Learning to Fall

Hey Lin,

So, I bet you never thought you'd hear from me again. Well, surprise!

Sorry. I couldn't help it. And I know how much the news of my capture must have hurt. It was hard enough thinking of you and at least I knew you were alive.

Anyway, I made it to the capital and I'm staying with Uncle Cork. He's pulled some favors and a courier dragon is going to make a side trip to deliver this. But they have to leave soon. Mother's letter has all the details, and Cork sent his own with anything I forgot.

One thing. Don't tell anyone, but I met someone. Her name is Rina. She's... amazing. A wildling huntress who saved my life in more ways than I can count. Mother probably won't like her, but I know you will.

Aytin was so focused on his writing that he never heard the steps behind him.

"Are you still working on that letter to your mother?"

The tip of the dencil slid across the paper as he jerked, leaving a long black mark and ruining several lines. Or maybe not. The bit of membrane leather at the end of the wooden stick did a remarkable job erasing mistakes. Despite the odd name, it really was an excellent replacement for quill pens and charcoal sticks.

"Almost, Aunt Shina," he replied.

In truth, he had finished that letter the night before. It had been little more than the facts, and after so many retellings the story came easily. The important bits, at least.

There were also notes to his other siblings. Mostly just awkwardly saying hello and that he wasn't dead.

He had wanted Lin's message to be special, though. That's why he had left it until last. Stayed up late writing it, and woken up early to finish it. Or trying to. From the number of smudges on the paper he had written and erased an entire letter several times over. And now, judging by the impatient tapping of Shina's talons, he was out of time. With a sigh, he quickly fixed the errant mark and scribbled one final line.

Hopefully I'll get to introduce you very soon.

Love,

Tintin

There was a candle on the table. He poured a dribble of the molten wax onto the folded paper to seal it, then offered it along with the stack of other letters to his aunt.

She took them with a gentle smile. "You're coming back from the dead. Trust me, it doesn't really matter what you write. Getting anything... Well from what I know of Norvinia, she will be in the clouds for days."

"I'm sure you're right." Inside, Aytin wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Aunt Shina had ever met his mother. How would she know?

"Oh, I know I'm right. It's how I'd be if one of my boys went through what you did."

This time Aytin returned the smile. Taysin and Zelshan - or Tay and Zay as everyone called them - were his cousins. Both were from the same clutch, and at six years old they were little terrors, flying everywhere and getting into all sorts of trouble.

Apparently a small leak in the house was because the pair had been busy pulling clay tiles off the roof around the time he had been at Citadel Needleworks. They had managed to shatter a dozen of them on the cobblestones down below before anyone came to investigate the racket.

Of course, they both adored their big cousin. Whenever they weren't in the community nursery, they were following him around, begging for stories or trying to get him to help "fight the brigands!"

Aytin was happy enough to play with them and give a heavily censored version of his adventures. Adventures they were no doubt repeating with all sorts of embellishments to their pack of year-mates right at that moment. That was the only reason he had managed enough peace and quiet to finish the letter.

Standing, the younger dragonette grabbed a thick envelope of his own and followed his aunt into the hall and towards the door. She turned and cocked her head. "Going somewhere?"

"The mining guild. I have something to drop off there." He waved the travel stained linen pouch.

"Ah, I thought that you would be done with all of that after the last few days." Her voice dipped as they passed by the office, where a muffled conversation could be heard, but there was definitely a faint trace of disappointment in those words.

It certainly had been a busy two days since his visit to the free traders guild. Aytin had been introduced to Norgan Jahdat, a senior representative of the Free Traders' Bank. At least he hadn't needed to tell her his story, too. Trademaster Raleigh provided her a summary, and she asked a few questions before discussing the expedition.

A visit to the cartographer guild along with Vesper followed in order to confirm the location of the ruined keep and its current status. Thankfully, the land had reverted to the crown so there would be no questions of ownership.

It also solved the mystery of why the keep had been abandoned. A nasty fever burned through most of the population, and the survivors hadn't been able to keep things running through the winter. A trader had found nothing but corpses there the following spring. As far out on the frontier as it was, it wasn't very appealing to junior family members or newly minted nobles looking for lands of their own, so despite having been left in fairly good condition, it had never been resettled.

