Metal Mage 11

by Eric Vall

  “I’m very busy,” the Baroness mumbled.

  “Surely, you could find a little time,” Cayla replied, and Nulena sighed in irritation.

  “I don’t have any interest in this silly feud amongst the regions,” she shot back.

  “It isn’t amongst the regions,” Aurora corrected. “Mason’s actually done everything he can to ensure that isn’t the case. This is about protecting the livelihood of everyone, Nulena.”

  “The livelihood of others doesn’t concern me,” the Baroness replied coldly, and as I eyed the murderous cast of her eyes, I could tell she truly meant this. “You all may enjoy running around saving lives, but I am not interested in defending, protecting, or saving anyone.”

  “It would help me out a lot,” I cut in, and Nulena’s two-toned eyes immediately softened as she looked at me. “If not for everyone else’s sake, would you do this for mine at least?”

  Nulena bit her ebony lip while she warred with the concept, and her cheeks began to shimmer ever so slightly under my direct gaze.

  “Fine,” she suddenly relented. “I will look around … if I have the time.”

  “Thank you,” I chuckled, and I could practically hear Aurora’s eye roll.

  “I may not be as softhearted as Shoshanne,” the half-elf muttered, “but I certainly wouldn’t wish for the death of the innocent.”

  “I don’t wish it,” Nulena said with a shrug. “That implies I’m just as invested. I only think it’s more enjoyable when everything exists in a precarious balance between survival and utter ruin. It makes life much more interesting.”

  I raised my brows at the sentiment while Stan shook his head, but Cayla had a curious smile on her face.

  “You’re deadly in an entirely different way than me,” the princess mused. “It’s off-putting, but I like it.”

  “Likewise,” Nulena purred.

  “While Nulena helps us locate the marks,” Deya cut in, “perhaps you should speak with my brother, Mason. He may not know about this element, but he understands rune magic and the balance of countering the elemental lines better than anyone.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” I muttered as I straightened up from hunching over my drawing.

  “No,” Aurora immediately refused. “No Nalnora. Don’t do this to me.”

  “I completely understand how you feel,” I allowed, “but we may not have another choice.”

  “Mason, after the way you left things there, you’d be at too great a risk to return to the jungles now,” Shoshanne worried. “You said they were throwing daggers at you only last week.”

  “Why not summon him here to Falmount?” Deya tried. “Send a letter by raven detailing our predicament, and I’m sure Dragir would come to our aid.”

  “If the letter got intercepted, Mason’s precise location would be revealed to the elves,” Cayla countered. “That puts all of us at risk, and you more than anyone, Deya.”

  “One of Orion’s giant owls could easily pick off a raven,” I agreed. “He’s the last guy I need knowing what I’m up to, especially if it has to do with Dragir and rune magic. He’d probably abduct Dragir on his way here and help the Master out just by being a dick about it.”

  The Baroness let out a low chuckle of agreement, but Stan began urgently shaking my finger, and when I looked down, he gestured to his little metal body. Then he started an elaborate mime that involved raising his arms like he was shooting someone, dueling, and high fiving.

  “Big Guy?” I guessed, and Stan nodded vigorously. “You think I should send an automaton to get Dragir?”

  Stan nodded once more, and Cayla giggled.

  “Well done, Stan,” the princess purred. “That’s a perfect solution. Anyone who comes up against Big Guy would certainly end up running the other direction rather than following him, and Dragir couldn’t possibly mistake him for anything other than one of your creations, Mason. Give him your letter and order him to keep it concealed at all costs, then send him to fetch Dragir. Big Red can continue covering his patrol here while you work on building up Falmount’s defenses.”

  “And a defense for Mors Pass,” Deya reminded me.

  “And locating this new mark within the foothills,” Aurora added.

  “Perhaps you should alert Wyresus to the presence of this new element as well,” Shoshanne mused. “It might help with his translations and assist you in finding a means of countering it sooner in case it takes weeks for Dragir to arrive.”

