by Ryan Tang
Lords ranked in the top 25 - equals of Pure Force - led the four remaining columns.
There was a sickly green Paragon with a pair of curved arms that ended in a vicious, endless row of black Eternium teeth – The Seventh Impaler, whose Familiar was the lamprey. Beside it stood a machine with spindly arms and legs. The machine's colors were black on white, and its pilot called herself Stark Colors. Her familiar was the sea star. At the head of the sixth column stood a transformable Paragon that resembled a giant cape. It coiled back and forth, effortlessly shifting between a humanoid form and one that resembled the stingray. Every so often, the fidgeting machine would turn back to stare at its column. Long whips chastised units that fell out of line. The Gray Ghost was known for her organization and diligence. Lonely's lip curled again. She was the sort of Noble Bringer would have wanted for the Conquest. Perhaps she'd even been recruited to replace him.
Last of all came a broad and squat machine built in a similar style to The Tooth Man's tank-like Paragon. Ridge upon ridge lined the machine's plated armor, and the head ended in a long and narrow snout. The crocodile was one of the least common Familiars in all the Constellation. The machine belonged to Ravenous, and Lonely feared him more than any of the other Lords in attendance. Ravenous was very young, so he hadn't risen as high as he could, but he had all the cruelty of The Tooth Man and three times the cunning.
Gallant stared as Adrienne cowered in her tank.
"How? How did? Why?"
She just kept stammering.
"Why are they all here?"
Bringer had said he had another way to unite the Lords. What had he done? How could he have brought these people together?
What had he said? And more importantly, who else had he gathered? Not even both the Three Staffs could have brought these Lords together.
The columns fanned out, surrounding the Surgeon's Castlecraft.
"It's a siege! A siege!"
Gallant's dismayed cry jerked him out of his reverie. Bringer didn't like sieges.
Lonely pulled the sphere out of his pocket. He didn't have any Eternium shards, but he bet that Bringer did.
His sister coiled at the sight of the sphere, but Lonely ignored his guilt. He had to act now. The Surgeon's massive Castlecraft was a force multiplier. They had no choice but to hide here.
He concentrated, and The Tooth Man's indigo shard emerged. He tossed it off to the side and then sprinted to a corner of the room.
"Gallant, come over here. I need you. Can you break off a part of this sphere? Just a small part."
His sister was still quivering, but she did as he asked. A tassel from her Paragon slowly moved forward. A knife sprouted at the end.
"Don't cut deeply. I just need a piece to get chipped out from the outside."
The sphere was tougher than he thought. It took three plunges before a small bit cracked out. He wouldn't have had the strength to do it alone.
Lonely turned the sphere so that the undamaged portion lay at the top. Then he plunged in the remaining shard and hated. He thought of Bringer's delusions - his desperation to kill the Namers. He thought of the Namers themselves and how they'd imprisoned the Lords inside the Constellation.
The sphere instantly crumbled to dust in his hands. He held his breath so he wouldn't notice the smell, but it was still utterly horrifying.
He screamed, and his hand jerked and burned. His heart pumped faster, and his eyes widened with horror when he realized what would happen.
"Gallant! Gallant! Cut off my arm! Just do it! Do it!"
His sister heard the urgency in his voice. If she'd waited, he might have died. The knife slashed down, severing his arm. His right arm flopped around on the ground, withering and rotting. His veins sprayed out blood and curdled, turning rotten and yellow as he fled as fast as he could to the other side of the room.
His tablet buzzed.
Lonely only took a look at the message after he'd sprinted to the corner. He sprayed blood all the way behind him until the tassel lashed down again. The hot metal cauterized his wound before morphing into bandages. His little sister's Eternium gauze was bright and warm.
He let out a long gulp of pain. It wasn't until he'd escaped that he realized how much it hurt. But then he saw his tablet. It'd all been worth it.
"Holy shit! You might have warned me for that! That was a close one."
Just as he'd expected, it'd also destroyed Bringer's sphere too.
