Little Dragon of the Dim World {1-5}

See footnotes for related articles. As always, all art is mine unless otherwise credited <3 -theo/invadersforever

The Hatching

Ariza watched from the cover of a small outcropping as the Count’s soldiers patrolled the Draconium mines. Normally, she wouldn’t try anything as bold as robbing from the Count’s claimed lands, but if she was going to get this new water purification system working before winter she needed more Draconium.
Just a small piece, no more than seven ounces. No one would miss that much, so long as they didn’t see her leaving with it. Ariza pushed herself up into a crouch, biting back a grunt as her knees popped. She needed to time everything just right to do this.
As the first patrol guard rounded the corner, but the second was still on the other side of the mine office, Ariza leapt from her hiding place. She landed in a roll that wouldn’t have hurt anywhere near this much 20 years ago and made a sprint for the mine’s entrance. Noticing the second patrol group starting to come into view, Ariza dove into some nearby bushes.
Her cape and coat caught on the branches, but at least the patrol group hadn’t seen her yet. Ariza tried to control her breathing as the guards passed by, and the second they rounded the corner she clambered up out of the bushes and into the mine.
While it was certainly nice to get out of the chilly fall breeze, Ariza had to stay on her toes. These mines operated all day and night, so she’d have to be careful of miners and guards. Her practiced eyes quickly spotted her next hiding spot- the gap between a support beam and the natural cave wall- and she pressed herself into the opening just in time for a group of miners to pass pushing a cart of slag.
Ariza half stepped out of the niche when two soldiers entered the mine ahead of her. She ducked back quickly, but not quickly enough as both guards reached for their weapons. Ariza quickly flattened herself back into the gap. If she didn’t find a way out now, she was as good as dead.
“Come out with your hands up!” the taller soldier ordered, aiming their blaster directly towards Ariza.
Yeah, because anyone still believes that will help them against the likes of you. Ariza thought bitterly, pushing herself even further into the wall and drawing her own blaster. At least while I’m back here, you won’t dare shoot for fear of bringing the whole mine down.
But then Ariza felt a little give in the rocks behind her. And then a lot of give. And then, with a massive cracking noise, she was falling backwards into the depths of an unknown cave.
“What the Cacklewort?!” one of the guards exclaimed.
“Call in backup! We’ll need a rope to get down there,” the other rushed to stand in front of the opening in the wall.
******
Ariza blinked up at the faint traces of electric light she could see streaming through the hole above her. Remarkably enough, she wasn’t dead or unconscious, though her right arm was hurting a great deal.
Ariza’s relief was short lived, however, as she saw the silhouetted form of one of the guards appear in the opening. The same shortness of the drop (looking up she wagered it couldn’t be more than two meters straight down) which had saved her life meant it would be very easy for the guards to find her.
However, she had dropped into a large enough cavern, with ample room to either side. If she could stay low enough that the guard above couldn’t see her, there was a chance she could slide off to the side into another cave. With another glance up at the looming guard, Ariza began carefully sliding herself across the uneven, rocky floor.
This is when she discovered that her ribs had also been injured in the fall, as they protested quite a bit to being moved. Ariza bit her lip to keep from making noise and sealed her determination. She was not going to die today. There were too many people back in the valley who needed that purification system working.
And so quietly, carefully, and painfully, Ariza made her way to the side of the hole. She was just a little beyond the direct line of sight of the guard, but not far enough that she felt totally safe standing up, when she heard more soldiers arriving in the cave above her.
Noticing that the guard above the hole had been briefly distracted by the arrival of their comrades, Ariza took the opportunity to push to her feet and make a run for the far side of the cavern.
