‘Right here is to hoping that the machine gun wasn’t an omen… at least we have the door shut this time,’ Sapphire thought to herself as they once more stood assembled in the greeting hall for a demonstration. She knew Apuma and Linkosta had been working on this dragon magic for a while by now. Hopefully this wasn’t going to be the final culmination of those trials.

  There was a decent amount of light out in the greeting hall with the various lamps lit, though ever since the windows were boarded up for winter the whole keep had been rather dark and dingy. It was like that every year of course, but Sapphire was already looking forward to the light and air that spring would bring.

  “So this is not dangerous, right?” Fengi had spoken up as Linkosta drew out the spell on the dragon’s side in white chalk.

  “It is a little. But we have to try. It’s the only way we’ll get to learn how.”

  “And you are quite sure you have not rushed this?” Dakota added in a sterner tone. They all knew Linkosta. She was as excitable as they come, and her father wouldn’t slow her down much either once his precious little gem had gotten to chasing an idea.

  But it was that adventurous and hard working spirit that had seen her learn faster than most how to wield her great gift. It had even earned her the respect of the famously pretentious teachers of the academy who usually looked down upon a measely frontiers woman with disdain.

  “Are we quite sure this is a good idea? Do we really need the two of you to do this? We have so many other things that can help. Like Tom’s guns or Yldril, even the Royal guard or the Inquisition. Surely they have some dragon mages if we need.” Esmeralda tried, evidently not thrilled by the proposed performance. She did always worry for them all, sometimes rightfully sometimes not. Saph just hoped this time was unwarranted.

  “You’d want the Inquisition to hold this over our heads too?” Linkosta replied dismissively before stopping and looking up to scan the crowd. “Sorry, Paulin. I did not mean it like that.”

  “I understand. Besides I can assure you, we have need of any such mages within our circle. They are very rare indeed,” the archivist spoke up, Linkosta’s gaze quickly zeroing in on her.

  “Oh yes She speaks the truth I do think, I have only ever met a few, and that was decades ago,” Apuma added with a chuckle as he turned back and forth between a pair of pages.

  “Dad, the last time you met anyone new and interesting was decades ago.” Linkosta retorted with a grin.

  “Oh come now, that isn’t fair, what about Tom, Tink, and Edita?”

  “This year doesn’t count,” she concluded as she seemingly finished up a section of the spell. “There we are. Are you comfortable, Jarix?”

  “The floor is a little cold, but it is not so bad. Are you done yet?”

  “I think so, yeah. Dad, you wanna check that bit? I’ll get the bowl.”

  “Of course sweetie, let us see here.”

  Sapphire heard Nunuk rumble a bit further down the line. She seemed happy enough, though, to watch the two of them work. Then again she did tend to listen to Apuma on matters of magic.

  “Were we a little early or what’s up?” Balethon eventually questioned with a chuckle as they all waited.

  “No, no, we will be ready soon. But it must be just right.”

  “Well in that case, hey Skitters!”

  Saph and a few others looked over to see what he was up to. Maybe the little thing had learned a new trick or something. It wasn’t like there was anything more interesting going on with Jarix just yet after all.

  The little lizard was sitting on the guard’s shoulder like it so often did, staring in two directions at once and occasionally lapping at an eyeball with its long forked tongue. It raised its head at its name being called, though that was about the only discernible change in behaviour.

  “Stand,” he tried, holding his off hand up over the little critter with some sort of treat between his fingers. Skitters seemingly failed to notice the morsel of food hanging right over its head as it shifted around on his shoulder as if searching. “Oh come on now, you worked it out yesterday. Skitters stand…”

  They all watched on in various states of amusement as yet again nothing happened. “Hey Skitters,” Sapphire finally spoke up, interrupting Balethon just as he was about to try again. “Up!”

  Predictably the only trick the little guy had thus far learned went off without a hitch as Skitters just blindly jumped out into the void, Balethon scrambling to catch the little guy.

  “Not funny, Saph,” he grumbled as he put Skitters back in his place. The little lizard seemed to grow upset that no treat was forthcoming, stamping on Balethons shoulders a few times until the scrap of meat was finally produced, which was devoured whole alongside an attempt at the clawed finger feeding it.

