by Eric Vall
As I had watched the blatant love shared between the small family, I couldn’t help but think if that would be me someday. It was a strange thought, one that I didn’t really have back on Earth, but here in this world, once I had made all evil bastards pay, I could imagine myself with a kid or two sometime in the future, maybe a boy with Aurora’s hair and a girl with Cayla’s eyes.
It was a nice thought, but one I filed away for later.
Today I had work to do.
We spent another few minutes waylaid by Farah and her big gray eyes, but eventually, Cayla hopped back into the wagon, and we continued to roll toward the gate. As our wagon pulled away, we waved back at Farah and her father, and even Stan wiggled out of Cayla’s pocket to join in. When the father and daughter caught sight of the stickman, both of their jaws fell open in unison, and Cayla giggled beside me.
When we reached the gate, our driver worked to unhitch our cart while I liberated Bobbie from her stone cage up against the stable wall. The bike’s frame gleamed bright silver in the midday sun, and I smiled down at her as I dusted off the seat.
“Hey there, girl,” I whispered as I lovingly stroked her handlebars, “ready for another trip?”
“Will your infernal contraption be large enough to tow all your supplies?” Mayard as dubiously as he glanced from the bike back to our wagon.
Well, wagon was a little bit of an overstatement. The cart was little more than a small trailer. Back on Earth, a cyclist with pretty strong thighs could probably tow it.
“We’ll be fine,” I assured the captain as I clapped him on the shoulder. “Bobbie’s a lot stronger than she looks.”
Mayard cast the bike a wary glance before he took a quick step back, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
It took about ten minutes to make a hitch out of an old discarded iron pitchfork, and once I attached it to Bobbie, I walked her over to the cart to connect the two.
I found Aurora and Cayla perched on the back edge of the trailer. The two women conversed quietly with smiles on their faces, and Stan paced across the floor of the cart between them.
For a moment, contentment flowed through me like a warm tidal wave as I realized that I was looking at my family. It was an odd one, and not anything I had ever dreamed of imagining for myself, obviously, between the gorgeous half-elf Ignis Mage, the devastatingly beautiful princess, and the little magical stickman. But… I loved them with everything in me, and I sent a prayer of gratitude to Nemris from bringing me to this world.
“The three of you ready?” I asked with a smile as I came to a stop before them and slid off Bobbie.
Aurora glanced up at me and nodded. “Yes. The supplies are all packed, even that smelly oil Mayard gave you.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“That smelly oil,” I chuckled, “is going to make sure that all our weaponry and machinery stays well maintained.”
“I know,” the half-elf sighed, “but it still stinks. I am just glad I will be sitting in the front of Bobbie and not in the back.” She turned to Cayla with a wince. “Sorry.”
The princess laughed and shook her head. “I do not think I’ll be able to smell anything with the wind whipping past us.”
“That is very true,” I pointed out with a smile, and then I leaned to the side to look behind the two women. “How’s Big Guy doing?”
“He is doing well, I think,” Aurora replied as she glanced over her shoulder. “He has not complained at least.”
The animatron was propped up toward the back of the trailer, hemmed in by our other supplies. He didn’t move, but I could still feel him somehow. It was hard to explain, but even when I wasn’t purposefully channeling power into him, I still felt connected to the machine, like if I raised my arm, he would suddenly mirror me. I couldn’t wait to get him up and mobile and test him out some more. My magical stamina was steadily increasing. Hopefully, with some more practice, I could build it like a muscle.
“Well, let’s get on the road then,” I said with a grin. “We still have a ways to travel, and Big Guy and I both are dying to get him on his feet. Metaphorically at least.”
“Did you figure out a way to connect the cart to Bobbie?” Cayla asked as she scooped up Stan and slid to her feet.
“Yup,” I replied with a nod. “The hitch is all set up. Just gotta put two and two together.” I looked to Aurora who was still perched on the back of the cart, and she smiled sweetly up at me.