“There! I saw someone moving!” the guard shouted behind her, and Ariza could hear several heavy pairs of boots landing on the cavern floor.
Ariza put everything she had into running as fast and as quietly as possible. She seemed to now be in a different cave, which branched out from the cavern she had landed in. With any luck, she’d be able to get out of this without a fight.
But maybe luck had just gotten tired of favoring the aging thief, because that was when the cave hit a dead end. Ariza glanced behind herself, where she could see the guards’ glowlight beams dancing along the walls. They didn’t know exactly what way she had gone, but they would find this cave soon enough anyway.
Ariza redrew her blaster with one hand while she used the other to frantically feel along the wall for somewhere to hide. While stealing from the Count would definitely make you a wanted criminal, killing his soldiers was a much more severe crime.
As the glowlights got steadily closer Ariza considered drawing her second blaster as well. But then she suddenly found a crack in the wall of the cave. It wasn’t very big and it was a good meter or so off the ground, but it was deep. With one last glance at the approaching glowlights, Ariza sheathed her weapon and hoisted herself up into the crack.
Ariza could hear the soldiers’ footsteps as she wedged herself further into the crack. Goodness she hoped she could get back out once the guards left. As she reached out her hand curiously to see how much further the crack went, Ariza was shocked to feel open air less than an arm length ahead of her.
Seeing that there was no way she could go back the way she came for at least a while, Ariza pushed herself a bit further and crawled out into another cave. The first thing she noticed was a light blue glow emitting from a giant blue-green crystal. She’d found Draconium!
A massive piece too, several times the size of a mech core. It was almost weird to look at the humongous, unbroken crystal poking up out of the cavern floor. Every crystal Ariza had seen previously, even within the mines, was shattered and hollow. Occasionally, there would be veins of platinum along the inside edges, but this was completely different.
In fact, the closer Ariza got, the more she could swear there was something in the crystal. She stood there for a moment in awe of the strange crystal, before regaining her focus. As much as Ariza would love to study this, to explore all the fascinating implications of this completely untouched Draconium crystal, she had a mission to complete.
Reaching into her hip pack, Ariza produced a small chisel and hammer. She then began looking for a weak point, where the crystal would break off more easily. She just needed a bit, after all. Carefully aligning the chisel’s tip with the base of a crystalline branch, Ariza started chipping away at it with the hammer. Just as she broke the hunk of Draconium off, a bright glow began to emit from deep within the crystal. Ariza stumbled back, scrunching her eyes shut against the blinding light.
A resounding crack sounded through the cavern, followed by a bang as the crystal exploded. Ariza braced herself for impact as she was thrown back by the blast.
But the impact never came. Ariza kept her eyes shut for a moment before curiosity got the better of her. Sure enough, she seemed to be floating several feet above the ground, with several shards of Draconium floating around her. Looking towards where the crystal had been, Ariza was shocked to see a strange creature floating within the hollow remains.
It was similar in shape to a common ground snake, but far larger and the head was all wrong. It also had what appeared to be small bits of Draconium growing out of its skin, and wings. Glowing wings.
The creature opened its eyes, and Ariza had just enough time to stare at the glowing green irises and black securla before gravity returned to normal. Ariza dropped to the floor relatively gently, though the explosion and falling draconium had certainly alerted any nearby guards to her presence.
A sudden feeling of joy and excitement washed over Ariza. Which made no sense, there was no reason for her to feel any of those things. In fact, she didn’t, more she knew that he did.
The creature was in her head.
Oh gods, the creature was in her HEAD.

