by Eric Vall
I looked over quickly, and there was Shoshanne in the door frame. Her slim brown hand had parted the front of her own robes, and her fingers were between her thighs. I looked into her wide brown eyes as I came.
Then she was gone.
I turned back to Aurora, and while I kissed her deeply, I released the chains from around her. They dropped to the floor with a thud. I gave her one more tender kiss before I climbed off the bed. She looked up at me with a wide smile and half-lidded eyes.
“We have company,” I chuckled as I pulled my breeches back on.
We found Shoshanne outside next to Bobbie, her eyes on the mine as if she wanted to tell us or herself that she had just arrived and seen nothing. It was a shallow facade, though. The flush on her cheeks, the way her aroused nipples poked through the white fabric of her robe, that was the real truth.
If that’s how she wanted to play it, though, I’d give the poor girl a break.
“Haragh sent me to tell you Korion’s here with three cars of tracks and ties from Durch, and a bunch of soldiers and mages from Serin,” Shoshanne said, her curly, copper-colored hair over her face to avoid meeting my eyes.
Aurora and I shared an amused look.
“Then I guess playtime is over,” the half-elf said, a smile on her lips. “Let’s head back to the station.”
Chapter 2
Daibusu, the Ignis Mage and minion of the Master, had done quite a number on the train station that sat between the shore of Lake Falder and the Eyton city gates. A few days ago, the marble was blackened and cracked by the intense flames he had showered over the station, the tracks were melted, and an emblem of the Master had been carved onto the clock tower. Thanks to the efforts of my Terra Mages, however, it looked as good as new, better even, with its aqua green granite surface perfectly restored, reflected on the calm surface of the lake.
As Aurora, Shoshanne, and I rumbled up to the station aboard my motorcycle Bobbie, the first thing I noticed after the restored station itself was the row of train cars lined up. The huge locomotive and two slightly smaller cars were filled to capacity, not only with the tracks and ties I needed for my railroad, but also with all the emergency supplies I had requested King Temin of Illiaria send south to aid his neighbors.
The crowd around the station was enormous. It looked like half the city of Eyton had come out to see the new arrivals, together with twenty of the king’s guardsmen on horseback, led by Captain Mayard. The red-headed soldier was side by side with another knight I knew, Sir Torganet of Badeth. I’d last seen the commander of the King of Illaria’s Second Cavalry while they practiced wargames in the field, and here he was with a dozen of his soldiers also on horseback. There were also another twenty white-robed men and women we had asked for from the Order of Elementa, a mix of Ignis and Terra Mages. Finally, there was Korion, the young Ignis Mage who had piloted the train, and who was the first to greet me.
“How the hell did you fit all these people and horses and supplies in three cars?” I asked with a laugh.
“There are more back in Serin, waiting for a ride.” The Ignis Mage smiled with a shake of his mop of blond hair. “I figure some can hitch a ride with Bagnera when she comes through with her load of three cars from Magehill, but it’s going to take a couple back and forth trips by both of us to bring the entire cavalry down here.”
“I’m going to need to build more train cars,” I mused to myself.
But when? It was very cool to be the only Metal Mage in the land, but it meant that I was the only one who could lay down tracks and build things like Stirling engines and train cars. Given the molds, the people at Magehill and Durch could create tracks and ties, but nothing more complex. Well, when I had a chance, I’d try to remedy that, but I tucked it into the back of my mind together with all my other future plans.
“Let’s get one of these cars unloaded so you can take it back,” I said with a clap to the young mage’s back. “It doesn’t do anyone any good just sitting here.”
I sent out a strong pulse of my power into the last car and lifted out a stack of tracks to the ground. As I reached for a second stack, I saw Captain Mayard and Sir Torganet approach me.
“Why don’t we have our men and horses unload those cars for you, Defender Flynt?” Captain Mayard suggested. “You’ve got to save some of your strength.”
As I thought about the prospect that I would need to put down all the tracks to the workshop before nightfall, I nodded. One thing military leaders were good at was delegation.
