Hunter Or Huntress

Chapter 132: Roll Out the Barrel

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After the grand retelling, Baron had decided it was time to depart for the mines to relieve Glira. Tom had followed along as the large red got clear of all the people, hoping to get in some slightly more private questions. Baron clearly noticed, walking further away than he would have needed to before turning around looking down at Tom.

“Soo?”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering… The city. did you ever find out what did… that?”

“No, sadly. Some claim it was the work of the shadow dragon that challenged me on the ship. Others claim it must have been the work of a powerful witch or even a doetna.”

“I’ve heard that one before. Apuma didn’t have much on them that he believed was true… Could you perhaps fill me in?”

“Again, I have never seen one. The stories go that they are hideous grey monstrosities. They like it cold, dark, and wet, and their command over the darker side of magic is beyond compare.”

“So kinda like a dark version of a unicorn.”

“You could say that. I would not take a bet on the unicorn if it came to a fight though,” Baron replied flatly. “I personally hope it was a doetna. Far fewer of those around than shadow dragons or mythical witches of insane power.”

“Amen to that?” Tom replied, taking a deep breath.

“Amen?” Baron questioned, clearly expecting an explanation.

“Don’t worry about it. This doetna, if that was it, what would it need to turn a city like that?”

“We have no idea. They are rarely seen, and most stories of those who have seen them can rarely be proven true. My best guess would be some natural source of extreme corruption, though that could likely be themselves.”

“My father, Lord Hashaw, theorized it was a combination of a doetna, a shadow dragon, and a witch. The doetna provides the corruption, the dragon the power required, and the witch controls the spell,” Victoria replied from her perch atop Baron's back. “He has exactly no proof for that though.”

“Great, so we have steampunk skyships in the hands of people with corruption-based weapons of mass destruction… Hold da kæft noget lort… Thanks for your time. I think I’m gonna go pretend none of this has happened and get drunk enough to be carried to bed. Take care.”

“Remember, fight with honor,” one of the sergeants on Baron’s back shouted out with a laugh, Baron simply nodding at Tom. Victoria gave him a salute as the dragon turned around and set off running and jumped into the air kicking up dirt high enough Tom had time to follow it through the air. 'Damn'

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War stories were not a new thing to Sapphire. She had heard plenty from trade escorts or other random visitors who came to the keep. Apuma also had quite a few history books detailing epic battles, some true, many probably not. At least not entirely. But actually listening to an ancient dragon who had been there was quite different. Most of the people sat in awestruck silence as the dragon finished. The people of Deriva looked like they had seen a ghost, many glancing around quickly as if they had no clue what to do now.

“Sorry to put a damper on the mood like that,” the dragon went, clearing his voice and raising his head up high once more. “That is all history, old history at that. Should there be the need I’m sure it can be done again. Today let’s celebrate that it might be us who have a weapon like that on our side next time.”

“Sure thing,” Luke, the captain from Deriva, let out in a meek voice a few seats down from Sapphire.

“Anyway, I think I have to make my excuses. I best be heading for the vault. Crew aboard please,” Baron went as he got up, turning to walk clear of the congregation that had formed around him. Going ever so slowly as to give people a chance to get out of the way. Tom had gotten up and trotted along with the big red in a rather hurried step.

“I guess he would have a lot of questions now, wouldn’t he?” Saph mused, gesturing at Tom. “Fingers crossed the guy can figure out a way to kill something like that.”

“Or build it,” Maiko replied with a shrug. “I still can’t believe Baron had been lying for so many years only for him to tell us now. Shit is gonna be going down soon. I just know it.”

“Not yet though. Tonight we still have very important work to do.”

“So, do we drink to celebrate that victory, I guess you could call it? Or to forget it all happened so the Inquisition doesn’t kill us all?” Maiko went as he got up, giving Saph a courteous hand.

Looking down the table, she took note of all the terrified faces gathered around. ‘At least the children weren’t up for this one.’ “A little bit of both couldn’t hurt. You aren’t leaving for the vault?” Saph replied, taking his hand, knowing full well he was staying.

“Nope. Yet another perk of my special assignment,” Maiko went with a devilish smile as Latori walked by, heading for Baron.

“Look at you prancing about like some prince charming,” the sergeant went, giving Maiko a jab to the shoulder.

