Gidget glared at the machine, frown and eyebrows scrunched.
"...what is it?"
Garin made an offended noise. "It brews tea! How is that not obvious?"
The little inventor straightened her glasses and looked at him and the...brewing pot.
"I fail to see how this contraption is meant to brew tea."
It honestly looked like it was slapped together parts, welding marks looking more like globs than actual lines. Gidget was slightly concerned that this was the work of the master smith of Oshara. It appeared to not have a container for water and no place for a cup to catch the tea itself.
Garin was busying himself with another project. He and the archer were gathered around two pieces of wood that looked like they had recently been a bow. Made sense. Luc had a large quiver on his back, fairly standard for most archers, but what caught her attention were the small compartments on his thighs. Arrows fletchings were poking out over the lips of each of them, full to the brim. Judging by the depth of boxes, they were nearly as long crossbow bolts. Gidget had only seen Luc with a longbow – knives as well. He had a good eye with both.
"Garin, I'm telling you," Luc was saying, "I fell off Kaido and crashed through some trees."
"Why did you even fall off Kaido, to begin with? Luc for as long as I've known you, you're one of the best fliers in this country," Garin scolded, his hands hovering over the bow.
Gidget edged closer, stepping over Garin's large land dragon – wingless and covered in thick muscle – and examined the bow closer. It was interesting, the inner part had been lined with a metal alloy, keeping the curve of each arm perfect. The handle had been what snapped, no metal to protect it.
"What's so special about it?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose.
Luc looked over at her and then back to the bow. "Well, not only is it Garin's best work, it's literally one of a kind."
"Aren't all bows one of a kind? No piece of wood is ever the same." Kierce tittered on her shoulder, tail poking her cheek and chiding Gidget for being blunt.
The archer took a deep breath, counting seconds before releasing it slowly. Thankfully for him, Garin stepped in.
"I could have done better, but we were in the middle of a military camp, not my smithy, Luc." Garin turned to Gidget and smiled gently. "But to answer your question, Gidget, this bow is special because of how it's made. The wood is Glacier wood, pretty hard to get ahold of since those trees are in deep into the Warps."
Gears turned in her head. Glacier wood was also fairly hard to form correctly, let alone carve out. The curve of Luc's bow was deep compared to other longbows, and the tips were curved back. While Luc was an excellent shot, this bow didn't have much for distance, opting more for accuracy from what Gidget could tell.
She looked up at Luc who was still pouting, sort of. He was making a face; she couldn't tell what expression he was going for at the moment. "What's your longest shot?"
Luc glanced down at her, Kaido eyes guarded. "Seventy-five yards. Stationary."
Gidget picked up one of the ends of the bow, eyeing the curve. Just as she thought. Luc had chosen to go more with accuracy than distance, and if they were going to be infiltrating Athal in any way, shape, or form, they were going to need him from a distance. That distance was nothing to scoff at though, still fairly impressive for a marksman.
"If we make the curve shallower, you could up your distance to a hundred yards easy," she said as she set the piece down. "The farther away you are from the target the greater the chance we will have success. Take them by surprise as they say."
Garin ran the numbers through his head and nodded. "She's got a point, Luc."
The archer chewed his lip, looking between them and the bow. He knew Garin cold simply fix this with a new handle, it wasn't as if the arms of the bow were damaged. A new bow meant relearning. Each bow had its tendencies and he had had this one for years. And Glacier wood was hard to come by, none of the smiths he had visited over the years had any.
Not to mention that changing the curve, changed the draw length. All of the custom arrows Garin had made for him would be useless.
But that inventor with the small dragon had a point. His job was going to be taking down guards so Vaal could break in.
"Guess you're going to have to redesign these too, bud." He pulled out an arrow and extended it to its full length. He saw Gidget's eyes light up with excitement.
"So that's how those work," she whispered. She held out her hand to see it. Luc handed it over to her.
Garin rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "That's an easy fix, just add another segment."
"Do you still have Glacier wood here, Garin? Or should I go make a trip to the Warps?" Luc crossed his arms and leaned back onto another workbench.
"Only have enough for a short bow, but I know a guy in Droskyn who might have enough. Name's Rov."
"I'll keep an eye out for him then." Luc's eyes flashed with recognition but didn't elaborate.
Gidget tuned them out as they continued to talk about who would have what. From what she knew, Droskyn had a black market for everything if you were looking hard enough. A trip out there had cost her and Kierce a month's worth of work just for a part that barely yielded any results. The ends didn't justify the means, so Gidget never went back.
The arrow she held in her hands was interesting. It had a twisting and locking mechanism built into it, so when Luc pulled it quickly out of his pouch it would automatically extend to its true length. But what really held her interest was the threading at the head. Carefully she unscrewed the arrowhead, avoiding the sharp edges. Currently, the arrow was equipped with a broadhead, meant for doing as much damage as possible.
"Luc, do all of your arrows have different tips?" She pushed up her glasses as she interrupted the men's conversation.
"Uh, yeah. I have some target heads and silent ones. Garin thought they were a good idea."
Gidget laughed, and both Luc and Garin took a step back.
"I have so many ideas for this."
Kierce rolled her eyes. You just have a thing for explosives.
The inventor didn't say anything to that but screwed the broadhead back onto the arrow shaft before handing it back to Luc. "It will be interesting to see what we can do with these."