Cobalt

About the same time Ariza started panicking over the creature which was making her feel its- his- whatevers thoughts, the creature itself seemed to panic as well. It flapped it’s limp little wings and raised its head into the air. Ariza realized what it was about to do, but she was too late to try and stop it as the creature let out a loud, high pitched screech that echoed through the cavern system.
A second of silence reigned over the caves before excited shouting and thundering footsteps could be heard from the cave Ariza had come from.
“Cracklewort!” Ariza swore, drawing a blaster with one hand and grabbing up a suitably large chunk of Draconium. She was considering if she could find her way back out the way she came, or perhaps find someway up the sheer cliff face on the other side of the cavern when her eyes caught on the creature again. He had begun to cower slightly, bringing his limpe wings up to cover his face.
“You're just a baby aren’t you,” Ariza considered, looking over his odd proportions and flimsy wings, “and that Draconium must’ve been… it must’ve been an egg of some kind…?”
Ariza glanced back at the crack she had come through. She could see the guards’ glowlight beams casting about on the other side of the wall as they approached. This time they wouldn’t overlook that crack so easily. And she couldn't just leave a newly hatched creature in the hands of the Count and his guards.
Ariza looked back at the creature and slowly kneeled to be closer to his size as she put away the Draconium and her blaster. The creature wriggled excitedly towards her and snuggled it’s head into her lap. It was surprisingly warm, and made contented purring noises as it snugged against the warm fabric of Ariza’s jacket.
“Okay, yeah I’m gonna find a way to get you out of here,” Ariza whispered as she carefully lifted the creature into her arms. This was made difficult because while he was the weight of a medium dog, he was also covered in sharp crystals.
Ariza carefully made her way through the cavern away from the wall crack. She could hear the guards on the other side working on a way to get through and wished she could draw a weapon without dropping the young creature.
Thankfully the cavern ended in a relatively narrow sloping passage, so Ariza might be able to find some good cover where she could put the creature down if this became a firefight. Suddenly, the floor seemed to drop out from under the distracted thief and she found herself sliding not so gracefully down a very steep rocky slope with a trilling, agitated snake creature clutched to her chest.
Ariza finally managed to gain some control over their slide and gradually lower them down to the bottom. Hopefully there was a way out this way, because there was no way she’d be able to get back up. Especially while her hands were occupied by the excitable creature.
As Ariza reached the uneven stone floor, she was surprised to feel a cool breeze blowing down on her. A downdraft? Though she dared not use a glowlight with guards possibly still in the area, a quick glance up showed Ariza a small glimpse of the clear nighttime sky above the walls of the deep ravine they had slid out into.
It was a shame the way up to the mine was nearly impossible. If she could circle around this way Ariza could avoid the guards at the mines’ entrance all together.
Then the moonlight hit something further along the ravine floor that caught her eye. It almost looked like… a wall. Several walls. She must be in the ruins of an ancient settlement that had slid into the ravine at some point.
A grumpy whimper from her arms reminded Ariza of her squirmy charge. Glancing down at the pouting snake creature, Ariza felt a sudden wave of hunger and exhaustion that wasn’t quite hers. “Okay, that’s still weird,” Ariza whispered to the creature.
She glanced back over her shoulder towards the mouth of the cave they’d slid out of.
“Let’s go take cover in those ruins for now. I think I need a bit of a break too, after all that running.”
Ariza carried the creature- she really needed to give him a name if she was going to be keeping him very long- over to one of the strange ruined houses. After she put him down, she set down her pack and removed her cloak to give him something to sleep on.
He didn’t seem to be interested in it just yet. Why wasn’t he going to sleep if he was so- oh wait, he was hungry too. What do strange glowy snake creatures eat? Judging from the teeth she’d caught a glimpse of, meat would be a fairly safe bet.
Ariza dug around in her pack for a while before retrieving a few sticks of jerky and a canteen of water. The creature seemed very interested in the jerky, but when he opened his mouth to take it from her something very weird happened. The sharp, pointed teeth Ariza had seen early almost seemed to retract into the creature's gums, revealing another set of teeth behind them. These teeth much more closely resembled those of an omnivore.
As weirded out as Ariza was by this development, the creature didn’t seem to mind at all. He happily munched down all three jerky pieces and drank a good bit of the water Ariza had poured in her canteen top for him. And then he snuggled down into Ariza’s cloak and promptly went to sleep.
Ariza sat there for a moment to take stock of her situation. This afternoon she had left the village with the intention of stealing one very small piece of Draconium from the Count’s mines. It was dangerous, sure, but the mine was the only reliable source of Draconium in the immediate area and she had stolen from it before.
Now, she was sitting in an old ruin at the bottom of a ravine with a creature that hatched out of a Draconium crystal sleeping beside her. Honestly Ariza should stop thinking any errand was going to be easy. Weird stuff would always find a way to happen to her.
Well, she was here now. They were relatively safe as the guards were likely to get distracted by the massive amount of Draconium just laying around in the cavern, and she’d certainly hear any guards attempting to come down the slope. Still, she didn’t want to sleep with danger so close. Ariza settled for studying what she could see of the ruins. Long ago, before the Count rose to power, before the war, Ariza had wanted to be an archeologist. The first ones were so interesting, but so little was known about them. They didn’t seem to have harnessed the power of Draconium, but built things that defied all logic.
It was generally accepted that the first ones had something that powered their technology, because most of what was found made no sense to function. But what that fuel source was hadn’t been discovered yet. Ariza had wanted to be the one to discover this power source, but her other hobby of tinkering with machines was in far greater demand at the time.
Interestingly, the ruins didn’t seem to have sustained much damage when they dropped into this chasm. And while it was certainly possible to climb the walls of the chasm, Ariza herself was brainstorming ways to make it up to the top with a squirmy snake creature, for a city to thrive down here they would need much easier access than sliding along the narrow ledges.
Speaking of the creature, she really did need to name him. Ariza briefly considered Draco, or something similar since he had hatched out of Draconium. But the implication that he came out of Draconium was that there were other such creatures who had done so as well. Dang that was weird to think about.
Ariza looked back down as the strange, glowing creature snuggled closer against her leg and made a soft cooing noise in his sleep. He certainly was adorable, and he did inspire a level of hope being so sweet and innocent despite having come from the Count’s mines. That gave Ariza an idea, a name that had meant hope for her a long time ago, too.
“How about I call you Cobalt?” she asked, rubbing the spot between the creature's wings.
Cobalt purred contently and settled even deeper into his nap.

First Ones' Passage

Cobalt napped for quite a while, long enough that Ariza felt comfortable getting up and looking around a bit. She kept him in her line of sight though, and didn’t leave the building they were hiding in. It definitely looked like it had been a house, given it’s layout was similar to other first ones’ houses. Ariza was about to see if she could make out any wall paintings when a spike of terror followed by frightened trilling pulled her attention back to Cobalt.

