Dragon 6 Chapter 32 (Patreon)

“Do you think you can do it?” I asked, looking at the dwarf hopefully.

After we’d returned to Philly, I had grabbed a bunch of gold from my hoard. I’d stopped to pet the gold elemental, Goldie, who was growing well, and then headed off to Rupert. He’d helped me find out from the dwarven representative on the council who I should go to for cold forging.

The man who was recommended, Grim Darkshank, stood in front of me with a pair of intense leather gloves on his hands as he handled the fragment of the Crown of Winter. “You are turning this into a ring? Is Winter your woman now?”

“No. Winter managed to regain her strength in the Wilds.” I didn’t go into detail. “Instead, it is going to Maeve.”

He didn’t quite seem pleased by my statement, but he nodded. “Come on back.”

He lifted the barrier between the back of the jewelry case and the workshop behind. I could just barely make out the details of the shop.

We were in a jewelry shop on 18th street. It wasn’t very big, but as he led me back, I noticed the workshop that was visible from the front was just a facade. Dust lingered on the place, as it was just for show.

Grim chuckled. “The real work is done down here.” He turned around the door, and there was a set of stairs that went down. “Both dwarves and gnomes have a penchant for being underground. We run a few of the metal working factories in town and have a small complex underground.”

As he led me down, there was a larger workshop with a dozen gnomes and dwarves actively working on jewelry.

“Do you have this much business?” I asked.

“Online sales.” Grim nodded to himself. “The storefront really doesn’t sell much anymore, but online? We sell shit tons, and then we don’t have to staff so many of the tall fuckers to man the shop.”

There had been an abnormally tall dwarf woman who had run the shop when I’d asked for Grim. The man in front of me couldn’t be taller than four feet, but he was wide enough he barely fit through doorways. Everything about him was thick with muscle.

“Just let me know what you need to help form the ring. And while I’m here, I have a second request for rings.”

Grim chuckled. “A little late to make some wedding rings, but don’t worry. The Scalewright lass already put in a few orders for your rings.”

I raised a brow in question, but I didn’t ask anything. It wasn’t important. If Jadelyn wanted me to know, she’d have told me before.

Regina and Pixie trailed behind me as Sarisha answered the battery of questions being asked by Regina as she spotted different gadgets.

Grim frowned at the red dragon but asked no more. “The cold forging won’t take much work. I just need some specialized tools to handle this kind of cold.” He still held the crown in his hand, the leather gloves of his managed to keep the frost from spreading far. “This sort of thing could go through a dozen hammers before we get it into shape, not to mention ruin all of them.”

“Whatever you need.” I had a bracer full of gold and gems to pay for it and get some more made. Since this was for my mates, I managed to part with a little, and hopefully, they’d be wearing most of it themselves.

Grim grunted but continued over to a well-furnished workbench and brushed aside a gold necklace that he must have been working on. The sheet of steel that covered his workbench glowed as runes in the corners lit up to protect it as he set the piece down.

“Okay, hmm.” He looked at the vices on the table and frowned. “I have a hammer that can work it, but no vices.”

I let my hand shift to a white and silver claw, pinching the piece and holding it still. “Promise not to just smash my hand for the fun of it?”

Grim let out a dark chuckle and then caught a glare from the girls behind me. “Promise. You sure you trust me like this?”

“Worst case, you chip my nail or break a finger that I’ll have to have mended. I can handle it. But look, I know there has been bad blood between our people in the past, but that doesn’t have to continue forward. It’s over. I’m a customer and you are a smith,” I said with a firmness in my voice. “Besides, I have plenty of payment for you. I know you only take gold and jewels.”

There was a little greed in the dwarf’s eyes before he picked up a heavily runed hammer.

“Turn it this way.” He gestured to me, and I shifted it like he’d indicated. Satisfied, he began to hit the silver metal of the crown. “We’ll have to work it back and forth to a point and then draw out the metal with plenty of blows. This will take a little bit. Let me know if your hand starts to get sore.”

Holding tight to the crown, I turned to Regina. “Is this overwhelming?” I knew she was experiencing many firsts.

“Yes.” The red dragon didn’t hesitate, looking up from Sarisha’s phone and blinking her eyes owlishly. “Why are they stacking these boxes?”

She turned the phone to me, showing me a ridiculous milk crate challenge.

“Amusement. Do the girls back in the village not dare each other to do small but strange tasks?” I asked her.

Regina nodded. “Yes, child’s games of youthful vigor. That is what this is?”

