Chapter 23 - Homecoming
Northwest of the Talmoss Mountains—The Northern Border of the Griffon Empire
“Here they come,” Blade said, her eyes fixed on the trio of distant dots that were moving closer and closer to the airship. She lifted the binoculars again, the dots magnifying themselves with startling clarity and resolving into three lightly armored griffons, flying in a standard arrowhead formation. “You might as well start slowing us down.”
“Got it,” Alchemy said. The faint rumble of the Onset’s propellers shifted as he decreased the throttle.
“Don’t stop us,” Blade said. “Just slow us down a bit. We might as well make up what little distance we can. Plus, that’ll give them less distance to fly.” She took a quick look at the trio of griffons once more, her eyes straining to pick out the emblems on their armor. No such luck. They were still too far away for the small clan symbols—usually by the left shoulder or chest—to be visible. Odds were that this close to the Talmoss range they were from the Windrunner clan, but there was still a chance that they were guards on loan from another, further clan. Not that it really mattered either way in the end, but guards from her own clan would be much more likely to recognize her.
The sound of hoofsteps echoed down the hall and Frost walked onto the bridge, her demeanor as cool as ever. “Hain is hidden,” she said as she came to a stop nearby.
“Well?” Blade asked.
The mare nodded. “In order to find him, they’d need to reorganize a number of the leftover munitions that we weren’t able to sell. I doubt they’ll be that interested, especially since we aren’t carrying much in the way of cargo.”
“Good. And the rearward ballistas are stowed?”
Frost nodded again. “Yes. Both have been broken down and stored in clear, non-threatening positions. It should be clear from any angle of approach that either are unusable.”
“Perfect,” Blade said, lifting the glasses once more. The trio was drawing closer now, their color distribution clearer against the sky than they had been a minute ago. Two of them were tan colored, while the third was a mix of white and black. Exotic, Blade thought as she ran her eyes over the long, tufted tail. I definitely never met them when I lived here. Maybe they were from one of the border towns on the outskirts of the Windrunner territory.
She panned the glasses over the horizon, her eyes taking in the familiar sight of rolling hill after rolling hill enveloped in thick clusters of pine trees. There were still bare patches beneath them, wide open spaces devoid of trees, but even those were clad in green, bushes and all manner of fauna growing in them. It was a welcome, familiar change after the weeks of grey-and-white ice.
And the groaning was gone. Frost had commented on it almost immediately as they’d moved away from the Ocean, as if suddenly realizing that the monotonous noise she’d spent her entire life hearing was now fading away. She’d looked alarmed, but to Blade the fading of the endless grind had felt almost like being able to breathe after holding her breath for a long time, or realizing that a distant headache had faded.
Give me the sound of wind in the skies anytime, she thought as she lifted the glasses again. The guards were almost on them, close enough now that she could pick out details with binoculars. She caught sight of the three green marks above an inverted V—the mark of her own clan. Good. That meant they’d probably make this pretty easy.
I wonder how the Order hid Anubis? She lowered the glasses and looked down towards Alchemy. “Better bring us to a stop,” she said. “This is far enough.”
“Right.” The hum of the propellers shifted again, the Onset slowing even further. The trio of griffons appeared to hear the change of pitch, their wings speeding up as they flew towards the airship.
“Well,” Blade said, rising from her seat. “I guess we’d better go say hello.”
By the time she reached the back deck, the trio of griffons were hanging off the port side, waiting at a respectable distance and watching. Unlike the griffons from Teardrop, there wasn’t an immediate feeling of suspicious hostility to their gazes, but rather a more subdued feeling of general interest. One of the three was letting their eyes wander despite being at attention, eyeing the lines of the airship, stopping here and there when something interested him.
Probably the damage, Blade thought as she walked over to the railing. There were probably going to be questions about that. And likely about the rather obvious design of the ship. And the empty weapon mounts. Still, nothing that can’t be explained. Especially with my job.
“Hey!” she called, lifting a forelimb and giving them a lazy wave. “How’s it going?” No point in being formal about it. “Any of you speak Equestrian?”
“Yes!” the lead griffon called back. “Are you coming from the Ocean?”
“Yes!” Blade shouted back. “But I’m not from there! Blade Sunchaser, wandering claw!”
“Sunchaser?”
“Yes! Windrunner clan!” That got their attention. She could see them glancing at each other before the leader of the trio turned back towards her.
“We’ve heard of you! Permission to board?”