“Did you need something?” she teased as she widened her legs.
My cock twitched in my pants, but two could play this game.
I slid forward between her thighs as I fished something out of my pocket. The half-elf’s eyes sparkled as she gazed up at me.
“I’ll be quick,” I muttered as my hand brushed the inside of her thigh.
Aurora gasped, and her pupils dilated, but I just grinned at her as I summoned up a bit of magic and affixed the other hitch to the back of the cart right beneath the apex of her thighs.
“All done,” I said as I stepped back and brushed my hands off.
The Ignis Mage narrowed her eyes at me, and by the look in them, I knew I was going to have to pay for that little stunt.
“Are you ready to depart?” Mayard asked as he approached us. The captain had spent the last few minutes speaking with his men that were guarding the gate, and now he had a worried look on his face.
“We are,” I said as I turned to him and nodded. “Is everything all right?”
The captain pursed his lips. “I just spoke with the gate guards and my men who returned from delivering supplies to Lindow this morning. No bandits have been spotted for miles around Eyton.”
“That is a good thing, is it not?” Cayla questioned with a frown as she came to stand beside me.
“Yes and no,” Mayard grunted. “I’m worried Dred and his men are planning to retaliate.”
“I’m sure they are,” I chuckled dryly, “but we made it to Eyton just fine before, and we’ll make it to the mines okay, too.”
“You were attacked multiple times on your way to the capital,” the red-haired soldier deadpanned.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Yeah, but it’s nothing we couldn’t handle. We’ll be fine, Captain Mayard, and so will you. You know how to use those guns now. If you see a bandit, pump him full of holes.”
Mayard actually snorted at that.
“As long as my men don’t pump themselves full of holes first,” he grumbled.
“Just keep reemphasizing rule number one,” I replied. “They’re smart men. They’ll get it, eventually.”
“At least one of us has faith in them,” he muttered, and then he shook his head and extended his arm out to me. “Keep your wits about your, Flynt, and keep Princess Balmier safe.”
“Always,” I promised as I shook his hand. “You can count on that.”
The captain nodded firmly and then turned to say his goodbyes to Cayla and Aurora. While they did that, I hitched the cart to Bobbie and doubled checked that everything was tied down and secured before we got on the road.
Ten minutes later, we finally rolled out of Eyton’s gate with our trailer rattling behind us. It was a three-hour trip to the mines, and it was just after noon. Before we left, I told Aurora to push Boobie as fast as she could while I kept my eyes peeled for Dred and his men.
But the day was bright and sunny around us, and somehow, we encountered neither bandits nor booby traps on our journey. I was still on high alert the entire time, but it seemed that perhaps Dred had learned something from the other night. He had to rethink his strategy now, but the joke was on him. No matter what he threw our way, we now had the superior firepower and weaponry. Cedis was saved. Dred just hadn’t gotten the message yet.
We rode through the countryside without stopping, and then mid-afternoon we came over a small hill, and there was the mine. A circle of small hillocks surrounded it, along with green plains, tall trees, and native fauna that grazed peacefully in the long grasses. There were several wo
oden buildings outside the mine, staging places for when the ore was pulled from the ground and then sorted and refined depending on its quality. I also saw the remnants of wheelbarrows, wagons, and the wooden handles of pickaxes scattered in the dirt, but everything had fallen into disrepair and ruin.
The mine itself was no more than a giant pile of rocks, and if I were anyone else, I would have taken one look at it and declared it a lost cause.
But I wasn’t anyone else, and as Aurora killed Bobbie’s engine and we slid off the bike, I faced the mine with my hands on my hips and a smile on my face.
“Isn’t she a beauty?” I asked as I turned to my companions.
Aurora arched a slim eyebrow at me while she wiped the sweat off her brow. “I think it looks like a collapsed mine, which is going to take a lot of work to excavate. I do not see what is beautiful about that.”
