Artefact Hunters: Draikfang

      It was a peaceful day in Brightvale, much as it had been a little over a week before. That suited Hanso and Brynn just fine, as they generally agreed that they’d had enough adventure for a good long while.

     “You know where I’ve always wanted to visit? Shenkuu,” Hanso said enthusiastically as the two of them walked with no real aim down the city’s cobblestone streets. With few other choices of wardrobe, he’d returned to his usual coat and pants, though he’d stowed away his pin from Fyora as a kind of self-imposed “vacation.” Brynn was content to wear a simple tunic and trousers. She could tell that he was more than a little pleased for them to be officially enjoying some downtime together as civilians.

     “You know, for the one who keeps calling this a vacation, you’re awfully quick to start planning our next mission,” she replied, her tone lightly teasing.

     “Yeah, well, you’re the one who keeps calling it ‘packing.’” Hanso emphasised his last word with air quotes.

     Brynn shook her head in exasperation. “That’s because it is packing for me. If you seriously had everything together before the Draikfang mission, you could have been back in Faerieland by now.”

     Hanso shrugged. “Eh. Hanging out with you is more fun.”

     With Rallon grounded until his next feather moult and Draikfang’s threat more or less nullified in any case, the retrieval team had headed east to Qasala after all. There, they’d taken a few days to rest and recuperate before starting north to Faerieland.

     Gamal had joined them early on the second day, much to everyone’s relief. It turned out he’d managed to evade capture just long enough for the Mentu soldiers to eventually get distracted by Draikfang’s activation in the distance. He’d then slipped away in the ensuing confusion.

     Reports had started coming in shortly before they left Qasala. Magdi was furious but too injured by his burns to do much about it. Emperor Heksas was making a big show of punishing his general’s forces for antagonising the faerie queen’s champions, but the team suspected he was mostly just venting his anger over failing to get the artefact. Then again, considering how rumours of Hanso and Brynn’s escapades in Khamtef were starting to spread and emboldening its burgeoning resistance, Heksas had reason enough to be mad about the whole fiasco. And from what anyone could tell, the faerie Zahia had disappeared from Khamtef entirely.

     By the time the Faerielanders left, Gamal had started making plans with the Qasalan monarchs to set up a delegation to protect the Seven Tombs from anyone who might go looking for another lost artefact.

     Hanso frowned thoughtfully. “Do you think we’re gonna have to destroy all the faerie artefacts? I mean, we’re two for two now.”

     He considered it a small victory when Brynn just shrugged instead of pointing out that he’d dealt with the first one on his own. “I’ve kind of been wondering the same thing, but I don’t think so,” she said. “King Heru must have had a good reason to accept Draikfang and then have it locked away when he died instead of destroying it himself. If nothing else, we were able to use it without any collateral damage. I think Queen Fyora wants to keep some of these artefacts in a place that’s more secure than the old dungeons, but accessible to someone who can use them well if they absolutely have to.”

     Hanso nodded. “Hmm, maybe.” Queen Fyora had locked the busted Draikfang away in the same hidden vault that held Xandra’s non-petrified lens artefact just before he and Brynn started for Brightvale. While both of them suspected this was a precaution in case either artefact could be repaired and made dangerous again, it was entirely possible that Fyora wanted to study their magic and perhaps find use for the less volatile artefacts that came her way.

     Brynn and Hanso turned down a side street and were almost immediately accosted by a gaggle of young teens on their way home from school. “Oh!” one of them shouted out, pointing excitedly at the pair upon spotting them. “You guys, look!”

     The kids ran up to them with a bombardment of questions. “Are you really the heroes of the faeries?” “Can I see your sword?” “What was fighting the wraiths like?” “I thought you moved to Faerieland!”

     Brynn clapped her hands together and called out with the authority of one who was used to wrangling guards. “Okay, everyone! One at a time, please! And Hanso, before you start answering questions, no leading anyone into a life of crime.”

     Several of the kids snickered or squealed in excitement at her aside to Hanso. All of this attention was still very weird, but she was thankful that she at least had someone to share it with.

     Hanso was thankful for other reasons. “How did you end up getting involved with the faerie stuff anyway?” one of the kids asked him once they’d finally agreed on a first question. “Weren’t you worried that all the knights and kings and everyone would try to arrest you?”

     Hanso smirked and folded his arms. “Oh, they did. I was just too smart and valuable to the cause to stay locked up for long.”

     After a moment’s thought, his smirk softened and he glanced over at Brynn. “To be totally honest, I’m not sure exactly why I wanted to get involved. Seeing Brynn there was part of it, but… I guess deep down, I also knew it was something I could help out with. I think it’s safe to say I was right about that.”

     As the next kid repeated his request to see Brynn’s sword – completely oblivious to the fact that she didn’t currently have it on her – Hanso had a moment to realise that it really was as simple as that. Brynn had said that fighting the wraiths had literally just been part of her job. But it was her choice of career and her willingness to follow through that made her a hero. He supposed that, now, that was true for both of them.

     It wasn’t like all the doubt was gone – there would always be some kind of uncertainty in this life. But getting the chance to prove that Xandra’s artefact had not been some fluke was doing a great job of keeping those nagging little voices under control. And when all else failed, they still had each other – and some other friends, for that matter – to help keep them in check.

