Chapter 98: How Do We Respond?
Sapphire had woken up on a couch, still fully dressed, by Dakota shaking her by the shoulders rather violently.
“He’s alive! Tom made it!”
“Wait, what?” Sapphire got out, still half asleep. “Jacky too?”
“She’s still out in the forest somewhere. But come on, it’s Jacky! If she made it safely down then she’s gonna be fine.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Balethon questioned, still sounding sleepy.
“They lived. Both of the idiots are alive, sure they are rough as all hell but they made it!” Dakota let out excitedly.
Sapphire took a second to digest it all. Yesterday had ended on such a low note. The enemy had a new weapon, two in fact it seemed. Hylsdal had been destroyed, and now she was happy… She felt rather bad, but they were alive! And mostly well at least. She even allowed herself to laugh a little in relief.
“I take it back Balethon, my prayers have been answered,” She let out with a happy chuckle.
“Now remember to be thankful,” He replied lightheartedly.
“Well we certainly got that one covered,” Dakota retorted. “Everyone back home is alive, and we made more money yesterday than during the last five years. We have a solid case against the bitch.”
“Don't forget whatever we are getting from the Flaxen armory,” Sapphire added, trying not to sound giddy. She was still excited about that.
“And our crazy inventor guy. I take it you want to go shopping then? Once we collect at least,” Balethon questioned, looking to Dakota, who looked slightly perturbed at that.
“I’ve never even held that much money. On that note, we need to go speak with Vulzan too. He's gonna be hanging onto everything for us. There is no way we could carry that much around.”
“The reports were addressed from here, right?” Sapphire questioned.
“Fuck, right. I’m guessing we are gonna be summoned too then.”
“We need to check-in at the tavern too. Just so they know,” Sapphire added.
“Good point... Shit, today is gonna be busy, we need to swing by Essy’s sister too... Right, let's get to work people,” Dakota went, slapping her thighs as she got up.
“Think we can catch breakfast here? I think it’s a bit better than at the tavern. No offence to your brother,” Balethon went, looking to Sapphire.
“You are gonna have to. Lady Ishani of the Academy is paying you a visit after breakfast,” a Hashaw family guard surprised Sapphire from behind, Apparently having been standing there silently for at least a while.
“I guess so much for canceling our meeting today,” Dakota let out, looking a tad puzzled at that. Sapphire had to agree. Originally they had to wait for days to get an appointment with her, not to mention they had to go and make the appointment in the first place.
There hadn’t been any complaints from the Hashaws as they joined them for some very delicious breakfast. The mood was a little lighter at the table, though this time it was the Hashaws' turn to be the quiet ones. Sapphire hadn’t been quite sure what to expect from a visit from the Lady of the Royal Academy. To have Dakota’s little sister, Linkosta, open the door with a shout of glee wasn’t it though.
She came running over, picking Dakota up in a big hug. Dakota at the very least seemed surprised and didn’t struggle as she was lifted off the ground by the smaller Linkosta.
“It’s so nice to see you! Why didn't you come by sooner?” Linkosta questioned, giggling with glee as she moved on to Sapphire and Balethon. “No, one mustn’t be pushy. It sounds like you have had it rough enough as it is… Oh but it’s nice to know you're doing good. How are things back at home? I heard you had a rough time, is everyone okay?”
“We think so. Our newest addition is still having a rough time, and Jacky is being Jacky, but it sounds like they did it.”
“Awesome, I have questions about Tom. Don’t think I have not heard,” Linkosta went with a wink, turning back to Lady Ishani who had followed her enthusiastic companion with more dignity. ” “This is Lady Ishani. Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance properly. I must apologize for the nature of my visit. The contents of the report I received last night more than piqued my… curiosity,” the Lady went with a polite bow, something Sapphire definitely wasn’t expecting. “Now I won’t keep you from your food. Dig in, you've earned it.”
