They'd barely cleared the village gate when a familiar voice rang out across the yard, pitched with indignation.
"Roy!"
He stopped short, blinking at the figure marching toward him. Takara, sporting sleek new gauntlets, runes softly glowing along the metal. "Whoa," he blurted. "Those look... actually really cool, Taka."
She sniffed, crossing her arms. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Don't butter me up. I'm here to talk about joining your crew again."
Roy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right… because that went so well last time we argued it."
Takara glaced at Lutrian and her face contorted. "And who the hell is this?"
"Prince Lutrian, he is a new member of the crew," Roy said hesitantly.
Takara leaned in. "What?! You can't shut me out forever. If you've got room for a 'drop-dead gorgeous twink'—" she nodded past Roy's shoulder, where Lutrian was quietly approaching, "—then there's room for someone like me who's not just pretty but actually works her butt off! Have I mentioned how obscenely pretty he is?"
Lutrian blinked, placing a polite hand to his chest. "Uh, thanks? I think?"
Roy shot him an apologetic look, then turned to Takara. "Calm down, okay? Lutrian's teaching me magic. Don't get all—"
"Oh, well excuse me," she huffed, "I only spent the past month busting my knuckles in brutal rune-training with that old coot wizard. I fix things, I can fight now, too! Look." She flexed her gauntlets, a faint crackle of arcane energy sputtering across the metal.
Roy rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, Takara, you know it's not about you not being strong—"
"Then prove it!" she fired back. "Give me a slot on your ship. I'm not leaving until I get a chance."
They locked eyes for a tense moment, her fiery glare practically daring him to say no. Finally, Roy threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine! You want in? You've got one shot—one. If you can keep up in the next battle we face, then you can stay for good. Deal?"
"Yes!" Takara pumped a fist, gauntlets sparking. "Finally! That wrinkly old mage nearly killed me a hundred times, but now I can do this—" She jerked her wrists; one of the runes glowed, crackling with miniature lightning. "And that's just a taste of my new bag of tricks."
Roy looked from her shining gauntlets to the determined glint in her eyes. He gave a hesitant nod. "All right, you're in… on probation."
"Good enough," she said, half-smirking. She shot Lutrian a sideways look. "No offense, Prince, but I'm about to show Roy what real magic power looks like. Then we'll see who's teaching who."
Lutrian gave her a small, courteous smile. "Ah, I look forward to it."
And with that, Takara fell into step behind Roy, grin wide. "Thanks, Captain," she said softly.
Roy just shook his head, fighting an exasperated smile as they continued onward.
After introducing Lutrian to the rest of the village Roy decided to get a good look at the entire city. he stood atop a watchtower in the heart of Otherrealm, squinting at the horizon like someone expecting a pizza delivery.
Down below, the swirl of workers and freed slaves hauled wood beams and babbled in at least half a dozen languages. He also noticed that the Triplets' mansion had grown larger for some reason.
Even from up here, Roy could tell they were settling in nicely, enough food, water, and shelters to keep the complaining to a minimum.
Then he noticed a black column of smoke twisting up from the eastern cliffs a few miles from the outermost wall of Otherrealm. An old fortress hunched over there, sometimes trading with Otherrealm for random goods. Roy's stomach knotted as he reach to his ear to call Serenity and noticed his ear piece was missing.
He scrambled down the ladder, nearly tripping on the last few rungs, and flagged down a Base Model Presidroid who was serenely mixing cement. "Hey, you," Roy barked, "hop on comms with the Nightshatter. Tell Serenity to prep for launch. That smoke's giving me real 'incoming disaster' vibes."
As the Presidroid hustled off, Roy spotted Father Skeleton lurking behind a half-finished shed. The skeleton had at least six huge fish flailing in his bony hands. "Oi!" Roy hissed, "didn't I tell you not to let the townsfolk see you rummaging around?" Father Skeleton clacked his jaw in fake innocence. "Just ensuring no fish go to waste, dear master!" Roy waved him off with an exasperated groan. The skeleton's shenanigans could wait—right now, Roy had bigger problems to chase.
