by Eric Vall
He kept sending out his fleet even though they were going directly to their graves, and as the flock of dragons dove one after the other to engulf his minions in flames, my gut suddenly clenched.
“Take us down by the walls!” I ordered. “Over near the border!”
I could see the rest of my army running and limping out from the smoldering jungle to get back into the grounds now, and the troops in the forest were rushing into the smoking field as well. Then I dropped through the air with Pindor, and as the ground bowled out around us to catch our landing, I sent my magic surging toward the Master’s headquarters.
For the first time since we’d first discovered its location, my powers finally connected with the impenetrable walls, and they seeped straight through the three-foot-thick slabs of rock and into the extensive fortress.
“He did it,” I gasped.
I could sense the mass of minions piling toward the portals on the other side, and when I seeped further into the caverns, plenty more lurked around in waiting.
Pindor’s gaze had snapped to mine, though. “Stan made it?”
“He fucking did it,” I muttered. “The defenses are down.”
I didn’t waste a moment before I scanned the full interior for Solana, but after looking twice over, I didn’t find any channeling gems present. Hopefully, Stan had escaped already and was only waiting to return like I’d ordered him to do, but while I sensed how deserted certain sections of the headquarters were, my pulse quickened again.
There were no lone creatures in the fortress, or even a small group who could have been coordinating the attack. There were only packs of beasts below and sprinting swarms of elves and mages in the heights of the fortress.
There were also six portals chanting within the walls, though, and while three of them were currently sending minions to a flaming death, two more were deep in the caverns, and one was far beyond the bridge that led from the other side of a peak the Master dug through.
“We have to move fast,” I told Pindor as I braced my fists against the slate.
“But why can’t we just let the dragons--”
“Now!” I ordered, and I sent as much magic as I could muster toward the towering walls of the Master’s fortress.
I knew I didn’t have much left in me, but Pindor connected with my circuit less than a second later, and while our collective powers built in the stone, I felt Haragh join as well just before a thunderous crack broke the slabs of rock open. My troops stumbled to a stop while the ground shook from the crashing of the walls, and massive shards of mottled granite fell hundreds of feet through the air as the impact of the break spread.
Haragh, Pindor, and I forced as much of the debris as we could into the mountains beyond the headquarters, and as dust billowed up into the sky, the last of Rekekis’ storm waned. The rain stopped along with the purple lightning, and the final gusts of wind settled while I watched the blackened innards of the fortress reveal themselves behind the crumbling walls.
Then Rammstein sent his dragons swooping in to unleash another flaming onslaught on the mass of minions scrambling to escape the debris, and I directed our circuit to seal off the passageways directly beyond the rubble. Once I was sure the bulk of the minions at the surface were handled, I ordered the metal dragon to extinguish the blaze, and I sent him to the forest to get Nulena for me.
“Do you sense the portals?” I hollered to Pindor as a few more chunks of stone broke across the ground, and I kept our circuit coursing through the fortress to direct his attention to the right spots. “There’s two smaller ones left in the caverns below, and one just beyond the peak.”
“I hear them,” the kid confirmed.
“I don’t have enough of my powers left, but we need to destroy them before anyone escapes,” I told him. “Don’t break the walls to do it, though, I want all these minions locked in with nowhere to run until our troops get in there.”
Pindor nodded as he closed his eyes and focused more intently on the connection, and as soon as the elemental began to fight back, Haragh gave an extra push of his own powers to force the stone to reform itself. It took the two only a couple minutes to remove the portals, and when the last element stopped chanting, I found Pindor already eyeing the crowd of battered soldiers behind us.
All of them were soaked to the bone and covered in soot and blood, and their armor and skin were bludgeoned or torn into by claws and fangs. Still, they waited for their next orders while they watched the dragons circle overhead or scanned the wreck of the fortress, and even though some of them had to lean half their weight on the soldiers beside them, none of my allies seemed to care whether elves, dwarves, or ogres needed the help.
“Find Mina,” I told the kid. “Then I need you to help Kurna navigate the upper levels.”
Pindor nodded before he promptly jogged off, and I turned to the generals and captains waiting among my women.
“General Ralot, have your knights assist any wounded in making it to the train, and check if the healers are able to keep up,” I told the weathered knight. “There’s probably a couple hundred patients already out there, and if we’re not able to give everyone what they need, we need to have Bagneera deliver them to the Oculus immediately. If that’s the case, make sure she gets another engine sent back with fresh supplies as soon as possible, and tell her the infirmary in Falmount’s open as well.”
“Yes, sir,” Ralot replied, and he left to organize the Knights of Rainard.
“Cayla,” I continued, “I need your army patrolling and locking down the perimeter, and I’ll have my Boms join in their efforts.”
“Yes, Mason.” The princess nodded before she left with Captain Huntley, and when I saw Rammstein returning with the Baroness on his back, I turned to the others.
“The rest of you, lead platoons through the caverns of the fortress and into the heights as well,” I ordered. “There’s more in there than we anticipated, so no crews smaller than twenty soldiers. Kill every minion you find while my women and I take the portion beyond the bridge. Don’t leave any cavern or shadow unchecked, and fan out right away. Haragh, you got the full schematics through the circuit, right?”
