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Chapter 2: Airship

XxX

(Endurance Airspace)

“You're thinking about the old days, aren't you?" Kai asked, twisting his neck to get a good look at Ian. “Good times? Bad times?"

“Bit of both, really," Ian admitted with a small shake of his head, he'd been thinking about the past as lot lately. “Sorry. Kinda zoned out a bit."

“It's fine; we're nearly there anyway. Can you believe we're going to actually be able to go inside one of the Navalia carriers?" Kai's excitement was almost palpable; they'd seen two of the massive airborne ships as they travelled around but never got close to one. “I mean I know that they have rider regiments on board, but we're going to go inside of one!"

“It is pretty cool, I gotta admit," Ian laughed, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair as they flew. Being in one of the carriers would certainly be interesting, though the idea of flying indoors was a little weird after all this time in the sky. “Not going to miss home at all?"

“Well yeah obviously, but this is why we became Riders isn't it? Get out and to see the world, stop you setting fire to our room." The last bit was mumbled so low Ian almost missed it.

Almost. “That was one time!" Ian protested. “At least it was when Carinth was around, and somewhere we could contain it! Besides, I doubt we would have gotten far as Riders without my magic." He gave Kai a teasing smack on the leg. “You're just jealous I was making fire before you, aren't you? Even after all these years."

“I'm a dragon!" Kai yelled, yep he was still jealous. “It's just not right or natural that you were the first to make fire, I physically have the organs for it! You just thought 'Hey what's this do?'"

“Look, just because I've got a natural ability, you don't have to be angry," Ian grinned. “Not everyone learns this stuff so quickly; it's okay to be behind."

“Shut up, or I'll spin you off." Kai threatened as he started to descend back through the clouds, they should have been almost on top of the Endurance by now, the carrier they'd been assigned to. “At least you don't get cold anymore; you used to always have to sleep huddled next to me, even when we moved to a deeper cave."

“There's nothing embarrassing about that, I was a human living in a mountaintop," Ian pointed out. “And you got upset when I stopped."

“Well, the other siblings always slept together," Kai muttered, still not sure why Ian had stopped in the first place. He'd soon corrected that aberrant behaviour from his brother. “Oh, the clouds are thinning." The excitement was back as they caught a glimpse of the Endurance through the cloud layer before Kai dropped under it entirely.

Dauntless class carriers were the pride of the Navalia, there were only three of them in service with a fourth being constructed. The Dauntless, Endurance, Diachta and the Ark was still in dry dock in the airspace above Andril.

Dauntless Carriers were massive creations, over seven hundred meters long and three hundred meters at its widest. They had a distinct hammer shape to them but with wings by the side and were amazing feats of engineering and craftsmanship. Despite their bulk, the carriers were capable of incredible speeds. The dorsal plating was immaculate and had a mirror like sheen to it and dozens of glowing blue discs were built into the hull gathering small streams of Acia, raw etherion, to help power the giant airship.

"Wow." Kai breathed, he angled towards the hangar which was at the rear of the carrier, the great bay doors already open wide allowing riders and smaller airships to come and go with various cargo and passengers. As Kai brought them into land they got their first look inside of a Carrier, and their excitement only grew; the polished interior was filled with Terrans, dragons and humans all milling around preparing for flights, talking to one other, or in bays spread around the walls seeing to a dragon's armour.

"Yeah, this is pretty amazing," Ian grinned.

“Any idea where we're meant to go, exactly?" Kai asked gently taking the pair down to the hangar deck; they drew more than a few eyes from the riders and others milling around, but mostly they were ignored until a wolf waved them over. The man had a pristine uniform, navy blue trousers and a tough jacket with the symbol of the Navalia, a stylistic depiction of mechanical wings, stitched into the left breast. The wolf also had L. Damaren stitched onto the right breast of his jacket.

"Specialist Kai, Specialist Ian." The wolf nodded to them both holding out a paw as the rider dismounted. "I'm petty officer Damaren and I'll be your liaison while you're here on board the Endurance. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Nice to meet you too Damaren," Ian smiled shaking the offered paw as he took in the Hanger. "Thanks for coming out to meet us as well, this is a little much to take in."