“Permission granted!” The three griffons nodded and then swooped towards the back deck in unison, spreading their wings in a textbook deployment as they settled onto the rear deck. Crisp, clear, and precise.
Just like they’re supposed to be, Blade thought, feeling a bit of pride as she watched them land. The Windrunner military wing always had prided itself on its precision. She stepped forward, nodding her head and spreading her wings partway in respectful greeting. “Welcome aboard.”
“Thank you,” the lead of the trio said, his voice clear and steady. “I’m Talon Claw Jel. These are Talon Claws Bantu and Magnus.” Blade let her eyes linger of the final of the trio, the black-and-grey griffon named Magnus with the tufted tail.
You’re here on business, she reminded herself, bringing her eyes back to Jel. Eye candy is inconsequential.
“Blade Sunchaser,” she said as each of the three offered their own bows. “Wandering claw, as I said. Well met.”
“Well met,” Jel said, stepping forward slightly. “So, wandering claw, huh? What took you to the Ocean?”
“A job,” she said. “Like all jobs, they take you places.”
“I see,” the griffon said, nodding. “I’ve heard your name before. You’re from the eyrie itself, right?”
“I am,” she said, nodding. Behind Jel, the other two griffons were stepping out of formation, looking at the rear deck of the ship and examining the ballistas.
“Outwatch,” Jel said, lifting one talon and waving it. “Which you probably figured. Ever been there?”
She shook her head. “No actually. Is it small?”
He gave her a shrug. “Mostly. It’s a lumber town not too far from here.”
Blade nodded. Lumber was one of the bigger exports for the clan, given the amount of it that was all across the Talmoss range.
“Anyway,” Jel said, looking back at his two companions. “You know the drill.” He reached into one of the back pockets of his armor and pulled out a small clipboard and a pen. “Standard border crossing information and check. We’ll have to take a quick walk-through to get a good look at things. This your airship?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re the captain?” Jel asked, making a note on his pad.
“Yep.” Easier to simply just roll with it.
“Name of the ship?”
“Onset of Honor.”
Jel didn’t even bat an eye as his pen scratched at the pad. “Type?”
She shook her head. “Military corvette? I don’t know the class. It was built by the Teardrop Eyrie.”
Jel nodded. “Looks like it’s an offshoot of a Boltwing class. I’ll just put down ‘misc.’ How many crew?”
“Three,” she said. “Myself, two ponies.”
“Right,” Jel said, nodding. “Can we take a look inside?”
“Right this way,” she said, waving them towards the entrance. They followed her, each of them looking the ship up and down, occasionally asking questions as they passed by something or Jel reached another section of their form.
“By chance, did another airship come through here recently?” Blade asked as they passed through the galley. “A large one? Almost a yacht? Called Superiority?”
“No,” Jel said, shaking his head. The rest of the trio followed suit. “Not that I know of.”
“Okay,” she said, not expounding further. So Anubis had gone the other route. Still, that was easy enough to deal with. All they needed to do was get to the eyrie and—
“Can we take a look at one of the ammunition magazines?” Jel asked, his question jerking her thought process to a stop.
“The ammo magazines?” she asked, looking back at him. “What for?”
“Explosives check,” Jel said, still looking down at his pad. “I saw the weapon mount and assumed you had an ammo magazine somewhere, even if you weren’t using it. Are you using it?”
“Well, yes,” she said, nodding. ‘Mostly for crossbow bolts, though. You know about the Ocean.”
The griffon nodded and looked back down at his pad. “I’ve heard a few things, yeah. That cult still making things rough for everyone?”
“Not as much anymore,” she said. “Everyone else kind of got sick of it.”
“Uh-huh,” Jel said, nodding. “So … Ammunition magazines?”
“This way,” she said, motioning towards the front of the ship. “There’s only the one room, and it’s below where the main gun would be mounted, if we had one.”
“Right,” Jel said. He didn’t sound suspicious, but at the same time he was supposed to act professional. How much looking at the magazine did they want to do anyway?
If they do a thorough check, they’re going to find Hain, she thought. No doubt about it. There hadn’t been much to start with in the ammo magazine … if they dug around …
We can take them, but it’ll make the rest of this trip a lot more difficult, she thought as she reached the door. She reached out and wrapped her talons around the handle.
“In here,” she said, jerking the door outward rather than over and making it rattle in its housing. “Sorry,” she said, tugging at it again. “It gets a little stuck sometimes. Used ship, you know?” Hopefully, Hain would catch the hint.