Sapphire was a little surprised she would come here and not demand an immediate report, but the lady was in fact extremely nice and very polite as they ate. She gave them the time to bring Linkosta up to speed as best they could. Following everything that had happened, which by now was turning into an extremely long list, that did take a fair while. Especially since Linkosta had a plethora of questions about just about everything. Looking at the Lady, Sapphire cracked a smile as Linkosta continued her questioning, currently interrogating Dakota, about how Tom’s insides differed from theirs. ‘Interrogation by proxy, you clever bastard,’ Sapphire mused to herself, seeing the Lady sit comfortably and listening intently to everything being said.
She didn’t get the full details about Tom; they weren’t giving those away that easy. Lady Ishani knew about Tom and most of his exploits already though, and would likely be learning a lot more soon anyway, so it didn’t matter too much. When the Lady joined the conversation she offered both condolences on the death of the ones they had known, as well as congratulations and a very large amount of praise for both the actions of their keep and the trio over the last few days.
When everyone was finally caught up and the meal finished, she had requested the use of the earrings, allowing her to have a session with Nunuk to let her explain things rather than Dakota. Lady Deriva was also put through at some point when Nunuk was apparently exhausted by the trance.
‘They are not out of the woods yet then,’ Sapphire thought to herself. Normally it took quite a while before Nunuk was tired out from using the earrings, Dakota usually breaking first. When Lady Deriva was also spent, her son Luke taking over, Linkosta gave Saph an elbow in the side.
“She’s amazing right… She just keeps going.”
“I still don't get how you people do that… What have you been up to anyway?” Sapphire questioned, looking to the excited Linkosta.
“Oh, nothing special. Just making sure Apuma gets knocked off his perch when I get back home.”
“Oh believe me he’s struggling already.”
“That Tom guy, right?” she questioned, thinking for a second. “Nah, I reckon I’m still a better mage than him.”
Sapphire almost managed to suppress her chuckle at that. ‘I mean, you're not wrong.’
“Hey, I’m doing very well. I haven't failed an exam yet,”
“That’s because you need to know everything.”
“And I will, you can bet your tail on that.”
“You know full well people bet on me, not the other way around, or did you forget?” Sapphire joked back sarcastically.
“Oh just because you fly a little better than most,” Linkosta replied dismissively, causing Saph to chuckle a bit again.
“A little,” Sapphire replied feigning offence. “You still haven't worked out a way to use magic to beat me”
“I’m not telling,” Linkosta replied, cocking her head up high, Sapphire just shaking her head with a chuckle.
When Lady Ishani had finished her session, Linkosta was tasked with writing everything down. The Lady’s memory was damn near perfect as she recited the last half hour’s worth of conversation by memory. Linkosta diligently wrote it all down with equally impressive speed, not missing a beat.
The Lady only complained a little about the vagueness of some of the information, especially concerning the mutant bat things, which were clearly her focus. She even noted down Jarix's report on how he had fought them. It sounded like a bloody affair to Sapphire, that was for sure. She thanked them for their service and dragged a reluctant Linkosta back with her. Though promises were made they would be seeing each other again soon enough.
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Tom had been slipping in and out of sleep, mostly waking when he either got sick or it was time for the next dosage. This time though it was a large amount of noise outside the door that he couldn't quite make out that woke him up, followed by said door rapidly opening and slamming shut again.
Then the sound of an axe hitting the door resounded through the infirmary. “What the fuck?!” Tom let out in alarm as he tried to at least sit up. He was blind, shitfaced, and completely unarmed, and still in considerable pain.
“Shiva, NO! He needs to rest.” Tom was fairly sure that was Nunuk protesting outside the door.
“He promised! He promised he wouldn't use her!”
“He didn't, I love him! I did it. I did all of it!”
“Jacky!” Tom let out excitedly.
“Hi, don’t worry everything is fine,” Jackalope replied, not doing a very good job of sounding convincing.
“And he let you! You damn near killed yourself twice and that wasn’t enough for him!” Shiva protested, sounding absolutely furious.
“Is he doing any better? I’m fine,” Jacky replied, as the axe blade hit again with a deep thunk.
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“You damn near died twice and then he tried to kill you in bed while you were drunk. That’s not fine!”
“Who the hell told you that! Wait, how does anyone know that part?!”
‘Oh shit,’ Tom thought to himself, his heart sinking a little.
