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.

“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.”