“Right,” Jel said as she tugged the door open. Light spilled into the dark, cramped, and dusty magazine room, illuminating a solitary stack of crates tied up in one corner. There was just enough size to the stack that a single crate could have been missing from the middle, a single crate that would have left a hollow space barely large enough for a good-sized griffon.
“Well,” Jel said as he stepped past her. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” He walked up to one of the crates and ran his talon along the side. “Cannon shot and powder?”
“For the gun the ship used to have,” Blade said, shrugging. “I don’t really have a use for it, but it came with the ship, so …”
Jel nodded and stepped around to the other side of the stack, running his eyes across the heavy, stamped letters. “And ballista bolts. Pretty standard stuff.” He made a note on his pad and then turned, moving for the door. Blade felt her wings relax a little. “Three crates worth of powder.”
“They want you to keep track of that stuff now?” she asked, breathing a bit more easily as he closed the door behind him.
“Evet,” he said, shrugging. “Don’t ask me why. Something to do with keeping track of weapons imports and exports in accordance with some terms set with a minotaur clan after a border skirmish.”
“Gotcha,” she said, noting that Jel had lowered his pen and letting out an inward sigh of relief. “So, anything else you need to know?”
“Just the final destination of your ship,” came the reply. “Where are you headed, and what’s your timetable?”
She gave him a grin. “That’s easy enough. The Talmoss Eyrie. Late tonight or tomorrow morning, if possible.”
“Nice,” he said, smiling back at her. “You’ll probably beat our paperwork there at that speed. Heading home for a while, huh?”
She let out a laugh, half at the question and half from relief that Hain wasn’t at risk of being found anymore. “Sort of, yeah.”
“Right,” he said, taking a quick look around at the rest of the room. “Well, in that case I’m just going to need your signature here, and then I’ll give you your copy for your own records. If you do end up beating your border record there, your copy will work well enough.”
“Right,” Blade said as he passed the clipboard over to her. The line he wanted her to sign was easy enough to find, and she put her name down under Jel’s watchful eye. “Anything else?”
“Nope,” Jel said as he took the clipboard back. “Just give me a second, and …” he reached into one of the pouches on his armor and pulled out a small stack of small cards, sitting back on his haunches as he copied some of the information from the sheet of paper he’d filled in over to the small card.
I really don’t remember this taking this long before, Blade thought as she looked up at the other two members of the trio. Both of them looked interested in what was going on, but she’d spent enough time around soldiers to know the difference between fake interest and real interest. They were just waiting for their talon member to finish up.
Just as well they didn’t find anything, she thought. If they had, I’d imagine we’d have a very different scenario right now. For starters, all three of the griffons would probably be unconscious. And they’d be working on a way to dodge the law while running to follow Anubis.
But … that’s not happening, she thought as Jel finished up his transcription and tore the card free from the top of the stack. So I really don’t want to be worrying about what we would have done in that situation. She watched as Jel fanned the card back and forth for a moment, quick-drying the ink.
“Here you go,” Jel said after a moment, passing it to her. She took it and gave it a quick once over. The stock was thick; durable, without much bend to it. The name of her ship was written along the top of the card, along with her own name. Below that was a list of details, each written in on a reserved line, along with a little more information about their trip. At the bottom was a signature and a hastily scrawled Windrunner clan mark, followed by a number and a set of initials.
“That should be good for anyone who asks,” Jel said moving to point at the bottom of the card and then shaking his head with a laugh. “Sorry. Force of habit. Half the ships we get through here have no idea what this stuff is.”
“Yeah, well that’s what you get when you’re dealing with a lawless zone like the Ocean,” she said, not bothering to add that it probably wouldn’t be that way for long. They’d find out soon enough. “That it?”
“No, unless you want to change travel plans,” Jel said put away the clipboard and pen. “It won’t matter after you reach the eyrie, but if you decided to go somewhere else first, you would need to contact the closest guard post and have an update sent to the eyrie so they know where your ship went.”
Blade nodded. “Not planning on it, but alright. Thanks.”
“Önemli değil,” Jel said, returning her nod. Then he glanced toward the other two members of his trio. “Biz iyiyiz. Haydi gidelim.”
The other two griffons nodded, their faces switching subtly back towards real interest once again. Heh, Blade thought as they began moving back towards the galley. Same old border patrol. Recruiting the griffons who just love to fly all the time. It was a smart move. And, she decided as she followed the trio back out onto the rear deck, also a psychological one. Griffons tasked on the border guard tended to stay in shape, which sent messages both ways—to those outside the Empire and to those who lived inside it.