"First time on a carrier?"

"First time on an Air ship." Kai corrected, the dragon was staring at the deck and it only took Ian a moment to realise why. He could feel the Endurance moving and his brother clearly wasn't enjoying the sensation. "Oh, that's not right."

"You really could time it down to the second." Damaren smiled holding out a flask. "Ignitus always get motion sick their first time on an Air ship, no one's really sure why but if you take this you should be fine in a few minutes. Just try not to vomit on the deck, the hanger chief will make you clean it up." Kai grunted as he downed the remedy.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now usually I'd give you a tour of the carrier and make sure that you were settled in but you two are going to be heading out soon so-" The wolf turned to point to an empty bay in the upper hanger where a technician was waving at them. "You've been allocated bay twelve on level three. The tiger waving at us is Artificer Raynarth Holden, he'll be helping you with your Axanar Specialist Kai."

"Axanar? I get Axanar?" Kai asked, looking up to the Artificer with excitement, the Ignitus practiced with basic level Axanar in the academy but it was only on a training level learning how to manipulate the magic within associated with the armour never for practical use. "Awesome."

"You're working with the Templar XO on board, Lieutenant Skylar Ventaris A'Windragon, he'll make sure you get to play with all the toys."

“I didn't realise there were many Templars on board," Ian noted, glancing over at Kai. “Special occasion?"

“Every Dauntless Carrier has a small standing force on board for rapid deployment and in the case of an emergency, but not a full garrison. There are only ten on board." Damaren clarified. “Artificer Holden will take care of the Axanar fitting and I will be reporting to the Lt that you've arrived so expect him along shortly."

“Great, thanks," Ian smiled. “We can have a proper orientation later then? When you're less busy?"

“I'll see to it when you get back." the wolf promised before he turned to go report to their Templar. “Good luck with your mission."

“Hop back on; I'll jump up to our bay," Kai said, the dragon looked even more excited to be here than before. “I get Axanar, can we work with Templars more often?"

"What's got you so excited?" Ian asked. "Axanar is just fancy armour isn't it?"

"Ian, saying that Axanar is just amour is like saying the Endurance is just an air ship. Axanar can synchronise with the wearers own magic and it provides layers of warding and other abilities. It's even weightless!"

"Wait, how can armour be weightless?" Ian asked as they landed in the bay and their Artificer walked over to greet them. Raynarth was an orange and black striped tiger with amber eyes and his uniform was strange. He had navy breaches, a white shirt and a worn tool harness around his thighs, waist and chest. What stood out about the uniform was the elbow length leather gloves with glowing index fingers and thumbs, the tiger also had a single metal pauldron on his right shoulder with a thick glowing orange band branded across it.

"Hi, I'm Artificer Holden but please everyone calls me Ray, I hate my full name." Ray chuckled. "And to answer your question, the Axanar can be weightless because once it's synchronised with its user it pulls on their magical reserves to power the arrays forged into it."

"But that's gravity magic isn't it?"

"Yes. The Artificers may create the armour and carve the arrays but we're just following the plans. The Warlocks have been perfecting the arrays for centuries. Axanar has some of the most complex magical arrays in the world forged into it. The magic powering and controlling the Endurance isn't as complex."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, for all its size the Endurance is relatively simple when you compared it to this stuff."

"That is kind of awesome." Ian agreed before he looked at himself, the rough leather breaches and loose shirt that was the staple for riders seemed much, much less impressive. "none for humans?"

"Not my department, your Templar will make sure that you're all kitted out and trust me it will be equally as impressive." Ray promised as he ushered Kai into the bay to begin taking some measurements.

"I'll have to contain my excitement as I wait then." Ian smirked.

"Templars have lots of toys don't worry." Ray laughed before he turned his attention to Kai. "Now when I put the plates on it won't fit very well, that's where the synchronisation comes in. We can't have the armour trying to take too much, need to match it to your reserves."

