//------------------------------// // The Artificer // Story: The Smokeless Flame // by BIGBLACKINTOSH //------------------------------// “The Pride?” Vito slurred, slamming his mug on the table. “Seriously?” We were in the war room, drinking some ale some of the ram guys “secured” before we left. Surrounding the map table, we sat in chairs, sipping at our mugs. Don was busy trying to balance his mug on his forehead. “I think its an okay name,” he muttered, trying to not spill his drink. Vito  scoffed at him and mercilessly tipped the mug off his nose. “The Kings was a far better name for a contract group. It was at least poetic,” he slurred.  “I don't know where you're from, but calling yourself a “king” would get you institutionalized in my country,” Crow drawled. “Meh, I always thought it was kind of cheesy,” Nightheart confessed. Vito glared at Night hard. “Yeah, and what would you know you cave dwelling lizard.” “Geez guys, take it outside. You’re ruining my buzz.” Mitchel cut in. “He’s right, cut the crap before I put both of you in the hospital,” I said flatly. Both men grudgingly sat back down. “Alright so why are we here?” I asked Black, who was sitting across the table from me, already examining my knife with a magnifying glass. He looked back up from the bladed confused, as if he forgot where he was. “Oh. Shit, sorry. But yeah, I called ye all hear to tell ya theres no way ya going to arm all these people,” said casually. Mitchel chuckled. “Thats one way of breaking news.” I laced my fingers together and leaned on the table. “What do you mean? I thought you and the dogs mined up plenty of ore back in town?” “Oh, you mean the ore that currently shielding this ship right now?” He said, not looking up from the knife. Dammit, he had a point. “Alright, so thats a problem. Do you know where we could get some ore?” Black chuckled as he lifted a small hand torch from under the table. Squeezing the handle on the tiny blowtorch, he gently hovered the flame of the gem powered torched over my knife. The flames didn't so much as dissipate but was absorbed into the blade. Black stared at his drained torch and then at the offending blade. “Theres isnt a town I know of until we hit Arabian clouds. And theres only one person I could trust in Saddle Arabia.” Crow stared at him curiously. “Your old teacher?” Black nodded, reaching in his bag again. “That guy was my only friend as a kid. Taught me everything about spirit-forging. I havent got a letter from him in a few months, but he wasn't much for communication. He did tell me when I got tired of waiting in that cave I could come to his place in Domond.” I leaned back in my chair, tiredly pressing my eyelids. Damn I’m tired. “So why don't you set a course and we can head there stright off. Friends in unknown territory would be awesome,” I yawned. “Which reminds me,” Nathan cut in. “What's our plan for when we get there? You still haven't told us what we’re looking or what you found in Sheytan’s head. Why did she need your eye and what was she planning on doing with it?” Nathan demanded. I was surprised by Nathan’s outburst. I I was pretty much used to authority at that point. Everyone’s loyalty to me was solidified by now, in part by fear but mostly due to their motivations. Vito wanted to rebuild his company, Black was following through a “prophecy” he heard from his brother, Herpy and Flan were still here mostly out of curiosity and Mitchell? Well he was bored with his life before he was born. Nathan was different; he only pursued things that were of interest to him. He’s stayed for this long because he sees a true adventure to be had. But, that didn't mean he was the type to follow blindly. I sighed. “Alright, I think its about time anyway,” I confessed. “What we’re doing is heist of the century. Dumar was cursed by a demon Sheytan knew. It had been centuries since they had seen each other, but she knew it was his work. The city had been cursed with a drought that killed everyone in the city. This was before Discord so we’re talking thousands of years. Not only that, but the has been entombed behind a sky reaching sandstorm, and a ravenous beast, and towering gates,” I explained, my face grim. “Jaysus,” Mitchell swore. “How the hell are we getting past all that?” “Well, we already have most of what we need, which is me. My eyes, well eye, can lead us through the sandstorm. Not only that, but the keyblade Jill had Herpy made should get us past the gate.” “What about the “ravenous beast?”” Vito inquired. “That...Wasn't explained. What I just told you is as much as I know, well, what Sheytan knew. She was planning on killing us all off eventually, but Jill had caught us a lot sooner than