Three Turns Champion

  It was probably a Lauphai that showed the Seerxi how to pull out a soul from the body and put it into another. I heard Lauphai used that power to enslave their enemies, using them like marionettes. I had always thought they were just scary stories dragon mothers told their young to keep them from straying from the pouch in her jaws. Obviously, I was wrong.

  Reepida stayed silent for a while after. I wasn’t sure she was going to fix me. Finally she stood, wiping her face. She pulled a tool from the table and started again. Human moods were too unstable for me to follow. Perhaps she was in a dragon-like mood and would take her frustration out on me. I wished I could supervise what she was doing, but even hours later I remained unmoving.

  She worked so quietly, I was nervous. When we first met, she was talking non-stop and repaired me very nicely. Please make her happy, God, I promise I won’t kill her if she repairs me nicely. I spent the entire night worrying. Then there was a click and I could move my legs. I stood abruptly. What a relief. She didn’t take her anger out on me. I was repaired. Not fully, but repaired nonetheless!

  In my joy, I decided I would reward Reepida. As she turned to walk away, I wrapped my tail around her and lifted her to my back. I noticed there was a change in my body weight. I was a lot lighter, my body thinner, and my wings longer.

  I was different. My stride broke out of the barn and took me soaring into the skies. Rising higher and higher, I remembered that humans needed air and glided lowered. Glancing back, I noted Reepida was holding tight, but laughing. Good, she was happy, now my repairs would be quicker and better.

  Within moments, I was spiraling over the town and started on our way back. I didn’t know how much fuel I had in reserves and it took quite a lot to fly, after all. Four miles before reaching her home, I landed running. This was my first successful landing since they turned me into this monster and I ran with glee. I wished I felt the air brushing against me, glancing back again, I could see Reepida was enjoying it. I would find consolation in her joy.

  Coming up to her home, I skidded to a stop. Stooping in a bow, I lowered myself to let her down. She seemed windblown remained stunned for a moment before hopping off. She turned, patting me slowly. “Thanks, dragon fellow.”

  I nodded briefly and nudged her toward her hut. Now, go to sleep human and come up with some great ideas on repairing me. Ideas like giving me eyelids, a way to fly without draining myself, or anything. She stumbled off out of sight. After making sure she made no detours, I returned to the barn.

  I wonder how long a meal lasted for a human. When I was flesh and bone, a meal could last me three or four months. Humans were so much punier; a meal probably lasted them a few weeks before they got hungry. What did humans eat? I never had a chance to ask, I was always too hungry when I came across them.

  I sat on the scaffold with the tools and glanced around, taking in more information about my surroundings. The barn was actually very large for humans. In fact, I doubted she made this by herself. They say local villages supported jobs like blacksmiths.

  I heard one time King Vulwind, the master of a thousand years and capable of magic-like abilities, had a blacksmith cover his claws in a metal that was so hard swords couldn’t even scratch it. I was made of Seerxi metal, so I could probably dual him in a fair fight and hold my own now. I was probably the only dragon who could rival him in his glory.

  Last I heard of the great king, he was sleeping in the forest for a few years when Rykrinans found him snacking on local cattle and had him cursed to human form and trapped him somewhere. Oz of the DragonCrest Fleet had taken over temporary control in his majesty’s absence. I wonder if King Vulwind was back yet. I wish I could ask.

  Chapter 4: Fighting and Champion

  It was a matter of hours after that I heard banging behind the barn. Suspicious of intruders, I snuck stealthy around. The kilns were burning hot as Reepida boiled her metals. Glancing up, she spotted me. “Morning, er, evening. I still need to trade in parts in town to finish your repairs, so I’m cooking up some tools. Also, I was thinking, if you could fly me to the festival, I will have the time to finish my work here.”

  Sure, Seerxi, whatever you want so long as you repair me with super undefeatable armor. I laid down, watching her work. Although I didn’t get tired as when I was flesh and bones, doing something familiar made me feel more dragon-like. My systems slowly closed down one by one during my wait until my screen finally shut off.

