Lon'thul was on the hunt. In some ways, the bow he was using took much of the excitement away from the process. It wasn't as thrilling as the life and death struggle with blade and tooth. But, on the other hand, it was challenging in its own way. The hunt was now a cold, calculating puzzle, satisfying in a very different manner.
If he missed a shot, he couldn't overpower his prey through muscle and leverage the way he was used to. So instead, Lon'thul had to be even more precise in movement and execution than he already was. Ideally, whatever animal he hunted would be dead with an arrow through the eye before it ever realized there was a threat.
It was annoying using these new sub-par arrows, but he didn't dare waste one of the original precious arrows now that Angela was out of commission. Those were to be saved for life and death situations only. He tended to them nightly, even though the hunter rarely so much as drew one. So instead, he had some newer wooden arrows Jack had shown the woodworkers how to craft.
The new arrows were much thicker to withstand the immense force of the bow, but even so, if they struck bone or any other solid material, the shafts practically exploded with the forces involved and needed to be replaced. When the hunter had asked Jack why they didn't just switch to wooden bolts for the "belly bows," Jack had shaken his head and sighed before explaining. "Wooden shafts are fine for basic hunting, but as you pointed out, the shafts shatter when they strike any solid surface. A significant amount of energy is lost when that happens, and the arrows or bolts wouldn't have enough force to penetrate deep enough through argu’n bone plate to do much damage. Metal ones may be a bit slower and deform on hit, but it will still deliver a lot more energy into, and hopefully through, its target. Certainly more than a shattered wooden shaft ever could."
Jack had also introduced two new devices he called a lathe and jig to speed up shaping a shaft. As a result, it now only took about forty to fifty minutes to make a new arrow, assuming the arrowhead itself was in reusable condition. Of course, Lon'thul would have felt bad about damaging so many arrows while hunting, but Jack pointed out the dramatic increase in his own efficiency supplying the Outpost with food more than compensated for the extra woodworking labor. When he added in the real-life practice Lon'thul himself was getting, the new techniques the process was teaching the woodworkers, and the data Jack was gathering, the overall value to the Outpost outweighed the cost by a significant margin.
Honestly, that was a bit too much for the hunter to wrap his mind around, so he more or less took Jack's word for it. The problem he was currently worrying about was one of loyalty. Lon’thul was shaping up to be a critical factor in the plan to kidnap Em'brel's cousin. He'd been thrilled to volunteer his services to get back at the man working so hard to hurt Em'brel, but then Jack had to go and ask a question that upended Lon'thul's world. "Will this job interfere or conflict with your duty to your village?"
That question had stopped Lon'thul mid-thought. He'd thought of the Dragon’s Outpost as an offshoot of the village but still essentially a part of it, but now, he had to wonder if that was still holding true. After all, he'd initially been sent to keep an eye on it and report the goings-on back to the village. However, his reports mainly had been slightly more detailed descriptions of the stories and rumors the woodworkers themselves had brought back, and he even had a few secrets he was keeping due to his oath to Jack involving Angela and the cave. But now that he thought about it, this place was quickly becoming a village of its own. If that was the case, which one truly held his loyalty?
At first, it had seemed obvious that his home village superseded the Outpost. However, it just hadn't felt right when he'd decided that. Even knowing his father and many of his friends resided in the village, Lon'thul felt a closer bond with Jack, S'haar, Ger'ron, and obviously Em'brel...
Still, it's not like Jack asked Lon'thul to turn against the village. Nothing he'd said or done indicated any conflict with anyone in the village, other than maybe a general dislike of B'arthon, though that was hardly unique to the human. The hunter often wondered why the lord's son put on such displays in public, earning him so many enemies, though he had no time for that particular well-thought-over puzzle.
That was when the churlish Lon'thul had been stalking raised its head and immediately started hopping away. Lost in thought, the hunter had allowed himself to get upwind of his target. Lon'thul was tempted to take a quick shot at the retreating animal but eased the bow back into a relaxed state. Risking an arrow on a probable kill was one thing, but wasting one in a gamble to make up for his own inattentiveness would be compounding negligence with further negligence. He owed the woodworkers better than that.
With a sigh, the hunter shelved his thoughts for another time. He had a job to do, and he was usually one of the best at that job. So long as he didn't allow himself to get lost thinking about ridiculous what-ifs, that would likely never be a factor.