The strange Eternium poisoning metal had eaten itself through. He'd gotten lucky. In all Lonely's life, he'd never seen Eternium as dull as the strange sphere Bringer called an artificial Familiar. He'd figured his trick would work, that the metal only had a single frequency.
Bringer sent a few sad faces, and then followed it up with a different message.
"I always knew you were a quick thinker. And I wish you could be a part of the Conquest. But I really didn't have a choice. And you really don't have a chance. It's not going to fall to a siege. We have far too many warriors."
Space rippled again, and an entire Castlecraft sailed out. It was built just like a stage. A massive glowing sign counted out the number of Sinsworn that stood on top of it. 20,378.
It wasn't Pure Force who'd brought these people together, nor was it one of the Three Staffs. Even as Lonely's heart turned to ice, he wondered.
How had Bringer convinced him?
At the very center of the stage stood The Singer's personal machine. It was magenta and blue, and it proudly waved a banner that showed a pink dolphin piercing a Castlecraft with its long pointed snout.
His resonant voice echoed through space. Even through the Castlecraft's walls, his cry was enough to make Lonely's ears tremble. He stumbled and fell to the ground, grabbing his head.
"Even in a House battle, there must be some rules. The behavior of the Surgeon and Lonely has been despicable! But if they surrender, I promise to be merciful. That's more than you gave my Heretic. That's more than you gave The Tooth Man."
Only then did Lonely understand.
The Singer must have lent his Heretic to help Pure Force's attack. He had hoped that loaning his Heretic was enough to remove his hated rival.
But the Surgeon's reaction had given Bringer and the Singer the pretext to gather all the Lords for an open attack.
He'd mentioned The Tooth Man too. No doubt Bringer had given away the photographs Lonely had sent him of the brutish man's infected corpse.
The terror of dying such ignominious deaths had united all the reputable Lords before them. And once the alliance reached a critical mass, it'd be a simple task to recruit countless others. All the Lords hungered for spoils and glory. All the Lords hungered for his death.
____
The Singer laughed.
"Even in the House battles, there must be some basic rules you must respect. The customs say that you can do whatever you want, but we, as Nobles, must strive to be better! I've heard horrible things. I hereby accuse the Surgeon and Lonely of war crimes."
By then, the Castlecrafts remaining inhabitants had already rushed to the Castlecraft.
Reader and her sister's eyes were wide with worry. The Surgeon screamed and shouted, cursing Lonely with every breath.
"You! This is all because of you! You and your greed! You and your House battles!"
All Range said nothing at all. Her snake had sprouted a second head, and it seemed like the three of them were speaking together. Most people couldn't speak with their Familiars, but perhaps she had the same ability as Gallant. It seemed farfetched, but Lonely didn't know what to believe anymore. For all he knew, it might have been Gallant's Intuition that allowed her to speak with her Familiar.
"I am making an official announcement. By my side are Lords who have realized that this world of House battles requires some sort of regulation. Among our number are some of the Constellation's most reputable Lords, but what brings our cause justice isn't our fame, but our numbers! We have a total of a hundred Lords among us!"
&
nbsp; The columns continued fanning out. Lonely recognized his erstwhile companions. Drowsy, Scry True, and Forever had found a far more powerful patron.
"Between us, we have just over a hundred and fifty thousand Sinsworn."
The Singer's words were echoed on every tablet in the room. The message was being broadcast to the whole Constellation.
Lonely groaned.
Of the assembled Lords, he suspected that only a third cared about war crimes. The rest were here for what they viewed as riskless spoils. After Bringer secured the Singer, it was enough to bring everyone else in line.
And after this battle, Bringer would convince them that if they could defeat the Surgeon and Lonely, couldn't they defeat Old Earth? After all, they had a hundred Lords and two hundred thousand Sinsworn. They'd just destroyed one hated opponent. Why not another?
His mentor's playbook was very familiar by now.