The young dragon had woken up from his nap, and upon not seeing his new friend had gotten spooked. Ariza quickly sprinted over to comfort him, before his trilling attracted the attention of any guards who were still in the area.
As soon as Ariza was in sight, Cobalt’s distressed cries quieted to content purrs. She carefully scooped him up into her arms and let him snuggle back in.
“Okay, let’s work on getting out of here now…” Ariza started walking towards the cliff faces that surrounded them, “I’m not sure if I want to free climb with you in my arms, but I might be able to climb to a ledge by myself and tie a rope we can use to get you up there.”
Ariza carried Cobalt to the edge of the cliff face and began searching for hand holds. She was struck again by the strange layout of the ruins, as there weren’t any cut in half by the ravine wall. If there really had been an earthquake that sunk this settlement to the raine floor, it seemed likely that parts of it would still be visible on the walls as well. But while the starlight illuminated several ledges, there didn’t appear to be any ruins up there.
Ariza bit her lip, trying to see if there were any viable ledges within the reach other rope. It didn’t look like there were any on that stretch of wall so she began to search further along the crevasse. To Ariza’s surprise, she was quickly joined by Cobalt, who had slithered over with her. Apparently, he didn’t need her to carry him everywhere. Cobalt, seemingly detecting that thought, looked at her with an adorable little pout and gave a small sound of indignation. Ariza snickered a little as she felt along the wall for a good hand hold.
Wait, that wasn’t a hand hold she had felt, it was… it almost felt like something carved into the side of the cliff. She didn’t have enough light to see what. After a quick glance around showed no guards visible right at the top of the ravine, Ariza snatched the glowlight from her backpack and turned it on.
Cobalt trilled excitedly at the sight of the light. Ariza smiled fondly at the excited creature, before shining the light more directly at the carvings. And they were indeed carvings, though Ariza didn’t recognize any of the symbols. As her light beam followed the carvings up the wall though, she began to see some curious pictographs. The first was the image of a person kneeling in front of a wall, then another person, carved larger than the first, putting a hand against the wall as if pushing, and a final image of a person going up a set of stairs while the larger person smiled in the background.
It was very interesting. Aside from confirming that someone had lived in the bottom of the ravine, the carvings almost appeared to be instructions. Perhaps there was some kind of first ones’ technology that would allow her to find a staircase? Like a pressure plate of some kind built into the cliff face?
That would be a genius defense, as if you could make the staircase inaccessible during times of war , an invading army would have to make a long and treacherous climb down to this location. But if such a thing even existed, Ariza would have to find it before putting it to any use.
Ariza clicked her glowlight off to avoid the risk of attracting guards. Cobalt whined disappointedly when the light disappeared, but quickly distracted himself sniffing at some canyon grass that was poking out of the ravine floor.
Ariza started pushing against the rock where the carvings depicting that action were. When that yielded no results, she began working outwards in a circular motion, feeling for a panel or switch like the carvings depicted. She couldn’t seem to find anything though.
Of course, it seemed obvious that first ones’ technology would work a little differently from the modern stuff. Ariza took a step back from the wall and frowned frustratedly. The carving depicted the person kneeling first. Perhaps there was something on the canyon floor? Or, perhaps there was nothing of relevance in the carvings and she should just get climbing before the sun rose. As much as she would love to explore this intersection of two of her strongest interests, the later course of action was the most responsable.
Ariza carefully picked her way up the first couple of hand holds and foot holds, carefully making her way towards a ledge around six meters above the ground. She had just made her way to the first ledge when Cobalt grew bored of the plant he was sniffing and noticed Ariza’s absence. Ariza quickly leaned back over the edge to calm the crying creature.
“It’s okay, I’m just tying a rope so I can get back up here with you. Unless you’re interested in flying up here, that is?”
Cobalt tilted his head and Ariza felt a slight sensation of confusion come over her. Goodness that was going to take some getting used to.
“You know, flying,” Ariza said as she tied a length of rope around a rocky outcropping, “It’s a thing you do with wings, typically…”
Ariza frowned as she tried to think of something that flies like Cobalt might. Obviously, he wouldn’t be sprouting rocket engines or doning obsidian armour like a mech or knight. She remembered seeing some bats on one of her other numerous misadventures in caves, though she wasn’t sure if Cobalt’s wings worked the same way.
Ariza bit her lip and focused on the way the bats had flown. Hopefully this… bond? Whatever it was worked two ways.
It seemed like it did at least, as Cobalt sat up and blinked a few times. Then, he stretched his little wings and gave them a few experimental flaps, followed by a series of more aggressive attempts. He succeeded in raising his body a little higher, but not off the ground completely before he got tired and sank back down.
“Well, that’s okay,” Ariza started down towards Cobalt, guiding the rope down with her, “You are a baby, so it’ll take a while. Probably.”
Cobalt trilled excitedly as Ariza stepped down onto the cannon floor next to him. She reached out slowly but stopped when Cobalt started making a strange noise. Suddenly, there was a loud snort and Cobalt sneezed so hard he smacked his face on the ravine floor.
At the same time the blue glow in his skin crystals grew brighter and pulsed, sending a wave of blue energy out from him. Ariza braced herself, prepared to be thrown back again.
But once again, the expected impact didn’t happen. In fact, she didn’t feel any effect at all. However, she heard the sound of rocks grinding against each other.
Ariza’s eyes snapped open and she stared in awe as a set of stairs pushed out of the ravine wall, running parallel to the edge. As she turned she could see the stairs continued all the way around the ravine and up to the top lip above her.
“Whoa. You did that?” Ariza turned back towards Cobalt. The creature seemed unaware of the effects of his sneeze, and continued his attempts to scratch his nose with the tip of his tail.
“These are amazing,” Ariza continued, reaching out to touch the staircase, “They must be activated by you somehow… so the first ones’ must’ve had access to creatures like you. This could be the answer to what powered their tech, though you guys must’ve been really common for that to make a functional society…”
Ariza trailed off as Cobalt stared up at her in excited confusion. He didn’t have the first clue what she was saying, much less what she was talking about.
“Here, let’s just get out of here.”

