Give Me a Sword and a Thousand Words: Lyra - "Double-crossed"

“Are you cold?” 

The red-haired demon girl wrinkled her nose. “Of course not! Do you think I would be weak to such a thing?”

Scap blinked, his deadpan expression clearly communicated even through the mask. “I mean, there’s snow everywhere. And you’re wearing this… heavy coat.” He doubted it was even a coat. Arctic parka, maybe.

“Well, once we’re inside the caves, I’ll take it off.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “And why do you look like you were dragged backwards through a windstorm? Or like you just got out of bed after a rough night?”

Shards, did he look like such a mess? He combed his hand through his hair, then tried smoothing out the creases on his rumpled shirt. “Long story.”

The entrance to the Aurora Forge was tucked into a mountain cleft, completely incorporated into the natural surroundings, save for its rectangular sign sticking out of the mountain side.

A brown-skinned man with short, streaked gray hair opened the door as Scap and Lusabeth were still a good distance away..

“Mister Everlake? We’re not late, are we?” Scap panted, putting on a burst of speed to catch up. Lusabeth didn’t run after him, but at least she picked up her walking pace by a bit.

Everlake smiled. “No, you’re not. But the earlier you get started, the better. Already have someone here ready for debrief.”

Someone else on the team? Scap wondered. Wonder who that could be–

He followed Everlake inside and immediately recognized the pale saurian leaning against the wall. “Hal?”

The masked Mim’ver turned to look over his shoulder. “Scap? Oh hey kid, funny we should cross paths here. Did you ever buy that new blender?”

Scap rubbed the back of his neck. “I, er– not yet. I haven’t had a chance to visit someplace with an appliance store.” Not to mention, he planned to earn back at least enough Gold to make up for what Hal had given him. “What are you doing here?”

“You know, some adventuring in the new portal. Lyra is beautiful. Reminds me of my old home, with the mountains and the crisp wind.” Hal pointed at Scap. “Your turn. What are you doing here? You’d better not say that you’re trying to pay me back.”

Fine then, he wouldn’t say it. “This is… my first portal. All aspiring adventurers need to visit at least one before applying at the Guild, right?”

After a moment, Hal nodded. “I’ll take that answer.”

The door reopened with a crystal chime, letting in a bundled-up Lusabeth. She took off the puffy coat and left it in a heap by the threshold before looking up and seeing both Scap and Hal.

“What’s with the masks? Did you forget to include a dress code on the invite, because I’m feeling left out of the club.” She crossed her arms. 

Scap felt like messing with her. “No, we’re part of a super secret organization and we conspired to bring you here today.”

Lusabeth fixed a stare on Scap, her eyes flashing to purple. After a moment, she turned away. “Your sarcasm is great, but I know you’re too nice to be doing this stuff behind everyone’s backs.”

“Right? This kid would be a terrible criminal,” Hal chipped in.

“... I-I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended,” Scap stammered.

A sharp handclap brought their attention back to the man who had gathered them here in the first place. “And I am Leslie Everlake, Master Smith of the Aurora Forge. Now, with introductions and small talk out of the way, let’s go over some safety and housekeeping.”

Scap stood up straight to attention. “Yessir.”

Leslie handed out a couple of paper maps. “First things first, I managed to get new copies printed. I sent another group down to System Three earlier today when I ran out of maps, though one of them insisted he could navigate through the caves just fine on his own…”

 

---

 

Somewhere deep in the Lyra cave systems.

“Pakko knows where to go?” The big fluffy maned drake kept checking the walls and ceilings of the cavern, holding his wooden bow loosely at his side, but ready to pick it up when necessary.

The purple half-drakon lifted his crystal lantern and peered down one branching corridor. “Um… I think we went down this way already.”

A deep rumble echoed through the space. Paiko tensed, ears perking up.

“Sorry… was me.” Mistral looked down at his stomach.

“Did I hear a hungry belly?” From around the corner, a purple Draconis woman marched towards the other two, hefting a sack of crystals in one arm and a sack of something else in the other. 

