The Jeweled Oracle was barely staying afloat and the offloading crew were moving with remarkable haste. Lelucas grunted softly in annoyance. “It takes the bloody wreck trying to fall from the sky to get them to light a fire under their tails,” He shook his head, watching Elias as the man inspected the wreckage.

“Don’t get much closer than that, Elly,” he said, “I don’t know if the Elemental took any damage. The entire thing could very well be lost any moment now.”

“Don’t call me that,” Elias said distractedly, but he took a few steps back. “I don’t understand. You said most of the inventory is accounted for?”

When Lelucas didn’t answer, Elias turned and saw himself being scrutinized. “What?”

“It wasn’t her,”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Eagle growled, but his face flushed a hot red. “This is your own damn fault you know. Making it so blood gaudy.”

“Gaudy?? It’s the same color as any other ship in port!”

“With a name like the Jeweled Oracle? You’re looking for trouble every time you send it out.”

“It’s not like the designation is painted on its side in crystals and gems. Or at all for that matter. Would you have been so interested if I hadn’t said ‘pirate’?”

“It’s my job to be interested, Lelucas.”

“It was your job. You’re High Justice now, not an inquisitor. No more boots on the ground for you, let the young bloods handle that. And the insurance adjustors.” He gave an annoyed sigh, his luscious feathers ruffling slightly. “Bunch of blood-thirsty gnolls that they are.”

“Yes, but this is the ship of my oldest and dearest friend--”

“Your only friend.”

“-- and it would be remiss of me not to devote the time and effort necessary to helping him solve this horrible tragedy.”

“Uh huh,” Hightalon replied dismissively. “It’s not her.”

“I never implied it was,” Elias growled, hearing the edge in his voice. He straightened up, brushing off the lapels of his vest. “Besides,” he said with an unconvincingly haughty sniff. “What would I care if it were?”

“Oh come off it, you act like a lovestruck puppy every time you hear the ‘P’-word. That hasn’t changed in almost fifteen years, and it won’t change today.”

From within the bowels of the ship came a low, rumbling groan. Elias took another step back, at first worried that it was the ship itself, but as the moan continued the hair on the back of his neck rose. Lelucas swore and shouted to his crew. “Get the hooks in it and get it secured in dry dock!”

“Sir! The Wind Elemental is injured, the Galer says he has to release him,”

“I can bloody well hear that it’s injured. Not yet! Get the ship secured or we’ll lose the whole bloody thing and whoever’s on board!”

Falconwatch perched nervously in the alcoves, catch-hooks in hand and ready to dive at a moment's notice, glancing between the damaged ship and each other. Below, a mixed Aven crew flew this way and that, laden with ropes secured to cranes, working to ensure the ship would be supported once the magic was dispelled. The Elemental gave another low, anguished groan. The sound seemed to rip through the soul, rattling the bones.

“I am not a puppy.”

“You’re a big, dumb, lovestruck puppy who likes to bare his teeth at anything and everything. Including -- no, especially -- his own tail. For Imodai’s sake, get those hooks in place!”

There were a few final rounds and swoops done by the Aven crew, the Yseri and Human crew below using ropes and pulls to bring the floating vessel closer to the dock. Lelucas’ eyes darted here and there before he raised both hands. Immediately the teams pulled out, the Aven landing nearby to watch.

“Okay, let it go!” He called.

There was a final groan, this time of relief, as the Galer released the Elemental back to its home plane. An explosive rush of air hit the watching crew, forcing them to stumble back a few paces. Lelucas and Elias planted their feet and leaned into it, their wings blown behind them. The ship continued to hover only for a moment, before it listed to one side and started to fall.

The ropes went taut, the cranes letting out groans of protest and the ship came even with the dock. Everyone held their breath. The hull rapped gently against the pier, and the ropes creaked, but it sagged no further towards the sea.

Hightalon’s breath came out in a low whoosh. “Alright, get to work. I’m not paying you to stand around!” And with that, he turned on his heel and stalked back up the docks. Elias followed at his side.

“Have you thought about going back to hot air?”

“Bah! You live in the past, Elias. If Elementals are good enough to keep the bloody city afloat, they’re good enough for a ship. I’m starving. Join me?”

“I’ve already eaten, but I’ll keep you company.”

“And drink my liquor,” Lelucas grumbled.

“Well, if you’re offering--”

“It’s barely noon!”

Elias’ nose wrinkled. “Fine. Wine, then.”

Lelucas picked up his pace and didn’t reply. It wasn’t until they were back into the Market Square that he finally started to slow. “This is the second attack on one of my ships. It’s getting tiresome.”

“What are they after? You said it wasn’t a typical attack last time as well.”

Lelucas glanced sidelong at his friend and turned towards the southern residential district. Like the Redquill, the members of the Hightalon House tended to congregate together. “I’ll show you when we get to my apartment. It’s not something I’m comfortable discussing in public.”

