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Book 5: Home Again

Yes, the translation skills he had received across the world were invaluable and he had leveled them quite high thanks to practice... but there was nothing quite like being home. The air was scented with familiar spices that made his mouth water. The signs weren\'t in odd languages he had to think about translating.

Far off, he heard several very, very late-night drunks singing songs in a bar. One had such a good voice he expected it may be card assisted. He found he already knew the lyrics, courtesy of his time spent in Moon Hive City.

Then the far-off lyrics took a turn to the bawdy. He and Cressida exchanged a look and a laugh.

With a grin, she held out her arm and he took it. "Come on. Let me show you the city."

"And get something to eat," Arthur said. "I could use a taste of home."

Her smile broadened. "That too."

It wasn\'t exactly home. Wolf Moon Hive sat far, far to the north in a wholly different climate with different grown foods and slightly different customs... but it was a lot closer than he had gotten recently.

He and Cressida stopped at a small vendor\'s cart that sold a type of breakfast pastry with egg baked in. And, wonder upon wonders, they bought three rolls for only a copper.

Thanks to the dark heart, so much wealth had poured into New Houston in such a short period of time that prices for all goods had skyrocketed. Some vendors were even charging card shards for meals.

Of course, word quickly got around about which vendors were fat and rich in shards. Before long, those greedy ones often found themselves the target of newly powerful gangs and crime families.

Sheriffs and under-sheriffs were now busy vying for the top spots in the city and not paying too much attention to simple theft. Not to mention most of the people who were supposed to enforce order had gone down to the Dark Heart to get stronger... and not many had come back.

Cressida touched his shoulder. "What\'s wrong?"

He started, realizing while he\'d been wool gathering, he had outwardly been staring at the warm breakfast roll in his hands like it had personally slighted him. "Nothing," he said quickly, but then at her look admitted, "I was thinking of New Houston."

He half expected her to ask for more detail, but a pensive look came over her face. "I\'ll be glad when we\'re fully away from there... but I also feel bad for leaving."

"Me too." There were so many things he wanted to add -- chief of which was that he and Cressida, with the help of their dragons -- had a good shot at taking over the city if they wanted. But that would mean abandoning the goal of completing his and Brixaby\'s card sets, of going back on his word to the Mythic dragons who had saved them, and likely, of defeating the scourgelings.

Besides, if he and Brixaby took over, one of the first things they would have to do would be to close that Dark Heart forever... and that might just doom the city’s economy.

Realizing he was about to circle back into useless dark thoughts, he quickly took a bite of the breakfast roll... and regretted it. Yes, there was egg, and butter, and way, way too much flour. It was dry with the pastry so overcooked that it was on the verge of being chewy.

I could make something better in my sleep, he thought. Even if my Baking skill isn\'t as high as my Cooking.

That was one unexpected side effect from leveling his Cooking skills so high. His sense of taste had developed right along with it. And this... this was hard to swallow.

“Does your breakfast roll taste funny…” he started to ask, but then trailed off.

"No." She had taken several more bites in the time that it had taken him to choke down one. "Why? Do you taste something off?"

"It\'s a little... overdone," he said to be polite.

She smiled. "You sound like one of my sisters. \'Oh, the cooks overbaked my pie. I couldn\'t possibly eat it now!\'".

He grinned back, realizing he had come a long way from the half-starved boy in the border village who didn\'t know the names of many vegetables. That still didn\'t mean he had to eat bad food.

There was a beggar in an alleyway not too far away, still asleep under some blankets. Arthur walked over and placed the remaining roll near his head so he would see it when he woke up. Yes, he had taken a bite out of it, but that was nothing to someone who was truly hungry.

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He returned to Cressida. "Shall we?"

"Yes, the shops should be open soon. Let\'s--" She was stopped by the roar of a dragon.

Arthur\'s heart skipped a beat as his gaze shot upward. A pink dragon flew overhead and for a moment he thought Joy had disobeyed him and decided to soar over the city.

But no. Except for her green arm, Joy was ridiculously, almost eye-blindingly pink with a shimmer quality to her scales which gave her a metallic edge. This dragon was also very, very pink, though it was shading to red, and its scales were matte, without the shimmer quality.

After a second look, Arthur saw from the set of the horns and the thicker jaw, that it was male.

The pink dragon curved in air and flew back over again, roaring out at the top of his lungs and surely waking anyone within hearing distance.

Cressida gripped his arm. "He’s carrying a rider. Can you see which hive he\'s from?"

"No, the angle\'s wrong."

