Metal Mage 4

by Eric Vall

  As she met my eyes, she said a soft, “Good Morning, Mason,” and immediately blushed.

  I smiled and returned the greeting before she quickly hid her cheeks behind her curls and walked away.

  Cayla didn’t miss the exchange, and neither had Aurora. The half-elf leaned forward to share an amused look with the coy princess on my right.

  I focused on my breakfast and ignored their snickers.

  When we finally left the cover of the locomotive, the world seemed to have changed all around us. The trees had altered their design entirely as we labored into the night, and now gnarled limbs intertwined themselves in the auburn canopy above us.

  Pindor craned his neck to take it all in. Then a low whistle came from the young man as he turned circles between the tracks. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he mused.

  Zerla nodded. “Me neither.”

  “They’re Aldren trees.” Yaxin gestured to the base of the pearly trunks that no one had even noticed.

  I dragged my eyes from the strange, reddish tangle above me, and cocked a brow. “What the--? Where are the roots?”

  “Up there,” the tradesman chuckled.

  I moved closer and crouched down. The bark appeared to be seamless and glimmered in the sun like the pearls I’d seen on Earth. I tapped it to make sure, but the surface was nothing like I expected. It felt as sturdy as any wood but shone softly with a creamy sheen.

  “Unreal,” I muttered. I traced my finger down the strange bark and found that the ground did meet with the slender trunk. On closer inspection, I could see the pearly exterior plumed outward, trickling along the ground for a ways before it thinned and eventually disappeared.

  “They grow and grow like that,” Yaxin continued, “knotted up and getting more leaves all year round. Last time I passed through, you could still see the sky. Now though … ” He shrugged as he trailed off.

  Maybe it was my Earthly origins, but I couldn’t imagine how anyone could shrug at the sight of it. Even a hard-ass tradesman like Yaxin. The effect was disorienting, but I kept my eyes to the canopy. I couldn’t help it. The auburn leaves played against the pearly limbs, twisting and curling endlessly, like the forest was one giant organism.

  A heavy clap at my shoulder pulled me back to the tracks.

  “Alright, that’s enough of that. Back at it, boss,” Haragh said with a nod.

  “Right.” I blinked and shook myself. “Okay guys, five miles to Howleigh. It shouldn’t be much bigger than Durich, so we’ll be on our way by lunchtime. If we hustle, we could get through the next two stations by nightfall.” I turned to reboard, but Dughir whistled me back.

  “Hold on there, boss.” The man smirked through the last word. “Beyond Howleigh, we’ll be heading to the foothills, which means Garioch is the last stop before the mountains.”

  “Aye,” Haragh agreed. “Garioch is about sixty miles past Howleigh. Sits ass up against the cliffs.”

  “Ah.” I chewed on this for a minute. I hadn’t expected to reach the mountains as quickly as we had, but my crew had done me proud through the night. I was eager to reach the Draconis Mountains, however treacherous the work would be. The promise of the wealth of the mines still caused my magic to surge to the surface of my skin. Combined with the prospect of testing the custom brake system and high traction wheels I’d added, I suddenly felt like I’d slept enough to work through another night. “Well, let’s do this. Looks like it’s about time to kick some mountain ass.” I clapped my hands together decisively. Then I tossed out my most reassuringly cocky grin for good measure and hoped it would kick the groggy crew in front of me into gear.

  Aurora snorted, and I turned to see her roll her eyes.

  “You heard Defender Flynt,” she teased with a smirk.

  I could tell she expected me to eat my words, but I didn’t care. Watching her smug ass board the train made it feel a lot like I was already winning this one.

  Chapter 7

  Howleigh was as sleepy as Durich, only less run down. It was tucked near the outskirts of the Aldren forest, and the remoteness gave it a sense of nobility. We were as welcome as we could have hoped, and we were also pleased to find the bandits hadn’t managed to disrupt the slow lifestyle of the people. Squat wooden huts formed circles throughout a large clearing, with the canopy of the Aldren trees forming an auburn ceiling. The sparse population looked up at our approach but continued to drift between the homes at a speed that made Toroth look like a madhouse.

