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?”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“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.”