by Eric Vall
Construction was easy enough. I had done it before back in Illaria after all, and it wasn’t like I needed something fancy. So, I raised four stone walls from the dirt and connected them to form a large structure about fifty yards long by thirty yards wide. Then I split the building into two separate rooms: the workshop and a small back bedroom where Aurora, Cayla, and I could sleep. The dimensions of the workshop were about twenty-five by fifteen yards. It looked like a huge empty warehouse to begin with, but then I carved a few rock tables and placed them throughout the shop to make staging areas. Then, as a final touch, I extended the rail system I had made yesterday from the mouth of the mine to the open doorway of the workshop just to make moving the metal a little quicker and more efficient.
About an hour after I started, I stood before my completed building with my hands on my hips, and a proud grin stretched across my face.
“It looks just like the one back home,” Aurora remarked with a wistful smile as she came to stand beside me.
“It’s a little bigger but yeah I used the same model,” I replied as I dusted my hands off on my pants. “If something’s not broken, why fix it?”
“The windows are even in the same place,” Cayla giggled as she walked over and poked her head through one.
“I definitely missed those the most,” I chuckled. “No offense to Gwain, but his shop was a little stuffy. I longed for a breeze every time I went in there. Besides, we’re in a beautiful place. How could I not take advantage of the view?”
I formed a rectangle with my fingers in front of my eyes and squinted through the empty space at Cayla’s ass. The princess was still draped over the windowsill as she inspected the interior of the shop, and although she wore pants today, the leather was so tight against her skin that it left nothing to the imagination.
Aurora clicked her tongue in reproach and smacked playfully at my arm.
“You are insatiable, Defender Flynt,” she teased.
“I didn’t hear you complaining last night,” I shot back with a grin.
“No,” she replied with a smirk, “I was not. But today we have work to do, and we will not accomplish anything if you keep ogling us.”
“This is very true.” I sighed. “Fine, I’ll be more business-like.” I schooled my face into a stern expression and gave the half-elf a curt nod. “Defender Solana, I apologize for the impropriety. From now on, I will keep my eyes to myself and only speak to you with the utmost respect. I will not even smile at you.”
Aurora rolled her eyes and knocked her shoulder against mine. When her amused emerald eyes met mine, I quickly broke my promise, and a grin bloomed across my face.
“That did not take very long,” she said with a smirk.
“What can I say,” I replied as my eyes dragged over her lithe body. “You’re too beautiful not to smile at. But you’re right. We do need to get to work.” I clapped my hands together and turned back to the workshop as I contemplated where to begin.
“How long do you think it will take to complete Big Guy?” Cayla asked as she withdrew from the workshop window and walked back over to me.
“Thank you for calling him by his name,” I said with a smile, “but I don’t think it’ll take me more than a few days, perhaps a week tops. I already have the designs for his bottom half as well as the additions I wanted to add to him.”
“What kinds of additions?” Aurora questioned as she cocked her head.
I grinned at the half-elf. “You’ll simply have to wait and see. Now, come on. Let’s pull Big Guy off the trailer and give him the grand tour.”
The Ignis Mage rolled her eyes at my antics, but she and Cayla walked over to the cart with me, anyway. The two women had unpacked some of the cart last night to get food for dinner, but there were still a few crates blocking my animatron. So we worked together to pull the rest of the boxes off the trailer, and then I used a burst of magic to levitate Big Guy off the cart and into the workshop. I set him along one of the clean and empty tables, and my heart began to pound in excitement.
“Alright, Big Guy,” I said to the half-machine on the table. “Let’s get you upright!”
With a little more magic, I summoned the carts full of iron to the workshop. They clattered along the rails across the meadow and came to a squeaky stop just outside the door. The grayish metal shone dully in the early morning sunlight, and a thrill of anticipation shot down my spine.
This was the beginning of the end for Camus Dred and anyone who decided to be our adversary.
And yeah, okay, technically the beginning of the end started when I made Mayard’s men guns, but this felt different. Bigger. I couldn’t wait to see Big Guy standing in the meadow like a deadly silver statue breathed to life. I’d be willing to bet that when we finally met face to face, Camus Dred would piss his pants at the sight of Big Guy.
With that wonderful thought in mind, I hauled the iron out of one cart and copper from another, dumped both metals on one of the tables Big Guy wasn’t occupying, and then I turned to Aurora with a broad grin.
“Defender Solana, if you would be so kind,” I intoned formally as I gestured to the raw metal on the table.
“It would be my pleasure,” she replied with a smile, and then flames sparked to life in her hand, and the workshop got a little bit hotter.
Once the Ignis Mage had melted the iron and copper down, I stepped up and got to work on crafting Big Guy’s bottom half.
I had already decided against giving him traditional legs like Stan. Instead, I planned to craft the larger animatron a set of continuous tracks and treads like a tank would have. If this were Earth, the treads would have been made from both metal and rubber. However, seeing as I hadn’t come across any rubber trees yet, the tires would have to be made entirely out of metal. I modeled them a bit after Bobbie’s own wheels, but with the tracks instead of two wheels. This would give Big Guy greater traction and mobility, but it took a bit of work and extra finagling to get right.