"I accuse Lonely of using biological weapons - just like the Ignorants did to drive us off Old Earth!"
Their tablets flared, and the images of The Tooth Man's decaying corpse appeared. Lonely shuddered. He'd tried his best to forget that sight.
"He even slew The Tooth Man's poor Familiar!"
The shark appeared alongside its dead master.
"Then he burned The Tooth Man so he could never participate in the Conquest! As for the Surgeon, I accuse her of mass slaughter!"
The images of the Surgeon's sword plunging into the crowd over and over again flashed across the screen.
"She killed her own guests and allies! She killed my friend who already surrendered!"
The Surgeon whirled on Lonely.
"Your fault! This is your fault!"
Gallant stood and glared.
She shunted herself in between the Surgeon and Lonely. There was no more gel over her hands, but now her arms hung awkwardly in front of her. They looked like bags of flesh. It was like all her bones had dissolved.
"He didn't tell you to kill those people! You chose to do that!"
The Surgeon snarled.
"That's a House battle! That's what he inflicted on us!"
"You didn't have to kill them! They surrendered!"
The Surgeon pointed at the screen.
"There was a fake surrender! Someone said they surrendered and then attacked!"
Gallant was talking to the Surgeon like the veteran pilot was an idiot. Normally, Lonely would have kicked her, but his sister had been right all along. The Constellation was so stupid.
"You killed the first group of people who surrendered! What did you expect? Just watch the film!"
The Surgeon slapped her.
"If I didn't need you, I'd kill you right now. It's every Lord for themselves. Every Lord for their own self-interest. I have no time to figure out if surrenders are fake or real."
To his surprise, Gallant laughed.
"Hey. This hand is feeling a little better. This is great!"
She wiggled it awkwardly back and forth, and then slapped the Surgeon right back.
The tall woman howled and drew the blade at her waist.
"This is all your House's fault. I'd almost eliminated House battles. Got all the teachers to stop talking about them. They would have been forgotten. It would have only been fun Ransom battles. They were already being forgotten. All I needed was for them to stop teaching about the damn things, and then you had to bring it right back up!"
The gel formed around Gallant's hand, and his sister growled so ferociously that Lonely released her in surprise.
But then the Singer spoke again and cut off even their argument. His voice echoed against the walls of their Paragon.
"So. As I was saying. We are accepting surrenders, which is better than the Surgeon gave my poor friends. In exchange for your Castlecraft, your Paragon, and all your Sinsworn, we will allow you to leave."
The terms were equivalent to a death sentence. Without a Castlecraft, you'd starve and die.
Gallant's gel instantly faded. The Surgeon paced away, muttering under her breath about House battles and how hideous they were.
The screen flickered, and a new image appeared.
Younger Three Staff was tearing apart Brightwalls and claiming every Familiar in the hangar.
"I've already claimed one of Lonely's Castlecraft, and soon I'll have the other two. As a result, I won't be able to accept a surrender from them. There will be no quarters for poisoners."
Gallant seemed unperturbed about the destruction of Brightwalls. She really believed that she could build a new one. His little sister just shrugged.
"He would have killed us even if we could surrender."
Lonely sighed.
"No doubt he would. And if not him, someone else in the column."
The Singer was brutal enough, but he also had Bringer alongside him. Bringer wouldn't leave any loose ends to talk about poisonous spheres.
"But the Surgeon! You have something to offer! How about it? Your Sinsworn, your Castlecraft, and your Paragon in exchange for my mercy."
The tall woman turned to Lonely again and snarled.
"Look at what you've done. You and your House battles."
She screamed into her tablet.
"No surrender! If you want my Castlecraft, you're going to die taking it."
The Tall Tale spoke into her own tablet.
"What about other guests who are still inside?"
It wouldn't make sense to keep them all there. The sisters and All Range should go. The Surgeon didn't see it that way. Their host rounded on The Tall Tale, but the Singer's response cut off any doubt that any of them could escape.
