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.

“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.