****

While the stairs were an easier way up than climbing hundreds of meters up a rock face, there were still thousands of them. Ariza leaned against a wall, breathing heavily as she looked back at their progress.

The ruins were no longer easily decenable from the ravine floor, but she guessed that they were about halfway up. Which led to their next problem: the sunrise was only a few hours away, and she would need to smuggle not only a sizable draconium crystal past the guards, but also Cobalt. Ariza pushed away and continued lugging the now sleeping dragon up the stairs. Guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Still, if I lose the mask and cape the description from the mine won’t be good for much.
The sun was just beginning to rise when Ariza staggered out of the crevasse. Just as she stepped off the last step, a faint rumbling sound signaled the stairs sliding back into the cliff face.
“Must be on some kind of weight or motion sensor,” Ariza mused as she dragged Cobalt over to a rock they could hide behind.
Once they had decent enough cover, she removed her mask and blaster belt, storing both away in her pack. She then shrugged off her cape and wrapped it around Cobalt. The young creature was startled awake when Ariza put him down, and she could feel his confusion in the back of her mind.
“You just have to be quiet and stay in here… and everything will be fine.” Ariza reassured as she covered Cobalt in her cloak. He whimpered quietly in response, as if he could sense her anxiety. Oh wait. He probably can. Ariza reminded herself as she carefully began making her way through the scrublands that surrounded the cravese.
She wasn’t exactly sure where she was, though she knew she hadn’t gone far. The village was east of the mines, though, so heading towards the sunrise was the safest bet to find some familiar landmarks.
Ariza was able to make it a good distance without encountering any guards, though it was slow going between the onset of fatigue and carrying Cobalt. Her luck ran out when she hit a paved road, which had a few guards in an outpost.
This road must connect back towards the mine. There’s nothing else out here valuable enough to mandate guards on the road. Ariza tried to keep a steady pace and not let on that she was nervous about them. Hopefully they’ll let me pass without trouble.
Of course, it was at that moment that Cobalt, agitated from Ariza’s nervousness, decided to start squirming a little.
“No. Stop that!” Ariza did her best to hold Cobalt still, but she had to stop to focus on him.
Unfortunately, the guards already noticed, and were making their way over to her. Ariza managed to get Cobalt to hold still and started walking again, only to come face to face with two guards.
“What’re you doing out here so early?” the older one asked, raising his eyebrow suspiciously.
“Foraging,” Ariza lied, hoping to end the encounter as quickly as possible. The guards didn’t appear convinced.
“Foraging for what?” the younger guard asked, “There’s nothing down that way but scrubland.”
“Dull growths. There’s a good bit of them growing on the cliffs out that way,” Ariza tilted her head back in the direction she came from, while continuing her tight hold on Cobalt.
“Really. And did you happen to go anywhere near the mines on this foraging expedition?” the younger guard pressed. Ariza’s hands started getting sweaty and she was about to deny it when the older guard intervened.
“Dull growths are of no interest to the Count. With the coming winter I assume she wishes to stock up?”
Ariza nodded.
“Then there is no problem in letting her pass. Come on, Gerald.” the older guard turned to leave, and the younger one (Gerald, apparently) followed reluctantly after.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t investigate further? There was an intruder at the mines earlier tonight,” Gerald asked quietly. The old woman was still nearby, though she wasn’t wasting any time continuing on her way.
“Something you’ll come to understand in these parts,” the captain replied, “Those willing to risk the cliffs for dull growths are no threat to the Count’s holdings.”
“If you say so.”
Ariza held her breath, keeping a steady pace until she was out of sight of the guards. As soon as she was sure they couldn’t see her, she took off at the fastest run the heavy creature in her arms would allow. She still had to smuggle him into the village before everyone was up and about.