“That sounds like a good idea." Kai nodded, holding as still as he could as Ray moved about him. “What am I getting then?"

“Light armour around your body with some heavier plate around your neck and tail." Ray explained. "Just the basic package, it'll take a few days to customise the full Axanar."

“All sounds pretty impressive," Ian admitted, glancing over at Kai. “What do you think?"

“It sounds awesome!" Kai practically squealed already imagining the claws over his paws. Axanar weapons were meant to be able to cut through anything that wasn't protected by multiple layers of wards and magic.

A laugh drew the pair's attention over to the bay next to them where an older dragon and rider were being kitted out. The human walked over to them and smiled up at Kai. “I take it this is your first time on a Dauntless?"

“Yep! All very impressive," Ian nodded, looking the rider over, then his dragon. “Just a bit... well, daunting."

“I see what you did there." The rider chuckled holding out a hand. “I'm James, and you're Ian and Kai, right?"

“That's right, good to meet you, James," Ian nodded, shaking his hand before looking back to the dragon. “And who's your partner?" Ian's eyes lingered a bit on the handsome dragon.

“That miserable old Dragon is Tarth, say hi Tarth." A growl that might have been a quiet 'Fuck you' came from the Dragon and had James grinning like an idiot. “He says hi. Don't mind him, he just doesn't like the Axanar. Makes him feel claustrophobic."

“I'm sure he looks better out of it," Ian muttered, mostly to himself, before speaking up a bit more and smiling at Kai. “Kai's too excited to be bothered."

Kai mentally flicked his partner for the thought but didn't comment aloud for James to hear. They were both aware of Ian's… 'likes'. Not that Kai had anything against his brother being attracted to any and everything under the sun. He just wished it wasn't on his mind all the time.

“Yeah, we were excited the first time as well. It certainly makes a big difference when you need it to." James laughed, glancing around for a moment. “You're teaming with a Templar, right?"

“That's the plan," Ian nodded, mentally flicking Kai back. It wasn't all the time. “You two just here by yourselves?"

“Part of a flight actually," James started pointing out some of the other occupied bays. “Some bandits are harassing trader convoys, and the Vanguard hasn't been able to catch them so… send in the dragon force."

“I'm sure those bandits will regret it pretty fast when you guys show up," Ian laughed. “I imagine Tarth looks quite scary riled up."

“Oh yeah, five dragons raining down fire on some unsuspecting bandits is a sight to behold for sure," James smirked back at his partner as the dragons Axanar finished syncing to him. It was something else, Tarth wasn't just wearing light armour, the dragon looked like he'd had liquid silver poured over him and then smelted into scales. It was almost organic, with a rune or seal array glowing a bright blue dotted about his body. The end of his tail was more a club or mace now than the original tip of a dragon's tail, and the gentle spinal ridges have been shaped into deadly spikes.

Overall, Tarth looked like a badass.

“And all we get is a thank you, how'd you do," James muttered.

“You're telling me," Ian chuckled. “But you look amazing, Tarth."

“Thanks," the great Dragon shook himself off before grabbing James and vaulting himself off of the platform. The dragon flew a few circles around the hangar before coming back to hover in front of Ian and Kai, James still firmly held in his grasp. “A piece of advice."

“Yes?"

“Be careful with the Templars," Tarth said, lifting his partner up so that James could clamber onto his back. “They're not like us. It's all 'yes sir, no sir' proper military. They're good and decent but… They're soldiers, not like us. Just be careful until you know them, easy to piss them off without meaning to."

“Got it," Ian nodded. “I'll be a little more professional."

“Most we've worked with have been fine," James said, grinning from over Tarth's head. “Just don't piss them off, Templars are fucking scary."

“I'll do my best," Ian laughed. “You two stay safe."

“Will do." Tarth grinned gaining a bit of height. “Oh, and Ian. You can buy me a meal if you want to see me out of my armour." The dragon smirked as James burst into fits of laughter. The pair quickly flew out of the hangar leaving a chuckling Ray and sighing Kai behind them.

“He's not serious, is he?" Ian asked, looking back at them both.

