Sala passed Ariom's recommendation for dealing with the base's outer barrier on to Aunt Kat, who would relay it to Hydra and the other team leaders. Then she sat down on the side of the room with Kino to wait while the enchanters resumed their discussion.

Iggy kept glancing over at the two larger familiars. He was probably wishing that he could go curl up and fall asleep in Sala's thick, soft fur. The two of them often napped together whenever she and Aunt Kat came by to visit. Sala could have a bit of a temper when she was dealing with adults, but she was always kind and patient with children. Iggy liked her a lot.

Well...Ariom's relationship with Aunt Kat was similar. She was one of the few military-associated people that he'd never been able to bring himself to dislike. He'd been secretly relieved to hear that she was the leader of the rescue team, even though the idea of working with her was a little uncomfortable at the same time.

She wasn't really his aunt, but she'd been a close friend of his mother's, and she and Sala had helped take care of him a lot when he was young.

Ariom didn't even want to think about how many of his embarrassing childhood and teenage moments they could potentially reveal to a certain annoying ice mage...who would then be able to use them for endless teasing fodder....

After another ten minutes or so, Sala announced that the strategy meeting had just ended, so they needed to finish up and go join their assigned teams.

"Kathia says she'll meet you at the distribution area," she told Ariom and the two female battlemages. "She's picking up potions for the team."

"And Garem says Ariom's combat suit is there. You should ask for it at one of the armory counters," Kino added in his usual soft voice.

They all packed away their diagrams and maps and filed out of the meeting room.

"This was a very helpful discussion. Thank you for your insights, little one," Jahon said, giving Iggy a warm smile. 

Iggy was lying limply in Ariom's arms, clearly struggling to stay awake. But he managed to wave his tail a little in response.

Jahon looked up at Ariom, his expression becoming more serious. "I wish you good fortune with your part of the mission. I hope you're able to get your assistant back safely."

"Thank you. I wish you and your companions a safe mission as well."

Jahon seemed to be the most senior of the three Royal Guard enchanters, and he'd also been the most respectful and most knowledgeable one among them. Ariom didn't think it would be a bad idea to stay in contact with him.

Tremis also exchanged well-wishes with them before he left. But Darios simply gave them a nod, looking rather uncomfortable, before turning and walking down the hall with his two colleagues.

No need to keep in touch with that one....

Ariom and the other rescue team members turned a different direction from the Royal Guard enchanters. The three of them were headed over to the Magic Corps assembly grounds, where most of the attack teams were gathering. But the rescue team had been instructed to assemble here at the Guard headquarters, since half of them had been participating in the planning meetings.

Kino and Ziryi—the official and unofficial Royal Guard members—led the way to the supply distribution area. This was a large room that ran down the center of the Guard's enormous workshop building, in between the armory and the alchemy center.

Both sides of the room were lined with pickup counters—potions and medical supplies on one side and armor and equipment on the other. Most of the counters were busy with Guard members who were hurrying to get their allotted supplies for the raid. But the preparations had been going on for nearly two hours by this point, so it wasn't as crowded as Ariom had been afraid it would be.

It was more than enough for Iggy, though. He burrowed deeper into Ariom's arms, clearly uncomfortable with the high levels of noise and ambient magic present.

"See? This is why you need to stay with Uncle Bero while we go help Thenio," Ariom told him, stroking his back soothingly. "It will be even worse than this once we start fighting."

Iggy had his face buried in Ariom's shirt and didn't answer.

"Relisa should have a barrier set up for the unicorns," Sala said, giving the little dragon a sympathetic look. "He'll feel better if he gets inside it."

"Unicorns hate void magic," Ariom pointed out cynically. "You really think they'll let him in?"

"They will if someone persuades them." The mist tiger flashed her large white teeth.

She'd once had a run-in with Sano and had had a bit of a grudge against unicorns ever since, just like Ariom.

They found Relisa at the far end of the row of alchemy counters. She and Aunt Kat were checking over a number of wooden racks filled with potion bottles that were lined up on the counter between them. Sano and Nari were behind the adjacent, unused counter, doing something with a large golden cauldron. Uncle Bero seemed to be helping them. And as Sala had predicted, they were surrounded by a thick barrier that was preventing the ambient magic from bothering them.