  My introductions were met with easy smiles, and I was directed to a kindly old man who stood with his hands folded at the front of his long cotton robes. He was several feet back from the small crowd and looked at the train in a way that made me question if he’d already seen one before. I didn’t want to be the guy to roll out my own red carpet, but he didn’t seem impressed enough. I brushed off my pride and approached him to make the customary proposal. From what I could tell, he didn’t care one way or the other.

  He smiled. He nodded. He waved me away to do my work.

  I was eager to reach the Draconis Mountains, so I quickly gathered the mages and set to work. With the combined power of the Terra and Ignis Mages, we pulled a humble, adobe structure from the smooth forest floor, similar to the ones we’d created for the people of Lindow. After the fiery destruction Camus Dred’s men had brought down on the village, the adobe was the most immediate option I could offer them. Here, however, it just seemed fitting. Something in the atmosphere made me not want to mar the quaint little village. Even a decorative ceiling would be too much.

  We practically had to pry the kind people from our sides by the time the work was finished. They quietly made all manner of modest offerings, and one young woman even pushed a bushel of wildflowers into my hand with genuine joy.

  I looked over to my half-elf as she received a handful of acorns from a small boy who insisted they were his finest ones. The strange scene must have begun to get to me, because I found the smiles infectious. I didn’t know when I’d begun grinning like a fool.

  “We’ll make a night of it on our next trip around,” I assured the kind elderly man, whose smile hadn’t left his face since we’d first approached. He’d barely said a word as the others gathered in calm curiosity. The gentility was getting nearly irritating by the time they finally cleared the track and allowed us to be on our way.

  And yet, I smiled and waved. I couldn’t help but think of the monks back on Earth. The people of Howleigh almost put them to shame.

  “That was weird,” Pindor chuckled at my side.

  We were a few miles outside of Howleigh, but I also couldn’t shake the strange people from my mind. If they hadn’t murmured a few words, saying, “Here is this, and this,” as they offered their humble wares, I would have had to ask if they were some sort of religious organization practicing a vow of silence.

  “Yeah, those might be the chillest people I’ve ever met,” I said with a shake of my head, but I still grinned from ear to ear.

  “The chillest.” Pindor nodded in agreement, but I could tell he’d never heard the phrase before in his life.

  “It’s the trees.”

  Shoshanne’s voice at my back startled me, and I glanced briefly to the Aer Mage as I continued steadily laying tracks and ties.

  “It’s the Aldren trees,” she clarified. “Their pollen warms enough by midday to emit their medicinal properties into the air. By about this time, the aroma settles on the forest floor and creates a euphoric effect. The beasts who live in their regions are said to cease hunting until morning comes again. This is probably why bandits haven’t become a problem for them.”

  “No shit?” I strained my neck back to see if she was serious, but her clear confusion at my words told me she was.

  “It’s … a medicinal property,” the caramel-skinned beauty continued slowly. “The Order of Pallax have a grove specifically for harvesting the pollen. It’s used to aid in coping with disease and painful maladies. The euphoria settles in gently, bu
t remains for several hours. Even the cool of the night air doesn’t fully subdue the effects. It has to leave the body’s system on its own.”

  I nodded and bit back my next response with a smirk plastered to my face. So essentially, they’re stoned all afternoon. That made a lot more sense. Thinking back to the smiling old man, I felt much more considerate. Creepy as his silent smiles had been, I could appreciate the man’s ultimate chill. Location was everything. I was also glad we’d left before the effects had seeped into my mages enough to slow them to such a snail’s pace.

  Haragh shifted his concentration from his work to add in his two cents. “Probably should have harvested a cart-full ourselves. We’re gonna need a bit of euphoria once we get into the mountains.”

  I laughed at the thought, but when I looked over to share in the joke, the half-ogre’s eyes weren’t amused. With a shake of his head, he turned back to his work.

  “Hey Haragh?” I asked. “Why aren’t you as smiley as the rest of us?”

