Almost the entire population had shown up for the ceremony, other than the guards currently on duty. S'haar could tell neither Jack nor Em'brel wanted to be here, but as members of the Dragon’s Outpost’s leadership, their presence was necessary.

Ral'fen was being held up by a pair of guards. His injuries were on display for all to see. Several bone plates were badly scoured or even missing from his time with S'haar and Lon'thul. The assassin was barely conscious, a combination of exhaustion, his many injuries, and the pain meds Jack had insisted he be given despite everyone's insistence that he didn't deserve the mercy. S'haar still wasn't always certain if Jack's compassion was a sign of strength or weakness despite her feelings on the subject, but she suspected it wasn't as simple as that. As with everything surrounding the human she'd tied her fate to, the truth wasn't black and white, but rather a confusing maze of shades of gray that refused to rest nicely on any straightforward continuum.

S'haar stepped forward and faced the crowd. She stared at them momentarily as the murmuring came to a halt. Once she had everyone's attention, S'haar began to speak. "When you arrived here, I spoke to you and mentioned a series of rules. Among those was a simple rule that an attack on anyone in my family would be treated as an attack on myself."

S'haar looked over at the assassin and nodded in his direction. "Many of you know Ral'fen. He was invited as a guest to work and learn alongside everyone here. We freely taught him many secrets and techniques that can be learned nowhere else in this world. However, rather than use the opportunity to learn and progress, he merely bided his time to fulfill his real purpose in coming here, as an assassin!"

At those words, Em'brel flinched back, and Jack rested a hand on her shoulder. Members of the crowd barked out exclamations of anger and outrage.

S'haar allowed this for a moment, then motioned for silence and continued. "As I'm sure many of you have now heard, he made an attempt on Em'brel's life."

At that, another outburst broke out around camp, this time followed by shouts of anger and rage. S'haar suspected that if not for the presence of herself and the guards next to Ral'fen, the assassin would have found himself the target of several thrown projectiles at that moment.

S'haar allowed the crowd to vent a little longer before resuming control again. "Having broken this Outpost's trust in such an offensive and horrendous manner, I hereby sentence Ral'fen to death."

At that, the crowd cheered all the louder. S'haar could feel Jack's discomfort as he stared off into the distance. When she'd told him this was her final judgment, Jack had nodded in acceptance, though his lips had been pressed thin as he kept his thoughts to himself. However, he didn't have to voice them. S'haar knew Jack well enough that his first thought had been to wonder if there was another way, and his second was to acknowledge that this was her outpost and her people, and S'haar had already anticipated Jack's objection and taken it into account before rendering judgment. Nevertheless, he had insisted he at least be allowed to drug the condemned.

Again, S'haar wondered at Jack's odd combination of warrior and gentle spirit. In the heat of battle, when lives were on the line, Jack could and did kill more warriors than anyone she'd ever known, even her father. Yet once the moment had passed, all of Jack's killer instinct faded as if blown away by a breeze, and he was left with only mercy, even for someone as vile as Ral'fen. It was a wonder that she couldn't fully comprehend. Was that a human thing, or just a Jack thing?

In the end, S'haar supposed it didn't matter right now. She'd determined that this course of action was necessary to ensure order and send a message to any other would-be assassins, and Jack hadn't disputed her call.

As Ral'fen was brought to a kneeling position, S'haar stood over him, sword in hand. She decided to at least grant the assassin the human mercy of a quick and clean death.

-

Jack continued to stare ahead. He was torn about this whole situation. If he'd still been in charge, he wasn't sure what decision he would have made. Long-term imprisonment wasn't viable in the Outpost's current state, and in his present condition, sending Ral'fen into the wilderness would have been a more cruel death sentence.

Ultimately, it didn't matter what he would have done. Jack was free to offer his thoughts and advice, but this was ultimately S'haar's call. From the sounds of the crowd, they agreed with her decision. This was argu'n rule and argu'n punishment. Still, it didn't make the experience any easier to be part of.