I paused. “Consider a lot of the stupid and strange things that humanity does along the same vein.”

“They do not live very long,” Sarisha supplied for the red dragon. That seemed to appease Regina’s questions.

“Turn.” Grim brought my attention back to the table.

I did as he asked and held the fragment of the crown still. “What about you, Sarisha? What do you like to do?”

She looked up at me, her bright blue eyes capturing my attention, contrasted by her Indian heritage. “Not much.”

“Oh come on. There has to be something. Pixie, if she doesn’t tell me, it will be your job to investigate her life and figure it out.” I was starting to enjoy having a nymph at my beck and call.

“I keep busy with my investing work, and maybe… sometimes… I play the harp.” She got quieter and quieter.

“Did I hear that right, Pixie? A harp?” I teased the caramel-colored dragon.

“Yes, you did,” Pixie confirmed with a smirk. “Shall I find the finest harp makers in the land and order a dozen for her to choose from?” Pixie asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I shrugged. “Not the worst idea. I was thinking more of listening to some, but if we put harps in a bunch of the rooms of the supposed new manor I’m getting, then I’m sure at least one will tempt her.”

Sarisha was receding in on herself with the teasing.

I put a finger of my free hand under her chin before she shrank too much on herself. “Look at me. I’d absolutely love to hear you play sometime. I bet it is beautiful.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I have a few of my own. Even a few gold ones, but let’s be honest, gold makes for terrible harps. They’re pretty to look at, but it makes the notes a little funny.”

“No gold ones. I want to admire your music, not the harp,” I promised.

She nodded again.

Regina looked between us, and her brow furrowed, as if she was trying to glean some piece of information from our discussion.

“A dozen harps will be made,” Pixie promised. “We’ll make most of them grand harps, and I’ll make sure that Ikta knows to spread them out.”

“Turn this again.” Grim grumbled. “No wonder you have a giant harem.”

“It’s growing even bigger.” Pixie gave me a seductive and hopeful smile.

“Nymphs. I got a wedding invitation from the Scalewrights. Didn’t realize there were nymphs in your harem, but you are having it in the Faerie, so maybe that makes sense.” Grim frowned over his work, but didn’t look away.

“Well, the nymphs are a new addition. I kind of went for an adventure through the fae Wilds while I was there,” I replied.

“That’s probably a wild tale.” He quirked an eyebrow as he worked, seeming interested.

Taking the opening, I started telling him about our journey.

Grim laughed when I got to the part of being tempted downstream by a nymph, and Pixie seemed to be taking notes. By the time I finished the story, Grim had finished making the loop and was working with smaller chisels to push and mold the metal into a design.

I’d honestly just been expecting a simple loop, but now it was shaping into a dragon’s mouth, holding the diamond. And the loop was getting small delicate scales carved into it.

Overall, being hand hammered and chiseled gave it a rough charm.

“I won’t let you hand off a piece that was my work unless it is a work of art. Certainly not a magical wedding ring that could buy a city,” Grim replied as I told him once again it looked good enough. “Turn, please.”

I did so. “It really does look amazing though.”

“The finishing touches will make it look that much better. Since grinding and polishing would take material off and weaken it, I’m doing my best to pound these scales in to hide its roughness.” Grim tapped it again, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

The ring was looking stunning as Grim put the finishing touches on it.

“You said you had other work you needed?” The dwarf wiped at his brow, even though the air around his station was chilly from the ring.

“Other rings. I made a few of the engagement rings myself. I thought I’d do that again, but I ended up too busy with my adventure.”

“And got yourself a few more ladies.” Grim chuckled. “These’ll have to be done quickly. I might have to charge you extra. Not sure how much you need. We may not have enough stones for you.”

I held my bracer over the side of his desk that he wasn’t using. Gold and jewels poured out onto the ground, making a little knee-high pile. My heart ached at seeing my gold leave, but I kept trying to tell myself that it was for my mates and that they would end up wearing some of it.

“I figured that would be enough for materials and labor costs. I want the best, Grim.”

“Fuck. Dragons.” He suddenly held his hands up. “Those were separate sentences. Like fuck there’s a lot of gold, and then damn dragons get all the good things.”

I chuckled, “No harm done.”

But as I laughed, a creature made of liquid gold expanded from the pile, and turned into a small woman. She jumped on the nearby table.

“Fuck,” I echoed Grim. “Goldie, how did you… come here.” I pushed out some of my mana into my hand. “Don’t you want some of my tasty mana?”

Goldie’s form swirled like a serpent through the air, coiling protectively over my arm and the ball of mana in my palm. Then she started to feed from it.

