by Skyler Grant
‘Don’t suppose I can convince you to wander around in there a bit and catch everything ablaze?’ I thought to Yvera.
‘When you are being ambushed by a water dragon, I’ll break out the minor miracles. When it’s five guys, this is why I give you spells.’
That was about what I was expecting, if not what I had hoped for. Did I have any spells that would help here? Smite was the obvious choice, but I’d never cast it on a target I couldn’t see. I focused on the space inside the magazine and concentrated my thoughts on activating the spell. Nothing happened. Great.
One of the soldiers had noted my suspicious behavior and was moving in my direction. “Identify yourself.”
I wasn’t going to win a fight. My magic wasn’t working. I needed to get those doors open to cast the spell. That pretty much left me with the social skills. If I was fighting an army of amazons I might try seduction, but persuasion was probably a better choice. Tell a lie and stick with it.
“Sails to the east flying the lightning flag. The cannons are going to need more powder.”
The guards looked a good bit more alert. “Storm is here? Isn’t she tangling with Flame down south?”
I reflected these peons were distressingly well-informed about pirate movements. From elsewhere there came another scream and the sound of crumpling flesh. Cobalt was still about her bloody business.
“Listen to that. She gets a force inside the walls to distract us, then sails right up to take us from behind.”
“Does sound like her…” said the guard who wore a slightly flashier uniform than the rest. “Carrel, Berns, watch him. I’m going to open it up just in case.”
I did my best to look not at all satisfied as a pair of guards moved to cover me and their commander went to the doors of the magazines, pulling out a large key ring. There came a dull clunk as he turned it and opened the doors just a fraction to check inside. I hoped it would be enough.
I focused on the tiny bit of darkness I could see behind that cracked door and willed the spells into being.
Smite
Smite
Smite
“What’s he doing?”
“Stop him!”
I was so focused on the casting I didn’t even feel the blow to my abdomen that doubled me over. I did feel the crack of a rifle butt against my jaw that sent me crashing to the ground.
The world picked that moment to explode. I wasn’t sure at first if it was just the blow that had the world spinning like that, but it soon became clear the magazines had gone off. A section of the wall was collapsing in slow motion and jagged cracks were forming in the stones of the courtyard.
The commander and the two guards closest to the magazine were gone. In pieces or just thrown clear I didn’t know, but the two assigned to watch me were groaning on the ground.
Due to my Fire Within passive I recovered from debilitating effects fast. What had seemed a pretty minor advantage at the time seemed like a life saver now as I drew my sword and stabbed them both, killing them before they could recover.
The ground quaked beneath my feet, once more toppling me over. Why was that still happening?
Where the magazine buildings had stood there was now a massive pit emitting a dull red glow. Climbing out were three mechanical figures, a spider, minotaur, and bull. They seemed to be crafted of some sort of blackened metal and gears spun beneath them.
I pulled up their stats.
Badly Damaged Clockwork Bull
Level 20: Type: Mechanical Construct HP: 1500/10000
Legendary
The Iron Guardians of Corris were crafted by the Goddess Mela to defend that sacred place. Stolen by Stonebeard the Pirate they were reprogrammed into his service. The Clockwork Bull is strong enough to knock down walls.
Clockwork Spider
Level 25: Type: Mechanical Construct HP: 3000/3000
Legendary
The Iron Guardians of Corris were crafted by the Goddess Mela to defend that sacred place. Stolen by Stonebeard the Pirate they were reprogrammed into his service. The Clockwork Spider is agile and fast and emits a corrosive acid that can render almost any armor useless.
Nearly Destroyed Clockwork Minotaur
Level 23: Type: Mechanical Construct HP: 500/11000
Legendary
The Iron Guardians of Corris were crafted by the Goddess Mela to defend that sacred place. Stolen by Stonebeard the Pirate they were reprogrammed into his service. The Clockwork Minotaur combines raw power with the ability to use tools and weapons.
Right. This was bad. This was so astoundingly bad. On the bright side I guessed this meant we’d found Stonebeard’s ship and treasures. A shame nobody had bothered to tell me he collected bosses.
I heard a gasp to my right and I swiveled with my sword drawn. It was Lea, her eyes wide.
“What did you do?”
“I blew up the magazines like you told me. Where were you?”
“I was busy not finding what we were looking for. We’re going to need Cobalt, we are so going to need Cobalt.”
The spider nimbly made its way in our direction, the red glow ominous between its metal joints. Lea began to wave her arms and the blue runes along her body sprang to life. I’d yet to see her in a fight, I really hoped I wouldn’t have to now.
I called, “I am Liam Ottani, King of Genea and ally to Maria Sardonis, The Queen of Spiders.”
The spider paused and the red light within it pulsed several times. The minotaur and bull meanwhile had finished climbing from the pit and turned towards us.
A long moment passed and the spider turned to face the other two constructs. The air was filled with the sounds of whirling and clacking gears.
