Chapter 117: Ocean’s Draconic
“How's she doing?” Victoria had come over to ask in a very polite tone, Jacky cautiously giving a thumbs up with her free hand, Tom not letting go of the other one. “Glad to hear it. Was afraid I might end up regretting asking for you to come along… I’ll be honest, this was not quite what we were expecting.” The colonel continued, in a rather uncertain tone.
“I would damn well hope so,” Tom replied. He kinda wanted to be angry right now, but he knew there wasn’t really anyone to be angry with. Victoria had led them down here and she was the reason they were here in the first place. But had she not intervened He may very well have taken a similar trip to Jacky.
“If it’s any consolation, I think you saved quite a few people coming along.”
Tom didn’t have a witty reply for that one. It was probably true, and Jacky was gonna be fine, even if the wind would be out of her sails for a bit. In the end, she would likely be better off than Balethon, who Saph had joked about needing a prosthetic after this one, trying to cheer Jacky up. Not that it was really needed. After the healer had confirmed that, no, she was not gonna die here, nor was she gonna be a cripple, she had seemingly been quite content. Tom had refused to give her the painkiller she asked for, which did annoy her quite a bit. He didn’t really want to mix that with whatever their ‘healing’ potion did though.
“Listen, you know things I don’t. Can you tell me what this is?” Victoria questioned, handing Tom a small cylinder. “Don't worry, Kolinky has checked them. They are clean.”
It was a metal cylinder with a thin glass window running most of the length and there was some kind of clear blue liquid inside. It was very intricately made, with magical runes cut into the metal portions that were seemingly not doing anything right now.
“No clue,” Tom had to admit, admiring the little thing.
“There were boxes and chests of them in there. Hundreds, if not thousands of them,” Victoria replied, Tom looking over to the vault door. The others were busy carrying out small chests with metal reinforcements and locks on them and there truly was a lot of them.
“Look at this thing,” Maiko let out, coming over with some kind of small object, handing it to victoria before sideling up to Saph. “You make it out okay?”
“Tom shot me but beyond that I’m fine… Could you tell Kolinky I’m sorry”
“What?” Tom questioned, looking to Saph who folded out her left-wing a bit. “Ooh… Shit.”
“You owe me for that one,” Saph stated rather plainly before looking back to Maiko. “You look more or less in one peice too?”
“Oh yeah, they didn’t even get close” The korporal retorted, looking very confident all of a sudden, Victoria letting out an audible sigh as she inspected the little object before sitting down on the floor with Tom and Jacky.
“How about this then?” she questioned, handing it over.
Tom had a look at it. It was an intricate work of thin metal struts, gears, and bearings, looking more like something you would find in a fancy watch. There was one of the cylinders in the middle with what could be a gyro running around it, and Tom also spied a small spiral spring in there. There was something that looked like a winding mechanism at the top too.
“I think it’s a toy?”
“They came down here for a toy?” Victoria questioned, clearly not convinced.
“A thousand-year-old toy that looks brand new,” Tom shrugged, putting the thing down on the ground and cranking the little paddle at the top a revolution before letting go. The gyro started to spin as expected, a very pretty blue glow starting to emanate from the central cylinder as the runes on it started lighting up. Then the little device lifted off the ground, the gyro keeping it steady. Tom just stared at the odd contraption as it hovered around 30 centimeters off the ground.
“Okay, that’s cool,” Saph let out, also staring at the thing. “Sure it’s safe?”
“Who would make a toy that blows up the kids?” Tom questioned, looking at the tiny thing with wonder. “How do the islands stay in the air again?”
“By the will of the gods, of course,” Victoria stated. “They give us sanctuary up here from the depths below by raising the islands.”
“Are you sure about that?” Tom countered, not taking his eyes off the marvelous little device as it slowly spun down, settling back to the ground. “This is a mine, right?”
“Are you saying that…”
“If you are gonna say ‘heresy’ then just claim the gods are powering this stuff. ‘Cause that ain’t natural, I can tell you that,” Tom cut off the colonel. “And those runes means whatever is going on here is at least partially magical.”
