Metal Mage 8

by Eric Vall

  I waited while the women thought this over, but the relief of seeing them all on board with the idea was quickly doused by Shoshanne’s next statement.

  “That doesn’t solve the problem of your rune,” she persisted. “Mason, I don’t like this. You’re a good man, and if that rune is turning you into a murderer …”

  I caught Shoshanne’s hand and pulled her into my arms, and then I held her gaze steadily.

  “That’s not going to happen,” I promised. “I know you’re worried, and after today, that’s understandable. But please just hear me out on this one.”

  Shoshanne reluctantly nodded, and the other three women gave me their full attention as well.

  “No form of magic comes easily to anyone,” I reminded them, “and rune magic is obviously a whole different game than any of us are used to. I’m already getting less headaches by practicing how I register the things around me. Now, I simply need to practice with this healing rune so I can gain a stronger ability to influence the power of it.”

  “But you’ve seen what a rune can do to someone, just look at what Dragir lived with all these years,” Shoshanne urged, and her voice hitched nervously. “What makes you think this is possible?”

  “You, actually,” I told her with a grin. “When we were in the ravine, I wanted to kill that mage, but you kept me focused. You helped me remember what we needed to accomplish, and I was able to redirect my intentions even with the rune protesting. Because like Dragir said, this rune isn’t capable of turning me into something I’m not, it’s only reacting to a threat. I thought about it a lot while I was out, and the fact is, I’m pretty good at killing shit. So, when the rune reacts to defend itself, it pushes those instincts to the surface more intensely than I normally would. As long as I practice controlling the reaction, I’ll get better at it.”

  “I hate where this is going,” Aurora sighed.

  “Come on,” I chuckled. “It’s just some good old-fashioned combat training we’re talking about. No big deal.”

  “Except whoever you’re training with will die,” the half-elf pointed out. “What are you going to do? Grab any mage you can and keep killing them all until--”

  “I don’t know,” I interrupted before she could finish the thought, “but this is a solid solution to the problem, and it’s a logical one too. Practice using a power, and you’ll strengthen your control over it. If you give me more than an hour to think about the problem some more, I promise I’ll figure out how to do this without hurting anyone.”

  “I know you’re right,” Shoshanne sighed, “but the kind of training you’ll need is not casual training. That rune is aggravated by severe injuries and the threat of death. I will never be okay with the idea of you risking your life for the sake of trying to get that rune in line.”

  “What about for the sake of sparing other people’s lives?” I brushed a stray copper curl from her cheek, and when Shoshanne smiled lightly, I knew I’d finally gotten her to see sense.

  “Fine,” the healer mumbled, “but if you are seriously injured in this, you are my number one patient. I don’t care how many unconscious mages I have waiting for me to remove their runes.”

  Aurora snorted. “Doesn’t that go against your oath as a healer?”

  “And everything we’re trying to accomplish,” Cayla added.

  I smirked. “Plus, the rune does the healing for you these days. Remember?”

  Shoshanne raised her brows. “Are you implying that silly rune is more proficient than I am?”

  “Umm … ”

  “Of course he’s not,” Cayla quickly answered for me, and Shoshanne narrowed her eyes.

  “It isn’t as if any form of healing is inherently the proper healing,” she assured me. “Dragir said your bones could heal misaligned, so if they need rebreaking, you will tell me immediately, even if you’re not sure. No pretending you’re fine or insisting I’m too busy. If this is how you want to approach the issue, then you’ll let me help you with it.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, but I was only half listening now.

  Shoshanne had gone from terror to complete dedication to what I knew was the right course of action in only a few heartbeats, and the notion left a warm feeling spreading throughout my chest and down my arms. Her warm brown eyes glinted with love and determination, and I couldn’t help but notice how tightly she held me against her, or the fact that she still bit nervously at the corner of her lip despite all this.

