Escalation

by Matthew Peed

  ~~~

  I had found an old riverbed leading from the mountain, which was sloped enough that I could actually make some headway up it. I was about a hundred meters above the twisted tree line—and I felt something. I looked back the way I’d come, but thankfully, no undead had tried to follow me out of the trees, yet.

  I felt it again; it was coming from under the surface, maybe a couple hundred meters away from me. My ears twitched as I tried to trace the source of the disturbance. I quickly found a boulder to hide behind, intending to wait for whatever this was to pass. I sat there for a few hours and didn’t realize that the rhythmic sound coming from the ground had managed to lull me to sleep.

  I suddenly heard an explosion from the other side of the boulder. The sleep was blasted from my body. I leaned around the boulder to carefully take a peek. Dust covered the area, and I could see several rocks that were larger than me falling from the mountain and into the forest. I held my breath and was shocked when a large . . . something came out of the hole.

  It was roughly man-shaped but had an extra set of arms. Two of the arms had a weird contraption with three spinning disks and what looked like teeth. The other two arms had hands at the ends of them, but the hands had massive claws that would allow them to rip a creature apart if they wanted to. It was an orange color, and the head had several glass eyes.

  As the dust cleared, I noticed that there were several of the things moving around the hole as they enlarged it. When the hole reached about the size of a house, I felt the mana in the air freeze. It was an unusual sensation, one I had never felt before, but I seemed to understand what it was instinctively. Suddenly, like a twister, the mana rushed into the hole that had been made. It moved so fast I was able to see that the sides of the entrance seemed to be melting. The large things grouped together and helped protect each other.

  The event only lasted a few minutes but felt like a few hours. I slid back behind the boulder and thought about what to do. I wasn’t sure if it was right, but the word “golem” came to mind when I looked at those things, which meant that someone might have been controlling them. And I thought, They might be able to help me. As I thought through my options, I heard a roar from the forest. I jerked, but I wasn’t the target.

  I peeked back around the boulder and saw a small horde of ghouls making their way up the side of the mountain. The orange things just kept up their work as if nothing was wrong. I struggled over whether I should warn them but thought they surely wouldn’t just stand there and let the ghouls do what they wanted.

  Finally, I gathered my courage and decided to warn them. “Lo . . .” I had barely spoken in the last year, and my voice was hoarse. I swallowed and tried again. “Loo . . . look out!” I shouted as best I could.

  One of the things stopped and looked over at me. I wasn’t sure if it could understand me, but when it put down the boulder it had been carrying and started to walk toward me, I grew tense. It would be just my luck that I might have triggered it in some way. The ghouls had also noticed me, and a few of them broke off toward me.

  I sucked in a deep breath and decided to trust the strange golem things. I jumped over the boulder and rushed toward the one that was heading toward me. I hadn’t noticed before, as I’d been a decent distance away, but it must have been four or five meters tall.

  It stopped and lowered to one knee. I slid to a stop in front of it, not sure what it wanted. It moved its clawed hand in front of me and set it even with the ground. I took a gamble and hopped on it. It lifted me to its shoulder and started making its way back to its brothers.

  “What . . . what are . . . you going to . . . do?” I asked haltingly.

  One of its eyes turned toward me, but I guessed it couldn’t speak. One of the other golems stopped what it was doing and started to make its way toward the ghouls. The golem was one of those that had the circular disks for two hands.

  As I joined the group of golems, the ghouls regrouped into one horde and were slowly making their way toward us. The disk-handed golem headed toward them and then kneeled like the other one had for me. I was confused until one of the ghouls tried to take a bite of it. That’s when things got . . . gory. The eyes of the golem turned red, and the disks started to spin rapidly. It slammed the ghoul to the ground, where its body turned into a paste in the blink of an eye.

  The gore caused the other ghouls to go into a frenzy, and they swarmed the golem. I panicked at first but noticed that they weren’t causing it any damage. The golem’s clawed hand made a casual swipe and knocked most of them off him, body parts not necessarily still attached. In only a matter of minutes, the horde of at least fifty ghouls was decimated into a pile of body parts and paste mixed with chewed-up dirt and stone.

  My relief that these golems were able to so easily deal with the ghouls made me go weak, and I started to slip from the golem’s shoulder. It managed to catch me with surprisingly gentle movements. The change in position put my head even with its chest. I saw the characters E.C.H.01.

  “Thank . . . you . . . for saving . . . me, Echo,” I said, and then my world went black.

