Chapter 107: Work, Work, Work

The news of just how much explosive and generally unstable stuff Saph and the others were bringing home had seen the armory/bunker moved to the top of the todo-list, and the news that they had also hired a ‘very enthusiastic inventor’ had Tom worried as well.

Luckily Jarix had already proven just how adept he was at digging a hole, so he was entrusted with that vital part of the project.

“Are you aware of just how much you managed to overstate the importance of this job?” Jarix sneered as he backed out of the hole Having just finished excavating the next section. Now it was up to them to put in more bracing.

“You sleep in the keep too, so it’s just as much for your safety,” Tom replied as Shiva handed down another wooden beam to him and Jacky. Kulinger, Wiperna, and Raulf were hard at work getting them cut to shape.

The smith had yet to say a word today, just working silently and without complaint. Tom guessed that would do for now. But they were gonna be spending a lot of time together in the future, so he would rather that changed. Jacky was seemingly giving her mother a very similar treatment, being very happy and upbeat today but not even acknowledging her mother.

“Why are we putting all this underground, couldn’t we just put it in a shed or something?” Fengi questioned as she held up some planks, Anchor nailing them in place. Tom was still a little annoyed that Shiva had to spend her time making god damn nails rather than making more things for the lathe, but oh well.

“Because if a shed blows up things go everywhere, and it’s very easy to take out. This will both protect it from damage and make sure it’s at least somewhat contained if it does blow up.”

“Pity the guy who comes down here with a torch,” Anchor added, moving to the next board, fetching more nails from his mouth.

“Yeah, we need a no-smoking sign on the door, that’s for sure,” Tom echoed with a chuckle.

“Write it in English so the enemy doesn’t understand,” Jacky went, laughing a bit at her own joke.

“Do you understand English?” Tom teased as they got back out of the hole, so Jarix could have another go at it.

“No, but I know not to bring fire down here,” Jacky replied, clearly finding that a stupid question.

“We should also consider just how much money the stuff down here is gonna be worth,” Rachuck added, giving Tom and Jacky a hand, putting more timbers up onto the makeshift workbench they had going on.

“Oh yeah, hey if you want the mother of all traps we could rig some kind of detonator and if anyone is dumb enough to stand over it, we blow the bunker and them with it to kingdom come,” Tom replied, the captain looking ready to protest before beginning to contemplate the idea.

“Well, Apuma could perhaps rig something like that up. Linkosta definitely could.”

"Oh, I was thinking radio or just a wire... Would it be easy to do with magic?” Tom questioned. He didn't really know why he hadn't considered that idea. They had fucking magic here, and he was thinking of blasting caps. Hell, they had used quite a bit of it on him, and Apuma could clearly at least make some kind of rituals or whatever they were supposed to be called. Magic remote detonators… Oh, that could be quite something, but that could lead to some really nasty things… No, he had made up his mind on this. They need all the defenses they can get. But it needs to stay here for now... Somehow.’

“Those enchantments, can you choose who can use them?”

“I’m not much of a magic guy, that’s dad's area, but I think so.... maybe.”

“So you can lock things?”

“It’s not like it’s cheap to do, but possibly,” Rachuck replied, clearly trying to emphasize that he really didn't know about this stuff.

“Might still be cheaper or better than making a detonator.”

“I don’t know what a detonator is, but that sounds fun,” Jacky added as she shoulder bashed another beam into place. “What does that do?”

“Makes things explode,” Tom answered with a shrug.

“Sold!”

Tom had asked Apuma just what exactly could be done with these magic enchantments over dinner, getting invited up to the library for an evening lesson to try and fill him in. Thus far Tom had only really taken an interest in what the dragonettes could do. He had questioned just what Apuma could do, back when they had finally opened up a bit about magic; but, as the earrings proved, there was way more that this shit could do.

“Yes, Tom, it could be done. I can’t, but it could be done. But you are talking about enchanting something that will purposely destroy itself… That seems like an awful waste,” Apuma replied, clearly rather skeptical.

“So like, what’s the difference? You did that whole translating thingy.”

“That’s a ritual. You are talking about an enchantment,” Apuma clarified for him as he took a seat in his favorite chair in the library.

“And?”

“Yes… Rituals are powered and controlled by the person performing it. It usually requires preparation and various components. It is also almost always a one-time thing. One and done. Though you can often reuse some of the prep work, but that’s not important right now.”

“An enchanted item is inherently magical. The enchantments can be powered either by the user, by taking energy from somewhere, or some may redirect energy and thus not spend any or at least very little. A ritual is controlled by the mage, an enchantment is controlled by the item.”