They all turned to look at the approaching group, apart from Nari, who had her head lowered and was busy stirring the contents of the cauldron with her horn.

Aunt Kat smiled and waved at them. "Good, you're here. Come pick up your allotted potions, you three. One rack per person."

She was a tall, middle-aged woman with silver-blue hair that shimmered oddly in the light. Her eyes were the same vivid blue as Sala's, and she was wearing a blue combat suit with silver tiger stripes.

"What about the familiars?" Ariom asked, looking at Sala and Kino.

"I'm carrying theirs. Our medic will have extras of everything, too, just in case. What you're getting is your personal supply. You can keep whatever you don't use."

Ariom nodded. He was aware of that policy. The military and Royal Guard both considered pharmaceutical supplies to be part of the salary for performing a mission. You were expected to use them if you needed them, but if you didn't, you were allowed to keep them after the mission was over. 

This was to prevent the possibility of medicines being tampered with and then returned to the general stock. It was possible to check them, of course, but with the huge quantities the organizations dealt with on a regular basis, it was more efficient to just produce new ones.

Relisa pushed three of the wooden racks over as Ariom, Namyis, and Ziryi approached the counter. "There are three bottles of ambrosia, two of moondust, and one demon neutralizing tonic."

"We get moondust?" Ziryi's eyes widened a little in surprise. "That's good stuff. The higher-ups are taking this raid really seriously, aren't they?"

"Well...they are," Relisa said. "But I actually volunteered to provide the medical supplies for the rescue team myself. My husband is one of the people you're going to rescue, after all...."

"I see." Ziryi's expression turned sober. She looked at the racks full of bottles for a moment before picking one up. "Thank you. We'll do our best not to disappoint you."

Relisa smiled at her. Then she looked at Ariom, who was also picking up a rack. "It looks like you've already taken some neutralizing tonic recently. But go ahead and take that bottle anyway. You'll need a second dose if you happen to be exposed to a large amount of poison." Apparently noticing Ariom's puzzled expression, she added, "It can stay active in the body for several days, depending on how much poison it comes in contact with. The amount you got from that sleeping trap wasn't enough to use up the tonic, so you still have some protection."

"Ah. I understand." Ariom looked down at the little bottle of dark gold liquid. "Strange stuff.... If it lingers in the body, why not take it before being exposed to demon poison?"

"You can. And occasionally people do. But mid- and high-rankers can usually fight off poison on their own, and the supply of tonic is limited, so we try not to waste it. It's used all over the continent, but Ket'shiu is the only source we have for it. He can only donate so much sap before it starts to have a negative effect on him."

Ariom frowned a little. "Aren't any of the other mythic beasts resistant to demon poison?"

Relisa shook her head. "Only Ket'shiu and the phoenix have enough resistance to provide material for anti-demon medicine. And the phoenix...isn't available right now."

'Isn't available'? What did that mean? And why would Relisa know about the phoenix's status? No one had seen her for centuries.

As much as he wanted to question her further, Ariom decided to drop the subject for now. He could ask about phoenixes later. There were more urgent things to think about at the moment.

He put the potions into his space pocket and then looked down at Iggy, who was still huddled miserably against his chest. Ariom glanced over at the unicorns. Sano was now the one stirring whatever was in the cauldron. Nari had moved behind him and was watching them timidly over his back.

Ariom sighed and looked back at Relisa. "Can Iggy stay inside your barrier for a little while? He's very sensitive to magic, so this place is getting to him. And I need to go get my combat suit from the armory."

"Oh. Of course." Relisa nodded and gave the little dragon a sympathetic smile. "Poor little fellow.... I certainly understand how difficult magic sensitivity can be." She glanced meaningfully at the unicorns.

Sano lifted his head and turned toward them, golden liquid dripping off his horn and making a dark patch on the fabric of his caparison. 

"That dragon has void magic!" he protested, flattening his ears and stamping one of his hooves.

"Sano, don't be rude," Relisa scolded him. "I know you're on edge because you're worried about Focilo. But Iggy's just a baby. You need to be nice to him."

"That argument's never worked on him before..." Ariom muttered, rolling his eyes.

Relisa gave him an apologetic look before turning back to the petulant unicorn. "Come on, Sano. His magic power isn't that high. You're wearing your clothes, so you'll barely even feel it. And it's only for a little while. Nari doesn't mind it, do you, dear?"

