Metal Mage 4

by Eric Vall

  Haragh joined us by the time we could see the sun reach the northern region through the open wall of the workshop, and the dwarves had managed to gather everything in their outer work area just as I put the last piece into place.

  I smiled at the prototype and was about to give the first demonstration when a sharp “Hey” cut through the cave.

  We all turned to see Cayla and Aurora with their hands on their hips, and Shoshanne stood behind them with her arms crossed tightly. The Aer Mage looked a bit put out, but the other two looked ready to skin me alive.

  “Huh?” I tried.

  “Don’t ‘huh’ me,” Aurora snapped. “You’re supposed to be in bed.”

  “Oh, I was.” I grinned and was pleased to see the same coy smile flicker over the Aer Mage’s face, but she quickly replaced it with forced disappointment.

  It was halfway convincing.

  The dwarves cleared their throats and shuffled a few paces away from me, and I heard a low chuckle come from one of them.

  Aurora made a beeline for me, with the other two women close on her heels. She was only inches from me when she said, “No one said you could leave it.”

  I took the opportunity to slip my hand around the small of her back and pulled her in for a kiss as a hail mary. “Missed you, too,” I said with a smile.

  Her emerald eyes narrowed, and she wriggled out of my grip with her arms stubbornly crossed.

  Behind her, Shoshanne plunked onto one of the stools I’d pulled from the ground. The caramel beauty sighed as she rested her cheeks on her hands and slumped forward. “I’m a terrible healer.”

  Cayla rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t say that. It was a rookie mistake,” she offered, then she shot me an icy look. “This one has a habit of sneaking out of bed. He claims he gets inspired … ”

  “How could I not?” I winked. Then I turned and brought my prototype over from the table. “This time, it’s more than epic.”

  I proudly placed the little mechanism in the center of the floor, and my women gathered in a circle around it.

  “What is it?” Cayla asked. The porcelain beauty crouched to flick the bullet that dangled from a miniature wooden post and looked unimpressed.

  “It’s called a Warwolf,” I explained with a broad grin. Technically, the weapon was called a trebuchet, but the largest one ever built was nicknamed ‘The Warwolf,’ and I thought that just sounded way more awesome. “Fucking deadly, and the answer to our problem. Here, I’ll show you how it works.” I crumpled a bit of parchment and mounted it in the sling. “Better stand back.”

  The girls did as I said, and I released the mount that suspended the bullet. The weight of the metal countered the balance of the sling and sent the parchment flying several feet through the air.

  “Boom!” I shouted and stood victorious.

  Cayla looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Boom … ” she murmured.

  “What the hell was that?” Aurora asked bluntly. “How is that supposed to--”

  “No, no, just wait,” I assured her. “The real one’s bigger than this cave, and that parchment will be a diamond about the size of that stool over there.”

  This got her attention, and she looked more seriously at the design. “And it’ll fly how far?”

  I shrugged. “Thousand feet, easy. Maybe more, I dunno.”

  The half-elf looked up at me from the floor, and her emerald eyes were wide.

  “Yeah.” I grinned. “And the dwarves can operate it. Haragh’s gonna load it for them. So, they can stay out of the way of the giants and break the bastards to pieces here and there, and that’ll give you guys a leg up in melting them down to a puddle party.”

  A devilish grin spread across the beautiful half-elf’s lips, and I could tell she could picture it as well as I had.

  “Epic, right? Diamond bombs, Terra Magic to trip ‘em up, and Ignis Magic to melt ‘em down. They don’t stand a chance.” I was fully stoked by the time I finished, and a couple of dwarves whistled at my back.

  “Hell of a plan,” Thrungrig laughed. “Might be crazy enough to work, even. If we can get those contraptions built in time.”

  I turned to him. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got the entire design in my head, and if I join a circuit with my mages, and you can keep providing the timber, we could construct them pretty quickly. Have some of your guys rig the pieces together while we hold them steady, and we should be done in a day.”

  The dwarf’s face fell in shock. “That’s all you have to do?”

