Hunter Or Huntress

Chapter 141: Alternative Interrogations

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“Actually, no. Try telling me. Order me, in fact,” Glira continued. She sounded more curious than anything to Tom. ‘What are you up to now?’ Tom questioned, studying the large blue dragon.

“What do you mean?” Fengi questioned, looking up at the dragon.

“Order me to stand up. Go on,” the dragon replied, leaning back, fixing her posture.

“Okay?… Glira, stand up,” Fengi went, looking up at the dragon.

“No, order!” Glira replied in a harder tone. “Like a soldier. Yell at me, scream if you have to.”

Fengi just looked confused before drawing a breath and shouting at Glira. “Stand up!”

Glira just looked at her for a second or two, seemingly thinking. “You’re shit, but it’s there. It is definitely there,” she replied, looking to be deep in thought of all things.

“What’s there?” Fengi demanded, sounding very confused.

“Just kill me already and be done with this,” Yldril interjected.

“Shut up, you useless coward,” Glira went almost absentmindedly before turning back to Fengi. “I suck at breaking news to people. But you, my adorable little friend, are an enchantress.”

“I’m a what?” Fengi questioned, looking up at Glira, Tom just scratching the back of his neck, not sure what that entailed.

“Are you sure?” Essy echoed, also looking up at the dragon.

“Woman, me and the major specialize in hunting witches and wizards. I can smell magic pretty well by now, and she is no blank,” Glira went, pointing a claw at Fengi.

“Blank?” Tom questioned, looking around even more confused.

“Person without magic. Do try to keep up,” Glira went, glancing at him briefly before looking back at Fengi.

“Right… gotcha,” Tom replied, trying to piece all that together. He knew dragonettes were supposed to discover their magical talents around age 20, and to his knowledge everyone at the keep, older than Fengi, had magic. Apuma had talked about it being a pretty big deal to not have any magic since they usually believed it was because you just hadn’t figured it out yet. That was a pretty bad thing after all, since it meant you didn’t know a large part of yourself. Or you just didn’t want to accept it, which was often seen as even worse.

He also knew that all those mind messing powers were among the rarest. Things like what Inquisitor Joelina could do had often been enough to see you recruited into powerful organizations when they surfaced.

“I am an enchantress, an actual, honest to the gods, enchantress?” Fengi reiterated, seeming reluctant to believe it.

“A shit one, but sure,” Glira replied with a nod before turning her attention back to Yldril.

“I… Thank you!” Fengi just went, bowing deeply to Glira, Essy coming over to give her a hug.

“This is amazing news!” the older huntress let out as the two of them stood there, Tom looking at Bo who just shrugged.

“I found it, I found it, I found it!” Fengi all but shrieked as it seemed to properly click for her, jumping in place as Essy let go, the two of them looking happy as could be. Tom looked over at the dying dragon. Well, she looked like she should be dying at least. So he took a brave pill and walked a bit closer, wanting to have a closer look at her injuries. There was no telling what was broken on the inside, but her breath was wheezing and blood was leaking into a sizable puddle, much to his boot’s dismay. This was all very useful information though, certainly worth some blood soaked boots.

Yldril for her part was just lying there, seemingly having taken the chance to think everything over as her captors jumped in delight. It was probably fair to say everything hadn't gone to plan for her today.

“So… I could just tell her to give up her secrets?” Fengi questioned, looking towards Yldril after she had calmed down a bit, her smile vanishing as if she realized her celebration probably hadn’t been entirely appropriate.

“In theory,” Glira confirmed. “Won’t do you much good today though, unless you have a few spare years to train.”

“I mean, you can clearly boost magic,” Tom added in, trying to be helpful.

“I think we have something for that,” Essy piped up.

“You’re not talking about the baby, right?” Fengi questioned, looking at her old friend.

“The what?” Glira asked too, seemingly having lost the train of conversation. It took Tom a second too before he caught on.

“Yeah, Jinora. Think we can get her to boost you on command?”

“She’s going to tell us everything down to her childhood fears,” Fengi preened at the realization, the smile returning to her face as the two women seemed to fall right into a scheming mindset.

Tom just looked at the black dragon as he walked back up towards her head to look at the damage to her neck, specifically to the armor there. ‘I thought the horn could do that just fine, but baby it is I guess,’ he pondered to himself as he inspected the damage. Looking at her head, he noted she looked properly scared right now. Confused, but scared.

