Chapter V3 Ch 2: With What Blood
“Friend of yours?” Lieutenant Lochlann asked, like now was the time to spawn a sense of humor.
Aaron didn’t reply. Neither did Clever Hands. Aaron didn’t draw a blade. He couldn’t say the same of Clever Hands. To be fair, he drew it from the dragon’s eye socket. But he certainly didn’t put it away again after.
“Just not going to answer that, are you?” the stoat doppel asked, eyes going between the lieutenant and Aaron, before raising his voice for those behind them. “Humanity’s militia: if you can keep your weapons pointed at the dragons, you’re welcome below. You try to stab any of us, we’ll stab back. Mind the drop.”
With no further invitation, the stoat dropped down the far side of the dragon’s corpse and onto the stairs beyond. The doppels would let militia into Fourth Down. And lower yet, in true emergency. But they wouldn’t stand around trying to convince them.
“How is this safe?” hissed a militia man who Clev had not waited on.
“It’s as safe as you’re getting,” said Aaron, as the only voice here from lower than Third Down.
“We’ll protect you,” said Rose, which wasn’t at all what Aaron had promised.
…Except that Rose just had. And Lochlann would be with her for whatever stupidity may come. So fine, apparently Aaron was going to stand with them, too. But for now: he gave her a nudge towards the dragon corpse.
“I need to—” she protested, likely about to insist on taking the rear guard. Or worse: to keep trying to reason with the people who’d followed them, the ones Aaron barely knew the names of and certainly didn’t trust to be reasonable.