While Mayard left to put the soldiers to work, Sir Torganet shook my hand with a grin. I thought back to when I argued with him about his men’s decision not to use the guns I had built for them, a choice that I grudgingly accepted to have been a reasonable one. Best to keep the guns locked up in the armory until I could figure out a technology to keep them out of the bandits’ hands.
“Captain Mayard has been telling me a bit more about the situation here in Cedis,” said the knight with the short-cropped blond hair, flecked with gray. “There are some known bandit enclaves to the south we can help take down while we wait for the rest of my men and come up with a long term solution for security.”
“Let me show you something,” I said and focused a small push of my power into the dirt below us. “This is what you need to look out for.”
The soil pushed into the shape of a mark with stylized tree branches and roots. The mark of the Master.
“What is it?” Sir Torganet asked with a scratch on his stubbled chin.
“It’s an ancient Elvish rune and wherever it shows up, there’s trouble,” I explained grimly. “I have total confidence you and your soldiers can handle anything the bandits throw at you, but if you come across one of these, please try to reach me however you can. I’ll always be at the end of the tracks.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” The knight shook his head. “Is it magic?”
“I don’t have any good answers for you,” I sighed. “Let’s just put it this way. This is the mark the people of Cedis found seared into the skin of possessed men and beasts. It was on the basilisk that attacked your King Temin and on an amulet around the neck of Lux Mage Abrus before he betrayed us. Camus Dred, the Bandit Boss who nearly killed King Davit, had it tattooed onto his chest. Most recently, we found it right here at the train station when it was nearly burned down.”
“Got it.” Sir Torganet nodded curtly. “If we see it, we’ll send you word, and then prepare for something bad.”
“That’s the best advice I can offer,” I replied apologetically. “If I learn anything else, I’ll let you know as soon as possible.”
“A vague warning is better than no warning at all,” the knight said as he gave me a clap on the back. “It looks like the men are finished unloading your train.”
I turned and saw he was right. Haragh had joined with the unloading, and his half-ogre strength made it a pretty speedy process. Before I even reached the empty car, Korion had already climbed aboard and fired up the engine.
Haragh flexed his muscles as he greeted me. “What’s next, bud?”
“I need to recruit a bunch more half-ogres,” I laughed, “but next, we start laying out track and see if we can get up to the workshop by sunset.”
“We got tracks and ties loaded and ready to go,” the half-ogre said with a grin. “What kind of manpower?”
“We’ll need a lot more for the long journey,” I said thoughtfully. “For now, you, me, Aurora, Cayla, Shoshanne, maybe one more Terra Mage, and we’re good to go. Tell the others to meet us here at the station at dawn tomorrow morning.”
“Got it.” Haragh gave me a thumbs up. “I’ll meet you on the train.”
I reached out with my power, picked up Bobbie, and levitated her into the last car. It was a tight fit, and I was careful not to let her get scratched. After all, she was my baby.
As I climbed onto the locomotive, I could see I wasn’t alone. Cayla waited for me, and the beautiful raven haired woman gave me a s
hy smile.
As she was currently in residence as royal Princess of Cedis, Cayla was not dressed in her typical tight and very revealing adventuring clothing. Instead, she wore a flowing red silk dress, with a long slit across the side that exposed the length of her shapely leg as she leaned against the Stirling engine. This was topped by a tight corset which hugged her tiny waist and just barely covered her breasts.
“You got the message from Haragh that we’re ready to build the tracks up to the workshop?” I asked as I lifted her up for a kiss.
“No, but you don’t really need me for that,” the princess replied, her arms around my neck. “I should stay at the castle to be there when Sir Torganet and Captain Mayard talk to my father about defending the kingdom.”
“As long as you’re back at the depot tomorrow morning when we come to pick everyone up to begin the trip up to Orebane,” I said with a smile. “I’ll definitely need you for that.”
“Oh, will you?” Cayla asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” I questioned as I narrowed my eyes at the princess. “What’s on your mind?”
