Haku was able to train his new guinea pig well. Within a few days of that first confession, the fairy had no problem rattling off information without Haku even trying to experiment on her. It was enough for the dragon to show her the weapon, the potion, the tool or whatever else it was, and Freyar immediately began to list each of its properties, its uses, its powers and even its manufacturing method.
Haku intended to get every single drop of knowledge the fairy could provide. After all, he had long ago learned that knowledge was power. Ethan's diary had given him the knowledge he needed to deal with the ogres and faeries and to outline the plan for his and his siblings' survival. If one single individual could provide so much knowledge, why limit just to Ethan? Freyar was a level gold druid, so her magical knowledge must have been extraordinarily vast. If Ethan's diary had helped him strategically, the information he could get from Freyar would have helped him magically. The more he learned, the more chances he had of protecting himself from a mage in the future.
Freyar was now at his complete disposal. After she realized that by talking she would have avoided pain she became particularly long-winded. Haku had rewarded her by not torturing her, and he even started giving her better food. Within just a few days, she had broken completely and she had become totally incapable of lying to him. She even seemed to have lost her own will, obeying every order and answering every question without even hesitating.
Within a few days Haku had learned how to use almost everything he had stolen from the fairies. Finally he asked the question he had long wanted answered: he took the strange magical sphere that Darbi had stolen from the ambassador and showed it to the fairy.
That orb had worried Haku for a long time. If the ambassador had it with him and wanted to use it after their attack, surely it must be something very valuable. He'd tried to compare the runes on the smooth surface of the sphere with those on the weapons he'd already tested, but he'd never found any correlation. This orb was something completely new and exotic, and he absolutely wanted to know how it worked.
Freyar didn't need to be questioned again and as soon as she saw the sphere she began to speak. "That's called 'therfer'. It's a name derived from the ancient language of the fairies which translated means 'portable gate', or simply 'gate'. It's an extreme way of salvation" she said. "It's used to teleport"
Haku narrowed his eyes "Teleport?" he asked, not having understood what that word meant, although he could imagine by how it sounded.
Freyar hastened to explain as best she could: "It allows the one thay use it to travel from one point of the world to another, provided that the user has already physically been to the destination. I don't know exactly the process, but it seems that it accumulate so much mana that it break the barriers of space itself. Using it, it is possible to escape even from a desperate situation, covering hundreds or even thousands of kilometers in a single instant"
Haku twisted the sphere in his paws. His eyes shone: if it was true, he had found a real treasure! That orb could potentially be his and his siblings' lifeline if they ever ran into a desperate situation! It would have been really handy for him, for example, to have it when the humans had captured him and Darbi! If that orb could indeed transport them to various places at will, then he and his siblings could call themselves even safer! "How I can use it?" he asked anxiously, fearing that it would have been necessary to use mana or something, which would have prevented him and his brothers and sisters from using it.
But fortunately Freyar's explanation didn't take into account the use of mana at all. "You have to visualize in your mind the place where you want to go, then you have to break the sphere"
Haku nearly put on a stupid expression. "That's all?" he asked, not understanding how such a powerful and precious object could be so easy to use.
"The portable gate is designed to be quick. It is used to get out of desperate situations, where there is no time to use magic. Therefore all the spells necessary to activate it are already present in the sphere, the user only needs to know where to go. For this reason, someone can only teleport to places they already visited physically, because it is necessary that the mind remembers that precise place in detail, not that it has only heard of it or read it in books" Freyar explained.
Haku reflected. Actually, the fairy ambassador didn't have any powers, or at least she hadn't displayed any, so he should have figured out by himself that it wasn't necessary to use mana to activate the orb.
This was flattering. Sure, the condition that he and his siblings could only teleport to places they have already visited greatly limited their travel options, but it could be fine if it served to escape from something dangerous. "I see. If it's so easy to use, why didn't you fairies use this to go to the ogres? I'm sure that among you fairies there are some who have been to their camp before, or somewhere close by"
Freyar shook her head, or at least seemed to do it; it was hard to tell now that she almost hadn't her shoulders anymore. "It's easy to use, not to make. To create a single portable gate you need to absorb mana for at least thirty consecutive years, and you need at least ten mages to prepare the spells correctly, and each of these mages must be at least a level mithril. This is why portable gates are considered very precious goods. The royal family only owns a hundred of them. The queen had entrusted one to ambassador Dharia so that in case the negotiations went badly she could escape and bring back what she had discovered"
Haku nodded. He didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed: so few portable gates meant he and his siblings were unlikely to have to worry about that eventuality in the future, but it also meant he couldn't get any more very easily. "Mh. So they're really valuable. What are they usually used for?"
