Science and Sorcery Box Set

by Ryan Tang

  The Singer cackled.

  "Alright. Bring the Warper up. We'll just teleport people inside."

  There was an immediate clamor.

  "Perfect! Perfect! We'll win at once!"

  The Surgeon shouted back.

  "You can't warp past my Eternium. You know your people aren't as mentally strong as I am. Although they are free to try. You can even try and come yourself. Who knows what will happen?"

  The walls of a Castlecraft were a sanctuary that couldn't be easily passed, and the Surgeon was indubitably one of the strongest Lords in the Constellation. An average Lord would likely splatter trying to warp into the Surgeon's Castlecraft. They lacked the will.

  The Lords babbled outside, their confidence shaken. Lonely's heart swelled with relief. His hunch had been right. It was every Lord for themselves.

  Even if the Warper was able to break people inside, the alliance outside couldn't hold.

  "Back up and get ready to fire. Be ready for people coming at us from behind. Don't be afraid to wreck the hangar as long as we don't break the walls."

  For some reason, the other women laughed at his last sentence.

  Lonely's hands tensed on the controls but there weren't any Lords volunteering to be the first ones inside.

  "No way am I going first."

  "Wait. Isn't it dangerous to go first?"

  "Why don't you make him try?"

  "Singer! You should just kill someone if they don't agree to try!"

  The Singer was beginning to get irritated. He waved his sword back and forth.

  "A hundred Sinsworn to the first volunteer!"

  There was an excited clamor.

  "Me! Me!"

  "No! Me!"

  "I'll do it!"

  "We'll warp them all!"

  There was a short pause, and then the screams began.

  Lonely took a look outside. The Nobles who'd attempted to teleport themselves and their machines inside were nothing more than smears against the hull of the Surgeon's Castlecraft. Shattered to pieces, their Paragons drifted through space. Lonely didn't know if it were the Warper at fault or the hopeful pilots, but none of them had the mental strength to match the Surgeon's iron will.

  "Holy shit! He splattered against the Castle!"

  "Oh my god!"

  "It doesn't work! It doesn't work!"

  "Not me! Not me!"

  The Surgeon's mouth curled disdainfully.

  "Just as I thought. But they'll try to launch a head-on assault next."

  The assembled Lords had given up any hope of warping.

  "You! You try!"

  "No! No! No way!"

  "I'm not going to do it no matter how many Sinsworn you offer!"

  "No! No warping! No!"

  The Singer waved his sword again, his confidence unshaken. His massive army was still a ruthless bludgeon.

  "That's not a problem. Gather up. We can simply shatter their forces with a head-on charge."

  Lonely gulped. Now was the moment of truth. Whether or not they lived or died depended on how quickly he made the assembled Lords understand that the first to charge would be the first to die. He and the Surgeon's crimes had been nothing more than a pretext. Most of the soldiers outside were only there for the spoils, for the fifty thousand Sinsworn. There were few true believers and even they wouldn't be willing to sacrifice their lives. The Lords acted solely in their own self-interest.

  "Focus all your fire on a single point. Let's start with The Seventh Impaler."

  The Lords ranked in the top twenty- five had just around five thousand Paragons. If all ten thousand of their borrowed Sinsworn fired, they had enough to decimate The Seventh Impaler's personal forces. It was nowhere near enough to destroy the army outside, but if Lonely's hunch was right, even the destruction of a single army would be enough to stop them all from attacking.

  "Don't do anything too complicated. Just focus all our fire on that point and eliminate their Sinsworn. We need to go while they are still organizing their lines."

  The Tall Tale and Reader despaired.

  "What's the point?'

  "They have so many that it's an endless number!"

  Gallant was already drawing her guns.

  "Trust him! Shoot at The Seventh Impaler! Just direct all your fire at them! My brother has the best plans!"

  They didn't have much time.

  The hangar gate partially flipped open, forming a niche that allowed their rifles to poke out.

