Chapter Four Hundred and Fifteen - The Old Man and the Sky

Abraham’s enthusiastic greeting was so loud that we were getting a few looks, but those passed soon enough. I suspected that the people in the nearby landing pads were either used to Abraham, or were getting used to him pretty quickly.

Abraham stood before the five of us with hands on hips and his glorious moustache twitching up at the corners as he gave us all a huge grin. “Awen! You made more friends!”

“Awa, I did,” Awen said. It was kind of funny seeing Awen caught between wanting to be bashful and shy, and wanting to open up at the same time. It led to her fumbling around with her hands, as if she didn’t know what to do with them.

I helped by walking to her side and giving her a side-hug, which occupied at least one arm and left the other for fretting.

“Um, I should introduce you,” she said.

“Of course!” Abraham said. “I’m Abraham Bristlecone! Explorer of the unknown, traveller of the untravelled, and ender of the unendable! Haha! I’m also Awen’s favourite uncle! My best title yet!”

Awen blushed, but she couldn’t contain a smile. “Uncle, these are our newest friends and travelling, um, companions? That’s Caprica Sylph, she’s... a sylph from Sylphfree.” I noticed her hesitation in mentioning Caprica’s princessness, which was actually probably for the best. If Smoulderglen was a nexus for rapscallions, then it wouldn’t do to let people know there was a princess about, let alone a princess from what might be the richest nation on the continent. “And that’s Calamity, he’s a hunter from the north of the Trenten Flats.”

“I’m Calamity Danger,” Calamity said with a tip of his hat. He was lucky that he was so cool, or else his trying to look cool would make him look silly instead. “Hunter of the uncountable.”

“Haha!” Abraham roared. “I like your attitude, disaster boy, but I’ll have you know that you have a long way to go before you’re ready to best me!”

“I can't imagine you sneaking up on anything, old guy,” Calamity said. “You’re one ‘Haha!’ away from scaring off every good bit of meat for a league.”

Abraham ‘haha’d!’ again, his whole belly trembling with good humour. “My boy, the best prey to hunt is the sort that runs towards you! Why, I remember hunting a giant wyrm that lived in Walker’s Pass. Of course, back then it wasn’t called Walker’s Pass, it was called Don't-Go-There-Or-You'll-Be-Eaten-By-A-Giant-Wyrm Pass! Haha!”

“Uncle, you’re not going to start another story, are you?” Awen asked.

Abraham looked momentarily chastised, but only very momentarily. “And you, Miss Caprica! It’s a pleasure to make a friend among the sylph once more! Haha! Good folk, even if you can’t hold your drink.”

“Pardon you?” Caprica asked. There was a dangerous glint in her eye.

“Mister Abraham,” I interrupted. “What are you doing all the way over here?”

Abraham grinned and tapped the side of his nose. “One of my skills told me to head on over if I wanted to find some proper adventure. Besides, I have a few old grudges to settle.”

“Oh no,” Awen said. “You have enemies here?”

“And everywhere else! Haha! You can tell a lot about someone by the quality of their friends, and a lot more by the quality of their adversaries, and I have only the best rivals!”

I grinned. Abraham was very enthusiastic today, it was infectious. I wondered if he had a skill that made his good mood spread? Or one that helped him get away with being... himself? I would bet on the latter, actually!

“Come on, you kids follow me! My ‘old age’ is starting to show and sometimes I feel the need for a sit down.”

Abraham led us deeper into the Shady Lady’s landing space.

There were toolboxes lined up against the walls and metal shelves filled with spare parts and ladders and a few bits of scaffolding leading up to the underside of the airship for easy access. Some tarps had been hung from those, creating a partition at the rear of the space were a small cast iron stove was placed alongside a couple of well-worn sofas. A large block of ice was just... sitting there, slowly melting. Someone had carved a hole in its side to make place for a dozen bottles of various alcohols.

“Aha! Do you want anything to drink, kids?” Abraham asked. “Only the finest stolen drinks from across the kingdom and beyond!”

“Stolen?” I asked.

Abraham pulled a bottle out of the... sorta-fridge and tossed it to Calamity, who caught it out of the air. “Well, the locals certainly didn’t make cervid brandy. And there are more pirates here than you could shake a stick at.”

“Have you been having any issues with them?” Amaryllis asked.

Abraham chuckled, and there was a bit of a dark note to it. “I’ve had my share of trouble with pirates in the past. But I’ve learned a lot about them over the years, and if there’s one thing pirates respect, it’s someone who can make their lives miserable! Haha! Just got to prove that you’re the bigger whale in the sky and that your stuff’s not worth the trouble of taking, and they’ll leave you alone!”

I glanced at my friends, then started to worry a little about the Beaver. It wasn’t unguarded, but the ones guarding it were Clive and the harpy boys and the Scallywags. They had decent levels, but none of them had a second class yet and they weren’t fighters.

“I heard that you had your own run-in with pirates! That rat-bastard Rogers! Haha! I'm going to give him a good talking to next time I see his ugly mug!”

“Rogers! He’s the one that tried to kidnap me!” Awen said.