"Everywhere we go," Kai muttered shaking his head at Ray. "When do your young mature Ray? I've been waiting for years."

Ray smirked casting a look over at Ian before snapping a sharp salute at someone behind him.

"At ease, Artificer."

Standing behind Ian was the most imposing human being, no, the most imposing being that he had ever seen full stop. Not even the scarred, battle hardened instructors at the academy could compare to the man. He stood at just over six feet, had deep blue eyes and clean cut but shockingly crimson hair. His uniform was heavy leather boots, thick breaches with the excess fabric tied off at the ankles with bandages, a form fitting shirt and plate pauldrons, all of it a uniform black which only made his hair stand out more.

There were no symbols or any kind of heraldry on his uniform only the single gold bar denoting him as a Lieutenant was visible.

This had to be Skylar Ventaris A'Windragon.

Ian had never met a Templar before, never even seen one, there weren't many of them around and you had more chance of running into a Sentinel than a Templar. Everything the size of a village and above had a small garrison of Vanguard to protect them so most citizens knew at least one part of the Sentallian military, but Sentinels and Templar were much rarer. Templars were practically a myth his father had once told him, even among some Vanguard and definitely to the common civilian. They were held up as power incarnate, the heroes who fought monsters and they were the villains who slit the throats of children to win battles.

He wasn't anything special to look at, all too human in fact, but the Lieutenant was far more than just his appearance. What made Ian want to hide and Kai shiver was the tension in the space around him. The air Ian breathed seemed electrified, filled with enough static to make his hairs stand on end. It rolled off of the Templar and it reminded Ian all too clearly of the Tempest that his father had rescued him from over a decade ago.

“So, you're the new Ignitus and rider?" He eventually said his expression giving away absolutely nothing. “I'm Lieutenant Skylar Ventaris A'Windragon, the Templar you've both been assigned to work with."

“What gave us away, the dragon?" Ian smiled, reaching out a hand to Skylar. “I'm Ian, and this is Kai. Good to meet you in person."

The Templar's handshake was like a steel grip and the rider felt another wave of static wash over him from the contact that had all his hairs standing on end. Skylar nodded to Ian's greeting but didn't reply further before he turned to Kai.

“I greet you and offer my thanks Draconis." The templar put a hand to his chest in the traditional greeting for the Ignitus clan, though he looked uncomfortable as he got close enough to Kai to carry it out. The greeting ended by him holding his palm out facing Kai.

Technically it was proper to greet a member of the Ignitus clan as Skylar had done but the tradition had long fallen out of practice, decades perhaps even longer and now it was only used for more formal occasions. It was rare to meet someone who knew it outside of the Ignitus and the other noble clans. Kai floundered for a moment as he tried to remember the correct response to the greeting.

“I receive your greeting and accept your gratitude." Kai lowered his muzzle to Skylar's hand, breathing the Templar's scent to commit it to memory. Skylar nodded stiffly before he backed away back to a more respectable distance. Throughout the entire exchange neither rider noticed how stiffly Ray had held himself.

"Artificer how long before Specialist Kai's Axanar is ready?"

"Four hours sir."

"That's not good enough. I'll give you half that."

"No sir, that's not how it works, this is a first-time synchronisation. I need four hours." The Templar scowled at the Artificer for a moment before nodding at the tiger.

"Then you'd best get back to it." Ray did just that while Skylar turned to Ian, a folder in his hand. "Specialist Ian I want you to go through this file, it's our target for the mission. Commit the details to memory and be here in a couple of hours. We'll get you some gear for the mission just before we head out."

"Um... Y-yes sir." Ian stammered taking the folder from the Templar, he had to struggle to stop the shaking in his hands. The ghosts of old fears rumbled around inside of him the longer he looked at Skylar.

"Easy specialist I'm not going to eat you." Skylar joked. "That's your brothers job." Ian frowned at the Templars back as he walked away, had that been a dig at the Ignitus? He glanced over to his brother as the dragon shook the feeling of Skylar's magic from his body. They exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing.

"Well he seems... nice?"

