Wrath of the Risen God: Arcane Renaissance Book Three

by Tim Paulson

  Thira rolled her eyes. “Liam Halett, this is Robert McCarron.”

  Robert held out a hand and Liam took it.

  “You know, your whole family is wanted in Valendam for crimes against the purple republic.”

  Liam grimaced. “What a damned stupid name!” he said.

  Robert laughed. “I think I like this boy!”

  “Captain!” it was Cemu, from midship.

  “What is it?” Robert yelled back

  “Contact! Republican picket ship!”

  “What's the bearing?” Robert yelled at the crows nest, two hands cupped to his mouth.

  “North northeast!” yelled the crewman from above.

  Robert looked to Thira. “What did he say?”

  “Right... I forgot how bad your human ears are. He says north northeast.”

  “It's not just that. Cannons are loud and they take a toll on the ears... Cemu! Where's my spyglass?” Robert yelled. Then he looked to Thira and Liam and grinned. “Now my friends, is when it gets fun.”

  * * *

  Marian marched along the line and through her eyes, Mia scanned the horizon. She could see the republican forces arrayed on the distant ridge, four hundred seventy, forty-foot tall goliaths with fresh purple paint to denote their new allegiance. From what Mia could see the force was composed of a mix of heavy and medium units. The front line carried heavy shields and hand weapons while the second line carried spears with half shields attached to their forearms. It was a formation typical of the King's guard of Valendam. It was meant for frontal assault and had been used for thousands of years since armies had been fighting on the field. No doubt, just beyond their front line was a ragged group of light goliaths armed with javelins, ready to loose.

  On her side, the Ganex were prepared. Entire trees had been cut down and their limbs brushed off so they could be tied together into pointed triangles. They were meant to slow the enemy assault, giving the Ganex time to loose three or more volleys of javelins before their enemies closed. Wood was another thing that veil had a difficult time cutting but it wasn't used much for goliaths because it was so important for ship construction. That didn't mean the fifty-foot triangular arrangements of wood couldn't be cut down, only that it might take two or three slashes to do so.

  It was unfortunate that so few of the army had made it back from the enemy territory. Claus had told her that of the seventeen hundred goliaths that had invaded Faustland three months ago, only six hundred fifty remained.

  It had been hours now since flags had been raised all along the Ganex line, announcing the arrival of the enemy but they had not yet attacked. In fact, the republican goliaths appeared to be waiting for something. Claus had expected as much. They'd been told of the powerful goliaths with the golden eyes. None of whom appeared to be present in the formation that faced them.

  Mia had noted as well the legendary wariness of Faustland generals to actually attack. It was something Marcus had complained about many times. Now that they had an area of high ground with a solid position across the top of three small hills, it was clear they were unlikely to advance until the special friends they'd come to rely on arrived.

  Mia smiled.

  “Are you ready Marian?” she asked, knowing the answer.

  Marian was ready. The Valkyrie chassis made a fist with her left hand and pumped it forward, miming a jab to the chin.

  Mia couldn't help but chuckle. She really was a goliath after her own heart. She had Marian look back toward the wooden tower behind the Ganex left. Claus would be there, holding a viewing glass to his eye. The flag had changed from red to white. It was time.

  “We have our orders. Let's do this,” she said.

  Marian knew exactly what to do, she used her left hand and pointed to Sylvie's position in the center of their line. Claus's group was situated on the Ganex left, but it was a significant part of the army, almost one hundred and fifty goliaths. It was big enough to have its own center and left. Mia moved along the line, heading toward the left flank, picking up speed.

  After a few moments, there was a loud crack behind them. Only seconds later there were two more, then four after that. Marian's head turned back to see flames billowing from the center of Claus's line. Sylvie's goliaths were on the move, spreading out in all directions, many backing off from the flames. The goliaths themselves had little to fear from fire, even those started with the red veil powder. Yet any unit that spent too much time inside the flames risked cooking the knight inside. That was why the goliaths used in city fire brigades had to be specially designed with vents facing upward.