  “I disagree, I think it was hilarious,” Saph retorted, trying not to laugh. It might be dumb as a rock, but the little guy was rather entertaining to watch.

  Balethon just grumbled and stepped back a step or two to break line of sight, Sapphire turning back to the show soon to start in front of her. Truth be told, she had no idea if it would even be much of a show. Magics often weren't, even if Tom’s opinion on that seemed to differ substantially.

  “I think this is all in order,” Apuma said as he once more turned back to where he had been in the book, Linkosta picking up a bowl probably full of gods knew what. Could be bird shit for all Sapphire knew. That had seemed to be a theme in any spells involving fire and such. Maybe they could make Jarix breathe fire? That would likely see his old girlfriend jealous. Then again, the machine gun sorta breathed fire, so maybe that counted already.

  “What are you gonna try to do?” Sapphire asked aloud, not seeing a reason not to.

  “We’re gonna try to imitate you actually. Telekinesis. According to the book it is a very good one to start with because you can vary how heavy of a thing you want to try to move. It was that or trying to heat something up.”

  “I would have gone for fire personally, it’s cold,” Sapphire countered, rubbing her shoulders for emphasis. It wasn’t really cold yet in here, but it probably would be at some point as winter got worse.

  “Well it is a bit hard to see if a rock has gotten warm from a distance, okay? We’re doing this one. It sounded useful and it’s quite simple.”

  “Hah, she called you simple,” Jacky snickered aloud.

  “No, I said it was a simple spell,” Linkosta protested as Saph just glared at Jacky angrily. It was a good joke, but why not play into it a little. She was of course hovering over Tom like a bad omen, the human seeming quite confused but alert as he was busy scratching the back of his head.

  “Actually, question. What do you need to make the spell?”

  “Oh some special herbs and such to form the lines of draw like normal. Nyrnroot, sage, glider berries. You know, the usual. It’s all mixed into the blood like usual. For this spell, though, we have to use quick silver too. It’s so pretty.”

  “Oh… I see.” Saph didn’t know the first thing about spell craft, so much like with Tom she just nodded and pretended to understand. It was much simpler.

  “No drinking that stuff,” Tom added in, seeming a little more wary rather than just alert now.

  “Oh no it is not for me. It is for the spell,” Linkosta clarified with a kind smile. “I know it is quite expensive.”

  “Yes, so much for dragon magic being cheap,” Shiva added with a huff.

  “Yes, the materials were generously donated by the Inquisition for today. Though if it goes well we might want to get more.”

  “Only one way to find out. Are you ready?” Apuma interjected as he stood patiently with the large tome open, finger already on the page.

  “Yes, Dad. Let’s try it. Don’t move, Jarix.”

  “I get it. I won’t move a muscle.”

  “It might be quite uncomfortable.”

  “I am not a baby.”

  Sapphire tried not to raise an eyebrow, but she supposed the dragon had earned the right not to be made fun of for that one.

  Apuma and Linkosta both stepped up atop the dragon’s side. They stood either side of the rune circle as they both took a moment to take a breath, then counted as one.

  “Three, two, one aaaand...”

  The circle lit up with a gentle light blue glow, every little scribble of shimmering blood shining bright into the dimly lit room, lifting the golden light of the flames in exchange for something purer, but also colder. Linkosta held out her arms as her eyes shone a brilliant lime green, her dad’s dimmer and slightly darker irises joining with a clear emerald, pupils narrow as slits. Jarix let out a slight groan as he too took on a slight glow, coming from betwixt the scales, like a light shining from within, pathways drawn to the ritual circle. Drawn to it like ants to a berry. Or cracks to an impact.

  No one said a word as the silvery liquid splashed against the dragon’s side and quickly coalesced down into the glowing lines, drawn much as the light coming from the dragon into it all.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I think it’s working,” Linkosta said aloud, her excitement palpable, her mother shushing her as Apuma said nothing, concentration evident as he clutched the book.

  ‘What are they going to try and lift then?’ Sapphire wondered to herself, looking for an appropriate target, realizing only now there wasn’t really one. She had kinda expected a bucket or perhaps a rock of some kind. She remembered how she had always practiced with pebbles and the like before.