Nothing like a fit, young griffon posing for the world at large, she thought as the trio of griffons spread their wings and jumped from the side with a quick, respectful farewell. Or to inspire some fledglings to give the military wing a shot. She stood for a minute watching as the small squad moved off, making good time as they shot through the air. Then she smiled.
“Any problems?” she asked as she stepped back onto the bridge. Alchemy was still sitting at the helm, though the binoculars sitting next to him said that he’d likely been watching the receding trio.
“None,” he said. “At least none that I could hear. No whispers anyway.”
“Where’s Frost?”
“Letting Hain out, I think.” He picked up the binoculars and took another look at the already distant griffons, their forms almost lost against the tops of the trees as they dropped down low to the ground. “Should I go ahead and get us moving again?”
“Yeah,” Blade said as the trio broke free of the treetops and out into the open sky, winging their way towards their next rendezvous point. “Let’s get moving. We’ve got a lot of sky to cover and we need to do it as fast as possible. I want to make it to Talmoss Eyrie before record of our arrival gets there.”
“Why?” Alchemy asked as he eased the throttle forward. The faint thrum of the propellers winding up began to echo through the deck, a comforting, familiar rumble underfoot that felt like progress.
“Because their record says that we have three sapients on the Onset,” she said, turning and heading for the ammo magazines to help Frost unpack Hain. “And I don’t want anybody getting a look at that before we arrive and disembark and realizing that there’s four of us onboard. Our borders aren’t exactly lax, but they’re definitely not lax enough to miss that.”
“Got it. So make it there as fast as we can?”
She nodded, giving the bridge one last glance and looking out the front windows at the distant mountains. “Faster, if possible.”
Underfoot, the rumble of the propellers increased.
* * *
“Blade?”
Blade looked away from the twin pairs of hangar doors as they began to slide shut, toward the overweight griffon coming across the floor towards her, his eyes open wide behind a thin pair of glasses. “Blade Sunchaser, that really is you?”
“What’d you expect, Rys?” she asked as the griffon came to a stop a few feet away from her, his entourage of goats and underlings skidding to a halt behind him. “That somebody else would be out here using my name?”
“Well … when you put it that way,” the old griffon said, tilting his head to one side as if deep in thought. “Yeah, actually. Definitely yes.” His head began to bob up and down in a rapid rhythm, like he was moving to some musical beat that only he could hear. “Especially when that individual is requesting a berth in one of my private airship berths.”
“Yeah, well, it’s me,” she said, turning and glancing at the Onset as the few workers in the hanger struggled to get it tied down. Alchemy and Frost were both up on deck now, tossing out lines. “Are you going to ask for proof?”
She caught a glimpse of the old griffon's eyes sliding down toward her namesake talons, the friendly smile slipping for just a minute, and then he was jovial once more. “Why of course not, Blade!” he said, leaning back on his haunches and spreading his forelegs. “I was just surprised, that’s all. The last I saw you—”
“Was when I was busting your butt for illegal smuggling with the rest of the guard,” she said, grinning as she tapped her talons against the paved floor of the hanger.
“Well, yes,” Rys said, his smile faltering slightly. “But I’ll have you know I paid my dues—”
“I’m sure you did, Rys,” Blade said, shaking her head. “And relax, I’m not here to do any digging into whatever below-the-treeline operation you’ve got going on around here. I’m a wandering claw now, remember?”
“How could I forget?” Rys asked, the smile coming back in full force across his dusty-tan face. “And what below-the-treeline operations would I—”
“More than one, huh?” Blade asked, giving the griffon a grin as he gave her a hurt look.
“Bold words for someone who’s asking my generosity in hosting their airship,” he said, gesturing towards the Onset. “You are, after all, taking up space in one of my private warehouses.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. “Keep talking Rys. It’s what you’re good at.”
“What I’m good at!?” The old griffon reared back, spreading his wings and pressing a talon to his chest in mock shock. Or maybe it was real. It had always been hard to tell with Rys. Even her father had encountered difficulty in figuring out which was which. “Merely good?”
“Okay,” she admitted. “Sorta good.”
“Sort of good?” He was sputtering so much he looked like a congested owl. “Sort of? My dear, I am one of the foremost shippers in the entire clan! If I were a pony, my cutie mark would be a pile of money! Almost half of the Windrunner clan’s business passes through my talons—” One of the goats at his side bleated something.
