯t do this for much longer. Thus he endeavored to break the silence.


    ¡°You probably should listen to her you know.¡±


    ¡°No! These matters are above her station!¡±


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t she been in the Inquisition longer than you?¡±


    ¡°She has yes. But she is no inquisitor. She is a body guard.¡±


    ¡°Seems like she is a wee bit more than that,¡± Tom pushed on. He didn¡¯t yet know how those two came to stick together, but it was clear they had been working together for decades by now. All the way since she was assigned to Harvik


    ¡°Mind your own matters, human.¡±


    ¡°Very well, don¡¯t think I can keep this up anyway.¡±


    ¡°We have barely been chatting! Where do the dogs come from?!¡±


    ¡°Selective breeding for thousands of years. But I¡¯m gonna go. Take a break, do what Glazz says¡­ even if Jacky hates her.¡±


    Yet more silence followed that, though it was brief and Joelina was the first to speak again.


    ¡°Fine! In the interest of cooperation I shall let you rest. Wear the earring at all times, I shall be contacting you again soon.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna be the judge of that. I¡¯ll put it on when I feel like it.¡±


    ¡°You will do as I say!¡±


    ¡°You need a nap and a bit to calm down. I¡¯ll give you three days. Around noon. See yah¡­ How do I get this thing off?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not telling you,¡± Joelina grumped like a little girl. She really didn¡¯t seem quite like herself at all today. She had been the spitting image of restraint and arrogance before. The arrogance was still there, but the restraint had certainly gone.


    ¡°Come on, do I just try to cut off the magic or is that a bad idea?¡±


    ¡°If you answer a question I might answer.¡±


    ¡°Right then¡­ Gimme gimme gimme aaaa-¡±


    ¡°JUST CUT IT! Farewell!¡± she called out loud enough Tom¡¯s head pulsed and then there was blissful silence once more.


    ¡°Hehe. That did the trick, right concentrate on that funny feeling aaan-¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    After dinner had been rounded up, Dakota had given a brief address as to some of the news received. There wasn¡¯t much that hadn¡¯t already made the rounds at the tables during the dinner itself. The war had been expanding, recruitment had started in full in the cities, and if not for the rather special situation at Bizmati they could have expected their banners to get called by spring.


    Rumors had it that the kingdom was preparing itself for counterstrikes the following spring, which meant training through the winter for many volunteers.


    ¡°And a lot of not so volunteers,¡± Fengi muttered as Dakota carried on with the address.


    ¡°You can say that twice. At least the street rats might get something to eat and a place to sleep,¡± Tirox the trader escort added.


    ¡°I suppose that is true. Not a bad deal in winter time¡­ I might even have taken it.¡±


    ¡°But we must instead keep our minds on our home,¡± Dakota carried on, talking to the whole hall. ¡°There can be no mistake, we will be a target. We will be ready. They are getting bolder by the day it seems. It is not impossible they may attempt to take our keep before the winter comes. Or perhaps they will be waiting for spring. It is equally clear their forces are spread thin. We will weather such assaults, I have no doubt. But we must keep training. We must keep vigil. We cannot afford to be surprised or outmatched. I know you will all do your best. And tonight, we have no less than 4 dragons here. So breathe easy, have your snacks and your drinks. If the weather holds soon we will be finished with the warehouse and then we may make final preparations for winter. It is sure to be an interesting one for once.¡±


    The hall replied with a half-discordant cheer, not overly enthusiastic unlike what Dakota had likely envisioned. The talk of them possibly getting attacked even before the snow came wasn¡¯t really that encouraging. But Dakota tended to speak her mind, and she was probably right. Bizmati keep would be a damn tough nut to crack. And to Dakota¡¯s credit she did seem to recognize she hadn¡¯t really managed to rile them up.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me?¡± she tried again in a slightly more humorous tone. ¡°Eat, drink, and have fun! And put those tables together, don¡¯t want you brooding in your corners.¡±


    That did get a bit more of a reaction, as well as some good humored chuckles. People started getting up and set about moving the tables closer together.


    It was a little rude to split up their guests in the same way as they normally did. Saph carried one of the benches over to the new spot, glancing around for any sign of Maiko, but there was no sign of him anywhere.


    Feeling a little miffed, she sat down with the others as Ray came back with one of the small kegs of cider looking very excited. ¡°We should have a taste, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes please!¡± Pho called out, Essy giving her a slight slap on the wrist.


    ¡°This one is only for those who paid for it. You will have to do with whatever you bought. Or the ale I¡¯m sure they intend to serve.¡±


    ¡°Aww man. Not even a sip?¡±


    ¡°Okay, maybe a sip,¡± Essy relented. ¡°Oh, I should get Koko his gift.¡±


    ¡°You got him a gift?¡± Saph questioned with mirth in her voice.


    ¡°Of course, that is what people do for each other¡­ you did get Maiko something, right?¡±


    Saph felt her expression slip a little as she prepared to disappoint their chief people person. ¡°No, not really¡­¡±


    ¡°All that money and you didn¡¯t get him shit? That¡¯s cold girl,¡± Pho laughed, clearly finding it hilarious.


    ¡°Oh shut up, not as if I got something for Unkai either,¡± Fengi added, springing to Sapphire¡¯s defence, though it seemed like the delivery had Fengi second guessing herself as well.


    Esmeralda did look a little saddened by the news, but she was far too nice to say anything. Tirox however had no such filter.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about it, just gotta go with a different sort of gift.¡± The diminutive guard laughed heartily at his joke. Udanti found it quite funny as well, and Pho certainly loved it. Bo just shook her head a little and went back to a small puzzle of some sort she had been working on, on and off, for most of the dinner by now.


    ¡°So uhm¡­ One mug each?¡± Ray questioned, having been left hanging at the keg.


    ¡°Oh yes sorry, just the one, this stuff is expensive,¡± Saph replied, holding out her mug, Ray pushing it back down.


    ¡°One moment.¡± And she produced a wooden mallet and one of the metal taps. It looked like one of Raulf¡¯s, so it was probably old as faded dragonscales.


    Ray gingerly placed it against the cork and raised the mallet as the table fell silent in anticipation.


    With a whack the tap went in clean with hardly a drop spilled, and Ray breathed a visible sigh of relief. ¡°Right there we go.¡±


    There was a quick round of cheers from the table, and Ray started pouring servings.


    ¡°Oh got yours open, have you?¡± the voice of Balethon came as the guard came walking up to the table, mug in hand and lizard on shoulder. ¡°You all know we are gonna have to work out who got the better stuff, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh does it always have to be a competition with you, Balethon?¡± Saph questioned. She had just wanted to enjoy the cider.


    ¡°Look who is talking¡­ And yeah of course we do! Just think of the bragging rights.¡±


    Ray didn¡¯t look too thrilled, nor did any of the girls who had actually paid for the keg. The rest of the table seemed to think it was a brilliant idea, even as Balethon¡¯s voice carried and heads started to turn as people started to mingle between the now closely together tables.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be the independent adjudicator!¡± Tirox declared, not receiving much attention as the full mugs started to get passed around. ¡°Oh come on. I¡¯ll be fair!¡±


    ¡°Shut it pipsqueak, you¡¯ll end up taking 10 rounds of tastings before you make up your mind,¡± Udanti scolded, though in good humor.


    ¡°I might¡­¡± the guy relented, looking to Balethon. ¡°Ey, by the way. Did you teach the brainlet any tricks?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Skitters can do a few things.¡±


    ¡°Aside from chasing the food?¡±


    ¡°You know what I think he might yeah,¡± Balethon replied sarcastically, gently tapping the static lizard twice on the head. The lizard didn¡¯t do much save skitter about on his shoulder to face Balethon¡¯s head, one eye pointing in whichever direction.


    ¡®That thing just looks so dumb,¡¯ Saph thought to herself as Ray handed her a mug. ¡°Oh thank you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Skitters. Up,¡± Balethon went, raising a claw into the air as if he wanted the lizard to jump. Or perhaps stand up. ¡°Up¡­ come on.¡±


    There was no reaction from the lizard aside from it jerking to the left a bit, possibly having spotted a fly or something.


    ¡°Weeeell obedience might need some work,¡± Udanti chuckled. ¡°Have you tried with some food in your hand?¡±


    ¡°Sure, then he just tries to eat the hand. Come on, Skitters. Up!¡± Balethon tried again, doing the gesture once more. And this time the little lizard jumped into the air. The little legs stretched out, taking its pitiful excuse for wings with it, and it half-fell half-glided to the floor where it hit with all the grace of a 6 year old on his first lesson. The slightly fat lizard bounced once, then rolled over twice before coming to a stop, looking around confused.


    ¡°Aaayyy! That¡¯s a good boi,¡± Balethon went, going to pick it up again before someone stepped on it or it ran off under the tables. ¡°And now you get a treat.¡± True to his word Skitters was fed a small piece of something or other which it seemed quite happy to snap up.


    Fengi leaned in to whisper to Saph. ¡°Was that the trick or did it just get sick of staying there?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Saph replied, holding up her mug. ¡°Cheers though.¡±


    ¡°Cheers,¡± Fengi replied as they clinked mugs.


    ¡°Oh hang on now, wait for me,¡± Essy protested as Ray finished pouring her mug and started on her own, looking to the girls as she questioned ¡°Oh, also what about Jacky? Should we wait for her?¡±


    ¡°Who knows how long that will take?¡± Fengi replied, holding her mug impatiently.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t mind. She is with Tom. We¡¯ll let him have a mug as well,¡± Essy added with a reassuring nod, looking up to the high table. ¡°Oh but we are missing Lin!¡±


    ¡°Oh right yeah she paid too¡­ I can¡¯t remember, did Edita chip in?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Sapphire replied, shaking her head as Essy got up to go fetch Linkosta. Balethon decided to take her place, a big grin on his face.


    ¡°So what else is going on over here?¡±


    ¡°Oh not much, hellooo little guy,¡± Pho went, trying to give skitters a scritching. In exchange he tried to eat her finger. ¡°Oh¡­ I mean I guess it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, he can¡¯t hurt a fly¡­ well he can, but nothing more.¡±


    ¡°Shame he won¡¯t get any bigger either,¡± Udanti added, nodding sagely. ¡°Would have made a good rat hunter.¡±


    ¡°Nah¡­ toe hunter though. Also where is the ale at?¡±


    ¡°Oh Raulf and Wiperna are getting ale and some of the bubble beer.¡±


    ¡°What is bubble beer?¡± Udanti questioned, tilting her head.


    ¡°Oh you¡¯ll love it,¡± Saph interjected, waiting patiently as she saw Essy and Linkosta returning to the table out of the corner of her eye. ¡°It¡¯s an ale but it¡¯s all fizzy.¡±


    ¡°Riiight¡­ I¡¯ve heard of fizzy beers before.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, but this one is so much more fizzy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s light and almost springlike.¡±


    ¡°Light ale? You mean for kids?¡±


    ¡°No no no. Just trust us it¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Right right, I trust you,¡± the archer replied, looking to Essy and Linkosta, who seemed to be looking for a place to sit. ¡°Should we not just put two end to end rather than this scrunching up business?¡±


    ¡°Yeah we should¡­ Right get the craftsman table over here then. We don¡¯t wanna have to smell the guards,¡± Saph called out, holding up her mug.


    ¡°Hey! That was uncalled for,¡± Balethon protested as Ray passed a mug to Linkosta. The girls all raised their mugs and had a sip, not willing to wait any longer. They all smacked their chops a little, looking down at the golden liquid. It was slightly fizzy too¡­ and it tasted like the brew of the gods themselves. Ray was looking at them all visibly tense with anticipation and perhaps a twinge of fear.


    ¡°Ray¡­ You have not disappointed,¡± Saph declared, nodding her approval, a smile creeping onto her face once more.


    ¡°Oh this is the best drink I think I¡¯ve ever had,¡± Fengi added, taking another gentle sip.


    Ray looked visibly relieved, her expression changing to one of ecstasy as she too took a sip herself. ¡°Oh it¡¯s even better than I remember. I¡¯m glad you liked it.¡±


    ¡°Like it?! I love it!¡± Fengi cheers, Essy giving an appreciative nod to Ray before looking to Lin.


    ¡°Sooo?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very good¡­ Do you think we could try and cool it down a little? Imagine this cold.¡±


    ¡°It is often served cold, yes,¡± Ray confirmed, nodding her assent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get the powder!¡± Saph called out, getting up. ¡°I have got to try that.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The strange ethereal world that had seemed so all-consuming started to quickly fade. Holes grew as light and reality started seeping in, sounds and noise starting to build around him. ¡°Oom-Tom¡­ Tom, are you okay?¡± came the familiar voice of Jacky as his eyes shot open and he blinked a few times as he returned to reality proper.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m here¡­ That is trippy, but hey, I think it worked.¡±


    ¡°How many fingers?¡± Jacky questioned, holding up her hand.


    ¡°4. Clear as day.¡±


    ¡°Pheeew. Okay look around, anything strange?¡±


    Tom obeyed, sitting up a bit straighter and glancing about the room. ¡°Nnnnn, nope all good. Just like last time I used one of these.¡±


    ¡°Right, good. Now what did she say?¡±


    ¡°Oh a bunch of stuff¡­ mostly we chatted a bit about how she¡¯s going a touch mad. Even Glazz thinks she¡¯s falling apart at the seams apparently. She was also not happy I wanted a break.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me you have to do this every day from now on?¡±


    ¡°I said she had 3 days to get ready to try again. Hopefully she¡¯ll have her case worked out by then.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s to hoping¡­ also how is your head? Does it hurt?¡±


    ¡°A bit, it¡¯ll go away I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Jacky replied, looking at him skeptically. ¡°If it gets worse, tell me. But dinner was served a while ago I think. And I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    ¡°Me too, let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 190: Eat, Drink and be Merry

    ¡°Come on man. Which one is better?¡± Balethon tried, leaning in over their table as Tom put down the second mug of cider. The ring of dragonettes standing around waiting for the verdict had been ever growing. Which didn¡¯t really suit Tom, such pressure.


    ¡°They are both VERY sweet,¡± the lone human admitted, not really sure which to pick. Neither of them were really up his alley.


    ¡°It¡¯s cider, of course it is sweet,¡± Fengi butted in, clearly also waiting for a verdict with bated breath.


    ¡°Well it doesn¡¯t have to be. It tastes almost like Sommersby back home. Is all cider like this here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, which one tastes like Son- the one you remember, that¡¯s good right?¡± Fengi tried again, Tom glancing around at the crowd.


    ¡°Both of them¡­ I mean I guess this one is a bit sweeter,¡± he relented, gingerly holding up one mug, not sure who it belonged to.


    ¡°YES! Ours is best,¡± Balethon broke out in celebration, doing a little jump and a fist pump. The guys behind him started premature celebrations as well, though to a lesser degree.


    ¡°I would rather have this one though,¡± Tom carried on, lifting the other mug. ¡°It¡¯s a little more grown up. But to be honest, I would rather have a beer,¡± he declared, looking to the girls, taking particular note of Ray who was keeping herself in the background. He knew this was essentially her cider. And if he couldn¡¯t taste much of a difference, who was he to deny her a bit of satisfaction.


    ¡°Well ain¡¯t no problems there, this stuff is expensive. You want beer, you¡¯ll have beer,¡± Fengi chuckled as the girls started to laugh and snicker at the boys celebrating early. ¡°More for us.¡±


    ¡°Ours is sweeter, that means better. For a dragonette at least,¡± Balethon protested as he took back the mug Tom had been sipping from.


    ¡°We have sugar. I would rather have the better one than the sweeter one,¡± Fengi countered as the bickering started in both camps.


    ¡°It¡¯s your own anyway, why don¡¯t you just drink it while it¡¯s still cold,¡± Nunuk then called out from her raised chair. ¡°Or are you too busy with getting a leg up on those at your side?¡±


    ¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡± Fengi replied as heads turned to look at the lady.


    ¡°You¡¯re just jealous it¡¯s better than the wine you got, mum,¡± Dakota added, rolling her eyes from her seat next to her mother.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± the old lady relented with a crooked smile as laughter and chuckles broke out, Fengi rolling her eyes too as she glared at the smiling old lady. ¡°Oh come now can an old lady not have fun anymore?¡±


    ¡°Either way I heard beer. I think we should see about this here keg then,¡± Raulf declared loudly, overpowering the bickering and laughter. The farmer was standing with what had to be one of his own creations if the look of the barrel was to be believed.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re talking, what¡¯s in there?¡± Tom called out. He could do with a drink. Not getting sloshed, but a nice after work sorta beer. It wasn¡¯t often they enjoyed proper drink around here. It was more of an occasional thing for them.


    ¡°Your bubble beer,¡± the farmer replied as with a smack the tap was hammered in.


    ¡°Oh saving the imports are we?¡±


    ¡°For now. Maybe we¡¯ll have to compare those as well.¡±


    ¡°Can I try too?¡± came then the almost cautious or maybe just slightly overexcited voice of Edita, Tom turning to look at the inventor. As did Jacky, who was standing behind him. The artificer had a mug in one hand and a pair of wax sealed bottles under the other arm.


    ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t see why not. Uhm what¡¯s that?¡± Tom questioned, pointing at the pair of bottles.


    ¡°Oh uhm,¡± the inventor suddenly looked coy about something as she clearly struggled to find the words, Tom glancing to Jacky, who was observing carefully.


    ¡°The others told me you drink a lot. You said that all engineers drink a lot. I haven¡¯t tried it before, and I know it is expensive. So I bought some with my spending money. It wouldn¡¯t be nice to drink someone else¡¯s stuff¡­ right?¡±


    Tom stared for a bit, not sure if that was adorable or sad. Probably a bit of both really. ¡°Depends on the amount. But sure, you can try some.¡± He looked to Jacky once more, and she to him. ¡°Well I think we can teach a real life lesson, don¡¯t you?¡±


    She nodded in reply, not seeming overly thrilled at the prospect. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go get some mugs.¡±


    Edita livened up a bit seeing as her request had been positively received. ¡°Oh excellent. I am sure it will be very informative.¡±


    ¡°Suure suure,¡± Tom confirmed jokingly. ¡°First up, ale and beer aren''t that expensive. We¡¯ve got plenty. But that stuff does look expensive, what is that?¡± Tom questioned, wondering if having a sip of that stuff was worth the risk or not. Probably best not to though.


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know. I just asked Vulzan for something nice.¡± She held them up and tried to read the label. ¡°Hakeria¡­ What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Tom admitted, walking up to have a look as well. The label was very fine indeed, clearly hand painted with draconic runes in gold on a red background. It likely wasn¡¯t actually gold, but it still looked very fancy.


    There was some murmuring from the other people around, none of whom seemed to know what it was either.


    ¡°What did you say it was?¡± Nunuk then called out, apparently not having made it out either from upon her high chair.


    ¡°Oh Hakeria- uhm Ma¡¯am,¡± Edita politely responded, doing a slight curtsey for the Lady. Nunuk for her part was leaning forward and squinting at the artificer and her mysterious cargo.


    ¡°How much did you give Vulzan?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm. Some money.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± the Lady repeated, with slightly more authority in her voice.


    ¡°I can¡¯t really remember,¡± Edita admitted, sounding a touch shameful. ¡°I did not believe it to be important information.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t let Paulin get her hands on it,¡± the old lady went with a chuckle, sitting back in her chair with a slightly pained expression. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t mind a glass at some point.¡±


    ¡°Oh of course Lady Bizmati!¡± the artificer went, looking down at the bottle then back to Nunuk. ¡°So you know what it is?¡±


    ¡°Please, Nunuk will do. And yes, it is made from needles, they grow on cactuses in the south to my knowledge. It is distilled of course. A fine liquor if I do say so myself.¡±


    ¡°Cactus fruit liquor? Well that¡¯s certainly new. Maybe I will have to try a little sip too,¡± Tom pondered, rubbing his beard.


    ¡°Of course, you can have as much as you like,¡± Edita was quick to reply, holding out the bottle for him.


    ¡°Oh no no, not like that. I have to be careful of methanol in your alcohols. It¡¯s fine for you, but poison for me. I already had a bad time once. But a small sip won¡¯t hurt too bad.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see. I heard alcohol makes you stupid but if you drink then that can¡¯t be right. Then you wouldn¡¯t drink.¡±


    ¡°It does, temporarily, can¡¯t recommend drinking constantly though. That¡¯s not good for you. Every once in a while, for the hell of it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ why would you want to be stupid?¡± Edita questioned, clearly at an utter loss.


    ¡°Cause then you forget about all your problems and can just have fun. It¡¯s also good for getting past certain inhibitions!¡± Balethon added, throwing an arm around her, mug in the other hand. The guy was clearly feeling the effects of the sugary drink. Edita looked quite taken aback by the gesture, holding her bottles tight. ¡°Trust us, it¡¯s going to be fun!¡±


    ¡°Oh- okay.¡±


    Edita seemed more unsure than mad at the guy for his exuberance and touchiness. ¡®Boooi she has something to learn¡­ maybe Saph and Fengi will teach her to slap him at some point,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, simply watching what she might do.


    Rather predictably she looked to Tom, with a pleading expression.


    ¡°He¡¯s right you know¡­ Actually, idea. I¡¯ll get some music. Maybe Essy and Fengi will help teach you how to dance and stuff as well,¡± he went, thinking himself a genius for hopefully getting her to actually try and mingle with the crowd on her own. But alas.


    ¡°Oh I can help with the music, will you be using the laptop?¡±


    ¡°That and speakers but¡­uhm¡­ no stay here. I will be back. Have fun. Maybe try a game of dice.¡± And with that masterful evasion out of the way, Tom headed off to try and procure some music. He didn¡¯t really know what he was doing, but that was hardly new. Edita wanted to know what drinking was like. Might as well get her the whole package. Maybe he would get just a little sloshed too. Paulin was down below anyway. Surely they wouldn¡¯t be heading down that early tomorrow.


    By the time he made it back up the tables had been moved once more, closer to the far wall, making some open space while letting people still have a conversation together. Apuma and Nunuk hadn¡¯t intervened, instead watching over the proceedings from their table. Their children however were mixing in with the rabble now along with both the trader crews and some of Baron¡¯s men. Though Victoria remained seated with Nunuk for now. He did take note that she was definitely keeping an eye on him though, it was almost a touch unnerving.


    But no matter. He got the music up and running in no time, and Essy was allowed to make the selection. Kokashi even got a say after he promised to go get his violin for those few tracks he had been practicing to play along to.


    And so there was dancing. Tom had at first rather hoped to sit it out and just watch, but much like Unkai, the woman in his life didn¡¯t give him much of a choice in the matter. Probably because he had been sitting next to Edita, who had sought refuge from the festivities next to him.


    Just like the diminutive guard though, he certainly didn¡¯t mind, especially since Jacky didn¡¯t know much about dancing so it was just dumb fun. She ended up more or less just throwing him around, especially as she started getting competitive with Fengi, who was far far better at this. To his credit, Unkai was certainly also a lot better than Tom at keeping up, so Jacky simply compensated with brute strength, Tom hanging on for dear life.


    There were even a few of the moves Tom remembered showing the kid back before the festival. Which did rather give him an idea. It was a very short lived one, as he surprised Jacky by trying something he remembered from way back in the day. She didn¡¯t get what was going on and soon they were a laughing pile on the floor.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Jacky broke out from betwixt the chuckles as she tried to get back up.


    ¡°I wanted to do a pirouette toss thingy,¡± Tom protested, still quite certain that it had been a good idea, let down by the execution.


    ¡°I¡¯m like 2 heads taller than you. How was that ever going to work?!¡±


    ¡°Look I¡¯ve seen a¡­ What¡¯s the word for a small dragonette?¡±


    ¡°Child?¡±


    ¡°No no, like an adult that just doesn¡¯t get very big.¡±


    ¡°Unkai?¡±


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake Jacky.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yeah there you go, that¡¯s straight five. You beat him,¡± Saph said, giving Edita a pat on the back. She had picked up card games rather swiftly, and even the beer was going down well enough. Raulf had asked if she liked it, after which she had answered


    ¡°It¡¯s very good, yes. Much better than the ration flasks used for expeditions normally.¡±


    The farmer had grumped a bit about his work getting compared to field rations, but nevertheless, Edita scarfed it down. They had set about teaching her some card games, and she had proved quite quick at learning. Much to the chagrin of Balethon, who had just lost a hand he had been certain of winning. ¡°Oh okay. So what now?¡±


    ¡°Now you get to choose two who have to drink.¡±


    ¡°Oh I see¡­ but aren¡¯t you supposed to drink in a drinking game?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. You still win so you punish the others, but you will lose soon enough so you get drunk too.¡±


    ¡°Oooh riight.. Ahr, I have to drink!¡± she declared.


    ¡°You forgot about number two,¡± Balethon added, still seeming a bit grumpy as he gathered up the cards, Jacky staring him down as he did so. He had tricked her quite badly last round, so she was not happy.


    ¡°Oh right¡­ you then, skul!¡± she went raising her mug of bubble beer.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± he protested, though he did pick up his mug too ¡°Also it¡¯s deeper. Skoool.¡±


    Edita thought for a second while holding her mug still in the air, then she turned to Sapphire. ¡°It¡¯s working! I don¡¯t care!¡±


    That got a good chuckle out of Saph and a few of the others as the music track changed once more. They had no idea what was being sung, but it sounded good. Essy singing along, with Kokashi on her lap, or at least mimicking the song as best she could. Unkai and Fengi were sitting in a corner talking which was very good. Tom was sitting with Jacky also trying to learn the game they were playing. Of course since there was an element of deception involved the human was doing quite well as usual.


    Saph however had not had much luck and had essentially taken on the role of teacher for Edita. It was quickly becoming clear the artificer was quite the lightweight. That or possibly the needlefruit liquor was more potent than at first expected. Saph had managed to sneak in a little sip from Edita¡¯s glass, with her permission of course, and it was certainly an interesting flavor. Almost a hint metallic, and definitely sweet but not extremely so.


    Some of Baron¡¯s crew had joined the game of cards as well, notably Major Latori. He was one of the more refined members of the crew, and Saph mostly remembered him for having been helpful all the way back when they had the bitch to deal with.


    As a new hand was passed around and Edita got a look at hers, showing them to Saph as well, a clawed hand was suddenly laid upon Sapphire''s right shoulder. Turning around, she caught Maiko trying to duck out of the way behind Edita and not get spotted. ¡°My head goes all the way around dumb dumb,¡± she chuckled, turning around to her left instead to not strain her neck to look at the manchild. ¡°I was wondering when you would show up?¡±


    ¡°Weeeell I had a thing or two to do now didn¡¯t I. Speaking of which, I believe this is for you,¡± he said, holding out a small ornate box.


    Saph tried her best to seem genuinely surprised that he had thought of something for her. She had expected him to of course, but it was only courteous to pretend. ¡°Ohh Maiko, is that for me? Thank you,¡± she went, taking the small box, the guy standing up straight with a big smile on his face, clearly expecting her to like the contents.


    ¡®I bet you it¡¯s earrings or something like that,¡¯ Saph mused to herself, glancing at her nice new ring which she was wearing already.


    Opening the little box she was right. It was a pair of plain silver earrings. Simple, yet elegant. ¡®He is only a corporal after all.¡¯


    ¡°They are lovely. And not so over the top I can¡¯t wear them every day,¡± she went, looking to him with a warm smile. He for his part seemed steadfast. She didn¡¯t have to mention she definitely had silver earrings for everyday use already, but she supposed her ears were long enough for two pairs. She started to take them out of the box to have a look at them more closely as he made his way around to sit on the far side of Edita.


    ¡°So what are we up to here?¡± the corporal asked, looking round at the table.


    ¡°We¡¯re just teaching the newbies how to play five claw,¡± Jacky replied, throwing a glance to Sapphire as she was holding her earrings up to study.


    Saph didn¡¯t know if Tom had gotten Jacky anything or not, but it wouldn¡¯t seem like the dude to not. He was actually rather thoughtful as long as he remembered in the midst of all the stuff he was doing.


    ¡°Yes! And I am learning to drink!¡± Edita declared far too loudly as she inspected her cards closely. Saph didn¡¯t really need to help her anymore at this point, and the fact that even a child could read her face when she had something good was her own problem.


    ¡°Oh you are?¡± Maiko questioned without missing a beat, leaning over Sapphire¡¯s lap to get a look at her cards. ¡°Oh dear. Well good luck.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? That¡¯s very good,¡± Edita protested, Maiko letting out a belated breath.


    ¡°Right, next lesson in cardgames. Deception.¡±


    ¡°No no, we mustn¡¯t lie.¡±


    ¡°What are you on about? The Inquisition lies all the time.¡±


    ¡°He would know, he¡¯s very good at it,¡± Sapphire joined in as she measured up the new earrings to her ears. ¡®Maybe I should get a second set of holes made for them?... hmmmm.¡¯


    ¡°But it¡¯s not okay to lie. That can get people hurt!¡±


    ¡°Not in a cardgame,¡± Maiko replied in good humor, now more or less lying across Sapphire. ¡°Try it. See if you can trick them.¡±


    ¡°Good luck, Tom is like a crooked old trader. He could sell you an old stick claiming it¡¯s the bone of a holy saint,¡± Sapphire added as she wondered if anyone would perhaps have gotten a handheld mirror she could borrow for a bit.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tom replied with a nod and a chuckle as he glanced to Jacky, who just rolled her eyes.


    ¡°You lie?¡± Edita questioned with an almost childlike curiosity, looking to Tom. Like a little girl learning her mother didn¡¯t just get the food from the cupboards.


    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s handy at times. The tricky bit is knowing when to lie.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just think of Joelina and Paulin. They are real good at lying.¡±


    ¡°Oooh yeaaa¡­ I guess soo¡­ So I have to be good at it too?¡±


    ¡°If you wanna win at five claw you do,¡± Maiko confirmed.


    ¡°Oh okay then. Will you help me?¡± she questioned, looking to the Corporal.


    ¡°Sure. Step one, try to see if you can express that you are disappointed even though you are not.¡±


    ¡°She could also just try the stonewall Joelina approach,¡± Tom added, as the artificer pondered this new interesting challenge. ¡°I cannot read that woman Joelina for the life of me.¡±


    ¡°I doubt she has emotions to read,¡± Jacky grumbled, Saph looking to Tom, who seemed less than convinced by that statement.


    ¡°Well you would know wouldn¡¯t you, Tom? You¡¯ve been in her head. What¡¯s in there?¡± Sapphire questioned, taking a swig of her mug of ale. They had kept the cider to one small mug per person, and even then she could still feel the sugar high which was yet to wear off. Dancing to the music had handled most of the excess energy, but not all so it was definitely ale from now on.


    ¡°Oh I wouldn¡¯t know anything about that,¡± the human dismissed taking a swig of his own mug.


    ¡°Oh come on. You must know something. For someone who got your mind ripped apart by someone, you don¡¯t seem to hate her much.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t reply to that one immediately, taking a second to mull it over. Edita opened her mouth as if to speak, but thought better of it.


    ¡°She¡¯s a hard woman. Born tough and made tougher. In Danish we have a saying. ¡®The thief thinks everyone steals.¡¯ It means everyone tends to assume everyone else thinks just like themselves. She thinks you work like she does. Cold, cynical, uncompromising. She doesn¡¯t care what gets in her way. She¡¯ll get it done. That includes people hating her. It¡¯s just irrelevant twaddle to her. She has a job and cares for nothing else,¡± the human replied before taking another quick swig.


    ¡°That¡¯s why she¡¯s suddenly decided to shower us with gifts and goodwill. She has no idea whatsoever how to make a friend cause she has none. Not really,¡± he carried on. ¡°Well maybe Glazz or Paulin I guess. So I don¡¯t think she¡¯s evil or anything like that. But she only has eyes for one thing. Get in between her and that thing, she won¡¯t hesitate to put you down. She won¡¯t even think about it. Not outside of what problems it might lead to. I think it best to just stay important to her, and don¡¯t come across as if you are working against her. Then she¡¯s also perfectly happy to give you what you want to continue being useful, because it¡¯s far easier than trying to make friends.¡±


    There was silence for a moment afterwards as people mulled over what the human meant with all that. Saph wondered if maybe the cider had gotten to him or something.


    ¡°Naaaaaah,¡± Edita then broke out, all heads turning wearily to her. ¡°She¡¯s a big softy the others say. She does things like, let you go. Or maybe even giving a small little sentence if it¡¯s someone who only did a little bad thing.¡±


    The artificer certainly had Tom¡¯s attention with that. The human seemed about as skeptical as the artificer was sloshed.


    ¡°I heard Paulina talk about a time Joelina even let some children live¡­ they had stolen something, can¡¯t remember what it was¡­ I also think she then used them as spies or something. I didn¡¯t really understand that. But that sounds like a nice thing to do. Something about finding poor people, who were evil.¡±


    ¡°She blackmailed children into spying on poor people?¡± Sapphire questioned, giving the artificer a side eye.


    Edita took a second to ponder that one, scratching behind her ear. ¡°Well when you put it like that.¡±


    ¡°Either way. We can work with her,¡± Tom interrupted, looking to the artificer and holding up his mug for a clink. ¡°Cheers, I think we need some more of this.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, Just don¡¯t tell Paulin, I didn¡¯t ask for permission.¡±


    ¡°Not a word, we all promise. We won¡¯t tell her anything about all this.¡±


    ¡°Awww thank you, Tom.¡± A few mugs were bashed together and Tom took a hearty swig. Edita mimicking like she so often did.


    ¡®Oooh shit is he trying to get her pissed? That can¡¯t end well¡­ Can it?¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    They had kept playing the card game for some time, though later they had switched to just telling stories and the like. It became more and more clear that Edita was a lightweight and she was copying whatever Tom did. So when he told stories, she told stories. When he took a swig, she took a swig. He did feel a little bad, but they were getting more out of her than they had ever gotten out of Paulin and Joelina, and unlike those two it seemed Edita could be trusted to tell the truth, if only for the fact that when she did lie it was painfully obvious.


    It of course didn¡¯t help that basically everyone had either worked out what was happening or thought getting drunk and having fun was a brilliant idea in its own right. Tom had been working on ways to get Edita under four eyes or at least only in the company of trustworthy keepdwellers, but doing that without arousing suspicion had been rather hampered by the story telling escalating to include crews from both traders, some of Baron¡¯s crew, and even Radexi chiming in.


    Tom had waved over some of the keep¡¯s guards, hoping that they could displace some of the visitors further down the lengths of the table. The only one properly displaced was Maiko, who seemed to decide he had better things to do and excused himself, promising Saph that he wouldn¡¯t be gone for too long. As for the rest of the boys, they of course needed to talk with the drunken girl as much as possible, which wasn¡¯t much of an upgrade.


    ¡°Yoo Edita¡­ is it okay if I call you Edi?¡± Herron tried, himself either quite tired or quite inebriated but still having managed to squeeze in next to Edita.


    ¡°Suure suuure. Just don¡¯t call me Edit. All the others made fun of me when I got something wrong¡­ Edit has to edit now they would go¡­ it wasn¡¯t very funny at all.¡±


    ¡°Oh no no, I will just call you Edi. I-¡±


    ¡°What sort of mistakes, any fun ones?¡± Saph interjected, the huntress having stayed with Tom and Edita pretty much the whole night. Tom was quite convinced she had worked out what he was up to, and seemed to be helping out. ¡°Anything not just about weird machines?¡±


    Herron took the cue and fell silent, having a look at his mug and taking a swig. Edita pondered the question for a bit instead, seemingly finding it a tough one to answer.


    ¡°Not machines hmmm¡­ Oh oh one time I remember me and Teskar got in trouble for using one of the targeting scopes for spying on the city. He hadn¡¯t seen a city before and I wanted to show him. All the little people walking around. We found a mother and tried to follow her, mapping out her whole day! It was very good fun!¡± Edita replied enthusiastically.


    ¡°And how did that end up with you having to fix something?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ sorry. No, we just got caught and had to do cleaning work for weeks¡­ It was very boring.¡±


    ¡°No no nothing to be sorry for, this Teskar, did you know him well?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, he was from a fortress out west. Not too far from Crownhall. They have an ancient thinking machine there which they guard.¡±


    ¡°Wait as in actually working, I thought you had all those in storage?¡± Tom interjected, suddenly seeming interested.


    ¡°Oh it is in storage, but it is the largest one we know about. Maybe one day I could get to see it¡­ It must be so beautiful,¡± the artificer carried on, turning all doey eyed as she stared up at the wall with her head resting on her hands.


    ¡°Riiight¡­ but tell me more about the Teskar. Did you like him?¡± Saph questioned, Tom grumping a bit.


    ¡®God dammit Saph, let her spill the beans.¡¯


    ¡°Oh he was very funny. His accent was all weird too. It is a long way to Crownhall. I have never left the capital before coming here, so he told me stories about it. It is warm, strange things grow there, like cherries.¡±


    ¡°Edita, cherries grow here too?¡± Herron added, sounding sleepy and confused.


    ¡°They dooo?!"


    ¡°Yeah¡­ wait they do, right?¡± The guard questioned, looking down the table to his fellow guards, which probably didn¡¯t sit that well with Sapphire. Tom threw a glance at her, and she did look a touch grumpy much to his own amusement.


    ¡°Yeah man, they just like lower flying islands and all that. You know, warmer,¡± Balethon added.


    ¡°Ohhh that makes sense¡­ I think. Did anyone get any pickled cherries?¡± the young guard questioned, looking around at everyone. No one came forward, even if someone did have any they probably weren¡¯t in the mood for sharing with a keep and a half.


    Tom had to ponder that for a bit. Of course it made sense, and Apuma had been talking about how further south the border with the bugs was a tricky proposition. Dragonettes tended to hold the higher flying islands further south, and the bugs settled closer to the water substantially further north.


    ¡°Awww man those things taste great,¡± Herron complained, taking another swig of beer which likely didn¡¯t help his energy levels.


    ¡®Oooh the cider of course, that¡¯s why they are all so sluggish right about now,¡¯ Tom thought to himself, feeling a bit dumb as he looked to Saph once more. She did seem a little drab, but not as much as the guards. Maybe she had shared her mug with someone else or something.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had any either¡­ Teskar ate them all,¡± she went with a sniff, shifting her grip on her mug. ¡°I should get some one day. Are they expensive?¡±


    ¡°I mean a little,¡± Saph said with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s preserved fruit. It¡¯s worth a pretty penny, but it¡¯s no worse than so many other things.¡± That did seem to brighten the artificer¡¯s mood a little, a dumb smile spreading on her face.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you buy any if you wanted to try them?¡± Herron questioned. ¡°Did you forget? I forget loads of things.¡±


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t forget¡­ I just didn¡¯t think of it.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you forgot,¡± he repeated, clearly greatly amused.


    ¡°No no I told you. I just didn¡¯t think of it¡­ There are soo many things I have heard of that I want to try.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± the dude questioned, looking to her, seeming only half awake.


    ¡®Oh well might as well let them do some questioning,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, giving up on getting more out of her for now without someone catching on.


    The next 10 or 20 minutes devolved into talks of all sorts of exotic or favorite foods people knew. A few were even brought out. Tom partook as well of course, but Edita was quickly becoming the center of attention as they started to work out just how many things she had never had before. Different kinds of sausages, air dried hams, all sorts of dried fruits and berries. Tom was honestly learning quite a lot as well about the selection of foods to be found around these parts. He definitely approved of the heavily smoked ham Herron had gotten. The smell ooh the smell, it was wonderful.


    And someone had the bright idea to give Edita a candy. That someone being Balethon. Tom made a note to remember to ask him just where he had gotten his hands on that one, but for now he didn¡¯t mind as Edita started talking faster and faster and faster.

 Chapter 191: Personal Posessions

    As the sugar rush slowly consumed the artificer, her chatting turned to rambling and then into full on babbling as she slowly descended into the realms of incomprehensibility. She was talking so fast, and using words which Tom certainly did not understand. Judging by the faces around the table he wasn¡¯t the only one, as there was a lot of headtilting and confused expresions going around.


    Eventually Sapphire decided to re-ground the artificer into reality, asking ¡°Do you think Teskar would have loved to try all sorts of food like this?¡±


    ¡°Probably. The food was never very good compared to all this. But he never complained. He said our food was better than what he was used to. He did teach me one thing though!¡±


    ¡°Oooh?¡± Saph questioned, leaning in closer, the rest of the table following suit, hoping for something funny.


    ¡°I uhm¡­ it- it¡¯s a machine thing,¡± Edita went, sounding embarrassed by the notion.


    ¡°Well some of us like that sorta thing,¡± Tom interjected before Saph got a word in. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Do you know what a torpedo is? Metal long shiny. Goes kaboom!¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Those big flying things that Baron talked about, right?¡± Jacky asked, tilting her head. ¡°You know when¡­¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ sure,¡± Edita agreed, getting right back to her story. ¡°Most are steam powered, buuut Teskar knew about some ancient old ones that used alcohol instead! Just like Tom¡¯s quad bike¡­ I think. I don¡¯t actually know how they used it. He didn¡¯t either. But he knew how to make the fuel!¡±


    ¡°You made torpedo juice¡­ without the torpedo,¡± Tom questioned, slightly dumbfounded. He had definitely not seen that one coming.


    ¡°How did you know what it was called!?¡± the artificer broke out, elated by the surprise.


    ¡°We did it too,¡± Tom admitted, trying to remember how that song and dance went. He definitely remembered something about sub crews straining torpedo fuel for the alcohol in it. Something about a loaf of bread or something.


    ¡°You did!¡± Edita broke out seeming very happily surprised. ¡°Oh that is amazing! It is just the best for cleaning off the greasy fingerprints you make all the time. It just looks so bad on the nice polished metal, brass especially.¡±


    ¡°Uhm no we didn''t use it for cleaning¡­ we drank it.¡°


    ¡°Oh silly you, Tom. You can¡¯t drink alcohol, that¡¯s poison,¡± Edita went taking another swig of her mug while everyone stared at her. ¡°What?¡± she questioned, picking up on something being wrong as she looked around at them all.


    ¡°Edita, what¡¯s that then?¡± Tom questioned, pointing at her mug.


    ¡°Beer¡­¡± she replied innocently, then the realization dawned. ¡°Which is alcohol!¡±


    ¡°Yeaaaah¡­¡± Tom went, nodding very slowly, quite confused how the artificer hadn¡¯t worked that out a very long time ago.


    ¡°But is that the same thing as torpedo alcohol? No no, it can¡¯t be. That stuff is poison.¡±


    ¡°Mostly,¡± Tom went with a shrug. ¡°Who was it that told you that stuff was poison?¡±


    ¡°The head artificers, and lords of machinery¡­ but they don¡¯t lie?¡± Edita questioned, as much to herself as to him he was pretty sure. Though she did seem to be pondering the proposition.


    ¡°I mean technically no.¡±


    ¡°So it is poison! Oh no!¡± she went putting the mug down, looking at it scared for a moment before turning to Tom. ¡°But you drink it? You all drink it?! How?!¡±


    ¡°Whoooa there, slow down. Alcohol does things to people, and too much is bad for you. So it is technically a poison. So they didn¡¯t lie¡­ but it also doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t have a little.¡±


    ¡°Ooohhhh¡­ But I wanted to have a lot. Just like you talked about you used to do so you could become a proper engineer!¡±


    ¡°Well uhm¡­-¡±


    Edita then stood up, leaning over the table and grabbing Tom by the shirt, which was a bit of a reach for her. ¡°Does that mean I can¡¯t get to be an engineer?!¡± She seemed quite distraught, Tom almost fearing she would start crying. Her eyes were actually looking wet. And he could feel Jacky shifting, likely ready to push her off. He put a hand on her thigh calmingly and looked the artificer in the eyes.


    ¡°You can have plenty to become an engineer and still be fine,¡± Tom reassured her, giving her a pat on the shoulder.


    ¡°You promise? On your¡­ your¡­¡±


    ¡°On my honor, you will one day become an engineer too,¡± Tom went, nodding and smiling, hoping that would do the trick.


    ¡®I don¡¯t think she needs any more right now though, and we are short one engineering university.¡¯


    A smile started to spread on her face, almost in slow motion, growing so big it honestly looked wrong. And then she lunged into a hug.


    ¡°Thank you thank you thank you! I promise I will be a great student! What drink shall we have next?¡±


    ¡°Uuuuhm¡­ I¡¯ll whip something up,¡± Tom went, looking to Jacky from his prison. Jacky did not seem very pleased with the situation, and it didn¡¯t seem Edita was letting go either. The artificer was laying half-limp across the table, Herron making a poor effort to conceal looking at the woman¡¯s arse. Saph was making rude gestures at the guy while Balethon chuckled before he joined in with the staring too.


    ¡°Edita¡­ you need to let go first. Maybe you should sit down again.¡± There was no immediate reply as he felt the woman go fully limp around him. ¡°Uhm, Edita?¡± Then came the snore.


    ¡°Oh you¡¯re kidding me,¡± Tom mumbled to himself, starting to ponder how to escape.


    ¡°And there¡¯s the sugar down,¡± Balethon broke out laughing. ¡°Want me to take her up to her room?¡±


    ¡°You will NOT!¡± Saph broke out with no small amount of fury, ¡°And keep your eyes to yourself.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Herron said, looking up at Saph, clearly not having been listening.


    ¡°Oh for the love of the gods. Jacky, give me a hand, will you?¡±


    ¡°With pleasure,¡± Jacky replied, standing up from next to Tom as the two of them set about prying the sleeping Edita off of him. Remarkably she didn¡¯t actually wake up from that operation.


    ¡°She did have a rather long day I think,¡± Tom added, feeling the need to defend Edita a little. It was clear she was in way over her head, and they had sorta been pushing her into the deep end for the past several hours.


    ¡°Well hopefully it¡¯s a long enough sleep that Paulin doesn¡¯t get her precious artificer back drunk,¡± Jacky added, seeming less enthused.


    ¡°Yeaaaah¡­ Oh Jacky when you¡¯re uhm¡­ done, I¡¯ll meet you up stairs. We still have my stuff to go through. Just you and me, you know?¡± Tom went, putting a hand on her side as she hoisted Edita atop her shoulder, leaving Saph with nothing to do save looking mad at Herron and Balethon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you up there then. And don¡¯t eat it all before I get there.¡±


    ¡°I would never¡­ Also, who said it was edible?¡°


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I mean honestly, they know she¡¯s new to all this. Cut a woman some slack, you know what I mean?¡± Sapphire grumbled as she held doors open for Jacky, who was hauling the passed-out artificer. Not that she needed to. Jacky still had a hand free, but dammit she had said she would help and so she would. ¡°And gawking at her like that, you offer someone a cloak or something in that situation, you don¡¯t point and laugh.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like Edita cared much,¡± Jacky countered, sounding rather more disinterested. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem to care much at all about what people think. Except for Tom that is.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, don¡¯t go growing all jealous now. She¡¯s a nerd, not a threat.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯d do anything for him. I¡¯m not having that.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be honest here, I don¡¯t think Tom is the sorta guy to go girl hunting. But he¡¯s too nice to say no. I mean just look at him, he wasn¡¯t comfortable down there? He wasn¡¯t enjoying it. You can be damn sure Balethon would have been grinning like an idiot getting wrapped up like that.¡±


    ¡°Of course he would¡­ But still, it¡¯s damned annoying,¡± Jacky declared, lightly kicking the door open to Edita¡¯s room, Sapphire having fallen behind.


    ¡°Well she needs to learn, and she seems to be struggling a bit with that. Might be something a bit wrong with her, you know?¡±


    ¡°What, you think being raised in secret and kept away from the rest of the world to only work away on what no one is allowed to know about might make you a bit weird in the head? No way,¡± Jacky replied with heavy sarcasm as she laid Edita down upon what passed for her bed. It was little more than a sleeping roll spread out on top of three large crates.


    ¡°You know, looking around in here¡­¡± Sapphire went, glancing about the dark room, looking for a candle or lamp, finding nothing. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like a bedroom, does it?¡±


    ¡°It was a storage room before, still is now it would seem. Just for more expensive stuff.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ stuff,¡± Sapphire went, looking to the sleeping artificer. ¡°That¡¯s what she is¡­ she¡¯s just stuff.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jacky questioned, crossing her arms, only barely visible in the light from the dim halfway sneaking in.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t see herself as a person. She doesn¡¯t even know what being a person means. She¡¯s just a thing. Remember the old saying, ¡®Dragons think everyone thinks like dragons?¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ what about it?¡± Jacky countered, though she sounded like she was catching on, at least slowly.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°She thinks of herself as a thing, and of course she thinks everyone else thinks like that too,¡± Saph concluded, feeling quite certain in her conclusions. ¡°Why would a thing get mad someone touched their guy? Why would a thing balk at not having any personal space? Why would a thing ever care about relationships¡­¡±


    ¡°Riight¡­ I think I¡¯m following.¡±


    ¡°Okay, what I am saying is: You don¡¯t need to worry, she¡¯s not coming for Tom. She doesn¡¯t even understand what she would be going after. Second, who else do we know who thinks of themselves as a thing?¡±


    ¡°Tom?¡± Jacky tried cautiously, clearly just taking a shot in the dark.


    ¡°Oh come on you bird brain, that¡¯s not even a guess.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Joelina.¡±


    ¡°Okay that¡¯s not actually a bad call, but no we don¡¯t care about her. Ray.¡±


    ¡°I mean I guess? But doesn¡¯t she keep all those little things from her past and stuff? Seems quite person like to me. That and she definitely understands what a relationship is. And personal space.¡±


    ¡°I mean yeah¡­ okay maybe Ray knows what a person is, but she doesn¡¯t really think of herself like one does she? Well she is getting better. What I mean to say is, maybe Edita needs to have a chat with Ray a bit. Ray is learning. Edita desperately wants to learn. And you get to have Tom to yourself for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight,¡± Jacky went, slowly nodding. ¡°You do know we are going back down below tomorrow, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of Itova!¡±


    ¡°Maybe if she stays the winter? Also where is your boy toy? Haven¡¯t seen him much?¡±


    ¡°Oh he¡¯s busy, I think. Said he had to do something.¡±


    ¡°This late in the evening while there are drinks and partying?¡± Jacky questioned, not sounding terribly convinced.


    ¡°Yeaaa, now you mention it¡­ he¡¯s definitely up to something.¡±


    ¡°Suprise maybe?¡±


    ¡°Possibly¡­ but what kind?¡±


    ¡°I bet you he¡¯s all cleaned up and ready to accept your gift,¡± Jacky chuckled, Saph feeling less amused.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think of something for him, we¡¯ve just been so busy.¡±


    ¡°I thought of something for Tom, it¡¯s not that hard.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? What did you get him?¡± Saph questioned with a touch of defiance in her tone.


    ¡°A sauce for making things spicier. So he doesn¡¯t have to use his own stuff. Should be like pure fire, ought to go a long way.¡±


    ¡°Shit that¡¯s actually kinda thoughtful¡­¡±


    ¡°Mhmmm,¡± Jacky replied, nodding slowly, arms crossed. ¡°Soo? You gonna get him a little wooden carving holding a sign saying ¡®Sorry I forgot you¡¯ or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh screw you. You know what, I¡¯m gonna take a page out of your book. Trophy.¡±


    ¡°A trophy? Bit late for that, we¡¯re fresh out of arsehole dragons¡­ unless you count Yldril of course.¡±


    ¡°Nooo not a dragon. I¡¯ll get him something small, hard to catch. Maybe a green backed falcon or something.¡±


    ¡°Pffff, good luck.¡±


    ¡°If anyone can catch it, it¡¯s gonna be me¡­ maybe with a shotgun.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s cheating.¡±


    ¡°No it isn¡¯t, it¡¯s acquiring an insurmountable advantage against the local fauna. You know, like building a keep rather than a tree house.¡±


    ¡°Apuma said that line at some point right?¡± Jacky questioned, conceding the point.


    ¡°Probably¡­ honestly can¡¯t remember, the history of hunting told by the least hunter-like person ever never really stuck with me to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Me neither¡­ speaking of hunting, is Tom back yet?¡±


    Saph turned back towards the still open door and shrugged, ¡°No clue, dude moves like a ghost most of the time.¡±


    ¡°All he¡¯s got is a lack of claws, no clack clack clack.¡±


    ¡°Well he can walk without the claws touching without looking like an idiot and dragging his tail on the ground.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Oooh, I have an idea.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had chatted a bit more with the guys at the table after Jacky and Sapphire had carried off Edita. It was mostly them cracking jokes about Edita being the greenhorn at the table. And, of course, the odd improper remark. Tom had left the table chuckling and shaking his head. Hoo boi, she was so smacking a few of them with a wrench when she sobered up.


    ¡®Actually, she probably needs a retelling. I doubt she even cared what they did¡­ is she even going to be mad actually?¡¯ Tom pondered as he climbed the steps. ¡®Shit, I probably need to actually tell her that shit like that is normally smack worthy¡­ else she might just think that¡¯s part of it or something. Jesus, let¡¯s not let her get back to the capital and spread that notion amongst the others. If Joelina doesn¡¯t kill me, some head prick in a shiny robe definitely will.¡¯


    When he arrived at the room he was surprised to learn that Jacky wasn¡¯t there yet. Looking down the hall, he could see the door to Edita¡¯s room ajar, and he could hear them chatting about something or another. He probably didn¡¯t have long until they finished taking care of the artificer. Hopefully they were getting her some water and salt. ¡®Wait no¡­ they don¡¯t get hangovers¡­ fucking cheats,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself as he went inside, shutting the door behind him.


    Just as promised by Vulzan, there indeed was a small-ish crate sitting in the center of the room. The locks were already removed.


    ¡®Right then, how to do this?... treasure chest?... yeaaaaa,¡¯ he concluded to himself, opening the crate and finding it packed with straw and many of the things wrapped in linens or some sort of stout parchment. He set about slowly unwrapping things bit by bit and placing them back down in the crate with the straw as a base for the items out on display.


    There wasn¡¯t much edible stuff, not really anything personally just for him. He had spent a bit of cash more so on messing about. He had wished to acquire a wealth of magically enchanted items and devices, but alas that was outside even his price range for now, unless he had wanted to spend most of what he had been given. As he rummaged through he did find the one thing he had been most excited for, a dark blue lacquered box with gold pinstriping and fine silver hingework. Opening it he found the solution to ¡°What happens when the batteries give out¡± for his already aging night vision system, not to mention trying to replace a tube out here.


    He opened the box to find a pair of what looked almost like old aviator goggles, the kind one might see a first world war fighter pilot wear, only with a rather larger and strangely shaped nose bridge in the middle. He had been quite worried they would not be able to modify the goggles to fit him, but if they were confident they could refit a whole suit of armor, then this should be trivial. If not, Jacky could always use a set he supposed.


    He had not needed to order any dragon spit compounds. They had that situation well sorted already, but Vulzan had procured a rather simple device for him which he hoped might bring insight into how to fix their machinegun issue¡­ Oh who was he kidding, he wanted a cool AF drinks mug. Vulzan had outdone himself on that one. The mug was white as ivory, though he didn¡¯t actually know what it was made from, and it sported polished metal rims at the top and bottom. But the stand out feature was the metal peg in the middle of the mug with a screw-on lid. It rose up about two thirds of the way to the lip of the mug, and supposedly if you put frost powder and water in it, then it would keep whatever you were drinking cool.


    ¡°So simple, yet brilliant,¡± Tom chuckled, turning the mug over in his hands. Maybe he should have fetched it before this evening¡¯s celebrations, but alas, it would likely only have been passed around and touched a dozen lips if he had. He placed it back into the crate, positioning it juuuust so.


    Then he got out the little box with the earrings in it. He opened it up for the world to see and placed it down in the straw. He was very happy indeed with the result. The thin delicate golden strands holding a large many faceted teardrop-shaped emerald of a very dark green color.


    Each gem was about the size of a fingernail, and with the low light it almost looked black, which was perhaps not quite optimal¡­ maybe that was why Vulzan had seemed confused when Tom said he wanted a very nice pair and then asked for dark green.


    ¡°Lovely¡­ actually hang on, didn¡¯t he say something about a surprise? Something special¡­ I ordered all this?¡± Tom pondered to himself before shrugging and going digging once more, moving the mug out of the way a bit.


    As he reached the bottom of the hay, his fingers touched glass. He didn¡¯t remember ordering anything in bottles, so that might be it, and there was more than one. As he fished it out, it proved to be a small flask with a wax sealed top and a small label. ¡®Riiight¡­ potion or condiment? Probably not even safe to test, is it?¡¯ Tom pondered as he inspected the funny looking square sided bottle.


    ¡®If it¡¯s a potion then that¡¯s just taunting, he knows I wouldn¡¯t dare drink the stuff,¡¯ Tom cursed to himself before he remembered that he probably hadn¡¯t actually told Vulzan that his original purchase of potions had never been used. So all the trader knew was that he was quite excited when he first saw the potions way back in spring. ¡®Ahr¡­ well dammit.¡¯


    Tom put it down and went back to fishing, eventually coming up with three distinct, small, odd looking bottles. All three were very finely crafted, and one in particular contained a vivid red coloured liquid in a bottle that seemed to be cut crystalware. ¡®Very fancy¡­¡¯ Tom stuck his hand back into the crate to check if there was anything left hiding in the straw and to his surprise came back up with a small leather belt¡­ or perhaps it was a bandoleer. He could certainly work out what the three form sewn pouches on it were for.


    ¡®Riiight¡­ oh a note.¡¯ Within one of said pouches lay a folded up piece of parchment. Fishing it out and unfolding it, it was definitely for him. ¡®Biiig blocky runes, spaced evenly¡­ thanks Vulzan, but we got block letters for children, far better,¡¯ he chuckled as he set about slowly deciphering what it said.


    He held it up to the light of the lamp to get a better view, squinting against the slightly dull runes on the yellowish parchment.


    ¡°Dear¡­ Tom¡­ -So far so good- I know that receiving adi- additional gold¡­ back¡­ Likely would¡­ serve¡­ little purpose. -Yeah he¡¯s kinda right about that- But the engi- engineering -uhm, thingy yes- insisted on¡­ providing¡­ payment. -Oooh yeah, forgot about that, wonder how that¡¯s all going?- So I¡­ Took¡­ the liberty. Of.. acru-acquiring. -yees. I¡¯m, getting good at this.- Something¡­ for you. I think¡­ You will like. PS, Business¡­ is¡­ booming.¡±


    ¡°Oh and here I thought he was being generous out of his own pocket,¡± Tom chuckled aloud, going to try to read the small labels to little avail. ¡°Three for Jacky to read then¡­ do I say I got them for her or¡­¡±


    ¡°Three what?¡± It came from behind him outside, the voice of Jacky carrying through the door. He spun around in surprise, not used to having people sneak up on him around here.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ things¡±


    ¡°What things? You better not have started without me.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ nooo,¡± Tom replied very unconvincingly, glancing about the room littered with straw. He had yet to tidy up, and the contents of the crate in his hands were like chocolate around the mouth of a lying toddler, damning evidence of the crime committed.


    ¡°I think you might be lying, do I need to come in and check?¡± Jacky questioned in a bemused tone as Tom set about rapidly arranging the things on top of the straw in the crate.


    ¡°One moment please.¡±


    He could hear Jacky huff in amusement from outside the door, but she did wait, at least long enough for Tom to make the various bits, semi-presentable. ¡®I will have to skip the rose petals I guess.¡¯ ¡°Right, come on in.¡± Tom said, stepping to the side so she could see the crate nice and clearly.


    Right on cue the door opened and Jacky stood ready to be amused by whatever he had been up to. ¡°Right so what did you¡­ hot damn, is that¡­ are those? What did you give Vulzan?¡±


    ¡°Uuuhm. Just gold, but apparently those three are from the engineering place.¡±


    ¡°The engineering guild?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that one. Remember the lighter and the pencils?¡±


    ¡°Dencils, but yeah. Don¡¯t forget the wayfinders.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, mustn¡¯t forget those.¡±


    Jacky stepped inside, keeping her eyes affixed upon the crate. ¡°And here I thought we had already gotten all of the treats of the day. Are those¡­? Well I¡¯m guessing enchanted goggles of some kind, but different to Edita¡¯s or the set Joelina got you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Night vision, supposedly.¡±


    ¡°But you already have that?¡± Jacky questioned, clearly confused by the purchase.


    ¡°Yeah I know, buuut, they won¡¯t last forever. Buuuut until mine break, I was thinking maybe, those there were yours. Seeing as you don¡¯t wanna leave me alone if ever there is fighting.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, you got those for me?¡±


    ¡°Yup, for now at least. Those though, they are yours for good,¡± Tom went, pointing at the small box with the earrings.


    ¡°You got me jewelry?¡± Jacky asked, seeming bemused once more and even having a chuckle. That wasn¡¯t quite the reaction Tom had hoped for, but it could have been worse he supposed. She did pick them up and had a look at them, ¡°How sweet, gold¡­ nice,¡± she went, nodding a bit.


    ¡°Same color as your eyes,¡± Tom tried, as she looked them over.


    ¡°Are they? Huh¡­ quite dark. You know with earrings like these maybe I should pitch in on that dress idea the others are talking about. They look like something from the ballroom.¡±


    ¡°I suppose they wouldn¡¯t be out of place there no,¡± Tom agreed, watching as she put them back down again and picked up the potions instead.


    ¡°Now what have we got? Fire breathing, nice that makes two. Potion of strength¡­ I guess we give this one to Sapphire,¡± Jacky concluded as Tom wondered if he should do anything. He elected not to look the gift horse in the mouth and just be happy Vulzan had done a better job of finding something she liked than he had.


    She turned over the last bottle, with the funny red liquid in it and her eyes went just a little wide. ¡°Holy shit man, it¡¯s a healing potion.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡± Tom let out, caught off guard by her exuberance.


    ¡°A healing potion, like the one Quin gave me down in the caves, remember? Oh this is so cool. Fuuuck, Rachuck is sooo gonna wanna steal this.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ shouldn¡¯t Nunuk or Unkai have it to be honest? Kinda their expertise.¡±


    ¡°No way man, I¡¯m soo keeping this. That way I can stuff it down your gullet if you blow yourself up or something.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if potions like that really work on me.¡±


    ¡°The one you had with the tea worked just fine, remember? I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll do just fine.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ I forgot about that,¡± Tom admitted, thinking back and starting to reconsider if maybe that potion of water breathing could work for him anyway somehow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get any funny ideas about the fire breathing though, I¡¯m keeping those two and the healing one¡­¡± Jacky stated confidently before she seemingly had a realization. ¡°Uhm¡­ pretty please?¡±


    ¡°Oh right uhm¡­ suure, just ask about the.. You know what, never mind. Keep those three, I¡¯ll take the water breathing one. You never know when that might come in handy.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Jacky broke out, doing a little hop and a fist pump. ¡°Just don¡¯t go planning on any midnight swims, okay? Especially not with Dakota.¡±


    ¡°Of course not¡­ I¡¯ll bring you instead.¡±


    ¡°Oooooh no you don¡¯t.¡±

 Chapter 192: Winter is Coming

    The morning following the festivities had been a slow one. Edita had overslept for the first time ever, and everyone had sorta just let her snooze or were themselves paying for the drinks and sugar high of the day before. Tom wasn¡¯t in a hurry either. Down below all he would get was more hard labor, though he was feeling just fine, so maybe the cider and the strange cactus liquor were safe to drink.


