by Eric Vall
“Okay, so I think the hollow pack isn’t strong enough to contain the magic of the rune,” I told him. “You okay?”
Stan nodded and sent me a salute, and I smiled back.
“Great attitude, buddy,” I praised. “This is why we do test runs, but we’ll stick with the string method for now and say nothing to anyone about this. That was way too close a call. Let’s find a middle ground that’ll properly contain the rune magic without being too heavy. I honestly think I have an idea that should work by using a kind of web to absorb the magic.”
Stan and Solana took a cuddle break on top of my bazookas while I settled back onto my stool and summoned my powers, and this time, I started with a hollow power pack. Then I grabbed some extra copper and closed my eyes as I focused on the mental image I had of the pack, and I carefully fed more copper into the hollow space in thin tendrils. I furrowed my brow in concentration as I began to weave the tendrils into a multi-layered lattice structure, and once I adjusted the interior to make sure there were enough air pockets left, I broke my connection and engraved the trigger rune on the exterior again.
Then I altered the half-sized power pack in the same way, and with everything mounted into place, I secured the string to the trigger and brought Stan and his dragon across the room with me.
Solana ended up booting Stan onto her back and flying him all the way up to the corner of the ceiling just in case, but once he gave me the signal, I tugged the string, and my arms shot straight up when the damn rifle actually worked.
Nothing exploded as the tungsten-tipped bullet impaled the wall faster than I could blink, and I let out a guttural ‘fuck yeah’ as Solana flew happy circles around the room with Stan swinging his helmet above his new head.
“Stan, we are back in business,” I informed the metal man as I quickly took a seat, and I didn’t waste any time engraving the rune Dragir had come up with on a slim swatch of copper plating.
I was so amped, I had it completed and secured inside the well of the magazine in minutes, and a giddy smile stretched across my face as I jogged out the door with Solana flying close behind me.
“We’ll try this out on one of the portals I left in the woods, but I’ve got a really good feeling about this,” I told the pair while I ducked into the tree line.
I couldn’t help letting out a few giddy chuckles along the way as I held the tiny rifle between my thumb and forefinger, and Solana was so excited, she jetted ahead of me in restless zigzags all the way to the portal they’d used yesterday.
“Okay, guys,” I panted as I held my palm out, and Solana came in for landing as Stan greedily grabbed for the rifle. “Hey, now, what did we say about professionalism?”
The little metal man straightened up and calmly held out his hand, and once I gave him his rifle, he checked to make sure his magazine was secure before raising and lowering his shoulders like he was taking a deep breath.
“Aim right for the rune, buddy,” I instructed as I steadied my stance, and Stan did the same on my palm.
He looked so grown up with his tiny AR-15 poised to fire that I briefly had a dad moment as my throat tightened up at the sight, but then I forced myself to look at the tree in front of us instead as I gave the little metal man a countdown.
When I got to one, he pulled the trigger, and as soon as his pellet-sized bullet silently hit its mark, my jaw dropped.
Not a sound came back to me as I watched the elemental line char to black, and only the tiniest ring of red sparks led the invisible blaze as it spread rapidly across the bark of the tree. I was gaping with bewilderment as even the smoke pluming from the trunk appeared more translucent than any I’d ever seen, and my own shallow breathing was louder than the utter destruction of the sixty-foot oak in front of me.
My heart thrummed as I thought of the possibilities this rune could open up for us, and a huge grin came to my face as I envisioned my women and I prowling our way through Nalnora while we silently brought the palaces of the Elite burning to the ground.
Then a deep, satisfied chuckle overcame me as the upper branches of the oak began snapping off, and when they crashed to the ground, the charred wood crumbled into a dense gray ash.
“How the hell ye’ do that?” Haragh suddenly croaked out from behind me, and I abruptly stopped chuckling to myself like a lunatic as I looked over my shoulder.
“New rune I’m testing out,” I said with a lethal grin.
“It don’t make a sound,” the half-ogre breathed as he stared at the smoldering oak like he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Is it burnin’ or… ?”