Unfortunately, the maps of the area weren't particularly good. Most of the island's interior was blank, and its edges lacked much in the way of detail. Nonetheless, a copy was commissioned along with annotations noting best guesses for where to find Faelon and the wildling tribe.

Then he'd met with a mercenary, led by a young blue dragon who went by the name Spark.

Up until that point, Aytin had been fully expecting to accompany the expedition. In fact, he'd almost taken for granted the fact that he would be seeing Rina and Faelon again in maybe a little more than a week.

"Absolutely not," Trademaster Raleigh had said when Aytin had brought it up.

"But, why not?"

"Because the guild is paying this crew and they charge by the day. Do you really think carrying you and your supplies won't slow them down?"

Aytin hadn't thought that a few days' rations and his small stature would mean much to a dragon. He didn't say anything at the time, but privately doubted it.

Keeping quiet turned out to be the right choice, because a short conversation with one of the mercenaries had confirmed it. Apparently Spark was built for speed, not cargo. One more body could only slow him down.

"When are you going to be done with all of this?"

Aytin blinked. He'd managed to make his way outside while lost in his thoughts, and now Aunt Shina was staring at him, intently.

"Uh, soon, I suppose." For now. "Just a few more things to take care of."

"Well, I know your uncle could really use your help. Not that you don't deserve a break after all that you've been through," she quickly added.

"Sure. I'm just not sure how useful I'd be."

"Nonsense! Your uncle always talked about how bright you were as a hatchling, and your mother certainly thinks you can do it. I'm sure you'll learn in no time!"

Aytin just nodded, feeling a flash of guilt.

His aunt and uncle knew that he was trying to help Faelon. He'd even said as much in his letter to his mother. They knew there was a plan to rebuild the keep. Cork even suggested a few of his contacts might be able to help.

But they still thought he was just the dragon's agent in the capital. There had never been any mention of returning.

It was actually a bigger problem than simply depriving the family of his presence. Only nobles could own land, and as undesirable as the ruined keep was, it was no exception.

Since Faelon was paying for the reconstruction, it stood to reason that he should be in control. Only, he wasn't a noble. Trademaster Raleigh had been confident that the crown could be persuaded to mint a new title for the dragon given the circumstances.

That wouldn't come quickly, though. The idea had been suggested - only suggested - that Aytin use his own noble standing to smooth things over in the meantime. Just until the royal court could get around to the inevitable decision, of course.

Things only got more complicated from there. Technically, he couldn't be a part of the keep Faelon was building without his mother's explicit permission. Broad and open ended permission, too. Anything else would invite a conflict of loyalties.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

'I'll talk to Uncle Cork about it. Later. When it's a good time.'

There should be plenty of opportunities going forward. As he had told his aunt, he was near the end of his self appointed tasks. There were a handful of upcoming appointments with the other guilds, and of course another visit with Ivy, but none of the real work could begin until the expedition returned. That would be two weeks, at a minimum.

He took off and turned towards the far side of the city while Shina flew for the landing field near the free traders guild. It was warm, with a light breeze from the south that did little to hamper the young dragonette's progress.

Judging by the sun, he was still a little early for his appointment. Not enough to be worth returning, so Aytin took a long, slow circuit around the central mesa from where the royal palace presided over the city.

'I wonder what Rina would think of it?

She had certainly been dismissive of the ruined keep on their island. "A windbreak with a leaky roof," she had called it, and couldn't understand why he and Faelon wanted to live there. "You can't move stone to follow the deer."

Something like the royal palace, with its gleaming white walls and soaring lines? That might convince her. Then there were all of the rumors about exactly what was inside of those walls. Baths and fountains in every room. Braziers that could also burn frost powder to blunt the worst heat of summer. A network of enchantments so that the royals could speak to anyone from anywhere, or listen without a room's occupants suspecting a thing.

Given the hideously expensive nature of such enchantments, Aytin doubted that last. Still, there was no denying that the palace was a grand structure, and the Royal line of Liviticus had spent centuries amassing wealth. It was certainly possible, if unlikely.

