Artefact Hunters: Draikfang

     The team had been travelling for a few hours when it became clear to Brynn that Hanso was not, in fact, fine.

     Down below them, the Haunted Woods had thinned out until the vast forest finally terminated in a low savannah. This transitional space between forest and desert was remarkably narrow. Ecologists theorised that both regions were fed in some way by magic; earth and dark for the Woods, and fire for the Lost Desert. Brynn could certainly believe it – the heat seemed to build more than the rising sun could account for even as they continued south past the equator, and though they had only just left the last of the gnarled trees behind, the low scrub and dry grasses were already thinning as more and more sand leached into their space.

     The team had only stopped once since their impromptu flight from the campsite, to make good on their proposed early breakfast and tending of small wounds. There was an unspoken understanding that everyone wanted to reach Qasala as soon as possible and be done with it, and conversation had thinned out as surely as the forest and savannah. Rallon and Laelia focused on flying, catching what updrafts and favourable winds they could to minimise their exertion.

     As she rode, Brynn kept herself occupied with trying to figure out how they would go about retrieving Draikfang based on the limited information they had. When she looked back on it later, she would suppose she’d been under the assumption that Hanso was more or less doing the same.

     But then she happened to look his way and realised all at once that he was slumped in his seat and leaning dangerously to one side.

     “Hanso!” she called out, eyes wide in alarm as she reached futilely for him.

     Hanso jerked upright, but it was too late – as unbalanced as he already was, the motion only served to throw him out of his saddle entirely. He yelped and scrambled desperately to grab onto something, and as his leg slipped over the side, he just managed to get hold of some part of the tack. He clung to it for dear life, dangling a hundred feet over the ground.

     Laelia had instinctively started slowing down when her rider slipped, but now she struggled to compensate as the unbalanced weight made her list painfully to one side. Grimacing, faerie wings beating furiously, she turned her head and grabbed Hanso’s jacket in her teeth to try and pull him back up.

     “Hang on!” Rallon called out, banking hard to bring himself and Brynn back around to where the other two now hovered in the air. Brynn held tight to the front of his saddle with one hand, forcing herself not to reach out with the other until he’d managed to get them close enough for it to make a difference.

     Hanso was whimpering as he scrabbled at Laelia’s side for better purchase, and despite her own straining effort, she simply couldn’t contort herself enough to get him much leverage. When Rallon pulled up to her side, Brynn grabbed a fistful of Hanso’s jacket, and Laelia let go to focus on keeping pace with her fellow Uni. For several tense seconds, the two Unis spun around each other in an awkward airborne dance that was the closest thing they could get to remaining still.

     Finally, with a last gasp of effort and a helpful yank from Brynn, Hanso managed to hook one foot into a stirrup and swing his other leg over the saddle. He hunkered low and shifted his grip from the side of the saddle to the front, and Brynn let go almost uneasily once he was secure. A moment later, the Unis pulled away from one another with audible sighs.

     “Are you okay?” Brynn asked, never taking her eyes off of her partner even as Rallon peeled further out to give himself and Laelia more airspace.

     Hanso managed a thin smile. “I mean, I’m still up here, right?” he quipped half-heartedly.

     Rallon and Laelia had started descending to the savannah below, in silent agreement that they needed to land for a moment to recover. Brynn shared their sentiment wholeheartedly – there was a tightness in her chest that didn’t even begin to ease up until they touched down.

     “Seriously, I’m fine guys,” Hanso tried to protest, even though Brynn could see him trembling a little as he gingerly stepped down to solid ground. “I just kinda fell asleep for a second, that’s all!”

     Brynn’s eyes narrowed as they dismounted. “You do not ‘just fall asleep’ when you’re riding Uniback a hundred feet in the air!” she snapped back, stalking up to him. “Why didn’t you tell us how exhausted you were? Do you realise what would have happened if you hadn’t reacted in time and we couldn’t catch you?!”

     Hanso flinched back at the thought, his ears drooping a little.

     Brynn let out a low groan and ran a hand over her face. “I knew I should have talked to you earlier,” she muttered guiltily, half to herself. “Especially after that stunt you pulled with the Werelupes.”

     All at once, Hanso’s guilty expression flipped into a scowl. “Stunt?” he hissed. “I cut the fight short with that ability spell! How much longer do you think it would have taken before someone got bit?!”

     “And how lucky were you not to get bit when you cut yourself off from the rest of us?” Brynn countered. “You should have stayed closer to the people who are actually equipped for that. You can’t keep running off on your own to enact some Snowbunny-brained scheme without stopping to think!”

     Hanso scoffed. “Oh, so now I’m not allowed to take risks and play hero? That’s rich coming from you.”

     “There’s a difference between taking risks because it’s your literal job and trying to play hero!”

     “This is my literal job! Why can’t you just appreciate the things I can do for this team?!”

     “Because I already lost you once and Fyora can’t bring you back if you’re dead!”