she expected,” I explained rubbing my eyes. “There is so much I’m missing here. Shey didn’t know how Jill knew about Dumar and thats a question I’d like answered,” I groaned. Mitchel yawned obnoxiously loud. “Well, its about nap time. Let me know when we hit land yeah?” He requested getting out of his seat. Nathan laxily got out of his seat. “Yeah its late,” He yawned. Black got up and gathered his things without saying a word, obviously frustrated with my blade. Night however stayed in his chair, his eyes shifting from me to his empty ale bottle. A curious smile spread across my face. “Something you want to talk about?” I asked him. He shifted in his seat, trying to meet my eyes but couldn't. “I, um. Well.” He stuttered. “Come on, spit it out.” I chuckled. “You’d think someone so affectionate earlier wouldn't have a problem talking.” Night blushed so furiously, his face looked like a cherry for a second. “Its a sensitive subject alright! Or I think it is. Did I mention I lived in a cave most of my life?” He said so fast he needed to take a breath. I waited patiently for him to gain his composure. This was so unlike him. Night sighed, finally calming himself. “Okay. So I had reading some books while we were on break and I saw that some couples like to... Sleep together. And I was wanted to ask you,” he said finally meeting my eyes. “If we could too.” “So you just spent the last ten minutes asking if we could spoon?” I laughed. I didn't know it was possible, but Night blushed even harder. “Its not funny dammit!” “I’m, I’m, sorry! But that just made my day.” I said wiping a tear. Nighty tried to stay angry, he really did, but then slowly cracked a smile and started cracking up with me. We both sat there, laughing. It was something I hadn't done in a while. Or at least not laughing until I ran out of air. Our laughter slowly died down, both us sharing a look until we stopped. I broke eye contact first. “Enough of that before this turns into twilight.” I ordered. Night scratched the back of head, confused. “I don't know what that is, but it sounds boring.” That alone almost made me go into another laughing fit. “So,” he cut in. “How about it?” He stared at his fingers, not wanting to hear the answer. I honestly didn't know what to say. I was very used to sleeping alone, and to be honest, I was not excited to start sharing a bed again. I snapped my fingers, reaching a compromise. “How about this; let me have this last night by myself, and we can try sleeping together tomorrow.” To say Night looked disappointed would be a understatement. “Come on. This moving a bit faster than I expected but,” I said slowly cupping his face in my hands. “How could I say no to those pouty eyes?” I planted a kiss on his forehead and got out of my seat. “Goodnight.” And I left him there, cherry red and dumbfounded. Barging into my room, I didn't even bother to undress before slumping into the satin black sheets of my bed. “Gonna be a long trip. Gotta find something to do tomorrow,” I grumbled into my pillow. According to Black it was going to be only three days to get to Saddle Arabia thanks to the improvements to the ship. That gives me a short time to re-learn my abilities. No biggie. Thanks to an excessive amount of downtime, I was way out of practice. I could barely remember how to absorb smoke much less make a fireball. This made me worry, especially since we’re going into way unknown territory. But all of it slipped to the back of my mind as I let myself be absorbed by the satin black sheets. And for the first time since I left home, my dreams found me. ~transition~ I stood in complete darkness the only thing I could hear were my shallow breaths. I looked down to see that I was wearing modern military gear; a beige flak-jacket and padded fatigues, complete with combat boots. My old uniform. “No, no, no,” I whispered, my breathing elevating. I suddenly felt as if someone was pressing a burning hot stick against my back. I collapsed on my knees in pain, hugging my chest, begging in my mind for the pain to stop. The pain was going deeper than just my skin I felt it in my soul. “Useless.” I frantically searched for the voice but only saw void surrounding me. “Murderer.” And that when I heard the bang of a gun, the sound reverberating repeatedly in my mind. I looked down again only to watch the blood gush out of my chest. It pour out of me like a waterfall, pooling around my knees surrounding me a circle, filling up around me. “Monster.” I screamed at the top of my lungs, splashing the shallow water I was laying in. I struggled to breathe, huffing to get air in. I looked at my surroundings to see that I was in my personal bathroom. I don't like to call it