“Grandpa,” Maiko shouted after the sergeant, receiving a rather rude gesture for his efforts in reply. “Don’t mind him, I'm fairly sure he’s just jealous. I heard Tom tried to teach the farmer guy how to make human beer.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Saph replied, realizing. “We need to try that stuff kilsner or whatever he called it.”

The tables were put back to their original places, Saph and Maiko helping out as Raulf brought out the special barrels. They were set down at the ends of the tables, more being brought out from the stock they had purchased back in the capital, along with some of Raulf’s more regular supplies. Mugs were quickly passed around to everyone at the tables, more than just Saph and Maiok were eager to not only try the selections but likely also needed something for their nerves following the evening's story. Nunuk and lady Deriva had wasted no time with getting into the wine they had bought, looking like they needed it, especially kind old Lady Deriva. Nunuk had talked about how the battle for her home had really done a number on the old woman. Saph hadn’t been able to tell after she arrived for the festival. It would seem it was starting to show through now though. The rest of the Deriva people had congregated and were vividly discussing things amongst themselves, voices starting to get agitated.

“Think they are gonna be okay?” Saphg questioned as she put a bench in place.

“Eventually. It’s not like Baron not to think things through like that. The old guy must be struggling right now, even if he’ll never admit it.”

“Hopefully some good drink can fix it,” Saph went as she got comfortable. Mugs started being passed down the table, taking her attention away from the bickering people. “Must suck to be on Baron’s crew tonight though.”

“Yup. Then again, Glira’s people missed the food. I think they’ll get some leftovers though.”

“And then there’s lucky you who gets all of it.”

“Come now, that’s hardly why I’m lucky right now,” he replied, placing an arm around her waist and setting a mug down in front of her.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” Ray questioned from behind Saph, who turned her head around to greet her.

“Sure, we’ll scoot up a little closer. I’m sure Maiko wouldn’t mind that,” Saph replied with a smile as Maiko made room, shuffling a bit further up the bench. “Ever had human beer?” Saph questioned rhetorically, setting a mug down for Ray.

“Can’t say I have,” came the delicate reply as Ray eyed the mug.

“Excellent. Me neither. Cheers,” Saph replied with a chuckle, picking up a mug herself and clinking it together, first with Ray, then Maiko.

“Cheers,” both of them replied, taking a first experimental draught.

“Well, that’s certainly different,” Saph went, looking down into the mug. “So… fresh and bubbly… It’s cold too? Did they cool the barrels?”

“Yup,” Esmeralda replied, sitting down opposite them, Kokashi sitting down too. “Used the stuff leftover from the cakes. Tom insisted.”

“I like it,” Ray went, taking another sip of her mug, clearly savoring the interesting new drink. “How do you put bubbles in ale?”

“It’s not ale, it’s beer. You put it under pressure as it ferments,” Maiko clarified. “It’s a little light if you ask me, but it’s very refreshing,” He took another deeper draught, the foam sticking to his snout making him look more than a little stupid as he tried to lick it clean. “Definitely had worse.”

“Oh really?” Saph chuckled before glancing down the table, spying Tom taking his first draught before he had even sat down. He looked to Raulf and gave the farm/brewer a thumbs up and an approving nod as he smiled.

“Well, Tom seems pleased, so I’m guessing that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“Never had bubble beer before,” Ray went also looking down at the human as he sat down with Jacky.

“Ha! That’s what we’re calling it, not that dumb Nilsne… tilsn… forget it. It’s now bubble beer!” Saph cheered out, raising her mug. Ray and Maiko joined her. Esmeralda also joined in once she had a taste.

“Come on hubby, we have to raise the mood a little,“ she went, poking Kokashi. Her husband dutifully joined in with the little chant that slowly started to spread down the table.

“Bubble beer, bubble beer,” more and more people joined in. Saph laughed at Tom as he heard them, facepalming for a second before raising his own mug joining them in the chant with them, clearly trying not to laugh.

‘Thank the gods for good distractions,’ Saph mused, shaking her head as she took a deep draught of the bubbly liquid. ‘I’m getting absolutely smashed tonight, that’s for damn sure!’

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‘Well whatever makes them happy,’ Tom mused as he raised his mug. ‘Bubble beer. Goddammit.’