  The half-ogre shrugged. “I’m twice your weight.”

  Well … that made sense.

  I was beginning to feel like I was the only one amped up for the next leg of our route, but I couldn’t help it. Yaxin had hooked me with his story of the wares the dwarves could create, and the Metal Mage in me was itching to get a first hand glimpse. Seeing as I was the only Metal Mage in hundreds of miles, if not the whole world, I could see how I’d be the only one determined enough to barrel through the mountains to get there.

  Now that I thought on it, I should have gathered some of the Aldren pollen as an offering for the dwarves we’d be meeting with. A bit a euphoria would no doubt ease any of the tensions we expected to encounter, so I made a mental note to make the offer anyway. I’d make a personal trip back down this way if this pollen would get me any closer to those mines.

  About forty miles beyond Howleigh, the sun abruptly disappeared behind a layer of clouds, and the air seemed to drop twenty degrees in a matter of minutes. Nightfall was still a few hours off, but the world around us looked like a wintry dusk. The forest thinned considerably as well.

  I counted this as good fortune. It would allow the Ignis Mages to turn their attention away from igniting trees for the first time in three days. The sparse plant life of the north-eastern region of Illaria reminded me of late November back on Earth. Everything looked thin and bare, and shrubbery clumped in ugly masses against the bald ground. Combined with the smell of cold steel, I could almost convince myself I was back in my last realm.

  Yaxin and Durigh had been seated in the dim corner of the locomotive to leave room for the mages as they worked. Now, they came to the edge of the opening and looked out at the landscape. They’d never been the most enthusiastic people, but the cast of their eyes didn’t look like the usual disinterest.

  “Something wrong?” I asked.

  The two men exchanged a furrowed look before Yaxin responded. “Don’t know. Just never seen it like this in these parts.”

  “Not since we’ve been coming here anyway,” Durigh added with a shrug. He shoved his sun-worn hands into his pockets and seemed to watch the clouds of his breath.

  I hadn’t noticed, but my own heavy breathing was becoming more visible in the air by the moment.

  “What is it usually like?” I kept steady at my work, but I was beginning to feel uneasy. The sweat of my shirt was chilling despite the heat of the day’s work radiating from my skin.

  “Same as about an hour ago,” Yaxin answered. “The forest thins out, but it’s not so cold this time of year. Garioch’s down in the valley over the next ridge. You head down and the temperature drops, you might see snow any day in the town. Not like this though.”

  Shoshanne joined them at the entrance and gently outstretched her slender arm as if she was reaching out to touch the wind.

  “Do you sense something?” Aurora called from the engine, and I could hear her instruct Mina to change places with her before she came to the Aer Mage’s side.

  “I don’t know,” Shoshanne answered with a furrowed brow.

  “Close your eyes,” Aurora instructed. “Let yourself seep into the air. It’s like reaching.”

  The young mage did as she was told, and for several minutes, we all waited.

  I had slowed my laying of tracks but tried to keep a consistent effort up. The idea of the mountains still pulsed in my chest, dull but determined. The other Terra Mages were clearly distracted by the circumstances, but I didn’t prod them on.

  Finally, Shoshanne opened her eyes with her fingers still extended in the air.

  “It’s strange. The air isn’t … comfortable like this? Does that make sense?” She turned to Aurora with confusion pinching her copper brows together.

  The Ignis Mage nodded once. “What else?”

  “It’s cold,” Shoshanne went on, and Yaxin rolled his eyes but held his tongue while she searched for the words. “Cold in a way that doesn’t feel natural. Not like winter. Something stronger.”

  “Stronger?” I asked. Now I stopped laying tracks. I signaled Mina to cut the engine, and everyone gathered near the Aer Mage. “Strong in what way? It’s air.”

  “Yes. But air’s strength is palpable, it feels like … like another skin to me. This isn’t like that. This cold is another element. It doesn’t … it doesn’t … ” She was at a loss for an explanation and turned to Aurora with clear frustration etched on her face.

  Aurora pursed her lips and finished for her. “Doesn’t feel like your element anymore.”

