Chapter 69

  Drakko’s demise sent Batulan-bar into celebratory chaos. Some elves danced in the street and talked in vivid detail about what it had looked like to see the dragon fall; how it had felt when his body hit the ground. Other elves talked in hushed tones about what Drakko’s death might mean and how they could prepare for what came next.

  A few sympathetic beastkin joined in, but many of them looked listless and confused. Unlike the elves, they had not been so heavily oppressed and didn’t know if the death of a dragon was a good thing. When would a new, more dangerous army show up? How long until a bigger dragon descended upon the city?

  Of course, both elves and beastkin had lost homes and were angry. Given what the city had just been through, a remarkable few had lost loved ones, but there were still a handful of those in the beginning stages of mourning. Dalex heard the cries. He saw their tears.

  As Dalex and Hitasa trotted through the city toward the place Hitasa had seen Lodge Mother Sarnai fall, they paused along the way to help those in need. Dalex healed injuries, extracted buried people from rubble, and pinpointed the locations of missing loved ones. Hitasa lent a hand with some of the healing and heavy lifting as well, but mostly she calmed nerves and explained the situation to anyone who looked lost and confused. She directed people to the [sustenance distribution centers]—Dalex hadn’t personalized a name for that one and wasn’t in the mood at the moment—and told those who had lost homes that help was coming.

  At this point, everyone in the city knew who Hitasa was. Either they had seen her in the square, handing out spells, or they had heard of her from others. She was suddenly the most famous person in Batulan-bar.

  After an hour of poking through the city, searching for Sarnai and being distracted by the needs of others, Dalex stood in the ruins of someone’s home and stared at its partially intact chimney. Hitasa talked to the former occupants, a family of four beastkin. Thankfully, all of them had been out of the house when the fighting started, otherwise they would have been killed when an orc had rampaged through the building while fighting one of the mutt hunters.

  Here, at the center of someone’s devastated life, Dalex suddenly felt that he had made a mistake.

  “All of the metal boxes you’ve seen have fresh water and good food,” Hitasa was saying to the family’s mother. “There’s no requirement to use one of the boxes, and you don’t have to pay for anything you take away. When the resistance has a solution for shelter, we will make an announcement the entire city can hear.”

  “But it’s all gone,” the father said, his face gray and his deer ears wilted. “We have nothing.” His voice broke. “My grandfather’s festival robe. He would never forgive me.”

  “He would know it’s not your fault, love,” his wife said. “We are alive. The children are safe. We won’t go hungry. Come on, let’s go see one of these strange boxes Dalex sent us. Maybe a full stomach will help us feel better.”

  She nodded to Dalex and then led her husband and children away from the wreckage of their home toward the nearest [distribution center]. Hitasa shouted after them, giving them instructions on how to find her if they needed anything. Once she was done, she took a few steps up the mostly intact street toward Sarnai’s last known location, when she noticed Dalex still standing still in the rubble. He felt her eyes on him, but he didn’t want to look at her.

  She took a breath, about to ask him what he was doing, when a familiar voice interrupted her.

  “What are you two doing here?” Staja asked. “I thought you would be in the square.”

  Dalex finally looked away from the house’s chimney to see the young elf and Oyuun limping down the street toward them. Staja was supporting Oyuun’s weight with his shoulder. Her leg was mangled below the knee. The arm she had wrapped around Staja’s neck ended in a bloody bandage over her right hand. Blood dripped from the sodden cloth, speckling Staja’s shirt and leaving a spotty trail in their wake.

  But while the elf looked worried for his friend, the damekin wore a triumphant grin.

  “There she is!” Oyuun shouted, and Hitasa cringed as if she was expecting to be attacked. The pair of mutt hunters stopped in front of her and Oyuun went on, “If it isn’t the she-elf of the hour! You should have seen us out there. The spells you gave us made absolute mincemeat of those orcs.”

  Hitasa fretted over the injured damekin. “Are you okay? This looks really serious.”

  “Oh this?” Oyuun said, waving her bloody hand around and sprinkling the surrounding area—including Staja—with crimson droplets. “Lost a few fingers, that’s all. And the leg?” She looked down at the twisted appendage. “Well, I think a good bone healer can set that. Small price to pay for—”

  She stopped talking as Dalex finished working his way out of the rubble to cast {full heal} on her. Oyuun let out a yelp when the {astral mortar} encased both her leg and hand, but the yelp became a relaxed gasp as the gray goop released a painkiller.

  “Ohhh,” she moaned. “Oh, that’s nice.”