  I gave him an apologetic smile and realized how frustrating it probably sounded to a group who’d toiled hard for centuries with no magic. I could definitely relate.

  “Right? It’s almost ridiculous,” I admitted.

  He cursed in his language, and a few of the others shook their heads. “Well, that’s something I’ve got to see for myself. But if it works … ” He shrugged as he trailed off.

  “Oh, it’ll work,” Aurora sighed, and she came to tuck herself under my arm with a smirk on her face. “Mason’s got a pretty flawless record. But this one,” she gestured to the mini catapult, “might be my favorite.”

  I grinned. “It’s gonna be so cool, you have no idea,” I assured her and laid a kiss on her blue head. I’d never gotten to see a real catapult in action, other than on YouTube, but just the thought of giant diamonds being hurled through the mountains had me itching to get started. There was just something so classy and incredibly careless about it.

  “Well there, you see?” Cayla said reassuringly as she put her arm around the Aer Mage. “You must have done something right.”

  Shoshanne blushed all over, but the laughs of the three women filled the cave as she covered her cheeks, and I couldn’t help but join them in it. I really was the luckiest guy in the realm, with three of the sexiest women I’d ever had the pleasure of knowing at my disposal.

  But as I considered the beautiful little harem in front of me, a notion popped into my head out of absolutely nowhere.

  My gut did a flip, and I gasped as I realized what I’d done. “Holy shit! I forgot her! How could I do that?” My hands came up and clutched like a vice in my hair.

  Everyone jolted from the sudden commotion, and Aurora looked in every direction. “Who? What’s wrong?”

  “Bobbie!” I moaned and sprinted from the cave.

  In minutes, I was halfway up the snowy path that had led us from the tunnel to the mines, and I cursed at the ice under my feet for keeping me from Bobbie for even another minute longer.

  “Don’t worry, baby,” I growled, “I’m comin’.”

  “Well, your dedication’s a beautiful thing, but you don’t have to go fallin’ off a cliff over it.” The laugh behind me caused me to jump and almost slip right on my ass, and I whipped around to find Haragh with a smug look on his green face.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” I told him. I leaned my back against the cliff to catch my breath, and then I looked down at the precarious drop that began less than two feet from where I stood.

  “Sorry for that,” the half-ogre chuckled, “just thought I’d save ye’ the trip. Your … baby … is already down at the mines.”

  My chest actually fluttered, and I grabbed the half-ogre’s arm to steady myself on the ice. “Really?”

  He laughed. “Aye. I sent Mina back down the tracks yesterday, to make sure we got enough mages in time to head to the capital. She should be back in a day I’d reckon. And I picked up a few things from the train while we were there. I think that little metal guy was a bit put out, to be honest. He actually kicked me when I dug him out of the sack he was packed in.”

  “Aw Stan,” I sighed. “Poor guy. I’d make a terrible father.”

  “And gods know you’re tryin’, too,” the half-ogre threw in. “Tell me, you plannin’ on snatching up all of the beautiful women you meet, or do you have some sort of a system?”

  I grinned shamelessly and knocked him hard in the arm. “Don’t worry, the
first half-ogre woman I meet has got your name all over her.”

  Chapter 13

  Thrungrig employed several dwarves from his mines for construction of the catapults. Over twenty dwarves had gathered in the outdoor work space, and what was said was completely lost on me. I left it to the lead dwarf to explain the project, and he did it in his own language, although he occasionally growled the word “bastards” a few times, so I got the general tone.

  The outdoor work area was a grove that had been cleared at the far edge of their community and sat at a forty-five-degree angle.

  “Yeah, that’s not gonna work,” I told Thrungrig, who gave me a look that clearly said the angle had irritated him for a while.

  “Aye, can’t get a damn thing done on it except gather materials,” he grunted. “That’s if they don’t roll right off the cliff.”

  I laughed and clapped his shoulder. “Well, it won’t be a problem for much longer,” I assured him, and then I waved Pindor over.

  The young man’s head was fully healed, and he ran up with a giant grin on his face.

