Metal Mage 13

by Eric Vall

  “Okay,” Cayla said with a few nods. “I can do this.”

  “I know you can. Nerves of steel.”

  The princess kept up with her deep breaths while I headed over to Rammstein, and the dragon watched her over my head with concern.

  “She’ll be fine, buddy,” I muttered. “You know how she gets… why don’t you head back to your post, and then you can send the snatchers out to the foothills again.”

  Rammstein screeched lightly in response, and after he eyed Cayla for a little longer, he took flight. Then he circled above us a few times, and when the princess blew him a kiss, he finally turned toward the eastern foothills.

  “I love him so much,” Cayla sighed. “I wonder if--”

  Both of us froze as the thunderous roar of Grot carried all the way from the northern woods, and I could hear Kurna running for his life while the dwarves in the market grumbled in disgust.

  “This day is gonna get worse, isn’t it?” I realized.

  “No, this is going great,” Cayla assured me. “You’ve accomplished more in the last day than anyone in this realm ever has, and no one’s died over it yet.”

  “Besides the horses,” I muttered.

  “Well, none of our allies have died,” she corrected.

  “Except the ogres Ruela killed.”

  “Well, they had it coming,” Cayla snorted.

  “That’s true.”

  “You’ve also got a solid plan under your belt,” the princess added. “Trust me, once the troops move out, they’ll focus on the battle ahead rather than each other. We just need to get through the next few hours.”

  I nodded. “How hard can that be?”

  Grot roared again as another wall of the training field crumbled to the ground, and Cayla bit her lip.

  “Let me help you with this,” the princess offered. “I excel with diplomacy, and between the two of us, we could keep anyone in line. We’ll be the voice of reason, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll be the ones with the guns.”

  Cayla’s lips curled into a playful smirk as Deya coasted over the trees, and the two of us backed away a few paces so the black dragon could land.

  “That’s actually a pretty good idea,” I said with a grin. “I’ve always wanted to try good cop-bad cop, but I’ve never had the opportunity. This is the exact circumstance where it could help.”

  Cayla furrowed her brow. “What’s good cop-bad cop?”

  “I’ll explain it on the way, but I think you’re gonna love it,” I chuckled as I led her over to Deya.

  Chapter 10

  “It’s a classic power play where I’m from,” I shouted above the wind, and Cayla turned her head to the side so she could hear me while we flew over the hills of Illaria.

  “I love power plays, how does it work?” the princess asked with a grin.

  “First off, it’s important to remember the bad cop is still a good guy,” I began. “The lines get blurred sometimes, but he’s got loved ones, and he’s fighting for what’s right, okay?”

  “Why is he bad, then?”

  “Well, out in the field, he’s a real hard ass, and he utilizes that to push people to their limits,” I explained, and the princess nodded in immediate understanding. “Now, on the other side of the team, you’ve got the good cop, and on the surface, it looks like the good cop is laid back, but he’s cunning, too. See, he uses that calm and understanding exterior to get things accomplished without too much resistance. If it doesn’t work, though, he sits back and lets the bad cop do his thing, and once that’s done and the perp’s confidence is shattered, good cop’s there as a safety net. Because now that bad cop’s had his say, good cop’s side of the bargain is looking pretty fucking doable. He ties up the loose ends, and when all is said and done, everything gets accomplished one way or the other. It’s a killer dynamic!”

  “Yes!” Cayla said the second I finished. “Let’s do that! I’m the bad cop!”

  “And I’m the good cop,” I agreed.

  “Should we practice with my father?”

  “Nooo,” I chuckled. “Never bad cop a king… or your dad.”

  “That makes sense,” Cayla chuckled. “I don’t need to bad cop him anyways, I do ‘remember when’ and it works like a charm!”

  I furrowed my brow. “What’s ‘remember when?’”

  “Like this,” the princess shouted. “Can I have sex right now?”

  “No,” I snorted.

  Then Cayla shifted on the dragon so she could press her hand against my arm, and the soft smile she sent me made my heart wilt as her blue eyes shimmered with love.