“The entire keep could hear you two! And Unkai was asked for his medical opinion. He says and I quote, ‘You acted against all medical advice. That little weasel looked ready to run when I asked him, and I've never seen a dragon shrink like that!” Shiva snarled as the ax came down again. “And then you go on some insane mission while wounded, eating enough sugar honey or whatever to land you in bed for a week!”
“I’m doing great, thank you very much. I only slept for a day, not a week. Okay, maybe a little more than a day. What did you do to make Unkai tell you!?”
“I asked nicely. Now get away from the door. I’m going to geld him for this.”
“Over my dead body! Hit that door again and you are gonna hit me!”
“Shiva, stop it. That’s an order,” Nunuk shouted out. She sounded like she was outside too. Meaning Jacky was holding the fort from inside, so to speak.
“You don’t get to choose who I want, and I want him. He’s awesome! Now fuck off!”
“He’s gonna get you killed,” Shiva pleaded, anger falling, though only slightly.
“Says the one with the axe,” Jacky retorted, emphasizing just how absurd that was.
“I have no clue what’s going on,” Some poor guy from one of the other beds declared, sounding rather terrified.
“Just family issues. We’ll be done shortly,” Jacky replied in a softer tone.
“Wait, you got your hearing back!” Tom broke out, finally realizing.
“That took you a while to figure out. Still fucked in the head?” Jacky replied with a friendly laugh.
“I mean… I think so? How have you been?”
“Oh, crashed in the woods and passed out for a day or so. Then Ethera had to carry my broken ass back here. She seems nice,” she replied jokingly.
“Jacky open the damn door!” Shiva protested from outside, a slamming noise echoing through the room again, Jacky letting out a grunt of either pain or effort as the wood creaked.
“Fuck off mom… So anyway, how have you been? I heard you had some great fun without me?”
“I remember bits at most… don’t really wanna talk about it. You get out of it okay? Sounds like you had it rough?” Tom tried, hoping to get the subject away from that particular escapade.
“Oh don’t worry, we are gonna talk about it,” She replied with a slightly evil laugh. “The wound on my back got infected. Nunuk took care of it, though it would have taken a while to kill me anyway. Couldn’t you have saved some more of the wildbrew? That sounds like great fun.”
‘Goddammit,’ Tom cursed to himself as Jacky started giggling madly. ‘Couldn’t they like not have told her about all that?’
“I swear by all the gods...” Shiva tried again, though her tone was faltering it seemed, as she rammed the door once more.
“Shut up. I’m happy,” Jacky cut her off.
“But he...”
“He didn't do anything,” Jacky snapped in reply, sounding like she had just run out of patience. “I saved his ass during the battle, twice actually. I dragged him to safety after he got shot. I got him drunk and I hauled him into that bedroom. Then I decided to save his ass from what I made him drink.”
“Actually, I think it was the wine…” Tom tried cautiously.
“Oh shut up. I’m having a moment,” Jacky cut him off, in a much softer voice, switching back to the hard tone to address her mother. “He’s mine and that’s final. Hell, you're just jealous.” Shiva apparently didn’t have a comeback for that as the bashing stopped.
Tom felt the urge to clap a little but sadly missed the first few times. ‘If only the blasted bed would stop moving so I could fucking hit,’ He cursed as he tried again, his hand being grabbed by Jacky.
“You are not well at all, are you?” She questioned, her voice growing concerned.
“Everything hurts and I’m drunk as all hell and I still can’t see anything,” Tom replied, sounding almost proud.
“Give me some of that, you never know, I drank the same stuff as you,” Jacky went as Tom heard his cup get taken from the nightstand. “I've had a few rough days too. Sorry about running.”
“Don't care, you lived. Come here,” Tom went holding out his arms, regretting his decision as Jacky grabbed him, squeezing way too tightly for his current condition, letting go after he let out a pained squeak. “Too tight. Too tight Jacky!”
“Shit sorry… I… I’ll just sit here again. You know, keep watch and all that,” Jacky replied as Tom heard a chair move on the floors.
“How long have you been here?” He questioned. He couldn’t really remember when he had last been awake, nor did he even know what day or time it was. Surely it couldn’t have been days though.