  “Looking good,” I told him with a smile.

  “Feeling good!” he exclaimed as he eagerly glanced between me and Thrungrig. “What do you need me to do?”

  “We’re fixing this hill for one,” I explained. “Let’s get it completely leveled off, and then I want you and Haragh to start laying those beams out in the a-frame shape I showed you. The dwarves will assemble the frames on the ground here for us, but we’re building three at once, so pay attention to the measurements and where you lay them, alright?”

  Pindor listened closely, and I sensed his magic already start to arc through the air. He looked as eager as I was, and I gave him a friendly scruff on the head before we began to level the ground off. The enthusiasm of the young mage had become a constant source of reassurance in the last few weeks. It was practically contagious, and I saw even Thrungrig wore a grin on his face after spending only a few minutes around the kid.

  He’d also gotten much stronger since we’d first met. The energy of his magic caught me off guard when we joined in a circuit, and I took note of it and decided to let the kid take on some bigger jobs from now on. The look of pride on his face when the dwarves that arrived in the field saw the ground leveled off, solidified the idea. A few of them began to clap, and I swear the kid puffed out his chest.

  Then the dwarves brought over several carts piled with the iron rods, and by the time everything was laid out, everyone had studied the blue prints and knew what to do. They worked efficiently, and I smiled as I watched the six a-frames take shape within thirty minutes. There would be two on each Warwolf, and they would serve as the central framework that supported the throwing arm.

  I inspected each frame but saw immediately I didn’t need to check the work of the dwarves. Every angle met seamlessly with the next, and the joints were flush and strong. I had them begin on the counterweight box next, which would be filled with chunks of tungsten brought up from one of the underground mines. I originally wanted to just use lead, but it wasn’t dense enough, and that would mean we’d need much more of it, and the counterweight boxes would have to be bigger. I wanted to keep the design as light as possible for travel, so we settled on tungsten, and Thrungrig sent a group of dwarves off early in the morning to bring the supply up.

  Since the dwarves clearly knew how to handle themselves, I handed the overseeing of construction to Haragh and returned to the forges with Thrungrig in tow.

  “We’ll want the wheels under it before we raise the frames,” I explained as we walked. “And I’m thinking six on each would be smart since we’re gonna have to bring them over a lot of terrain, and I don’t want them tipping over.”

  “Aye, and how are we rollin’ these monsters?” he asked as we neared the workshop.

  “I thought of that. I think I’ll have to build engines to be honest,” I mused. “But it’ll be easy enough to man. One Ignis Mage on each to power the engine, and we’ll put a Terra Mage in each as well to manage terrain. Once they’re in position, they won’t need to move at all, and the mages can join us on the battlefront while you guys start at it.”

  “You’re putting one of them train engines in ‘em?” he asked with wide eyes.

  “Similar,” I chuckled, “but a bit smaller. I shouldn’t even need as much steel as you brought out, honestly.”

  He looked surprised, but as the days had passed, he’d gotten more used to my strange ideas, as well as how easily I could bring them to fruition. “Well. if you say so,” he said with a shrug as he led the way into the workshop.

  Toromere had spent the morning keeping the forges hot, and he nodded a greeting to us as we entered. Another dwarf with slick black hair was hammering steel rods in the corner, and Thrungrig waved him over to us.

  “This here’s Dorinick. He knows the capital and has been at seven battles with the ice giants,” he explained.

  “Damn. I’m Mason Flynt, it’s good to meet you,” I said and shook the dwarf’s hand.

  He grunted but didn’t say anything, and I noticed he didn’t make eye contact with me or Thrungrig as he listened. The lead dwarf didn’t seem to care, though.

  “Dorinick was saying he saw your Ignis Mages training in the fields the other day,” Thrungrig continued, “and he reckons they need a bit more information about the tactics of the ice giants.”

  I nodded, and Dorinick continued to glance off toward the wall of the cave. “Sounds like a good idea,” I admitted. “Anything that can help. Would you mind running through a few things with them? Since you’ve seen so many battles.”

  The dwarf shrugged.