"Are you asking or telling?" Ian asked, opening the folder to see what they were going to be doing. The rider was greeted with a picture of an Acrisus, the Terran cousin of Earth crocodiles. "Captain Drake Vaques. Wanted for theft and desertion."

"You two should be careful with Lt Ventaris." Ray said as he drew his fingers over the plate he had just applied to Kai. The solid metal armour shifted before contorting to fit against Kai's body like a second layer of scales.

"Why do you say that?" Kai asked.

“The Lieutenant is developing something of a reputation when it comes to Ignitus and riders." Ray muttered making sure that he wasn't overheard. “The other Templars have been talking about him as well, apparently he's bad news."

“Bad news how? Like, he's a bit of an ass, or he's actually dangerous to us?" Ian frowned. “I can't see them putting him on missions with Riders if it's really that bad."

“You've got a lot to learn about Templar's then but he's an ass to the Ignitus, he's not dangerous to them. Look, he's been here for six months and you're the fifteenth pair that he's been assigned to, all the others either left the carrier or refused to work with him." Ray glanced around the hangar. “It's not normal."

Ian frowned at that; if he was really that abrasive, he hadn't really shown it there. He was having a bit of a difficult time seeing could cause fifteen pairs of Ignitus to stop working with him. “I guess we'll just see how it shakes out," Ian eventually shrugged. “Can't change the Elder council's orders, we'll have to try and keep an open mind about him."

"Sorry, I'm not trying to scare you guys off, but I just thought you should know." Kai wasn't bothered, and Ian found himself agreeing with his brother, they had both faced their share of adversity, having a boss who didn't like them was something that they could manage.

"We'll be alright." Kai reassured, adamantly watching every move that Ray made.

A comfortable quiet came over them as Ray worked and Ian read over the contents of the folder, not that there was much to go over, and Kai pestered the Artificer with questions about the armour.

Skylar came back within the last hour of Rays work and now that Ian knew what to look for he was able to sense the Templar before he entered the hanger. He asked Ray for an update before he led Ian deeper into the carrier.

"I have to apologise for the rush, usually you'd have a proper orientation and at least a week to size up suitable arms and armour for yourself and the dragon but the situation demands prompt action." Skylar began once they away from the hustle and bustle of the hanger. "Did you read what was in the folder?"

"Y-yes sir. Captain Drake Vaques went rogue three days ago, we're going to track him down." Ian said, the file had a little about the captain's service history but not much more than that.

"That's right but more than that he stole an Arcana crystal from the Warlocks at an outpost outside of Henleth, we think that it has the troop distribution and unit sizes for everything in the western command area."

"Why would he do that?"

"Most likely to sell, I could give you ten people who would kill for that information off the top of my head though there is a slim chance that the Captain is being forced into this."

"So, we're going to bring him back?"

"We are going to retrieve the crystal." Ian flinched at the finality of that answer. "What kind of equipment are you used to using?"

"Lighter gear with a focus on mobility, I'm quite fast." Skylar grunted and stopped in front of a thick door engraved with active glowing runes. "The armoury?

"One of them, this is the Templar armoury." The runes dispelled when Skylar pressed a hand to the door and Ian watched in awe as the interlocked panels separated, opening the way into the armoury proper and giving the rider his first look inside. Ray had been right when he said that the Templars got all of the good toys, the armoury looked like it extended three decks down and even from the entrance there were hundreds of different weapons and pieces of armour. All laid out on racks and stands organised into neat rows. They weren't the only ones in there, from the doorway Ian could see a few other Terrans wandering between the rows testing or carrying various bits.

His Templar led them away from the racks and over to one side of the armour, to an area that was dominated by a dozen solid obsidian tables glowing bright with their rune work.

"I know you've had some basic weapons training from the academy but what are you most comfortable with?"

"Bows, I'm not a bad shot with a bow, especially from the back of Kai."

"That actually works well for me. What kinds of enchantments do you have on your bow?"

