Chapter 15
New Company
Several more days passed, and the Mutopians we re now more than halfway through their second week in their new home. Things were progressing well, with repairs, cleaning and sorting slowly being replaced by chores more focused on continued survival, such as farming, fishing and storing of said food for the future.
However, it wasn't easy for everyone.
In the kitchen of the inn, Louie was trying, and failing, to light the fire he needed to cook, constantly striking his fire striker with the flint piece, but the fire just wouldn't take, no matter what he did.
"Come on! Burn already!" he groaned, but to no use. "How am I going to cook lunch if I can't reignite the fire? Ugh… I didn't even have this kind of problem in the military."
As Louie was about to throw in the towel, he heard someone from outside the kitchen.
"Louie? Is everything alright?" a female voice asked, and soon its owner stepped inside the room, that being Freya, who carried a basket with vegetables, making sure to keep her wings tight against her body.
"It's nothing, Freya. Just trying to get ready for lunch."
"Oh, fireplace giving you a hard time, huh? I can help you with that."
Putting down the basket, the geckoling walked up to the fireplace, knelt and held out her hand, from which a short but intense stream fire erupted, quickly lighting the wood on fire.
"There, that should do it." she said with a smile.
"Thank you, dear."
"You know, Louie, you can always ask us for help with this."
"Yes I know, but I don't want to have to bother you all every time I can't light a simple fire. You could be anywhere, and you shouldn't have to adjust your already busy schedules after me."
"How else are we gonna get some good food then?" Freya asked, and the cockroach was about to answer, but stopped when he realised that she did have a valid point.
"I suppose you're right." he sighed, shaking his head. "I just wish that there was a better way, and I'm sure that others will want that too in the near future."
"What do you mean, Louie?"
"From what I've heard, everyone's hard work is starting to pay off. Many houses are fixed up and cleaned, so people are thinking of moving in in them, but what will they do when winter comes? I honestly doubt that the majority of us are any better at lighting fires than I am."
"Gee, I hadn't even thought about that." said Freya, holding her chin and tapping her cheek with her finger. "I have to talk to dad about that, and I'm sure he'll know what to do, 'cause he's super smart!"
"Like the poor guy doesn't have enough to worry about already. Seems to me like he's been working non-stop every since we got here, but this is an issue that we must attend."
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out. But before I leave, I brought you some vegetables, straight from the fields."
"Wonderful, then I have all I need to start cooking." Louie took a closer look at the crops that Freya had brought him, examining every piece and thinking of how to best prepare them. "By the way, have you heard anything about Patch? Ever since that elf showed up, I've barely seen her."
"I haven't seen her much either, and the same goes for grandma. They both leave early in the morning, going into the forest, and don't come back until sunset, but they both seem fine from what I can tell, even if they are really tired. Both dad, aunt Amber and grandpa worry about grandma, but she says that she's fine."
"Guess we'll have to take their word for it then. But now you'll have to excuse me, Freya, I got work to do."
"Sure thing. I'll be back for lunch."
Meanwhile, Tyroth had finally gotten the time to investigate the cave where Rattletrap had run across the dinosaur shortly after they all arrived in the village, and he had brought Donatello with him to help him analyse the area.
"What do you think, Donnie? This place looks man-made to me." Tyroth said as the two walked down the cave, using his mana covered hand as a torch.
"I agree with you." Donatello said, kneeling by the wall and inspecting it. "The walls, floor and ceiling are all too smooth to be fully natural. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if at least part of this cave was formed naturally, and that people later dug it out. Whatever the case, it seems like it was quite some time ago that they actually worked on this tunnel. Let's continue deeper in and see how things look there."
A little while later, they reached the far larger cavern, and with Tyroth's light, they could see far more than Rattletrap had.
"No signs of any nest of the dinosaur. Was probably as new to this area as us." said Tyroth.
"Yeah, but look over here." said Donatello. "I found a pickaxe and some sort of mine cart. Not surprising, since they dug out this part. Neither is very old either, probably left the equipment when they evacuated the village."
"There are also several other tunnels around here. Don't know how deep they go."
"With all this evidence, I'd draw the conclusion that this used to be a mine, rather than just a tunnel, but what they mined I can't say right now. At least not without finding traces of what they mined, and without my normal equipment, it will be tougher to get an accurate answer."