  Days later, Reepida turn my systems back on. I looked over. She had several bags tied to a single bar, and was dressed in more raiment than before. She had taken her eyepiece off and let it hang on a string around her neck, replacing it with goggles. The afternoon sun was fading to evening and everything seemed ready to go. I stood, shaking off the sand that had settled on me.

  The Seerxi addressed me. “Now, when you fly could you hold this bar, that way we could carry my work with us. Then we can make a sale in town and get you new parts.”

  I nodded briefly, pulling her up on my back and locking my jaws on the bar. I lifted it with surprising ease. I had imagined lifting so much iron and bronze would be straining. The extra weight didn’t even hinder my stride-into-flight.

  My long wings allowed us to glide quickly and safely into town. The town was lit up with colorful strings and hundreds of lanterns hanging between houses and homes. The cacophony of voices echoed loud music.

  Reepida carefully led me through town to her scaffold that the previous merchant had stood on so many weeks ago. We were a spectacle in the crowds. Children and adults alike pointed and gawked at me. Everyone was so colorfully dressed for the Rykrinan Feast, it was hard to tell which of them were Rykrinan—who would be in awe—and which were Seerxi—who would be curiously envious.

  An elder spoke to Reepida as she set up her tools. This useless human chatter was slowing Reepida’s set up and I listened to it in my annoyance. “Ah, I see you’ve made yourself a helper, Reepida. I hope it wasn’t because you were so lonely all the way out there. Some of us were worried you were going to miss this Feast as well.”

  Reepida waved the concern off. “Nonsense, I only missed the last few feasts because I wasn’t feeling well. I’m not that much of a recluse yet, Elder. I found this mecha in the desert sands; I didn’t make him for company. He’ll probably leave once I repair him.”

  Yes, and be on my way to wreak unmatched revenge. Don't worry, I'll return if something damages me.

  The elder glanced at me. “You better not leave her, you chunk of metal. Reepida needs a strong friend to protect her out there. See, because of you she even came this time. Now we don’t have to send her food by mule. Not to mention no Lauphai will touch her ever again with you around.”

  The Seerxi female growled miserably. “Elder! I’m fine on my own. Besides, I was planning to come this time no matter what.”

  The Elder shook her head insistently. “If you hadn’t, I would have had to move the feast to your forge, young lady. You better come, or at least send word that you’re not. You make my hairs grow white from worry. You make me as religious as a Rykrinan, praying everyday for you.”

  You and I are the same old-human-Seerxi. This Reepida makes me pray too much. And alarm rose in me. Unsure what it was, I glanced around. Looking down, I spotted a small hooded human standing beside me. She looked up, tossing back her hood. She had the soft face of a child, but her brows wrinkled into the concern of an adult. Her hair was red as Rykrinans hair could get, but white glazed over her irises.

  She appeared to be staring into my eyes as she spoke. “Forgive your foes, love your enemies, and you will find peace in yourself, LoiTar.”

  Huh?

  The elder noticed the bizarre little Rykrinan. She smiled broadly, making her face wrinkle further. “Ah, Young Lady Makui Ren, please, come over here. I would like you to me our local Seerxi Smith, Reepida. Reepida, this is Young Lady Makui Ren, a prophetess of central Rykrina. You came all the way here from the capital, didn’t you? It’s quite f
ar to travel.”

  Reepida gave a slight, respectful bow. Odd, most Seerxi looked down on Rykrinans as a weak, superstitious people. Still, the female Seerxi spoke in reverence to the little prophetess. “We welcome you to these far parts. I really don’t know why you would come here, but thank you anyway.”

  Young Lady Makui took Reepida’s hand in her small ones. “Forgive your foes, love your enemies, and you will find peace in yourself, Reepida. You suffer the same affliction as your friend, LoiTar.”

  Who’s LoiTar?

  Reepida blinked in surprise. “Huh?” She regained her reverence. “Excuse me? Who’s LoiTar?”

  The little prophetess gestured to me. “LoiTar. Didn’t you give him that name?”