“Where is it drawing from then?”
“You’re the magic people, you tell me. Maybe the liquid… maybe us?” Tom countered. He didn’t care in the slightest. Forget spit with electricity in it; this was the true holy grail. Well, depending on just how much lift one could get out of it, of course. ‘Magic fly juice… Aww hell yeah.’
Jacky cleared her throat a little, Tom snapping back to look at her, noticing he had let go of her hand. “Sorry, sweety. Look isn't it amazing?” Tom tried holding up the device, Jacky just brushing his hand aside, looking at him with a wide smile, looking like she was trying not to chuckle. “What? It’s exciting?”
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“But what about the other vaults?” Jortun questioned having walked over after finishing tending to Balethon.
“I don’t have a clue. They got a fully grown night terror in here. There must be another route.” Victoria replied, Saph just sort of standing there awkwardly as Maiko’s attention turned to his superiors.
“Well, unless they shrank the fucker down,” Jortun replied dryly.
“We have seen one thing today that shouldn’t exist. Don’t tempt it,” Victoria replied, as Saph tried to remember if she had ever heard of someone being able to do that. “They did have two witches… perhaps they portaled it in here?”
“Check the bodies for spell components. Take Kolinky and check everything thoroughly,” Victoria ordered, sounding like a penny had suddenly dropped.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jortun replied, stopping as he was turning to leave. “But what about the other three vaults?”
“We can’t open them without some heavy muscle, and it looks like it took them quite a while too. And we can’t deal with wards. Check the witches.”
Jortun did so, walking off at a brisk pace calling Kolinky over. Saph looked to the Colonel, who had gotten back up and was surveying the work being done to clear the area and find out just what exactly they had here.
“I was wondering… Those chests are wood... How are they still intact?”
“Magic inside the vaults maybe? The doors are in perfect condition too. I don’t think we should even try opening the other vaults. Good chance there is powerful magic protecting them.”
“Well, it’s less stuff to carry,” Saph replied, trying to sound optimistic, looking at the growing pile of chests and crates they were extracting from the vault.
“Look at this,” Kolinky shouted out, walking over with a leather satchel. “Personal effects. Official stuff too.”
Saph tried to get a look, throwing a glance at the small camp which had apparently served as the home for the two Witches. “We found sleeping gear for five, ma’am,” Kolinky added as Victoria started to go through some scrolls, Maiko taking some too.
“They were here under orders it seems. Take the mines, clear the island, establish nursery, find the vault, retrieve contents… They knew what was here and where it was.”
“They even had a crude map of this part of the tunnels,” Maiko added, showing another piece of paper. “Might just have been what they have explored though.”
They had sat down next to Tom and Jacky with the different documents, going through it all in detail. It would seem they had been here for a while. They had the maps not only of the old section, but also of the system they had come through, even if those seemed a bit more scribbled down.
“The entrance will be obscured with an illusion. It is but an image; you may pass freely,” Victoria read out from what they were guessing were the witches’ orders. “They were just here to crack the vaults.”
“There are also notes on how to disable the wards protecting the vaults,” Maiko added, handing over another small booklet.
“There is no way we are opening one of these up without a very skilled mage,” Victoria concluded after having a quick look. “Good news is we have most of their number accounted for it seems. They were almost out of supplies too after losing Hylsdal. It doesn’t look like they even got started on the other vaults either, just settling for one.
“Probably wanted to just make off with what they could and hope we would never find this place,” Maiko concluded.
“But, uhm… what do they need this stuff for?” Saph questioned, looking towards Tom, who had not moved from Jacky’s side. “Tom, what could you do with all this?” She questioned slightly louder, getting his attention.
“Make something big fly maybe?” Tom replied after a second, sounding rather concerned.
“How big?” Victoria questioned, clearly sharing his concerned outlook on the situation.