    Colonel Hashaw was being rather understanding with them all, but they did have places to be and people to appease. The colonel was carrying the matching earring to Nunuk¡¯s to facilitate communications between the Lady and Paulin down below. They did need to know how long they were planning on having their guests stay down below since winter was approaching. Theoretically they could probably winter in the caves if given enough supplies to make it through, but they would be completely without support. Bizmati would be unable to assist them and their supplies were still only meant for those at the keep as it was.


    Either way, they weren¡¯t staying, so their retreat to gods knows where would have to be worked out. Tom was pretty sure they would end up going to some inquisitorial stronghold to either go through their findings or receive further training on what they were all dealing with here. Who knew, maybe one or two would even be allowed to go home, though he did quite doubt that. In the end, it wasn¡¯t his problem.


    What was at least potentially his problem was that he very much doubted Paulin would be enthused by the evening¡¯s festivities. As such it had been agreed in flight that no one was to speak of the partying. It was only Edita, Tom, Jacky and Linkosta that were going from the keep, so that should be fine, and Baron¡¯s crew was easily enough convinced under threat of no beer next time if they blabbed.


    Down in the caves Glira and Major Jortun had been awaiting them. With no less than four dragons at the keep now, counting the two traders, they could afford to place one of the two heavyweight warrior dragons on hunting detail at least some of the time to provide some fresh food directly from above. Glira had volunteered, preferring that duty to acting as a glorified watchdog.


    In by the vaults, not much had changed. Paulin seemed utterly disinterested in what they had been up to in the evening. She was far more intrigued by what news had been brought for her from Joelina. The archivist had retreated to her private corner of the atrium where her sleeping equipment and a small tent had been erected for her.


    Tom had definitely been expecting to get summoned to said corner once she finished with her letters, but much to his surprise, no such misfortune befell him. Instead, he got to watch Edita and the other artificer work pretty much all day, asking all the questions he wanted for a change.


    During the brief pauses in questioning a sort of professional silence had settled in as they worked. Edita had been a little hesitant of what to say as she didn¡¯t want to talk about the day before as per their agreement, and Tom wasn''t really any better off.


    She had made some polite attempts at small talk though. Which is to say she had listed off questions as from a list: what had Tom gotten for Jacky and he for her, what the weather was like, and how his family was doing.


    Tom elected not to answer that last one, and eventually Edita seemed to work out the slight flaw in that question.


    ¡°I oh¡­ sorry, you don¡¯t know do you?¡±


    ¡°No, not really. I know dad is dead and my mum pretty much is, but hey, now they seem to live in my skull, so that¡¯s nice,¡± Tom grumbled in reply.


    ¡°They what now?¡±


    ¡°It is a long story, just chalk it up to humans being weird.¡±


    Edita nodded, clearly wanting to ask more but having no clue how. Thus she just got back to work on salvaging componentry in silence.


    The work was progressing swiftly now that the people with the relevant expertise could be left to it, with the remaining rabble of academics, and of course Tom, being trusted with a few menial tasks to speed things up. Though Tom whipping out the power-drill, for taking care of the soft metal rivets that held much of the structure, certainly sped things up, even if Raulf was likely going to be in quite the mood once he discovered the thing was missing.


    They were on a timer after all, and they needed to beat the worsening weather. So they all stayed in the cave for the next three days straight. One night Tom and Jacky did get the privilege of sleeping at Baron¡¯s side, having made a delivery of crates to the dragon and elected that walking all the way back today was just a waste of time. It wasn¡¯t that cold inside the island, but it certainly wasn¡¯t warm either. Jacky had been getting plenty of use out of her breathing hot water bottle, but Tom could definitely use a hot water bottle too some evenings. Luckily Baron was essentially just that. The massive creature downright radiated heat, even if he himself was grumbling about how cold the stone was.


    When the disassembly work had finally been completed, what remained had to be dragged to where the dragons could get at it, which had proven a herculean task for a bunch of paper pushers. Jacky had done the work of three or four at least, which she of course didn¡¯t rub into anyone¡¯s faces whatsoever.


    Once out, Baron and Glira had dragged it all to the mouth of the tunnel network, the blue dragon not having bothered with a hunting trip this last day. She had also been complaining of the deteriorating weather quite a lot, though it soon came to an end once Jortun asked if he needed to book lessons for her in spring.


    Once hauled out of the depths, the worthless scrap that didn¡¯t need to be burned or recycled was unceremoniously thrown into the sea below. Tom had crawled out to the edge on his stomach, looking down to watch it fall, drawing a fair bit of attention from the various watching dragonettes who clearly didn¡¯t quite understand his fear. The sensation of looking straight down for miles from a ledge was a bit more than he was good for, and it wasn¡¯t like he minded them staring.


    ¡°You know I would just catch you, right?¡± Jacky questioned from next to him, watching with bemusement.


    ¡°I know, I know. We¡¯re kinda hardwired to be scared of ledges. We don¡¯t do well in freefall,¡± Tom replied. He was quite sure that if he was actually standing she would have pushed him off for the funnies.


    ¡°Oh is that so?¡± she questioned, poking at him a bit with a foot which caused a whole swarm of butterflies in Tom¡¯s stomach as he took a sharp breath. Jacky just laughed. ¡°You aren¡¯t kidding are you? Hah! Does your head not know that a fall from the top of the keep or here is about as deadly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it quite got the memo no¡­ and gone,¡± he concluded as the debris vanished into a lower flying cloud. ¡°Damn¡­ that¡¯s far.¡±


    ¡°Just remember only the unlucky and the unworthy know how far it is to hell.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is a way to put it. If we find the bitch¡¯s ghost maybe we can ask.¡±


    ¡°Hah, sure,¡± Jacky dismissed, looking back to Baron. ¡°Right, get up lazy ass, loading time.¡±


    The dragon did not seem to appreciate that comment, simply staring at the woman who did shrink a little under his gaze.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ We¡¯re ready now.¡±


    ¡°Why is she apologizing? She is right?¡± Glira questioned merrily, making a show out of giving the crews room to work. Something Tom was absolutely certain she would not bother with save for the sake of the joke.


    ¡°Oh I see you have taken some of your mate¡¯s lessons to heart, Glira,¡± Baron retorted, watching her with interest. ¡°I do say it was high time you picked up the mantle of logistics, it suits you.¡±


    At that Glira¡¯s grin rather swiftly faded, the female dragon seemingly short on comebacks to that.


    The ground crews had let the two dragons go about their business as they loaded them both up with everything ranging from heretical artifacts to be disposed of to simple scrap metal.


    Tom and Jacky helped out on Baron¡¯s side, namely because he could fit less stuff on account of his rather extensive armoring. Tom was fairly sure this was about as heavily armored as a dragon could be, though the capital might prove him wrong, you never knew.


    Despite the extensive platework, he did still possess some belly netting, and the armor had both handles and metal eyes built into it, clearly meant for securing cargo, even if there were far fewer than on Archeon¡¯s or even Glira¡¯s harnesses.


    With the dragons all loaded up and the cargos secured, they had boarded. Tom did honestly find it rather cramped aboard as most of the academics seemed to find the back of the red dragon more comfortable, he was warmer after all. The crew all more or less retreated to the netting below or hung themselves from his sides in some other fashion, the dragon making some rather annoyed grumbling sounds as he looked to the far less crowded Glira.


    ¡°Can you not fly by your own wings?¡± he finally questioned, seemingly having had enough.


    ¡°It is cold, we would freeze!¡±


    ¡°Have you seen how far down it is?¡±


    ¡°I am already exhausted, the boxes are so heavy!¡±


    ¡°We have been working for nearly 2 weeks, it is only fair.¡±


    The cacophony of replies came, Tom able to literally feel the dragon roll his eyes at the collection of paper pushers.


    ¡°It is an easy start old fellow, simply drop into it and we shall be on our way,¡± Victoria encouraged, the old dragon looking to the edge.


    ¡°I am aware, I am getting too old for this,¡± he declared, rising to his feet and starting to slowly make his way to said edge, peering down into the nothingness. Tom held on tight, glancing back at Jacky behind him.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you going by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Gotta be ready to catch you, dumb dumb,¡± she replied with a chuckle. ¡°Besides did you know that-¡±


    Tom felt himself going weightless and he clutched the metal handle like a damn child as the dragon rather unelegantly dropped off the edge, letting his weight and cargo drive him downwards, speed rapidly building before slowly pulling up.


    Jacky was laughing her ass off at Tom¡¯s expression as hegrumbled a few half-hearted curses back at her.


    ¡°Oh so worth it. Right I¡¯ll get off now, you got it Baron, besides, no fat ones here,¡± she called out towards the dragon, making good on her word and letting spread wings carry her from the dragon¡¯s back.


    ¡°Not with the food we are getting!¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    With Tom and co. down in the mines once more they had gotten back to work in the keep. First order of business had been the two trader dragons they had sitting out in front of the keep. Nunuk had seemingly come to an agreement with them for the time being, meaning they had over twice the muscle power available now to help with construction.


    Things had been swift as logs were brought, sawed, hoisted, and held in place all with the strength of their larger brethren. Saph had been a bit doubtful if they would actually manage in time, but with the likes of Arch hoisting beams up to roof top level like it was nothing they made frightening progress.


    It would only be a matter of days until it was time for the final furnishings, and then they could start moving the stuff that had been haphazardly stored in the keep down into the warehouse. And with the second bunker now long since completed, they even had space to separate finished dangerous goods from raw ingredients.


    It was backbreaking work to keep up with the dragons, but that was hardly an alien concept to them, and so on the third day the final shingles were laid and the dirt floor given a final smoothing. Just in time too. It was getting colder now, rapidly. Soon enough bad weather would see them all confined to the inside of the keep, save for short jaunts to the outside. Even on good days it was getting very chilly for Sapphire''s tastes. One needed to keep moving and keep working even with warm clothes. Worse still the first night frosts were starting to set in.


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    But with the main structure done that did mean the warehouse could technically be furnished and filled, even if the weather did turn. They just had to keep the warehouse sorta warm too and it could be treated as a quick run through the cold. The last hunts of the year however needed to happen soon, if the weather would let them. Dragons may be able to keep hunting for a while longer, but for the huntresses time was almost up.


    They did not strictly need the provisions, but one last supply of fresh meat would be a nice addition. The last late crops needed to be harvested and taken in as well before they were lost to the frost. There were cabbages, various herbs, and other cold resistant plants. Tom had given Raulf some plants to plant late in summer, though Saph didn¡¯t actually know what it had all been. She did remember the funny looking green bulbous plant that was apparently called broccoli. Tom had claimed they could handle a bit of cold, or more rightly relayed that the book he had told him they could. Once harvested they just needed to be stored cold as did so many other things coming out of the fields.


    That was of little concern, since there were plenty of cool places in the bottom of the keep. And with the storage rooms being emptied out into the warehouse, there was plenty of room. Wiperna had made some remarks about how she hoped the kids might like these new vegetables better. It was hard enough to get them to eat their vegetables, but in winter when the selection became even worse it often proved extremely tricky. Essy added that maybe they could use Tom as an example to the kids. He always ate his veggies, far more so than he should in several cases actually. The human did claim that was how he normally ate, so who were they to judge?


    Baron and Glira had returned that very evening carrying their resident human as well as Jacky and seemingly just as many boxes and packages as Arch and Galaxer had flown in with. They were immediately moved to the warehouse and had ¡°Do not touch¡± written on them in bold, large, thickset runes. What proved substantially more of a headache were the academics which had been brought along. It was apparently far, far too cold for them to stay outside now, which to be honest Sapphire could understand. Even with whatever heating devices one might scrounge up, tents were hardly known for being warm in winter.


    As such they had all been packed into the keep. The kitchen tried its best to feed them all something which would both be cheap and result in a minimum amount of complaining. Which did actually go better than Sapphire had expected. That was probably down to the standard of food they had all been receiving down in the caves. She too had gotten a taste of it, and even a simple stew made in a proper kitchen was certainly a welcome change from something like that.


    Even so, things could not stay like this. They were packed to the rafters with people. The plan was clear enough, the following morning Arch, Galaxer, and Glira would all depart. They were not being told where to, but Sapphire guessed it would not be a city. They were taking the academics and all the apparently heretical or important artifacts with them, leaving what materials the keep might be able to make use of to lighten the load.


    That would leave the keep with Yldril, Jarix, and Baron, of which Jarix and Yldril would of course be staying the winter. Baron was to take to the skies tomorrow morning and fly a round of the island, both as a precautionary patrol and to inform Grevi and Tiguan that the time was coming to return home.


    The two younger dragons would be given a day or two to make it to Bizmati Keep from which they would fly as a three for the capital, carrying home the Hylsdal work crew as well.


    It sounded simple enough to Sapphire, though she couldn¡¯t help but feel a touch bad for Deriva. They were being left in the open right on the lead up to winter. And to be honest, she didn¡¯t understand why they weren¡¯t any more concerned with anyone having a look in the caves before winter, if anyone was desperate enough to risk the weather it should be quite doable for them.


    Tom and Jacky had cleared that up at least somewhat. The caverns below had been trapped, and literally everything had been cleared out of the first three vaults by now. Meaning anyone having a go at it would need to brave the traps and crack open the last vault. Even so, Jarix was supposed to go check just before the dragon was put to sleep for the winter, weather allowing of course.


    Sapphire had elected to just let smarter people worry about such matters, besides the arrival of the dragons also meant they had all their huntresses in one place once more. An ideal time for the final hunt, though there was one point of contention they had to deal with first, which was brought up that very evening.


    ¡°So we need to bring Tom, right?¡± Saph asked, looking down the table as people ate.


    ¡°I mean¡­ I think we should, yeah. Isn''t it a tradition every huntress goes?¡± Jacky replied as she chowed down on the meaty rye thickened stew. Saph had spied some pieces of smoked meat in Jacky''s portion, which did have her wondering if it was worth trying that with her own bowl.


    ¡°Hah, Tom the huntress, that never gets old,¡±  Pho chuckled.


    ¡°He''s more huntress than you,¡± Jacky added with a smirk.


    ¡°Well I suppose that does settle if he is a hunter or huntress then,¡± Pho concluded with a huff, leaning back a bit. ¡°Figures he would be the woman of the relationship.¡±


    ¡°Listen up finchwing, the moment you are half the woman of Fengi, I''ll let you make that joke,¡± Jacky retorted, Fengi throwing a quick glance at the larger huntress before electing to keep quiet.


    ¡°Finchwing, pah. I''ll beat you one day you overgrown goose,¡± Pho fired back in her usual brash fashion.


    Jacky just shook her head at being compared to one of the fastest birds in the sky, looking to Saph with a look of ¡®get a load of this kid¡¯ and carrying on with the conversation. ¡°What about Jarix? He''s been helping out a lot, is he a huntress too now?¡±


    ¡°Oh don''t let him hear that. Actually no, don''t let Yldril hear that,¡± she corrected with a snicker. ¡°She''s hard enough on him as is when they are working all day.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that the truth,¡± Fengi agreed, nodding to herself a little.


    ¡°I think he¡¯d best stay. You are supposed to bring back your offering by yourself. Having Jarix carry it for you is rather cheating,¡± Essy added kindly. ¡°He has done enough, let him rest a little.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention it gets freezing cold up there when you aren''t doing anything. We don''t all have a Tom to hug on the way back and forth,¡± Saph said, looking to Jacky, who just smilled.


    ¡°And going hunting in warm traveling clothes does seem a touch¡­ odd.¡±


    ¡°You mean heretical,¡± Saph corrected, ¡°It''s the last hunt after all. Gotta look good for the gods and all that.¡±


    ¡°Oh look at you spouting about religion all of a sudden, didn''t you give like a stupid little sparrow last year?¡±


    ¡°A green-tipped brown tit I will have you know. And it was bloody hard to catch.¡±


    ¡°What about me? Do I need to go? I''m kinda busy right now,¡± Fengi added, evidently unsure how she fit into the ritual this year.


    ¡°But Fengi, it''s only the fourth time you get to come, isn''t it?¡± Esmeralda said in a concerned tone.


    ¡°Fourth time?¡± Bo questioned, tilting her head. ¡°I thought you had been here for much longer than that? Didn¡¯t you get copper when you were just 17?¡±


    ¡°I got it at 16,¡± Jacky added with a confident smirk. One of the perks of growing up at a keep rather than joining, you tended to get a bit of a headstart on everything.


    ¡°No, I was coppered at 19,¡± Fengi corrected. ¡°The queen of the hunt decides who gets to come, and no offense, but don¡¯t expect to be allowed this year,¡± Fengi replied, looking down to the two greenhorns. ¡°You aren¡¯t ready.¡±


    Bo nodded in reply, getting back to her food. Saph was not quite sure if she seemed disappointed or uncaring.


    ¡°Isn''t it just another hunt? And in the cold too? Yeah, thanks. I¡¯ll stay in here,¡± Pho retorted, seeming more amused than disappointed.


    ¡°It is a bit more than that young woman. It is the last hunt of the year. The last chance to prove yourself. Do well and you may even earn yourself a promotion, not to mention win Naulk''s favor. If it goes well that is,¡± Essy explained kindly. It made sense the city dweller didn''t know after all.


    ¡°Ooooh.¡± Now Pho seemed to get why this hunt mattered, though Saph was sure it was more about the money than the gods for her.


    ¡°Do you perform the sacrifices to Naulk as well? I know not every keep bothers,¡± Bo added, seeming more familiar with it all.


    ¡°We do, yes. Each huntress must find something to give back for the year¡¯s bounty, and someone from the Bizmati family must give something back to the forest. These days Dakota usually handles that task.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, I see. A gift to the forest.¡±


    ¡°More like a gift to the unicorn of the forest,¡± Jacky chuckled. ¡°Don''t we just get her some beans or cabbage or something?¡±


    ¡°Normally yes,¡± Essy clarified with a motherly nod. ¡°But we do have some interesting new things of Tom''s, and Kalestine has had a very hard year, and she has been quite helpful indeed.¡±


    ¡°What, like the droccoli?¡± Pho chuckled. ¡°Looks like the strange cross between green leaf cabbage and uhm¡­ uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes perhaps that,¡± Essy said, coming to the rescue of the young huntress who thus far was not doing well on botanical knowledge.


    ¡®Perhaps we should have a competition between her and Tom on who would eat the poison berry first,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself as she shook her head a bit.


    ¡°What about those strange orange sticks? I had to dig up hundreds of them,¡± Bo added with a bit of a grumble. ¡°Though they don''t taste that bad. Got a nice snap.¡±


    ¡°What, the carrots?¡± Jacky questioned with a head-tilt. ¡°I''m still disappointed in those, Tom said they were sweet. They definitely aren''t by the way.¡±


    ¡°THAT''S A CARROT!¡± Fengi broke out loudly, standing up at the table, getting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Why didn''t you tell me?!¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ what?¡± was all Jacky could come up with, and Saph, for once, understood the confusion.


    ¡°What''s so important about carrots?¡± she asked. She felt like that word had been mentioned before, but she couldn¡¯t place her finger on when.


    ¡°I have wanted to have a carrot ever since that thing with Yldril happened. I just had to have one. But we don''t have any. Or so I thought!¡± she broke out, looking to Esmeralda.


    ¡°I told you I had never heard of a carrot. You should ask Raulf about it.¡±


    ¡°I did! He didn''t know either.¡±


    ¡°I suppose he must have forgotten,¡± Essy explained away apologetically on the farmer''s behalf.


    Fengi seemed to calm down just enough to realize that, more or less, the whole hall was looking at her. She quickly sat down again, looking uncomfortable. ¡°Right¡­ sorry¡­ I probably should have asked Tom. I just didn''t think he would know about what a unicorn might want.¡±


    ¡°It''s quite alright Fengi, you think Kalestine might want carrots then?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, get her some of those. I don''t know why, but she craved those things like you crave your next breath.¡±


    ¡°Well that''s that settled then, get her a basket of carrots,¡± Jacky chuckled, going back to her stew. ¡°Better than having us eat them.¡±


    ¡®Why does a unicorn know about something Tom brought?... We don¡¯t have any carrots here? Raulf would definitely know if those existed,¡¯ Saph pondered to herself before realizing something else. ¡°Speaking of Raulf. What¡¯s the weather gonna be like for the next few days?¡±


    ¡°You know it isn¡¯t actually half-bad right now outside. A bit windy, but that¡¯s not really new.¡±


    ¡°I swear it is always windy out here,¡± Bo added with a sigh. ¡°So annoying to fly in.¡±


    ¡°I suppose we better ask him¡­ I will go talk with Dakota too. I am sure she has worked out it must soon be time as well,¡± Essy then said with a nod, getting up. ¡°Perhaps we best hurry.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You could have told me a little bit ahead of time,¡± Tom grumbled as he got his pants back on. They did kind of need a wash, if he was being honest. He had been sweating quite a lot down in the mines, but he didn''t really want to pile up more laundry to get done if he could help it. Poor Ray was doing most of it with cold water, and he was already producing more stuff that needed washing than half the keep combined.


    ¡°Sure, I could. If I had known. We only worked out they wanted it to be today at dinner yesterday,¡± Jacky protested as she was getting her equipment ready. ¡°Apparently Raulf thinks the weather is about to get a lot worse, and it might be too cold when it passes.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, ¡®cause his magic proved about as reliable as one of our weather girls last time,¡± Tom sighed as he slung the bandolier over his shoulder. It had actually been a while since last he wore it. A few rounds were still missing he''d needed it.


    During winter he would have to get some more brass reloaded. He did still have a few of the ones made at the keep in there, and they would be fine for hunting. The factory loaded stuff he would save for when he truly needed them. He would just have to clean everything afterward since he was quite certain that his boom powder was corrosive as all hell.


    ¡°Oh come on, he¡¯s not that bad,¡± Jacky protested as the revolver holster was strapped on. ¡°Imagine not having someone like that at all?¡±


    ¡°I think I can. Seems like it would be about the same. You bringing that thing today?¡± Tom questioned with a huff. ¡°You know the ammo for that thing doesn¡¯t come cheap.¡±


    ¡°Well, you know, just in case. I haven''t worked out what I want to try to get yet.¡±


    ¡°I hope it''s something small ''cause I''m not walking back home,¡± Tom replied as he got up, going to grab his boots from outside the door.


    ¡°Sure you are. You have to hunt by yourself today.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­ in the forest, right?¡± he questioned as he peeked outside the door to grab them.


    ¡°Oh no it''s three, two, one, go. Right from the platform,¡± Jacky replied with an evil sounding snicker as Tom looked back inside the room, boots in hand.


    ¡°... You''re shitting me, right? Why the fuck would you do that? In winter?¡±


    ¡°It''s not winter yet, but to show you got what it takes. If you''ve gotten too old, you''ll die. If you¡¯re too stupid, you''ll die. Can¡¯t find your way around, you¡¯ll die.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t seem quite in line with the Bizmati spirit to be honest¡­ And I definitely can¡¯t find my way around.¡±


    ¡°It''s how it''s always been done. It''s our day to give something to the gods. Only a bit of what we get of course, unless it is something very small. A token of thanks and all that. Maybe a trophy, the best cut of meat, the hide, something like that. The rest we have for the feast or for winter.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight¡­ I see a slight problem with this plan on my front. Well a few problems to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Better get the quad bike.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be driving all damn day! I will get lost, and for what? Besides what if something nasty has a go at me or something? It doesn''t sound like something Nunuk or Dakota would approve of. Not to toot my own horn, but I am kinda important.¡±


    ¡°Sure you are, that''s why she asked Jarix to babysit you. Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s not actually allowed to help you, but maybe Zarko will show you the way home when she gets bored.¡±


    ¡°... I honestly cannot tell if you are joking.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s get going then,¡± Jacky concluded, getting up and going to grab her bow from the wall before stopping, looking at it hesitantly. ¡°Hmm¡­ new bow¡­ or shotgun?... Decisions, decisions.¡±


    ¡°You know if you just bring slugs and buckshot the shotgun will take care of whatever¡­ and if you remember the very very nice goggles I told you you could borrow, maybe you could let me know where the deer are at?¡±


    Jacky turned around to look at him, pondering for a moment. ¡°It¡¯ll be waaaay too cold for me when it gets dark¡­ but I think shotgun, yes,¡± she concluded, leaving the bow alone as she went to leave the room, walking past, stopping for but a moment as if going to speak. ¡°Aah¡­ actually I have no idea. Good luck,¡± she went, giving him a pat on the shoulder and walking on out the door.


    ¡°Oh for the love of¡­ dammit.¡±


    ¡°No no Naulk, like in Nauliker. You¡¯ll get it one day,¡± Jacky jested from down the hall, claws clacking away.


    ¡®I swear I should have made sure she couldn¡¯t walk today¡­ wait is that why she didn¡¯t tell me?! Oh mother- no no not that¡­ god dammit.¡¯

 Chapter 193: Break and Snap

    Saph had to admit this was the least prepared she had ever been for a final hunt. Normally she would have scouted out herds, deer paths, or colonies well in advance, had a plan worked out of what to try for, ranked them all by order of likeliness, and overlapped search areas. But today, all she had was the fact that no one had a chance to recon since Galaxer arrived. And he was already gone again. At least they had gotten some work out of him first.


    The dragons had left first thing in the morning to make the small town of Ylditz while the huntresses had all gotten ready. The coldest bit of morning had been allowed to pass just so they wouldn¡¯t freeze to death just trying to make it to the forest. But a big part of the challenge today would definitely be fighting the cold. One had to keep going as much as possible. As Saph glanced about at the others she tried to guess what they might go for today.


    Jacky would go for something so big she was the only one here who could haul it home by herself. She always did. Dakota would probably take a nice plump goose or a few ducks, Essy was gonna go foraging like always, and Fengi was a wild card.


    Last year she hadn¡¯t managed to get anything at all. But two years ago she had scored an odahir, or at least the head of one to bring home. It wasn¡¯t that they were very hard to find, or kill, but it was one hell of a flight to the mountains and back in just one day.


    Saph herself tended to go for something very hard to catch. Last year she had wanted a collection of tits and finches, but had only managed the one. This year though she had a new idea. She was bringing her nice new bow, and the arrows flew so much faster, especially with the lightwood shafts normally used for little critters. She was going trophy hunting. There weren¡¯t any dragons to be slain in the forest, but if she could get a joke in at the same time as she got Maiko something interesting it would have been a good day.


    So she was gonna be looking for jackalopes.


    She snapped back to reality as Nunuk started reciting a prayer to Naulk, the huntresses coming to attention. They were all standing in line arrayed by rank and ready to take off. It all looked very normal, save for the human who was standing to Fengi¡¯s left, making him the lowest ranked ¡®huntress¡¯ present.


    Saph did look down the line briefly and chuckle to herself. It would be quite hard to explain this to someone just passing by, she thought. She did wonder what the human was planning. Jacky had only told him this morning, which was rather cruel, so he hadn¡¯t had much time to plan out what to do. But she did know he had prepared the quad bike, without trailer, so he likely wasn¡¯t going hunting for Tirox.


    ¡°-and grant our huntresses a safe, fruitful hunt, in your name. Through their bounty do we grace this land¡­¡± Nunuk finished, looking to Dakota. ¡°And from our home we gift the fruits of our fields, may you see them given to the spirit of the land.¡± Nunuk held out the small cloth sack, which Dakota took and held at her side. ¡°May Lotek see you safely return with Naulk¡¯s bounty.¡±


    As one the dragonettes turned to face the edge of the horizon, in line behind Dakota. Tom took a moment to get the memo, turning as well.


    ¡°I want to see you all back here before sundown,¡± Dakota called out. ¡°No heroics, you are all needed¡­ and cheaters never prosper.¡±


    With that she set off running over the platform, followed by Essy, then Sapphire, Jacky, and Fengi, leaving a slightly confused Tom standing behind scratching the back of his neck.


    Saph just snickered to herself as she let a slight dive bring her up to speed. ¡®Poor guy, probably should have explained all this first, hehehe,¡¯ then she spied Fengi diving for one of the sheds down below.


    ¡®Where is she going? Did she forget something?¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom stood there watching the huntresses speed towards the horizon rather awkwardly before turning to look at Nunuk.


    ¡°Right so. One question.¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom, what is it?¡± the Lady replied, not unkindly. He figured she probably took pity on him right now. He intended to make sure that pity was misplaced.


    ¡°That whole, back before nightfall thing¡­ could we scrap that for me?¡±


    Nunuk tilted her head slightly, looking at him. ¡°It would be rather hard for Jarix to assist you once darkness falls.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know, but¡­ I¡¯m on the ground, it might take a while. Not like I can scout from down there.¡±


    Nunuk turned to look at the blue dragon, who was sitting ready up against the wall of the greeting hall to give them all space to have the little setting off ceremony.


    ¡°I can fly at night just fine¡­ do you have a lantern or something, Tom? A light I can follow?¡±


    ¡°There are lights on the quad, yeah. I have a flashlight too,¡± Tom confirmed. He didn''t need to mention that he likely wouldn¡¯t be using said light once the hunting actually started.


    ¡°I see¡­ Very well, Jarix, can your crew stand the cold?¡±


    ¡°We have winter gear, Lady Bizmati,¡± Zarko answered for the dragon. She and Radexi were indeed done up in rather stout looking fur lined clothes. It should be no concern.


    ¡°Very well, in that case. Apuma, please bring me the box.¡± Tom and Zarko looked to the elderly gentleman, who stepped forward with a pretty looking box that Tom swore he had seen before.


    ¡°A set of what?¡± Tom questioned as Apuma opened the box to reveal a pair of familiar earrings.


    ¡°You may borrow them for the day. Seeing as the huntresses have sought to place you at a disadvantage this day,¡± Nunuk said with an assuring nod.


    ¡°Ooohhh, right, cause no one down below anymore.¡±


    ¡°Indeed Tom. See that you return them, that goes for you as well Zarko. This way you may stay in touch, without interfering.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Zarko said, stepping forwards and bowing slightly as she took one of the earrings, Tom doing likewise.


    ¡°Their draw should be greatly lessened by the short distance between you, but I would still advise against idle chit chat.¡±


    ¡°No worries there, radio silence for me unless it¡¯s proper bad.¡±


    ¡°If I cannot see you from above I shall ask for periodic updates,¡± Zarko interjected, rather dashing his dreams of not actually having to use the things. It was quite an unpleasant experience¡­ Or perhaps he had just been trained to think that because of what normally happened afterward.


    ¡°Riiight, great¡­ anywho, snap and break as they say back home.¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡± Nunuk questioned, brow furrowing.


    ¡°Oh uhm it¡¯s a fishing expression, something something, catch a fish so big, your rod snaps and your line breaks¡­ we use it for hunting too now.¡±


    ¡°I would rather you didn¡¯t¡­ when things snap on a hunt it is rarely good.¡±


    ¡°Yeaaaah bows¡­ wings¡­ I can see that. I¡¯m gonna go do a hunt. See ya,¡± Tom said, marching off to get out of the rather awkward situation, all the arrayed keep-dwellers watching him head for the stairs. ¡®Such a stupid expression anyway.¡¯


    It was quite a long way down the stairs, and it sounded like he couldn¡¯t ask for help from anyone. The more he thought about that the less that started to seem like a bad thing though. This was clearly a test of one¡¯s skills, endurance, and maybe a bit of luck. He had been hunting before he¡¯d been doing loads of things around the keep. But he was always getting carried to and fro, getting helped.


    There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with that, but it would be kinda nice to prove he was quite capable of handling himself, even as a hunter. Or huntress as they kept reminding him. He¡¯d been hunting loads before, yet here he was treated like a total newb most of the time, who just so happened to own the only good rifle around.


    He would show them he was a darn bit more than that. He knew full well the huntresses couldn¡¯t carry home a red deer. They couldn¡¯t even get someone like him into the sky without help or maybe a ledge or something. So that was his plan. One with a nice trophy on it too if he could manage it.


    ¡®But then it¡¯s just the quad helping me instead?¡¯ he questioned to himself as the stairs just carried on. ¡®No, cause then the rifle and their bows are cheating too¡­ and I¡¯m not walking, so it¡¯s not cheating,¡¯ he finally decided as he started pondering if he should hitch up the trailer anyway. ¡®Might try for more than one after all¡­ yeaaah let¡¯s bring the trailer anyway.¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Saph had looked over her shoulder towards the keep to see if she could spy Tom setting off, alas all she managed to gleam was Jarix taking flight sometime after them, going to lazily circle the keep a few times before setting course for the forest.


    The five huntresses were all heading straight for the nearest treeline, so it would seem no one was going to attempt to hunt the open plains. Saph didn¡¯t blame them, not much save deer to be found there big and small. Coming home with a single dotted buck, while a decently easy solution to the day''s challenge, didn¡¯t show much skill aside from being able to hit a deer from the air as they fled.


    That was a basic skill for any huntress. She was pretty sure Fengi had done that for her first outing actually. Perhaps fitting for Bo and Pho¡¯s first times as well, whenever that might come. Saph thought Bo was in with a decent chance of being allowed next year, but Pho had a while to go yet. It was as much a matter of if one could be trusted to make it back in one piece as it was if one was good at hunting. They hunted in groups normally for a reason, since there was most definitely risk involved.


    But one needed to take some pride in their profession, to prove oneself every once in a while. And who didn¡¯t like a little friendly competition. She was just glad Kulinger wasn¡¯t a huntress or the number of rituals today would have skyrocketed. It might just be her, but bathing in deer¡¯s blood while chanting around a fire didn¡¯t really suit her sensibilities all that much.


    For her first time Saph had dug up some medicinal roots Apuma had been going on about for months. She had actually stumbled on them a few weeks beforehand and marked the spot. Jacky had been so confused by that one. But the joke was on Jacky cause it had earned her copper. It was probably because foraging was one of the last things Saph had mastered, and she still wasn''t that brilliant at it.


    ¡®Maybe Tom will bring back a whole tree instead, that would be quite funny.¡¯ Have Kulinger do some ritual burning of sap or something. Saph didn¡¯t actually know much about what Kulinger did in his spare time, only that he tended to burn things every now and again. Particularly old bows; she¡¯d rather wanted to keep the one she broke years back, but alas, the pyre it was.


    ¡®Gonna be funny when he tries to burn one of the new ones and there is a pair of metal bow limbs leftover afterwards.¡¯ She chuckled a bit to herself as she flew along, thinking back to when she had been looking for a keep to fly for. There had been some weird ones looking for recruits. Luckily for most of those, when they figured out that she wasn¡¯t a lunatic they had moved on.


    ¡®At least I didn¡¯t go for the church¡­ I would have been a terrible priest hah. I hereby pardon you from your sin of farting at the dinner table¡­ you may lick the figurine of forgiveness. Maiko could do with a bit of that, the sly bugger,¡¯ she snickered. He had been waiting for her last night after they put Ray to sleep. Complete with flowers, and little else. On her bed no less.


    ¡®Five silver says he¡¯s had to atone a few times over the years. He would just put that honey he bought on the figurine first then weird out the preacher hehe¡­ Wait, was that why he had bought that? So she would¡­ Oh the dirty bastard!¡¯


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    _________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom trundled along with the quad looking for high ground, he certainly had plenty of time to ponder what to do with this day. Up above Jarix was following lazily, but at least he had been convinced to climb up to what Tom had called ¡°High as fuck up. Also tell him he¡¯s lazy¡± when giving Zarko a ring¡­ ¡®Hehe ring ring, who is it? It¡¯s earring¡­¡¯ Anywho hopefully he wouldn¡¯t scare the prey before the quad did. Which in and of itself might prove a rather big problem, Tom thought.


    He was kinda hoping to crest a ridge and just be presented with a large herd in the distance. Then he would walk up on foot, get what he could, and go back for the quad to haul them to the keep. If he got lucky he might be the first one done today actually. He probably wouldn¡¯t though. There was every chance he would see jack and shit all day.


    Or perhaps Jacky and Shitfire. If he ever called Saph that he was quite confident he would need to go hide behind Shiva or something if he wanted to live.


    ¡®Hmmm¡­ probably safer to just beat her. Who knows, maybe Nunuk will make me a silver? No, actually, that wouldn¡¯t be fair on Fengi¡­¡¯ He wondered what she might be up to, actually. She had still been rummaging around one of the smaller outbuildings when Tom left, meaning if this was a race, technically he wasn¡¯t in last place, which was unusual. Just as he was happily pondering away he was oh-so rudely interrupted by Zarko once more.


    ¡°Hey soldier¡­ might want to look behind you.¡±


    Tom sighed then damn near fell off as he tried to respond, the world growing faint before snapping back as he cut off the magic to the earring. ¡®Goddamn stop first then reply¡­ or just don¡¯t,¡¯ he grumbled to himself as he brought the quad to a stop. Turning around to look behind him he saw a large black dragon beating steadily along, not quite towards him but certainly in the same general direction.


    He stared for a moment as his brain computed just what the fuck, then he started cussing to himself before closing his eyes and trying to focus on the stupid earring.


    ¡°Hey yeah. Is that allowed?¡±


    ¡°I do believe so, yes, seeing as she is now little more than a tool for Fengi to use. Yldril even agreed with the statement earlier this morning.  I believe it may have been Maiko¡¯s idea.¡±


    ¡°That little¡­ right. That¡¯s just cheating.¡±


    ¡°Says the alien with all his boons and gifts. Shall we take away your weapons and give you a bow as well?¡± she replied in her signature dry humor. Tom wasn¡¯t actually quite sure if she did find it funny or not, but he assumed.


    ¡°What¡¯s next, tooth and claw? I¡¯m handicapped enough as is.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are rather less frightening when it is just yourself aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Oh she was definitely taking the piss. ¡°Tell me that down here or in the sparring ring. I¡¯ll mess you up¡­ eventually,¡± Tom grumbled in reply, thinking back to how he had managed to beat Rachuck way back when.


    ¡°I do not intend on letting you lose until I get tired, you know,¡± Zarko replied, evidently having heard the story at some point.


    ¡°Well the least you three could do is give me some eyes in the sky, everyone else has them.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I will let you know if we spot something dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on woman, gonna be out here all day otherwise. Fuel is expensive don¡¯t you know.¡±


    ¡°You are free to walk, or object to going. I do not believe you are being forced, are you?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t sound to me like much of a choice.¡±


    ¡°Well I shall give it to you then. Do you wish to return?¡±


    Tom grumbled a bit more, feeling slightly called on his bluff. ¡°... No.¡±


    ¡°The shut up and soldier, soldier.¡±


    ¡°Not a soldier either anymore, I would have you know.¡±


    ¡°Once a soldier, always a soldier. Now I would advise you get moving. Two fifths right seems like a good idea.¡±


    Tom honestly did not know if following her advice would be helpful or counterproductive right about now, but if he did then hopefully she would take pity once she had her fun.


    He cut the flow, the world returning once more as he opened his eyes to see Yldril beating past on the horizon heading for who knows where. ¡®Well if she can see whatever it is she¡¯s not going for it¡­ right then.¡± Tom scanned the horizon, once more finding nothing, before setting off once more, feeling a little less confident in getting the heavy haul of the day.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Come on another one, where are you all? Shouldn¡¯t you be out getting fat for winter?¡± Saph mumbled to herself as she glided along between the tall heaven oak, trunk after trunk whizzing past, right left right left. One needed to have fun on the job as well of course. She already had the first two Jackalopes hanging from her belt, so at this rate she would have quite the trophy set by the end of it. Perhaps she could turn them into little figurines during winter. If they even had the time for things like that.


    ¡®But do I even wanna get him something like that? Especially if he wants me to- shit tree!¡¯ A quick dart left and the offending trunk came hurtling past, sending Sapphire¡¯s pulse rocketing.


    ¡®Well that was stupid, might be going slow, but still no time for daydreaming¡­¡¯ Sapphire scolded herself as she settled back into the gentle weave. Flying between the trees was one thing she had never struggled with; racers rarely did. Bo and Pho certainly found it perfectly natural too, so they only needed to work a little on not crashing despite having one¡¯s eyes on the ground.


    Saph though had been doing this for over a decade and a half by now. The trick wasn¡¯t speed like in a race though, it was silence. A single beat or two, then glide along silent as a dawn falcon looking for any mice or hedgehogs who hadn¡¯t found a place to hide yet.


    Jackalopes were no different. They did come out during the day though, even if they rarely strayed far from the warrens. That was why one needed to be quiet. Even flying up under the canopy they could hear you before they saw you if you let held your wings too lose and the membrane started to flap around, or if you beat them at all.


    They might still see you of course if they happened to be looking the right way, but once you made it over top of them you were safe. Then one would simply need to roll into a dive, as silently as possible, and get into firring range.


    Do it right and you might even get to take one with a knife or talons, though Saph did prefer to just stick an arrow in them. There were few things more embarrassing than plunging your talons into nothing but dirt as the little critter ran off ducking and diving through the forest floor and then with a spray of dirt they would be gone.


    She had heard of people who took the time to flush them from the warrens and then tried to catch them at the entrances. They had tried a few times in the past but without much success, so an old fashioned diving hunt was still their preferred method.


    As she glided along she saw quite the variety of critters down below, and there were even some birds flying around up in the canopy with her. Though they were soon scared off as the far larger white dragonette glided through their airspace. Their shrieks and calls were a constant annoyance as they alerted the actual targets down on the ground.


    It did sound beautiful though, and while most days she would be cursing the birds for making her job so much harder as a flock of spotted deer took flight, today she just changed course to follow them for a bit, watching them jump and bound through the forest. It was an idyllic sight, the small breeds of deer were always nimble on their feet, and they could jump and leap far better than even Sapphire had any hope of doing if she didn¡¯t cheat and use her wings. And those skinny little legs, Saph almost expected to see them snap under the strain, but they never did. The deer just went sailing through the air without a care in the world.


    Well, save for whatever it might be it was running from.


    ¡®It really is quite remarkable how fast they are¡­ look at them go¡­ Tom can¡¯t do that. Neither can we¡­ I wonder how Tom¡¯s people used to hunt back before all their fancy things¡­ bow and arrow perhaps? Just hide and maybe herd the prey towards them? Sounds tedious and slow¡­ and what if you don¡¯t have a bow? Gonna throw rocks?¡± she chuckled to herself, trying to picture Tom attempting to kill a jackalope with a rock from a distance. ¡®I don¡¯t fancy their chances¡­ Then again he¡¯s not much for quitting, maybe he just gets lucky after enough tries. Probably praying he won¡¯t starve to death all the while.¡¯


    ¡®Oh wait what have we here? What is it Tom says, ¡®speak of the devil?¡¯ Flat fuck rock, been a while,¡¯ she chuckled to herself as she recognized the terrain arround her, spying the tall rocky monolith peeking through trunks of the heaven oak. Dakota and Essy both insisted it was ¡®Flat Top Rock¡¯ but Jacky and Saph knew better, with Bo and Pho joining she even felt like they might earn a majority on deciding what the rock was actually called.


    When the Sun had some power they often used the rock to take a break and warm up, and perhaps have a snack and a drink. She did have a bit of sausage she had bought in case she got the munchies. She watched the stone monolith glide past to her right through the trees pondering what to do. She didn¡¯t really need a break, but at the same time, it did feel right to go have a look.


    ¡®Who knows, maybe we forgot something last time,¡¯ she chuckled to herself, banking in towards it.


    It had been nearly a whole year since they found Tom here, so they had been past at least a few times since, so it wouldn¡¯t be any of Tom¡¯s things. Perhaps this was where Pho¡¯s little improvised tailbag had ended up. It had been months, but there was still no sign of it. Saph was convinced that either the young greenhorn had taken it off at a rest stop because it was uncomfortable and forgotten it, or it had fallen off during some hard maneuvering and Pho hadn¡¯t actually noticed it was gone.


    Either way, missing it certainly was.


    Saph started with a quick sweep of the ground around the stone pillar. With the falling leaves and bare trees it was hard to recognize the place, and anything down there they wouldn¡¯t find till spring, if ever. She tried to remember where it was the quad had been parked back then. Back before they knew anything about what it was they had stumbled on. Or perhaps Tom had stumbled on them, there was a bit of confusion as to that. The whole year had gone by, spring, summer and now autumn. Soon winter would be upon them.


    It was incredible to think about how much had happened in those three seasons. Certainly more than Sapphire ever remembered. They have been more busy than ever before, despite hunting less than they ever had. Come to think of it, the only supplies they had ended up selling off was that tiny bit back when Archeon first came. The rest they had kept for themselves and all their new guests.


    And it wasn¡¯t just Tom¡¯s fault either. The darklings attacking definitely didn¡¯t have anything to do with him, but Saph couldn¡¯t help but feel like those early two battles could have ended quite differently if Tom hadn¡¯t been around with his magic fire stick as they called it back then. She had a bit of a chuckle at that. Mighty Tomas Hansen, the fire mage in service to Lord Joakim. By the gods that had been a terrible cover story, but in the end it had sorta worked.


    As she circled up the rock looking for any remnants of his climbing equipment, she was sadly disappointed. Even those funny metal anchor things he had used were gone. She couldn¡¯t even remember if it had all been taken down that first day or if they had waited till a later hunt.


    As she crested the top, coming to a stop with a mild jog, wings folding, she had a look around. Up here everything looked like it always had. Barren, plain, sandy brown¡­ It was cold too. The cold stone sent shivers up her legs and spine as she walked on it, quite an unpleasant feeling after being in the air for hours. She got out the bit of sausage to nibble on, looking out over the horizon. The sun was still high, but even the heaven oak were losing their leaves now. They were always the last to go, but soon the forest would be nothing but barren wood and yellow. Perhaps they would even get a decent amount of snow this year.


    ¡®As long as Tom doesn¡¯t bring it inside,¡¯ she chuckled to herself as she had another bite of sausage.  ¡®Oh who am I kidding, of course he will.¡¯


    She remembered him talking about some sort of winter celebration, well Maiko had told her about it. Apparently they had to exchange gifts. Normally they did that when spring arrived or when a trader brought the thing they had bought. Saph guessed the humans were quite capable of going shopping even during winter. It made sense, Tom didn¡¯t struggle with cold at all. There probably were limits, but if a stag could bound through the snow like a light footed dancer, she saw no reason Tom couldn¡¯t slog through it like a determined hedgehog.


    Going to the edge of the rock, she sat down, legs dangling over the edge, watching the forest contently. ¡°All in all¡­ I think it¡¯s been a good year, minus poor Anastasi¡­¡± She got out her knife and cut an end off the sausage. ¡°For you, old sport. Best bounty you ever gave.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Jammen for fanden da! Forpulede lort!¡± Tom cursed the quad spat up rooster tails of brown water and mud. He hadn¡¯t been paying much attention to where he was driving, instead looking up at Jarix to see if he could work out where the dragon was looking. He was betting that if there was something to hunt about, the dragon would be staring right at it.


    What he had missed in his high sighted idea was the boggy mess he had then hit at close to 50 kph.


    The quad had bogged down as the ground gave way, the tracks behind him filling with murky water, and now he was stuck. He had of course tried to drive out, dropping down to 4 wheel drive, but he was truly stuck. And now all of him was wet, which was great.


    It definitely wasn¡¯t 10 degrees outside and with the biting wind this was going to suck quite a lot. He hadn¡¯t actually bothered bringing spare clothes, but at least the boots had kept his socks mostly dry.


    Now he needed to work out a way to get back out of this mess. The trailer certainly didn¡¯t help matters, and there weren''t exactly any trees about for him to winch to either.


    ¡°Fucking lorte ide,¡± he carried on cursing to himself as he got off. He had at least brought a shovel, so he could dig a slit and use the shovel itself as an anchor to winch himself out. Predictably enough, as soon as he got off the bike he lost the luxury of dry socks.


    ¡°Fucking dammit¡­ I really did pull a Sapphire here didn¡¯t I?¡± he sighed, thinking back to the huntress¡¯s first time driving. He had thought she would be better at avoiding water than turned out to be the case, but he could hardly judge right now. Looking around it was blindingly fucking obivous that he shouldn¡¯t have come here. Rookie error at best.


    The second quite predictable thing to happen occurred just as he was getting started on digging his anchor slit. Zarko decided it was time for checking in.


    ¡°Why did you stop and get off? Weren¡¯t you hunting deer?¡±


    Tom just sighed, rather not wanting to answer, but as he had well learned by now, not answering her just meant she would keep pestering him in a sterner and sterner tone. So he closed his eyes leaning on the shovel like a proper roadworker to get it over with.


    ¡°I¡¯m stuck. It¡¯s all mud.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± was the only reply he got at first, then silence. He could only assume she had to tell Jarix the news, the two of them would make sure the whole damn keep knew about this. ¡°Do you need help?¡±


    ¡°I thought I wasn¡¯t allowed- woah woah woah! Shit!¡± Tom let out in a panic as the whole world seemed to turn upside down. It was like being stuck inside a dark box that just fell over, then he felt the cold wet smack hit his face. He shook free of the magic, coming back to his senses, arriving at the conclusion that he was a shitty roadworker and had fallen over.


    ¡°Det er kraftedme l?gn,¡± he cursed to himself as he lifted his face clear of the soggy muddy grass, spitting out a few bits. Could this day get any fucking worse? Then he heard the flap of wings as something large and airborne tried to slow down fast. Looking up he saw Jarix coming out of a steep dive, bleeding speed before setting down hard on the grass, feet sinking in a fair ways, Zarko craning her neck to see from her spot at the base of his neck.


    ¡°Are you okay, Tom?¡± the dragon asked, sounding equal parts worried and confused.


    ¡°No¡­ most definitely not,¡± Tom replied, letting his face back down into the mud. ¡®I won¡¯t hear the end of this til spring¡­¡¯

 Chapter 194: Huntress parade

    ¡°That cheating little¡­ hmpf,¡± Sapphire grumbled to herself as Yldril came back carrying not only the nets Jarix and Glira had been using to hunt with, but no less than four large red deer. Not a single one of which was sporting an arrow shaft. ¡°It was supposed to be you doing the hunting.¡±


    ¡°I know right,¡± Jacky agreed, apparently having heard, standing next to Saph in the dimly lit greeting hall. The sun was just setting on the horizon, torches flickering at their backs as they all waited quietly.


    Fengi was the last of the huntresses to return; it had probably taken quite a while to do all the work by herself. She would have had to set the nets, finish up the deer, pack everything away and load up said deer, all by herself. There could be no doubt this was an achievement even with the help of a dragon, but it still left Saph with a sour taste in her mouth.


    ¡°Oh would you two just let her be,¡± Essy scolded, Saph being forced to conclude she had been a lot less quiet than she thought. ¡°Hopefully the two had a good day together.¡±


    ¡°Yes Essy,¡± Saph and Jacky sighed in unison, shoulders drooping a little. ¡°Besides, if you feel cheated, remember one must dress their kills as well, and I doubt Yldril will be much help with that.¡±


    ¡°Oooh yeaaah,¡± Saph let out, remembering that part, suddenly not feeling so bad about only bagging 5 Jackalopes in total.


    Jacky had looked a little perplexed when Saph had laid out her bounty on their pine branches for the parade. Jacky for her part had gone for a rather unusual assortment of things. Most confusing to Sapphire had been the three bundles of gory feathers that were truly beyond recognition. They looked like a sparrow which had gotten caught in a dragon¡¯s blast.


    It turned out not to be too far from the truth as apparently they were green tipped tits. The exact same as what Sapphire had brought back last year. Only these ones had been taken with a shotgun rather than skill. There had also been a pair of green geese and a duck of some kind, which had all survived the treatment a bit better.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty much done already then,¡± Jacky snickered. ¡°You don¡¯t pluck trophies.¡±


    ¡°No, but you sure do pluck geese before dinner. Did you put hot water on yet?¡± Saph questioned, rather hoping the answer was no.


    ¡°Sure did,¡± Jacky grinned, strutting with confidence once more.


    ¡®Damn and blast.¡¯


    As Fengi had dismounted, she had brought the severed head of a rather large stag to be presented before Nunuk. The little huntress was covered in gore pretty much from tip to toe, likely from having manhandled the large animals into position to get tied on to Yldril¡¯s rig. She looked down right savage in the dim light, but even standing proud with her trophy, they could all tell she was tired.


    Nunuk had accepted the trophy and added it to the parade, Fengi bowing as she handed it over. There were a fair few goodies out on show. Essy had, much like Sapphire predicted, brought some roots, and what looked like just leaves to Sapphire. It was probably something you could make tea with¡­ or perhaps it was those which gave you a funny tingly sensation if chewed.


    There were Jacky¡¯s birds of course, and Dakota had brought home both some heaven bark, which was honestly not much of a challenge, and grey squirrel which had clearly been taken with a bow, which was rather more impressive.


    Yldril had stood there patiently as Fengi removed each of the four trophies and added them to the parade, one stag and 3 doe. Probably the better part of a half a ton of meat between them.


    ¡°Go on you two,¡± Essy then said as they all watched. ¡°Help her get the rest of them down.¡±


    ¡°On it,¡± Saph had sighed, Jacky following along behind her as they both went to lend a hand. Quite how Fengi had managed to load up Yldril in the first place was a mystery to Sapphire, but it certainly made sense why she was tired.


    Yldril for her part was also covered in gore. Fengi had apparently done much of the gutting in the field, likely so they would be easier to load up, the result being that the black dragon¡¯s sides were literally dripping blood on the floor.


    ¡®Gonna be quite the cleanup job,¡¯ Saph had sighed to herself as they set about getting the animals down and added to the parade. More pine branches were brought out to make enough room. And with several sets of hands helping, it didn¡¯t take long before they had the dragon unloaded.


    As soon as they did, Fengi went to a bench in the corner and sat down, clearly knackered.


    Saph did feel a little bad about having called her a cheat; she herself had been on a rather relaxing hunt after all. Mostly just gliding along with the occasional crash dive. And Jackalopes were many things, but they weren¡¯t that heavy. Unlike the dragonette version.


    With the work done for now, Yldril had laid down, Fengi not telling her to move down below and the dragon seemingly content where she was. Silence reigned for the most part as they waited. Flames flickered and wind gently blew as they all watched the horizon. Tom had lights on, so they would see him before they heard him. The question was just when.


    ¡°He does know he has to be back before nightfall right?¡± Saph questioned, not talking her eyes off the setting sun.


    ¡°No, they scrapped that rule for him,¡± Essy added as she nodded sagely. ¡°We might be here for a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of¡­ right,¡± Saph replied, looking around for a chair. She wasn¡¯t going to be standing here for gods knew how long.


    ¡°Perhaps we should get started on dinner and the gutting without him,¡± Essy mumbled to herself, quietly walking off towards Dakota and Nunuk.


    That left just Jacky studying the horizon. ¡°I wonder what he¡¯s up to?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m cold, it¡¯s dark. I don¡¯t know where I am. I broke my fucking shovel, face planted in mud with Jarix watching, and I still haven¡¯t killed as much as a field mouse. Either this works or I¡¯m going home without jack or shit,¡± Tom grumbled to himself as he slowly crawled up the ridge, goggles lowered. He had spotted something big in the distance, too far for a shot in this light, but close enough for him to make out that it was worth making a try for.


    He was already wet and covered in mud, so crawling the last bit to the summit of the ridge was hardly a sacrifice. Cresting the edge, he peered out while doing his best to not make a single sound, not even breathing. And there it was. Some strange looking creature, standing on all fours and doing something to the grass. It looked almost like it was licking it or something.


    It was pretty damn big though, and furry. Tom couldn¡¯t quite work out what it was, and with the goggles he could only really see its outline.  But from the rough shape, he would guess canine.


    ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s one of those big ass wolves¡­ wouldn¡¯t that be something¡­ wait, don¡¯t they hunt in packs?¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he felt his heart racing. He slowly scanned left and right, trying to spot any more movement. But he got nothing at all. ¡®And possibly sneaky¡­ Buuut it could be a lone wolf.¡¯


    He endeavored to observe a bit longer as he readied the rifle, checking it was loaded and pulling back the hammer, cursing as it latched back with a click.


    The wolf looking thing seemed to have heard it too. The range couldn¡¯t be more than 30 or 40 meters. It looked up from whatever it was doing and looked around, Tom raising the NVG¡¯s to get a slightly better look. It sure looked like a wolf to him, with silvery and brown fur. Its eyes apparently were not able to make out the camouflaged Tom.


    He was quite surprised it couldn¡¯t smell him though as he took aim. If it wasn¡¯t alone he would just have to call for the cavalry and hold them off until Jarix got here. He had 4 spare rounds and six in the revolver. Surely that would do the trick.


    He drew a breath, looking down the scope at the now alert wolf which was still looking around. As its eyes landed on Tom it stopped, and Tom squeezed the trigger.


    With a crack and a brief flash, the wolf was illuminated for but a moment. Then the whining began. Tom had caught it low in the chest, and it turned to run, both forelegs not obeying their master¡¯s command with quite the same haste as normal, sending the whining wolf limping off into the night.


    Tom chambered a second round and fired again, missing. A third round in quick succession caught the beast in the top of the back, sending it limp to the ground with a fresh yelp.


    Tom got up onto one knee and started scanning around as he reloaded the rifle. If there were any more wolves out here, he would be hearing from them soon he thought. But as the whining quieted down into a whimper he saw nothing. He knew those buggers could be sneaky though, so he just kept looking around until he heard the reassuring sound of wingbeats up above gliding through the night.


    ¡°Where are you at, Tom? Did you get something?! It¡¯s not you whining right?¡±


    Tom just sighed and stood up, turning on the flashlight while still holding the rifle at ready as he started walking towards his soon to be kill. He had started the day full of hope and expectations. He had ended it cold, wet, and miserable. But still, he had done what he set out to do, and it seemed like he would return in one piece afterwards.


    ¡°Oh there you are,¡± the dragon called out, starting an about turn as he slid into the night once more. Tom made sure not to blind the poor guy as he came in for a landing, though he did give Jarix a bit of light to work with. ¡°What did you find?¡±


    ¡°A wolf of some kind,¡± Tom replied back. ¡°Big mother fucker too.¡±


    Tom turned to shine his light at the wolf, its face smeared with blood. Sweeping his flashlight across the ground, it was covered in blood, far more than could ever have come from the wolf itself.


    ¡°What the¡­¡±


    ¡°My that is quite the mess,¡± Jarix added as Tom turned his attention back to the wolf, looking at it more closely.


    It didn¡¯t seem like there was anything wrong with it. It wasn¡¯t ill or black, which was something one had to consider around these parts after all. When Jarix had landed, the beast had fallen silent, likely knowing there would be no escape.  ¡°I¡¯ll put it out of its misery. It was a shoddy shot.¡±


    ¡°Well it is dark,¡± Jarix said, turning to watch what Tom was doing, walking up close enough that he could help in case the beast was bluffing.


    Tom appreciated the gesture as the Wolf lay perfectly still, then seemingly decided it was time to get out of here. Only the weakened forelegs would obey as it attempted to drag itself away from the dragon. It was a slow, pitiful sight. Tom raised the rifle, taking aim at the neck, and with a final crack, the night fell quiet.


    ¡°There. It¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°Fine kill, Tom.¡± It came from Zarko, ¡°but beware, its friends may be near or far. Jarix, walk with him as he gets the quad. They will not dare get close to a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± the dragon echoed with a nod, looking to Tom. ¡°Besides, surely they can smell this much blood for miles¡­ It smells like deer to me.¡±


    ¡°It is certainly possible,¡± Zarko added, looking around. ¡°Tom, could you come up here and shine the light about please?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm sure,¡± Tom replied. He was instead inspecting his kill by flashlight. ¡°She is a beauty¡­ and feel the fur. So thick and soft.¡±


    ¡°Ready for winter, yes¡­ also he,¡± Zarko corrected. ¡°It is much too large to be a female direwolf. Now come, please.¡±


    ¡°Oh right. He¡­ Well he is going to make one fine coat¡­ or maybe a carpet,¡± Tom pondered as he made his way to Jarix¡¯s side and climbed up a foreleg, using the handles on the harness to help out.


    ¡°I am sure Jackalope will be most pleased.¡±


    ¡°Unless her hunt didn¡¯t go so well,¡± Jarix chuckled heartily as Tom made it up to his back, starting to shine the light around. Jarix and Zarko both followed the light as they glanced around.


    There was a lot of blood, and it was spread out over a fair area. Tom also spied what looked like a mound of entrails. ¡°Huh¡­ I guess someone didn¡¯t want to carry home the sausage casings.¡±


    ¡°One of the huntresses then. A fine mess they have made. Must have been several deer.¡±


    ¡°Fengi then. Even Jacky isn¡¯t carrying that much home,¡± Jarix added, Tom nodding in agreement.


    ¡°I guess we owe her for baiting the trap then. Don¡¯t tell her though.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Jarix added with a chuckle, Zarko not giving a response.


    Tom looked back down at the wolf, letting the light shine upon it. Had it still been kicking, he guessed they would have been looking eye to eye. It was certainly the biggest wolf he had ever seen, not counting the one decorating the floor of Dakota¡¯s room.


    ¡°You know¡­ If these things are just as smart as the wolves back home, or maybe even smarter, it might be possible to befriend one of them.¡±


    ¡°I have heard tales of it done, yes,¡± Zarko added, much to Tom¡¯s surprise. ¡°Though mostly whenever a beast talker is involved.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ like Wiperna?¡± Tom had never quite worked out what the extent of her magic was. She could do something with animals, that much was certain. And they often joked that she ¡°spoke to them,¡± but it seemed more like she could feel how they were doing to him. Maybe it was more like an empath sorta thing.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°No¡­ and yes. I won¡¯t claim to know, but I believe her magic is rather weak¡­ and more about sensing. A true beast talker has more in common with Joelina.¡±


    ¡°Ahr,¡± Tom let out, trying not to let the disapproval show. That just felt like animal cruelty to him. Not that his shoddy shooting wasn¡¯t as well.


    ¡°From what I have heard, such people often have good relations with their beasts. Though it may just be stories of course. I suppose it may vary.¡±


    ¡°Well if they can do it a little more painlessly, then that would be grand,¡± Tom grumbled as he went to climb back down. He wanted to have a closer look at his trophy.


    ¡°I once heard about one who could literally understand what they were saying. Everyone thought he had gone mad,¡± Jarix added as Tom clambered down, the dragon waiting patiently.


    ¡°We¡¯ll put that one at the top of the list then. I want a wolftamer,¡± Tom joked as he jumped the last bit of the way down.


    ¡°I will make a note of it,¡± Zarko chuckled dryly. ¡°Now fetch your quad, night has already fallen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ wait, why did I need to get down for that?¡± Tom questioned, looking up at the woman who was still sitting high and mighty at the base of Jarix¡¯s neck.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t. You were the one who climbed down yourself.  Besides, we mustn''t aid. Isn¡¯t that right, Jarix?¡±


    The dragon just nodded with a big shiteating grin.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    They had waited for quite some time. The kids were put to sleep, Fengi had gotten to work skinning her kills, and in general things had devolved a bit from the religious reverence into casual smalltalk.


    The outer door had been shut, leaving just one guard outside on the platform to watch for Tom¡¯s return as the rest of them huddled for warmth. It was kinda hard to heat up the greeting hall since there were no proper fireplaces. If they had squeezed Baron inside, that might have helped things a bit, but for now he was outside, as was Yldril.


    The black had been evicted to make room for the larger than expected parade of kills. The black dragon didn¡¯t seem to mind, retreating to her little shelter with only minimal fuss about ¡°Enjoy your cult sacrifice.¡± Which was to be expected from her.


    Saph had cut off the antlers from her five prizes, and she was currently wondering just what to make of them for Maiko. She guessed they could easily enough make a crown or elaborate circlet, but she didn¡¯t really think that was his sorta style. Armbands perhaps, and a necklace was always an easy one.


