All The Skills

For once, Joy did not live up to her name. When she landed, she was nearly vibrating with rage. Cressida, sitting on her back, had an equally stormy expression.

“What happened —“

But before Arthur could finish, Joy exploded. “Every single egg has been taken by those… Those mean nasty monsters! I hate them! Egg-nappers are mean, and evil, and… and no one was able to stop them!”

“Many of the nesting mothers are gone, too,” Cressida said, voice tight. “Chablis and the rest of the Council believe they followed the kidnappers. A search party from the hive was sent out — we waited until word came to report back. I would’ve sent a message by shadow, but my mana is almost out.”

“Just the eggs?” Brixaby asked. “Was anything of value stolen as well?”

Joy’s head snapped around to Brixaby, and for the first time in their friendship, she pulled her scaled lips back from her teeth and hissed at him. “The eggs are important – more important than your stupid head!”

Brixaby reeled back as if he had been slapped.

“Whoa there.” Digger stepped forward and placed a large, brown stumpy leg between the two of them. He looked like a teacher who was separating children just before a schoolyard fight. “Young pink, that is a Legendary you’re challenging.”

“I’m his second-in-command, so I get to call him a stupid head anytime I want!”

For his part, Brixaby looked more confused by her anger than offended.

Arthur decided to redirect the conversation. “What did the search party find?”

Cressida still looked angry, but was frowning at the bickering dragons too. She turned her attention back to Arthur and shook her head. “They’re gone. One of the silvers detected magic up in the sky — we think that they had another portal user with them.”

Arthur felt a particular swooping sensation in his gut that came when he knew he had overlooked something. He didn’t remember releasing one of the shiny green portal users from the Mind Singer’s influence. There had been a lot to do, and in the back of his mind he assumed that perhaps the dragon had died. But he still should have checked – or sent somebody to check for him.

If I had a full retinue, I would’ve had more subordinates I could trust, he thought with an inner wince.

“The greens who opened the original portal needed that mana silver to help power it. But maybe they had enough personal mana to keep it going for a small party,” he said.

“What would a scourgeling want with dragon eggs?” Joy practically wailed. She looked distraught enough to cry, had she been human.

“I remember her having an interest in our hives dragon eggs, too,” Digger said, reluctantly. “But I don’t know why.”

Cressida turned back to Arthur. “One more thing: Chablis demanded that you report to the rest of the Council immediately. By which, she means her,” she added, unusually acidic.

“We do not jump to the Councils’ orders,” Brixaby snarled. “They should be on their knees thanking us for saving their hive.”

She shook her head. “You made them look incompetent today. They won’t be thanking you.”

Privately, Arthur agreed with Cressida’s assessment. But his feelings were more in line with Brixaby’s. Arthur took a deliberately slow look around, just in case they were being spied on by someone with a divination card.

The last few minutes had seen the final dragons from the battle mostly clear out. Healers and sympathetic folk were still working with grievously wounded, and overlooking the fallen. But all the living had been broken out of the Mind Singer’s hold. That was the important thing.

There wasn’t much left to do here.

Still, Arthur made no attempt to jump to Chablis’s command. He found a couple of rivets that had been knocked out of place in the chain mail he wore, and spent a few extra seconds using his Metal Shot card to smooth them down.

Then, casually, he looked up to see everybody was staring at him. Brixaby, smugly. Joy and Digger with open curiosity, and Cressida with amusement. She knew what he was doing.

That reminded him.

“Cressida, Joy, this is Digger. His rider is currently being held hostage back in his hive. He’ll be joining us to fight the Mind Singer until we can get him back.”

Joy perked up. “Nice to meet you, Digger, now that you’re not mind-scrambled. So that’s the plan? We’re going to save the eggs and rescue your rider? That’s so sad Digger. I’m sorry about him. I’m Joy, and this is Cressida, and we’re welcome to have you join our retinue. What’s your power? Oh, I bet it has to do with Earth because you’re brown. Wait, is that rude to say? I’m sorry if it is, I’m just really excited –“

Thankfully, Brixaby cut her off.

“Yes, the dragon out for revenge will be quite a potent addition to my retinue. Welcome, Digger. What other interesting cards do you have? You mentioned moving earth?”

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Chablis, Laird, and three of her council members were gathered on top of the Mesa, arguing with each other, with some glancing up sour-faced as Arthur and his small retinue descended.

Arthur was past caring about what they thought. He was too busy relishing the feeling of flying on his own dragon. That wasn’t going to get old anytime soon.

Also, Brixaby was always good for an impressive entrance. He buzzed straight down, managing to keep his body level the whole way. He made it look effortless, but he must have been working hard not to unseat Arthur because Arthur received a Dragon Riding skill-up from that maneuver.

Meanwhile, Digger and Joy came in to land the traditional way by sailing in and dumping altitude.

Laird gave Digger a considering look, obviously recognizing the other dragon. But he said nothing.

“It’s about time,” Chablis snapped. “Explain yourself.”

Arthur didn’t bother to dismount off Brixaby. The dragon only stood as high as a donkey, anyway, and Arthur liked looking down on her, just a little. “You asked for me to defend the hive, and I did. Successfully.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You raided our card library – our wealth! After we took you in, sheltered you —“

“After your dragons kidnapped us by force,” Cressida said. “Were we ever free to leave?”