“It’s burning,” I assured him. “No light, no sound, and hardly any smoke, but it spreads rapidly and is capable of burning any substance, even metal. The only give away is the smell, and safe to say, it’s already too late by the time anyone notices. The ultimate stealth weapon.”
“I worry about you sometimes,” Haragh muttered. “You’re one take-over plan away from a real villainous streak, you know that?”
I shrugged as I sent the half-ogre a careless smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not the one pulling the trigger anyways.”
Then I turned around, and as Stan saluted Haragh with his tiny rifle proudly propped up on his shoulder, the half-ogre’s expression shifted to terror as he looked between the mini metal man and the destruction he’d caused.
“Have ye’ lost your fuckin’ mind?” the half-ogre scoffed.
Chapter 7
Solana prowled across my palm as she took a predatory stance, and I gently patted her demonic skull to rein the miniature dragon in.
“Easy, girl,” I cooed. “Haragh didn’t mean it.”
“Like hell I didn’t!” the half-ogre bellowed. “You’re tellin’ me that little man is totin’ a weapon with a payload that size?”
“Obviously,” I said as I tipped my head toward the demolished tree.
Haragh’s green skin turned a strange citrine hue as he tried to form words, but he just made several huffy sounds with no clear message between them. Finally, the half-ogre clutched his big green head and took a few deep breaths, and once he calmed down, he came over and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s take a walk, yeah?” he suggested. “Let’s… put the tiny gun away and just talk. Tell me how ye’ been. Ye’ feelin’ alright? Handling the stress and what not?”
“Dude, relax,” I chuckled. “I’m fine, and I feel great, actually. Drank some kill juice this morning, handled the issue of destroying the Master’s defenses… it’s been a damn good day.”
Haragh nodded several times. “And did ye’ pause to consider the ramifications of handin’ a weapon that dangerous to a little man anyone could pick up and slip into their pocket?”
“I did,” I assured him. “That’s why Solana’s here. I had a breakthrough last night about that mage, Aloshi, who tried to get me in Tellish, and I realized there had to be a loophole to these portals if she dragged me away with no branding iron on her.”
Now, I had Haragh’s attention, and he crossed his arms as his pallor began to even out again.
“Go on,” he muttered.
“I took Stan into the woods last night with Solana, and when they walked toward the portal side-by-side, nothing happened,” I explained, “but when they were in contact with one another, both of them travelled through the portal. Which means--”
“No,” the half-ogre firmly cut in. “If you think you’re goin’ into that fortress--”
“I’m not,” I snorted, and Stan gave a curt nod identical to Cayla’s. “I’ve actually been banned from even thinking about it.”
Haragh grinned. “You’ve got some good women.”
“I do,” I agreed, “but it would probably screw us over if anyone saw me go into that fortress before we’re ready to break it open anyways. The point is, Stan and Solana can both get in, and with her flying him around, his chances of being seen or captured are practically zero. Plus, our troops won’t have to wait nearly as long before we breach the place, so
Stan just needs a weapon as effective as the rest of our plan that can destroy the runes without wasting a second of his time.”
I pointed to the two-inch rifle, and even though Haragh eyed it uneasily, he eventually nodded.
“Okay,” he decided. “This is okay. Scary and a little unhinged, but… smart.”
“Thank you,” I snorted. “Stan’s pretty excited, aren’t you, buddy?”
Stan stroked the barrel of his AR-15 like it was a priceless artifact, and after he gave it a kiss, Haragh couldn’t help grinning.
“Use it well, little man,” the half-ogre chuckled. “Wish I had one just like it, tell ye’ the truth.”
“Yours should be here in a couple days,” I informed him. “Taru’s as well.”
Haragh’s grin immediately twisted with a hint of malice, and I nodded in agreement before he let out a deep and rejuvenating breath.
“It is a damn good day,” Haragh decided.
