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“I’m afraid we’ve given the job to someone else,” the clerk said, as her lower lip quivered.
Lio Fotia didn’t have the right build to make people nervous. He was a hundred pounds soaking wet and five foot three.
His dragon was significantly larger.
“Town Hall signed a contract with the Adventurer’s Guild,” Lio said, firmly. “It’s binding.”
Detroit, Lio’s ridgebacked wyrm, had been relegated to the yard outside. He had his long, pointed snout pressed up against the window next to the administration desk. He breathed out a puff of smoke that left a broad, black mark on the glass. The clerk flinched. Lio clicked his fingers together and pointed to the opposite end of the grounds. Detroit grumbled, before he stomped away.
“You don’t need to worry about him,” Lio added.
“It’s fine,” the girl said, unconvincingly. “But I’m afraid the job really has gone to someone else.”
Lio heard a door open behind him along with the polite, meaningless chatter of people leaving a meeting. He ignored it.
“Miss — ” Lio said.
“We’ll pay out your fee, please,” the girl replied, beseechingly.
“Thyma, is this Mr Fotia?” a voice said.
She closed her eyes.
“Yes, Sir,” Thyma replied meekly.
Lio turned to see the town mayor, Kray Foresight, with another man by his side. From the sigil on the man’s single pauldron, he was a fellow guild-member. Lio didn’t recognise him. Foresight smiled broadly at them, his eyes curved up into crescents.
His blond hair was swept back with pomade and his white suit was sparklingly clean. It was all part of a broader image of moral superiority that didn’t appeal to Lio at all. Foresight’s confidence rallied the masses, but he was a smug prick and quietly intolerant of tamers and their beasts. The man didn’t care to distinguish them from monsters.
“Perfect timing,” Foresight said. “I was just about to brief your partner on the job.”
“Hi! I’m Galo,” the guild-member added.
Galo was ridiculously tall, with a crest of blue hair that made him seem even taller. His armour was light and unmarred by dents or scratches. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt, let alone breastplate, and his right arm was entirely unprotected. Where Foresight seemed polished, Galo had a shiny newness about him that Lio might have found appealing in another context.
“I thought that this was a solo assignment,” Lio said.
“It was,” Foresight replied. “But I thought Galo could do with some field experience. I’m sure you don’t mind.”
Lio did, but he wasn’t about to argue with the mayor.
“Of course not,” Lio replied.
Foresight smiled and turned to Galo, who looked starry-eyed in the face of his attention. Lio resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“You’ve surely heard that we’ve had issues with robberies outside of town,” Foresight said. “From what we can gather, there’s a group of bandits camped south on the Merchant Road, harassing travellers. We’d like you two to round them up.”
“Yes, Sir!” Galo replied.
“We’ll get right on it,” Lio said.
Thyma watched them both leave, but she didn’t say anything. Lio put her out of mind.
Detroit bounded up to meet Lio as he walked down the steps to the courtyard. He lowered his nose so that Lio could give him a little scritch.
“That’s a cool dragon!”
Lio turned his head to see Galo looking back at him with a friendly expression. His eyes were the same blue as his hair.
“This is Detroit,” Lio replied.
“Hey!” Galo held out a hand for Detroit to sniff.
“Is this your first mission?” Lio asked.
“Second,” Galo replied.
Lio felt a small burst of relief. He wasn’t concerned about shouldering the work, but he didn’t want to be responsible for the wellbeing of a complete greenhorn. If Galo walked into a sword, Lio would feel bad about it, and the mayor would probably be displeased.
“It’s good that you have some experience,” Lio said. “What’s your specialty?”
“I’m a tamer, like you!”
That was a surprise. Lio wouldn’t have thought Foresight would associate with one.
“Where’s your beast?” Lio asked, already feeling more charitable.
“She’s in the stables,” Galo replied.
Galo turned and gave Lio an unexpectedly sharp look as they walked towards the stable building. Lio wondered what he’d done to deserve it.
“She’s a dragon,” Galo added. “Just so you know.”
“She must be rather small,” Lio replied, carefully.
“You could say that,” Galo said.