Luc took back the arrow, collapsing it back down. "Why do I get the feeling she's going to design a bomb..."
Garin laughed lightly. "At this point, I wouldn't put it past her."
Gidget smiled up at them. "Great! Because I already have ideas."
"Well, we better get started then, shall we?" Garin smiled back. "Fayne, light the forge."
The great hulking pale gold mass spat a glob of combustible spit at the forge, lighting it in seconds. The smithy started to warm up and the three of them set to work. Garin managed to find the plans for Luc's bow all the way back from when they first designed it along with the plans for the different arrowheads. Gidget started to scrawl all over them, making finer adjustments, as well as drawing out plans for the new arrowheads. The two of them bouncing ideas and designs as lightning quick speed, leaving Luc to sit and watch them, a fond smile on his face.
He missed having a team.
. . .
The three of them decided it would be best for Garin to build Luc a short bow for the time being. Vayra was pressing them to go recruit more people, and Garin refused to let Luc go anywhere unarmed. Luc had argued that he was just as handy with a sword or knife as he was a bow, but Garin was an immovable object. Eventually, after their heated arguing died down, Vayra and Vaal agreed that they felt more comfortable with Luc having a bow in his hands than a sword and shield.
Over the course of the next few days, Garin spent all of his time carving and shaping the Glacier wood into the shape of a bow. It was a foot and a half shorter than Luc's original, but he was able to make it so it had the same draw length, saving him the time for making new arrows. By the third day, it was done, and it was just as beautiful and graceful as the longbow Luc originally had.
That same day, Vaal found Luc in the training yard, shooting arrow after arrow at targets spread in a haphazard array.
The archer had forgone a shirt in the heat of midday. He had wrist guards and gloves on each hand and a quiver strapped to his back. His dragon was sunning itself in the grass a few yards away, tail flicking, and gold eyes tracking each arrow. Luc was shooting at an impressive speed, faster than he had been while he was in the military. Vaal had only encountered him once during the war and Sycra had escaped with severely bruised scales that took two weeks to heal.
The last arrow buried itself in the bull's eye of the farthest target, the shaft still quivering as Luc lowered his bow and released a deep breath.
"I see your eye is still as good as it was seven years ago," Vaal commented from the side.
Luc turned and faced him, a grin in place. "Seven years? Damn, I thought it was shorter than that."
Vaal stepped onto the training field and eyed each of the targets. Nearly all of them had arrows deep into their centers. He found himself glad that Luc was the one watching his back now, for too long he had been putting his trust only into his dragon.
"It was two years before the war ended when we both met. Sycra still remembers where you hit her."
Luc carded a hand through his hair, his bangs sticking straight up from all the sweat. "Sorry about that. Clearly, I didn't do any lasting damage or else she would have a grudge against me."
Vaal raised an eyebrow. "Who's to say she doesn't?"
Luc clutched the bow to his chest and glanced up at the sky. "There's no – Vaal, she doesn't actually –?"
The captain laughed and shook his head. "No, she harbors no ill will against you as far as I'm aware. Kaido on the other hand..."
The dragon sat up, blue eyes narrowing at Vaal. Luc broke out into laughter, a hand clutching his stomach.
"Oh, there is no way I'm repeating that to him, Kaido. I'd like to keep my face." His smile was bright, and Vaal was smiling too.
There was something about Luc that just brought out the better in people. Vaal chalked it up to his charisma, much like his own. The boyish nature relaxed people, inviting them in, and the protectiveness made them feel safe.
Hopefully the people they were about to go find tomorrow were the same way.
Vaal sobered up quickly, Vayra's latest request sitting at the forefront of his mind. "You're prepared to leave in the morning, yes?"
Luc nodded. "Now that the bow is ready, we can go anytime." He slung the bow over his shoulder, parallel to his quiver.
"Then I shall see you at rounds tonight." He turned to leave.
"Vaal, wait." Luc grabbed his elbow, stopping the captain. "If we are leaving in the morning, you shouldn't do rounds tonight. I saw Sven lounging around today, he can do them."
"And why should Sven cover rounds?"
Luc sighed, letting go of Vaal's arm and planted it on his hip. "Look, Droskyn isn't the nicest place, and you need to keep about yourself. Taking midnight rounds is going to get you killed."
Vaal frowned. "Droskyn can't be anything worse than the Empire, Luc."
Kaido fire burned into him, Luc's gaze hot. "Captain, trust me when I say this: you do not go to Droskyn on less than a night's sleep. We will only have ourselves there, dragons aren't allowed at all."
That was new information. "Why didn't you say this when we met a few days ago?"
"Because her Highness wouldn't have let us anywhere near that place if I had. The best men and women we need for this are going to be in Droskyn's Keep." Luc took a steadying breath. "It's filled with mercenaries that have everything against the Empire. Some even have issues with Oshara."
Vaal considered the way Luc was staring him down, jaw set and eyes never leaving his. He sighed and nodded his head. "I'll talk to Sven and Katya. They should be able to cover the rounds."
The archer sighed, shoulders dropping. "Thank you, Vaal. You will see what I mean when we get there."
The captain clapped Luc on the shoulder, granting him a smile for his efforts. "I appreciate the caution, Luc."