Chablis ignored her and glared at Arthur, who stared steadily back.

So, she had put two and two together. And, judging by the fact that Laird was still welcome among the rest of the council, he hadn’t been implicated.

Arthur briefly thought about throwing him under the wheel cart, but there wasn’t a point. If all went according to his plan, he would need Laird on his side.

“The Mind Singer’s forces attacked the moment you went into the dungeon,” he said. “I assume she thought that the Council would have kept the most potent cards for themselves, and she wanted you out of the way. And, I didn’t keep your wealth. I gave it back to the hive. Anybody who took a combat card is welcome to give it back. Have you asked?” he added, pointedly.

One of the counselors made a blustering, angry sound and stepped forward. “We are a peaceful hive, focused on crafting, building, and creating. We have no need for war–“

“Yet war came for you anyway,” Arthur said, exasperated. “I’m not saying what you’re doing is not noble, but the whole world is in the fight of his life against the scourgelings. You can’t hide forever. Nowhere is truly safe.”

“That’s why we have a select few to fight for us,” Chablis indicated Laird who growled.

“And yet you don’t give us the tools that we need when we request them.”

“Come off it, dragon,” one of the counselors snapped. “You don’t mean tools. You want more cards which will give you power over us. We’ve seen other hives fall to coups before —“

“Enough,” Arthur said, putting several skills including Voice Projection and Leadership behind the word. It came out before he had even thought about what he was doing, but they couldn’t get bogged down in old arguments. “We don’t have time for this. I understand that the hive's eggs have been stolen, and it seems a group managed to escape through a portal?”

He glanced at Laird as he said that and noted that the big red seemed only mildly concerned.

Joy, however, bristled again.

It did seem that there was a difference between male and female dragons when it came to their outlook on eggs.

“That’s not all,” Chablis said, “they also raided our experimental gardens, and one of them had a poison card. I’m afraid the soil won’t be capable of growing anything until we get some specialized card users to rake over it. Even then, rations may need to be cut.”

Arthur had some idea of what was growing in those experimental caves. He wasn’t allowed access to all of them, but shuddered at the thought of the Mind Singer getting those potent plants. What would she do with them? Start her own farming operation?

… Farming. Oh no.

“The last time this scourgeling tried to gain power, it fed card users to a growing demi-scourge. Do you think it could be doing something like that, with the eggs?” Arthur blurted.

Joy gasped.

“Interesting theory, but why bother?” Laird asked. “Pardon me for saying, Joy, but eggs are not interesting to anyone but dragon mothers. It’s when they hatch out that they have potential.”

Digger nodded. Brixaby simply looked bored.

“And when they hatch out, they have brand-new cards. That’s how most new cards are brought into the world, isn’t it? Through dragon cores,” Arthur said grimly. “It’s much easier to hatch out new dragons than it is to collect separate shards, especially for the higher tier cards.”

“Interesting theory,” Chablis said. “But the majority of the eggs laid here were Common.”

“Even Commons can lay higher tier eggs. Brixaby is proof of that,” Arthur said. “His egg was laid by a Common purple.”

Brixaby stood up proudly as if challenging anybody to make a joke. Of course, no one did.

Chablis looked less than impressed. “That might be true, but the chances of producing a Legendary dragon–“

“Rares are laid much more frequently than Legendary eggs,” Laird broke in. He regarded Arthur in a new light, and with a disturbed expression. “And from what I understand, this scourgeling is at Rare rank.”

“It is,” Arthur confirmed. “Which means that it could use any Rare card that came from… From farming hatchling dragons,” he added with an apologetic look to Joy who had put her head under her wing in sheer horror. Cressida had dismounted and stood by her side, comforting her.

A shadow darkened the sky.

Everyone looked up, and Arthur automatically raised a hand, accessing his Metal Shot card.

But it wasn’t an enemy from above. It was the same purple dragon who had delivered a message to Arthur before.

Brixaby bristled. “What are you doing here, interrupting my meeting?”

The purple gave Brixaby a wary look but then silently passed a scroll off to Chablis. Then with a flip of a tail in Brixaby’s direction, which looked more flirtatious than dismissive, the purple took to the air.

“What is it?” one of the other counselors asked.

Chablis held up a hand for patience as she quickly unrolled and read the scroll. Then, with a sigh she lowered it. “After we were attacked, I sent word through certain channels.” She glanced at Arthur. “I’m sure it won’t surprise you to learn we have communication with other Free Hives.”

Arthur nodded.

“And?” Laird asked.

“Three other Free Hives have been hit within the last twenty-four hours. Hives of the Meadows, Red Earth, and Sky. Until I sent word, it was assumed that these were all isolated incidences or perhaps raids from jealous Kingdom hives. It’s happened before. But like us, all lost their eggs from their hatching grounds. It seems,” she said with another sigh, “Arthur’s dragon farming theory… has merit.”

“Of course it does. I wouldn’t link with an idiot,” Brixaby growled.

But his growl was not nearly as fierce as Joy’s. “We have to get those eggs back! We can’t let her do this!”

“We won’t,” Arthur said. He took a breath. This wasn’t going to be easy. “We need to contact the Kingdom hives.”