They passed the threshold to the stable, which was two storeys high and still too small to fit Detroit. Lio’s dragon grumbled as he was once again forced to wait outside. An attendant came to meet them. She had blonde hair up in pigtails and a large, blue gecko on her shoulder. The gecko’s mouth was curved into a broad grin.
“There’s my girl!” Galo cried.
Lio scarcely had a moment to wonder at his familiarity, before the gecko threw itself from the girl’s shoulder and into Galo’s open arms. Galo cuddled it, careful of the large, clear crystals that Lio could now see along its back. It clambored its way up his arm and onto his shoulder, settling itself on his pauldron. Galo scritched under its chin as it rubbed its cheek against his. Lio couldn’t help but find it sweet.
“I missed you!” Galo cooed.
“It’s been an hour,” the attendant replied.
“You’re so brave,” Galo said, to the gecko.
“I have your new glaive for you,” the attendant said. “Try not to break this one.”
“I’ll do my best,” Galo replied.
“And don’t get hurt this time,” she added.
“Do my best there too!”
The attendant rolled her eyes and picked up a wrapped pole arm that had been leaning against the wall. Galo slung it over his shoulder, still covered. The attendant gave Lio a collegial nod.
“Have fun boys,” she said, with a casual salute.
“Thank you,” Lio replied.
“Well, I’m ready if you are,” Galo said.
Galo and his gecko grinned at him. The gecko’s tongue lolled out of its mouth. Lio peered around to look deeper into the stables. The attendant had already disappeared into a side room and saw no signs of reappearing.
“I am,” Lio said, “but where’s your—”
Galo’s eyes widened.
“Lio, this is Matoi, my ice dragon .”
Galo pointed to the gecko on his shoulder. It turned to Lio, puffed up it’s little chest, and blew out a tiny cloud of frost. The gecko looked between Galo and Lio enthusiastically, like a child waiting for applause. Galo’s face was tense.
Lio was a straight-shooter by nature, but everyone had their exceptions. He looked at Matoi’s sweet, blue face and smiled gently.
“That was very impressive,” he said.
Matoi gasped happily and then licked her own eyeball. When Lio glanced up, he saw Galo smiling at him with relief. The man had a dimple on his left cheek.
“Let’s go,” Lio said, ignoring the little pitter patter that he could feel in his chest.
Detroit would accept passengers if Lio asked it of him, so it was agreed that Galo and Matoi would ride along as they worked their way south. Galo had to wrap his arms around Lio’s chest so he could keep his seat. He was warm, even through the plate of Lio’s armour. Lio distracted himself by keeping his eyes on the road below them.
The Merchant Road was somewhat misleadingly named. It wasn’t a single path, but rather a network that branched throughout the kingdom, connecting cities and towns to the capitol, and to one another. Proper maintenance of the Road was key to the nation’s economy and its relationship with neighbours who used the road for exports and imports. Disruption was countered with violence and impunity. Lio, though he worked with one of the most lethal animals on the planet, preferred mercy wherever possible.
“I don’t kill,” Lio said, apropos. “Just so you know.”
Galo’s arms tightened around him and Lio’s stupid heart skipped a beat again.
“I don’t either,” Galo replied.
Lio was aware that Galo likely hadn’t seen his conviction tested yet, but it was reassuring all the same. More than one adventurer had assumed that Detroit ate people. It was a big part of the reason why he avoided working with others.
A plume of smoke rose into the sky, barely a mile ahead of them. The bandits had holed up close to the Prometh mountain range, but it seemed that their camp was barely within the treeline. Lio urged Detroit to descend.
“That’s a bit obvious,” Galo said.
“If they were clever, they would’ve chosen a different road to thieve on,” Lio replied.
Detroit landed lightly on the Road. It was more difficult for him to move in tighter quarters, so Lio didn’t ask it of him unless it was necessary. Galo slid off Detroit’s back with admirable ease. A thought occurred to him, and though Lio had warmed to Galo, he knew better than to move forward without voicing it.
“The attendant from earlier,” Lio said. “She said you were hurt on your last mission.”
Galo nodded as he started to unwrap his glaive.
“Yeah, there was a dragon acting up near Airdton. I got burned.”