     That made Hanso reel back, eyes going wide as his mouth snapped shut. Hot tears had gathered at the corners of Brynn’s eyes, and she realised she’d started trembling herself. The Unis had given them a wide berth when the argument started up, and now seemed to be trying their best to look at anything but the two of them.

     Brynn forced herself to take a few deep, slow breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Look,” she said, suddenly tired, “I know that this kind of work can be dangerous, believe me. The Werelupes made that much clear. But we’re part of a team now, and not every fight needs to end in some huge self-sacrifice. All I’m asking is that you try to be a little more careful.”

     In spite of everything, Hanso managed a little smirk at that. “Think I can get the same promise out of you?” he asked.

     Brynn let out a low sigh. “Of course,” she replied softly, trying not to show how emotionally drained she really felt.

     Because she should have talked to him after he made himself needlessly vulnerable to blast the Werelupes. She should have noticed that he was getting dangerously tired earlier. She should have insisted that they take a break earlier, or longer, just in case. Should have, should have, should have. And they hadn’t even reached Qasala yet.

     “Let’s take some time to rest,” she said, raising her voice to address the whole group. “We’ll want to get moving again before it gets too hot, but there’s no point if people start nodding off mid-flight. We’ll head out again once everyone’s ready for it.”

     Laelia let out a darkly amused nicker. “Can’t argue with that.”

     Rallon frowned thoughtfully as he settled onto the dry grass of the savannah, Hanso shrugging off his jacket against the rising heat nearby. “Now might be a good time to contact Queen Fyora with our progress,” he noted. “It’s been an unusually eventful morning for normal travel, after all.”

     Brynn nodded and stepped away from the rest of the group. Queen Fyora had provided her with a communication gem, a near-flat circular crystal of the same kind that had been common in the old Faerieland caves. The gem was set in a thin layer of metal inscribed in runes she couldn’t begin to decipher, and the whole array served to let her connect with similar devices regardless of their magical or electrical make. She’d seen devices like it, of course. King Hagan was nothing if not adamant that his subjects, especially those under his employ, keep familiar with the latest technologies. But they were still somewhat rare in most of the world, and it was rarer still for one to connect directly to the Faerie Queen.

     “Queen Fyora?” Brynn hadn’t quite meant to state the name as a question, but she must have done well enough because the gem flickered to life after a moment with a reflection-like image of the faerie in question.

     “Captain,” Fyora said with a respectful nod. “Is your mission going well?”

     Brynn glanced back at Hanso, who by now had laid down on top of his jacket in the shadow of a large shrub. He had one arm covering his eyes, but his breathing was even.

     “There have been a few issues, but we’re managing,” she said, returning her attention to the gem. “We should be in Qasala within a couple hours or so. But something happened while we were in the Haunted Woods that you may need to know about.”

     She gave a quick description of the altercation with the Werelupes. There hadn’t been anything all that surprising about their behaviour, but with Faerieland in such a vulnerable state, it was better that they understand as much about their new neighbours in the Haunted Woods as possible.

     “That is unfortunate, but not unexpected,” Queen Fyora said when Brynn had finished, echoing her own thoughts. “It sounds as though this group is content to harass travellers within their own territory. Hopefully, the other denizens of the Haunted Woods follow the same sentiment. For now, I am simply glad to hear that you and your teammates are all right.”

     Brynn nodded absently. She was considering whether it would be worth bringing up the incident with Hanso when Fyora spoke up again.

     “And Brynn?” she asked.

     Brynn blinked and refocused on the communication gem. “Yes, Your Majesty?”

     “I know it doesn’t need saying, but you and Hanso keep taking care of each other out there. I chose the two of you for these missions because I’ve seen how much you can accomplish, especially when you work together. Don’t forget that.”

     Brynn stole another glance back at her half-asleep partner. “Of course,” she replied, fighting to keep her voice even.

     And Queen Fyora was right: that was not something that needed reminding. But she appreciated the sentiment. It was… grounding, in a way.

     Brynn was not going to let Hanso get hurt again, not if she could help it. She would not let the others down. She could not.

     When Qasala finally sprawled out ahead of the two Unis and their riders, Hanso felt like a great and very annoying weight lifted from just about everyone. The last leg of the trip had been quiet and awkward, that morning’s misadventures still fresh in everyone’s memory. The sun that was by now beating heavily on them all wasn’t helping matters, either.

     Rallon and Laelia descended quickly to the landing space just outside Qasala’s city gates, and Hanso waved in a half-teasing manner to the guards watching traffic in and out as he and Brynn dismounted. That was definitely something he could get used to.

     Qasala, he discovered upon passing through the gates, was still rebuilding. It was not nearly as bad as Faerieland’s current state, and most of the central buildings and major infrastructure looked relatively fresh and overall well-kept. But the centuries-long curse that had once plagued the kingdom still had a few lingering effects, in old homes scoured and cracked beyond simple age and worn-to-nothing side streets that were cordoned off until the builders could get to them.