“Oh, not too long, half a day maybe. You’ve been sleeping since I got here. They wouldn’t let me wake you up. It gave Nunuk the time she needed to fix my ears, so that’s nice. You stink by the way.”
“Hey, dying isn't easy. They really fixed your ears just like that?” Tom replied., he didn’t really feel up for a bath at the moment, even if he likely needed it.
“Oh yeah, she just stitched something back up. No clue what it was though. She sounded rather disappointed with Quin for not doing it. She says I should be careful with them for a while though, else she will start charging me for it.”
“Sure you will, you are the queen of careful. You need earmuffs just like Kiran,” Tom joked with a mild chuckle.
“If you call me adorable I’ll drink the rest of your medicine,” Jacky replied, trying and failing to sound serious.
“After all that work to save me again?” Tom questioned jokingly. Trying to move over to the other side of the bed. “Room for two I think.” She didn’t hesitate on that invitation as she crawled in under the sheets, cuddling up against him as gently as she could. ”Should we let her in before she decides to break down the door anyway?”
“Nah, I told you, you’re safe here. You don’t have to worry at all. When I’m here you're safe,” Jacky replied with no small amount of pride in her voice.
“Well, amen to that.”
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Maiko had been tasked to remain with them for the time being, until they could be sure the bitch didn't have more cards to play or just in case the Flaxen family decided to go back on their word. He was definitely still taking the situation seriously, which helped keep Saph and the others on their toes. In fact, Maiko seemed far more on edge now than he had been thus far, often walking hand on his sword hilt.
The rest of the day had been a flurry of errands, making sure everyone who might be worried knew everything was fine. They were expecting a summons at some point to arrive at the Hashaw estate or the tavern.
The first stop had been the free traders guild, where Vulzan had damn near dropped his jaw on the floor at the news of what they would be transporting, not to mention what he and Archeon would be tasked with looking after in the meantime. Being the opportunist that he was, he didn't hesitate to accept though.
There was hardly a safer place to put money than in the grasp of a dragon you trusted inside the Merchants guild, so Dakota and Sapphire weren’t worried. Archeon had his own personal stables there, where he was currently trying his best to relax a bit. They had facilities to store a variety of goods, not to mention Archeon's personal fund.
Most of his crew had stayed on despite the layover, Cabrera damn near doing in Balethon with a hearty hug when she saw him. That quickly turned to making fun of him for being carried off in the night without a fight once they all got the rundown of what had happened. To the clear embarrassment of Balethon, who did his best to look as offended as possible.
Sapphire was keeping her eye on her though; when the sums of money were discussed, Canabrera was definitely listening intently. Though to be honest, so was pretty much everyone. Nevertheless, the escort had insisted on following along, stating that it sounded like they could use all the friends they could get right now. The fact that Maiko was still following along did make it rather hard to argue that statement. And Dakota didn’t even try to dissuade her, and Balethon was obviously all for it.
Archeon had been anxious for news of his son, though he did not take it well. Cursing the stupidity of that whole situation, especially engaging darklings at night. The assurances that Jarix was indeed fine and would make a full recovery did help alleviate his concerns and he was clearly relieved to know all was well. He didn't blame Saph and the others either, thanking them for letting him know. Even if Sapphire was fairly sure he would have some strong words for Jarix and quite possibly Tom, the next time he saw them.
Tink had been more than a little surprised at the result of asking how they had been as they stepped in the door to the workshop. Junior had sat there wide-eyed as they recounted their escapades. They even let Maiko get away with overstating his involvement just a little. In his defense, he had been crucial though, since they would likely all have ended up in an overnight cell if not for him.
Tink, though, remained unfazed once the explanation ended. He was very excited to reveal what he hoped would be the final design for the self-lighting lamp, to which he had added a hood to for some reason.
“It’s self-lighting, Tink. It doesn’t need a hood. Just put it out and light it again,” Dakota let out, trying to sound diplomatic. “But it is very nice.”
After some slight grumbling about how he still liked the hood, he had shown them the rest of the progress. Thus far everything seemed to be moving along well enough. The actual lighter prototype was also beginning to take shape, though making everything small enough was clearly proving a challenge.