  When she arrived at her expected position Marian turned. The fires were raging and the Ganex forces appeared to be in disarray. An enormous hole had been created in the center of the Ganex left. The question was... would the general in charge be willing to take the bait?

  If not... that was a lot of veil powder to waste for a blunder. Mia had to hand it to Claus though, the man was brash.

  Marian turned her head back to the enemy lines, watching. No movement, though that wasn't incredibly easy to see given the angle of the sun. It was late afternoon now and the sun was behind them and low given the time of year. The front of the republican line was easy to see, but beyond that, too much shadow was cast.

  “Cazzo!” she snapped, pursing her lips. Why weren't they advancing? Couldn't they see that big juicy hole in the Ganex lines? Big red goliaths running? She had to admit that in the old days she would have been on it in seconds, by herself if she had to. She and Zeus.

  Marian was sorry for her.

  “It's alright,” she replied. “I'm sure he's in a better place now. He left Adem... So he must be where you come from now.”

  Marian filled Mia with an odd feeling. It was hard to place it.

  “I don't know what you mean,” she said.

  Then the castle at Aeyrdfeld entered her mind. The foothills of the Aeyrd mountains. Marcus smiling and laughing.

  “That's your home? Is that what you're saying?”

  Marian's affirmation was powerful.

  “So... you're not from somewhere else?”

  No, Marian replied.

  “Hmm,” Mia said. It was almost as if the goliath had a lot in common with her namesake.

  They were coming!

  Marian saw it too, the enemy's right flank had begun an advance, likely without orders. They wished to take advantage of the Ganex disarray. This was actually even better than Claus had expected.

  Mia looked to their left. Werner was there, just behind the hilltop, waiting with fifteen goliaths. Claus would give him the signal, that was fine. Mia only cared about Sylvie. The girl was her responsibility. She ought to be ready by now but Mia couldn't see her. Marian's goliath eyes kept searching the Ganex formation, but it was hard to see because of all the thick gray smoke. Claus's adjutant Regina had given them the idea. The veil powder was quite explosive but it didn't burn for very long or make much smoke. Mixed with some sawdust, however, things changed. It lasted a little longer and smoke was incredible. Beneath those clouds what had been goliaths running in circles, ought to be...

  Ah... there they were. A great flight of javelins was launched from the Ganex left. Then, ten seconds later, another, and another. Sylvie had been in charge of that, and it had gone perfectly.

  Marian looked back toward the group of republicans, rushing down the hill in a loose wedge. They had not been expecting to be hit by javelins from a force in disarray.

  Mia smiled and bade Marian raise their sword and point it forward. Behind her, the entire of Claus's line launched forth, rushing toward their enemies, many of whom looked like pin cushions with multiple javelins sticking from their arms, legs and torsos.

  Mia let out a wild yell as she and Marian slammed with more than a hundred others into the meat of the republican lines. Her first victim was a front line heavy, a Chevalier. A prancing dark horse on a striped field was the house symbol that flew on the flags, Mia and Marian made short work of it, a f
eint to the left, followed by a shoulder to the goliath's shield, knocked it back enough for Marian to finish the job with a twisting thrust of her estoc through the goliath's right thigh. It wasn't enough to sever the limb completely, but the kick that followed it was. Once it was down a thrust to the center ended it and Mia and Marian moved on.

  They fought three more, two were smaller medium goliaths, an Assassin and an Arden Dartmoor. The Dartmoor managed to fire off its three cannons into Marian's chest before she cut it in two at the waist. The damage was minor however, the angled armor really did seem to work, and they continued.

  A quick glance up the hill showed the rest of the republican army had been forced to engage in support of their foolish right flank. There was fighting all along the hillside now but it was clear who had the upper hand and it only got better for the Ganex when Claus finally released Werner with his group. Mia watched as they wheeled around the republican right, attacking them from the side and behind, causing chaos and accelerating the collapse.