a bathroom, it was more like a walk-in water closet with a big shower. I looked down at the shallow pool I was sitting in and noticed the shower head tickling water on my head. I wrapped my arms around tightly  around my knees. “What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?” I repeated in mantra, rocking myself. My sleep adled mind somehow had striped myself and managed to leave on my boxer-briefs. I slowly got up and dragged myself to bed. Even in my soft sheets, the thought of possibly going back to that dream made me stare into the darkness of my room. I want to say that I was using this time to process my nightmare, but the only thing I could think over was, “what the fuck was that?” ~transition~ “You look like death girl,” Vito said flatly, sipping from a bottle of milk. The caf was bustling with activity, the entire crew struggling to find and get food. Hell, people sitting at the sides of the large table were struggling to eat their food in the chaos. I woken up like this for the last three days. Honestly the only eventful thing that happened was my nightmares. I could never remember them, but they had been making me sleep walk around my room. Every night I would wake up in a weirder place. I had postponed my sleepover with Nighty, telling him the time was just not right (or safe) to be sharing a bed at the moment. I glared at Vito and smiled. “And you look like you got nailed by a mastiff last night,” I shouted over the noise of the kitchen. Vito raised a confused eyebrow. “I’m not even going to question what that is,” he stuttered, his fluffy ended tail standing stiff behind him. I groaned. “I couldn't get any sleep last night.” “Bad dreams?” Vito asked, munching on a strip of bacon. “I think so. Can't remember most of it though, just the feeling of drowning.” I croaked. I had no recollection of the dream. Or I should say night terror. Vito got up and added his plate to the growing pile of dishes behind us. After adding his dish to the mess, he clapped his hand over my shoulder. “What you need my friend is some fresh air. And maybe after that we can spar again. A good fight always gets me out of a funk.” He suggested. I looked up at the older gryphon and lifted my head off the table. It was hard to take him seriously, considering  “I’ll meet you in twenty minutes okay?” I said getting up. Vito nodded. “See you there. And Jann,” He looked into my eyes, his eyes serious. “We just got back on our feet. Don't lose your nerve now,” He said grimly. “Spfft,” I sputtered. “I just lost some sleep, nothing to worry about.” Vito shrugged. “Whatever you say kiddo,” as I headed for the elevator lines. ~character switch (Crow)~ “No way,” Nightheart said in denial. I raised my hands defensively. “I’m telling you man, theres this little flat tablet that plays any music you can think of. We call it an mp3 and-,” I was cut off by sound of boots hitting the ground behind us. Night and I turned around to see nothing but the stern rails, but a second later watched as Mitchel AKA Ghost appear out of thin air. “Am I interrupting some gossip girls?” He chided, his arm spread wide. I ignored his joke and glared at him. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been busting our asses all morning.” “Spfft,” Mitchel sputtered. “I hardly call standing next to Nightheart, gabbing about ipods “work.”” He quoted, wrapping his brown maned tail around his leg. “It is when he’s my, what's the word you used Crow?” Night cut in. “Navigator, I’m the navigator Nighty,” I answered flatly. “You don't even have a map,” Mitchel objected. “Not true! Big Black drew one for me this morning,” I said snidely, reaching for my back pocket. I brought forth a piece of slightly ripped paper with a poorly drawn ship. A long arrow pointing north west, “go this way idiots,” written on the line. I smiled proudly at the poorly drawn map. “Perfection.” “We’re lost aren't we?” Mitchel asked flatly. “We’re not lost. We just don't know what direction we’re going at the moment,” I said, crumbling the crappy map and tossing overboard. “Blacks going to be up here to test experiments at any moment anyway. He’ll know the way. Besides, I’d expect this kind of micro management from Vito. Or me for that matter. What's got you uppity?” Mitchel turned around and leaned against the railing. “Arent you just a bit weirded out by the fact that we’re just learning Idilah real name?” “Not a problem with. Never really believed “Idilah” was a real name anyway,” I said, uncaring. Honestly being buds with Jann had always been a blind run, but it never stopped me from being curious. Always hiding behind her hair, drinking a lot for reasons unknown. Her having a second name didn't