by Jan Stryvant
"I guess that's a good start," Sean said slowly. "What about the armor?"
Maitland and Sjon looked at each other, and Sean could tell they weren't exactly happy.
"If we can do a hundred sets of armor a week, I'll be happy," Sjon finally admitted.
'Dad?' Sean prompted.
'It'll have to do. Ask him how many breastplates they could make a week.'
"How many breastplates could you make a week?" Sean repeated.
Sjon and Maitland looked at each other again.
"There's thirty pieces in each set," Maitland said in a soft voice.
"And we wouldn't have to do those hinges, that takes a few days," Sjon said with a nod.
"Or the gauntlets," Maitland pointed out.
"And all that damn enchanting you've been knocking yourself out with," Sjon agreed.
"So, thirty?"
"More like forty-three, give or take a couple," Sjon replied.
Maitland turned back to Sean. "We could make about forty to forty-five breastplates for each set of armor we don't have to make."
"So, four thousand to forty-five hundred breastplates a week."
'Halve the number of armor sets,' the First told him.
'You sure?'
'Not everyone is going to need full armor. Officers and shock troops. The regulars won't.'
'I'm not even going to bug you for details,' Sean told him.
"Fifty sets of armor, then however many breastplates you can make a week instead of the other fifty," Sean said to the two of them.
"I think we can handle that," Sjon said with a nod. "Right, Maitland?"
Maitland smiled. "From what I've seen of your team here, Sjon, I think you'll handle it easily. Let's just hope the masters from the other Halls can keep up!"
Sjon laughed and nodded, then called out, "Trendan!"
"Coming!" Trendan yelled back, then came out with what looked like a bag for carrying golf clubs and set it down on the floor in front of Sean.
"What's that?" Sean asked.
"The proofing runs," Maitland told him. "There's eight swords in there. No armor yet, though."
"Come back Tuesday and we can outfit ten of ya'," Sjon said with a nod. "Once the armor's done, fitting it is fairly simple, 'cause of the magic involved. I guess we'll have to train a group to do that so we can just deliver it to ya', instead of having every one of ya' trooping down here."
Sean nodded and smiled. "Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. What's this gonna cost me?"
"Nothing," Sjon said.
Sean blinked and sat up a bit straighter, then looked closely at the dwarf master smith.
"What?" Sean asked in a shocked tone.
"I said it ain't gonna cost you anything."
"How can that be? We're talking thousands of man-hours of work here, and I don't even want to think of the cost of the materials involved!"
Sjon shrugged. "Lions get weapons and armor for free. Them's the rules."
"Half a million weapons?" Sean said, looking at Maitland, who nodded, and then Daelyn, who just shrugged.
"Yup, them's the rules," Sjon agreed.
'Dad! Are you holding out on me?'
'Yes, and those are the rules. I was there when they were made. Besides, you need that money to buy Chad his helicopters. Might want to buy a few more for Claudia once you've got that handled, come to think about it.'
Sean stood up on all fours and, ducking his head down in a bow, he swept his right front paw up to place it on his heart. "I swear to you all, I will never forget this. Law or not, I will be indebted to you always."
Sjon grinned. "And that's why we do it. Can't ask for more in life than to have a lion owing ya' a favor. Now, off with ya'; your Uncle and I, we got a lot more training to do."
Sean nodded and, picking up the bag by the handles using his mouth, he carefully walked out of the room with the girls following him.
"Am I the only one with a curious sense of foreboding about all this?" Peg asked.
"You're just getting a sense of foreboding now? After all we been through?" Daelyn asked with a laugh, and Sean heard the sound of Peg's hand smacking Daelyn on the ass.
"Wiseass."
"Didn't you say that the First won't tell you what this is all about because he doesn't want you to worry about anything else until you're done freeing the lycans?" Roxy asked Sean, who nodded, his mouth too full to talk.
"Well, he's got my phone number. There's no reason why he can't call me and give me the rundown," she growled.
'Dad, you might want to have someone call her.'
'I think you might be right, Son,' the First replied with a laugh. 'You just might be right.'