  Mia and Marian turned right, connecting with Sylvie who was actually quite good with her spear. It took her longer to dispatch her opponent than Mia would have liked, but she'd done it. The spear was especially good at catching the lighter goliaths as they tried to flee.

  Mia was about to join Sylvie on her rampage through the center of the enemy when a titan appeared before her. Marian ducked just in time to avoid much of the impact of ten cannons, all fired together. Four of the balls hit home, however, there were just too many to avoid. The damage was significant but not terrible. Marian's left hand was smashed and a good-sized chunk of her left torso and the left side of her head had been removed, including the left eye.

  It didn't make it impossible to see, but it wasn't great. Neither was the huge two-handed axe that came down from above, also toward the left side.

  The enemy knight was no fool, they knew to follow up with an attack on the side where an eye went dark. Only Mia knew that too and already had Marian sidestep twice to her right, looking for an opportunity to jam the estoc into her attacker.

  After the huge swing missed, there were ample opportunities to thrust into the meat of her enemy but the titan was just too thick. Marian stabbed it in the left thigh and the chest and the left arm, but it didn't even slow it down.

  The axe came up again, raised for a sweeping blow that would be harder to avoid.

  Mia grumbled.

  “I didn't want to do this so soon,” she said, feeling her anger surge into Marian's right hand and the blade of the estoc, which burst into flame.

  This was apparently not unexpected by her opponent who didn't even flinch as its axe swung. Luckily, though they thought themselves prepared, they knew not the strength of the enhanced blade.

  Marian seemed shocked at Mia's command.

  “You'll see,” she said as Marian closed in, spinning around low enough to duck under the titan's heavy axe. At the last moment, the flaming estoc shot out, slicing through both of the titan's feet like they were formed of soft cheese.

  The gigantic goliath toppled forward, falling on its right side.

  Marian followed up with a slash that severed its head and left arm in one blow.

  Mia sighed as the flame faded from her blade like the steam of a pot pulled from the fire. Fighting with the flames was almost too easy. The challenge was gone.

  Mia felt Marian chide her.

  “Oh quit,” she replied. “I am not a pouting baby.”

  Marian disagreed. Mia felt questions.

  “Well...” she replied, thinking. “I suppose I don't know what would satisfy me.”

  Yet her mind drifted, remembering a little boy and his kind father. Perhaps that was the answer.

  Marian agreed.

  There was a loud clang from her right as a bright veil estoc knocked aside the head of a spear that had been aimed at her core. Marian's remaining eye looked up to see Werner's goliath. It was red like the rest but with a black line down its right side. His thrust was followed by a flick of the length of rope in his goliath's left hand which wrapped the hilt of the spear, forcing its owner to fight him for control.

  Mia was impressed and had Marian roll to their right and jab their estoc into the purple striped goliath's right calf. It wasn't enough to do any serious damage, but it sure did get its attention.

  The spear dropped as the medium goliath turned and ran. It was followed by several others.

  The left of the republican line had broken completely. Their enemy was on the run.

  Marian wanted to follow them, to chase them down one by one, and Mia did too, but it wasn't the best move. Claus had been very clear that if the enemy broke, they were to let them go and reform the line. It allowed the enemy to reform also, and perhaps to come again from a different direction, but the risk of becoming overextended was too great, or so Claus had said. Though it went against her every instinct, Mia agreed.

  So they did just that, backing downhill toward the previous line. As Marian's goliath eyes surveyed the battlefield Mia could see that they'd done good work. Fifty or more of the purple striped goliaths had been downed with only half as many reds.

  It was a good start but in Miran there was a saying, something Mia's teacher of the sword had said many times when she was a girl: “In a fight, what matters is not who throws the first punch, but who is left standing at the end.”

  Chapter 23

  "The contract's struck. We set sail before dawn. Any man missing will be left behind!"