The Village

The village of Rustkeep had thrived at the bottom of the valley for as long as anyone could remember. If you asked, you could learn that it predated the Count, but not the old ones. If you asked someone bolder, you might learn instead that the village predated the Obsidian Order base in the mountains, but not the Order itself.
The village was small, built up on the side of the stream. There was a town hall and sheriff's office in the middle, a handful of small shops, and several dozen houses. A palisade made of wood and rusted steel surrounded the village, and beyond it were the fields the village’s farmers worked. A road curved down the mountains through these terraced fields, serving as the only way to and from the village in the west. On this morning as the sun was just peaking over the mountain tops in the east, a long figure made their way down the road, carrying a heavy bundle.
There was nothing and no one in Rustkeep worth stealing or killing, so the only person on the wall that morning was a look out. She noted the figure, and watched their approach with mild interest. Rustkeep didn’t get many travelers from the west.
Her interest dropped when the figure got closer, however. It was only Ariza, the local mechanic, no doubt back from some shady business in Irongate with new parts and a lighter purse. The gates were already open, as the farmers had been out in the fields for hours, so the look out simply returned to her rounds.

****

Ariza held her breath as she entered the gates on Rustkeep. She didn’t expect trouble here yet, it was too insignificant a place to warrant the attention of the Counts’ guards. Still, her description would certainly be circling soon enough after last night. And all it would take was one look at Cobalt for a desperate villager to see a potential for a quick buck before the harsh winter set in.
So Ariza hurried towards her home, nodding vaguely at the few villagers that acknowledged her. She had lived here in Rustkeep for 23 uneventful years, but still hadn’t bothered to really get to know anyone.
At first it had been the unending fear. There weren’t many ties to the Count here, but ears were everywhere at the time. Then, a few years passed and no one was looking for former rebels anymore. Which left her with a fascinating mess of personal issues to deal with.
By the time Ariza had healed to the point she might want to know her neighbors, it seemed unimportant. She was happy to keep to herself, venturing out on occasion when someone needed something fixed, or when she needed parts.
Finally, Ariza arrived at her house. It was something of a struggle to get in the door with Cobalt, especially since he was getting squirmy. Thankfully there was no one out on her street to see when Cobalt’s head slipped out from under her cloak to nibble at the moss that had grown on the side of her house.
Once inside, Ariza put Cobalt down to let him explore a bit while she got her supplies together to fix the water purification system. The curious creature buzzed around the small cluttered room excitedly. He stuck his nose into several bins of parts, knocked over a stack of blueprints, almost broke a water pitcher trying to get a drink, and collapsed onto Ariza’s bed to take a nap all in the amount of time it took Ariza to find her tool box and stock it with a few special parts.
Ariza reached into her pack and carefully extracted the draconium she had collected from Cobalt’s crystal. It was much larger than what she needed for the purification system. All for the best though. With how hard it was to get, it would be nice to have a supply on hand the next time the purifier broke.
She set it on a slightly cluttered workbench and carefully chipped off the right amount. Once she had that in her tool box, Ariza turned and headed towards the door. She glanced back when Cobalt gave an excited whine and slithered off of her bed towards her.
“No Cobalt,” she said quietly, “You can’t come with me.”
The small creature didn’t seem interested in taking that answer, but Ariza was able to slide out and lock the door before he could escape. She winced slightly at the rising panic in the back of her mind and tried to think soothing and calm things. It didn’t seem to have much effect, but whether that was because the bond didn’t work like that or just because Cobalt was too freaked out to care was unclear.
Ariza felt bad about leaving him on his own right now, especially since he had some curious abilities. She wasn’t sure what would happen if he started levitating her house but it wouldn’t be good. Unfortunately, the purifier needed to be fixed and she couldn’t risk letting the excitable creature lose in Rustkeep. She would try to be quick, for his sake and her own.
Ariza reached the water purifier, a huge machine that had urified the stream water for use by the villagers. The purifier was old, though how old wasn’t known, and while anyone in town with half a brain would deny it, there was an obsidian insignia on the north side.
Though it was rusted and overgrown, so it could just be similar looking now and Ariza was just hyper aware. Either way it had startled her when she was first asked to fix the decrepit machine, and still brought many old emotions to the surface now.
Sighing to herself, Ariza wretched open the rusted door that stuck worse every time repairs were needed and began her work. She had replaced two rusted out pipes and was working on a minor upgrade that would increase its efficiency when she sat down to rest her legs. All those stairs had really done a number on her.
Ariza glanced around the stream-side plaza, nodding in acknowledgement of the villagers going about their business there. This was the only time most of them would see her, on her bi to tri yearly purifier repairs. Though it was the fifth time this year. Mayor Willis really needed to replace the old system, though the cost would be astronomical.
Just as Ariza was about to go back to work, the man in question exited the town hall and headed towards her.
“Ah, Ariza! I see you got my letter about the purification system problem?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yep,” Ariza responded, crawling back into said system to hide her eye roll.
It wasn’t that she disliked Willis, it just seemed like the man thought he was in Irongate or Vinenight. He was far too extravagant at times, built a ‘plaza’ in a small fishing and farming village, and well, he sent a mail request to a mechanic who lived 30 yards from him at most.
“Very good. Very good! I trust she’ll be up and running again before tomorrow?”
“I’ll try my best, Willis.”
“Excellent! Well I’ll see you to it unless- good gods what is that??”
Willis’ exclamation startled Ariza and she hit her head on the roof of the purifier cover. By the time she emerged rubbing her head, however, she had a sinking feeling she knew what- or who rather- Willis had seen.
Sure enough, flapping awkwardly towards her and marveling at the startled townsfolk was Cobalt. As soon as he saw Ariza, the creature let out an excited trill and put in a last burst of speed before his wings gave out. Ariza let out a sigh as Cobalt enthusiastically untangled himself and latched onto her leg with his body.
For the first time maybe since she had arrived in Rustkeep, all eyes were on Ariza.
“Well? What is it??” Willis demanded pointing at Cobalt, who proceeded to hiss at the poor mayor.
“A- a pet. I’m- watching him for a friend,” Ariza invented.
Willis raised his eyebrows as Ariza bent down to scoop Cobalt up.
“What kind of pet?” the mayor asked as a whisper rippled through the gathering crowd. Ariza bit her lip. She needed to get Cobalt out of here before anyone else saw him. The rumors would be enough to generate unwanted attention.
“I’m not really sure. He shouldn’t be out in this weather though. I’ll be back to finish repairs in a bit.”
Willis had other questions for her, but Ariza had already made her excuse and was booking it out of the plaza. She distantly heard him calling after her, but pretended not to hear and kept the fastest pace she could without running until she reached her house.
Which is where another problem of her new pet arose. Her door hung half off its hinges, with the engaged lock having been forced through the door frame. Ariza exhaled sharply as she surveyed the damage.
“Cracklewart.”