“That’s because you’re looking at her all wrong,” I said as I tugged the half-elf in front of me. I pulled her back against my chest and then extended my hands out before us as I made a window with my fingers. “Now, instead of seeing all that rumble, look deeper. She’s not just a collapsed mine. She’s the answer to all our problems! We just gotta polish her up a bit.”
“Uh-huh,” Aurora hummed unconvincingly.
“I don’t see it either, Mason,” Cayla added with a frown as she walked over to lean against my shoulder. “Maybe in a few days I will, but I didn’t realize how thoroughly my father ordered this mine to be destroyed.”
“Not destroyed,” I corrected as I dropped my arms and turned to the princess. “Covered up. I bet that the collapse doesn’t extend more than a hundred yards past the entrance. The deeper parts of the mine are most likely still intact.”
“That is still a lot of rock and debris between us and our prizes,” Cayla remarked as she furrowed her brow.
“Ah, but you are forgetting one thing, my dear,” I replied with a broad grin.
“And what’s that?” she asked as she tore her eyes from the mine and looked to me.
I held up the backs of my hands and wiggled my fingers in the air. “Terra Mage. And not just a Terra Mage. A Terra-Metal mage that has experience digging out mines and making them reveal their treasures.”
“Ah yes, of course. It must have slipped my mine.” Cayla giggled as her lips twitched upward in a smile.
“I forgive you for that terrible pun,” I said solemnly, but then I darted forward and pecked a kiss against her soft cheek. “Now, what do you say we get to digging so I can get Big Guy up and running?”
“I like the sound of that,” Cayla replied with a nod. “How should we start?”
“Yes, oh wise Metal Mage,” Aurora drawled as she crossed her arms over her ample chest. “What shall we do first?”
“Well, my beautiful Ignis Mage,” I said with a smile, “first, I’m going to construct a wall around this clearing so that no one gets any ideas about sneaking up on us.” I tapped the side of my nose with a sly smile. “Then I’m going to start digging out that entrance so we can get into the mine and see how far the damage goes. Since I don’t want either of you damaging your lovely hands, you two look around out here and see if there’s anything worth salvaging like metal or tools while I’m digging.”
As I gestured to the dilapidated buildings around us, Stan poked his head out from the small pocket that was sown on the breast of Cayla’s shirt. He turned his head this way and that as if to take in our new surroundings, and then he looked up at me like he was waiting for his own orders.
“Can Stan help us, too?” Cayla asked with a chuckle.
“Of course,” I replied, and then I reached out to pat the stickman on the head. “Stan, I want you to go with Cayla and Aurora. Keep an eye on them and help them find some goodies.”
The stick figure nodded solemnly before he clambered out of Cayla’s pocket and began to scale her collarbone. When he made it atop her shoulder, he patted her on the cheek and pointed to the nearest building.
“Looks like we have our orders,” Aurora said with a grin. “We better get to them before Stan has our hides for disobedience.”
“He is a demanding taskmaster but fair,” I said with a sigh. Then I leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against the half-elf’s cheek. “Be careful out there, alright? I don’t want you cutting yourself on a piece of rusted metal hidden in the long grass, and we also don’t know if bandits have set any booby traps out here.”
“We’ll be cautious,” Aurora vowed. “You be mindful, too, Mason. Do not overexert yourself too fast, and as you dig deeper, keep an eye on the ceilings. If the mine re-collapses, it’ll take us a lot longer to dig you out by hand.”
“I promise to be careful, dear,” I said with a broad grin. “Now, let’s have a quick lunch to refuel and then get to work.”
Aurora, Cayla, and Stan nodded in unison, and then we began to put our plan in motion.
Lunch was a quick affair of bread, apples, and a ration of dried preserved meats. We had another, better food, but even with my knowledge and powers, it would most likely take at least a week to excavate the mine and get Big Guy in working order. Even though we could technically hunt for more food, it would take time and energy away from my project, and I wanted to avoid that as long as I could, so we ate in moderation for the time being.