There would be no approaching its grandeur out on the frontier. But hopefully they would be able to build something warm and dry. Then some livestock, a few crops, maybe expand the orchard...

'She'll see how much better it is once we get a real keep going.'

After two loops around the center of the city, Aytin judged he was close enough to his appointment not to appear overeager. He descended towards his destination, a building not all that far from the royal palace.

The mining guild's headquarters were constructed of solid white limestone, with gilded engravings between wide windows and a peaked roof covered in red clay tiles. A trickle of visitors walked the stone steps to the heavy wooden entryway.

Uncle Cork had some dealings with the guild. Like most mines, Luffin Keep contracted for the use of prisoners for the dark and dirty work of pulling metals out of the ground. Their deposits were a far sight safer and easier to extract than the usual method of tunneling into the sides of islands, but that didn't mean the work was pleasant.

That was why Aytin knew to fly to this elegant building instead of the much larger compound not far from the free traders guild. Deals were made in the center of the city. The yards at the edge of town housed those unfortunates who had upset the crown and were awaiting shipment out to whatever dark hole in the ground where they would work off their sentence.

The building he walked into showed no sign of the harsh conditions that its charges worked in. A wide entry hall greeted him, with a pair of desks flanking a corridor opposite of the entrance. To either side were alcoves, each holding a lit oil lamp and some mineral or gemstone the guild had mined.

There were glittering gems the size of his head, enormous nuggets of metal polished to a mirror shine, samples of cut stone with intricate lines and whirls through them, and so much more. Their presence made the pair of armed guards in the livery of the mining guild more than just a formality.

He strode purposefully towards the desks. One attendant was busy speaking to someone in a vaguely martial looking uniform, so he stepped up towards the other.

"Aytin Luffin," the young dragonette said by way of greeting. "I should have an appointment with a mining overseer."

The clerk took a look at the ledger in front of him, then nodded. "Of course. If you will wait just a moment?" He gestured towards one of several chairs nearby.

Aytin scarcely had time to get settled before a boy at least a few years younger than him emerged from the hallway. He scanned around and then scurried over.

"Master Luffin?" At his nod, the page continued, "Overseer Yosee Ulin is ready to see you. Please follow me."

He did exactly that, moving into the heart of the guild headquarters. A number of well appointed rooms lined the hall, many with well dressed dragonettes speaking in not so hushed tones.

"-has requisitioned three teams of-"

"-telling you, the production of iron is not sufficient to meet-"

"Chaos! Complete chaos! How do you expect-"

Aytin caught snatches of conversation before he passed into a quieter section of the building. The rooms here were smaller and showed more signs of use. Plaster walls replaced stone and wood paneling as comfort and glamor gave way to practicality.

His guide led him to one room in particular, an office no bigger than some tents he had seen. There were stacks of bound journals and books, although they appeared to be neatly organized. One whole wall was taken up by wooden cubbies, most filled with samples. Unlike those in the entry hall, most of these looked like little more than chunks of rock.

Opposite the door, a squat dragonette turned away from the dark slate that covered the far wall, a piece of white chalk in his hand. "You're the Luffin fellow?"

"Yes." He gave a gesture somewhere between a nod and a bow. "Yosee Ulin?"

"Yeah, that would be me. Close the door and grab a seat." He waved towards one of the padded stools against the wall.

Aytin did as he was told. The page had already left, so he shut the door and pulled a seat towards the center of the room. Yosee did the same, snagging a notebook and pulling a dencil from the pocket of his leather coat.

He wasn't much taller than the young noble, but he was certainly bulkier. None of it was fat, either.

"They told me you have a preliminary report for me," he began, leaning forward and twirling the wooden writing implement deftly between fingers.

"Alrak Keep has a new silver mine, yes," Aytin confirmed. This was as much a favor for his old friend Korbin and the rest of his family than anything. That, and concluding one of the very first tasks he had taken on during his time with Faelon's crew. "I know it's late, but-"

Yosee cut him off with a wave of his dencil. "Already heard your story. Not many who haven't, I'll bet, at least around the guilds."

That was actually a relief. It was getting exhausting to have to repeat his tale at every meeting.

"There's a bit of a problem, though," the overseer continued. "See, the contract we had was with the trader Reed."