  I was beginning to feel like my brain was being slowly squeezed in a vise, and I rubbed my temples and gave my hair a thorough scruffing to get my thoughts straight.

  “One thing at a time,” I decided. “I still have to send word to Grot to make sure he’s not missing any more ogres, and I’m getting a little worried that I haven’t heard a peep from Dorinick.”

  “I will go to check on the dwarves for you,” Deya assured me. “This afternoon, if you like. Dorinick knows to watch for me if I use the purple dragon to transmute.”

  “That would ease my mind a lot,” I admitted.

  “Don’t forget about the other dragons, though,” Aurora quickly added, and when I looked over, her blue brows were knitted with worry. “We can’t continue to use Deya’s power if we can’t ensure they’re protected.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into the dragon issue,” I assured her.

  The half-elf’s eyes lit up immediately. “What have you come up with?”

  I sighed as I turned on my stool and propped my back against the table, and all of my women clung to the edge of the fountain while they waited to hear my plan.

  “The issue is, I only have one channeling gem left,” I explained. “It’s the large amber one I got at Mors Pass, and it’s frequency is incredibly potent, so I think I can count on it to provide the kind of power I’m going to need for this.”

  “For a weapon?” Cayla asked eagerly.

  “Sort of,” I admitted, and I eyed my elven women warily before I continued. “Okay, don’t get too excited, because I have no idea if I can do this, but I’m thinking the best way to protect the dragons without risking all of them attacking whatever guard I send them is to, uh … ” I cleared my throat as Aurora’s emerald eyes widened with anticipation. “To use a dragon.”

  “Not Deya?” Shoshanne exclaimed, and she looked terrified at the idea.

  “No, not a real one,” I clarified. “A uh … a metal one.”

  Now, Cayla’s blue eyes glinted. “Are you talking about an automaton?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Will it fly?” Deya asked as her smile spread across her face.

  “Ideally? Yes.”

  Water surged over the edge of the fountain as Aurora squealed and leapt out, and I stared at her glistening wet curves as she bounded over to me.

  Then the drenched half-elf climbed onto my lap and buried her tongue in my mouth.

  I guess I had no choice now.

  I was going to have to try and build a fucking metal dragon.

  Chapter 4

  I tried multiple times to clarify that I couldn’t promise the idea would work, but no amount of explanations cooled Aurora down by even a degree. By the time my clothes were all soaked through from the treatment my half-elf gave me, I had a feeling she was certain I’d figure out how to build a larger and more complex automaton than I’d ever attempted, and while I appreciated her enthusiasm, I wasn’t nearly as convinced.

  Eventually, Aurora released me, though, and she clutched eagerly at my vest.

  “When do we get to start building the dragon?”

  “Probably once I finish checking in on Grot, redesigning Falmount, sending Big Guy to get Dragir, and--”

  “Then get to work!” Aurora scolded as she climbed off my lap, and she prodded me to turn around and get back to my design.

  “I don’t understand how you get anything accomplished,” Nulena sighed.

  “It’s a precarious balance,” I chuckled as Stan handed my pen ov
er.

  “Then why make these other things your priority at all when you could make love to Aurora and the rest of us instead?” the Baroness countered. “Don’t you think that would be a more enjoyable way to spend your time here?”

  “I do,” I admitted, but Cayla clicked her tongue in disapproval.

  “Mason is becoming a very powerful man, Nulena,” the princess said. “Don’t act like that isn’t one of the sexiest things about him.”

  “Yes, but only one of the things,” the Baroness allowed. “It’s also the most likely thing to get him killed, and for the good of whom? Others.”

  “You’re so cold for a beautiful woman,” Deya mused. “I like it, though.”

  “I know you do,” Nulena replied, and she sauntered toward the corner. “I should get back to Rajeen,”

  “You’re leaving so soon?” Deya asked with a frown. “Don’t you want to bathe with us? Mason loves when we bathe in his shop, it’ll be so much fun if you join us. I can wash you while Mason watches if you like.”