“What the hell is that?” Grim backed away and checked the nearby pile of gold. It hadn’t shrunk. Goldie had likely condensed herself down to a single gold coin to sneak herself out of the hoard.

“An elemental. A gold elemental. It’s been living in my hoard, and apparently, my absence has caused it to feel the need to escape.” I continued to push mana into my palm, and Goldie continued to feed from it.

“Is it safe?” Grim asked, still eyeing her skeptically.

As if offended, Goldie shifted to glare at him for a moment before going back to consuming my mana.

“Goldie is smart and growing smarter by the day.”

“Zach.” Goldie looked at me.

“Yes, Goldie. How did you sneak out?” I asked the elemental. So far, she’d usually listened to me. But she’d never been outside the hoard. As an elemental, if she ever wanted to escape, it wouldn’t be that hard, and it would be hell to get her back.

“Goldie smart. Yev says so.” Goldie went back to consuming my mana. Even if her speech was still rough, the gold elemental was learning rapidly.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Goldie, you need to listen to me and do as I say if you are going to be out of the hoard.”

The elemental bobbed her head several times before winding across my chest to mimic the bracer on my other arm.

“I want to travel with you.” Goldie punctuated the statement with an orgasmic moan.

For that brief moment, I wanted to hide from the eyes looking at her and me oddly. Goldie’s early education of speech patterns was only from when my women and I had been in the hoard, and we’d often been occupied with each other’s bodies. I had only really been aware of the elemental for a few months.

“Right.” Grim looked at the elemental strangely. “Well, with these materials, I could whip up a whole batch of rings.” He pursed his lips and made a face as he gauged the quantity of materials. “Say three dozen rings from this?”

“Perfect,” I said quickly. “Hopefully, that’ll last me a while.”

Pixie giggled, but I ignored it.

“Well then, I’m going to head out and check on some other things,” I replied as Grim went to work, ignoring that we were in the room.

Reaching down, I lifted Maeve’s ring up and stuffed it into my bracer. The ring looked perfect to me.

“Right, right,” Grim said distractedly. “Then I need to get some of my hands and get to work on Dragon King wedding rings.”

Leaving his shop was easier. The basement had one of Morgana’s doorways to the Atrium and an easy route back to the park.

I pulled out my phone to call Agent Tills, only to see that she’d called me several times. Keeping my phone in my bracer was wonderful for not having it smashed every time I shifted, but terrible for hearing it ring.

I quickly dialed her back.

“Agent Tills, what can I do for you?” I asked, walking down the Atrium.

“Meet me by Wissahickon Park?” Her voice was tense enough to make me frown.

I cleared my throat. “Everything okay? I’m on my way. We were headed that way anyway. Happy to help however I can.”

Rather than answer my question, she kept her firm FBI officer voice. “Given Silverwing Mercenaries’ involvement in several affairs lately, we would appreciate it if you met us at a coffee shop for some informal questions.”

Her tone told me that she had somebody nearby who was listening to our conversation. Which meant I was likely about to deal with that person’s questions.

Wonderful.

“I’ll be there. Just give me the address.” My stride lengthened, and I made it to the door that Spring had used to exit at the park’s ranger station.

The fae working at the location looked up at our group and then went right back to work.

I didn’t hear a response and looked down at the phone, realizing Tills had hung on up me or I had lost the connection. But then my phone dinged, indicating a text.

I would have looked at it, but my attention was caught by the nearby construction. “Where did that come from?”

Right next to this area of the park, a huge building was going up. I’d only been away for a few weeks; it looked like it had been getting built for months.

“Don’t look at me.” Regina shrugged. “I’m still trying to understand why you are in a hurry.”

“Right.” I looked at her and Pixie. “Act normal, please. We have a meeting, and I’m guessing it’s with Helena and Tills’ new boss, who doesn’t know about us.”

Sarisha nodded. “We’ll hang back, but be watchful.”

I nodded, looking them over. Regina had been given something a little more typical to wear so that she’d at least blend in better. Both of the girls wore T-shirts, jeans, and leather jackets.

Pixie was glamored up as a bubbly assistant, her hair still a vibrant pink, though that really wouldn’t stick out as non-human anymore.

“Would you like me to be an assistant during this meeting or hang back with the girls?”

“Stay close, observe, and take some notes if needed. I’ll do the talking.” Two eyes were better than one, and the nymphs seemed to be an observant bunch.

“Can do.” Pixie glamored a notepad into her hand.