by Eric Vall
“Okay, but he’s not a pet,” I reminded them firmly. “He’s going to get to work within the hour, so make sure you--”
“One hour?” Cayla groaned. “That’s not enough time to play with him.”
“He’s not for playing with,” I clarified. “He’s a killing machine, and he’s--”
“Let’s ride him around the foothills!” Deya gasped.
The women all giggled in approval, and the dragon quickly flipped back onto his feet as he let out a happy screech.
“Again, only one hour, understood?” I tried, but none of them responded as they began trying to climb onto the dragon’s back.
The sight of them all dangling there and laughing their asses off made it hard to stay firm on the matter, though, so I finally came over and boosted them up onto his back.
Aurora settled in at the front while the others wiggled themselves together in a tight line behind her, and they took hold of each other’s waists as they giggled with excitement.
Then Aurora sent me a wink before she leaned forward to get a firm grip on the dragon’s spine, and she made a light kissy sound. This was all it took for the dragon to take off for her, and the women all screeched as they clung to each other and sent me wide-eyed looks from above.
I just chuckled and waved, and Aurora had a devilish grin on her face as she kicked the dragon’s side to send him soaring above the treetops once more.
I could hear the women’s screams turning into laughter as they disappeared from view, and the mages ran back down the lane while they tried to get another glimpse at the giant metal beast.
Dragir nudged my arm. “They are not going to be back in one hour.”
“I know,” I sighed.
“So, I still get to ride him before he leaves,” the elf added. “These women did nothing to create him. I made him fly. I have earned this, yes?”
“If you finish the damn pistols,” I said with a pointed look.
“Yes, yes, the pistols,” he muttered. “Then I fly the dragon for just as long as the women do.”
The elf headed for the mansion before I could respond, and I followed after while I tried not to feel too jealous of my women right now.
I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me tonight, and if I got sidetracked now, we’d never get out of town by morning. Still, the sight of my women all straddling each other’s asses was hard to get out of my mind, and I really wanted to ride my new metal dragon with their asses between my legs, too.
Knowing I would have years to enjoy my new creation if I decimated the Master was some consolation at least. Hell, I could take my kids along and give them the grand tour of the realm, and this thought had me grinning again as I summoned some steel and copper from the shop.
Then I brought it to the training hall so my magery wouldn’t stall Dragir’s progress with the runes, and I set up shop on the floor before I set to work on making magazines.
I worked nonstop for way longer than an hour as I formed magazines and filled them with copper bullets, and I had nearly a thousand ready to be engraved by the time I heard my women’s voices nearing the village again.
Dragir came running down the hall a split second later, and he popped his head around the entrance.
“I am flying the dragon next,” the elf informed me, and he was gone before I could blink.
“Wait, are the pistols done?” I called.
“No!” Dragir replied before the door of the mansion shut behind him.
“Godsdamnit,” I muttered. “King of rune magic my ass.”
My legs were aching as I got to my feet and stretched, and I began forming metal crates for transporting the magazines while I listened to Dragir attempting to get the women off the dragon so he could have his turn.
When the women finally headed for the house, I was already transferring the loaded crates to my shop so I could engrave them all, but I waited to start with my back against the worktable since I knew my women would come straight for me.
Sure enough, they arrived a minute later with windswept hair and huge grins, and I could hardly understand them while they all raved at once about the metal dragon. I grinned and nodded along anyways as they gestured wildly and giggled through most of it, and in general, the conversation seemed to keep circling back to how amazing I was for building it.
So, that was alright.
Eventually, Aurora was glued to my side as she murmured words I couldn’t make out with everyone else talking, and I admired her plush lips and emerald eyes as I kept on nodding along. Then the women headed for the dining hall, and they kept up their conversation all the way across the mansion as quiet settled around me once more.
“Okay,” I chuckled, and I dropped onto my stool as I pulled my engraving tool over.
I worked nonstop on engraving the magazines until the women finished their dinner, and I only took a long enough break for them to come back in and insist I go to bed. Then I spent about ten minutes explaining why I needed to stay up and get the magazines done for the sake of our army, and once they’d all had their fun trying to lure me away with sensual promises, I doused my head in the fountain and forced myself to focus on my work again.
The last thing I wanted was for our troops to be delayed over my libido, so I decided I’d work until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.
Alfred made regular trips to the atrium with fresh ale for me as the hours wore on, and I couldn’t tell how long I stayed hunched over my shop table as everything began to blur together. All of Falmount was silent by the time I finished forming another four thousand magazines, though, and I got about a third of them engraved with lightning runes before I finally passed out on a pile of steel.
I woke up to the sound of Dragir snoring nearby as Alfred placed a steaming bowl of water beside me, and I groaned before I raised my head off the lumps of steel digging into my cheek.
“I thought a nice hot towel might be needed, sir,” Alfred said as he left a crisp white rag beside the steaming bowl.
“Thanks, Alfred,” I yawned. “You’re the best.”