  “Remember when you taught me to make corn chips in the trees of Tasson, and the air smelled like moss and veridianix?” she asked.

  A hazy smile came to my face. “Yeah… it felt like another world, and we slept in the canopy. That was a good night.”

  “I still think about it all the time,” Cayla murmured as she tilted her lips toward me, and I found myself kissing her tenderly as her hand deftly moved from my arm to my belt.

  My head was filled with all the memories the two of us had made together both before and after that night in Tasson, though, and it wasn’t until I realized Cayla already had my rock-hard dick in her hand that I snapped out of it and dropped my jaw.

  “What the hell?” I chuckled.

  Cayla sent me a cheeky grin and turned back around. “Works every time! Although, I used to use it to get expensive things or be allowed to wear pants instead of dresses at home.”

  “Well, now I hope we don’t have a daughter,” I admitted as I got my pants fixed.

  “I didn’t only use it for evil!” the princess laughed. “If my father was overworked or missing my mother, I used ‘remember when’ to cheer him up so he could get his head back on track, too.”

  “That’s cute,” I decided.

  “Did you ever do power plays with your parents?”

  “Honestly? No,” I admitted. “My adoptive parents were older, quiet people, and I wasn’t much of a trouble-maker. If I wanted something, I told them, and sometimes I’d have to save up my own money to get it, or they’d surprise me for my birthday.”

  “That’s so innocent compared to trading weapons and threatening to wipe out an entire race,” Cayla mused. “You seem to have changed drastically.”

  “Speak for yourself,” I snorted. “I recall escorting a much more innocent and mild-mannered princess around Eyton last time I was here.”

  I could see Cayla’s porcelain cheeks blush as she bit her lip, and we both looked down at the taut leather corset, tiny black shorts that barely covered her crotch, and thigh high boots she’d put on this morning.

  Personally, I thought the two pistols, three magazines, and five daggers she had slung around her slender waist really tied the whole outfit together.

  “This should be fun,” I murmured into Cayla’s ear.

  “Gods,” the princess groaned. “What if my father doesn’t even recognize me anymore?”

  “He’ll recognize you,” I assured the woman. “You might have been more innocent last time we were here, but you definitely had the same defiant look in those blue eyes of yours. You just… teared up like a fair maiden once in a while and said charming things like ‘Certainly, father, I’ll change into something more elegant before we dine… ’”

  “I did not sound like that!” Cayla elbowed me hard in the gut for my impression of her, but then she furrowed her brow. “Shit. I did, didn’t I?”

  Deya’s screech interrupted our laughter before I could tease the princess more, and as Cayla looked forward again, she gasped and clutched my hand against her hip.

  I grinned as I saw the city of Eyton glinting in the morning light, and as the gabled roofs of the capital stacked themselves up the edges of the knoll, the spires of the castle rose up at the very center to pierce the sky. Lake Falder glistened to the left of the parapets enclosing the quaint kingdom, and the domed train station we’d once built here gleamed with aqua green gra
nite that reflected across the rippling waters of the lake.

  Once we crossed the last emerald field leading to Eyton, Deya swooped low to get a better look at Cayla’s birthplace, and I grinned down at the cobblestone streets that were teaming with merchants’ carts and people going about their day.

  Then the citizens noticed the massive dragon eyeing them all from above, and screams spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

  “Maybe we should have sent word we’d be arriving today,” I muttered.

  “Perhaps,” Cayla agreed. “Deya, bring us to the third spire on the left. There’s a good view of the castle courtyard from up there, and I don’t want any of my father’s guards to attack you for landing.”

  Deya soared upward toward the castle, and by the time she finished circling the towers to get ready for her landing, I could see dozens of guards in burnished armor spilling out into the courtyard.

  Then a man with a long blonde braid and emerald robes rushed out among them, and Deya swooped down to sink her talons into the roof of the third tower to the left.