  ~~~

  I awoke and was immediately aware that I was in a bed. Something I hadn’t felt in over seven months. I looked around and saw that I was in a nice-looking room that seemed to have not been used before. There wasn’t any dust or signs of neglect, but I knew instinctively that it’d never been used before. As I calmed down from the sudden change in environment, I heard something even more amazing: people talking, and not the whispered conversation of people trying not to be found but one at normal volume.

  I jumped up and looked out the window, taking barely a second to rip the clear string that had been attached to me. I saw a town that seemed to be . . . happy. People were walking by without a care in the world while some people stood on the side of the street and chatted with friends. Where the hell was I?!

  I heard a boom from above me and reached for my sword. Thankfully, it was next to my bed against the wall. I grabbed it and made my way up the stairs to see what was going on. Once I reached what had to be the top floor, given the stairs ended there, I noticed a few people in the room. One was a woman sitting directly across from me at a table; the next, a man, who reminded me of the golems that had rescued me. Under his foot was another woman who smelled of the taint that I had lived with for the last ten years, ever since the necromancers had started taking control of the north; and, finally, a third woman, who stood on a platform of sorts.

  The metal man turned to me and said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “What’s . . .” I started to say and noticed my throat felt much better than earlier. “What’s . . . where am I?”

  “Girl, I have to say that you are one of the luckiest people I have ever met. Do you know what I thought the chances were of there actually being anyone still alive in the northern country? Close to none, but look at you! At the exact spot my tunnel exited right when it was finished! Amazing! I’m Regan, by the way.”

  “Nice to . . . meet you,” I said, slightly at a loss for words.

  “Indeed, it is nice to meet me. If I do say so myself,” Regan said with a pat to his chest.

  I smiled. It felt good to hear people after so long of just the sounds of moaning and roars. “Where am I?” I asked again.

  “You are in Robia Valley, sweetie, and, more directly, in my town,” the woman at the table said in a soft voice. “I’m Viscountess Louella, the lord of this area.”

  “I had no idea there was still such a place on this side of the mountain,” I said as I looked outside through the hole that Regan had made.

  “That’s because you are not on your side of the mountain,” Regan said, then made a grand wave of his arm toward the mountain I could see in the distance. “You are on the southern side, brought here by my faithful servants when they found you, or more correctly, when you requested their aid.”

  “I would like to thank Echo if I could,” I said as I remembered the golem th
at had helped me.

  “Echo?” Regan asked as he tapped his chin. “Did you name one of the golems?”

  “Its name was on its chest,” I said, confused.

  “I see, was there a number after the letters?”

  “Ah, yes, it was a one,” I said as I recalled it.

  “Understood. I will bring you to him later,” he said as he patted my head, making me feel like a child.

  “Sir Regan, I heard a few things I would like to clarify. You said she is from the north and that you have a tunnel there?” the woman who had been standing on the platform said as she walked over.

  “Indeed, I was going to inform you later. But seeing that you’re here, for a few months now, I have been making my own path into the Deadlands. There are a few things I want to . . . do there. This girl was in the area when my drones broke through a few hours ago, and she requested help from one of them.”

  “I don’t remember asking for help,” I said. I may have passed out shortly afterward, but I still remember the event clearly.

  “Maybe not verbally, but by accepting the hand—or in this case, jumping into it—you accepted its offer of help.”

  “I . . . see . . .”

