Hunter Or Huntress

As the world faded away into nothing but a dark void, Tom felt the only mildly familiar sensation of magic flowing like a gentle stream. It wasn’t much of a draw, but it was certainly noticeable.

“Right, best make this quick then,” he tried thinking to himself, feeling the flow peak as he did.

“Who is this? Make what quick?” an ethereal sounding female voice replied. It did sound a bit like how he remembered Joelina sounding. Though she did not exactly sound calm.

“Uhm… Hello? Anyone there?”

“Yes hello. Who is this? What must be done quick? Answer me at once!”

“It’s Tom… Is that you, Joelina?”

“Yes of course it is! Stupid dragons taking ages, I have questions for you! So many questiiioooonssss...”

“Yeah I figured that… Fire away I suppose.” Tom replied a little uncertainly as to just what he might be in for.

“Firstly! Did you read the letters?”

“I did yeah…”

“Disregard them, I have learned much since they were written! So much more yes, cursed blessed knowledge…”

“So you do know we have gone to space then?”

“What? No, I re-experienced the memory you had of the movie about the moon mission. It was evident on the second watching that it was trickery of the eye! Spaceflight is but a myth!”

“Riiight.”

“Then how have your kind visited space? And what of the gods above!? it was evident that the woman with the crystals was but a fraud!” Joelina explained with all the calm and restraint of a shoppingmall Karen

“Well the rockets to the moon, that did happen.” Tom attempted, doing his best to remain calm and diplomatic. “The movie you saw was probably a recreation… Tell me, did things go wrong on that trip but they made it home anyway?”

“Yes, do you know of what I speak? Ahr what am I proclaiming! of course you do it is your own memories, how could I forget.”

“Yea…, you watched a movie about Apollo 13 I think. Good movie, and that all happened too. Like for real happened”

“I see…” Joelina replied, sounding rather unstable. “And what of the gods?”

“We ain’t got any. Well not in space at least.”

“Impossible!”

“No, quite possible. Many still believe in gods though, but let’s not get into that too much. It’s a right old mess.”

“No, you must tell me what happened to the gods? Have they left you?”

“Well some think so, but no. I just think it all works a bit different for us. They might be a little more hands off.”

“But the churches… and these religious warriors you did battle with,” the inquisitor all but muttered to herself, sounding like she was struggling to put pieces together. “Do Jesus and Islam fight for power then? no no, they would have long since lost the battles to the ancient gods of war the teachers spoke of… though why they were always naked eludes me yeeees…”

“No, again we don’t really have gods just floating around... Could we please talk about something else? Or is that all you wanted to know?” Tom tried, hoping he really didn’t have to dive deeper into that particular subject.

“No no don’t you dare cut me off! I have seen what you talked of, nuclear fire and missiles, ships of the oceans and planes soaring in the skies. But is it not all fake? Surely it must be! It must be? It must be…”

“I don’t know what you saw… but we have ships sailing around. If you’ve ever seen flying ships like you have here then that’s fake I can assure you of that. We do have airships, but they look more like really big long balloons.”

“But we could make such vessels, or someone could from times past. If you can visit the moon then surely you can make a ship for the skies!”

“No no, we ain’t got grav oil. Or dragon essence as I guess it’s called. That means no anti gravity, and that means weight is a very very big problem for anything you wanna make fly. Planes and helicopters are how we fly. Remember how I flew to Afghanistan on a big ass plane? Or when I learned to parachute later?”

“What is parachute? is it the ham from your times doing, vacationing? what has dried meat products got to do with flying machines of battle!”

“Wooo easy now easy. I guess you didn’t get that far yet. Uhm. It’s a cloth kite you dangle from and then glide to the ground. Very good fun.”

“A cloth kite used to fly?... such strange inventions. Wait was there not a movie of with something of that nature? yeeee… there was a song. I liked that song… something something brains upon his chute. Yeesss…”

“Yeah… You’ll know it when you see it. I have one actually.” Tom clarified trying not to get too weirded out.

“You must demonstrate on a suitable occasion.”

“Yeah… I do have a question too though,” Tom replied, letting silence reign for a short time. “...Your last letter was in Danish.”

“Oh, uhm yes. I- I was having some difficulty separating what was real and what was not… I still am. Do not tell Glazz, she musten know the truth yet. She seeks to limit my excursions.”