    Then the man himself had sat down next to her on the bench by the wall she had commandeered for her work.


    ¡°Jackalopes, ey? Small and hard to hit I hear.¡±


    She smirked a bit at the compliment, holding up two of the small pairs of antlers. ¡°And rumored to be quite magical too.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes of course, the strongest of all rabbits and hares. Known as charms of strength and virility. Planning on doing anything in particular with them? Or are you giving away all the trophies to the gods tonight?¡±


    ¡°Noo, I was thinking we offer up the heads, maybe the feet too. The meat is quite tasty and these,¡± she handed over the two antlers, ¡°are for you. I do still need to work out who to make of them though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you. Hmmm¡­ perhaps they could be shaved down to the white and strung together into a large necklace?¡±


    ¡°If that is what you want, then sure. 10 antlers should make a pretty decent one. I could carve something into them too perhaps. If I have the time. Oh, perhaps Shiva could add little silver caps to them too. Or perhaps some inlay? Should only cost melting down a few coins.¡±


    ¡°You do know that¡¯s illegal, right?¡±Maiko chuckled, not seeming overtly opposed to the idea.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, no one gives a shit out here. Silver is silver after all.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Paulin catch you saying that.¡± Maiko chuckled, ¡°Or  Victoria for that matter. It¡¯s defacing the king¡¯s image¡­ or Queen if you get some old ones hehe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hardly the most heretical thing going on out here.¡±


    ¡°Technically it isn¡¯t heretical at all¡­ just illegal. At least I think so.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case, why not,¡± Saph jested, picking up another of the small antlers and inspecting the tips. ¡°This one should be center then. 8 points. That is a heck of a lot for a Jackalope.¡±


    ¡°Is it? I only think I¡¯ve actually seen one running around once or twice before.¡±


    ¡°Hah, city boy.¡±


    ¡°Lights!¡± Balethon called out from the ledge where the guard had been peering into the darkness. ¡°White lights, must be Tom!¡±


    ¡°About bloody time,¡± Sapphire cursed, not moving as other people started getting up. ¡°I wonder if he got something good?¡±


    ¡°Would be pretty funny if he didn¡¯t get anything at all,¡± Pho added, the young huntress seemingly having been woken from her nap by the commotion.


    ¡°We shall know soon enough. Also, next time mother, do not allow him to take so long,¡± Dakota added, looking to Nunuk, who was remaining  seated as well.


    ¡°Come now, he needed a chance, and you know how he loves the dark,¡± the old Lady replied with a knowing look, Dakota seeming unimpressed.


    ¡°I am well aware mum, but we should have been sleeping hours ago.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take a while before he¡¯s back here I think,¡± Sapphire added with a chuckle thinking back to Tom trundling along in the past. ¡°At least he¡¯s not towing a kite today.¡±


    ¡°You never know, maybe Jarix got tired,¡± Maiko added as he played with placing the antlers on his wrists and upper arms. ¡°Sounds like a right leisure cruise to me.¡±


    ¡°Not in this cold it isn¡¯t. I¡¯m kinda surprised Jarix hasn¡¯t come home yet looking like a flying icicle,¡± Sapphire added with a chuckle.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure, Zarko has kept him nice and warmed up all day.¡±


    ¡°I guess. Speaking of warmed up, do we need to light the fire then?¡± Saph questioned, looking to Dakota and Nunuk, Rachuck going outside to check on Balethon.


    ¡°We will give it a little longer, but yes sooner rather than later,¡± the old lady replied. ¡°He might need time to prepare his sacrifice as well after all.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    As Tom reached the bottom of the stairs he realized one final hurdle with his thus far, pretty great plan¡­ There wasn¡¯t a welcoming committee down here, and judging by the large lit fire and open door, he was supposed to deliver his cargo to the greeting hall.


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake¡­ really?¡± he cursed aloud as he sat on the quad, staring up at the keep. He turned the machine off, the lights fading, leaving only darkness. ¡°They really want me to carry it up there?¡±


    There was of course no reply. He doubted they could even hear him up there. He watched as Jarix set down gently upon the platform, only adding to his annoyance.


    ¡°What? Scared of a little haulage?¡± The deep rumbly voice of a bemused Yldril echoed out. Tom looked over to her little shelter where he had thought the dragon to be sleeping soundly.


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking? Have you ever moved something without complaining?¡±


    ¡°Plenty of bodies over the years, sure.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck off.¡±


    ¡°As you wish¡­ though it wouldn¡¯t be hard to lift that little wolf up there for me,¡± the dragon replied leadingly, turning around to lay back down with her back to him. Tom just sighed, relenting to at least hear her price.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing¡­ though some of the meals have gotten ever so bland.¡±


    ¡°You want enough spices for a meal for you¡­ to lift up a wolf 4 stories?¡±


    ¡°Well when you put it like that,¡± the dragon rumbled contently before both of them turned their heads to look into the darkness.


    ¡°Do not listen to her lies Tom, and do not defame the ritual,¡± the familiar booming voice of Baron rang out through the night. ¡°You think yourself ingenious¡­ prove it.¡±


    Tom just stared for a bit at where he assumed the red dragon to be laying. If he had made it back already that likely meant things were fine at both Deriva and Hylsdahl, so that was good, even if he apparently hadn¡¯t decided to stay for the night at either place.


    Tom raised his voice a bit to reply, since he wasn¡¯t really sure where Baron actually was in the darkness. ¡°Uhm¡­ It¡¯s just some stairs. Not that hard really, just annoying.¡±


    ¡°Then get on with it,¡± the dragon rumbled in reply.


    ¡°Yes yes, I¡¯m going,¡± Tom grumbled right back. He was a little annoyed at getting called out for not being smart because of not wanting to go up some damn stairs. He could try hauling it. It was heavy as all hell, but not immovable.


    ¡®And leave a bloodtrail all the way up aaaaaall the stairs¡­ no smarter way,¡¯ he pondered, looking up at the platform where a few faces were peeking over the edge looking down at him. Of course no one was coming to help him out.


    ¡®Wait a fucking minute¡­¡¯ Tom thought to himself, remembering the old winch block set in the wall above the entrance to the greeting hall. Apuma said it used to be part of a wooden crane-like contraption for hauling up stuff from down below. ¡®And we got plenty of rope now,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself, glancing at the quad bike. ¡®Yeah, that¡¯ll work.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Welcome Tom, have you brought your tribute?¡± Nunuk questioned as the human came stomping up the stairs.


    Saph did note he seemed a bit agitated and more importantly empty handed. Not to mention covered in mud from head to toe. She supposed he had not had a brilliant hunt. It could be hard to say with Tom though, the mud might have been part of the plan. But judging by his demeanor it had probably not gone according to said plan. Bad hunts happened of course, but she had to admit, she was surprised he had failed. And even more so that he would have returned before the sun came back up if he had.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, gonna be a minute,¡± Tom replied, walking past the lady to the edge of the platform and looking down. Then he moved to the right side of it, going to check again, and then up along the wall leading up to the next level.. ¡°Yeah that should work.¡±


    ¡°What is he up to now?¡± Fengi questioned as the human turned around, walking right back towards the stairs.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Saph replied as all eyes followed the human, no one willing to speak up loud enough to break the silence of the night.


    It did not take long before he returned with, of all things, his climbing equipment.


    ¡°Uhm Tom¡­ are you sure this is wise?¡± Nunuk questioned, looking at him with a mixture of confusion and concern.


    ¡°Yeah yeah. Jarix can catch me if I mess it up,¡± Tom replied, everyone looking to the blue dragon who was also sitting patiently along with the rest of them.


    ¡°He will be ready for you,¡± Zarko replied for the young dragon, who just nodded. The two of them seemingly had an idea what he might be up to.


    ¡®So that is what they were talking about earlier,¡¯ Saph thought to herself, growing even more intrigued.


    Tom spent a little bit getting into his climbing harness, then, rope attached at the waist, he set about scaling the side of the keep.


    ¡°What is he doing that for?¡± Fengi questioned again.


    ¡°Still got no clue,¡± Sapphire replied as they stood and watched.


    Jarix had moved so he could indeed catch if the worst came to pass, the dragon inching carefully around the sacrificial fire which was starting to look like it might need a few more logs.


    The human climbed out of sight, a few dragonettes shuffling around to see just what he was up to, but no one dared make noise. Whatever it was didn¡¯t take long as he came back down with another length of rope. He tied the loose end of rope to some sort of sack and threw it into the night, pulling the other end up into the darkness.


    This time it was Sapphire¡¯s turn to question,¡°Is he making some sort of hoist?¡±


    Fengi replied, ¡°Just what did he kill?¡±


    The human jogged back off, this time with climbing kit dangling from his harness. Saph did note just how shiny some of the things were in torchlight. Maybe he would teach them how to make orange steel someday as well. It would look quite dapper, she thought¡­ assuming it was steel of course.


    As they all stood waiting, it became clear the human wasn¡¯t coming back right away this time. A few took the chance to inch towards the edge and look down. Nunuk cleared her throat and people returned to their places as the rumble of the quad bike started back up.


    ¡°Oooooh¡­ Now I get it,¡± Saph broke out as the ropes started to move, something getting hauled up. They all waited with bated breaths before a very large direwolf indeed was winched up into view.


    ¡°Daaaaamn. Okay, never mind, he did good,¡± Fengi broke out as they all stared, not quite sure what to do next. He hadn¡¯t as such delivered it to Nunuk yet after all, it was just sorta dangling there. They all waited a bit to see if something was gonna happen then the wolf slipped back down out of sight, slowly and gently.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Right, there we go,¡± Tom went to himself contentedly as he put the quad in park and got off. And the quad immediately started to slide on the damp grass, forcing Tom back on. ¡°Oh for god¡¯s sake!¡±


    ¡°Is it going well?¡± Yldril questioned merrily. The dragon apparently having elected to watch him like some sort of sport.


    ¡°Yes, just fine. Everything is perfect in fact,¡± Tom replied, looking around with his flashlight, grumbling. ¡°I need stop chocks¡­ no, rope is pulling the front up, won¡¯t work¡­ something heavy¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t actually get off or the wolf was coming back down. He had probably already rather ruined the grand reveal, but that wasn¡¯t any reason to make it worse.


    ¡°You know I am quite heavy,¡± Yldril offered, clearly finding this all absolutely hilarious.


    ¡°Yeah we should be feeding you a bit less¡­ actually why did you go today? Did Fengi force you?¡± Tom tried, hoping to distract her a little from his unfolding fuck up.


    ¡°No she asked actually, believe it or not. And in return I get a nice freshly grilled deer tomorrow. Not any of the scraps. Mine. My deer.¡±


    Right¡­¡± Tom replied, a little unnerved at the dragon¡¯s response. She sounded like Smaug talking about his gold or something.


    ¡®What to do, what to do¡­ The winch! Hah, that won¡¯t go anywhere¡­ still have to get off though¡­ Right right, down it comes.¡¯


    Dejectedly he let the quad roll forward, watching as the wolf descended back out of the darkness once more, swinging about and even smacking against the keep a few times, which did make Tom wince a bit. It probably left big red marks on the stonework too.


    Once back down he ran out the winch, looking for a suitable thing to anchor to. He found just what he needed in the shape of the woodbarn. With the winch hooked up, he could back up once more, hoisting his prize back up to where it needed to go, then simply sit on the quad as the winch rolled in the slack


    ¡®I am a genius,¡¯ he declared to himself as the small electric motor whirred away. Then the lights on the quad began to flicker, and then the engine died.


    ¡°You have got to be¡­ Oh what now?¡± Tom cursed as he set about looking over the engine for any signs of problems, as the dragon started to chuckle anew. All seemed well, but that of course didn¡¯t mean it was. Then he noticed the fuel cock. It was on reserve.


    ¡°When did I do that?¡± he questioned to himself, trying to think back over the day¡¯s events. Taking the cap off the tank and rocking the quad side to side a bit, he was met with silence. ¡°Out of fucking gas¡­ are you kidding me!¡± he called out as he went to grab the spare jerrycan, finding nothing on the side of the quad. ¡°What the¡­ right, where did I put that thing, I know I brought one.¡± Tom shone his flashlight about, landing on the now mostly empty trailer parked next to the keep. Where lo and behold, the jerrycan sat prettily.


    ¡°You have got to be shitting me,¡± Tom swore as his day just kept getting worse. He looked at the amount of cable left to wind in and tried to remember just how much power that winch motor actually pulled.


    ¡°Better not wreck the battery, only got one spare,¡± he sighed. Then, relegated to his fate, he let the quad roll forward once more in defeat as the wolf came back down.


    ¡®They must think I am a fucking idiot right now.¡¯


    Yldril certainly thought so, as he could hear the dragon snickering even from here.


    ¡®Last laugh is the loudest,¡¯ Tom cursed as he got off once more. He wasn¡¯t getting beat by a fucking dog on a leash and some stairs. No fucking way.


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do you think he is doing it on purpose?¡± Fengi questioned as all the dragonettes watched the wolf come back up into view once more. ¡°Some sort of religious thing perhaps?¡±


    ¡°He never struck me as very religious¡­ perhaps he asked some of the kids what he was supposed to do?¡± Saph replied as Jacky scratched the back of her neck.


    ¡°I mean¡­ I don¡¯t think so¡­ Maybe it¡¯s like a silent puppet show?¡±


    ¡°With one puppet?¡± Fengi challenged, clearly not believing that explanation. This time the wolf remained hanging and the lights of the quad remained on for some time. Then they finally turned off, letting the darkness return once more. ¡°I guess we might be about to find out.¡±


    It of course took a while more before Tom made it back up the stairs, the human looking properly fuming by now, and they were all starting to get rather tired. No one asked questions though; Tom didn¡¯t really seem like he was in the mood for those right now. It certainly didn¡¯t help that he was carrying a halberd.


    The reason soon became clear as he started poking at the wolf, dragging it in over the side of the platform. It was a rather ungainly procedure, as the dead creature swung back and forth, and quite how he intended on getting it down Saph didn¡¯t know. She would have tied some sort of quick release knot, but knowing Tom, he likely had no clue how to make one.


    ¡°?rh kom nu din fucking lort,¡± Tom spat out in his strange  tongue, Sapphire believing he was cursing, though it could also be a strange sort of prayer. Jacky did chuckle, so probably the former.


    Tom had seemingly concluded the same as her, realizing the fact that he didn¡¯t really have a way to get the wolf down even when it did swing in over the platform. Seemingly sick of this shit, he decided to just swing at the rope, probably wanting to cut it off and be done with it all.


    ¡°Is that thing even sharp?¡± Fengi questioned as the human took his third swing to little effect.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not mine, so no clue,¡± Jacky added with a shrug. ¡°If it¡¯s one of the training ones, then definitely not.¡±


    It would seem that was in fact what Tom had gotten his hands on as he wound up for an even bigger swing, clearly done with this shit. It looked rather comedic, but the force was there as he hit the rope just above the knot holding the wolf. The rope didn¡¯t budge, but something sure did as there was a loud metallic ping! and the wolf fell down on the very edge of the platform. Tom looked confused rather than relieved for the split second he had before something hit him in the back of the head, bouncing off his helmet with a clang, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the human. The rope quickly disappeared away into the night before going taut, the teetering wolf carcass heeling over and tumbling off the edge into the night.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go out on a limb and say that probably wasn¡¯t supposed to happen,¡± Saph said in disbelief as Jacky started snickering, Fengi letting out a little whine.


    ¡°Oh poor guy.¡±


    Tom for his part recovered from the hit rather swiftly, rubbing the back of his head under the helmet as he walked up to the edge and looked down into the darkness.


    ¡°Det er kraftedme l?gn det der.¡±


    And then the deep booming laugh of a certain black dragon started.

 Chapter 195: Ritual

    To say Tom had been displeased following the failure of the hoist would be an understatement. Everyone had winced alongside him at the wet thunk of the magnificent wolf impacting the ground below.


    Saph had a fair idea what a fall like that might do to a creature, her mind casting back to that one time Jacky had botched a takeoff attempt with a spotted deer and dropped it rather than risk crashing. It had not been pretty.


    The human had been cussing violently, and even kicked a length of rope out into the night as he turned around, stomping back down the way he came.


    There was some snickering, some sorry looks, some shaken heads as he passed the line of dragonettes. Most seemed sorry for him though, and as they all stood their posts Sapphire realized something. ¡°Oh shit, he only needs to bring the offering, doesn¡¯t he? Who cares if someone else helps with the rest?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you¡¯re right,¡± Jacky echoed as she hastily set off after the dude, Nunuk letting out a disapproving sigh as the silvered huntress gave chase to the human.


    ¡°This is going to be a looong night,¡± the old lady grumbled, patience seemingly wearing thin. She looks to Apuma at her side, likely for affirmation, finding the old man sleeping on his feet, head hanging limply. ¡°Gods give me strength.¡±


    It would seem Jacky had been successful in relaying to Tom that he did in fact not need to bring the whole wolf just yet, and not by himself as he returned a few minutes later, arms stained in fresh blood and holding a severed head about the size of his torso. Jacky had been on his heels and hurriedly rejoined the line as Tom marched up in front of Nunuk, holding out the wolfhead that only now Saph managed to see definitely had a broken snout.


    ¡°One very dead wolf. Trust me, I checked several times,¡± Tom said dryly. Saph guessed that was his best attempt at making light of the situation right about now.


    Nunuk took the rather ruined trophy and gave him a slight bow before she turned to put it with the other sacrifices.


    Tom glanced about, probably not knowing what to do next, and elected to just walk over and join the rest of the huntresses, standing next to Jacky.


    ¡°Good kill,¡± Fengi let out reassuringly as Essy gave him a shoulder pat as well, the human making a grumbling sound and not sounding all that pleased with himself. Jacky side stepped to behind him and gave him a gentle hug from behind, despite the dirt and grime, as they all watched the Lady.


    She placed the wolfhead upon the mat of pine branches, then rose to her feet once more. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but find it odd seeing the old Lady without her wings. Not even the stumps poked out, her robes having been stitched up to cover the unsightly things. ¡°Naulk, hear our prayers. We have brought you the gifts of your forest, the bounty which sustains us, which sustains our people. Today we give thanks to you, for all that you give us.¡±


    We thank you this fine year, not just for our precious meat and pelts, but for a new friend, the human Tom. Born to us of your grand forest. We thank you for his company. Now, to you. From Fengi,¡± the old woman spoke, kneeling at the head of the old stag Fengi had brought, managing to pick it up. ¡°Three red does and a fine stag. May their numbers sustain us and the dragons in the many years to come.¡±


    She turned to the pyre, carrying forth the head as Rachuck, Linkosta, and Dakota silently went and picked up the remaining three doe heads. The antlers had been removed from the stag for Fengi to keep, but the heads were all going on the pyre.


    Said pyre was still burning calmly. More fuel would be needed, but as the heads were placed atop the large square fire the fur quickly caught and started to smolder, the smoke rising into the night.


    ¡°From Tom,¡± the Lady continued, turning back towards the parade and calmly walking to his trophy. ¡°A great lone wolf of the night. A terror, though needed. We thank you for your protection from such beasts this year.¡±


    Saph guessed they hadn¡¯t actually been bothered by any wolves this year. It wasn¡¯t that unusual, but it had happened from time to time before that a pack decided to get in the way of their hunting. And of course there was the one that nearly killed Dakota all those years back.


    The other Bizmatis stepped aside as Nunuk hefted the wolfhead herself, carrying it to the pyre and setting it down as well.


    ¡°From Jackalope. Three red tipped tits and two green geese. May we keep the speed and agility to catch such bounties,¡± the woman went, picking up the two goose heads and what was left of the poor tits.


    They too were placed upon the pyre as the Lady turned back to Sapphire¡¯s contribution.


    ¡°From Sapphire, five fine jackalopes. May we keep the strength of such small fierce creatures for the trying times to come.¡±


    ¡®Maybe if we sacrifice enough we¡¯ll all end up like Jacky,¡¯ Saph chuckled to herself quietly.


    The lady picked up the five de-antlered heads much as before and moved to lay them upon the pyre.


    ¡°From Esmeralda. The bounty of the forest floor. May your herbs and roots keep us healthy till the day Kalador has seen our duty complete and Ishan calls for us,¡± she went, picking up the assortment of roots and leaves Essy had presented as her trophy. And into the pyre they went, the leaves quickly shriveling to nothing but ash.


    ¡°From my daughter Dakota. Heaven oak bark and a hoarding squirrel. May the sleep and supplies see us through winter until your bounty returns in spring.¡±


    ¡®Oooh,¡¯ now Sapphire got it. Dakota always had some sort of message with what she got. ¡®Damn philosopher.¡¯


    With the last of the offerings being placed upon the pyre Nunuk took a few steps back and bowed to the flames, as did they all. Tom was gently instructed by Jackalope behind him.


    When they rose back up, proud Apuma stepped forwards, chalk in hand and small glass vials open as he started to draw, dripping the components upon the spell circle as Nunuk spoke again.


    ¡°We thank you for a long year, a warm year, a safe year in the forest¡­ There are many dangers about and only a few of us. We pray for your protection from the wilds through winter, and for you to return our beloved huntresses to us safe and sound in the new year as well.¡±


    ¡°Take these gifts as our thanks to you, and know we shall watch over your forest next year as we did this year. There is much darkness approaching, may our shields hold against it.¡±


    Then there was silence as Apuma finished his circle. The preparations went quickly, the old man having performed the spell many times before. Saph did take note that Tom was definitely watching Apuma intently, as was Linkosta. One day it would be her who had to carry on the tradition. Saph remembered back at her old home, Vulcha Keep, they used to burn the offerings out in an open field. They just had a large fire which was kept burning all day, and as huntresses returned they would simply throw in their gifts as they flew overhead before heading back to the keep to help prepare the feast.


    Here though they did it a little differently. She supposed there were hundreds, if not thousands of ways to honor the gods. A lot of places likely didn¡¯t bother at all even. To her at least it was mostly just superstition, since it wasn¡¯t like it actually tended to work or anything. Not like in Apuma¡¯s children¡¯s stories, much as he remained adamant they were real tales.


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well then, I guess magic fire or what?¡¯ Tom pondered to himself as he watched Apuma go about making the inscription. He had no clue what the spell might be for, but he supposed he was about to find out. Hopefully it would carry on this strange ritual of theirs. The quiet reverent atmosphere was likely the only thing keeping him from getting laughed at majorly.


    Then again that might just come later when Jarix and Zarko would undoubtedly spill the beans on how his day had been. But how was he supposed to know that the anchor for the old hoisting block wouldn¡¯t hold an overgrown wolf? Surely that thing had been made to haul up tons¡­ At least it sounded like he could get Jarix to help him with the ruined remains of his bounty once this religious stuff was all taken care of. He just hoped the pelt wasn¡¯t mangled too badly.


    The hope of having it used as a carpet with head and all was definitely gone now. Said head was currently popping and smoldering on the fire with the rest of the sacrifices. Hopefully they could still make something nice out of what was left. Perhaps a carpet for the bed or something. He had no idea what to do with the rest of it. It was not gonna be good eating, he was fairly sure of that, and he had kinda guessed he would just sacrifice the whole thing. But that had rather spectacularly failed, and the fire was nowhere near big enough. He also really didn¡¯t feel like skinning it right there and now. He might have to do that anyway though.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡®Maybe they will at least let me wait till morning,¡¯ he sighed to himself as he stared blankly into the flames. He was tired, which meant the dragonettes surely had to be struggling to stay on their feet at all. Tom did glance about quickly, catching a few nodding heads.


    ¡®Don¡¯t seem ready for much of a feast,¡¯ he concluded, looking back to the old man as he seemingly finished his work. ¡®I guess I could try to do something cool with the bones. Stone age arts and crafts or something.¡¯


    As Apuma stepped back, Nunuk began to mutter some sort of prayer, too quietly for Tom to hear. Then Apuma raised his arms and the flames billowed into the sky, standing meters tall.


    ¡°Fuuucking hell!¡± Tom broke out as the platform lit up bright as day save for the yellow tint.


    The roar was awesome and he could feel the heat on his skin. He was inventing marshmallows for next year. Behind him Jacky chuckled a bit and went ¡°Wooosh¡± as they both watched the fire and smoke climb into the sky.


    ¡°How the hell did he do that?¡± Tom questioned aloud as the flames started to fade once more, the show having lasted maybe 20 to 30 seconds.


    ¡°Magic of course,¡± Jacky said, clearly finding the answer obvious.


    ¡°Yes, I get that part but¡­ the energy consumption?¡±


    ¡°Oooh, I remember that actually,¡± Jacky replied, much to Tom¡¯s surprise. ¡°He¡¯s just moving air about, not making fire. Something about a chimney¡­ Okay maybe just ask him,¡± Jacky admitted, giving him a bit of a squeeze.


    ¡°Huh¡­ might just have to. That could be quite handy.¡±


    Nunuk had been standing arms wide as if worshiping the fire, her arms only coming down as the fire receded once more. Turning her back to the fire, Tom could see there was still a bit left, but it had been reduced greatly.


    ¡°Now, we have paid our homage, and should of course have our last autumn feast.¡±


    There were a few murmurs and nods from around the platform, though not all seemed overly enthused.


    ¡°But alas, the hour is late. So I propose this instead. Take your beds for now, and in the morning we spend the day preparing this fine catch. Then we feast in the evening, a fitting send off for those who have aided us this year. I do believe Grevi and Tiguan should both arrive come noon tomorrow,¡± the old Lady carried on, more nods being exchanged at that idea. Tom had to agree he was feeling knackered already.


    ¡°Nice warm deer all around, ey?¡± Wiperna questioned aloud, more nods and sounds of approval being shared. Tom did notice Fengi lower her ears a bit, though he wasn¡¯t quite sure why.


    ¡°Do dragons like wolf?¡± Tom questioned, eliciting a few chuckles from around the crowd as the serious atmosphere slowly evaporated.


    ¡°What say you, Jarix? Do they?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had it myself. I don¡¯t see why not,¡± the dragon replied, looking down to Tom. ¡°They do look cool.¡±


    ¡°It tastes quite foul I believe,¡± Zarko added, shaking her head. ¡°You would not like it.¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t mind fowl. Duck is my favorite.¡±


    ¡°No, Jarix. Oh never mind,¡± The lieutenant sighed in reply as she started to turn back to lecture the dragon, giving up and simply letting him be.


    ¡°Well if you wanna try a bite feel free,¡± Tom said with a bemused chuckle. He could use a little dumbfuckery to liven things up right about now, it had been a shit day, but surely that was the past now.


    ¡°Oh you find it funny, do you? Remind me, why was it you look like that right now?¡± the dragon jested, clearly set on making Tom¡¯s prediction wrong.


    Tom did spare a glance down at himself, and he was still absolutely covered in mud.


    ¡°Camouflage duh,¡± Jacky said, trying to help out. Alas, Tom was quite sure it wouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Oh no, no. See whe-¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    As Jarix began to recount the day¡¯s events from his point of view, Saph elected to stay and listen. A fair few others had decided it was time for bed, Esmeralda tasking Kokashi with remembering it all for her so she could hear in the morning.


    Nunuk and Apuma had of course headed for bed, though both Dakota and Rachuck were certainly listening intently.


    Tom had seemingly wanted to go, but Jacky had put a stop to that, holding him close, getting dirty in the process. To start with she was probably hoping Tom could disprove whatever the teenage dragon had to say, but as time went on it became clear she wanted to hear all this too.


    The endless driving in circles, not finding anything all day, the complaining things weren¡¯t fair, getting stuck in the mud just like he had made fun of her for doing back in late spring.


    Tom had shrunk a little as all his misfortunes were retold in great detail, much to the amusement of them all. There had been some discussions on just how that big patch of blood came into being, and why in the gods¡¯ names he had decided to not run the fuck away when he saw it.


    In the end they worked out that Fengi was the one responsible for the carnage. The young huntress had long since departed for bed, having looked ready to fall asleep where she stood during the ritual. Which was a shame, it was rather funny that she had inadvertently gotten Tom his only chance at a kill all day.


    Tom had seemingly found it less amusing, even getting a touch defensive about the seeming lack of skill in just finding anything on his first solo hunt. They had teased him a fair bit about how in the past it had always been them who had decided where to go.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, fuck a duck, I¡¯m going to bed. After getting all this shit washed off.¡±


    ¡°I was about to say, you are not going to bed like that, no way.¡±


    ¡°Fires are lit in the kitchen, Koko is tending tonight,¡± Saph added, feeling like the human deserved to have a bone thrown to him after all that. Besides, he had actually scored a fine wolf. Even if he failed at handling it afterwards, ¡®No silver rank for him this year, that¡¯s for sure.¡¯


    ¡°Thanks, but I think I¡¯ll just do cold. I wanna get to bed.¡±


    ¡°No no Tom, there¡¯s hot water for the hot water skins, remember?¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± the human questioned, looking bewildered, all eyes turning to Jacky.


    ¡°What? I don¡¯t need any with him around, he¡¯s so much better anyway.¡±


    ¡°Oooooh,¡± the human went, things apparently clicking, ¡°So that¡¯s what the big pot was for.¡±


    ¡°What did you think it was for?¡± Sapphire questioned, bewildered at how he could have not guessed that.


    ¡°Soup?¡±


    ¡°Tom, haven¡¯t you had kitchen duty in the last few months?¡±


    ¡°Uuuhm¡­ no?¡± he replied sheepishly, a few grumbles around the room getting exchanged.


    ¡°He has had far too much to do,¡± Jacky interjected before anyone could start accusing him of dodging chores. Saph had to concede that, yeah. She didn¡¯t intend on berating the human, since he worked harder than them all. It just wasn¡¯t in the kitchen, which was fine. Though she did rather miss some of his previous experiments.


    ¡°I mean, yeah,¡± Tom replied, not seeming quite sure what to say. ¡°I¡¯ll go have a bath.¡±


    And with that the human had pulled free of Jacky and started walking off. She followed right after him of course, her front likely in need of a bath as well having gotten all muddy. The remaining dragonettes exchanged a few glances before heading for bed as well. Sapphire didn¡¯t have a clue what time it was, but she was tired as hell so she definitely approved of the decission.


    ¡°Night night, Jarix.¡±


    ¡°Good night,¡± the dragon replied, looking towards the open hall door, which led to the chilly outside. ¡°Could someone close that please?¡±


    ¡°I got it, get your big bum inside proper,¡± Zarko went, walking to the controls as Jarix got up and moved inside a bit more.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the dragon replied, lowering his head and his voice to try and whisper, which they could all still hear.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think Baron will be mad I sleep in here, right?¡±


    ¡°I think he will only be grumbley that he is now the only one with nothing over his head.¡±


    ¡°Well he should bring a tent then, duh.¡±


    Sapphire chuckled a bit at the exchange as she too headed upstairs with the rest of them. She made it all the way to the bedroom door, sticking the useless key in the hole and turning just as a hand was laid upon her shoulder.


    ¡°Good evening,¡± Maiko went with a chuckle from behind her, likely having followed her all the way up without getting noticed.


    Saph gave a quick start before turning around to look at him, ¡°Oh you rascal, you startled me.¡±


    ¡°Oh did I? Terribly sorry,¡± he went with a dumb grin, Sapphire contemplating if she should give him a shove or not for that.


    ¡°Well then, here to share a bit of that honey you bought? Actually, why did you buy that? We have sugar here?¡±


    ¡°Well I am not staying here now, am I? Sounds like we are leaving day after tomorrow,¡± he replied nonchalantly, like that was no big deal.


    Saph just stared at him silently in surprise. She hadn¡¯t thought about that at all. But of course he would be going with Baron, how couldn¡¯t he, he was part of Baron¡¯s crew after all.


    Maiko kept up the carefree facade for but a few seconds as Sapphire descended into thoughts of just what to do now. She had started to rather like the guy, and she had almost forgotten he wasn¡¯t actually part of the keep at all. And as the crushing realization came down on her that she would be alone in her room all winter, the absolute bastard of a man started to laugh.


    ¡°Oooh I got you good there, nah I¡¯m staying. Victoria¡¯s orders actually.¡±


    Now Saph wanted to slap him properly, and she might have done so actually if not for that last part. ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she doesn¡¯t want you all left with just the inquisition. Who knows how accurate any resulting reports might be.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± was all Sapphire had to say to that as she pondered. ¡°Starting to think you might become a permanent station here?... Also wait, what¡¯s wrong with Zarko for that?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm. Well you see,¡± the corporal tried, seemingly struggling to explain that one away. easily.


    ¡°Maiko¡­ what did you do to get stationed here all winter?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ asked nicely?¡±


    ¡°Really now? You aren¡¯t spying on us, are you?¡±


    ¡°Who mee? Noooo, I would make a terrible spy, I¡¯m much too personable,¡± he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.


    Saph just looked at him like ¡®really dude,¡¯ shaking her head a little. ¡°Should I start worrying about you making moves on Fengi next? Tom might be a bit of a stretch even for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know, that artificer girl seems quite nice,¡± he jokingly replied, Sapphire rolling her eyes.


    ¡°I swear if you lay a hand on her ass we will cut it off.¡±


    ¡°Hey, wooo now, no reason to be so drastic,¡± he chuckled. ¡°But what guy doesn¡¯t want all the girls?¡±


    ¡°What? You want me to go get my friends? Maybe I should fetch Herron, if more is better?¡±


    ¡°Hey now, whatever you feel would be fun,¡± he snickered, pushing up against her a little closer.


    ¡°Oh get off, you,¡± she sighed, effortlessly pushing him off. ¡°Keep this up and you are staying on the floor. Not much spying to be done from there.¡±


    ¡°Well I might just go sleep with Yldril then, she¡¯s warming up nicely.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how you did that dude, but good on you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a way with the ladies.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, I remember you in the caves, you sniveling little whelp.¡±


    ¡°Well it worked, didn¡¯t it?¡±

 Chapter 196: Frozen Thorn

    There was a strange cold feeling at the table as Tom looked around, all the people felt tense in the well-lit wide hall. He glanced at the many trophies lining the hall, his gaze landing on the big draconic skull hanging over the lord''s table. ¡®Huh¡­ that wasn¡¯t¡­ wha?¡¯


    ¡°You should smile more, Joelina,¡± a mocking male voice called out to his left. Turning, he recognized the weathered face of Inquisitor Harvik as he quickly snapped into lucidity.


    ¡°And why is that, sir?¡± the familiar voice of the younger Joelina responded as Tom cursed to himself.  ¡®Not this again, fucking hell it was going so well.¡¯


    ¡°It helps ease the poor souls. This is all mutually beneficial after all: we keep their little secret and they lend us a sled,¡± the inquisitor chuckled, going back to his wine, seemingly without a care in the world as he sat betwixt the people he was threatening into cooperation.


    ¡®Well this seems familiar,¡¯ Tom sighed to himself as he watched through the eyes of a woman he was fairly sure wouldn¡¯t see anything wrong with that at all.


    As she glanced at the cup of wine for a moment as if to consider if she wanted some, she surprised Tom by pushing it away.


    ¡®Oooh? Is someone wary? Poison maybe?¡¯


    ¡°Yes, you mentioned sleds, sir. Quite what are we supposed to be doing here? You clearly know these people well, yet don¡¯t tell us?¡± Joelina questioned, looking to the inquisitor, who seemed in better cheer than he had ever been before to Tom.


    ¡°Sled,¡± he corrected merrily. ¡°And why must you prod and pry? Where is your sense of adventure?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sir.¡±


    There was a pause from the inquisitor as the smile faded a touch. He had clearly been expecting more.


    ¡°That¡¯s it? That was your line of questioning? Blunt as a hammer and as persistent as a spring shower?¡± The mirth had left the old man in a flash, and Tom felt Joelina¡¯s heart pick up, evidently thinking she had made some grave mistake. He could even feel her draw a sharp breath, though she didn¡¯t glance away. Rather she turned to the inquisitor, though not looking him in the eyes.


    ¡°I was not questioning, sir, simply making polite conversation.¡±


    The older man stared at her for a moment, his eyes cold and seeking, like he was looking for tells.


    ¡°There is no such thing as polite conversation for you, cadet. There never will be again.¡± He looked back to his meal and ripped off a chunk of meat from the bone of whatever it was they were eating. ¡°I did not think much of the latest work of the Citadel, but I must say I expected them to at least get that right. I suppose this explains some things.¡±


    ¡°You wish me to attempt to interrogate you, sir?¡± Joelina questioned, eyes front still and sitting stiffly.


    Tom couldn¡¯t help but ponder what the inquisitor meant by ¡®explains some things.¡¯  As far as he could remember Joelina had acquitted herself very well thus far, even earning praise from the clearly rather grim inquisitor.


    ¡°No¡­ but you should be. There is no traitor more damning than the one on the inside. Or do they not teach those stories anymore?¡±


    ¡°They do, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then do your job, cadet. If not for our sake, then at least for yours.¡±


    Tom had no clue who they might be referring to, but he could feel that Joelina did. Perhaps it was the inquisitor who had helped the mad queen steal the ship all those years back that Paulin mentioned, but as he understood it, it was the church who had put an end to that incident not the inquisition.


    ¡°Sir yes sir,¡± she replied, turning back to her food almost mechanically, heart still hammering as she once more glanced at the wine glass.


    ¡°Bloody Hashaws, nothing but army people sick with pomp,¡± Harvik spat out dejectedly before reaching past her, getting uncomfortably close, and picking up her cup of wine. ¡°Let me see if that is poisoned.¡± He downed it in a single motion, waiting for a moment. ¡°... Seems not. Here you go.¡± He put the cup back, slamming it into the table forcefully, causing Joelina to start.


    That too gained his attention, slowly turning to look at her, still uncomfortably close. She could even feel his breath on her face as he glared at her.


    ¡°Or maybe not a soldier this time¡­ maybe a tavern guard, though one would expect someone like that to be used to a cup being moved about.¡±


    Joelina didn¡¯t reply, simply sitting there motionless, though Tom could feel her starting to seethe now. She was scared of this man, but she was starting to hate him too.


    ¡®Just as proud as Victoria then¡­ good to know.¡¯ Tom thought to himself, as Harvik pulled back to sit properly once more.


    Joelina gave a few quick glances about the room, taking note of who had seen the interaction. Most pretended they hadn¡¯t seen anything, which often only made them more obvious. A notable exception was Glazz, who was sitting opposite the two of them. She was looking at Joelina and slowly shaking her head side to side disapprovingly.


    He could feel her rapid shallow breaths, her fists clenching, but she did not move and did not speak. Tom guessed she was trying to deduce what she had done wrong. Tom couldn¡¯t hear her think. But he could sorta¡­ feel it? It wasn¡¯t an easy thing to describe, but when she got angry, or sad, or scared, he could feel the reaction clear as day, and it leaked, much like all these damn mind games tended to do.


    The feast carried on, and Tom took some time people-watching. It was all but a charade. No one was actually enjoying themselves, they simply pretended, likely for the sake of the inquisitor. Smiles and laughter filled the air, fake laughs and shallow jokes. The kind performed by terrible actors at local town shows.


    Joelina however did not do much save keep up the polite appearance of enjoying the food, along with a cup of fresh water. She was thinking, and she was thinking very hard. And Tom couldn¡¯t help but feel a pull, like her mind wanted to go somewhere.


    To begin with he ignored it, but as he grew bored looking at those poor people playing charades in the torchlit hall, he started to try and concentrate on the feeling. Maybe it was his key to make this accursed thing end. It had been plenty long already for his taste.


    The more he focused on the feeling the stronger it became. It really was a pull, in some ways it almost reminded him of when Joelina had dragged him through his memories before, what little he could remember aside from the pain. He could feel his head throb of course, but it was but a distant concern, something beyond his control. This pull though, this he could focus on.


    He almost startled himself as Joelina blinked and her eyes opened to a wholly new scene. The wind was biting her skin, snow swirling all around. She was sitting on one of a pair of those sleds they had used to hunt the Ferinix as it cut through the snow under a sunlit sky, the strange hound looking creatures hauling away towards a mound on the horizon.


    She was huddled up under a pile of thick furs, and Tom could feel something warm under there, likely the only thing keeping her alive right now considering the cold.


    ¡°Any idea why he wants to go to that old place?¡± a man called out from behind her. He sounded out of breath, so Tom guessed he was running alongside to keep warm for now.


    ¡°No¡­ nor why he was so pointed about a sled.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We have two?¡± the voice called over the wind. Tom recognized him now; he was one of the other cadets that had been assigned to the inquisitor.


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it is for Chaika?¡± the man tried again, Joelina throwing a quick glance behind her to where the dragon could be seen trotting through the snow, throwing up great big loads of white powder as he moved.


    ¡®Why are they not on the dragon? Why is he not flying?¡¯ Tom questioned to himself as he noticed the black smudges on the dragon¡¯s side, and large nets of¡­ coal?


    Just as quickly as she had turned, Joelina looked back ahead and grumbled, ¡°A bit late for that now.¡±


    ¡®Why are they doing this? It doesn¡¯t make any sense?¡¯ Tom pondered, trying his hardest to try and work it out, but to no avail. He needed to know more. The feeling was still there, and as he concentrated on it harder and harder, Joelina blinked. The scene instantly changed to some decrepit yet decently vast corridor lit by nothing but the torches and lamps they were all holding. They were all running, or rather jogging through the corridor. And Tom felt so cold, so incredibly cold.


    Snow had long since made it inside, and the only respite they were finding was from the wind. He could feel how Joelina was willing every step, her body fighting back, wanting nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep. Tom had little doubt doing so would be fatal right now.


    ¡°Why are we here, sir?¡± Joelina called out as they all kept up the pace. Only now did Tom notice the Lord from the fortress, or whatever it was, was still with them, and he did not speak a word, only throwing her a glance.


    ¡°You will know soon enough,¡± Harvik replied as he turned, coming to a stop at a very intricate metal door, roughly two meters tall and one across. ¡°We are here.¡±


    The inquisitor beheld the door for but a moment, a smile creeping onto his face. ¡°Rixar, are you ready to do your duty?¡± Joelina looked to a thus far silent figure who simply nodded in reply. Tom made note of the belt of tools she seemed to carry, as well as a bit of silver visible poking out under her tight-fitting hood.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Very well, I did promise you the trip would be worth it.¡± And with that the inquisitor reached inside his thick winter coat, pulling out some sort of necklace. It glowed faintly, a sickly green color as the inquisitor inspected it with reverence. Then he stuck it into an appropriate hole in the door and turned. Clicks and whirrs were heard and he let out a groan, going slightly weak in the knees for but a moment. Tom guessed magic was at play in moving the mechanism then.


    Glazz was at his side looking ready to catch him, though she was not needed. Soon the door gave a final click, then a hiss of air blew away some of the loose snow and Harvik pushed the heavy metal door open.


    Tom waited anxiously as they all made it inside one by one, and what they were faced with was a big pile of stuff covered with a tarp.


    ¡®What is this now?¡¯ Tom questioned as Joelina glanced about, noting a large door on the right. ¡®Oh is this a warehouse then? This far north?¡¯


    Harvik walked up to the tarp confident as could be and grabbed a corner, heaving and running to the far corner, pulling it off.


    What it uncovered was some sort of¡­ machine. Wrought from bare iron, colored by nothing but oil and coal dust. A massive hunk of metal, covered in pipes and valves at least 10 meters in length. Two chimneys upfront vented from a pair of long cylindrical boilers placed side by side. The front rested on skis, pointed and affixed with leaf spring suspension like something found on a train car.


    The rear rested on wide metal tracks, almost as wide as the whole vehicle Tom guessed, a pair of simple pistons driving it via chain and sprocket.


    ¡°What in the-¡± someone exclaimed aloud as Harvik turned back to them all, evidently excited.


    ¡°And you thought we could go no further north!¡±


    Joelina just stared at the slumbering beast of steel and brass, Tom taking the time to note down what details he could manage as she slowly let out ¡°Is that-¡±


    ¡°A blessed machine,¡± Rixar erupted, stepping forth and taking off her hood despite the cold. ¡°Its warmth shall shield us all.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it is getting rather nippy is it not?¡± Inquisitor Harvik added, turning towards the larger door, large enough for the machine to pass through for sure. "Glazz, get our dear friend¡¯s attention, he shall have to dig the door free for us.¡±


    Glazz responded with a nod, walking up to the door and starting to bang on a bracing girder with the warhammer that had been hanging at her side.


    As the clang of metal on metal rang out Harvik got them all to work preparing the machine for departure.


    ¡®Where the hell are they going?¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Poor Tom, '' Saph chuckled to herself as she saw the slightly depressed human stare at the wolf carcass as Jarix unceremoniously dumped it on the platform. It was a bloody mess, but with some stitching and a thorough clean, Saph supposed the pelt could be salvaged together with whatever bones hadn''t been shattered.


    Everyone had tried not to be too rude last night considering it was a holy evening, but alas there had been plenty of chuckles and murmurs this morning, especially after Yldril had recounted her side of the story. For once Sapphire believed the dragon. She had clearly enjoyed telling it too, and even Fengi was smiling, which made Sapphire all warm inside despite the cold air. It was a bit of a shame it had to be at Tom¡¯s expense, but that¡¯s how it was sometimes.


    The black dragon wasn¡¯t even complaining as she assisted Fengi with the preparations to spit mount the deer from the hunt. The largest buck was set aside as Yldril¡¯s personal deer, which delighted her greatly, and doubtlessly annoyed Baron to no end, even if the venerable old red wouldn¡¯t spill it.


    ¡®Gotta lend a hand if you want the prime cuts,¡¯ Saph had chuckled to herself at his grumbly expression, before she had headed back up to the greeting hall to see about preparing her jackalopes for smoking.


    And so there she sat chuckling to herself as the human just stared at his kill, seemingly clueless about what to do now. He certainly had his work cut out for him today, though his problem was clearly lack of skill rather than size of kill. At least he had Jacky to help him out.


    The two of them had already gotten started earlier with the birds Jacky scored yesterday, which they had taken to boiling in butter and potting, which sounded like it would turn out very good indeed.


    They did use potted meats every now and again, but the amount of butter that you needed rather limited it. This year, though, they had plenty of butter to work with.


    ¡®I still don¡¯t get how he said he used to be a hunter. How can you not know how to properly skin something if you are a hunter?¡¯ Sapphire questioned to herself as she cut her jackalope meat into strips ready for smoking in the little hut. She knew well enough that the lean meat wouldn¡¯t end up tasting great, but for winter, survival was what mattered, and lean game meat could keep very well if given a little care.


    They should of course be just fine for winter, but no one ever froze to death from having too many supplies, and with all the off cuts from building the barn they hadn¡¯t even needed to do that much more work for firewood. Tom¡¯s escapades with the quad earlier in autumn had of course helped as well.


    It still needed to be split and laid to dry of course, which Herron and Kulinger were hard at work with today. Or more likely Kulinger was making sure Heron was working hard. That could be a hard job in and of itself.


    Ray was still cleaning up after the fire yesterday, but at least it wasn¡¯t just her working her ass off. Pho and Bo were boiling bones in the kitchen, which had Saph very excited. Jellied meats had to be one of her favorite ways they could preserve it out here. That or smoked hog. Deer always got so dry, and the fowl ended up dry as sand. Sausages were usually great too of course, but they took quite a lot more work. This year they had plenty of bought sausage though, so that would be good.


    Wiperna and Raulf were busy down below separating the handful of goats away from the hogs after the two had apparently gotten into a fight. The new arrivals didn¡¯t need to stay long, so they had just hammered together some improvised fencing for the time being. The goats were going to Dervia as their final gift to their neighbors of the year. There had been some talk of sending Yldril with them, but they had dropped the idea after talks of just what Tiguan might say about her. Best to have that encounter happen on their own turf, and with Baron and Jarix around. But they did need to send them over somehow, so it would likely be Jarix¡¯s job. Saph didn¡¯t actually know. Maybe some of her jerky could go with too. They probably needed it more after all. Saph just snickered to herself at what the faces might be when they received a box of jackalope Jerky.


    ¡®Hehe¡­ I wonder if Tom knows some tricks for preserving meat?¡¯ she questioned to herself, looking over to the human. He and Jacky had managed to get the wolf onto a rack to make it easier to work on, though the smiles and spark normally between the two of them when they worked didn¡¯t seem to be there today.


    Sapphire furrowed her brow as she watched the two of them work in silence. ¡®Did he take it that hard yesterday?... really?¡¯ Saph couldn¡¯t really get herself to believe that. He had taken quite a lot of abuse over the year. The dressing up, them sorta messing up his hair a little, that time they put him on Kokashi¡¯s back. But had this finally done it? That didn¡¯t seem quite right.


    ¡®Maybe Jacky said something stupid and he¡¯s mad at her or something?... I guess that isn¡¯t exactly an impossible story to believe¡­¡¯


    She sat there working and watching for a bit longer pondering, finally noticing that Tom was wearing some sort of earring. She had never seen him do that willingly before.


    ¡®Why would he put that on?... Did he lose a bet with someone over yesterday maybe? Or might be Jacky actually, come to think of it. Oh poor guy. It just keeps going for him today then.¡¯ She did actually feel sorry for him, but it was also a little funny. The human finally loses a bet and while playing huntress no less.


    ¡®Oh well, if you miss the shot you lose the arrow. Maybe food will take his mind off things.¡¯ It sounded just about right to Sapphire. It definitely didn¡¯t have anything to do with her wanting to know if he had any good ideas before she cut up all of the jackalopes.


    She got up and sauntered over, knife still in hand, just as much looking to see how the two were getting on with the big wolf.


    The answer was not great, judging by the amount of tears in the shaggy pelt. ¡®Oh dear¡­ Oh well.¡¯


    ¡°Hey Tom?¡± she opened, waiting for the human to turn his attention to her, which he eventually did, even if Jacky kept working. He looked a bit tired, eyes slightly droopy, and she could swear he had dark spots under them too.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I was just wondering, how do you preserve meat for winter back home? You know, potted meats, jerky, all that stuff. I remember some of that jerky you had; it tasted divine.¡±


    The human did at least seem to not mind too much, even if he didn¡¯t exactly liven up at the line of questioning.


    ¡°Oh we have fresh supplies year-round, but we often freeze things to make it last much longer.¡±


    ¡°What, just put it outside in the cold?¡± Saph had heard of places doing that farther north, but around these parts you couldn¡¯t trust it to remain freezing all day and night for that long.


    ¡°Well back in the old days sure, but now we just use a cold box. Frost powder should replicate that easily enough, I think.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ oooooh,¡± Sapphire went as she realized. ¡°Wait! You made one of those, didn¡¯t you? Well duh, we used it, why are we smoking stuff then?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm¡­ I mean we would have to insulate it¡­ and it would be quite a lot of frost powder...¡± the human trailed off as his mind seemed to slowly wander through the idea.


    ¡°Tom, we have kilos of the stuff. You asked for it, remember?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so, yeah¡­ I guess we can make more than just ice cream with that¡­ how would we insulate it I wonder?¡±


    ¡°Would blankets work?¡± Jacky interjected, seemingly happy to leave her work for now. She did seem to be doing better than the human, though she still seemed a touch more somber than normal.


    ¡°I mean¡­ a little. We would really want something a bit better than that, though. Hmm...¡± The human once more descended into thought, rubbing his hairy chin like he so often did while thinking.


    Saph and Jacky let him, but before too long Sapphire¡¯s curiosity got the better of her. The strange new earring was dangling on full display right in front of her.


    ¡°Where did you get that by the way? Did you give it to him?¡± Saph questioned, glancing to Jacky. ¡°Looks good on you.¡±


    Tom didn¡¯t answer, instead throwing a glance at Jacky, still rubbing his facial hair.


    ¡°No, Joelina did¡­ she wants a talk.¡±


    ¡°She wanted a talk 2 days ago,¡± Tom grumbled as he carried on pondering. ¡°My bad that one. But the least she could do was pick up today.¡±


    ¡°Oh shit it¡¯s those kinds of earrings. Wait, Joelina didn¡¯t answer?¡± Sapphire questioned. That didn¡¯t sound right at all. Joelina putting Tom behind the wing? Then again, an inquisitor might have many things to do in a day, or perhaps the earrings didn¡¯t work quite right. She¡¯d heard many tales of magical items either giving up the ghost or starting to act strangely over the years, especially if not maintained right. Perhaps they hadn¡¯t been used for a long time.


    ¡°Yup¡­ beats me. Anyway, if I drop like a sack of shit that¡¯s probably why, just in case, you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind,¡± Sapphire replied with a slow nod. ¡°... Anyway, to get back to where we were. We could freeze fruits and stuff, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ shame we don¡¯t have any more berries or I could have made jam,¡± the human responded, seeming quite happy to not talk about Joelina any more than necessary.


    ¡°What is Jam?¡± Sapphire questioned as Jacky too looked to the human, clearly interested now.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s a sweet fruit preserve¡­ like potted meats, but for fruit. You just use sugar rather than butter. If that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Potted fruits¡­¡± Sapphire repeated to herself. She had heard of people preserving fruits in honey, so maybe this was the same sort of thing then? That would be amazing. ¡°We need some more berries then, don¡¯t we?¡± she questioned, looking to Jacky.


    ¡°Last hunt was yesterday,¡± Jacky replied with a shrug.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ hmmm,¡± Sapphire grumbled, glancing around the room as if that would somehow provide an answer. ¡°Oh what about Deriva? We could just ask for theirs?¡±


    ¡°You want to steal Deriva¡¯s berries? This year?¡± Even Jacky seemed uncomfortable with that idea. Saph did have to agree a little bit that it didn¡¯t sound very good when you put it like that. But still, potted fruits.


    ¡°Oh come on, we are getting them goats and stuff, remember all the things we gave them? Salt, flour, salted meats, smoked meats?¡±


    ¡°Shame we can¡¯t do canning,¡± Tom then went with a shrug. ¡°Gonna need to make a cannery.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡± Sapphire questioned once more, turning her attention back to the human.


    ¡°Oh, uhm¡­ Metal cans for meats and stuff. You boil the contents in the can after sealing it, so it¡¯s sterilized. Done right and it¡¯ll last for decades, good stuff.¡±


    Saph and Jacky glanced to each other at that little revelation and just nodded in unison.


    ¡°Yeah, adding that to the list.¡±


    ¡°Maybe next year. But if you can get me some berries, I can make jam. If not, then we can always just make some more candies. Those last forever too.¡±


    ¡°Iiii¡¯m gonna go find Nunuk,¡± Saph concluded, turning away. She was so having some of this jam this winter. That sounded amazing on top of some nice fresh juicy jackalope fresh from the freezer. That would be so much better than dry smoked jerky. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the freezer either,¡± she added over her shoulder as she walked off.


    ¡®I fucking love that human.¡¯

 Chapter 197: Call Center

    Tom pondered the problem of how to insulate the freezer for a bit as Sapphire headed off. He thought he might just have a solution: sawdust. They definitely had plenty of it with all the construction going on, and it should work well enough. At least for a first attempt. Now he just needed to find the carpenter and ask him just where exactly they had put all the excess from cutting planks and beams. Hopefully they hadn¡¯t burned it all.


    He had tried to get released from carving up the direwolf he had mangled. Jacky, however, wasn¡¯t having it. The reassurances that he was fine, and that it wouldn¡¯t take long, had fallen on deaf ears. Eventually, Dakota had come to the rescue when she came by to see how things were going. She was apparently doing a tour of the whole keep. A brief explanation later she had been cajoled into working on the wolf while Jacky and Tom scampered off.


    He didn¡¯t want to tell Jacky, but his head was still feeling a little funny after the night¡¯s events, though things seemed to be going alright thus far. What he didn¡¯t understand was why Joelina hadn¡¯t picked up this morning. It was damn well his turn to ask some questions, stupid dream, cutting off just as it started getting good.


    She was probably going to be rather pissed with him for being two days late on their little agreement, and he just hoped she hadn¡¯t gotten worse. They did kinda need her after all now. Maybe Glazz had put her under house arrest for the time being, who knew.


    ¡®Actually, why didn¡¯t she have Paulin remind me?¡¯ Tom pondered to himself as he started to make his way down the stairs, Jacky following along behind him dutifully. Surely this would warrant Joelina using that fancy paper stuff to just have Paulin poke him in case he forgot. ¡®Maybe she really has been given detention?¡¯


    Tom started to imagine what that just might look like as he went further down the stairs. Joelina strapped down to a bed against her will, cursing and shouting as the stoic Glazz just shook her head disapprovingly. Maybe Glazz just shut the door to her room and locked it. If an inquisitor even had a room, he honestly had no idea. If she did though, it probably came with an escape tunnel or some other strange surprises.


    His daydreaming was cut short as something jumped onto his back, latching on. It was a little heavier than normal as Tom looked back to Kiran with a chuckle, Jacky having stepped aside to let the little guy through.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to have classes right now?¡±


    ¡°No, we done for today,¡± the little guy stated brashly as he set about climbing up to his preferred spot.


    ¡°You sure?... also you are getting too big for that.¡±


    The little guy would not listen, simply draping himself over Tom¡¯s head with his tail hanging down over Tom¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°No, I still fit.¡±


    ¡°Not for much longer. At this rate you¡¯ll have to swap me out for Jarix sooner or later.¡±


    ¡°Then you need Yldril, I sure Fengi will let you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she would, not sure Yldril would be too happy though,¡± Tom countered as he set off down the stairs once more.


    ¡°She not important, she evil. She eat children.¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ Who told you that?¡± Tom questioned. He honestly didn¡¯t even know if that might be true, which was really saying something.


    ¡°She told Rakshaza, I think he was being annoying.¡±


    ¡°Ahr.¡± That sounded in character to Tom, and at least they knew the dragon couldn¡¯t actually hurt any of them.


    ¡°Yes, Vigon told Racki that he couldn¡¯t go poke her in the ear.¡±


    ¡°So you were pestering the massive black dragon¡­¡± Tom let out a sizable internal sigh. ¡®I guess we did a bit too good of a job convincing you black dragons aren¡¯t dangerous.¡¯


    ¡°She¡¯s mean, so it¡¯s okay. Essy wasn¡¯t very happy though, she shouted at them a bunch.¡±


    ¡°I can see why.¡±


    ¡°What you mean? She¡¯s bad,¡± Kiran questioned, clearly puzzled by Tom taking Esmeralda¡¯s side in this.


    ¡°I know I know, but Fengi is trying to teach her to not be bad. You are making it harder for Fengi if you make her mad all the time.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh¡­ I think Fengi should just be nice to someone else.¡±


    Tom sighed a bit as his boots finally hit dirt once more and he had a look around, checking for any sign of the carpenter.


    ¡°You know if we were just going down we didn¡¯t need to take the stairs,¡± Jacky said from behind him, Tom stopping his searching to have a think.


    ¡°Ahr,¡± was all he had to say in response as he glanced back at Jacky. She just seemed bemused. ¡°Well you could have said something.¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted to pick up something along the way.¡±


    ¡°No no, I just needed Kulinger.¡±


    ¡°Oh well he¡¯s right over there,¡± Jacky replied, pointing at where Tom could now make out the carpenter along with Wiperna and Raulf, seemingly busy working on some fencing by one of the small barns which he believed the oxen lived in during winter.


    Judging by the two goats that were currently outside of said fence, it didn¡¯t seem to be going swimmingly.


    Tom sauntered on over, Kiran raising his head to look around before going right back to getting comfy. Jacky followed after them at a more sedate pace. There was no one and nothing to worry about down here after all.


    ¡°Ahr Kullinger, a moment of your time if I may?¡±


    ¡°Of course Tom, what is it?¡± the carpenter questioned, not looking up from his work where he seemed to be sawing a strange-looking plank to length, probably an off-cut from the warehouse cladding.


    ¡°I- I need to sit down,¡± Tom replied, tone switching as he felt the familiar poking sensation jabbing into his skull. Much to the carpenter¡¯s confusion of course as he finally turned to look, Raulf and Wiperna looking up as well. ¡°I- I¡¯ll just sit down here.¡±


    Jacky was right there of course, helping him down onto a wooden stump Kullinger had been using, Wiperna quick to help as well. Kiran craned his head to look at Tom¡¯s face. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, need us to get some water or something?¡± Wiperna questioned, caring as ever.


    ¡°No no, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll uhm¡­ be back in a bit, someone is calling.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°What are you doing here, Dakota? Someone¡¯s work not up to standard?¡± Saph questioned as she came back down from the upper rooms, finding Dakota of all people working on Tom¡¯s wolf.


    Dakota glanced back at Sapphire with a brief note of surprise. ¡°Ahr Saph, good timing. Say, you wouldn¡¯t have the time to finish this up, would you? There is much to do today.¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ not really. Just had a chat with Nunuk, and she thinks maybe we could have Jarix fetch some uhm¡­ things, for Tom. From Deriva.¡±


    ¡°Oh. What things? Bit late now, should have let them know yesterday when Baron did his rounds.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ berries,¡± Sapphire admitted a little sheepishly.


    ¡°You want berries?¡± Dakota questioned, sounding rather disappointed in Sapphire, which Saph did understand but at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s to make jam,¡± she tried, hoping that maybe she could convince their fearless leader that this was in fact a good use of time and resources.


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°Tom says it¡¯s like potted meat but for fruits and berries. It¡¯s made with sugar. I just really wanted to try it.¡±


    Dakota stared at her for a bit, seemingly still working to make up her mind. ¡°And Nunuk said yes?¡±


    ¡°Yup, I think she wanted to try some as well.¡±


    Dakota just sighed, which was enough for Sapphire to know that the plan was a go. She gave a little cheer inside and asked. ¡°Sooo, any plans for how to get them?¡±


    ¡°Baron refused to carry the goats, so we are sending either Jarix or most likely Yldril with those at some point when the weather isn¡¯t too horrible. I suppose they can bring back any berries Deriva might have stashed.¡±


    ¡°Sweet, maybe they want some of this jerky in exchange, heaven knows we¡¯ve got plenty of food for winter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are all going to be too fat to fly when spring comes, you know that right?¡± the gilded huntress sighed in reply as she got back to work on the wolf once more.


    ¡°I mean¡­ possibly? I suppose we have acquired a fairly large amount of tasty treats.¡± Saph did have to admit the amount of snacks, drinks, and other fancy foodstuffs they had bought was bordering on excessive, so maybe Dakota was on to something here. It wasn¡¯t even that long ago she had been pondering why she was even bothering making more jerky after all.


    ¡°I suppose we shall just have to do twice the amount of training in winter then. I hope you feel ready for a few hundred wingups.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, since when have I ever been out of shape?¡± Saph joked in reply, silently praying. Dakota had never been one to let them slide too far during winter, and with all the work she expected they would have this cold season, Saph dreaded to learn what a double training regiment might be like.


    ¡°There is a first time for everyone. Now why can¡¯t you see to this? I have dragons to prepare for,¡± Dakota reiterated, gesturing at the wolf she was working on.


    ¡°I, uhm.¡± Sapphire pointed at where she had left the half-finished Jackalopes. ¡°Gotta finish those up first.¡±


    ¡°All this food and we are making our own jerky still,¡± Dakota sighed, sounding conflicted on if that was a matter she should do something about.