Mistral perked up. Whenever Shikun was around, there was bound to be good food.

“Break time! Exploring is always better on a happy stomach,” Shikun announced, taking the second sack and plopping it down on the stony floor. “Come, Paiko! Shikun knows you are hungry too.”

He was hungry. Wandering for two hours, picking crystals, and getting lost sure worked up an appetite. “Thank you Miss Shikun.” He sat down and joined in on the impromptu picnic.

Okay, so getting lost wasn’t that fun, but being here with the other two draconic adventurers was far better and far more enjoyable than being alone. They made a pretty good exploring team. Mistral, the protector with his bow; Shikun, the strength and provider of snacks; Paiko, the scout and crystal finder.

If only he weren’t just kind of… a little bit… lost.

 

---

 

“So Hal, what’s behind the mask?” Lusabeth asked as they walked through the cavernous corridors. Scap bristled and turned around, giving her a pointed look that went completely unnoticed.

The Mim’ver didn’t seem to mind the question. “Just my face.”

“Can you show us ‘just your face’?” The demon girl leaned closer with the lantern.

“Lusi, you can’t just ask people to do that if they have something they want to keep concealed from prying eyes–”

She ignored Scap’s protests and continued to badger Hal. “If you take off your mask, Scappy here can show you his face.”

Okay, what? Now she was volunteering him against his will? Shards, if he hadn’t known this girl already, he wasn’t sure if he’d have the energy to deal with her. “Lusabeth–”

Even Hal spoke up now. “Whoa, if you’re curious about my face, I don’t mind showing you. Nothing special, see?” He lifted up the retro-fitted hockey mask to reveal a dinosaur-like face; white and freckled, black eyelids and glowing orange eyes. He grinned, showing sharp, carnivore teeth. “But if Scap doesn’t want to show his face, you can’t force him to.”

Scap sighed, feeling an obligation to remove his mask now that Hal had done so. “It’s no big deal– she’s seen it before, and it’s only fair that I return a sign of trust, right?” 

He loosened the sash that kept it secure around his head and pulled the mask away from his face. It felt so weirdly exposed… but somehow freeing.

“Nice face, kid. Don’t know why you hide it since there’s nothing to hide.” 

“Just used to it, I guess?”

Lusabeth clapped her hands together, causing her lantern to tilt and wobble erratically. “See, boys? That wasn’t so hard.”

Hal glanced at Scap, then at Lusabeth. “Do you two have history?”

Immediately, the cavern exploded into simultaneous shouted statements:

“We’re just a little bit friends! Just a little bit, okay?”

“This is only an obligatory accompaniment–”

Hal backed away with his hands halfway raised. “Okay, okay. I shouldn’t say any more on that topic, clearly.” He reached for a horn-shaped container at his hip, unscrewing the top and dumping it into the coffee mug he’d been carrying this whole time.

Scap sniffed the air, picking out an unfamiliar (and certainly inedible) smell. “What is that?”

“Black powder. Y’know, the kind you use for ammunition.”

Lusabeth snickered. “That sounds worse than the shake I gave you, Scappy.”

“Well, I’m not judging. People have their own food preferences.” Scap lifted his nearly-empty sack and scanned the walls. “We should probably get back on track collecting crystals.”

“What crystals? I haven’t seen any for the last twenty minutes.”

The lantern’s light flared up with Lusabeth’s fire magic, illuminating a larger portion of the caves. Glittering minerals present in the rocks winked back in the firelight, but it was otherwise devoid of the vibrant crystal clusters meeting Everlake’s criteria.

Hal walked over to one of the walls and touched its surface. “Yep, there were crystals here before. Doesn’t look like they were chipped off with tools, though. No pickaxe marks or scratches.”

Curious. Scap went over to look for himself. Hal was right– there were indentations where crystal growths once existed, but it seemed they were yanked directly out of the stone, broken off with sheer force. It took care of what Everlake had said about not chipping the crystals.

But what kind of being had the strength to do that?

“Think some competing groups are down here as well?” Hal asked.