Then she looked over at him. And lunged.

Tom froze as the huge head was slammed to the ground a bit over a meter from him, a powerful blue leg driving it into the ground.

“Ah ah ah,” Glira let out, pushing Yldril’s head further into the ground, twisting her foot. “You will play nice, or I start plucking scales. Since you so clearly would like to die… Actually, someone fetch the rope from my harness. I want her mouth tied shut. I don’t think she’ll have much to say before you get this miracle baby anyway. We’ll get to work trying to keep her alive in the meantime.”

“We’ll go get Jinora,” Fengi let out, nodding to Glira and Tom.

“What if the last two come back?” Bo questioned, stepping forwards too, looking around at everyone uncertainly.

“Then Tom and I give them the bad news,” Glira chuckled, not letting her weight off the black dragon. “Go fetch, you two. We’ll be fine. Perhaps bring a few more hands to help if they can spare them back there. We need planks, beams, and rope. We will need more rope.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Fengi went, the two of them taking off running and beating into the sky, heading back towards the keep.

“Right then. Let’s secure our suicidal black dragon that runs from danger.”

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Saph had remained seated on her chair in the greeting hall for a bit, watching all the people running around soundlessly. When Zarko and Radexi pulled off a large dangling scale she felt the floor vibrate with Jarix’s roar of pain, making her quite happy she was deaf right now. She didn’t really know what to do with herself right now. So she sat on her chair content to just not get in the way of anyone and keep an eye on the prisoners that had by now all gotten tied up and were sitting in lines on the floor. at least the unwounded ones.

Maiko eventually returned with the veteran healer Kulk in tow. Saph had tried to protest that there had to be something better for the healer to be spending her time and energy on right now, but she was having none of it.

It was a mostly painless experience, even if Kulk sticking a clawed finger into Saph’s ear to rummage around was a very different experience to be sure. The tickling sensation Saph could certainly have done without. it was like having a miniature person crawl around in her ear stitching things back together. Kulk wasn’t exactly gentle either as she just yanked Saph’s head over, did the job, moved on to the next ear, and then let her go. Saph shook her head a bit, taking a second to listen, seemingly back to normal again, ‘Damn… That was easy.’

“There we go, good as new, only bust the drums. Do you hear any ringing?” the healer questioned looking at Saph.

“... No, my head hurts though,” Saph replied after a second's contemplation, trying to shake it away to no avail.

“Concussion most likely. Maiko, just wake her up every few hours if she decides to go to sleep and stay with her for now.”

“She won’t go all funny in the head now, will she?” Maiko chuckled, looking back to Saph with a smile on his face.

“Twitch has had quite a few. I’ll let you judge the effects,” Kulk stated flatly, though her lips did curl into a bit of a smile as she looked into Saph’s eyes and leaned forwards. “Look at me for a bit.”

“How many times have you done this before?” Saph questioned as she stared at the healer for a few seconds.

“More than I can count. Follow the finger… Yeah, I think that’s a concussion. I can’t do much about that, anything else?” Kulk asked, pulling back again.

“No… I think I’m good… Jarix looks like he could use some help though,” Saph replied, looking at the wounded dragon.

“Soapy water, a good trimming, and a few days rest and he’ll be good as new. Maybe a week before he’s presentable again. Bigger scales might take a bit longer.”

“Will there be any scarring?” the dragon questioned, looking over, apparently not in too much pain as to not follow conversations.

“Some, sure. Shouldn't look too hideous though after the largest of the chest scales regrow. Still, if you’re aiming for any beauty contests, I would recommend hitting next time,” Kulk replied, turning to leave as Essy and Fengi came in to land, looking around at the scene.

“Holy shit Saph, you alright?!” Fengi shouted out as her eyes landed on Saph, setting off running towards her and the others. “I didn’t even recognize you at first.”

“It looks worse than it is,” Saph sighed, gesturing dismissively at all the bandages. “I’m fine.”

“What about Nunuk?” Essy asked, following up behind Fengi at a more sedate pace. Saph looked to Kulk, hoping she had the latest news.

“Her wings are gone completely and her acid burns are severe, especially at the root of the wings. The acid made it as far as her spine, only slight corrosion to the bone though. A bit more and she would never walk again. She won’t be leaving the bed for weeks. But I do think she’ll live,” Kulk replied calmly and professionally.