"I... I actually don't have a bow with me." Ian admitted, he regretted not packing more than a few spare sets of clothes when Skylar fixed him with an exasperated look. The Templar sighed when Ian told him what he had with him and wandered back into the racks with a sharp order for Ian to stay put.

“Okay." Ian kept glancing around at the equipment, not daring to touch any of it as he twiddled his thumbs and waited for the Templar to come back.

He didn't have to wait long as Skylar came back somehow managing to hold four different styles of bow and a full quiver in his hands. The bows were thrust into Ian's hands before Skylar pulled an arrow from the quiver, showing Ian the tip.

"These are Terranus steel broadheads they can cut through armour, bone and an Elder dragons scales so watch what you fire them at." Ian gingerly took the arrows wonder exactly how much he was going to get. Terranus steel was ridiculously expensive, to waste it on arrow heads was...

"These are a cut above what I've used before."

"Heavier too, remember that when you're aiming. I'll make sure that you always have more, but they aren't a limitless resource so do your best to police the arrows." Skylar said as he passed over the quiver before ushering Ian into a small range within the armoury. "Find the one you like best, keep hold of it, leave the others here and then meet me back by the anvils."

“Okay." The way Skylar was doing it was all so...business-like, as if it almost bored him, but Ian shrugged it off and started to fire arrows down-range until he could settle on his preferred bow. It only took a few minutes to decide and when he walked back to the anvils Skylar was standing there with a few thick sheets of leather, some metal ingots and a roll of fabric.

"You've decided?" The Templar put his supplies aside and took the bow from Ian placing it down on an Anvil and with a kind of control the Rider didn't even recognise began to activate arrays carved within the obsidian. After a moment of waiting Skylar waved Ian closer. "Don't flinch."

"Don't what?" Ian yelled as Skylar grabbed his wrist and drew a knife across the Riders palm cutting deep. "What the hell!" Ian tried to pull away, but he didn't have a chance of breaking out of the Templars grip and the Lieutenant made Ian bleed over the grip of the bow before pressing the riders palm flat against the anvil.

"Calm down, the last time I had to explain this I was here for twenty minutes before I got anywhere." The anvil glowed as the blood seemed to be drawn into the bow.

"What are you doing?" Despite the pain and a fair bit of anger, Ian couldn't tear his eyes away from the magic as his blood was seemingly drank by a piece of wood.

"This bow is a Templar weapons, so it needs to be locked to you in order for you to use all of the enchantments that are set within it." Skylar explained before he took Ian's hand away from the anvil and slathered a thick paste into the wound he ignored Ian's hiss of discomfort as whatever Skylar had used brought tears to the rider's eyes before bandaging the wound. "Give that a few hours and it will be healed. Now bring your bow and follow me."

Ian was beginning to see why Skylar had been able to alienate every member of their clan that tried to work with him. The Templar had just slashed Ian's hand, forced him to bleed over a bow and then acted like Ian was the unreasonable one for demanding why. Were all Templar this... this cold?

Skylar took Ian further into the armoury, down to the lowest level to a section that was dominated by warded cubicles housing suits of heavy armour. Ten in total.

"These are yours?" Skylar topped in front of a cubicle and began dispelling the wards to get inside.

"This one is. The rest are for the other Templar." Each suit was unique, not just for each species and gender that the Templars were but astatically each suit was distinguishable from the one next to it. "It's so they recognise us."

"What?"

"A Templar is only allowed to wear their armour in times of war or in a time of crisis. In war we're meant to act as symbols of terror to the enemy, a faceless suit of armour that dominates everything in its path. A demon." Ian moved over to look at Skylar's. It looked like axanar, smooth form fitting plates, the arms, ribs and legs of the armour were black with gold highlights. The boots, knee guards, gauntlets and breast plate were gold, but the torso of the armour was red. The helmet was gold, with a black visor and two three-inch prongs jutting up from the top. it also had what Ian could only think to describe as a mane of crimson fur identical to Skylar hair sprouting from the base of the helmet and a black cloak to complete the armour. There weren't any pauldrons and for a moment Ian wondered why they would be missing until he glanced at Skylar again and realised that he was wearing his armours pauldrons already. "Meet Valan."

