Metal Mage 14

by Eric Vall

  “Yes, sir,” Huntley said with a nod.

  “Cayla, you’ll man the other half of your army here in the forest,” I continued, “and General Ralot, you and Pindor will head into the jungle to join our elven allies on the border. Make sure they’re informed of the alterations I’ve made to the plan. Grot, divvy your soldiers up so each platoon has a fair share of brute strength behind them.”

  “Aye,” the ogre ruler said with a savage grin.

  “I’ll send ten Boms to the north and south side of the Master’s grounds, along with two catapults,” I explained. “They’ll be firing from the start, though, so keep everyone behind the automatons until I give the signal for you to charge. Until then, the catapults will be discharging liquid Halcyan explosives that could kill you if even one drop gets onto you, so do not break rank before the signal. Understood?”

  The group nodded, and I tried to ignore the lusty look Chonna was sending me.

  “Dorinick and Kralok,” I continued, “you’ve spoken with your men about handling the rockets?”

  “Yes, sir,” Dorinick grunted. “They’ll see there are no missteps. Fire when the automatons reload, and all that.”

  “Excellent,” I replied. “Make sure you’ve got plenty of backup manning the launches to keep up the pace, but if the fire titans arrive, fire at will. If the rockets can take them out, give them everything we’ve got, but not if our troops are out there. We need to make the rockets as effective as possible before any of our soldiers are revealed. After that, we’re on our own.”

  “Aye,” Kralok agreed. “I’ll take the mountains, and Dorinick’s got the jungle. We’ll leave fifty dwarves in the forest here, and it’ll only take fifteen of ‘em to man the last catapult.”

  “Sounds good,” I said with a nod, and I turned to the elven warriors. “Send half your elves to the mountains with the Knights of Rainard. The other half can remain in the forest with us, and Chonna… just, uh… do your thing, I guess.”

  “The Children of Siraos need no orders,” the warlord announced, and Haragh glared at the toes of his boots. “Our god commands our spirits in battle, and we answer to none but Siraos.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “Have at it, then, but like I said, no one charges until I give the signal.”

  “We answer to none but Siraos,” Chonna growled, and her sex boys clustered around her asses-out while my generals did their best to silence their snickering.

  “Awesome,” I managed. “Urn, take a hundred and thirty Defenders to the jungle, and Kurna, same in the mountains. Haragh, you’re in charge of the rest out here along with General Kin. Everyone keep half their Flumen and Aer Mages out of the fray as long as possible once the storm hits, though. We need them focused on countering the bulk of the winds and rain so our other mages can keep their own elements in check.”

  “You sure the storm’ll get here?” Kurna asked as he furrowed his brow at the blue sky shining above the branches.

  “Positive,” I muttered. “As soon as the Master knows I’m out here, the clock’s ticking on this weather, so make sure the mages are on their guard.”

  “Yes, sir,” Urn agreed.

  “You all have thirty minutes from the time we reach the tree line to get your troops situated,” I continued. “Then Stan’s moving in, and we remain at the ready until he breaks through the defenses in the grounds. Remember, though, no one is to join in a circuit with me once I start altering the runes surrounding the fortress. From his headquarters, it should look like the only army I’m leading against him is my fleet of Boms, which means the magic he senses has to be mine alone. Once the charge begins, the best route for the Master’s minions to escape by is into the mountains and the jungle. So, the Boms will hang back and man the perimeter, while the rest of our troops do whatever it takes to slaughter the last of his army until Stan gets us into that fortress. From there, you know what to do.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and the generals each offered Stan a fist bump before they broke off to lead our troops through the forest. They muttered their good luck to the little metal man as he stood in a power stance on my shoulder beside Solana, and even the elves bowed their respect to him.

  Haragh stayed at my side until he was sure Chonna was focused on her cannibals instead of me, and then he cursed under his breath with every step as we headed to the stock cars to unload the spare ammunition.