Once we had finished eating, the girls wandered off toward the ruined buildings, and I set my hands on my hips and surveyed the clearing around me.
“Time for some defenses,” I muttered to myself as I clapped my hands together. Then I raised my arms, and power rushed to my fingertips.
The meadow that stretched out from the mine entrance was probably no more than twenty-five yards across at its widest point. The clearing was also ringed by trees and hillocks around the outskirts. They were good natural defenses, but obviously not enough to keep bandits out, so I decided to upgrade a little with a stone wall nearly thirty feet tall.
I started on the left side of the mine and worked myself in a semicircle. I had done this twice before already, first in Keld and then in Lindow, and thankfully our new location wasn’t half as big as either of those towns, but it still worked, and the sun was unforgiving above me. By the time I finished thirty minutes later, sweat had dripped down the slope of my nose and dampened the back of my shirt. But as I looked around at my handiwork, pride swelled in my chest. The clearing, the ruined buildings, and most importantly the mine were now protected in a circle of smooth, stone wall that was a good thirty feet high. Mentally, I dared Dred to scale this sucker.
I grabbed a canteen of water off the back of the trailer and guzzled it in four great gulps. I smacked my lips as I swallowed the last of it, and then I turned to face my new opponent.
“Alright, mine,” I said aloud as I rubbed my hands together and summoned my magic to the surface. “It’s time to meet your match.”
Admittedly, the beginning was a little rough. I wasn’t sure how the king’s men had collapsed the mine, but whatever they did it was done thoroughly. As I started to pull the largest boulders out of the way, I quickly realized that the entrance no longer had any structural integrity. Every little shift caused another mini-collapse, and I knew clearing the debris would be like trying to fill a sieve with sand if I didn’t fix the mine itself first.
So I placed my hands against the pile of rocks and dirt, closed my eyes, and sent my magic pulsating through my palms and into the mines. I found the cracks in the walls, the weaknesses, and the fault lines, and then I slowly and painstakingly began to heal them from the outside. It was hard work, and I couldn’t send my power deeper than maybe a hundred feet ahead of me, but bit by bit the mine became sound again. Once I knew that a section wouldn’t collapse anymore, then I set to pulling out the rubble and debris and tossing it out of the mine. My muscles began to burn and sweat dripped into my eyes, but I kept going and going as I delved deeper into the earth.
It felt like I was practically inching along, and I started to worry that the co
llapse did reach all the way down into the mine, but the next time I set out a pulse of magic to check the integrity of the next section, my power encountered empty air.
“Eureka,” I breathed.
I walked backward out of the tunnel I had excavated, and when I stood in the sunshine again, I let my magic burst out of me, and I heaved the last of the debris out of the mine. As I tossed the boulders to the side, a blast of stale air hit me in the face, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Aurora,” I called as I raised my voice. It echoed out over the clearing, and then I saw her blue hair peek around one of the buildings to my left. “If you have a minute, I could use a little light over here!”
The Ignis Mage walked over to me, and Cayla trailed excitedly in her wake.
“Did you finish?” the princess asked as she reached me. Her blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun, and Stan was practically dancing on her shoulder.
“Maybe,” I replied with a grin. “I just hit an empty pocket, and I’m about to go see how far it goes. Hopefully, it extends to the rest of the mine so I can actually get to work.”
“You say that as if excavating several tons of rock in two hours isn’t a feat in itself,” Aurora teased as she held up her hand where flames began to flicker to life. “I believe even dwarves would be jealous, and they’re meant to be the race of master miners.”
“Dwarves?” I asked curiously. This was the first I had heard of them. “Are they any nearby?”
Aurora shook her head. “Their kingdom lies far to the north, past Illaria, in the heart of the mountains. However, like Nalnoran elves, they tend not to be inviting toward outsiders, especially humans. Though they might make an exception for you, given your powers and talents. They’d take one look at this mine and be awed that you dug it out in a matter of hours.”