The duo walked down one of the tunnels, and Donatello rand his hand along the wall.
"Looks like there are some streaks of… something here." he said, pointing at a part of the wall that glimmered in the red light. "Probably what they were mining, but I can't tell what it is, not in this red light. Think you can get me a piece to examine?"
"No problem." Tyroth said, and turned the glowing mana around his hand into long claws that he dug into the rock wall, cutting out a small cone-shaped piece that he handed to Donatello.
"I can't wait to get to work on this." he said with the smile that he only gets when he can focus on science and research.
"Hope you find time for it. Personally, it feels like I've done nothing but work all over the place all the time." said Tyroth. "Speaking of which, I need to get back and check in on the farms. Ever since Zaleria started educating Patch and mom, we haven't had anyone dedicated to the task, and I heard that they might have some issues there now."
"Then I won't keep you. Just let us get out of here, and you can go and be the leader we need."
A couple of minutes later, Tyroth arrived at the farm that they were working at, and was met by Moe.
"So what's the issue, Moe?" the dragon asked.
"The issue is that none of us here are very good at farming, man." the mole responded. "Without Patch, I don't think we're getting the radical results we could."
"Well, she isn't available right now, so we just have to do what we can."
"I hear you, man, I hear you, but we're just not used to this kind of heavy work yet, especially not all the watering. Going to the river or the wells, filling the buckets with water, carry it to the fields, empty the buckets. Rinse and repeat."
"Moe's right, boss." said Percy. "Now, I might be spoiled with modern day plumbing, running water and all that, but watering all of this is just too much work."
"I see your point." said Tyroth, thinking for a moment. Tending the field was a lot of work, but it was something that the people that had lived there before managed on a daily basis, however it was no doubt that they were several times more numerous than the Mutopians, so something had to be done. They had to work smarter, not harder.
"Hey, dad! Daddy!" Freya's voice rang through the air, snapping Tyroth out of his thoughts, and shortly after, the geckoling landed next to her father. "I've been looking for you, dad. Louie just told me that we might have a problem with lighting fires in the near future."
A short explanation later, and Tyroth was holding his chin in thought, having even more to think about.
"Some needs water, and others needs fire. Never a dull moment." he muttered. "I'll look into all of this as soon as I'm able, but for now we'll have to keep watering the fields as normal, and the three of us that have fire magic will have to help Louie."
"Sorry if I made things harder for you, daddy." Freya said.
"It's not your fault, sweetheart. We all have a lot of work here regardless, and this needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."
"You're probably gonna hate me for this…" Percy began. "But I think we got something else to deal with right now."
The grasshopper pointed to the road that lead to the village, and on it were several riders on horseback, all heading straight for the village at great speed.
"More people? Whose telling everyone where we are? What do you think they want, man?" Moe asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
The six riders hurried their horses along the road into the centre of the village, making no attempt to hide their presence from the people in the village.
They all wore full metal cuirass, helmets, gauntlets and boots, with ringmail visible underneath their blue tunics, kite shields on one arm and swords in their belts. The leader of the group had a lion's head engraved on his cuirass and a red cape that billowed in his slipstream.
Soon, they all came to a stop in the plaza, the horses snorting and breathing heavily from who knows how long of a trip. The leader removed his helmet, revealing his short, golden locks, a few beads of sweat clinging to them, as well as his tiny moustache. Quickly wiping his face, the human then took a quick look at the people that had gathered around out of curiosity, most of which obviously being mutants or beast folk in his eyes, which made him frown deeply, and he made no effort to hide it.
"Disgusting rabble…" he sneered in a low voice before he cleared his throat and began talking to the Mutopians in a loud voice. "Listen and listen well, peasants, I am Velnak Byronir. In the name of the king of Torgalia, his majesty Samalor Dragant, you are all to submit to his rule, swear fealty to him, and start paying the taxes you owe him."
"Those are some hefty demands." said Leonardo as he stepped forward, his eyes quickly darting between the other men, calculating how to best fight them should he need to, his hands ready to reach for his swords at the blink of an eye.
Velnak met the gaze of Leonardo and sneered.
"Are you the leader of these… people, tortle?"
"No, but I am his steward, and if you have anything to say to him, you can talk to me as well. Now, by what right do you come with those demands?"