My neck was stiff, and my back ached from sleeping in this position, and I scanned the shop while I tried to get my neck to move properly.
Dragir was sleeping on the floor with his head propped on Ruela’s belly, and I grinned when I saw a large pile of pistols on either side of him. It looked like the elf stayed up working once he got back from his joy ride on the dragon, and I was just wondering where he’d left my new machine when I heard a metallic snort above me.
I jolted when I looked up and found a pair of glowing amber eyes, and my metal dragon cocked his head to the side while I sensed how happy he was to see me awake.
He was perched on the mansion roof so he could look down into my shop, and his serrated claws clung to the upper edge of the walls as he let out a soft screech in greeting.
“Hey, buddy,” I chuckled. “Have fun last night?”
This time, the dragon screeched loud enough to wake up Dragir, and the elf’s hand went straight to the hilt of his sword as he sat up.
Then he saw the dragon, though, and a sleepy grin came to his face.
“Ahh, you missed me this much?” the elf sighed. “Well, you know what they say. Those who kill together … ”
I whipped around. “Did you say kill?”
Chapter 7
“It is nothing to concern yourself with,” Dragir said as he stretched out like a happy starfish on the floor. “I very much enjoyed this new invention of yours, though. He is quite vicious without your women around.”
“Okay, if you’ve been murdering people with my machine, then you have to inform me of it!” I exclaimed. “This dragon is obviously of my making, and I can’t have everyone thinking I’m some asshole who builds killing machines to murder innocent people with!”
“Why do you care what these people think of you?” Dragir asked as he furrowed his brow. “You are in charge of all the mages, no? Power protects you.”
“That’s n
ot how this works,” I countered. “I’ve earned this position because the king and his subjects trust me not to abuse that kind of power. They’re counting on me, and after the way things went with the last two heads of the Order, there’s a lot of contention surrounding our mages. It’s important I don’t do anything that might cause them to distrust the state of things! Now, who the hell did you kill last night?”
“No one who will be angry with you,” the elf sighed. “Happy now?”
“No!” I belted, but Dragir just grinned as he sat up.
“You are very tense for a man with so many women,” he pointed out. “You should have slept with them last night. Then you would not be so hostile this morning.”
“I’m not hostile because I didn’t sleep with--forget it,” I growled. “Don’t kill shit with my machines. House rule.”
I dunked my head into the steaming vat of water before the elf could say anything else to piss me off, and I steadily let my breath bubble out under the surface while I worked to calm myself down. I had enough to handle this morning without getting roped into an elven drama, and I just hoped I could trust Dragir’s word when it came to not killing anyone who might recognize my handiwork.
The last thing Illaria needed was another double-dealing head of the Order to worry about.
When I came up for air, I swiped my eyes and found Dragir cross legged with a silver tray in front of him, and the elf was sharing scraps of his meal with Ruela.
“Do I get to keep the helping man when you leave?” Dragir asked. “He is very convenient. I did not order this food, and yet it was made for me.”
“Did you finish all the pistols?” I sighed as I dried my face off.
“I did,” the elf replied. “Three-hundred and twenty pistols fully engraved and made exclusively for your army. You are welcome.”
“Thank you,” I chuckled. “I still need to finish engraving the magazines, but--”
“I can do this, too,” Dragir interrupted. “How many are left?”
“About three-thousand five-hundred,” I said.
Dragir stopped chewing his breakfast for a split second. “I can still do this, but it will take me a few days with the lightning involved.”
“That would be so helpful,” I admitted. “Then I can focus on handling the troops, and you could get the new magazines sent out in batches as you finish them. Be extra careful with the lightning rune, though. Every line has to be exact, or the mages will end up electrocuting themselves in battle. I’ve already made that mistake.”
Dragir nodded in agreement, and I was stretching the knots out of my back when Alfred returned with a few slips of parchment in hand.
“Your women are packing their things for your trip, sir, and Lady Aurora has asked that I give you the list of outposts,” Alfred announced.
I grazed over the town names, but it wasn’t long before my stomach dropped.
“This is a problem,” I mumbled. “Aurora, can you get down here?”
I waited a couple minutes as I heard the half-elf hop up from the bed and make her way downstairs, and when she entered the shop, I held the list of outposts aloft.
“Hello, handsome,” Aurora purred, and I grinned at the new greeting she was trying out until I realized she wasn’t looking at me.
The metal dragon above us let out a metallic screech as the half-elf blew him a kiss, and he was so happy to see her, he tried to claw his way into the atrium.
I hollered for him to ease up while shards of stone came crumbling loose, and Aurora giggled as she coyly shook her head to the dragon.
“You look so nice up there,” she admired. “Like a big, beautiful guardian protecting us all from the evil people. Such a good boy!”
I sighed as the dragon preened his metal chest a bit at her words, and I waved the parchment to get Aurora’s attention.
“Slightly more important than the dragon,” I informed the half-elf. “The train tracks don’t go anywhere near most of these places. We only built the one trade route, which means this is going to take a lot longer than we expected.”