“Okay… so, like how expensive would a button be, that makes another thing throw a spark.”

“Days worth of work, maybe weeks, and very fine materials if it is to last. You don’t make temporary enchantments, they are just not worth it. Linkosta could likely make something like that with the right materials.”

“Could be worse… What about the horn?”

“I’ve gotta be honest. I have no idea. That is so far outside the reach of anything I ever even dared thinking about using.”

“Well think bigger, what enchantments do you know?”

“Oh god. That’s a long list. I have some books on the subject if you want to read them.”

“At some point, definitely. Too much to do right now though, and I’m not that great at reading… yet…” Perhaps he could get Jacky to do nighttime stories… fuck, that was a hilarious thought. Anyway. “Could I do, like, rituals?” Tom questioned with cautious optimism. That would be next-level sweet. Even if he would be kicking himself even more for not thinking about this sooner. That would be so cool. There had just been so much to do though… and there still was.

“No, mages are not very common. I am not a very good one either. Linkosta, though, shows great potential. You need to be able to imbue something with magic. Making an enchanted item is also a kind of ritual in a sense. Though most who do it dedicate their lives to the craft and that alone. I doubt she would have been able to keep her snout out of those classes either though,” Apuma replied with a knowing smile.

“Right,” Tom replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. “So she could make some little things. That could be handy… I need to figure out where best to use that then. By the way, the keep won’t be in danger of blowing up now. The bunker is done.”

“Oh thank heavens, keeping the kids out of the basement has been such a hassle.”

"You’ve been… Yes, that was getting quite annoying,” Tom replied very convincingly. “Anyway, duty calls, there is always more to do.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

What prayers they had made for a safe journey appeared to have borne fruit the rest of the way. Aside from a lone red dragon they had spotted way off in the distance, on day four, that had rather suspiciously turned away from them, not much had happened during the trip.

Baron and Glira had debated going after the target in case it was a brigand or something similar. The fleeing red was already kilometers away, and they were heavily laden and not particularly well-rested either, having navigated the storm only the day before.

“No use in chasing what we can’t catch,” Baron had finally decided after some back and forth arguing.

“Do you think Tom could make a dragon go faster?” Pho questioned, clearly displeased with the decision not to give chase.

“I mean… Probably,” Sapphire had to admit with a shrug. “I don’t see why not.”

“Are we gonna find my son weighed down with more useless gimmicks than Glira when we get there?” Archeon questioned as the formation turned back on course.

“I heard that!” Glira protested from behind. “What were you talking about?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“Oh, you are just insufferable on this trip.”

The weather hadn’t caused more problems, so she would get her curiosity sated soon enough. Sapphire had to admit she was actually starting to feel a little homesick, though that might be more because, despite the increased amount of company present, the trip had gotten a little boring by now. As with going out, they had been flying through the night from the small town of Ylditz heading for home. When Sapphire woke up after a more pleasant night than what had been the case departing, the island had just appeared on the distant horizon. ‘Only a few hours left,’ she mused to herself happily. It had been one hell of a trip, but it would be good to be home.

“I can’t wait to see where you live. It sounds so exciting,” Ray had let out as she sat down in front of Sapphire, positively beaming with a large smile on her face.

“You’re up bright and early… Well, it doesn’t look like much I’m afraid. Just a normal keep.”

“I’ve never seen one of those either. I was born in the capital, remember?” Ray retorted, not letting Saph dampen her enthusiasm.

“Right, you told me about that… Well, I think you’re gonna love it.”

“Dibs on asking Tom questions,” Linkosta let out as Sapphire looked around and was forced to conclude she might have overslept a little.

“No, he’s an inventor and we need to get some technical stuff out of the way,” Tink protested. The inventor had proven quite the match in stubbornness for Linkosta, which had sparked some… lengthy debates on how best to go about things.

“Oh please, he’s the most powerful fire mage I have ever heard of. That’s clearly his profession?”

“He has spent his life studying machines. Of course, he wants to talk about that.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I’m sure he can make time to speak to both of you,” Sapphire interjected as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, trying to end the discussion before it got off the ground. Linkosta had yet to swear secrecy like they had planned, so that was one thing she was not allowed to know just yet. Knowing they had a crazy inventor was one thing. Knowing the battle reports were at least somewhat false was another.

“Irrelevant, I’m having the first word,” Archeon let out in a rather grumbly tone.

“It was not exactly an easy situation to be in, let’s be honest,” Sapphire replied.

“I’m sure he did his best, and they did a very good job,” Dakota joined in, with her best diplomatic voice. “And they made it through, saving both life and property.”

