Tigra

Chapter 218: Ancient Horror

‘No no, can’t have it like that. It winches upwards, like a reverse drawbridge or the gunport on an old sailing ship,’ Tom’s sleeping mind thought to itself as the human drifted through the night's sleep, body aching with every movement as he shifted under the covers. He was sore from the day's exertions and minor accidents. His mind’s eye was busy with imagining just how to make the outer door of his wooden LEGO keep come to life. Hidden shafts and sprockets, thin line to connect t...

Chapter 217: Icetronic

As it turned out, digging a half ton dragon out of a snowdrift was really fucking hard work. Especially when you didn’t even have a goddamn shovel. He was sweating quite badly by the time Nik finally managed to wrench free a wing, and with some effort the second one soon followed.

Tom let himself fall back into the snow for a little rest. Now that his wings were free, it was the dragon’s job to actually get himself out, and Tom needed a quick rest. 

“Next time don’t f...

Chapter 216: Soft Yet Hard

“Five copper on the captain,” Tom said, leaning on the table in front of him in anticipation of some quality entertainment. He had even brought a bowl of some sort of nut they had in the pantry.

“I ain’t taking that,” Nik retorted, having laid down already, head resting on said table like an oversized dog.

“Oi! What the fuck, Nik! Have a little faith,” Elsara protested, looking up from securing the blade guard to her axes. It wouldn’t do to have them fall off mid-s...

Chapter 215: Home Explorers

It had taken several more days before the storm had finally started to subside, Tom taking Nik up on his offer to help bring in some more fuel for the fires despite the howling winds so they could keep a little warmer until it was finally over. Of their two arrivals he was finding the dragon a bit more reasonable, but at the very least he hadn’t caught Elsara sneaking around again after their first meal together.

She likely didn’t want to give any aspiring inquisitorial agents the e...

Chapter 214: Double Deception

Well Tom had certainly had an interesting chat with their latest two arrivals. They truly were the adventurous sort. The Indiana Jones duo of this world. One upside to all the crazy stories they had to share was that his own didn’t seem quite so unbelievable anymore by comparison.

Now he just had to convince Rachuck that all was well, a task more or less on par with convincing a hypochondriac that the cough they have was in fact not life threatening. 

“And they seem to ha...

Chapter 213: Cold Hearted

“Boy, I hope I’m right. They sounded alright though,” Tom muttered to himself as Rachuck retreated to the grand hall. All doors leading to the greeting hall had been barred just as planned. If it was a trick, they would be hard pressed to get inside any further, and even if they did they would have a psychotic captain armed with explosives to deal with.

Tom was armed as well of course: one revolver, one rifle, and two of the ‘fuck everything around’ grenades. If it was a trap,...

Chapter 212: Anybody Home?

‘Maybe I was a bit quick to dismiss Rachuck’s concerns about cabin fever.’ All told they had been stuck within the walls for weeks before the storm had rolled in, forcing the others into hibernation.

And now it was just the two of them and the wind, three days of howling without stop. The keep had officially been downgraded to below a Danish prison. Most of the time was spent in isolation, too. Rachuck could keep himself busy with herding snails, so with all the responsibilities o...

Chapter 211: Two Stooges

“So, on a scale of one to ten, how bad?” Tom asked as he stood panting, sword held low.

“Would you like me to be nice or harsh?” Rachuck questioned. The captain actually seemed less exhausted than the human, a testament to just how outmatched Tom was. The magic blade of the captain certainly helped immensely, but Tom mostly blamed the cold. He could even see his breath as they sparred in the grand hall. Rachuck didn’t even need to have his wings folded out behind him to shed t...

Special chapter: Honey Hunter

All winter they had been freezing to the bone. Alaya had barely scraped through it. It took till summer until she shook her sickness. It wasn’t as if they could ever afford to have a healer to care for them. Staying warm would always be cheaper and they couldn’t even afford that. But this year would be different.

Or so they had thought, spirits high as spring broke. And here they were. In the middle of summer and hardly a handful of coppers to their name. The same old jobs paying le...

Chapter 210: And Then There Were Two

“As you have all probably heard by now, there is a storm coming. As you can most likely hear, it has already started. Raulf is convinced it is going to be a bad one, a long one. You know how it goes in winter proper.” Nunuk said, addressing them all in the hall just as dinner was finishing up. Everyone had heard by now, but what had remained a mystery was if they would decide to ride it out or turn in. It seemed the decision had been made.