  “I’m sorry I scared you today,” I told Shoshanne gently, and she immediately released her hold on her plush bottom lip. “I think I felt worse about that than killing those mages, to be honest. Except, I have to clarify, the Aer Mage did have to go. He was about three seconds from shredding my lungs, and he could have done the same to you.”

  “It’s alright,” the healer said as a blush flecked her cheeks. “I wasn’t scared of you. I know you would never hurt me. The earthquake was a little unexpected, but I was mostly scared of what you could become one day with this rune on you.”

  “Well, you’ll never have to worry about that,” I assured her. “As you pointed out, I’m incredibly stubborn when there’s work to be done, and this is at the top of my list. Which means it’ll probably be handled by tomorrow.”

  Aurora and Cayla giggled, and Shoshanne rolled her eyes as I tucked a kiss in her curls.

  Then Deya sighed impatiently. “Why do all of you know everything about my brother’s rune, but all I know is that it nearly killed you to remove it?”

  No one moved a muscle as we remained locked in a heavy silence.

  “What was Dragir’s rune for?” Deya demanded. “None of you are allowed to leave this room until you tell me.”

  Luckily, the beautiful elf didn’t have nearly so much experience as we did with being stubborn, so Aurora just left a kiss on her cheek and left the atrium with Cayla on her arm.

  Shoshanne cleared her throat and moved to gather up her medical supplies, and I tried not to chuckle too much as I eyed the look of shock on the elf’s face.

  “I love you, but Dragir’s not a guy any of us want to cross,” I admitted. “He really didn’t want you to know about the rune.”

  Deya narrowed her violet eyes, but then she stalked off without another word on the matter.

  Behind me, Shoshanne struggled to stifle a giggle. “She’s going to be angry with you.”

  “No, she won’t,” I countered. “I gave Dragir my word, and I’m sure Deya can respect that. Besides, after last night, I can name five different things I could do to her that would immediately cheer her up about it.”

  “Six,” Deya called from the next room. “I want to try that last thing you and Aurora were doing.”

  I grinned and sent Shoshanne a wink. “See?”

  “Well, I am not so easily persuaded,” Shoshanne sighed. “I will try to find a tranquilizer for us to use, but I expect to see some serious results from you by tomorrow.”

  “You read my mind,” I replied as I made my way over to a shelf of steel waiting patiently against the wall of the atrium for me.

  I sparked my magic to pull five hefty chunks from the shelf, and the first thing I did was build a sturdy worktable that stretched from my stock of iron in one corner, all the way to the steel in the opposite corner. Then I shifted and reformed the stone stool I’d been sitting on so I could use it as a workbench, and when I strolled into the next room, Aurora already had a few slips of parchment and a quill in hand waiting for me.

  I left a kiss on the woman’s smirking lips as I took them, and then I grabbed a bottle of ink from the bookshelf before I set to work in my shop.

  My Metal Magic was already vibrating impatiently in my veins when I sat down at the worktable and laid the fresh parchment out in front of me, and as my mind filtered through a dozen designs at once, a grin spread across my face.

  Chapter 14

  I lost track of the hours as I worked on one sketch after another, and by the time I fell asleep in the shop,
four different final designs were scattered around me on the table with a slew of crumpled rejects.

  I woke up to the distinct sound of rifles being loading beside me, and when I shot up into a sitting position again, I turned to see Cayla and Aurora dressed in black leggings and tight leather vests while they finished strapping their weaponry to themselves.

  The two women had lit a couple torches in the atrium, and I squinted through the blaring light as my eyes protested angrily. I felt like I’d hardly slept at all, and judging by how dim the sky was, I figured I probably only fell asleep a couple hours earlier.

  Aurora had tied her hair into several intricate braids, but she wrapped them all up at the back of her head in a way that reminded me a lot of the elves at House Fehryn. The new look made the lethal woman appear even more fierce than usual, and with her sword and four daggers sheathed around her waist, I briefly thought I was back in Nalnora.

  Then the half-elf slipped her rifle strap across her chest and sent me a wink.