Nari glanced at Sano and then silently shook her head.

Sano glared at her. "Traitor."

He let out an angry snort and turned his head away, sticking his horn back into the pot full of what Ariom guessed was partially finished ambrosia.

Relisa sighed and looked at Ariom. "Go ahead. He just likes to complain. He won't really do anything about it."

Ariom raised a skeptical eyebrow at that but still carried Iggy over to where Uncle Bero was standing. Sano gave them an annoyed look and swished his tail as they entered the barrier, but as Relisa had said, he didn't do anything to stop them.

Iggy lifted his head and looked around dazedly. He seemed relieved to no longer feel the oppressive magic swirling around the room, but by this point he was too exhausted to really understand why it had suddenly disappeared.

Uncle Bero left the empty potion bottles he'd been lining up in racks, ready to hold the soon-to-be-finished ambrosia, and came over to lift the little dragon out of Ariom's arms. "Come here, Iggy. You can stay with me for a while."

"No!" Iggy was too tired to react in time and missed his chance to cling onto Ariom. He scrabbled wildly at the air, trying to get back to him. "I want to stay with Ariom! I don't want him to leave me behind!"

"Iggy...." Ariom stared helplessly at the unhappy little dragon, not sure what to do.

Fortunately his uncle had plenty of experience dealing with both children and magic creatures. He slid his fingers into Iggy's harness to prevent him from escaping and held him out far enough to avoid being scratched or slapped by his wings. Then he simply waited, allowing the tired baby dragon to finish wearing himself out. 

It didn't take long. After thrashing around for a minute or two, Iggy went limp, panting heavily. Before he could catch his breath and start struggling again, Uncle Bero took a small green blanket out of his space pocket and quickly swaddled the dragon with it, pinning his legs and wings to his sides.

"Noooo!" Iggy howled, trying to wriggle his way out. "Let me go! I want to stay with Ariom!"

"I know you do," Uncle Bero said gently, holding Iggy securely against his chest with one arm and rubbing his ears to soothe and distract him. "I know it's hard to be left behind like this. When I was young, I used to watch my father put his combat suit on and go off to fight, just like Ariom's doing now. And I hated it. I hated that he was gone so much of the time. I hated that I could never go with him. I hated being afraid that he might not come back again. But I didn't tell him that. I just smiled and wished him a good fight and watched him go. Again and again. Do you know why?"

Iggy was still squirming a little and didn't answer. But he was no longer howling, and Ariom knew he was listening to Uncle Bero's story.

"It was because I knew my father was a good person. I knew it was really important to him to be able to help other people. He was proud that he was able to protect people who weren't strong enough to protect themselves. And it always hurt him a lot whenever he wasn't fast enough or strong enough to protect everyone. I knew that if I stopped him from leaving, he wouldn't be able to protect people. And that would hurt him. So I had to be brave and let him go. Do you understand?"

The little dragon still didn't answer, but he'd stopped struggling.

"It's like that with Ariom right now. Going to rescue Thenio is really important to him. If he isn't able to help Thenio...it's going to hurt him a lot. And we don't want Ariom to be hurt, do we? So we need to be brave and let him go, no matter how much we hate it. All right? Can you be brave for Ariom?"

Iggy looked at Ariom and let out a pitiful whimper. But then he slowly nodded his head.

Ariom's throat suddenly felt rather tight. He swallowed and reached out to stroke Iggy's tiny head. "That's a good boy. You're such a big, strong, brave dragon. I'm really proud of you...." He paused and swallowed again. "You stay here with Uncle Bero. I'll be back soon."

He patted Iggy's head and then quietly turned and walked away from the alchemy counters without looking back.

He was about halfway across the room when he became aware that Namyis was walking beside him. Ariom raised an eyebrow at her without saying anything.

She gave him a pleasant smile. "I need to change into my other combat suit, so I'm going to borrow one of the changing rooms." She pointed at the dark grey suit she was still wearing. "This is my stealth suit, see? We're supposed to be wearing our standard suits for this mission. So I need to change to my purple one."

Ariom simply grunted in acknowledgement and looked away from her. 

There was a brief pause.