When they got back to the car, Sean shifted back and put the bag of swords in the small trunk of Daelyn's 'Cuda.
"Now what?" Roxy asked.
"Now I think we need to go pay Steve and Terri a visit."
"It's after nine, Sean," Roxy warned him.
"Yeah, so he'll be tired and almost defenseless," Sean chuckled, "and if we're really lucky, Terri will already be in bed."
Shaken, Not Stirred
"Sean!" Steve said, answering the door. "What brings you by so late?"
"Late? It's not even ten yet," Sean said with a grin. "You're not turning into an old man already on me, are you?"
Steve snorted. "Hardly. Come on in, you too, girls." Steve stepped back from the door and called out loudly, "Terri! Company!"
"Hi!" Terri said, coming into the living room as they all sat down. Apparently she had been getting ready for bed, as she was wearing a robe. "Where's Cali, Roberta, and Jo?"
"We're on our way back from my uncle's," Daelyn said. "A lot of dwarves have issues with dark elves, and as this was a business call and not social, she stayed at home with Rob and Jo."
"Does that mean this is a business call as well?" Steve asked, grabbing Terri and dropping down to sit in his favorite easy chair with her on his lap.
Sean nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I've been meaning to get over here for the last week, but things have just been way too busy."
"So what do you need this time? Advertising? A PR campaign?"
"Roxy's been working with Granite, who's setting up an office in Washington DC I need somebody to run it."
Steve laughed. "You want me to go to Washington? And do what?"
"Represent us. You know I met with the president last week, right?"
Steve nodded. "Of course."
"Well, I need someone to who can meet with him for me when I'm not there. I need someone to lobby senators and congressmen. I need an office there, and I need someone who can handle it."
"Why not Chad?" Terri asked and then looked a little embarrassed as Steve started laughing.
"They'd eat him alive!" Steve said, still laughing.
"Are we talking about the same Chad? Isn't he like some sort of tactical genius?"
Steve nodded. "Politics is very different from war. In war, you just kill your enemies. In politics, you take them out to dinner, contribute to their campaigns, and slip the knife in their back just when they think they're indispensable to you. Chad's way to honest for that kind of thing."
"But what about our wedding?"
"I'm more worried about our honeymoon, and my parents," Steve said, looking thoughtful. "Mom and Dad would have to come back now instead of next month, and well, while we can take time off to get married, I don't know how much time we'd get to spend in Barbados."
"Does this mean you're actually considering it?" Roxy asked.
Terri snorted. "Steve turn down the chance to wreak total havoc on a bunch of unsuspecting politicians?"
"But it's DC," Roxy pointed out, "I'd hardly call them 'unsuspecting'!"
Steve grinned. "Well, the ones here in Carson City at the capitol sure haven't been much of a challenge lately. This'll give me a chance to up my game. But..."
"What?" Sean asked.
"Mom and Dad will definitely not be happy. I can't just walk away from the shop; I'd h
ave to get them back here."
"Where are they now? They can't be that far, the wedding is on the eighteenth of August."
"They're in Chile. I think they're going to set sail for Peru tomorrow, then spend the rest of the month sailing up the west coast until they get to San Diego."
"Where in Chile?"
"Valparaiso. They moored the boat there for a couple of weeks and went inland to see Santiago."
"How long have they been sailing around the world?" Peg asked.
"Umm," Steve paused a moment, "three years now?"
"They left almost four months after you graduated high school," Terri said, "so two years, ten months."
Steve nodded. "Sounds about right. So, Sean, when do you want me in Washington?"
"The sooner the better, honestly," Sean told him. "I need to start the Canadian campaign here soon, so I'm not sure how much help I can give you."
"I'll need an introduction to the president," Steve said, thinking, "and again, I don't think I can leave the shop unattended for more than a day."
"It's really important, Steve, we're talking Washington, the president, Congress, all of that."
"Yeah, well, it's my family's business, and how long do you think it'll be before someone from DC tries to mess with it? I can't just leave it, Sean."