  -Unnamed privateer, 1578

  They'd been going for hours on end, almost the whole day. Smashing through trees, crushing homes and farm walls and orchards and fields as they went, leaving a trail of destruction like a calling card, all the way back to the border. Aaron's eyes cast to the left and right, where he saw the rest of them, the sorcerer's army of golden-eyed goliaths, moving dispassionately, inexorably forward through the snow-covered terrain at a pace no modern army of goliaths could match, not even close. He didn't know whether they were powered internally or if Narael himself were somehow feeding them life, but his two hundred monstrous stone creations had been jogging all day at double the pace of any other goliaths with no sign of slowing.

  Given their incredible speed, Aaron was surprised they hadn't already reached Magenberg. The Ganex were in for a surprise, that was assured.

  “Can't we please stop?” Buckley said. Aaron could hear him trying, and failing, to keep the sound of a whining child from his voice. He'd been asking for over three hours and Narael hadn't even responded to his pleas.

  “By the grace of God we must stop... or my loins will burst!” Buckley said again, grimacing with pain as he adjusted himself on the stone couch that had been formed directly from a part of the head of the goliath they currently rode. Not inside, as one would typically do, but atop its head. It was as if Narael himself were the jewel in a crown.

  However, unlike every other time, Buckley had said something thus far, this time, Narael turned.

  “Why is the samsum so low?” Narael asked.

  “I'm sorry, what now?” Buckley asked, holding himself.

  “It is winter,” Aaron replied, for his body knew the meaning, translating the word samsun as sun and also power. “The shortest day of the year was two days ago.”

  “Hmmph,” Narael replied. He did not sound happy about it, though his face showed nothing. It was odd to see a young man with so little expression. That made sense given the being inside that young body was thousands of years old. That didn't stop it from making Aaron uneasy.

  “Does that mean we can stop? Do you fear the dark?” Buckley asked.

  Narael's lip curled. “I fear nothing,” he replied. “We have arrived.”

  “What?” Buckley asked, almost vaulting from his stone couch.

  Without a word from the sorcerer, the entire line of golden-eyed goliaths came to an abrupt stop. On the side of a small hill ahead Aaron could see a camp. Five goliaths stood around it, idle, while a dozen other
s were lying to their right in what looked to be a repair area. This was likely the headquarters for the republican army.

  Narael looked at Aaron. “Take the mewling child to the ground.”

  Aaron's body responded even before he could think. His arms scooped a terrified Chester Buckley up and he vaulted from the head of the goliath, landing with a solid thump as his feet rammed ten inches into the cold snowy ground. Here he deposited Buckley who was currently puffing with fright.

  “Fuck!” Buckley screamed. “Do you have any idea how hard it was not to piss my fucking breeches just now?” However the words seemed to awaken in him the urge and he ran behind the right foot of the great golden-eyed monster they'd just descended from, urinating on its right foot.

  Men were approaching. Men with guns.

  Aaron looked at them. He knew their guns meant nothing. Even their veil swords would bounce from his stone body like so many sticks. Only Mia had been able to damage him, somehow.

  “What the hell is that thing?”

  The man in front put out an arm. “Stay away from it. It works for the Veil Company,” the man said. He had curly gray hair peeking out from under the tall feathered hat of a general. His epaulets made the hat look inconspicuous however, they were huge and flat, like over-sized horse brushes.

  “He serves me you mean!” Buckley called, still streaming onto the back of the great stone foot before him.

  Aaron realized that the other men likely couldn't see him. It was dark enough now and the shadows so long that Buckley was largely invisible without eyes like his that cut through the gloom.

  “Chester Buckley?” the general called cautiously. “Is that you?”

  “Yes!” Buckley replied, finally pulling up his breeches. “I've come to... ah... see how it is at the front.”

  “I see,” replied the general. His eyes looked up at the massive stone man above as well as left and right, taking in the rest of them. “Is... it... here?” he asked.

  A small form was floating down from above. Clad in the white cloak that billowed in the chill winds of winter, illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun, Narael looked placid, untroubled. Aaron knew how quickly that could change.