“You have no idea,” I assured him as I gestured toward Falmount, and the four of us headed through the woods as Stan mounted up to fly ahead. “I’m gonna mount runed magazines along Solana’s frame so Stan’s prepared to handle as many runes as the Master has in there, and I’m going to the foothills today to see what I can find out about the silencing enchantments he’s surrounded the place with. I’ll be scouting the terrain, too, but as long as he doesn’t have any more surprises out there for us, we can start mapping out our battle formations by tomorrow.”
“Ye’ think he’s booby-trapped the place?” Haragh asked.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I said with a shrug. “He knows we’ve got him on the ropes, and anyone with half a brain would go the extra mile to make sure their perimeter was as secure as possible. It’d dampen the day a bit, but we can probably still handle the siege if that’s the case. We’ll just have to get creative.”
“Well, I’ve got some news I think you’ll appreciate,” the half-ogre said as he sent me a grin.
“So do I,” I chuckled. “What is it?”
“Pindor and Markus are back,” the half-ogre informed me, and I stopped walking.
“Already?”
“That’s right.” Haragh nodded. “Worked all night and came in on the train thirty minutes ago. They’re waitin’ at the pub to talk with ye’. Said they took out every portal they could find, and they went through the Oculus before they got here to double check the Master hasn’t had a chance to replace the portals you destroyed last week. Whole city’s airtight with Bom One patrolling the streets and Big Red at the gates.”
“Hell yeah,” I sighed as I picked up the pace. “I’ll bring them out to the foothills with me and save some time. We’ll update you and the others on our findings, but let’s get Dorinick’s ass in gear about those catapults.”
“Yes, sir,” Haragh replied. “Ye’ hear from our posts in the south yet?”
“I’ve got the updates in my shop,” I answered as we rounded my fleet of Boms. “I’ll go over them right now, but if it’s looking good, tell Urn to go to the capital so he can send out the orders as soon as possible and get our Defenders back in the north by tomorrow.”
“That’s nearly two-hundred Defenders added to the siege,” the half-ogre pointed out. “Think we’ll be movin’ out tomorrow?”
“No, we need to bring them up to speed at the training fields first, but if--”
“Hold on,” Haragh interrupted as he caught me before I reached the door. “Ye’ said you had news.”
“Oh, yeah!” I turned on the spot. “Guess who’s pregnant.”
The half-ogre immediately grinned from ear to ear, and I couldn’t help bouncing on my toes as I motioned for him to give it a go.
“Aurora?” he guessed point blank.
“And… ” I led.
“Cayla, too?”
“Aaand… ”
Haragh let out a booming laugh as he caught me in a bone crushing hug, and I gasped for air while the half-ogre lifted me straight off the ground.
“’Bout time, ye’ lucky bastard,” Haragh chuckled heartily, but when he caught on that I was turning blue, he dropped me and throttled my shoulders instead.
“Thanks,” I wheezed.
“Four fuckin’ kids, man,” the half-ogre chortled. “Four!”
I sent him a brazen grin. “Five.”
“What?” Haragh asked as he furrowed his brow.
“I know it sounds cocky, but I’m actually ninety-nine percent sure I got Nulena pregnant last night,” I told him. “My entire spine rearranged itself and everything.”
Haragh looked disconcerted by the news. “Ye’ got the murderer pregnant?”
“Hell yeah, I did.”
“Okay, ye’ can’t trick a woman into bearin’ your offspring,” Haragh informed me. “It ain’t fittin’.”
“Dude, I didn’t… ” I quickly glanced over my shoulder before I nudged the half-ogre farther from the house, and I lowered my voice a bit just to be safe. “I didn’t trick her into anything, she fucking begged for it. Literally. Begged.”
The half-ogre’s eyes misted over as he processed this, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head while he tried to imagine a world where a woman like Nulena begged anyone for anything.
“Holy shit,” he muttered after a full minute.
“Right?” I hissed.
“Party,” Haragh said with a firm nod, and he was already heading toward my bridge.
“I get a party?”
“Ohhh, yeah,” the half-ogre assured me. “We are commemoratin’ this shit right here.”
“Alright,” I chuckled, “but we’ve still got a lot to go over about the Master’s--”
“Nope!” Haragh hollered back. “Fuck the Master!”