"Hey...did you ever go through anything like that?" Namyis said suddenly.

Ariom looked sideways at her. "Like what?"

"Like what Bero was describing. Watching his father put on a combat suit and go off to fight. Worrying about whether he'd come home again or not. It just occurred to me that maybe...when you were young...you still...." She trailed off, looking uncharacteristically awkward.

He glared at her. "And why would you wonder about a stupid thing like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe because it kind of bothers me that I didn't experience it?" She shrugged. "I mean...I watched Isia go off to fight a lot. But I never worried about whether or not she'd come back. She's a demon hunter. She can take out a behemoth all by herself. So why would I be worried about her? I was more worried about what she'd do if I accidentally destroyed part of the house while she was gone."

Ariom didn't say anything.

"And I left my real parents early enough that I don't remember much about living with them. I don't remember if I ever watched my father leave for work or not. He's a water elementalist and works for a sea transport company, so he should have been gone quite a lot. And I might have been worried about his ship being caught in a storm or getting attacked by sea serpents and him not coming home...but I don't remember." Namyis tilted her head to the side, looking a bit wistful. "I mostly remember them locking me in my room to keep me away from my younger sister...and shouting at me whenever I accidentally froze something...."

Ariom still didn't speak, but his annoyed expression had turned complicated.

He wasn't really surprised by what she said. It was common for child sorcerers to experience some form of abuse. It wasn't always malicious or even intentional. As often as not, it was just their family making desperate attempts to keep their overflowing power under control.

But there was a reason why most of them were taken into military custody.

It wasn't surprising. But hearing the normally playful and upbeat...and annoying...ice mage talk about things like that was...a little jarring.

They'd reached a couple of unoccupied armory counters. Ariom stopped in front of one of them but didn't walk up to it yet. 

It didn't quite feel right to not respond to what Namyis had just told him. But he had no idea what to say....

"Well, I'll just be in the next room," Namyis said with a sunny smile that gave no indication she'd just been talking about her troubled past. "I don't think the Order would try anything in a place with so many Guard members running around. But if I'm wrong...well, just shout, okay? I'll break down the wall or something."

Ariom scowled. "Would you please stop threatening to destroy things with such a cheerful smile on your face?"

He turned and took a step toward the counter but then stopped again. When he looked back, Namyis was looking at him questioningly, her head tilted to the side.

"I...." He broke off, took a deep breath, and tried again. "I...remember watching my father suit up and go off to fight. But I was never worried about him. My mother told me he was amazingly strong and could wipe out whole swarms of demons without any trouble. And...I believed her. I mean...it seems silly now...but I was just a child, so...." Ariom looked away, feeling his face grow a little warm. "So I didn't worry about him. I just...wondered when I'd be able to go with him...." He was silent for a moment and then added in a low voice, "I'm ashamed to say that it took me another ten years to realize the truth: That he wasn't strong at all. At least not back then. And that I was never going to go with him."

He started toward the counter again but stopped a second time when he heard Namyis' voice.

"Are you sure about that last part? I don't think he's away on an assignment this week, so he might show up tonight."

"He won't," Ariom said without turning around. "If he knows I'm involved, he'll definitely come up with an excuse not to be there."

He walked quickly away before she could say anything else.

 

---

 

Having been changing in and out of combat suits for years, Namyis was much faster at it than Ariom was, even with help from an armory employee. So by the time he left the changing room, she was already waiting for him, dressed in her lavender snowflake suit. 

He was starting to regret telling her as much as he had earlier and was afraid she was going to want to continue the topic.

But as he walked reluctantly over to where she was standing, she simply gave him a pleasant smile and turned to head back to where the others were.

They walked back in silence.

When they reached the end of the alchemy counters, they saw Aunt Kat fastening a suit of armor made from lightweight blue cloth around Sala's body with Ziryi's help. Kino was already wearing his—a black leather suit that covered his front legs, back, and head. It made him look even more intimidating than usual. 

The two women turned to look at them as they approached, and Ariom saw both of them raise their eyebrows a little in surprise when they saw him. 

He scowled. It was obvious what they were thinking....

But at least they both had enough sense not to say it. Ziryi stayed quiet, and Aunt Kat simply smiled and said, "That suit looks good on you, Ariom. It won't cause you any problems with using your bow, will it?"