“No clue, we need to test that I guess… Do you think that means they have something which could use this?”
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“God i hope not”
“We need Apuma for this I think,” Saph added, looking at one of the mysterious cylinders.
“What if it’s a flying city? I heard a story about that once,” Maiko added with a shrug.
“Any other day I would make you the night guard for referencing children’s stories on matters like this,” Victoria added, looking at the notes. “But I really hope you are wrong.”
“What about magic airships?” Tom questioned, looking around at them. “These things look mass-produced. That means industry. Surely they could make ships too then?”
“Is that better or worse?” Saph had to question. That sounded truly terrifying. To be honest, if this was anything like the ships Tom had shown them, they might as well be a small flying city.
“Depends on the ship I guess,” Tom replied, looking thoughtful. “I wonder what kind of weaponry they could produce back then.”
“Likely something we don’t want to go up against,” Victoria countered. “We are taking everything in here. They cannot be allowed to have a single one. We can only hope this is the only place where they have been able to get their hands on something like this. I have never heard of nor seen something like this before.”
“Fingers crossed,” Tom echoed, looking back down to Jacky.
That meant several trips back and forth. It might be magical fly stuff, but it sure was heavy in those chests. The search of the witch they had surprised down here yielded several exotic and expensive materials, including powdered unicorn horn, the main ingredient in a teleportation spell. They had sent out a search party to try and locate an additional entrance as well as make sure they were alone by now.
They had come back, having found remnants of what Jortun believed was indeed a teleportation ritual back where they had come in through the hidden door. The other witch also had a very similar loadout of materials; there was, however, a very small amount of what Jortun believed to be actual doetna skin, which was promptly burned, the ashes being put in a jar the be thrown off the edge later. That confirmed their suspicions that it had been a variant of mind control that had been affecting the pjeltors. It was not exactly normal behavior to see them charging en masse into an enemy formation even as their kin were slaughtered.
It also reminded them that they had gotten off lightly here, Sapphire praising the gods that the two groups of enemies hadn’t been able to warn each other. There didn’t seem to be another entrance. Each of the tunnels on the witches’ map were blocked off at different points. The ones they had gone to inspect had, worryingly enough, bore signs of having been very purposely sealed. From the inside.
The potion had gotten Jacky stable, even if she still shouldn’t move yet, Tom and Saph carrying her out on a stretcher that was brought back from Baron’s equipment as they started ferrying the contents of the vault out into the entrance cave. Dakota had called in what they had found after quite some discussion with Tom, who was clearly excited or even happy, in stark contrast to his earlier demeanor. It helped that Jacky was being a good sport about it, even cracking a few jokes once she was allowed to talk again.
Saph though wasn’t convinced. He was too happy for what they had just gone through. Saph didn’t know what to do about it though. Jacky seemed under a similar effect smiling, despite clearly being in a lot of pain. Dakota on the other hand, could be read like a book and she looked guilty as sin when Balethon walked out slackeared. And her claws could be heard on the floor Jacky was brought out. Ray was as much a wreck as when they left. Standing at attention until Saph held out her arms Ray Hurrying forth into a hug. Saph definitely needed this one too. Those tunnels had been hell… And she was going back in for more chests.
Victoria and the major came to the conclusion that they would need to check periodically whether anyone or anything had decided to come back and try to get into one of the other vaults, as well as get the whole tunnel system mapped out. The orders and notes the witches had seemed to have been left purposely vague as to what was in the vaults. Likely it was little more than speculation on part of the witches, but chances were good that they had found what they were looking for, which meant they likely also wanted whatever was in the other vaults. As for who owned the recovered property, that had also been a tough one. This was a Royal Guard raid, but it was on Bizmati land technically, even if their claim was a tenuous one. In the end, they had elected to split the spoils of war. Mainly on account of Tom being vehement that he could put the stuff to use and Victoria mainly wanting enough samples for the academy and whoever else would want to attempt to study the cylinders. They agreed that if anyone had a chance of making this work, it was probably Tom. Then there was the matter that the enemy clearly wanted this stuff, so they might come looking for it in the future, and they were clearly willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goal. At this point, Saph honestly had a hard time caring about that. They were seemingly stuck in the sights of the darklings anyway.
