by Eric Vall
“When do we begin, Mage Flynt?” he asked resolutely.
“In the morning,” I replied with a tired smile. “It’s been a long day, and I need some rest. Oh, and call me Mason, would you? The mage title feels too odd for me. Besides, we’re friends now, yes?”
I held out my hand to the ginger giant.
He regarded the gesture coolly for a moment and then took my hand. His grip felt like it could crush steel.
“Great,” I said with a wince. “Then, we’ll begin first thing tomorrow.”
But first, we had to get through the king’s decree.
When the sun began to sink beneath the foothills, the people of Serin flooded into the castle courtyard. Like King Temin had intended, citizens from every quarter attended, nobility, artisans, and tradesmen alike. By the time dusk had settled over the capital, there had to be over a thousand people crammed into the castle walls.
I glanced at Aurora and Cayla on either side of me as we stood in the back corner of the courtyard. Both women looked pale and nervous about the speech to come. As I turned back to the castle balcony where the king was emerging, like the Pope addressing the faithful in Rome back on Earth, I could only hope that whatever Temin was about to say wouldn't cause a riot.
A trumpet echoed out across the courtyard and silenced the people’s chatter. I was surprised when, almost simultaneously, Aurora and Cayla took each of my hands. I squeezed back to comfort them both.
“Well, here we go,” I muttered as King Temin held up his arms and began his address.
“Citizens of Serin! Citizens of Illaria,” the king cried out in a loud voice. “I come to you today with tidings of sorrow but also of joy.”
The people murmured and glanced amongst themselves anxiously. Aurora gripped my hand so tight I was afraid that she’d break it.
“A darkness has threatened our kingdom for many moons now,” the king went on. “You have all heard tales of the beasts that ravage our beloved country. Now, I have come to tell you that these attacks were in part orchestrated by a man that I once held in the greatest of confidence, Mage Abrus Zorick, leader of the Order of Elementa!”
A cry of dismay rose from the crowd. I saw the mages in attendance either go pale in shock or red in anger. Temin held up his hands for silence once again.
“I know it is difficult to believe,” he cried, “and I would not believe it myself if he had not tried to assassinate me today by his own hand and by the use of a dreaded basilisk. If it were not for the bravery of Defender Aurora Solana, Princess Cayla Balmier, and Defender Mason Flynt, I would be dead along with the three courageous knights whose lives were cut short by Abrus’ betrayal and treachery.”
As the king gestured to us, hundreds of eyes turned in our direction. Aurora went stiff under the scrutiny, but Cayla was used to it and only lifted her chin regally. I settled for a half wave and a strained smile since I wasn’t quite aware I had been promoted to Defender. Perks of saving the king, I guessed.
“Today is a day of sadness and mourning indeed,” the king continued as the crowd turned to face him again, “and there are many questions that yet need answers. But we cannot fall into despair or dismay, and we cannot give in to fear! Dark forces might lurk in the shadows, hungry for our demise, but there is cause for hope! Defender Mason Flynt has been blessed and visited by the gods themselves! They have sent him visions of how to defeat the beasts and our enemies who would see us fall. With these new weapons, gods’ weapons, Illaria will persevere through these dark times. This I swear to you as your king.”
When Temin’s voice faded out over the courtyard, silence followed. For a split second, I feared the worst, but then a lone cry went up, then another, and another, and soon the whole crowd was cheering, bolstered by their faith in their confident king.
I let out a sigh of relief, and beside me, Aurora and Cayla smiled as we took in the roaring crowd. At least that had been easy.
Of course, that meant the following three days were anything but.
Starting at dawn the next morning, even though my body was sore and still recovering, I met with the blacksmiths to start production. First, I made them a revolver from scratch, just so they could see what it looked like coming together. Then, I made them molds for each individual part and screw so that they could pour the refined steel into them once the forges had heated up the metal. Lastly, I gave them the recipe and ratio for gunpowder, as well as a quick safety training lesson on the proper precautions to take with the volatile mixture.