“Aurora told me you had someone peeping in on you two today,” Cayla giggled. “Seems like you have a new admirer.”
“Aw shit,” I said with a grin, “give the poor kid a break.”
“She’s actually quite beautiful, but I don’t think anyone’s ever told her that before,” the princess replied, her tone now sympathetic and sincere. “Do you remember the first night when we were back in the castle in Serin, and you and me took one room, and Aurora brought Shoshanne to the other?”
“How could I forget?” I told her with a sly smirk. Cayla and I had fucked like horny rabbits that night, and it was awesome.
“Aurora told me Shoshanne confessed to her that she’s a virgin,” Cayla went on. “Life on her island was incredibly repressed, and she went from there to the holy Order of Pallax, which isn’t much better. She probably saw how beautiful sex is for the first time in her life earlier today. I think you need to show her, well, everything.”
I looked into Cayla’s big blue eyes, and I could see she didn’t have a thing to hide. She had obviously grown fond of Shoshanne, as had we all, and she wanted the novice Aer Mage to be happy. There wasn’t a hint of jealousy or possessiveness, but of course, why should there be?
“Let me get this straight,” I said, a smile on my lips, “you think I should take Shoshanne’s virginity?”
“Yes,” said Cayla simply but with a smile of her own, “though ‘take’ sounds wrong. When it is offered, and it will be, shyly, you should accept without hesitation, and give her a gentle but entirely satisfying … fuck.”
Just hearing that single syllable of profanity from the princess’s perfect pink lips gave me an instant boner, but before I could pull her to me and show it, we both reacted to the sounds of voices and footsteps outside.
Cayla gave me a quick wink as she jumped out of the train.
“I’ll be at the depot at dawn,” the princess laughed as she made her way through the crowd back toward the city.
Just after she left, Haragh, Shoshanne, and Aurora climbed aboard the train, and I heard a familiar voice behind him, the second Terra Mage I asked Haragh to find to help flatten the earth so I could lay the tracks up to the workshop.
“Guys, wait up,” said Pindor as he climbed aboard the locomotive. “Hey, Defender Flynt, are we ready to go?”
“We are,” I said with a grin, “and you have to start calling me Mason.”
It had been a couple days since we put down the last tracks that went from Pautua to Eyton, but everyone knew where to go to get started. Aurora sent a steady spark of flame into the Stirling engine, and as it growled to life, Haragh, Pindor, and I got into position at the rear of the train, which was the front because of the direction we needed to face. I could not wait until all the track was laid down and we could finally take the train around the region in the position it was designed to face.
“Let’s go!” I shouted.
With a pulse of my power, I began to throw down track, piece by piece, so they dropped to the ground and connected to the next one. Then I sent another wave out to the ties to levitate them out to the tracks and pushed them down. Every two feet, I dropped another tie to keep it down, but I was already thinking about how I would have to change my pattern when I reached the mountains.
Haragh and Pindor stood by my side, and I felt their energy in the train as they let their power push out and level the earth ahead of us. Aurora had her focus on the engine, and I felt Shoshanne behind us.
“Don’t worry, I have a task for you when we get back to the workshop,” I said with a glance back at her.
“A-anything you need,” Shoshanne stammered nervously, a blush on her coffee-and-cream cheeks.
Oh yeah, Cayla was right. The girl was beautiful, and her shyness only served to make her seem more attractive.
I shook my head and brought my focus back to the task at hand.
The closest route from the station at Lake Falder to the workshop, the path I had taken a few days ago when the bells rang to indicate the station was under attack, was through a hilly series of orchards. On Bobbie, it was a bumpy ride, and we were forced to jump a number of fences. Since we had enough track, I took a slightly more roundabout path along the fences to make sure we didn’t divide any farmer’s land with our railroad.
We passed close enough to the stone houses and barns to attract the attention of the workers and families, who came out to wave as we passed. We didn’t need gates or whistles to warn people away from the tracks, but just to be sure, Haragh and Pindor were careful and gentle when they reached out with their powers to flatten our path.