Most riders--not all, but any who could afford it -- had their hive designation sewn onto saddle pads which were draped down the sides of the neck. It made identifying who was who much easier in the middle of an eruption.

Alarmed, Arthur twisted to look around. "You think there’s an eruption going on?"

Cressida looked suddenly concerned. "I don\'t feel any shaking."

"No," he agreed. Plus, other than the dragon above them, the city had a quiet air about it. Almost sleepy at this time in the morning. That would not be the case if there was a scourgling eruption nearby.

Not to mention all the Hives would be out in full force. Not only a single dragon.

The moment he had that thought, there was another roar distantly behind. Arthur looked around until he saw a light blue dragon approaching from the south. It was followed by another, a brown that was larger than all the rest and female.

As the brown flew overhead, Arthur felt the strength of the cards from its deck in a way he didn\'t often feel. It felt like it could be a Rare -- one that was stuffed with cards.

"What\'s going on?" Cressida said over the sound of beating wings. All the dragons had taken to circling the city, roaring. "Have they found our dragons?"

"No, look, they\'re peeling off and heading further into the city. Brix and Joy are the other direction." He hesitated, watching them fly off. "I want to follow them. Whatever they\'re up to, I want to see it."

Cressida nodded and took his arm, glancing around. "I\'ll see what I can do. Hold on and just try not to look at anything."

"What--"

Cressida pulled him into a shadow. They were gone in the next moment, transported somewhere down the street. Arthur barely had time to glance around before she stepped again, and they came through another shadow. Then another.

She would only stop long enough to grab a glimpse of the next shadow along their path before she would whisk them away again.

Arthur barely had time to get his bearings before the world would change around him. His stomach lurched every time and to his alarm he started to feel nauseated.

He closed his eyes. That helped because he couldn\'t actually feel the jump from one point to another. It was like taking a step forward, stopping, and then taking another step.

Finally, the steps came to an end. Arthur opened his eyes to find himself at the edge of a linen market deep within the dawn shadow of a tall brick building.

Cressida bent down with her hands on her knees, taking panting breaths. "That’s as far as I can go."

Arthur nodded, his mind still whirling. He took a dizzying step to the side and ended up having to reach out and grab a nearby empty cart just to get ahold of something stable.

"I\'m out of mana," Cressida continued, still breathing hard. "But look!" She pointed.

They had caught up with the blue dragon, which was impressive considering that a dragon flew much faster than a person without card assistance could run.

Arthur nodded. "When you get mana, send a message to Brix and Joy and remind them to stay put. Catch up when you can."

Then he took off in a jog. At his level of Running Skill, 29, that jog was the speed equal to a full out run.

They had reached what he assumed was a rich area, which meant that the buildings were not built so close together. That gave him plenty of alleyways to dart through.

Nevertheless, a dragon even at slow flight moved much faster than a person. The one he was following pulled further and further away.

Then before he lost sight of it, the dragon slowed and started to circle in the air. In fact, all three were now making circuits over a point in the city.

Likely looking for a place to land, he thought and slowed to a quick walk, turning down one corner after another. Each of those dragons was full grown and at least the size of Sams so it wasn\'t a surprise they would have trouble finding open area in the middle of a city.

He was well within a shopping district now. More and more people were coming out of their homes for the start of a brand-new day. He saw quite a few of these glance up to the sky, take note of the circling dragons, and then turn right around and return inside, shutting the door behind them.

Arthur finally caught up and found that the dragons were circling above a large open-air courtyard, busy with people who were setting up booths for the day. It reminded him of some of the open shopping areas in New Houston -- what people called a flea market.

Only instead of something ad-hoc or run by families who were looking to declutter their homes, it looked like most of these vendors had been here for years. They set up with brisk efficiency... and with more than a few quick scowls aimed upward.

Most of the booths and tents were made of colorful fabric that would not do well against dragon wingbeats. Arthur assumed that was why the dragons were taking such a long time to pick out their landing places.

He was wrong.

Abruptly, three person-sized lights flashed in the middle of the courtyard -- some card spell that was so strong it felt Rare level. A moment later, those three lights contracted to reveal three people. No, three riders, because they immediately looked up to their dragons and made the universal hive gesture of \'all is well\'.

The dragons did not peel off. They continued to circle, though they climbed higher in elevation which would make it a little easier to stay aloft due thermals and currents. They were clearly keeping watch, though.

Of the three riders, two were male, one was female, and all wore a large patch on their right shoulders of a red gradient full moon on their right shoulders. Silver at the top that slowly darkened to deep red at the bottom like blood settling in a bowl.

Blood Moon Hive riders.