Chapter 93: Scared Yet Brave

“I’ll go! I’m faster than all of you!” Jacky demanded after, much to Tom’s dismay, someone had written down the plan for her.

“Tom, can you please help out here? She’s not fit to fly,” Quin pleaded with him.

“She can’t hear me, and I can't exactly write right now.”

“Tom, tell them I’m good to go. I’m just a little sore that’s all,” Jacky tried, doing her best to sound endearing. Tom held out his arms, being rewarded by her pushing up against him.

“I won’t. Please don’t go, Jacky,” Tom went, holding her tight, stroking the back of her neck.

“I’ll go,” Luke piped up. “Quin and Gidia are our last two women who aren’t wounded. And we aren't letting either of you do this.”

“But he’s dying, let me do it,” the young woman who had washed his clothes responded. Tom cursed himself a little for not even learning her name before now. “They are all faster than you, you know that Luke It’s gonna take you forever to catch them.”

“I’m just as fast as you, but you're too young for this. I’m going. They must be taking it easy on such a long flight, but I must go now!” Luke stated. “What do you need Tom?”

“High-grade alcohol. Ask Shiva for the pure stuff, that will be easier to carry, and the IV drip stuff. Just tell them the stuff I gave to Nunuk. Unkai give him the box of sweets.”

“Of what?” Luke questioned as Unkai ran off again.

“It’s like hard honey. Be careful with them, five is enough to wear out Jacky completely and they don’t last long.”

“Thank you, I’ll do my best I promise.”

“I’m kinda the one thanking you here,” Tom joked.

“Not really, since we kinda poisoned you after saving our arses,” Kalix interjected, sounding a little ashamed.

“Your breath smells funny,” Jackalope noted as she continued to hold Tom close. He gave her a reassuring pat on the back as they waited for Unkai.

“Of all the things wrong right now,” Tom mused as he blinked, trying to see. The flask of whiskey had apparently done something, as his vision at least hadn’t gotten any worse in the last few minutes.

“Here, got them! Give Zarko these when you catch her and tell her to fly like the fucking wind,” Unkai let out, panicked urgency in his voice.

“What if he doesn't find her?” someone asked from the crowd.

“Then I crash in the forest and contemplate my failure, gotta go,” Luke replied as Tom felt Jacky try to wrest away from him.

“No Jacky, you’re staying here,” Tom tried as he tightened his grip on her.

“Don’t worry I’ll catch her, you just wait here,” she went with the tone of someone about to do something very stupid for what they thought is a good reason. There was not much Tom could do to stop her as she put her back into it ripping free of his grasp.

“No, Jacky, don't do it!” Unkai protested. “Give those back!”

“Please I can. Auuw,” Luke let out in protest.

“Get off me!” Jacky protested with a strained grunt as Tom heard a thunk of someone hitting the floor.

“Jacky, don’t!” Tom shouted out, to no avail.

“Jarix, stop her, she’s gonna kill herself!” Unkai Tried ordering. Tom saw the big blue shape start to move.

“Don’t hurt her!” Tom shouted out in protest, Jarix stopping in his tracks as the sound of wingbeats filled the air.

“I’ll be back before you know it!” Jacky shouted back at them as the white blotch vanished out the open door platform door.

“I’ll get her, don’t worry,” Luke retorted as another white blotch took to the sky, making for the open outer door.

“Dammit Jacky,” Unkai protested, followed by a few seconds of silence as the wingbeats grew distant. “She’s gone and she took the candies,” Unkai let out, in a defeated tone.

“I know,” Tom sighed, laying back down.

“I couldn’t just punch her out of the sky and not hurt her,” Jarix protested. “Should I chase her too?”

“No, Zarko said your back is fucked. You might snap something and crash… Unkai, be honest with me… What are her chances?”

“I have no idea.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

The plan was an easy one. They had an eye witness and some fairly decent evidence, assuming they could prove whoever it was that had been at the warehouse this morning was a Flaxen. So they were going back to the stockade to get a warrant to search the Flaxen estate.

Victoria could, in theory, just waltz in there and demand a search, much like she had done at Bizmati Keep. If they didn’t find anything consequences were likely to be far-reaching though. So, warrant it was.

Ray had taken further convincing that they weren’t taking her to the stockade to lock her up for trespassing. Nor would they mention where she lived. She simply happened to have seen the lady coming in and out of the warehouse a few times in the last day’s time. They also wanted to know If Ray would recognize any of the two mercenaries they currently had held.

Sapphire hadn't taken her eyes off Ray as the woman tentatively made her way up onto Tiguan’s back, Ylditz holding her hand, helping her up.