  Shoshanne nodded.

  “Shit,” the half-elf breathed, and then she planted her hands on her hips and looked far into the dim wasteland.

  “What is it?” I demanded.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted, “but it’s starting to remind me of something I’ve felt pretty recently.”

  I didn’t want to fill in the blank, but I could tell where she was going when her deep green eyes got a familiar edge to them. “The fire beasts.”

  “Yes,” she replied with a nod. “I could feel they were of fire, but it didn’t feel right. It was like someone had created a new form of the element or was influencing it in some way. It repelled my senses, even though I was drawn to the energy of it, same as any flame.”

  “Exactly!” Shoshanne cut in. “That’s exactly it. It’s drawing my energy like air, but it’s repelling my power. What does it mean?”

  “Well, I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna find out once we get over that ridge,” I sighed, and at my words, Haragh silently met my eyes above the heads of the women between us.

  The half-ogre’s jaw was set firmly, and beyond him, Yaxin and Durigh mirrored my distaste for what we were about to waltz into.

  “You saying whatever set them beasts on you is still out there?” Yaxin clarified.

  “Yes,” I said, “but we don’t know if that’s what’s happening here. For all we know it’s some creature we’ve never encountered and that’s just … ok.” I trailed off, because the man was clearly unimpressed with my reasoning. Then I turned to Aurora and rested my hand on her arm. “Do you hear anything?”

  “Wind,” she answered with a shrug. “Only wind, and a damn strong one at that.”

  I rubbed my neck as I considered the Ignis Mage’s words. Pindor caught my eye from the right, and the blatant fear in his eyes made my gut sink. I had a feeling I was going to have to lead these guys straight into hell. And this time, we all seemed to know it. The chances that the work of the Master wasn’t lurking in the mountains looked slim. And my dumb ass was giddy over a bit of metal.

  “How many tracks are left in the cars?” I asked Haragh.

  The half-ogre thought for a moment, but I knew the answer wasn’t a good one by the dim look on his face. “Enough to make it to Garioch. Maybe a few miles beyond. I expect Bagnera will be here in the next day.”

  “Shit,” I cursed as I turned my back to the landscape. We’d be in Garioch within two hours. That meant we’d be holed up in th
e city for a day, and I didn’t doubt that enough could happen in that time to seriously interrupt our journey. The train would be a sitting duck, and all of us along with it.

  I paced the length of the car three times, then another four more times when the nerves in my legs didn’t feel like stopping. Finally, I rejoined the others where they stood, silent. Half of them peered nervously into the distance, and the other half had soberly watched me burn a trail in the floor. I didn’t want to say it, but I knew they were waiting for the words.

  I took a deep breath. “We have to keep going.”

  Pindor blanched. “Wh-why? Why can’t we just--”

  “Because we need to,” I interrupted. Sinking the kid’s spirit was the last thing I wanted to do, and the panic in his eyes put a solid brick of guilt in my gut, but we didn’t have any other choice. “Whatever’s up ahead, there’s no one for hundreds of miles who is going to be able to do anything about it. Except for us.”

  “He’s right,” Aurora chimed in.

  I could have kissed her when she joined me at my side with her chin stubbornly set toward the ridge.

  Cayla flanked my other arm, and she met my gaze with an icy cast in her blue eyes. “Whatever it is,” she said, “at least it won’t be flying through the air with thousand degree talons coming at us.”

  I had to smile at that. The woman had a way of cutting through the shit. She’d make an amazing queen one day.

  She was already my queen.

  Haragh snorted from the corner with a devilish grin on his face. “Aye. If I’m not catching fire, I’m on board.”

  Jovion and Zerla exchanged a brief glance, but after spending as much time with them as I had in the past week, I knew they’d already decided.

  “Let’s do this,” Jovion agreed with a nod.

  The others gave a general affirmative, and as we all returned to our posts, even Pindor stood a little taller.

  Aurora pulled me into a fiery kiss, and she held me inches from her lips as she said, “We should have kicked them all out this morning.”