    ¡°Can¡¯t let it go to waste,¡± Sapphire rebutted, and truthfully so, especially from the last hunt. The whole point was being grateful for what the forest gave you after all. ¡°Besides, maybe Deriva wants it.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Dakota conceded as she looked back to the mess of a wolf. That was when Herron of all people peeked up from the stairs to the kitchen.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Hey Dak, Tom¡¯s laying in the grass again, just thought you would want to know.¡±


    ¡°As in ¡®taking a nap¡¯ or as in ¡®he has been injured somehow?¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°Well, they are all standing around him looking at him.¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of. Well is anyone helping him?¡± Dakota spat back as she took the excuse to leave the wolf. Saph could hardly blame her, taking a moment to ponder the situation before deciding watching Tom was probably more entertaining than cutting jerky strips that no one was going to eat anyway.


    ¡°I mean, Jacky is there. Does she count?¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Uhm¡­ hello?¡± Tom questioned into the darkness which quickly enveloped him.


    ¡°Ahr, hello, is this Tom?¡± an unfamiliar voice replied. It sounded male? Young too.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ who is this?¡± he called back, trying to work out just what might have happened to have Joelina not be the one on the other end.


    ¡°One moment, please do not take off the earring.¡± the voice replied with a calm professional tone, almost like they had been expecting this.


    Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity: it might have been seconds, it might have been minutes, maybe even an hour. Tom simply couldn¡¯t tell.


    Then the world seemed to warble for but a moment followed by a more familiar female voice.


    ¡°Tom, is this you?¡± Joelina asked in a stately tone, if speaking perhaps a touch too slowly. It was almost reminiscent of her demeanor when Tom had first encountered her though, but something was definitely off about her.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah? Sorry about the wait,¡± Tom cautiously replied, rather surprised by the shift in her demeanor.


    ¡°IT HAS BEEN TWO DAYS!¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re right back to normal,¡± he sighed as the inquisitor fell right back into her ways.


    ¡°Do you have the faintest idea what trouble you have caused?!¡± she carried on. As she spoke she didn¡¯t sound quite so deranged as before, rather just upset, and definitely speaking slower than normal. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable.


    ¡°Hey now, to be fair, it was you who wasn¡¯t in any state to hold a conversation last time,¡± Tom defended himself, only afterward thinking that maybe that wasn¡¯t the most diplomatic way to put it.


    ¡°How dare-... no, no, there isn¡¯t the time for bickering,¡± Joelina replied, catching herself. Tom was both relieved that he was spared further tirade and worried just what might have her in such a hurry.


    ¡°Uhm, dare I ask why?¡± Tom got in before she collected herself enough to carry on.


    ¡°Clearly you dare, I managed to arrange a meeting¡­ with the high priest of Lotek, the god of travel,¡± she replied, adding the quick clarifier on the end just in case Tom wasn¡¯t following along.


    ¡°I remember yeah, you wanted to know if they knew where I was from or how I got here, right?¡±


    ¡°That is correct, yes Tom.¡±


    ¡°Aaaand?¡± Tom questioned. Of course, he knew where he was from, but any news on that mysterious voice all the way back in his office would certainly be welcome. He still had no clue who that might have been.


    ¡°They did not know,¡± Joelina stated matter of factly, without even a shift in tone.


    ¡°Well shit,¡± Tom dismissed. He had really rather hoped for something more than that. At least some mystic hint or whatever.


    ¡°You do not understand, Tom. The priest did not know, so they asked.¡±


    ¡°They asked a god?... just like that?¡± Tom asked. He of course didn¡¯t know how any of that actually worked with the priests and the gods, but it didn¡¯t sound to him like that was something which happened often.


    ¡°There is no, ¡®Just like that¡¯ with a god, Tom. It took some convincing I shall admit, but yes.¡±


    ¡°Sooo did Lotek know anything then? God of travel and all that,¡± Tom tried again, starting to feel like Joelina had definitely lost her edge, meandering around the point rather than just getting to it like she normally did.


    ¡°No¡­ which is very concerning.¡±


    ¡°Fuck me. I really am a mystery then I guess?¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­ Though the priest expressed his¡­ umh¡­¡±


    ¡°His what?¡± Tom pushed, getting just a little tired of the dancing around the point.


    ¡°Lotek wishes to see you, Tom,¡± Joelina finally went after a brief pause.


    ¡°Excuse you?¡± Tom replied, not quite sure what the implications were here.


    ¡°The god of travels wishes to see you, and I believe, more importantly, to talk with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± was just about all Tom had to say to that. ¡°What in the-¡±


    ¡°Do not besmirch his name,¡± Joelina was quick to cut him off¡ªthe first quick thing she had done today.


    ¡°No no, wasn¡¯t going to¡­ so uhm¡­ what now I guess? How does one have a chat with a god?¡±


    ¡°To converse you must enter one of his temples to pray. Most mortals would never get an answer¡­ But you must remain where you are. You do not leave the keep. Pretend as if nothing has happened and tell no one, understand? Lotek is an ancient being; he can wait a little longer.¡±


    ¡°Soo¡­ spring then?¡±


    ¡°Possibly, we shall have to see, I suppose.¡± The inquisitor did sound genuinely thoughtful for a change, not as if she gave a shit about Tom, but rather as if this was a tricky situation, even for her, to navigate.


    ¡°Right¡­ I see,¡± Tom responded, not sure what to think or do himself. It certainly dwarfed what he had intended to ask. ¡°I guess I get to see one of the big cities then?¡±


    ¡°You most likely will, yes, which poses a whole other set of concerns. Concerns which we are not ready for. Your fame is growing, human. My informants report tales of the golden skinned fire mage in taverns all over the city.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I can see how that might prove a bit tricky. One problem at a time then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is most likely the wisest path. Stay put, do not do anything rash or stupid, work through the winter, and when spring arrives we shall see what awaits us. Oh, and thank you for the lighter, it is most ingenious.¡±


    ¡°Oh you got your hands on one of those did you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was a gift from Glazz. I suppose she believed I needed one.


    ¡°Right, gotcha. Anyway, so just one question.¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom, what is it.¡±


    ¡°Well two actually, but firstly: You don¡¯t seem nearly as unhinged as before, what gives?¡±


    There was a fairly long moment of silence following that one. Long enough for Tom to wonder if maybe that was a step too far with the prim and proper inquisitor.


    ¡°... My appointments at the church convinced me it was for the best if I abstain from further research for now,¡± she eventually answered in an almost stately manner, still speaking far too slowly. In fact, he thought it was getting even worse.


    ¡°Glazz beat some sense into you then?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ but one cannot appear before a high priest when chasing the demons in the walls,¡± Joelina replied without missing a beat. Tom just had a snicker to himself or she heard him, it was hard to know with this magic stuff.


    ¡°What, afraid you might come off a little crazy?¡±


    ¡°I was lacking some composure, yes. Luckily we are friends now.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s the understatement of the centur- wait what do you mean ¡®friends?¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°There is no need to purge what is not real, and I have never had a dark knight to ask so many questions before.


    ¡°Uuhhhhh¡­ What the actual fuck do you mean?¡± Tom replied, thinking back to what he could remember of the living nightmares he could remember, his foot getting grabbed by nothing but shadows, the devils outside the door trying to get in.


    ¡°Exactly what I am saying of course,¡± Joelina replied calmly, seemingly confused by what he found hard to get.


    ¡°Waaaiiit a fucking minute, Glazz gave you a lighter. Are you fucking stoned right now?¡±


    ¡°No no, I prefer water bottles.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°Hot stones are for the peasantry, water holds the warmth much longer. Mine are still warm this morning.¡±


    ¡°Wait, morning?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I just got up of course, same for my assistant who ringed you. Tom, I must know quickly, what is this Xbox and why does the box live? Or is it that people live in the Xbox? And if it is an ex-box, what is it now?¡±


    Okay, she was definitely getting worse as they spoke. Which¡­ if she had just gotten up, ¡°Are you smoking while doing this?


    ¡°Of course, I do not wish to remember the screaming children.¡±


    ¡°How the fuck are you managing that?¡± Tom questioned in disbelief. He struggled to even sit up straight while doing this.


    ¡°Decades of training and discipline,¡± she replied, followed by another pause as she waited for him to speak.


    ¡°You¡¯re taking hits in between sentences aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell, and you slept till the afternoon? That¡¯s not very inquisitorial,¡± Tom jested, by now he was starting to find it funny.


    ¡°It is barely after sunrise. I do not have time to dwell in bed these days.¡±


    ¡°But you do have time to get stoned right away, heh¡­ Wait? But it¡¯s afternoon here? Ooooh,¡± Tom went as he realized something.


    ¡°Yes, there is some distance from where you are to the capital where I currently reside. Time moves don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, gotcha¡­ Well I guess this place definitely is round then.¡±


    ¡°Yes Tom, the world is indeed round,¡± Joelina replied with the sort of tone one might use when talking to a particularly dimwitted person, which Tom didn¡¯t really think was fair right now.


    ¡°Hey, I know my planet is round, I just didn¡¯t quite know about this one yet.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ your second question? I do have a long day ahead of me.¡±


    ¡°I bet it¡¯s gonna be a long one. What were you guys looking for way up north, you know with that steam powered sled thingy?¡±


    This time what followed was not a pause, but a silence. A long one at that. Tom tried his best to listen for anything he could, but there was but a void. ¡®Come oooon, think out loud would you?¡¯


    ¡°No,¡± came the brief reply, leaving Tom a little stumped as the silence returned.


    He didn¡¯t want to push her as she was still thinking, maybe whatever she had been smoking would be to his advantage this time around, and she would spill some beans she did not want to.


    ¡°An ancient bastion, that means an old place¡­ A fortress of steel in the cold north. Harvik discovered it many years ago. A lot of years,¡± she finally began in a slow and reluctant tone. ¡°I only learned later, but the inquisitor had dedicated much of his life to uncovering its secrets. He believed it may hold the key to the darkness spreading in the pristine white north. Like an infected wound spreading its sickness¡­¡±


    ¡°Well? Was it?¡±


    ¡°We still do not know¡­¡± the stoned inquisitor replied curtly and without further explanation. Tom did wait a little before speaking to see if she had anything more to say, but it would seem not.


    ¡°Uhm, why?¡± Tom questioned, feeling like there really needed to be a bit more there to have it make sense.


    ¡°You will know soon enough. Two more days, at noon¡­ Your time. Also, you may wish to try a sedative. I have never met such a polite traitor. I promised I will kill him quickly¡­ but he is already dead,¡± Joelina replied with a bit of mirth in her voice as Tom felt the connection sever in a heartbeat, and he was left alone in the dark empty void.


    ¡°Right¡­ fucking hell, is that good or bad? Having a stoned inquisitor running around talking to priests and who knows what else, also what the actuall fuck? Talking with a god? The fuck is that about?¡±


    The silence didn¡¯t reply, but Tom was not ready to leave just yet. He needed a moment before he had to face the others.


    ¡°What should I tell them?... as little as possible. If Kulinger finds out everyone within a day¡¯s flight will know¡­ Even Jacky.


    ¡°And why the hell do I need to go dig this all up by myself? Hey, if you can still hear me, that Harvik guy is suspicious as fuck! You know that, right?!¡± Tom tried to shout out. It didn¡¯t really work to be honest, kinda like shouting in one¡¯s own head, and it just came out a bit hollow.


    He waited a moment for a reply, but there was nothing, not even an echo. ¡°Right, well I guess that was something, fuuucking hell. I need more religion lessons now,¡± he sighed to himself as he once more returned to the world of the living, finding the midday sun all but blocked out by faces, some staring at him, others bickering with each other.


    ¡°What in the?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Morning, Tom.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Oh well. Tom was fine apparently. He¡¯d just been having a chat with Joelina. So back to work it was, while Jacky saw to it that he was in fact fine. Wiperna and Raulf had managed to corral all the people who had been so kind to show up into helping them out. Saph had tried her best to sneak away, going on about how she really had something else important to do, but it was no use.


    She had stuck her nose in what Raulf was doing and she was going to pay for it by hammering in a few poles for them as Jacky tried to get the human to spill the beans on just what Joelina had said, which for some reason he was quite reluctant to do.


    ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t want to tell me about it?¡±


    ¡°Tell you about what?¡± Sapphire questioned as she hammered the stake in another half inch.


    ¡°Oh nothing, just some weird dream I had.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight,¡± Sapphire replied, trying to determine if the human was lying or not. He had always been damn hard to read, so she wasn¡¯t quite sure. Jacky¡¯s expression seemed to betray that she had made up her mind though.


    ¡°What? Why? Did you not tell her something she wanted to know? Or was she just too far out of her mind?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, no. Quite calm really, because¡­ uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°Last time you talked with her you said she was ready to start crawling on the walls?¡± Jacky protested, clearly not buying it. Tom looked quite reluctant to answer. ¡°Go on, spill it.¡±


    ¡°She was stoned out of her mind I think.


    ¡°The inquisitor was stoned?¡± Kulinger questioned, seeming utterly baffled by that statement. ¡°What in the gods¡¯ names did she do to deserve such a punishment?¡±


    ¡°No no, not like that, like smoking weed? Stoned?¡±


    ¡°Oh you mean she was high as a kite?¡± Wiperna added, without missing a beat.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah¡­¡± the human admitted, seeming a little unsure of himself. They all just looked at each other, well save for Kulinger, who was staring at the human. And then they all broke out laughing.


    ¡°I suppose that is one way of dealing with a little anxiety,¡± the farm woman broke out, clearly finding it very hilarious.


    ¡°A shame really that Nunuk doesn¡¯t approve of it. We¡¯re only allowed regular tobacco, not devil weed,¡± Raulf added with evident mirth in his tone.


    ¡°You know you old fart, Apuma might have some in his possession for spellcraft, you never know.¡±


    ¡°I cast relaxation,¡± Raulf joked right back, the couple having a hoot of a time.


    Saph just chuckled to herself and shook her head. Oh this was so bad, yet so funny. An inquisitor off her rocker on who knows what was both funny and terrifying. She had a feeling Nunuk definitely wouldn¡¯t be happy, and, glancing to Dakota, she did in fact seem rather horrified about now. She was just staring at the human wordlessly.


    ¡°Maybe Tom here should try that next time something goes wrong, ey?¡± Wiperna carried on, looking to the dumbfounded human with a big grin on her face. ¡°Oh come on now, don¡¯t tell me you wouldn¡¯t want to be rid of it. We heard the screaming from down here some of the days.¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ no, I suppose not.¡±


    ¡°Anywho, cheer up, there¡¯s work to do.¡±


    ¡°Oi Saph, quit gawking and get to hammering. Can¡¯t be here all day. Rain is coming.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, getting hammered,¡± Sapphire joked back as she got to swinging the big fucker once more to drive in that stupid post. This stuff was only going to be up for a few days at most anyway, and it probably wouldn¡¯t even work on those stupid goats. Why did they need to make such a deal out of it?

 Chapter 198: Tiguan Remembers

    ¡°Tiguan¡­ meet Yldril,¡± Tom said in a slightly strained tone, gesturing at the keep''s newest addition. He had to raise his voice over the wind and faint rain, which was pitter-pattering against them all. The tension was palpable as the two black dragons stared each other down. Were it not for the wind and rain, one could have heard a pin drop.


    It wasn''t really a formal greeting committee, and a fair few had stayed inside due to the deteriorating weather, but some of them had come out to say hi still. They had Jarix with his crew. Radexi looked quite miserable in the rain, while Zarko managed to maintain a proper posture like always.


    Baron was out as well, or rather had moved his sizable behind over to the makeshift greeting line from where he had been sleeping. Sapphire swore the grass looked yellower where the dragon had been laying, a testament to the old red''s proficiency at napping. He, of course, had an assortment of his people including Victoria at his side. All in all, nice and informal, yet still including most of the faces Tiguan actually knew.


    The problem, of course, had been the one he didn¡¯t know yet. Yldril had no intention of not coming out to say hello, despite the weather. Tiguan had likely seen her from miles off as he came in, and he was not smiling from the moment he set down.


    Tiguan hadn¡¯t been carrying any passengers aside from Lieutenant Ylditz and his two ground crew. Tom couldn¡¯t actually remember their names. Ylditz had stayed in the nice saddle that Tiguan''s harness sported as the other two hopped off to flank their dragon either side, joining in the staring contest.


    Jarix had tried an up nod, seeming rather more upbeat, though the smile quickly faltered as Tiguan ignored him completely.


    ¡°Greetings, Yldril,¡± Tiguan finally spoke in a slow and measured tone, quite unlike him really.


    ¡°Hello there¡­ so you¡¯re the goodie two shoes I¡¯ve heard about?¡± Yldril replied, sounding a lot more chipper, apparently finding his reaction funny. ¡°The weakling sucking up for scraps and kissing talons to stay inside?¡±


    ¡°Not to you¡­ you do not deserve people being nice to you.¡±


    ¡®Damn¡­ from Tiguan of all people,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself, quite taken aback by the hostility. She hadn¡¯t heard Tiguan be mad at anyone before, save for the Flaxens really.


    ¡°Oh come now, I¡¯m having a grand old time. I¡¯ve got a nice tent, food worth eating, and I only have to put my back out twice a day. The dream life for any dragon surely.¡±


    ¡°The only reason you put out your back is lack of spine,¡± Tiguan replied with a sneer. ¡°Too weak to be useful and too vile to be anyone''s friend!¡± the younger black dragon all but spat at her.


    The outburst left even Yldril startled. Not at all the soft pudgy love everyone dragon she had been expecting apparently. Not the dragon any one of them had been expecting. Saph glanced over her shoulder a bit to see Ray standing cautiously at the rear of the line, Tiguan¡¯s new tarp laying on the ground folded up nicely behind her.


    She looked mortified, Saph believing it was most likely compassion for poor Tiguan. Whatever it took in his past to elicit this reaction, Saph could not even guess at. And against someone they were quite sure he had never even met before.


    ¡°Oh come now, those are some mighty big words for such a sweet little draaaagon,¡± Yldril finally spoke, mockingly.


    ¡°You can mock me all you want, I am not the one in justly deserved chains.¡±


    ¡°How was I supposed to know that the little child was under some unicorn''s protection?¡±


    ¡°YOU DO NOT TRY TO KILL CHILDREN!¡± Tiguan roared at her, visibly agitated as his claws dug into the ground.


    Yldril just rolled her eyes and looked off towards Fengi, who looked like she was debating if she should intervene right about now. ¡°Well technically I was just trying to make them stop poking around in my head, not my fault that was the easiest way to do it.¡±


    ¡®And you were doing so well,¡¯ Sapphire sighed to herself as she watched the despair on Fengi¡¯s face. It did really feel like they had been making some progress with her, but it would seem the allure of messing with Tiguan was too great.


    ¡°What was it I said about not putting it like that,¡± Maiko of all people then spoke up from right behind Sapphire, much to her surprise. The young soldier walked forward, getting both of the dragons¡¯ attention.


    ¡°Whaaaat? He¡¯s the one being all high and mighty just because he is willing to be used as a doormat,¡± Yldril hissed in reply, sassy as always. Tiguan did his best to ignore her comment, instead just staring at Maiko, his anger evidently not worn off yet.


    ¡°Nope, I know the guy, trained with him for years. He doesn¡¯t take shit from people he doesn¡¯t care for. He just cares for most people,¡± Maiko fired back, confidence unfaltering.


    ¡°Aww, but what did I do to deserve to not be one of those people?¡± Yldril replied mockingly, Tiguan continuing to hold his tongue. ¡°I helped build the barn and everything.¡±


    ¡°Come on, you know why. Now Tiggi, this one is¡­ under rehabilitation, right? You know a few like that. Give her a little room to work with, you know?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± came the quick and plain reply from Tiguan, though in a far more neutral tone. Sapphire guessed the dragon did have some respect for Maiko then.


    ¡°What do you mean no?¡± the corporal questioned, seeming quite taken aback by that reply.


    ¡°She deserves nothing but chains¡­ She is just like my mother.¡±


    ¡°Awww was mommy hard on you when you were little?¡± Yldril chimed in again, Tiguan¡¯s head snapping to glare at her, his face contorting into a sneer.


    ¡°Yes, she was weak, just like you.¡±


    ¡°What is it with you and calling people who don''t just roll over weak? It¡¯s getting a little old, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°Why should I care what you think? You could not even make it through a winter without stealing.¡±


    ¡°Now, now Tiguan,¡± the calming voice of Ylditz rang out as he gently petted the base of the dragon''s neck. The lieutenant had stayed in the saddle for the whole conversation thus far, and he didn¡¯t seem upset at all. Rather, his tone was caring, and calm. Quite unlike how Saph knew soldiers to be. ¡°She is not worth ruining this fine day over. Don¡¯t you have someone else to go say hi to?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I do,¡± Tiguan responded angrily, still glaring at Yldril, who was still finding it all greatly amusing and making it quite obvious that was the case.


    After another moment he finally broke the stare and went to sweep the field of dumbstruck dragonettes, his expression quickly turning from one of anger to sadness or maybe even fear as he saw their faces. Sapphire wasn¡¯t quite sure.


    When his gaze landed on Ray, she was just standing there with heartbroken expresion on her face. His ears pinned to the back of his skull as he quickly lowered his head in shame. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­I-I¡±


    ¡°For the record, I agree with every word you said!¡± Raulf then called out in support, sounding rather more jovial. Perhaps just trying to lighten the mood like he so often did, or perhaps he really did just like the verbal abuse Yldril had taken, it was hard to know.


    Yldril chuckled as she gave the younger dragon a side-eye, looking about as self-assured as Saph had ever seen her.


    ¡°No no, it is okay,¡± Ray tried cautiously, eager as always to cheer anyone up. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I should not have shouted,¡± and his eyes scanned out over the assorted children of Bizmati and Hylsdal, who were assembled to say hi as well. A few looked scared, and some looked dumbstruck. Kiran was not one of them.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s mean and stupid! You tell her Tiguan,¡± the little kid roared out in support, enthusiastic as always.


    ¡°Aww, he even has little fans. To be honest with you, I would rather squash that one than let him speak.¡±


    That was clearly too much for Fengi as she finally went to speak, but Tiguan beat her to it, head snapping to glare at Yldril as he drew a breath. Saph worried he was about to spray Yldril when the young 10-ton dragon roared out the top of his lungs.


    ¡°YOU ONLY BRING PAIN, AND SUFFERING, AND IT IS YOUR FAULT THEY HATE US! IT IS YOUR FAULT WE ARE FEARED, THAT WE CAN¡¯T PLAY WITH ANYONE ELSE AND HAVE TO HIDE ALL THE TIME! That we are treated like slaves and told to stay away. You ARE THE MONSTER!¡±


    The outburst left him panting, water in his eyes. He whined, ¡°I hate you.¡± They all stood there dumbstruck, some having covered their ears, Holdey starting to cry as he tried to hold onto Esmeralda''s leg.


    Yldril, however, did not seem overly shaken now that she had got a gauge for the younger black, taking but a second to recover.


    ¡°Oh you insolent little whelp, they cannot tell the difference between us and a demon, so why bother? Being nice won¡¯t help you. Look at them. They fear you and hate you despite all the ox shit you put up with. But go be a good little pet, roll over for some scraps, it¡¯s great fun.¡±


    ¡°Yldril, shut up,¡± Fengi finally got out as the ranting took a pause. Yldril just rolled her eyes, likely having seen that one coming. It certainly did nothing to dampen her demeanor. She was so self-righteous Saph could almost taste it. Tiguan on the other hand looked visibly shaken. Sapphire worried that maybe the young black even believed what she had said, or at least some of it. But if he did it seemed to burn away as his face turned to scorn once more. A harder, colder kind of hate.


    ¡°I should kill you like I did my mother¡­¡± His voice was cold, and perfectly serious. It was enough to make Sapphire''s blood run cold. She believed him. Yldril finally seemed to register that maybe she had fucked up, and her confident smile faltered. ¡°You give black dragons a bad name.¡±


    ¡°Leave it Tiguan, that¡¯s enough,¡± Ylditz once more called out, this time in a sterner tone. Yet Tiguan did not budge, claws curled into the ground as he stood there staring at the far older dragon who, though nearly twice his size, could not defend herself. She wasn¡¯t allowed to.


    ¡°Tiguan, that is enough,¡± Baron then spoke up, the venerable red¡¯s deep voice booming loud enough to be felt in one''s chest, and Tiguan finally stepped back, the tension loosening as he looked to his mentor.


    ¡°Sorry sir,¡± responded, bowing to the old red, thinking for a moment as silence filled the air, save for the sound of children crying. His eyes widened a little and he glanced around at his audience. Many had taken a step back, some had stood in front of their children, defensively.


    His gaze finally landed on Ray, who had stepped back as well, the timid woman likely not even noticing. Tiguan took a half-step forward, one front paw extending towards her, dirt and grass sliding from it where he had ripped up the ground. The dragon just stared in disbelief at it, like he couldn¡¯t understand what he was seeing.


    At his advance Ray took another step back, and he noticed. Pleading eyes turned to look at her. Saph could see the sheer despair well up in him as his eyes watered, and before another word could be said, the dragon turned in a flurry of limbs and wings, and ran.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t. Tiguan, I¡¯m sorry!¡± Ray called out, reaching out after the dragon as he galloped off, eventually taking flight. Some people looked after him. Some looked to each other, not sure what to do. Ray let out a little sob as she stared at the dragon getting smaller in the distance. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Well that could have gone better,¡± Maiko said as he went to scratch the back of his head in front of Saph.


    Saph just smacked him in the back of the head. Sometimes one needed to know when to just shut up.


    ¡°Aow, hey come on, he¡¯s never done that before,¡± the guard defended himself, looking back to her with an expression of ¡®what the fuck?¡¯


    Sapphire gritted her teeth and sneered at him. ¡°Shut¡­ up.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Well that wasn¡¯t exactly how they had planned on the happy reunion going. Tom did curse himself a little that they hadn¡¯t just put Yldril somewhere else, at least to start with, but hindsight is a cruel mistress.


    Ray had been so catastrophically sad afterward; she had been looking forward to seeing her friend again, and now he had run off because she and all the others had gotten a little scared by his outburst. At least Saph and Essy were available to comfort her. Even Kiran was on the job, though he was busy convincing Holdey that what he should be doing rather than hiding behind his mother was shouting obscenities at Yldril for causing all this mess.


    Esmeralda was not receptive to the idea.


    Tom hadn¡¯t even been able to recognize the Tiguan he knew, so he couldn¡¯t blame them too much for being a bit scared. Even he had been taken aback, much as he might not want to admit it. It was enough that he had started wondering if maybe things hadn¡¯t been going quite so well as they thought at Deriva. It would help explain things if Tiguan had arrived already angry and depressed. But it sounded more likely to Tom that Yldril reminding him of his mother was the root cause¡­ whatever that crusty old bitch had done to him.


    At least it sounded like they could rest easy knowing Tiguan had solved that particular problem a while ago.


    Fengi had of course set about scolding Yldril, which likely didn¡¯t achieve much, but at least Yldril wasn¡¯t smiling anymore. Coming that close to getting her head taken off likely did most of it. But even so she had not been able to resist a smirk as she saw the younger dragon run off. She clearly thought she had won in the end.


    By the sounds of it that victory was to be at a price though. Tent privileges were definitely revoked, as was the comfy sleeping spot in general. Baron would be taking over the nice place she had made for herself for at least the night, and likely for however long it would take before the weather was deemed suitable for departure.


    Said weather was likely to make her stay out in the cold, rather less comfortable too of course. Any hopes of something more palatable to eat than the bare minimum were certainly squashed as well. Tom did wonder if that would have any effect at all, since from her expression he guessed she was only getting validated in her belief in everything she had just told Tiguan: that you would only be accepted if you rolled over.


    Sadly for her, she was in chains for being a murderous criminal, and that logic certainly applied to her. The right to run your mouth like that was earned. Tiguan had already earned it from what Tom knew of the dragon, so that left the question of how to get him back here and cheered up.


    A fair few of the keep dwellers seemingly decided that it was not their problem and retired to the keep to find someplace warm. It was rather shitty weather out here after all. The two ground crew that had gotten off Tiguan were looking a bit lost at what to do as they looked after their fleeing dragon. They could not catch him, that much was certain.


    ¡°And I thought we had made some real progress over the last couple years. I suppose there is still much to do,¡± the venerable old red declared in a grumpy, disapproving tone. ¡°Much too soft still.¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t soft, he just cares too much,¡± one of the two ground crew spoke up, a man it would seem. At least Tom guessed so.


    ¡°So you claim, yet here we are¡­ Very well. Jarix, Maiko, try again. A little more tactfully this time, corporal,¡± the red dragon ordered calmly, glancing to the two of them in sequence.


    ¡°Got it, boss. Hey, Jarix!¡± Maiko replied, seemingly undisturbed by the previous fiasco, stepping forward. The blue dragon looked to the corporal attentively. ¡°Why don¡¯t you and Ray get that tarp loaded up and take those two lost souls with you to go talk him down, you know. Give him 10 minutes, no more.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Cannot let him wallow too long,¡± the blue dragon responded, taking it all in stride. Tom guessed they had been through this song and dance before then.


    ¡°And what will you be doing then?¡± Baron questioned, seemingly not all too thrilled about the rapid redistribution of labor.


    ¡°Looking after the other half of this shit show. She¡¯s in his head. Either we get her to play ball or we have to shut her up, permanently. Well until he¡¯s gone that is.¡±


    Baron didn¡¯t look overly convinced by the sentiment, but he did reluctantly nod his approval.


    ¡°What about Tom?¡± Jarix then questioned after a quick look to check on how Ray was doing revealed the woman sitting on the ground, sobbing, with Essy at her side. Something the dragon clearly did not wish to deal with, much as it made him uncomfortable.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come along if you want, though I¡¯m hardly an expert in what¡¯s up with him.¡± He was more than willing to try to help. He didn¡¯t know if he thought it was a good idea for him to come along, but if they thought so then who was he to judge?


    ¡°What is up with him is that he believes what she said,¡± Baron interjected, seemingly wishing the record be set straight. ¡°He has always believed what she said. There is nothing new about it after all. The matter with him is his failure to carry himself above it.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight¡­ and I help with that how?¡±


    ¡°Well you aren¡¯t one of us. If you can see the truth, maybe he will too.¡±


    ¡°That is wishful thinking and you know it,¡± Jarix added, seeming less convinced. ¡°He¡¯ll come round, we just need to keep him from digging a hole.¡±


    ¡°And let Ylditz do his job for a bit,¡± Zarko added as she went to grab the tarp along with Radexi as Ray was helped to her feet.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± the blue dragon asked a little unsurely, not wanting to look at her for some reason. Probably his best attempt at giving her a little privacy.


    ¡°I-I am fine, I want to come too¡­ It was my fault,¡± she replied, still sniffling.


    ¡®Of course she thinks it¡¯s her fault, everyone is far too nice around here, save for that bitch in chains¡­ and maybe Shiva¡­ and Kulinger¡­ and anyone from the inquisition. No scratch that, Edita is good,¡¯ Tom complained to himself as he watched Ray get herself together a bit more.


    ¡°It would probably be quite bad if you didn¡¯t,¡± Jarix agreed, looking at the woman as she got to her feet. ¡°We will just be a moment, then we can go have a chat.¡±


    ¡°You do that. He won¡¯t listen to me,¡± Zarko said, crossing her arms dejectedly.


    ¡°That is because you have all the caring instincts of ice cold granite.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°And off they go,¡± Sapphire sighed to herself, watching Jarix disappear into the distance. Ray, Tom, Karlch, and Tonzei along with him. She almost wanted to go see how things were coming with Yldril when Baron grumbled contently, his mood seemingly improving as he looked to the horizon.


    ¡°Ahr, there we are, about time,¡± the old red said, nodding to himself. Sapphire followed his gaze to the horizon where she could just about make out a small green blotch slowly getting larger. ¡°I do wonder how she has taken to her rather unfortunate assignment¡­¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s hated it, we both know that,¡± Victoria added in, crossing her arms as she kept her station next to the dragon¡¯s right foreleg. ¡°She will be expecting a proper welcoming committee, you know that.¡±


    The old red sighed a little as he glanced around at what remained of the Bizmati dwellers, Saph suddenly growing a little self conscious. ¡°I suppose that is true¡­ Sapphire, would you mind fetching Nunuk?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm¡­ right, of course.¡± She gave a quick curtsey before scampering off. ¡®Right.¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Tiguan had seemingly set down behind a small hill to obscure him from the keep, Jarix only spotting him as he flew overhead. Ylditz was still in the saddle as Tiguan pushed himself into the hill, refusing to look back at his lieutenant.


    ¡°Heeeey, Tiguan. No no, don¡¯t run off. I brought a few along who just wanna say hi,¡± Jarix opened as he came in for a landing, Tom peering around the side of the blue¡¯s neck to watch.


    Tiguan looked ashamed to Tom, ears flat to the back of his head and said head pushed to the ground almost like he was trying to hide from Ylditz as well. It certainly didn¡¯t improve when Jarix landed as the black dragon turned away from the blue to hide his head. Ylditz let out a sigh as he looked to Jarix apologetically.


    ¡°Come ooon man, you shouted at a piece of shit. What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Jarix tried again. ¡°It¡¯s just not so normal to see you trying to be scary, you know?¡±


    ¡°I scared them. They won¡¯t trust me now. This always happens,¡± Tiguan whimpered, wallowing in self pity.


    ¡°Oh cut it out, would you? Of course they trust you, look who is here,¡± Jarix went, turning a little more side-on to make sure his passengers were in full view.


    Ray waved cautiously, forcing a small smile. It didn¡¯t look terribly convincing. Not really sure what else to do, Tom followed suit, hoping his expression was a bit better.


    Tiguan didn¡¯t budge or even look up, instead he kept trying to hide his head from them.


    Ylditz patted the side of his neck as the two ground crew hopped off Jarix and started to make their way over. ¡°It¡¯s Ray and Tom, Tiguan. Don¡¯t you want to say hi? You were very excited to see them again.¡±


    ¡°They brought you something nice too,¡± the smaller of the two ground crew called out. ¡°You¡¯ll like it, I promise.¡±


    The dragon sniffed a little before he slowly raised his head enough to look over his own back.


    ¡°Sup big guy,¡± Tom let out, trying his best to sound chipper. ¡°For the record, I don¡¯t actually have a gift. That¡¯s all Ray¡¯s doing. Ain¡¯t scared though, at least last time I checked.¡±


    ¡°You are lying, I saw you¡­ they forced you to come, didn¡¯t they?¡± Tiguan replied in a low, sad tone.


    Tom just stared a bit, and Ray¡¯s smile faltered as she lowered her waving hand. ¡®Oh for the love of- You wanted to come, hell you begged.¡¯ Tom grumbled to himself. He couldn¡¯t be too hard on her though. That wouldn¡¯t help anything, and she was definitely a gentle soul. ¡®Well then I guess it¡¯s on me then.¡¯


    Tom stood up, tilting his head as he held out his hands to either side like ¡®the fuck bro?¡¯


    ¡°They forced me to come? How? Hey Jarix, wing please,¡± Tom ordered, pointing at the ground. The blue looked at him, clearly a bit surprised by the change of tack. ¡°Oi, today,¡± Tom repeated, snapping his fingers as he gave the blue a wink, careful that it was the off eye from Tiguan so he wouldn¡¯t see.


    The rather surprised Jarix seemed to get the memo as he extended out a wing, Tom sauntering down jovially. ¡°Forced me to go anywhere, pah. Gotta do better than that, Tiggi.¡±


    ¡°No but¡­ Ray-¡± Tiguan replied, raising his head to keep an eye on Tom as he walked up to the black dragon.


    ¡°She begged to come. She couldn¡¯t bear to watch you sad like that, but she¡¯s also not great with being told something was her fault, even if it wasn¡¯t,¡± Tom was quick to reply as he made it to the dragon¡¯s tail and started walking up it without a care in the world. He knew Tiguan would never try to flick him off or anything like that. Or if he did it certainly wasn¡¯t to try and hurt him, besides even falling from dragon back likely wasn¡¯t that bad in this gravity, he hoped.


    Tiguan looked to Ray, who of course shrunk a little under the dragon¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°You are lying, she is scared, look at her.¡±


    ¡°N-n-no. No, I am not scared,¡± Ray stammered out, her quivering voice not lending much validity to her claims.


    Tom had made it up to the dragon¡¯s back by now, giving Ylditz a polite nod. The lieutenant didn¡¯t look like he knew what the fuck was up with Tom either, but crucially he didn¡¯t look like he intended on stopping the human.


    Tom could feel the dragon draw a breath to reply and beat him to it once more. ¡°She¡¯s scared, you¡¯re right. What you are forgetting is that it is in fact possible to be scared of something other than you. You¡¯re scared right now, aren¡¯t you? Scared that you messed up and now they won¡¯t like you anymore? Excuse me,¡± Tom went as he made his way around Ylditz.


    Tiguan arched his neck to look back at the human, expression growing a little more confused than sad, which was progress as far as Tom was concerned.


    ¡°But I did. The children were crying and hiding. Even you stepped back,¡± Tiguan tried again, clinging to this fantasy he had seemingly created.


    ¡°Kids cry over their food being on the wrong side of the plate. Or the beef they had yesterday and said they wanted more of being on said plate. Can¡¯t get hung up on that, they¡¯ll come round once more,¡± Tom insisted as he set about balancing on Tiguans neck.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Have I been wrong before? Also Kiran thinks you were awesome, and the big kids can¡¯t have little old Kiran show them up and be the only one who wants to go hang out with the scary dragon. Scary can be cool, you know.¡±


    ¡°It can?¡±


    ¡°Sure, look at this. I¡¯m walking a dragon like a tightrope. This is both cool and scary. That¡¯s what makes it fun,¡± Tom replied as he made it far enough up that Tiguan could no longer turn his head enough to even look at him. ¡°I used to jump out of aircraft with nothing but a fancy sack of cloth on my back, go diving deep deep in the oceans breathing air from a tank, go so fast in cars that fucking up would likely be the death of me in the blink of an eye. Why do you think I did that?¡± he carried on as he made it to the dragon¡¯s head, stepping on up as Tiguan froze in place, probably scared Tom might fall off if he moved.


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know?¡± the dragon replied, clearly with no clue what to say or do in the face of all this.


    Tom stopped for a moment to consider his options, eventually electing to walk out onto the dragon¡¯s snout like it was a springboard.


    ¡°Because it was fun,¡± he finally said, sitting down and leaning back against the dragon¡¯s forehead. ¡°And you think I¡¯m scared of you? Pah.¡± He shuffled his shoulders a bit to get comfortable. ¡°You¡¯re far too soft to be scary. You¡¯re damn well perfect.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t you go on with the whole ¡®only being accepted ¡®cause you roll over¡¯ bit. I guess you could do with standing up for yourself a bit more, but you are so nice, always happy to help. Of course people like you. It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re a dragon or dragonette, just look at Ray? Everyone loves her too.¡±


    There was silence for a bit as the dragon started thinking, turning his head to look at Jarix, Ray watching and still looking ashamed. She probably wished she had done more, or done better somehow.


    Jarix was smiling though.


    ¡°So now, say you are sorry, Tiguan, for making Ray feel like this was all her fault. That¡¯s what she¡¯s scared of, not you after all.¡±


    There was a bit of silence as Ray stood up. ¡°No, but it was my fault,¡± Ray insisted, Tom gesturing at her, free for the dragon to see.


    ¡°See what I mean?¡±


    ¡°No no, but Ray,¡± the dragon whinned. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡±


    ¡°I was just¡­ it was¡­ I¡¯m not scared, okay,¡± she forced out in reply, a bit of water in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not scared, I promise. Please, I¡¯m not scared of you.¡±


    ¡°I think this is the point where you agree it was all a misunderstanding and hug each other¡­ or well she hugs you, kinda hard the other way around you know,¡± Tom added, quite comfortable. ¡°Also, I¡¯m not getting off till you do.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    For once I will say it. Fucking good chapter, and you can''t convince me otherwise, I love writing Tiguan. If you disagree with this total factual statement then you can sound off below and I will stick my fingers in my ears going "Lalalalala"


    The cover for Book four is now on Galery and it''s our 26 tone bitch with wings who takes pride of place, so go have a gander. Until next time, try not to die. If you have to at least make it exciting or comfortable. See yah.

 Chapter 199: Way Station Bizmati

    They managed to assemble a bit of a welcoming committee in time. A fair few of the people who had only just made it back inside to warm up came out once more, most not looking very happy about it. Sapphire had snuck a hot stone from the kitchen to keep under her shirt behind her back, wrapped up in cloth of course so she didn¡¯t burn herself.


    Grevi had come down in a dignified fashion, landing in front of Baron, who for his part was sitting proud. She had been flying in formation with most of the construction crew, while herself carrying what looked to be tools and various bits of equipment for them.


    The green was as prim and proper as ever in her shining armor, though water was beading off it and the thick fur lining the edges was soaked through. Despite her parade stance, it was evident that she was glancing around with a little confusion, likely expecting at least Jarix to be there.


    ¡°Greetings, Grevi. Did your trip go well?¡± Baron opened, drawing her attention back to him.


    ¡°As well as it can this time of year. Cold and rainy.¡±


    ¡°An excuse to simply fly harder,¡± the old red replied with a deep thrum, Saph taking it for amusement.


    ¡°Of course, sir,¡± Grevi replied with a quick duck of her head. ¡°I say, where is Jarix? And I presume Tiguan is running late?¡±


    ¡°Quite the contrary, he was first to arrive. Alas the two are now¡­ conversing elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Grevi replied in a surprised tone, not seeming to have worked out just why that might be.


    ¡°Tiguan needed a little alone time, but you know as well as any he cannot be allowed too much.¡±


    ¡°I understand, of course. But yes, I am pleased to report that all souls present at the keep are here and accounted for.¡±


    ¡°Did you finish it?¡± the small yet equally tactful voice of Lothal spoke up. The young man who was to inherit the keep as the oldest living member of his line. Or at least the oldest they knew of.


    ¡®11 year old lord, and nothing but children under him,¡¯ Sapphire sighed to herself. There had been rumors that he had family in the city. They had even feared that some might show up to oversee the construction and start either staking their claims to the keep or getting Lothal under their influence. But none had come, for better or worse.


    Thus the young man had been under Dakota¡¯s tutorship, learning what he could as quickly as possible about how to run a keep.


    ¡°Yes Lord Hylsdal, I am pleased to report that the internal skeleton has been reestablished and the roof holds water. The floors are mostly complete and there are several rooms yet to be constructed, but the keep is habitable.¡±


    The bunch of gruff looking construction workers made some grunts of approval, though the foreman didn¡¯t seem too pleased with not getting to deliver the news himself.


    ¡°Thank you, Grevi. You will always have a warm place at Hylsdal. And thank you,¡± he carried on, looking to the construction crew. Some of them shrugged, others nodding.


    ¡°Doing our job, kiddo, though losing the saw did slow us down a bunch.¡±


    ¡°I understand, foreman. But it was needed here.¡±


    ¡°Aye, we got the message on that one, loud and clear,¡± the foreman replied in a less than comfortable fashion, Sapphire guessing the inquisition had framed the proposition of acquiring the saw rather bluntly.


    ¡°Yes, I do apologize for the behavior of our friends within the inquisition. They too are under a lot of pressure,¡± the 11 year old replied very diplomatically, which did leave the foreman with a rather odd look on his face.


    ¡°Aya, that they are¡­ I suppose,¡± he replied as one of his crewmen tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the group of people standing behind Nunuk. Saph quickly looked over and couldn¡¯t see anyone, but she guessed Paulin was probably over there somewhere.


    The crew chief promptly shut up and just nodded to the kid. ¡°We¡¯ll see about finishing up next year, but maybe that¡¯ll be for another crew. I don¡¯t know what we got waiting back in the city.¡±


    ¡°If you are available I would be happy to request your services again,¡± Lothal replied with a courteous nod. ¡°I apologize Grevi, I have intruded enough,¡± he carried on, looking to the dragon with a nod and stepping back to stand proud next to Dakota.


    Dakota for her part looked very pleased with the young lord''s performance, standing at attention herself.


    The dragon gave him a courteous nod in reply, the respect seeming mutual as she looked to Nunuk¡¯s group herself. ¡°Yes, Lady Bizmati. I request permission to stay the night.¡±


    ¡°You may stay till weather permits passage,¡± Nunuk replied in a kind tone. ¡°We have arranged a fine dinner today, following our last hunt. I apologize for the absence of some of our number, they are busy with preparations.¡±


    ¡°I understand. How are your wounds? It is my understanding that they were most severe.¡±


    ¡°I am healing. Slowly, but alas I will never fly again. I count my blessings it happened in my latter years rather than my younger ones.¡±


    ¡°I am very sorry to hear it, Lady Nunuk. A dark day indeed.¡±


    ¡°Luckily I have two children ready to take my place. Bizmati will stand tall for many years to come even without me in the skies.¡±


    ¡°I am sure your successors will be no less skilled nor noble. But I have kept you long enough, the weather is cruel. Please, seek shelter.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Grevi, yes it is quite cold. I am sure Jarix and Tiguan will return soon,¡± the Lady replied as she turned back towards the keep. She would have to walk back up since she had no wings, and Sapphire was quite sure she wasn¡¯t going to be trying a running takeoff with anyone just for that.


    Grevi sat and watched in regal fashion like she usually did, turning to glance at Baron, Saph guessing she wanted to see if the old red approved of whatever she was up to. That had seemed to be a pattern in the capital and during the initial flight to Bizmati all those months ago after all.


    Baron, however, didn¡¯t seem entirely satisfied with her, giving a quick rumbling cough to Grevi¡¯s evident confusion. The old red coughed again, a little louder, and eventually gave a side nod towards the old lady who was making her way towards the stairs and coughed for a third time, loud enough that Nunuk and her little retinue consisting mostly just of Dakota and Lothal, turned around to see what might be up.


    It finally dawned on Grevi what he wanted her to do as she stood back up to all fours. ¡°Oh, my apologies Lady Nunuk, why don¡¯t I bring you up inside, to spare you the stairs.¡±


    At that, Baron grumbled more agreeably, giving a little nod, much to Grevi¡¯s evident delight.


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom had been forced to kept his promise and get off Tiguan''s snout as the big old black softy had unfurled himself to stick his head out towards Ray, the woman giving Tiggi the best snout hug she could manage.


    There had been a bit more whimpering and sobbing as they both did their best to assume blame for what had happened. It was both heart wrenching and heartwarming. Ray had improved, but there was still a lot of work to do. And the same was clearly true of Tiguan, more so than Tom had thought.


    Tom did not for a second believe Tiguan had lied, which meant he had killed his own mother, and it had clearly not been by accident. He knew for a fact that neither Jarix nor Grevi had ever killed a fellow dragon, nor even fought one outside of training. Unless they were sitting on more secrets than he knew about.


    Maybe that was why Tiguan had been chosen to be placed under Baron¡¯s tutelage. Grevi was damn near the perfect soldier right out the box, and she would not deign to anything less than perfection. Jarix was believed by most to be the fastest dragon alive. Morina, from what Tom had managed to pick up, had been massive for her age. A proper powerhouse, even if they had failed to tame her temper.


    But why Tiguan had been chosen had confounded him. The black dragon was far too soft to make a good soldier, or so he thought at least. Now it seemed there was something a little harder hiding under the play uncle facade. He knew battle, and hardship, yet it hadn''t broken him. That must be why he was picked to be among the best.


    It was hard to reconcile the two halves as Tom watched him and the crippled Ray try to make up their differences, the dragon doing his best to try and nuzzle her, which near enough knocked her from Jarix¡¯s back.


    ¡°Careful now, don¡¯t knock her off,¡± Jarix chuckled as Ray ended up clinging to Tiguan¡¯s snout to hold her balance.


    ¡°Oh sorry,¡± Tiguan went, ears swinging back as he pulled away.


    Tom was about to curse to himself again when Ray did the decent thing and got herself together. The crippled woman stood up and, as the dragon tried to pull his head away, she leapt. A true leap of faith right onto the dragon¡¯s head. Tiguan of course froze, looking at her all crosseyed, which did look quite hilarious. Tom let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°You are not allowed to go anywhere,¡± Ray declared as she hugged the dragon. Tiguan grew a nice warm smile as she did.


    ¡°Awwww, someone didn¡¯t just make a friend I think. Congrats on the best friend, Tigs,¡± Jarix added with a chuckle, seemingly quite happy to see the black dragon smile. ¡°Now why don¡¯t you get your present already? Definitely not so I don¡¯t have to carry it around.¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Oh right, you said that? What is it?¡± Tiguan questioned as Ray moved to the top of his head so he could see again.


    ¡°I got you a tarp, for when it rains,¡± Ray said, pointing at Jarix''s back.


    ¡°Oooh, thank you,¡± Tiguan replied with what seemed to Tom like genuine enthusiasm.


    ¡°Folds up nice and comes with a rope harness to tie it to the rigging so you don¡¯t have to spend a thousand years to package it up,¡± Jarix added, looking back at the tarp which was just laid out over his back. ¡°Well that bit is back at the keep actually. But hey, you can go bareback with it too, I guess.¡±


    Tiguan snickered a little as he took a few steps to come around so he could get a better look at this tarp he¡¯d been gifted.


    ¡°Oh, is it new? It smells like it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Archeon and Vulzan bought it in the capital, just for you. Made to measure and everything,¡± Ray added enthusiastically, overjoyed that Tiguan liked her present.


    ¡°But. How did you afford that? They are quite expensive. It is waxed cloth, too. And very thick.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we got paid so much money this year here. It was only right, I wouldn¡¯t be here if not for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh you shouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    ¡°Shut it Tigs, enjoy the gift. Heavens know you could use a few here and there,¡± Jarix interjected with a chuckle.


    That part got Tom thinking as well. Jarix had said that the scraps of armor he had for covering the most vital areas, like his wingshoulders, neck, and head, had been gifts from his mother. Grevi¡¯s full set was passed down from her sister. Tiguan didn¡¯t have a scrap of metal on him, save for the buckles of his harness. It was a very nice harness indeed, and the saddle definitely stood out as unusual.


    And he had a Hashaw in the saddle¡­


    ¡®He didn¡¯t buy that, did he? He¡¯s broke as fuck,¡¯ Tom concluded, thinking back to what Jarix had said about pay. While in the capital they hadn¡¯t received much at all. It was only once they had graduated and been sent on deployment that they had started earning some real money. Money which Tiguan wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to receive yet. ¡®I guess Ray isn¡¯t the only one getting her first taste of actual coin,¡¯ Tom chuckled to himself warmly, as the dragon kept inspecting his gift even though it was just some waxed cloth with rope eyes in it.


    ¡°Can I take it with me to the capital, or does it have to stay here?¡± he questioned, raising his head and looking up, unable to quite look at Ray.


    ¡°It is yours, you can take it wherever you want,¡± Ray said happily.


    ¡°Oooh I could set up my own little place at the training field. Maybe if I get some very large tent poles I can make do even without any trees or cliffsides.¡±


    ¡°Could also just lay on it so you don¡¯t get dirty soaking up all that sun we¡¯re sure to get all winter,¡± Jarix went sarcastically. ¡°But hey, if you feel like a picnic or something, I guess it¡¯s grand. Don¡¯t know about you, but I wouldn¡¯t be planning on sleeping too much this winter if I was going back.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I want to save my coin. Food is very expensive in winter,¡± Tiguan replied with a nod, Tom listening intently. Jarix had decided on staying the winter, which was bound to be an advantage for them at the keep. But it did make him wonder if, maybe, he should have headed home. Was that like a dragon getting shoreleave? Getting to run around the streets of a big city and spend what money they had made?


    Jarix had been awarded some leave after the Battle of Deriva, he remembered that much. The dragon had said he wished to use it to stay at Bizmati keep rather than have time off at home. And since his stationing was made permanent, Tom guessed the blue would either be saving up said leave for later, or maybe just getting it paid out.


    "Suit yourself, just don¡¯t spend it all on alcohol, ey?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I would never,¡± Tiguan replied with conviction. ¡°I am¡­ uhm¡­¡± The dragon suddenly grew a little uncomfortable again, Tom grasping at straws as to what the hell was wrong this time. Like honestly.


    ¡°Ey ey! Don¡¯t you dare, you¡¯re not allowed to look sad for at least another hour,¡± Jarix ordered with some mirth in his tone.


    ¡°Oh uhm no no, it isn¡¯t that. I uhm¡­ I was thinking of giving some of it away.¡±


    ¡°Bro¡­ you wanna give away your first proper round of pay?¡± Jarix responded, somewhere between disappointed and just straight up taken aback.


    ¡°Uhm y-yes, dragons make a lot of money. There are a lot of people who need help during winter.¡±


    ¡°Dude, we make a lot of money cause it¡¯s fucking expensive to be a dragon.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, but if I sleep through most of winter then it isn¡¯t so bad. We can stay at the training fields for free.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, in a shared stables. Hey Ylditz, why ain¡¯t he staying at the mansion like Baron does?¡± Jarix questioned, looking to the lieutenant who was still keeping quiet, apparently happy to let the rest of them handle cheering the big black baby up.


    ¡°Baron has his own cave. He only stays at the mansion when appropriate.¡±


    ¡°Well all the more reason to let Tiguan have the spot, don¡¯t yah think?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ suppose I can put in a good word. He will hardly have privacy there, either.¡±


    ¡°No, no it is fine, they are very busy at the Hashaw¡¯s. I can see to myself at the fields just fine.¡±


    ¡°Or you could, you know, rent a spot somewhere that¡¯s a bit nicer?¡± Jarix reiterated.


    ¡°Uhm Ylditz? What does it cost to rent a small space to sleep through winter?¡±


    ¡°You are ten tons Tiguan, it will not be that small¡­ maybe 50 gold for the winter? At this short notice, 40 if you are lucky.¡±


    ¡°50 gold?! No, no I will find someplace else. I am only getting 180 for the whole deployment, no?¡±


    ¡°I believe that was the number, yes,¡± Ylditz confirmed


    ¡°180? I got 200 and that was when I was still supposed to come home for winter!¡±


    ¡°Oh, but you went a little sooner than we did, remember?¡±


    ¡°Ahr fair I suppose¡­ I wonder if I¡¯m getting full pay all winter? That would be pretty sweet.¡±


    ¡°Actually, yeah Tiguan,¡± Tom spoke up, both dragons turning to look at him. ¡°Why are you heading home for winter?¡±


    ¡°I have to, those are my orders. That and I will be able to bring some things back for them next spring if I am posted here again.¡±


    Ray looked up at that, seemingly news to her. ¡°You might not come back?¡±


    ¡°Oh we are quite confident we will be,¡± one of the two ground crew spoke up. ¡°Well he will, if we are coming along depends on if he¡¯s been happy with us.¡±


    ¡°Oh no I would be happy to have you, you have been very patient with me all year. Thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a lot less of an arse than most postings, even if you need a bit more polishing,¡±


    ¡°Less of? What are yah on about?¡± The other, large of the two broke out, clearly not agreeing ¡°He¡¯s the nicest drake I¡¯ve ever served with. And that includes the little ones running around who can¡¯t fly yet.¡±


    ¡°So-so you are coming back next year?¡± Ray questioned cautiously, Tiguan growing an apologetic look.


    ¡°It is not for me to decide, I get orders.¡±


    ¡°I think we can do a thing or two about those orders,¡± Tom added confidently. He believed it too. It wasn¡¯t like the inquisition was going to let a keep on the island stand undefended next year. They wanted eyes on everything they could, after all. They just had to put in a word that Tiguan would do fine for Deriva. Or maybe Hylsdal. Who knew, really? Maybe the dragons could rotate next year, that could be good perhaps.


    ¡°Thank you, Tom,¡± the large black dragon replied, giving him a bow which had Ray hanging onto the horns for support. ¡°I would be very grateful if I would be allowed back here.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make it happen big guy, just don¡¯t make an enemy of the inquisition in the meantime, alright?¡±


    ¡°I-I will do my best,¡± Tiguan promised.


    "Now, how about we see to getting back to the others. Grevi might have landed already. Some welcoming committee we are sitting out here.¡±


    ¡°Oh she won¡¯t like that,¡± Jarix went with a smirk as Tiguan looked a little more worried.


    ¡°I forgot about her. She will not be very happy, will she?¡±


    ¡°She still has Baron to lick claws on. She¡¯ll be alright as long as she¡¯s given all the praise and compliments,¡± the blue dragon joked as he turned to get ready for departure. ¡°You want the human or am I carrying his sorry ass?¡±


    ¡°What, you trying to sell off your precious fire mage?¡± Tom questioned in jest as everyone else was either already on Tiguan, or were getting on.


    ¡°I mean I suppose I did leave you in the mud last time, maybe I should be nice today and give you a lift.¡±


    ¡°Oh it is okay, I can carry him too if you want,¡± Tiguan offered, ''cause of course he did. It wasn¡¯t like four people would be a heavy load for a 10 ton dragon but still, it was the principle of it.


    ¡°No no, I will take him,¡± Jarix confirmed, looking to Tom and then letting out a chuckle. ¡°Last one to the greeting hall has to listen to Grevi¡¯s lecture.¡±


    Tiguan made a show of pondering it for a moment, as his ground crew was making their way up to his harness. ¡°Hey Tom, what¡¯s that over there? Deal!¡± he then let out, turning and setting off at a gallop before getting airborne quickly enough Tom could swear he saw Ray dangling from one of the horns like a damn flag or something. Both Tom and Jarix simply looked after the black dragon as he climbed away.


    ¡°So¡­ how much lead you wanna give him?¡±


    ¡°We can spare a few minutes¡­ I think he¡¯s got more to worry about than Grevi once he gets back.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡®Well, all is well that ends well.¡¯ Tiguan and Jarix had made it back, the black dragon seemingly all cheered up. He had been a little wary of just what sort of reception he would get once he got back, but when it became known to all the kids that Tiguan had somehow beaten Jarix in a race that no one had known they were having, Kiran had led the whole gaggle of kids in declaring just how cool that was.


    It was soon revealed to be nothing but a ploy so they could be allowed to climb and jump on the poor dragon, but Tiguan sure didn¡¯t mind, stretching out a wing for them to use as a trampoline and everything.


    Grevi had of course greeted the black dragon, if only briefly, hopping up to the greeting hall for a brief chat. She did seem a little miffed, but as soon as she started asking questions about how he had been getting on with his first posting, she had been scared off by some kids deciding that they wanted to try and climb on the green dragon, too.


    To her credit she didn¡¯t squash any of them, but they were told, firmly, to get off. Lieutenant Sisu escorted off the few who suffered from a case of willful deafness, Grevi soon retreating to more civilized company.


    Saph did spy her talking with Jarix a little bit later, Tom seemingly having stuck with the blue dragon. Judging by the ears, Jarix wasn¡¯t all too happy about it. But Grevi seemed to be enjoying herself, sitting high and mighty as she retold whatever it was she had been up to.


    For once, Saph didn¡¯t mind that she had work to do rather than listen to whatever the green dragon had to say. If half of what Jarix had been saying was true, she was likely recounting training routines or something like that. It was pretty doubtful that much of interest had been happening while helping out a work crew rebuild an old keep in the middle of nowhere, after all.


    But, alas, there was indeed plenty to do for the evening''s feast. It had turned into a pretty grand feast by the end of the day. There were fresh meats, fresh bread, some of Tom¡¯s funny round root vegetable things he called potatoes. The food was spiced, the tea sweetened, and there was ale, beer and wine to drink. And that was before one got into all the private things they had to put on the table.


    The dragons got their deer to enjoy, sans Yldril. When pushed, Fengi only said that, ¡°Well maybe she will learn something today. Or maybe she won¡¯t,¡± and carried on with her food. The black dragon was left outside behind the keep, alone and in the cold shadow cast by the keep and the outcropping on which it sat. The other dragons enjoyed their meal as well as the last vestiges of sunlight, despite the less than stellar weather.


    Inside the keep, the work crew had eaten as if they had just gotten out of a wintersleep in the slums of a city. It was honestly impressive to watch, and they had all ended up rather plastered thanks to the liberal application of ale and wine. There was widespread agreement that this was quite acceptable. They had worked in isolation for months to restore a keep on the island, and even if they were of course being paid, it seemed like the right thing to show a little appreciation for helping out their friends.


    Not to mention young Lothal was quite the gentleman, and the sort you didn¡¯t mind lending a hand. If he needed to get on top of everything that was to come in the new year, it sure wouldn''t hurt if the people who built his keep liked the young man.


    And so they had eaten and drunk, chatted and laughed. The fires kept them warm and the torches let them see as they feasted. The last one of the year. Unless Tom decided otherwise at least. She kinda had a feeling he might pull a surprise on them at some point. But nevertheless, they were enjoying their evening immensely.


    Edita got drunk again of course, though things ended up a bit more civil this time. Tom was seemingly set on keeping her semi-conscious all evening, and they actually made some progress on the whole ¡°teaching the artificer to be a person¡± side project which they had sorta halfway agreed on trying.


    The true brainwave had come when Tiguan had been lured up into the greeting hall after having finished his own dinner so the children could have another play session with the dragon before bed. And so with Ray busy helping Tiguan keep track of all the children so they didn¡¯t hurt themselves, Saph had an idea.


    ¡°Hey Edita. Have you met Tiguan yet?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ no?¡±


    ¡°Ahr, well come on then, let me introduce you. He is a real gem.¡±

 Chapter 200: See You Next Year

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    ¡°Yes, I was sent here to assist him in his endeavours and to guide him on certain matters as well. It has been very enlightening to help him. He has soooo many things I have never seen before. Did you know that there are actually 118 elements, but a lot of them destroy themselves almost immediately? So you have to make them?¡± the slightly tipsy artificer replied jovially.


    ¡®Yup, sounds like something he would say,¡¯ Sapphire confirmed to herself, chuckling a little. She wasn¡¯t sure if she had heard that one before, but it might just have gone in one ear and out the other.


    ¡°I uhm¡­ no¡­ That is so interesting, tell me, have you been working on anything for Ray yet?¡± the dragon responded with a big smile, steering the conversation onto what he actually wanted to talk about.


    ¡°Ray? Hmmmm¡­ no, I don¡¯t think so?¡± the artificer replied thoughtfully, taking a moment to ponder. Tiguan did seem a little saddened, though he tried not to show it. Edita didn¡¯t seem to notice, but Sapphire sure did.


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡±


    ¡°It is okay, Tiguan. I got to try the parachute. I got to fly again. And Jarix lets me come along every now and again.¡±


    ¡°Oh that is good to hear, I promise that if Ylditz lets us stay another night I will take you for a nice flight as well, aaaaall the way above the clouds.¡±


    ¡°Watch out for condensation,¡± Edita added perfectly innocently. Tiguan gave her a bit of a side-eye. There was something absurd about a nerd who had spent most of her life underground giving advice on flying to a combat dragon, but that was clearly lost on Edita as well.


    ¡°Oh of course¡­ I will be quick about it¡­ Have you flown much in bad weather?¡±


    ¡°Who me? No no no, I didn¡¯t learn to fly until I was a grown woman. You don¡¯t need it inside the sanctums. Not very often at least. I actually had to take lessons before coming here, in case I fell off or some other accident happened.¡±


    ¡°A grown woman? But¡­ the sky? The freedom?¡±


    ¡°Oh it isn¡¯t so bad. I like it inside. Did you know I didn¡¯t even see the sky without glass between until I had to go and work on one of the uhm¡­ wait can I say that?... on the thing, yes.¡± She gave herself a bit of a reassuring nod, Sapphire giving a quick scan to see if Paulin was around, which delightfully she wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°It was so strange, I hadn¡¯t considered that it was the windows that were cloudy and dirty. It was so clear. Like it had just been freshly polished.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see,¡± the black dragon responded absentmindedly, processing what he had just been told. ¡°Are you quite sure?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, very sure. I would sit and look out the tiny little windows whenever I had the time. It wasn¡¯t very often. I always wondered what was out here. Now I know!¡± she stated with confidence.