-
Jack and Em'brel were overseeing the workers clearing a path up the mountain to the plateau they'd selected for the windmill. A young but very attentive guard was, in turn, keeping an eye on the two of them. Em'brel recognized him as Jar'maal, the guard who'd been with her when Ral'fen had ambushed the two of them. There was an edge to him that hadn't been there before, and Em'brel was both glad to see he was doing well and a little sad to realize he'd lost some of his carefree attitude, though she could certainly understand why.
The younger argu'n could also tell something was bothering Jack. As he watched the work progress, he had that slight frown and furrowed brow that meant he was working something out in his head. Finally, when she couldn't stand waiting any longer, Em'brel nudged him to get his attention. As Jack turned to her, she smirked a little. "Out with it. What are you thinking now?"
Jack frowned a little with his eyes still partially unfocused as he remained lost in thought. "Well, I'd like to get better tools for the workers. They're still using kovaack horn pickaxes! Preferably it would be high carbon steel, but that's a surprisingly complicated process. There are various ways to get there, but I think crucible steel might be the next logical step for us to take at this point. The problem is it's a pretty slow process. Compared with the steels you're more familiar with, the time and energy investment is considerably higher. However, the steel quality would probably be worth the investment..."
Angela added her own two cents over their headsets. "That would be perfect! As good as folding is, proper wootz steel is an order of magnitude better. It was largely considered the pinnacle of steel production until the nineteenth century, when it became easier to produce more consistent steel through relatively advanced manufacturing processes. What's more, you can use or trade off the lower quality iron and steel you'd get in the process, which would still be superior to what the local villages can easily gather."
Em'brel wasn't particularly surprised at Jack's line of thought. As a group, they'd agreed to postpone moving forward with their plans involving her uncle and cousin until everyone had properly recovered and they'd been able to get the Outpost really up and running. As much risk as waiting entailed, picking a fight with someone in a position of power was best undertaken once they were fully prepared. That meant Jack had more time on his hands, and now that he was done designing the "belly bows," it was inevitable that his mind would wander to a new project.
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Em'brel grinned at him and winked. "Well, I suspect that if you bring Tel'ron in on this, you'll have one eager and excited assistant. After seeing the inside of the ship last winter, he's been salivating at the idea of creating newer and stronger metals to replicate some of the craftsmanship he witnessed in there. I don't think it'll matter how long or difficult the process is; he'll treat it as a divine mandate."
Angela laughed. "If anything, you might be understating his interest..."
Jack finally came the rest of the way out of his haze and chuckled as he shook his head. "Yeah, you're probably right. The poor guy was a little disappointed to realize how small a part he had to play with the gastrophetes. He kept trying to talk me into making the metal parts out of steel rather than bronze. At the time, I thought he was just being over-ambitious, but looking back, maybe he simply wanted a new challenge. Well, this will undoubtedly be that. Maybe I'll finally find the limit to his patience!"
Angela chuckled. "I doubt it!"
Jack nodded with a wistful grin. "Yeah, I do too..."
It looked like Jack would say something else, but he was interrupted by a cracking sound. Turning toward the source, Jack could see a large rock tumbling down from a formation above the path the workers were cutting into the mountain.
Jack immediately cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted. "Everyone, get clear!"
A few workers started moving, but most looked back and forth in confusion. Jack quickly swore, turning to Em'brel as he did so. "They can't understand me. Tell them..." At that point, the sound grew louder as one stone turned into a rockslide, and everyone realized what he'd been shouting about.
Most of the workers were able to get clear, but one got cut off. Jack recognized him as one of the woodworkers with the first group named Jan'kul. Seeing his escape route gone, Jan'kul tried climbing a tree instead. Unfortunately, enough dirt and rock piled into the tree to knock it over, and the worker fell with the tree landing on top of him. The rockslide slowed and settled around the worker, but the tree still had him pinned.
Jack started to lurch forward but was pulled back by Jar'maal as the guard snarled at him. "Even if you get to him without triggering another rockslide, how will you help? Can you lift the tree off him? No? Then wait here!"
Angela's voice was calm but assertive. "Keep everyone back away from the loose rock. While this isn't quite how I'd planned to reveal myself to the camp, this is precisely the kind of situation I designed my new body to handle."
Em'brel looked at Jack with confusion. "Wait, what does she mean...?"