Abraham’s chest puffed out. “He did! I heard that you burned half his ship and sent it crashing into the ocean! Haha! Fantastic work! You really are my favourite niece!” There were more hugs, with Abraham squishing Awen close. “That’ll teach him not to underestimate a Bristlecone!”

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“It was actually really scary,” I said. “I was afraid that we might lose Awen. And the pirates were all quite a bit stronger than us. Well, except for Bastion.”

“Bastion?” Abraham asked.

“Oh! He’s a friend we made! A sylph Paladin. I guess he’s back in Sylphfree now. He joined us on our trip over.”

Abraham nodded while rubbing at his chin. “A sylph Paladin. Nothing to sneeze at. Tough as nails and usually quite mad.”

“Bastion isn’t mad,” Caprica said.

“Haha! You won’t find just anyone willing to join the Paladins, and those that make it need to be a little mad, else they wouldn’t put up with the training and the hardship. But enough of that! You’ve been on your own grand adventure! You need to tell me all about it!”

Awen blushed as she suddenly found herself the centre of everyone’s attention, but she launched into the story anyway. It was very much abridged, with some bits that had taken days flying by in a single sentence.. “And then we rode the dragon back to Port Royal” didn’t feel like it really captured how awesome that had been, but Awen was new to storytelling, and Abraham was listening intently, only interrupting with the occasional ‘Haha!’ or to slap his knee and roar with laughter.

“And then, awa, I guess that’s how we made it here,” Awen finished. She’d skipped a lot, but it made sense. A lot had happened, after all.

I did notice that she tended to skip over her own parts in the stories she told, she painted herself more as just... Awen the Beaver’s mechanic instead of Awen the clever crossbow-wielding dungeon delver, bomb disposer, king saving and overall awesome girl that I thought of her as.

“Interesting that you stopped by the Snowlands... I might have to go pay some old chums a visit once this whole race thing is over!” Abraham said. “But it sounds like you've all been through some wild times! Haha! And it seems like there are wild times still ahead, eh?" He reached for a bottle of the cervid brandy from the ice-block fridge and poured himself a glass to toast us all with.

Awen grabbed the bottle, and then poured herself a cup too.

Abraham chuckled. “Oh, your mother would have a fit if she saw you now! Your dad too!”

“Ah, I... I don’t know if I want to see them just yet,” Awen said. “They tried to kidnap me.”

“Bah, let them stew in their own misery, then,” he said with a firm nod.

"Speaking of wild times ahead," I said as I tried to change the subject to one that was a bit more fun. “Are you going to participate in that big airship race with the Shady Lady?”

Abraham beamed, his already bright eyes twinkling with anticipation. "Aye, that's right! You've got a good nose for adventure, lass... or maybe the ears for it. Were those always there?”

“Oh,” I said as I reached up and touched an ear, the right one, which always dangled a bit. “No, these are from after we met!”

“Haha! Well, in any case, myself, Raynold and another old friend are going to show these young whippersnappers that going fast is more than just having the fastest ship and the nicest paintjob.”

“That’s... usually how it works though,” Amaryllis said. “The fastest ship part, in any case.”

“Bah! You’re one of the whippersnappers, then!” he declared, and Amaryllis huffed at the insult.

"Why are you participating in it?" Amaryllis asked. She tilted her head a bit, curious. She’d grabbed a cup from the freezer-block as well, and took a slow sip from something that smelled fruity. “You’ve had your share of adventures, no?”

Abraham chuckled. "Why, for the thrill of it, of course! And, more importantly, for the glory! To stand as the fastest among the sky-bound, to have your name cheered by the crowd... There's nothing quite like it! Besides, I’m reaching the point where I need a proper challenge. Something big to really get the experience flowing.”

“Diminishing returns?” Amaryllis asked.

“I could punch a dragon and barely see a drop of proper experience from it,” he said with a shake of his head. “I could retire and live out another fifty years as an old curmudgeon, but that’s not the way I do things! Haha! I’ve got a few blazes of glory left in me still! Besides, I want to see what it’s like to have five classes! It’s not just the race, mind you. It’s the camaraderie among the captains, the challenges we face together, the stories we share. But also…" His gaze sharpened. "I have a score to settle."

"Another grudge?" Awen asked, a bit of alarm in her eyes.

Abraham's laughter filled the space. "Oh, not a grudge, no. This is a friendly rivalry, you see. Captain Marcellus Windrider, a devilishly fast dwarf if there ever was one, won last year. I intend to take that trophy back!"

"And you believe you have a shot at winning?" I asked, curiosity piqued.

Abraham's grin broadened. "Why, lass, I don't believe – I know I have a shot. The Shady Lady might look a bit rustic on the outside, but she's got it where it counts.”

I looked at Amaryllis, who’d been the biggest proponent against the idea of having us race. “You know... Abraham might like some help racing the Shady Lady...” I started.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “When’s the race?” she asked.

“Ah, tomorrow days from now, starting at dawn!” he said. “And I wouldn’t mind a hand or two! I imagine Awen’s grown by leaps and bounds since she last took a spanner at the Lady! It’d make her old uncle proud to have her check the old windbag out!”

***