    ¡°You might have a little bit left to see I think,¡± Sapphire added, sighing mirthfully as she shook her head.


    ¡°Oh of course. But it is still all what was outside the window back then. Inside, outside. Now I am outside. It¡¯s so exciting!¡±


    ¡°Maybe one day you will get to see even more of what is uhm¡­ outside,¡± the dragon went in his sweet, friendly tone.


    ¡°Oh yes, maybe one day. Who knows? Not now though, I have to learn from Tom, help Tom, become a real engineer, not make Paulin mad. Oh so many things to do!¡±


    ¡°Of course uhm¡­ Might I ask what you have been working on?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, we have so many ideas. I think I am about ready with my idea for Jarix''s machinegun, but we must make it run more reliably before it is time to worry about cooling. Tom has been looking into keeping the keep warm during winter, which should be greatly appreciated I feel.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes that would be very lovely I am sure.¡±


    ¡°And of course we have much to prepare for with spring construction work. Schematics, preparations, plans. And he has so many things to teach me, I believe Linkosta has finally discovered how to make her corruption triggers work for the proposed mines. I think it helped that Joelina sent her something to copy, but don¡¯t tell¡­ wait who was it I wasn¡¯t supposed to tell?... I do not know.


    ¡°Oh but I do know where they intend to put them, and I promised to assist Linkosta and her father in manufacturing them. And Tink is veeery busy of course, he and Junior have been doing such a great job making a lot of the parts we need. I believe they are nearly ready with the molds for casting water pipes, just like Tom wanted them¡­ I still don¡¯t understand why they are so big and heavy. I would just use copper.¡±


    ¡°Casting water pipes?¡± the dragon questioned, clearly intrigued. And Edita¡¯s enthusiasm was palpable as ever.


    ¡®Hooo, boi, now you have done it.¡¯


    Edita proceeded to explain a bunch of technical things which Sapphire honestly didn¡¯t understand. It all made her feel a little silly for thinking that Ray and Tiguan would have helped Edita to be a bit more normal. Now she just had Ray and Tiguan both listening to the artificer be her normal self instead.


    It left a bit of a strange taste in her mouth. Was there anything wrong with that? The hope had been to try and nudge the artificer away from being all work. But they were all perfectly happy, and Edita wasn¡¯t chasing after Tom, at least for the moment. So some progress had been made¡­


    ¡®Oh what the hell, let ¡¯em be. At least Tiguan won¡¯t let any of the boys peek up her skirt any time soon,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she leant back and just enjoyed the show, which did go on for a fair bit. She could tell from Both Tiguan¡¯s and Ray¡¯s expressions that they understood exactly as little as Sapphire did, but they were putting in a good effort to seem like they were listening.


    ¡°So hopefully we would be able to heat the beds using the excess heat running through the secondary low pressure loop, unless we aren¡¯t running the small engine in which case we would heat the secondary loop directly by means of a heat exchanger to transfer heat from the high pressure to the low pressure loop. You know, in case the engine isn¡¯t running. Isn¡¯t that clever?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ yes, definitely,¡± the dragon replied with a nod, doing a fine job hiding just how little he had understood. Saph knew that face when she saw it; it was like looking in a mirror after all. All she had cared about was the warm beds at night. That sounded pretty grand to her ears. ¡°But what of anything for uhm¡­ flying?¡±


    ¡°Oh we did uncover some interesting things, though I am not sure if I can talk about that,¡± Edita answered as she glanced around to see who might be listening. There was the work crew, which Sapphire had to admit she wasn¡¯t entirely clear on either. They might not be in on the shit that was going on, or maybe they only had some of it. Either way, probably best to keep them at least semi out of the loop.


    ¡°Oh I understand, but maybe Tom has been¡­ working on something? Do you know?¡± the dragon questioned leadingly.


    ¡°It is okay, Tiguan, he has been very busy, and he let me use the parachute, remember?¡±


    ¡°Oh right yes, when was the last time you had a go?¡± Tiguan questioned enthusiastically as his attention switched from Edita to Ray. She was currently trying to comfort Vigon, the kid¡¯s pride having been bruised after he had lost yet another round of dragon tag as the kids had inventively called it. He was coming around though as he played with one of the nice puzzle boxes they had been gifted by the inquisition of all people.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ it has been a while,¡± Ray admitted a little shyly. Sapphire let out an audible curse to herself, how the fuck could they forget that? She had loved the damn parachute, and they had definitely had the time. They had just forgotten. ¡®And now it¡¯s pretty much winter, fuuucking hell¡­ maybe we¡¯ll get a nice clear day at some point. God dammit Tom. I blame you for this.¡¯


    ¡°Oh,¡± Tiguan replied, evidently surprised by the answer and not in a happy way.


    ¡°Oh it is fine, we haven''t had the time at all. There has been so much to do all day, we can barely keep up.¡±


    ¡°I know the feeling, poor Deriva. They have been missing so many hands and haven¡¯t gotten any new ones at all. I am carrying a notice written by the nice old lady, that she wants some volunteers to come to her keep. New recruits. She wanted me to carry it and find some people I liked for them. I do not really know what to do with it though. I do not know many people at all. And the Inquisition might not like it.¡±


    ¡°Hey Tigs, if you want you can go talk with my brother Haiko. He works at an inn called the Sweet Dragon,¡± Sapphire spoke up again. ¡°He¡¯s a real people person, and he¡¯s a guard. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d know a few candidates. Otherwise there is always the races. Tell ¡¯em Sapphire Rayland sent you.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank you, Saph,¡± the dragon replied, actually giving her a head bow. That wasn¡¯t something you saw every day. Then again this wasn¡¯t an ordinary dragon. Tiguan was rather special to put it bluntly.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t mention it. Do remember to let him know that if the people he sends aren¡¯t up to snuff I¡¯ll whip his ass.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ uhm okay, I will be sure to tell him,¡± the dragon replied cautiously, Sapphire grinning a bit. There was no way in hell he was actually going to convey that part. But who knew, he might end up dancing around it in an amusing fashion. She could already imagine poor Haiko trying to work out what the black dragon at his door was on about, poor fella didn¡¯t have the best of luck when it came to picking up indirect meanings after all.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Oh and if he¡¯s seen my sister Viper, do try to remind him that he should tell her to come this way. We could probably do with another trader swinging by in the new year. Or at least Deriva and Hylsdal could."


    ¡°I will be sure to let him know,¡± Tiguan stated more confidently.


    ¡°Thanks man. I owe you one.¡±


    ¡°Oh no no, it is fine, it is no trouble at all,¡± the dragon insisted, predictably. ¡°If anything it is me who should be thanking you.¡±


    ¡°You sure? I could have a chat with Tom about something flying related needing to get pushed up a little, call it even?¡± Sapphire countered with a bit of a cruel grin. A dragon shouldn¡¯t go around giving away favors, gotta have a little respect for one''s own time. Especially when said time came at the cost of a juicy deer a day more or less.


    ¡°Oh uhm.¡± Poor Tiguan looked rather conflicted at that proposition, Sapphire chuckling to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m messing with yah,¡± she finally went with a snicker, before the dragon could make any promises he didn¡¯t have to. ¡°You let them know, I¡¯ll see what I can do, deal?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm¡­ okay, deal,¡± the dragon replied with a nod, still seeming a touch uncertain.


    ¡°So you heading out tomorrow morning then?¡± she questioned as she looked about the hall. The hour was already starting to get late, and the festivities showed no sign of slowing down.


    ¡°I do not know¡­¡± Tiguan replied, matching her gaze around the room. ¡°Perhaps there shall be better weather the day after,¡± he went as he laid eyes on his two ground crew currently busy playing dice with some of the construction workers. And much to her horror or, more accurately, their misfortune, Tom.


    It did not seem to be going well for them at all.


    ¡®Well they are gonna die¡­ lucky them, having a dragon so nice he will even cover for his own crew drinking with excuses,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself with an amused huff, trying to imagine what Grevi¡¯s reaction to that might be. Jarix wouldn¡¯t give a fuck as long as he was allowed in, but Grevi would likely have them stand on parade to get shouted at for something like that.


    ¡°Well if you do stay the night, I hope you don¡¯t mind company.¡±


    ¡°Oh never, Ylditz always said I was a people person¡­ It¡¯s normally just not mutual.¡±


    ¡®Oh buddy.¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Well it didn¡¯t seem to Tom like they would be getting rid of their new found guests too early the following day. Unless flying with half drunken crews wasn¡¯t too much of a concern. Tiguan would certainly be struggling to get much actual work out of his two ground crew, who were apparently named Karlch and Tonzei.


    It was at least partially Tom¡¯s own fault, but the two of them really sucked at meyer. They had remembered the game from the festival last time they were here and managed to talk some of the construction crew into a game of it. With Tom teaching, of course.


    It was an enjoyable time, and he supposed he could chalk it up as him doing his duties to get the kids their big play uncle for one more day. While Tiguan¡¯s two crewmen had fared rather poorly, the construction crew had proved far better suited to the game of deception.


    The ability of a builder to lie his pants off apparently carried over between worlds, which was both hilarious and disconcerting. But they had a good talk about the work done at Deriva while they were at it, as well as the new barn and planned workshop at Bizmati.


    They of course had a few loud suggestions about what had been done wrong, two of them even leaving half way through the game to have a look at the handy work, returning about 20 minutes later to proudly proclaim that, ¡°Don¡¯t worry boss, they ain¡¯t putting us out of business any time soon, fuckers can¡¯t even carve a dove joint.¡±


    ¡°Why bother? Screws and brackets are faster,¡± Tom countered with a shrug.


    ¡°Only if yah don¡¯t know how to use an ax you funny looking fella,¡± one of the rather gruff women of the group replied merrily, taking a swig of her mug. ¡°And those screws, gotta cost a fortune so they do.¡±


    ¡°We make them ourselves, and most of it is just nailed together. But hey, I guess you aren¡¯t exactly blessed with power drills around here now are you?¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°Oh do I have something for you. Now it¡¯s definitely NOT for sale¡­ but who knows, maybe one day a certain factory could turn out a few more, if you catch my drift¡­ I¡¯ll be right back. Come on Jacky, I wanna blow some minds.¡±


    ¡°Kulinger won¡¯t be happy, you know that right?¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    At Ray¡¯s request Sapphire had gotten up early to help out with breakfast. She could always take a midday nap later, after all.


    Herron and Unkai had been overworked like crazy trying to put something together for the extra people. Or more rightly Unkai had. Herron had almost managed to pick things up to a regular working speed, but not without complaint of course. Saph did make sure he didn¡¯t get to just sit in a corner as they all worked.


    Once a lot of the prep work had been handled, Sapphire had set about readying the tables, finding the Bizmati family as well as Victoria, Sisu, and Ylditz already discussing at the head table. That was hardly anything out of the ordinary, so she just started setting the table, passing in amongst them as they had their little discussion. Taking it nice and slow to pick up on any delicious gossip that might result.


    It wasn¡¯t her fault she wouldn¡¯t mind knowing what the plan for the day would be a little earlier.


    ¡°Are you sure that we can''t stay another night? Half of them are still suffering from yesterday,¡± Ylditz had questioned, innocently enough.


    ¡®Your two lads especially.¡¯


    ¡°If one imbibes to the point it interferes with their duties, then one should reconsider their profession. We leave in 30 minutes, and that is being generous,¡± Victoria countered, clearly not buying that excuse.


    ¡°But the weather, it isn¡¯t exactly great, either,¡± Ylditz tried cautiously, rather quickly getting shut down.


    ¡°Nor is it likely to improve. In fact it will only get worse. We may be spared on this first leg by waiting, but doing so will only give us worse and worse odds as we carry on towards the capital. No, we are going.¡±


    ¡°I agree, we should leave as soon as possible. If conditions do improve we will benefit tonight. We will not fit under roof in the village even if they are rather fond of Ylditz and Tiguan,¡± Sisu interjected, arms crossed and standing tall. Saph hadn¡¯t interacted much with her as of yet, but from what she knew, the lieutenant matched Grevi¡¯s personality to a tee.


    She certainly looked like she knew what she¡¯s doing, or at least believed so.


    ¡°Yes we might share the name, but there is only so much space to go around,¡± Ylditz replied with a weak chuckle. ¡°Very well, could I have maybe an hour after breakfast to get ready? Just¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°Very well, but don¡¯t expect me to let you get away with that once we are back in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Of course not, the lady would never allow it.¡±


    ¡°So an hour after breakfast. Do you wish for a send off?¡± Nunuk questioned as Saph spent a little time rearranging the cutlery for the Lady¡¯s plate, ears perked all the while.


    ¡°A quick salute will do, we shall see you again come spring I feel. Though I doubt we will be seeing much leave during our time back in the city,¡± Victoria replied with a neutral expression. ¡°Without taking into account our inquisitorial friends of course.¡±


    ¡°I thought you had all earned leave by now?¡±


    ¡°We have, but there is a war on. I am expecting garrison or training duty. Such is the life. At least once all of this is over those still standing will get to enjoy the spoils. I believe you are quite familiar with that sentiment yourself, lady Nunuk.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ so fresh batch of recruits? Didn¡¯t it take years to get Jarix ready for battle?¡±


    ¡°They are Royal guard dragons, they are the tip of the spear. Or will at the very least become so one day. No, we would be training civilians I feel. Militia dragons. Any willing to lend a hand. A few months will do for those, especially if they know how to fight already.¡±


    ¡°I see, very well then. Sapphire, how far along is the kitchen?¡±


    ¡°Oh, shouldn¡¯t be too long. A few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Very well, once you are done would you be a dear and ring the bell¡­ also wasn¡¯t it Unkai and Herron today?¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. They needed a hand,¡± Sapphire replied curtly, without any malice in her voice.


    ¡°Herron¡¯s fault?¡± the Lady questioned almost rhetorically. They had been through this song and dance before.


    ¡°Heron¡¯s fault,¡± Sapphire just confirmed as she rearranged the last few forks once more.


    ¡°Duly noted. Now, I think you have been listening long enough. We do not need a second Esmeralda now, do we?¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am. I shall go ring the bell then. You lot plan in peace.¡±


    The officers did look at Sapphire a little funny, but Nunuk seemed to find it amusing. But off she went.


    Breakfast had been a quick and uneventful affair. The food wasn¡¯t anything special aside from the leftovers from the day before, and at least half the people present were swaying in their seats. The dragon crews were hurrying a fair amount, something which didn¡¯t go too well as Karlch spilled his plate on the floor, making a grand old mess.


    Ray had, of course, been quick to help pick it up, Tiguan watching from the hatch leading to the greeting hall. Jarix and he had slept inside for the night while Grevi and Baron remained outside, though graciously the black dragon had let Grevi borrow his brand new tarp as Baron had taken up residence where Yldril had previously spent the nights. That left just the older black to face the morning dew and light misty rain that had rolled in.


    Tiguan naturally apologized for Karlch as the ground crewman swayed a little, looking like he wanted to try and help but couldn¡¯t really work out how as soon enough the mess was gone and Ray was running off with it. Saph chuckled a little as the man looked after her in evident confusion, still swaying gently side to side. After a moment to process he elected to just go get another plate and try again. He was last to finish.


    It hadn¡¯t taken long for the dragons to get ready following the meal, the largest point of work being loading Baron up with the saw. There had been some contention on just who had to carry it, Grevi deciding that of course it had to be her, or more correctly she seemed to just assume it would be her.


    Baron and Victoria had apparently discussed ahead of time and decided that Baron would do it. As they put it, ¡°We do not know what weather is in store. We need not repeat what happened coming here.¡±


    Grevi looked like she had been slapped in the face, but she took it without complaint. And so the venerable red was made ready to fly. The construction crew was split amongst Grevi and Tiguan, which to Saph at least looked like plenty of load to put on the two young dragons. Tiguan, of course, had his nice new tarp as well. Grevi was adorned in her armor, which surely wasn¡¯t light either.


    Tiguan was also a bit larger than her, even if it wasn¡¯t much. Jarix was the smallest out of the three of them, but being a blue there was a fair bit more wing to him for said size. Today that wouldn¡¯t matter, though, as the young blue was staying behind.


    With preparations made, goodbyes were said. Nunuk and Victoria had one last exchange of words as Tiguan nuzzled Ray. He apologized that they needed to go already, said he was so sorry about yesterday, and thanked her one last time for the very nice gift. He promised he would get her something from the capital when they came back in spring.


    ¡®Someone believes it is an open and shut deal then,¡¯ Sapphire chuckled to herself at the dragon''s assuredness. Then again, he might just be planning on pulling strings or simply begging until they let him back here.


    ¡°Very well, that shall have to do, I am afraid. Mount up and tie down, the water only stays hot for so long. Lady Nunuk Bizmati, it has been a pleasure. I am confident we shall get to enjoy your hospitality again. Until then,¡± Colonel Hashaw let out in a raised voice as she turned back to Baron, the old red holding out a foreleg for her to climb up.


    In a few well trained and fluid movements, she had made her way to the base of his neck. ¡°Formation, form V on lead, we make for the town of Ylditz, the namesake buys the first round.¡±


    Saph glanced to Lieutenant Yliditz, who rolled his eyes from Tiguan¡¯s comfy looking saddle. ¡°If so then you have the first round back home.¡±


    ¡°Acceptable. Baron, in your own time.¡±


    ¡°It has been a pleasure Lady Bizmati. Best of luck with the bound one. And, Jarix?¡± The venerable red spoke, turning his attention to the young blue.


    ¡°Yes?¡± he replied, tilting his head a touch.


    ¡°Try not to turn too civilian. You have Yldril for that now.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ got it,¡± the blue replied unsurely, casting a quick glance at Tom, who just crossed his arms and huffed.


    And so Baron turned away, and with a short bout into a gallop he leaped airwards, the old scarred wings carrying him, his crew, and the heavy plate armor skywards. Tiguan and Grevi soon followed, forming up behind their formation lead as they turned for the edge of the island, quickly growing smaller on the horizon.


    Behind the keep Yldril watched wordlessly and alone.


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 201: Button Down

    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Following the departure of Baron, Grevi, and Tiguan, things had stayed busy at the keep. Sapphire had been no exception, working on salting and smoking the last supplies for Deriva. When they were complete, Jarix had been sent on his last trip of the year, the young blue taking on the deteriorating weather without much concern. No one was worried. He was a blue, and it wasn¡¯t really a storm. His crew also had very nice winter gear available, so there should be little difficulty in making the flight.


    For the people at the keep, and especially Wiperna and Raulf, the relief of the goats finally being gone had been palpable. Both of them took the evening to relax a little, safe in the knowledge that no damn goat would have gotten out only to show up on the roof of the chicken coop the following day.


    But not only had Jarix rid them of the damn goats, he had brought back some fruit and other assorted berries less than a day later. Nothing good or even that sweet, and most of it well on the way to being dried for winter already. That was fixable though with a simple dunking in water. Tom had given up a recipe for them to try. He himself was far too busy, so it had fallen to Sapphire to gather up some volunteers, which she did happily.


    Most of the huntresses were busy, sadly. Dakota and Essy were taking Bo and Pho through some book classes on just what one could pick and what you should really leave alone in the forest. Jacky was of course helping in the forge, a job which Sapphire was quite pleased she hadn¡¯t ended up needing to do.


    Raulf and Wiperna stated they had preparations to do before things got worse for the rest of their animals, much of their time having been dedicated to goat hunting. Ray was cleaning like a madwoman, there still being quite a bit of mess left over after the last hunt. Saph really didn¡¯t want to put further work on the poor cripple, so had left her to it.


    Fengi was free though, and she wanted in. She had ended up bringing Unkai along as well. Sapphire did consider going to fetch Maiko, but honestly she had no clue where he might even be. Most likely he would be working on Yldril, which she had no intention of getting involved with. The black dragon really hadn¡¯t taken things well after the verbal bout with Tiguan, or more rightly their reaction to her espousing her opinion so vehemently.


    She had been forced to sleep outside, and had been fed nothing but salted game meat since. Sapphire had been avoiding her as best she could, but Fengi of course could not. The only work there had been for the dragon was assisting with the final moving about of materials to and from the warehouse to make it ready for winter.


    The three of them had followed the strange jam recipe to a tee. Converting measurements was a bit tricky, but they managed. The important part was the ratios after all, rather than the actual amounts. The first batch hadn¡¯t come out quite right. Apparently, their homemade jelly wasn¡¯t quite the same as gelatin. What exactly the difference was, Sapphire didn¡¯t know, but she was hardly a stellar cook.


    Tom had also warned them to boil the jars first to make sure they were properly clean. Saph wasn¡¯t quite sure why that would make them cleaner, but she knew better than to question the human''s methods. Kulinger had questioned if, perchance, the food situation wasn¡¯t as good as they had all been led to believe when he walked in on them essentially trying to boil soup on a bunch of jars, but he bought the explanation well enough.


    At least Sapphire hoped so, else they would be mocked for that one for weeks. Especially if it didn¡¯t work this time. As the second attempt bubbled away on the simple stove in the large steel pot, silence reigned in the kitchen. This time they had used twice as much jelly, but Sapphire thought that maybe they had gotten it too hot last time, so she was watching the fire closely. It was flickering gently inside the old stove, flames licking lazily up the sides of the pot. Fengi and Unkai sat at stools behind her, backs to the large table they often used to work dough or other larger items prior to cooking.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this one turns out a little better,¡± Saph said to no one in particular, just wanting to break the silence as she added a few more dainty pieces of firewood. ¡°It¡¯s our last chance after all. No more berries.¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Fengi replied automatically, Unkai not weighing in. Saph couldn¡¯t believe they didn¡¯t actually have anything to talk about. Well she knew they did. The mood was just a little... quiet. She knew why of course, but how to broach the subject? Should she even?


    She honestly did not know as she went to sit down next to Fengi on her own stool as well, all three of them watching the fires now. ¡°Otherwise we will have to wait till next year.¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Fengi replied again, having nothing more to say.


    They all stared for a while longer, the crackling fire and the sounds of the keep taking over. The bellows working away down below as Shiva shouted orders. The gentle tap tap tap of Kullinger labouring over gods knew what. Maybe he was repairing some of the old beds for use once more, or maybe Jacky had broken something again which required replacement. The lathe and milling machine weren¡¯t running. Tink, Edita and Tom likely helping out in the forge instead judging by Shiva¡¯s ordering about.


    Above them, creaking beams as Jarix shifted in the greeting hall. The pitter patter of little feet on the floor as the kids ran around the dragon, likely playing some sort of game. If they had been higher up, maybe they could have heard Pho getting a question wrong again up in the library as Dakota did her best not to rub her face at the blackboard.


    Up on the highest floor Lothal was taking lessons from Nunuk. Later it would be Dakota¡¯s turn. No one was talking about it, certainly not while Dakota was around, but it was clear what Nunuk was planning. She would be passing on the blade sooner rather than later. The Bizmati family''s ancestral fangblade, the symbol of their keep and those who ruled it. Sapphire knew Dakota had always wanted to wield it, but now when it was so close, she clearly doubted she was ready.


    Whether she was ready or not, Saph¡¯s guess was that they would have a new lady before the next year was out, maybe even sooner. Perhaps even in time for spring. Now she had no illusions that Nunuk was going to simply throw in the towel. She would be at her daughter''s side for as long as her health permitted. But she could no longer fight, nor could she lead by example as she had always done.


    The old Lady would become an advisor, much like her husband had been for many years already. It was rather rare they had need of a mage out here after all. And soon enough Linkosta would be taking over that role anyway. Sapphire knew that the two of them had been busy, working both on the things Tom wanted and that fancy book about dragon magic the Inquisition had gotten them. Linkosta couldn¡¯t stop talking about what she had been learning and, of course, Apuma couldn¡¯t avoid bragging about how smart she was for working so much of it out already.


    To Sapphire''s knowledge they hadn¡¯t actually tried any of it out yet, but it shouldn¡¯t be too long before Linkosta ran out of patience and Jarix was properly convinced that they knew what they were doing. As for their not-so-beloved inquisitorial friends, Paulin was spending her time doing what she seemed to be best at: listening, watching, and learning.


    Sapphire was certain she would have to help translate more of Tom¡¯s things in the future. It wasn¡¯t the worst job ever, but it was pretty bad. She would likely also have to train with Bo and Pho. Essy and Dakota did have other duties after all, especially Dakota. Though Essy did often spend quite a bit more time with the kids than the rest of them.


    Sapphire would probably be in charge of archery practice, even if the weather was cold. As long as it wasn¡¯t too windy or raining they would go and take a few shots at the targets both on the range and from the sky.


    Outside, Wiperna was tending to her flock. She always got a bit more sentimental as things neared the end. A fair few of their livestock wouldn¡¯t make it through winter. That was by design of course. It was always a feast when something was slaughtered during winter, a brief respite from the normally boring foods. Although this year was to be different; they had a cold box now.


    As they sat and watched, Sapphire¡¯s mind long since having wandered off, Fengi let out a long deep yet still dainty sigh. ¡°So¡­ anyone know what they wanna do this winter?¡±


    ¡°Practice, chores¡­ that¡¯s about it,¡± Unkai soon replied as Sapphire kept staring into the flames absentmindedly.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna read my new book.¡±


    ¡°You got a book?¡± Fengi questioned with evident interest.


    ¡°Yup, something I wanted for once rather than what Apuma had sitting on the shelves.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, once you have read it can I have a go?¡±


    ¡°Sure Fen, you¡¯ll be next in line,¡± Sapphire chuckled, taking a deep breath and stretching on the stool.


    ¡°Thanks¡­ Might need to think about something else every once in a while.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Sapphire replied, silence reigning for but a moment. She couldn¡¯t take it anymore and just asked, ¡±So how pissed is she?¡± They all knew who she was referring to, Unkai shifting a little uncomfortably on his seat.


    ¡°Pretty bad,¡± Fengi replied coldly. ¡°She obviously can¡¯t see what it was she did wrong. She just told him the truth. As far as she is concerned at least.¡±


    ¡°Gonna be hard to fix that. She truly believes that Tiguan of all dragons is who¡¯s being a shithead? Nicest dragon I¡¯ve ever met.¡±


    ¡°Yup¡­ I¡¯m afraid all we¡¯ll get out of this is her saying what we wanna hear to avoid getting slapped rather than changing her mind.¡±


    There was a bit more silence as they watched the flames. They would soon have to put a bit more wood on there, but not quite yet.


    ¡°Maybe you could let her have her opinion? She just isn¡¯t allowed to do anything bad¡­ you know?¡± Unkai added cautiously. The two women turned to look at him, the guy shrinking under their gaze.


    ¡°And let her do something like that to Tiguan again in spring? Come on,¡± Sapphire demanded, not convinced. She could see the merit, if they were dealing with someone semi-reasonable. But Yldril? No way.


    ¡°Other people are gonna be mean to him anyway. He should learn to just not listen to them, no?¡±


    ¡°And you think she¡¯s gonna learn from that, how? Even if he¡¯s fine, letting her do as she wants is clearly not very smart.¡±


    ¡°Well you are proving her right. She says you won¡¯t tolerate her unless she rolls over. Then you force her to roll over, right? Like a child who thinks their parents are evil, you just allow them to cry.¡±


    Sapphire blinked a few times. That was so soft, yet so heartless at the same time. Unkai, the goodie two-shoes, wishing to leave a several hundred-year-old dragon to cry like a toddler who didn¡¯t want to eat their vegetables.


    ¡°I mean¡­ that might work actually,¡± Fengi yielded, seeming to consider it seriously.


    ¡°Gonna be hard to get everyone in on it. You just know that Raulf and Balethon will not be able to resist.¡±


    ¡°Probably not no,¡± Fengi replied with a sigh as Sapphire got up to finally tend the fires once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth a shot, no? I don¡¯t want to be mean, but I think after Tiguan you only made it worse. Sorry,¡± the young guy added, ducking his head.


    ¡°Oh now come on, you don¡¯t need to do that,¡± Fengi reassured. She reached over and placed a hand under his chin, raising it up a little. ¡°It¡¯s a good idea. I think it is worth trying at least.¡±


    ¡°Heavens know I don¡¯t have any better idea, and she¡¯ll be sleeping before too long. Would be nice for her to turn in on a high note.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ actually when exactly does she do that?¡± Fengi questioned as she leaned back, patting her lap. It took a few tries before Unkai got the memo, moving over and getting embraced from behind. Fengi might be quite small, but Unkai was smaller. They looked cute together, Sapphire concluded. Like a 3/4th¡¯s scale couple.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°No clue, I always thought they had some control over it,¡± Unkai said as he got a little more comfortable, slowly relaxing.


    ¡°Well I suppose we can always ask her¡­ or Jarix,¡± Sapphire offered, shrugging. "You want me to go? Let you two lovebirds watch the pot in the meantime?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll go. Not a bad plan, by the way,¡± Maiko then added, the three of them turning to see the corporal standing in the corner of the room with a big ass grin on his face. ¡°You are quite right by the way, she has learned absolutely nothing from that punishment. This might just do something. She desperately needs someone to believe her, least of all herself. Get her to doubt it all and you might just have something to work with. Even if it is a longshot. A bit more stick and some fear won¡¯t hurt either. I will see about that part.¡±


    ¡°Getting Yldril to doubt what she is saying? Getting her to fear you? You¡¯d be more likely to crash upwards,¡± Sapphire protested, feeling bemused by the idea.


    ¡°Now, now. Remember, the most confident people are usually the least. Just gotta crack the mask. Ain''t that right?¡± he questioned as he turned to leave, still with a big ass grin on his face, leaving Sapphire standing there a little flustered. ¡°Also, yeah, if they keep moving they don¡¯t go into hibernation, it just comes naturally when the stay still for long enough where it¡¯s cold,¡± he added as he went down the stairs


    Once the door was heard further down, Fengi spoke up with mirth in her voice. ¡°Do you think he was talking about you or Jacky?¡±


    ¡°Snip it, pipsqueak.¡±


    ¡°Awwww, no fun.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Progress was quite good at the keep, all things considered. As the weeks slid by they finished up appointing the barn. Jarix made his run to Deriva, bringing them more preserved foodstuffs and the gaggle of goats. He had brought back some fairly fresh supplies of fruits and berries which Deriva had apparently been planning on keeping for winter as the last few sweet snacks of the year.


    Tom had made sure to sneak in a pound of sugar for Deriva to say sorry. He had a feeling the kids would love it. Besides, it is what Tiguan would have done, and he wasn¡¯t here anymore. Sapphire and Fengi had managed to produce some decent enough Jam. It was hardly perfection, and it had an odd aftertaste which Tom couldn¡¯t quite place. But it was definitely jam. And predictably enough much of it had quickly been devoured at breakfast over the following days before the last couple jars were sealed away for later.


    As the temperature steadily started to drop, day after day, any and all work outside the keep started to slow down. Tom didn¡¯t shy away from the work. When lugging heavy boxes around, even a few degrees was too warm for a thick jacket, after all.


    The dragonettes could also keep decently warm when they kept moving and kept working, but it was hardly comfortable. More and more Tom found them sticking indoors and close to anything hot. Even Tink and Edita spent less and less time in the workshop in favor of the far warmer smithy as they toiled away.


    Hot rocks and waterskins filled with warm water were used frequently to make it more comfortable, though it was clear to Tom that they would transition into necessity if it became much colder. Bizmati keep was hardly considered a northern keep. If Tom had to place the climate, Mediterranean felt about right to him during the spring and summer months.


    That being said, they didn¡¯t have a nice big inland sea to keep temperatures steady. In fact they had more or less fuck all save for the heat retention of the island itself, so he had no clue how bad winter might actually get. They had talked of great big snow drifts making it nigh impossible to even get down to the livestock or to go outside to fetch wood when things got really bad.


    Kulinger had come up with the rather clever idea to move much of their firewood stores to the warehouse. There was far, far more space than they needed yet, and it would make it rather more comfortable to gather it up as opposed to the half exposed stacks of wood piled up against various buildings as well as the rocky outcropping on which the keep sat.


    Tom was quite sure that once winter set in proper, getting said firewood would come to be his problem. Well him and Rachuck, the captain being the only dragonette here who could keep himself warm in the chilly conditions. Though burning the magic to do it was rather taxing of course.


    But with all hands more or less confined to quarters and much of the work outside having been completed, where there was truly a spike in activity was the various indoor projects. Edita and Tink had been allowed to throw themselves behind the creation of the various upgrades for Jarix¡¯s gun that they had been planning. They had all the hands they could want to assist them. Most of the crafters, huntresses, and guards had little else to do save carry on with food preparations, training, and cleaning.


    Tom had taken to giving form to some of the various ideas they had come up with. He had managed to fashion a makeshift freezer already using a pair of no longer needed wooden crates with ¡°Property of the Inquisition,¡± boldly written across them, which had caused no end of mirth when they were first unveiled.


    They were rather simple really, a box within a box insulated with loosely packed sawdust and some straw. Inside, the top was made out of a hastily constructed rectangular metal box courtesy of Shiva and Jacky. It was to be filled with water and frost powder to provide the cold for the contraption. A simple enough idea really. Just a touch expensive for out here on the frontier.


    Tom had watched the two of them hammer out the plates in record time. He had been allowed to help with the first stages of it, and he thought he had put in a pretty good effort. The change in the note of the singing steel once Jacky took over shut him up though.


    But, they had a basic freezer. He had no clue how cold it might actually be, but it sure was freezing. His proposal to use it to make ice cubes to put in the water so you could have a nice cold refreshing drink hadn¡¯t been met with much enthusiasm. Rather, they had all stared at him like he was fucking mad.


    Tom had proceeded to make an ice cube tray anyway, or rather he tricked Kulinger into making it by telling him it was part of the firebox for the boiler that he was planning on trying to cobble together. He was quite sure the carpenter would be rather cross with Tom when he worked out what the really rather lovely bit of woodworking was actually for, but Tom had a feeling it would likely be quite a while before that man decided to stick his head inside the freezer.


    The first time he had plunked a few ice cubes into his water for dinner had most certainly been worth it though. They had just gawked at him as they all stood and waited for warm water for making tea from the big ass pot. Or maybe it was more accurate to call it a cauldron.


    The next and rather more sizable project Tom had thrown himself behind was of course the central heating system. He had really wanted to have a go at making pasta or maybe something else for the kitchen, but Shiva and Jacky had already been working on making the segments of pipe, which Tink had to spare some time to cut the threads into. It was slow and laborious work, and they had ended up with so many failed castings that even Shiva had stopped keeping count.


    She was a plate smith, not a damn foundry worker as she put it, but still things did improve ever so slowly as they dialed in the process. At this rate quality charcoal might actually run out before winter was out though, which was a concern. They had perhaps rather miscalculated their stocks during autumn based on the assumption they would be forging in the forge rather than heating up crucibles of molten iron day after day.


    The extra hands available had at least afforded them the added reassurance of two guards waiting with buckets in case something went wrong. It was a rather large amount of fire and heat to be messing with inside a half wooden structure after all. At least the floor was tiled, unlike most of the keep. It had been built with a forge in mind, but even so a splash or two of water didn¡¯t hurt when something started looking a bit smokey.


    The result was almost like a sauna. A very sooty sauna filled with coal dust which stuck to everything. Dragonettes included. Normally the fact they didn¡¯t sweat at least limited how dirty they got, and what dust did stick was easily enough wiped off as long as one wasn¡¯t dumb enough to wear something it would get trapped inside, like nice white linen.


    The rather unique situation did of course result in the rather interesting problem of just how to wash a half dozen dragonettes at least once a day. The answer, rather amusingly, had been communal bathing in the grand hall, which come to think of it might be part of the reason they didn¡¯t have any trouble getting volunteers for the bucket brigade from the guards. Normally they bathed in their rooms. It didn¡¯t take much when you just needed a wipe down. But now, hot water was a scarce resource.


    A big ass tub was brought out and filled with hot water from the fireplace behind the high table which they had used for spit roasts a few times before as well as keeping big pots warm during the meals. More water was sometimes brought up from the kitchen and poured in alongside cold water to ready the bath. Then it was a matter of in you go one at a time to get scrubbed clean.


    Tom didn¡¯t really get why the guys were excited by the idea. They didn¡¯t even get to share the tub, but maybe it was more like going to the beach or something. And if you weren''t going in or scrubbing, you didn¡¯t really have anything to do in the hall, so it would be rather obvious you were just there to ogle.


    Predictably Balethon had gotten a brush hurled at him once by Shiva when he wasn¡¯t doing his job much to the amusement of everyone involved. And to his own detriment as when it was finally his turn, Jacky had voulenteer as a scrubber. She did a very thorough job indeed.


    Tom had also gotten rinsed off in the big tub once or twice, but one day when it was absolutely pouring down he had decided to be funny. He had stripped down to his undies and run out into the rain for a shower instead, a few of the dragonettes including Jacky watching from the doorway to see just what the hell the crazy bastard was up to now.


    His rendition of ¡°Siiiiiining in the rain¡± likely didn¡¯t help with their views on his sanity, but it was rather funny he thought. Once mostly clean he had run right back inside to have a dunk in the nice warm water before getting dried off at last.


    But alas there was more than just fooling around to be done, and while the pipework was coming along well he did have a pair of rather sizable challenges left on the table to crack before they could get any further: the engine and the boiler.


    As it turned out, his most useful source for putting together a design which they could actually fabricate wasn¡¯t any of the literature he had brought with him, but rather Edita.


    The artificer clearly knew her way around steam-based systems of all sorts. And while getting her to think in terms of something they could actually produce was sometimes an issue,  there was no doubt she knew what she was on about in regards to making it work.


    The final design had consisted of 2 circuits built into the same boiler.


    For the boiler they had settled on a vertical firetube boiler, meaning that it was essentially a large drum standing on its end with a firebox at the bottom. Then the fire and smoke were taken up through the boiler in tubes surrounded by water. It was a rather simple design. In theory. Once it had imparted most of its heat into the boiler water, the smoke would pass back down the back of the boiler vessel, running through larger pipes through a second tank of water, this one designed to heat the keep using excess heat from the boiler.


    Heat could be drawn from the steam circuit to the warm water circuit by opening a valve to let steam run through some tin pipes submerged within the large hot water tank, equalizing the two systems. In theory it should be a fairly efficient and decently powerful setup. If Tom had his math right it should be capable of supplying around 15 horsepower worth of steam pressure, which sounded alright to him.


    Whether or not the excess heat would be enough to meaningfully heat the keep was a little more doubtful, but at least it should help. And if it ever came to that, there wasn¡¯t anything stopping them from making a dedicated heating boiler and adding it to the system.


    He had considered using convection to carry the water flow, but in the end that just sounded like far too much of a hassle and far too likely to quit on them without warning. So rather he elected to use the steam engine to drive a small pump. Said pump would also serve as the water injector into the boiler, which had actually been Edita¡¯s idea.


    Making the engine and pump shouldn¡¯t be too much of a challenge. What had Tom worried was the boiler. The brazing of the internal pipework was going to be one hell of a challenge. If there was any flaw at all, it could blow a pipe out inside, filling the whole smithy with scalding hot steam. And they were using hand-brazed pipework made in a forge. One idea was to place the boiler in a room below, one of the storage rooms most likely. To minimise the danger. Though someone would still need to stoke it regularly.


    Welding was completely out of the question. The only kind that would have any hope of working was tig, and he wasn¡¯t getting his hands on pure argon any time soon. They would have to settle for old-timey safety procedures. They were gonna install safety valves and some sort of crude pressure gauge, even if it might just consist of green, yellow, red and dead markings rather than actual pressures. And they would of course need to pressure and heat test it somehow, preferably to something far, far higher than they would ever operate it under. Alas, that was a problem for later.


    In the end the only one spending less time in the workshops and smithy than before was Junior. He had ended up split between assisting his father and spending time with Radexi as Zarko and Jarix settled down for some book-side lessons before the dragon had to be put to sleep for the winter. Jarix wasn¡¯t really much for the lessons from what Tom had been able to glean. He would rather tell stories and legends to whatever audience had the time, which of course included Kiran and a fair few of the kids in addition to Junior.


    Tom was rather certain that the stories were at least a little bit embellished, and thankfully for Apuma and Essy¡¯s sensibilities much of the nastiness was cut out. It was clear that Junior was rather smitten with it all. He had been ever since he had shown up back during early summer. And with so many hands free to help in the smithy, the young man was able to spend more time with Jarix and company than ever before.


    Tink took it well, but as soon as Junior was out the door, having made his excuses, it was obvious that the old man was saddened that he seemed more interested in being elsewhere. To Tom, the fact that Tink didn¡¯t even try to convince Junior to stay was rather admirable even if it likely hurt. Maybe he knew that soon enough Jarix would be sleeping, and the chances to hang out with the cool warrior dragon would be gone. Or perhaps he was simply more concerned with his son being as happy as he could be.


    It wasn¡¯t like there were many friends to make here in the sticks compared to the capital. Radexi was the only other boy of about the same age after all. Tom had spied both Bo and Pho sitting in on some of the dragon''s stories one time when he had come through heading up to the bedrooms to fetch some things. There hadn¡¯t been any sign of summer romance between those two groups, but at least they didn¡¯t seem to hate each other either.


    Come to think of it, winter would likely be the first time they would actually have a chance to spend any sort of time together as they had all been working quite hard ever since arriving at the keep way back when. Question was, would they? Tom didn¡¯t really know, nor was it really his concern. For him the biggest boon of Jarix holding a story hour as opposed to Apuma was that Kiran didn¡¯t complain about going. The little guy was a bundle of joy, but it was rather hard to get anything dangerous done with him around.


    The children of course still had their classes with Apuma for much of the day, so their daily routine hadn¡¯t changed much. There was still time in the evenings for cuddling up on the bed with a laptop for a movie. Tom even taught the little guy to play Minesweeper. Actually being good at Minesweeper was a ways off still, but one step at a time was the name of the game. All in all, things were going quite well at the little keep out in the middle of nowhere, even as the world moved around them.


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 202: Watch Your Six

    Things were definitely slowing down for winter now. Saph wasn¡¯t dumb; she knew there was plenty of work being done, but for the first time in a long time she found herself in a position to get out of at least some of it. It of course helped that she had no useful skills in the workshop, unlike their variously technically or metalworking inclined individuals. And there wasn¡¯t much left to do in the kitchens save for preparing the regular meals in the morning and evening.


    Thus she found herself with a little free time on her hands. Well, in addition to the days off they were still taking every now and again. Yesterday they had all spent a day playing cards, listening to music, and enjoying their various luxuries. Tom had put on a pair of movies in the evening, one for the kids and one for the adults like before.


    They had all scoffed a little at the title of ¡°How to Train your Dragon,¡± especially Jarix, who was watching through the hatch. But it had been a rather enjoyable tale, even if Kiran had loudly and proudly proclaimed that this ¡°Hiccut¡± was a coward several times throughout.


    The various dragons had all looked truly hilarious; arguably they were even more insulting than the title, but they had taken it in good spirits. The ¡°Gronkle¡± especially, it¡¯s tiny wings buzzing like a bee. The kids doing their best to see who¡¯s wings could flap the fastest, which had led to a pause on the movie as Worpock went for a flight inside the grandhall, receiving quite the stern talking too after his escapades.


    The night fury had raised some eyebrows with its menacing appearance, but it had quickly been concluded that it was a distant cousin of Tiguan and Jarix. Sapphire had forgotten what the one that covered itself in fire was called, but it had been unanimously agreed that Baron should be shown the technique.


    Of course, Jarix had been a little grumpy that none of the dragons were seemingly any smarter than a deer, sometimes even falling quite a bit short of that. The night fury was seemingly the exception for some reason but there was only the one so it hardly counted. Balethon¡¯s flying lizard Skitters had of course been compared to the funny little red and green ones, though there was still wide agreement that Skitters was in fact dumber.


    Skitters had seemingly enjoyed watching the movie, though it was clear to Saph that nothing save for the pretty colors were making a mark inside the head of the little thing. All it had learned was to jump on command, though with no regard for where it was going. It would simply blindly jump straight ahead on command. Sometimes it did at least aim for people. Like Fengi had found out in the kitchen when the little critter had found its way up onto the top shelves. Quite how it got there was a mystery, but at least it was easy enough to get it down when you could just tell it to jump.


    Either way it had been quite an enjoyable movie. For the adults Sapphire had a feeling that Jacky had probably been allowed to influence the selection. Cause she could remember her talking about these ¡°Expendables¡± before. It had been violent, bloody, full of fire and explosions. and at times even funny.


    Jacky had enjoyed herself immensely, but understandably enough there had been a few exceptions. Ray, Wiperna, and Essy hadn¡¯t done much save to just keep quiet until the love story between one of the old warriors and what must be what passed for a beautiful human woman started to come into play.


    They had all goaded Jacky a little that maybe she should go to a lighter bow if she wanted to look more like the movie¡¯s love interest and less like the old grumbly dude dressed in black.


    ¡°Har har har. And who is it that has me on morning workouts again?¡± she retorted with typical confidence, squeezing Tom a little, resulting in a rather odd sound.


    They had all laughed it off and watched the rest of the movie, which did not quiet down. If anything, it only got more violent. The final raid almost reminded Sapphire of the tales that had come out of the battle for Deriva Keep.


    But today was a work day. For most, at least. Sapphire hadn¡¯t actually been told what to do, so she wasn¡¯t going to ask. She had a date with her new book after all. She had settled down in the library in Apuma¡¯s comfy chair. Lessons were yet to start, and the children were playing in their room.


    But Dakota and Lothal were up and about, sitting at the reading desk and going over some sort of ledger. They hadn¡¯t bothered Sapphire, but she couldn¡¯t help but listen in at least a little bit. She wanted to know how the young man was doing with his studies.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you can count cured rations as 3 times the rate of raw foodstuffs for the tithe. It¡¯s a far cheaper way to pay than gold. Especially on the frontier. It is the best price you will ever see for anything you make,¡± Dakota had clarified, her finger running down the page.


    ¡°I see, and furs are best sold to traders already tanned,¡± Lothal echoed. He had clearly been paying attention to things going on then, unless they had already been over this.


    ¡°Exactly, raw hides are poor value. It is far better to keep them.¡±


    ¡°But to tan, you need tanning equipment. Which is not worth saving on,¡° he added as if on cue.


    ¡°Yes, any money saved on earning money is a half measure. It will come back to haunt you,¡± Dakota said sternly but not unkindly. Sapphire started to believe maybe this was a repeat lesson. In time, the little guy would have to remember it all off the top of his head. So it made sense. Get the critical parts burned in for good. And Dakota certainly seemed to be approving of her pupil.


    ¡°But how will I pay for it all? I need huntresses, guards, crafters, tools, weapons, and starting provisions. Do I take loans?¡± the little guy questioned. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for him, it was one hell of a situation to be in. She closed her little book back up. There were only so many pages, after all. It could wait.


    ¡°Most looking to do what you have to do would have to be sponsored. Be it by the crown, a wealthy family, or perhaps some other organization if you can convince them to foot the bill.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°Oh that depends. You do not have much of note in the ground below, so not the mining guild. Not that I believe you would wish to run a slave colony.¡±


    ¡°No, I would rather not.¡±


    ¡®I don¡¯t fucking blame you.¡¯ Saph had only heard of those kinds of colonies; most of them were terrible places to both work and live. People packed in like salted meat in a barrel, working all day every day. The only ones getting paid were the ones who fed the slaves or whipped them.


    ¡°In your case. I believe it will be worth considering the backing of the crown itself,¡± Dakota continued, much to Sapphire''s surprise.


    ¡°Me?... You want me to ask the king for money?¡±


    ¡°No, not the king, the crown.¡±


    ¡°I thought the crown was the king¡­ well, uhm. On the king¡­ sorry,¡± Lothal replied, sounding quite apologetic that he didn¡¯t quite understand.


    ¡°The crown is not a thing. That pretty little platinum circlet represents the authority of the crown. It isn¡¯t the crown, not in the legal sense that is.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ so¡­ the crown is uhm, what exactly?¡±


    ¡°The authority our king commands, as bestowed upon him by Kalador or, more specifically, his line. But that isn¡¯t the important part here. No man rules alone. No matter what the circlet might say. You would want to appeal your case to the crown, to have the kingdom pay.¡±


    ¡°So do I send a letter or¡­? How does this work?¡± The kid was clearly confused, and Sapphire couldn¡¯t blame him. All she knew about all that stuff was how the tax collector claimed to be of the crown. While the taxes were always going to the crown. Which had confused her a little she had to admit.


    ¡°Luckily, we have friends in high places now. The royal guard is part of the crown, after all. In a sense, so is the Inquisition.¡±


    ¡°You think they will pay for my keep? For my home?... It is a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°They will. They must lock down this island as best they can. We are spread thin as it stands. If anything, I would expect them to sponsor more keeps in the near future. Compared to that, helping you with what¡¯s yours would be a bargain.¡±


    ¡°I see, so Joelina then?¡±


    ¡°She is certainly an option for you¡­ but if you wish to involve the Inquisition in the running of your keep any more than is absolutely necessary is a decision you will have to make young man¡­ We have let them in the door, though not quite willingly. But¡­¡± Dakota stopped, seeming to pick her words very carefully.


    ¡°Their means are great, but so is the danger. You know well enough. But the fact you know means I very much doubt you will ever be fully free of their influence and meddling again¡­ I would apologize, but it does seem like it was inevitable.¡±


    ¡°It is not your fault¡­ and we let them in the door. We are lucky not to be purged,¡± the young man of eleven years replied somberly. Saph let out a breath as she listened, she felt so damn sorry for the guy. It wasn¡¯t his fault, none of it was.


    ¡°Not willingly, and you did fight back¡­ and you paid the price, I am still very sorry we did not know,¡± Dakota said, placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°In the future, we shall make greater efforts to maintain communication between our keeps. To ensure things are going well.¡±


    ¡°I like that idea¡­ maybe some of the dragons stay in the future.¡±


    ¡°We will have to see yes¡­ But if you do wish to involve the Inquisition, I would recommend talking to Paulin over the winter. She knows more than what the title of Archivist lets on, but be careful she is a prickly one.¡±


    ¡°And has mighty sharp ears. Be careful how you speak of her, even if she is not there. But don¡¯t worry, she is a nice person,¡± Sapphire added in her most endearing tone while shaking her head.


    ¡®No she bloody well isn¡¯t.¡¯


    They both turned to look at the huntress barging into the conversation, Sapphire carrying on shaking her head slowly side to side, trying to make sure her point came across.


    ¡°I¡­ see,¡± Lothal replied, trying to hide his apprehension. As always, he did a commendable job. He always acted far beyond his age. Much as it was a shame. ¡°I will keep it in mind.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were busy with your new book. Is it not as engaging as you were hoping?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Oh no, I am just saving it for a chilly day¡­ Did you teach him about how much money you can get for antlers yet? Worth more than the pelt to some people.¡±


    ¡°No, but perhaps you should be studying what we should be doing against the boys tomorrow. You know, known darkling tactics. Not just the ones we have seen.¡±


    ¡°So something other than running aimlessly at the enemy?¡±


    ¡°You know as well as I that they are capable of much more. I¡¯m sure Apuma has a book or two around here somewhere, even if a fair bit of skepticism is going to be needed.¡±


    ¡°Right yeah, the tales of Sir Kill Them All, and his merry hare- I mean band of admirers surely doesn¡¯t contain any falsehoods or embellishments.¡±


    Dakota just cleared her throat and glanced towards Lothal, who for his part was doing his best to look innocent and oblivious.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Sapphire let out involuntarily, covering her mouth for a moment. ¡°You know what, I¡¯m sure we got something around here somewhere.¡±


    ¡°On second thought, Saph, go find Paulin. I seem to remember her and Rachuck playing out against each other a while back and rather enjoying it. Surely she has some more believable examples to call on.¡±


    Sapphire¡¯s ears drooped and she rather wished she had stuck to her own book this fine day, but it was definitely too late to go back now.


    ¡°Of course, Dakota. Right away.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Shield wall up the stairs, one high!¡± Rachuck ordered. Balethon, Anchor, and himself formed up shoulder to to shoulder with their shields raised as they began ascending the stairs, their blades at the ready. Behind them Unkai, Tom, and Herron followed, weapons raised. The two guards sported full-length shotguns and Tom his rifle.


    Cresting the edge they arrived into the not quite empty greeting hall. Jarix, his crew, and the children stopped their work to look at the strange sight. It wasn¡¯t like they were going to call a halt to work just because there was training to do.


    ¡°Halt!¡± Rachuck shouted out and the three in the lead came to a stop and knelt. The gunline behind followed, stepping forward and poking the muzzles out in front of the formation as they swept for anything out of the ordinary. It felt so wrong to Tom, to just sit in the open like this. but if arrow fire was the most likely thing to be coming at them, they were quite safe like this. Of course a well timed firebomb would see an end to the proceedings rather swiftly.


    ¡°I mean we can see just fine, unless someone is by that door over there,¡± Unkai offered, shifting left to point towards the nearest door heading to the grand hall.


    ¡°But we don¡¯t have the shields to cover the flank, not unless there is only one gun in the middle.¡± Balethon added with a shrug, not seeming to find it too much of a problem. ¡°Just shoot anyone who happens to be over there first.¡±


    ¡°We could angle the whole line as we come up the stairs,¡± Tom said, pondering if there was a way to improve the situation, or to convince Rachuck that going hell for leather guns only would be a smarter idea. The captain did have a point though. Their weapons were single shot, and by no means guaranteed to put an armored darkling on their ass. Much less so a dark knight, much like Tom had learned in the past.


    The test to see if the muzzle blast was bearable hadn¡¯t gone too well, but Tom did have an idea. Stealth was hardly a concern, nor was there any fear of the recoil overwhelming the guards, even if they were a bit smaller than him on average. A lot in the case of Unkai.


    Thus, he had come up with the brilliant idea just to direct the blast forward, with a muzzle booster. It of course had the added benefit of rattling whoever they were up against in such tight spaces even more so.


    ¡°If the great door is closed, then yes. If not, you will simply have to check our flanks as we ascend. If there is anything there, call halt and we shall deal with it.¡±


    Tom glanced at the big door which was shut against the cold at the moment. But who was to say what would be done in the heat of battle.


    ¡°Will we have any grenades to throw?¡± Herron questioned, betting on the easy way out as always. It wasn¡¯t a bad way to do it though.


    ¡°I believe so, yes. Won¡¯t we, Tom?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, yeah, yeah we are planning on making some grenades, might be without fragmentation though, so just blast. Less chance of killing something we don¡¯t want dead, but also the target. Should put them down so we can finish the job at least.¡±


    ¡°Very good. But yes. Next step. Room is clear, advance to the doors!¡± he called out, raising his tone once more so there was no doubt it was an order. The formation split into two times three and they lazily jogged to the two doors leading to the greeting hall, making their way around the curious children and sizable dragon as they did so.


    ¡°Is it going well?¡± Jarix questioned in a bemused tone as they stacked up on the doors. Tom, together with Anchor and Balethon, Rachuck with Herron and Unkai, spreading out their best hardware.


    ¡°I should say so, yes, though we are only planning thus far. The true practice has yet to commence,¡± Rachuck responded as he waited for everyone to take a position.


    ¡°You can kill them! You gots it!¡± Kiran called out, throwing an empty shell casing after Tom and his group, getting scolded by Zarko right away, the little guy seeming rather annoyed for some reason or another.


    Tom just chuckled, bending down to pick up the casing. Kiran was probably grumpy that they had to help with the work on the ammunition. They only had to carry things around and feed the press, nothing with any danger of getting fingers pinched. That was Zarko and Radexi¡¯s job. As he stood back up again he stopped, tilting his head a touch at a most peculiar sight¡­ a small bag levitating through the air at a not-half-bad pace¡­ coming right towards them.


    ¡°Grenade!¡± he called out as soon as he worked out what was going on, and they all scattered like headless chickens, the bag changing course to follow him, which was certainly a rather creepy feeling and had it been real, likely any soldier¡¯s worst nightmare. ¡°In the rafters!¡±  Anchor called out from behind Tom as he just did his best to outrun the bag, looking over his shoulder. He seemed to be winning, which was driven home by the bag falling to the ground with a thud, shortly followed by claws hitting stone in front of him.


    Behind him Unkai and Herron yelled ¡°bang bang¡± as he stared down Dakota, who was standing basically in front of him, blade raised.


    ¡°So¡­ do you yield?¡±


    Behind her stood Fengi and a rather exhausted-looking Sapphire, both clearly struggling not to laugh at the travesty that had just unfolded.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yeah probably,¡± Tom offered, not really sure what else he could do right about now.


    ¡°Dakota! The facing off was not supposed to begin for at least another few hours.¡±


    ¡°What can I say, we got tired of waiting. It isn¡¯t hard to work out how to mimic darkling tactics. Granted, this trick required a dark knight with the right magic or potion.¡±


    ¡°Also we got two shots off,¡± Unkai added, gesticulating at them with his gun, something Tom would be sure to scold him for later.


    ¡°Through Tom. They spread out the pellets, remember?¡± Fengi added, shaking her head. ¡°And we didn¡¯t even fire at you, we would have had the first shot.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t spread that much,¡± Herron grumbled. ¡°Besides, we have slugs too. remember?¡±


    ¡°Let us leave it at you having lost a few of your number for that one. Remember to look up, the floor is not the only place we might hide.¡±


    ¡°Very well, I believe you have made your point¡­ Now may we carry on with planning out what we are to actually be practicing?¡±


    ¡°If you insist¡­ but we will be making it hard for you,¡± Dakota added with a smirk, sheathing her blade. ¡°Can¡¯t have you patting yourself on the back too much for a bad idea.¡±


    Rachuck clearly wanted to object, but if Tom knew him right, he very much also wanted to beat his older sister. Defending the keep was his job. And something he was very serious about, not to mention passionate. It wouldn¡¯t do to lose to the huntresses that was for sure. And since there would be no actual fighting, they would have to win on tactics. Easier said than done when on the offense to clear one¡¯s home¡­ But they did have a firepower advantage, so it was best to use it.


    ¡°Right then. In you go. We¡¯re coming for you,¡± Tom replied before Rahuck got another word, nodding towards the doors they had been preparing to breach.


    ¡°You heard the man. Let¡¯s go,¡± the gilded huntress called out with confidence as she moved past him, Tom looking around, trying to work out where Essy and Jacky were, not to mention Bo and Pho. He didn¡¯t actually know if the two greenhorns would be taking part, but he assumed so. It was that or training for them, and everyone who could train them was here.


    They all watched the huntresses depart before everyone looked to Tom, save for Rachuck, who clearly expected a bit of attention instead. Clearing his throat, all heads turned to him instead. ¡°So¡­ Change of plan it seems.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So will we actually get to do something this time?¡± Jacky questioned as they all headed on up the stairs to the bedrooms.


    ¡°Yes, you will. Besides, it was hardly my fault they didn¡¯t decide to flee to safety through the doors.¡± Dakota answered cocklily. Her plan had worked even better than they thought. It was a little bit cheating, but they guys had stopped to sweep and not even bothered to look up. It was their fault really. They wouldn¡¯t do it again, which is what training is all about.


    ¡°So what are we doing again?¡±


    ¡°The tactics Paulin talked about, defense in depth. Remember when Tom cut through them like a knife. They were in every room on every story, trying to whittle us down rather than going hard against hard.¡±


    ¡°You want us to die on purpose?¡± Esmeralda questioned, clearly taken aback.


    ¡°You are pretending to be darklings¡­ just try not to remember any of these tactics later.¡±


    Pho cleared her throat, the greenhorn just as miffed as Jacky at not even being allowed to pop out and go ¡°Gotcha¡± earlier.


    ¡°So we just split up and try our best? Like, hide at the back of the room with a bow ready?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t think you would be much good with a blade. Just for the love of all that is holy, don¡¯t actually shoot them.¡±


    ¡°That means don¡¯t nock an arrow, and don¡¯t just dry fire instead,¡± Bo added, apparently sensing a need for premature correction.


    ¡°What, how will they know I hit them then?¡±


    ¡°Just shout ¡®GOT YOU,¡¯ or something like that. It isn¡¯t hard,¡± Sapphire interjected, trying to sound at least a little bit diplomatic.


    ¡°Right, right I got it, I got it. By the gods, how dumb do you think I am?¡±


    There was an awkward silence for a bit as no one elected to answer. Dakota eventually decided enough was enough.


    ¡°So. Spread out all of you. Bo and Jacky, Saph and Pho, Fengi and Essy. Make them pay for every inch.¡±


    They had done as they were told, splitting out and laying in wait. It wasn¡¯t anywhere near as clever as the last trap, but it did seem a little more realistic to Sapphire. She had hoped for someone better than Pho to be with her, but alas neither of them were much good with a blade. Certainly not good enough to beat the guys. But maybe if it was just Unkai or Herron they could wrestle him to the ground.


    They sat and waited¡­ and waited¡­ but nothing much happened. Sapphire was starting to get bored, which must mean Pho was about ready to charge out instead.


    ¡°Oh cooome ooooooon. Where are they?¡± Pho complained rather loudly. Sapphire shushed her. ¡°Oh you shush. Did they just get mad and leave us to sit here? Not fair. I didn¡¯t even get a chance to humiliate them.¡±


    ¡°Would you just shut up?¡± Sapphire tried again, Pho grumping dejectedly in reply.


    ¡°... I just think it¡¯s some bullshit, we are doing this for them.¡±


    ¡°Oh would you just stop? Consider it a lesson in the hunter''s patience, something you know precious little about.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Well, what if I don¡¯t wanna learn, huh? Ever think of that?¡±


    ¡°Bit late for that, you signed a contract.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so what? I didn¡¯t take the oath yet.¡±


    ¡°True¡­ but I do think you will have a few issues with leaving this keep right now. Inquisition and all, and you did swear an oath on that.¡­ Maybe Lothal would take you for Hylsdal. I¡¯m sure they are short on recruits.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just the same job in a different place, and a far less nice one. Don¡¯t you people need guards that know how to fly? Interceptors or something like that.¡±


    ¡°Sure, you are that right now. What else do you plan on doing? Aside from laying about all day?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, that sounds alright with me.¡±


    ¡°Well it doesn¡¯t with the rest of us. Pull your weight or be forced to. Like Yldril.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not like that bitch.¡±


    ¡°No, you are a little less rough around the edges, but even harder to make do anything,¡± Sapphire replied, turning to look at the greenhorn, who did look at least a little bit hurt by that comparison. ¡°So shut up, lay in wait, and give the boys a hard time. Like you said, we are doing this for them.¡±


    Pho didn¡¯t argue further, turning her attention back towards the door.


    ¡°Geee I wonder if someone might be in there,¡± the downright obnoxious voice of Balethon rang out from the other side. Sapphire swore under her breath.


    ¡°Oh fuck you! What took you so long!¡± Pho shouted in reply, Sapphire letting out a loooong hard sigh.


    ¡°Had to kill all your friends, of course. Right, stack up on the door, boys!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t consent to a search!¡± Pho quipped as she looked around the room, eyes seemingly landing on something or other as she let out an intrigued ¡°Huh.¡±


    Sapphire didn¡¯t get the time to object as the door was kicked in, Balethon coming in with shield raised, Herron right behind him gun ready.