“I know,” Aurora sighed. “I just realized this morning.”
“Pardon me, sir,” Alfred interrupted, “but I believe I can be of some help if I might see your parchments for a moment.”
“That would be great,” I said as I handed him the paper.
The butler shuffled to the last page which was a well-worn map of Illaria, and the edges of the paper were badly frayed while several of the town names had been added by hand over the years. The outposts were marked with red flags all over the place, and Alfred took a pair of half-moon spectacles from his breast pocket before he studied the faded map for a moment.
Then the old guy politely gestured for my pen, and I watched as he carefully drew a series of winding lines all over the map. When he finished, he slid the parchment over to me, removed his spectacles, and placed the pen down.
“This is the rail system currently operating within Illaria,” Alfred told me.
“The … what?” I asked and blinked in bewilderment.
“Your railway has been expanding for months to accommodate a larger populace,” the butler explained, “and it might interest you to know the work has provided ample employment to several of the lower castes within the kingdom. My cousin Bertus has secured a respectable plot of land for himself thanks to his improved circumstances. He was recently made supervisor of the workers in his part of the region.”
“Are you serious?” I asked with a grin. “This is a shit ton of track to lay!”
“Yes, I am told the hours are rather long, but that the work is rewarding,” the butler replied. “Bertus coordinated his crew so well, they can lay fifteen miles of track in a single day. He’s quite proud.”
Alfred straightened his vest and blazer in a way that showed he was quite proud as well, and I was right there with him.
“Damn!” I chuckled as I examined the map. “I’ve gotta see this. There has to be at least eight new routes through Illaria since the last time I travelled south. How did you memorize all of them?”
“King Balmier wished to take a tour around Illaria in order to learn more about this train invention of yours,” Alfred said with a small wave of his hand. “Naturally, I took it upon myself to learn the various routes in case it was of use to him in his travels.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s impressive.”
“Was it of any use?” Aurora asked.
“Not at all, my lady,” the butler admitted. “However, it appears to be of use to you all, so I do not regret the effort.”
“You’re a class act, Alfred,” I sighed. “I’m glad you think of everything. This clears up a lot. It looks like there’s only about five posts without a station nearby, but I can come up with a system once I study the map a bit and work it out so the troops leave on their horses at a convenient distance.”
“Allow me, sir,” Alfred offered.
I grinned as I handed the slips of parchment back to him, and once he had my pen in hand, he promptly dismissed himself to see the work done.
“Wait!” Aurora said before he could disappear. “Have you seen my flail?”
“Yes, Lady Aurora,” the butler replied. “I am in the process of cleaning the blood away after its use during the battle yesterday.”
“No, do not take the flail with you,” Dragir cut in as he turned to Aurora. “I like the flail.”
“It’s not yours to keep,” I chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I’m not talking about the double-ended one, that’s Mason’s flail,” Aurora assured the elf. “I’m looking for the one Nulena got me with the two striker heads.”
“Oh, that flail,” Alfred said with a nod. “I put it in the kitchen cabinet near the bread box. Lady Ruela was determined to chew it, so I thought it best to keep it out of her reach for the time being.”
“Thank you, Alfred,” Aurora sang, and she pranced toward the kitchen with the butler close behind.
“You have
a double striker flail, too?” Dragir asked, and his serpentine eyes glinted with eagerness.
“It’s not mine,” I replied. “Take it up with Aurora if you want to use her flail.”
“He can’t!” Aurora hollered down the hall.
“There you go,” I chuckled as my other three women came in.
They all sent flirty waves to the dragon when they entered, and the moment they did, I sensed his mood skyrocketing. It felt identical to my own excitement whenever I got home after more than an hour away from my women, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the metal dragon dove straight into the shop over it.
Luckily, he didn’t.
“You never came to bed,” Shoshanne pouted. “I wanted to snuggle.”
The healer came over to perch herself in my lap, but I didn’t bother responding since she was more interested in kissing me than hearing any excuses.
“Mason, I can’t decide how many daggers to bring,” Deya sighed. “Do you think I need more than ten?”
I smirked against Shoshanne’s lips. “Bring as many daggers as you want.”
“Okay!” the beautiful elf replied, and she began pulling daggers from my rack while Cayla made a few recommendations.
Then Dragir rose to his feet like he was ready to deliver a lengthy proclamation.
“Deya, I do not believe you should be joining Mason on this trip in your condition,” the silver-haired elf announced. “Firstly, the dangers regarding this pregnancy are too convoluted to risk exposing you to--”
“No,” Deya cut her brother off, and she left with her arms loaded with daggers.
Dragir ground his jaw and turned to me. “Stop kissing.”
I reluctantly looked over, but Shoshanne giggled as she resigned herself to nibbling on my ear instead.
“Surely, you understand that Deya must be well protected at all times,” Dragir began. “You will have many duties to attend to with regards to your troops, and travelling across the region leaves your defenses down. If Deya stays here, Ruela and I can ensure she is safe for you. Your machines are here as well.”