Typically, the right of execution would have fallen to Em'brel or a representative of Em'brel's choice, but with S'haar acting as Em'brel's adoptive mother and the Outpost's leader, the warrior woman had taken the responsibility on herself.

Looking over at Em'brel, Jack could tell she was torn as well. He was familiar enough with argu'n in general, and Em'brel in particular, to see a series of emotions warring across her face. Anger, fear, rage, guilt, and more. In the end, she simply balled her hands into fists and stared down at them in an attempt to control herself and her emotions.

Jack could feel the tension rising in the air. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of motion followed by a loud "thwack," and with the crowd's roar, he knew it was over. Jack couldn't stop himself from glancing toward S'haar. The body was being hauled away, and S'haar was cleaning her sword. Upon meeting his gaze, S'haar nodded in Jack's direction before issuing orders to the guards about what was to be done with the body.

Apparently, he was to be granted the traditional rite of immolation. Argu'n funerary tradition was simple. Often their body was immolated, and the bones disposed of. They could be buried or sent out to sea via crude rafts or disposed of in any manner deemed appropriate by the village and/or family. It was still common for different families in a village to have a variety of traditions, though one thing remained consistent. The body was perceived as nothing more than an empty vessel to be disposed of once the person was dead. Nothing of the individual remained.

It seemed a little cold to Jack to look at the body of a friend or loved one and see nothing more than rotting meat, but he supposed that was the human in him. Thinking further on the subject, he was just happy they didn't practice ritualistic cannibalism the way some human cultures once had...

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

In this case, burying the bones was likely the easiest disposal method. Since the slain had no family present, efficiency was the deciding factor.

Jack was just standing up to get Em'brel and leave when Fae'en walked up to the two of them. "So I've got the prototype ready for that weapon you and the dragon designed. Care to come to take a look at it?"

He thought for a moment before turning to Em'brel. He could inspect the work and help her get her mind off the situation in one go. "Well, how about it. Want to come check it out with me? We'll need someone to test fire it a few times, and you're about perfect!"

Em'brel's expression was just a little dazed as she looked up at Jack. "I guess I could, but am I really the best person to test this new ranged weapon? I've seen Lon'thul's, and there's no way I could wield that effectively."

Jack nodded, smiling at his own cleverness. Or rather, the cleverness of the Greeks before him. "That's the beauty of this design. It's much easier to load, aim, and fire than the bows Angela and I designed for Lon'thul. Of course, you sacrifice firing speed to make that happen, but given enough time and argu'n endurance, I think it might bridge that gap, since it doesn't take nearly as much muscle strain to keep it drawn while you aim. You don't even need a lot of muscle to draw it, since it uses your weight to generate tension. Simply having your muscle mass and bone plates will enable you to generate a much higher draw strength than a similarly built human ever could."

Jack could tell by the look in her eyes that he had Em'brel's attention. The girl desperately wanted to see what bit of human cleverness would fulfill the capabilities Jack was attributing to his latest project. With a nod of her head, the two followed the master crafter to her workspace.

They didn't get very far before Lon'thul came loping up behind them. "So, we getting to test out Jack's latest invention? Mind if I come along?"

Jack grinned at the hunter. "You're welcome to join. It'll be interesting to compare the penetration power of the gastrophetes against your bow."

The hunter blinked, then shook his head. "Ok, you might be great at designing things, but you suck and naming them! That sounded more like a sneeze than a name. We're going to have to do better than that!"

-

Lon'thul was looking over Em'brel's shoulder as she looked at the weapon Fea'en had handed to her. "Ok, it looks like a bow attached to the end of some bulky stick. Is that really less strain to use? It seems like making it heavier would make it more unwieldy!"

The device itself looked pretty much exactly like Jack's diagram. Most humans would think it looked a lot like an oversized crossbow, with both the bow and the perpendicular frame being over four feet long and the back end having two oddly placed handholds almost reminiscent of bike handles. Fae'en had done a great job, not that Jack had expected anything less from the craft master.