  The catapults were fully assembled by now, and while we stacked their bases with crates of magazines and rockets, Shoshanne helped the healers set up their stations in the train cars. Then fifteen Defenders took their posts standing guard beside the tracks, and when the dwarves gave me the okay, I let my metal magic seep into the axles on the catapults to send them forward through the trees.

  The mages helped alter the terrain while I maneuvered the warwolves as well as I could, and when we reached the tree line, I continued sending two of them to the north and south with the other troops.

  Once the last catapult was in position, I unsealed the crates of rockets, and then I broke my connection before I helped distribute my own platoon’s ammunition. I carted ten crates of magazines along the tree line of the forest while my thirty Bom fleet took their stations just within the shadows of the trees, and ogres, mages, elves, dwarves, knights, and cannibals fell into line behind them.

  Every clang of armor and snapping of branches was concealed beyond the silencing runes I’d installed along the perimeter, and while my allies began placing bets on what creatures they’d kill the most of, I headed to the center of my platoon.

  The dwarves manning the catapult already had the first batch of five rockets loaded and ready to be discharged, and I sent my Terra Powers around the border of the Master’s grounds to check on the rest of our troops. From this side of the clearing, the dense jungle looked undisturbed, but I could sense hundreds of soldiers and warriors falling into line behind the fleet of ten Boms inside the trees.

  The base of the mountains was barren, and just beyond the ragged stones of the foothills, ten more Boms stood in waiting to crest the ridge while Kurna and Captain Huntley’s troops distributed their ammunition, and the ogres and elves among them were already prepared to charge.

  I nodded to myself as I pulled my attention back to the forest, but then I noticed a group of soldiers staring behind them rather than ahead, and when I joined the group of onlookers, I found my women dancing around like a squad of murdery cheerleaders.

  The only word they were saying was “blood,” and Nulena lazily conducted them with an amused smirk on her lips while they sang the word over and over again. Aurora, Deya, and Cayla took turns twirling in a circle around the Baroness, and then they’d skip arm in arm around Shoshanne while the caramel beauty kept her hands cupped against her armored belly as she wiggled her hips and smiled like a damn angel.

  I half-sighed, half-chuckled at the display, and when my women sent me flirty waves between their twirls, I waved right back while my soldiers furrowed their brows even more.

  “Looking good, ladies,” I called out.

  “Blood!” Deya sang.

  I nodded. “Totally. Five more minutes, alright?”

  The women fluttered their eyelashes in approval while they continued their blood-cheer, and I’d only just left them to it when I noticed the busty cannibal in the trees.

  Chonna had a sultry grin on her face while she stroked the skull on her shoulder and admired my women, and her sex boys were on their knees kissing her honed thighs with their bare asses and balls on display.

  “Haragh,” I muttered as I beelined for the man. “Keep your mother away from my women. I’m going to get Stan into position.”

  “Ye’ know, I don’t see why it should be my responsibility,” the half-ogre informed me. “She’s a grown ass heathen, and what she does frankly isn’t my fuckin’ problem.”

  “Dude, look,” I growled.

  Haragh reluctantly did as I asked, and his eyebrows shot up immediately. “Shit.”

 
“Yeah,” I snorted. “Get over there.”

  Haragh quickly jogged over to his warlord mother while I brought Stan deeper into the dense forest, and I could hear him uncomfortably distracting Chonna as I rounded a set of three pines growing within a few inches of each other.

  Then I crouched down beside the elemental degree slashed across one of their trunks, and I brought Stan and Solana from my shoulder to my palm.

  “Alright, guys,” I said as I took a steadying breath. “This is it. Time to save the world. Do you remember the stages of your mission?”

  The little metal figures nodded in unison.

  “Solana, the map I gave you is clear?” I checked, and the dragon wiggled her haunches with excitement. “Good. I promised myself I wouldn’t get sappy about this, so let’s just get on with it, but I want you to know…”

  I swallowed hard, and Stan patted my thumb in understanding. I nodded before I gruffly cleared my throat, and once the little metal man mounted up, he adjusted his helmet and gave Solana a tap to the ribs with his heels.