Of course, I also had to give them a weapon demonstration, and I insisted we do it outside. It took place on the royal archery range, and needless to say, after the blacksmiths and much of the castle had seen what the guns could do, they set to work quickly and efficiently.
However, all that had taken the better part of the first day. By the time I left the castle, saddled my horse, and made my way north out of the city toward my workshop, the sun was already sinking toward the western horizon.
“Guess I’ll be working by candlelight,” I muttered to myself. Aurora could have helped, but the Ignis Mage was currently tied up with the Order. Abrus’ betrayal and subsequent death had left a power vacuum that the Order was scrambling to fill. I offered to help, but I was still a novice when it came to the politics and affairs of the magical organization.
“You cannot help me with this,” Aurora had told me with a sad and tired smile when I left the Oculus early that morning. “See to the things that you can do.”
So, that is what I was going to do. With the weapon’s production now underway, there was only one thing left for me to see to.
I arrived at the workshop right as the world slipped into twilight. The clearing was still a ruined mess and, while the basilisk’s body had also been burned, the marks of its corrosive blood still marred the dirt here and there. I vowed to fix the damage to this beautiful clearing before we left for Cedis.
But to leave for Cedis, we needed transportation.
I walked around the back of the workshop and lowered the stone wall. The motorcycle’s frame gleamed faintly in the fresh moonlight as it was slowly revealed.
“Time to get to work,” I sighed.
I worked for the next two days straight. I worked until I couldn’t keep my eyes open and then I slept on a cot in the small bedroom attached to the shop. When my eyes peeled open the next morning, I rinsed my face, ate some provisions I had packed from the castle, and set to work once again.
Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, I was finished, and not fifteen minutes later, both Aurora and Cayla arrived on horseback.
“We were not sure if you were still alive,” the princess quipped as I stumbled out into the bright afternoon, “and that you had not forgotten about tonight’s feast.”
“Oh, I’m way more than alive,” I said with a broad grin and wide eyes. “I am enlightened.”
The two women shared a look.
“Have you been sleeping?” Aurora asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Sleep’s not important,” I slurred my words a little as I waved dismissively. “What’s important is that I finished.”
For a moment, both women just looked confused, but then understanding shone in Cayla’s gaze.
“The mechanical steed?” she breathed with wide eyes. “You have completed it?”
“Yup,” I nodded as I popped the ‘p.’ “Just a few minutes ago. Wanna see?”
“Of course,” Cayla exclaimed as she slid off her horse. She hurried to my side and looked around. “Where is it?”
“Right this way,” I said as I held out my arm, but then I paused and glanced at Aurora, who had just dismounted. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any more Tiorlin berries right now, would you? I know you said they were the last, but were they really?”
“They were indeed,” the half-elf intoned dryly, “but I do have this.”
Her hand darted to her hip so fast I barely had time to blink before she had flung the contents of her canteen in
my face. I gasped in shock as the icy cold water dribbled down my cheeks. Cayla had stepped to the side just in time to avoid being drenched as well.
“T-thanks,” I chattered. I shook my head, and the fog of sleep deprivation lifted a little.
“Happy to be of service,” Aurora replied with a lovely smile, and then she took my other arm. “Now, show me this mechanical steed you believe can outstrip Nerfrina, which I still do not believe is true.”
“Prepare to eat your words, Defender Solana,” I said cockily. With a woman on each arm, I sauntered around the workshop and stopped dramatically before my completed masterpiece.
“That’s it?” Aurora said evenly. “It does not look like much. It is not even very tall.”
“No,” I said as a smile spread wide across my face, “but it is very, very fast. Or at least it will be once Aurora does her thing. Come on, let me show you.”
