//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 - Well, that's a curveball 
// Story: The Silent Blade 
// by Rhodesm96 
//------------------------------//

As the others looked up fearfully at the huge dragon towering above us, I walked over to its face and patted its snout.

"Yep, it's me. It's been a while, hasn't it, Beoran?" I said.

"I had no idea you'd still be alive." He said, lowering his voice to such a volume as it was no longer painful to hear.

"Uh, Altair..." Said Dodger, "How do you know each other?"

"Who, Beoran here? I saved his life as a hatchling." I said, walking back to the others. "He was pretty young, I reckon he had only hatched a few weeks ago. I found him surrounded by a group of timberwolves, which are literally wolves made of timber here." Rob chuckled at the pun.

"He saved me, and adopted me as his apprentice." Beoran said. "Although, I can't imagine at my current age that I'd be much for stealth. Speaking of age, however, how is it you are still around?"

"Sunbitch sealed me in stone." I said. "Same story for Ed and Dave, but Rob only just got here."

"I'm impressed." Said Beoran. "I would've thought you'd have gone mad from boredom by now."

"Actually, we did go mad for a little bit." Dave said.

"But eventually, we got bored of that, too." Ed chimed in.

"Instead, we focused on what we'd do when we got out." I continued. "Namely, revenge on the Princesses. Mainly Sunbutt."

"Sir? What kind of revenge are we talking about?" Dodger said.

"Well, to put it simply - " Dave said, before I cut him off.

"I'm going to feed her her own heart." I deadpanned. Rob paled, Dodger, Ed and Dave grimaced a bit, and Beoran chuckled. "Anyway, I dare say that we won't be able to feed any organs to anyone if all we do is stand around here. Time for action, and also time for getting you all up to speed. Rob and Dave, I'm going to take you two and start training you. Ed, Beoran, and Dodger, bring me our current intel on Canterlot and the Princesses. I want to know what we know about the current state of affairs in Equestria."

With that, I beckoned Rob and Dave to follow me and led them to the training area.






One week later


Training the other three had been a nightmare, but I had finally gotten them to a respectable level of competence at the art of stealth. Rob had advanced most quickly, showing surprising aptitude at all areas I covered, but Dave had largely been a disappointment. He had failed in the stealth exercises especially, the area of training that I held in highest regard.

Dodger had gotten to work quickly. After a few days, he had managed to procure up-to-date maps of all the major cities, including Canterlot. It turned out that we had some contacts outside of the organisation, too, which helped massively. Apparently, some of them knew who I was. A couple of them, upon hearing of my return, had even asked about joining up. 

I was having Dave run the obstacle course one day when Dodger approached me with a letter from one of our Canterlot informants.

"Altair? I have something you might want to see." He said. I took the letter from him and began to read it.

Dodger,

I have some information your master should be interested in. On the day after he escaped, I noticed a distinct increase in guard presence around the royal vaults. Figuring this wasn't likely to be a coincidence, I started eavesdropping on them, and learned that they were moving an old artefact to a more secure location. After listening further, one of them started talking about how they had to keep a certain someone from reclaiming it at all costs. Considering that Altair was released the day before this whole thing started, I figured he might be the one they were talking about.

I gave the latter back to him, having read enough.

"Thanks Dodger." I said. "I think I know exactly what this letter is talking about."

"Really, sir?" He said. "What is it?"

"Something I lost to Sunbitch a while back." I said. "Anyway, go and find Rob and Ed. I want them in on this." Dodger nodded and ran off. I walked over to where Dave had just finished his run, checking his time.

"Seven minutes and forty-two seconds, Dave." I said, shaking my head. "Fucking abysmal."

"Fuck you, dude."