I think we had a protector. A legendary protector. This was totally badass. I looked over to flash a smile to Lea, but she didn’t seem in a celebratory mood. Rather, she looked like I had just punched her in the gut.
“You’re a king?”
“It’s not really a big deal.”
“And you’re sleeping with Cobalt.”
“Uhh…”
“And she doesn’t know. Ouch. You really screwed up, Liam. You really, really screwed up.”
“You need to start making sense.”
I didn’t get any sort of chance to get any answers. Behind the minotaur and bull, a pale hand shot up over the edge of the pit and a bedraggled Cobalt pulled herself up.
“Later, Liam. Don’t talk to her about it. I need to figure this out.”
She was far worse for wear than the last time I’d seen her, her body sporting multiple cuts, burns, and bullet holes that only partially healed. I still couldn’t see her health bar, but she had to be hurting. She didn’t show it, she looked exhilarated.
“Liam! Lea! You two really made a mess of things.”
I wished people would stop saying that.
She climbed to her feet and took a moment to stretch while surveying the clockwork monstrosities. They seemed to be considering her back.
“The spider is a friend, sort of.”
“Really?”
The spider dipped its head.
“Huh, hate spiders. You have weird friends. Don’t suppose it has a way off this island. You blew up the earth core, this whole island is about to go.”
Lea gave me an accusing look. “You blew up the earth core?”
“I blew up the gunpowder magazines. They must have blown up the earth core.”
“Love collateral damage,” Cobalt said. “But yeah, everything down there is going all melty.”
“How did you get down there anyways?”
“Hole to the abyss opens up, how can you not jump in?”
I’m pretty sure one just had, and I didn’t want to jump in anywhere.
The spider had begun to reconfigure itself as we talked. Its legs were becoming propellers while the body was opening up into a small cabin. Great, a spider-copter.
The bull and minotaur stormed off through the breach in the wall. They must have had their
own exit strategy.
The quakes were growing more and more intense and it was getting hard to stay on my feet.
The spider looked to have finished its transformation, so I said, “All aboard. There is going to be an airship hovering somewhere nearby, if you could drop us off there we’d appreciate it.”
“Riggs is going to get a surprise,” Cobalt said.
“Won’t he try to shoot us out of the sky?” I asked.
“Once we get close I can send a message,” Lea said. She still looked far more pensive than I’d ever seen her and I resolved to get some details from either her or Cobalt when we got back to the ship.
Aboard the spider, it was a somewhat claustrophobic fit. Not that I minded given the company. Above us the legs spun to life and we lifted into the air. As we moved above the island we got a view of the walls of the fort collapsing inward, magma beginning to bubble from where we had just left, and I realized I was witnessing the birth of a new volcano.
The Theysian warships in harbor were trying their best to get away. I didn’t think they would make it. Score a few more for the bad guys.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was an awkward trip back to the Vainglory. On the one side of me was the naked and battered Cobalt who had just gone on a massive, murderous rampage against overwhelming odds. To say that she was feeling amorous would be an understatement. I was still trying to figure out just how I felt about those glimpses of pure primal savagery. I know it must seem stupid, I had a healthy bodycount behind me, too. I was a human who only sometimes killed, though, and it felt like I had gotten a glimpse of Death that had somehow figured out how to be human.
That conflict aside there was Lea who continued to look very disapproving. There was no threesome coming this time, and our mutual rejection of Cobalt’s advances only seemed to be inspiring her to grow bolder. It was absolutely maddening.
When we finally set down on the deck of the Vainglory and disembarked from the spider we were greeted not just by Riggs, but Ashley and Walt were with him as well.
A grumpy Cobalt stormed off towards her quarters to get washed up and dressed.
“What is it with you, naked women, and spiders?” Walt asked.
It was a fair question. One I didn’t really have any sort of good answer for.
“We were going into a big fight and she wanted a challenge. We blew up an island and met the spider, who gave us a lift.”
“We got back from the island. Storm lashed back, we got our asses kicked, found a buried treasure, kicked a little ass ourselves and came to find you. Storm made a deal with Vala after the loss of her port and now Siren and Scourge want to go after her,” Ashley said.
“Siren and Scourge?”
“The other admirals, you’ll like them. Well, you’ll like Siren.”
That assumed a lot, but she was probably right. Damn it. I had a problem.
“Yeah. I’m sure I will. I was only gone for a day, doesn’t this all seem a bit much?”
“Things happen when they happen,” Walt said.
“So we need to get back and get Storm out of Vala.”
There was a swirl of flames and Yvera appeared on deck. She was dressed and for once I was glad. Naked women kept making my life increasingly complicated. She said, “You need to get back to the wall of water.”
“We may have messed up a little bit and destroyed the earth heart. We don’t have a way through anymore,” I said.
“Ending things in fire and flames is never messing up, Liam. I liked it. It drove a big spear of flaming rock right through the ocean’s heart. She’s hurting, Liam. Dazed and confused and this is our chance.”
Walt said, “Your captains feel you already turned your back on them once, Liam. Dara is suggesting you are dead and gone and they should follow her instead. They aren’t really all that loyal.”