Jack held up a hand and shook his head. "We'll talk more about my sister's flair for the dramatic later. For now, we need to warn the other workers not to disturb anything and not panic because of what they're about to see."
Em'brel didn't look any less confused. "What are they about to see?"
For better or worse, the path they'd been clearing was relatively close to the mouth of the cave for ease of access, and Angela had probably started moving as soon as the rockslide had begun. What looked like a giant suit of armor was already charging up the mountainside to their position. Jack simply nodded in her direction and said, "That."
Em'brel was broken out of her confused haze when she noticed Jar'maal readying his spear with a grim expression. The young woman quickly grabbed the spear and shoved the point toward the ground. "It's alright. She's with us!"
Turning to the workers, Em'brel spoke up louder this time. "Stay back! The dragon is coming to help! Don't get in her way!"
The silvery figure hesitated at the edge of the slide for only a moment, analyzing the best path to Jan'kul. Then, she turned back to the workers and spoke clearly for them to understand. "Back up further. This will likely cause a series of smaller rock slides!"
The voice was unmistakably Angela's, and at least one worker seemed to recognize it and started urging the rest to do as she'd said. Meanwhile, Angela's attention was back to the issue at hand.
As she'd predicted, a smaller slide occurred as soon as her foot sunk into the loose rock and dirt. But, while it might have been enough to destabilize anyone else, Angela slowly but steadily continued on her path, stopping only when she needed to let the dirt settle before continuing.
Once she reached Jan'kul, she inspected the scene for another moment before Em'brel could hear her voice over the headset. "Have everyone back up a little further. This next part could start another big slide."
As Em'brel all but pushed and prodded the slack jawed workers further back, Anglea grabbed hold of the tree. She slowly eased the trunk up until she could get one hand free and wrap it around Jan'kul. Then, with a sudden rapid movement at odds with all her careful motions until now, she simultaneously scooped the injured worker up while shoving the tree to the side.
As she'd predicted, once the tree crashed, the rocks started sliding again, but the AI turned android was in motion before that could cause any further issues for her rescue effort. Rather than repeating the delicate movement from her trip in, Angela now charged through the shifting debris, carrying the injured Jan'kul as though he were a mere child, rather than a full-grown argu'n male, while kicking through rock and dirt alike.
Once well clear of the slide, Angela set Jan'kul on the ground, then one of her hands folded in on itself while producing an array of smaller, more delicate-looking instruments, many of which Em'brel could only roughly guess the purpose of, based on her time on board the ship.
While the AI worked, something finally dawned on Em'brel now that the emergency was less urgent. This giant armored figure was really Angela, her friend.
Looking at the face, it was apparent that Angela's own face had been molded into a statuesque mask to give the armor the appearance of a person, though there were a few slight differences. For one thing, Em'brel didn't remember Angela having delicate yet distinct fangs that subtly rested on her lips in a cheerful grin. Also, Angela's "skin" seemed to be covered in fine scales that only became apparent upon close inspection. It was as if Angela had crossed her human avatar with the slight hint of one of the dragons Em'brel had seen in human movies. Finally, the rest of the head behind the sculpted face was designed to look more like a fancy helmet that then blended into the armor that was her body.
As the AI continued her ministrations on the worker, Em'brel realized she recognized the general size and shape of the body. It was obviously the mining harness Jack and herself had used, but the outer frame had been reshaped before being covered to give it the appearance of an intricately armored feminine body, rather than the bulky, old thing it had once been. Though Em'brel supposed that would be easy enough to do, since the suit apparently didn't need someone to be physically contained inside the harness anymore.
Angela turned to Jack to explain but kept speaking in argu'n so everyone could understand. "Well, it's not as bad as I feared. I've got him on some painkillers, and he's got several fractures, but only one bone is really broken, and even that is a surprisingly clean break. So with a bit of time and the proper care, he should make a relatively full recovery.
Jack nodded thoughtfully for a moment before responding. "Alright. Carry him back to our living quarters. There's still plenty of room, and it will be easy for Em'brel, myself, or Sare'en to keep an eye on him there."
Angela nodded and started to stand up before hesitating as Jar'maal and several of the workers who had edged closer to see what was happening flinched back in response to her movements. The AI raised a tentative hand to try and calm everyone present. "Uh, hi, I'm Angela, the dragon. I...come in peace?"