Hunter Or Huntress

“So how long should we be waiting again? I hear some bird song,” Saph questioned indignantly as it became apparent she wasn’t winning this hand against Maiko. “You are too good at this to be trustworthy.”

“Oh no that one was just luck,” he reassured her, taking the cards and starting to shuffle anew. Not much had happened yet if they were totally honest. They were sitting in a forest with a campfire and some cards. It was a pretty spot, but it did feel sorta wrong to have so much to do back at the keep and yet be out here, playing cards and contemplating if they needed to get dinner going on the fire.

As Maiko shuffled he turned over to the brains of the operation, Kulinger, who hadn’t deigned to give Saph an answer to her quite reasonable question. “Well old man, think she’s listening?”

“I believe she knows we are here… I feel her presence,” Kulinger responded perfectly seriously, not turning to look at them as he kept scanning the forest like a guard on watch.

‘Sure thing, buddy,’ Saph just sighed, knowing full well Kulinger could do no such thing. ‘Damn nut job.’ Then a small red songbird landed on Maiko’s horn, hopping around peacefully and taking a look around at all of them. ‘Oh.’

The bird turned to look at Sapphire, its little head tilting as the black beady eyes stared at her, devoid of emotion. ‘I see you brought a familiar face, Kulinger,’ she heard emanating from the back of her mind in the all too familiar fashion.

“Ahr, yes. Sapphire has met you before. I apologize for the disturbance, it has been an interesting few days your holiness,” Kulinger replied right away, assumedly having gotten that message too, bowing seemingly just angled towards the forest in general.

‘I guess her holiness is having a chat,’ Saph thought to herself before she remembered there was a pretty good chance Kalestine could hear what she was thinking. ‘Shit right, respectful… oh this is hard! Okay, no thinking. You got this.’

‘Well hello there, Sapphire. I see the proper titles have been remembered. How is Fengi?’ Kalestine’s voice rang out inside her head once more. This time it didn’t seem like anyone around her got the message too though. The unicorn didn’t sound overly upset, much to Saph’s relief, but there was something she struggled to put her finger on there. An intensity like someone smiling through gritted teeth. Saph did try to scan around without making it too obvious, finding no sign of the unicorn.

‘She’s doing well. A touch worried and uncertain, but she will be fine, I’m sure,’ Saph tried, hoping that didn’t count as a lie.

‘And the dragon?’ Kalestine questioned expectantly, like she expected some good news.

‘Miserable in the extreme,’ Saph responded more confidently, feeling quite sure Kalestine would like that part.

‘Marvelous,’ Kalestine replied with what Saph could best describe as malicious glee. She could almost feel the malicious intent radiating through the words.

Maiko had just been sitting very still and staring at Saph, the small bird still perched on his horn, likely having worked out what was going on. Saph gave him a little nod, hoping to confirm his suspicions as everyone seemed to perk up at the same time.

‘So what brings you all here seeking me out? It has been a long time since a meeting was sought. And no trace of Nunuk?’

“My mother is still recovering following the battle with the brigands. Her wings have been lost,” Rachuck spoke up, putting on a stern face.

‘How unfortunate… but I feel that is not why you have sought me out, no?’

“No, warden. We have come here to seek your blessing, and perhaps to exchange information on how the year has been progressing. Things have been… abnormal, to say the least.”

‘Well, my forest got infected with darklings, one of your stupid little keeps fell, I broke my horn, my forest has been hunted like never before, and the only good thing to come out of all of it was nearly snuffed out by a dragon- and a black one at that-’ Kalestine replied, not sounding impressed in the absolute slightest. In fact, she sounded sad more than anything, like she might actually have to sniffle. ‘Did you at least manage to save most of that outrageous amount of life you took that one day?’

“Why yes we did manage to salvage most of the honored animals, despite the best efforts of those dastardly brigands,” Kulinger tried, even Saph being more than able to make out the quivering in his voice. Glancing over at him, she also found he was on his knees just like last time.