“Aye,” Haragh confirmed.
“Share them with Urn and any Terra Mages we’re bringing with us,” I continued. “Kurna, lead our best Ignis Mages upstairs. You’ve got elves and possibly mages in the upper levels, and from what I can tell, the last of the runes are destroyed. The break in the front wall destroyed two of the stairwells, so there’s only one direction they can flee from now. Pindor will be with you to help you navigate as effectively as possible, but burn whole passageways if you have to. We need to finish this quickly. Then join the rest in the caverns. Everyone keep an eye out for any substance our elements can’t influence, though. The Master may have hidden combative runes throughout the place.”
“And if we find the asshole who’s behind all this?” Dorinick growled.
“Don’t kill him,” I replied. “Incapacitate the Master in any way you can and bring him back to me. I think we’re after an elf, but I have no information beyond that. So far, it’s not looking good, though.”
“What do you mean?” Urn asked.
“I mean the Master’s been on autopilot,” I explained. “I don’t know for how long, but he sent hundreds of these bastards out here like he wasn’t even watching what they were heading into, which means there’s a hell of a good chance he wasn’t. I found a portal in a chamber beyond the bridge, so that’s where I’m heading. This guy had access to rune magic even the elves of Nalnora don’t know about anymore, though, so he could still be here, just well concealed.”
“Yes, sir,” Kurna said with a nod, and my generals branched off with the dwarven generals to prepare the troops.
Then I turned to my blood-smattered women as Cayla rejoined us, and Nulena had her arm hooked with Deya’s while she sent me a tired smile.
“Thank you for shielding us,” I told Nulena. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop
the blaze in the forest in time, but it looks like you made it out alright.”
“Of course.” The baroness shrugged, and I couldn’t help smirking at her unruffled demeanor. “I was only irritated because I couldn’t keep watching. You’re incredibly sexy when you battle. Do you know that?”
“Sure,” I snorted. “Do you all have enough ammunition left?”
“Yes, and Captain Huntley already has our soldiers heading along the perimeter,” Cayla reported. “So far, Ralot says there’s a little over a hundred wounded that need to get to the train. Everyone else looks ready to stick this out.”
“Then let’s do this,” I muttered, and as I connected with my fleet of Boms to give them their orders, I replaced the magazines in both my pistols while my women did the same.
“Where’s Stan?” Aurora asked as she handed her rifle to Nulena.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Solana wasn’t inside the fortress when we broke through. They were under orders to get out of there as soon as they could, though, and they won’t be returning until we finish the interior attack. Hopefully--”
“He’s safe,” the half-elf cut in, but I could tell by her tone she was saying this out of desperation more than anything. “He finished his mission, and he followed his next orders.”
I nodded without responding while we turned toward the rubble, but I knew all of us were of the same mind. Until we could confirm if the Master was still inside, there was no way of knowing for sure if Stan had been captured or not.
So, we led Kurna’s troops into the smoking entrance of the fortress, and the stench of burnt bodies and decay overpowered us the moment we entered. Despite the dragons’ attack, the air was damp like a dense cave, and when I scanned my surroundings, I found mottled and bloodstained walls with deep claw marks etched across them.
It looked like the Master’s beasts had been trying to tear their way out of here for a while, and judging by the stench, it didn’t seem like many of them lived to make it.
We’d only just scratched the surface of this place, though, so as several soldiers gagged and crossed the ruined threshold, I joined in a circuit with Pindor to remove the rubble blocking the nearest passageways. The rank odor only got worse as a stale draft rushed over us, and my women shielded their noses and mouths while I motioned for the rest of our platoons to file in.
My armed generals split off down two passageways while Dorinick and General Kralok followed with their own platoons, and Grot sent me a bloody grin before he led his women and soldiers down a particularly rancid smelling tunnel.
I didn’t miss the lumps of decomposing bodies piled on the stonework as I watched our troops proceed into the shadows, but only moments later, the shrieks of beasts began echoing through the fortress as 1911s and AR-15s began firing. I could hear the ogres slamming creatures against the walls and wrenching heads off bodies while they mauled their way toward the deeper caverns, and I quickly gestured for Kurna and Pindor to go up the dim stairwell to our left.
Fifty Ignis Mages followed behind them as more platoons entered the fortress, and I pointed them in the directions we hadn’t covered yet before I led my women down a dim tunnel behind us. I already knew the path we needed to follow in order to reach the bridge beyond the mountain peak, and I sent the last of my powers through the hall and ceiling while we picked up our pace to a jog. The flooring was noticeably uneven while my women stumbled through the dark, but I kept my focus straight ahead as I felt my boot sink into something mushy.
“Hold your fire until I give a signal,” I told the women. “This portion of the fortress was deserted aside from the bodies when I scanned it earlier, so anyone we come across could be the Master trying to make it out.”
“Bodies?” Shoshanne clarified.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Don’t look down.”