"It's beautiful." Ian admitted. "Why can't you wear it, you're already wearing the pauldrons?"

"You noticed, that did you?" Skylar smirked over at the rider. "The pauldrons are part of Templar uniform, also wearing them allows us to rapidly don that full suit without having to go through a lengthy process like your brother is in the hanger. It is also more powerful than the axanar your brother is getting, more powerful than any axanar actually."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Because the ones in charge of the status quo don't like it when someone gets too strong. They might get ideas in their head and decided that they're above the rules." Skylar explained finally lowering the wards. "Templar toe that line even without the armour."

"That's absurd though, you're part of the military. We trust you, don't we?" Ian struggled to come up with a better argument that trust, somehow, he didn't think the moral reasoning would be a good one with templar. "Don't we?"

"Politics, specialist. My advice would be to stay well away from it. If i get promoted again I'll be swimming in in." The Templar set all the materials he'd been carrying down and quickly threw up a small barrier for privacy. Ian was dying to know how Skylar had managed that without an anchor rune for the magic but was blindsided by the Templars next works. "Now, take off your clothes."

"What?"

"I'm sorry was that too many words?" Skylar pointed up and down Ian's body. "Strip."

"Excuse me?" Ian frowned. You mind if I ask you why?"

"We don't have enough time to get you measured with a proper set of armour so I'm going to reinforce what you're wearing and slap whatever fits onto you for this mission." Skylar explained, but the way he was talking down to Ian made it seem like he was explaining something to a child. “Now strip."

Ian resented being patronised like that, but did as he was told anyway, until he was stood naked in front of Skylar with his clothes layered up on a table inside of the bay. “Alright, just...yeah, eyes on the work."

“Where else would they be?" Skylar cut the leather roll into sections and divided Ian's clothes up with the tough hide into plies. All the Templar had to do was focus for a moment and Ian's shirt along with a good amount of leather broke apart into flecks of pure magic before reforming into a shirt. The rider's breaches got the same treatment while Ian's boots were fused with the ingot of what Skylar said was more Terranus steel. Overall, Skylar must have added pounds of extra material to the clothes but aesthetically they were the same and to Ian they only weighed a little more than they had before. There was a toughness to them that hadn't been there before but that was the only difference Ian could pick out.

"That's all that I can do with that. Now let's see about some armour." In the end Ian left the armoury with a jerkin that had a chainmail inly, leather shin guards and some thick scale hide vambraces. The rider had been furious at first until Skylar explained that Elder dragons coming to the end of their natural lives often sold their fallen scales for the clan coffers.

"I think it's fitting." Skylar remarked once Ian accepted them, they fit well much to his annoyance.

"So, with your armour out of the question what are you going to wear?" Ian asked as Skylar finished adding Terranus steel knee guards to the rider's shin guards.

"Same as you but with more black." Skylar said looking Ian over one more time before nodding to himself. "You need a good dagger I think but other than that you're good enough for the mission. Just remember that this is light armour, it's meant to be that little bit extra that saves your life not a shield in of itself, understand?"

"Got it."

"Good. head back to the hanger, I'll grab a dagger once I've gotten what I need and collected the supplies." The Templar turned to rummage around within a chest set to one side of the cubicle but Ian stopped himself from leaving straight away.

"Thanks for all of this, it's a really big help."

Skylar gave him a look that Ian couldn't quite figure out before the Templar moved over to the suit at the back of the bay.

“Return to your partner and we will leave shortly."

“Alrighty, I'll catch you shortly," Ian nodded, strapping the bow onto his back and giving Skylar a grateful nod before heading back out. Even after doing all that stuff, the Templar had felt...cold, but he could put up with that, at least. He wasn't anywhere near as abrasive as Ian had been expecting.

“Ohh, so you got some new toys?" Kai asked, looking at Ian's new bow when the rider finally got back to the hangar. “You look good, where's the Lieutenant?"

“Still playing with said toys," Ian smiled, nodding to Kai's question. “He gave me some new equipment and enchanted some of my other stuff too. It's handy, honestly. Templars get some good magic."