'I'll have somebody meet his parents after breakfast; we can have them on a flight back here by noon.'
'You can do that?' Sean asked, surprised.
'Obviously,' the First sent with a mental snort.
'How will you even find them?'
'How many Americans named Bryson do you think there are in Valparaiso? My Granddaughter Jasmin is already waiting at the hotel.'
'Well, don't scare them, obviously!' Sean warned.
'She'll ask them to call home; Steve can break the news to them.'
Sean nodded a bit and then looked back at Steve, who had noticed that Sean appeared to be thinking about something.
"Okay, I'll have someone waiting at your parent's hotel. They'll ask your parents to call you in the morning. I'll see if we can't have tickets and all that ready by then as well."
"Just like that?" Steve asked, looking impressed.
Sean nodded. "I know there are lions in Chile, and honestly? How many Brysons are there staying at a hotel in that town?"
Steve shook his head, then laughed. "I can just imagine the phone conversation I'm going to be having tomorrow. 'Mom, Dad, since you've been gone, Sean became rich and powerful, and wants me to go to Washington to lobby for him. What? No, I haven't been raiding your liquor cabinet, and I've told you, Terri's parents don't do drugs.'"
"Tell them Sean's got a wife," Terri snickered, "that'll get them back here in record time!"
Steve laughed. "Then they'd know I was just making shit up!"
Sean sighed and was about to say something, when his phone rang with a distinctive tone.
Pulling out his phone, Sean answered it, "Yes, John?"
"Something bad is happening up around Pyramid Lake. You need to get up there, now."
"What do you mean by 'something bad'?" Sean asked, standing up.
"I don't know, my cousin Kweeda just called me. There's a bunch of kids who went up to Monument Rock to camp out for the night, and something evil has spawned out of some sort of gate nearby. If you don't get up there now, it's going to kill them."
"Monument Rock? That's like forty minutes from here!" Sean protested.
"Then you better get going!"
"I can get us there in less than twenty," Daelyn said, jumping to her feet.
"Shit, we gotta go! Later, Steve!" Sean ran out the door, following Daelyn as they all quickly piled in the 'Cuda, and with a loud roar they raced off down the street.
"Can you really get us there in twenty minutes?" Sean asked.
"Just watch me, Lion-boy!" Daelyn laughed, and Sean noticed that the speedometer had already gone past a hundred on the dashboard, and was still climbing.
"Do you think we should put on our seatbelts?" Peg asked nervously when they started to get slung from side to side in the car as Daelyn started weaving in and out of traffic.
"Why bother!" Roxy laughed. "At these speeds, they'll just cut you in two!"
Peg gulped. "Umm, I think I'm gonna curl up in a ball and just close my eyes until this is over."
Sean shook his head and just tried to do his best to hold on. Roxy was laughing and almost bouncing in her seat, and Daelyn had a look of extreme concentration on her face, with one hand on the wheel and the other on the stick shift. As far as Sean could tell, she had the gas pedal down to the floor and from the way the engine was screaming, it was obviously giving Daelyn every last ounce of horsepower it had.
They had left the city now, flying down Pyramid Way at speeds Sean knew the road wasn't built to take, but it was mostly straight, and this late on Friday night it was remarkably empty.
But several times Daelyn had passed cars on the right instead of the left, running the car down the soft shoulder, and Sean really had no idea how she'd managed to keep it under control. After they went through Spanish Springs, Daelyn flipped a switch and pulled a lever, which obviously did something to the motor, as it not only got louder, but suddenly they were going a whole lot faster than before.
Roxy had stopped laughing, but the wide-eyed look on her face wasn't one of fear; Sean was starting to wonder if his speed-crazy cheetah wife had just reached her personal nirvana.
Meanwhile, Daelyn was muttering under her breath to the car.
"Come on baby, you can do it! This is what you were built for! Faster! Faster! Go baby, go!"