Within minutes, Roy was back on the Nightshatter's bridge, sitting comfortably in the captain's chair. Washington and FDR flanked him, while Serenity's soothing voice piped through the speakers: all systems "good to go."
Outside on deck, Teddy and Lincoln strolled around, occasionally waging epic rock-paper-scissors matches as they crossed paths. Lutrian loitered near a window, practicing subtle bursts of light magic as he tried not to look mystified by all the unfamiliar technology around him. Takara lingered nearby, fiddling with glowing runes on her new gauntlets. Meanwhile, Eryndra fidgeted around the overhead weapons panel, which Roy suspected she was only pretending to know how to use.
Roy cleared his throat, projecting confidence. "All right, team, let's find out what's making that fortress look like a barbecue gone wrong. Full speed along the coast."
Engines rumbled. The Nightshatter knifed through the waves, external cameras feeding Roy a steady shot of the shoreline. Soon, they spotted the culprit: a bronze-red dragon wheeling over a clifftop fortress, belching flames across the ramparts. Thick, ugly smoke climbed skyward.
Roy leaned into the mic. "Serenity, prep a test-fire from the main battery. Maybe we can scare it off before it roasts everything."
The cannons barked thunder, shells streaking toward the dragon but the beast twisted and rolled, dodging with ridiculous agility. Roy watched, pulse drumming.
"This thing's not your typical 'slow-lumbering-lizard type,'" Roy muttered. "Look at those wings—it's zipping around like a flaming hummingbird from the underworld."
A presidroid burst into the room carrying a small platter. "Captain, your sandwich."
Roy took the sandwich with a smile and gestured to Eryndra as he took a large bite. "Don't let Takara die, but give her a chance to prove herself."
"Time to head out," Eryndra said as she looked to Lutrian and Takara.
Lutrian looked calm, like it was just another day. Takara on the other hand, she looked as if she was about the skydive for the first time. They quickly left the bridge and jumped to the deck. Takara triple checked her runic marking and readied herself.
Suddenly, the dragon pivoted and hurtled straight for the Nightshatter. Sheets of fire raked the upper deck. Takara, voice shaking, stepped forward, runic gauntlets flaring in bright cyan. She mustered a trembling shield against the scorching breath, stammering, "I-I… I'm here for support!" Her arms quivered, but she didn't drop them.
Eryndra launched herself off the deck toward the beast, only to catch a punishing swipe from the dragon's hind leg. She flew off-course and plummeted toward open water.
Takara yelped and dove after Eryndra, glowing circles manifesting under her feet in midair. She managed to snag Eryndra by the arm and redirect them both toward the deck, landing in a hard crouch, panting.
Eryndra barely paused, she sprang right back to the fight, only to get smacked aside again by the dragon's thrashing limbs. Lutrian, anticipating the chaos, dashed across the railing, conjuring a shimmering shield of light that floated above his arm. Eryndra tumbled onto that magical barrier like a springboard, and Lutrian grunted, channeling more mana to keep it steady.
Eryndra rebounded off the shield with a fierce roar, crashing full force into the dragon's flank. Both of them slammed into the side of the cliff and tumbled down in a tangled mass of scales and fury, kicking up plumes of sand when they slammed onto the narrow beach.
"Nice team-up, people!" Roy shouted through the comm, half-proud, half-freaked out. "Now don't get yourselves killed, okay?"
From the monitor's feed, Roy saw the dragon lurch to its feet. Eryndra clung to its side, covered in sand but relentless. Takara vaulted off the deck yet again, runic circles lighting her path down, dropping onto the shore with wobbly determination.
Lutrian launched a volley of light arrows as he jumped off the ship. The dragons rapidly flapping wing easily knocked them away. It took a large breath and its gut glowed a dark red. Takara stepped in front of Lutrian as he landed and drew lines in the air to form a runic shield.