****

Following the incident in the plaza, Mayor Willis returned to his office in the town hall. He faced a troubling conundrum. On one hand, he liked Ariza well enough, and she had helped Rustkeep in many ways over the years. On the other…
Well, he’d had his suspicions since she first fixed the purifier and came to his office nearly in tears to ask if the Obsidian Order had made it originally. And whatever it was that she had with her was covered in draconium. The credits from that could buy a whole new water purifier, and maybe a fountain for the plaza.
One possible traitor versus such tempting possabilities… The decision had just gotten much easier. Getting up from his desk, Willis strided over into his living quarters. He opened a drawer on his vanity and produced a small military communicator.
“Lieutenant? I’d like to report something.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Our local mechanic has acquired a creature that appears to have pure draconium growing out of it,” Willis informed her.
“Really. That is quite interesting. Tell me more.”

****

Lieutenant Beata glanced over at where the miners were removing draconium fragments from the cavern the thief had discovered. She was beginning to suspect that the events of the prior evening and the mechanics’ strange pet were connected. Especially when she heard Willis’ description of this ‘Ariza’.
“Thank you for the information, Mayor Willis. We will bring you your reward when we come to apprehend this creature.”

Soldiers Come to Rustkeep

Ariza picked through what used to be her house. For a creature so small Cobalt sure had done a number on the place. Said creature was currently wrapped snugly around her leg, trilling quietly and making packing up extremely difficult.
“You’re really unhelpful, you know,” Ariza commented as she shoved a handful of blueprints into her bag, “We need to get out of here, quickly.”
Cobalt cocked his head at her, seeming to almost understand what she said but not why.
“You aren’t normal in these parts, and I’m on thin enough ice as is. If there aren’t soldiers here by morning I’ll be shocked. So we need to run before they get here.”
Ariza surveyed her packing job: blaster and spare charges, check; waterskin, check; tools and blue prints, check; climbing and survival equipment, check. Everything that can identify her was either in her pack or burned. All her blueprints she couldn’t take with her were burned. She couldn’t leave anything for the Count’s soldiers to find.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ariza slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door. Cobalt flew shakily after, trilling happily.
---- The guard on the western wall was almost off her shift, and excited for it. Apparently there had been some kind of excitement in the square concerning that crazy mechanic and a creature made of draconium. She couldn’t wait to hear the details.
Just then something came into view on the horizon. The guard squinted into the distance, wondering if there was another traveler. Travelers. Lots of travelers.
Soldiers.
The Count’s soldiers were coming towards Rustkeep. All thoughts of the crazy mechanic left the guard’s mind as she scrambled to alert the mayor.
-----
Ariza tried to make good time leaving Rustkeep. She had stuck to back roads and a less known entrance, but it was likely someone had still seen her. She could only hope she had enough of a head start on anyone coming after her to get… wherever she was going.
Unfortunately, Cobalt could still only fly for short distances, so Ariza ended up carrying him before long. She was getting too old for this.
-----
Lieutenant Beata frowned at the ruins of what was apparently the mechanic’s house. It was clear something strange had gone down here at least. The mayor was standing off to the side, wringing his hands annoyingly.
“Surely someone must’ve seen where she went,” Willis insisted, “There are only so many ways out of the city.”
“So go find who saw her,” Beata barely spared the mayor a glance as he scurried off. Whoever this mechanic was, she was smart. The house had been stripped clean of anything that might set it apart from another, and a pile of ashes on the workbench suggested documents had been burned.