Sean noticed that the speedometer was now past a hundred and sixty and was still struggling higher, the ride actually rather smooth at this point; they were seemingly glued to the road. Daelyn slowed them down slightly as the gradual left turn to head north towards Sutcliffe became more of a sweeper due to the speed they were taking it at, but she still blasted through the small town at over a hundred miles an hour, then floored it as soon as they got out of the city limits.
Less than a minute later they came to a sliding halt and, throwing open the doors, they all piled out.
"Damn, all I have is my pistol," Sean realized, as he patted himself down.
"What about all those swords in the trunk?" Peg asked.
"Dae!" Sean said.
"Way ahead of ya!" Daelyn said and, running around to the back, she popped open the trunk and pulled out the bag, tossing it over the car to Sean, who caught it easily. Unzipping it, Sean started pulling out the swords and laying them on the ground. The hood was way too hot on the now idling car, and Daelyn would probably kill him if he scratched the paint.
"Who else knows how to use one of these?" Sean asked, grabbing the biggest of the two-handed swords as he shifted into his hybrid form.
"I do," Roxy said, and Sean passed one of the swords to her as she shifted into her hybrid form.
"You do?" Peg asked, looking at her.
"What do you think Cali's been teaching me for the last week?" Roxy asked with a smirk as she took the sword and twirled it around a few times to get the weight and balance of it.
"Damn, and here I was feeling all jealous that you were getting some extra lovin'!" Peg snickered.
"I take it you don't know how to use one?" Sean asked, looking up at Peg, who had shifted into her hybrid form.
"Nope. Besides, I'm the only magic user here, other than you of course. Might be better for me to use that instead."
"Dae?"
"I'll stick to Maxwell."
"You sure?"
"Yup. Since I've upgraded it, I suspect the demons aren't going to be big fans of it."
Sean nodded and took a second sword, just in case, and stuck it down the back of his shirt.
"Come on, let's go," Sean said and started running off towards one of the rock mounds down by the beach. He'd been up here a few times over the years, and while he'd never camped here because he always had to go to work, he
knew where most of the kids liked to set up their tents. Leading the others, he heard a scream coming from one of the rock formations. Turning, he changed course and picked up speed.
"Help! Help us!" a girl's voice carried down from the rocks.
"Where are they?" Sean yelled back.
"They're over here! Come quick! Save us!"
Sean came charging around the rocks, and there was a girl alright, but she was already quite dead. Standing over the body was a small black humanoid creature. It was complete nude, its body covered in black diamond-shaped scales. It features looked almost like what you'd see carved into a Halloween pumpkin.
"Oh! Please! Save meeeee!" it yelled in the same voice that had brought them running.
'Minion,' the First said in his head, 'Kill it before it runs away!'
Sean leapt at it, and laughing, it charged him. Either it hadn't seen the sword, or it didn't know what it could do, because Sean brought the sword around in a one-handed swing and cleaved it two, just below the shoulders. It screamed as the sword started to cut it in half, but as soon as Sean's sword cut through the first lung, it went silent. The two halves of the body fell to the ground and started to smoke and bubble as it dissolved into some sort of tar-like goo.
"Sean!" Roxy yelled and, turning, Sean saw that she was fighting with another one of the small creatures. This one was darting and dodging quickly, trying to get past Roxy's guard, and she was having to rely more on her fast foot work than her sword play to dodge its attacks.
Sean started to charge it, when Daelyn's hammer went flying past his head and he heard a loud snarl as it smacked into something meaty. Spinning on his heel, Sean saw it then; it was tall, taller than he was. The skin was black as ink, and there appeared to be something crawling all over the demon's skin. Its eyes were red, and there were short horns, two on either side of the head, that came up out of the forehead, and it had large fangs that slipped down past the lower lip, dripping something.
"Shit!" Sean swore loudly, realizing it was a raseri djevel!
Just like the other one he'd fought in Oregon, the demon was nude and had large, pendulous breasts, as well as rather large penis that swung between its legs, though he didn't see any sign of a scrotum. The arms were longer than a man of the same size would have, coming down to the knees, and the hands had long, wicked-looking fingers with claws at the ends, while it walked on cloven hooves.