  When the {astral mortar} returned to Dalex’s armor, the bandage on Oyuun’s hand fell away to reveal a perfectly normal hand with all five fingers where they were supposed to be. Her pantleg was still a ragged bloody mess, but her leg was straight and clean. Oyuun let go of Staja’s shoulder and put her weight on the leg. Her eyes went wide as she was able to stand unassisted. She looked at Dalex and opened her mouth, but she closed it again, as curiosity replaced surprise.

  “What about you, Staja?” Dalex asked, keeping his voice serious. “Do you have any injuries that need healing?”

  The elf shook his head. “No, I was lucky. Save your mana for others.”

  Dalex did not correct him on his assumption that Dalex was using magic. Now that both hunters were healthy and whole, Hitasa invited them to join in the search for Sarnai. Given that no one had seen the Lodge Mother yet, Hitasa was starting to get visibly worried. After taking a direct hit from a dragon, the chances were good she was not well.

  Now with Oyuun and Staja, they set off for the remains of the mutt hunters’ lodge, stopping to help those who were gravely wounded or in dire need of assistance. Along the way, they came across Metsa and Dava. The elder elf and beastkin were battling a lone orc straggler. The orc’s axe had been shattered. All three combatants had exhausted their mana and were each on the verge of collapsing as they struggled in hand-to-hand combat.

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  Dalex pointed a finger at the orc and cast a single {sunburst} beam, shooting him through the head. His face became a smoking hole and he keeled over. Metsa and Dava, unable to hold themselves up any longer, immediately fell to their knees panting. Oyuun and Staja cleared the area to make sure no other orcs were lingering nearby while Dalex and Hitasa saw to the two old-timers. Neither of them had life-threatening injuries, but Dalex healed a few cuts and sprains and cast {lesser rejuvenation} on both of them to help them get moving again.

  Once Metsa was on her feet, she gave Hitasa a look Dalex didn’t understand. Hitasa returned a raised eyebrow, at which point Metsa sighed and leaned back, stretching out her spine.

  “I think I’m a wise enough elf to admit when I’ve been outmaneuvered.” She straightened. “I still think we should use your family name for recruitment, but I see your drive. I recognize your talents. I won’t tell you how you should fight.”

  “Thank you,” Hitasa said. “I look forward to growing this revolution alongside you.”

  Metsa looked toward the dead dragon. No matter where they went in the city, Drakko’s corpse was still visible.

  “After today,” Metsa said. “I don’t think growth will be a problem. I don’t know the last time a dragon died. Before my time, for sure. And it was a human of all people who killed him. People will want to know what happened here. Everyone who hates the dragons will want a chance to join the hunt.”

  “We can discuss that later,” Dalex said. “Hitasa and I were trying to find Lodge Mother Sarnai. Have you seen her?”

  Metsa shook her head. “Not since Drakko knocked her out of the sky. We’ll help you look.”

  The search and rescue party grew to six. They moved closer to the dragon and the ruins of the hunters’ lodge. They came across fewer people in need of help. Those who had lived in the northern part of the city had either fled early or been consumed in Drakko’s fire.

  When they finally found Sarnai, she was not dead or even gravely wounded. They suddenly came across her standing just in front of the dead dragon’s closed mouth. Her scalp was red with blood from a superficial head wound, and she was favoring her right wrist, but she was otherwise in good health. Her ears perked up when she heard Dalex, Hitasa, and the other hunters approaching, but she did not turn away from Drakko.

  “Did Yesui tell you where to find me?” she asked.

  Dava answered. “We haven’t seen her. Where is she?”

  “She found me shortly after Drakko’s fall. She was smug for some reason I couldn’t understand. But she left to help settle the city.”

  “Are you well, Lodge Mother?” Dava asked. “That was a mighty blow you received.”

  “Yes, it was. I suppose everyone saw it. I always wondered how I would fare against a dragon. Now I know.” She finally turned around. Her eyes wandered across the group and then settled on Dalex. “What was it that you used? What weapon so easily defeated a healthy dragon?”

  “I call it {Newton’s hammer},” Dalex said sheepishly. “It—” He paused. “Well, it’s basically a very heavy metal rod dropped from very high up.” He examined the top of Drakko’s head and spotted a little black hole where the rod had pierced the dragon’s scales and broken through its skull. “Very high up.”

  “I think it’s safe to say this city owes you a debt,” Sarnai said.

  Dalex stiffened. “I’m not sure about that.”

  “I am,” Sarnai insisted.

  “I’m the one that brought that thing here,” Dalex said, pointing at Drakko. “I turned this city upside down, and as a result, a dragon burned most of it to the ground. I didn’t even think about it. I just did it. And now how many people are dead?”

  Sarnai didn’t say anything. She only frowned at him. Dalex couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but he imagined she was starting to understand his concerns.