“Yes,” he said, waving his talons to shoo the goat away. “I was getting to that. And as of last year I maintain the most profitable of the four trade positions to the Ocean of Endless Ice. I am not merely good, my dear Blade, I am excellent!”
“Well good then,” she said, smirking as he lowered himself back down. He still tweaked like he used to as well. She still remembered the time when she’d met him in her father’s office, back before he’d been running his own trade empire. He’d been just as eager to talk about himself then, especially when provoked by an inquisitive young kit. “Glad to hear it, because I’ve got a business proposition for you.”
“Well, I would hope so,” he said, dropping his grandstanding for a look of indignation. “Otherwise I would have to be running a private dock, and that is most definitely what my hangers are not for.” He paused, his eyes shifting up towards the Onset. “Would this have something to do with why you came in under the cover of night?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “That was just timing. We’re in a hurry.”
“A hurry, huh?” he said. “What’s the rush? Time-constrained cargo you need to offload? A good deal?”
“Rys,” she said, shaking her head. “You know there’s only one reason I’d come here rather than just contact my father and look for the best deal if I was involved in a trading deal.” She didn’t have to say anything for him to understand her words. There was just a nod and then a glance at his tagalongs.
“Meep, Thrastus, you’re with me,” he said, pointing his claws at both the goat and one of the griffons. “The rest of you go do inventory or something. Check some paperwork. Go on. Get going.” The rest of the group was moving away before he even finished giving his orders, their expressions completely unphased. Apparently the behavior wasn’t at all unusual.
Good, Blade thought as she watched them go. She’d been worried that maybe while she’d been gone someone else would have stepped in to fill Rys’s airspace, but if his subordinates were this used to his casual dismissal that they go somewhere else, as well as the openness of the order, than things weren’t likely too different from when she’d left. The clan elders let Rys’s under the table dealings slide as long as they weren’t overtly dangerous and didn’t interfere with the clan’s regular trading operations. As long as he kept things out of sight and didn’t hurt anyone’s bottom line or deal in goods too dangerous or illegal, they were content to pretend all was flying well.
“So,” Rys said, giving her a charming smile. “Shall we retreat to an office where we can discuss what business you’re bringing me?”
“Actually,” Blade said, jerking her head towards the Onset. “Why don’t we discuss it aboard my ship?”
“There?” Rys asked. “Why there?”
“So you can get a good look at it,” she said. “After all, that’s your payment.” She saw the griffin’s eyebrows rise as he digested her words, the bushy, feathered clumps looking almost like small, battered feather dusters that someone was wiggling repeatedly.
“Very well,” he said, nodding. “On board your ship then.” There was a slight inflection to the word “your,” as if he was debating how long that would last. “Ramp!”
She spread her wings and flew up to the deck of the Onset, where she waited while the hanger crew sped over with a rolling gangplank. Rys waited patiently while they adjusted the metal set of stairs to the right height, walking up and down the length of the airship’s gondola with his belly rolling back and forth below him, his beak clicking open and shut as he gazed at the hull.
“What do you want us to do?” Alchemy asked, stepping up to her as the workers finished adjusting the stairway. Frost was right behind him.
“Nothing,” she said as Rys walked over to the stairs and began making his way up them, his loud, puffing breaths audible above her voice. Apparently the life of wealth he’d been leading had been a little less than healthy. Or maybe he just ate like a fledgling fresh from the egg. “Just stay behind me and let me do the talking … unless something really unexpected happens.”
“Like what?” Frost asked, lifting a single eyebrow. Blade almost blinked in surprise. From the expression on the mare’s face, she hadn’t expected her to say anything.
“You’ll know if it happens,” Blade said. “And no, I’m not expecting it.” Rys’s face appeared over the gunwale, the overweight griffon’s eyes lighting up like magilights as he stepped onto the deck.
“Very nice, very nice, ince bakıyor!” he said, running his eyes across the deck. “A little bit of damage, but in good enough shape. At least you’re not trying to pass something off on me that’s missing a deck.” His eyes narrowed as his two subordinates clamoured onto the deck behind him. “And that makes me suspicious, to be honest. What’s the deal, Blade?”
“Simple,” she said, gesturing with her wing towards the entrance to the ship’s inside. “We want to sell you this ship.”
“You could do that anywhere,” Rys said. “Which makes me think it’s not so simple. What’d you do? Steal it?”