The visit to Esmeralda’s sister had of course also dragged on longer than it should have, though the notion that she would receive noble family-backed compensation for everything she could think of for Essy actually managed to break her usual focus on the latest news and gossip. The list of remedies and potions she began listing off, made Sapphire reconsider just how lightly the Flaxens had gotten off the hook in respect to compensating Esmeralda.
The news of Tom’s condition also saw several more items added to the list, to be sent to the Flaxens and Sir Viantius to be incorporated into the paperwork. It helped that the stuff Tom needed was actually rather similar to what was being prepared for Esmeralda. Ignis did curse the fact that these things couldn’t get there sooner though. It had already been too long since Esmeralda had been poisoned, though Nunuk and Apuma knew what they were doing on the subject and the relatively rapid administration of an antidote had helped a lot.
The longer they waited the longer it would take to get Esmeralda back to full strength, not to mention that the delay meant it would take more of the precious concoctions. That was a problem for the Flaxens though. Ignis certainly had sufficient stock to handle the demand.
By the time they managed to swing by the tavern one of the more temporary guards had taken over for Haiko who had fallen asleep and was currently leaning on his spear snoring quite loudly.
‘And the idiot doesn’t even want to leave his post,’ Sapphire mused to herself, gesturing for the others to remain silent. She sneaked up behind her unsuspecting brother, the other guard cracking a smile looking at her.
“WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING ON YOUR POST SOLDIER!” Sapphire bellowed out as loudly as she could, doing her best to sound properly pissed off. Haiko shot awake, leveling his spear at Sapphire as she broke out laughing at his terrified expression, helmet resting crookedly on his head from the jolt.
“Oh you bitch,” He replied with a chuckle as his shoulders sagged in relief.
“What kind of greeting is that?” Sapphire replied with a chuckle as she gave him a quick side hug. “You got anything for us? We are kinda expecting a summons of some kind.”
“Not that I know of. What the hell happened yesterday?. We were worried you got yourself thrown in jail in the end.”
“Nah we made it just fine. In fact, it all went great. Come on, we’ll tell you over dinner. I think you owe us a meal anyway,” Sapphire jested as they went inside. The barkeep had apologized profusely for what had happened, being dismissed by Dakota. There was nothing more that could have been done short of hiding in the basement. In fact, they had gone above and beyond to try and keep them safe.
Haiko had let fly a line of deadly curses against the bitch at the news she was indeed the one responsible for this shit show. He made a bit of a show of it as per usual, but Sapphire knew him well enough to know that it was mostly empty threats.
“How about the kids. Do you know who made it?” Haiko questioned after the cursing subsided.
“Yes, the list of casualties was sent to the city guard and the coroner’s office. We are not gonna be delivering that piece of news.” Dakota replied solemnly.
“It’s not like we could even find half of them anyway. Besides, we have way too much to do,” Balethon added, clearly trying to drag the conversation on to something less depressing.
“Speaking of which, we need to swing by the Hashaws’ again just in case the summons ended up there. I can’t imagine they don’t want a report in person after that one. I’ve never even heard of frontier keeps being attacked like that, short of in times of war. That force could have posed a danger to just about anywhere that doesn’t have dragons or a lot of defenders,” Dakota added, clearly pondering the prospect.
“Yeah that sounds insane. Too bad you were here bringing down that bitch of yours. You’re missing out on all the fun,” Haiko went, giving Sapphire a punch to the shoulder.
“Oh you know, they wouldn’t have dared attack if I was there,” Sapphire replied jokingly.
“Yeah, they would have been scared of getting bullied to death,” Balethon tried in response as Sapphire switched her gaze to him.
“Careful now, remember why you survived last night.”
“Yeah… Rounds are on me tonight,” Balelthon let out uncomfortably as he clearly reminisced about that experience.
“Damn right they are,” Sapphire replied, leaning back in her seat. “Were you just locked up, or were you out so to speak?”
“Oh no, I remember everything.”
“Well, you won’t get to drink away the memory tonight. We don’t need a repeat of our first visit,” Dakota replied sternly, looking at both Sapphire and Balethon. Sapphire did feel slightly insulted by the insinuation, though she wouldn’t have minded an ale or two tonight.