Allegedly, the mechanic ‘Ariza’ had lived in Rustkeep for 23 years. Beata choose a handful of soldiers to inspect the ruined house and question the neighbors. By then, Willis was turning with a slightly terrified looking fisherman.
“The north gate,” the fisherman gasped out, “She left through the north gate.”
“Excellent,” Beata passed several credits to Willis, “Your assistance has been appreciated.”
Leaving the small investigative team in Rustkeep, Beata took the rest of her troops up the mountain.
-----
Cobalt let out a sudden, loud trill just as Ariza was nearing the top of the mountain. It didn’t take much to see what had set him off, as looking down Ariza could count at least ten of the Count’s soldiers at the base of the mountain.
“Cracklewart!”
The soldiers could go much faster than Ariza could and they weren’t carrying all their worldly possessions and a squirmy creature. At least she could get to the other side of the mountain, it would be easier to hide over there.
Unfortunately, Cobalt seemed to have a different idea. The creature suddenly broke free of Ariza’s grip and flew off towards the advancing troops.
“Cobalt! No!” Ariza shouted after him as the soldiers quickly drew their blasters. Cobalt was already halfway back down the mountain. Cursing herself and the little critter for all the trouble he’d gotten her into, Ariza drew her blaster and started sprinting down hill.
-----
A strange cry and the shout of a human voice was the only warning Beata and her troops got before a loud small something was flying down the mountain at them. Literally flying. With wings. Beata drew her blaster and took aim, the creature didn’t even bother dodging. The reason why became clear when the blaster shots got close to it and bounced off some kind of force field.
What was this thing? Some kind of small, super-advanced mech? That would explain the draconium it was covered in. A moment later another figure- this one human, came into view holding a blaster. Since shooting the thing wasn’t doing anything, Beata ordered her troops to focus their fire on the person.
The form ducked behind a rock and returned fire. They were a good shot, taking out two of Beata’s troops. This needed to end now, before-
Beata blinked. She was floating. All the soldiers were. She had just enough time to connect the sudden glow in the mech-creature with the reversal of gravity before the effect gave out and dropped everyone.
Beata managed to make it with minimal injuries, but the creature and the mechanic were already fleeing back up the mountain. Beata raised her blaster and sent a volley of fire their way.
---- Ariza hissed as a blaster bolt grazed her side. She’d forgotten how much those things hurt. Fortunately whatever Cobalt had done had taken out most of the soldiers, and the ones who could still walk were moving slower.
Cobalt caught up with her as she reached the peak of the mountain. Once the trail started sloping down, Ariza veered off the path into the undergrowth. There was a small cave up here, where she had stayed for a few weeks before moving to Rustkeep. It would suffice for now.
----- Beata attempted to continue her pursuit, but the cloaked figure and creature had a head start and disappeared over the mountain. Clearly, this mechanic was no small town thief. The lieutenant doubled back to where her troops were, and placed a call for back up and medical personnel to be sent to the area. ----- Ariza held her breath, waiting for the sound of soldiers’ boots on the path. Cobalt had curled up on her lap as soon as they’d gotten into the cave, and was somehow sleeping soundly. The little creature had also found a way to avoid all the blaster fire going on down there.
A tinge of pain in her side reminded Ariza that she hadn’t been so lucky. A quick inspection confirmed that she had been grazed, but it was shallow enough that she could patch it on her own. That soldier must’ve had either great aim or fabulous luck to actually hit a moving target at that distance, especially firing up hill.
They’d stay here for the night, Ariza decided. After that… after that they’d go somewhere else. They needed to get out of the Rustkeep area.

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