The sun was just cresting the top of the shops, rays of pure light filtering through the plumes of smoke and ash wafting upward from the lane of craftsmen and smiths. This early, the hammers had just started ringing against steel, pounding out wondrous new shapes from the formless hunks of metal.
One hammer, however, audibly rang louder than the rest, echoing forth from a small blacksmiths workshop nestled in the corner, wedged in between two other unremarkable buildings. Within this shop, a tall elven man, bald and wearing the usual blacksmiths garb, stood over a forge amongst the smoke and sparks, the glow from the coals more than present on his face though not a bead of sweat trailed down his face.
Silvered, flinty eyes stared unblinking at the large lump of steel he was shaping, the head of a large battleaxe just beginning to show from the otherwise raw metal.
Though he seemed completely absorbed within his work, the mind of this creature raced with unease. Instinct seemed to tell him that something was coming.
"I do not like this."
"You don't like just about anything. Hush," Kiara muttered, waving her dragon's head away from her shoulder, where he'd been hovering. Kit snorted and jerked his head back, glowering at her.
"We know next to nothing about this job. How is this a good idea?"
"Because we're getting paid?" She arched an eyebrow at him when he huffed, apparently unable to come up with an immediate rebuttal. Ignoring the stares- outside of Adela it seemed that dragons in cities always warranted stares, she'd never really understood it- she continued down the smallish street. Kit made no secret of his discomfort with the cramped space, a near constant growl rumbling in his chest.
The forge was easy enough to find, though less easy to approach subtly.
Well. Subtle had never really been her thing anyway. "Oi! Smith, you in?"
Kit rolled his eyes.
"Oi! Smith, you in?"
Fuck. Yes I'm in. Gods damn it.
Quickly, before the noisy woman could enter, the 'elven smith' took the nearly completed axe and ran one hand down it's still blunt blade. Almost like liquid, metal seemed to spill from his hand, adhering to the weapon and shaping into a proper edge.
"Yes. I'm in here." He hung the axe on a rack on the wall. "Discounts today on repairs. Unfortunately, I have to charge extra for new product...I'm quite low on materials."
He turned towards the door and walked out it, coming nearly face to face with a woman and a Dragon.
Who the bloody hells brings a Dragon into a city?
"What is it you're looking for?"
Kiara smiled. She could be quite charming when she tried.
The dragon snarling over her shoulder probably lessened the effect somewhat though.
"Less of an it. More of a one. You Edge?"
The smith didn't look all that dangerous to her- certainly not enough to warrant hiring a rogue dragon rider to bring him in. But appearances were deceiving, she knew that better than most.
The elf narrowed his eyes, and one hand clenched into a fist. He'd been working here for just a few months, carving out a semi-mortal existence for himself, and now this slip of a girl and her Dragon come to expose him again.
"....let's step inside and talk business. I've a feeling there are going to be words exchanged that aren't anyone else's businesses."
Those flinty eyes flicked over to gaze at the Dragon. "Your....friend...will naturally need to wait outside."
Kit growled menacingly but Kiara put her hand up in an effort to soothe him, scratching at his scaly cheek. "Of course. Doubt he could fit in there," she laughed good-naturedly, stepping forward into the smithy.
Her body language was relaxed and easy, but there was a glint to her eyes that belied an instinctive sort of wariness, a slight arch to her brow that made it clear she was not to be trifled with.
It was a look she'd learned to perfect at a young age.
"You be good, Kit," she chirped over her shoulder before practically skipping to stand before the smith. "So. You are Edge, then?"
The elf pointedly ignored her question, turning away from her and stalking back into the smithy.
A thought occurred to him, just then, and he idly wondered if this woman knew just what he was...most people wouldn't willingly follow a being such as him into a confined space....or really anywhere, for that matter. She hasn't attacked him, hadn't asked for more than confirmation on his name.
Maybe she really didn't know what she was getting into. This could be amusing.
When he entered the smithy, he stepped to the far wall, and simply turned around with his arms crossed over his thin chest. The room was hot, with the forge still burning, yet there was no sign that the heat even affected the elf. "...yes. I am known as Edge. You know my name, yet I don't know yours, or your reason for seeking me out. Enlighten me."
The heat would have been smothering to most, but Kiara closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment to bask in it. She didn't often like to advertise her pyromantic abilities, so it was rare she allowed herself to be so close to a fire and not feign discomfort.
But she had a feeling that would be useless with her current host.
"Kiara." She sank into one hip, offering a slightly crooked smile that seemed to match her glinting eyes. "Name's Kiara. The big fusspot outside is Kittsareyn. And I have a message." She frowned. "Weeeeelll...not so much a message. More an invitation, if you will."
Edge tilted a brow questioningly, looking at her in silence for a moment.
"Invitation...huh. That's a new one." He smirked, and stepped toward the woman, stopping short at five or six feet away.
"So...before you give this 'invitation' to me...I have to ask. Just what do you know about me?"