  “Is that a native from the north?!” the woman said as she clamped on to Regan’s arm.

  Now that she wasn’t buried by the stone, I could more clearly smell the taint from her. My instincts got the better of me, and my fur rose on end as I snarled, then drew my blade and backed farther away from her.

  “Julie, do not make me throw you off the top of the tower,” Regan said as he grabbed the woman, Julie, by the throat.

  “Yes . . . Master . . .” Julie gasped with her throat clamped. Regan dropped her, and she remained seated on the floor with a blush on her cheeks. I shuddered as I looked at her.

  “That brings me to the topic that I was going to talk to Louella about,” Regan said.

  Chapter 4

  Regan

  Back at the town tower, I told Anna to take Ren to get some real food, then sat at the table with Izora and Louella. I had a few more things I wanted to discuss with them. The state of the town might not have directly impacted me, but without the town, I had no people to feed me mana.

  “So,” I said as I looked over to Louella, “what exactly have you been able to learn?”

  “It’s chaos! The Golden Dawn is basically gone from the valley now. To top it off, their high leader sent me a refund of all things and a note stating that they had no control of the situation given our . . . location! Baden intentionally left holes in several areas to allow just about anyone who is smart enough to walk right into the damn valley,” Louella said, then slammed her fist onto the table. “If I ever see him again, I’m going to rip his head off!”

  “That’s good and all, but I have a feeling we won’t be seeing that particular Baden again . . . isn’t that right, Julie?” I said and looked over to the still-recovering Julie.

  “Ye . . . yes, Master. Baden, or rather Jezes, is one of the top operatives on this side of the mountain. He infiltrates, then helps control the locals afterward. He is a shapeshifter. Not sure what kind, though.” She answered shakily at first, but steadier as she continued, though it was the second time I had asked her.

  “As you can see, I don’t think this Jezes will be an immediate problem. However, you need to find a replacement for him quickly; otherwise, undesirables might take advantage of the situation. You do have more than necromancers to be worried about, after all.”

  Louella groaned as she rested her head in her hands. I couldn’t blame her. Unlike my dungeon, where I could see and move around anywhere nearly instantly, she had to rely on others most of the time. The time spent just walking around her little town to personally check places was already time-consuming to the extreme. I thought about how I could help her, but I didn’t have anyone really suited for security at the moment. Administrative tasks—I could help handle those with a librarian or two.

  “I would like to apologize. I know it’s custom for the host to handle security at the treaty session, but I feel I should have included my own guards in the surroundings,” the princess said as she bowed her head.

  “Izora! None of that. This is all my own fault for trusting too much in magic to handle all my problems,” Louella responded quickly.

  A thought popped into my head. “I know someone who is well trained in security and could use a new job right now. Plus, I know you can trust them,” I said.

  “Huh? Who?” Louella asked, confused.

  “Why, Ezal. Of course.”

  “Well, she does have the training, but she is kind of lacking the full use of two of her limbs right now.”

  “True, but I could fix that for you. If Ezal agrees, of course,” I said.

  I had learned a lot from studying Reed, and I wouldn’t need to be as intrusive, as I wasn’t trying to get rid of a curse or control a potential enemy. The most I had to do was connect her nerves to some mana circuits formed from script that would respond to the intent that was produced when trying to move.

  “She’ll . . . she’ll probably say yes to whatever you have in mind. She was going crazy from boredom in that room. Last time I visited her, she nearly burned the place down because of it.”

  “Well, no sense in waiting. Let’s ask her,” I said and snapped my fingers.

  Ezal, bed and all, appeared in an empty spot near the table. I really should have checked before I moved her—she was nearly completely naked and seemed to be in the middle of toweling off.

  “Whoops,” I said with a smirk and turned around. I might have a metal body, but I could appreciate a good view when I saw one.

  “Regan! You can’t just teleport people willy-nilly. I bet those priests are freaking out right now!” Louella reprimanded me, which continued on for another two or three minutes while Ezal got dressed.