“A lot of it too” Balethon added, clearly trying to help out as well. “Who knows, Jarix might have learned something.”

“He better have. Honestly, a night battle against darklings, what were they thinking?”

“Let’s surprise these mother fuckers?” Balethon questioned with a shrug.

‘That’s one way to put it,' Sapphire thought to herself. As Arch made another disapproving grumble, Sapphire pondered whether or not she should warn Tom to go hide behind Glira as they came down. Then again, there was no way Arch was gonna do anything physical. That really didn’t seem like him, and even so, there were way too many people and other dragons present.

As they made it over the island, Sapphire found herself yearning for that all too familiar silhouette on the horizon as the terrain rolled on beneath them. But they had one final thing to attend to first as they all set down in an open marsh, everyone disembarking and being lined up parade style by Victoria.

“Very good, now some of you with better ears than others might have caught on to the fact that very little at this keep is normal. The rest of you are likely to at least start figuring that out when we get there. So first off... The abnormal activities of this keep, and especially the technological development taking place here, is subject to an oath of secrecy. This is non-negotiable and you will all swear this oath here today.”

“Is there a reason for not disclosing this information before departure?” Grevi questioned, not moving from her parade stance.

“Yes. You are not allowed to disclose that you are under an oath of secrecy in the first place,” Victoria simply replied, without giving further comment. “You are allowed to speak of the actions of the keep, any mention of how this was achieved is to be credited to advanced magics being at play. Even the intervention of the gods if necessary. It must not become clear that this keep may hold the future for our people, just as it might hold its doom. It is of the utmost importance that the enemy do not seize this keep, so they may continue their work. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the Royal Guard elements echoed with trained discipline, even if there was very clear confusion in a fair few of the uninitiated. The oath was recited in detail by every member present. On a more lighthearted note, Dakota had them all promise they would not say anything about the armor they had gotten apart from that they had a set really nice of enchanted armor. That was gonna be a little surprise.

“Wait, so he’s not a mage?” Linkosta questioned, clearly taken aback by that.

“Nope. We didn’t even know if the earrings would work on him,” Sapphire replied, Linkosta turning her attention to Dakota.

“Why didn't you tell me this?”

“You were not allowed to know that part just yet. But now you do.”

“But I was gonna ask him so many questions,” Linkosta let out, sounding almost defeated.

“I hope you are ready to answer them instead. Though I’m sure he will have some interesting things for you.”

“Ay ay ay… wait so how did he do it?”

“You’ll figure out soon enough.”

Taking back to the skies, the keep soon appeared on the horizon, the flags being unfurled as they made their approach. They had set down on the ground outside the keep since there was no way for all of them to fit in the greeting hall. Everyone had come out to greet them. Saph daintily slid off Archeon’s back, dropping to the ground below, setting off at a very dignified and not at all hurried walk.

She didn’t get too far before Fengi borderline assaulted her with a running jump, clearly not concerned with maintaining dignity in front of this many important people.

“Hey there, missed you too,” Sapphire laughed out as Fengi refused to let go, Jacky coming over lifting them both off the ground with a tight hug.

“I told you, you should have brought more people… and a big hammer.”

“No you didn’t, though it sounds like you could have used two,” Saph retorted with a snicker as she and Fengi were put back down again.

“You can never have enough hammers. Sup!” Jacky let out, as she waved to the new faces who were disembarking a bit more slowly.

“Sup,” Phospheno replied, seemingly unphased, Bolinda giving a more cautious wave as she looked around.

Dakota had walked up before her mother, giving her a slight bow before embracing her, then moved on to Apuma and lastly Rachuck. Her brother didn't let her get away with just a hug, giving her a rather mean noogie. He ended up paying for that by getting tackled to the ground, Dakota getting back up as if nothing had happened. Anchor came over with Kiran who eagerly climbed onto his mom as the couple nuzzled each other.

The civility of Nunuk and Apuma had only held until they spotted Linkosta cautiously getting off Archeon, walking down the lowered wing with Ray.

It was a rare thing to see Nunuk run anymore but that did it, as she rushed to her daughter. Sapphire swore there was a tear in her eyes. Apuma was not too far behind, but he had never been able to match his wife in any physical characteristic, so he was bringing up the rear.

Sapphire was looking at the heartwarming reunion when Essy became the third to manage to land a hug on her unchallenged. Though she was a lot more gentle.

__________________________________________________________________________________

‘Awww,’ Tom thought to himself as he looked around at the happy reunion, everyone seemingly busy welcoming back their loved ones and dearest friends. He was gonna go give Saph a proper hug too when another dragonette with a slightly unhinged expression came up to him hurriedly, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously, introducing himself as Tink.