“You’ve ended up like I did, have you?”

“No no no, the effects do indeed recede as expected, everything is in good order… But I had to know more. So so much moooore.”

“Maybe you should cool it a bit. You never know when a brain snaps. Or how,” Tom tried, confident his advice would be ignored.

“There is not time!”

“And why is that? How is it going in our beloved Inquisition?”

“Mind your tongue, human! Things are progressing, but so are our enemies. Infiltrators have been caught, traitors within our ranks are making their moves. The reemergence of Rashan, attacks on mines, keeps and a daring heist attempt at a Royal Guard fortress! The game is afoot, we cannot delay.”

“You can’t overreach yourself either. Weren’t you supposed to be winning over the rest of the inquisition right about now? Can’t do that as a gibbering mess.”

There was silence for a while more after that. “Glazz sent you a letter? What did it say?! You may not keep secrets from me- wait not… I should confiscate her arm… she cannot write with her left. Yes far better plan, avoid upsetting him. And fill her pen with invisible ink. Yes very good.”

“No, it’s just obvious to any idiot. But what about winter, won’t things slow down?”

“They should, yet as autumn progresses it has only been picking up. I hope they too are running out of time… But time for what? I must know what they are planning. They might be behind schedule. But what SCHEDULE! sorry…”

“Well you’re not gonna find the answer to that in my memories, now are you?”

“You were sent by someone. You are here for a purpose. I must know this purpose. It will help me understand. The puzzle is large and much of the box kept from me.”

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m here to help you guys get in gear. That’s a decades to centuries long sorta problem, not a couple of years. Sounds like this war will be in the couple of years category.”

“Then why now? Why did you arrive now?!”

“Shitty luck? Sounds like 10 years ago would have been a lot better… Oh on that note, did you hear? We found something down below.”

“No, Paulin would have told me.”Joelina dismissed, he could almost feel her turning her snout up and away from him.

“Well we opened the vault like 3 days ago,” Tom replied, quite surprised Paulin hadn’t said anything. “Wait yeah she can send you messages, no? She sent the message about what we wanted to buy too, didn’t she?... How did she do that by the way? Why didn’t you just have her ask me questions?”

“That is not for you to know, and this is not for her.”

“Really? More secrets still? Come on, tell me or I’ll let you think flying whales exist.”

“I know those are not real. If they were, you would have harvested them long ago! likely for some deranged snack… or facial decoration.”

“True, but you get the idea,” Tom persisted, feeling like this was something worth pushing for. Why would Paulin not have let her precious Joelina know?

“Very well. This does not leave your mind… In the name of, what was it called… camaraderie. Paulin is in possession of joined paper. Messages may be written down and read by anyone with similarly joined paper. Unsecured. Originally believed to be fore love letters… dastardly studs and wenches using perfectly good magic for such trivialness… simply tie the message to a rock and throw it though the window. Most peasants cannot even afford glass” Joelina trailed off, seemingly zoning out once more.

“You have magical paper that can relay written information… and you don’t fucking use it!?” Tom explaimed, not quite believing what he was hearing.

“No, we do not know how to make freshly bonded paper… only more linked to all other paper in existence…” Joelina agreed. He could almost feel her looking at the floor in shame. “But it is not as if you are infallible, why did you not bring one of these radios?”

“I uhm…”

“Why didn’t you?!”

“I forgot,” Tom admitted, thinking back to his packing days. Of all the things that could have proven useful, that one might have been his biggest blunder.

“For the love of all that is holy! You are our saviour?!” Joelina scolded, understandably so, but still.

“Hey I never claimed to be smart!”

“I have lived your dreams. That is a lie! You very much claim to be smart!”

“Fuck off, I know you are just a scared little insecure girl.”

“She died 30 years ago!”

“Well I haven’t gotten to that bit yet!”

“What in the devils do you mean?” Joelina questioned calming right down in a fraction of a second.

“I’ve only had like three proper dreams about you… wait no, not like that,” Tom blurted out as it clicked just how wrong that sounded. Joelina didn’t seem to care in the slightest though.

“Three? That is it!?” going right back to outrage.

“Yeah… Wait, how many have you had?” Tom questioned. He rather wanted to know just how much she might know about him in addition to the memories she had already picked through when inside his head.

“Several a day!” the inquisitor exclaimed in reply.

“Okay, I can see how that would drive someone a bit mad.”