really surprise me. Mitchel scoffed at me. “And what about you Nightly? Your recently declared girlfriend was hiding her real name from you and it seriously doesn't bother you?” “Nope,” he answered flatly. “No?” Nightheart shook his head. “After taking my mom’s abuse for so long, any out would have sufficed. The day you guys showed up I was planning on doing something drastic just to get away from her. You guys saved me that day, so as far as I’m concerned, nothing can make me judge any of you.” Mitchel and I stared at Nightheart and tried to understand what his words meant. Honestly I had forgotten how our adventure started. Within the first hour of being on Equis, we had slayed a dragoness and freed Nightheart from her control. He’s felt in debt to us since we left Black Mountain, trusting us with his life in every fight we’ve fought. I don't think he’d give a damn if Jann’s real name was Steve. “Wow Nighty, thanks.” Mitchel said graciously. A sudden force rocked the entire top deck, sending everyone on deck into a sprawl. I quickly got back on my feet with a beat of my wings and helped Mitchel and Nightheart up. Nightheart shook the confusion out of his head. “What in tartarus just happened?” “Oh shit, yeah. Object spotted off the starboard bow.” Mitchel quickly informed us. “Oh for fucks sake Mitchel!” I screamed. “What the hell is going on up here?!” Jann shouted brushing off her legs. All three of us stood at attention, Mitchel explaining the situation. “Something just hit us. I spotted something that looked sorta like a serpent a few minutes ago.” Jann stared at him blankly. “And you didn't think to tell anyone?” She asked in a steady tone. Mitchel stayed quiet, and so did I. Now wasn't the time to go into trivial crap. “Whatever. Nighty take the wheel, I’ve got the controls,” she said, grabbing the altitude contol levers next to the wheel. Everyone else!” She shouted to the crew awaiting her orders. “Battle stations!” Dogs and ram alike moved in a practiced rush. Within seconds every cross-cannon station was manned and ready to fire and I’d wager some of the ballistas were ready to go too. All it done with trained ease, as if these once farmers and soldiers did this all their lives. Without a word, Nightheart took the wheel again, looking at me to do my job. I nodded at him and peered of the right bow, searching for what Mitchel described; a serpent in the clouds. Only in Equis. After several minutes, I spotted it. What could only be described as a gray scaley tube that showed its back as it went back under the clouds. The way it moved, it reminded me of a desert snake burrowing its body in sand. “Object spotted! Looks like a giant scally worm." I shputed without taking my eyes off the thing. "Whats it doing?" Jann asked. "Looks like its going back under the clouds. Maybe your “commander’s voice” spooked it?” I jested. “Oh shut it and keep watch. We know for a fact that it rammed us. Theres no telling when-,” Jann was cut off by another ramming. The worm had struck us again from portside, anyone who didn't hang on tight to the railing went over the edge. Two guys, a ram and a D-dog, went over and screamed as they fell through the thick cloud sea below. With a beat of my wings and no forethought, I jumped over the edge. Going through clouds was kind of like diving into the deep end of the pool face first. For several seconds I could only see a grey sea of dense water. I  thought I would have drowned if I had not resurfaced on the other side of the cloud a second later. I immediately spotted the men who had fell. Both were flailing like mad, not even thinking about the free fall training we tried a whiles back. Trying to yell at them in winds like this useless, I thought to myself. Gonna have to try and grab them in one go. I beat my wings as hard as I could and rushed towards the first guy I saw. This one was a D-dog, I vaguely remember his name being Dirt. He was screaming his head off and flailing in panic. I hesitated to grab him, thinking I’d just get hit. He’s going to end up smacking us both out of the sky at this rate! I waited for and opening and grabbed him by the collar of his tunic. Before I could go after the sheep, I noticed I couldn't hear his scream anymore. I looked down and saw that he was nothing but a small dot in the distance below. I... Couldn't get to him fast enough. I hovered in the air for a minute before realizing the dog’s shirt collar was ripping. I flapped my wings once and flew back up to the ship. On my second trip through the clouds, a large dark figure was coming torwards us. Luckily, we surfaced topside before the cloud worm could chomp us. I tossed Dirt on the deck as “gently” as I could and