  Then Apuma and Linkosta reached out a hand towards the crowd and she felt a knot form in her stomach as her feet went light and she slowly slid upwards into the air. She could feel no hand, just a perfect weightlessness as she ascended. Instinctively she spread her wings, ready to hold her balance, but she did not shift, as if held in place.

  “Awwww come on, why does she get to try,” Jacky protested loudly, though with a chuckle at the end as Saph just enjoyed the surreal experience. Linkosta and Apuma were both reaching out towards her as if they were grasping her from afar.

  ‘Holy shit, what a feeling,’ she thought to herself, a smile spreading over her face as everyone gawked. This was amazing. Fuck flashes of fire. Now she just wished she could do something like this. ‘I guess this is what Jinora felt back then, no wonder she was laughing.’

  “I am so making you three bring up firewood now,” Jacky added as she hoisted Tom atop her shoulders.

  Jarix let out a strained grunt as Sapphire gingerly started floating about the room, moving very slowly and gently above the crowd.

  “Maybe you should set her down, Lin. That is quite enough,” Nunuk spoke in a slightly raised voice.

  The young mage threw a glance towards the dragon’s head, Sapphire feeling herself drop for but a moment before she was caught once more. Without a word she floated clear of the people and was ever so gingerly set down before the feeling of weightlessness gradually faded along with the lights of the ritual.

  Jarix let out a long deep breath, Apuma and Linkosta moving up and down gently along with the dragon’s chest as the final vestiges of the spell were ended. Linkosta hopped off the dragon. “Sorry, are you alright?”

  “I- I’m fine. Just… a bit woozy.”

  “It is only natural, it is your first time after all,” Apuma added in a caring tone. “It will pass, do not worry, though practice may be a fine idea to help build your constitution for such things.”

  “More training. Love it,” the dragon responded, not seeming overly joyous.

  “Oh come on Jarix, what kind of training can you do while laying down anyway?” Radexi added encouragingly. “Maybe you could even put on your helmet like that.”

  “Seems like rather a lot of work to do your job for you,” the dragon countered with a raised eyeridge as the young corporal scratched the back of his neck.

  “Maybe you could make dirt float off instead?”

  “No, but I think a brush and soap can wash off the dried up blood and whatever else is in there,” the dragon retorted, glancing at the burned out ritual circle. “That hurt by the way.”

  “Was it bad?” Linkosta questioned meekly, clearly not having intended to do any more harm than absolutely needed, even if she had perhaps gotten carried away in her work like so often before.

  “It burned a bit, nothing too terrible. But it is hardly pleasant.”

  “Much the same happens with any spell you have painted upon yourself,” Apuma added sagely. “Do not worry, no permanent damage was done. I don’t think.”

  “You don’t think?” Jarix questioned, clearly not happy with that response.

  “I uhm yes… I suppose we shall know very soon. Radexi, why don’t you assist us in cleaning up. That was all everyone. I hope you found it entertaining.”

  “Well worth the watch,” Tom added with a merry chuckle as he smacked his hands together a few times. Some of the kids and even jacky doing so as well.

  Sapphire turned to the dragon and gave him a bow, then to Linkosta and Apuma and repeated it. “It was great fun, thank you.”

  “You are welcome, Sapphire. We thought it was a funny joke,” Linoksta replied, Jarix giving her a quick nod.

  “It sure felt amazing. I guess I need to dress up as an arrow in the future. Then it’s my turn to get hurled at the enemy.”

  “You know… that actually sounds quite useful,” Jarix interrupted, looking back towards Sapphire with renewed curiosity.

  ‘Oh no.’

  _________________________________________________________________________________

  While the display of dragon magic or whatever they called it had certainly been impressive, and Tom was quite sure he could come up with a few uses for it now that there was an actual powersource around capable of lifting more than a pebble or, say, making a blade mildly toasty, it had also given him another idea. A more direct approach so to speak.

  He had conferred with Edita, and while it would take a bit to come to fruition, she had assured him that it should be possible. Thus he was going to see what their big blue friend was up to on this rather cold and miserable day.