Victoria also expressed concerns that some less savory dragonettes might want a piece of the pie. There could be no doubt that these things were ridiculously valuable, but they needed to be first and foremost kept from the enemy. That included selling them off to anyone, since you never knew who the real buyer was. Tom had wholeheartedly agreed to that part, though Saph had a suspicion that it was mostly because of what he suspected he could do with them.
Once back to the entrance cave, the wounded were tended to, and they got the remaining chests and crates open. As expected, they found even more of the cylinders, including a few larger ones that were almost the size of your forearm. They had also found a much bigger version of the toy which fit the bigger cylinder. Tom came to the conclusion, after a few test runs, that it was in fact some sort of measuring device rather than a simple toy. It always went to the same height with each test, only staying there longer if you cranked it more. The cylinder was easily swappable too. They didn’t have anyone here who knew much about making enchantments, but from what Dakota, Jortun, and Victoria could figure out, it was actually drawing its power from the rotation of the gyro. Something thought damn near impossible to do, at least with any sort of efficiency, and whatever it was scribed in was definitely not blood either. A scratch test also confirmed that every last one of the little cylinders were either mithril or something equally hard, which in and of itself made this haul ridiculously valuable.
They had loaded up the wounded and the haul from the vault, heading for the keep to properly recover before sending another expedition back here to start mapping the place out properly. Right now they needed to rest and figure out just what exactly they had found. Saph for one would not be going back down there for a long time, preferably never.
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It was evening by the time they reached the keep. The wounded being moved to the infirmary for proper care, the small army of healers present descending upon them to make sure they didn’t lose more people today. Nunuk had looked genuinely saddened when she saw the damage to Dakota’s face, and when she learned what had done it, she was furious. She split her focus between tending to her daughter and giving Jortun, Twitch, Victoria, and anyone else unlucky enough to be in shouting range a verbal dressing down that had Tom very happy he wasn’t the target this time.
Even Apuma had ended up leaving the room, to, as he said, “Better leave her to it.” The old man had, of course, jumped at their little discovery with such vigor that it was all they could do to prevent him from flying off right away once they got done with the explanation. He had resigned himself to going through every scrap of parchment he had trying to find something on the old mines and the civilizations that had dwelled on the island in the past. Linkosta had also joined in the efforts, though she mainly ended up getting to work on the many pages worth of notes on the doors to the vaults that they had recovered.
Nunuk and Rachuck had taken the news more soberly once the lady had calmed down enough to be briefed about the situation. Sure, it was yet another highly valuable discovery, but it would perhaps bring even more attention their way, and that was really the last thing they needed right now. Yet another opportunity and yet another risk. The only really good news was that this meant the combat wing would not be going anywhere, except Grevi, who would be sent back to the capital to report as well as deliver the cylinders that Victoria had claimed for study.
Speaking of which, Tom had more experiments to run after going back into the infirmary to check on Jacky and hand her the laptop, for entertainment purposes. Gods bless the souls of the wounded Royal Guards who were about to experience Rambo for the first time… ‘God she loves that one.’ He would have preferred to stay with her but that would have to wait for a bit. Victoria wanted to know as much as possible about the cylinders before they dispatched Grevi tomorrow. They could cuddle up tonight, if she hadn’t fallen asleep by then.
To his dismay, Shiva had caught him leaving, sending a slight chill running down his spine. But to his surprise, she didn’t seem angry this time.
“She told me what happened… Good thing we got her armor fixed up, ey?” The smith opened, with a cautious smile.
“You can say that again,” Tom replied, letting out a breath, though still not quite relaxing. “You should have heard the crack when she hit.”
“She told me she thought that was it. The last fuck up… and when she comes around she sees an idiot asking if it hurts or not.”