I tugged the two women over to the motorcycle, or Bobbie 2.0 as I affectionately called her. She didn’t look exactly like my old Street Bob. For one, she was almost twice as long with three seats on her saddle. And second, her tires weren’t made out of rubber. They were made out of steel that I added small studs to so that the motorcycle wouldn’t lose traction on the dirt roads of this world. I figured I could use my power to adjust them for the terrain on the fly, but I also added two shock-suspension springs on each side of both axles to help smooth out the ride, since I didn’t have any actual rubber touching the road. The bike also didn’t have headlights seeing as there was no electricity, but Aurora’s powers would be enough to light the way to Cedis.
And power our journey as well.
“Here,” I said as we circled the bike, “Aurora, you sit in front, I will sit in the middle, and Cayla, you will sit behind me.”
The women looked dubious but followed my instructions, regardless. I tried not to stare too hard as Aurora slid her red stocking covered leg over the seat, but her robe slid up so tantalizingly I couldn’t help but lean forward and brush the side of her hip.
“Thank you for the assistance.” The half-elf glanced back at me with a sly smile that I copied.
“Just making sure you’re steady,” I said as I straddled the bike behind her. I scooted up close until her back and my front were flush. “Comfortable?”
“Very,” the blue-haired maiden whispered huskily as she wiggled her ass against me. I stifled a groan and looked over my shoulder at Cayla.
“Hop on,” I encouraged as I patted the extended seat behind me.
The princess approached hesitantly but swung her long leg up and sat down on the end of the bike.
“Closer,” I teased as I reached back and pulled her flush against me. She gasped slightly and wrapped her arms around my waist to keep from pitching over.
“How does this work?” Cayla asked as she tried to crane her neck to see over my shoulder.
“Patience,” I chastised, and then I turned back to Aurora.
The half-elf was bent close to the handlebars as she inspected the ignition hole. “What do I do?” She prodded at the dashboard where I had installed a simple speedometer just for the heck of it.
“All you have to do is place your hand here,” I instructed as I pointed to the ignition hole about the size of my palm, “and channel a little fire into the bike. Not a lot, and nothing hot enough to melt the metal. Try a flame that you would use to light a torch.”
“And that’s all?” Aurora asked dubiously as she glanced over her shoulder at me.
“Well, I could give you a detailed, hours-long explanation on how a Stirling engine works,” I replied with a cheeky grin, “or you could simply take the shortcut and trust me.”
“I trust you, Mason,” the half-elf said simply, and I saw in her eyes just how much she meant it.
“Good,” I said with a warmer smile. “Now, put your hand where I showed you and keep the flame continuous, understood?”
Aurora nodded and turned back to face forward. I leaned over and watched as orange flame ignited on her fingers.
“Brace yourselves,” I said to the lovely women wrapped around me.
Then Aurora placed her hand on the ignition point, and the static of magic zinged through the air.
For a moment, nothing happened, and then…
The bike roared to life beneath us, and Aurora and Cayla let out simultaneous screams. I threw back my head and laughed as the rumble between my legs brought me back to the long Midwest highways of Earth.
“Hold on tight, ladies,” I called over the growl of the engine, “and pick your feet up!”
Cayla practically wrapped her arms and legs around me. Aurora was a little more reserved, but in the small side mirror I had attached to the handlebars, I could see the half-elf’s wide eyes and furrowed brow.
“I got you,” I whispered into her ear as I leaned forward and grasped the throttle. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“I know,” Aurora mouthed as she glanced back at me, and then she leaned forward to kiss me.
With the beautiful blue-haired maiden still distracted, I yanked back on the clutch and let loose the brake. Since she was still channeling a small flame into the bike, it tore out from underneath us and lurched across the grass.
The women yelped again as I deftly maneuvered the bike around several trees and boulders before I executed a tight turn and spun in the dirt. When I feathered the clutch again, we roared around the front of the workshop and then came to a quick stop.
“Oh, hell yeah,” I cried triumphantly. Bobbie 2.0 handled like a dream. I looked back at Cayla with a wide grin. “Believe we can make it to Cedis in three days now?”