I laughed as the half-ogre strutted off, and he whistled a merry tune to himself all down the lane.
“He gets me,” I sighed as I turned for the door, and I indulged in a bit of a hop-skip on my way into the atrium.
Then I whistled my own merry tune while I flipped through seven updates confirming the attacks around Illaria had fully ceased, and I was still whistling when I strolled outside to head for the pub. I sidetracked at the bridge to let my water spawn in on the good news, too, and a few of them were so excited, they ate each other.
Bobbie revved her engine into a tumult when I dropped into the driver’s seat, and I patted her dashboard in appreciation.
“Thanks, girl,” I sighed. “We’ll celebrate later, but right now, we’ve got a fortress to scout. Let’s swing by the pub on the way.”
I left the Mustang parked outside the barbican of the market, and when I squeezed through the pub door, it was so packed, I couldn’t take one step. So, I just hollered Pindor’s name to Raynor, and the barkeep pointed to the front right corner. Then I flattened myself against the wall and did my best to make it over, but when Pindor looked up and saw me pinned between two sweaty ogres, he knocked Markus on the arm and motioned toward the door.
I let out a sigh of relief as I retreated from the drunken mass, and when I got outside, I waved Urn over from the dwarves’ shop.
“Can you get a crew of Terra Mages to build up the pubs?” I asked the burly mage, and he smirked at my rumpled clothes. “Two stories should do it, but expand the outer walls by about twenty feet as well, and we may as well switch to benched seating around the edges for the ogres.”
“I’ll handle it myself,” Urn chuckled.
“Actually, I need you to go to the Oculus,” I told him. “It looks like the attacks in the south have calmed down, and Pindor and Markus finished early. Send messenger ravens to all our posts and let the station know we need a forty-car train ready to go in the next three hours. I want our Defenders back in Falmount tomorrow night at the latest, but make sure Temin knows to keep the vassals’ armies on their guard.”
“Yes, sir,” Urn replied. “You want me to send word to Rainard as well?”
“Yeah, tell Lord Allen his knights should be making prepa
rations, but they can ride up with Cayla’s army when the time comes,” I replied. “Shouldn’t be too long. Probably a couple days, maybe three.”
The burly mage nodded as he turned to round up some Terra Mages, and when Pindor and Markus finally made it out of the crowded pub, they both had a burger in each hand. The two young mages looked worn thin with heavy blue bags under their eyes, and Markus was even paler than usual, but they both wore grins as they joined me.
“I hear you guys did a damn good job out there,” I said, and the mages attempted to chew faster so they could respond. “Don’t worry about it, you’ve earned a decent meal. I thought I’d see if you two felt like giving me a hand out at the Master’s fortress. You can update me on the way.”
Markus stopped chewing, but then he swiftly nodded in agreement, and the three of us wove through the bustling market and out into the lane. Bobbie made a big revving scene all over again when she saw me coming, and I chuckled as I unsealed the doors.
As soon as Markus and Pindor were seated, we drove out of Falmount and onto the road to Serin, and I cocked a brow when I saw Pindor devouring his burger in the passenger seat like he hadn’t eaten a scrap in days.
“I never said you couldn’t eat while you were working,” I pointed out.
“We ate,” Markus assured me, and Pindor nodded.
“What are these things called?” the kid asked as he admired the buttered bun of his burger. “They’re… ”
“Inexplicable,” Markus mumbled through a wad of meat.
“Yeah, I commissioned Alfred to recreate an old favorite of mine, and then he loaned his recipe to the pubs,” I replied. “They’ve been a big hit. Some would even say they’re the food of the gods.”
I sent Pindor a broad grin, and the kid rolled his eyes before he glanced back at Markus.
“Told you,” he snorted.
“You didn’t really say you were sent here by the gods, did you?” Markus asked.
“Of course, I did,” I said with a shrug. “I was sent here by the gods.”
Pindor shook his head without bothering to respond, and Markus laughed like I’d made a joke.
“So, how did your pistols hold up?” I asked.
