Sparnas

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Dimma flew back to his home ground, a small isle to the south of Castrum. His home isle had no name, it was connected with other tiny BlackWing islets with stone roofways. Since most Sparnas flew more than they walk, Svarga had a lot of these roofways between closer isles smaller isles. The wooden or stone roofways sheltered the sparnas from the heat of the suns or the rain.

His family was old BlackWing, and they shared their isle with a few other BlackWings artisans. Among them is the Beltzak's family. He saw Hegal's kitchen light on, which was rare. Hegal's wife usually turned off all the lights except the one on the front patio since both of them would only come home in the wee hours of the morning. After a short conference with himself, he flew near and hoped Hegal was home. To his relief, Hegal opened the door when he knocked.

"You came from the bar? I left as soon as Rosso got there, haha! If he's already left I can go back to work." He waved Dimma in, muttering about insufferable brats and pretentious RedWings.

"He left the same time I did. You know why I'm here, brother."

"The Relics. Two gone, five more to go." They sat at Hegal's kitchen counter. A jug of ale was already on it. Hegal took a clean glass from the cabinet and out of habit, wiped it on a dishrag.

"What are you talking about?" Dimma hadn't thought of it that way. Dimma had always confided to Hegal about everything. Hegal might look like a drunken degenerate but he was very intelligent. Dimma could depend on him for his take on matters.

"Come on Dimma. Call me paranoid but all four of the fires had been about us. We were feared, Dimma, now we are detested. Our Brotherhood has become more obsolete by the second. And they are burning us apart." Hegal downed his second mug of ale since Dimma arrived. He liked to be theatrical.

"Hegal, the first two arson happened at abandoned lodges. The first was nearly two months ago. A decommissioned lodge was going to be turned into a healing center for the WhiteWings in one of the southern isle. No one died but the renovation contractor suffered a huge loss on his supplies and labor costs. The second one with casualties, two junkies who decided to have a shelter from the storm. The third and fourth happened last night, with two artifacts stolen, not burnt." Dimma tried to steer the conversation into somewhere near the hanging isle of logic.

Hegal raised a brow. "Stolen? I heard they're both off for repairs." His eyes twinkled.

"Apart from the Council of Owls, we're the only ones who knew about this. I'll need a few trusty sparnas to help me with this. Admiral Modry wanted to double our presence around the relic safe keepers." Dimma stifled a yawn. "I've only told Rosso about the arson, not the thefts. He might tell me what's going on in the Senate. For everything else, I really need to have your eyes and ears on the ground, Brother." Hegal was a very resourceful member of the Krylo Brotherhood.

If there was anything to know about anyone, Hegal would know it, in time of course. Sparnas of all wings told him things, stories, memories as they sat at his bar. If the otherWings spilled out their secrets to him thinking that he was drunk and would forget it the next morning. They were wrong. His hearing ability was so honed over the years it became legendary.

"I can supply you with stories but I can't vouch for their truthfulness of course. You have to figure them out yourself. I'm a busy man. Speaking about busy, I have a bar to run. You want to continue this over my finest whiskey at the bar?" Apart from being the understanding bartender whom everyone spilled their guts to, Hegal was also one of the Brotherhood Master Handler. He had a strong chain of spies and otherWings informants. If there was anything to know about any sparnas, Hegal would have a detailed dossier submitted on the same day.

"I'll pass on that. I need to go back and sleep. I was up at 4 AM this morning and went straight to Pilkas isle again. The Dowager and her uppity children drained all my strength straight away. I'll drop by tomorrow at the witching hour. And don't worry I won't bring Rosso. Maybe I'll use your back room as my temporary office."

"Sifa will charge you rent for that" Hegal laughed.

Dimma went back to his aerie as Hegal flew off to his bar. After washing his face, Dimma lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His room was bare, he had it since he was young. He had a single bed, a single table and a single chair, a single door and a single window.

Dimma's aerie was comfortable. There were five bedrooms and three baths. The master bedroom where his parents used to sleep had an en-suite bathroom. He shared a washroom with his brothers, and his sisters shared one. They had an open floor style where the living hall could be seen from the adjoining dining room and kitchen. Dimma kept each room as it was when his family was alive, he did not care if otherWings thought him crazy or morbid.

He had the whole aerie to himself since the death of his family in an unfortunate accident, more than a decade back. He had been a year into the Brotherhood. Their two pegasi carriage had collided head-on with another carriage driven by a RedWing. Dimma had been thrown out of the carriage and landed in the other carriage. His parents and younger brother and sisters were pinned in their carriage frame. Their pegasi then had fallen on a rocky isle and they died on impact. The other carriage's occupants had been shocked and bruised, but they all had survived. Dimma couldn't remember anything about the accident. Except that the last thing he saw before he fainted was a flurry of red.

Dimma never blamed the RedWing for driving reckless. He paid his due anyway. He spent fifteen years in a Svargan brig. Fifteen of a young RedWing's life meant he already had his future ruined.

Accidents could happen to anyone. Since then he had been a guest at Hegal Beltzak's dinner table more than he could count. They had grown up together, Hegal a few years older than him. Hegal was the one who nominated him into the Krylo Brotherhood and he had gained many Brothers since. The decision to serve the Brotherhood had been the easiest choice he made.He owed them his livelihood in no way but love. He was the bestman at Hegal's wedding to Sifa, he was the godfather to their children.

Sparnas had high expectation from him. When he started running his father's gunsmith, otherWings would come and look at his wares. They would compare his design to the intricate ones of his fathers. They were nostalgic, overly critical so Dimma would work harder to replicate what his father had perfected over decades. Five years passed and he still could not make the exact same guns like his father. His guns were practical and never misfired, reliable just like his fathers and grandfathers but he couldn't replicate the beautiful flourish his father's craft was celebrated for. His grandfather was also a renowned gunsmith but his father made Juodas a household name.

The late Maistras Juodas had a fine eye and skillful hands. All his gun stocks were made from chosen wood such as birch, maple, mesquite and yama, all finely carved with flora and fauna motives. Roses, lilies, all the flowers and ivies, animals like felines, canines and birds decorated the grip. His father would also carve the fourteen Atavus names on the barrel of the gun. His untimely passing had made his guns a highly sought-after collectible. His most prized gun was a handgun with a calla lilies on the Eld Walnut stock, he only made six of them, two for each of his sons. Dimma kept all six of them, those were the only guns he did not sell off. Calla lily was Dimma's mother favorite flower. Sparnas would keep their Juodas in decorative chests, they did not use them for their sidearms anymore.

The failure to not be as good as his father was not the reason he stopped running the gunsmith. He liked solving cases for his Brothers. The thrill of the chase, the hunt for clues kept him up most nights, but each criminal sparnas locked up in the brigs was worth it.

His main task at the Brotherhood was to keep his Brothers in line. As a GreatHawk he investigated the crime committed against or by the Brothers. They had their share of bad sparnas as well as otherWings. His job meant that he worked closely with BlueWings and RedWings. He had a good desk and field balance, and that was good enough for him.

Dimma's job was strenuous but fulfilling, he did not mind devoting most of his prime years to it. Hegal and his Brothers teased him about settling down or go on fooling around but he was not really feeling it. He had a wild youth and although some said he stopped too soon, he did not mind.

His position as a Hawk was a double-edged sword. He could be welcome by otherWings and not by his Brothers, vice versa. He did not care, as an orphan BlackWing, he learned to grow up fast, without taking any bullshit from otherWings.