First, I made six sprocket wheels out of iron, three for each side and all of them about the size of a basketball. I wasn’t an engineer by any means, but I did know how a bike chain worked, and this was just going to be a larger, slightly more complicated version. When I finished the sprockets, I set them aside and then started to make the links that would make up the continuous track. With every iron piece that I made, I also had to work in the copper wiring like I had done with Big Guy’s torso. I probably could have made the tracks and gone back to wire them later, but that felt counterintuitive, so I did it in one go even though the work was twice as tedious.
Admittedly, it had been a few decades since I’d worked on a bike chain. As a kid, my adoptive parents had bought me a brand new bike, but as the years past I had to make my own repairs, from broken spokes to snapped chains to stripped gears. I still had a bike in my adult life, but whenever something broke, I just took it to the shop and paid to have it fixed. This was definitely a refresher course, but I’d figure things out, eventually.
Eventually turned out to be several hours later, but I finally got it.
“There,” I grunted as I stepped back from the workshop table and mopped at the sweat on my brow. “Finished.”
“Big Guy is completed?” Cayla asked excitedly, and she ran toward me from the other side of the room where she had been playing with Stan.
“Well,” I said with a wince, “not entirely. I’ve just completed a single track for one of his sides. He still needs a second one.”
“It took you that long to make a single chain?” Aurora asked from where she sat perched beside the forges. I didn’t need a lot of metal at this point, but the Ignis Mage kept up a low, continuous flame so that the iron wouldn’t completely cool on the off chance that I did need some more. The half-elf had one hand held over the forges, and she rested her chin in the other with a bored expression.
“Yeah, but it’s a lot of moving parts,” I pointed out with a frown. “I had to make the sprockets, and the rollers, and then I had
to make sure the plates lined up. It’s like the guns. If everything doesn’t fall together perfectly, then it won’t work. But, now that I know the specs for the track, I can quickly and easily duplicate it with my magic.”
“But you still have to make all the pieces, yes?” Cayla questioned, and then she set Stan down on the table beside the finished track.
I watched as the stickman stared at the metallic chain for a moment, and then he started to climb up the side as he used the protruding bolts and plate edges like handholds.
“Well, yes,” I started to say in response, but then a thought occurred to me and I drew up short. “Actually, maybe not. I might be able to make the other track in one go.”
“How?” Aurora asked as she lifted her head and frowned. “I thought your powers didn’t work like that.”
“They didn’t work like that when I lacked the proper knowledge,” I corrected. “When I didn’t know how the interior of a gun worked, my magic tried to fill in the blanks. But after several painstaking hours, I know exactly how this track works. Theoretically, my magic should follow suit.”
“Do you want to try now, or should we take a lunch break first?” Cayla suggested, and her eyes lifted from Stan playing hopscotch on the track to look into my face.
“I’m a little tired,” I admitted as I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck from side to side, “but I think I’ll be fine. I really want to test this theory now.”
“Do we need any more metal besides what we have here?” Aurora asked as she increased the output of her fires. The flames began to grow and burn hotter, and the iron in the bucket we were using as a makeshift forge started to bubble again.
“I think we’re good for now,” I replied as I lifted my hand and summoned up my magic again. “Let’s see if this works.”
As I watched, the melted iron rose into the air out of the bucket, and I focused on condensing and cooling it at the same time. When the metal no longer dripped, I brought it to hover above the table beside the completed track. Then I closed my eyes and concentrated. I pictured all the steps and pieces I had to go through to reach the final product, and then I willed my power to duplicate it.
Instantly, my energy plummeted a good amount, and I stumbled at the unexpected drain. It was too late to go back, though, so I gritted my teeth and bared down. A minute later, the magic receded back inside of me, and I gasped as my eyes flew open and my knees knocked together.
“Mason, are you alright?” Cayla asked in concern as she grabbed my elbow.
My vision swam, and my heart thundered in my ears, but I managed a weak nod.
“I’m okay,” I rasped. “That just took a lot more power than I anticipated. Seems like taking shortcuts comes with a price.”
The princess frowned with worry, but then Aurora came up and clapped me on the shoulder.
“You did it, though, Metal Mage Mason,” the half-elf said, and I glanced at the workshop table before me to realize she was right.
A second track lay beside the first one, and it was identical in every way. Stan looked over at the newly minted chain of plates, and he took a running leap off the track he stood on and landed right in front of me. He poked and prodded at the rollers, and then he tilted his head to look up at me. I got the distinct impression somehow that he was telling me “good job.”
“Well, all the pieces are made,” I said with a tired sigh, “all that’s left to do is put them together and get Big Guy upright. Can one of you grab those sprockets and follow me?”
I reached out, picked up the two tracks, and slung them over my shoulder. My suddenly drained body protested, and my knees buckled slightly, but I shook it off as I shuffled over to the animatron I had propped up on a table against the wall. I knelt down on the floor, and Aurora handed me the sprockets I had asked for. Then I worked to fit the tracks around them in a triangular shape, with two of the sprockets forming the base and the last one situated above them, near the hip joint. It took a little wiggling, but I finally managed to get everything locked in and attached. Then I sat back on my haunches and admired my work.