     Still, the city was vibrant and alive. Vendors in market squares hawked everything from spicy-smelling local delicacies to practical desert clothing to jewellery that glimmered in the sun. Meanwhile, residents and travellers alike went to and fro among the square, sandy-coloured brick buildings to get to wherever they were going before they had to contend with the full noonday heat.

     Hanso and his companions were getting plenty of stares again, but he honestly couldn’t tell how much of it was people recognizing him and Brynn on sight and how much was the group simply sticking out. Hanso himself had removed and stowed away his jacket and most of his other outerwear in the rising heat, so he didn’t really look all that different from the other travellers wending their way through Qasala. But Brynn and the Unis must have had some enchantment against the elements in their armour, because none of them had removed it yet and none of it seemed to be weighing any of them down. Plate armour in the Desert stood out enough as it was, and the Faerieland colours couldn’t be helping after everything that had just befallen that kingdom.

     As the four of them approached the Qasalan palace, they caught the attention of the guards stationed outside. One shared a quick word with the others and darted into the building, while another stepped forward with a stiff nod.

     “Captain Brynn, Master Hanso,” the grizzled Grarrl said. “The King and Queen are expecting you and your associates. Please, follow me.”

     While the guard turned to lead the group into the palace, Hanso scowled a little to himself and mouthed the word “Master?” He managed to catch Brynn’s eye for a moment, and she shrugged.

     “It is part of your official title,” she whispered to him as they made their way up to the great doors of the palace. “I guess it makes sense that people would use it as an honorific in formal situations like this.”

     Hanso hummed in thought. Well, it was definitely a step up from “thief” or “Ixi.”

     The palace hall, once he’d gotten inside, turned out not to be as ostentatious as he’d expected. Sure, it was big and impressive, with an intricate pattern of well-polished tiles laid into the floor and grand pillars holding the whole thing up. But there wasn’t as much… stuff? Fancy tapestries or gilded furniture or anything that set off his thief sense, he supposed. Maybe that was a good thing, considering he’d just thought about it in terms of thief senses.

     What there was, though, was an elegant Pink Ixi already waiting for them in the hall. Queen Nabile held herself regally enough, but something in her expression – sharp, ever alert – told Hanso that she hadn’t forgotten her rough upbringing.

     “So, you must be the legendary Thief Queen of Qasala I’ve heard so much about,” he said, stepping forward with a grin and thoroughly ignoring the sound of somebody facepalming behind him. “I’ve been looking forward to making your acquaintance.”

     Nabile didn’t break her formal posture, but she did smirk. “And you must be the idiot thief who somehow managed to save the world with one of his mad schemes,” she replied casually.

     That wiped the grin off Hanso’s face. Throwing his hands up, he said, “Seriously?! What’s a guy gotta do to get some respect around here?”

     Nabile snickered, finally breaking posture as she put up a hand to stifle her laughter. “Sorry,” she said, “but you have to remember that you spent several weeks trading barbs with my husband. I’m just going off of what he’s said.” Folding her arms, she added, “For what it’s worth, I’ve been wanting to meet you, too.”

     Hanso smirked and folded his arms as well. He already liked her, he decided. “Right, you’re queen by virtue of being Jazan’s wife. One has to wonder about your taste in men.”

     “That’s funny,” a familiar voice called out just as Brynn stepped forward to try and shut him up. Jazan stepped into the room, followed by the guard who’d gone to fetch him earlier, and added, “I have often asked myself the same thing about Captain Brynn.”

     “Thank you for the hospitality, Your Majesties,” Brynn cut in before the conversation could go further sideways. “We’re looking forward to getting this artefact out of harm’s way and keeping Qasala and its neighbours safe.”

     Nabile smiled again and held up a hand. “You’re welcome, but please, no need to ‘Majesty’ me. You can ‘Majesty’ Jazan if you want, he likes it, but just Nabile is fine for me. Queen Nabile if you absolutely have to be formal.”

     Her smile softened. “The two of you saved my husband before I even had a chance to know he’d been petrified. I want to thank you for that. Like I said, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

     Jazan scowled a little, but that was pretty much his default expression and he nodded without saying anything else. Brynn’s ears drooped a fraction – not enough for anyone but Hanso to notice, and not for more than an instant – but then she nodded as well.

     “All right,” she said. “Where should we go from here?”

     Jazan began to turn and beckoned for the others to follow him deeper into the palace. “We will be sending for your contact shortly, so that we can all discuss the Draikfang and make proper plans for its retrieval. In the meantime, I will show you to your guest rooms, and you will have a chance to eat and rest. Don’t touch anything, Hanso.”

     Despite the last-second jab, Hanso couldn’t help but count that as a minor win. It might have been the first time Jazan actually called him by his own name. Probably just because he was no longer the only Ixi ex-thief around, but still.

     Finally, it looked like this quest could really begin.

To be continued…