  “You look ready to kill someone,” I mumbled as I tried to get my eyes open all the way.

  “I’ll try not to,” Aurora replied, “but there’s a good chance one of us is going to be shot today.”

  That got me woken up all at once. “What? What’s going on?”

  “You’ve already forgotten about training day, haven’t you?” Cayla chuckled while she casually loaded the cartridge of a revolver.

  “Godsdamnit,” I grumbled, and I let my heavy head drop into my arms on the table. “No training. Too tired.”

  I felt Aurora drape herself along my back, and the light scent of pine drifted to me as she buried her lips against my neck.

  “You can stay here and rest if you like,” Aurora murmured. “We can handle the mages today.”

  “I’m awake,” I mumbled. “Just give me a second to get my legs to notice.”

  “What are these?” Cayla asked as she came over to look at the parchments scattered around me on the table.

  “Automatons,” I yawned. “I can’t decide which design to go with, but I narrowed it down to those four.”

  “This one has a gun on it,” Aurora pointed out. “I thought you said the machine would only be rigged to propel darts?”

  I stretched and finally sat up all the way, and then I slid the sketch in question over.

  “I thought I could post this guy like a metal sentry outside the entrance to the Oculus,” I told the two women. “He’s got a blow gun along his inner arm on one side, and a sword on the outside like Big Guy, but the left arm has a gun similar to a revolver on it. This way, he can tranquilize for us, but also defend the city if need be, and I think tracks instead of legs would be best, in case he needs to pursue someone who’s fleeing. Maybe not, though.”

  “He’s got a head this time,” Cayla mused, “but it’s kind of scary looking.”

  “Yeah,” I chuckled. “With everything the Oculus has in it, I want the gate to be too intimidating to even try to breech. Picture coming down that dark ass tunnel and finding that face waiting at the end of it.”

  Aurora grinned over my shoulder. “I like him.”

  “What about this one?” Cayla asked as she slid another sketch over.

  “He’s the snatcher we talked about last night,” I said with a sleepy grin. “Blow gun on both arms with magazines to house twenty darts each. That way we don’t have to worry about reloading him more than once a day. If we can get those kind of numbers, anyway.”

  Aurora furrowed her brow and leaned closer. “What’s on his shoulders?”

  “Those compartments shoot netting out the back,” I explained as I flipped the paper over to show them how it would look once he’s loaded up the mages. “See, they extend a good way back when he releases them so he can turn and load them himself once the mages are unconscious. That’s why the shoulders are so big, because I’m gonna rig a pulley system inside. When the mages are loaded up, he can reel the netting in to suspend them from either shoulder at his back. Then he brings them back to the village, and once we unload the nets, we can send him right back out.”

  “That’s brilliant!” Cayla said as she squeezed my arm.

  “Thanks,” I yawned. “I think I’ll start on this guy later on once the training sessions are going smoothly. I want to be sure you two are set with the mages before I focus on this, but I really shouldn’t put it off another day. Don’t worry though, Kurna will be there to help with magery, and I’ll have Shoshanne assist with the weapons tutorial after I head out.”

  “What about Deya?” Aurora asked as she returned the store of cartridges to the shelf in the corner.

  My gut clenched. “Where is Deya?”

  “She’s running, but how did you know she was gone?” Aurora asked with a fascinated expression.

  “Her heartbeat,” I said with a shrug. “Shoshanne’s is steady and low right now, so she’s probably still sleeping, but Deya’s is missing. It’s actually the most distinct out of all of you because it beats at twice the rate. I think it’s an elven thing.”

  “You can tell our heartbeats apart?” Cayla grinned. “That’s very sweet.”

  I smirked and rolled my eyes. “I pay attention, alright?”

  “What’s mine like?” Aurora asked eagerly, and she trotted over to press my ear to her chest.

  I didn’t mind the gesture in the slightest, but I could have told her without my face flush against her breasts. These days, I could hear the woman’s heart from across the village if I focused hard enough on finding it.