“There we go. See, nothing to be scared of,” Ylditz tried in a reassuring tone. It was very clear Ray was scared to hell right now, though Sapphire believed she must be excited too. If Sapphire hadn't flown in that long, there would be very little she wouldn’t do to try it again. Perhaps that was the driving force as Ray laid down on Tiguan’s back, clutching tightly at the harness loops.

“All secure,” Ylditz let out at Tiguan, who raised to his feet. By now people had definitely noticed them, even if the crowd that had formed looked fairly ragtag, many ducking into the shadows when you looked at them. ‘I don’t miss this part, that's for sure,’ Sapphire thought to herself as she looked around. She might technically be poor, but they lived a nice life at the keeps.

“Thanks for convincing me to leave this place,” she went in a hushed tone to Dakota, who just nodded looking around as well.

“You're more than welcome. I’m just happy we didn’t bring Fengi along,” Sapphire grimaced at that. She would not have enjoyed this. “Let’s get out of here,” Dakota continued, looking back to the rest of their group.

She got her wish as Tiguan set off down the street, people scrambling out of the way even if he wouldn’t be getting anywhere close to them. Wide wings with dark grey membranes driving him into the sky, the rest of them following suit.

Sapphire and Dakota held formation right behind Tiguan, keeping an eye on Ray. She was hanging on for dear life, much as Saph had expected. As they flew, she did tentatively start to move around a bit, eventually peeking over the side. Sapphire let a cautious smile creep onto her face, as the woman held out her hand, testing the winds.

'How can something be so sad yet so happy?’ she asked herself as she saw the smile on Ray’s face. Tiguan clearly noticed, the dragon periodically looking back to check on his new passenger, a content smile spreading across his face. It was a preciously short flight before they landed back at the stockade.

It was a bittersweet moment as Ray climbed down, bowing deeply before Tiguan trying to thank him. The dragon almost growing nervous, fidgeting a bit.

“No really, it’s nothing.”

“I haven't flown in years. It was not, nothing. Thank you, thank you,” Ray responded looking up at the dragon, still hunched over.

“Uhm... You're welcome... You're getting a ride back too, I think,” The dragon replied, looking towards Ylditz as if he was checking with him first. The lieutenant chuckled a bit, nodding in reply.

“Come now, Ray, he can get a little shy when people don’t run,” Ylditz went, gesturing towards the entrance to the building. Ray’s face turned ashamed at that as she looked back to the dragon, who was looking almost apologetic by now.

“I’m so sorry, I promise I won't run, I won’t run away, I can be brave,” Ray let out, getting onto her knees. Tiguan backed up a bit, clearly uncomfortable.

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“No need for that, a thank you will do. Now please, we have work to do,” Yilditz went, as he helped her to her feet again, leading her off and gesturing for Saph and Dakota to follow.

‘She’s even scared of being scared,’ Sapphire pondered, feeling damn sorry for the woman.

Victoria had broken off to find the City Guard Captain around here to acquire the necessary paperwork for what they were planning. Meanwhile, Sapphire, Dakota, Yldtiz, Maiko, and Ray went in search of sergeant Lanok to figure out where their prisoners had ended up. As luck would have it, the sergeant had been making his way to the roof, likely expecting their arrival. This time the greeting was a humble bow to Yldtiz, before he led them down to the holding cells where the two mercenaries were being kept for the moment.

Sapphire had moved up to behind Ray, putting a hand on her shoulder. The woman winced for a second before turning her head around.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to.”

‘Oh boy,’ Sapphire went to herself, still, she needed to at least try and calm the woman down.

“Hey, don’t worry about it girl. You're in safe hands for the time being,” Sapphire tried with her warmest smile. This seemed to help a little as she moved up beside Ray.

“I’m not quite used to this much excitement,” Ray let out, with a little sigh trying to smile, her expression quickly fading back into worry as she looked into an open jail cell. ‘A distraction perhaps that worked well with Tom’ Sapphire thought to herself pondering what to do.

“I’m sorry if I’m digging too deep here, but where did you get that helmet?”

“Oh, this old thing?” Ray replied dismissively, lifting the helmet a bit before putting it back in its place. “I bought it back during my stint in the citizen’s militia. It’s nothing special.”

“Doesn't look that way, it’s nicely engraved,” Sapphire pushed, hoping some casual conversation would help a bit.

“Oh, my brother did those. He's not here anymore,” Ray replied looking down Sapphire winced to herself. ‘Right, perhaps something else.’

“I’m so sorry… Was it good in the militia? Haven't been myself, my brother is a reservist though, I think. He’s a tavern guard.”

“Yeah. I was a reservist too. Most of us are… I stood guard at a few places, mostly my brother's shop,” Ray replied, her face growing even more distraught. Sapphire didn’t really have any other ideas for small talk so elected to put an arm around her, trying to provide a bit of comfort instead.