Jack nodded and tipped his head to the hunter to acknowledge his point. "You're right. It is bulkier and harder to carry, but that's not the part I'm as worried about. The problem is your stamina in battle. You can barely draw the bow six or seven times before your performance suffers. I imagine it would be worse for anyone less active than yourself, which includes almost everyone here."

Pointing to the middle of the handle, Jack directed his instructions to Em'brel. "First, the middle part of the stock can slide forward, push it forward as far as possible, then hook the bow's string onto the latch at the end. Now place the extended end against the ground, grab the handles and brace the middle part between the handles against your abdomen. Good, now, lean into the handles, pushing the slide back as far as you can. Don't hold back. Really lean into it. The more weight you can bring to bear on the device, the stronger the impact force will be."

Once Em'brel strained enough to get a good draw, Jack showed her how to flip the lock to hold the bow in a drawn position. "Ok, now, as you can see, the bow is drawn and ready to fire, but it doesn't take any more strength to keep it that way than simply lifting the device. So, simply load the bolt, point, and pull the trigger down here."

Jack showed Em'brel how to load the bolt, then the girl braced the primitive weapon against her stomach and pulled the trigger as she'd been instructed. She landed a little high on her target, and Jack nodded as if he'd expected that. "One downside is that you can't fire it anywhere near as fast as a bow due to the slower reload, though it's still faster than many traditional crossbows. The other is that it's more awkward to aim, so often, the shots will land a little higher or lower than you think. Best to aim for center mass rather than trying to hit any particular target or vulnerable point."

Holding his hand up to forestall Lon'thul's objections, Jack continued. "The upsides are that it's got a much longer draw than most traditional crossbows and much higher draw strength than a conventional bow, meaning it hits like a charging kovaack. It's halfway between most traditional handheld ranged weapons and a small artillery piece. It's also much easier to construct and maintain than a crossbow. Finally, while it's not as accurate as someone adequately trained with a bow, it's much easier to learn to aim.

Fea'en had sat back with her arms crossed as she watched the presentation. Now she stepped forward and inspected the device with a thoughtful expression. "Now that I've seen it in action, I might be able to recommend a few slight modifications that'll make it a bit more durable and won't add much in the way of weight."

Jack nodded, then grinned. "I'll see to it you get a dedicated headset to speak with Angela while working on the project, but in the meantime, care to give it a try?"

The craft master shot him one of those predatory grins that used to unsettle him. "After all the time and effort I put into this thing? Try and stop me!"

Em'brel looked a little crestfallen, having to give up her new toy so quickly but handed over the weapon willingly enough. Jack shook his head and chuckled at her expression. "Oh, don't worry. You'll get plenty of time with one of those before long. I'll be expecting at least one or two of your training sessions a week to be focused on using one of these, once we get a few made. S'haar agrees that every non-guard in the Outpost should be somewhat comfortable using it."

Lon'thul was examining one of the bolts. They were much more crude and heavy than the arrows they'd designed for his bow. Basically, just iron shafts with arrowheads and some basic fletching. "So why'd you make these out of iron rather than the compounds you made my arrows out of?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, with the greater draw strength, the gastrophetes could fire them at similar speeds to your arrows, and they are much simpler to make, meaning you aren't reliant on Angela to make them for you. The heavier bolts will hit even harder, though the impact might deform the bolts eventually. I'd be surprised if they were good for more than a dozen shots each, less if you want them more precise. Of course, they'll have to be periodically melted down and reforged, but that's a small price to pay for far greater security."

When Fea'en finally fired a bolt into the target stump, Lon'thul loosed an arrow of his own. They pierced the stump in similar locations, but where the arrow penetrated about halfway up the shaft, the bolt was buried almost to the fletching. Getting a closer look, Jack shook his head in amazement. "Some of you might not have to put as much effort into setting the bow as others. It will be a royal pain retrieving some of these bolts!"

Fea'en smiled as she handed the weapon back to Em'brel. "That's what apprentices are for!"