    Sapphire called out ¡°Loose!¡± standing up and pretending to have fired her bow. Balethon raised his shield, claiming ¡°Caught¡± before kneeling. Herron stepped forwards and calmly, going ¡°You¡¯re dead.¡±


    Then Pho made her move, announcing her presence with a ¡°Heads up!¡± Balethon and Herron both turned to look, faces turning to shock and horror as a night pot was flung at them. Herron moved faster than Sapphire had ever seen him do in his life as Balethon cowered behind his shield letting out a very high pitched shriek.


    The pot hit the shield and bounced with a hollow thung as it sailed on over him, apparently empty. Then came Pho, jumping onto the shield and putting her full weight behind it, pushing Balethon off balance and to the floor, the two of them landing in a pile like they were playing. It didn¡¯t take too long through before she had a finger at his neck declaring. ¡°Gotcha!¡±


    Balethon lay there in disbelief as she reveled in her victory, her smile only fading as she was poked in the back of the head, Herron declaring ¡°Bang dead.¡±

 Chapter 203: Magic Pew Pew

    ¡°So whenever it gets too hot-¡±


    ¡°The pump shall activate, driving water around the barrel and a knife¡¯s edge of the powder is dispensed into the loop,¡± Edita replied, the artificer looking mighty proud of herself as Tom inspected the handiwork.


    She had been designing for weeks, and Shiva had finally been able to flex her skills on something she actually enjoyed. Many evenings had been spent carving, etching, and polishing the brand new cowling as well as the modified top cover for the 50 cal. It was beautiful work, polished to a mirror finish with every last rune beautifully cut. It looked less like it was hand forged and more like something you might get out of a CnC machine. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Ahr yes, the rune geometry is essential for efficient and high flow of the magic. Rough edges and feathering are the bane of the enchantment.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ it definitely wasn¡¯t just because Shiva felt like making a piece of art, was it?¡± Tom half-joked as he ran his fingers down the water jacket, made from polished brass. It was bound to get dented, which was a damn shame, but there were cures for that at least. It did mean that most of the runes had been cut into the steel receiver and top cover instead.


    ¡°She did produce far finer work than I had dared hope, yes,¡± Edita said with a genuine warm smile. ¡°I was afraid the cycling assist would be unfeasible, but with such craftsmanship, it might actually work.¡±


    ¡°Cycling assist?¡± Tom questioned, looking to the top cover. He had been wondering why they had needed a whole new one.


    ¡°Ahr yes, in case of an incomplete cycle or jam it will rack itself. Isn¡¯t that clever?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ I suppose so, yeah, but what happens if it¡¯s stuck in there?¡± Tom questioned with a worried tone. He knew full well what this magic was like. It would suck the life right out of you if given the chance.


    ¡°I ehm¡­ I suppose you best let go. It can¡¯t draw over distance, too inefficient for this enchantment, so I ensured it would not be able to. There is also a switch there, under the barrel right at the front of the receiver, to turn off the whole thing when not in use.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ and you put all this together? In a matter of weeks?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, it isn¡¯t finished yet. We have only carved the runes and made the small pump. I need Linkosta and Apuma to assist in enchanting it. Notice how the runes are but empty cuts yet?¡± Edita pointed out. Tom felt a bit dumb as he noticed that yeah, there was no blue in those runes yet, nor were they glowing or anything like that, unlike Nunuk''s armor.


    ¡°Right¡­ so when will it be ready?¡±


    ¡°A few more weeks I believe. Linkosta did finish work on the mines you requested. The detectors Joelina provided have been made use of. And she is confident in being able to produce more.¡±


    ¡°Very good¡­ we shall see if they are better used as alarms or as part of the mines¡­ It sounded like a good idea, but there is a lot of stuff around we don¡¯t want blown to bits even if there is a darkling inside."


    ¡°Right you are. Perhaps we should trap the stables and stairs only then?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ We¡¯ll think about that¡­ later,¡± Tom deflected, not really feeling like boobytraping a place filled with live animals. Nor really anywhere inside the keep.


    ¡°Hmmm?... oooh right, I am sorry. Wiperna loves those animals a lot, does she not? I could assure her their deaths would be swift and painless.¡±


    ¡°You would be lying,¡± Tom replied a little darkly. ¡°I¡¯ll take it up with Rachuck. It¡¯s very nice to have these either way. I¡¯m sure he would love to leave them behind if we ever start pulling back through the keep.¡±


    ¡°You are probably correct, yes¡­ How goes your work on the engine?¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s the easy part. Shiva looked ready to fall asleep in protest when I explained how I wanted to make the boiler¡­ I suppose this partially explains why,¡± Tom replied, patting the 50 cal. ¡°Maybe I can get a bit more of her attention now.¡±


    ¡°I see, yes, I believe she talked about it. You wish to fuse all the internal piping to the central steam manifold, no?¡±


    ¡°I uhm. Yes that, can¡¯t really braze it with lead after all. It¡¯s gotta survive a few hundred degrees.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and we do not have the tooling to do it with silver. Perhaps it is for the best, yes? It is only one.¡±


    ¡°Quite. A little Christmas project for her to work on I guess.¡±


    ¡°Christmas?¡±


    ¡°Oh uhm, human tradition¡­ don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get it once the snow starts falling.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ would we have to go outside? We may need more protective clothes if so.¡±


    ¡°No no, don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t have to¡­ I might need to make a few trips, though.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? It did not go particularly well on the last hunt.¡±


    Tom cleared his voice, hoping she would get the memo to just not talk about that particular incident. It was bad enough Jacky still hadn¡¯t let it go. At least she and the other huntresses hadn¡¯t come out on top in the last round of training. At least not after they actually tried going head to head.


    Edita didn¡¯t seem to understand, tilting her head. ¡°Do you need some water?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ no, never mind,¡± Tom replied, trying not to sigh. It wasn¡¯t her fault. ¡°Yes, I will be heading out by myself at some point I think. Things are safer in winter, right? No darklings out flying. That¡¯s what I keep hearing all the time after all.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so¡­ but aren¡¯t vargulf¡¯s red-blooded like you? I don¡¯t think they would mind the cold too much.¡±


    ¡°Ahr right, might have a point there¡­ I¡¯ll take that one under advisement then.¡± He hadn¡¯t actually thought of that. He felt like he could probably manage to keep himself safe from those things if he was actually ready to deal with them. Thinking back to the wolf he had shot, he might have larger problems though. He very much doubted those things would get cozy for winter.


    He didn¡¯t want to give up on the idea either, though. He had no clue when ¡°December¡± might be, nor if there was any sort of dragonette Jesus. But he was gonna hold a Christmas, god dammit. All they had planned was work and making the time pass through winter. It only seemed right to him to have at least one bright spot in the middle of it all.


    He needed fresh food, a Christmas tree, and maybe a few presents. Though with only him and 40+ dragonettes, maybe he would need to give gifts to groups instead rather than for everyone. Either that or Rachuck would have to get recruited as head elf.


    It would be perfect if he could have the central heating working as a gift for them all. But since he had no clue when or even if the snow would arrive, there was no way of knowing how much time he had to work with here.


    He would just have to roll with the punches like normal.


    ¡°Are you thinking about ways to go out anyway?¡± Edita questioned innocently. Tom snapped out of his trance.


    ¡°I uhm- yeah well you see-.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that. Besides, we have plenty of things to do in here. I wanted to ask you. Should we try and make a better sight too? This one seems a little hard to use.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So¡­ How are things going with Yldril?¡± Sapphire questioned, jogging up alongside Fengi as the smaller woman made her way down the hallway.


    ¡°Eh¡­ not great¡­ not terrible¡­ Maiko did have a bit of a talk with her¡­ But I think he just managed to get her to pretend to play nice so she could get something back. I mean, I get it; it¡¯s cold and wet. But she was supposed to learn something, not just start to play it like a game.¡±


    ¡°I mean, I suppose it is some sort of progress, right? At least it might make her a little more tolerable.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Fengi replied reluctantly, though she was clearly not thrilled about it. ¡°I could just tell her to be truthful I suppose, but I guess she would just stay quiet then.¡±


    ¡°You know, Fengi¡­ Maybe just let her, don¡¯t try to convince her, just let her see. And if she¡¯s being a bitch, just shut her up in the future. Maybe she will never change, but that¡¯s not our fault if we do our best to be reasonable. If she plays nice, give her a few comforts. Maiko¡¯s scheme is convincing her she¡¯s playing us all. And we get a half-decently behaved dragon at our beck and call. Sure beats what she is at the moment.¡±


    Fengi sighed deeply, defeated. ¡°Yeah¡­ Maybe you are right¡­ Maybe she is too far gone to fix. But she¡¯s useful. So if she¡¯s bearable to be around, that will have to do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Sapphire replied half-heartedly. She knew this would weigh on Fengi¡¯s mind for as long as Yldril was around, the feeling that it was all fake. It was bad enough that she had thought the rest of them only liked her thanks to her magic. With Yldril it would probably be true if the dragon ever warmed up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad about it, Fengi. Most people are only nice because they have to anyway,¡± Ray added in, the two not having noticed her in a corner wringing out a cloth into a bucket. They came to a stop, looking at poor old Ray, who just shrugged. She dropped the cloth on the ground, her tail coming around to start pushing it around the floor. ¡°They become mean and cruel the moment they can get away with it¡­ So they won¡¯t do it in front of their friends, or anyone who could cost them their reputation¡­ or just money. Yldril doesn¡¯t care about any of that. So make her do it some other way.¡±


    ¡°Make her lose her comfort and her freedom,¡± Sapphire echoed, agreeing with the sentiment even though she couldn¡¯t help but wonder how Ray had learned that lesson. It felt personal. And it probably was. Saph had heard plenty of bad things about nobles greater and lesser. Regular people could of course be nasty too. Maybe it was that. Living amongst the homeless couldn¡¯t have been easy, on any front.


    ¡°I¡­ I will,¡± Fengi promised after a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°Once she wakes up at least. She¡¯s turning in for the winter tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh, already? I suppose we can¡¯t really feed her any longer. Is it cold enough?¡±Sapphire questioned. This was good news. Fengi hadn¡¯t had a break for months, so hopefully this would help ease things a lot.


    ¡°According to Zarko at least. Jarix is going to stay with us for a few weeks. He doesn¡¯t eat that much as it starts getting colder, so Dakota allowed it.¡±


    ¡°Pretty good trade letting Jarix stay up in exchange for being rid of her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Tom wanted to keep him up, too. They are making a bunch of stuff in the greeting hall.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah the press thingy. That is still so funny to watch,¡± Sapphire added in a brighter tone. They had not actually moved on from Ray, who was looking a little uncomfortable. Fengi had probably just gotten distracted by what they were talking about and forgotten where she was actually going.


    But then Ray spoke up cautiously as ever. ¡°Are they making anything other than the ammunition?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°He¡¯s been talking about the big gun Jarix has and some heat stuff, so that should be pretty good. I¡¯m just happy we got the cold box.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, fresh meat for so much longer,¡± Fengi offered excitedly. ¡°That is going to be amazing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re living like nobles. And the new clothes! I have been helping Essy a little bit. They are beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Agreed, I saw them too. Maybe I should go lend a hand as well,¡± Sapphire offered. She wasn¡¯t much of a seamstress, but she could sew a bit. And there was bound to be plenty of work involved, that was for sure.


    ¡°Oh right! I needed to grab another roll for her!¡± Fengi broke out, seemingly remembering what she was actually walking for to begin with. The three of them had a little chuckle, Fengi making her excuses as she started to head off again. ¡°Say what, I¡¯ll see you up there. Back in a bit!¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Sapphire echoed back, shaking her head a little. ¡°Living like nobles, yet here we are running around, ey? Maybe we should get some servants or something.¡±


    Ray didn¡¯t reply, looking down at the bucket, her tail stopping the washing of the floor. Saph turned to look at her, taken aback. ¡°Not you, silly. If anything we need to get you out of that apron.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ oh¡­ Uhm.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Ray, you live here, you are one of us. And you have the papers to prove it. But I might recommend seeing about talking to Rachuck. You were a guard, no? Why not again?¡± she offered. She meant it too. Ray was wasted on simple house chores. Maybe she could be a trusted nanny in the future instead. She might like that more. But if they were going to be expanding with a factory, people they could trust would be valuable in the extreme for all manner of jobs.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t very good at it.¡±


    ¡°You can be trusted. That makes you better than nearly everyone we could hire from the cities. And I remember you down in the mines. You would make an amazing night guard or something like that.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I-¡±


    ¡°Belong here, and not just as a maid. We¡¯re definitely going to need you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Who knows, maybe we can get Tiguan assigned as permanent security. I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t mind that.¡±


    ¡°That would be very nice. Maybe we could have a proper place made for them to stay. If we are getting traders all the time, maybe we should have stables built.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea, that one. Who knows, maybe that¡¯s the next big building project. Next we will be building an inn for weary travelers. The most exotic foods in the kingdom. From the most ordinary of surroundings, hehe.¡±


    ¡°That would be pretty funny. All the sugary treats your heart can handle.¡±


    ¡°Oh, a bakery. We would put honey cookies to shaaame.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, and who knows what else he might know how to make? I know he is very busy, but who knows?¡±


    ¡°And with all those traders coming in all the time to feed the factory, we could get all sorts of ingredients,¡± Sapphire added conspiratorially. She could see it before her. A small unassuming building, perhaps down by the lake. Rows of stables for dragons to lay comfortably under a roof and partake in the delights while the hustle and bustle went on inside.


    ¡°Oh yes yes! I didn¡¯t think of that. That would be amazing,¡± Ray agreed, clearly onboard with the idea, the bucket and cloth forgotten.


    ¡°Hah, yeah¡­ maybe one day. Probably gonna be a while though.¡±


    ¡°I can wait, I am not impatient.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not you I¡¯m worried about, it¡¯s me,¡± Sapphire joked. ¡°But a few years? I can definitely handle that. Doesn¡¯t hurt that things are preeetty good here these days.¡±


    ¡°It really is¡­ Maybe I could work in the kitchens.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you could be the head chef¡­ Who knows? I doubt Tom would have the time.¡±


    ¡°Probably not, no¡­ We should start work on a human cooking book,¡± Ray said thoughtfully. She was right, of course. The jam, pancakes, corn on the cob. They should be writing all this down. In draconic.


    ¡°You know, he might already have some. Though they would be in English, of course. Bit of a problem, that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you like to read? You are better at English than all the rest of us. And there is no hunting going on anymore,¡± Ray offered cautiously. She clearly hoped Sapphire would jump at the idea. And she might have a point.


    ¡°You want me to start translating a cookbook?¡±


    ¡°You would be the best at it. You can read it and know how to cook.¡±


    ¡°I can sorta read it a bit. It¡¯s damn hard, you know.¡±


    ¡°Practice makes perfect.¡±


    ¡°You must be very good at cleaning the floors then.¡±


    ¡°I think so, yeah,¡± she replied with a smile, Saph smiling with relief that the joke had landed for once. Too often Ray would get sad if one brought up anything like that.


    ¡®She¡¯s doing better. That¡¯s good, very good.¡¯


    Ray¡¯s smile turned slightly conspiratorial as she added, ¡°Though maybe you should test the recipes before writing down the final version. Just in case.¡±


    ¡°Probably a good idea¡­ Tell you what, I will do that. Maybe I can help him with his little idea to translate some of the movies too. I know he¡¯s been wanting to do that for a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, the one with the life of dragons would be good. The children were a bit confused.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it was a strange one¡­ then again, half of those things couldn¡¯t fly. Maybe it was supposed to be confusing.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ Imagine having two heads. I can¡¯t imagine disagreeing with myself¡­¡±


    ¡°I can. Often I want both a second helping and a dessert,¡± Saph joked, and they both had another chuckle. ¡°Either way, I think I am going to go see what Essy is up to and if she needs a hand. If not, maybe I will go pester Tom about that cookbook.¡±


    ¡°You do that. See you later, Sapphire,¡± Ray replied, looking back to her work. ¡°I will have the whole hall sparkling.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t work too hard. Later.¡±


    ¡°Later.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Well then, it was time to see what had come of the labors on the gun. Tom hadn¡¯t taken that much of an active role in the project aside from the few times Edita had wanted to explain to him what they had been up to over the last couple weeks. She was always so excited, so how could he say no?


    It didn¡¯t hurt that it was literally a magic gun. Despite Edita trying her best to explain the magical circuits to him, it made about as much sense as when Linkosta had tried. It was like programming with ones and zeroes, only you had hundreds of runes to work with. And from what Linkosta had said, they didn¡¯t even know all the runes.


    It was very cool though, even if he was a little bit worried that it wasn¡¯t a very good idea. Magic could go wrong for sure. The whole anti-jamming system wouldn¡¯t be much good if it killed the shooter after all.


    The .50 hadn¡¯t exactly been blessed with reliability thus far. Hopefully if they had a catastrophic failure it would be today where they could all haul Jacky off the gun before it did anything bad to her. Tom could definitely foresee a scenario where someone was hanging onto the gun on Jarix¡¯s back in the middle of battle and didn¡¯t have the sense to let go of the gun currently trying to kill them. But if it worked, it might be worth the risk to have it keep firing.


    ¡°Everyone ready?!¡± Jacky called out as she racked the gun without any issue, smacking the handle to make sure it was fully forward. ¡°Right. Yeteekayeee nother cucker!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not-¡±


    THUN THUN THUN


    The gun roared to life, spitting lead out into the distance from the greeting platform, Jarix and much of the keep watching as the steady rhythm reverberated against the stone walls behind them and out over the rolling hills. Every round flung fireballs out the end of the weapon like in a Hollywood movie. If it had been nighttime, he was sure it would have looked absolutely wicked.


    As it was, it was just fucking loud. Loud enough to all but drown out Jacky¡¯s cheering as the gun thumped on.


    It didn¡¯t take long before they had their first bad round. It sounded more hollow than the others and there was nowhere near as much fire. Tom spied burning embers getting flung out the end of the barrel. Bad powder it would seem. Maybe it had gotten damp at some point.


    There was a slightly longer than normal pause, but the next round came before Tom even had time to register there was a problem. Jacky seemingly didn¡¯t either, letting the gun loose a few more rounds before she got her thumbs off the trigger.


    She had curled up a touch, taking a moment to draw a deep breath as she straightened back out again.


    ¡°Woooaaah that¡¯s a feeling alright! Don¡¯t get me wrong, this is fucking amazing. But damn, that¡¯s not comfortable. It sucks the life right out of you.¡±


    ¡°Probably for the best to be honest. It¡¯ll remind you to let go in a hurry if it doesn¡¯t work,¡± Tom added, Edita nodding enthusiastically, clearly pleased the test had gone well thus far.


    ¡°Or just let go of the trigger, that would do as well,¡± she added helpfully.


    ¡°Yup yup, I get it. You told me. Whooo¡­ right, let¡¯s try to get it hot I guess,¡± Jacky replied, not giving any warning before the light and smokeshow started up once more.


    There were a few complaints as hands went back to plug ears in a hurry as the firing resumed. Jarix had elected to sit up on his haunches, both forepaws pushing down on his ears to try and drown out the noise. The dragon had a big dumb smile on his face despite a bit of pain showing through.


    Tom didn¡¯t know if the dragon had been disappointed thus far with the gun. It had fallen a bit short of the sales pitch. But now? Now it seemed to actually be able to live up to the hype.


    Either way, he was certainly one happy dragon.


    There were a few more bad rounds in the mix, but the enchantment worked as intended. It certainly took a toll on Jacky, though, as it kept thumping away. They were coming up on the end of the belt when finally they had a simple click, with but the tiniest puff of smoke coming out the end of the barrel.


    Tom was just about to shout out to Jacky to get her finger off the damn trigger when thankfully she turned the gun to the side to look at the receiver, finger safely off the trigger button.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot, don¡¯t shoot, squib!¡± Tom called out, jogging over. ¡°Just ehm, leave it be. Don¡¯t touch it."


    ¡°Dude, if it¡¯s dangerous, get back. I¡¯m the one in the armor here,¡± Jacky protested, looking at him as he approached.


    ¡°No no it¡¯s fine, just don¡¯t pull the trigger. We might have a bullet in the barrel. Shoot again and it could blow up.¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ so what now?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ I suppose we need to check the barrel¡­  just let it cool down and we¡¯ll take it inside. Later.¡±


    ¡°Did it work? Is the cooling running?¡± Edita added excitedly as she ran up completely without regard, placing her hand on the shiny polished barrel shroud. ¡°Oh it did. Feel it, it¡¯s barely warm!¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t even fire a full belt, but I suppose it is nice to know it turned on.¡±


    ¡°We will get it to do it, don¡¯t worry¡­ what went wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why did I have to stop, why not just rack it and try again?¡± Jacky complained, though it was clear she wasn¡¯t too upset. It had still been absolutely awesome.


    ¡°Squib round. The primer went off but the powder didn¡¯t light, so there might be a bullet in the barrel. If so, we need to get it out. You got the cleaning rod, Jacky?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over there, mum would you?¡± she called out, pointing over at a wall where the small box of bits for the gun had been placed, the rod laying down across the top. Shiva dutifully walked over and picked up the rod, pegleg thunking against the stone as she walked along.


    ¡°Probably easier to leave the barrel in the gun,¡± Tom muttered as he opened up the top cover. ¡°Jacky, rack it back and hold it there, would you?¡±


    Jacky did as instructed without making a fuss, holding the bolt back while Tom looked inside.


    ¡°Is it safe?¡± Shiva questioned, standing with the rod.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s good,¡± Tom replied as he picked out the belt, checking the chamber. The round had extracted, so that was good. ¡°Try and ram the rod down the barrel, it might be very stuck.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Shiva knelt in front of the gun, sliding the ramrod down the barrel and trying to push. It didn¡¯t budge. She pushed harder, and Jacky started to snicker.


    ¡°Come on mum, you got this,¡± Jacky snickered, evidently finding the struggle very entertaining.


    ¡°Quiet you,¡± Shiva grumbled as she put her back into it.


    ¡°Might wanna tap it out¡­ with a mallet or something,¡± Tom offered, feeling at least a little bad.


    ¡°Is there anything else we can do for you?¡± Shiva grumbled, looking up at him.


    ¡°No, I think that would be all,¡± Tom said, pretty much regretting it immediately.


    Luckily for him she didn¡¯t decide to smack him and rather just grabbed the rod tighter and slammed it home. With a ping, out came a bullet.


    It looked to be in pretty good condition, and the rifling was cut into it quite nicely, so that was good.


    ¡°Right, throw that one in the scrap pile and let¡¯s try again,¡± Tom concluded, Jacky sending the bolt back forward as Shiva got up, taking the rod with her.


    They took their positions once again. Ears were plugged and Jacky let rip. *THUN THUN THUN* They got a mighty three rounds before there was a loud ping and the gun failed to cycle, with the bolt being left halfway open.


    ¡°What the! Shit, did it break?¡± Jacky questioned, turning the gun to the side to inspect for damage.


    ¡°I think that was the recoil spring,¡± Tom admitted, sighing deeply. Edita glanced around a little uncomfortably. ¡°Welp. We¡¯re done for today.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t anything I did, was it?¡± the artificer questioned cautiously.


    ¡°Nah, this happens¡­ but maybe there is some better steel in what you brought for-¡±


    ¡°There was nothing wrong with that steel. It was fine crucible steel from Bartelion. You won¡¯t find finer,¡± Shiva objected, clearly taking the comment to heart. Tom did recall having asked for the best she had for that damn thing. Even so, apparently it was not good enough.


    ¡°Of course, but it is still crucible steel. There are many ways to make steel stronger, not just carbon as you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh you speak of alloyed steel?¡± Edita interjected, lightening in mood after being persuaded her enchantments were not to blame.


    ¡°Yes, some chrome and uhm vanadium would do wonders.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ uhm¡­ I do not think I know that second one.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my word for it, ain¡¯t got a clue what you might call it¡­ We¡¯ll have to see, I suppose. If not, chrome it is.¡±


    Shiva grumbled something to herself, shaking her head, likely about how her steel was just fine. Tom knew that a problem with the temper or just a small nick or dent could also be to blame. He also knew better than to say that in front of Shiva.


    ¡°I suppose Apuma and Linkosta will have to do for any winter raids,¡± Jarix added in good spirit, surprisingly enough to Tom. He would kinda have expected the dragon to be bummed out. Maybe it was because the dragon was banking on them having plenty of time to fix the gun before it might be needed again in spring.


    ¡°Slow down there, young one. We are not quite ready yet,¡± Apuma spoke up from the line of observing dragonettes.


    ¡°You did promise we could try at least something before I have to sleep for the winter.¡±


    ¡°And I shall try to keep it, but it is no trivial thing. It is very dangerous if done incorrectly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got it. Ain¡¯t that right, Lin?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, I can promise you that,¡± the younger mage added more enthusiastically. She was perpetually excited a lot of the time, and this was clearly no different.


    ¡®Lin?¡¯ Tom thought to himself, letting out a slight chuckle. He hadn¡¯t heard the two of them on nickname basis just yet, so that was good. Maybe his role as dragon-bound fire mage was in danger of getting supplanted.


    ¡°I know you will. It is a shame I am not any bigger, or I could carry you all into battle and the gun. Alas, I might need to share.¡±


    ¡°Dibs on Tiguan. I¡¯ll blend in nicely on his back,¡± Tom joined in with a chuckle.


    ¡°What do you mean dibs on someone other than me? At least go with Baron or my mother so I won¡¯t feel so bad,¡± Jarix replied, clearly in jest judging by the big grin.


    ¡°If you wanna feel good, know I would take you over your mother aaaany day of the week.¡±


    ¡°Sadly she tends to be the sort who takes without asking.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am familiar.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 204: Nap Time

    Sapphire had gone for firewood for the kitchen when she had noticed Paulin standing alone in front of Yldril seemingly mid-lecture. Unable to resist, she had ventured a bit closer, arms full of wood, to hear what was being said.


    ¡°Now in your rest you would do well to ponder your position, dragon. You may believe things are going poorly, but I assure you this is the finest fate you could wish for. Was it up to me things would be far, far less pleasant,¡± Paulin spoke, authority and experience to her words. Then again, her voice had an edge even if she were simply asking for a plate to be passed, let alone lecturing a dragon.


    Saph did not know if this was Maiko¡¯s doing, but Paulin had seemingly decided to weigh in on the matter of just what was to be done with Yldril. The black dragon for her part was remaining silent and uninterested in the babbling of the archivist.


    ¡°Now you may think these words empty, but I assure you that we hold final sway here. And if I have reason to believe your presence is an impedance to the furthering of the project, I will see that burden lifted. A suitable replacement may be found, I am sure. In fact, I spoke with young Fengi about just such an eventuality.¡±


    Yldril flicked her gaze towards the archivist, seemingly just as surprised as Sapphire at that twist of events. Fengi did not exactly despise Paulin, but the two were about as different as they came in terms of personality after all.


    ¡°She has lost faith that promises of comfort will suffice, thus the stick will have to be applied and I shall wield it. You have the winter to come to terms with your lot. If things do not improve come spring, we shall ship you off. Am I clear?¡±


    Yldril did not reply, but now it was safe to say the archivist had her undivided attention.


    ¡°Am. I. Clear?¡±


    ¡°She would not let you,¡± Yldril finally replied, shaking her head gently. Saph tried very hard indeed to tell if the dragon truly did believe herself untouchable or if there was a little more beneath the facade.


    ¡°Correction, she would not have, before. You have finally managed to convince the young woman of your true nature. I should commend you, such persistence is rare in blacks,¡° Paulin said in response, voice taunting and arrogant as ever.


    ¡°The binding was forged by a unicorn. It cannot simply be broken. If she mistakenly commands me while away, it would kill her. She would never risk it, nor would she ever come with me.¡±


    ¡°Do you know this insignia, soot scale?¡± Paulin took out her necklace and held it out, clear for all to see. The open faced helmet with an eye at its center was known to all who fly the skies. ¡°We are the Inquisition. If we desire such a curse to be broken, we shall see it broken. Do you understand?¡±


    There was once again no answer, though the dragon did not move, instead staring down the archivist indignantly.


    ¡°Now, such a process would by no means be pleasant. Nor cheap. So unless you wish for me to move heaven and earth to see you placed somewhere far, far worse than you could ever imagine, I suggest you see to fixing your attitude. I can assure you, if you do not, it will be the last flight you ever make.¡±


    ¡®They wanna take her wings away¡­ One final punishment before they give you the great fall I suppose.¡¯


    ¡°You would take away the one who can command me, and my wings?¡± the dragon scoffed. ¡°You are not that stupid. Your threats are empty, archivist. Even though you seem to think yourself an inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°I am the right hand of Joelina Hashaw. And you cannot comprehend how little we care for the likes of you. You are not important, nor irreplaceable. You are an asset or an obstacle. You best choose wisely. Spring. Fail to bring an end to this and we will find someone more amenable to our cause.¡±


    ¡°Reward our patience, and who knows¡­ Maybe we will arrange for you to meet your stepdaughter. I have heard she is very sweet. She knows not what her mother has become. I am sure her father fills her ears with a great deal of lies as we speak.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can extort me with the promise of seeing a drake not of my blood? Pathetic,¡± Yldril scoffed dismissively.


    ¡°You forget an important thing, old dragon. You are not the only one with ears so sharp here. You mutter in your sleep. You long for home to this day. But alas, you cannot return. They do not want you.¡±


    ¡°Thus you face a choice. Change by spring, and retain the hope you may one day see them again. Time heals many wounds, as can tales of great deeds of redemption. Or stay your course, and you will never ever have the chance again.¡± Paulin turned away and nodded to Sapphire in recognition before starting to walk off. ¡°¡¯Till spring, dragon. Do not dally.¡±


    Sapphire had only come for firewood, but she needed a few answers, for Fengi¡¯s sake. She did not believe for a moment that Fengi knew anything about this. Yldril looked after them as they departed, not saying a word. Paulin apparently decided on the stairs rather than flight to ascend. It was cold, and she was wearing some quite heavy looking robes, so perhaps that was the reason.


    The two walked in silence up the slowly spiraling staircase carved into the stone atop which the keep sat. The silence reigned until Paulin shut the door behind them, Saph still carrying the firewood.


    ¡°So, what is it, huntress?¡±


    ¡°Fengi doesn¡¯t know about this, right?¡± Saph questioned, feeling quite sure of the response.


    ¡°She knows I am here¡­ She also knows I do not speak the truth. We cannot separate them, nor spare the dragon¡­ Alas, there is no reason to lecture her on such realities,¡± Paulin replied in a lower, less assertive tone. She sounded almost dejected in fact. As if her great Inquisition had failed her in some sense.


    ¡°Right.¡± Saph had expected as much, but still.


    ¡°Promises have not worked, not even when held. Thus threats will be tried. It was Maiko¡¯s idea. She is too comfortable in the idea that she is untouchable. Combined with the notion that only those who surrender are tolerated, and it leaves her near unbreakable. Even if she was to come around it would be for the scant comforts offered. He believes no progress would be made.¡±


    ¡°And you believe him?¡±


    ¡°He is most trusted by Victoria, thus I shall make use of her judgment. But yes. Perhaps fear will see her dedicate herself more wholeheartedly to the task at hand, and to the idealism of Fengi. Naive as she may be.¡±


    ¡°Riiight¡­¡± Sapphire replied as they carried on through the keep. She was far from convinced that would work at all. She would have to tell Fengi, just to make sure Paulin wasn¡¯t lying to her as well. It did not sound like the sort of plan Fengi would come up with. But perhaps it would work. The last one hadn¡¯t after all.


    ¡°You do not agree with it,¡± Paulin stated flatly. It wasn¡¯t even a question, rather an observation.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ She¡¯s a piece of shit and maybe she cannot be fixed¡­ but perhaps this will help.¡±


    ¡°She has hundreds of years left. The thought of them all being sealed away must surely be intimidating. She may be cruel and vicious, but she does not strike me as ignorant or idiotic. She calculates as well as any dragon.¡±


    ¡°True¡­ and for what it¡¯s worth there is a spark in her. We did get to see it during our little logging excursion. Fengi thought we could kindle it. I guess not.¡±


    ¡°I care not. She will do better.¡±


    ¡°why does it matter what she believes in? She does the work; isn¡¯t that fine enough?¡± Sapphire questioned. That was bothering her. Why did Paulin suddenly care? This didn¡¯t seem like her at all.


    ¡°I was instructed to ingratiate myself. I am doing so. Fengi sees far too much in that beast, and you in Fengi. Thus I shall help fix the problem.¡±


    ¡®And for a moment I was worried you had become a people person,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as she just stared at the archivist, not sure how to respond.


    ¡°I know it is a great help, but do not mention it. We will require each other in this endeavor,¡± Paulin carried on as if Sapphire''s understanding and approval were a forgone conclusion.


    ¡°I think you should stop talking,¡± Sapphire replied, Paulin looking to her with a hint of surprise in her expression before shaking her head a bit and looking back ahead.


    ¡°As you wish. How goes your studies? I shall have need of your assistance soon.¡±


    ¡°My studies?¡± Sapphire questioned, not quite sure what she was referring to.


    ¡°Your English studies? Are you not training to understand Tom¡¯s works?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ sure, yeah right. I¡¯m the best here after all, of course. I know him better than anyone¡­ well except Jacky,¡± Sapphire deflected, trying not to sound too half-hearted. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d actually picked up one of Tom¡¯s books in at least a month¡­ She had been more busy with her own ones.


    ¡°See to it you improve. Your skills shall be very important. And I doubt your keep would take kindly to me introducing yet more people to your ranks. You seem distrustful of outsiders.¡±


    ¡°Only those who might want us dead.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, such notions were settled months ago.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna go down and say your goodbyes before Yldril turns in, Tom?¡± Jacky questioned jovially as she came back from her trip upstairs to fetch some of the drawings Tom had been working on. ¡°It¡¯s tradition, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°It is tradition to do so for a dragon you might actually want to give your best wishes for the winter,¡± Shiva countered as she stoked the coals, slowly heating up the next batch of iron.


    ¡°I¡®ll save the courtesy for Jarix, I think. Did you get them?¡± Tom chuckled. He had no need to spare any of his time for the likes of Yldril. It was precious enough at the moment.


    ¡°Yup, the old drawings for that long ass spring. I still don¡¯t get how you made that.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t really. We made a few small ones, then your mother fused them together. I suppose it¡¯s time to see if that worked or not.¡±


    ¡°There were no mistakes in my work. I labored over that damn thing for days,¡± Shiva rebuffed. Tom had no doubts the work was up to snuff, but just exactly what happened when she fused two bits of metal together he didn¡¯t really know. They had tempered the spring afterwards, but who was to say what the grain structure might look like inside?


    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it. Jacky, a hand?¡± He gestured to the gun, still sitting on its tripod. Jacky put down the drawings, making her way over, and just as he went to grab the barrel end of the gun she just picked it up and set it down on the table. ¡°Right, thank you.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°No problem, so¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes, let us see.¡± Tom set to work, taking off the rear spade grips and opening up the rear of the gun. With a bit of fiddling, out came the recoil spring assembly. Or rather some of it. ¡°Right, yeah, that¡¯s our problem.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be in one piece?¡± Jacky questioned as Tom bent down to look inside the gun, which was rather hard with the dim lighting.


    ¡°Yeah it is, is my torch down there?¡±


    ¡°I got it!¡± Edita helpfully called out, kneeling right next to him and looking into the receiver as well. A small tube on the side of her goggles emitted that cold, blueish light Tom remembered from having fiddled with them.


    ¡°Thank you, Edita. Now¡­ Yeah, there it is.¡± Tom could feel Jacky move to stand behind him as he reached his hand inside and came back with both the top of the spring retainer and guide rod as well as a section of spring. ¡°So two things broke.¡±


    ¡°Oh that isn¡¯t good. C-can I see?¡± Edita pleaded, clearly taking the matter to heart. Tom handed over the tip of the rod. ¡°The blessed machine¡­ but it was so new.¡±


    ¡°These things happen. We cannot make it to original spec, so we have to experiment a little. We¡¯ll just have to work out how to make the next one stronger.¡± Tom stood back up, inspecting the end of the spring, Jacky helpfully having procured an oil lamp and holding it up for him to see. ¡°Thank you, Jacky.¡±


    Running his fingertips over the edges, he found they were dull and there was no shine to the bare metal at all. ¡°Either it¡¯s already been soaked in oil, or the spring broke a while ago.¡±


    ¡°But how could it operate with a broken spring? How could we miss such a fault? We had it disassembled for its modifications.¡± Edita sounded almost heart broken. Like a great crime had been committed by forcing the gun to run with broken parts.


    ¡°Because John Moses Browning knew what he was doing. The spring is retained for a reason. This sort of thing happens. Though it likely didn¡¯t help with it running poorly before if it was in fact broken. As for why you didn¡¯t see it, the spring would still be held in place and covered in oil. It happens.¡±


    ¡°And the breaking point?¡± Shiva questioned calmly as she stoked the coals.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be where it was fused together. I would guess a small impurity is to blame, or a slight flat spot left after hammering.¡±


    Shiva snorted, shifting the crucible a little, evidently not convinced Tom knew what he was talking about on the subject.


    ¡°I suppose we will try to make the next one a little bit larger in diameter. The spring, that is, not the steel in it. It should lead to less flexing and a smaller chance for cracking to start. When you have the time, try to feel if there are any more cracks in this one. You never know.¡±


    ¡°Why not just fuse it back together again? It looks fine,¡± Jacky offered with a shrug.


    ¡°If there is no cracking going on anywhere else I suppose we can try. But if it¡¯s already starting to fail elsewhere there would be no point to fixing it."


    ¡°I will see any cracks repaired, and then I shall reharden and temper it. Perhaps a spot was too cold during the process. It is a peculiar shape,¡± Shiva interjected, evidently having made up her own mind as to the cause. Tom knew better than to argue with her; he¡¯d already pushed his luck.


    ¡°That it is, well best of luck with that. Speaking of metal fusing¡­¡± Tom continued leadingly, glancing towards Shiva.


    ¡°I am happy to be of use,¡± she replied sarcastically, not looking forward to yet more magical strain to be put on her.


    ¡°If you have the time later, I wanna go over some things with you for the boiler.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no bother, Tom. I have an idea,¡± Edita interjected happily, taking Tom by surprise.


    ¡°You do?¡± He perhaps sounded more surprised than he had intended as Edita ducked her head a little, ears drooping.


    ¡°Yes. I am sorry. I was studying your plans. I have worked on a great deal of boilers. I believe braising the tubes with silver would be smarter."


    ¡°Yeah but, uuuuhm¡­ How?¡±


    ¡°The forge, and a flash burner of course.¡±


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°So like, Edita has this thing that just breathes a flame. Like a red dragon, right? It runs off flash oil. The powder just dissolved into oil, just like the old firebombs. It just breathes a steady flame, like there is a roaring fire inside. But it doesn¡¯t get hot, well not that hot. But the flame will melt silver,¡± Jackalope explained away, barely getting a breath in.


    Sapphire was so confused by all this. She had just wanted to know what Tom was up to right now. Well, in actuality, she wanted to ask if they were remembering Ray right now, but it would seem the answer was self explanatory judging by Jacky¡¯s apparent struggle to grasp what they were doing with the boiler and little mention of anything else.


    ¡°They are making jewelry for the engine?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s something about gluing the pipes together, only using silver as glue.¡±


    ¡°Silver isn¡¯t sticky?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it is when it¡¯s melted? I¡¯ve never touched molten silver, have you?¡±


    ¡°I mean, no¡­ but why use silver? Isn¡¯t it expensive? It¡¯s just some pipes. We got plenty of deer glue, you know from the bows?¡±


    ¡°I uhhh. Don¡¯t know¡­ So anyway what are you doing reading, isn¡¯t there something else to do?¡± Jacky deflected. She never liked talking about stuff she didn¡¯t understand. It made her sound dumb. Sapphire could understand. She felt quite dumb when Tom was around a lot of the time, too. At least in the workshops. Out on the hunt he was the moron who couldn¡¯t pass as a greenhorn. Even if he had a damn good weapon.


    ¡°Not really, you have the hands you need down in the workshop. It¡¯s not my turn in the kitchens or on firewatch, so I thought why not see about some of all this.¡± She held up the book, revealing it to be the one Tom had brought about plants and the like. Possibly the only one of his books she knew more about the contents of than Tom. More importantly, the language used was far closer to what she knew, which did make things a bit easier.


    ¡°You¡¯re reading in English?¡±


    ¡°Trying to. Easier said than done, but I know a little. Linkosta might come by to help me later, but she¡¯s busy working with Apuma and Jarix right now."


    ¡°Oh yeah, I guess Fengi still hasn¡¯t decided to let them use her for the experiments.¡±


    ¡°Too late now anyway. Who knows? Maybe a winter alone with her thoughts won¡¯t do the trick either and Fengi will have to take away more privileges. As it stands, if things don¡¯t improve, apparently Paulin has offered to replace her. Sending Yldril away to somewhere very cold indeed, and having her wings clipped,¡± Sapphire lied. If Yldril was to have any chance of believing it, they couldn¡¯t have her listening in on people discussing how it wasn¡¯t true after all.


    ¡°Wow¡­ like, they are just gonna ground her forever?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s escaped before. Can¡¯t do that without wings.¡±


    ¡°I mean fair, but still. Ouch.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but the piece of shit kinda deserves it. She¡¯s damn lucky as it is here, and she doesn¡¯t care at all. It¡¯s not fair on Fengi. She¡¯s far too nice for all of this."


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Well maybe this will help. Who knows? If not, we still have Jarix. Last I heard they were wanting to try to make illusions, you know like the witch did down below.¡±


    ¡°If they could hide Jarix entirely that would be pretty amazing. Trick someone into thinking he wasn¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ quite the spell that one,¡± Jacky replied, suddenly growing melancholic. Saph wasn¡¯t quite sure why though.


    ¡°Oh it is, could you imagine, bringing the gun and Jarix¡¯s breath to bear on someone who had no idea what¡¯s coming? He could take on dragons far bigger than him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess, actually,¡± Jacky seemingly wrestled free of her stupor, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes as she looked at Sapphire. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t every dragon just bring a mage?¡±


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t need just any mage, you need at least two, preferably more, and they need to be very good at working together. If not¡­ Well, Linkosta put it nicely.


    ¡°You wind up promoted to corpse.¡±


    ¡°Yes that. Also I don¡¯t think those books grow on trees.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, right¡­ blessed be the Inquisition, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far¡­ Speaking of blessings, has Tom been talking about that idea for Ray at all? The hang glider thingy?¡±


    ¡°No not really, he¡¯s busy trying to get the place warm right now, and fixing Jarix¡¯s gun.¡±


    Saph tried to hide her disappointment. It was understandable though. It would be a big project, she was sure. Maybe in spring¡­ but then they would be working on the factory.


    ¡°Oh yeah what was wrong with it? It just sorta stopped.¡±


    ¡°A spring and some things broke,¡± Jacky dismissed her.


    Sapphire rolled her eyes at the half-hearted answer. Not that she really cared, she was just a bit annoyed. ¡°How descriptive.¡±


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t really know, okay? Like a rod thingy snapped, and the spring also broke, and the bits sorta like fell out into the inside of the gun and it got stuck,¡± Jacky snapped back.


    ¡°I see¡­ sorry. Is it fixable?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, he didn¡¯t sound that worried. He expected something like this would happen, apparently.¡±


    ¡°Of course he did. What¡¯s next, his fancy heating machine he expects to burn down the keep?¡± Sapphire questioned sarcastically.


    ¡°No, but he did say that if that funny little valve he¡¯s working on doesn¡¯t work, it could blow up and take the whole room with it,¡± Jacky replied, sounding perfectly serious, much to Sapphire¡¯s horror.


    ¡°Oh¡­ right¡­ Naturally. Should have guessed explosions would somehow be involved.¡±


    ¡°Tink is making it.¡±


    ¡°May the gods help us all.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Tom will check it over of course. What could possibly go wrong?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, don¡¯t you dare!¡±


    ¡°What, do you believe in Murphy, too?¡±


    ¡°No, I just believe in common sense and how to not make things go from bad to worse.¡±


    ¡°I think life is pretty good right about now, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I suppose so, yes. One thing though. Would you please try to remind Tom about the thing for Ray? It would mean the world to her if he just tried.¡±


    ¡°I get it, yeah¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°I know, I know Jacky, but it¡¯s gonna be easier said than done. We¡¯ve already got so much to do.¡±


    ¡°Could you not at least pretend like you are working on it? It would mean the world to her,¡± Jacky pressed, speaking softly into his ear as she held him close on yet another cool night.


    She had gotten out some more furs and blankets to both pad the bed and to wrap up the two of them. The envy of the other keep dwellers had been palpable each evening as she walked past the big cauldron in the kitchen, needing neither stones nor waterskins to keep warm and comfy all night long.


    Tom¡¯s only real gripe with it all was the slight reduction in available time spent working since he could not exactly get up early when he was providing crucial hotrock services. On the upside, being able to snuggle up in a pile of soft, comfy furs and blankets all night long with anyone, let alone someone like Jacky, was not a hard sell. He wouldn¡¯t even boil over like an old Plymouth in Nevada since she was so nice and cool. It was a worthy trade in the end.


    ¡°I¡­ I suppose. Never been much good at aerodynamics. Gonna be a lot to learn, a lot to read,¡± he tried half-heartedly. He knew she would pester him until she fell asleep, so there was not much point in overt resistance.


    ¡°What¡¯s aerodynamics? Sounds like some noble from the south, stupid names the lot of them.¡±


    ¡°Hey now, be nice. It¡¯s the study of airflow, you know? How wings work, how you fly? How to cut through the air as efficiently as possible.¡±


    ¡°Oh well I¡¯m great at that.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so, yeah,¡± Tom chuckled to himself before having a bit of a brain wave. ¡°Yeah¡­ you would be, wouldn''t you.¡±


    ¡°Well duh, I¡¯m the fastest one here, everybody knows that.¡±


    ¡°Not counting Sapphire¡±


    ¡°Bitch she¡¯s a racer, she does turns and all that, flying through rings and around obstacles and all that. Give me a straight line, I¡¯ll show her who¡¯s boss.


    ¡°Jarix.¡±


    ¡°Fiiiine, not counting the literally fastest creature in the world, I¡¯m the quickest.¡±


    ¡°Alleged,¡± Tom countered with a chuckle. It was likely that he at least had a shot at it, but being busy playing soldier meant he hadn¡¯t exactly had the chance to prove himself for some time. Tom didn¡¯t actually know if the dragon had ever had a career in racing. It did seem like something he would do, if nothing else then at least for the prize money.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that to his face.¡± She chuckled, shifting a little and pulling Tom in closer, wrapping a leg up around his side. ¡°But please, it¡¯s not just ¡¯cause Saph told me to. Just make it look like you are working on something.¡±


    ¡°I think I can do one better than that actually,¡± Tom replied, a plan slowly starting to come together as he ran a hand down her thigh under the blankets.


    ¡°Oh? And how is that?¡±


    ¡°I need to learn, don¡¯t I? Why not learn from the best?¡±


    ¡°You want me to teach you how to fly? Uhm, no offense but¡­¡± Jacky chuckled a little as she nuzzled the back of his head.


    ¡°Yes, well I want you to teach me how you fly, so I can design something which can. We¡¯ve always taken inspiration from the realms of nature for flying machines. Ain¡¯t no human who ever got to study a dragonette before.¡±


    ¡°Tom¡­ do you remember that movie you showed us with the strange flying machines that looked a bit like birds made out of wood?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be like that, is it?¡± Jacky questioned with a concerning lack of sarcasm for Tom¡¯s taste. He¡¯d done some less than smart things, but it wasn¡¯t that bad¡­ was it?


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly possible¡­¡± he yielded reluctantly before letting out a sigh and trying to push back up against her. ¡°If I¡¯m not thorough enough in my studies.¡±


    ¡°I see... Well I suppose you best find a measuring line somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got one or two that might work. I might even need to sketch you.¡±


    ¡°How uhm¡­ ahr shit what¡¯s the word?¡± Jacky broke out in frustration as she ran out of vocabulary.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t ask me,¡± Tom countered with a chuckle.


    ¡°Like¡­ fancy way of saying daring.¡±


    ¡°I think daring is fine.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck you,¡± she snickered, batting him on the head playfully.


    ¡°I prefer it the other way around.¡±


    ¡°Like you get a choice in that,¡± Jacky countered, laying an arm around his neck and holding just tight enough to prove a point.


    ¡°If you stick your tail up my ass you¡¯re gonna need to stand in line at the kitchens.¡±


    ¡°Fiiiiine¡­ but then it better be a pretty sketch.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll flatter you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t get a verbal reply to that one, rather just a fairly solid punch to the shoulder which left him a bit sore as Jacky laughed behind him.


    ¡°Aoow, that¡¯s my writing arm.¡±


    ¡°Suck it up, princess. Life has consequences. Make that glider for Ray and I might not hit you again.¡±


    ¡°I feel oppressed,¡± he complained half-heartedly as Jacky embraced him a bit too tightly for his newly sore arm.


    ¡°Noooo you¡¯re not. Try losing your wings, or being told to shut up by magic.¡±


    ¡°Ehrherm.¡±


    ¡°What? You never had any wings? You can¡¯t lose what you don¡¯t have. And you definitely can¡¯t shut up.¡±


    Tom grumbled a bit at that, it was a good joke but still, low blow. ¡°You are lucky that I love your ass.¡±


    ¡°But what about the rest of me?¡±


    ¡°Still deciding.¡±


    And at that, yet another punch to the shoulder was received, which only tempered his laughter.


    ¡°You are sleeping on the floor like Maiko.¡±


    ¡°Worth it.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 205: Second Try

    ¡®Right here is to hoping that the machine gun wasn¡¯t an omen¡­ at least we have the door shut this time,¡¯ Sapphire thought to herself as they once more stood assembled in the greeting hall for a demonstration. She knew Apuma and Linkosta had been working on this dragon magic for a while by now. Hopefully this wasn¡¯t going to be the final culmination of those trials.


    There was a decent amount of light out in the greeting hall with the various lamps lit, though ever since the windows were boarded up for winter the whole keep had been rather dark and dingy. It was like that every year of course, but Sapphire was already looking forward to the light and air that spring would bring.


    ¡°So this is not dangerous, right?¡± Fengi had spoken up as Linkosta drew out the spell on the dragon¡¯s side in white chalk.


    ¡°It is a little. But we have to try. It¡¯s the only way we¡¯ll get to learn how.¡±


    ¡°And you are quite sure you have not rushed this?¡± Dakota added in a sterner tone. They all knew Linkosta. She was as excitable as they come, and her father wouldn¡¯t slow her down much either once his precious little gem had gotten to chasing an idea.


    But it was that adventurous and hard working spirit that had seen her learn faster than most how to wield her great gift. It had even earned her the respect of the famously pretentious teachers of the academy who usually looked down upon a measely frontiers woman with disdain.


    ¡°Are we quite sure this is a good idea? Do we really need the two of you to do this? We have so many other things that can help. Like Tom¡¯s guns or Yldril, even the Royal guard or the Inquisition. Surely they have some dragon mages if we need.¡± Esmeralda tried, evidently not thrilled by the proposed performance. She did always worry for them all, sometimes rightfully sometimes not. Saph just hoped this time was unwarranted.


    ¡°You¡¯d want the Inquisition to hold this over our heads too?¡± Linkosta replied dismissively before stopping and looking up to scan the crowd. ¡°Sorry, Paulin. I did not mean it like that.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Besides I can assure you, we have need of any such mages within our circle. They are very rare indeed,¡± the archivist spoke up, Linkosta¡¯s gaze quickly zeroing in on her.


    ¡°Oh yes She speaks the truth I do think, I have only ever met a few, and that was decades ago,¡± Apuma added with a chuckle as he turned back and forth between a pair of pages.


    ¡°Dad, the last time you met anyone new and interesting was decades ago.¡± Linkosta retorted with a grin.


    ¡°Oh come now, that isn¡¯t fair, what about Tom, Tink, and Edita?¡±


    ¡°This year doesn¡¯t count,¡± she concluded as she seemingly finished up a section of the spell. ¡°There we are. Are you comfortable, Jarix?¡±


    ¡°The floor is a little cold, but it is not so bad. Are you done yet?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yeah. Dad, you wanna check that bit? I¡¯ll get the bowl.¡±


    ¡°Of course sweetie, let us see here.¡±


    Sapphire heard Nunuk rumble a bit further down the line. She seemed happy enough, though, to watch the two of them work. Then again she did tend to listen to Apuma on matters of magic.


    ¡°Were we a little early or what¡¯s up?¡± Balethon eventually questioned with a chuckle as they all waited.


    ¡°No, no, we will be ready soon. But it must be just right.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case, hey Skitters!¡±


    Saph and a few others looked over to see what he was up to. Maybe the little thing had learned a new trick or something. It wasn¡¯t like there was anything more interesting going on with Jarix just yet after all.


    The little lizard was sitting on the guard¡¯s shoulder like it so often did, staring in two directions at once and occasionally lapping at an eyeball with its long forked tongue. It raised its head at its name being called, though that was about the only discernible change in behaviour.


    ¡°Stand,¡± he tried, holding his off hand up over the little critter with some sort of treat between his fingers. Skitters seemingly failed to notice the morsel of food hanging right over its head as it shifted around on his shoulder as if searching. ¡°Oh come on now, you worked it out yesterday. Skitters stand¡­¡±


    They all watched on in various states of amusement as yet again nothing happened. ¡°Hey Skitters,¡± Sapphire finally spoke up, interrupting Balethon just as he was about to try again. ¡°Up!¡±


    Predictably the only trick the little guy had thus far learned went off without a hitch as Skitters just blindly jumped out into the void, Balethon scrambling to catch the little guy.


    ¡°Not funny, Saph,¡± he grumbled as he put Skitters back in his place. The little lizard seemed to grow upset that no treat was forthcoming, stamping on Balethons shoulders a few times until the scrap of meat was finally produced, which was devoured whole alongside an attempt at the clawed finger feeding it.


    ¡°I disagree, I think it was hilarious,¡± Saph retorted, trying not to laugh. It might be dumb as a rock, but the little guy was rather entertaining to watch.


    Balethon just grumbled and stepped back a step or two to break line of sight, Sapphire turning back to the show soon to start in front of her. Truth be told, she had no idea if it would even be much of a show. Magics often weren''t, even if Tom¡¯s opinion on that seemed to differ substantially.


    ¡°I think this is all in order,¡± Apuma said as he once more turned back to where he had been in the book, Linkosta picking up a bowl probably full of gods knew what. Could be bird shit for all Sapphire knew. That had seemed to be a theme in any spells involving fire and such. Maybe they could make Jarix breathe fire? That would likely see his old girlfriend jealous. Then again, the machine gun sorta breathed fire, so maybe that counted already.


    ¡°What are you gonna try to do?¡± Sapphire asked aloud, not seeing a reason not to.


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna try to imitate you actually. Telekinesis. According to the book it is a very good one to start with because you can vary how heavy of a thing you want to try to move. It was that or trying to heat something up.¡±


    ¡°I would have gone for fire personally, it¡¯s cold,¡± Sapphire countered, rubbing her shoulders for emphasis. It wasn¡¯t really cold yet in here, but it probably would be at some point as winter got worse.


    ¡°Well it is a bit hard to see if a rock has gotten warm from a distance, okay? We¡¯re doing this one. It sounded useful and it¡¯s quite simple.¡±


    ¡°Hah, she called you simple,¡± Jacky snickered aloud.


    ¡°No, I said it was a simple spell,¡± Linkosta protested as Saph just glared at Jacky angrily. It was a good joke, but why not play into it a little. She was of course hovering over Tom like a bad omen, the human seeming quite confused but alert as he was busy scratching the back of his head.


    ¡°Actually, question. What do you need to make the spell?¡±


    ¡°Oh some special herbs and such to form the lines of draw like normal. Nyrnroot, sage, glider berries. You know, the usual. It¡¯s all mixed into the blood like usual. For this spell, though, we have to use quick silver too. It¡¯s so pretty.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡± Saph didn¡¯t know the first thing about spell craft, so much like with Tom she just nodded and pretended to understand. It was much simpler.


    ¡°No drinking that stuff,¡± Tom added in, seeming a little more wary rather than just alert now.


    ¡°Oh no it is not for me. It is for the spell,¡± Linkosta clarified with a kind smile. ¡°I know it is quite expensive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, so much for dragon magic being cheap,¡± Shiva added with a huff.


    ¡°Yes, the materials were generously donated by the Inquisition for today. Though if it goes well we might want to get more.¡±


    ¡°Only one way to find out. Are you ready?¡± Apuma interjected as he stood patiently with the large tome open, finger already on the page.


    ¡°Yes, Dad. Let¡¯s try it. Don¡¯t move, Jarix.¡±


    ¡°I get it. I won¡¯t move a muscle.¡±


    ¡°It might be quite uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°I am not a baby.¡±


    Sapphire tried not to raise an eyebrow, but she supposed the dragon had earned the right not to be made fun of for that one.


    Apuma and Linkosta both stepped up atop the dragon¡¯s side. They stood either side of the rune circle as they both took a moment to take a breath, then counted as one.


    ¡°Three, two, one aaaand...¡±


    The circle lit up with a gentle light blue glow, every little scribble of shimmering blood shining bright into the dimly lit room, lifting the golden light of the flames in exchange for something purer, but also colder. Linkosta held out her arms as her eyes shone a brilliant lime green, her dad¡¯s dimmer and slightly darker irises joining with a clear emerald, pupils narrow as slits. Jarix let out a slight groan as he too took on a slight glow, coming from betwixt the scales, like a light shining from within, pathways drawn to the ritual circle. Drawn to it like ants to a berry. Or cracks to an impact.


    No one said a word as the silvery liquid splashed against the dragon¡¯s side and quickly coalesced down into the glowing lines, drawn much as the light coming from the dragon into it all.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s working,¡± Linkosta said aloud, her excitement palpable, her mother shushing her as Apuma said nothing, concentration evident as he clutched the book.


    ¡®What are they going to try and lift then?¡¯ Sapphire wondered to herself, looking for an appropriate target, realizing only now there wasn¡¯t really one. She had kinda expected a bucket or perhaps a rock of some kind. She remembered how she had always practiced with pebbles and the like before.


    Then Apuma and Linkosta reached out a hand towards the crowd and she felt a knot form in her stomach as her feet went light and she slowly slid upwards into the air. She could feel no hand, just a perfect weightlessness as she ascended. Instinctively she spread her wings, ready to hold her balance, but she did not shift, as if held in place.


    ¡°Awwww come on, why does she get to try,¡± Jacky protested loudly, though with a chuckle at the end as Saph just enjoyed the surreal experience. Linkosta and Apuma were both reaching out towards her as if they were grasping her from afar.


    ¡®Holy shit, what a feeling,¡¯ she thought to herself, a smile spreading over her face as everyone gawked. This was amazing. Fuck flashes of fire. Now she just wished she could do something like this. ¡®I guess this is what Jinora felt back then, no wonder she was laughing.¡¯


    ¡°I am so making you three bring up firewood now,¡± Jacky added as she hoisted Tom atop her shoulders.


    Jarix let out a strained grunt as Sapphire gingerly started floating about the room, moving very slowly and gently above the crowd.


    ¡°Maybe you should set her down, Lin. That is quite enough,¡± Nunuk spoke in a slightly raised voice.


    The young mage threw a glance towards the dragon¡¯s head, Sapphire feeling herself drop for but a moment before she was caught once more. Without a word she floated clear of the people and was ever so gingerly set down before the feeling of weightlessness gradually faded along with the lights of the ritual.


    Jarix let out a long deep breath, Apuma and Linkosta moving up and down gently along with the dragon¡¯s chest as the final vestiges of the spell were ended. Linkosta hopped off the dragon. ¡°Sorry, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯m fine. Just¡­ a bit woozy.¡±


    ¡°It is only natural, it is your first time after all,¡± Apuma added in a caring tone. ¡°It will pass, do not worry, though practice may be a fine idea to help build your constitution for such things.¡±


    ¡°More training. Love it,¡± the dragon responded, not seeming overly joyous.


    ¡°Oh come on Jarix, what kind of training can you do while laying down anyway?¡± Radexi added encouragingly. ¡°Maybe you could even put on your helmet like that.¡±


    ¡°Seems like rather a lot of work to do your job for you,¡± the dragon countered with a raised eyeridge as the young corporal scratched the back of his neck.


    ¡°Maybe you could make dirt float off instead?¡±


    ¡°No, but I think a brush and soap can wash off the dried up blood and whatever else is in there,¡± the dragon retorted, glancing at the burned out ritual circle. ¡°That hurt by the way.¡±


    ¡°Was it bad?¡± Linkosta questioned meekly, clearly not having intended to do any more harm than absolutely needed, even if she had perhaps gotten carried away in her work like so often before.


    ¡°It burned a bit, nothing too terrible. But it is hardly pleasant.¡±


    ¡°Much the same happens with any spell you have painted upon yourself,¡± Apuma added sagely. ¡°Do not worry, no permanent damage was done. I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think?¡± Jarix questioned, clearly not happy with that response.


    ¡°I uhm yes¡­ I suppose we shall know very soon. Radexi, why don¡¯t you assist us in cleaning up. That was all everyone. I hope you found it entertaining.¡±


    ¡°Well worth the watch,¡± Tom added with a merry chuckle as he smacked his hands together a few times. Some of the kids and even jacky doing so as well.


    Sapphire turned to the dragon and gave him a bow, then to Linkosta and Apuma and repeated it. ¡°It was great fun, thank you.¡±


    ¡°You are welcome, Sapphire. We thought it was a funny joke,¡± Linoksta replied, Jarix giving her a quick nod.


    ¡°It sure felt amazing. I guess I need to dress up as an arrow in the future. Then it¡¯s my turn to get hurled at the enemy.¡±


    ¡°You know¡­ that actually sounds quite useful,¡± Jarix interrupted, looking back towards Sapphire with renewed curiosity.


    ¡®Oh no.¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    While the display of dragon magic or whatever they called it had certainly been impressive, and Tom was quite sure he could come up with a few uses for it now that there was an actual powersource around capable of lifting more than a pebble or, say, making a blade mildly toasty, it had also given him another idea. A more direct approach so to speak.


    He had conferred with Edita, and while it would take a bit to come to fruition, she had assured him that it should be possible. Thus he was going to see what their big blue friend was up to on this rather cold and miserable day.


    The dragon had been busy keeping warm as he worked the little stamping machine, holding the lever with a single paw and pushing down when Zarko gave the command. They had needed to repair the simple tool a fair few times. Even pressing out a brass cylinder had proven quite the challenge, but the simple press and its four stages could make one casing per press without too many fuckups.


    With each press the soon to be casings had to be moved to the next stage of the tool by hand, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a swift process. At least they could reform and reuse any brass they had already fired.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going big guy? Sporting a scar from yesterday?¡± Tom opened as he crested the top of the stairs, being greeted by the familiar sight of Radexi and Junior moving the casings inside the tool. A few kids lugged boxes about, Turinia and Holdey busy putting the finished casings into the little storage box so they could be filled with powder later. No sign of Kiran though.


    ¡°Only a little, Linkosta says it will go away soon.¡±


    ¡°Shit, really?¡± Tom hadn¡¯t actually expected there to be a scar, it was just blood after all. Well blood that had been magically fucked with, but still.