They had made it to the cells in question not long after that. Ylditz stopped them outside the door, turning back to look at Ray.

“Now Ray, you need to remember, these people are already caught. Just because you say they were there won’t make their situation any better or worse. So just say the truth, we just need you to point out the ones you saw… okay?”

“Okay,” Ray echoed, clearly very nervous. Sapphire still had an arm around her as the sergeant opened the door to the large holding cell.

The male kidnapper had seemingly woken up again, as he was sitting back up against the wall on a small bench. The woman had taken a stool and was currently sitting staring daggers at them, though she did seem a tad confused as to why Ray was here, eyes flicking over to her a few times. There were five other unlucky individuals sitting or standing around the cell, also looking less than pleased.

Ray took quite a while, looking around at everyone in the cell, seemingly still reluctant to answer. Sapphire gave her a squeeze and a pat on the shoulder. “They won't hurt you either, we're here.” She tried to reassure Ray who had started shaking slightly again.

“Him… and her,” she eventually went, pointing at the two they had caught. ‘Bingo,’ Sapphire thought to herself with a smile. That was proof that the kidnappers had been at the warehouse and that Ray had seen the people involved. A fact Ylditz stated with considerable smugness to the sergeant as they made to leave the cell. They received a few choice curses from the prisoners on the way out, which caused Ray to duck her head and crouch slightly. Sapphire was caught by surprise as Ray slipped from her grasp momentarily.

“I’m sorry,” Ray apologized once again, standing back up and leaning against Sapphire. Sapphire wanted to tell her to stop apologizing for everything, but she hardly wanted to put more strain on the poor woman.

“It’s fine, let’s go back up to the friendly dragon. His name is Tiguan by the way.”

“He seems nice… He’s so scary though,” Ray responded, apprehension heavy in her voice.

“If you want to thank him for the ride, just try not to be scared, okay?” Ylditz added, walking in front of them. Sapphire cursed to herself a bit. ‘She’s trying her damned best, okay?’

“I still don’t get why he’s so eager to please, but can't take a thank you,” Maiko retorted from behind them.

“He’s not used to it succeeding. We are still working on that part. When I asked him why he joined he claimed it was to help people be safe, so he could ‘watch them be happy.’ ”

“Whatever lifts your wings, I guess,” Sapphire joked lightheartedly. ‘The big scary black dragon… and he just wants to see people happy.’ That did make Saph feel a little bad about her first reaction too.

“You two go be brave together then,” Dakota jested from behind, Sapphire giving Ray another light squeeze.

“Brave together,” Sapphire tried, looking at Ray. She was staring at the floor, ears flat against her skull.

“I’ll try I promise.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

They had moved Tom to the infirmary, they had cleared a bed for him, much to Tom’s displeasure. ‘Drink some bad whatever, and now the wounded are down a bed… fucking hell,’ he cursed at himself as he tried looking around. By now it had been nearly half an hour and his sight didn't seem to be getting worse. He felt sick, but the light buzz that was starting to take hold had helped with his headache.

‘She could hardly walk, and now she’s gonna be flying like a madman… woman… fuck it. At least she didn't use her wings much yesterday.’

“Unkai. How bad was that wound on her back?” Tom tried asking, hoping for a positive response.

“Well it was rather low down… so the wing muscles were mostly fine. No way that wound is staying shut flying like that, and after your… yep. She was not exactly in good shape.”

“What about the candies?”

“Depends on how many she takes. She’s gonna be paying for it later that’s for sure. As long as she doesn’t just black out in flight and crash.”

“Please don’t say that dude,” Tom protested, looking up at the ceiling.

“I don’t know how fast she is supposed to be, but I had no chance,” Luke added. “She was just gone.”

“No, not against her you don't,” Tom replied with a little smirk. “She’s fast as fuck.”

“The question is if she can keep it up,” Unkai protested, raising his arms. “She needs to make it back here too. Or set down out there and camp. She has no chance of getting all the way home, not at that pace.”

“How far do you think Zarko made it?” Tom Questioned. “Jacky will find them, right? That’s easy?”

“One and a half, maybe two hours in. It’s gonna take them at least eight without Jarix. Probably more like ten,” Unkai replied, clearly skirting around the finding them part.

“I would say ten to twelve, they aren't in much of a hurry,” Luke added, sounding thoughtful. “They are gonna be taking breaks, the winds weren’t brilliant for going that way either, and I’m sure Jacky will find them. She’s an experienced huntress after all; you don't get silvered for nothing,” Luke continued, sounding cheerful. Tom knew better than to take his word for it. Jacky had saved him twice and given him so much love and care yesterday, not to mention the wildest night of his life, and here she was… trying to save his sorry ass again.

“I’m so fucking useless. Why can’t I help her for once?” Tom sniffed, feeling damn sorry for himself.

