Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 10 Already Paid For

“Do you want to meet with any of the prisoners?” Aria asked.

Isaac put his hands up in a placating gesture. “No. That sounds like a horrible idea.” He replied.

Aria shrugged. “Not all of them are getting the ‘traitor’ treatment.” She explained. “It is pretty case by case, apparently. Sir Michael was most of the way through them when our little war started.”

“I feel… not responsible but…” Isaac trailed off as he tried to find the right word.

“The right word is responsible, Isaac.” Lenna interjected. “You feel responsible for Lisa because we killed her boyfriend, beat the hells out of her, then treated her like a sack of flour.”

Isaac winced. “I still don’t think it’s a feeling of responsibility.” Isaac argued. “I just want to know the punishment she received and if Izen went easy on her like I asked him to.”

“Sure.” Lenna halfheartedly agreed.

“They haven’t dished out punishments yet.” Aria explained. “In situations like these they interrogate and judge each person individually but hold off on declaring anything until all of the proceedings are finished just in case new information comes to light. Once it is all over the duke and magistrate will line them all up together and announce each punishment by groups.”

“Like; ‘Person one and persons five through nine get the gallows.’ or ‘Person two gets a fine of seventeen gold and a hundred hours of community service.’?” Isaac questioned.

“Community service as a legal punishment?” Lenna asked incredulously.

“I have actually heard of that happening in rare cases on the frontier.” Aria replied. “It is rare and usually only used to punish important people’s kids when a fine wouldn’t do any behavioral correcting.”

“Understandable.” Lenna said.

“But yes, Isaac, more or less like you said.” Aria answered him.

“I’ll have to ask one of the ‘Law Guys’ next time I see them.” Isaac commented.

“‘Law Guys’?” Lenna asked.

Isaac nodded. “Captain Tim, Magistrate Michael, Duke Izen, you know, the three that deal with laws and stuff.”

Aria blinked at him owlishly. “You should be very glad that you are on good terms with the duke, Isaac. Some nobles would throw a fit if they found out you talked about them how you talk about, and to for that matter, the Duke of Safeharbor.” She explained.

“I think I have finally hit the point where nobles throwing a fit is more of an inconvenience than a problem.” Isaac replied.

“I guess Lenna is a double platinum adventurer now.” Aria commented with a shrug. “You don’t quite have the notoriety of the Blade Master or the Glinting Blade but the Lady of Hellfire name should carry some actual weight now with two platinum tags.”

“Tags?” Isaac asked.

“Yes, instead of badges, double platinum adventurers get a set of dog tags. One has a list of how many of each level of bounty they have completed and the other has their nickname, class, and level.” Aria explained.

“Good to know.” Isaac replied. He turned to look at Lenna. “What’s next on our list?”

“Give Izen back his magical gear, find new gear for you, get our platinum tags, and meet Macken.” Lenna explained. “We had dinner an hour ago so I doubt we will be getting much more done tonight.”

“Let’s stop by Stan and have him check out Jallen’s old gear. We can call it a night after that and do the rest in the morning.” Isaac offered.

“Alright.” Lenna replied.

“Thanks for humoring me.” Aria said to Isaac with a wave. “I’m not sure if I’ll get a level out of this or not. El’No is starting to get stingy with levels for things that aren’t related to my quest.”

“Finding the ancient vampire civilization?” Isaac asked.

“That’s the one!” Aria agreed.

“Good luck and anytime, Aria, well, almost anytime, I’d rather not get woken up in the middle of the night over something like this.” Isaac said and moved towards the edge of the building.

Aria rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. See you around, Legend Slayer.” Isaac grinned and vaulted the fence forty feet off the ground. Kahtesh hopped excitedly. “What?” Aria asked and turned to see Lenna rolling her eyes before a grin formed on her face and approached the fence Isaac had vanished over.

“Come on, Kahtesh.” Lenna said and tossed her legs over the fence. The little dragon bound towards her before he jumped into the air. Lenna put her hands up and grabbed onto Kahtesh’s shoulders, his front claws tried to grab onto her but failed to find purchase, not that it mattered. Kahtesh’s momentum took both of them off the edge of the roof.

Aria ran over to the edge to see what happened and watched as Kahtesh’s wings vibrated with power as he tried to fly with Lenna’s weight. All that happened was a rapid but controlled descent to the ground. Isaac was waiting for them at the bottom and Aria could only shake her head as Lenna landed in a roll and Kahtesh tripped on his front feet and then face planted into the street.