"From what I can tell, she slaughtered everyone who she saw as an enemy. So if you're alive, you'll be treated as her ally. Same terms. All your Sinsworn and all your Castlecraft."
It was a death sentence, just as the Ransom battles had been for himself and Gallant.
The Singer clapped his hands together excitedly as he addressed his assembled warriors.
"Excellent! There are guests inside! We will have even more Sinsworn that I imagined! Spoils for everyone! I believe that was The Tall Tale. I'll tell Younger to visit her home shortly. Who else is inside?"
Reader and All Range stayed silent.
"Well, we will easily be able to investigate. In the meantime, does anyone want to surrender?"
They had no choice but to fight, but little chance of winning. Just as Bringer said, it wouldn't fall to the siege. Against The Tooth Man, Brightwalls had already been an invaluable force multiplier. The Surgeon's Castlecraft was even larger, with a far more powerful battery of Sinsworn. But the Singer's numbers were utterly overwhelming. All he had to do was storm their Castlecraft. No Castle could hold its own against over a hundred and fifty thousand Sinsworn.
Lonely took another glance outside. There were so many machines that he couldn't even make them out against each other. They'd dissolved into a single sprawling canvas of abstract artwork. The Paragons shone every color of the rainbow.
The Singer repeated himself again.
"I am promising very generous terms for a surrender. You'll have to give up your Castlecraft and Sinsworn. So will all your allies. But you have my word that I'll spare your life."
As before, the Surgeon did not deign to answer.
She turned and glanced at them with suspicious eyes.
"If you surrender to him, I'll kill you before you leave. You have no choice but to fight with me. Unless we win, we'll all die."
Lonely pulled Gallant over to him and whispered in her ear.
"Don't do anything rash. Don't make a move on her."
"Are we going to be alright?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know. But we have no choice. We need to fight."
"Do you have a plan?"
He thought for a long moment until he realized he did. This alliance would not hold. Each Lord would fight only for their own self-interest. If the Sinsworn swarmed the defenders in the Castle, they'd lose. But if they were abl
e to frighten individual Lords into fleeing, they could survive. It'd be just like what happened to Bringer's assassins. They'd broken at the first sign of serious opposition.
"Yeah."
His sister nodded vigorously and beamed.
"Okay. You always have the best plans."
She waited a moment then whispered.
"The sisters. And All Range. You should tell them your plan too. They're my friends."
Lonely paused for a long time. His sister had just met them, yet she was calling them her friends. She'd either been tricked or they'd somehow bonded within moments. He wanted to believe it was the latter.
He forced his question out of his numb lips.
"Are you sure?"
Gallant nodded vigorously.
"Yeah. They were really nice when we met. And they told me the Surgeon's a fake friend."
His sister made a face.
"I thought she was cool too. I shouldn't have brought us here."
He laughed and ruffled her hair.
"No, not at all."
"But trust me. When the fight begins, just tell them what to do. They'll listen. I promise."
The Singer called out again.
"Alright. You people in there have five seconds to surrender. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
The defenders didn't respond. They ran to their machines instead.
The Tall Tale helped her silent sister into her strange brain-like Paragon. She stumbled awkwardly forward. She was so pregnant that it was very difficult to move. Lonely felt a harsh twinge of sadness. The woman still hadn't spoken a word since she'd lost her husband.
When The Tall Tale entered her machine, she turned to the Surgeon.
"Will we be able to use your Sinsworn?"
The Surgeon shook her head with disgust.
"I don't see how we have a choice. I can't command them all myself. You'll each receive two thousand. I'll keep the remainder for myself. But you lot will be at the front lines."
Their Paragons moved to the front, buoyed by the Sinsworn the Surgeon bound to their cores. That made four thousand Sinsworn between himself and Gallant, and if his sister's new friends really would listen to him, he could command ten thousand. Ten thousand wasn't much next to a hundred and fifty, but it was better than nothing. And if his hunch were correct, he wouldn't need to fight them all.
