Suiting up

"Damn that felt good!" you say to the flustered Lady Relia as you withdraw from the tangled mess of **** girls. Looking out the window you see fighting on the tower holding up the drake wires over your tower, they should fall soon and that will bring the Riders diving down from their current position. Unfortunately, you also hear the solid thud of a battering ram striking the door to your building. Two or three more blows like that and they will be in the stairwell.

"But now we had better think about getting out of here." Standing naked by her side you look over the suits of armor that hang from the weapons rack.

This morning before Lady Relia's arrival, you had decided on wearing the heavy armor of chains and plates; for one thing the suit is worth almost as much as the chest of gold offered by Lady Relia. You got it from the family of a dead Rider who was killed in the first wave of aerial attacks from the invading army. Because you knew where to look, you could see the new rings in the chain mail repairing the spot where the heavy bolt had caught the unfortunate Rider in the side under his arm.

If the bolt had hit him on the chest plate, he might still be alive, the thick plates protecting the chest back and upper legs are made from the finest iron from the smiths of Polhephastus. His family had been **** to sell it and you got it for next to nothing, but in spite of the armor's incredible stopping power, it does have its flaws. The chain-plate armor is uncomfortable and limits your mobility, and most of all it weighs a great deal, almost half your weight. The more Swiftwing has to carry, the slower the climb of your drake. It would be a shame to have to leave it, but easy come, easy go.

The other option is the soft leather flying gear, it won't stop anything more than a glancing blow, but it is a lot lighter and far more comfortable on long flights. If you agree to take Lady Relia (or either of her two pretty slaves) with you, you really have to wear the light armor.