  Then the skeletal dragon launched from my palm, and Stan sent a salute back to me just before the pair vanished into the portal.

  “Good luck in there,” I muttered, and I only let myself linger long enough to be sure nothing went wrong and sent the pair back right away.

  I popped a few more Tiorlin berries into my mouth as I turned away, and by the time I rejoined my troops, my women were crouched behind our Boms waiting for me.

  “Did everything go alright?” Aurora asked as she handed my axe up to me.

  “Yeah, they’re on their way.”

  “Remember, he’s our little metal man,” the half-elf murmured. “He can do this.”

  “Hell yeah, he can,” I chuckled. “Those mini magazines are fucking scary.”

  I hunkered down amongst my women while they each handed over the weapons they’d chosen for me, and I took the flail, daggers, and rifle with a smirk on my face. Then I turned my attention to the deserted wilderness between us and the Master’s fortress, and I placed my palms against the dirt, so I could track Stan’s progress.

  “Hey, Mason,” Aurora whispered after only a minute.

  “What?”

  “Give me some berries.”

  I furrowed my brow and looked over. “What berries?”

  “The ones you just ate,” the half-elf chuckled. “I can smell them.”

  “Fine,” I mumbled as I pulled the vial out. “But this is my private stash so don’t--”

  “I shared my private stash with you the moment we met,” Aurora scoffed.

  I grinned. “Oh, yeah… alright, I guess I owe you some.”

  Then I tapped three silver berries into her palm, but the half-elf swiftly bumped my hand to spill another ten out. My jaw dropped when she dumped all thirteen into her mouth, and she sent me a huge purple grin as she began bouncing on her knees.

  “Blood!” Aurora squealed and set her emerald eyes on the Master’s headquarters.

  I stared for a moment at the lethal half-elf with her flails, swords, pistols, and rifle, and then I decided to look straight ahead before she noticed me trying to get a glimpse at her ass beneath her fauld.

  Despite our silencing shield, the troops had fallen quiet while we waited in formation behind the fleet of thirty Boms, and I could almost sense everyone’s tension mounting as the minutes ticked by. The sky was clear blue, and a warm breeze drifted over the foothills in the early afternoon sun, and while the Master’s towers continued belching out black smoke, the only sound was the occasional shifting of my soldiers’ feet and the steady beating of their hearts.

  Ten minutes had passed when I sent a surge of my Terra powers into the Master’s grounds, but beneath the topmost layer of boulders, my magic was repelled by the same enchantments. Another five minutes passed before I tested the field again, and when a total of twenty minutes had gone by, my women began looking over with nervous creases on their brows.

  I kept my focus straight ahead, though, and at the twenty-five-minute mark, my powers seeped straight into the ground beneath the foothills.

  Then I took my first genuine breath in minutes as I silently cheered Stan on.

  The little metal man was well on his way to leading us to victory. Now, it was my turn, and as I rose to my feet, I sent my women one last nod before I stepped out of the tree line.

  I didn’t alter any runes until I was five yards into the field of stone, and when I scanned the area, I sensed twice as many runes as I’d found when I could only read the boulders. The chanting of ten runes were within fifty feet of me, and the grating elements of the Master’s rune were among them, so I let my powers build in my palms for another minute.

  I knew the moment I unleashed them, the target would be directly on me, but this was the most I could do for my troops. If the Master wanted me dead, then giving him the opening was our best chance at gaining the upper hand against anything waiting for us in those headquarters. Especially if we had fire titans to freeze out.

  The thought of facing down flaming giants the size of skyscrapers made my pulse stutter for a second, but I redirected my mindset to focus on nothing but the immediate task ahead of me. I had fifty Boms with six hundred rounds apiece waiting to open fire, and two thousand Halcyan rockets to burn through before the Master even knew what lurked in the trees.

  So, I locked my jaw before I finally sent a blast of my powers through the foothills at full bore, and the retaliation was instantaneous.