“I… how… gods!” The princess could only gape at me, her ebony hair in a wild disarray around her head.
I laughed as I turned back to Aurora and leaned forward to try to see her expression. “What about you, Lady Solana?”
“That… was exhilarating,” the half-elf exclaimed as a fierce smile stretched across her face.
“Glad you liked it,” I laughed. “There is a slight problem to the design that I need to work through, but in the meantime, you can serve as a stop-gap.”
“What do you need?” Aurora asked, and her green eyes glittered like emeralds.
“You are delivering consistent power to the engine, just like I asked,” I began. “But the engine I built isn’t necessarily perfect for this kind of vehicle. I’ve got two sets of gears installed so that I can adjust the speed a bit, but the short story is that I’m going to need you to push more fire into the engine to increase the piston’s revolutions so that we can go faster.”
“How much should I do?” she asked.
“We’ll have to test it out,” I laughed. “We can test drive her all the way to Serin.”
“Yes, let us do that,” Aurora replied firmly as she turned back around and reignited the engine. I hadn’t seen the blue-haired maiden this happy or excited in days.
It made me feel good to see that lovely smile come back to her gorgeous face.
Chapter 17
We did, in fact, ride the motorcycle back to the capital city, though it took us a few false starts to make it safely out of the rockier areas of the foothills. Once we were on a straightaway, and Aurora figured out the correct amount of heat to push, we flew. I couldn’t see the speedometer over Aurora’s shoulder, but we had to have pushed at least fifty miles an hour as we flew down the dirt road to Serin. We must have looked like a dust demon as we tore through the countryside, and I wondered what tales would spread about us now. Defenders Solana and Flynt and Princess Balmier, riders of the wind.
I kind of liked the sound of that.
At each of the gates, we were stopped and gawked at by the guards. Well, to be fair, we were gawked at as we weaved through the streets as well. People pointed and stared as Bobbie 2.0’s metal wheels angrily scraped across the cobblestones, and I grinned proudly through it all.
“Built her with my own two hands,” I said again and again
to those who asked. “My own mechanical steed, another vision from the gods.”
Slowly but surely, we made our way to the castle. King Temin had announced a feast in honor of our victory over “our adversaries” and also to wish us good fortune on our quest to Cedis. The craftsmen’s quarter was practically buzzing with activity as preparations for the celebration were made, but we quickly made our way past them and continued on our way toward the castle. As the guests of honor, Aurora, Cayla, and I just had to show up. No work was required of us tonight.
So, I planned on enjoying myself.
When the sun set, the festivities began. The feast itself was a grand and lavish affair. King Temin had spared no expense. There was live music and a court jester and even a man who seemed to be…
“Is he juggling knives?” Cayla asked, horrified when we took our seats at the long table at the front of the banquet hall. The king had granted us places of honor at his side.
“I believe so,” I said slowly and then blinked as flames suddenly danced through the air too. “Now he’s set them on fire.”
“He is not a mage,” Aurora remarked worriedly from my other side. Her eyes tracking the flaming blades as they were caught and thrown again and again into the air. I chuckled as I reached out and took the Ignis Mage’s hand.
“You are not on duty tonight,” I teased. “Relax. Have some fun. Have some wine, even!”
I turned and gestured to one of the servants who lined the banquet hall walls. He came over with a pitcher of wine and ale both. He poured the wine for the women and offered me a mug of ale.
“Thank you,” I said with a grin, and then downed the golden contents in a single gulp. The ale was sharp and cold, but it settled pleasantly warm in my stomach. Aurora and Cayla looked at me with great surprise on their faces.
“What?” I asked and then let loose a belch. “Tonight is a night of revelry! With the gods as my witness, I will eat, drink, and be merry. I think we deserve it, don’t you?”
The two women beside me shared matching, secretive smiles, and simultaneously reached for their wine.