"I don't think so. I asked for an archery-compatible suit to begin with, and I tested it out a little just now. It seemed fine after a couple of adjustments."

Aunt Kat nodded. "Good. Then I think we're just about done here. We'll go meet up with the rest of the team as soon as we get these greaves on."

She picked up one of the blue leg protectors that was sitting on the counter next to her and bent down to start fastening it around Sala's left foreleg. Ziryi took the other one and copied her actions on the opposite side.

Ariom went around the counter to where the others were. Relisa had taken Uncle Bero's place next to the cauldron. The batch of ambrosia seemed to be finished because the unicorns were watching quietly while Relisa magically scooped out measured amounts of the golden liquid and made it stream through the air into the waiting bottles.

Ariom glanced over at the two carts against the back wall that were already filled with racks of ambrosia bottles. While the Royal Guard presumably wouldn't object to getting more of such a useful medicine, they should already have a large stock on hand. He suspected that the potion-making session was less about supplying more ambrosia than it was about Relisa and the unicorns trying to keep themselves busy.

They were acting calm, but they must be terribly worried about Focilo.

Uncle Bero was sitting in a chair off to the side, still cradling the blanket-wrapped Iggy in his arms. The little dragon was fast asleep.

Ariom had half expected that, knowing that Iggy had been fighting to stay awake for the past hour. But as he came closer, he noticed a suspicious swirl of magic around the blanketed bundle.

"Did you use sleeping magic on him?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Uncle Bero gave him a guilty smile. "A little," he admitted. "It didn't take much, poor guy.... I just thought it would be a bit cruel to make him watch you leave all over again. But I'll let him wake up if you want."

Ariom shook his head. "No, it's fine. You're right—it's better if he just sleeps until we get back." He gave his uncle a look of concern. "You should get some sleep yourself. You've had a long day, too."

"Ariom." Uncle Bero fixed him with a level stare. "If you honestly think I can sleep while my dear friend and mentor is being held captive by lunatics and my inexperienced child heads off into battle to rescue him, you still have some serious growing up to do. It's taking me a sizable amount of willpower to not put sleep magic on you and keep you here until the whole thing's over, you know?"

Ariom made a face. He didn't know how to respond to that....

He heard Relisa chuckle softly and turned his head to see that she'd paused her potion-making and was coming over to them. 

"And after you gave such an impressive speech earlier..." she said teasingly, shaking her head. "But it's not like I don't understand the sentiment." She looked at Ariom thoughtfully for a moment and then took something out of her space pocket and held it out to him. "Here, take this with you. Maybe it will reassure your poor uncle a little."

Ariom took the object and looked at it. It was a wooden pendant made from a slice of a tree branch about three inches in diameter. The dark brown bark was still on the outer edge, framing the amber-colored wood. The figure of a tree with weeping branches was carved into the side.

His eyes widened a little. "Is this...Ket'shiu?"

"That's right," Relisa said, smiling a little at his reaction. "That's made from a piece of Ket'shiu's wood, and it has a fair bit of his magic in it. It's a protective charm. If you get into a dangerous situation, trigger it with your magic, and it will form a powerful shield around you. Focilo has one of those as well, so as long as he was able to use it...and if he and Thenio are still together...then even an Old One would have a difficult time harming them. So they should be all right." Her smile turned a bit wistful. "Or that's what I keep telling myself, anyway."

"Is it really okay for me to take this?"

"Of course. Just do your best to bring everyone back safely in return, all right? Yourself included."

"I will." Ariom nodded solemnly. "I promise."

He slid the leather cord the pendant was attached to over his head and tucked the wooden circle into the front of his combat suit. He reached down to pat the sleeping Iggy and then looked awkwardly at his uncle.

"Well...I guess I should get going before you give into temptation."

Uncle Bero simply nodded and then held out a fist. "Fight well, Ariom."

Ariom hesitated briefly and then hit his fist against his uncle's. "I'll do my best."

Relisa also held her fist out, giving him an encouraging smile. He sighed a little before lightly hitting hers, as well.

He was going to have to do this a lot tonight, wasn't he...?

He shook his head and went back to where the others were waiting. 

"Ready?" Aunt Kat asked him.

"Yes."

"Good. Then let's get going. We have a lot of work ahead of us."