‘Well that is at least something, and my horn has started growing in beautifully. One day I might just be able to look in a lake again.’

“That is good to hear, I believe you will be delighted to know that your last horn is still safe within our walls. We promise we will keep it safe.”

‘No…’ came the apathetic reply. They all froze, not quite sure what she meant by that. Saph certainly didn’t know what to say to that.

“What do you mean?” Rachuck tried in his most diplomatic tone.

‘I want you to use it. It is already lost. Make them pay!’ Kalestine ordered, anger seeping into her words once more and Saph feeling just a smidge of that familiar headache she remembered so sorely from last time.

“Of course!” Kulinger let out. “We have many new people at the keep. Masters of weapon making. I am sure it can be put to good use.”

“You would not happen to know how one may go about making the most of your horn, your highness?” Victoria questioned, taking a knee as well.

‘Whatever you want, I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about it again. I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to learn where it went. Just make it go away,’ Kalestine answered accompanied by even more headache, even if it went away quickly this time.

“Of course,” Kulinger added in a strained tone as the pressure lifted. Saph and the others just noded their agreement.

‘Now I know you all are hiding something. Why are you actually here? What is this you seek a blessing for?’

“More means to fight the enemy,” Victoria responded, still kneeling.

‘More dragons?! Oh don’t let it be so?’ Kalestine all but whined.

“No, we seek lumber to build factories for making weapons. Weapons designed by Tom. Do you remember Tom? The maniac with the machine saw,” Kulinger got out before anyone else could answer.

‘Yes, I do. He was the one who bled me and reclaimed my horn,’ Kalestine replied, uncertainty in her tone, like she didn’t know what to make of the human after everything that had happened.

“He believes we can produce more weapons to help fight all this corruption. The enemy is advancing; we are losing ground. Not just this island, but hundreds are under threat. We must fight back,” Victoria added, Saph praying the unicorn’s thirst for revenge extended beyond just their island. “We have the backing and blessing of the Inquisition in this matter. We must not fail.”

There was silence for a bit, Saph waiting with bated breath as they all sat still.

‘Where would this all be taken?’ Kalestine finally answered skeptically. ‘My precious woods?’

“Our keep,” Rackuck answered in a determined tone. “ We would have Yldril drag it there as punishment and then put her to work assisting in the construction. Work her to the bone.”

‘I see… Why did you seek me out to ask this? You know I cannot refuse you even if I want to?’

“We wanted your blessing to take the finest of woods for the building. We do not have the time to dry it out. Is it within your power to help us so we will not need to spend more of your precious forest to replace the warped and broken beams in time?” Kulinger asked, or more like pleaded… you could maybe even have called it begged as his head was now pressed into the grass with his arms spread out in front of him.

Once more there was silence for a time as they all waited.

‘You will make my sacrifice count. Or I will make you pay for what you took,’ Kalestine finally responded, the reluctance clear in her voice. ‘I want tales of darklings slain by these weapons you speak of. I will be able to tell if you are truthful. So you will prove to me this was not in vain. Oh my blessed forest, how has it come to this,’ she carried on, voice turning to a whimper once more.

‘I will bleed a heaven oak for you. Once it has killed itself cut high above the root and you shall have your dry lumber. Devoid of all the life that makes it so precious.’

‘Holy shit,’ Saph let out, blinking a few times as everyone looked around at each other, minus Kulinger of course, who was thoroughly glued to the ground by now. They had thought they might receive some regular trees, not a Heaven Oak.

“Thank you very much. That is too kind of you. I do not even know if we can see this much lumber transported to the keep. Or stored. A heaven oak must be hundreds of tones, we only have a month to two before the cold sets in,” Kulinger let out, clearly awestruck.

‘Oh… I cannot do it that quickly… It will be dry come spring,’ Kalestine responded, seemingly very surprised they didn’t know that. ‘You wish to start already this year?’

“We wish to construct a warehouse for the materials needed to construct the factory. Your gift is generous beyond measure. It will make for the finest lumber for the factory,” Kulinger replied. “This year we would ask for smaller straight trees, fine straight wood good for beams and planking. Perhaps a regular oak?”