“Looking good,” I muttered to myself as I rubbed at the beard on my chin. It had grown rather long since I had left Earth, but I thought it suited me.
“Now what?” Cayla asked over my shoulder.
“Now,” I echoed as I slid to my feet and threw her a grin, “we put the two pieces together and pray to Nemris that they actually work.”
I reached out with a pulse of magic and lifted Big Guy into the air. Then I brought him to hover over the new tracks before I knelt to the ground again and worked on welding the two pieces together. It sounded easy, but there was a lot of detail involved since I had to embed more copper wiring between the two pieces so my magic would hopefully flow seamlessly throughout the whole animatron.
Ten minutes later I stood back up with a flourish.
“Annnnnd done,” I announced as I placed my hands on my hips. “Judges, what’s my time?”
“Perfect,” Cayla said as she walked up and leaned against my shoulder.
“Not yet,” Aurora remarked from my other side. “We haven’t even tested the machine yet.”
“Always the perfectionist,” I said with a sigh as I turned to Big Guy and squared my stance. “Alright, here goes nothing.”
Then I closed my eyes and let my magic come rushing to the surface. As my power poured out of me and stretched out into the animatron, my body was wracked with a strange sensation. It was kind of like when I sent out pulses in the mine and received back vague images or impressions. I could somehow… feel Big Guy’s whole body, down to every last sprocket and track link. I focused in on the odd feeling, and as I did, it began to expand. Now, not only could I sense the animatron, but I could also kind of “see” the floor in front of him for several feet. It wasn’t a clear picture, but I could tell where the table was behind him and where Aurora, Cayla, and I stood before him.
I took a deep breath, exhaled sharply, and willed the machine forward.
The magical drain was immediate but not as bad as it had been the first time. I didn’t feel like I was about to fall on my ass at least, but even if I had, I wouldn’t even care because Big Guy lurched into motion with a clatter of metal plates. I opened my eyes with a gasp and saw the machine roll toward me. I gritted my teeth and willed the tracks to turn slightly, and the animatron slowly but surely moved around Aurora, Cayla, and me.
“Gods,” Cayla breathed as she turned around to track the machine. “He works!”
I bared down as I sent out another command to the machine. As I watched, the animatron rolled slowly toward the open workshop door before it reversed and executed a perfect three-point turn. My eyes scanned over Big Guy from head to toe, and pride swelled like a warm wave in my chest as I watched his continuous tracks operate precisely as I had hoped. The clacking was like music to my ears. When the animatron rolled to a stop before me, I cut the connection with a grunt, and Big Guy jerked to a stop.
“Boy, that takes a lot of effort,” I said as I shook my head and wiped at the sweat that had beaded on my brow. “I can’t really even move or think about anything else.”
“But look what you did, Mason,” Aurora pointed out as she gestured to the animatron. There was pride in her voice, and when she looked at me, I saw admiration in her emerald eyes.
“Yes, this is truly incredible, Mason,” Cayla said as she shook her head with a wide smile. “My father will not believe his eyes.”
“And Camus Dred will not know what hit him,” Aurora added, and a look of dark determination overtook her face.
“That’s the plan,” I chuckled as I slung my arms around both women’s shoulders and pulled them against me, “but I think I need a lunch break before I tackle his other improvements. Maybe we can even have a quick dessert if you two feel up for it.”
I was riding the high of this small victory, and I waggled my eyebrows cheekily at my lovers.
Cayla giggled, but Aurora rose up on he
r tiptoes and nipped at my ear.
“Maybe tonight, but only if you finish your work first,” she whispered against my neck.
Desire flooded through my veins. “I think I’ve just been properly motivated. Actually, I don’t even think I need lunch now. I’ll just hop straight back into it.”
Aurora chuckled, and then she and Cayla stepped back simultaneously. It was like they were perfectly in tune on how to tease and drive me crazy.
“Oh really?” the half-elf said with a smirk as she hopped up to perch on a table again. She spread her legs a little instead of crossing them, and my eyes immediately fell to the shadows beneath her incredibly short dress.
An unintelligible groan bubbled out of my throat, but then my stomach growled even louder.
“Looks like your stomach does not agree,” Cayla teased with a giggle.
“He’s a traitor,” I grumbled as I glanced down at my abdomen. “You’re a traitor, stomach, you hear me?”
Aurora shook her head as she slid off the table again.
“Come on,” she said as she looped arms with Cayla and walked them both toward the door. “We’ll throw something together quickly, and then you can get back to work and earn your dessert.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied with a crisp salute.
The half-elf threw me a smile over her shoulder before she sauntered out of the workshop, and my eyes were locked on the swing of her hips the entire time.
Lunch consisted of dried cuts of salted mutton, bruised but juicy pears, and more bread drizzled in honey. The bread had started to go a little hard around the edges, but it was still delicious covered in sticky golden sugar.
To take a mental break for my work in the shop, Aurora, Cayla, and I chatted idly about everything and nothing as we ate, from our favorite dishes to fond childhood memories.
“I’m sorry, what is that food called again?” Aurora asked as she wrinkled her nose.