“Do you want to know?” Blade asked, pausing and lifting one eyebrow.
“No,” Rys said. “Not really. Deniability, after all. But if it were stolen—”
“Then the owners would probably pay a hefty reward for its return,” Blade said as she stepped into the galley. “And since it’s from the Ocean, you could send it up there with trade goods for a premium.”
“Interesting theory,” Rys said, nodding. At his side, the goat bleated, and he nodded again. “Yes, that would be fortunate. And profitable. What, might I ask, do you want in return?”
“Information,” Blade said, pausing and turning back to look at the old merchant. “Information and transport via train. Whatever is available leaving for … well, we’ll know in a moment, but we’ll need transport that will get us there as quickly as possible.”
“Based upon the information, I presume?” Rys asked. “It must be difficult information indeed if you’ve come to me.”
“Actually,” she said, shaking her head. “It shouldn’t be at all. Someone in your organization should know it off wing already. Maybe even you. The destination of an airship that crossed the border a few days ago. Called the Superiority.”
“That one?” Rys said, frowning. “Yes, I remember that one. Never came here, but I saw the docket. It’s headed to Sheerwater.”
Bingo, Blade thought as he spoke. She glanced at Frost and Alchemy. Both of them were hiding their reactions well. We’ve got the destination. Now we just need to meet him there.
She turned back towards Rys. “Then that’s where we need to go,” she said. “We’ll need transport to Sheerwater.”
“That’s it?” Rys asked, a surprised look on his face. “I can get you tickets.”
“No,” Blade said, slowing and looking back at him as as she moved towards the stairs to the bridge. “Not tickets. Transport. You have connections at the rail yard, right? We need a ride to Sheerwater. Immediately, if possible.”
Rys slowed. “I could do that,” he said. “There’s a train leaving sometime soon …” His head darted left and right, light flashing from his glasses as he looked around. “Thrastus! Where are—there you are,” he said, as if seeing the diminutive griffon for the first time. “We have a train full of shipments leaving soon, right?”
“Evet Mi. Üç saat içinde, yirmi yedi dakika, efendim. Kereste sevkiyat,” Thrastus said, his words coming out with almost mechanical precision. Rys nodded.
“We can do that,” he said, turning back to look at her. “It leaves in—”
“Just under three-and-a-half hours,” she said, nodding. “I speak Griffon.”
“Right, right,” he said, nodding. “Well, I’m certain I can arrange something quite easily, then. They have these lovely luxury cars for special VIPs guests that I can set you up in—”
“That’s not all,” she said, coming to a full stop at the base of the steps up to the bridge. “We also need seven thousand, five hundred reeds as a payment.”
“Seven …” Rys’s eyes opened wide. “That’s a lot of—”
“It’s a steal, and you know it, Rys,” she said, shaking her head. Alchemy and and Frost were both flanking her, and she saw the griffon’s eyes jump to Frost with her flat, almost disapproving stare. I might need to talk to her about tact and diplomacy later. That stare isn’t helping our case.
“But it’s certainly a lot of money,” Rys protested.
Blade shook her head. “No, not with the amounts you deal with. Especially for an airship that’s rigged to travel back and forth from the Ocean, which is a major trade win for you.”
“The Ocean is a dangerous place,” he countered.
“Yet you’re still trading there,” she said. “Besides, as has been mentioned, if this vessel were to have been under the prior ownership of someone who wants it back, they might pay very well for its return, either in reeds, rings, or trade. Especially if those owners were part of a recent shift in the power structure.”
She could see the wheels turning in his head, though she was mostly certain he’d already thought far past the implications of what she’d mentioned earlier. He was just acknowledging it now. What was it her dad had said? You lay out the deal, get them to think about it. Then you mention it again, when they’ve already thought about it, and take it a step further. It’s like fishing.
Now to hook him for good, she thought. “Plus ...” she said, tapping her talon against the deck. “I’m pretty sure no matter what you’re shipping up to the Ocean as part of your trades gets returned in equal value of weight, since dust is only worth so much per ounce, even in trade. How much dust does three airships packed with goods get you? One ship worth? Half a ship? Imagine how much you could save if you sent an extra ship full of goods that you didn’t have to bring back?”
Beside Rys, the goat let out a loud bleat, his slitted eyes opening wide. Rys gave him a dirty look, and the goat shrugged before letting out a faint, low grunt that was probably an apology.
