Macha's Journey

When they entered the city, Macha activated her ring to search for Tyr. She was unsure if he returned from his mother"s, but hoped that he was back in Ma.r.s.eille. A thin red light pointed in the direction of the headquarters. She bid her friends farewell and rushed on ahead. The line led her to the side of the dormitories where they currently were developing a new addition.

After news of Jarnvid"s transgressions spread, many people applied to the Obsidian Dragons instead of the Carnelian k.u.mas. This created a need for them to expand the residences.

The building would be larger than the current headquarters and Tyr planned for he and Macha to move into the new residence. He wanted the apartment to fit their needs and viewed it as his commitment to her. To him, it represented a new chapter in his life. With that in mind, he had them design it together.

The contractor set the completion date to be in a few months and she became excited to see how the construction developed since her absence.

Following the thin red light from her ring, Macha found Tyr with his arms crossed. He had a cold aura around him and a frown on his face. Although he appeared angry, she smiled, glad to be home again.

When she snuck up behind him, she overheard him criticizing the worker about their contract. It sounded like there had been a delay with the construction due to a miscommunication. She encircled him with her arms and peered up at him. "Miss me?" she asked playfully.

The sudden hug forced Tyr"s eyes to snap to his waist. Macha"s round face gazing up at him caused the world to fade away. He missed her while she was gone.

When he came back from the Valois estate, he got into an argument with Krystof and Luna about letting Macha hunt a demon. He understood that they were all in a guild, but the dzoavits terrorized areas deep into the Outer Reaches and other creatures could attack them while they were out there.

Tyr bent down to hug Macha. He lifted her up into the air and whispered, "I missed you." If she had not come back by tomorrow, he planned to go after her. Every day she was missing caused him to have so much anxiety that he had trouble focusing on his work.

The construction manager looked at her feet. She was unable to leave because Captain Tyr was in the middle of a conversation with her, but she felt out of place seeing him with Macha. It was well known that the Captain"s temper mellowed out whenever the woman was with him, so she hoped he could be reasoned with now.

After giving Tyr a kiss, Macha motioned with her head towards the worker who stood beside them. She gave him one last peck on the tip of his nose and asked, "What"s wrong?" Although they missed each other, they had time to show their affections later after the work for the day was finished.

Tyr"s icy gaze glanced over at the worker next to him as he put Macha down. He crossed his arms, but Macha gently pulled his elbow down so she could hold his hand.

Clearing his throat, he leveled his voice, "They did not order the correct flooring and want to push back the completion date by two weeks. We need the housing for the new recruits and this breaches the contract. I was talking with Aisha about a penalty fee."

The problem caused Macha to worry. Many guild members would be inconvenienced if they pushed the move-in day back. "Why two weeks?" she asked.

The woman fidgeted and explained, "It will take that long for the wood flooring to get here. It stops us from doing the finishing details on the building. The residents are still able to move in on time, but the construction won"t be finished. Only cosmetic things like the painting and floorboards won"t be completed yet. Also, some cabinets can"t be installed until the flooring is in."

Tyr pointed his finger at the woman, "And that is why I said you must pay the compensation fee. I shall have to house all of my members regardless of whether or not you finish. I cannot break my contract with them because of your mistake."

His temper raised again, "You should be glad I don"t pursue this further. Housing all my people will cost more than the fee you have to pay." He refused to make the first impression the new recruits had of him be one of an irresponsible Captain.

Macha lowered Tyr"s finger. She gazed at the woman, "Is it possible for your crew to work during the nights as well?"

She then glanced up at Tyr, "If we round up the guild and work alongside the construction workers, maybe we can get the apartments finished in time. We could make it an event and use this setback as a way to bring the whole guild closer together."

Thinking of barn raisings, she explained, "In my world sometimes a community would enjoy a party and build a building collectively." The task was much bigger than a barn, but they also had more people. If the guildmates did cosmetic things like painting, then she failed to see a problem.