“Well, what are you doing here then?!” Essy cried out. “You were told to go help the lady.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kulk replied, seemingly not taking any offense, turning around to leave.

“Hey, she just finished fixing Saph’s ears and checking on her head,” Maiko interjected. “Be nice.”

“Sorry” Essy replied, looking away as she bit her lip.

“I guess she took another big hit for us huh?” Fengi added, looking Saph over, her expression still concerned.

“Some bastard tried clawing my eyes out.”

“I’m guessing he’s dead then?” Essy sighed after taking a breath to calm down.

“Oh yeah, he didn’t make it,” Maiko mused.

“Got shot in the leg too, but that is what it is. Why are you back here alone? Where are Tom and Bo?”

“Where is Glira?” Rachuck questioned, having hurriedly made his way over.

“Right, so. We need Jinaro to boost Fengi’s magic so the black dragon, who is named Yldril by the way, will tell us what she knows,” Essy’s glance switching between Rachuck and Saph. All other eyes turned to Fengi.

“You found it?” Saph questioned, eyes widening. “What is it?”

“I…” Fengi started, voice quivering with excitement. “Am an enchantress.”

“Oh,” was all that Saph said out loud. ‘No wonder you didn’t figure it out, with those eyes of yours everyone… Oh… oh shit,’ Saph thought to herself, trying to smile mischievously under the bandages as she looked at Fengi. “You sly little bastard,” she chuckled. “All this time we thought you were just too cute to say no to.”

“Wait you think-?”

“The mystery of the Fengi eyes has been revealed,” Saph laughed, cursing inwardly as all the wounds on her face started to hurt again. “You were enchanting us all this time… only a little though, I guess.”

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to,” Fengi squeaked out, looking a touch apprehensive as she turned to Essy.

“Nonsense,” Essy interjected. “You do need to learn to control it though. But with Jinora it sounds like she’s going to do that for you. Saph you weren’t in control right?”

“No… No I wasn’t” Saph repleid shaking her head looking at Fengi.

“That’s amazing news, but. You can’t expect to just use that on an adult dragon, and an old one at that,” Rachuck added in, sounding like he was picking his words carefully. “You need training, and maybe a teacher. This is not something to be playing with. And what about the unicorn horn? We still have some dust left over. and the horn itself.”

“Fengi can’t control it yet. That is why we need Jinora,” Essy replied. “If what Saph said was true, then she wasn’t controlling her magic… Well, not the flow at least,” Essy protested.

“Also in kind of a hurry. Yldril didn’t look great, and Glira, Tom, and Bo are currently working, trying to keep her with us. We need some hands to help with fixing her up. Rope, planks, the land mine, and maybe something to cauterize the wounds,” Fengi added, speaking quickly as if trying to emphasize the urgency.

“Landmine?” Saph questioned, looking at Essy.

“Tom wanted it. Don’t know why.”

“I see… Will you at least not ask Linkosta and Apuma first. They might know better what can be done with that… spell or whatever it is.”

“Sure thing. wouldnt’ hurt” Essy replied giving him a nod

“Are they planning on bringing her back here?” Rachuck questioned, seeming unhappy with the whole situation.

“Not yet, no. I doubt she could even move on her own,” Essy replied reassuringly.

“Well when you have her secured, could you tell Glira to get back here? Her son took quite the pounding.”

“Actually… Could you maybe keep her there for a bit…” Jarix interjected, Saph’s head turning to the rather distraught-looking dragon. “A few days would be nice.”

“Yeah… Sorry dude. She’s not happy,” Fengi replied, also turning back to the dragon. “We’ll try and stall her, I promise. I’m sure we won’t be moving Yldril anytime soon.”

“And she definitely needs to be guarded for now,” Essy added, nodding convincingly.

“Thanks,” the dragon went with a nod of gratitude before turning his head back to the burns on his chest and belly. “I owe you one.”

“Nonsense. Look at you,” Saph protested. “We would have been burned to a crisp by that.”

“You can owe me for killing a red fucking dragon!” Jacky shouted out triumphantly as she carried off some of Jarix's armor, under the watchful eye of Zarko, giving Fengi and Essy a wave, Fengi returning the gesture.

“Right then,” Rachuck interrupted, looking around at them. “Anchor will go with you. I’ll hold down the fort.” He then turned to look towards Jarix and Zarko. “Can you spare Jacky?!”