Silly name or not, it was the first Pilsner brewed in a different world. It wasn’t brilliant if Tom was being honest, but it was good enough to evoke memories of home. That seemed like such an awfully long time ago by now. It had only been around half a year, and yet more things had happened during that time than he had ever thought possible. Death and destruction, battle and murder. Enough political bullshit to satisfy him for a lifetime, not to mention all the insane discoveries they had made. The machine shop, all the farming work. And he better not forget Jacky, who even now was doing her best to get some people together for drinking games, likely aiming to get properly whitegirl wasted for once. Tom had seen the dragonettes party before, but the drinks certainly flowed more easily tonight than ever before, that was for sure.

Part of that might be down to the new beer, which was certainly a success. combined with the secondary purpose of the berry lemonade. That being serving the people of the keeps the first sweet alcoholic drink many of them had likely ever had. At least in decent quantities. It was quite popular too. They had rationed it to two mugs per person for tonight, and it looked like they were still gonna run out. Even then, it was still pricey for them to hand out this much.

Jacky’s drinking game had been a simple dice game, insisting that it was far better than the deception-based ‘Meyer’ that Tom was used to. She favored chance and strategy to lying. Tom didn’t do particularly well, but that was hardly a detriment in a drinking game. Tom only played for a few rounds, though, before looking over to Jarix, who was busy chatting with Tiguan and Grevi again now that Baron had left. It would probably be a while before Glira got here, so now was as good a time as any to go get his surprise.

Tom had feared the dragon would simply lay down and be done with it when he got his gun, or perhaps only agree to do the work that led to more ammunition being manufactured, but no. If anything, he had gotten more and more enthusiastic about helping out where he could. He had even let Ray use one of his wings for drying clothes that one time. He did fervently claim that he had no idea she had done that though, and that he was just lazing in the sun sleeping, having been unknowingly exploited. At least that was the excuse when Wiperna caught him and had started asking questions.

Tom felt that behavior was in need of a reward besides the cake, and all the other dragons had gotten cake too after all. He had run the math and that around 25 to 30 liters of pure alcohol should do the trick, which would be thinned out of course. And with all their latest discoveries, not to mention the sheer muscle power available to the keep these days, his quad bike hadn’t been doing much driving, nor was there any sign of that changing anytime soon. Despite that, they had been running the still as often as they could manage, to the point that Kullinger had been put to work making additional barrels for the results. In fact, they had enough ethanol to drink every dragonette here under the table several times; hell, they could manage that with only the beer. But they had enough to give Jarix a really fun time if he wanted to. It was definitely not because Tom really wanted to see a drunk dragon. There was no way that could not be hilarious. Even if it might be a touch dangerous.

Tom was hoping they wouldn’t suddenly need all the precious fuel anyway now that a lot of it had been turned into drinks. He got up, leaving Jacky to her drinking game after promising he would be back to take part, and went and fetched the special barrel together with Raulf.

“Are you sure this will work?” the farmer had questioned as the two of them set about hefting the barrel down the stairs.

“I asked Baron a while back if he had ever gotten drunk. He said yes and set about telling a lengthy story about some celebration, so they do drink,” Tom responded, cursing that he was the one currently walking backward. “And Zarko said Jarix had never been drunk before. Apparently, he didn’t want to spend the money. It would take like half a ton of beer to do the trick. This is a lot more efficient though.”

“Right, but he’s a dragon. Isn’t he like the weight of one hundred people or something?” Raulf had tried again, still not sounding entirely convinced.

“Who has never been drunk before. I have a guess at how much it will take, but I think we have enough here, otherwise, we are gonna have to go get another barrel of something else.”

“Right. Let’s hope he likes it then.”

“Indeed,” Tom replied with a grunt as they made their way slowly down the stairs, Tom cursing that he hadn’t tried to convince Jacky to come along. They made it back to the party and rolled the barrel over to where the three remaining dragons were residing. They propped up the barrel, patting the lid and looking up at the dragons, who had turned to look at the two rather small dudes.

“Jarix, you magnificent bastard, I present to you a barrel of stuff that probably won’t taste good. But, by the gods, it should see you completely plastered,” Tom went in his best salesman’s voice, patting the barrel. ‘Fuck yeah, I remembered the plural for the gods and everything.‘

“What stuff exactly?” Jarix questioned in a rather suspicious tone.

“It’s alcohol. We thinned it down to somewhere around 40 to 50 percent. It won't taste good, but it should do the trick if you want. The barrel is yours. There’s enough to get you very drunk, or probably a nice buzz if you wanna share it. That’s up to you.”