  He didn't even need to divide his mind for this. All his attention was focused on a single point, and all his Sinsworn obeyed his commands. They fired as one. The endless barrage of bullets screamed forward. Not every shot hit, but The Seventh Impaler's forces were instantly devastated.

  The other Lords were still giggling excitedly and getting into formation. Few of them even realized what had happened. The Seventh Impaler did though. He wailed and wheeled backward. The sickly green machine drew its rifles, but there was nothing it could do.

  "No! No! My Sinsworn! No! My army!"

  The five defenders in the hangar continued firing and firing. Eventually, the sickly green machine withdrew. The scrambling Sinsworn hurried after their master.

  "Don't chase! Don't chase! Move to Ravenous!"

  He was simply the first Lord who had the misfortune of coming to Lonely's mind. It didn't matter whose army they destroyed. It was just to set an example for everyone else to fear. Their guns turned to him, and before long, the crocodile was fleeing too.

  "No! My Sinsworn! No!"

  "Move behind them! Shoot the next people in the column!"

  The lieutenants weren't nearly as impressive as the heads of their columns. The Lord immediately behind The Seventh Impaler only had a thousand Sinsworn, and the same went for Ravenous's second. Before long, they too were fleeing.

  The enemy pilots were starting to get the message. The two leaderless columns wheeled back and forth, unsure of whether to charge or flee. More and more Sinsworn filtered away as their masters desperately fled to avoid being ruined.

  Lonely shouted as loudly as he could. The message was amplified on the speakers of every Sinsworn in their hangar.

  "Lords! Lords! You're best served if you run! We'll continue focusing our fire on only single armies. We might go down, but we'll decimate anyone who attacks us. If you flee, you'll be able to pick off the idiots who were foolish enough to attack us! Where's Ravenous ranked now!"

  He pulled out his tablet.

  "Ravenous lost over three thousand Paragons in that attack. He dropped from the top 25 to the fifties! What happens when someone with only a hundred Paragons attacks? It'll be over!"

  All Range and the sisters cried out as they realized his plan. They began turning their guns towards various minor Nobles, destroying the tiny armies of thirty or forty. The panic heightened.

  "Oh my god! They lost all their Sinsworn!"

  "I can't lead! I can't be in the front!"

  "Get me out of here!"

  "No! I'm ruined! My army!"

  The charge broke before it even began. Some of the Nobles even began fighting each other in their haste to withdraw.

  A few tried asking for reinforcements, but to no avail.

  "Singer! Singer! What about you?"

  His Sinsworn were still safely in the hangar.

  "Me? I must deliver the finishing blow."

  Bringer had gotten the Lords to stand as one outside the Surgeon's home, but he couldn't change their nature. They'd been taught their whole lives to only act in their own self-interest. As soon as they saw danger or a better opportunity, they broke. It was just like Lonely's own failed alliance against The Tooth Man, but for once, Lonely was benefiting from the treason.

  The Singer cried out again.

  "Attack! Attack! There will be five hundred Sinsworn for the first Lord to break through the Castle. A thousand for the one who brings down the Surgeon!"

  A few Lords were foolish enough to charge right into their gunfire. Th
ey were cut down at once. Lonely laughed and then shouted again.

  "That means he thinks you'll lose more than a thousand Sinsworn trying. Otherwise, he'd want the glory for himself!"

  The attacks stopped. The Singer howled, but there was nothing he could do. Nobody else wanted to risk themselves.

  A new voice called out. Lonely didn't recognize the speaker, but he could have kissed them.

  "I read about this before. How about a siege? We can just surround them and starve them out!"

  Lonely laughed and laughed.

  He could almost imagine Bringer's anger.

  But not even Bringer could disagree with the speaker. Not even Bringer could call for an all-out assault. Lonely knew that the plain-faced man would have been willing to sacrifice all his Sinsworn for the Conquest, but he didn't have enough machines to act by himself. If Bringer charged alone, he would just get gunned down instantly. Even he was subject to the Lord's selfishness and cowardice. He'd brought them here with the promise of spoils. He couldn't motivate them otherwise.