    ¡°Yes, my scales are a little pale where they drew the runes,¡± the dragon remarked, looking back at his side. There was a little concern in his voice. Tom knew well that the dragon was at least a little vain. Like any teenage boy, insistent that he was rough and tough while demanding some fucked up looking designer jeans or something.


    ¡°Right¡­ well then. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s right about it going away again. Might be why they use white dragons for this though.¡±


    ¡°Hah ha very funny. No, it¡¯s all about purity for those folks. The guard doesn¡¯t care, a pair of mages who can work together well enough and are willing to do it is much harder.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention know how to do it. Those teachings do not come cheap. It is bad enough getting a regular mage trained. Just ask Apuma and Nunuk,¡± Zarko interjected a little impatiently as she waited on the now chatting dragon.


    ¡°Oh yeah, the academy. Fair enough I suppose. Look Jarix, speaking of magic, we had an idea. Well I did, but Edita agrees.¡±


    Zarko turned to look at him with an expression that betrayed that she was expecting bad news. The kind of look only a soldier within range of a latrine duty could truly develop.


    Jarix seemed less jaded as he tilted his head looking down at Tom as well.


    ¡°What if we tied the gun straight into you, rather than the gunner. You saw what it did to Jacky. Imagine Radexi.¡±


    ¡°He is rather skinny,¡± the dragon agreed looking to the young crewman with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that weak okay!¡±


    ¡°No, but Jacky is not just anyone,¡± Jarix countered, seeming to take Tom¡¯s side.


    ¡°The magical potency of a person and their physical strength do not always correlate,¡± Zarko said as she shook her head. ¡°More importantly, Radexi is yet to develop his magics. Thus he has very little practice and even less of a constitution for it. Much like Tom.¡±


    Radexi looked pleased at the first part before letting his shoulders sag as it became clear that he wasn¡¯t coming out of this one well.


    ¡°Maybe it is a good idea then. And if the gun was to jam I could simply shut off the flow of magic, no?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t see why not,¡± Tom replied with a shrug. It was of course not his area of expertise. But he couldn¡¯t see why not.


    ¡°Could you also make it so I could aim it like that?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ Don¡¯t know about that¡­ how would you even aim? Like, look down the sights.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ magic?¡±


    ¡°What, like a heads up display?¡± Tom chuckled before growing silent. He had no clue if that could be done. Edita¡¯s goggles did have some rather strange overlays that seemed almost HUD-like.


    ¡°I mean, even if it can be done, I don¡¯t think we have the time to do it. But maybe one day?¡± Tom offered. It was the best he could do right now. It wasn¡¯t the worst idea ever, but it might be useful for something far more intriguing than a simple gunsight. What if you could make a magical computer screen¡­ but how to feed it information? It wasn¡¯t like they could just make a dvd that ran on magic or anything. And the idea of needing a dragon to run your gamer PC was perhaps not the best.


    ¡®Actually with the sort of power draws they¡¯ve been doing, you¡¯d need several dragons wouldn¡¯t you? Hehe¡­ MSI gaming dragons, now in SLI. Get yours today!... fuck I¡¯m old.¡¯


    ¡°You look like you are thinking. What might you be thinking about?¡± Zarko questioned warily.


    ¡°Oh nothing. Just uhm. I need to ask Edita. And even then I very much doubt it would be easy or simple¡­ and it would also slowly be draining you while turned on. Might be best to stick with what we got.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay then,¡± Jarix relented. ¡°I suppose I will still need a fire mage on my back. That way the guard and the Inquisition get to keep their stupid story.¡±


    ¡°Still beats the one with Lord Joakim, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Gods I had forgotten about that. He was a musician, no?¡±


    ¡°Yeah he was,¡± Tom chuckled, shaking his head, Zarko once more looking less than amused.


    ¡°Tom, that is still the story believed in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Right. Forgot about that¡­ It¡¯s going to be a mess if ever I have to go there, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we can hide you on my back under a blanket or something,¡± Jarix offered helpfully.


    ¡°I guess that sorta works¡­ There is also my new armor.¡±


    ¡°If a suitable helmet could be fashioned it may even be possible to make you pass for a wingless dragonette at a distance.¡±


    ¡°Oh, not this shit again,¡± Tom reflexively replied, remembering all too well the various attempts at making him more presentable.


    ¡°No no, Tom, it is worth considering. If not for any formal introductions, good luck walking the city without a disguise should you ever wish to do so.¡±


    ¡°You are forgetting about one thing Zarko,¡± Junior added, having stayed quiet up until now, sitting on a fur next to the tool. ¡°His legs.¡±


    They all glanced down. Even Tom caught himself looking down to see what was wrong, finding nothing of note, other than the fact he may need to accelerate plans for boot replacement or at least get them polished up a little.


    ¡°His knees and feet.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, yes right,¡± Zarko agreed, Jarix letting out a thoughtful rumble as the dragon too stared at the problem.


    ¡°What?¡± Tom exclaimed, not sure what they were on about. Surely he could have something made for his boots that looked like those coverings slash boots Jacky had for her armor.


    ¡°Tom, you only have one knee.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tom looked back down again then up at Zarko, who did helpfully hold out a leg for him. ¡°Ooooh. Well no, we have the same numbers of knees. Yyou just walk on your toes, like this.¡± Tom stood up onto his toes as if to prove a point, which likely didn¡¯t really work since he was in boots at the moment.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± the slightly confused voice of Zarko replied as Jarix chuckled, evidently finding it amusing as Tom went up and down a few times.


    Radexi looked down at his own leg, flexing the lower part back and forth a few times trying to understand the similarity.


    ¡°Either way, if you attempt to walk anywhere, you would immediately be found out. No one walks like you do.¡±


    ¡°That is fair I suppose. And putting on stilts doesn¡¯t seem like the best idea ever to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it is best to just not draw too much attention?¡± Jarix offered, trying to be helpful.


    ¡°He would be a wingless dragonette in dark enchanted armor. He would be given a deluge of attention.¡±


    ¡°Possibly with a nice white and or red cloak on,¡± Tom added. Who knew, maybe he would even have his idea for a fully cloaked suit by then.


    ¡°It would certainly help with not getting stabbed to death immediately. Though not really with the degree of attention.¡±


    ¡°Fair fair¡­. well then¡­ I guess no sneaking out to a bar in the middle of the night. Sounds like quitter talk if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll find a way, even if I have to hand you out the window, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll make it work,¡± Jarix offered, Zarko looking dejected.


    ¡°I suppose having a dragon sitting guard would also help with the problem of getting murdered in the streets. I cannot imagine the sheer fit of rage Joelina or Victoria would unleash if it came to pass that our future was run through with a dagger over a pint of ale.¡±


    ¡°Would make for quite the story though, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Tom jested, Radexi and Jarix joining in with a chuckle, as Holdey just grabbed Turinia¡¯s hand, the kids having run out of casings to sort.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get stabbed, Tom. P-promise.¡±


    ¡®Oh shit.¡¯ Tom had honestly forgotten about the children present. Which really was quite bad¡­ especially considering that they were helping make weapons. Maybe he just really really wanted to not acknowledge that fact.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I would never let that happen. Nor would Jarix. He is big and strong. And Zarko would be very very mad at anyone who tried it,¡± Tom tried, in his best reassuring voice.


    It did help a little, Holdey nodding a little as Turinia tilted her head. ¡°Like we were all mad at the bitch, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just like that.¡± ¡®Good thing Essy didn¡¯t hear that¡­ actually she might not mind that one particular curse.¡¯

 Chapter 206: Snow Day

    Things had been progressing well, pipes getting done, engine parts machined, everything being kept nice and warm inside for the time being. The freezer helped pad out the otherwise rather dull preserved foods they had in stock, along with all the oddball luxuries people had bought. Yesterday Jacky had treated him to the delightful invention that was smoked goat''s cheese wrapped up in thinly sliced salt pork served with some sort of pickled root. It almost reminded him a bit of ginger crossed with licorice.


    It was certainly an interesting flavor profile, but it was perhaps not one he would seek to replicate. The cheese wasn¡¯t half bad by itself, so maybe something could be done with that. He could invent the cheeseburger; what he wouldn¡¯t give for some nice pickles. Oh and french fries. They had the oil now, and the freezer to do it properly.


    Much as the thoughts could make his mouth water, food wasn¡¯t actually at the forefront of his mind today. Raulf had warned them that bad weather was coming again, and considering it was more than cold enough for Tom to see his own breath down in the storage rooms below, he was hoping they might actually get a bit of snow.


    Getting a snowball to wherever Jacky would be hiding did pose a logistical challenge, but one well worth it to see her face post-impact, especially if he could get it down her back. So as he worked away with pencil and ruler in silence, he had the shutters of the window moved just slightly ajar so he could see outside, letting in a little light too which certainly helped see within the otherwise dim room.


    Sure it let the cold in a bit, but he wanted to know if he was about to have his first-ever draconic snow day.


    ¡®I wonder if Jarix might wanna come play too. Last chance he¡¯ll get before going under for the winter, probably. He¡¯s only still up ¡¯cause we need him on that press, that and Linkosta needed him for her studies too.¡¯


    As the hours whiled away, he copied over from the laptop as best he could. Valves, eccentric shafts, slide valves, and distribution manifolds. So many parts needed for such a simple idea to become reality. The pressure gauge would be an interesting one to calibrate, but once he got a spring with a proper linear rate it shouldn¡¯t be impossible with a bit of basic maths.


    Steam gauge sounded quite fancy for an open unprotected dial, but it would do the trick.


    With the failure of the light he soon had to turn to the screen of the laptop as well as the tableside oil lamp to see what he was doing.


    ¡°Gonna need to think about artificial lights too at some point. All hail the lightbulb,¡± he chuckled to himself as there was a knock at the door. He knew who it was; he recognized the knock easily by now.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    ¡°You bet your ass I¡¯m coming in,¡± the familiar voice of Jacky called back as the door was unceremoniously kicked open. ¡°Brought dinner.¡±


    ¡°Right then, I guess this can wait,¡± Tom replied, pushing the paper sheets away and turning on the chair to face her.


    Jacky was holding a large tray with a pair of well-laden wooden plates, a fur of some kind draped over her shoulder as she looked skeptically at the small table. ¡°On the bed, I¡¯ll clean up afterward, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Talk about room service,¡± Tom chuckled as he got up, Jacky sitting down at the head of the bed and leaning on the wall. Tom soon joined her, receiving the tray as soon as he had sat down.


    ¡°Hold it up.¡±


    Tom did so and the fur was slid underneath, creating a rather stout yet soft little table for them to eat at. Tom set down the tray again as they both made themselves comfortable. ¡°You know, back home a fur like that would be worth more than a decent table.¡±


    ¡°You know you have burned more oil for those lamps this winter than I have for the last ten?¡± Jacky retorted with a huff as she dug in. The food was nothing new, consisting mostly of plain salted meats with some sort of gravy to help wash it down, though there was an extra helping of bread and a baked potato with salt, butter, and some strange herbs for Tom.


    He did quite like them. They tasted almost like nettles. It reminded him of going to the Viking center as a kid. Though he was quite happy he wouldn¡¯t have to spend all day smashing barley with a pair of rocks by hand to make half a flatbread. Come to think of it, it really was a rather miserable premise for a school trip, yet he had enjoyed it.


    ¡®Maybe I really am kinda retarded¡­ oh well.¡¯


    ¡°Still thinking about the steam and stuff?¡± Jacky questioned as she tucked in.


    Tom, having gotten lost in the thoughts again, answered, ¡°Oh no, just thinking of home a little, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, I see¡­ Must kinda suck sometimes, doesn¡¯t it? No fancy lights everywhere, can¡¯t just go and buy whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°I had dinner brought to my room and am eating on the bed, don¡¯t even need to clean up afterwards. I think I¡¯m doing pretty good,¡± Tom joked in reply as he ripped off a bit of bread. ¡°You know, bread like this, muppets back home tend to pay three times as much for this as they would for white bread.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up, why would you do that? Not that I¡¯ve really had that white stuff, but I¡¯ve heard of it.¡±


    ¡°No clue either, it just tastes like fluff¡­ then again maybe that¡¯s the point. You¡¯ve never had it?¡±


    ¡°Okay maybe like once or twice, not really my thing, you know? Gonna spend the money on something else.¡±


    ¡°I do think we got some rather nice white bread flour, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Yeah you asked for it, remember? Don¡¯t think anyone has touched it.¡±


    ¡°I did?... Ooooh, the pasta. Right, yes, damn gonna need to try that too at some point. So much to do.¡±


    ¡°So little time,¡± Jacky finished for him. ¡°Why do you think I got you dinner in bed?¡±


    ¡°Cause you are cold and it¡¯s getting warmer under this fur as we speak?¡±


    ¡°Darn, I have been found out.¡± Jacky pushed a wing behind him, Tom leaning forward just long enough for her to get it in place before leaning back again, feeling the leathery embrace about his right side as she held him.


    ¡°Once this is done, you¡¯re never gonna wanna get out of bed again, I can promise you that. Not as long as winter lasts at least.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Nunuk or Dakota hear that, they might not let you finish,¡± Jacky joked, Tom chuckling along with her.


    ¡°Well that is hardly my problem. Any day now we should be getting started on installing the piping work. At least the first part, the conduits between the floors.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a conduit?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, a pipe.¡±


    ¡°Then why not just say the pipes between the floors?¡±


    ¡°My bad,¡± Tom yielded, not wishing to get into the technicalities. He wasn¡¯t even right anyway, but he was hardly a plumber.


    ¡°Anyway, I hope it works. It sounds so nice. Been working on anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, not really. I really should have drawn up what we need to make the new stamping tool for Jarix, but, well, that will have to wait until after he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°You sure? You said you wanted us to at least get started on making those new bullets?¡±


    ¡°Well the bullets we can manage, it¡¯s the casings that are the problem.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean, the brass thingies.¡±


    ¡°Right, yes. Yeah we should have, but we can¡¯t have it all. To be honest I am astonished we have made it as far as we have already. Being behind on one thing isn¡¯t much of a concern really. And we won¡¯t need anywhere near as many as we need of the big ones for Jarix¡¯s gun.¡±


    ¡°Ahr I see, I guess I¡¯m not getting a mini version of what he has just yet then?¡±


    ¡°Why do you need a smaller one? I thought you were strong or something,¡± Tom joked, reaching over and squeezing her arm a bit.


    Jacky flexed in reply, the arm growing firm as rock. Chuckling, she relaxed once more. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not too heavy to carry if that¡¯s what you mean.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just gotta get you a nice big handle and you¡¯ll be firing that thing from the hip, haha. Oh that would be something. But no, maybe one day we will have to look at doing something smaller for a dragonette to run around with. Still gonna be a big heavy beast.¡±


    ¡°Not recommended for the likes of Unkai then?¡± Jacky chuckled, both of them enjoying themselves rather immensely right now.


    ¡°No, no, probably not. You¡¯ve already seen what the idea is to start with, though. Something a little more everyone-friendly.¡±


    ¡°Yeah the rifle you showed me, is it ready?¡±


    ¡°No not yet sadly. We just don¡¯t have the time, and this heating project is more important right now I think. Tink¡¯s made a few parts here and there when he had the time, but in general, we¡¯ve not even really gotten started.¡±


    ¡°Shame, sounds like it would be great at hunting.¡±


    ¡°You have your fancy new bows, that will have to do for a bit at least.¡±


    ¡°As if. Besides, it¡¯s good training. You should let Jarix train with the 50 when we are out hunting. Use ducks or geese or something.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the ammo to waste, and well, not like the thing wants to keep running long enough for that anyway.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have it worked out by spring. Smartest guy here, after all.¡±


    ¡°Gee such a compliment.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, Rachuck isn¡¯t dumb¡­ as for the rest of them though.¡±


    ¡°Unkai isn¡¯t so bad either,¡± Tom objected, though a little half-heartedly. They didn¡¯t mean any of it of course, but Unkai did actually seem rather bright. Which was probably a good thing since he was trying to become a healer.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s just a pansy.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t make you stupid,¡±  Tom countered, Jacky grumbling dissatisfied in reply.


    ¡°I suppose not, but what¡¯s the point in working out where to hit if you are too scared to hold the steel?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t take much of a spine to put pencil to paper¡­ Did you have a bath already?¡± Tom questioned, remembering that she was supposed to have been in the forge all day.


    ¡°Sure did, as always you are the stinky one.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I¡¯ve done nothing all day and it¡¯s cold. How could I be stinky?¡±


    ¡°Call it a human talent. Also no wonder it¡¯s cold, you moved the shutters out the way.¡±


    ¡°I wanted a bit more light.¡±


    Jacky just sighed, long and deep before nestling in a bit closer. ¡°Oh well, I suppose I¡¯ll just have to keep you here then, since you let all the heat escape.¡±


    ¡°Damn, what a tragedy.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Oh for the love of¡­ It¡¯s snowing,¡± Sapphire complained as she opened the shutter leading to the kitchen, sticking her head outside. The sun was only just starting to come up and she had the great misfortune to be on kitchen duty together with Esmeralda.


    ¡°Oh no. Quick, do we have the firewood we need? It might get really cold later.¡±


    Catching what Essy was onto, she pulled back from the frigid window, quickly sidling over to check under the tables running along the wall. ¡°We got plenty, at least a day¡¯s worth.¡±


    ¡°Ahr very good. It can be someone else''s problem then.¡±


    ¡°Good thinking.¡±


    ¡°Now shutter that thing again so we can keep it warm in here,¡± Essy ordered as she carried on getting out the pots and pans. At least they didn¡¯t need to get the fires going, unlike during summer. Kokashi had kindly been keeping them all going as part of his rounds, so they were already spluttering merrily.


    They could perhaps do with a bit more fuel, so Sapphire chucked a few more pieces into the large stone stove. It was a shame that it stifled so much of the light coming from the flames. Everything was so darn dark and dingy, but if they wanted more light they needed to either light more oil lamps or torches, or remove a shutter or two.


    Saph and Essy knew each other well enough to know that they would both rather work by candlelight than face the draft of the year¡¯s first snow.


    The day''s dish was going to be a smoked veal pie. Esmeralda had always had a way with pies, so Sapphire would let her go about that job. She would instead focus on baking some plain old bread which they were gonna serve with salted jackalope chopped up with lard so you didn¡¯t have to rip the bread apart in an attempt to get the tough strips of meat to budge. And as a little sweet treat, she was gonna put some of the jam up on the tables too, call it a dessert.


    They both needed to start by preparing the dough as the oven slowly got up to temperature. Flour, butter, salt, the flask of yeast sitting next to the stove were all shared by both recipes. So they worked alongside each other, lending a hand when one had sticky hands and dough under their claws.


    ¡°So, what are you spending your time on for the moment?¡± Essy questioned, only a slight hint of strain in her voice from the heavy mixing work.


    ¡°Oh, you know, bit of reading, helping out Jarix and Fengi every now and again.¡±


    ¡°Is it all leisure time for you this winter then?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m trying to read a bit of English. Tom is too busy to really help much so it¡¯s mostly just me.  It¡¯s not exactly easy.¡±


    ¡°Could have fooled me, Sapphire,¡± Esmeralda said sarcastically. ¡°Well if you find the time, we are making good progress on the new dresses. I think they are gonna turn out great.¡±


    ¡°I am sure they are. You aren¡¯t going to be sewing furs and such into them, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, fine fabrics only. If we want people to know we are from the frontier, we will wear armor.¡±


    ¡°Very nice, I can¡¯t wait. Maybe one day I¡¯ll be able to read some of Tom¡¯s stuff on clothing. Assuming he brought anything.¡±


    ¡°There must be something in there, surely?¡±


    ¡°Who knows, he doesn¡¯t strike me as overly fashion-conscious.¡±


    ¡°He had plenty of ideas as to what not to wear when we tried to make him presentable back in the day,¡± Essy offered, Sapphire halting her kneading to think about it for a moment.


    ¡°I guess you are right. Yeah¡­ oh well. Maybe humans are just weird like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it is a men thing for them. I remember a few of the girls in his movies that were dressed quite nicely.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, the one with the yellow silky dress, that was very pretty. Yet so simple.¡±


    ¡°Surprising, yes. I would have thought they would show off just how intricate a dress they can make with all their machines and¡­ stuff,¡± Essy replied with a shrug.


    ¡°Maybe it just doesn¡¯t mean much to them at all?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, Sapphire? She had clearly gone to the trouble of finding a very fine dress and wearing it about. It is not the most practical thing after all.¡±


    ¡°No no, the detailing, all the lacework and embroidery. If it¡¯s cheap and easy to make, doesn¡¯t that kinda defeat the point? It is usually for showing off, right?¡±


    ¡°I would only say that is a part of it. Like wearing gold over silver, yes it is more expensive, but I do think it is prettier.¡±


    ¡°I actually prefer silver,¡± Sapphire replied with a shrug. ¡°Or if you really wanna show off, platinum.¡±


    ¡°Have you even seen platinum jewelry before?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a few times. Never touched it, though.¡± She did speak the truth. She had seen a few nobles back in the capital who wore such finery. And of course, there was some of the finery worn by the royals on various public occasions. It was quite telling that even to the royals, the platinum was something you left in your dressing drawer unless it was a special occasion.


    Their little chat was interrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps coming down from the grand hall. They both looked up from their work, ears following the sound. A one of a kind gait they could recognize anywhere when he bothered to make noise in the first place.


    ¡°Morning¡­ Tom,¡± Sapphire greeted the human as he jogged on past, giving them a quick wave.


    ¡°Morning.¡±


    Essy didn¡¯t even say anything, only raising a hand in greeting as she looked away from the spice cupboard, confusion just as evident on her face as it was on Sapphire¡¯s.


    ¡°He seemed mighty excited,¡± Essy finally spoke as the human made his way on past and further downwards.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Why was he wearing his boots but not any pants?¡±


    ¡°Well he did have his underpants on at least.¡±


    ¡°Yes but¡­ like he had a jacket on too?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he just needed to go get something he forgot? You know he likes to work in the early morning too.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know but¡­ Oh well,¡± Sapphire replied, shaking the thought. Essy was probably right, he just seemed far too excited for someone who¡¯d had to get out of bed to fetch gods knew what.


    They went back to the preparation, Essy humming a jaunty tune as she chopped up ingredients for the pies.


    The two of them were rather enjoying their calm morning when they heard the boots hammering away down below, Tom coming back up even faster than last time. They both turned to look, curious as to just what the human had been after this early in the morning.


    They got their answer soon enough, as the human came jogging up the stairs, arms full of white powdery snow and with the biggest dumb grin on his face Sapphire could remember.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± was all Essy had to say as they stared at Tom coming past. And just as quickly as before he was gone again, making his way up the stairs in a hurry.


    ¡°What is he¡­ Oh poor Jacky,¡± Sapphire concluded as she looked to Esmeralda. It took the older woman a moment longer to realize what Sapphire was suspecting, her face turning to one of dread for but a moment, before she grew a mischievous grin.


    ¡°Someone is about to pay a hotwater debt after all those comfortable nights.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t let her know we saw this coming,¡± Sapphire pleaded in a mock hushed tone.


    ¡°On my life and honor.¡±


    They both stopped their work, ears and heads turned to the ceiling above as they waited. They could hear the boots getting fainter before the sound entirely vanished. Tension hung in the air before¡­ A very high pitched screech rang out.


    It didn¡¯t last for quite as long as Sapphire had expected it to, though both she and Essy recoiled involuntarily at the noise. It did not sound like Jacky had approved of that maneuver.


    ¡°A silver says he is going to be seeing Nunuk after this,¡± Sapphire offered as they both tried to listen for any further developments.


    ¡°I will take that bet, she loves him too dearly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she will be sorry afterwards, but come on. I think he just threw snow on her in her sleep. I would smack him so hard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does seem a little cruel. Hopefully it was only a little snow.¡±


    ¡°Oh here he comes,¡± Sapphire said as the frantic sound of boots in a sprint emanated from above, soon enough they heard claws on the floor as well. ¡°She¡¯s chasing.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t have long then.¡±


    ¡°I bet you it took her a moment to come to her senses.¡±


    ¡°Possibly needed to don some clothes first, too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah probably.¡±


    They waited for a few moments more, the steps coming closer. And soon enough, Tom came storming down the stairs, though Jacky was not on his tail just yet.


    ¡°Heads up!¡± he shouted out, Sapphire tilting her head in confusion as the human seemed to throw something. She realized in the nick of time what it was, raising a hand and bending the small orb of snow away, letting it splatter against the wall behind her.


    ¡°Aww come on!¡± Tom broke out, readying another ball. ¡°Cheater!¡± He then proceeded to hurl the other ball he was holding at Essy, who was by now ready to duck. Saph reached a hand out and as the ball went flying over her friend¡¯s head, she strained and back around it came.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s not-¡± Tom was cut short as the ball smacked him square in the face. She staggered for a moment at the effort, Esmeralda breaking out laughing.


    ¡°Good attempt Tom, but poor choice of target.¡±


    The failure to hit either of them and receiving one a hit in reply seemed to leave the human stumped for a moment before he too started laughing, seeming utterly unbothered by the icy snow sliding down his face. One could see it melting on his skin in real-time. Quite the reminder just how warm the human was in these chilly times.


    ¡°Oh you¡¯re mine now!¡± It came from the top of the stairs, Jacky seemingly having caught up as they stood there laughing. She wasn¡¯t wearing anything aside from a skirt as far as Sapphire could see, so she had most likely been assaulted in bed just like they theorized.


    There was still a smile on her face though, so perhaps it hadn¡¯t been too bad.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tom broke out before setting off towards the stairs leading down once more. Though with his lead gone they all knew where this was going.


    Essy and Sapphire just laughed, Saph bracing herself against one of the tables as Jacky thundered past at a dead sprint.


    She and Essy hadn¡¯t even gotten over their laughing fit before Jacky emerged once more, a recently pacified Tom hanging over her shoulder, dejectedly leaning his chin on one arm braced against her back.


    ¡°Someone is going in the naughty corner,¡± Sapphire jested, giving Tom a jovial wave. He did not return it, but instead stuck his tongue out at her.


    ¡°No, someone is repaying for all that lovely warmth which went missing. And here I thought you were being nice staying in bed all morning.¡±


    ¡°In my defense, I did not know until I got up this morning that there was snow outside,¡± Tom countered. ¡°Can I go play in it?¡±


    ¡°No, you already have,¡± Jacky responded resolutely, Tom going limp in protest like some toddler. He was evidently just taking the piss, but it was still funny.


    ¡°Maybe later you can go fetch wood while playing in the snow, Tom. We promise we won¡¯t lock you out,¡± Sapphire called out after the two of them as Jacky made her way back up the stairs step by step.


    ¡®Fucking lunatic, what¡¯s next? Crawling around in the snow half nude?¡¯


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tooom Toom! What¡¯s going on?¡± Kiran complained, snout barely poking out from inside the the warm comfy human¡¯s jacket. Tom the hotrock was providing all the heat in the world.


    ¡°I¡¯m making a snow angel, of course,¡± Tom replied as he slid his arms through the soft powdery snow. He had feared it wouldn¡¯t actually be cold enough to keep him from getting wet, but the cold leading up to the first snowfall had apparently been enough to freeze at least the topsoil.


    ¡°What a snow angel?¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a bit like Jacky, very nice, white, has wings,¡± Tom joked, Kiran shifting around underneath the jacket until he could stick his head out a bit more to see what was going on. Essemralda had been quick to wrap a scarf around his head and neck before she allowed him to come join Tom to play in the snow.


    Tom had been planning on pranking a few people with icy snow today, but he hadn¡¯t really been banking on ending up rolling around in it himself. But Kiran wanted to go play in the snow just like Tom had said kids did back home. So here they were.


    ¡°She is going to be very mad if you make someone like Jacky. More mad than she was already.¡±


    ¡°Oh, she wasn¡¯t that mad, only a little miffed. She got to skip hours worth of work for a little snow, pretty good deal if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I skip work too. But don¡¯t worry Tom. I will always skip work to be with you,¡± little Kiran said sincerely.


    ¡°Awww thank you, Kiran. So what next?¡±


    ¡°There is no one to throw snow at.¡±


    ¡°No, they''re all being scaredypants and staying indoors.¡± Kiran looked up at the keep towering above them, Tom following his gaze as he finally stopped making the snow angel.


    ¡°They are watching. They think you are crazy. You don¡¯t have to go get wood, or go see if the animals are having fun too.¡±


    ¡°Right you are. Out in the snow for the fun of it. It¡¯s a shame though. You would all be so good at hide and seek out here.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes! We could hide in the snow. Just like you hide in bushes. And then we jump out and scare people.¡±


    ¡°See, that¡¯s the spirit. Maybe one day we can lure Rachuck down here.¡±


    ¡°What about when I am too big to fit inside your jacket? Can I still come?¡±


    ¡°You have winter gear, don¡¯t you? If not we¡¯ll get some, I promise¡­ now. Let¡¯s see about a snowman for them all to stare at.¡± Tom slowly moved to get up, giving the little guy plenty of time to get a grip inside the jacket so he didn¡¯t just slip and fall out the bottom.


    ¡°Oh is it going to be daddy but snow?¡±


    ¡°Maybe Unkai, don¡¯t wanna be out here all day. And can¡¯t make a woman cause Jacky would be mad.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, dad is fat. Also do not worry,¡± Kiran declared as he stuck his head out further trying to look behind them, Tom turning a little to let him see the snow angel. ¡°She won¡¯t be jealous of that one.¡±


    Tom had to stifle a laugh as they both looked at the snow angel, frozen dirt peaking through and the child stuffed jacket and weights making Tom¡¯s imprint look rather overweight. ¡°Yeaaaaah, not much of a beauty standard that one.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ oh maybe that is dad, he is fat too.¡±


    ¡°No Kiran, Anchor isn¡¯t fat, he is wide and heavy set. I am fat,¡± Tom joked, giving the little guy¡¯s head a ruffle.


    ¡°You do eat a lot of bread and vegetables.¡±


    ¡°If only that was the reason,¡± Tom chuckled as he shifted the weights he had dangling under the Jacket as well. ¡°If only¡­ So snowman?¡±


    ¡°Yes, with wings and all of it!¡±

 Chapter 207 Snow Devil

    ¡°What do you mean you wanna open the door, are you crazy? It¡¯s cold out there!¡± Zarko protested, clearly not pleased with the dragon¡¯s latest scheme.


    Sapphire didn¡¯t know what to say. It had certainly been an interesting sight to watch the human playing in the snow, and she had never seen a dragon do so before. Even if the whites were rather famous for it.


    ¡°Oooh come on, I¡¯ve been in here for weeks now. I wanna stretch my legs a little bit before it is time. You know we talked about it not being that much longer,¡± Jarix pleaded as he turned around to face away from the door again. ¡°We¡¯re nearly out of the stuff set aside for me, and now we¡¯ve got snow outside.¡±


    ¡°You will let out all the heat from in here,¡± Zarko protested, though her determination seemed to be faltering slightly. ¡°And you will be chilled to the bone.¡±


    ¡°So what? I need to go outside to turn in anyway, right? Why not do it today? Weather is nice, and it¡¯s gonna take a bit before I cool down entirely.¡±


    ¡°We still have work to do Jarix. We are far from done.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but food is a thing, Zarko, and we won¡¯t get it done anyway. It will still be there when I wake up again.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is indeed true¡­ have you decided yet, will you be sleeping in here or outside?¡± the lieutenant questioned.


    ¡°If I sleep in here it will be much colder for you, right?¡±


    ¡°Sadly I do think so, yes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah no, place wasn¡¯t built for dragons to stay the winter,¡± Sapphire clarified. Rachuck and the others had talked about it before she could remember that much. If the greeting hall was exposed to the elements, then a lot of the heat coming up from below would fly away into the chilly air outside. And the inner wall separating the two halls was also quite a bit thinner than the sturdy outer walls that shielded them from the chill, so that wouldn¡¯t help either.


    The dragon pondered for a bit, glancing towards his workstation at the press, the large wooden handle already well worn. ¡°Okay. I will stay outside then. Yldril is too; I ain¡¯t no wuss.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that the winter is never entirely safe, yes?¡± Zarko tried, clearly wanting the dragon to think carefully on his choice.


    ¡°Well duh, it¡¯s winter, what you think some wolves will come to have a nibble?¡±


    ¡°You never know,¡± Zarko retorted. ¡°This is not the capital after all. It¡¯s not even the forests outside the capital.¡±


    ¡°What, you seriously think that I might wake up with what? A chunk missing?¡±


    ¡°No, I think you would wake up in the middle of a wolfpack to a very painful searing sensation on those pretty hindquarters of yours. But it is your decision.¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­¡± Well now the dragon seemed conflicted to Sapphire that was for sure. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask Tom,¡± he finally declared. ¡°Open the door, I wanna see what he is up to and go stretch my wings one last time.¡±


    ¡°Fine, just remember that if you get too cold you are staying down there. I won¡¯t have you fly on locked up wings.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I know I know. Come on now,¡± the dragon urged, turning back to the door, mind finally made up.


    Zarko sighed audibly as she moved to stand by the winch mechanism. Radexi and even Worpock came over to help. The small child wouldn¡¯t be much help, but Sapphire could lend a hand, mainly by getting the kid further inside. It was about to get very chilly out here after all.


    So she picked up the young one and made for the door to many protestations.


    ¡°No I wanna help out, come on, Saph. I¡¯m not some little shit like Kiran, and he¡¯s outside right now.¡±


    ¡°Wrapped up in many blankets and a human. In we go, or you might end up with a snipped tail,¡± Sapphire countered in her best approximation of what Essy sounded like when handling the older kids.


    ¡°No I won¡¯t, it¡¯s only for a little bit.¡±


    Saph didn¡¯t bother with further rebuttals, instead carrying the unruly child away over her shoulder just as the doorway parted from the floor behind them and started to slowly inch open, ice cold air flooding inside.


    She took a look over her shoulder as she went to open the internal door and one could literally see the fog the icy air was bringing with it inside. It sent a chill down her spine in anticipation. Worpock had no further complaints about being dragged away either. Jarix stepped back as the cool air washed over his feet. He even tried to lift them up out of the way, rearing up as the door continued to open.


    ¡°I thought you wanted to go outside, mighty storm dragon?¡± Zarko jested as she dutifully kept working the winch, Saph halting to see just what might result here.


    ¡°I uhm. It¡¯s just a little chilly. One has to adjust, slowly,¡± the dragon tried to defend himself. It was evident Zarko didn¡¯t buy any of his bullshit, though she did seem to enjoy the dragon¡¯s discomfort in his own actions.


    ¡°Tom doesn¡¯t seem to agree. Jacky woke up covered in snow this morning from what I heard,¡± Zarko retorted merrily.


    ¡°It is true, he tried to throw a ball of it at me as well,¡± Sapphire joined in as Worpock tried to climb up a bit higher, though there wasn¡¯t really anywhere for the rather large kid to go.


    ¡°See, surely he would not approve of such timid methods,¡± Zarok carried on, downright mocking the dragon, who did come back down to all fours though with some evident discomfort.


    ¡°He enjoys the cold. He¡¯s not normal, unlike me,¡± Jarix countered, head held high.


    ¡°Normal? I thought you wanted to be exceptional,¡± Zarko joked back. ¡°I must have missed a meeting.¡±


    ¡°Har har har. Very funny. And I thought you were supposed to be strong, why isn¡¯t this door open yet? I apparently need to go roll around in the snow.¡±


    ¡°Well if you had thumbs maybe you could help you big blue baby.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well well well, who might that be?¡± Tom questioned, looking up as finally the large heavy door came to a stop.


    ¡°I don''t know, I can''t see them yet,¡± Kiran offered as the pair of them stared upwards. The work on the snowman had been coming along quite well, but they were far from done. Kiran kept slipping from inside Tom''s coat as he leaned down to roll along the big drums of freshly fallen snow.


    ¡°Oh oh it is Jarix!¡± the little kid piped up as the young blue stepped out onto the platform, head craning to look down at the pair of them.


    ¡°Come to play in the snow!¡± Tom shouted up at the dragon as a bit of a joke. He didn''t really know what the dragon might be up to going outside like that, but he was sure Rachuck or Dakota wouldn''t be too happy about the door being open.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the dragon replied as his wings slowly spread out over the edges of the platform, angling into the gentle breeze to test the winds. Or perhaps he just enjoyed feeling them blow.


    ¡°Well I''ll be damned,¡± Tom mumbled to himself, not having foreseen that particular outcome.


    The dragon leaped out into the cold crisp air, wings catching lazily as he went into a slow steady glide. Not the sort of crash dive the dragonettes often favored, but a more measured gentle approach that had him gliding out over the smaller buildings with a gentle grace.


    ¡°Jarix is very good at flying,¡± Kiran commented, Tom nodding in agreement.


    ¡°It pays to have wings like sails.¡±


    ¡°What is a sail?¡±


    ¡°Oh don''t worry about it.¡±


    Kiran didn''t ask further questions. In the silence the only noise Tom could hear as the dragon passed was the clank clank clank of the winch as the door was once more shut as Jarix silently glided by. The blue dragon blended perfectly with the serene white landscape behind him as he descended into a whiter background.


    Slowly and silently he came in to land, becoming part of the serene winter landscape around him as with a few short steps he came to a halt in a dignified fashion.


    ¡°Nice of you to join us,¡± Tom jested as he started walking up to the dragon, snow crunching under boot.


    ¡°Yes, hello. Ever so cold out here.¡±


    ¡°Tends to happen in winter, yeah. Needed to stretch your wings?¡±


    ¡°I have been cooped up in there for weeks, yes. Oh gods it was lovely. A last flight, you know?¡±


    ¡°Oh don''t be so dramatic. Hardly gonna be your last.¡±


    ¡°Last before the big sleep. I''m missing it already. It must be hard for the others. They have to be up all winter unable to go anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Gee I wonder what that might be like,¡± Tom replied, voice laden with sarcasm.


    ¡°It is different for you. You only get to be a passenger.¡±


    ¡°True¡­ I am missing that already too actually, it''s great fun. But since you are here.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I will not be flying far, it would cool me down much faster and-¡± The dragon¡¯s monologue came to a stop as a snowball hit against the side of his bare neck.


    ¡°Damn, my aim really is lacking, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ why?¡± Jarix questioned, looking at the white spot where some of the snow had stuck.


    ¡°You said you wanted to play in the snow,¡± Tom retorted, already busy with the next snowball.


    ¡°But you hit me.¡± The dragon sounded almost taken aback by the audacity.


    ¡°With snooow,¡± Tom pleaded. ¡°Don''t tell me the warrior dragon is hurt by a little fluffy white powder.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I uhm¡­¡±


    Tom threw a second one. This time he hit the mark, nailing Jarix on the side of the head just below the ear as the dragon pondered his response. His head pulled back and he shook, sending the pittance of snow to the ground.


    ¡°Oh that does it, so we are flinging snow,¡± the dragon rumbled as he looked down, a large paw scraping a patch of ground clear of powder.


    ¡°Yes we are. We aren''t scared of you!¡± Kiran declared as Tom turned to run with a snicker. He had no clue how far the dragon could fling a pile like that, but it looked like a few kilos at least. That ought to suck if he got hit. ¡°We- we¡­ are reposition! We are not scared!¡± Kiran carried on as Tom acted the coward and made for cover behind one of the smaller buildings.


    Jarix heaved and was rewarded with a rather spectacular snowy mist as he flung the pawful of soft powder in Tom''s general direction. Tom came to a stop laughing as the dragon shook his head again, most of the snow coming right back down on him, covering him in a thin layer of see through powder.


    ¡°Look, an ice dragon,¡± Tom went, laughing as he prepared another ball.


    ¡°Pha phfffff! It''s in my mouth!¡±


    ¡°It''s only water that''s gone cold you big wuss.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t taste very good.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you got some dirt too, here try this one.¡± And Tom hurled another one which missed completely. ¡°Aww dangit!¡±


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Right that does it,¡± Jarix declared as he turned side-on, gaze moving back along his side.


    Tom looked too, curious what the dragon might be up to as he saw the long lithe tail sweep across the ground, carrying a fair bit of snow with it.


    He turned just in time to shield Kiran as he was enveloped in a very local snowstorm. Tom just laughed as Kiran hid his head inside the jacket. It only lasted a second or two before the air cleared, Tom turning back to face the dragon still giggling. Jarix for his part looked very pleased at having gotten in a proper shot as well.


    ¡°See, there we go,¡± Tom encouraged. It wasn''t exactly what he had been expecting for a playmate, but it would do just fine.


    ¡°Yes and consider yourself outmatched,¡± Jarix countered, head held high in signature superiority.


    ¡°Oooh I wouldn''t know about that. Last I checked you were on a timer, I can stay all day.¡±


    ¡°Not if I bury you 2 meters deep.¡±


    Tom looked around at the idyllic landscape and held a gloved hand out, taking it off to feel the air properly. ¡°Oh I don''t know, I think I should be fine. Poor Kiran though.¡±


    ¡°I will be fine too! I can hide in here,¡± the kid exclaimed, finally sticking his head back out again. ¡°It is nice and warm.¡±


    ¡°I envy you. I don''t get to hide anywhere to warm up again.¡±


    ¡°Well if you keep moving surely that would help, no?¡± Tom offered with a chuckle as the dragon stood near motionless, still covered in a fine layer of snow. It had started to melt, leaving trails of water running off him.


    ¡°And it brings cold wind too. Hardly a pleasant experience.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you come down here,¡± Tom snickered as he started to walk up closer to the dragon.


    ¡°It is high time I go to sleep as well¡­ and I thought it would be fun to spend the last heat uhm¡­ well having fun.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I think I have an idea. We were making a snowman, wanna help out?¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°No no, they are still just walking around down there, moving snow into a pile. Who knows what it might be for,¡± Saph concluded as she tried not to shiver from the cold outside the armory.


    ¡°It better not be for bringing in here, I heard Jacky earlier,¡± Esmeralda added as the council of huntresses debated. Mostly they had been worried the human might be up to something dumb which was perfectly safe for him but dangerous for poor little Kiran. But so far it didn¡¯t seem like anything too wild or dangerous.


    ¡°Well I am not going down there to find out, no way. It is way too cold out there.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m gonna do something. I need payback from this morning,¡± Jacky added in. ¡°I was so warm, so comfy. Then he dunks snow on me like that.¡±


    ¡°It was a pretty good joke, and you did get him in the end,¡± Saph countered. It had been rather funny to see him get caught and hauled back for whatever punishment awaited. Not to mention his backfired attempt at Essmeralda.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t mind a bit of snow, he just found it even funnier. It¡¯s not fair, I need something else.¡°


    ¡°Haven¡¯t we done enough? I think it was his turn by now,¡± Fengi tried, in a less confrontational tone. Jacky wasn¡¯t gonna hurt the guy, but she was going to get her fun, Saph was sure of that.


    ¡°He started it, I just retaliated, gotta be my turn now. Thems the rules.¡±


    ¡°Well what are you gonna do? Cut his hair again? Gonna be less fun the second time,¡± Saph questioned, throwing a glance to Pho and Bo, who were remaining quiet for now. They still hadn¡¯t really made it in as part of the group, certainly not for these kinds of talks. Though Bo was making some headway.


    ¡°No, no I got an idea¡­¡± Pho broke out, apparently taking Saph¡¯s glance for an open invitation.


    ¡°He is gonna be fine afterward, right?¡± Esmeralda asked. She always worried for everyone''s sake, so she was just making sure.


    ¡°Oh yeah of course. I¡¯m not a monster¡­ Okay maybe sometimes. But no, it¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    ¡°Spill it,¡± Jacky demanded with an upnod.


    ¡°He put snow in your face, just put his boots in his face. They fucking stink when he leaves them out in the hall. Tie them to his face or something.¡±


    ¡°What knot would you use to do that?¡± Esmeralda questioned with a friendly smile, Pho giving her a not-so-friendly glare in reply.


    ¡°How about this? I tie him up and hang him outside the keep on a rope or something, with his boots tied to his face.¡±


    ¡°That seems a bit excessive,¡± Fengi said, apprehension growing. Saph had to agree that this wasn¡¯t sounding quite proportional.


    ¡°And he¡¯s gonna be late for work, can¡¯t have that now can he?¡±


    ¡°I swear Saph, he even works in bed. Then he¡¯ll be too lazy to get a book or something from the desk so he just wrote on me instead. Fucking bitch.¡±


    ¡°Wait, he actually did that?¡±


    ¡°Black ink and all, didn¡¯t even notice all day. He didn¡¯t remember until the evening. Fucking bastard.¡±


    She did seem to find it at least sorta funny. It was to be honest. Not like anyone was gonna be accusing people of falling to corruption around here.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you draw some on him too then?


    ¡°Oh that could be pretty funny¡­ or draw on his face.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a classic, how long do you think it would take him to notice?¡° Fengi questioned, more onboard with this idea.


    ¡°Oooh I got some ideas, just you wait.¡±


    ¡°Jacky. You are sounding like a scheming goblin again. What have you got in mind?¡±


    ¡°I still think he is going to wake up outside with a boot on his head. He does sleep quite heavily, right?¡± Saph questioned.


    ¡°And he snores,¡± Jacky confirmed, rolling her eyes. ¡°So much snoring.¡±


    ¡°Says you. I used to think Wiperna had brought some of the oxen inside when I walked down the corridors at night.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not THAT bad.¡±


    ¡°Jacky, if you snored any louder you would need to borrow Kiran¡¯s little ear defenders to not go deaf again,¡± Sapphire snickered.


    ¡°I have my own thank you very much. Maybe I will wear them to save my hearing from your jealousy.¡±


    ¡°I know you look adorable in those.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you, bitch.¡±


    ¡°Awww that¡¯s no way to say thank you.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°There. One snow¡­ person, I guess. Great job, Jarix.¡±


    ¡°All that work building the warehouse paid off I suppose. It doesn''t look too terrible,¡± the dragon confirmed. They all took a moment to behold their creation. It was little more than a massive pile of snow with two balls stacked atop it and some decorations to make the top ball sorta look like a face. But it was the tallest snowman Tom had ever made by a massive margin, and that had to count for  something.


    ¡°Bigger is better, ain''t that right, Kiran?¡±


    ¡°No, better is better,¡± the little kid replied defiantly from his prison cell of warmth and comfort. ¡°Jarix said so.¡±


    ¡°Ahr wise words,¡± Tom agreed, nodding sagely.


    ¡°Though it doesn''t hurt to be the biggest,¡± the dragon added with a rumbling chuckle. ¡°What now then? I can feel my feet growing numb, and my wings are getting stiff.¡±


    ¡°A shame that. But I do have one more idea. Can you still fly?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ I think so, if it''s not too, too far,¡± the dragon replied skeptically.


    ¡°Right, you know how there are hills all around this place? We need to find the highest and steepest one. Trust me.¡±


    ¡°Oh okay, I think I can manage that¡­ Or we could run instead,¡± the dragon offered, evidently having a preference for how to go about it.


    ¡°Actually¡­ yeah, why not, that was kinda fun last time.¡±


    "No falling over!¡± Kiran declared vehemently. ¡°Not allowed.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, that was the only time you ever ran with me, wasn''t it?¡±


    ¡°And I don''t remember half of it,¡± Tom added with a chuckle. ¡°You were damn fast though, but couldn''t see shit at night.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, well, as you said. Best to move to keep warm. Climb on then, no wing today.¡±


    ¡°That is understandable, I''ll take the long way around. Gloves.¡± Tom held up his hands as if to explain. ¡°Not great for climbing, and no handholds.¡±


    ¡°Ahr I see. I didn''t feel like sleeping in either the armor or the harness.¡± Jarix turned and laid out his tail, Tom being careful not to step on the very tip as he walked on up it. ¡°Oh my, I can hardly feel anything down there.¡±


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± Tom questioned, stepping carefully as he walked on up.


    ¡°No not particularly, it only means it will be stiff as a treetrunk soon. Hard to fly with that you know.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine yeah¡­ so the cold isn''t like, dangerous to you in the same way?¡±


    ¡°No, we dragons sleep through the winters all the time. Cold isn''t dangerous. Not alone at least.¡±


    ¡°But the dragonettes? I mean I remember Dakota, that was not a fun time whatsoever.¡±


    ¡°They are not dragons, they need that bark stuff they gather to not die. A gift from Itova so they can have our resistance to the cold before going to sleep for the winter.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ I see. I was wondering about that stuff. So you don''t need that at all?¡±


    ¡°No no, I am born with that gift, I don''t need to borrow it. All true dragons are. Even if the whites probably don''t need it, the lucky bastards,¡± the dragon carried on as Tom sat down at the base of his neck, getting comfortable.


    ¡°What about reds, they are always warm right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but they cannot stand the cold. I suppose if you are always warm you grow soft,¡± Jarix replied, puffing his chest out a little.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Baron hear you say that.¡±


    ¡°Hell no, he would make me fly laps for a week.¡±


    ¡°Hah, well no reds to upset nor whites around here to steal the glory here, shall we?¡±


    ¡°Yes, hang on please. If you fall off I might not be able to find you. Or worse, I might step on you.¡±


    ¡°I would rather teach you to make jam than become it, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, so hang on tight!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I get it¡±


    The dragon turned around away from the keep and set off bounding through the snow, a pair of miscreants on his back. He started at a brisk trot, snow being flung high into the air with each step though his passengers were kept safe up above the showers of white powder. Once he almost tripped as a paw caught on something hidden below the snow, but he carried on without slowing much.


    ¡°Did Wiperna just lose a fence?¡± Tom questioned, looking back to no avail.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ maybe¡­ Just say it wasn''t me,¡± the dragon retorted as he started picking up the pace.


    ¡°We will say it was Yldril!¡± Kiran shouted out, well and truly hidden inside the jacket away from the biting cold air that was rushing by.


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Tom concurred as he pulled up the scarf to cover his face. He could see what the dragon meant about the chilly air, but being as big as he was, working hard should be even more effective than for someone Tom''s size.


    The dragon seemed set to test the theory as he switched to a gallop, the fields and fences now behind them. Bounding away in long leaps, his whole body coiling with each stride, Tom held on to a backspike. The long steady movements the dragon was making didn''t actually make it that hard to hang on, but the pace kept on increasing.


    ¡°You keeping warm there, boy?¡± Tom questioned as he started to wish that he''d brought the goggles too.


    ¡°I am still older than you, little one,¡± Jarix retorted as he picked up the pace yet further, apparently spurred onwards by Tom''s little jab.


    ¡°Whatever you are, you''re definitely quick,¡± Tom concluded, looking off to the side and trying to tell just how fast they were going. From experience flying with Jacky, a quick hand test of the wind told him about 50 to 60 kph, which was fucking fast on the ground. But it made some sense, Jarix did need takeoff speed after all. Though he likely couldn''t keep this up for more than a few minutes at the very best.


    ¡°Hell yeah I am.¡±


    Tom just enjoyed the ride. He didn''t need to poke the dragon anymore. This was cool. In more ways than one. The landscape was so transformed by the gentle snow, and not a footstep to be seen, just a pure white blanket. It almost looked like it would be comfortable to fall off¡­ best not though.


    ¡°Will this one do?¡± Jarix questioned as they started to climb up a rather sizable hill.


    ¡°Not quite steep enough,¡± Tom replied as he glanced around for any steeper parts. Then he felt the dragon rapidly slow down, coming to a skidding stop. Looking ahead, Tom saw what looked distinctly like an edge rapidly approaching, and he tightened his grip on the spike he was holding as Jarix just managed to stop before going over the edge. They both looked down the not quite sheer but certainly steep incline and had a moment of silence.


    ¡°I don''t think you will get much steeper than that¡­ Also don''t tell Zarko.¡±


    ¡°Not a word¡­ and yeah that''ll do. Okay, do you want me to demonstrate?¡±


    ¡°You still haven''t told me what it is we are doing,¡± the dragon countered as he took a step to the side, looking at the long straight lines he had drawn skidding across the snow and the frozen ground beneath.


    ¡°We are going sledding,¡± Tom declared gleefully. ¡°It''s gonna be great fun.¡±


    ¡°Sledding? Like those things they use in the North. I remember you said something about that¡­ I think.¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly like that.¡±


    ¡°I am not going to haul you around the place so you get to have all the fun. And what do we need a hill-... aaaaaahhhr.¡± A wave of understanding washed over the dragon as he looked down the steep slope. ¡°Are you quite sure?¡±


    "Definitely."


    ¡°I uhm¡­ You go first.¡±


    ¡°Hah, I guess there¡¯s still a little worry left in you,¡± Tom chided, not getting a reply. ¡°Oh very well then. Actually, can you hold your head down low?¡±


    ¡°I-... yes, I can do that.¡± Tom scooted up the dragon''s neck, guided by the spines as Jarix held his head down to the ground, and with a little hop Tom dismounted landing on both feet. ¡°There we are. Much easier.¡±


    ¡°Lazy human.¡±


    ¡°Scaredy dragon.¡±


    ¡°I weigh 8 tons. Just because it''s perfectly fine for you doesn''t mean that I will be fine. That scale I lost on my chest is still a little sore, you know.¡±


    ¡°Lies, Zarko said it was fine at least 2 weeks ago,¡± Kiran joined in, refusing to leave his sanctuary.


    ¡°That doesn''t mean it isn''t still tender.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go first, don''t you worry¡­ but yeah you probably wanna go on your chest. Me though?¡± Tom sat down, back to the slope. ¡°I''ll take the relaxing way down.¡± And with that he tipped over backwards. And lay there. ¡°I think I misjudged the angle a bit.


    ¡°Do you want a hand?¡± Jarix offered, looking at Tom with a curious head tilt.


    ¡°If you would, yeah.¡± Jarix gently reached out a paw and poked Tom a few times until finally he slid over the edge. ¡°Thaaank youuuuu,¡± Tom called out as he slid down the slope, picking up considerable speed. It was quite bumpy at times, but the snow was thick enough that most of the bumps were smoothed out.


    Kiran stuck his head out to see what the hell was going on as they hurtled along. ¡°Weeeeeee!¡±


    It was over far too soon, just like it always was, and the two of them slowed down, eventually coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill.


    ¡°Behold sledding!¡±


    ¡°Again! We should go again!¡± Kiran ordered, much to Tom''s delight as he slowly got back up again, looking back up the looming hill, the dragon perched atop.


    ¡®This is what a peasant feels like before he becomes a statistic,¡¯ Tom mused to himself as he waved. ¡°Go on you big girl, it''s fine.¡±


    ¡°Don''t let Jacky hear that!¡±


    ¡°You don''t tell Jacky I don''t tell Zarko, deal?¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Jarix shouted back down. ¡°So uhh. Do I just lay down?¡±


    ¡°Try to keep your feet off the ground, they might dig in. OH USE YOUR WINGS TO STEER! OR YOUR TAIL!¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ Okay!¡± Jarix replied a little timidly as he finally went to lay down in the icy snow. It didn''t look overly comfortable, but Tom figured the icy air would have acclimated him at least somewhat by now.


    Tom and Kiran watched expectantly as the dragon took a moment to prepare himself and then pushed off out over the edge and down the embankment, quickly gaining speed, a rooster tail of snow kicking up behind him.


    ¡°There we go¡­ Uhm¡­ Okay we should move,¡± Tom concluded as the dragon barreled towards them.


    ¡°Run away!¡± Kirian shouted as Tom turned side on and tried to get out of the way. Since he had learned that running to the side is much smarter than directly away from the big scary thing, he and Kiran made it just fine. Jarix came skidding past on his chest, forelegs held up high.


    Tom turned to watch the dragon skid by and keep on going for quite a distance before he finally slowed to a stop.


    Tom ran on up next to him with a big grin on, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the trail the dragon had left. ¡®Damn shame we don''t have proper sleds¡­ actually that might not be a bad idea for Christmas. Hmm¡­¡¯


    ¡°Are you okay, Jarix!?¡± Kiran shouted out as they made their way up to the dragon, who was staggering back to his feet.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ I think so.¡± He looked down at himself and along his sides. ¡°No blood, didn¡¯t hurt that much¡­ I think I¡¯m good.¡±


    ¡°Soooo?¡± Tom asked expectantly.


    ¡°I will be honest. It felt more like crashing on purpose to me,¡± the dragon replied, seeming a little less than convinced.


    ¡°But you aren''t hurt,¡± Tom tried, leadingly.


    ¡°No¡­ no, I don''t think so.¡±


    ¡°Great success then. Wanna go again?¡±


    ¡°I uhm¡­ I suppose it was sorta fun. Maybe one more,¡± the dragon relented.


    ¡°Next time, try steering side to side; maybe we''ll make a jump later too. Come on now. Back up we go.¡±


    ¡°It''s like shitty flying with extra steps.¡±


    ¡°Oh don''t be such a downer. We''re going up.¡±


    ¡°I hate you, Tom.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 208: Cold Slumber

    All good things must come to an end. And while it had been fairly fun to do their best impressions at sledding, it was time to head for home. Jarix was no longer making it up the hill at quite so sprightly a pace, and even Tom could tell that the last couple meters of his tail were stiff as a board.


    The dragon set a far more relaxed pace this time around through the ankle deep snow. It was more of a canter than a gallop, but they were still covering distance quickly. Dashing through the snow, as one might say.


    Kiran was keeping warm well enough, but Tom did need to actually work a little from time to time to keep his own toes from freezing. In doing so he had committed the eternal sin of working up a sweat whilst it was freezing, but it wasn¡¯t like warmth was far away, so he was hardly gonna turn into an icicle for his mistake.


    ¡°So¡­ This is it then? Last walk before the mother of all naps?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so, yes. No running off while I am gone,¡± the dragon replied in a bittersweet tone.


    ¡°I would never. I have to be back here when Tiguan comes back,¡± Tom joked, taking the time to once more watch the smooth and undisturbed snowy landscape glide on by.


    ¡°Wooow, thank you. Some drake comes along and lets you walk on his face and suddenly he¡¯s the favorite, is that how it works?¡± Jarix fired back, playing along.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like your mother, always so jealous if she isn¡¯t the center of attention.¡±


    ¡°Rather if she doesn¡¯t get what she wants. She couldn¡¯t care less for attention, I think. Though she does not mind the parades.¡±


    ¡°Hah, I can believe that. Must be quite the sight, dragons in armor trotting down the streets and all that. Maybe one day we could have some wheels join in.¡±


    ¡°What, you wanna bring your little cart thingy? I¡¯ll try not to obstruct the view.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t hurt Polaris¡¯s feelings. She¡¯s sensitive,¡± Tom said sarcastically. He did wonder if it would start in spring though. ¡®Should probably bring the battery inside shouldn¡¯t I?¡¯


    ¡°If it¡¯s a she, then she sleeps more than me.¡±


    ¡°I know, an impressive feat. So where you gonna pick?¡± Tom questioned as they moved back inside the more built up area, Jarix slowing to a walk.


    ¡°Up by the base of the keep I think. It¡¯s hardly a great spot, but it will do. You better keep the wolves off or I¡¯ll be really pissed in spring.¡±


    ¡°Well if they can smell what happened to the last one who swung by, I don¡¯t think that should be a problem,¡± Tom joked as he looked around at all the snow-covered buildings as the dragon made his way to the base of the outcropping. His eyes eventually landed on the latest addition to Bizmati keep. ¡°Hey Jarix¡­ Why not sleep in the warehouse?¡±


    The dragon came to a stop and turned to look at the large box of a building, the gently sloped roof having gathered a nice pristine layer already.


    ¡°I uhm¡­ is there room?¡± the dragon questioned, his gaze turning to meet Tom¡¯s.


    ¡°Should be, if not we¡¯ll just move some things around. Is it like, what, cold enough?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t go lighting fires in there it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°And you won¡¯t be disturbed when we go to fetch something? I know we put most of the firewood in there.¡±


    ¡°You could walk on my tail and I probably wouldn¡¯t even notice. But maybe don¡¯t stack boxes on my back, I might shift from time to time.¡±


    ¡°I mean that sounds quite a bit smarter then; we can shut the door and everything.¡±


    ¡°What a luxury,¡± the dragon agreed as he turned towards the new destination and started walking.


    ¡°In there you won¡¯t get snow on you either,¡± Kiran added joyfully. ¡°It is all wet and cold.¡±


    ¡°That is true, it is not quite a cave but at least I¡¯m not sharing with Yldril.¡±


    ¡°Even if she fit, I doubt we¡¯d let her in here after Tiguan.¡±


    ¡°Good, I¡¯m sure she farts in her sleep,¡± the dragon replied with a chuckle, coming to a stop before the main doors and lowering down a little. ¡°Open the doors, would you? My claws are stiff already.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Tom replied, sliding on off down into the snow with a grace he could never manage back home. He was really getting rather used to the gravity around this place, and it was much more fun when he wasn¡¯t bringing those damn weights along.


    Kiran still shifted inside the jacket and scrambled around a little to get back his purchase, eventually sticking his head out as Tom worked the big metal latch before opening the barn doors wide.


    They all looked inside, and there was indeed quite a bit of room left over, even if a few boxes needed to be moved around to make room.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we think of this?¡± Tom questioned, honestly not sure how it hadn¡¯t crossed their minds.


    ¡°Too much work I suppose. You aren¡¯t the only one with a long day¡­ that and I have been sleeping a lot.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough I suppose¡­ Either way let¡¯s get to it. You are gonna have to help a bit.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I will try.¡±


    ¡°Why not get others to come help? They put it all down here, I saw it,¡± Kiran spoke up, though not seeming keen to help out himself.


    ¡°I suppose with some thick clothes on they could be down here for a bit. And there is Rachuck of course,¡± Tom agreed, rather liking the idea of not having to do it all by himself, even if he would have Jarix¡¯s help for the heavier things.


    ¡°Well they should be down in a bit, at least I hope so. Normally you go say your well wishes to any dragon turning in for the winter. You know, ''Thanks for the help all year, keeping us safe.'' That sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t see many going to say goodnight to Yldril,¡± Tom countered, though not decisively. He could well imagine why the black dragon would have had a lonely settling in. If he remembered right, only Maiko and Paulin had bothered to go down there. Well, aside from Fengi of course, and if Fengi was there Sapphire had probably been too. The silvered huntress did seem to be looking out for the younger one, which was good. Fengi needed all the help she could get, and Tom was about as well versed in girls talk as he was in deepwater crochet.


    ¡°Would you say thank you for anything to her?¡±


    ¡°I mean, she made a pretty good digger.¡±


    ¡°Good diggers don¡¯t moan all day long, now do they?¡±


    ¡°Careful now, I do seem to remember a fair bit of complaining over the last couple months.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different. I¡¯m not an arsehole.¡±


    ¡°Well you have certainly made great improvements. Remember when you were going on about how I was yours? Like you thought you could own my ass,¡± Tom carried on as he looked back up at the keep towering above them like a cliff face. ¡°Think you can shout at them to come down here and help?¡±


    ¡°What, and miss out on your complaining?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°You got him a gift, Saph?¡± Fengi questioned as the pair of them helped each other with the heavy winter coats. They didn¡¯t each have their own coats as it wasn¡¯t often you needed them. But there were definitely some nice ones and some not so nice ones. Saph and Fengi had of course secured a pair of rather lovely wolf fur lined ones made many years ago.