  The dragon had been busy keeping warm as he worked the little stamping machine, holding the lever with a single paw and pushing down when Zarko gave the command. They had needed to repair the simple tool a fair few times. Even pressing out a brass cylinder had proven quite the challenge, but the simple press and its four stages could make one casing per press without too many fuckups.

  With each press the soon to be casings had to be moved to the next stage of the tool by hand, so it wasn’t exactly a swift process. At least they could reform and reuse any brass they had already fired.

  “How’s it going big guy? Sporting a scar from yesterday?” Tom opened as he crested the top of the stairs, being greeted by the familiar sight of Radexi and Junior moving the casings inside the tool. A few kids lugged boxes about, Turinia and Holdey busy putting the finished casings into the little storage box so they could be filled with powder later. No sign of Kiran though.

  “Only a little, Linkosta says it will go away soon.”

  “Shit, really?” Tom hadn’t actually expected there to be a scar, it was just blood after all. Well blood that had been magically fucked with, but still.

  “Yes, my scales are a little pale where they drew the runes,” the dragon remarked, looking back at his side. There was a little concern in his voice. Tom knew well that the dragon was at least a little vain. Like any teenage boy, insistent that he was rough and tough while demanding some fucked up looking designer jeans or something.

  “Right… well then. I’m sure she’s right about it going away again. Might be why they use white dragons for this though.”

  “Hah ha very funny. No, it’s all about purity for those folks. The guard doesn’t care, a pair of mages who can work together well enough and are willing to do it is much harder.”

  “Not to mention know how to do it. Those teachings do not come cheap. It is bad enough getting a regular mage trained. Just ask Apuma and Nunuk,” Zarko interjected a little impatiently as she waited on the now chatting dragon.

  “Oh yeah, the academy. Fair enough I suppose. Look Jarix, speaking of magic, we had an idea. Well I did, but Edita agrees.”

  Zarko turned to look at him with an expression that betrayed that she was expecting bad news. The kind of look only a soldier within range of a latrine duty could truly develop.

  Jarix seemed less jaded as he tilted his head looking down at Tom as well.

  “What if we tied the gun straight into you, rather than the gunner. You saw what it did to Jacky. Imagine Radexi.”

  “He is rather skinny,” the dragon agreed looking to the young crewman with concern.

  “I’m not that weak okay!”

  “No, but Jacky is not just anyone,” Jarix countered, seeming to take Tom’s side.

  “The magical potency of a person and their physical strength do not always correlate,” Zarko said as she shook her head. “More importantly, Radexi is yet to develop his magics. Thus he has very little practice and even less of a constitution for it. Much like Tom.”

  Radexi looked pleased at the first part before letting his shoulders sag as it became clear that he wasn’t coming out of this one well.

  “Maybe it is a good idea then. And if the gun was to jam I could simply shut off the flow of magic, no?”

  “Yeah, don’t see why not,” Tom replied with a shrug. It was of course not his area of expertise. But he couldn’t see why not.

  “Could you also make it so I could aim it like that?”

  “I uhm… Don’t know about that… how would you even aim? Like, look down the sights.”

  “I don’t know… magic?”

  “What, like a heads up display?” Tom chuckled before growing silent. He had no clue if that could be done. Edita’s goggles did have some rather strange overlays that seemed almost HUD-like.

  “I mean, even if it can be done, I don’t think we have the time to do it. But maybe one day?” Tom offered. It was the best he could do right now. It wasn’t the worst idea ever, but it might be useful for something far more intriguing than a simple gunsight. What if you could make a magical computer screen… but how to feed it information? It wasn’t like they could just make a dvd that ran on magic or anything. And the idea of needing a dragon to run your gamer PC was perhaps not the best.

  ‘Actually with the sort of power draws they’ve been doing, you’d need several dragons wouldn’t you? Hehe… MSI gaming dragons, now in SLI. Get yours today!... fuck I’m old.’

  “You look like you are thinking. What might you be thinking about?” Zarko questioned warily.

  “Oh nothing. Just uhm. I need to ask Edita. And even then I very much doubt it would be easy or simple… and it would also slowly be draining you while turned on. Might be best to stick with what we got.”