“I’ll admit,” Rys said, nodding. “And as I’m sure you could tell, my financial assistant assures me that this is the case.” He said the last few words with an edge and a quick glare again directed at Meep, who simply shrugged once more.
“But,” Rys said, “I’m sure you were well aware of that to begin with, so no harm done, I suppose. Seven-and-a-half thousand reeds, you say?”
“That’s not all there is to it,” Blade said, shaking her head as she turned back the the stairs and slowly began to climb. “We also need intelligence.”
“Intelligence?” Rys said, a quizzical tone to his voice. “I’ve heard that can be quite expensive.”
She stopped. “Perhaps,” she said, looking back. “But I know you have it, Rys. We need a place to hide in Sheerwater. A bolt hole or a safe house we can work out of. Someplace out of the way, but with good access to the city. And a contact who can provide us with intel as we need it.”
“Interesting,” Rys said, tilting his head up at her until the lens caught the light perfectly and erupted in white. “What kind of contact?”
“Nothing too shady,” she said. “Just someone who would look the other way for something like illicit goods or sapients who would rather keep a low profile. Who can feed us rumors and local news, maybe supplies from time to time.”
“I might know someone like that,” Rys said. “What are you—nevermind. I am sure that I do not want to know. Now, is there anything else?”
Blade glanced at Alchemy, and he nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Fifteen hundred reeds worth of dust.”
Rys’s eyes widened, his wings flaring out slightly and his tail lashing. “Delirdin mi? That’s ridiclous!”
“Knock half of it out of our payment, then,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
“A thousand off the payment,” he countered.
She nodded. “Acceptable. And that’s our only other request. Aside from complete silence on your part, of course,” she said, resuming her way up onto next deck. “We were never here. You never spoke with us. You never saw us. If anyone asks, we left the ship in one of your berths and vanished without saying a word.” She stepped onto the bridge. It was dimly lit with none of its lights on, the consoles shadowed lumps under what little light made it past the envelope. Frost and Alchemy filed in behind her.
“That seems steep,” Rys said, his voice heavy with labored breath as he stepped onto the bridge. “But at the same time, I see no harm in agreeing.” His head seemed to twist in the dark. “Are the lights faulty?”
“No one knows about us,” she said. “Agree to it. No one.”
“Fine,” he said, his shadowed form shrugging. “Agreed. No one knows. Six-and-a-half thousand reeds, plus a supply of ethereal dust. A reliable safe house and a contact in Sheerwater. And transport for all three of you out on a private car on the lumber shipment in a few hours. And,” he said, raising his voice. “I can get all three of you there as soon as you’re ready, and with no eyewitnesses.”
“Good,” Blade said. “But there’s just one problem.”
“Oh?”
“There aren’t three of us,” a new voice said, echoing through the room. One of the shadowy shapes by the navigation helm moved, Hain stepping out of the shadows and assuming a military stance near the windows. “There are four of us.”
“Four?” Rys said. “Why …?” Then he paused. “I don’t want to know, do I?”
“No,” Hain said. “You really don’t.”
“I see. Should I be worried? Go to the authorities?”
“No,” Hain said again. “We’re not some rival criminal enterprise. We’re just on a job, and we need to get to Sheerwater. Fast.”
“Fast enough we’re willing to give away our ship to get there,” Blade added. “So, can you do it?”
Rys’s nodded in the dark. “I can,” he said, holding out one forelimb to shake talons. “Miss Sunchaser, you have a deal. Is your team ready to move? I can have you on that train in an hour, and on my honor, no one will ever know you nor your team were here.”
Blade smiled as she took his talons and shook. Hain’s addition had been the master stroke. It didn’t matter what Rys thought about the whole thing. Maybe that they were working for the Empire itself, undercover. Or maybe that they were involved with something else that could bring him a good favor later. Whatever he thought, the deal had been made.
We’re on our way, Anubis, and we will catch you. And when we do … Well, he’d know soon enough.
“We’ll grab our bags,” she said, nodding at the griffon. “We’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
They were ready in ten.
Count of Laws Broken: 17
Total Laws Broken: 86
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Total Damage Value (In Bits): 390,941
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Very useful for Blade, being from an Eyrie on the Ocean's border and already aware of a contact there. This is rad. Things slowed down for a few chapters after... after the end of Book 1, but now it sounds like they're picking up! It's so hard to wait days in between chapters...