  The Baroness smiled softly. “I wish I could accept the offer, but I have a rather busy schedule today.”

  “Doing what?” Aurora asked.

  “An important client of mine is expecting me in Rajeen to discuss the assassination of his cousin,” Nulena said with a careless shrug. “Then I have to sell this information to two lords in order to instill a little chaos in the circumstances, but this evening, I will be assassinating the cousin myself and then assisting the two lords in plotting their revenge against my other client.”

  Stan palmed his metal forehead in disapproval while we all stared for a moment, but before anyone could respond, the Baroness conjured a swarm of shadows in the corner, and she reached into the black mist like she was looking for something.

  “That reminds me,” Nulena sighed. “I brought these for you all to use in your training.”

  Then the Baroness pulled two flails from the shadows and handed them to Deya and Shoshanne before she grabbed another two for Cayla and Aurora. The weapons weren’t double ended like the one we’d all been sharing lately, and the wooden staves were only two feet long so they could be used more conveniently with one hand. The striker heads still had perilous iron spikes jutting out of them, though, and I noticed each flail bore a slightly different design.

  The women gasped with delight as they admired the new weapons, and Nulena brought a fifth flail over to me that had spikes twice as long as the others,

  “You … bought us gifts?” I asked as I cocked a brow.

  “No, I had them lying around anyway,” the Baroness replied in a monotone. “You might as well put them to good use.”

  “Right, lying around,” I mumbled, and Cayla’s eyes glinted with amusement when they met mine.

  “Is that why Deya’s is slightly smaller to account for her being less strong?” Cayla clarified.

  Then Aurora held her new flail aloft with a cheeky grin. “Double strikers. My specialty.”

  “Mine has no studs around the grip,” Shoshanne pointed out. “You remembered the other flail hurts my hand. Thank you, Nulena. That was very thoughtful of you.”

  Now, the Baroness’ jaw twitched in irritation as she blushed, and I quickly discarded my flail and caught her by the wrist before she could flee. Nulena groaned as I dragged her into my lap, and she was halfway through insisting she put no thought into any of this when I cut her off with a kiss.

  The Baroness immediately melted in my hold as the other women giggled, and I listened to her heartbeat quicken with every second while I kept her firmly locked in place. She was practically panting in her corset when I finally released her lips, but she kept her hold on my shirt as I kneaded her velvet clad hips in my palms.

  “Thank you for the flails,” I muttered, and Nulena struggled to keep from smiling when her two-toned eyes met mine.

  “I should go,” she replied before she stubbornly wriggled out of my grip and headed toward the corner.

  “Have fun destroying people’s lives,” Aurora called after her.

  Nulena grinned at the four women in the fountain. “Have fun saving them.”

  “Wait … am I supposed to save this guy you’re assassinating?” I clarified.

  “I would rather you didn’t,” Nulena replied as she brushed her long black hair back over her shoulder. “It would spoil all of my fun.”

  With that, the Baroness faded into her shadows, and when the last of the mist dissipated, she was gone.

  “Nulena’s so sweet,” Deya sighed. “It’s nice to see her expressing herself more comfortably.”

  “She loves us,” Shoshanne decided.

  “Mason’s flail has the biggest spikes,” Aurora pointed out. “Nulena thrives on senseless violence, and since his flail will have the most violent effect, this probably means she loves him most of all.”

  Cayla nodded. “I agree.”

  “I still wish I could have bathed her for you, Mason,” Deya pouted.

  “Next time,” I chuckled.

  “I wonder who she’s assassinating tonight,” Cayla pondered aloud, and she and Aurora exchanged calculating looks.

  Then the women spent the next half hour trying to decide who the Baroness’ client could be, which two lords she was toying with, and how she would go about murdering the cousin.

  Eventually, they gave up bathing, though. Cayla kept insisting a baron shouldn’t be answering his door, and after a third delivery arrived from some of the nobles, the women decided just to get out of the fountain and fawn over a chest of jade amulets and two enormous, decorative urns made from bronze instead.