    ¡°No¡­ should I have?¡±


    ¡°I heard some of the guys say they were bringing him something or other. They said it was tradition.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do that back at Vulcha. Then again, we weren''t really known for being generous.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember you talking much about any dragons where you grew up?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like it matters a whole lot, not for a little girl at least. She was a bit of an ass. I think she knew people didn¡¯t like her much for all the food she ate. People tend to be like that when they go to bed still hungry.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so¡­ Thank the gods we got plenty of hunting ground out here.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, ain¡¯t much use having 50 fliers out searching for deer if there are only five deer. I heard the huntress talk about how they almost spent more time herding the flocks so they would stay on our turf than they did actually bringing any of them home.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ right you¡¯re good,¡± Fengi replied, giving Sapphire a slap on the shoulder. They were not going to be outside for very long, but it was still quite a bit more comfortable to have some proper clothes on. Bare feet in snow was just asking for something bad to happen as well.


    ¡°Thanks, Fengi. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    As they stepped out of the storeroom where they had snagged the nice coats, the others were slowly making their way down in various kinds of winter wear. Herron came trudging by, giving them a surprised glance. He was just wearing his armor with a pair of what looked like long neck scarves wrapped around his feet. A half-hearted job in his usual fashion.


    ¡°You planning on sleeping down there with him?¡± he questioned in good humor as he carried on walking, using the spear as a walking stick.


    ¡°No, sleeping on the job is your way, Herron,¡± Fengi retorted as she shook her head a little, she and Sapphire following the guard.


    ¡°This ain¡¯t no job, strictly voluntary, Rachuck said so himself.¡±


    ¡°Did, someone ask if they could avoid going?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I did¡­ just wanted to know.¡±


    ¡°What, you don¡¯t wanna say goodnight to Jarix?¡±


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯m going, ain¡¯t I? I just wanted to know. I can respect a guy who tries to do as little as possible. Shame Tom got him like, convinced he has to work and stuff now.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, you might be a little lazy at times, but you¡¯re not THAT scared of a bit of work.¡±


    ¡°Nah girl, I¡¯m just, like, more interested in enjoying things while they are happening you know.¡±


    ¡°Herron¡­ are you quite alright?¡± Sapphire questioned, tilting her head. ¡°You seem a little¡­ off.¡± Normally he wasn¡¯t quite this callous about the, at times, touchy subject of his work ethic.


    ¡°Oh yeah yeah. I¡¯m good¡­ I¡¯m very good.¡±


    ¡°You seem a little different. Have you been drinking?¡±


    ¡°Nah nah, girl. I¡¯m just relaxing, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Fengi took in a deep sniff, which was always a risky business inside the keep, especially the lower levels. Not everything down here smelled like flower fields after all. ¡°You smell¡­ funny, what is that?¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that¡­ unless you want some,¡± Herron replied, looking back at them with a grin on his face. He pulled out a simple wooden pipe and tapped it against the side of his helmet before a moment of realization hit his face. ¡°Oh actually, you know Unkai?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know Unkai,¡± Fengi replied, slowly, in at least some level of disbelief. Sapphire couldn¡¯t really blame her for that.


    ¡°If you could, like, make him believe this isn¡¯t such a bad thing. I think it could help him relax a lot, you know? He¡¯s been all snappy and¡­and¡­ tense, for the last while. It¡¯s gotten better, but it can¡¯t hurt right? Get him to chill out all the way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ consider it,¡± Fengi yielded, sounding rather unsure if she would follow through on the offer.


    ¡°You¡¯re the best, Fen. Oh and it might help you too you know. If ever you feel like not sleeping or like¡­ you¡¯re gonna kill everyone for being dumb or something. Free of charge¡­ just bring snacks.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ thanks Herron.¡± Sapphire got the distinct impression Fengi was in fact not overly thrilled by the offer. She would be lying if she wasn¡¯t considering if it might be a good idea herself. Though more likely, it would have been a good idea a month ago. Still might help with any bad memories in one''s sleep.


    They carried on down the stairs, a few more souls joining the procession more through convenience than any ritual or precedence. They were just going to say goodbye to a friend for a while.


    When the door to the outside was opened they all shied away from the cold for a moment as a gust carried the freezing air inside. But it was as always best to just get the uncomfortable part over with, and so out they went. Standing on the ledge of the rock looking out over the keep¡¯s holdings, they saw no dragon at first.


    ¡°He can¡¯t already be covered in snow, right?¡± Sapphire questioned as Fengi started making her way around the keep to see if he had settled in on the other side.


    ¡°Where are you going, Fen?¡± Herron questioned, the guard not having stopped unlike the rest of them. He was just heading on down the stairs right away.


    ¡°To see if he¡¯s on this side. It¡¯s easier to see from up here.¡±


    Herron stopped for a moment to consider the wisdom of the younger huntress. His face remained one of confusion. ¡°But¡­ he¡¯s in the warehouse?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ don¡¯t we need the warehouse for all sorts of stuff? We put all the wood in there?¡±


    ¡°Girl, I don¡¯t got a clue, but he went in the warehouse. I think Rachuck helped like¡­ make space and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Naturally, why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± Fengi relented, going to follow the guard, who just carried on down the path and stairs cut into the rock


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine. I get stuff wrong all the time as well,¡±  the guard carried on with a serenity of tone and expression that likely meant he was at least not making fun of her.


    There were already a fair few footprints in the snow heading down the stairs, and Sapphire tried her best to follow in said footprints. The few times she risked setting foot into some fresh virgin snow, the crunching sent shivers running up her spine bad enough she almost wanted to hop onto Fengi¡¯s back.


    Perhaps Herron would have been a wiser target; it didn¡¯t seem like he was in any sort of state to complain. Then again, he likely wasn¡¯t in a state to remain upright either, even with his improvised walking stick.


    When they made it to the warehouse doors they were shut, likely to keep the cold wind out, even if the place wasn¡¯t in any way heated. Herron waddled on up and knocked as Saph and Fengi, as well as Raulf and Wiperna, who had caught up on the way down, hauled on the doors. They gently slid open on their brand new hinges, revealing quite the mess before Herron ever got a reply from inside.


    ¡°What in the¡­ Tom!¡± Sapphire broke out, seeing how all the boxes they had so carefully sorted and stacked had been moved to one side in big piles.


    ¡°What?¡± the human questioned, looking up from his rather comfortable spot sitting on a small crate with a far larger one serving as a back rest.


    ¡°We spent so long putting everything where it was supposed to go.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He looked to the brand-new stacks which he and Rachuck had likely created. Though judging by the height, Jarix had assisted. ¡°Well now it¡¯s more efficient.¡±


    ¡°What are you gonna do if you wanna get that one up there? Call for Jarix? What if it falls down?¡±


    ¡°Why would it fall down?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so high it might fall up instead,¡± Herron chuckled, earning a fair few curious glances. Rachuck seemed a little more clued in on what was going on, and he didn¡¯t seem overly thrilled, though he did not say anything for now. Herron just started giggling at all of the attention. ¡°That was a good one.¡±


    ¡°Is he quite alright?¡± Jarix questioned, inspecting the guard a little more closely. The dragon had curled up rather tightly to fit in on the newly cleared floorspace, ready to hide his head under a wing when the time finally came.


    ¡°Jarix¡­ I¡¯m great. Not great like you or Tom, but like¡­ I¡¯m feeling great.¡±


    The dragon just stared as Sapphire sighed. ¡°Even the cold doesn¡¯t seem to bother him much.¡±


    ¡°Oh no like¡­ The scarves aren¡¯t really working, my feet are cold, oh and my tail.¡± Glancing down, the guard had indeed not covered his tail in anything at all. His wings were exposed as well, but at least he had tucked them in tight.


    Sapphire stepped up, still not thrilled, and grabbed his tail, which caused him to start slowly turning around to see what was going on, though without any kind of urgency.


    ¡°There,¡± Saph declared, sticking the top of his tail up under the brigandine to hopefully keep the tip warm. ¡°A little better.¡±


    ¡°Aww thanks, Saph¡­ now I can feel how cold it is.¡±


    ¡°Herron¡­ do you think I can have some of whatever you are having right now?¡± Jarix questioned, lowering his head down and having a sniff as well.


    ¡°I uhm¡­ sure, but like¡­ might need a bigger pipe you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Joelina, apparently she¡¯s a pothead too,¡± Tom joked, which earned him a fair few glances. ¡°Oh uhm¡­ forget I said that.¡±


    ¡°Unlikely,¡± Saph retorted as she tried to make sense of what pots had to do with any of this? Perhaps it was some sort of plant which grew in plant pots? And how the hell Tom might know, yet they had never seen the inquisitor act like strange or¡­ on second thought actually ¡°Tom, what do you mean with that?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean to say that Joelina was, what is the word, high as a kite when she was here? Is that why she was seeing things?¡±


    ¡°Did she drug you and that was why you started to speak to ghosts? Which we then had to be?¡± Fengi added, catching on to what Sapphire was getting at.


    ¡°What? No, no no. I was uhm. Well I don¡¯t know what I was, but I wasn¡¯t on drugs. Nor was she.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ just, it would certainly explain a lot,¡± Sapphire carried on, Fengi and soon most of the others nodding in agreement. Only Herron refrained, looking like he was thinking hard.


    ¡°No, she just used a little of¡­ well that,¡± Tom explained, gesturing at Herron. ¡°To help calm her nerves later.¡±


    Herron looked up at the human, face still one of utter confusion. ¡°Does that mean I have to talk to my dad too?¡±


    ¡°No Herron, you don¡¯t have to talk to any, I presume, dead people.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know man, ain¡¯t seen him in years. That would be a fucked up way to find out.¡±


    ¡°In that case I am sure he is alive and well.¡±


    ¡°Duuuude, he don¡¯t got no legs no more. He ain¡¯t well.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ right.¡± The human seemed to just throw in the towel on that discussion. Sapphire couldn¡¯t blame him.


    ¡°I do wonder if I could have a chat with my mum. Tell her I finally managed to make a beer worth drinking,¡± Raulf added, seeming quite unbothered by it all.


    ¡°She would never believe you,¡± Wiperna countered, earning her a glare from her husband.


    ¡°Hey we tried your family recipe too. It was even worse,¡± Raulf retorted.


    ¡°Only to those with no taste.¡±


    ¡°By the gods, you flavored it with thornbush. It was always gonna be as harsh as a lone mother of twelve.¡±


    Wiperna just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, clearly disinterested in replying to that. It was true, though. Sapphire remembered the horror of the spring celebrations where they discovered that the thorn ale was all they had left in stock. Most people went to bed sober that day.


    ¡°Anyway, should we close the door?¡± Fengi questioned, standing by the door expectantly.


    ¡°Nah leave it open, more are coming,¡± Tom replied, leaning back on his improvised seat.


    ¡°Well in that case.¡± Fengi made her way further inside, Sapphire following along. The wind wasn¡¯t blowing much, but even a little could easily be felt even wearing the thick pelt coats. ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to wish you well for the winter? Or something?¡± Fengi questioned, looking towards the dragon.


    ¡°Well yes, in the guard we normally go over all the things we have accomplished during the year. I know some like to pray together for a good year next year.¡±


    ¡°Pheew, we are gonna be here for a while then,¡± Fengi replied as she stretched the back of her neck, looking towards the door to see if the rest would hurry up already.


    ¡°I brought you a gift, that¡¯s what we always did,¡± Herron spoke up, much to everyone¡¯s surprise. The guard reached into a pouch on his belt and produced a small wooden figurine. ¡°It¡¯s Tula, can you tell?¡± He held it up and the dragon inspected it more closely.


    ¡°I¡­ suppose, thank you.¡±


    ¡°No worries man, don¡¯t got much to do sitting up in the tower. Keeps me from sleeping.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do we need to make another motor, is that what you are saying?¡± Tom jested, laughing at his own joke.


    Herron turned to stare at the human, possibly terrified, but it was hard to tell through the sedated expression he wore. ¡°Uhm¡­ No no you see I bought this actually.¡±


    ¡°Really? You paid money for that? I¡¯m gonna need to have a word with my dad, that¡¯s not okay,¡± Jarix replied in a mock serious voice.


    Herron turned back to the dragon once more, mind clearly not quite keeping up. ¡°Uuuhhhhhh¡­ Okay.¡±


    They all chuckled a bit as Jarix shook his head. ¡°Thank you, it is very nice. Would you put it on that box over there?¡± He gestured with his head towards a lone box off to his side a little. Seemed quite fitting to be used as a table. Or perhaps an altar now, Sapphire guessed.


    The guard complied just as more faces started entering, everyone greeting the dragon then each other. Nothing formal. It wasn¡¯t like it had been long since last they saw each other, only hours in most cases.


    None of the kids had come along, leaving Kiran the sole youngling present. Right now it seemed like all the playing had taken its toll and he was sleeping quietly. Either that or he was just nuzzled in far too comfortably.


    ¡°Oh my, it is starting to get a little crowded in here,¡± Jarix remarked as Essy and Dakota made their entrance, closing the door behind them at last. Notably there was no sight of the lord or lady, nor Paulin, but that was less surprising.


    ¡°Well yes, this was not quite the intention after all,¡± Dakota answered, though she did not seem cross in the least. ¡°I apologize, but I shall have to give you the best wishes of my mother and father. It is a bit cold for them to be going outside.¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine, wish them well in return.¡±


    ¡°I shall do so. I suppose you are far safer in here, but my mother insisted on this so we best get to it while we still have our tails.¡± Dakota pulled out a small satchel, stepping forwards as she reached inside pulling out some incense sticks and a little block to stand them in. ¡°Gather around, everyone. We shall pray for a swift winter as well as for Jarix¡¯s protection.¡±


    ¡®Ahr, I suppose that makes some sense.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t often they gave proper prayer to the gods, not outside of the various preordained occasions, like the last hunt or the summer solstice. One shouldn¡¯t pester the gods for too many favors, lest you be turned away when you truly need them.


    ¡°Oh, who are we praying to?¡± the dragon questioned, leaning back a little on his side to get more comfortable.


    ¡°Kalador. We have already sought the protection of Naulk, hopefully she shall smile upon us.¡±


    ¡°Ahr yes, I already have Tula covered,¡± the dragon replied, nodding to the small figure set atop the crate.


    Dakota did spare it a confused glance before getting back to the task at hand, kneeling before the dragon and setting out the incense and the little block. Saph raised an eyeridge, waiting to see how she intended on lighting them, and a smile crossed her face as one of Tom¡¯s lighters was produced from a pocket in her coat and with trivial ease the sticks were lit.


    ¡®Quite fitting I suppose, Tom¡¯s help even in this,¡¯ Sapphire mused to herself as Dakota placed her hands on her thighs, closing her eyes and lowering her head. Kullinger was the first to replicate the stance, kneeling down on both knees as well, the rest of the group calmly mimicking.


    Herron did have to get dragged down by Unkai, and it took Tom a moment to work out if he should join in. A quick reprimand to the side of his thigh from an already kneeling Jacky lifted his confusion, and he scurried down from his comfy box and knelt.


    ¡°Kalador, lord of light and healing. Father of our kind,¡± Dakota began, those who could remember joining in the prayer. It had been a while and Saph was rather rusty, but she could mumble along well enough.


    ¡°I have prayed to you many times this year, and I do apologize. But for the sake of our people both near and far I must beseech you. Let us make it through this winter unscathed, protected by your purity and your light. Heal any wounds we suffer in your service and protect us from the frost and the darkness of the long nights. We plead of you, protect young Jarix as he slumbers as we may soon too slumber, for his work is far from done. We shall labour in your service, to earn your divine protection. This we can promise¡­ Blessed be, our lord of light.¡±


    ¡°Blessed be our lord of light,¡± the room echoed as silence fell.


    Sapphire knew everyone was supposed to give their own prayers now, if they so saw fit. In silence of course. There was little need to share what you wished for, or what you feared most. Perhaps you prayed for children, food on the table, the safekeeping of your loved ones, or simply success in life. She didn¡¯t really know what she wanted to ask for, there were so many options. So much they would need help with.


    ¡®Lord of light, I will only ask for one thing¡­ Let us all still be breathing in a year. That¡¯ll do. We¡¯re not quite ready to come say hello yet.¡¯

 Chapter 209: Chill in the Frost

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    The heat of the roaring fire, air thick with steam and smoke. Tom felt comfortable for the first time in some quite a while. His limbs still remembered the bite of the wind and how stiff and slow they had all been. His tail had been worst of all. He had feared it may well fall off, but as he clutched it the feeling was returning.


    As he looked up from his warm comfy spot he did not understand what he beheld, yet he did. Perhaps it was Joelina who had no ability to comprehend what she was looking at. The myriad of pipes, chattering gauges, and levels as the artificer deftly worked the monster of steel and brass. What had not long ago seemed such a dead icy behemoth was spitting with heat and life as they thundered across the snow and ice.


    Who knew how fast they were moving as Joelina turned to gaze through one of the small portholes, looking to the world outside. Endless ice and snow as far as the eye could gaze. Was it a walk? A run? A dragon¡¯s bounding gallop? The only indication was the spray of snow and the roar of the machine as it thundered. Hissing steam and pounding pistons sang a frightful dance. Raw yet perfectly in sync, like a barbarian taught to sparrow dance.


    Yet there was no deft darting around. The machine only marched forward like a well drilled soldier or a boulder of fire and steel. For the crudeness of the machine it was surprisingly comfortable, it must be said.


    The inquisitor seemed to revel in the machine as much as Joelina struggled to understand what it was, what she was truly looking at. It did not stop the inquisitor from sharing in his excitement.


    ¡°Marvelous isn¡¯t it? A shame such things are lost relics to us. But the ice preserves. And keeps nosey little goblins at bay. Did you know at one time this would have been as normal a thing as buying a deerskin for winter? Back then I doubt they would bother with such barbarity. No, nice woven sheets wrought by mechanical hands in whatever pattern your heart may desire. Brought to your door by a servant machine. A better time.¡±


    ¡°Are you quite sure, Sir?¡± Joelina questioned, sounding almost timid. The cold must have exacted quite from toll on the woman, and she was not yet recovered. Tom could feel her uncertainty, and her skepticism with everything she was beholding. She did not trust the machine, nor Harvik. She was most certainly on her toes, as much as her foggy mind would allow.


    ¡°You shall see, soon enough, you shall see. What of you two? Are you liking what you are seeing?¡± The inquisitor carried on questioning, turning to the other two new cadets. ¡°She may have proven my favorite thus far, but rest assured, I shall have use of you two yet as well.¡±


    Estafan and Tritari gave Joelina an uneasy side glance at the insinuation that they had not yet risen to meet the inquisitor¡¯s standards. It was evident that he expected great things, or to simply be proven right that they were a poor excuse for recruits. It had not seemed like a competition betwixt the three of them, save perhaps in who would survive ¡¯till the end.


    ¡°It is befitting of the sanctums under the city, Sir Inquisitor.¡±


    ¡°That it is. Estafan, have you seen the sanctums many times? Some of the secrets deep within perhaps?¡±


    ¡°I have seen them once, Sir, during our training.¡±


    ¡°Once, pah,¡± Harivk scoffed, turning his attention away from the young cadet who ducked his head, fearful he had made a mistake of some kind. ¡°They truly are cutting the meat from the bone. This, this is the very reason for us to exist. The first reason for there being an inquisition. The wonders of the old world. To preserve them, hoard them like greedy dragons in a children¡¯s tale.


    ¡°But Sir, is that not the job of the archivists?¡± Tritari spoke up, evidently having more of a spine than the young man, or perhaps simply less common sense.


    ¡°Within the great vaults and archives, yes. But how was it all to get there, hmmm? That was our job. To find all this lovely technology and return it for safekeeping as the world fell around us.¡±


    Joelina stared at the man blankly, feeling little stir from his exuberant speech. Her mind cast back to their lessons. This was not quite how she remembered the stories of old. Much was locked away for the future, yes, but far, far more was sealed for good reason. Technology deemed heretical, the building blocks of their realm condemned to destruction, only records of their horror kept as warnings for those who would come after. So who was right? The teachers at the crucible or the venerable inquisitor? They were here to learn, to absorb. To become true inquisitors.


    She did not intend to disappoint.


    ¡°Does this have anything to do with where we are going, Inquisitor?¡± Estafan spoke up again, seemingly more frightened of being left out of the conversation than making a fool of himself.


    ¡°Indeed, we are going to see one of the last great wonders of the world. Maybe the last which has not been brought home to the claws of the archivists to lock away. For it cannot be moved and it lies much beyond their timid reach.¡±


    ¡°Another machine then?¡± Joelina half asked, half stated.


    ¡°Oh you have no idea.¡±


    She did not smile or frown, or show much of anything, she simply stared blankly at the inquisitor as he returned the gesture, bright piercing eyes burrowing into her as he scoffed.


    ¡°Looking forward to it.¡±


    Tom could feel it was not quite so. Inside she felt as dead as she looked. Why was that? He could feel her mind racing as she turned her gaze to the window once more. Little if anything had changed, the serene snow still gliding past, like it had from Jarix¡¯s back but a few days ago. A couple humans and a sled team and they would make this little trek without even breaking a sweat, he thought. But for dragonettes, what lay beyond might as well be space.


    He chuckled to himself before he settled in to watch the view along with Joelina. It had been some time since last he had one of these dreams, and perhaps he would finally find answers. He could not claim he enjoyed them, but¡­ They were by no means as scary as they had once been.


    As time slipped past he felt her head grow heavy and start to nod, or perhaps he was falling asleep in the dream. Could he do that? It was hard to tell really, the steady thumping of the engines, the click and whirr of the controls and injection pumps. The occasional ratcheting of the steering mechanism adjusting the skids. Calming sounds to any engineer, and soon enough he blinked. Or maybe it was her.


    With a jolt she shifted. She had been sleeping; she was not supposed to sleep. Within a moment she was bright awake once more, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. The mood had changed within the ancient snow treader. It was quiet, darker. The only light was the red glow from the firebox and the iridescent blue of the dials dancing in the night. She had slept for hours it would seem. Her back was stiff and crooked


    As she glanced around the others seemed to have followed her example quickly enough, though still she cursed herself. Sleeping at her post, how stupid could you be? The artificer still sat at the controls, peering out through the tiny window that looked ahead down the side of the boiler.


    She got up, walking to the opposite window and staring forwards into the nothingness. Bright white lights shined ahead, though they showed nothing but falling show and a few score feet of white nothingness extending into the distance.


    ¡°You should keep sleeping. You will need the strength.¡± The calm and collected voice of Glazz came from behind her. Joelina did not need to turn to know the imposing woman was watching from further back in the cabin, shrouded in darkness.


    ¡°But I should not need the sleep.¡±


    ¡°The cold is draining. Sleep while you can. Trust me. I know well enough.¡±


    Joelina turned to look into the darkness, seeing nothing but inky black and faint outlines of fiery glow. ¡°And why is it we will need all this strength, all this labour, holy machines roused, favors called. What is so important up here? We are heading into the den of the beast, are we not?¡±


    ¡°You must know what they will not teach you. This is the only way.¡±


    ¡°Why not simply teach us then? Why go to the trouble? We are here as cadets.¡±


    ¡°What we have to teach goes beyond additions to what you know. War is coming, Cadet. We won¡¯t win with lies.¡±


    ¡°A mighty heretical thing to say in the company of inquisitors.¡±


    ¡°Thus we ride north. The truth does not care for dogma. Sleep, you will know soon enough. That something must be done and it must be soon.¡±


    ¡°I do not have a choice in seeing, do I?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, but do not pretend you do not want to know,¡± Glazz replied in good humor.


    Joelina found that despicable about the older woman; she could not stand joking and jesting on such serious matters. They were accusing the very teachings of the inquisition of being false. Though in what regard she did not know. Such blasphemy they had been taught to stamp out like an errant flame in a hay barn¡­ But she could not help but wonder just what did they have to show them? And why bother with a mere three cadets?


    ¡°Sleep now, you goat headed fool. You will not get the time in the morning.¡±


    Joelina did not furnish her with a proper answer, simply turning to her spot and setting about arranging something marginally more comfortable. Though it was little more than a sack to lean on as she once more sought to drift off to sleep, mind racing. What was it they were going to see? And why would they not simply tell them?


    Tom had to agree he was asking the same questions, and in a moment of contemplation the memory flashed once more with a jolt. They were slowing down. It was the brakes, or perhaps just steam being cut to the engines. Joelina looked up to see what was going on. Light had returned. They had driven through the night.


    The wind was howling around the cabin outside. Peering through the porthole, she saw nothing but white as the artificer worked the steering box, turning them left and giving Joelina a view of whence they came. Long straight tracks, three of them. Two narrow outer like rails cut into the snow, and the wide long upchurned center path.


    As they made it to a full left angle turn, the machine shuddered and they came to a final stop in but a moment, much to the delight of Harvik who gave the artificer a hearty slap on the back. ¡°Well done, thank you. We have arrived. Keep her warm. We will not be long.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Sir, I shall await your return.¡± The poor man at the controls looked to Joelina to be a spent force. Perhaps an assistant would help him in his duties while he got some much needed rest.


    ¡°Are we going back out into the cold?¡± Joelina questioned, making no efforts to hide her displeasure or discomfort as she finally moved from her uncomfortable spot, stretching her limbs and cracking her neck as she did.


    ¡°Yes, refill your hot water bottles there. Leave your equipment, we must be swift if we do not want to freeze to the floors. Do not fret, it shall be worth the trip.¡±


    They did as they were told, the long since cooled liquid dumped into a small grated receptacle. The machine did not waste it would seem. With a hiss a steady stream of scalding hot water poured from the little spout, filling each skin and bottle with speed and ease.


    ¡®Ooh gotta remember that part, definitely useful,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as the little group prepared. Much of their party had been left in the hangar along with the dragon Chaika. They were using an oven there to keep warm while they waited for Harvik¡¯s return. Joelina hoped it would be a quick return, and Tom could not blame her. He didn¡¯t know how far north they were, but he doubted it had gotten warmer.


    The lever was pulled and the clank of the door locks releasing could be felt through the floor. Soon the doorway parted in two and they slid out and to the side, opening the cabin to the biting wind.


    Harvik did not flinch in the face of the chill. He seemed to revel in it, just like his dragon, standing in the doorway and reveling in his self importance or whatever else was driving this expedition. ¡°Very well, let us be off. Follow me and be swift about it. Or you shall freeze to the floors.¡±


    Joelina stepped up to the doorway and was blasted with a freezing wind so terrible that it tore an involuntary gasp from her. He and she closed their eyes and the blackness overtook the memory. Only the howling wind remained. Then his eyes shot open once more to a new visage. The snow covered landscape around Bizmati keep, covered in snow, and the biting wind blowing against his mostly bare body.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°This is for that snow shit!¡± Jacky called out and he felt himself go weightless. And he screamed as he tumbled out the window for a fraction of a second before the line went taut and he swung back against the wall, having fallen no more than a few feet.


    Still it had been a rather harrowing wakeup call as he dangled there looking around, trying to regain his bearings. He was hogtied, hanging from the bedroom window wearing nothing but underpants in the biting cold. For a moment he had honestly thought Jacky was about to kill him. Some cruel nightmare. But as he heard her cackling from above, he slowly started to comprehend what was going on.


    ¡°THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!¡± he objected vehemently as he dangled with the wind, scraping against the stone wall.


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think it was very funny yesterday!¡± Jacky shouted in reply, evidently finding it very funny indeed.


    Then a further chorus of laughter joined in as Tom looked to the neighboring window, finding Sapphire and Fengi both sticking their heads out to watch, laughing at his misfortune. Behind him more laughter, Bo and Pho by the sounds of it.


    ¡°Did you all get up to watch this?!¡± Tom questioned, annoyedly. ¡°It¡¯s bum fuck o¡¯clock.¡±


    ¡°Sure did!¡± Sapphire replied as the laughing slowly started to die down. ¡°Well worth it I¡¯d say.¡±


    ¡°This means war.¡±


    ¡°Just remember you are outnumbered,¡± Fengi added with a grin as she went back inside, Sapphire lingering a moment longer before retreating with a final snicker.


    ¡®Hoooo, I¡¯m gonna get you all for this.¡¯


    ¡°You comfy down there?¡± Jacky questioned from above, still chuckling to herself and evidently very proud of her actions.


    ¡°No,¡± Tom replied flatly, not wishing to beg but damn if it wasn¡¯t uncomfortable out here.


    ¡°Awwww, you wanna come back inside?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°There is a good human, now if only you weren¡¯t so heavy.¡±


    ¡°Says you,¡± Tom replied as he felt himself getting pulled back up ever so slowly.


    ¡°I¡¯m big and strong, you are small and round.¡±


    ¡°I am hardly round, at least not really anymore.¡±


    ¡°Must be those stupid weights then, pheew, I¡¯m not sure I can haul you up,¡± Jacky said as the progress towards the window stopped.


    ¡°I am not wearing them, I was sleeping,¡± Tom protested.


    ¡°Must be residual weight or something then. Gosh you are heavy.¡±


    ¡°Jacky, don¡¯t you dare.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I need a little break.¡± And with that he was lowered back down. ¡°I¡¯ll try again in a bit.¡±


    ¡®Oh I am so gonna ruin your morning tomorrow.¡¯


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    The joys of winter, stuck inside all day, not much proper light to be had unless you were going outside and fuck that. The snow just kept falling, covering everything in feet¡¯s worth by now. At least there was no need for them to shovel the path leading down to the warehouse wood barn for the firewood as Tom had attacked the task with gusto. Saph wasn¡¯t quite sure why, but he seemed to find the whole thing very enjoyable.


    In her opinion shoveling snow in howling winds and freezing temperatures sat somewhere between laying in the infirmary with a stomach infection and cave exploration. Naturally they should all have suspected that the human was in fact up to something and not doing it out of the goodness of his heart. One evening a day or so later when Jacky had been sent for firewood she had barely made it outside the door before they all heard a shriek followed by Tom laughing.


    Apparently he had constructed a snowdrift atop the protrusion which formed the double doors leading inside held up by some wooden boards and planks, complete with a string to pull to bring it all crashing down on whatever unfortunate soul attempted to leave the keep.


    He had done Jacky the service of excavating her afterwards, but she had been chilled to the bone by then and spent the rest of the evening in front of the cooking fires trying to warm back up again. Most people might have decided to call a truce after a near death experience like that, but Jacky wasn¡¯t most people. Thus rather than calling it quits, Tom had soon found himself running half-naked around the keep one morning searching for various belongings.


    When Shiva had forced him to actually do something productive a few hours later, a few of his usual items had still been missing. Namely his boots, replaced with some smaller less clunky footwear which Sapphire hadn¡¯t seen him use much.


    According to Unkai, Tom still hadn¡¯t found everything even three days later. In retaliation Jacky had shown up at the breakfast table with various black scribbles on her face looking less than pleased. And thus the prank war had begun in earnest. There had been a few cases of collateral damage, and a few who ended up in on it.


    Unkai walking through a shower of flour, Fengi having her chamber pot borrowed, Balethon getting locked in his room for half a day. He did deserve that though after nicking some of Tom¡¯s tools, including a couple wrenches which the human had ended up needing. The poetic part was said wrench being used to jam the door of course.


    But you only have the fun you make, and a prank war wasn¡¯t the worst way to spend the winter. Sapphire had tried not to get involved, as she was sure it would go downhill quickly. She had helped Jacky out a few times in setting some things up or finding stuff she needed, but nothing to tie her to the scene of the crime. Nunuk did end up having to get involved once or twice when things got out of hand. Mostly in regards to snow related escapades.


    Sapphire was certainly glad she¡¯d never come back to an ice cold bedroom after a long day¡¯s work and no hotrock waiting her for. So there she sat in the library, rubbing her horns as she tried her damndest to parse out page after page. She would make sure she was valuable in the future, Sapphire silver streak rayland was not gonna become an ankle weight. Tom had brought so much and she would be damned if they let some inquisitorial nerd be the one to translate it all. No offence intended towards Edita.


    She had never foreseen herself doing this sort of work, since she had always been the outdoorsy type. Flying, shooting, even when she was little she had always been playing games where she could prove she was faster or just plain better than everyone else. She hadn¡¯t even learned how to read properly until coming to Bizmati keep. She had known what signs and the like said, how to sign her name and that sorta thing. But reading a book? That was something Apuma had managed to rub off on here. Even if it hadn¡¯t been a choice in the beginning.


    And here she was, playing the scribe. She had already served as translator for Paulin and Victoria a few times. But it was damn hard, and she had not made a ton of sense for much of it. But what could you do? Half of all this didn¡¯t make sense even if it was correctly translated.


    It would have been so much easier to help Essy and Ray with the uniforms, but she was the only one who could do this, plenty others could sew. So she soldiered on. She was keeping a list of things she couldn¡¯t understand. Just copying the letters down wasn¡¯t that much of a challenge, even if it had her thinking about Linkosta¡¯s time in the capital. That woman used to write down everything, still did if given the chance. But now she was spending her days playing with magical runes, spells, and enchantments together with her father. Though Apuma had also been taking an interest in Sapphire''s work.


    The old man would always be there for his daughter first, though. It was only right. For backup Sapphire had Fengi and Maiko, when they could be bothered. Neither were bookworms by any stretch. But they could at least read. Maiko was even halfway decent at it, writing too. Likely a result of the nice schools his parents had put him through while they were away on the job.


    Of course there was a bit of selfishness involved as well. Things were looking great for them at the keep, but she wouldn¡¯t just be rich because she was a huntress at the keep. She wanted to climb the ladder and make sure she was at the top. Especially as new people inevitably would start flooding in.


    And if she was the best at reading Tom¡¯s stuff, there was no way she wouldn¡¯t end up with some fancy well paid job. And it would help them keep the stuff to themselves at the keep. Maybe she could translate works which they then sold to places that need them. She was currently trying her best with one of his books on farming, surely that would be a best seller if they could get a translated version printed.


    ¡°S-E-E-D¡­¡± She sounded out the letters, consulting her notebook to see if she had it down already. It took some paging before finding what she needed. ¡°Ahr seed as in grass seed, but what is C-O-A-T-I-N-G? He¡¯s said that before, but what was it?... something about painting? Oh it was about the white enamel on our armor¡­ what has that got to do with seeds?¡± She held up the book to look closer at the word as if that would somehow magically make her understand.


    Then the doors opened, revealing Dakota with Lothal on her tail. ¡°Ahr Sapphire, have you seen my mother?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, no?¡± Sapphire replied honestly. ¡°Not seen her all day.¡±


    Dakota sighed to herself. ¡°Oh well, do you know if Jacky has hauled Tom back inside?¡±


    ¡°I think so, pretty cold out there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we cannot have him get sick.¡±


    ¡°Can humans even get sick from cold?¡±


    ¡°I would rather not find out. Oh and Sapphire, Raulf believes it is going to get colder, much colder. Storm is coming, perhaps one bad enough we shall have to turn in until it passes.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s a bummer. And here I was being productive and everything. How long we got?¡±


    ¡°A couple days at least, we shall have to see. He has been wrong before with his predictions, least of all when this far away. And I see that, yes, keep up the good work. I shall have to see where Nunuk wandered off to. Perhaps she has found Paulin, would explain why she is not in here looking over your shoulder.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s why, please let them be. I do not need the archivist asking what it all means. I barely know. Do you know what a Coating is?¡±


    ¡°Not in the slightest. I shall see about keeping her busy. Take care now. We shall need translators desperately in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan, good old Sapphire the book worm.¡±


    ¡°Surely it beats knitting.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Oh my. Is it really that bad?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s farming, but it¡¯s talking about painting the seeds I think.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not about soaking them first? I know Raulf sometimes does that with water before planting.¡±


    Sapphire just looked up at the gilded huntress, glaring at her a little bit.


    ¡°Right of course¡­ I shall see if I can find Raulf, perhaps he can help enlighten you.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________


    Well it was official. A storm was coming, and it was going to be a nasty one. For now work continued on the various parts that would be needed for the boiler and steam engine as well as piping for the whole keep, but there was no way they would finish up before the storm hit. Maybe he could use the time laying pipe around the keep, or assembling what he could on the steam engine. The boiler was mostly on Shiva and Edita thanks to all the delicate joinery that had to be done. But screwing together old fashioned mechanicals, that was right up Tom¡¯s street.


    He did have most of what would be needed for the adorable little engine. Single cylinder double acting, much of its construction was brass with a little bit of steel and cast iron thrown in for wear surfaces and bearing cradles. In his mind it was going to be a rather pretty little thing, maybe 5 horsepower or thereabouts, plenty to drive everything inside the workshop and the smithy if needed. The old electric motor they had been using was little more than a horsepower if he had to guess.


    But naturally he did have another major project to consider if the keep would be joining the dragons in their slumber. His plans for a Christmas celebration. Or maybe just call it a winter fest.


    ¡®What was it the old vikings called it? Was it just the winter solstice? Oh wait no you fucking idiot it was Jul, wasn¡¯t it? The name just stuck¡­ But that was more of a week spent drinking and whoring, so maybe Christmas would be a better choice. Certainly more child friendly. Oh well, that¡¯s a question for later,¡¯ Tom thought to himself as he worked the mill, planing off the cylinder head for the little motor.


    Unlike with an internal combustion engine, there wasn¡¯t much going on up top. Pretty much all it was aside from a top cover and a gasket surface was the little drain cock so the cylinder could be emptied of water after sitting still.


    ¡®One day we¡¯re gonna have to make combustion engines too¡­ Even if they are gonna have to run on Ethanol. That is going to be such a pain with carburetors, really not looking forward to that¡­ Maybe something could be done with flash powder¡­ or maybe diesels would be smarter, just run them on vegetable oil or something.¡¯


    ¡°It is going to be lonely when everyone goes to sleep, isn¡¯t it?¡± Edita then questioned, out of the blue. They had been working in silence, and Tom had honestly become lost in his own thoughts as he slowly cranked the mill over the soon to be dead flat surface.


    ¡°Probably. I will have Rachuck, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m gonna see him that much down here.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, sorry¡­ But at least you will have your work, that always kept me company.¡±


    ¡°That I will, there will be no time to get bored,¡± Tom replied with a sagely nod as he dropped down the cylinder head, the pass now complete. ¡®Gotta make Christmas decorations, too¡­ and I have to get a tree somehow.¡¯


    ¡°Yes, there is always more to do. That was also true back in the big city¡­ Uhm¡­ Tom, do you know how it is to hibernate?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± he questioned, looking to her, confused. ¡°Not the faintest clue, we don¡¯t do it, remember? Actually I don¡¯t even think we can.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, that makes sense¡­ It¡¯s just. I¡¯ve never tried it before.¡±


    Tom glanced around the forge, grimacing, as no other dragonettes were found, Shiva having gone for more charcoal. ¡°I would just ask someone else, maybe Essy? Or Shiva? I¡¯m sure they have tried it many times¡­ Why haven¡¯t you ever done it?¡±


    ¡°Oh it was always plenty warm all year inside the sanctums, it doesn¡¯t even really get any colder at all for winter.¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ Yeah I guess that tracks being inside a mountain and all that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is always the same temperature deep within. It can get cold though, if you go far enough down.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ yeah¡­ floating islands, I suppose you end up getting close to the bottom and then it gets colder again. So it stays pretty much the same all year round?¡±


    ¡°Varying only by fractions of degrees.¡±


    ¡°Does that do anything for how high the islands are?¡±


    ¡°I heard people discuss it before. Some seem to think so, others say it is the weight of all the snow. What we do know is that the islands do indeed sit lower in winter. But there are many opinions on why.¡±


    ¡°Right, I see¡­ And what do you think?¡± She did look a little coy, not wishing to answer, so Tom egged her on a little with a hand. ¡°Go one, it¡¯s not like I know.¡±


    ¡°I believe the additional mass added by even several inches of show is irrelevant compared to the combined mass of all but the tiniest of floating islands.¡±


    ¡°So the cold makes them sink closer to the ocean?¡±


    ¡°No, the variation is too tiny. But they do sink. It is part of why the weather gets so much worse for winter.¡±


    ¡°Because we are closer to the water?¡±


    ¡°Yes, many storms do not reach our islands, but in winter, it can become very bad.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ I guess that makes some sense. We fly over the tops of even small hurricanes up here I bet. Or at least the worst of it.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Edita confirmed, nodding twice. ¡°The believers think that the increase in temperature from the lower altitude stops our descent. I remain unconvinced.¡±


    ¡°And the cold of higher up helps limit how high we go¡­ though the little test we did liked to hover even as it was. It didn¡¯t just keep on going up.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, according to the ancient texts the essence of flight becomes less potent as altitude increases, as there is further down to the heart of the world against which it pushes.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Right.¡± It was Tom¡¯s turn to nod in agreement as he tried to parse what she said. ¡®I guess it means the oil pushes against gravity¡­ like a boat hull against water, to make lift. I suppose that makes sense¡­ somewhat.¡¯


    ¡°Yes, it is part of the reason certain grand vessels could not go quite so high as those who were smaller and lighter, allowing nimble vessels to escape, or run blockades. Some were even said to be able to go higher than dragons.¡±


    ¡°Better bring a thick coat for going that high, am I right?¡± Tom joked as he took a moment to think for himself.


    ¡°Oh yes, but I would much rather stay down in the machinery spaces where it is nice and warm. And you can hear the engines slowly turning over¡­ It is going to be so much nicer once we get your grand engine constructed. I shall sleep next to it every night.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about grand, more like energetic midget I think, but I suppose we can wrap it up in a blanket or two so you can hug it to sleep without burning yourself,¡± Tom joked, feeling it was at least a little funny. Edita didn¡¯t laugh though.


    ¡°No no, that would risk fouling the mechanisms with thread and cloth. I shall sleep next to it, the radiant heat and steady thump shall be all I require for a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Yeah again, I don¡¯t know about steady thump, but I guess we can work on a slow idle if it¡¯s just pumping water around the keep. Might need a bigger uhm... flywheel, though.¡±


    ¡°It has a wheel that flies?¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________________

 Chapter 209: And Then There Were Two

    ¡°As you have all probably heard by now, there is a storm coming. As you can most likely hear, it has already started. Raulf is convinced it is going to be a bad one, a long one. You know how it goes in winter proper.¡± Nunuk said, addressing them all in the hall just as dinner was finishing up. Everyone had heard by now, but what had remained a mystery was if they would decide to ride it out or turn in. It seemed the decision had been made.


    ¡°Gonna get proper cold then? Like two years ago?¡±


    ¡°According to Raulf, more like the really nasty one nearly a decade ago,¡± Nunuk affirmed with a solemn nod. That meant it would be cold enough they might not have a choice at all even if they could keep getting at the fuel, which normally would have been doubtful, but Tom might change that fact. Honestly it made Sapphire wonder if even the human would be fine. They knew there were limits to what cold he could handle, even if they were extreme.


    ¡®Eh surely he will be fine huddling around a fire.¡¯


    ¡°But we got so much to do, months worth of work,¡± Tink protested, quite loudly so all could hear.


    ¡°And a few weeks asleep will not topple your house of cards. Even if we had rather hoped it would not come so soon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not even been two months since the last hunt, shouldn¡¯t be this cold already, should it?¡± Bo questioned, voice still raised but tone more respectful. Sapphire knew she was from further south before she had moved to the capital, so this might be the hardest winter she had ever had before.


    ¡°It is uncommon, but far from unheard of. The winter storms do as they please.¡± Nunuk replied kindly, it was not Bo¡¯s fault she did not know after all.


    ¡°I still think it is because the island is hanging much lower,¡± Edita spoke up, earning a few odd looks. ¡°... Sorry it is just. Me and Tom¡­ They just do.¡±


    ¡°It may very well be so, Edita. We can hardly tell at the moment. Now see to what duties you have and secure your works for the slumber. I don¡¯t want to wake up to fouled silks and a mess like no other. In the evening tomorrow the tea shall be brewed. We have two guardians this year, so do not fret, we shall see the light of day again soon.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, yeah I¡¯m sick of only seeing the sun peek through the slits,¡± Jacky joked with a cocky grin.


    ¡°Well it will be some time before we get to see any sun again, but I suppose it is indeed true that the day will come sooner while sleeping.¡±


    ¡°See, she gets it.¡±


    The table gave Jacky a bit of a stink eye which she bore quite well all things considered. Nunuk paused for a moment. ¡®Someone is winning the prank war, I guess.¡¯


    ¡°Yes¡­ Very well, you all know what to do, it is not your first winter. That is all,¡± Nunuk finished up, sitting back down in her chair and throwing a sideways glance to Dakota, sitting at her side.


    Who knew? Maybe next year it would be Dakota making such announcements.


    They all got ready to leave the tables and set about whatever they had planned. Sapphire didn¡¯t have any chores tonight, though perhaps she would help Essy and Ray pack away their sewing work to safeguard it. It wouldn¡¯t do to just leave it laying around for days or weeks.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Bo said in a gentle tone that had the huntresses looking to see if anything was wrong. ¡°How exactly does one prepare for winter?¡±


    ¡°Ho, someone is used to living the highlife, aren¡¯t they?¡± Jacky chuckled, clearly still in a good mood.


    ¡°Not really, no, but perhaps better than some. Not like we got snow where I grew up, and I didn¡¯t try it in the capital, there was plenty to do. But what, do you just drink a cup of magic tea and see you all in a week or two?¡±


    ¡°Not too far off the mark if we are being honest,¡± Sapphire admitted as some people started to sit back down. Pho too seemed to be paying attention which had Sapphire even more confused, but it wasn¡¯t as if poor folk all slept through the winter, or even the commoners. There was work to do, even when it was freezing after all. Especially in a big city. ¡°Do you know what the tea is?¡±


    ¡°Tree bark,¡± Pho added quickly, eager to earn an easy point on her gathering skills.


    ¡°Heaven oak bark, the big trees you see over most of the kingdom, if it¡¯s not too hot or cold,¡± Sapphire carried on, Bo just nodding and waiting for the point.


    ¡°They were a gift to our people, from Kalador. Well, really he shared the gift the dragons got from their ancient ancestor the silver dragons. You know, the one you might have heard a bedtime story about.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, heard of them. Don¡¯t believe it much, though. Isn¡¯t there a different tale on how it all happened in each keep?¡±


    ¡°Well luckily we are a rather learned keep thanks to Apuma¡­ that and we have a big book with ¡®Property of the Inquisition¡¯ written on the front page, so I think we¡¯re right,¡± Sapphire said with a chuckle, Bo looking like she agreed with that logic. ¡°But yes, the gift of hibernation. To be untouched by the cold, aside from falling into a deep slumber of course. Dragons can do it from birth. We cannot. Something about us living further south and hiding underground and things, when it got too cold.


    ¡°Anywho, to help us spread far and wide across the world, Kalador imbued an old oak with the soul of one of the very last silver dragons. Some say it was the last one. And from the acorns came the heaven oaks. Didn¡¯t they teach you that back in school?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t get much schooling and that¡¯s definitely not the story I heard,¡± Bo retorted with a shrug. It didn¡¯t look like she planned on challenging any of it though. Perhaps their own loremaster had not been much good. Sapphire could certainly remember the odd tale or two from back home. She¡¯d made a damn fool of herself in the capital once when she claimed that Unicorns only lived where there were heaven oak. But how was she supposed to know they were suckers for just about any sort of tree?


    ¡°Well then in that case. After the creation of the heaven oak the dragons and dragonettes carried them far and wide, as far as they could take them. Along with all sorts of other things, deer, boar, even wolves. To bring more life to the world. Back then only a few islands had real life on them. Actually if ever we find a new barren island, we are supposed to put trees and grass and stuff on it I think. I haven¡¯t ever heard of that happening though.¡±


    ¡°I have,¡± Bo went with a shrug. ¡°Big talk at the tavern. Tiny little thing, not even a kilometer across. Don¡¯t think you are gonna get many trees on that.¡±


    ¡°Huh, how about that?¡± Saph replied, genuinely surprised. She couldn¡¯t remember hearing anyone claim they¡¯d even seen a new island¡­ then again maybe it was a chunk that fell off, that seemed more likely.


    ¡°Sapphire, if you had paid a little more attention, you¡¯d know there¡¯s been loads of islands popping up,¡± Fengi then added with a little bit of condescension to her tone.


    ¡°In Apuma¡¯s storybooks, Fengi. Gotta take those things with enough salt to pickle a Tirox,¡± Sapphire countered. Those hardly counted as evidence.


    ¡°The flying castle turned out to be mostly right, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Very well, there are loads of new islands,¡± Sapphire yielded with a sigh.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± Fengi protested.


    ¡°So what about the tea?¡± Bo interrupted, clearly wishing to get back to the point.


    ¡°Right, yes, tea. In order to borrow the gift we debark the trees, it has to be nice fresh bark, preferably without too much crud in it. Remember when we went foraging for it before winter?


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt the trees, clean cut, don¡¯t rip it off, be gentle,¡± Bo recited from memory, clearly casting her mind back to that rather tedious day.


    ¡°Yes, exactly. We tend to harvest every year because it is hardly a problem for us, but in the capital you might get dried bark or even powder. No matter what you got, you just soak it in boiling water for a few hours and drink the result¡­ that¡¯s about it really.¡±


    ¡°Gotta suck if it¡¯s too cold to boil water. Wait no duh, just make it ahead of time¡­ wait, why didn¡¯t we do that?¡± Pho broke out, looking around at all of them.


    ¡°It must be freshly brewed or it won¡¯t work right. And you don¡¯t wanna be half frozen, I can assure you of that,¡± Fengi replied on Sapphire¡¯s behalf.


    ¡°Oh right¡­ yeah you¡¯d like¡­ wake up halfway decomposed or something. Wait, would that turn you into a darkling?¡±


    ¡°No, you would just be dead. Hopefully you wouldn¡¯t be awake to feel it. I bet you it would be quite painful,¡± Sapphire said with a shrug, hoping it would drive home the point of ¡®don¡¯t do that.¡¯ But she didn¡¯t actually know what would happen.


    ¡°Yikes, sucks to not be a dragon, I guess¡­ but like who is gonna take care of the animals and stuff? I used to do that back home. Big jacket out for half an hour tops, then back in to the fires,¡± Pho questioned, with her signature annoyance that something didn¡¯t make sense to her.


    ¡°Tom and Rachuck shall,¡± Fengi added with a smile. Sapphire couldn¡¯t help but smirk as well. That was right. The boys would have to handle the shit, and carrying the heavy sacks and buckets of feed around. Not them, no can do.


    ¡°Oh right, magic human, how could I forget¡­ hehe to think he¡¯ll be shoveling hogshit. Mister ¡®I am the saviour of the universe.¡¯ ¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he ever actually said that,¡± Fengi added a little less enthusiastically.


    ¡°Oh you know what I mean, and he sure believes it.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, he¡¯s never been scared to work for a living. Behave and maybe you¡¯ll get to work security for him or something. He needs someone to take the bolt on a bad day, I think, and Jacky is much too valuable,¡± Sapphire said sarcastically, trying not to grin too too much.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m worth a bit more than just a meatshield,¡± Pho objected as Bo slowly started inching away from the smaller greenhorn.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Prove it, what shape are the leaves of Ingerroot?¡± Sapphire questioned, still grinning.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ like a pointy oval-y sorta thing?¡± Pho tried and faltered. She obviously didn¡¯t have a fucking clue.


    ¡°They are three pointed clovers,¡± Sapphire corrected. ¡°Fail, you get to be a meatshield.¡±


    ¡°Ahr dangit.¡±


    ¡°To be perfectly honest, Pho, maybe beating someone who gets too close over the head with a mace is more your calling than gathering roots for dinner,¡± Bo added very diplomatically.


    ¡°I mean when you put it like that.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s gonna need to get a bit bigger than me to be much good at that either,¡± Fengi added with a snicker.


    ¡°Hey, I could be a killer messenger or something like that. Did it back in the city once I got a few races under my skirt,¡± she bragged, and Sapphire had to admit, she was quick and she sure was nimble. She would make a great in town courier. Out here though, endurance was the name of the game. She herself would never challenge Jacky to a race over 50 kilometers for example, no way. But running packages around Bartelion, then they were talking. There was still one important problem for the young green horn though.


    ¡°Gotta work a little on your navigation for that one I think.¡±


    ¡°We only really have three destinations on the island, I¡¯m sure she will figure it out,¡± Fengi once more chided, reveling in having someone to pick on a little.


    ¡°Fuck. You.¡±


    _________________________________________________________________________________


    Tom wasn¡¯t quite sure what he had been expecting out of this whole ¡®going to sleep¡¯ thing, but it all seemed pretty chill. They had the big cauldron on in the kitchen, you went and got a mug, drank it all, then went on up to your room and waited for it to work. They had given a quick prayer together before they started it all, for protection and all that. But according to Jacky they weren¡¯t particularly worried since they had a nice keep and people to watch over them.


    If you lived in a leaky hut in the capital, then the prayers suddenly took on quite a different meaning. As for what to make of himself, he hadn¡¯t been quite sure. Was he supposed to hug Jacky till she fell asleep in bed? Did he need to like, rub her down with holy oils or something? But no, as it turned out, no such luck. He just had to leave her be and most importantly not warm her up. Supposedly everyone would hibernate soundly until such a time as they got warm enough to break the sleep. It wasn¡¯t a spell or anything, but rather supposedly a natural process.


    Tom guessed it maybe worked a bit like those crocodiles that could happily sleep frozen in ice without being too bothered about it. But since the gift was borrowed, if they did thaw out again, so to speak, they would need to drink the tea anew.


    They had plenty of bark to spare, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal if it happened, but that was one of the things Tom and Rachuck had to watch for. If anyone was waking up, they would be opening the shutters to cool down the various rooms quickly. Of course they would later have to shut them all again to keep the storm out, and during their rounds, which Rachuck insisted on, they would have to check for if any water had made it inside.


    On the list of bad mornings, waking up with a frostbitten face thanks to a block of ice having taken up residence had to place pretty high.


    Speaking of bad mornings, Tom had been scheming. The morning before he¡¯d been greeted with wet socks in his boots, which had really fucking sucked. He had dry ones of course, but he had needed to dry out the boots too. This naturally called for revenge.


    His first idea had been to decorate Jacky some more using the permanent marker. Perhaps tie her up good. But the marker might end up actually being sorta permanent if left for a few weeks, and being hogtied for a week was sure to lead to the mother of all backaches. He could of course do it just before she was going to wake up, but really he had to come up with something better.


    He supposed he did have quite a while to work it out. They were only planning on sleeping through the worst of the storm and possibly the worst of the cold which may follow, which would be up to Rachuck¡¯s discretion. It wasn¡¯t as if they were limited on food or fuel, so they might as well put in some work. Of course there was the lack of charcoal for the smithy, but that was at least a solvable problem.


    ¡°So what are you thinking about now?¡± Jacky questioned, laying under the covers, likely twiddling her thumbs and waiting for something to happen.


    ¡°Charcoal¡­ and wet socks,¡± Tom answer truthfully as he sat on the chair by the small table.


    ¡°I swear to your gods and mine, if I wake up looking like a darkling you will have to invent a new way for you to eat again.¡±


    ¡°I would never do something like that,¡± he replied as sarcastically as possible. Jacky did her best to kill him by staring. ¡°But I am currently one down I think.¡±


    ¡°No we are even, you started it.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­ but hanging me out that window really has to count for two.¡±


    ¡°How was I supposed to know you were having one of those odd dreams? Normally you like talk and writhe about and stuff.¡±


    ¡°I was sleeping in the dream as well.¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t even know you could do that. So, were you like twice as rested when you came back inside?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yes. But that probably had more to do with the freezing wind¡­ That was fucking cold you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to have you beat, gonna freeze my tail off.¡±


    ¡°How does it feel actually? You normally get all shitty when you get cold.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it. You start to shake like Kiran when he got into the candies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, making my muscles work keeps me warm.¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­ that¡¯s actually kinda smart, why don¡¯t we do that?¡±


    ¡°You shiver a bit, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°More like try to rub some heat back into your skin, before your arms stop working.¡±


    ¡°Right, yeah, actually I remember that. Joelina had a bad run in with some snow.¡±


    ¡°Ahr, poor woman,¡± Jacky replied sarcastically. Tom couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    ¡°Something like that. Still waiting for the finale of that saga, since you so rudely interrupted last time.¡±


    ¡°Again, didn¡¯t mean to. I am actually sorry about that one. At least you didn¡¯t end up crying when you were dangling from the rope like some naughty child that¡¯s been hung up to dry.¡±


    ¡°Creative punishment that one.¡±


    ¡°Simple yet effective¡­ but no joke, it¡¯s cold as hell. This isn¡¯t very nice,¡± Jacky added on a more serious note. ¡°You do sorta feel like you are gonna die each time. But just like freezing to death, it¡¯s when you stop feeling things you should really worry.¡±


    ¡°I bet. Sounds about right with what I know for us humans, only I¡¯m pretty sure we kick the bucket long before you when it comes to core temperature.¡±


    ¡°You sound like Edita now, with your cores and your units and assemblies. No one talks like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an engineer, I¡¯ve talked like that since I got diagnosed with the knack.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an old joke from a comic strip¡­ I guess you don¡¯t have comics here either, now do you?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue what the fuck you are on about¡­ like usual.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ I don¡¯t actually think I have any with me. That¡¯s a bit of a shame.¡±


    ¡°What are they?¡±


    ¡°Just uhm¡­ funny pictures printed on a page. Like you would have us two talking to each other, you have a picture of us, then text to show what we are saying. Then you go picture by picture to show the conversation. Normally it¡¯s a pretty short thing, a joke or something else funny. Some make whole books with pictures and text like that.¡±


    ¡°A whole book done with pictures¡­ With something like that even I could be a scholar.¡±


    ¡°The head archivist of Donald Duck. You even have the color scheme. If we add a little yellow that is.¡±


    ¡°Hey, no arts and crafts, I¡¯m warning you.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh don¡¯t worry¡­ you wouldn¡¯t be able to stop me anyway.¡±


    ¡°No, but I can retaliate with a vengeance.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a problem for future me,¡± Tom chuckled, leaning back in the chair. It was getting quite nippy in here by now. Outside the wind was doing its best to keep them from speaking in low voices. They continued to chat about this and that for a while longer. Who is Donald Duck? Who at the keep would have to be Goofy? Whether or not Disney might be able to come after them for copyright infringement across dimensions were they to print his likeness.


    She slowly grew more weary, taking longer to respond. She started to get confused about what it was they were talking about. By the end they were mostly just talking to stay awake. Then Jacky grew silent, eyes still open like she truly had just died. It was very unnerving. Tom could even feel a pang in his chest, even though he knew she was fine.


    Calmly, he got up and walked to her side and with a hand slid her eyes closed. He gave her a quick peck on the side of the snout, tucked in the sheets one last time, and turned to leave, letting the shutters stay open for now. They would close those up later once the whole bedroom floor had cooled down sufficiently.


    It felt so strange to walk out into the cold and nearly lifeless hallway. It was so very quiet, save for the howling wind. ¡®Some horror house this is turning into¡­ actually, I wonder if there are ghosts about? Place is older than the states, loootta people died here¡­ eh I¡¯m sure they would have brought up any hauntings. Or gone Ghostbusters on the poor things if there were any¡­ Damn, I wonder if there are Van Helsing dragonettes to deal with nasty spirits and shit? Anywho what to do now?¡¯


    He looked up and down the barely lit hallway. Fetching a torch of the electrical variety seemed like a pretty good idea, and maybe getting comfortable somewhere down below so he could work someplace fairly warm without messing too much with the floors above. The kitchen sounded like a decent option for the new home office actually. He should see about getting that sorted out.


    ---


    ¡°Hatches and shutters barred and secure?¡± Rachuck questioned, authoritative as ever. Tom had perhaps hoped that with it being just the two of them the captain would get a little less professional, but apparently it was opposite day.


    ¡°Yup, got all the shutters, everyone¡¯s eyes are closed, sheets tucked in, and given a goodnight kiss,¡± Tom replied deadpan, finally managing to give Rachuck some pause as he looked up to stare blankly at the human.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°Full royal treatment, sleeping princesses, the lot of them,¡± Tom carried on. He was of course joking, but he had made sure everyone at least looked mostly comfortable. Pho had been laying on her side, sprawled across her bed. With the position her neck had been in, Tom had taken pity and fixed it for her. Other than that though, mostly it was just a matter of closing shutters and securing them.


    ¡°You kissed¡­ everyone here? That is that thing you do where you sort of¡­ strangely lick Jacky, no?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t lick them. Just you know, like you would a kid.¡±


    ¡°You lick children?!¡± Rachuck broke out, outrage starting to seep into his otherwise very orderly self.


    Tom cracked and started to chuckle. ¡°Nooo, I¡¯m taking the piss, don¡¯t worry. Everything is good. The storm is getting worse though.¡±


    Rachuck just stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°Unbelievable. Jokes in a time like this.¡±


    ¡°Dude, we¡¯re alone on night guard duty for at least a week or two, and what¡¯s gonna come crashing through those doors? A white dragon? Pretty sure most of those out there ain¡¯t too inclined to work with the bad guys seeing as the good ones pamper them so much.¡±


    ¡°They may be quite scarce, but I can assure you white dragon brigands do exist.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case we¡¯ll bribe them. Not like we could fight that off anyway¡­ well, maybe actually¡­ No nooo forget I said that,¡± Tom backpedaled, realizing the possible mistake he had made by giving the paranoid captain an opening, but much to his relief Rachuck shook his head.


    ¡°No we cannot face such a threat, and in any case it would be extremely unlikely to come to pass¡­ and to have any chance of victory they must be lured inside, so we would have time to prepare an ambush.¡±


    ¡®God dammit, Rachuck.¡¯


    ¡°But of much greater import is the storm. If it is to grow as strong as Raulf feared, we may need to fear for the roof. That could mean water getting inside, and shutters may also be blown away endangering those inside.¡±


    ¡°If that is such a big deal, why not make everyone sleep in the grand hall? Also aren¡¯t they all frozen solid? Or will be soon at least. What¡¯s a little wind and rain gonna do as long as we fix it?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, but we must fix it. Sheets would need to be dried too, naturally, to err on the side of caution. And we do not sleep together in the grand hall for the same reason you do not store all of your eggs in the same basket¡­ Cruel as the analogy is.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ gotcha,¡± Tom replied, making it clear that he was less than convinced. ¡°So what, do the rounds, if anything is wrong get the other one and set about fixing it? Doesn¡¯t sound so bad.¡±


    ¡°It is not. I used to do the duty myself, and I had plenty of time leftover for reading and practice.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah you got your new sword to play with too now, that¡¯s gotta be exciting.¡±


    ¡°Practice, not play, Tom¡­ but yes I must admit I am looking forward to mastering it. You too could use some practice, could you not?¡± the captain questioned, Tom sensing a bit of hopefulness in his voice.


    ¡®Ahr so you do like the idea of not being completely alone then.¡¯


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ of course there are many things I could use a hand with,¡± Tom replied, trying to insinuate he would be willing to consider some sort of exchange.


    ¡°Naturally¡­ I believe we can come to some sort of a solution then.¡±


    ¡°Two rounds a day and I promise an hour to sparing?¡± Tom offered, hoping that would be enough to seal the deal. He needed the captain if he was to have any hope of getting Project Christmas sorted out.


    ¡°Two of your hours,¡± the captain countered, raising his head dignifiedly.


    ¡°90 minutes, I¡¯m way behind schedule already.¡±


    ¡°Is that not less than an hour?¡± the captain questioned skeptically, worried he was being taken for a fool.


    ¡°No 60 minutes to an hour, so an hour and a half. Final offer, I¡¯m busy¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we all¡­ Very well then. I must say being able to divide one¡¯s time so easily is quite the gift. Normally the hourglass would have to do.¡±


    ¡°The clock might be wrong, but she still times just fine.¡±


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