—

“That looked awesome!” Isaac exclaimed with a laugh. “The entire way until Kahtesh ate the street.”

“It is good to know that he can slow my descent but we were still picking up speed.” Lenna explained as she dusted herself off.

“Yeah, almost there buddy.” Isaac said and scratched the little dragon under the chin. After righting himself he had come to his master, either awaiting his next order or for praise, Isaac wasn’t sure. “It might be enough to save you at some point so it’s good to know now.” Isaac continued to Lenna.

“Agreed.” Lenna replied and looked around. They had garnered a small crowd again. This time, however, there were more looks of curiosity and astonishment than resentment. “We should leave and let everyone get on with their evenings.”

Isaac noticed the small crowd as well. “Yeah.” He replied and turned towards Stan’s Smithy. “Kahtesh.” He spoke and a black void opened up out of his shadow. The dragon curled up and sank into the void with a flick of his tail. Once the dragon was completely gone the void closed back up and the pair went on their way.

—

“Always interestin’ when ya walk in me door.” Stan greeted the pair as the door closed behind them. Stan’s shop hadn’t changed, not that it had been very long since the last time they had been inside, even if it felt like it. Weapons hung along the walls and were visible under glowing stone light. The old dwarf looked… happy, though Isaac had no idea why.

“That’s because I never just come by for a chat.” Isaac explained with a grin as he pulled Jallen’s helmet out of his inventory. He tossed it to the dwarf who deftly caught it out of mid air despite the fact that his eyes hadn’t even tracked the piece of armor.

Stan turned it over in his hands and squinted down at it. “Tis some ‘igh grade stuff.” He commented. “Dark elf, V’Nova make, probably, paint’s almost all gone.” He looked up to see a grinning Isaac. “There’s a story ta this one ain’t there?” He asked.

“Whose helmet do you think is in your hands?” Isaac asked.

Stan squinted back down at the helmet and turned it over. He reached inside and tried to pull something out with little success. “What bastard imbeds a crown inta the inside ‘a helm…” His voice trailed off as he realized that there was only option. He looked up from the helmet with wide eyes. “Is this?”

“Jallen V’Nova’s helmet.” Isaac replied. “I have the rest of the set too.”

The old man’s eyes started to gloss over and he half strode, half limped around the counter and across the distance to Isaac before he yanked the young man down into a fierce hug. “Thank ye.” He croaked. “Thank ye fer avengin’ me son.”

“I, uh, sure, Stan.” Isaac stammered and patted the smith on the back. “You know I didn’t do it for you though, right?”

Stan released Isaac and wiped across his face with his sleeve. “Aye, I know.” Stan replied.

“Um, well, you're welcome, I guess.” Isaac awkwardly replied.

Stan took a deep breath before he huffed it out. “Aight, what do ya be needin’ with it?” He asked, back to business as usual.

“Well, it is a little warped here and there, some straps are broken, I washed most of the blood out of it but I’m sure I missed some.” Isaac explained. “It is the best armor I have ever seen and I would love it if it got fixed and painted for Lenna.”

Stan nodded. “Lemme take a look at it.” He said and moved back to his counter. “Set it there.” He said and gestured towards the cleared counter.

“Stan,” Lenna said to get his attention. “does your leg need healing?”

Stan shook his head. “No.” He replied but left it at that.

Isaac removed Jallen’s armor one piece at a time and placed it onto the counter in front of Stan. The old smith went over each piece with a magnifying glass. Eventually he sighed and shook his head. “What’s wrong?” Isaac asked.

“It needs worked on inna anti-magic but that’d risk tearin’ the paddin’.” He explained.

“And it is lacking a self repair function.” Lenna continued.

“Aye.” Stan agreed.

“How big is the risk?” Isaac asked. “Do you think the armor is still wearable as is?”

“Aye, tis still wearable.” Stan replied. “Might bind a bit ‘ere and ‘ere.” He stroked his beard. “I’d say tis to risky ta have the kid do it.” He said. “Should be fine if I do it though.”

Isaac breathed out a sigh of relief. “You had me worried there for a bit. What’ll I owe you?” He asked.

Stan looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “‘What’ll I owe ye’ he asks.” Stan scoffed and grabbed the first piece. “A whole lotta ‘already paid for’.” Stan said while walking into the back.

Isaac blinked owlishly after him and then turned to Lenna who had a warm but melancholic smile on her face. “Well, that’s that then, I guess.”