“Isn’t that, like, very expensive?” Jarix questioned, eyeing the barrel.

“So is most of the stuff we have served tonight. We made most of it here, so this is our hard work, which means we get to enjoy the benefits. Consider it a bonus or something.”

“Oh… Uhm. Thank you,” the dragon went, clearly rather surprised and not quite sure what to do in this situation. Leaning down towards them, he sniffed the barrel, gaining a rather funny expression for a second before straightening back up. “Smells like medicine or something.”

“I guess that’s not entirely untrue,” Tom went with a shrug. “You want it now or maybe later?”

“No, I wanna try. I have tried beer before. Never had enough to get drunk though. You two wanna try too?” Jarix questioned, glancing at his two old friends.

“Definitely,” Grevi was quick to answer. “Though it smells like it will be more of a test of your guts than a pleasant experience.”

Tom had to agree with her on that point, at least somewhat. The two dragons looked at Tiguan, who seemed even more unsure than Jarix.

“I mean if you're offering… Oh, thank you very much for the cake earlier. That was delicious,” Tiguan went, bowing to Tom, who just held up a hand to dismiss him.

“No worries, friend. Happy you could be here. Sounds like you deserved a reward after your work at Deriva too.”

“Not really, they have been very kind, at least after the first few days… maybe a week or two, but now they have all kinds of things for me to do and help out.”

‘Fucking hell. Happy he was allowed to help… Hey Tom can we keep him?,’ Tom mused to himself looking at the big black puppy… who could melt steel beams.

“Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. Now, I don’t actually know how best to serve this. You three have any ideas?” Tom questioned, looking around at the three dragons.

“Bucket maybe?” Jarix responded, Grevi giving a shrug.

“The biggest shot glass in history. I like it. I’ll go get three buckets,” Tom replied, trotting back towards the keep to get the glasses, so to speak. ‘Oh this is going to be hilarious,’ he mused to himself, quite happily coming back down the stairs just as the sun began to set on the horizon. “I guess Glira will be here soon too. Oh well, we certainly can’t afford to drink her under, unless it takes like nothing.”

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“Who was your first girlfriend, Jarix?” Saph questioned, trying to wipe the shit-eating grin off her face. She liked this game Tom had cooked up. So simple and informative… if a little embarrassing at times. Tom had put on some quiet music for them as they sat by the fires to play their little game.

“Morina,” Jarix replied, looking away, Saph guessing the dragon would be blushing bright if he could.

“Oh please. You were at best slightly good friends.” Grevi countered, not sounding very impressed with the reply.

“We made it official,” Jarix protested.

“Yeah you did, and it lasted all of nearly a month.”

“Still counts. Jarix, your question,” Tom interrupted, the human also having gotten rather merry by now. Liquor sure was effective at making people not worry.

“Grevi, first kill?” Jarix questioned

“Ahr, fuck you. You know that one.”

“They don’t.”

“Darkling fucked up a dive and smashed itself on my face.”

Jarix and Tiguan certainly had a laugh at that one. Grevi, though, was clearly not impressed. “Tigs, what about you? Finally had enough to tell us about how you grew up?”

“No,” the black dragon replied, grabbing hold of the bucket again.

“Would you stop that?” Jarix grumbled, scowling at Grevi, who didn’t look terribly worried about it. “That’s the third time now.”

“What? I wanna know,” the green protested.

“It’s okay, old boy. Maybe that’s enough for tonight,” Lieutenant Ylditz went, giving Tiguan a pat on the leg.

“It’s fine… I get to try more of this,” Tiguan replied as he emptied the bucket down his throat without any fuss; that had gone away after the first few buckets. He did hiccup though, which Tom found quite funny, chuckling until he considered just what might come out of Tiguan’s mouth… Nothing did though. The dragon just scratched the back of his neck and hiccuped again before looking down at Tom.

“What about you? Where did you grow up? Why did you come here?”

“Oh, this should be good,” Saph thought, leaning back. She had heard it before, but having drunk Tom try to explain that one to a drunk dragon should be funny.

“Well, I grew up in the countryside, in a small home. Just me, mum, and dad. I know that sounds strange to you, but that’s how we do it. It was a good life. I tried sooo many things growing up. Most of them stupid, I was bullied a bit… Eventually, I ended up in the army. Then I got bullied a lot”, he went with a chuckle before turning more somber. “Some of you know the story about how that ended. After that, I just couldn’t find joy in life anymore… Dad died, mum got sick… Both of them had this brain thing that makes you forget and make things up… It’s horrible. I tried motocross, parachuting, and everything else I could think of that was exciting and fun.”