  More frantic shouts rebounded off the walls of the courtyard as the king attempted to ready his men, but then Cayla perched herself on her knees and waved her arms above her head as her face lit up.

  “Father!” the princess yelled. “Father, it’s me!”

  Silence abruptly fell in the courtyard, and I could see every jaw unhinge, including the king’s.

  “C-Cayla?” he stammered. “You’re on a … dragon?”

  “Yes!” the princess laughed. “Isn’t she beautiful? I’ve brought Defender Flynt along as well! Stay right there, we’ll come down to you!”

  I chuckled while everyone stared, shell shocked, and as Cayla settled herself between my thighs again, she fussed with her corset a bit to try and squeeze her tits in a little better.

  “Deya, bring us down into the courtyard,” the princess said breathlessly. “And be polite about it.”

  The black dragon nodded before she dove from the tower, and the guards in the courtyard scattered while the king remained gaping up at us. Then Deya brought us in for a gentle landing, and when she made a point of bowing her snout low to the king, I thought his brown eyes might fall right out of his head.

  “Father!” Cayla squealed as she jumped down, and she ran across the stonework to throw her arms around the dumbfounded man.

  After a moment, he managed to hug her back, but his billowing sleeves got caught on her daggers, and when he tried to sort the issue out, three of the blades clattered to the ground.

  “Sorry,” Cayla giggled, and I slid off Deya’s back to join the two while the princess did a splayed squat to retrieve her daggers. “I know we didn’t tell you we’d be visiting, but it was a last-minute thing. This is our battle dragon, Deya, and you remember Defender Flynt.”

  “Battle dragon?” the king muttered blankly.

  I offered my hand with a broad grin. “Good to see you again, King Balmier.”

  “Yes!” he laughed as he shook my hand. “Forgive me, I’m only… surprised is all. I wasn’t aware my daughter knew how to fly a dragon. Or land one.”

  “Oh, she does all the work,” Cayla said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Now, I wish we had time to catch up, but we’re about to wage an offensive attack against the Master in the north, and we must speak with you about your knights.”

  “You’re… joining in the war efforts?” the king clarified.

  “Yes, of course,” the princess chuckled. “Mason and Defender Solana are heads of the Order now, so they lead the defenses for all of Illaria, and we’ve finally found an opportunity to turn the tides of this war in our favor.”

  King Balmier nodded slowly while the guards who were flattened against the walls of the courtyard looked in disbelief at the leather clad woman.

  Then I cleared my throat. “Perhaps we should sit down and discuss things. There have been several developments recently, which is why we’re here to speak with you.”

  “Yes,” the king said as he blinked a few times in rapid succession. “We’ll adjourn to the throne room. Shall I have the stable boys lead your dragon to… somewhere?”

  “That’s so sweet, but don’t trouble yourself, father,” Cayla replied. “Deya has been rather interested in seeing where I’m from. I’m sure she’d much rather take a tour of the kingdom, wouldn’t you sweetie?”

  Deya screeched as she trotted over, and the ground of the courtyard shook with every step until she reached my side and gave me a hopeful look.

  “Sure, have fun,” I chuckled. “Better fly high so you don’t startle the citizens, though, alright? We shouldn’t be too long.”

  Deya nuzzled my arm before she bowed again to the king, and the man was so out of sorts by now that he actually bowed back. Then he eyed Cayla’s ensemble with some concern before he turned toward the castle, and the princess bit her lip as she tried to tug her Daisy-Duke shorts a little lower over her thighs.

  The movement didn’t help.

  The black dragon nipped at Cayla’s ass to make her opinions known, though, and the princess batted Deya away as she sent her a devious grin.

  “No biting outside the bedroom,” Cayla purred.

  Then she curled her arm in mine, and I led the long-legged porcelain beauty through the doors of Eyton castle without pointing out that every guard in the courtyard definitely heard her say that to a dragon.

  We followed the billowing robes of the king down several halls lined with colorful tapestries, and when we passed through a hefty pair of mahogany doors, he gestured for us to seat ourselves.