“Maybe you can ask him about it while we're doing whatever it is that we're meant to be doing." Kai said; the dragon was likewise kitted out in his Axanar. Ian was amazed with how seemingly solid metal shifted with such ease as to look organic. “Maybe get some pointers."

“Yeah, that could be good," Ian agreed. “Though I tend to be a bit fierier with my magic. So, kind of hard to be more constructive."

“Like I said, pointers." They didn't have to wait long for Skylar to show back up in the hanger, the Templar was carrying a few saddlebags in one hand and a dagger in the other. He spoke quietly with Ray before moving over to the riders.

“Are you all set?" He asked, looking over Kai's Axanar with a critical eye and noting the saddlebags on the dragon back with a nod. "Another bag for you Ignitus, and Specialist Ian here's your dagger and a harness for it and your emergency bag."

"Emergency bag?" Ian quickly put the belt on, he'd figured out that Skylar explained more if you were doing as you were told. The strap around his thigh confused him for a moment until the Templar attached a small satchel to his thigh. "But Kai had-"

"And if you get separated?" Skylar asked, and Ian picked up on the satchels on both of the Templars thighs. "Some emergency rations, water treatment kit, medical supplies and a few other helpful items. Just in case."

"Right just in case." Ian said and tried to subtly catch his reflection. With the armour, the bow and quiver on his back, the dagger on his side and the satchel of supplies he was actually starting to look the part. In fact, he and Skylar were almost mirror images, except that the templar had a longsword at his side.

"Whenever you're ready, specialist." Ian flushed bright red at being caught and teased by the Templar while Kai just snickered at him.

"I'm all set sir." Ian glared at his brother while he attached the last saddle bag and got into position.

Skylar hesitated for a second before climbing up onto Kai's back and the tension in his shoulders was impossible to miss for the riders, but they ignored it telling Skylar to hang on as Kai threw himself out of the bay and with a flew flaps was making his way outside of the carrier.

“So where are we going exactly?" The dragon asked once they were clear of the carrier. They were fortunate that the weather was calm but even so they wouldn't be covering much distance today, they'd spent too much time getting prepared.

“Head East, towards Henleth for now." There was a definite tension in the templars voice as he passed a map up to Ian. “Where we need to go is an abandoned series of villages in the mountains a little to the North of Henleth. We believe that he's heading to those villages in the mountains to use the snowstorms for this time of year as a cover to sell the item in question."

"Are we going to try and take him alive?" Ian asked, ever since Skylar's dismissal earlier the question had been worrying him. He and Kai weren't murderers and neither of them wanted to be either.

"When we find him, depending of the situation, I may try to talk him down but there are no guaranties in this kind of work. His life isn't my priority."

“Well, might be worth making it one. Kai and I aren't killers, Riders don't do that," Ian pointed out he knew that changing Skylar's mind was an exercise in futility but if he didn't at least try then he wouldn't feel right. “I'd prefer we took this Acrisus back with us."

“That's neither your job or your call." Skylar refuted. “Your job is to get me to the Captain, that's it."

“Fine, we'll just turn straight back around as soon as we drop you off," Ian muttered. Templars really were by the book about all this stuff.

“Feel free. I've grown used to riders doing half a job."

Kai growled, twisting his neck to look back at the Templar. “What was that you bas..." Kai stopped mid-sentence when he looked Skylar in the eye. The unsettling feeling that he felt when he met Skylar was back amplified tenfold, but the Templar's eyes were brimming with hate as he looked at Kai. The dragon could almost taste it rolling off him.

“From the sounds of it we're doing half your job, so lighten up," Ian replied, before settling back to navigate, not really wanting to pick that conversation back up. Also, he'd felt the Templar's magic spike and the rider felt like someone was twisting his heart around in his chest. Why couldn't he stop thinking about that tempest whenever he felt Skylar's magic?

Kai reached across their bond to reassure his brother, but Ian felt the unease from the dragon as well.

Did they really know what they were getting into?