     When the schoolkids had finally exhausted all their questions and reluctantly left, Hanso turned back to his partner, opened his mouth, and promptly froze. “...What were we talking about again?”

     Brynn blinked, frowned, and scrubbed her fingers through her hair. “You know, I don’t really remember. I think it was something to do with the artefacts?”

     Hanso snorted and waved the comment away. “Pfft, that’s work talk. We’re on vacation now; we should act like it!”

     Brynn was about to remark that she was pretty sure he’d been the one to bring up work, but then she had a better idea.

     “All right,” she said instead. “Let’s talk about other topics over dinner, then.”

     Hanso raised an eyebrow. “What, are you saying you’re going to ditch me until then?”

     “Actually, I’m asking you on a date.”

     Brynn couldn’t resist a sly little smile and chuckle at her partner’s stunned silence. It felt good to render him speechless once in a while. She folded her arms and shrugged.

     “I don’t know why you’re surprised by this. Besides, my parents want to meet my partner in crime-fighting before we leave and I think we should have something concrete to tell them regarding our relationship.”

     Hanso remained frozen for a second or two more, and then he sputtered, shook his head, and said, “Yeah! Of course! Dinner. Let’s do that.”

     By the time the two of them started down the road again, they were so absorbed in making plans for the evening that it took a moment for them to catch the armoured pet heading in their direction. But Brynn’s intimate familiarity with the green-and-sunburst uniform, and Hanso’s instinctive wariness of the same, ultimately won out. Their conversation faltered as they took notice of the Eyrie guard now drifting from her patrol route to approach them.

     “Captain Ofelia!” Brynn called out, slowing to a stop while Hanso waved at the new guard captain and was again reminded of just how strange his life was now.

     Ofelia offered them both a polite smile and nod. “Captain Brynn. And… I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard your title yet, Hanso.”

     Hanso smirked and folded his arms. “That would be ‘Master Thief.’”

     Ofelia raised an eyebrow. “Really? I suppose that makes sense, but I wouldn’t have expected Queen Fyora to be so blatant about such things.”

     There was a brief, awkward pause, and the Eyrie sighed with a glance downward and a twitch of her lavender wings.

     “I wanted to… apologise, I suppose, for any harassment either of you may have been getting from other members of the guard,” she said. “National pride and a strong will can be useful qualities in a knight. However, they aren’t always the best for appreciating, shall we say, unconventional career choices. For what it’s worth, most of us – myself included – are perfectly capable of looking past our own personal pride to see how much good the two of you have done. And are still doing, for that matter.”

     Hanso and Brynn shared a glance. A sort of pleasant surprise passed between them, as the approval of Brightvale’s city guard captain chipped away at their last lingering traces of doubt.

     With a soft smile, Brynn said, “Thank you. I hope you all know that Brightvale will always be my homeland. And while I’m not sure he’s about to admit it, I think Hanso sees it as one too.”

     Ofelia smiled back, but she hesitated a moment as she seemed to consider something.

     “Actually,” she said, “I heard a rumour that you two recently returned from one of Queen Fyora’s missions. Of course there’s all sorts of rumours and speculation flying about, so none of us are very clear on what exactly those missions are. Would you be willing to elaborate?”

     Hanso was about to reply, but thought better of it and turned to Brynn. “Actually, can we answer that?”

     Brynn folded her arms and shrugged. “I don’t see why not. After Mentu, we definitely won’t be able to keep it low-key anymore.”

     Hanso nodded. “Cool.” He turned back to Ofelia. “We’re treasure hunters.”

     “Hanso!” Brynn let out an exasperated sigh and explained to the now thoroughly confused Eyrie, “It’s dangerous artefact disposal. We track down powerful faerie artefacts that are either unstable or could be severely misused, and neutralise them or otherwise take them out of the general public’s reach.”

     Hanso nodded. “Right. So in other words, we’re basically treasure hunters.”

     Brynn groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “If you just call it ‘treasure hunting,’ people will get the wrong idea! We are specifically hunting for dangerous artefacts, for a clearly defined purpose.”

     Ofelia frowned and raised an eyebrow again. “She has a point,” she told Hanso.

     Hanso thought it over for a moment, and then shrugged. “Okay, artefact hunters then. That’s more specific, and it sounds better than whatever you called it earlier.”

     Brynn was still scowling at him, but her expression softened as she thought the comment over. Ofelia glanced back at her and remarked, “Actually, he has a point too.”

     Finally, Brynn shrugged as well and said, “You know what? I’ll take it. Artefact hunters it is.”

     Hanso cackled. “Okay, seriously? I didn’t think you would go for that one. I should never have doubted myself.”

     “I wouldn’t go that far. I just remember all the ridiculous names you used to give your heists, and this is an improvement.”

     “Hey, ‘Operation: Rollout’ was a genius name and you know it!”

     Ofelia blinked. “Wait, was that the incident with the Wheel of Knowledge?”

     Hanso paused, grimacing in embarrassment. “...I said the name was genius, not the heist itself.”

     And that’s how the day went on, with talk and laughter and plans for the future. And as the faeries, their neighbours, and the rest of Neopia settled into their new normal, the heroes that had made it all possible finally had a chance to start doing the same.

     Together. Just as it was meant to be.

     The End.