Ryan had also come into the wooden house and filled Thane in on where the wyvern eggs came from.
"So the wyvern attacked here because your daughter swiped these two eggs?"
Thane put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath.
Originally Thane figured it was all the ruckus from his nighttime raid that had ticked off this armored nightmare.
Turns out it was completely their own doing.
"Yes, my lord."
Ryan shot a helpless look at his daughter Aleya, then turned back to say earnestly: "Thank you for saving everyone."
Wyverns were mean and brutal. Finding egg thieves would send them into a complete rage, and they'd go on a killing spree through the whole village.
This kind of slaughter was different from animals hunting for food—it was pure payback.
As long as it didn't wipe everyone out, it would keep coming back. The village would basically have to be abandoned.
If Thane hadn't shown up, Ryan was already planning to bug out, and to keep the wyvern from tracking them down with its crazy good sense of smell, they'd have to run way farther than they wanted.
"You're my people. Paying taxes is your job, and protecting your lives is mine."
Thane said matter-of-factly: "You guys did your part here too.
I really like those grappling hooks you used, but wouldn't swapping out the ropes for iron chains make them tougher?"
The hunters' grappling hooks had caught Thane's eye during the fight.
Without those hooks pinning down the wyvern and keeping it distracted, Thane wouldn't have dared to get close.
The sudden topic switch caught Ryan off guard. After a moment's hesitation he said: "Iron chains would be a lot heavier, and more importantly, we've never had a blacksmith who could make them."
"Let me handle that."
Thane figured the weight shouldn't be a problem for a strong hunter like Ryan.
"So what's the deal with these two wyvern eggs? We eating them?"
Thane turned his attention back to the wyvern eggs:
"Or are we hatching them?"
Thane was honestly curious about what dragon eggs tasted like and how they'd stack up against regular bird eggs.
But the thought of maybe owning two wyverns got him way more pumped.
Then he wouldn't just be a dragon slayer—he'd be a dragon rider.
Even if the babies didn't listen, killing them for meat wouldn't be the worst thing.
But—
"Does anyone know how to hatch these things?"
Everyone shook their heads like they were synchronized swimmers.
"Looks like I'll need to hunt down some books in the city."
Thane immediately realized his territory was missing a smart guy who actually knew stuff.
Not just for dishing out info about wild animals, but also for teaching people in the territory—
At least the kids should learn to read and write, instead of always playing telephone with messages and knowledge.
Thane then had people grab two wooden boxes lined with dry grass, making sure everything was soft and cozy before tucking the wyvern eggs inside.
Actually, wyvern eggshells were tough as nails, not nearly as delicate as regular chicken eggs, but Thane wasn't taking any chances.
If the eggs cracked, there wouldn't even be scrambled eggs to show for it.
After taking down the wyvern, the whole vibe in the village chilled out big time, and the Blackstone Mountain folks started shooting the breeze with the soldiers.
Ryan took the initiative to bring his crew over to meet Thane, introducing them one by one.
"This is my wife, Luna Thornflower, one hell of an herbalist."
Ryan pulled over the woman next to him who barely came up to his shoulders.
Luna looked a few years older than Ryan, but you could tell from her delicate features that she'd been a real knockout when she was younger.
"Good day, my lord."
Luna bowed her head respectfully and clammed up, seeming kind of spooked by Thane.
But Ryan wasn't about to skip over his wife and kept going: "She's also the person who gave me a second shot at life.
Thirty years ago when I was hunting black bears, I took a tumble off a cliff and nearly bought the farm. Luna dragged me back here and patched me up with her herbs, so I stuck around."
"You lucked out big time—not only did you cheat death, but you found true love."
Thane grinned: "You should send that black bear a thank-you card for playing matchmaker."
Ryan nodded: "Yeah, so I turned its hide into Luna's cloak to remember my luck forever."
"I bet that black bear didn't want to be part of your love story that way."