Kiara snorted and quirked an eyebrow right back. "Not much, to be honest. Your name, and the fact that certain people are willing to pay me a lot of coin to get you to pay them a visit." She smiled, canines just a little too sharp, but the expression friendly enough.
"I'm no assassin, Edge, if that's what's got you so worried."
Edge chuckled, his arms crossed over his chest as his body shook lightly. After a moment, he composed himself and looked to Kiara with a dangerous smirk. "Trust me, assassins are the absolute least of my concerns. You could say that I'm....notoriously hard to kill."
He let out another short laugh, and turned to the rack of weapons on the wall. He spoke while his back was turned to her.
"So. I think I have a right to know where you'd be taking me. Who is it that wants to see me, supposedly?"
He then cast a look over his shoulder, in her direction. "Oh. And if I do go with you, you should know that I can't ride your Dragon. I think he'd have some...difficulty even carrying me."
Kiara's eyebrow crept higher as she looked him up and down. Kit may not be the largest dragon, but she doubted he couldn't carry her and the elvhen smith.
"Honestly? I don't know his name. Kinda secretive fellow, wore a hood the whole time we spoke." She shrugged, frowning. She didn't exactly like working for someone so obviously shady, but...she needed the coin.
"Not too picky about your sources of coin, are you? Well, if you want to convene with your friend outside, I'll clean up in here. I somehow have the feeling I won't be back."
He turned around, and regarded her with a knowing smile. "And don't worry about me going anywhere. There's only one door, as you can see."
"Wait, really?" Kiara blinked, a little incredulous. "Just like that? Damn. I thought I'd have to do a little more convincing," she chuckled.
"Yes, really. You strike me as the kind of person that wouldn't leave unless I gave in. Besides, what harm could it possibly cause, hmm?"
He smiled a bit. "I have one stipulation. Whatever you get, I want ten percent. I need materials to continue my business. Especially since you're dragging me to Gods know where."
He made a shooing motion. "Now go on. I'll be out in five minutes."
Ten percent? Well...
Probably worth it, if he was really going to come quietly.
Kiara nodded. "You've got a deal," she said easily, resolving to be wary, but take him at face value for now. "I'll be just outside." The glint to her eyes made it clear that she didn't intend to give him chance to slip away.
Edge nodded, and turned toward the rack on the wall. If he was going to be away for awhile, he might as well take whatever he could with him.
When he heard her retreating footsteps, he started reaching for the rack, collecting the weapons one by one and lying them on the floor before the forge. And then, he changed.
His body began to ripple wildly, as if a handful of pebbles had been thrown into a pond. As it rippled and waved, his color seemed to melt away into the shimmery hue of steel. His outline expanded and reformed, solidifying into a truly demonic form, similar to a large bipedal lizard with a myriad of bladed weapons protruding from it's bulk.
Edge, the true Edge, reached one massive hand, long fingers tipped with blades like daggers, down to the pile of weaponry piled on the floor. One after the other, he brought them to his large needle-filled maw, and dropped them down his glowing gullet until there was naught but well worn blacksmith tools remaining.
-----
Less than five minutes after Kiara left the smithy, Edge stepped out after her, again in the form of the elf. He grinned widely.
"Well. I'm ready when you are. Let's be off, hmm?"
Kit didn't seem to have stopped growling since Kiara had left him outside. When she returned to him, he nosed her over quickly before craning his neck back to glare.
"I don't like this."
Of course he'd heard the conversation. Kiara rolled her eyes. "I figured you wouldn't, but it's the best way to get this job done and you know it."
"He's not..." Kit snorted and shook his head. "He smells...off."
She shrugged. "I know he's not mortal, Kit. But that's none of my business, is it." She heard footsteps approaching and turned to nod at Edge. "Alright then. You need to stop somewhere before we leave the city?"
Edge glanced at Kit and glared right back, coming to a stop and sizing him up for a minute. After a moment, he chuckled a bit, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"No. I've nothing I need to take with me. You'll find I need little care. So! Where is it you're dragging me off to, anyway?"
"Connlaoth." Kiara swung gracefully up onto the young dragon's back. "Northern reaches. Bit of a trek- but then again, I thought we'd be traveling dragonback," she noted with an arched brow.
"Hmmph. Connlaoth, the land of fools, blinded by foolish teachings. This ought to be interesting." He glanced up at the sky and thought for a moment.
"Well, this is going to take awhile. If you wish, you can fly. I'll walk, and make my way there in my own time. I've no need to stop, for anything really, so you can expect me sooner than you'd think if you don't want travel on the ground."
He grinned, and tossed a barb to Kit:
"Since I really don't think he's strong enough to carry me."
Kit's growling grew loud enough to echo off the gilding around them, and Kiara laid her hand on his shoulder.
She gave Edge a very dry look. "No offense, but...I don't exactly trust you, and you are being way too comfortable with all this. I'm not about to let you go unsupervised."
Edge glanced from Kit to Kiara, his smile quickly disappearing. He arched a brow.