Galo held up his left arm, the only part of his body that was properly armoured. Lio looked at the gap between Galo’s gauntlet and pauldron and was surprised to see lines of shining, well-healed scars. He hadn’t noticed them before.
“You were sent to deal with an aggressive dragon on your first assignment?” Lio said.
Adventurers were trained to deal with combat, but there was a massive difference between fighting a group of poorly-organised highwaymen and dealing with a massive, upset reptile that breathed fire. It was a miracle that Galo was alive.
“Somebody had to do it,” Galo replied, blithely. “Wasn’t her fault, anyway, she was just scared.”
Lio felt torn between admiration for Galo’s empathy and apprehension for his lack of concern over his own wellbeing. At least in this instance, their quarry was solely human.
“I’ll have Detroit keep an eye on us from above,” Lio said. “If he’s not enough to scare them into conceding, he’ll be able to cut off anyone who runs.”
“Are we coming in from the road?” Galo asked.
“The scrub can be dense around here, I’d rather make our way through on even ground,” Lio replied.
“I’m happy to follow your lead,” Galo said.
Galo finished unwrapping the canvas and threw it to the ground, revealing a surprisingly beautiful glaive. It had a very broad blade edged with filigree in the shape of flowing water. He held it out horizontal to the ground and let Matoi clamber from his shoulder down to the end of the staff. Matoi put her paw against the metal, then squeaked.
“I’m glad you like it,” Galo said, as she clambored her way back up his shoulder again.
“Matoi can stay with Detroit, if you like,” Lio said.
“Nah, she’s got my back,” Galo replied.
Lio felt intensely thankful once more, for the relative ease of the job. Galo was sweet, but he was an idiot.
The camp was even closer to the road than they’d expected. Though they’d stayed back, hidden within the brush, there were four bandits within sight, all of them seated around a shockingly large bonfire. It was as if they wanted to get caught.
“Is this a trap?” Galo whispered, into Lio’s ear.
Lio suppressed a shiver.
“Yes it is,” he sighed.
“What do we do?” Galo asked.
“I’ll admit, I’m interested in your thoughts,” Lio said.
“There are probably more of them, hidden further into the treeline, but if we go in there ourselves, we could get lost before finding all of them. The forest’s huge.”
Lio nodded.
“If you can signal Detroit, it might be easier to have him come in from the mountain side and scream at them,” Galo replied. “It’d certainly flush them out.”
“Now that’s a thought,” Lio said.
“Would he be at risk, if they had archers?” Galo asked.
Lio shook his head, “no, his scales are too thick, even along his underbelly. You’d need much more force than that.”
“That’s a relief,” Galo said. “So, want to try it?”
Galo had a grin on his face that was pure mischief. Lio rolled his eyes.
“Alright, just try to keep up with me,” Lio replied.
Even for those familiar with it, Detroit’s roar was enough to make a grown man flinch. For those who weren’t, it was enough to send them sprinting in the opposite direction while they screamed bloody murder. The fastest of the bandits ran straight into Galo’s chest and embraced him.
“Help me!” the man cried.
“I will,” Galo replied honestly, before he tapped hard against the man’s carotid artery and sent him slumping to the ground.
The next two realised the truth of their situation in short order. They were younger than Lio expected, barely out of their teens and Lio couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for them. Then they drew their swords and the threat they posed overwhelmed more tender feelings.
“You take the one on the left,” Lio said, as he pulled his shortsword from its sheath.
“Got it,” Galo replied.
The bandit to the right was taller than Lio, with a longer reach and quick footwork. She handled her blade with sure and forceful movements that reminded Lio of the techniques used by the town militia. She thrust forward with all her weight, eyes wild. Lio slapped her sword away with his free hand and stepped in past her guard. He pushed her backwards when she tried to scramble away from him. She sprawled on the ground with a grunt.
“If you worked on your skill with a blade, you might not need to rely on dishonest work,” Lio said.
The girl glared at him furiously.
“You don’t know anything,” she hissed.
Her arm twitched and Lio set his foot down on the flat of her blade. He held the tip of his against her throat. When she resentfully let go of the pommel, he kicked the sword away.
“Galo, are you well?” Lio asked, without taking his eyes off her.