‘Then I shall bleed them too as best I can. Oh the gods have mercy upon me for what I am about to do. You will have your wood. And that dragon, work her to the bone. I want my vengeance, and you shall give it to me, against all who have harmed my forest without my permission.’

“Of course, it will be done,” Kulinger replied like a laborer trying to suck up to his boss. “How will we know the chosen ones?”

‘Follow the little blue songbird. He will come when they are ready. Do try and keep up. Harm him and you will answer to me.”

“Of course, Kalestine. It will be done.”

‘Very well, and protect the child. I will not tolerate harm befalling her. Tell that to your Inquisition friends. Delusional as they are.’

__________________________________________________________________________________

“A heaven oak? She will let us cut down a heaven oak?” Shiva had questioned as Saph broke the news to the workshop the following morning. Tom still found it funny to see the smith get taken completely aback by something. It wasn’t often it happened, even if Edita’s Hammers did have a similar effect. Or the armor recovered from the Flaxens.

“She will even bleed it first, whatever that means,” Saph continued. “All winter so it is dry for spring when we need it.”

“She must be making it draw all the fluids down into the roots. I have no clue if that will be dry enough though?” Tom pondered aloud, it was magic so who was he to say, but it sounded a touch far-fetched if he was being completely honest.

“Heaven oak is strong. Immensely strong, but heavy, and this wood would carry the blessing of a unicorn. Kulinger will be beside himself,” Shiva let out, shaking her head a little. “There should be plenty enough wood that we could take some for weapon making. A heaven oak stock would make for a fine substitute, we could make it thinner and slimmer yet just as strong. Something worthy of being put in a collection.”

“I think any gun we make would warrant that,” Junior tried with a bit of a coy smile. “I mean they are pretty unique.”

“I didn’t know it was that rare?” Edita spoke up, seeming confused. “Don’t inner keeps cut them down from time to time?”

“Yes on occasion, and often when one is dead or dying. But Kalestine can be difficult at the best of times, and she has given her blessing and even her help in cutting down one of her treasured trees. A fresh and strong one too. Often much of the wood has started to rot and is ruined by the time the tree dies.”

“Oh…”

“It isn’t even a little bit rare in the stockpiles where you come from, is it?” Shiva asked, seeming a lot less amused as she stared at the now very uncomfortable artificer. Edita just shook her head, looking worried. Shiva just sighed, crossing her arms.

“Now now, can’t be jealous of someone having what we will also have soon. I for one cannot wait to get started on this whole factory thing,” Tink added happily. “Having a workshop I have designed myself once more. And with all the fine equipment we have gotten now. Oh it will be marvelous.”

Junior just cleared his throat a bit at that, Tink looking a touch confused before correcting himself. “Had a hand in designing… yes definitely.”

“It will sure be an upgrade from this place. We haven’t got room for anything more in here really. Speaking of which, I think we should just get on with it,” Tom interjected with a bemused chuckle. “Kulinger is working on lists of everything we need for the warehouse out of here. Mostly nails and brackets and such. Get that done first. Work on the shotguns when we can, save the machine gun ideas for free time or later when we hit winter or something. I will be outside a lot helping there, we will probably also need some of you from time to time. Sounds like a plan?”

There were some nods from around the shop of general agreement, even if it was quite clear none of them were that happy about the far more interesting projects getting moved back in favor of making nails and building a warehouse, but that was just life. They needed to get this warehouse done in a hurry, and there were still the bunkers to get done too.

“Actually, why do we need to get on with that if the wood isn’t here yet?” Tink questioned, a hint of hope in his voice.

“She is bleeding some smaller trees for us too. I don’t know when they will be ready, but apparently we have to follow the blue bird. Should make for an interesting flight, that’s for sure,” Saph replied with a shrug. “But I don’t know when that is.”

“We’ll get the stuff done and then we can do more interesting things. Not like it doesn’t need to be done,” Tom interjected, looking around at the whole group. “I’m sure we will find some time here and there, but… well… Let’s just get it done in a hurry.”