"I am here for support!" Takara yelled as the dragon unleashed a stream of fire.
Lutrian prepared to grab her but stopped. The blaze impacted the runic shield and it held firm. Takara repeated the runic pattern and another shield layered itself behind the first one.
Lutrian quietly clapped behind her. "Nicely done, I haven't seen runic lines of that quality in a very long time."
Light began flashing from Lutrian right arm as he began gathering energy. His arm started to shake as he lifted it and aimed over Takara's shoulder. "Don't move, Takara."
"Huh?" Takara said as she saw a bright flash zoom over her shoulder. It pierced and shattered her shields and cleaved the stream of fire in half before impacting the dragon in its mouth, shattering its teeth.
The enraged dragon reared back, maw blazing for another strike when suddenly a bolt of frost-laced lightning tore across the beach from inland, drenching the dragon in shimmering, crackling ice. The stunned beast roared one last time before its scales froze and shattered. Eryndra, Takara, and Lutrian all reeled back, gaping at the remains.
Then a woman strode into view, black dust sparking with unfamiliar energy swirling around her. Roy's gaze snapped to the screen. She looked suspiciously like Eryndra but with elf like ears and a long black robe that seemed to cast a dark shadow from its surface, at least in that half-lit shot. "Keeper, it's done," the woman murmured.
Another figure stepped out, a lanky guy wearing a sneer like it was the latest fashion. Roy tensed so hard he nearly broke the console. That was Yance, one of Roy's old classmates, and the one who'd first led the bullying squad back in middle school. Roy's stomach twisted at the memory.
Keeper shoved the woman aside. "I never said you could do that, Zehrina" he growled. Then he sneered at Eryndra. "And you, cheap imitation, stay out of my way."
On the bridge, Roy hovered a finger over the weapons console. His chest burned with fury. "Somebody let me blow him up just once," he snarled through the ship's speaker. "Please?"
Down on the shore, Keeper laughed, a nasty sound that grated on Roy's nerves. "Aww, Roy, still whining like a loser?" He spat. "Back off, or else."
Roy trembled with anger, ready to mash the big red button until Lutrian popped into the camera's view, calmly raising his arms. "Captain Gunn," came his steady voice over the link, "don't. Not worth it."
Roy swallowed hard. As much as he hated to admit it, Lutrian had a point. Raining bullets on the coastline to settle an old grudge would be beyond overkill. Sighing heavily, Roy ground his teeth, forcibly reining himself in.
Keeper rolled his eyes. "Let's go, Zehrina," he said, kicking her again because apparently walking at an incorrect pace was a mortal offense. Then, in a burst of swirling black dust, both of them vanished, leaving the battered beach eerily quiet.
Takara let out a long, shaky breath. Eryndra's fists stayed clenched, as if she were replaying how close she'd come to knocking Keeper's head off. Roy slumped against the console, heart hammering. Washington lowered the large sniper rifle he hard aimed, FDR stepped away from the CIWS targeting system like they'd just defused a bomb.
"Ugh," Roy groaned. "Fine. Let's go see if that fortress needs a med kit. Then we're out."
He glanced at the screen again, seeing Takara kneeling, panting, her gauntlets still crackling with residual rune energy. Eryndra dusted herself off, looking ready to punch something that wasn't there. Lutrian hovered protectively, glancing around for more threats.
Roy thumbed the loudspeaker. "Okay, Presidroids, tend to any wounded up there, then regroup. We're heading home once we're done."
He exhaled, every muscle screaming with bottled rage. Keeper's mockery still stung, but at least Roy hadn't unleashed catastrophic warfare over a personal grudge. Maybe next time, he told himself bitterly. One day, Keeper would face the full thunder of the Nightshatter. But for now, Roy had to take the high road—no matter how badly he wanted to flatten that smug jerk into the sand.