It took a bit before they got a reply from Zarko, the dragon looking back at her. “Fine! We’ll manage!” She shouted in reply, sounding quite displeased. Rachuck just replied with a thumbs up and turned back to the huntresses. “Well you better get to it then, sounds like you’re in a hurry.”

“I’ll go fetch Jinora if you stay here… Actually, Saph, since you aren’t doing anything right now, just try and teach Fengi some basics. We are kinda short on time,” Essy said, glancing between the two younger huntresses then finally to Maiko. “You, Anchor, and Jacky fetch ropes and planks for Yldril. Those two are fine for now. I’ll lead you to them when you’re ready. Fengi can follow when she’s ready.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maiko replied with a salute before running off towards Jacky.

“Take care, you two. I’ll be back,” Essy continued, looking to the rather befuddled Sapphire before she ran off towards the library. Rachuck just nodded at them before walking off back over to the prisoners, talking with their healer, likely wanting to know if he had anyone about to die on him. That left just Saph and Fengi to sit and stare at each other.

“Okay then, Fen… I guess, let’s get to it?”

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“So, how did you like the show?” Glira questioned as Tom and Bo finished tying up Yldril’s snout. Glira had rolled the black dragon over onto her back and was currently holding her head in place just in case she got any ideas. That didn’t mean Tom wasn’t shitting his pants at the moment, the black dragon glaring at him with her one remaining eye whenever she could. It was pretty easy to see Bo was also ready to jump back at a moment's notice, which really didn’t help Tom’s sense of security.

“You did what you were told to do, I guess?” Tom replied with a shrug, not taking his eyes off Yldril.

“Hey, I captured a heavier dragon and barely took a scratch doing so,” Glira replied, shifting her foot on top of Yldril’s neck. “Most would consider that impressive.”

“I know, but did you need to be that…”

“Enthusiastic?” Bo finished as Tom dithered on the word. He just gave her a nod as she finished tying the knots. Tom was not trusting himself with that job.

“Of course I did, I needed her to not think too hard. If you sound like a bloodthirsty killer, people tend to believe they can trick you. Ain’t that right, Yldril?” Glira questioned, leaning her head down, her quarry responding in a low growl that made Tom’s chest vibrate before she started coughing again.

“Even too dumb to shut up when it hurts,” Glira Chuckled. “No, I can get a little worked up. It’s just been so boring as of late. Gotta admit… I’m kinda disappointed in her.”

“Why, would you prefer to be the one lying broken on the ground?”

“No, I would prefer an actual challenge. Didn’t even have to shoot her down.”

“I guess you don’t even need that gun then,” Tom tried hopefully. Only realizing as he said it how futile an argument that likely was.

“No. That would allow me to take on even greater odds of course. And as you so finely put it, I don’t want to be the one lying broken on the ground. So, has this little display convinced you I could do with such a weapon?”

“No, you are cruel and vicious.”

“No, I’m not,” Glira replied, sounding almost offended. “I didn’t kill her, nor did I maim her for life. If she heals right, of course. I restrained myself,” she went, sounding quite proud.

“You toyed with her and then ripped her apart in melee. Why not just shoot a wing off her or something?”

“Oh, for Pete's sake,” Glira cursed, letting out an angry rumble. “You want her captured but not hurt? You think she would ever fly again if I took a wing? I couldn’t let her go, I couldn’t just kill her, she didn’t surrender even with all the ‘toying around’ as you put it. What did you want me to do!?”

Glira seemed to be getting more and more agitated as she kept talking. “Your people back at the keep would like revenge, I’m sure. You want mercy, yet you won't let her run away. You want her caught but not injured, Miracles but no miracle weapon. The hell does it take to make you happy?!” She growled, drawing more blood from Yldril as her claws dug in.

“Not that, for starters,” Tom pointed at Glira’s clawed foot. “She’s an enemy, but do try to treat her with some dignity.”

“Fucking hell. She hasn’t even surrendered yet technically. Have you now!?” Glira questioned, craning her head down to look at Yldril. “And you snapped at Tom, didn’t you? You wanted a bargaining chip so i would let you go. Just one squeeze and he’d be done for… Just nod if you surrender, would you?” She asked in a more pleading tone, belying she was probably more than done with all this.

Yldril finally took her eyes off Tom to glare up at Glira instead, remaining silent for the moment.

“You better nod, or I’ll rip your wings off and tear them apart so you’ll have to work haulage here till the day you die!” the blue snapped, going right back to properly furious, Tom wondering just how smart it was to push her when his only backup consisted of a greenhorn huntress.