“I am not going mad!”

“Did Glazz say the same thing?” Tom questioned, quite certain he was striking a nerve.

There was no reply for quite some time, Tom feeling the headache growing as things grew tranquil once more. He could feel his breath. It was rapid, and his heart was pounding. He probably shouldn’t do this for much longer. Thus he endeavored to break the silence.

“You probably should listen to her you know.”

“No! These matters are above her station!”

“Hasn’t she been in the Inquisition longer than you?”

“She has yes. But she is no inquisitor. She is a body guard.”

“Seems like she is a wee bit more than that,” Tom pushed on. He didn’t yet know how those two came to stick together, but it was clear they had been working together for decades by now. All the way since she was assigned to Harvik

“Mind your own matters, human.”

“Very well, don’t think I can keep this up anyway.”

“We have barely been chatting! Where do the dogs come from?!”

“Selective breeding for thousands of years. But I’m gonna go. Take a break, do what Glazz says… even if Jacky hates her.”

Yet more silence followed that, though it was brief and Joelina was the first to speak again.

“Fine! In the interest of cooperation I shall let you rest. Wear the earring at all times, I shall be contacting you again soon.”

“I think I’m gonna be the judge of that. I’ll put it on when I feel like it.”

“You will do as I say!”

“You need a nap and a bit to calm down. I’ll give you three days. Around noon. See yah… How do I get this thing off?”

“I’m not telling you,” Joelina grumped like a little girl. She really didn’t seem quite like herself at all today. She had been the spitting image of restraint and arrogance before. The arrogance was still there, but the restraint had certainly gone.

“Come on, do I just try to cut off the magic or is that a bad idea?”

“If you answer a question I might answer.”

“Right then… Gimme gimme gimme aaaa-”

“JUST CUT IT! Farewell!” she called out loud enough Tom’s head pulsed and then there was blissful silence once more.

“Hehe. That did the trick, right concentrate on that funny feeling aaan-”

__________________________________________________________________________________

After dinner had been rounded up, Dakota had given a brief address as to some of the news received. There wasn’t much that hadn’t already made the rounds at the tables during the dinner itself. The war had been expanding, recruitment had started in full in the cities, and if not for the rather special situation at Bizmati they could have expected their banners to get called by spring.

Rumors had it that the kingdom was preparing itself for counterstrikes the following spring, which meant training through the winter for many volunteers.

“And a lot of not so volunteers,” Fengi muttered as Dakota carried on with the address.

“You can say that twice. At least the street rats might get something to eat and a place to sleep,” Tirox the trader escort added.

“I suppose that is true. Not a bad deal in winter time… I might even have taken it.”

“But we must instead keep our minds on our home,” Dakota carried on, talking to the whole hall. “There can be no mistake, we will be a target. We will be ready. They are getting bolder by the day it seems. It is not impossible they may attempt to take our keep before the winter comes. Or perhaps they will be waiting for spring. It is equally clear their forces are spread thin. We will weather such assaults, I have no doubt. But we must keep training. We must keep vigil. We cannot afford to be surprised or outmatched. I know you will all do your best. And tonight, we have no less than 4 dragons here. So breathe easy, have your snacks and your drinks. If the weather holds soon we will be finished with the warehouse and then we may make final preparations for winter. It is sure to be an interesting one for once.”

The hall replied with a half-discordant cheer, not overly enthusiastic unlike what Dakota had likely envisioned. The talk of them possibly getting attacked even before the snow came wasn’t really that encouraging. But Dakota tended to speak her mind, and she was probably right. Bizmati keep would be a damn tough nut to crack. And to Dakota’s credit she did seem to recognize she hadn’t really managed to rile them up.

“Didn’t you hear me?” she tried again in a slightly more humorous tone. “Eat, drink, and have fun! And put those tables together, don’t want you brooding in your corners.”

That did get a bit more of a reaction, as well as some good humored chuckles. People started getting up and set about moving the tables closer together.

It was a little rude to split up their guests in the same way as they normally did. Saph carried one of the benches over to the new spot, glancing around for any sign of Maiko, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

Feeling a little miffed, she sat down with the others as Ray came back with one of the small kegs of cider looking very excited. “We should have a taste, right?”

“Oh yes please!” Pho called out, Essy giving her a slight slap on the wrist.

