"Sir! Urgent report!" the spymaster shouted into his king's quarters. "We've spotted a dragon! Fire and all!"
There was a rustling within for a moment before Insopr bust open the door in a bathrobe.
"Where is that goddamn jester! I told him not to bother me late in the night!"
"Sir, I'm being serious, the Glider Corps were looking for Ingen when they spotted a forest fire. They flew to it only to see a dragon escape the scene. They just got back and we are hearing reports of a dragon approaching Gond."
Insopr blinked.
"Sir?"
With a shake of his head, he got to work mobilizing his forces to fight a dragon.
"Send Erald with the Glider Corps, if he is to be king after me, he will have to learn what he is sending his soldiers to do." The king considered something for a moment. "Send Yomo too."
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"Aren't we going to save the prisoners of Fort Lao?" Jerod said.
"Not just yet, we have to save the element of surprise for Gond. Since we had to fast-track the balloon, we didn't have a chance to stock up on food we will have to raid their food stores or we will starve before we can even rescue the prisoners."
"But what if they end up dying because we waited? Or worse, become agents under threat of Eneru starvation?"
"Well then, to be frank, it sucks to be them, if we pick them up, then they will just starve the normal way instead." I shrugged and continued checking for damage and finding none.
Jerold looked at me like I just ate someone's toes in front of him.
"What's that look for? I like your idealism, but it has no place in the real world." I said, a little unnerved.
He squinted at me "Why do you suddenly sound like Bella?"
I took a bite out of one of the sausages Bella made for the trip. "I don't know, I sound like I normally do."
'This sausage tastes terrible.' Meat still didn't fit in my pallet.
I walked off to make sure the propellers were working properly.
About an hour later we could see the dim lights of candles in Gond.
"Ok, we have to be extremely quiet, I'm going to go scout and maybe take out some guards," I said as my Changeling Armor became a mask and covered my fake arm.
I hopped off the airship, using just my Changeling Armor wings and without pressure manipulation. I slowly and quietly glided my way down to my hometown and landed with my Airsteppers.
'So far so good, I have yet to alert anyone to my presence.'
I walked with a hunchback and gave the impression of a weak old man who just got to town.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to turn around, we've heard word of a dragon in these parts." A guard spoke to me as I reached the edge of the town.
I used pressure manipulation to change my voice into a weak, shaky tone. "I- I don't think I could make it back again sonny."
I shivered a bit on purpose to seal the deal.
"Fine, just don't tell anyone I let you in."
He walked up and began guiding me to the inn, but I had other plans.
"Sorry, you're a good guy," I said as I knocked him unconscious with his armor and a bit of flow manipulation.
I dragged him into a hidden area and went on my way.
I connected my mind link to dad as I hid behind a wall to avoid a large guard patrol.
'They think we are a dragon and the guard has at least doubled, if not, tripled.'
'You can't smother that many at once without at least one sending a flare and they are sure to sound the alarm when they notice that you took out that last guard.' Spirit made one of his rare appearances.
'Don't worry, I have a plan.' I snuck in front of the patrol and constructed a drill.
'Please be quiet!' I silently hoped as I dug under the group and made the ground collapse.
I made a shell of low pressure to keep the sound from escaping and smothered all of the guards one-by-one.
'I'm going to name that and turn it into a runic spell, as it is right now it's too expensive to use regularly at this size.' I took a deep breath to calm myself and relieve the tension I just put myself through, then I connected my mind link. 'Ok, thirteen guards down. The guard of Gond is usually fourteen so if we assume it's been doubled, then it's twenty-eight. Considering this is a side-street, we might be facing an army, and I'm on a time limit.'
'Take out their leadership, we are going to cause as much chaos as possible. After that, we are going to play the role of the dragon.'
'I like it! Ingen, out.' I cut the link.
I changed my armor to fit me like a glove and colored it pitch black. I double-stepped onto one of the roofs with my Airsteppers and started running to the town square.
'Hehe, guards don't ever look up.' I thought.
"Hey? Did you see that?" A guard said as I passed them.
'Unless they're looking for a dragon! Dumbass, get low!' Spirit mind-yelled.
I slid down the roof and slowed my fall with my boots.
'These things are way more useful than I gave them credit for.'
I took a branch from a nearby tree and started making wands while I ran. Some of them I made to be "Get out of jail free" cards, like one that had a complicated fireball spell that was cast from my skin and took advantage of my fireproof Changeling Armor.
Others had a more strategic purpose, like a Flying Flare. The trick behind Flying Flare is that it isn't made of just runes, it requires flow manipulation to fuel it because it leaves my range far too fast for it to be useful as a pure spell. This means that I can cast it and leave it dormant for a time just by adding the rune 'Cron' which means time.
I had a bandolier of five wands by the time I made it to the square. In the square, Yomo, someone else in royal robes, and an old general stood around a table.
'Dad, this plan might not work out, Yomo's here.'
'You're going to have to knock all of them out.' He said. 'You can't kill any of them or they will be suspicious.'
'Got it.' I cut the link. 'Fuck! There are four guards all watching them. Time to go loud.'
I cast my delayed Flying Flare behind me and set it for ten seconds. I jumped out of my cover and shot an ice spear at two of the guards, impaling them. Before the remaining two could react, I shot two more and finished off the guards.
Now the trio were alerted to my presence and were not pleased.
I drew the runes Ignus, Nue, Rive, and a smokescreen appeared around me. I ducked out of it and into an alleyway.
I circled around and grabbed Yomo from behind.
"Go down and pretend you're dead," I whispered into his ear as I pretended to stab him.
I threw his 'corpse' away and charged at the man in royal robes.
The staff he was holding turned into a lance that would have pierced my heart had my armor not stopped it. I turned ever so slightly to reduce the impact as I got closer and the lance became a shortsword and he struck at my head. I dodged handily and used my arm to wrap around his mouth and nose while I dealt with the older general.
I tackled him to the ground and wrapped my armor around his face until he was out as well.
'I feel like a fucking ninja!' I thought as I panted.
I dragged the bodies to an alleyway, knocked out Yomo, and gave him a fake stab wound to seal the deal.
The flare had already gone off, making it look like the dragon had just killed their leadership, the guards scattered.