“Not my brightest moment,” Tom replied matching Shiva’s slight chuckle.
“No, you fucked up there. And yet, she found it funny… Then that idiot healer makes her believe she’s gonna die, if only for a few seconds. And ten minutes later you have her trying not to giggle again… After you two came back from Deriva, she has been a different person. She often seemed Happy before… I don’t think she was. She thought she died twice today, and she hasn’t tried to play it off as just her being tough as claws. And yet she’s still happy, even without the facade”
As if on cue “Aww yeah,” could be heard from inside the infirmary followed by the steady chug of a machine gun letting loose. “Fuck 'em up!”
“... I messed up... I just want to say sorry,” Shiva continued, with a strained expression. Tom had never taken her for the touchy-feely type, so this was probably not easy for her. It was perfect though. He didn’t wanna fight her, he never had. And they were rubbing shoulders all day long in the workshops after all. It kinda helped to be friends in that situation. And they moth cared about Jacky that much was abundantly clear.
“Hey, if you promise not to come at me with an axe again, then it’s all good. Might need the help to keep her from killing herself.”
“Oh more than you know,” Shiva replied. Reaching out a hand, with a content smile on her face as Rambo blew something up, Jacky let out a cheer. An exasperated “What the fuck?!” coming from someone else inside.
It was getting late, but Tom had managed to convince Linkosta to help him figure out what the runes on the little cylinders did, as well as how the gyro thing worked exactly. He took the stuff to the library to look it over with her clearing a spot on a table as Apuma ran around talking books down from the shelves. He really wanted to know what those runes on the side did, ‘cause it was definitely something.
“It’s squeezing the liquid?” Linkosta replied, sounding more like she was questioning that assumption as the little thing lifted off the table once again. “Not by much though.”
“Okay… so what do the runes do?”
“I think they are doing the squeezing?”
“So no magic wards that will explode if we open it?”
“I don’t think so. But who knows what this stuff is? It’s in there tight. The window isn’t glass either. I’m not sure we even could break it.”
Tom picked up one of the cylinders, looking at the top. There was something up there. It looked almost like a one-way valve of sorts. Perhaps the means of putting more pressure inside the vessel.
“I wanna try and put it under pressure then. We should try heating one up too. It might just be something about the amount of energy being put into the liquid.”
“Would you mind doing that outside of the library?” Linkosta questioned, worriedly.
“Of course. I’m gonna need to make something that seals against the cap to try that anyway. I’m sure that’s a one-way valve. Might be a safety return valve to actually… maybe we should just try and chuck on in a fire. How tough should this thing be?”
“I have no idea, Tom. Don’t hit it with a big hammer and I think we are good.”
“Right then, maybe help your father find mention of what this might be specifically. I think it’s either a fuel storage thing or perhaps a cell used like a battery or power cell.”
“I will see what I can do,” Linkosta replied as Apuma came back with another old tome, putting it on the table and flipping to a bookmark.
“This is one of the oldest I have. It mentions an old people that have long since gone, that apparently ‘owned the skies’ whatever that means.”
“Do you know how old that is?”
“The book mentions the construction of this keep. Putting that at 750 years ago, that is why I have it, I would guess six to seven hundred.”
“That’s quite the lost civilization then.”
“I really wished we had some of the historians from the capital here,” Linkosta let out, looking at the pages.
“Hey, your dad isn’t so bad,” Apuma countered, fake hurt in his voice. “But the mines themselves have been mentioned a few times throughout history. But no mention of any big vaults. From some of the descriptions, I would say the mines we know about was how you made it in. The big tunnels… They are much much older.”
“You really need a big ass library for these kinds of things,” Tom replied, looking at the mess of books Apuma had brought out. “Might have something old enough then.”
“Books do not last forever. We can only attempt to preserve,” Apuma replied, starting to page through the book with Linkosta. Tom though, made for the infirmary. It was too late to start setting up tests with the cylinders and he had very important snuggling work to do.