After Thane cracked that joke, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Back in those days, herbalists were basically doctors.
Sure, herbalists didn't have all the fancy gadgets that city doctors had, but they knew their plants inside and out—what could cure what and how to use it all to kick death's butt.
Actually, lots of nobles would train one of their family members as an herbalist to take care of everyone at home.
Thane thought this herbalist was worth her weight in gold, so when he saw she was scared of him, he tried to lighten things up with Ryan.
The tension did ease up a bit.
"Dolan and Mark are Luna's brothers, top-notch hunters. As you saw, their aim with those grappling hooks is dead-on."
"Wolf, but we all call him Hound, can track anything. Just show him one dropping and he'll find your prey."
"Aleya is my daughter. Her archery is even better than mine, she's a master at staying hidden, especially out in the wild."
The four gave Thane respectful bows, and Thane nodded with satisfaction.
No wonder they could make it in the Blackstone Mountains—these hunters were all rock stars.
"From now on you're all working for me. I won't stiff anyone or pinch pennies."
Thane looked at the hunters and said seriously: "You guys kicked butt today. When we get back to Fontdmer Town, I'll make sure everyone gets their due."
"Your main gig going forward is cleaning out all the wild animals running amok in the wilderness and forests around Fontdmer Town so they don't mess with spring planting."
Wilderness wolves and hyenas were still pretty rare. The real pains in the ass were wild chickens, deer, rabbits, and boars.
These critters were absolute hell on seeds and seedlings, while boars would straight-up smash through fences and tear up the soil.
Regular folks couldn't handle boars at all, and even soldiers had to watch their backs around them.
"Yes, my lord. We'll definitely take care of business."
The hunters responded as one.
Thane told them to get some rest and not worry about anything else, then turned to leave.
Thane had noticed that after picking up the [Lesser Dragon Slayer] trait, except for guys like Pamin, Eliric, and Ryan, everyone else's eyes would dart around when they faced him—they couldn't look him straight in the eye.
This was actually a pretty good way to figure out who had backbone.
But it also made Thane realize he was never gonna be one of those warm and fuzzy lords who could just hang out with anyone.
So Thane didn't force it, choosing to chow down on honey-roasted venison and mushroom soup by himself before hitting the hay.
But the soldiers didn't get any downtime.
Maxim hooked them up with a wagon so the soldiers could load up the village's iron ore and other goods, plus the wyvern's carcass.
Without the right tools, Ryan hadn't been able to completely butcher the wyvern.
Ryan had only collected the dragon blood and cut along the soft belly, pulling out the guts and cutting off most of the meat. The skeleton was still pretty much in one piece, looking relatively intact.
Thane figured every bit of the wyvern's body was useful, so nothing got wasted—everything went on the wagon for the trip back.
Too few soldiers were left back in Fontdmer Town, so the group couldn't stay out too long.
Early the next morning before the sun came up, Pamin led the soldiers and some villagers to haul the goods back to Fontdmer Town.
Thane hung around the village another day with Eliric and ten guards, waiting for Maxim's wagon to come back.
With Ryan showing the way, Thane checked out the mine and had people block off and hide the entrance.
The iron ore they had now was enough to keep the smelting going for a while. Thane just didn't have the energy or manpower right now to really develop this vein.
The village couldn't be totally abandoned either—this was their forward base for developing the Blackstone Mountains.
Future mining and transport in these deep mountains was definitely gonna be a major headache. Better to smelt pig iron right here, or even forge finished products.
This spot was hidden enough and had plenty of timber for making charcoal—perfect for setting up a smithy workshop.
But they didn't need everyone to stick around—three to five hunters and soldiers taking turns on guard duty would do the trick.
After Maxim's wagon came back, Thane personally walked Maxim to the edge of Shadowpine Ridge with his crew.
At noon, under some nice gentle sunlight.
Thane got off his horse and casually handed Maxim a leather pouch with his family crest embroidered on it:
"This is for you."