  "Why don't we just surround them and starve them out? That way none of us will have to risk our Sinsworn. We just all surround them together."

  "Yes! Yes!"

  "A siege! I like it! That's the most equal! We'll just starve them out!"

  "We're all the freest and greatest!"

  The Lords spread out, sealing off their fortress. But none of them dared to charge.

  He cheered, and his sister cheered with him.

  "We've done it! We did it!"

  But the Surgeon wasn't amused.

  "What do you mean we did it? We're still trapped here. We'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives. This is what the House battles mean. This is what you've brought upon us!"

  The Tall Tale and Reader were just as scared.

  "A siege is inevitable!"

  "There's nothing we can do! We'll starve or go insane!"

  Gallant turned towards him, panic rising in her voice.

  "Big Bro! What are we going to do?"

  Lonely stepped out of his machine and whispered his sudden wild dream to his little sister.

  "I have a new plan. A way to escape the Constellation. But we'll need your friends' help."

  He turned to Reader as her sister helped her out of the cockpit. The way things had turned out, he had no choice but to go along with Bringer's maddest scheme of all.

  CHAPTER 16 – THE NAMERS' GREATEST WEAPON

  "Unbelievable! Unbelievable!"

  Her big brother was always one for bold plans, but this was the wildest one yet.

  "Look. We saw them outside, right? They don't want to risk themselves! I don't think we'd be able to break out with our army or anything like that. It'll be a lot easier to gun us down outside the Castlecraft. But nobody is dumb enough to attack a Namer's ship. And after that, everyone will leave us alone."

  Her Intuition cut in.

  "The Namers said we can't get in trouble. Maybe they'll just give us the ship."

  Adrienne and Gallant mentally shook their heads.

  "The Namers are fake friends."

  Her Intuition frowned. There wasn't much it could say to that. The Namers held all the power over the three of them. The Namer with the hesitant voice might have told them they couldn't get in trouble, but they'd almost certainly get in trouble for disobeying him. It was like how the Surgeon handled the people she called her collection. You had freedom, but only if you didn't go against her.

  "So what are we going to do? How can we beat them?"

  "We'll just have to attack him with everything we've got."

  Gallant laughed.

  "That sounds like something I'd want to do, not you."

  He smiled and shrugged.

  "It's all we got. I wish I still had the sphere, but I had to destroy it in case Bringer used it. But it's not like I could have gotten shards from the Lords outside anyways."

  She still felt guilty about cutting off his arm. She shrugged her deadened one forward.

  "Hey. We match."

  Lonely laughed at her dumb joke. Her right hand was finally starting to feel normal again, but her left had remained inert.

  "Do you think your friends will want to help?"

  They'd listened to Lonely in the battle, but this was different. This was a bigger risk.

  Gallant frowned.

  "I think so."

  She thought Reader might want to cheat the Namers. Everyone was trying to cheat the Namers. Even the twins' parents had tried cheating the Namers, even though it failed.

  She nodded firmly.

  "I'm not sure, but I'll make them go along with it."

  Her brother's plans were the best. If he said they could beat the Namer, then they could. Gallant waited until after the Surgeon's turn to keep watch. They were all taking turns watching and then sleeping. She didn't want the Surgeon at their meeting. When the tall woman headed off to bed, Gallant brought her new friends to the hangar.

  When she explained Lonely's plan, they just laughed and shook their heads. At first, her heart sank, but then she realized they were laughing with her, not refusing her.

  "Your brother is even crazier than you are."

  "This is unbelievable."

  Reader patted her stomach.

  "I'm doing it. I'm not giving my child to the Namers."

  Her sister quickly stood by her side.

  All Range stroked her hydra, which had now sprouted five separate heads. The Younger Three Staff had pillaged her Castlecraft and killed the hydra that lived there. The rapidly growing snake was now the main body.