Scap shook his head. “Everlake mentioned only one group that went down a few hours before us. And I don’t think he’d send us into an empty cavern system just so we can walk around aimlessly.”

A huge, clawed shadow on the wall startled Scap for a moment, before he realized it was Lusabeth wiggling her fingers spookily in front of the lantern. “Didn’t that guy also say to watch out for cave beasts and the like? That would be fun, heheh.”

“That’s your idea of fun–”

“Actually,” Hal said, “fighting a cave beast is my type of adventure.”

With a resigned shake of his head, Scap knew he was outnumbered on this opinion. “Let’s just… keep walking.”

 

–--

 

Full stomach. Mmm.  “Thank you again, Shikun.” Paiko arched his back and sighed in contentment.

“Thank you,” Mistral echoed, with a mouth still full of food. He swallowed, then picked up his bow again.

“Always my pleasure to make hungry people happy!” Shikun packed up the leftovers into the food sack and slung it over her shoulder. The other sack, bulging with crystals, clinked as it shifted.

Paiko eyed the huge sack with wonder. “Is it heavy? Need help?”

The short, muscled Draconis woman only smiled and waved him away. “Nonsense! This is nothing– Shikun could easily carry four more sacks like this!”

He didn’t doubt the truth of that statement. However, the system Mister Everlake had sent them to was all but cleaned out now. Paiko had located all the ripe, sturdy crystals in the area, and their harvest had been very successful. 

With his elemental ability used to loosen the rocks, he worked together with Mistral to pluck them from their places. Shikun was able to single-handedly pull out some of the large clusters on her own; after the first few instances, Paiko knew not to underestimate her strength.

“There are no more crystals down here, I think,” Paiko told them. “But, um… I do not remember the way out.” 

He snapped his mouth shut as his ears stood up, alert. Voices. Approaching them. Firelight growing stronger, coming from that corridor. Mistral noticed Paiko tense up, and he raised his bow slightly.

“Oh look, more people!” Shikun exclaimed, marching boldly in that direction. “Then we can ask them for directions! Hello adventurers–”

A party of three emerged from around the corner. One of the members, a red-headed girl with black horns, pointed at Shikun’s sack. “No way, is that where all the crystals are?”

“Shikun,” Hal said, giving a nod of recognition. Paiko recognized the dinosaur-like man. “Actually, I can’t say I’m surprised. Is that Paiko and Mistral over there too?”

Paiko waved to him. But who was that third person? He’d had his mask off for a split second, yanking it down before Paiko could catch his features. Still, Paiko recognized the mask itself. It was the guy from the fast food place who ordered the milkshake and got a lemonade instead, thanks to Paiko’s mistake.

Is he just really shy? Paiko couldn’t place the feeling of familiarity. Before he could dwell on the odd reaction, he heard the fiery lantern girl speaking.

“Look, we have maps, and you have a ridiculous amount of crystals,” the girl was saying. “How about we split half, and then we’ll go back up together?”

“What civilized powers of diplomacy you have, Lusabeth,” the masked boy said, scratching his neck and turning away.

Shikun thought for a moment, then looked back at Mistral and Paiko. They both nodded, and Paiko gave her a thumbs-up. No point in being lost any longer.

“Okay, sounds like a good deal!” the Draconis agreed, already moving the contents of her crystal sack to Hal’s empty one. 

She finished in no time. “Hope it isn’t too heavy for you!”

“Uh.” Hal tried to lift it. “Nah, it should be fine. Boy, will Everlake love this...”

 

2516 words

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Yes it's long but I combined them because it's more fun (and because I don't think Paiko's POV would've reached 1000 on its own hehh). Don't ask me why I saved the longest one for the last twelve hours before this portal expires, because I don't know either >v<

But it took the shortest amount of time to write, thanks to all the silly interactions ;)

Big thanks to MMNTheMighty (Hal), Ando (Lusabeth), Jakador (Mistral), and Bordayus (Shikun) for lending me your characters ^v^ Hope it was a fun adventure!