“Totally fine,” Galo replied.
Galo stepped into Lio’s peripheral vision. He had the second bandit in hand. Galo had picked the boy up by the scruff of the neck and was holding him at arm’s length while he flailed angrily. Galo’s glaive was still slung over his shoulder.
“Galo, why isn’t your glaive out?” Lio asked.
“Didn’t need it,” Galo replied.
“He had a sword,” Lio said.
“I mean, he did, but I chucked it, so, that made it fair, I guess.”
Lio sighed and pulled a length of rope from his belt.
“If you could tie that one up, I’d appreciate it,” Lio said, as he threw the rope.
The girl shrieked right before a burst of warm air sent Lio’s hair flying upward. Lio took his sword away from her throat and then sheathed it. She no longer seemed so keen to fight him. He drew another length of rope and set about tying her hands.
“You’re lucky,” Lio told her. “They’ll probably go easy on you because you’re young.”
She spat at his feet.
“Be like that,” Lio replied.
“Hey Lio?” Galo asked.
“Yes,” Lio said, as he secured the girls arms above her head, over a tree branch.
“Weren’t there four of them?”
A burst of movement caught Lio’s eye as he saw the fourth bandit break cover and run off into the brush.
“We’ll follow on Detroit,” Lio said, sharply annoyed at himself. “We’ll leave the rest of them here. They’re not going anywhere.”
“You’ll get yours!” The girl cried, as Lio jumped onto Detroit’s back, Galo quick behind him.
“We all do in the end,” Lio replied.
Detroit launched himself into the sky and Lio put his mind back into the chase.
The fourth bandit was shockingly fast, but not difficult to follow. Lio didn’t chase him down into the trees, due to the difficulty involved in making a safe landing, either from jumping or landing Detroit. Lio wasn’t about to burn him, either. They were miles from any town, so there wasn’t any shame in simply letting the bandit tire himself out.
“We could end this very easily if you simply stopped running,” Lio cried.
The bandit didn’t heed him, not even to make a rude gesture, which was somewhat unusual. Prometh range was dominated by sheer cliffs and their quarry was headed directly towards one. Once they reached the cliff face, Lio would be able to bring Detroit in lower and finally cut him off.
“Lio, I think I see something,” Galo said.
“What?” Lio asked.
Galo’s hand reached out over Lio’s shoulder and pointed to a dark spot on the cliff. It was in the exact direction that the bandit was running towards. Lio squinted at it.
“It’s a cave,” Lio realised.
“Yeah,” Galo replied. “I didn’t know there were any out here.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’ll be trapped just as well in there as would against a cliff,” Lio replied.
Detroit put on a burst of speed. The mouth of the cave was much larger than it had seemed at a distance. When the bandit passed the threshold, his face red and his feet tripping on the loose gravel, it was easy to fly in after him. Detroit landed in front of the man, sending up a cloud of dust as he did. The bandit fell over backwards.
Lio dropped off Detroit’s back and patted his shoulder. Detroit grumbled. Lio resolved to bring him a big treat for all the running around Lio was making him do.
“Are you quite done?” Lio asked, as the man cowered before him.
The man pursed his quivering lips and shook his head. Lio heard a sound like thunder and felt the earth shake beneath his feet.
The cave went dark. Lio heard Detroit inhale, ready to roar.
“Stop!” Lio cried.
If Detroit roared while they were inside the cave, he could send it crashing down around their ears.
“That was wise,” a voice said, behind him.
A lantern was illuminated behind them. Lio turned to see a group of people, all dressed in the uniform of the town guard. They had their swords drawn. One man stepped forward, a captain’s star shining on his jacket.
“What’s this?” Lio asked.
“Pest control,” the captain replied.
The guards raised their swords and fell into a line. Lio was familiar with the strategy. It was effective at driving a sole offender into a corner. Lio wondered at how they could have forgotten the obvious flaw in their plan. He raised his hand and Detroit opened his mouth, fire bright in his throat.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” the captain said.
“Give me a good reason not to,” Lio replied.
The captain clicked his fingers and a ball of light rose up from his hand, illuminating the entire cavern. Black-painted barrels ringed the entire space. They were filled with explosive powder. Each was connected and the captain had the fuse in his hand.
