Page 56 of Of Steel and Scale

Movement caught the edge of the long viewer’s glass. I turned the ring a fraction to sharpen the image again and saw the bird’s rider exit the metal tent, a bottle of some sort of green liquid in one hand and a long pipe in the other. He walked around the bird and took a seat on its claws; the bird shifted fractionally, and its chest feathers ruffled around the man, cloaking a good portion of his body. The man relaxed back, alternating between drinking and smoking.

These birds might be altered by magic, but the bond between rider and bird appeared to be a mutual one rather than enforced by magic.

Wear bands, Kaia said.

Bands?

On leg. Saw when attack.

The image of a metal ring encircling a scaly red leg flashed through my mind.It glowed; bird reacted.

I focused the long viewer on the bird’s legs, but it was partially sitting and its under feathers were fluffed up, concealing its legs. But there was a silver band similar to the image Kaia had sent on the rider’s left wrist.

Only one bird had ring, Kaia commented.

I frowned.How many attacked you?

Three.

Three of them. It was a wonder she and Gria had even survived.If only one had the ring, it’s possible it’s a communication device of some kind. Perhaps it’s a means of the lead bird and rider giving orders to the others.

Especially given the man wrapped in feathers had a similar band on his wrist.

Birds no speak? Drakkons smarter then.

Drakkons are definitely smarter, I agreed.

Something close to smugness rolled down the line between us. I smiled and shifted my stance, checking the peaks closer to Esan. I couldn’t see anything that caused alarm, but perhaps the Beak was their first foray into the mountains closer to Esan. I couldn’t help but wonder yet again why—given their superior air strength—they were being so cautious.

But maybe we were reading too much into the two attacks that had happened on our settlements. Maybe the force that had attacked Eastmead and the islands was the only force they had here, and they were simply testing our strengths and weaknesses while they awaited the arrival of their main force.

If that were true, then we needed to figure out a means of combating their winged battalion before the rest got here.

I glanced down at the gouges in the rocks again, then spun and walked back into the tunnel. After tying the long viewer back into place, I swung my pack on and headed back down to the cavern.

“Wife incoming,” I said as I neared.

“Husband warned and standing down.”

“Shame,” I said with a laugh. “I was looking forward to seeing you at full attention.”

“That could very easily be arranged if you’d stop flitting about after drakkons and armored birds.” His voice was dry. “But given the needs of the former appear to come before yours or mine, I suspect it might be some time yet before that happens.”

“I suspect you are sadly right.” I walked over to the large crate he was standing behind. It hadn’t yet been opened, but the others had, and they contained a variety of unmarked boxes and leather-wrapped goods. “What have we got?”

“A selection of food and camping items in the other boxes, if what I’ve pulled out is anything to go by.”

He sliced apart the leather strap binding the final box, then nodded for me to grab the edge of the lid. As one, we lifted it and slid it off the end. Inside was a selection of those metal tubes and several tubs of the dark liquid, and a collection of the smaller, translucent metal pouches.

“Weapons. They’re obviously in the process of setting up a supply station here.”

“Yeah.” I reached down and picked up one of the tubes. It was light and simple in design, with little more than the trigger and the attachment point for the metal pouch. There was no sight and no guard against possible splash back, making me wonder how useful these weapons would be in any sort of wind. “I wonder if we can use these things to bring down the tunnel and block this point of entry?”

“It would be better to use magic to destabilize the roof and bring it down that way.”

“Won’t they be able to sense your magic?”

“It’s a possibility, though likely a remote one, given I can’t sense theirs.”

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