  She laughed.

  "Well, I need to be in too then. I'll be lonely without you guys."

  Her big brother smiled and then asked if the Surgeon would possibly join them.

  Her Intuition and Adrienne laughed.

  "He doesn't know about fake friends!"

  The Tall Tale shook her head.

  "No, she won't. She would never leave her Castlecraft and Sinsworn. We'd be leaving with nothing."

  Her Intuition cut in.

  "No, not nothing."

  Adrienne nodded.

  "We'll build Brightwalls again!"

  The others didn't know that she could gather shattered Eternium and the rubbed off dust of Paragons. It was technically illegal, but if they were attacking a Namer, they weren't worried about laws anymore. She didn't think she could make a big Castle out of spare Eternium, but she could make one big enough to feed her friends.

  She told Adrienne and her Intuition to shut up for now.

  "The Surgeon won't be happy living in a small castle. And besides, do you even want her there?"

  "Nope!"

  "Good point, good point."

  All Range was saying the same thing. She smirked and shrugged.

  "To be honest, I don't know if she wants to come. But who cares? I definitely don't want her there."

  The others agreed.

  Gallant giggled.

  "Hey, she can just stay here and argue with the people outside."

  ____

  Reader gave birth two weeks later, and they immediately alerted the Namers.

  They were to meet the representative in the hanger. The Surgeon sheltered in her quarters. Not even the second strongest Lord in the Constellation wanted anything to do with the Namers.

  It was the same outside.

  The countless rows of Conduits and Sinsworn gave the black shuttle a very wide berth. The Singer even moved his stage. The massive structure wobbled back and forth as he hastily pulled it out of The Namer's reach. It was just a tiny shuttle, but it was enough to part over a hundred thousand. It was that moment that Gallant realized it was the Namers who truly ruled the Constellation. But it was also that moment that Gallant realized her brother's plans really were the best. If they got the shuttle, they'd be able to escape.

  The flat voice was slow and steady.

  "Give...way...Give...way..."

  Her Intuition cut in.

 
"Hey! It's the slow voice guy! The guy from the courtroom!"

  Adrienne was feeling very tense.

  "You know, maybe we should try and deal with him. Maybe we can't get in trouble."

  Gallant could tell she didn't believe it. The Namers were fake friends.

  "Hey, maybe if we attack him and he lets us, we'll know that we really can't get in trouble. Then we'll just ask him for the ship."

  The three of them laughed, which was a lot better than feeling scared.

  "Give...way...Give...way..."

  Reader coiled protectively around her little boy. Gallant couldn't believe she was conscious just the day after. She'd screamed and howled throughout the birth. It looked so incredibly painful. Gallant had taken one look and then hid in her room.

  The shuttle came closer and closer. Her friends immediately stepped into their Paragons. They needed all the strength they could get, and maybe hiding their faces would protect them from the Namer. Nobody knew how the Namers killed. Gallant stayed outside. She would only attack if it were an emergency. She'd ask Intuition to lean forward.

  The gate opened.

  Upon seeing the Namer arrive, the other Lords must have already known that the Castlecraft would be vulnerable for the first time since the siege began, but none of the Lords dared to attack. Any victory they won would end with their deaths, and the Lords only pursued their own self-interest.

  The single black machine flew down and into the hangar completely unmolested.

  Adrienne and her Intuition shuddered. They could see him through the clear glass of the cockpit.

  The Namers' mask was just as they remembered. The golden thirteen-dotted cross, sucking and spewing light all at once, the massive bulky construction that went over the mouth that looked like a giant snapping mouth, the long and flanged sides that seamlessly joined the mask with the shadow of the hood.

  The Namer turned and saw them.

  "Hello again! Why are you here?"

  Her Intuition called out excitedly.

  "It's him! It's him!"

  For a moment, Intuition considered asking him for the shuttle, but then it thankfully kept its mouth shut.