  My veins burned as the chanting of the runes rose with a vengeance, but I pushed back against the elements as the ground began to shudder around me. My own runes chanted louder in my ears while I forced the stonework to reform where each rune surrounding me was engraved, and I could feel every element I altered warring with my magic. The moment I won out against the runes in the immediate vicinity, though, the entire expanse of slate ahead of me began to break open.

  Shards of stone split apart as jagged pillars shot up from the foothills, and when half of them crumbled back toward the ground, the rubble came flying my way. Then I had to block the attack while I forced my magic to continue outward across the land, and every rune I overpowered made my veins ache from their retaliation. I didn’t bother keeping my eyes open as another pillar sent a cascade of boulders soaring in my direction, and I let my magic read my surroundings as I focused on nothing but maintaining my own defenses.

  For every ten feet I cleared, I felt my powers dwindling, but some of the crumbling pillars seemed to be destroying their own runes in their attempt to crush me. I could sense several of the shards of stone maintaining the engravings, though, so I kept my pace consistent as the Master’s rune demolished half his grounds for me. I scanned every piece of rubble and slate to make sure not one elemental slipped under my radar, and I’d gained another forty feet when the clouds began to form.

  I spared a single glance at the eerie green mass stacking itself higher above me, and I could feel the charge of electricity coursing in the air as the foothills were blanketed in Rekekis’ storms. The wind kicked up within minutes as dust and debris flew into my eyes, but I braced my stance and continued pushing my magic through the runed landscape.

  I’d cleared nearly every corner of the Master’s grounds when my thirty Boms rolled out from behind me, and the clouds dumped a hailstorm over the foothills as four jagged bolts of lightning struck the slate. Nulena’s shield was holding firm, though, and while I watched more bolts strike down, I could tell the god didn’t know exactly where I was. He just knew I was out here raising hell, but as my metal sentries flanked me on both sides, I realized Nulena was shielding more than just me.

  The ebony woman had to have been shielding all of my sentries and my entire army, too, because none of the god’s lightning ventured into the trees surrounding the Master’s grounds. While the wind bent the canopies back and forth, his wrath was centralized in the barren wasteland beside the Master’s fortress, and I’d never been so grateful to have a
spectra on my side before.

  Even if she was probably furious to be saving the world right now.

  Then the last jagged pillar of stone crumbled along with a deafening crack of thunder, and the ground stopped shuddering all at once as I removed the last runes from the foothills. Every vein in my body vibrated from the effort, but my magic wasn’t completely spent yet, and I took a ragged breath as rain began pouring down along with the hail. I stumbled while I braced myself against the raging winds, and as I watched the sky, Rekekis’ clouds churned into a blackened mass above me.

  Still, I couldn’t help grinning when the first batch of minions materialized outside the Master’s walls, and I stayed right where I was as I managed to restore every gaping crack in the demolished foothills to prepare for my hidden army.

  Watching the Master’s minions barrel straight at me and my Boms was like waiting for a pack of zombies to devour my brains for me, except these zombies were wild-eyed beasties with no idea what my fleet had in store for them.

  Fifty runed and starved creatures clambered over boulders with one target in their sights, and as their snarls rent the air, the ragged sphynxes took flight along with the griffins. The herd of fifteen-foot drakes continued slithering across the grounds with their fangs gnashing, but I waited where I was with my fleet’s rifles ready, and I didn’t give the order until the onslaught was twenty yards away.

  Then the beasts began bursting into flames as thirty runed AR-15s opened fire, and the second batch of minions had appeared by the time my metal army finished with the first. Twice as many creatures came barreling at me this time, though, and while the Boms ignited the frontline of Saurbrin, the third batch of beasts began spilling into the foothills.

  Now, hundreds of hollow eyes flashed with lightning as they zeroed in on me, but none of them expected the next strike to come from the sides instead. The hidden Boms opened fire on my signal as my own fleet reloaded their magazines, and while the hoard of minions began bursting into flames, the next group spewed forth from the fortress with thirty-foot tall reptilians among them.