  Then he sat opposite of us at a well-polished mahogany desk, and Cayla took my hand in hers as she smiled at her surroundings like she was happy to be back.

  “King Balmier,” I began, but the man immediately raised his hand to cut me off.

  “What’s with all this formality?” the man chuckled. “It’s Davit, please, and before you go any further, I do know of the war taking place in the north. King Temin alerted me to his decision after the attacks in eastern Cedis began.”

  “How are our people faring?” Cayla asked with concern. “I know we don’t have nearly enough knights to protect them all, but Mason has spoken about building sentries to--”

  “The people fare just fine,” Davit assured his daughter. “Much has happened in Cedis since the railroad was built, and I’m happy to say, our knights have done an admirable job thanks to our new system of defense.”

  “Really?” I asked with surprise. “What sort of system are you implementing?”

  “Guns, of course.” Davit grinned. “What else?”

  Cayla’s hand tightened around mine. “Guns?”

  “Yes, after seeing how effective Defender Flynt’s revolvers were against Camus Dred, I knew this was the wave of the future,” the king said as he smoothed his robes out. “With the riches our kingdom has been enjoying thanks to our improved trade outlets, I was able to commission the blacksmiths of Serin to provide Cedis with two-thousand revolvers. We’ve converted the western cellar into an arms room to accommodate the ammunition.”

  “That’s incredible,” I chuckled, but I was mostly amused with the look on Cayla’s face while her grip continued to tighten on my hand.

  “Are you alright, darling?” Davit asked.

  “Yes!” Cayla breathed. “So… your retinue is now trained to use firearms?”

  “Them and the Army of Eyton,” the king said with a shrug. “It wouldn’t be very prudent to keep the best defenses all to myself, would it?”

  “Forgive me, sir,” I said since Cayla was beyond forming words now. “I was under the impression your personal retinue was composed of the only knights in Cedis.”

  “Ah.” Davit nodded. “Yes, I forgot it’s been a while, hasn’t it? The kingdom’s debts have all been repaid, however, and the nobility are faring much better than they once did. Following the arrival of our new weapons from the north, I gave word to the noble houses to send any willing m
en to the capital to begin their training, and Cedis now boasts a rather impressive standing army. I owe you a great deal of gratitude, Defender Flynt. Your inventions have propelled my kingdom to heights never before achieved in this region.”

  Davit adjusted his crown as his brown eyes gleamed with pride, and I winced as my hand crumpled to dust in Cayla’s grip.

  “Ouch,” I tried, but the princess didn’t move an inch.

  “Huh?”

  “My hand,” I muttered.

  “I have one, thank you,” Cayla mumbled distractedly. “Father, how many soldiers fight for Cedis now?”

  “Two-hundred and counting,” the king said with a broad grin.

  Then I yelped as I jolted in my seat, and I had to pry Cayla’s hand off before I broke down into tears.

  “Sorry!” the princess whimpered when she saw me cradling my wrist. “I’m sorry! Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I chuckled, and I placed my arm around her shoulders instead before I turned back to her father. “That’s an amazing achievement, Davit. I’m proud to know my work has had such a positive impact on your kingdom.”

  “I’m proud to know my daughter has such good taste,” Davit snorted, but then he furrowed his brow at Cayla. “Darling, are you sure you’re feeling alright? You look flushed.”

  I bit my cheek so I would laugh when I recognized what that fierce blush meant, and Cayla shifted in her seat as she began fanning herself.

  “I’m perfectly fine,” she panted. “Just a little overwarm. Um… M-Mason, you had things to discuss with my father, yes?”

  “No need,” Davit cut in. “I suspect you’ve come seeking assistance in this upcoming attack my daughter mentioned.”

  “I have,” I admitted. “It’s only that we’re concerned our own numbers won’t be enough, and--”

  “Say no more,” the king said with a slight bow of his head. “If there is anything I feel obligated to do, it is support the endeavors of the man who not only saved myself and my kingdom, but has won the love of my cherished daughter. How soon do you require my army?”