  “Oh, okay then,” Jarix relented. “I suppose I will still need a fire mage on my back. That way the guard and the Inquisition get to keep their stupid story.”

  “Still beats the one with Lord Joakim, doesn’t it?”

  “Gods I had forgotten about that. He was a musician, no?”

  “Yeah he was,” Tom chuckled, shaking his head, Zarko once more looking less than amused.

  “Tom, that is still the story believed in the capital.”

  “Right. Forgot about that… It’s going to be a mess if ever I have to go there, isn’t it?”

  “Don’t worry, we can hide you on my back under a blanket or something,” Jarix offered helpfully.

  “I guess that sorta works… There is also my new armor.”

  “If a suitable helmet could be fashioned it may even be possible to make you pass for a wingless dragonette at a distance.”

  “Oh, not this shit again,” Tom reflexively replied, remembering all too well the various attempts at making him more presentable.

  “No no, Tom, it is worth considering. If not for any formal introductions, good luck walking the city without a disguise should you ever wish to do so.”

  “You are forgetting about one thing Zarko,” Junior added, having stayed quiet up until now, sitting on a fur next to the tool. “His legs.”

  They all glanced down. Even Tom caught himself looking down to see what was wrong, finding nothing of note, other than the fact he may need to accelerate plans for boot replacement or at least get them polished up a little.

  “His knees and feet.”

  “Ahr, yes right,” Zarko agreed, Jarix letting out a thoughtful rumble as the dragon too stared at the problem.

  “What?” Tom exclaimed, not sure what they were on about. Surely he could have something made for his boots that looked like those coverings slash boots Jacky had for her armor.

  “Tom, you only have one knee.”

  “Huh?” Tom looked back down again then up at Zarko, who did helpfully hold out a leg for him. “Ooooh. Well no, we have the same numbers of knees. Yyou just walk on your toes, like this.” Tom stood up onto his toes as if to prove a point, which likely didn’t really work since he was in boots at the moment.

  “I see…” the slightly confused voice of Zarko replied as Jarix chuckled, evidently finding it amusing as Tom went up and down a few times.

  Radexi looked down at his own leg, flexing the lower part back and forth a few times trying to understand the similarity.

  “Either way, if you attempt to walk anywhere, you would immediately be found out. No one walks like you do.”

  “That is fair I suppose. And putting on stilts doesn’t seem like the best idea ever to be honest.”

  “Maybe it is best to just not draw too much attention?” Jarix offered, trying to be helpful.

  “He would be a wingless dragonette in dark enchanted armor. He would be given a deluge of attention.”

  “Possibly with a nice white and or red cloak on,” Tom added. Who knew, maybe he would even have his idea for a fully cloaked suit by then.

  “It would certainly help with not getting stabbed to death immediately. Though not really with the degree of attention.”

  “Fair fair…. well then… I guess no sneaking out to a bar in the middle of the night. Sounds like quitter talk if you ask me.”

  “Yeah, we’ll find a way, even if I have to hand you out the window, don’t worry. We’ll make it work,” Jarix offered, Zarko looking dejected.

  “I suppose having a dragon sitting guard would also help with the problem of getting murdered in the streets. I cannot imagine the sheer fit of rage Joelina or Victoria would unleash if it came to pass that our future was run through with a dagger over a pint of ale.”

  “Would make for quite the story though, wouldn’t it?” Tom jested, Radexi and Jarix joining in with a chuckle, as Holdey just grabbed Turinia’s hand, the kids having run out of casings to sort.

  “Please don’t get stabbed, Tom. P-promise.”

  ‘Oh shit.’ Tom had honestly forgotten about the children present. Which really was quite bad… especially considering that they were helping make weapons. Maybe he just really really wanted to not acknowledge that fact.

  “Oh don’t worry, I would never let that happen. Nor would Jarix. He is big and strong. And Zarko would be very very mad at anyone who tried it,” Tom tried, in his best reassuring voice.

  It did help a little, Holdey nodding a little as Turinia tilted her head. “Like we were all mad at the bitch, right?”

  “Yeah, just like that.” ‘Good thing Essy didn’t hear that… actually she might not mind that one particular curse.’