Freyar seemed to think about it for a moment. "I can't say for sure, because this matter was beyond my competence. However, I know that they are used by spies, who have to discover the enemy's weak points and therefore infiltrate in their territory, or by members of the royal family to escape to case of emergency"
Haku reflected on those words. "So ordinary people or soldiers don't have them?"
"No. Maybe some general… but that's unlikely, and it would in any case be a gift from the queen. Portable gates are too valuable to be private, all those that are created must be turned over to the royal family" Freyar replied.
"Okay. What about ogres? Can they make things like these?" Haku asked again. He doubted that was the case, but he preferred to know for sure.
As he had guessed, Freyar immediately denied: "Not at all. Portable gates are a knowledge possessed by very few races, and fairies are one of them. While many races, especially humans, aspire to know their secret, they do not they never succeeded. I've read in some books that some other races, like elves and dryads, were able to create them, but in this corner of the continent there aren't many elves and dryads, and anyway we fairies aren't used to abandon our forest, and therefore I have never been able to verify that information"
Haku didn't mind discovering the secret of the sphere. He didn't care how to make one. After all, according to Freyar's description, it would have taken him at least thirty years to build another one, and by that time he would have grown into an adult dragon and he would hardly have needed the portable gate to survive. Also, once he became an adult dragon, he could simply steal more of these objects or force someone to craft them for him. After all, who would have been stupid enough to say no to a full-grown dragon? Just a madman or someone who would have had a strong desire to die. In any case, Haku had no reason to learn how to build the portable gate, either now or in the future.
What mattered for the moment was that it was a good tool for getting by in the outside world. However, there was a problem he had to solve, or he could pay dearly for his escape. "Can this portable gate carry more than one creature at a time?"
He absolutely had to know. If the gate only worked for one living being, then it would have been almost useless for him. Haku had no intention of leaving any of his brothers or sisters behind, even if his survival would have depended on it. Therefore he had to know immediately how many individuals the sphere could carry, or he could have found himself completely alone while his siblings were left at the mercy of a danger hundreds of kilometers away. If that had happened, he probably would have preferred to kill himself.
Fortunately Freyar gladdened the fear in his heart. "As far as I know, the portable gate transports any living thing within a three meter radius, including plants or even mushrooms. You just have to put a finger within the radius and you are teleported"
In his head Haku sighed with relief. Both he and his brothers and sisters were much longer than three meters, but if all they had to do was insert a finger inside the enclosed space, then they could easily teleport all together. It would have been a little complicated, but it was still doable. He didn't have to risk leaving anyone behind. "Anyway, I understand this portable gate only works once"
"Yes, since the sphere must be destroyed" Freyar replied.
Haku reflected. If so, then he only had one attempt since he only had one portable gate. Perhaps he should have organized a theft and stolen others? No, too risky. If they were kept by the royal family, then there was no way to get them without having to infiltrate the fairy town, which was basically impossible. He had to be patient and meticulous; throwing himself headlong into the royal fairy palace would only have leaded him to certain death. He needed a more subtle plan. "Mph. Good. That concludes my experiments. I know enough"
Haku raised one of his claws, bringing it to the fairy's throat. "You can thank your gods. If I could choose, I would keep you here for a long, long time, so that I could gain much more knowledge. I still have so many questions… but sadly, I don't have time anymore. I will have to leave this place soon, so I can't have one more mouth to feed, not to mention that it would be very difficult to find another cave so well hidden in a short time. So I will take your life now. Rejoice, you won't have to suffer anymore" and while he said so he cut her jugular.
"Finally..." was the only thought Freyar's mind was able to conceive as her life faded away. Her body remained motionless, dangling from the ceiling still tied to the liana.
Haku sighed. He really would have preferred to keep the fairy alive. After all, having a druid expert in magical knowledge wasn't a bad thing at all. There was so much he wanted to know: how magic really worked, how to cast spells… so much. Freyar could have helped him a lot. With a lot of effort he could even break her enough to turn her into his slave.
Unfortunately, however, soon he and his siblings would have had to leave the valley, and already they had to take the young ogre away with them to continue blackmailing Sarpa. Another dead weight wasn't exactly ideal. What's more, once out of the valley they had to be silent, so he couldn't torture the druid.
Haku knew for sure that the time to leave would have came soon. Both he and all of his brothers and sisters had noticed the signs. Neytiri had started acting strange, much more aggressive than before.
In fact, by now the little dragons were almost three months old. Which meant it was only a matter of days before their mother's maternal instincts completely faded and she chased them off her territory.