  The Seerxi paused, stunned. “Well, I was considering it. LoiTar, as in fighter and champion, since he always seems to get in fights when I’m not around. But how did—ah, prophetess, I forgot.”

  Wait, my name is LoiTar now? I was always too young to have a name. But now, I’m not even able to breathe, so how can I have a name? Young Lady Makui nodded. “I will return to the capital now. May God and his righteous servant An Ren look after you.”

  With that, she turned away, disappearing into the crowds. The elder Seerxi nodded sagely. “She may be a child, but she does say good things.”

  Chapter 5: Safety

  Reepida finally decided to pack up when dawn neared. With the streets desolate, Reepida finally looked at me. She hadn’t done so since the prophetess gave her the adage and left. I was starting to worry the Seerxi Smith had forgotten I existed.

  She spoke softly to me. “What did she mean you and I suffer the same affliction? Are you hurting in there? Are you suffering? Did I just bring you back to suffer? I didn’t even think about it when I repaired you. I didn’t think you wouldn't want to be repaired.”

  I could ask the same of you confused little Seerxi. You have no right to butt into my business. You didn’t bring me back to life; I just never died to begin with. And who said we were friends to begin with. I curled my tail around her and hoisted her on my back. The bags were fuller than when we came, but still it was light for me. We could think about what some half-sized Rykrinan said when we were home.

  The flight was short and we were unpacking in no time. I lifted all the “heavy” metal into her forge while she filled her mud hut with plants, bread, and meat I wished I wanted to eat. I wanted to eat again. Fueling up was nothing like eating. Alarms popped up when I needed fuel, but I would not have known if it didn’t. And most importantly, when I was full I didn’t feel the satisfaction food used to give me.

  Again, Reepida went to sleep shortly after. Humans were punier than I had previously thought. My systems continued to run regardless of how long it was on. I waited until the following dawn for her to wake up. Still, she remained in the house. Tired of waiting for her, I poked my head through her fabric door. She was sitting at a table with a pen in hand and paper before her, still in the same raiment of the feast.

  She glanced up in surprise. “LoiTar? What is it? Is there a problem?”

  I looked around. I had never seen inside the hut. And I was confused just looking at it. It was made of two rooms, technically three, if you count the basement. The hatch door was open, and below was the bedroom, with another desk and papers covering the floors.

  I assumed the room adjacent to this one was the kitchen. But the room I currently peered in was certainly a sight. Two glowing blue bushes stood in the back corners, and tracing around her empty walls hung hundreds of bells. I had never heard a single bell since I’d turned on—not even when it was windy. And this room had an open window. Even now, the bells remained silent.

  Reepida followed my gaze. She nodded, understanding my confusion. “This is my alarm system. Every bell covers a different place. If anyone aside of you or me comes within a five-mile radius, the bells will ring. And I have a special tune for when it’s a Lauphai intruder. Not one of those creatures can step foot in this house, I made sure of that.”

  I nodded briefly, so not to hit the roof or floor. She was a lot more paranoid than I thought. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was fine by herself. I glanced at her paper, nudging the table to hint at my question.

  She glanced down at it. “Ah, I was just working out new schematics. There are a few changes I’m trying to make to help you to consume, store, and conserve your energy. I can’t imagine you flying all the way back here just to get more fuel.”

  I nodded again, this time setting my head on the floor. Reepida stared at me blankly. I suppose she didn’t sleep since she was still wearing the same thing. That’s a nice thing about being metal; I don’t have to bath or shed skin. She looked down at her hands. She shook her head. “I should probably change. I'll be right back.”

  The Seerxi slipped down the hatchway in the floor for a brief moment. Then she was back, dressing in her loose tongs and a sleeveless tunic. It was a relief to see her more relaxed. She needed to sleep because her puny body wouldn’t be able to fix me if she didn’t. When she tried to leave through the door, I just opened my mouth as a stern warning.

  Frustrated, Reepida sat back down. “Are you trying to send me to bed?”

  I nodded eagerly, accidently hitting the roof, shaking dust on us. Sighing, she went back down the hatch. If she thought I’d leave because of it, she was dead wrong. I watched as another day passed through the windows. Finally, it was sunrise and I made the gurgling sound of my mechanical parts to wake her up.