  Stan and I were too caught up in finalizing the layout for Falmount Rift to pay much attention to the women’s conversations, but I nodded in agreement when they offered to start preparing a mid-morning feast for us all. Stan paced around my drawing and mimed suggestions here and there while I worked, and I took his advice about water channels through the streets, a central well in the market, and a few other classy additions he kept coming up with.

  Once I was happy with the final product, I grabbed a fresh slip of parchment, and I wrote a quick note to Grot about the attack last night. I made sure to keep it short and to the point with only yes or no questions, and then I wrote a second, similar note to Dorinick so he’d know we just cut down the Master’s ogre numbers considerably. The last note I worked on was a letter to Dragir, and just in case Big Guy did get intercepted, I didn’t include any details of how to get to me. Dragir would have to follow the automaton’s lead, and hopefully, the few sentences I wrote referencing being royally fucked would be enough for him to understand my need for his assistance.

  I could hear Jenik just beginning his training outside with Big Red as I finished the last sentence, and I scooped Stan up so he could ride on my shoulder before I headed out to the clearing beside the moat.

  My eels snapped viciously at the stone edge while I strolled by, and I wiggled my fingers at the little water spawn as I admired their razor-sharp teeth. They always went apeshit when anything came within a few feet of the moat, but I noticed they went extra apeshit for me, and I was pretty sure this meant we were beginning to bond.

  “Lookin’ good, boys,” I cooed, but then Jenik turned around.

  “Thank you,” he panted.

  “Not you, the eels,” I clarified, “but it looks like you’re making some serious headway out here.”

  “I am,” he said as he wiped his sweaty brow on his sleeve, and he sent me an exhausted grin as he flexed his bicep a bit. “Look how big my muscles are getting already.”

  I nodded in approval, even though I saw no difference in the lanky mage.

  “Damn,” I mumbled. “Impressive. Listen, I need you to get a letter sent out for me once you finish up here. Would you mind?”

  “Not at all,” Jenik said with a shrug, and I sifted through my notes to find the one to Grot.

  “This needs to get to the leader of Jagruel as quickly as possible,” I told him.


  Jenik nodded a bit uneasily. “Are you sure you want to ally with those guys? I mean, that attack last night was … ”

  “I’m positive,” I assured him, “especially after what I saw last night. Brutality like theirs when it’s not being used to slaughter my own army is exactly what I need right now.”

  “If you’re sure,” the young mage mumbled, and he pocketed the letter as he stretched his sword arm a bit and turned back to Big Red. “I’ll make sure it’s sent the second I’m finished here.”

  “I appreciate it,” I said with a grin, and I clapped him on the back before I headed toward the house once more. “Keep up the good work!”

  The women were already gathered around our dining table while they arranged an array of platters, and I nudged Deya once I came to join them.

  “I have a letter for you to give Dorinick when you fly out there to check on his crew,” I told her. “Do you have a way of carrying it with you?”

  “I do,” she assured me, and her smile widened as she took the note. “When I broke my connection after transmuting the other day, I found an animal bone still stuck between my teeth from my hunt, so I think if I hold this in my teeth, I should still have it when I transfer to my dragon form.”

  “That’s kind of gross, but helpful,” I admitted.

  “I will go right this moment,” the beautiful elf decided.

  “You can eat first,” I chuckled, but Deya just waved me off as she made her way toward the hallway.

  “I’d rather hunt for something while I’m out,” she called back, and I tried not to picture what my beautiful elf would be mauling this morning while we all enjoyed roasted pheasant and fresh pears.

  “Did you finish the design?” Shoshanne asked as she gestured for me to take a seat.

  “I did,” I replied. “I just want to get Big Guy sent to Nalnora before I sit down. That way everything is handled, I can get right to rebuilding after breakfast, and I might even have some time to stop by the Oculus and speak with Wyresus.”

  The women nodded and began their meal while I jogged back out to my moat, and as I strolled across the bridge, I summoned my Terra powers to scan the perimeter of Falmount for any signs of Big Guy.