“I have no clue what any of that is,” Ylditz admitted, Tom just chuckling and Tiguan clearly paying close attention.

“I know. It didn’t work anyway. I was doing it just to do it… Don’t worry, I’m getting to a point. I tried everything I could think of and it all just seemed to get boring after a while. Either that or it would have killed me eventually. In that sense, maybe this wasn’t much of an upgrade, but I’ve never felt more alive than here… Sure it’s a shitshow at times. I came 'cause I had nothing better to do… And I sure as shit don't want to go back.”

Saph just had to take that in for a second in her half-drunken state. ‘Fuck, he’s only good at speeches when he’s drunk,’ she concluded to herself, trying not to chuckle. That would be very disrespectful.

“Well, that was a bit more than just ‘how did you grow up,’ ” Jacky chuckled, punching him on the shoulder.

“No, it just took a few years,” Tom replied with a laugh that sounded rather fake. “And you still haven’t.”

“Oh please. You, grown-up?” Jacky protested. “You're a big kid playing pretend.”

“Oh yeah, what about you and miss racer over there laying out a track she made for herself. and then you come and complain to me it wasn’t fair,” Tom replied with a more genuine laugh.

“I’ll win on any track that’s got a few twisties in it,” Saph protested with a smile, knowing she was right and happy that Tom seemingly hadn't gotten too depressed by the question.

“Very well then, Sapphire Rayland. Who was your first boyfriend,” Tom clearly looking more at Maiko.

“Oh there were plenty who tried back in the day. Some of them got a chance. Not many lasted.” Trying not to snicker, she leaned on Maiko, and felt him squirm a little.

“One wanted kids. Another couldn’t keep his hands off one of the other racers. One thought I would make a great stay-at-home woman to pamper him all day, for some reason. There was a major once who was quite nice, but he was a bit too old and always away on deployment. We called it quits after a year.”

“A… a major?” Maiko questioned, seemingly not quite believing that one.

“Sure, he was a nice guy and all. Didn’t quite cut it though,” Saph replied, looking back at him. “Don’t worry, little guy. You ain’t here for the depth of your pockets,” she went, tickling the tip of his snout with her tongue. ‘Oh come on, I know you have a spine, show it a little.’ She sighed, looking back to Tom as he interrupted their little moment. She just pushed up a bit more against the corporal, he didn’t need to know that she was lying through her teeth.

“I guess I’m not the only one oversharing tonight,” Tom chuckled.

“Quiet human, or I’ll ask you again,” Saph replied with a laugh.

“Ohh, so you want to know my darkest secrets?” Tom replied, trying and failing incredibly hard to look scary.

“Nah, I probably won’t get it anyway,” Saph replied with a chuckle, looking around. She was a touch annoyed that Ray hadn’t joined them. Then again, that was maybe smart. There were a few people here who didn’t know her after all.

“Hey Maiko,” Saph went, turning her head halfway back towards her comfy backrest. “What number am I?”

“Number?” Maiko replied, at least pretending to not understand.

“You know what I mean. You are a soldier. Don’t be shy.”

“No clue,” Maiko replied with a snicker, taking a deep draught of a mug of wine. Most of the people around the fire had a laugh at her expense, and she gave him a playful shove with her leg.

“Damn you,” Saph had to reluctantly give him that one was funny. ‘I guess that’s what I get for wanting him to show a spine.’

The sun had set by now, and there wasn’t much of a moon, leaving only the fires and torches to light up the evening. To Saph it was all rather cozy, even if they were all starting to huddle around said fires to keep warm as they kept the questions coming. The three young dragons were slowly working their way through the barrel, its contents being mixed with water in the buckets. Grevi called it quits after a few buckets, leaving just Jarix and Tiguan. Saph had taken Tom’s word for it that the barrel would likely only be enough to get Jarix drunk. But soon enough both Jarix and Tiguan were slurring rather badly, Jarix even looking rather unsteady on his feet.