“Gonna get proper cold then? Like two yea...

Chapter 209: Chill in the Frost

The heat of the roaring fire, air thick with steam and smoke. Tom felt comfortable for the first time in some quite a while. His limbs still remembered the bite of the wind and how stiff and slow they had all been. His tail had been worst of all. He had feared it may well fall off, but as he clutched it the feeling was returning.

As he looked up from his warm comfy spot he did not understand what he beheld, yet he did. Perhaps it was Joelina who had no ability to comprehend what she was...

Chapter 208: Cold slumber

All good things must come to an end. And while it had been fairly fun to do their best impressions at sledding, it was time to head for home. Jarix was no longer making it up the hill at quite so sprightly a pace, and even Tom could tell that the last couple meters of his tail were stiff as a board. 

The dragon set a far more relaxed pace this time around through the ankle deep snow. It was more of a canter than a gallop, but they were still covering distance quickly. Dashin...

Chapter 207: Snow Devil

“What do you mean you wanna open the door, are you crazy? It’s cold out there!” Zarko protested, clearly not pleased with the dragon’s latest scheme.

Sapphire didn’t know what to say. It had certainly been an interesting sight to watch the human playing in the snow, and she had never seen a dragon do so before. Even if the whites were rather famous for it.

“Oooh come on, I’ve been in here for weeks now. I wanna stretch my legs a little bit before...

Chapter 206: Snow day

Things had been progressing well, pipes getting done, engine parts machined, everything being kept nice and warm inside for the time being. The freezer helped pad out the otherwise rather dull preserved foods they had in stock, along with all the oddball luxuries people had bought. Yesterday Jacky had treated him to the delightful invention that was smoked goat's cheese wrapped up in thinly sliced salt pork served with some sort of pickled root. It almost reminded him a bit of ginger crossed ...

Chapter 205: Second Try

‘Right here is to hoping that the machine gun wasn’t an omen… at least we have the door shut this time,’ Sapphire thought to herself as they once more stood assembled in the greeting hall for a demonstration. She knew Apuma and Linkosta had been working on this dragon magic for a while by now. Hopefully this wasn’t going to be the final culmination of those trials.

There was a decent amount of light out in the greeting hall with the various lamps lit, though ever since ...

Chapter 204: Nap Time

Sapphire had gone for firewood for the kitchen when she had noticed Paulin standing alone in front of Yldril seemingly mid-lecture. Unable to resist, she had ventured a bit closer, arms full of wood, to hear what was being said. 

“Now in your rest you would do well to ponder your position, dragon. You may believe things are going poorly, but I assure you this is the finest fate you could wish for. Was it up to me things would be far, far less pleasant,” Paulin spoke, authority ...

Chapter 203: Magic Pew Pew

“So whenever it gets too hot-”

“The pump shall activate, driving water around the barrel and a knife’s edge of the powder is dispensed into the loop,” Edita replied, the artificer looking mighty proud of herself as Tom inspected the handiwork.

She had been designing for weeks, and Shiva had finally been able to flex her skills on something she actually enjoyed. Many evenings had been spent carving, etching, and polishing the brand new cowling as well as the modified top ...

Chapter 202: Watch Your Six

IMPORTANT

We are having a competition. And you can all take part if you so desire. We are doing a writing prompt once more for HoH.

The prizes are three custom rock carvings done by LegalGraveRobber. first place get's first dibs. second place second dibs. and so forth you get the idea. We will ship them anywhere in the world to whoever wins on our bill. if you wanna go have a look at them, hit up the discord.

Submissions have to be sent to me before the 15th of November, af...

Chapter 201: Button Down

Following the departure of Baron, Grevi, and Tiguan, things had stayed busy at the keep. Sapphire had been no exception, working on salting and smoking the last supplies for Deriva. When they were complete, Jarix had been sent on his last trip of the year, the young blue taking on the deteriorating weather without much concern. No one was worried. He was a blue, and it wasn’t really a storm. His crew also had very nice winter gear available, so there should be little difficulty in ma...

Four Year Special

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On a windswept day long, long ago. Before, the skies would know the gilded heraldry of the royal guard, the Authority of the crown, the prying of the inquisition, or even the blight of the darkling. A bitter war was fought, the first war in the heavens. The first war of heaven and hell.

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“How long ’til arrival...