  “Erratic,” I chuckled. “Every time you’re slightly irritated, your pulse immediately quickens, and when our skin touches and our powers react with one another, it starts skipping beats.”

  “I love that feeling,” the half-elf sighed as she pulled away. “I knew I wasn’t imagining it.”

  “I love it too,” I assured her, and I locked her between my legs before she could wander off. Her sleek leggings clung to her ass in a way that made it impossible not to run my palms over it in admiration, and Aurora giggled in response.

  “I don’t need to ask you about mine,” Cayla informed me as she sauntered toward the door. “I’m incredibly consistent.”

  “You really are,” I chuckled. “Even when you climax, your heart beats strong and steady. I mean, I knew you were unshakable, but that was unexpected.”

  “Nerves of steel,” Cayla said with a wink. “Now, let’s get going before the mages arrive at the fields. Deya’s got Ruela with her, but I made sure she had a dagger too, and she’ll join me at the sessions today so she can train a bit more.”

  “Shit,” I sighed. “I never got to check how she’s doing with them last night.”

  “You had a lot on your mind,” Aurora murmured as she lightly stroked the bags under my eyes. “Are you sure you want to come with us for the first class? You look like you haven’t slept at all.”

  I nodded as I relinquished my hold on the half-elf’s back end, and after a noisy stretch, I managed to stand and shuffle for the door.

  “Lemme get the weapons from the Mustang,” I sighed. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

  With half my stock of weaponry suspended at my back and my two lethal women on either side, I headed down the lanes of the village as the sky began to lighten enough for the mages to begin waking up.

  I was still wearing the tattered and blood-stained shirt I’d gotten from House Orrel, except the sleeves that had caught fire were torn away now, and the intricate silver stitching was impossible to make out under all the soot.

  Kurna was speaking to three mages outside a shop in the marketplace as we made our way toward the training fields, and he grinned when he saw us coming. He and his companions came over to follow us, and I realized I didn’t recognize who the others were, but none of them looked too pleased to be here.

  “New recruits?” I asked.

  “Better,” Kurna assured me. “These are some of the best Defenders to ever work for the Order. Took a bit to trac
k them down, but once I got a raven to Kin over here, she found the others for me.”

  I stopped at the entrance to the training fields, and while I sent the weapons over to the far field with the two women, I extended a hand to the exceptionally tall woman beside Kurna.

  “Thanks for joining us, Defender Kin,” I said as she firmly took my hand.

  Her features were hardened with age, and her blue eyes had the look of someone who’d seen some crazy shit, but still continued on with business as usual. I guessed her to be around forty years old, but the muscles on her arms were still as honed as Aurora’s, and her sandy hair was short and fell carelessly to fringe her face.

  “Defender Flynt,” Kin replied with a nod. “I’ve heard good things about you. I remember the day you arrived at the Order, in fact. Abrus hated you and spent our entire training day glaring. Normally, he only glared in the morning, so it was distinct.”

  I smirked. “Glad I made an impression.”

  Kin snorted without sparing a grin. “Kurna mentioned you’re trying to defend the Oculus. Says you need a hand in training.”

  I hadn’t expected anything like a top Defender to arrive in the first place, so keeping my features composed was difficult. The prospect of having that kind of talent around finally shocked me into a fully awake state, though, and I instinctively checked to be sure my shirt was tucked in out of habit.

  “That would be fantastic,” I admitted. “I could really use some experienced input to whip these guys into shape. Some of them have no idea what their elements are even capable of, but I was thinking of using circuits to try and help them get in touch with their magery more quickly. If they pair off with Defenders like yourself, they could get some insight about what they’re working toward, maybe see some faster improvement.”

  Defender Kin’s eyes barely betrayed how impressed she was, but based on how little emotion her weathered face seemed to show, I took this as a good sign.

  “I can do that,” the woman replied. “I’m a Flumen Mage. Twenty years at the Order, fifteen years as a Defender.”