“Could I go keep an eye on Fengi?” Saph questioned, clearly directed at Tom and Shiva as she glanced between the two of them. “Sounds like you have things in hand here, and we need to work out how and where to go fetch those trees Kalestine is preparing for us this year.”

“Sure. No experimentation today.”

“Thanks,” the huntress replied, giving them a quick nod before she was out the door and down the hall.

‘Good speed and good luck, race girl.’

“Tom, we need to go that way too. You said you wanted to help start the digging on the bunker, remember?” Jacky added from next to him, seeming a touch confused.

“Oh… right. Well you see, I just wanted to finish up the list of stuff we needed made,” Tom countered, not willing to admit that he might have forgotten.

“I know how to make nails,” Shiva added, not sounding overly impressed with him.

“Right… Oh, well in that case I’ll be going. Catch you all later.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, no need to catch me,” Edita replied enthusiastically as she rubbed her hands together excitedly.

“Good to hear,” Tom just let out with a smile, heading out the door. ‘Marvelous performance that one, Tom.’

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Feeling a bit better today?” Fengi asked in a cautious yet caring tone. Saph guessed Fengi was as much worried about the dragon’s mood after having learned just how much wood she would be hauling as she was the progress of the healing.

“No,” Yldril just replied flatly, clearly intent on making today as difficult as possible. Fengi just sighed, knowing what came next well by now.

“You know the deal. We have talked about this, and you aren’t that stupid.”

Yldril didn’t respond, instead she just slowly got up and lumbered towards the markers set out for the first bunker. “What do you want me to do?” she finally asked in a tired and disinterested tone, staring down at the marking stick and bits of string lining everything out.

“You will dig down, making a hole and putting the dirt over there. The hole must be square and with vertical sides. It will slide down a bit, but get it as good as you can, okay? We will use what wood we have to make a frame and a roof. You will then cover it all back up again and that’s that,” Fengi explained.

“Sounds easy enough,” Yldril sighed as the massive dragon raised a clawed paw and started carefully scratching at the ground along the marker line as they watched. Tom was here too at least for now. He and Jacky were watching from a safe distance.

Saph had helped last time they made one of these and could mostly remember what they had to do, so once they were underway the human could probably run off to do other important things. They wouldn’t be bothering excavating a bit at a time this time around since there was no way Yldril would actually fit in the hole even if this bunker was gonna be a bit bigger than the first one. She was mostly just hoping to at least help Fengi out a little with all this today. If nothing else she could give a hug if needed.

There were some other folk watching, but no one seemed overly interested in helping, all keeping a safe distance just like Tom. Jacky was of course by his side acting as a bodyguard, but that was likely not against Yldril. At least Saph hoped not.

Yldril had been gentle at first, carving out the hole nicely then slowly starting to take layer after layer off. When Fengi had let slip that once she had dug out both of them she would be done for the day, she had sped up quite a bit. All the woodwork would take time and they still had to fashion a harness for her to haul the logs from the forest, not to mention find out just which trees Kalestine had selected for them and cut them down.

Fengi had started off the day very tense, Saph could feel it, but after they got going and people started to lose interest she eased up quite a bit. They even got away with telling a joke or two. Even if Yldril did not partake, instead just getting on with it and working in silence, the scowl never leaving her face.

“So then, is this the worst job you have had yet?” Saph questioned, crossing her arms. “Not actually that bad, is it?”

“I am digging a hole,” Yldril replied disinterestedly.

“Ever done that before?”

“Yes,” Yldril growled in reply as she carried on trying to straighten off a side.

‘Doesn’t take much to get on your nerves does it?’

“Just let her be… she’s not much for talking,” Fengi added, clearly rather annoyed with the dragon too.

“What is there to talk about? You already know all about me, and I don’t care about you,” Yldril replied, turning around while digging so her one eye was facing away from them for now.

“I guess that’s a way to put it,” Saph just sighed as they watched the dragon work on in silence.