"Clearly, you were not listening, tortle. It is in the name of king Samalor Dragant, our king and ruler, and whose lands you are living on without his permission. Now, submit and swear fealty to him, or face the consequences."
"We don't take kindly to threats." Leonardo replied, narrowing his eyes. "We also had nowhere else to go, and this village was not used by anyone, instead falling into disrepair. If anything, we are doing the king a favour in restoring it."
"Will you yield, yea or nay?!" Velnak asked again, his irritated tone clear for all to hear.
"Nay. Not to the likes of you." Leonardo answered defiantly.
Velnak's face turned red in anger, and he drew his sword.
"Then off with your head!"
But before he could even attempt to slash at Leonardo, Tyroth landed between the two with a loud thud, scaring both the men and the horses so that they staggered backwards a few steps.
"Put down that butterknife, Goldilocks, before you hurt yourself on it." the dragon said calmly, yet he had his hand on the handle of his own sword.
"What took you so long?" Leonardo asked.
"You know I like dramatic entrances." Tyroth replied, to which they both smiled. Then he turned back to the still shocked Velnak. "As for you, no-one threatens my people."
"Y-your people? Are you telling me that you, a half-dragon, are the leader of this rabble?"
"Not by my own choice, but yes, I am their leader."
"Then will you at least see reason, where your… steward do not?"
"All we want is to live our lives, and if your king wants us to serve him, he can come here and talk with us himself. Now turn your horse around and go back the way you came."
"What?! No! I will not turn my horse around, and you can't make me!" Velnak yelled in protest, but Tyroth only smirked.
"Wanna bet?" he said as he walked up to the horse, placed his arms underneath it and lifted it off the ground, rider and all, to the great surprise of said rider, his men, and especially said horse. Quickly and effortlessly, Tyroth had turned the horse around.
"There, now off you go." the dragon said and gave the horse a quick, but light slap, which made it take off.
"Sire!" the men yelled as they hurried their horses to follow their leader.
Left behind were the Mutopians, who couldn't help but chuckle at what they had seen, while Ragnir, on the other hand, was laughing so hard that he was short on air and had tears in his eyes.
"Never in all my years have I seen something like that!" the dwarf said, even applauding a little. "You sure showed that upstart whose in charge here!"
"That's our dad." Freya and Loki said proudly in unison.
"I just hope that it won't get us into trouble with the kingdom." said old George.
"I wouldn't worry about it." said Ragnir. "That kid is such a spoiled brat, you'd never think that he'd ever let go of his mother's teat. He's always trying to prove himself superior to everyone else, gain favour from his father, lord Larkin Byronir, and especially from king Samalor, but the kid's always been more bark than bite. And should he somehow get someone to move against you all, I'll just have a word with the king and that will be it."
"How can you be so certain of that?" asked Leonardo. "Do you know the king?"
"That I do. We used to be part of the same adventuring group back when he was still just a prince, worked together for over ten years, before he had to return and take over the throne. And good old Samalor knows better than to listen blindly to any noble that throws a fit whenever their kids don't get what they want. No need to worry."
"I'll take your word for it, Ragnir." said Tyroth. "But I would still like to know how they found us in the first place. My first guess would probably be some form of scrying magic, if the kingdom have such magic."
"That they do." said Ragnir. "They use it regularly to check on the outlying settlements and borders, since it's so far between them. Best to learn about trouble before they need to send for help."
"That's a good strategy. But regardless, it's clear that we're known to the capital now, and after what just happened, we can only wait and see what they do."
As the riders had now disappeared in the distance, the Mutopians went back to their own tasks, but Tyroth was left with even more to ponder on.
The confirmation of magic to view distant areas did explain how the riders had found them, and it could also explain how Ragnir found them as well, if it wasn't for the fact that he still arrived so shortly after they themselves had arrived in the world. Still far too shortly for him to have started his journey to find them from any of the nearby settlements.
But Ragnir had been nothing but a boon for them ever since he showed up, so despite the suspicious circumstances of his timing, Tyroth was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being. One day, however, he would have to confront the dwarf about it, but they might just have other concerns before that.
Tyroth and the others continue to work hard, investigating everything that they can find the time for. But now they are clearly know of by others, what will come of this once Velnak returns to the capital? And will Ragnir's connection with the king be of any use.