Bodyguards

There was a moment before he left the Outpost that he had considered cancelling the entire agreement, but for whatever reason he chose to accept their proposal. After seeing the fruit, they had arm wrestled, Likoe had won all of the leftovers back but it had left the rest of the dragonkin in the building feeling the desire. All dragons had an innate desire trait, they saw something they liked and all senses failed them.

'Tunnel vision from hell?' He considered the reasons why they had all agreed to come along, none of them mattered. He rode on Likoe's back, it was large enough. The wind did most of the work, his wings sailed with the rest of them beside him.

"We're making good time!" They were enthusiastic.

Errit got tired of watching them arm wrestle earlier and pulled out a handful of fruits as incentive for Likoe to get moving. Their appearance drove each of the dragonkin at Hammered Hole into a full fiending swing. 'Twenty Fruits, what a cheap price.'

There were thunder bolts in the distance, a Raijū was battling an Esper. The Stormclouds were drifting in their direction. "Don't lose your balance, gaining altitude again in this storm will be difficult." Likoe warned Errit and they pressed onward.

When they had cleared the storm, a massive thunderclap came from behind. Errit saw a thunderbolt that must have been five feet wide strike a single target. There was an explosion. 'Wow, that's one hell of a fight.'

"Keep your eyes on the horizon, everytime you turn your head, you lean us both." Likoe was doing a good job of keeping them both in the air, he didn't appreciate someone on his back but he really wanted the fruits.

"Sorry" Errit apologized and looked at the others one last time, making sure not to lean them as he did it.

"No problem, more fruits if you fall, but eh.. I'd rather earn them." He flapped harder and caught another draft of wind to carry them higher. "So, You're an adventurer?" he asked.

Errit held onto the blackout hat, he was thankful it had a strap. "Sort of, I'm an Herbalist." It sounded right to him, so he went with it.

"Herbalist? Okay. Well, That fruit was great. Do you have anything else like it?" Likoe was interesting, he had lots of questions. Errit didn't mind the conversation, it was cold being so high up and anything to take his mind off it was very welcome.

"Actually, Yes. They taste like Cake!" It must have been the magical word. Likoe stopped in midair.

"Did you say Cake?" His face twisted.

"Yes. But its a fruit. You'd have to try it, I don't have any to sell though." Errit was honest about it, he only had about a hundred of them remaining, he would eat one or two a week to preserve them.

Likoe rubbed his chin. "If I get us there by tonight, will you give me one of those too?"

It was late, Errit didn't care either way. "Sure."

A gust from Likoe's wings nearly tore Errit from his back, "Hang on." He flew through the air much faster than before, nearly doubling his speed. The other Dragonkin did their best to keep up, but they were eventually falling behind. He held on for dear life.

The wind flushed past his ears, swirling and gave a constant hooping noise. The clouds were avoided, being wet and so high up was not a good combo if you wanted to avoid getting sick. When the clouds got too thick, they flew above them. For almost a hundred kilometers they couldn't even see the ground. It was like it was invisible, hidden behind the clouds.

Three hours went by, and then on the horizon, many lights could be seen converging into a great spire. A Tower stood, gleaming in the night. It was wrapped in glowstone formations, spellwork was literally written over the entire structure. 'Visible from a great distance, the spellwork must be powerful' Errit sighed in relief, he wanted to use the bathroom but he was stuck in the air for almost an entire day and night.

"We can't fly back tonight, so we'll be staying at an inn. You should join us for drinks, besides, I want to try that cake fruit you were talking about." Likoe landed softly next to a building, it had a bed on its signboard.

"This is the Inn. We know the owner, so.. don't make a scene." Likoe walked inside, kicking the door open. "Whats up bitches! Hey, let me get four dragon wines and six shots of Hundoni." He laid back in a bench that looked specially made. "Sit down." He motioned to Errit to sit and then kicked up his feet. "You got that cake thing?"

"uhh" Errit let out a questionable response and produced twenty of the Ransonor fruit and one of the fruit pods.

"There are multiple flavors in the pod, a deals a deal. What's Hundoni?" Errit passed the fruits over,

Likoe bit down on one of the Ransonor fruits, "This stuff is great." He chewed while he spoke, eating the slivers quickly.

"Don't forget, those are suppose to pay the others too." Errit reminded him.

Likoe looked bothered, but stored 15 of them away. "Hundoni is a spirit liqueur, Drink four shots and you'll start seeing the dead. Its disorienting but aww-some! Hangover's a bitch tho."

Errit stared at the shot glass in front of him. He was never much of a drinker, but it was like he was at an event. He was trying to enjoy himself, Picking it up, he made a toast. "To those who couldn't be here. May they forever have our backs." Errit slammed the shot glass on the countertop and drank it in one go.

"I knew I liked you." Likoe wiggled his foot, pulled out a knife and tried slicing the Cake Fruit apart.

"You can just peel the fruit, cutting it does little good." Errit pulled another of the fruits out and demonstrated.

They drank, they laughed, they partied. Six hours later, the suns were coming up. Errit walked into the room at the Inn with the rest of the dragonkin and passed out.

The morning rush outside of the Inn was loud. None of them were able to sleep more than a few hours. Errit got up early, left another fruit by Likoe and went out into the Capital.

It was much larger than either of the other two cities, guards were everywhere.

A singular main road, wider than all the others in the city, led directly to the palace at its center. Shops were plentiful, some of the craftsman were even sitting outside, openly producing and exposing their crafting ability to others.