“Oh come on dude, look around you… when you go off to save everyone isn’t it fair someone has a go at saving you?” Unkai dismissed

“Yes, but why can’t I just save her too. And this is what? The third time?… This is so stupid,” Tom protested, Unkai taking Tom’s hand for some reason.

“Well you don’t always get what you want. Now let’s just try and keep you alive so she doesn’t do it for nothing, okay?”

“But she is so far behind. Why didn’t they take a guy with them to slow them down?!” Tom cursed.

He tried to think over the situation. Best case scenario; Jacky caught Zarko in three hours, being completely exhausted. Then again, Zarko might spot Jacky behind them, or take an early break. But if they thought they were being chased they might run. Jacky would stand no chance then.

Tom's line of thought was halted by his stomach wrenching as he did his best not to puke, clutching Unkai’s hand tight. The healer quickly grasped what was going on, moving so he was standing over Tom.

“Sorry dude, this is not gonna be nice,” Unkai went, letting go of Tom’s hand. The healer then grabbed him by the throat hard enough to start choking Tom, placing the other hand firmly on his abdomen. The nausea didn’t go away, and if anything it got worse as Tom felt the muscles trying to make him puke lock up solid. Unkai hadn't been joking either, he felt like every fiber of him wanted to throw up but his stomach just didn't obey. He was essentially being lightly choked while writhing around in agony, as the healer struggled to keep his grasp.

“You got him?” Quin questioned, looking to Unkai.

“Yeah, I’ve got him. I’ve worked on him before. He’s a little strange but it works.”

“Let me know if you need help. I need to change Kalix’s bandages.”

“I will, don’t you worry,” Unkai retorted, the strain creeping into his voice. This was apparently not an easy thing to do.

The impromptu torture session lasted several minutes before the sensation finally abated, Tom slumping in the bed with a weary sigh. Unkai had clearly also been put under a fair amount of strain by that maneuver, chest heaving as he was staring down at Tom with the same worried expression as previously.

“Even when you want to puke you're stubborn,” the healer let out as he moved back from Tom’s side, shaking his hands a bit as if to get blood through them.

‘That’s just brilliant,’ Tom cursed at himself. Not only was he taking up a bed, he was burning out the healers too, and even if everything went brilliantly he would not have more alcohol before late at night. Not that he knew how long the first dose would last, but he had a feeling it wasn’t that long though. “I fucking hate this.”

“You said you couldn’t be allowed to puke. I’m sorry,” Unkai apologized.

“No not that, just this whole shit show in general.”

“No, you really managed to fuck things up,” Quin replied, apparently not deciding to feel sorry for Tom right now. “Why would you even drink our alcohol if it’s poison to you?”

“I've drunk your ale before without any problems. But as I said, something needs to go wrong. Or the stuff might be stored badly. Hell, it might even be the yeast you use for all I know.”

“Well, good thing you had that flask with you then. How long will that last?”

Tom had to think about that for a second, trying to figure out just what might govern that. He had a lot of shit in his system right now. Painkillers, alcohol, methanol, not to mention he was still very much down on blood count. He knew had to be, even if he had no clue how fast different things were replaced.

“I have no idea. It has to go through the liver where it’s broken down into harmful things. I know that much.”

“Oh, so that is why you wanted the liquor,” Unkai let out, as if the penny just dropped. “To keep it busy, yes?”

“Yeah… you know about how that works?” Tom was more than a tad surprised at that. Thus far the dragonette’s medical knowledge had been rather limited aside from just ‘use magic.’ He guessed the healers probably needed to know what the fuck they were doing though.

“Of course I do,” Unkai replied with a smidgen of pride in his voice. His expression changed rather quickly though, as if he was pondering something, face turning dour. “How long would it take for this stuff to kill you?”

“No idea. I think my sight goes first, then catastrophic liver damage, and eventually death. Alternatively, the liver damage could kill me in the long run I think. Or a million other ways possibly.”

“I mean minutes, hours, days? You don’t have a clue?”

Tom had to ponder that again, trying to wrack his weary and by now definitely inebriated brain for information. He had only heard stories of people who got this from homemade liquor or some kind of fuck up. They were all taken to the hospital and given a bunch of fancy things though. Some of the stories talked about it taking a while though, so maybe...

“Hours I think. No clue how many though.”

“What is it you say… Fingers crossed then?” Unkai replied, looking to To, clearly trying to be optimistic.

“I would be praying right now if I was you,” Quin added from where she was tending to Kalix.

“Which one would it be for this?” Tom questioned, looking into the ceiling.

Quin drew a breath as if she had something to say, though apparently, she thought better of it.

“Kalador… you would need to pray to Kalador,” she eventually let out, sounding very disappointed.