  Ezal looked around, then said, “Need me for something?”

  I was surprised at how calm she was but just shrugged it off. The people of this world did have a sense of modesty and shame, but it wasn’t as bad as it was on Earth. You could often find men and women walking down the street with less than appropriate clothing on. Though, it tended to be the beastkins that showed off their skin more than humans or elves.

  “Ezal, we were wondering if you wanted to be my new guard captain?” Louella asked, grabbing her hand with both of hers.

  “Mistress . . .” Ezal said, then glanced at her arm and leg. “I’m not sure I would be able to perform such a task.”

  “That’s where I come in,” I said and cracked my knuckles . . . ground my knuckles, as they were made of metal.

  “Can you fix them?!” Ezal asked excitedly.

  I rubbed the back of my head. “Not so much fix . . . more like replace,” I said honestly.

  “Re . . . replace?” she asked, confused.

  “That’s correct,” I said and held out my hands.

  I pulled the materials from my storage, then began crafting the limbs in front of them. I used diamond for the bones, as they were the best for heat conductivity, light enough not to be a burden, and when mana is coursing through them, they are incredibly strong. I made them hollow to hold some napalm I had been experimenting with. While it reacted like it did on Earth, it turned out to be an amazing conductor for fire mana. With her bones infused with it, the diamond would be able to withstand the energy generated from the napalm.

  Next, I worked on the muscles so she could move the arm like normal. I used some enscripted metal that would contract and expand based on her intentions. Compacting the internals made it weaker than it could be, but it kept a feminine look for Ezal. The cover or skin was the hardest part to decide on. I wanted to keep it delicate-looking for her, but I knew that she might have to go into battle.

  I settled on some nanocarbon fiber that I had made while working on the upgrades of the automata. It was super-expensive to produce, which I believed was due to the fact that I was using magic at the atomi
c level. A layer of the durable material formed over the arm, and a gem was embedded in the top of the hand and near the shoulder. They would store any excess fire mana she generated so that she could use it later. I looked it over and added a few details, such as nails. I was technically finished, but I felt it lacked something.

  I turned to Ezal. “Want me to add some designs to it?”

  “Designs?” she asked, with a raised eyebrow.

  “I don’t know, some flora designs or something?” I asked.

  “It does look a bit plain. Do whatever you feel is best.”

  I used the gems in both the hand and at the top to add the dungeon’s symbol. I made the gears flow around the arm and link with each other. Then I added some flowers that were known to have fire mana in this world. They were just light etchings, but it still added a nice touch. All in all, the arm cost nearly thirty thousand mana, not including the materials that were already in my storage.

  I looked at everyone in the room. “I assume you all know what comes next.”

  They looked at each other, but everyone decided to stay in the room, Julie a little too excitedly. Ezal slid her good hand down her blackened arm and seemed to be hesitant. I waited until she was ready; I didn’t want to rush her.

  “Alright, go ahead,” Ezal said, steel in her voice.

  I nodded and moved next to her. I was glad I’d brought the bed with her; wouldn’t want her to have to stand during this. I channeled some light mana into her shoulder to cut off the nerve endings. That way she wouldn’t feel any pain. Next, I made a thin beam of energy that covered the edge of my hand and then, with a quick motion, swung and sliced the arm just a few centimeters above the biceps. There wasn’t much left to the arm that wasn’t cursed, so I had little to save. I channeled light mana, which got her skin to regrow faster, and the wound sealed in moments.

  I caught the arm before it fell and absorbed it. I connected the prosthetic to her arm and fused her nerves with the magic script to control the metal muscles. I made sure to link her mana veins as well so that she could channel mana through it naturally rather than as a tool. While the magic was taking affect, I made some of the metal muscle travel to her lung to replace the damaged tissue. After a few minutes, the operation was done, and I stepped away. I stopped channeling mana into her nerves so that she would be able to move the limb.