“Detroit, hold!” Lio hissed, urgently. Detroit closed his mouth with a confused grumble.
“I think that’s a pretty good reason,” the captain said, smugly.
Lio looked behind him to see what had blocked the entrance. It seemed to be a stone door, old and mechanical. Lio had no idea what such a structure would be doing in the middle of nowhere, but regardless of providence, Detroit wouldn’t be able to break through it with any speed. If the powder was set off, the mountain would come down on top of them before they could escape.
“You seem to be ignoring the fact that you’re stuck in here too,” Lio said, as he drew his sword.
“Some of us have an escape route,” the captain replied.
He couldn’t see Galo. Hadn’t seen him run off, either. Was he one of them?
“I don’t know if you’ll have time to get to it,” Lio sneered.
“Maybe we’ll let you come with us,” the captain said. “If you put that sword down and leave the dragon behind.”
Detroit growled loudly. The guards had started to fan out. Lio tightened his hand on the grip of his sword.
“Forgive me if I reject your kind offer,” Lio replied.
Detroit flicked his tail and sent a particularly foolish guard sailing into the rock wall. The captain cursed and made a quick signal to his men. They stopped where they were. Lio had no idea why they were even trying to flank him. They could have lit the powder and run before Lio was even aware of its existence...
Lio saw movement behind them. He kept his eye on the captain, so as not to draw attention to it.
“You’re being unreasonable,” the captain said, cajolingly.
“Why be reasonable? You need me for something, or you’d have set the explosives off already,” Lio replied.
The captain’s mouth twisted into a grimace. Lio was grateful for the confirmation, but frustrated that he was no closer to divining the reason for it. What unique value could he possibly have, beyond his connection with Detroit?
“I’m sure he’ll forgive us if we bring you back in pieces,” the captain said, cryptically.
“Well that’s not nice,” Galo replied.
The captain flinched and turned on his heel to find himself on the pointy end of a very sharp glaive. Galo smiled at him warmly.
“Okay guys, how about you all put your weapons down and nothing else bad has to happen today,” Galo said.
The guards lowered their swords slightly and looked at their captain questioningly. The captain clenched his fists and glared back at them.
“Why are you looking at me?” he cried. “Fight them!”
Lio leapt away from Detroit, just as Detroit swung his tail into the first wave of idiots to run at them. A furious man swung his sword wildly at Lio’s shoulder, forcing Lio into an overarm parry. He shifted his weight so that the man’s blade slid off past his shoulder. It left the man off balance for a moment, long enough for Lio to step in and punch him in the face. The man grasped at his nose, his back bent from the shock.
“What?” the man cried, his voice garbled.
“Night,” Lio said.
He smacked the man over the head with the pommel of his sword. Detroit screeched in warning, and Lio had enough time to dance out of the way of the next guard. The two behind her went flying from a swipe of Detroit’s claws.
“If I stay close to you, your lizard can’t take any swipes at me,” she said, triumphantly.
“True, but now you have to fight me,” Lio replied.
In front of him, Lio could see Galo spin his glaive in tight, controlled movements. He stood over the fuse that the captain had threatened Lio with, as three men advanced upon him. A blade swung into Lio’s line of sight and he ducked, forced to return to his own melee.
“You wouldn’t be winning if you fought with any honour,” the woman sneered.
Lio thrust forward and the woman stepped back and away from him. He chased the advantage, relentless, his blade a streak of silver. She parried him, then countered as he regained his balance. He stepped left, to gain some distance.
“I’d still rather not kill you,” Lio said. “Shockingly enough.”
“As if you could!” she replied.
“Detroit, now!” Lio cried.
The woman’s eyes widened and she turned on her heel, sword raised up to defend herself from—
Nothing.
Lio punched her beneath the chin and she fell like a puppet with its strings cut. He left her where she lay. Galo still had two men in front of him, while a third lay on the ground, his hands clutched around his own bleeding thigh.
Lio grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground as he ran.
“Fellas!” Lio called.