I wasn’t surprised when Aurora immediately sparked her flames, though, and all of my women either gasped or gagged when they realized we were running over dead bodies.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if they were fresh, but the maggots crawling out from their orifices, as well as their rotted flesh, made it impossible to ignore how genuinely disgusting this day just got.
Then Aurora sent a jet of flames ahead of us before I could stop her, and even I doubled over and hurled the second the smoke reached us. Deya was puking the worst, though, while Cayla wretched and attempted to get Aurora to stop burning the corpses, and as soon as I was able, I clamped my arm over my face and dragged my nearest woman onward.
Once we were around the first bend, the stench was back to a more tolerable level of nasty, and I tried not to let my women’s residual gagging get to my stomach.
“I hate this place,” Deya whimpered. “What dreadful creature would hide out in a place as repulsive as this?”
“A deranged asshole,” Aurora mumbled against her palm.
“Well, Mason would never behave in such a way, would you, Mason?” the elf mumbled. “I’m certain if you were conquering this world, you would provide the loveliest accommodations for your followers.”
“Mason would have been done conquering by now,” Cayla snorted. “He’d be sitting on his gun-throne with scores of servants kissing his boots.”
“And he would have managed to do it while being both gory and sophisticated,” Aurora added. “He’d be a villain with some class, just like our child will be. But you’re right, Deya. Mason’s fortress would be way more impressive. It’s so dingy and gloomy in here.”
“Yes,” Nulena agreed. “Mason would have less corpses around, but twice as many beasts at his command, I’m sure.”
I couldn’t help smirking while I slipped through the rotting guts underfoot. “Maybe we could not compare me to the sick fuck with the rotting bodies all over his hallways…”
“Yes, please,” Shoshanne whimpered. “I’m doing everything I can not to think about how horrifying this place is.”
“Then think about how thoroughly you mutilated that bitch, Aloshi,” I suggested, and when I grinned over my shoulder, I could tell Shoshanne had a glittering smile on her face.
“You did wonderfully,” Nulena admired. “I wouldn’t have changed anything, except perhaps torturing her a little more before you splattered her brains across the ground.”
“I was too worked up to think about it,” the healer sighed. “Next time I have to mutilate someone on Mason’s behalf, I’m going to try to step back from the situation and consider the extent of suffering my opponent deserves before I just go all out.”
“Yeah, well,” I muttered as we wound around a bend and into a less corpsy hall. “Right in the heat of battles isn’t an ideal time to focus on technique. It’s better you let your instincts take over, anyways.”
“You should join me for my next few murders,” Nulena offered to the healer. “I work in a less stressful environment, and it would give you time to focus more clearly.”
“I don’t know,” Shoshanne chuckled. “I’m a very passive person.”
Aurora burst out laughing before she could stop herself, and as the sound echoed all the way down the serpentine hall ahead of us, we came to a quick stop.
Then I scanned the area carefully, but since I didn’t sense anyone in the vicinity, I motioned for my women to continue. I honestly didn’t mind that they kept up their conversation, though, because I could tell discussing their favorite kills from the battle was helping to distract them from our primary concerns. Their tones weren’t as convincing as they tried for while they praised one another on particularly bloody maneuvers, but it helped keep me distracted to hear all the gory details I’d missed.
As soon as we found a passageway with no bodies in it, though, I took advantage of the opportunity to quicken our pace again.
We were halfway to the bridge that led from the peak, and every passing minute brought the shrieks and wails of the Master’s minions echoing from all over the fortress. The rank stench was fading, too, but the scalded walls we passed only reminded me o
f everything my little metal man had done to bring us this far. There were too many burned runes to count in this place, and we were only taking one route. Knowing Stan and his dragon steed had fearlessly flown through all this crazy shit made me that much more eager to confirm he was safe.
The sooner we secured the headquarters, the sooner we’d find out.
The notion made my legs pump harder over the stonework while we rounded another bend and came to a ragged stairwell, and as I took the spiraling steps three at a time, my women panted through their conversation as quietly as they could.
“I felt the same way,” Cayla muttered when I tuned back in. “There’s just something so unsettling about the idea of him dying. I’m grateful to know we can get him back, but I can’t support carelessness.”
“I agree,” Aurora panted. “Mason, no dying, alright?”
“Huh?”
“No dying,” the half-elf repeated.
I snorted. “What happened to Nulena just saving me before my soul goes into the next realm? I thought you were so unconcerned about whether I nearly get my ass killed.”
“Don’t gloat,” Cayla grumbled. “We were happy to find any excuse to believe you couldn’t ever be harmed, but when you ran into the hellcats’ fire--”
“I was not at all content,” Deya murmured. “I was terrified, and upset, and even our baby was worried about you. I could feel it.”
“Which isn’t to say we’re ungrateful, Nulena,” Shoshanne cut in. “We are, and we will always respect and honor the fact that you’re willing to disrupt whatever those sect things are for Mason, but the fact is, I never want him to almost die.”
“Never,” Cayla agreed. “So, no dying, Mason.”
I sighed as sweat dripped down my temples from what must have been an eight-story climb so far, but this could have been because the temperature at this height had increased, too.