landed on the deck in roll. “Holy shit, Nathan!” Jan bent down to eye level with me. “I thought you guys were gonners.” She looked at Dirt and noticed I was missing a ram. “Wheres the other guy?” I stuttered to answer her before someone behind me asked, “Didn't Randy go overboard too?” I didn't take me eyes off the wooden deck. “By the Copia... Randy’s gone.” Someone said somberly. The ship rocked again and sent more people to the ground. Jann quickly stood back up and growled like a hound. “You can murn later! We still got a worm to kill!” Everyone got back on their feet, Jann and I went back to Nightheart’s side as fast as we could. “We need to draw it out somehow,” she suggested. “Got any ideas?” Nightheart asked no one in particular. “I got one!” I heard Big Black’s voice shout. He clambered up the steps to the wheel with us. “Cloud worms,” he huffed. “Are sensitive to sound. If ye, by the corn I’m out of breath. If ye let off some cannon fire, it’ll go to the opposite side. It won’t give up on trying to get us, but at least we’ll know where its at,” Black theorized. “And then we can send it to hell. Last time it hit us, it was on the portside side.” Jann muttered. “Portside fire!” She shouted to the right side of the deck. Every man on the right side readied their ballistae and cannons, letting loose a fury of thick bolts and lead. The volley  disappeared  into the thin clouds that surrounded the ship like fog. I heard a loud roar of pain in the distance. “Did we get him?” Nightheart whispered. A pillar of grey rigid scales rose from the left side of the ship, hunching over us to show us a large mouth with rows and rows of teeth. The worm’s face had no eyes, and on its back was a series of ragged wings. It also had half a dozen bolts and black spots near it mouth. Yeah, it was not happy. “Thats a fucking no!” I shouted as it roared on us. “What the fuck are you idiots waiting for?!” Jann yelled at the port side gunners, waving her arms. “Fire! Fucking fire!” Everyone portside panickedly fired their guns into the belly, or what I assumed to be the belly, of the worm. The worm roared and lunged down to snap at a gun station. Men scrambled as the worm came down, one unfortunate D-dog not fast enough to get out of the gunner seat. The worm snatched up the finely crafted weapon and soldier in one bite and lifted its head to swallow. “Holy shit!” I shouted. “Uh, now would be good time to armor up Janny!” Jann stared at me. “What the hell do you expect me to do to that thing? Last time I fought something this big, it was in a dream!” Before the pillar of grey could come down for another bire it roared in pain. Green lights blazed on its back and it took me a second to realize the lights were green flames. The worm went down like the tower of piza and reveled the ship behind it. Fly along side us was a skooner sized ship with a large balloon keeping it afloat the clouds, a red intriqately drawn fireball head blazened across it. Large cannister looking guns alined the side of the vessal, each one being manned by six weird looking creatures. They were humanoid, their arms and legs being covered in a chitinus shell of varying colors. Their eyes were snake-like, vertical slits glaring at us. All of them wore a mix of rags and leather armor, a set of smitatars and dirks on their waists. A bug man with rags covering his head raised something resembling a bull horn and spoke with a rough accent. “Lower your weapons!” Jann pushed past me to get to the railing. “What?!” “Unman your guns or we will open fire!” Copper man yelled back. “Do as he says lass.” Black said, placing his hand on Jann’s shoulder. “Black what the hell is going on here?” She asked harshly. “I know that mark on their balloon. Its my teacher’s signature, I used to see it on all his work. I think these might be the friends he said he made in his last letter.” Black explained. Janned looked at the ground for moment before ordering the remaining gunners off their stations. “If this is a trap, its on you,” she sighed at Black. Copper dude watched everyone who got off their guns intently and smiled. “Good! Follow us and stay close!” He shouted before taking the wheel of his small ship. We followed close, making sure not to break line of sight with the ship. Jann had ordered the men to go below deck. A ram guy took a swing at me, accusing me of getting Rand killed. Black had to hold him back but he went below deck with the rest of the crew. I stayed above deck with Nightheart, Jann and Big Black. Mitchel had disappeared, I assumed he was hiding somewhere close just in case something didn't seem right. Our escort had suddenly stopped, one of the bug guys, who I now suspected to be changlings, dropped a small ball onto the clouds below. The clouds opened up in a perfect circle, creating a portal to the world below. I stared in awe at the hole. “I thought only Avians could control the clouds?” Black rubbed his beard in thought. “Must be some kind alchemic reagent. I have no idea how they made it, but thats bloody brilliant,” he praised. The schooner lowered into the hole, Nightheart following suit.  “Question,” Jann said, seemingly to no one. “Couldn't we had just lowered ourselves into the clouds? I mean, we shouldn't need a special ball to go down, you did design the propellers to go down right Black?” she joked. Black took the question as an insult, his cheeks puffing up. “Of course I did you daft git! I have a feeling these guys might have these clouds warded with a device my teacher was working on. It was designed to- Of course!” He shouted. “He finally perfected it. There are wards in the clouds made by a device. The ball they threw was a “cancel ball”. Its a compound designed to cancel magic, you clever fuck!” The moment we went below, I we were greeted with the sight of a sea of tents. Over a hundred large tents were arranged around a even bigger tent the size of a garage. The schooner flew over the ragged city and over a dune to reveal a small fleet of schooners and brigs. A mix changelings and epui were working on ships; repairing the damaged and outfitting others with the flame throwers we saw earlier. The schooner who brought us in landed in a clear spot, us following suit. It was a tight fit,  we had to squeeze between our escort and nearby sand dune. Nighty, Jann and I had to coordinate our movements to avoid crushing our propellers. After parking we lowered the gangplank and were greeted by the changeling guy and his entourage of armed friends. “The lieutenant would like to speak to you, the ram especially,” he said sternly. We all looked to Black and our glares with a nervous laugh. “Maybe he can clear this up,” he said shrugging as he walked down the gangplank, us following behind him. “I still haven't heard who “he” is,” Jann said as we weaved around ships. We were given sharp looks from equi and changelings both as we made our way through the ship yard. I ignored them, but Jann glared back, showing off her abnormally sharp teeth. I however took the time to notice that all the changelings didn't have any wings. Big Black was quiet until we got to the tents. “His name is Addar, he’s been my best friend since I was ten. Back then he was old but but now he’d be at least a hundred and fifty.” “Sweet Jesus, a hundred and fifty?” I gasped. I had to see this old geezer who made freaking cloud wards. Our escorts stopped in front of the flap of the larger tent we saw earlier. The head changeling who had shouted us down went inside the tent and his two comrades, one desert brown and the other jet black, stood in front of the tent. We stood there waiting for what seemed like an hour. The sun was bearing down on my head, for a while I thought of snatching the water skin hanging off jet black’s sword belt. Jann looked absolutely fine, but Nightheart was heaving like a dog stuck in the car. Before I could go for Jet’s water, the head guy, who I now noticed looked exactly like Jet black except his reptilian eyes were lime green and Jet’s was blood red, came out of tent and waved us in. We piled into the tent and saw that is was way bigger on the inside, the inside being the size of two garages. The floor was covered in a once fine sea green rug, now covered in oil and dirt. Several workbenches sat against the walls of the tent, all of them covered in what seemed like scrap metal, for I knew it could be another grand invention. In the center of the room was a war table, riddled with various pins in strategic places. At the back was a large bed with what looked like three bodies packed under a blanket. Jet black (with green eyes) coughed awkwardly. The blankets stopped moving and someone got out of the bed. A slim but muscular man stood, his blood red hair dropped down to his shoulders, his eyes were emerald green and shined just like the jewel. “Holy shit, is that little Black?” He almost shouted, his scottish accent still thick. “Come and give uncle Addar a hug!” He said spreading his arms. He was also not wearing any pants. All our eyes except Jann’s went to different directions, Black facepalming. “How do you stand with that thing?” She asked tilting her head. This is the type of crap I kick myself on. I cant decide if he's shy or outgoing. Bold or reclusive. I could blame it on his mixed blood, but that would be lazy. The truth is I have no idea what I'm doing and if you or anyone is confused, I apologize.