  Chapter 6: A Strange Turn of Events

  It was almost three weeks after my repairs were finished that I realized I forgot my revenge plan. We had been so busy I forgot why I was here in the first place. Seerxi traders from far and wide came to visit Reepida, trading, buying, and selling parts. Now and then, she had me make deliveries in town or farther towns, but never in the direction or even as far as the lake. Sometimes my excitable Seerxi would come with me and we would just fly around for fun.

  Every now and then, we had visitors asking about me or young men and women wanting to become Reepida’s apprentices. There were several merchants who wanted to buy me. Some of them were so insistent that I had to fly them out at the edge of town to discourage them. Once, a Seerxi wanted me to duel his mechanical dog, but Reepida chased him away; saying she didn’t want me fulfilling my namesake.

  I was sitting down in the barn as Reepida tried a new design on my wings, telling me stories of the Land Wars I had missed in my fourteen years of sleep. I was peering through the cracks in her very aged wall, when I remembered my first thoughts here. I remembered how I hated all Seerxi but had to put a pause on my plans so Reepida could repair me. Now, I hate all Seerxi except Reepida and the ones she liked. I was supposed to leave, but I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t. I just didn’t.

  Reepida was talking about the Land Wars still, but her mood took a darker turn as she spoke about her people’s involvement. “The Seerxi Council was resistant to entering the war. It took a long time before Queen Layic and her sister Renu had finally convinced the Seerxi council to join them in the war against the Umbrans and Lauphai. They didn’t find out that the Mecha Dragon Forces were actually Lauphai-inspired until the end of the war, when King Vulwind heard the dying thoughts of one. They say his fury was so great, if they had restored his powers, all of south Rykrina and North Umbra would have burned.

  "It was then when their majesties proclaimed that all Lauphai and Berserkers must return to their home country and not trade with outside countries for the next two hundred years. The Lauphai had corrupted Umbra and Seerxi. The Seerxi Council exiled me long before they joined the war. It was back when I was a professor of mecha schematics at the Academy of Science and I spoke out again the Immortality Project. I said that, just as traditional Seerxi believe, everything has its clock. No matter if you put your soul in a body of metal, you could only live so long as your clock ticks. I refused to waste my time building something that would not work.

&nbs
p; "That was saying that the Seerxi Council were of a lower intelligence and I would not help them be forever. Such a statement in and of itself was heresy worthy of death. But because my death would be a statement that freedom of speech was impaired, they exiled me and I came here. I only heard stories about the end of the war after that. Here, in unmarked territories, the idea that we can keep the Lauphai from traveling is a joke. They could portal jump to wherever they wanted.

  "At the time, I had lots of Lauphai trade partners. They would find parts for me by any means. I could get my hands on the latest equipment from the Academy of Science for the trade of a stronger staff, collars for their monstrous pets, enchanted rings, and so on. I learned minor magic tricks from them. Like the bushes that create the alarm system you saw in the house, or to make metal flat without hammering it, minor enchantments to enhance the value of something.”

  She paused. I had never seen her practice magic before; much less knew she knew anything about it. If she learned so much from the Lauphai, why hate them? If I had learned something good from the Seerxi who chained me to this body, I might not hate them. I lifted my head, looking over at her. Reepida was deep in thought, and her expression was almost as pale as a ghost.

  I nudged her with my head. Jolting with surprise, she tumbled back. That was not the affect I wanted to have. Smiling, she continued. “I never had real magic in me. I was just a Seerxi practicing a methodology. I heard dragons can learn magic-like tricks with age. They say King Vulwind was quite a master himself. But I never had magic in me.”

  Well, honestly, I never really cared either way, Reepida. If you had been a Lauphai, you would have not repaired me and I would have killed you for that….if I had had the energy to do so. But you’re a Seerxi, and I would have still killed you, but I didn’t because I’m very good at coming up with reasons not to. But you don’t know that, so you’re just going to continue looking slightly crazy and slightly sulky.