  Thrungrig cleared his throat. “Good. I appreciate it, Dorinick,” he said, and the silent dwarf nodded as he turned to drop his hammer back on the work table.

  I told Thrungrig I’d be back to work on the engines soon and led the other dwarf through the tunnel and to the field. He didn’t say a word to me, so I thought I’d try and get some conversation going.

  “So … seven battles, huh?” I asked over my shoulder. There was no response, but when I turned to look at the dwarf, he caught my eye and nodded once. “I’m sorry to hear it. Must have been terrifying.”

  He didn’t reply, and I began to wonder how this dwarf planned on helping my mages if he wouldn’t say a word. When we arrived in the field, Aurora had the other mages practicing their flame arches, and the group’s giant spurts of flame reached clear above the treetops.

  “Aurora,” I called, and the half-elf came over and wiped the sweat from her brow.

  “Defender Flynt,” she purred and laid a kiss on my cheek.

  I grinned and tucked her under my arm. “This here’s Dorinick,” I told her and gestured to the dwarf beside me.

  “Pleasure to meet you, sir,” she said and reached out to shake the dwarf’s hand. “My name’s Aurora Solana. Defender of the Order of Elementa. I’ll be leading the Ignis front.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” I explained. “Dorinick has experience with the ice giants and thought you could use a little tactical instruction.”

  “Really? That would be fantastic,” she said and looked to the black-haired dwarf with respect. “Anything you can tell us about how they organize or move would be invaluable.”

  Dorinick nodded in response but didn’t say a word.

  Aurora glanced sideways at me, but I only shrugged lightly.

  “So,” I drawled, “I’ll just leave you guys to it, I guess.” I headed back toward the path that led to the workshop and turned around after a ways to make sure Dorinick wasn’t standing there silently. He was the strangest dwarf I’d met yet, and his unresponsiveness made me a little uneasy, but if Thrungrig recommended him for the job, I figured I could trust his judgement.

  I could see the half-elf and the dwarf make their way toward the other mages, and Aurora talked enthusiastically and made wide sweeping motions across the field in front of her.

  I chuckled and headed up the pa
th. At least someone would be talking.

  Back at the forges, Thrungrig had already formed a wheel that stood about three-feet high and several inches thick. I left him to do what he did best and headed to the stack of steel the dwarves had laid out for me on the workshop table. I wanted an engine about half the size of the one I’d installed in the train, and I took a minute to sketch a design just to be sure I had the proper image in my mind. Then I called my magic to the surface and started to form it piece by piece. As I worked, I made sure to triplicate all of the pieces so I would be able to build all of the engines like an assembly line.

  Cayla arrived when I was half done, and she perched herself on the edge of the work table. Stan sat on her shoulder, and I smiled to see the little guy had his arm draped on the woman’s neck. Even without a face, he looked as content as a cat to be back with the princess, and I reached over for a high five.

  He had ignored the offer when I first saw him this morning, but I sat him down and apologized for the poor form. I explained the battle with the Naga, and the metal man had thrown his arms up in shock, then flopped backward for added effect.

  After our heart to heart, he’d raised his own arm for a high-five, and everything had been smoothed out since then. Now, he gave me a hearty high-five and stood to make his way down Cayla’s arm and check out my work. Then he wandered between the stacks of parts I’d organized and pointed enthusiastically to the princess.

  We laughed. “That’s right,” I said. “I’m putting her to work today. Couldn’t get it done without my best assembler, could I?”

  Stan nodded and put his hands on his hips, and I swore he looked like a miniature of the porcelain beauty as he mimicked her stance.

  Cayla glowed with pride and stroked his head. “My biggest fan,” she cooed.

  Behind me, I heard Thrungrig’s hammer fall to the ground with a loud clang. He had missed the wheel completely and stood frozen as he looked at the three of us.

  “What the hell is that?” he demanded.

  “This is Stan,” I answered, and I offered my hand to the little guy so he could climb aboard for introductions. Then I brought him over to the dwarf and held him out so they could get a good look at each other.