She seemed almost unhinged to Tom. Yet he couldn’t say that to her damn face, now could he? She might just decide he had met with an accident or something. Would she do something like that?

He didn’t notice that as he had been taking his time thinking shit over Glira had taken a breath and leaned back, Yldril starting to nod furiously, remaining eye now wide with fear. “Fucking coward,” Glira mused happily as she let her breath back out in a sigh.

“I take it you would prefer some prim and proper officer then?” she then questioned, looking down at Tom instead.

“It would help, but a compassionate one would be best,” Tom countered.

“Is that why my son has grown soft? To please you?”

“I wouldn’t say soft. He cares now,” Tom countered.

“About something other than winning. That might get him killed, you know.”

“Might save a lot of people too. Maybe even on both sides. Just because someone is in your sights doesn't mean they deserve to die. Even if they have to.”

Glira just let out another sigh, sounding more exasperated than anything as she looked at the sky. “A dragon warrior that doesn’t want to kill.”

“No, one that doesn’t like to,” Tom tried correcting, hoping he wasn’t playing too much with fire right now.

“And he would risk it all for your little pile of rocks.”

“No. For the people inside it,” Tom said in his most diplomatic voice.

“You get what I mean! Please, don’t tell me you want me to become some old softhearted grandma for you to give me that damn gun. I can’t do that.”

“I guess we’ll see. Let’s start by keeping this one alive so we can learn if she really does deserve to die.”

“Yes, sir,” Glira replied dejectedly as she moved to Yldril’s side. “You are a right mess. We’ll just work on the bleeding for now. You two disassemble her pathetic armor. We need the padding underneath and what rope we have to tie wounds shut until the skin heals,” Glira went, turning the black over onto her side, Yldril letting out a pained groan as Glira moved to put a doubtlessly tremendous amount of pressure on the larger of the stab wounds. “Sometime today would be nice.”

Tom did as he was told, taking another brave pill, Bo following a bit behind him. Looking at the stab wounds left by Glira’s blades, they were still leaking a very concerning amount of blue blood everywhere.

“You went for the joints, right? Surely she’s crippled for life?” Tom asked, looking at the limp and broken wing that had been responsible for Yldril falling out of the sky.

“Nah, with a bit of work she’ll be airworthy again one day. Might hurt and ache quite a bit for the rest of her life, but they will work. We aren’t as flimsy as you little people, remember?”

“I guess having to live for a few hundred years poses certain requirements on well… Self-repair I guess?” Tom could remember how the damage done to both Jarix and Archeon had healed way faster than it had any right to. These were deep wounds though, and they had mostly taken superficial damage.

“Most people call that healing, but sure,” Glira replied with a smug smirk. “Now Yldril. To encourage cooperation, if you behave I’ll reward you by trying to not make this as painful as possible.” Glira went looking down at Yldrils head again, sounding almost like she was talking to a child. “We plug the holes then hopefully the people you tried to rob will bring some splints for you. If you move it might heal wrong yada yada yada. You are old enough to know the drill.”

“Where are you planning on finding splints for a dragon?” Tom questioned, looking around at the rolling hills. “Surely they need to be quite big.”

“Well if my son wasn’t currently licking his wounds because he’s become a big softie, I would have sent him to fetch something. As it stands, I guess we’ll have to make do with what you little people can bring. You do have some beams lying around right? Not just boards and planks?” Glira questioned, looking to Bo rather than Tom, which he found a touch annoying.

“Yes ma’am. Plenty,” the young huntress replied with a nod.

"Maybe once we get the mine on her you can go get what we need. Assuming you are right about her not wanting to kill herself" Tom added looking at Yldril, hoping for a reaction. He got none though.

"Possibly. she can't run anyway... likely she can barely crawl. Stick close to someone with wings and you'll be safe enough I think" Glira replied looking down at him.

“Actually, about that. You hit her joints. What about uhm… the things that hold a joint together? What’s that called?”

“Ligaments,” Bo helpfully added.

“Yes, that. They don’t heal by themselves, do they? They need to be put back together again first.”

“Yes, but they won't try to heal wrong either. They can be fixed later, and I’m willing to bet you the healers back at the keep have their hands full right now. Plug the holes and set the bones such is a moto.”

"I guess that's a way to go about it" Tom replied. "To work then."