"The reason I'm so easy about going, is because I have absolutely nothing to fear from either of you. And this isn't my ego talking, either...perhaps when we're out of Arca and away from masses of people, I will show you what I mean. I don't worry about you, anything on the way, or those misguided fools in Connlaoth."
Dragon and girl raised their hackles- one figuratively, the other literally. "Very well." Kiara's eyes were sharp, predatory. "Stick close then. Nothing clears a crowded street like a dragon."
The thought came inbidden:
I could show you some things that would clear the city....
He quickly put that aside, and instead offered a stiff nod. "Very well. Lead the way, then."
Kiara nodded in reply and gave Kit a little tap with her heels to move him forward. She didn't seem to invested in watching their companion, but the dragon's golden eyes were constantly flickering over Edge, making sure he didn't try anything.
As he followed Dragon and rider, Edge mused silently to himself. He wondered idly just what this journey had in store for him, and just who this mysterious person was that wanted him.
Usually, when he was wanted by anyone, it typically didn't go well. But this was a consequence of his life that he'd grown quite used to, having to pick up and move after a particularly chaotic meeting. He only considered himself lucky that for once whatever would happen wasn't happening at home.
Maybe for once he'd be able to actually get back to normal life, rather than start a brand new one.
Edge sighed wistfully, and glanced upward, his gaze having dropped to the road without him realising it.
"So. We're going to be travelling together for awhile, I might as well figure out just who I'm dealing with. I have your names, but that's it. What do you do, other than plucking people from their trade to journey halfway around the known world?"
"What, you say that like it's a bad thing." Kiara sighed a bit and let herself drape over Kit's neck, glancing sidelong at Edge. "And look, no offense, but in my line of work it normally doesn't pay to...get real chummy with targets- ah, clients."
That hadn't really worked out well for her before.
"If you're so keen on talking though, what about you? You don't seem all that surprised by the idea of someone sending a bounty hunter after you. Not exactly typical."
Edge smiled widely, keeping his gaze on the path ahead lest he accidentally gave himself away.
"Mmm. You'll find that out in time, I'm sure. I think if i were to tell you anything right now, there'd be a panic. And besides....I've been through this whole song and dance before. Always someone different....though, usually, they have the stones to come to me, rather than sending a third party"
He then let his gaze flick to her, a smile tugging at his lips. "So, now that you've accidentally divulged that you're a bounty hunter, what sort of targets do you usually hunt?"
"Uh-huh." Kiara stared at him. "Thaaaaat's not concerning at all..."
Kit growled, making a few passerby jump and whisper to each other.
Shaking her head, his rider shrugged and said simply, "I'm not always a bounty hunter. So...depends, I guess."
"Hmm. Intentionally vague, but I can respect that. And you're friend here is going to cause a panic if he's not mindful of his own presence."
He tilted his head, and eyes the Dragon. "Just some advice. Let's save the aggression for outside the city, hmm?"
"Do not think I cannot watch out for myself," Kit snarled quietly, eyes snapping.
"Easy." Kiara laid her hand on the spot between his shoulder blades that normally calmed him some. She quirked an eyebrow at Edge. "We're used to drawing attention. Does it bother you?"
Edge frowned slightly at the Dragon as they continued onward, though decided not to answer that remark. He'd rather not rile him up just yet.
When Kiara asked about his dislike of attention, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I've spent the last several years avoiding attention. Of course I'm uncomfortable with it."
He scoffed, and turned his gaze back to the path ahead. They'd be out of the gates soon.
"Let's just...get out of the city."
Kiara shrugged. "Alright, alright. To each her own." She glanced down at their mark. "Sure you don't want to hitch a ride?"
Kit grumbled at the idea and she smacked his shoulder. "Be nice."
"If it's all the same to you, I'll walk. Trust me when I say that you'd rather him not try and carry me."
________
Some time later, they'd finally navigated the narrow streets of the city and found their way out of the gates. Edge found himself glancing back and forth, expecting demon hunters or mages to ambush him. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time.
Yet, it all seemed quiet. He regarded the scenery with an indifferent, thin-lipped facade. "Well. There's the road."
"Yup." Kiara popped the "p". "There it is indeed." She glanced down at her companion as she let herself sprawl forward over Kit's neck. "You're certainly a chatty one, aren'tcha?" Somehow her tone managed to be both dryly sarcastic and sweet all at once.
She glanced upward, judging the time, and gave Kit a little tap to urge him forward. "C'mon. If we make good time, we can get some distance between us and the city before making camp for the night."
Edge huffed. Camp.
He had to remind himself that he was travelling with mortals....or, rather, beings from the material plane that occasionally needed sleep. He needed no such amenities, though he supposed he would have to play the charade to keep up appearances.
"Perhaps a copse of woods would suffice, if you're worried about drawing attention."
He stepped out ahead of Kit and Kiara, walking north along the road.
She shrugged. "We'll camp where we drop. Come on." Kit sort of lumbered forward, grumbling complaints about how much faster they would move flying.