“This one is only for those who paid for it. You will have to do with whatever you bought. Or the ale I’m sure they intend to serve.”

“Aww man. Not even a sip?”

“Okay, maybe a sip,” Essy relented. “Oh, I should get Koko his gift.”

“You got him a gift?” Saph questioned with mirth in her voice.

“Of course, that is what people do for each other… you did get Maiko something, right?”

Saph felt her expression slip a little as she prepared to disappoint their chief people person. “No, not really…”

“All that money and you didn’t get him shit? That’s cold girl,” Pho laughed, clearly finding it hilarious.

“Oh shut up, not as if I got something for Unkai either,” Fengi added, springing to Sapphire’s defence, though it seemed like the delivery had Fengi second guessing herself as well.

Esmeralda did look a little saddened by the news, but she was far too nice to say anything. Tirox however had no such filter.

“Oh don’t worry about it, just gotta go with a different sort of gift.” The diminutive guard laughed heartily at his joke. Udanti found it quite funny as well, and Pho certainly loved it. Bo just shook her head a little and went back to a small puzzle of some sort she had been working on, on and off, for most of the dinner by now.

“So uhm… One mug each?” Ray questioned, having been left hanging at the keg.

“Oh yes sorry, just the one, this stuff is expensive,” Saph replied, holding out her mug, Ray pushing it back down.

“One moment.” And she produced a wooden mallet and one of the metal taps. It looked like one of Raulf’s, so it was probably old as faded dragonscales.

Ray gingerly placed it against the cork and raised the mallet as the table fell silent in anticipation.

With a whack the tap went in clean with hardly a drop spilled, and Ray breathed a visible sigh of relief. “Right there we go.”

There was a quick round of cheers from the table, and Ray started pouring servings.

“Oh got yours open, have you?” the voice of Balethon came as the guard came walking up to the table, mug in hand and lizard on shoulder. “You all know we are gonna have to work out who got the better stuff, right?”

“Oh does it always have to be a competition with you, Balethon?” Saph questioned. She had just wanted to enjoy the cider.

“Look who is talking… And yeah of course we do! Just think of the bragging rights.”

Ray didn’t look too thrilled, nor did any of the girls who had actually paid for the keg. The rest of the table seemed to think it was a brilliant idea, even as Balethon’s voice carried and heads started to turn as people started to mingle between the now closely together tables.

“I’ll be the independent adjudicator!” Tirox declared, not receiving much attention as the full mugs started to get passed around. “Oh come on. I’ll be fair!”

“Shut it pipsqueak, you’ll end up taking 10 rounds of tastings before you make up your mind,” Udanti scolded, though in good humor.

“I might…” the guy relented, looking to Balethon. “Ey, by the way. Did you teach the brainlet any tricks?”

“Sure, Skitters can do a few things.”

“Aside from chasing the food?”

“You know what I think he might yeah,” Balethon replied sarcastically, gently tapping the static lizard twice on the head. The lizard didn’t do much save skitter about on his shoulder to face Balethon’s head, one eye pointing in whichever direction.

‘That thing just looks so dumb,’ Saph thought to herself as Ray handed her a mug. “Oh thank you.”

“Okay, Skitters. Up,” Balethon went, raising a claw into the air as if he wanted the lizard to jump. Or perhaps stand up. “Up… come on.”

There was no reaction from the lizard aside from it jerking to the left a bit, possibly having spotted a fly or something.

“Weeeell obedience might need some work,” Udanti chuckled. “Have you tried with some food in your hand?”

“Sure, then he just tries to eat the hand. Come on, Skitters. Up!” Balethon tried again, doing the gesture once more. And this time the little lizard jumped into the air. The little legs stretched out, taking its pitiful excuse for wings with it, and it half-fell half-glided to the floor where it hit with all the grace of a 6 year old on his first lesson. The slightly fat lizard bounced once, then rolled over twice before coming to a stop, looking around confused.

“Aaayyy! That’s a good boi,” Balethon went, going to pick it up again before someone stepped on it or it ran off under the tables. “And now you get a treat.” True to his word Skitters was fed a small piece of something or other which it seemed quite happy to snap up.

Fengi leaned in to whisper to Saph. “Was that the trick or did it just get sick of staying there?”

“I have no idea,” Saph replied, holding up her mug. “Cheers though.”

“Cheers,” Fengi replied as they clinked mugs.