He stepped up onto a ledge and spread his wings. Elias hung back a moment, telling himself it was to give the elder Peacock room to launch. But if he were being honest, he found himself enraptured by the beauty of the man’s wings. The vibrant blue threw colors in all directions, the eyefeathers that erupted from the bottom ridge spread and separated, creating a hypnotic layered fan. He couldn’t look away, and by the sudden quiet from the Square, he was not the only one entranced. But if Lelucas recognized the attention or even cared, he did not show it. With a strong flap, he leapt off of the ledge and into the sky. Elias followed a few yards behind him.

Unlike their earlier journey, the pair did not stop to rest on the pathways, instead soaring over the heads of the grounded pedestrians until they came to the main block that held the Hightalon clan. Lelucas landed with surprising grace for his size, and folded his magnificent wings behind him.

Elias landed beside him, folding his own wings and glancing around. He knew the walk to Lelucas’ apartment, but let the man lead anyhow. In some ways, the district felt like an entirely different city to him. While the Redquill district was heavily populated by members of the Eagle and Owl clan, Hightalon’s area seemed full of black and blue. Peacocks went about their business, each more bright and shining than the last, each a picture of vibrancy and life. Often they were joined by more than one partner, and more often than not, one of those partners had the glossy black wings of a Raven. It didn’t surprise him. After all if any Aven could keep up with a Peacock’s fantasy and charm, it would be a curious and quick-witted Raven.

As they crossed through a courtyard, he slowed to watch a small congregation under a pavilion. A Peacock boy was raving passionately about a topic that Elias couldn’t quite make out, his face red and his voice hoarse with sustained volume. His wings, vibrant blue at the shoulders and blending into a shimmering green near the tips, were half-spread and ruffled. Two more Peacocks were with him, a girl who was listening intently, and a boy who stared at his pocketwatch, a quill in his other hand. A Falcon girl and a pair of Ravens sat nearby, listening intently, but not sharing his passion.

The Skyguard in him wanted to march over and demand the reason for such a display, demand that if he had such grievances as to work himself into a lather, then to bring it to the High Council like a civilized Aven. But as Elias took his first step forward, he remembered himself and looked back to his host.

“Should we go break that up?”

Lelucas was snapped from some deep thought and looked confusedly at Elias, before looking over at the group. “What? They’re just playing Senate.”

“Senate?”

“Oh come, you know that game, we used to play it with Mollie. Except she called it ‘I’ll Have You Know’. Same idea. Listen.” He moved closer to the group, the ranting boy’s words becoming clearer.

“--always mucking about, eating my bread and you know what? We need to be thankful for that! Who else would help us keep our slender forms if not for seagulls! You never even think to thank them for all they do, shitting all over the city so that we can appreciate the vast splendor of our beautiful Avenholme, stealing our food to remind us of the hunger of those less fortunate, squawking at all hours of the morning to make sure we never miss our important shifts with much needed sleep -- seagulls are an important and integral part of our society.” He took a deep breath and looked keenly at one of the Ravens. “Unlike leaky inkwells.”

The Raven swore under his breath, then launched into his own tirade. “How dare you! I’ll have you know, inkwells are the very most important invention of our time and leaky ones even more so! You dare say that seagulls keep us humble?”

The green-winged Peacock paid little attention, letting out a heavy sigh as he collapsed into the chair. After a moment’s rest, he reached for a glass on the table.

“Fourteen minutes, twelve seconds. That’s a new personal best, Connor,” the boy with the pocketwatch said softly, not wanting to interrupt the Raven.

“Well I question you, good sir,” the Raven continued with rising passion. “Have you ever felt on top of the world, only to have your favorite suit find a huge black blotch? It reminds you -- oh yes -- that no Aven should fly too close to the sun, for that is a place only for the Gods!” He stabbed his finger into the air with all the conviction of a preacher.

Elias turned away, having heard quite enough. Lelucas smirked a little, amused by the game. “You should bring Roy out here some time, I’m sure he’d be good at this.”

“Not a chance,” Elias grumbled, “I have enough trouble with his storytelling at inappropriate times. You want me to give him grounds to practice that? No thank you.”

“Bah, you’re too hard on the boy. He needs friends his own age, his own style.”

“He has friends,” Elias snapped back, stalking towards Lelucas’ house. It was the Peacock’s turn to follow.

“Really? Because I only see him off by himself if he isn’t waving around some ridiculous oversized sword and pretending he’s Skyguard.”

“He was doing fine in Skyguard, he had plenty of friends.”

“Oh yes, friends like Jacob. Where is the boy anyhow?”

“Jacob’s on gull duty for the foreseeable future. Removing nests, collecting eggs, thinning the flock, scrubbing excrement if he must.”