The suggestion did not sound horrible to Tyr. If they could finish in time, then this would be the perfect plan. Now that they were larger, it was important for everyone to gain a sense of community. "I would still expect a smaller compensation fee because our guild would be required to help."

The worker thanked the dragons for Macha"s return. If her workers worked through the nights and received a.s.sistance from the guild members, she knew they would finish in time. "That would be fine. I can arrange that! Thank you for understanding. I"m sorry for the inconvenience." The manager bowed, thankful that they were able to come up with a satisfactory solution to the problem.

After scheduling the date for the joint effort, Macha and Tyr left. He took her bags and saw a few manticore quills. A manticore was not a creature she was ready to fight. Concern threaded his voice when he asked, "How did you get these?" Inspecting them, he found that they were good quality and from an older monster.

Macha turned around as they ascended the stairs to their apartment. She saw that Tyr held the quills up in his hand with a displeased expression on his face. "We ran into a manticore while we were out there. I hoped the quills might be worth something, so I brought them back with me. I wanted to ask you if their quality was any good."

Tyr skipped a few steps to get around Macha. His heartbeat pounded in his chest at the thought of her fighting a manticore. "Did you kill it?" He wished to forbid her from going out again but realized that was impossible.

"Wait till you help me take off my armor to hear the story. Today I get to tell you about ?? adventures and you get to take ?? armor off!" When she said this, she made sure to emphasize "my".

Now she was in a good mood because their roles would be reversed. The antic.i.p.ation of telling him about her adventure caused her to be giddy. This was the first time she had something interesting happen on a mission that was worth sharing. Compared to his exploits, her small missions in the past seemed boring.

When they got into the apartment, Tyr put the bags down in the corner and began taking off Macha"s armor. She did not have as much as he did, and he decided that if she planned to go out on adventures, he needed to buy her a better set. There was no way he would rest easy anymore after seeing the manticore quills, but better armor would help.

Macha told him about how Luna gave her instructions of the safest routes, but they still ran into the manticore on the way to the Kochi border. She described how tough the skin had been and how they ended up scaring the monster off. Then she recounted their fight with the dzoavits and how the blood burned her body.

While Macha provided a detailed description of her experience, she had an animated face. Tyr understood she felt proud of her adventure and he wished he could share her joy, but her words left his stomach sick to its core. Every sentence made him imagine how she could have died.

Then he realized she often listened to him recount his adventures. He wondered if she worried when he was gone and what she experiences waiting for him to return. He did not understand how she always listened with a smile on her face. Right now he wanted to pull his hair out.

When Macha finished her story, Tyr nodded. "You did well. A manticore isn"t a creature you should fight at your current skill level. They are more susceptible to magical attacks, but Mia and I haven"t taught you that yet."

He drew her into his arms to give her a hug. "I"m glad you came back safely." After a pause, he added, "Tomorrow can we get you a new set of armor?"

She gave a little snort at that and pulled away from him. "I don"t have enough money to purchase a set. You know that." She already talked with him about armor. It was something she wanted to buy on her own. Although they dated, she did not want people or him to think she used him for his money. She also felt an expensive item like that should be bought with her hard earned efforts.

Tyr got on his knees before her. "It isn"t for you. It"s for me. I can"t rest well knowing you go out there without the best I can give you. If something happens to you because you didn"t own a good set of armor, how do you think I would feel?"

His eyes were full of emotion and appeared to quiver with the lights. "I could lose you because you rejected my gift. I would have to live with that." While he did not want this to become an argument, he refused to be swayed. Her pride would not keep him warm at night.

Annoyance flickered across Macha"s face. Seeing Tyr on his knees made her upset. Only once before did he beg her while on his knees. "Fine. I just don"t like what people will say. It"s uncomfortable if I go out with the others and my gear is superior to theirs." She did not want her friends to become jealous of her.

He got up off of his knees and led Macha to the bedroom. In an unsympathetic voice, he said, "I don"t care what the others think. You"re my girlfriend and I need you to be safe."