The end result wasn’t too bad. They were done in a couple hours, which was longer than it should have taken really. But Fengi didn’t seem willing to tell their digging machine to hurry up. It was mostly straight too, so it wasn’t a terrible effort. Even so it was a bit big, so Yldril would have to fill in the gap between the wooden framing and the dirt sides.

Yldril had been walked back to her sleeping spot where she was allowed to lie down. They needed some measurements from the dragon for the pulling harness anyway, so she could have a bit of a rest as they got that done.

After that Yldril had been put to work with even more digging, this time for the foundation for the warehouse. That project was quite a lot bigger. A lot of grass needed to be ripped up and the ground below made as flat as possible. Then holes for the support beams would have to be dug. All in all it was more than a single day's work, and Fengi had Yldril digging away all the time until dinner, which left the dragon dirty and grimy all over.

Her mood had turned quite grim after the long day's work, which Saph guessed had been a painful affair for the still slightly wounded dragon.

“At least it isn’t raining, then you would be all muddy too,” Fengi tried, apparently feeling that cheering up Yldril was worth the effort. Saph could only sigh at her optimism.

“Marvelous… Can I go lay down now?” Yldril grumbled reluctantly with labored breaths, not looking at them.

“Do you want to go have a swim to rinse off first?” Fengi replied with what Saph could best describe as cautious optimism.

“No,” was all the answer she got as Yldril looked up, staring at her while otherwise unmoving, waiting for permission.

“Okay, go lie down over there. I’ll see about your dinner.”

The dragon didn’t acknowledge her, instead just walking off silently towards her sleeping spot from last night.

The two women along with the rest of the hands who were working down stoped and stood there watching the dragon wander off.

“Well I guess she saved us the trouble then” Saph tried, trying to find and up side to cheer Fengi up a little. Fengi just let out a long, tired sounding sigh in response.

“She is such an arse… But you have to feel a bit sorry for her.”

Saph took a a second or two to think before deciding that tough love might be what was needed in this case rather than sympathy. Much as it pained her to do that to Fengi. “Fengi… She tried to kill us and nearly got Nunuk. We don’t know how many people she has killed, but it is a lot. If she was a normal person she would be given a mock trial and thrown off the edge. Beat her into shape, don’t take pity on her. If you’re soft she’ll just pretend she’s changed when in reality you are the only thing keeping her from killing us all in our sleep. It might not even be possible to fix her. If so then you will be her moral compass.”

“I don’t want to be,” Fengi all but whined in response. “You know that.”

“I also know it’s not your choice. Remember the stories. Make her do good and you’ll be a damn hero. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot.”

“I could just tell her to be nice to everyone,” Fengi tried to haggle. Saph knew she was hoping for an easy way out. Who wouldn’t?

“And then it would all be fake. The moment you let her be free it falls away and she’s back to murdering people. She might be even more evil than before. It could drive her completely mad.”

“What if it lasts forever, Saph? No one knows.”

Saph needed to think on that one for a bit. Could you really just force someone into being someone else?

“Are you sure you want to try that? Remember what Major Jortun told us.”

“I know… but she’s not a nice person, you said so. Would it be too wrong to force her into being one?”

“... I think so, yeah… Maybe just try to fix her right. Otherwise, we won’t be able to trust her. What if it doesn’t last? If it wears off one day or she get’s out of it somehow, then think what she would do to us.”

“You are starting to sound like Unkai… he doesn’t say it but he doesn’t trust me. Not even sure if he ever did or he just thought I looked nice… or the fact I’m literally the only girl his age around here.” Fengi complained throwing her arms up.

“No no. He’s just scared. The fact he hasn’t tucked tail and run must mean he still loves you. He doesn’t want to give up he’s just… Well he’s a coward if we’re being honest.” Saph sighed giving Fengi a pat on the shoulder. “He’ll get over it I’m sure. I know Jortun is very proud of you for taking this all so seriously. I might just try to have fun with it you know.”