One of the professional perks of being a mercenary is you get really good at haggling. Nice to see that Blade follows that trend
Aw, I was hoping they'd crash their ship on top of Anubis, futile as it would be. Fun to see quick haggling, but let's see if they can continue their stealth mission.
Hooray for mildly extra-legal activities! The upcoming spy games should be fun.
I'm assuming the "laws broken" were the technically illicit deal here?
6313579
Thank you. That's high praise.
6317952
Who says they didn't? After all, Sagis only lead a massive cult of unicorn magic users, and they've been at this at least weeks that we know of. Plenty of time to deal with any extra "keep out" magic.
How would they know what's going on?
6317953
Dun dun dunn!
6317970
The expanded part of TDG's universe is opening up. There's a lot of worldbuilding contained in this chapter (Reus, anyone?).
As for Anubis, remember: He's an immortal.
6318419
How would they know?
6318481
Fearing Anubis is a good sign. You should fear a real villain. This is good!
6318580
Additionally, Anubis points out that he led them to believe that it was a trap for them, not him, and then tricked them into sealing him instead. As far as they were aware, he'd fallen victim to his own trap.
Instead, he'd tricked them with his own Xanatos Gambit and sealed himself by his own design.
Why? Well, you can be sure that "plan" he mentioned has something to do with it.
6318656
To be fair, were they even certain that they were keys? Surely they saw Anubis use the one, but IIRC, Luna wasn't even aware what the purpose of the fragments was. Destroying part of a prison that sealed up you foe without knowing what it would do is a very bad idea.
As for reopening it, a prison cell, like all other things, has a door, one way or another. That's like asking why prison cells for lifers have doors.
6318745
Will we find out?
6318777
Insidious?
6324172
If "It has returned" was the first Celestia learned of the Crystal Empire returning, then how in Equestria would she know what the Guard was talking about? And how would the Guard even know what to look for?
It's a good line of thought, but ...
And it's Dusk Guard. Not dawn.
6318972
Archaeology is really a dangerous and exciting job, isn't it?
6324806
With Discord (at least, how he is in the DG universe) it depends on exactly how much ambient chaos he's been around lately and how much power he has. At full power, we know he's enough to take on at least two immortals (Celestia and Luna needed the elements to beat him), but we don't know how long it took him to gather up that much ambient energy.
And yes, I would expect that even with his powers, he feared several of the immortals and was doing his best to keep out of their way. Not that it would be hard to do, for the most part. It's a big world, after all ...
Also, don't forget his lines in Why Me? about the rest of the immortals considering him a mistake (and now we can guess on whose part). He probably didn't have much reason to rub shoulders with them.
6326208
Well, don't forget his point that he wanted a competent backstabber. Attempts that aren't even a challenge aren't worth his time. He wants them to be worth his time.
6333108
The death of Barnabas really rocked the team. They had to regroup.
As far as Blade being from the Talmoss Eyrie, suddenly it makes sense how she'd be related to the Patriarch of the Icewing Eyrie, doesn't it? She knew Kalos and his father from when she was young, though she'd never been to the Ocean.
6333244
Gotta eat to live, gotta get paid to eat, gotta work to get paid. Haggle to get the best work you can do.
6333394
That would be pretty hard to do, as their ship was slower than the one Anubis jacked. They were losing time this whole journey, even at full speed.
6333435
Tomorrow's chapter is going to rock!
Spy games where, of all places?
6334624
Technically? There was nothing technical about it. That was definitely illegal activity!
6340188
I guess this goes along with the immortal bit. He's scary, I'm not about to argue there... I guess I can see why you'd say the weird reactions go along with him being an immortal, and it definitely makes him more unsettling, but the reason I said it was also a bad-for-the-story thing is because it's just something I can't picture or hear. It makes it harder to get into the scenes with him... I guess it could be what you wanted, but not be able to fathom ANY part of his motivation so far is frustrating me. I can't even tell if he likes killing or power or what. And notice I didn't say "wants" there--I can't even tell if he LIKES those kinds of things.
I can't tell you just how nervous that part makes me...
I do get the need to regroup, and that makes sense. It's just waiting so eagerly for each new part, and then my energy/excitement level exceeds that of the regrouping part of the story
6340711
You may have just missed some parts, or some of the things he's said.
6342409
I mean, I know the killing made him happy in the Vault from those gray mind wall magic things (sorry for the poor description, but I think you probably [hopefully] know what I mean) but he really doesn't give much or any evidence of it now that he's free. And he says something about wanting to rule but he doesn't act like it's anything important. He's really weird.