Jack Of All Trades ✓ | steampunk, dragons, trickery

Chapter 13.3: Jack the Enchantor Needs Nobody

After a few minutes, Espin came back with what looked like an overly decorated walking stick with a head shaped like a rose. It looked rather luxurious with its golden floral designs etched into the bronze staff. The base and head were purple and looked like the same gemstone that Espin had been.

Gray's eyes widened. "Oh, you brought the—"

"Not for him to touch, obviously." Espin pursed his lips.

Dragon fairies and dragons. Jack wondered, staring at those sheer wings that didn't seem to get in the way of things. "How are dragons and dragon fairies different?" he asked.

"Size."

Jack pursed his lips. What an obvious answer!

Espin chuckled. "I'm serious. That's the only difference."

"You breathe fire?"

"Affirmative." Espin breathed a tiny flame onto the rose on the staff. The flame disappeared inside the rose and the rose began to glow purple. Purple and orange flames swirled around inside the carves of the petals.

That's all good and dandy, but I need to sleep. Jack yawned. Without acknowledging the magick that just transpired before him, he asked where he could lay his head down for a bit. The emotions left him feeling numb and heavy inside his head. 

Gray's wrinkled face became more wrinkled as he scowled, and Espin huffed out a puff of smoke. But if they were going to have them on their little magical team, they had to deal with this. Besides, it wasn't unreasonable in Jack's mind to get some shuteye before any major anything happened.

"Not taking it seriously," Espin said and crossed his arms. The staff stood up on its own and the leftover magical swirls of sparkles floated over to Jack. He shot up from his chair and moved away. It snapped out like a whip to his wrist and when Jack made a grab for it, he got a hold on it like a rope and yanked. Espin fell face first into his food.

He spewed something in furious tones. Gray looked between him and Jack. Jack stared at the rope or magick in his hands. It was purple and glowing, stretchy and stiff. He whipped it out and it moved in such slow motion he couldn't even guess how this was useful.

Magick was weird. What good did it do to show which way the swirls of sparkling light were going? That was like if Jack slowed down his fighting moves to alert his opponent that he would kick him in the crotch.

Twisting the rope around in his hand, he realized it was a quite like rope. Could he make it longer? He stretched it and then he had more. How about a lasso?

When Espin regained himself, wiping his face with a napkin, Jack twirled the lasso around and above his head.

"Jack!" Gray shouted. "Stop this nonsense. You have to work together."

"I'm Jack of all trades." He grinned and felt a rush of adrenaline returning to his body. Maybe a rest wasn't what he needed, just a bit of excitement. "I can do anything."

Espin was still wiping his face. What he had fallen into was pancakes and maple syrup. The sticky stuff. "Give that back! It's not even yours'. You don't have the authority to command Spinel until I have determined you've been trained!"

Spinel? A gemstone with violet shades. For calmness and a shield. It all clicked in his mind. Jack imagined a shield just as his purple powers glowed in his chest. Tingling came up his arms and traveled to the hand that held the rope. It began to pour into the lasso as a sheer lavender liquid.

"You are not qualified to use that!" Espin's face turned from skin to iridescent blue and purple scales. His face contorted, morphing into a dragon. As a dragon head and human body, he tipped his head back and his throat glowed orange.