“Right, the inventor… Pleasure to meet you,” Tom got out after a moment of surprise and slight annoyance.

“Oh we are gonna do great things. Where is Junior, you need to meet my son. Where is he?”

Tom didn’t help the guy in the search, his eyes instead landing on the two big blue dragons which were currently staring him down. One of them kitted out, unlike anything he had seen thus far. He had mistaken all the random bits on… Wait, was that a girl?... He had no clue when it came to dragons, but it kinda looked like it… Anyway, at least much of the equipment strapped to her. Those were not cargo as he had first thought, but weapons. ‘That must be Glira then,’ he thought to himself as he politely nodded at the dragon, who squinted at him a bit before turning her attention to Jarix.

“So, ya little whelp, I heard you had some fun?”

“Sure did,” Jarix replied with a confidence so fake Tom damn near felt sorry for him.

“Oh don’t tell me they broke you already. Come here, let’s have a look,” Glira replied, gesturing him over, Jarix trotting around the mass of people that had formed in front of the four newly arrived dragons.

“Ouch… okay, I concede, you should have gotten a bit more plating back here,” Glira let out as she inspected the damage. A quick glance at her told Tom she had been through worse before though… were those scorch marks on her side?

“Yeah, that hurt... quite a lot. Hi, dad.”

“So what did you learn?” Archeon questioned, with a rather unhappy expression, the dragon sitting down on his haunches.

“Don’t go low when there might be someone above you at night?” Jarix tried, clearly hoping that was the correct answer. Archeon made a not entirely pleased grimace, sighing a bit, looking at Tom.

“I guess that will do.”

“Oh, lighten up you old fart…” Glira protested, being cut off by Arch.

“I’m younger than you.”

“And smaller. Now kiddo, what you need for that are blitz bombs to blind the enemy. Remember, playing fair is for suckers.”

“Tom says that won’t work: they see using their ears, not eyes.”

“That doesn't... what?” Glira replied, looking back to Tom just as Sapphire made it over, surprising him a hug.

“Well gosh, I’ve missed you too. How have you been? I heard you had it real rough,” Sapphire let out, clearly taking the piss as Tom turned his attention to her. “Yeah, it’s been… something. Wing still in one piece?”

“Better than ever. Not dead yet?”

“Not yet,” Tom replied with a chuckle. “Thanks for the care package.”

“Glad to be of service”

“Careful now, don’t damage the goods,” Jacky added, walking back over with the two new huntresses in tow.

“Oh come on, he’s hardly yours,” Sapphire replied jokingly, pulling Tom in a bit close.

“Are you sure about that?” Jacky questioned, leaning a bit on one hip with a very smug expression.

Sapphire looked back and forth between the two of them for a second, with a very confused expression. “Wait, what?”

Jacky sauntered over picking Tom up into a bride carry. “Mine now.”

Tom was not quite sure how to react to that, but Sapphire’s expression was fucking hilarious. ‘Screw it, why not.’ He put his arms around Jacky’s neck, doing his level best to look cute. Which apparently didn't really work, as Sapphire broke down laughing, though she was clearly trying not to.

“And here I was getting worried Balethon would leave you in a bad mood,” Sapphire replied after she got the laughing under control. “Tom and Jacky one and the same… oh god that’s terrifying.”

“What did that little shit do?” Jacky questioned, seemingly worried her plans might be coming off the rails. Tom for his part elected to just stay where he was, waving at whoever came up to say hi as Jacky made out her target. “Okay now, you promised to play along, let’s have some fun.”

“Roger that.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sapphire wasn’t quite sure how the news those two were now an item sat with her. Tom was definitely a good friend, she just hadn't even considered that part. Then again, that dude had problems for days, so perhaps observing from the sideline wouldn’t be a bad idea… and having someone else be ‘responsible’ for him likely wouldn’t hurt either.

‘Jacky… Responsible… May the gods have mercy us all,’ Sapphire thought to herself as she followed the two chucklefucks. She needed to see just where this might go. She had seen Jacky with a bad idea way too many times before, and this positively reeked “poorly thought out.”

Balethon had been in the middle of the other guards, Rachuck having made it over after having recovered from Dakota’s tackle and welcoming back Linkosta. Predictably enough, Canabrera was standing there looking rather unimpressed as Balethon was busy bragging to his friends about the trip and, of course, his new girlfriend.

Jacky put Tom down, sidling up next to Canabrera, the large escort still not quite measuring up to Jacky as she leaned on her shoulder.

“So ehh. What’s up with stumpy here?” Jacky started, gesturing towards Balethon, who turned around to look at the two women.