The two guards turned towards him and each earned a cloud of dust to the face. Galo spun his glaive around and tapped the blunt end into the back of a man’s head. Lio drove the flat of his arm into the second man’s throat. Both men dropped. Lio turned his head, eyes keen for the next fight.
No one was left standing. Aside from them.
“What do you think that was about?” Galo asked, barely out of breath.
“Someone doesn’t like dragons,” Lio replied. “Or me, possibly.”
“I like you!” Galo said.
Lio tightened his grip on his sword and couldn’t think of anything witty to say.
“You too,” Lio replied.
Galo smiled brightly, which was unfair of him and only seemed to become more so with time. The light from the captain’s spell had begun to dim, and were it not for the groans of barely-conscious men, the space around them would have felt dark and intimate.
“Well isn’t this cute,” a voice said.
Lio looked up to see the captain, hand clasped over his side, with a match in his hand. He’d taken a hit somewhere, but he’d used the confusion of battle to get himself behind one of the powder barrels. He was halfway across the cave. Lio wouldn’t be able to reach him before he lit a fuse.
“Whatever your escape plan is, you can’t take it if you set the powder off that close,” Lio warned.
“It’ll be worth it,” the captain replied, as he set the match to the line.
The match went out.
“What?” the captain cried.
He lit another match. He lowered it once more. The second match went out.
Galo picked up his feet and sprinted towards him. Lio followed. He needn’t have bothered. Galo had his blade under the man’s chin before the third match was alight.
“You can stop that now,” Galo said, firmly.
“What the fuck did you do?” the captain asked.
Matoi crawled out from beside the barrel and happily climbed up Galo’s pants, past his chest and onto his shoulder. She grinned at them all, and then squeaked.
“Good girl, Matoi,” Galo said. “I knew you could do it.”
“Thank you for your help,” Lio added.
Matoi preened.
The captain glared at them, furiously. “Fuck this,” he said.
And then he threw out his hand, bright with spellfire, and cast out an orb towards the next nearest barrel. Lio kicked him in the head and he went limp, but the damage was already done. The fire fell as if in slow motion.
“Run!” Lio cried.
Galo spun his glaive and pointed the blade towards the barrel. Matoi ran down the haft, until she was on the blade. Her little feet turned to ice against the metal.
“Matoi!” Galo shouted.
They were fools. Matoi was just a gecko, she didn’t have that range. They were all going to die.
Matoi opened her mouth and let loose a painfully bright, white beam of light. Lio closed his eyes against it. He could feel the bitter sting of ice against his cheek, as if he were trapped in a snow storm. The cold cut through him like a knife.
Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped.
Lio opened his eyes to see a solid sheet of ice that started at Galo’s feet and spread like a wave, all the way up the wall. When Lio turned his head, he saw that Matoi had already walked her way back up Galo’s shoulder and was now drooping sleepily over his shoulder. Lio opened his mouth. For a moment, he said nothing.
“Dragon,” Lio managed, finally.
“Dragon,” Galo replied.
They didn’t head back to town, after they finally got the gate open and broke themselves out of the cave they’d been stuck in. Instead, they decided to head further west, over the mountain range, where only a dragon might pass easily. They left the guards tied up behind them.
“They’ll be okay, right?” Galo asked, as they climbed onto Detroit’s back once more.
“I’m sure they will,” Lio replied.
He didn’t actually care.
“This felt a lot like last time, when I got burned,” Galo said.
Lio stilled for a moment. He turned his head a little, so Galo would know he was listening.
“What’d we do to deserve this?” Galo asked.
Lio thought about the way the guards had wanted to kill Detroit, but spare him. What had they had in store for him? He thought about Matoi, who shouldn’t have been able to harness so much magic in such a small body. Who, in fact, hadn’t done until Galo was there with her.
He remembered Thyma, who had tried to warn him away from the first.
“It might not be what we did,” Lio replied. “I suspect it’s something a little more integral than that.”
Foresight had never liked tamers, or their beasts.
Lio felt Galo’s arms tighten against his waist once more. Galo was a warm, reassuring bulk behind him. Lio liked the feel of him there.
“Maybe if we work together, we can figure it out,” Galo said.
“Let’s give it a try,” Lio replied.
He clicked his tongue and Detroit raised his head and flew up into the sky.