“No you wouldn’t… You would use it to win” Fengi chuckled reluctantly though a tear could be seen in the corner of her eye.

“Maybe… But hey, think about what Joelina would have done?” Saph tried in a more humorous tone.

“She would ask for the world then try to work out what went wrong when she got a bag of dirt,” Fengi retorted mood lightening a little.

“Yeah, her having this power would be a fate worse than death for all of us,” Saph chuckled in reply, “Tom would have it worst though that’s for sure. But remember, no messing with the humans brain even if it’s to get some sweets.”

“Yeah now that wouldn’t do no would it?”

“Yeah… Just keep at it, Fengi. You’ll get there, You’re doing great.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

Tom had thought the keep was busy the two days before, but preparing for the inquisitors’ departure had been something else. The reds had returned with most of their crews some having been left behind down below. Baron had left the evening before to take up station down in the caves though that still left them with five dragons mulling about the keep three of them getting ready to leave.

Galaxer would leed being the better long distance flier compared to the two reds and he wanted to get out of dodge as early as possible, once the reds had landed. Everyone helped because no one really wanted them to stay any longer than needed especially after the prisoners were marched out to board.

Said prisoners were tied down to the dragon’s harness with arms, legs, wings, and mouth tied up. Even if they did manage to get free, they would be in for a very bad time. Blankets were provided here and there to those who looked like they would be in danger of freezing on the trip. The crews were in thick traveling clothes, so at least they should be comfortable, or at least sorta it was getting colder after all.

Tom didn’t spy the two other artificers he had seen earlier amongst the people departing, so he guessed those two were indeed being left down in the tunnels to work their magic, or something like that. Edita had helped out with preparations for departure, and when all was more or less complete Joelina had emerged from the keep in her thick traveling clothes once more.

She did look slightly better than the last time he’d seen her. That had been the evening before when she had come by his and Jacky’s room to ask some more questions. Jacky hadn’t been pleased in the slightest, but neither had Tom when he worked out that she had been keeping the revolver under her pillow. The inquisitor hadn’t seemed to mind at all, and Tom did manage to get Jacky’s hand back under the blanket before Glazz managed to stick her head in the door to see what the fuck was going on.

Apparently, the problem was that the inquisitor had now experienced what an amusement park was and had been suitably confused by everything, including the food and especially mascots. It was to the point that she had to question if it was a movie of some strange imaginary place rather than an actual thing.

Tom had confirmed that, yes, amusement parks were real, they were good fun, especially when you were little, and they were very expensive if you were the one paying. Everyone could actually afford a car if they wanted one. Yes, there was warm running water in every house, it was not just for the stinking rich, and ninjas were at least sort of real. He had no clue where the last one came from, but he had a feeling human sword wielders in all black would not have been a pleasant dream for her.

Now though she walked along seeming at least mostly normal, Glazz right behind her as they headed over to the lined-up members of the Bizmati family. They were all there save for Nunuk, which was understandable. They wished her a good flight, and the odd goodbye between people who knew each other was said goodbye.

Then onwards aboard one of the reds the procession went. The dragon wasn’t carrying any prisoners, but did instead have some extra crew aboard. Likely so Joelina could have some privacy during her flight to ‘recover’ as she had put it herself.

‘Best of luck you crazy bitch,’ Tom just sighed, still not sure if he should be pissed at her in the extreme or thankful for all the stuff she had given them. By the sounds of it she might have been the best inquisitor whose attention they could have caught, depressing as that sounded. And now she was going, and they had everything they could possibly want now.

Galaxerhad set off at a trot before eventually kicking himself into the air, wings catching as the two smaller reds gave chase. Soon enough they were standing on the ground watching the trio of dragons grow smaller and smaller in the distance as they climbed up and away from the odd little keep, now left mostly to its own devices save for Paulin and a pair of inquisitorial troopers left with her.

Tom didn’t know what those two were supposed to do if it came to it, but he had a feeling they were as much eyes and ears as they were muscle for her. ‘Marvelous. Right, let’s get to it.’

__________________________________________________________________________________