“Stumpy?” Canbrera had to question, looking at Jacky.

“I mean, you know,” Jacky replied, gesturing to her nether region.

“Hey, what the fuck!” Balethon protested, rather sharply.

“Oh, hi there! How have you been?”

“Quite good. What are you doing?”

“Oh, just having some fun at your expense. You know, like you used to do.”

“Oh come, on. It’s been years, Jacky.”

“Is this your ex?” Canabrera questioned, seemingly catching on to what was going on. Sapphire found Fengi and Essy coming up beside her, Fengi holding out a small bag of trail snacks.

“Yeah, careful she’s all brawn and no brain,” Balethon warned, throwing a sideways nod at Jacky.

‘Low blow, Bale Boi, and slightly hypocritical, mister genius,’ Sapphire mused to herself as she took a handful of Fengi’s snacks.

“I think the phrase was ‘shallow dimwit,’ but sure,” Jacky replied before turning to face Canabrera. “Now you seem to be a magnificent woman, so I have to ask... How the hell do you live with that in bed?”

“Just fine. Is this jealousy I’m smelling?” Canabrera questioned, squinting a bit at Jacky, drawing a slight smile.

“Nah. I’ve got the latest model. I was just curious if he’s gotten that good now. How do you stay cool?"

“I’m sorry?” Canabrera questioned, seemingly finding the notion funny.

“You know fainting… from heat… Walking is a bitch too. But well, mine can carry me around all day if he has to.” Saph looked to Fengi, who just gave a rather strained-looking nod in reply, before looking back to the unfolding shitshow. ‘Damn.’

“I don’t faint. Maybe you’re a little weak in the knees?”

‘Bad move,’ Sapphire chuckled, noticing a very unamused Shiva walking up behind Jacky.

“A Furlong is not weak. In any sense… Jacky?” Shiva let out in a low growl.

“Oh, come on," Jacky replied, turning back to her mom.

“You are embarrassing yourself. Please stop.”

“Oh dear, need mommy to come bring you in line?” Canabrera replied with a chuckle, putting her hands on her hips. Shiva turned to glare at the smaller dragonette, who she had over a full head-on in height. At the best of days Shiva could be an unsettling sight; this was clearly not the best of days. Canabrera rather quickly shrank a bit, expression growing rather apologetic.

“Never mind... Tom, please ensure she does not act too stupidly.”

“What the hell was that about,” Sapphire questioned as Dakota also came up beside her.

“Shiva’s not entirely happy with those two. I still think they are perfect,” Fengi replied, munching down a bit more trailmix.

“This is disastrous,” Dakota let out as she too came up to watch the spectacle, giving Fengi and Essy a quick hug. The other boys were also rather interested in the little encounter. In fact, pretty much everyone was looking at the odd contest by now.

__________________________________________________________________________________

‘Well that’s positive,’ Tom thought to himself as Shiva walked off seemingly dejected with the whole thing, Jacky turning back to her two targets.

“Remember all brawn no brain,” Jacky went with a wink at Canabrera before turning back to Balethon. “But no, I was just curious. Oh, and I wanted to say thank you for having me running around for years wondering just what I did wrong. Turns out you were wrong. I am worth loving. 'Cause, he fucking loves me, so suck it.” She went, looking to Balethon and pointing back at Tom.

Tom narrowed his eyes at Balethon at that. Jacky hadn’t mentioned that part. ‘Not worth loving’ if that was true, his opinion of the guy just fell even further. Most of what he knew about Balethon and Jacky had come from Fengi. Jacky hadn’t brought it up, and he hadn’t really asked, 'cause why would he? Tom walked up to put his arm around Jacky’s waist, leaning his head on her shoulder.

“Oh, and he’s a damn war hero. I seem to have heard you didn’t do so well when confronted by the enemy,” Jacky continued with a wide grin.

“I was kidnaped in the night. Kinda hard to do much in that situation,” Balethon protested.

“You could just have killed all of them. Hey Tom, how many did you kill?”

“I know how many he killed. Have fun,” Balethon replied dejectedly.

“Did you really claim no one would ever love her?” Tom questioned if only to gauge Balethon’s reaction. The quick flick of the ears to lay against the back of his skull betrayed that he probably had said that, though Balethon didn’t respond. “Yeah, please don't do that again.”

“As I said, have fun,” Balethon replied, turning away, Canabrera backing off too. Well, that had all been very cliche, Tom thought to himself as Jacky snickered to herself clearly quite pleased. He had promised to play along but god damn. Looking around, there were quite a few uncomfortable faces. ‘Yay me,’ Tom thought to himself, wondering just how to lower the amount of attention at least a little.