It took several hours before we saw the workshop and mine up ahead, and though the sun was low on the horizon, we managed to make it ahead of schedule. It was a relief that we had time to finish up while we still had light. After we came to a stop, I created a junction with a switch so trains could pass one another, just as I had in Eyton and other points along the route.
“I need you guys to create a simple depot outside the mine,” I said to my Terra Mages. “You know the drill. A platform six feet above the tracks, with a low ramp and steps. Also, a structure like we built in Magehill, with room for an open air foundry and a large warehouse. You don’t have to get fancy with domes, just a simple flat roof over the warehouse is more than enough.”
“You got it, Mason,” Pindor said eagerly.
He and Haragh knelt down and put their hands to the ground. A moment later, I felt their shared energy as they let it surge into the granite bedrock below us, and then the footprint of the depot and factory rippled up from the earth.
“Aurora, Shoshanne,” I said as I grinned at the Ignis and Aer Mages, “come on down to the mine with me, please. I’m going to need both of you.”
It seemed whenever I talked to Shoshanne lately, it caused her to blush. Obviously, her mind was still on what she’d seen Aurora and me doing. At least when we stepped down into the mine, the darkness kept her embarrassment from being too obvious.
Aurora had once remarked we mages always felt most comfortable when surrounded by our element, and it was true that whenever I was in a mine, it was like I was home. Probably every Terra Mage had a similar reaction when they were surrounded by earth and rock, but as I was also a Metal Mage, I had twice the sensation as I felt the presence of iron, gold, and the metal I wanted to detect, titanium.
As I discovered many weeks ago, I could not simply pull titanium ore from the walls and use it. When it was exposed to oxygen, the raw metal began to oxidize and crumble, so one of the first tasks I had put Shoshanne on when I first learned she was an Aer Mage was to create a vacuum to cradle the titanium while we refined it. It had almost overwhelmed Shoshanne at the time, but she was more practiced and trained in the use of her powers now.
As we proceeded through the cavern, I felt the metal I sought sing out to me, an
d I knew it was close by. Satisfied it would be enough, I turned back to Aurora and Shoshanne behind me.
“We have to bring the titanium up to the trains so I can fit it to the wheels,” I explained carefully. “Shoshanne, do you remember when you created the vacuum around the ball of magnesium so it wouldn’t explode until we could get it into the fire bird?”
“Yes.” Shoshanne nodded and bit her lip as she considered it. “So you need me to move the vacuum as you levitate the titanium up and out of here?”
“That’s right,” I said before I turned to Aurora. “At the same time, I will need to superheat the metal, so we can refine it as we go before we get to the train. That means the three of us have to coordinate every step along the way. If any part of it, the metal, the vacuum, or the fire, gets out of sync, we’ll have to start over.”
Aurora’s enchanted flames behaved differently than natural fire, so if she concentrated hard enough, oxygen wasn’t needed. She could use her own power reserves to supply the necessary heat.
Thank whatever gods existed for magic
“Understood,” replied the blue-haired Ignis Mage as she let flame dance along her finger tips. “Just give me the signal when you’re ready for me to turn up the heat.”
I went over to the wall where I felt the titanium pulse behind the dark stone and put my hand to it.
“Right here,” I said and let my power reach into the rock and begin to pull the chunk of titanium out.
Shoshanne concentrated, and her hair and robe began to shift and whirl about her. My hand against the wall began to feel cold and dry until I pulled it back into the normal air. I parted the rock wall, and then I pulled out the chunk of titanium ore that was about the size of a soccer ball. It reflected the flickering torchlight, and I could see no oxidization.
“Aurora, now!” I called out.
The Ignis Mage sent forth a stream of pure white flame to bathe the titanium in heat. Together, the three of us focused our power and let the ore float in its vacuum and cauldron of fire slowly through the cavern. I kept my attention on the metal, but I could see the wind whirl around Shoshanne and smell the scent of evergreen from Aurora, so it was clear they both were single-minded in their efforts.