Yvera folded her arms over her chest and stared at me. The Goddess felt no need to make an argument of her own. Of course not.
“We go after Atlantia.”
Walt sighed and rubbed at his eyes.
I asked Riggs, “Can you set course back there?”
“No, you need to get off this ship,” Lea said.
Riggs shot her a questioning look.
“Lea, I know we need to talk…” I said.
“Liam, I’m not kidding around. You need to go,” Lea said.
“Seriously? What did you do?” Ashley asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing if it is getting us kicked off the ship,” Ashley said.
“It does seem like something,” Walt said.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It did seem like something.
Lea barely spared either of them a glance. “This isn’t a hateful thing. This is me deciding you are a decent enough guy and I’d rather not see you wind up a pretty corpse. You need to leave and I’ll make excuses to Cobalt.”
Yvera looked put out “Enough bickering. You can take the spider, you don’t need the ship. The unstoppable killing machine would be helpful, but we can do this without her.”
“Are we totally past the discussion of doing the smart thing and getting back to the fleet?” Walt asked.
“Yes,” Yvera said.
“I do what the lady says,” I said.
“Believe us. We know,” Ashley said.
The spider voiced no objections as I boarded it again, Walt and Ashley joining me. It didn’t get any roomier, but the lack of any nudity this time did make things less awkward.
“Head northeast and we should get there,” I told the spider and we lifted from the deck.
“So what did you do? She seemed really insistent,” Ashley said.
“Lea found out that I’m a king. She didn’t take it like I expected.”
“Wasn’t as impressed as the girls in the village?”
“She seemed convinced Cobalt wouldn’t take it well.”
“Did I hear correctly that you destroyed what you left us behind to go find?” Walt asked and I could hear the accusation.
“It was an accident. I tried to blow up a gunpowder magazine and instead blew up an island. Yvera is right, the ocean sucks.”
“Are you sure this is what you want to be doing then? I know Yvera has some kind of girl hard-on for killing Atlantia, but that doesn’t mean she’s making the right call,” Ashley said.
“I thought you were up for killing anyone as long as you are getting paid?”
“I’m not afraid, Liam. I just understand what it’s like to feel threatened. She’s coming from a bad place and thinks she’s being smart about things, but it’s taking her to a fight she doesn’t need to have.”
“Sounds like you’re talking about yourself.”
Ashley looked thoughtful, then sad. “I’ve had a lot longer to think about my own suicide rush. It has to happen.”
“You won’t be alone,” Walt said.
“And it won’t be suicide,” I said.
Ashley said, “Damn this fucking spider isn’t very roomy when you get a little bit weepy.”
*****
Many uncomfortable hours later we were back outside the water spout. The last time we were here the water had been churning quickly and formed an impenetrable wall, but not now. The waters swirled more slowly and occasionally there was a sputter leaving a gap high in the wall. Beyond it, briefly glimpsed, was an island and the ruins of a magnificent city.
The spider hovered just near the wall, making no attempts at one of the gaps.
“Think it’s broken?” I asked.
“It’s smart,” Walt said. “Notice how quickly the gap in the wall closes.”
“We can’t rush it?” Ashley asked.
Walt had that pensive look he got when he was doing math in his head, “No. Unless this thing can go faster we can’t make it through. The Vainglory could have despite its larger size, but the spider won’t manage it.”
“Options?”
“The island is too far
to manage a teleport,” Walt said.
“We could jump for it,” Ashley said.
“Our jumping speed isn’t really an improvement over the spider in flight,” Walt said. “We still wouldn’t make it with the added negative that a fall from this height into the water would probably kill us.”
“Don’t suppose you have any help, Yvera?” I asked.
Yvera’s voice rippled into the air. “I’ll skip the materialization, as much as I like foursomes the close quarters would burn you all alive. I’ve got nothing, fire isn’t going to help you here.”
“Okay. I can’t get us to the island, but I can at least get us through the gap here and close enough to the water that we won’t die from the drop,” Walt said.
“Do you have the mana to manage a second teleport?” I asked.
“Bottleneck isn’t the mana, it’s the cool-down,” Walt said, biting his lip.
“Was worth a try,” I said.
“It’s a good idea. It just doesn’t work with what I originally planned. Getting us closer to the water would keep us from dying on impact, but it wouldn’t give my cool-down time to refresh. If I get us a little higher though?”
“Into the fatal drop zone? That sucks,” Ashley said.
“Can we make it all the way to the island, if you keep aiming high?” I asked Walt.
That got a long pause and Walt finally said, “I’d love to give you an answer, but I think without paper I’m going to have to tag the supercomputer in. Yvera?”
“Math? Seriously? If you are going to call me in it might at least be for Fuck, Marry, Kill.”
“What is that? You know what. Never mind. Can we just do the math?” Walt asked.
“You pick someone for each. Liam, Ashley, Walt are mine,” Yvera said.
“Yvera, Walt, Liam,” Ashley said.