“Okay now that’s hilarious,” Tom laughed out as Jarix tried to pick the bucket back up, missing a few times and grumbling in annoyance to the point Grevi and Tiguan both agreed he sounded almost like Baron. It wasn’t easy for the dragons without a thumb, but the clawed toes of his foot could wrap around most things well enough to pick them up.

As Jarix put down the now empty bucket, he perked his ears, starting to look around. “Yoo Tigs… You hear that?

“I do,” Grevi replied, getting up as Tiguan looked around, seemingly confused. Tom just had time to start growing concerned as Grevi stood up, turning to look out over the rolling meadows.

“Oh, someone thinks she’s funny,” the green went, sitting back down again and shaking her head. “Glira is trying to scare us… going low and slow. Shame it wasn’t you, Jarix. You might have pulled it off without beating your wings.”

“Ha! Nah, Tigs is the king of stealthy flying, you know that.”

“It has come in handy before,” Tiguan replied, the alcohol seemingly having loosened him up a bit, even if he still didn’t look entirely happy. It didn’t take more than a few seconds before Glira swooped overhead, swinging around to come down to land. She came down hard, looking around at them expectantly with an evil grin on her face which faded after a second or two.

“Oh come on, not even a little?” the larger blue questioned, looking down at them. “I would have thought you were deep in the horror stories by now.”

“Heard you coming,” Grevi replied with a smirk.

“You should fly against the… hick... wind when trying to be stealthy,” Tiguan replied, slurring a bit.

“Are you drunk?” Glira questioned with a look of disbelief.

“Yup. Jarix let me share in the barrel,” Tiguan went with a happy, if rather dopey, expression.

“Where the hell did you get a hold of that much ale? We’re in the middle of nowhere? Also, what do you mean barrel? It takes a lot to get us drunk, even kids like you.”

“I’m no kid… Well, I’m yours… You know what I mean,” Jarix replied, sounding rather irritated, also struggling a bit with his sentences. “Tom gave me a very nice barrel of this clear stuff. It burns like hell, but it sure does the trick.”

“It doesn’t burn for me?” Tiguan questioned, peering down into the barrel, shutting one eye. “It’s the same stuff we’re getting right?”

“Tiguan. Your throat is made to handle acid that can eat steel. It’s not gonna burn now, is it?” Jarix protested, trying to point at Tiguan with his bucket.

“Yours can handle lightning,” Tiguan protested, still peering into the barrel.

Saph got an idea now that Glira had arrived, looking to Tom “You got the music box control thingy?”

“Uh yeah,” Tom replied, getting out his phone. “It’s playing from the phone right now.”

“We’ve been too busy playing games to do any dancing. I think it’s time,” She went with an evil chuckle, pointing at Fengi.

“I got it,” Tom replied, fiddling a bit with his phone as Glira was busy trying to convince Jarix to give her a bucket full too. The music eventually switched over to something more up Fengi’s street, the coppered huntress cheering as she got up and did a quick stretch. Saph chuckled to herself as a slowly growing ring of people got up to join her The game had gone on for a while after all. It was time for a change of pace, and it would seem people had calmed down enough after Baron’s story to let loose a little, or at least gotten drunk enough to not care.

“No, you can’t have some. It’s mine. You can buy some in the capital if you want. Tom says they can make this too,” Jarix protested as he also plodded over to where Fengi had already set about showing up the competition. “Now excuse me, I have to go express myself.”

Glira just stood there slack-jawed before sitting down seemingly defeated, looking to Grevi and the rather dopey-looking Tiguan.

“What the hell has gotten into him?”

“I think… aco… alcohol,” Tiguan replied helpfully, holding up a foreleg.

“Fucking hell. What about you two? You get any gifts for showing up here?”

“We had a nice cake earlier,” Grevi replied with a snicker.

“Oh come on!” Glira protested, laying down her head as her crew disembarked.

Saph looked to Dakota, Tom, and Essy, all currently busy on the dance floor. Tom was currently held over Jacky’s head as she pirouetted with him until he looked green.

“I’ll go get her cake,” Saph let out, loud enough that she was sure the older blue heard her. Glira turned her head to look at Saph, a smile creeping onto her face, her tail doing a slight flick.

‘Yeah yeah, we didn’t forget you,’ Saph mused. She patted Bo on the shoulder as she passed her. “Would you mind getting the last deer from that fire over there? Check that it’s done first,” she went before turning her attention to Glira’s crew. “Hey Major, can you spare a few to help me get some chow for you lot?”

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