Aytin cocked his head in confusion. "Do you... not want the report?"

"Hells, no, we need every mine we can get. And I hear they found quicksilver as well, yes?"

"Uh... yes." He had to pause a moment to recall the reports and then think back all those months to his brief visit to the mine. "And lead."

"Of course there's lead. It's a silver mine." Aytin didn't know how the two were related, but he didn't get a chance to ask before Yosee pressed on. "Quicksilver, though, that's damn unusual. Useful, too. Especially now."

When the overseer didn't elaborate, Aytin said, "So then, it doesn't sound like there's a problem."

"Ah, right." Yosee rubbed one forward curving horn in apparent embarrassment. "See, I can take your report, but I can't pay you for it. That has to go to Reed or her next of kin. You'd have to talk to them, and-"

"She wasn't getting paid a hundred gold for this or anything, right?"

The overseer furrowed his eyeridges at the interruption, but shook his head. "A good bit less than that, I'm afraid. Just fetching the report and taking a look at the setup is only good for about ten gold."

"Then pass it on to Reed's mother, Ivy. I don't need it."

Yosee seemed taken aback by the pronouncement. "Well then... I had just heard that you were needing the money."

Ten gold wasn't exactly a small sum, but it was a tendril of smoke in a stormcloud compared to what it would take to rebuild and repopulate a keep. Besides...

"I know the Alrak family. I'm doing this for them. And I sort of promised Reed I'd help with this. Before everything happened, I mean."

Yosee nodded. "Fair enough. Now, about that report?" He extended a hand for the envelope, which Aytin passed over.

The mining overseer glanced through the dozen or so pages of text and sketches before shaking out a couple of small pieces of rock. These he examined through some sort of lens while making odd humming noises and scribbling a few notes of his own. Then he turned to Aytin.

"This says you saw the mines yourself, right? And I recognize the Luffin name. You've got a bit more experience there than some high flying trader, I expect? So maybe you can tell me..."

Most of the remaining morning passed in a blur of questions and answers. Everything from the size of the timber braces to method of lighting. Yosee seemed especially pleased with the ventilation. "You've got no idea how many new mines I see where you might as well be breathing rock dust instead of air," he had said.

There were quite a few details that had been lost to time, or that Aytin had never noted to begin with. He had struggled with those questions until his host had made it clear that, "I don't know," and "I can't remember," were perfectly acceptable answers.

"I'd rather know what I don't know than show up to find some half-remembered guess wasn't worth its weight in tailings."

"If I have to be sure..." Aytin frowned, trying to recall exactly how big the elevator had been.

"Nah, nothing like that. No report's perfect, or I'd be out of a job." He gave a snort and shook his head. "You could train a lizard to dig a hole where you tell it to, but that doesn't mean he'll be smart enough to go around the granite outcropping in the way. Gotta be able to adapt. Have plans for the problems you know and drop them in a hurry when they don't pan out. Speaking of which, you said there's not much wood on the island. Do you think..."

It went on like that for a while, with Aytin answering questions as best he could and Overseer Yosee scribbling notes and asking follow-ups or occasionally going off on random tangents.

"And you're sure that you've got no idea how much ore they can process in a day?"

"Not the faintest clue," Aytin answered, a hint of frustration beginning to show through in his voice. They had been going at it for what felt like most of the morning, and he had answered the last dozen questions in more or less the same way. "They didn't say, and we dig up nuggets back home, not ore."

"Ah, well. We'll probably have to build a new smelting setup, anyway. Would have been nice to know what we had to work with, though." Yosee pulled the report back out and flipped through a few pages before sighing. "No one ever remembers that the guild doesn't just pull the ore out of the ground."

After the overseer's pause went on for most of a minute, Aytin asked, "So what next?"

"Plenty, but all of that's on my plate." Yosee stood and bowed slightly. "You've been a lot of help. Swing by some evening and let me spot you dinner. Least I can do, and there's this place up the street that does amazing things with tirox."

"I will," the young dragonette agreed, returning the bow and letting himself be led to the door. At the ring of a bell, another page appeared to guide him back through the maze of hallways to the grandly appointed entry hall and the open sky beyond.