Chapter 200: See You Next Year

“Oooh, so you help Tom with all the things he is working on?” Tiguan questioned, attentively looking down at Edita as Holdey and Kiran were busy competing for who could get the furthest out onto Tiguan's horn. It was a very one sided competition with Kiran already hanging from the tip by one hand, Holdey barely having made it out from the base while clinging on with both arms. 

“Yes, I was sent here to assist him in his endeavours and to guide him on certain matters as...

Chapter 199: Way Station Bizmati

They managed to assemble a bit of a welcoming committee in time. A fair few of the people who had only just made it back inside to warm up came out once more, most not looking very happy about it. Sapphire had snuck a hot stone from the kitchen to keep under her shirt behind her back, wrapped up in cloth of course so she didn’t burn herself.

Grevi had come down in a dignified fashion, landing in front of Baron, who for his part was sitting proud. She had been flying in format...

Chapter 198: Tiguan Remembers

Chapter 198: Tiguan Remembers

“Tiguan… meet Yldril,” Tom said in a slightly strained tone, gesturing at the keep's newest addition. He had to raise his voice over the wind and faint rain, which was pitter-pattering against them all. The tension was palpable as the two black dragons stared each other down. Were it not for the wind and rain, one could have heard a pin drop.

It wasn't really a formal greeting committee, and a fair few had stayed inside...

Chapter 197: Call Center

Tom pondered the problem of how to insulate the freezer for a bit as Sapphire headed off. He thought he might just have a solution: sawdust. They definitely had plenty of it with all the construction going on, and it should work well enough. At least for a first attempt. Now he just needed to find the carpenter and ask him just where exactly they had put all the excess from cutting planks and beams. Hopefully they hadn’t burned it all.

He had tried to get released from carvin...

Chapter 196: Frozen Thorn

There was a strange cold feeling at the table as Tom looked around, all the people felt tense in the well-lit wide hall. He glanced at the many trophies lining the hall, his gaze landing on the big draconic skull hanging over the lord's table. ‘Huh… that wasn’t… wha?’

“You should smile more, Joelina,” a mocking male voice called out to his left. Turning, he recognized the weathered face of Inquisitor Harvik as he quickly snapped into lucidity. 

“And w...

Chapter 195: Ritual

To say Tom had been displeased following the failure of the hoist would be an understatement. Everyone had winced alongside him at the wet thunk of the magnificent wolf impacting the ground below.

Saph had a fair idea what a fall like that might do to a creature, her mind casting back to that one time Jacky had botched a takeoff attempt with a spotted deer and dropped it rather than risk crashing. It had not been pretty. 

The human had been cussing violently, an...

Chapter 194: Huntress Parade

“That cheating little… hmpf,” Sapphire grumbled to herself as Yldril came back carrying not only the nets Jarix and Glira had been using to hunt with, but no less than four large red deer. Not a single one of which was sporting an arrow shaft. “It was supposed to be you doing the hunting.”

“I know right,” Jacky agreed, apparently having heard, standing next to Saph in the dimly lit greeting hall. The sun was just setting on the horizon, torches flickering at their backs as...

Chapter 193: Break and Snap

Saph had to admit this was the least prepared she had ever been for a final hunt. Normally she would have scouted out herds, deer paths, or colonies well in advance, had a plan worked out of what to try for, ranked them all by order of likeliness, and overlapped search areas. But today, all she had was the fact that no one had a chance to recon since Galaxer arrived. And he was already gone again. At least they had gotten some work out of him first. 

The dragons had left first thin...

Chapter 192: Winter is Coming

The morning following the festivities had been a slow one. Edita had overslept for the first time ever, and everyone had sorta just let her snooze or were themselves paying for the drinks and sugar high of the day before. Tom wasn’t in a hurry either. Down below all he would get was more hard labor, though he was feeling just fine, so maybe the cider and the strange cactus liquor were safe to drink.

Colonel Hashaw was being rather understanding with them all, but the...

Chapter 191: Personal Possessions

As the sugar rush slowly consumed the artificer, her chatting turned to rambling and then into full on babbling as she slowly descended into the realms of incomprehensibility. She was talking so fast, and using words which Tom certainly did not understand. Judging by the faces around the table he wasn’t the only one, as there was a lot of headtilting and confused expresions going around.

Eventually Sapphire decided to re-ground the artificer into reality, asking “Do you thi...