“Good,” Lelucas grunted. “Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let him be around his own kind.”

“That’s rather intolerant of you, isn’t it? There are plenty of Peacocks in the Skyguard.”

“There are three, and they all showed the aptitude -- and interest -- at an early age. This isn’t about wing color, this is about where his strengths lie.”

Elias paused to let him unlock his door, moving inside before being invited. “Which is why he’s being transferred to the Scholars.”

“Oh Elias. That’s a terrible idea.”

“How? He’ll be safe, he’ll be kept out of trouble, able to keep his mind busy studying the proud history of our people. Of our world.”

“He’ll be driven mad with boredom within a fortnight. Let him apprentice under someone from my House.”

“He will not be a bard.”

“Fine, but there are other options. A diplomat, a merchant, hell, he could even follow you into law. With his natural charm, he’d make a fine interrogator. No one would be able to resist him. There are options -- but you need to be willing to look outside of the Redquill traditions.”

Elias frowned, staking claim to part of the couch and collapsing onto it, not responding.

“He’s just as stubborn as you, you know. And that will end poorly for both of you if you don’t relent on something. Anything. This would be a fantastic start.”

“You said that the attacks were different,” Elias said, his voice with a tone of finality. “Tell me what they’re after.”

Lelucas sighed, but turned from his friend to move to one of his curio cabinets. Unlike the Englebrecht residence, the Hightalon apartment was oddly cluttered, however each piece had a sense of purpose and belonging to it. The chaos had meaning, and he moved through the mess as easily as an Owl would traverse a filing cabinet. When he turned back, he held a small wooden box in his hands, carefully coming over to rejoin Elias.

The Eagle leaned forward in curiosity. The box had a high polished shine, a stylized sun emblazoned on the top. Gently, Lelucas lifted the lid, revealing a rather simple-looking obsidian dagger on a velvet cushion. The handle area was primitively wrapped in leather, and a sun was painted in gold on the blade, circled with words in a language that Elias didn’t recognize.

“The Exile Stone,” Lelucas said, his voice so soft it was barely a whisper. “I trust you have heard of it?”

Elias reached for it, only to have the box snapped shut. His hand hovered in mid air. “...Is it the real thing?”

“Do you wish to find out?” Lelucas asked darkly. Elias looked up at him, his brown eyes filled with fear and wonder.

Hightalon slowly opened the box again, this time carefully removing the dagger. It shimmered quietly, the light seeming to slide off of every jagged angle. Quickly and without warning, Lelucas rushed Elias, pressing the flat side of the blade to the man’s forehead. Elias let out a startled yell and scrambled away, clawing at his forehead as he did.

“Are you insane?!” He cried, rushing to the window, ripping open the shutter and sticking his head out. The sun! Where was the sun! As he spotted it, he started to relax, and suddenly realized that Lelucas was laughing hysterically behind him.

“You’ve signed my death warrant and you’re laughing?!”

“And here I thought you weren’t superstitious!”

“Magic is not superstition, Lelucas!” Elias snarled, reaching for his sword. “If I must die I’ll take you with me!”

Lelucas rolled his eyes, flipping the dagger carelessly in his hand. “Oh so dramatic. It’s a replica, you twit. Do you really think I would banish you from the sun? Or a better question -- do you really think that I would actually have such a priceless and dangerous artifact just laying around my house waiting to use on my oldest and dearest friend?”

“Your only friend.”

“Ah-ah, Elias, old chap. Unlike you, I actually do have other friends. But no, you’re fine. The sun will continue to rise and fall for you as it always had. It’s quite convincing though, isn’t it?”

“Convincing enough that someone would attack two of your ships trying to find it?”

Lelucas grunted. “Aye. It would appear that way.” He lazily scratched his temple with the tip of the blade. “The question is who knows I have this. It was meant only for my personal collection, as a curiosity.”

“I’ll task the boy with digging up any sort of information that might be hidden in the Library. You might want the young bloods to do the brunt of the investigation, but there’s no reason we can’t assist a bit.”

Lelucas frowned again, tapping the blade against his jaw. “Elias… Hear me when I say this. Give the boy other options.”

“He has plenty of options!”

Lelucas rolled his eyes again, setting the dagger back into its case and closing it again. “My boy Zachary, he’s a Falcon. He’s joined the Falconwatch with his mother, and he’s good at it--”

“How is Emily?”

Lelucas paused, taken off guard, then gave a happy, swooning sigh. “Beautiful, as always. She is a foul temptress that enraptures my mind day and night -- but you are trying to distract me, don’t think I don’t see that smirk.”

Elias reached up and ran his hand over his mouth to keep himself from grinning. Lelucas waved the box at him.

“Dodge the problem all you want, but hear this. You are trying to force a square peg through a round hole. Do you really want to know what will come out of if you succeed?”