  Dalex turned around and scanned over the wreckage of the city. “I should have been smarter. I should have thought this through more.”

  “Dalex!” Hitasa said, her voice sharp enough to make him jump. She had her hands on her hips and she was giving him a stern look. “What did you do to bring Drakko here?”

  “Well, I—”

  “You saved my life,” Hitasa cut him off. “That’s what you did. That’s all you did. Castreier and Drakko took it from there. Don’t blame yourself for their bad deeds.” She took a deep breath. “If you had wasted time thinking about it, Castreier would have killed me like he did my brother. Sure, Drakko wouldn’t have come to Batulan-bar, but it would have remained the jewel in his eye and a paradise for slavers and evil men.”

  “But I antagonized Drakko,” Dalex said. “I dismantled his human pawns and thumbed my nose at him.”

  “Good,” Metsa said. “It needed to be done.”

  “But—”

  Dalex was interrupted again, this time by Oyuun wrapping an arm over his shoulder and forcing him to slouch. “That’s enough there, Mr. Expedition. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you cry over fresh milk. A guy who just killed a dragon shouldn’t be so worried about how he did it.”

  That sounded like a dangerous line of thinking to Dalex, given the carnage around him, but he decided he wouldn’t argue with her.

  “I admire your concern for this city,” Sarnai spoke up, not as upset as Dalex had thought. “But it was more ready for this day than you realize.”

  “That’s right,” Oyuun said. “No one likes the dragons. Not even the humans. But what are you going to do? They’re dragons!”

  “And you killed one,” Staja said, his voice excited. “You proved it can be done. You have no idea how many people have been waiting to see this moment. Yes, Batulan-bar has seen a dark day, but most people in the city are already seeing a brighter tomorrow.”

  Hitasa broke in again, “And the longer we stand here moping over the rubble, the longer it will take to rebuild. I’ve been telling people all day that the resistance is going to give them shelter and make the city whole again.” She pointed at Dalex. “I know you are more than just a slayer of dragons. You have the power to rebuild this city. Are you going to make a liar out of me, or are you going to get to work?”

  Dalex let himself smile. “I wouldn’t want to make you look bad.”

  Hitasa gave him a satisfied nod. “Very well then, let’s get started.”

  Oyuun let go of Dalex and grabbed Staja. Together, the two led the way back toward the cuty center. Metsa and Dava gathered around Hitasa and talked as they followed after Oyuun and Staja. Dalex heard Metsa say the word “Ulenbeter,” so, from the sounds of it, they were already planning the resistance’s next move. Dalex kept his smile as he watched them.

  Yes, it wasn’t all bad.

  Sarnai gave him smack on the back, straightening his posture and pushing him after the others.

  “Momentum, my boy,” she said. “On to the next battle.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Dalex said.

  They walked together behind everyone else. Sarnai gave him a curious look.

  “I am to understand you were late to the battle because you were dealing with a mutt problem. Is that in hand?”

  Dalex nodded. “It is. For now. Mutt hunting might be a boring job for the next few months.”

  “How many were there?” Sarnai asked.

  Dalex asked his armor’s system to bring up the {scrying tablet} where that information had last been recorded.

  “Over the last few days, I killed just over four-hundred thousand mutts.”

  Sarnai stopped in her tracks. “You mean four thousand?”

  “Nope. I do not.”

  The lodge mother looked off into the distance. “I did not think there were so many in the whole of Gaia Eta.” She refocused on Dalex. “And they were all headed this way?”

  “More or less.”

  “Why? What did they want?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Seventh’s voice appeared in his head. “I believe I can shed some light on that. After calculating the general trajectory of the mutt advance, I have determined their most likely target.”

  “It wasn’t Batulan-bar?” Dalex asked.

  “Negative. It was mere coincidence that Batulan-bar lay in their path. Their target was likely a large deposit of benefine approximately two-hundred miles to the west of the city. I would like to begin extraction of the deposit immediately.”

  “Do you need my help?”

  “Our [drone] fleet has been massively depleted. Your assistance will be essential for the extraction.”

  “Then it’s going to have to wait. We need to stabilize this city and I need a nap. A long one. I think my clone and the Expedition 7 can wait a few minutes for that {adamantine} delivery.”

  Seventh made a grumbling sound, but she did not complain any further. They both knew they had an abundance of time when it came to harvesting the {adamantine}. Just knowing where to find another deposit was a massive victory. Dalex would get to it tomorrow or the next day. After all, they had seventy-five years before his clone was really in trouble.

  End of Book One

  This Machine Slays Dragons! There are still some epilogue chapters showing what's going on with Dalexia right now which I will be posting on Friday, but Dalex will return in Book Two on Monday!

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