“Oh hang on now, wait for me,” Essy protested as Ray finished pouring her mug and started on her own, looking to the girls as she questioned “Oh, also what about Jacky? Should we wait for her?”

“Who knows how long that will take?” Fengi replied, holding her mug impatiently.

“I’m sure she won’t mind. She is with Tom. We’ll let him have a mug as well,” Essy added with a reassuring nod, looking up to the high table. “Oh but we are missing Lin!”

“Oh right yeah she paid too… I can’t remember, did Edita chip in?”

“I don’t think so,” Sapphire replied, shaking her head as Essy got up to go fetch Linkosta. Balethon decided to take her place, a big grin on his face.

“So what else is going on over here?”

“Oh not much, hellooo little guy,” Pho went, trying to give skitters a scritching. In exchange he tried to eat her finger. “Oh… I mean I guess it doesn’t hurt.”

“Oh yeah, he can’t hurt a fly… well he can, but nothing more.”

“Shame he won’t get any bigger either,” Udanti added, nodding sagely. “Would have made a good rat hunter.”

“Nah… toe hunter though. Also where is the ale at?”

“Oh Raulf and Wiperna are getting ale and some of the bubble beer.”

“What is bubble beer?” Udanti questioned, tilting her head.

“Oh you’ll love it,” Saph interjected, waiting patiently as she saw Essy and Linkosta returning to the table out of the corner of her eye. “It’s an ale but it’s all fizzy.”

“Riiight… I’ve heard of fizzy beers before.”

“Oh yes, but this one is so much more fizzy.”

“It’s light and almost springlike.”

“Light ale? You mean for kids?”

“No no no. Just trust us it’s good.”

“Right right, I trust you,” the archer replied, looking to Essy and Linkosta, who seemed to be looking for a place to sit. “Should we not just put two end to end rather than this scrunching up business?”

“Yeah we should… Right get the craftsman table over here then. We don’t wanna have to smell the guards,” Saph called out, holding up her mug.

“Hey! That was uncalled for,” Balethon protested as Ray passed a mug to Linkosta. The girls all raised their mugs and had a sip, not willing to wait any longer. They all smacked their chops a little, looking down at the golden liquid. It was slightly fizzy too… and it tasted like the brew of the gods themselves. Ray was looking at them all visibly tense with anticipation and perhaps a twinge of fear.

“Ray… You have not disappointed,” Saph declared, nodding her approval, a smile creeping onto her face once more.

“Oh this is the best drink I think I’ve ever had,” Fengi added, taking another gentle sip.

Ray looked visibly relieved, her expression changing to one of ecstasy as she too took a sip herself. “Oh it’s even better than I remember. I’m glad you liked it.”

“Like it?! I love it!” Fengi cheers, Essy giving an appreciative nod to Ray before looking to Lin.

“Sooo?”

“It’s very good… Do you think we could try and cool it down a little? Imagine this cold.”

“It is often served cold, yes,” Ray confirmed, nodding her assent.

“I’ll go get the powder!” Saph called out, getting up. “I have got to try that.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

The strange ethereal world that had seemed so all-consuming started to quickly fade. Holes grew as light and reality started seeping in, sounds and noise starting to build around him. “Oom-Tom… Tom, are you okay?” came the familiar voice of Jacky as his eyes shot open and he blinked a few times as he returned to reality proper.

“Yeah yeah, I’m here… That is trippy, but hey, I think it worked.”

“How many fingers?” Jacky questioned, holding up her hand.

“4. Clear as day.”

“Pheeew. Okay look around, anything strange?”

Tom obeyed, sitting up a bit straighter and glancing about the room. “Nnnnn, nope all good. Just like last time I used one of these.”

“Right, good. Now what did she say?”

“Oh a bunch of stuff… mostly we chatted a bit about how she’s going a touch mad. Even Glazz thinks she’s falling apart at the seams apparently. She was also not happy I wanted a break.”

“Oh don’t tell me you have to do this every day from now on?”

“I said she had 3 days to get ready to try again. Hopefully she’ll have her case worked out by then.”

“Here’s to hoping… also how is your head? Does it hurt?”

“A bit, it’ll go away I’m sure.”

“Right,” Jacky replied, looking at him skeptically. “If it gets worse, tell me. But dinner was served a while ago I think. And I’m hungry.”

“Me too, let’s go.”