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.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“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.

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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?”