Metal Mage 11

by Eric Vall

  Even Temin was in better spirits, and at this point, I couldn’t care less what the Master had up his sleeve. Something in my gut told me we could damn sure handle it, whatever it was.

  But then I heard Pindor cursing under his breath while he bolted along the lane, and I froze as he drew closer to the mansion.

  I was still sitting there with my engraving tool poised in midair when the kid burst into the house, and he toppled over Alfred on his way to the atrium. Sweat was pouring down his temples when he made it to the shop, and he stood there gulping for air as I turned on my stool.

  “Mason,” Pindor gasped, “we’ve got a huge fucking problem!”

  I nodded. “That sounds about right.”

  Chapter 17

  “You’re sure that’s what the merchants said?” I clarified as Pindor and I ran to Bobbie, and he nodded vigorously.

  “Three of them, bigger than anything they’ve ever seen, and covered in flames,” Pindor repeated.

  “Where?” I demanded as I brought Bobbie to life, and I planted my foot through the accelerator before Pindor was even seated.

  The kid yelped and almost tumbled over the seatback, but when I took a sharp turn around a few trees, he rolled back into place and caught the grab bar in both hands.

  “The merchants saw them in the distance to the west when they were on their way to Falmount with their stock,” Pindor hollered above the noise of Bobbie careening down the hillside. “The things were taller than the mountains!”

  I furrowed my brow as I veered southwest to take a shortcut through a ravine, and I thought back to the last time flaming beasts had showed up in Illaria.

  “Sounds like there’s another possessed Ignis Mage causing trouble,” I muttered.

  “You think one mage could make three giant flaming monsters at once?” Pindor scoffed.

  “I have no idea,” I shot back, “but I wouldn’t be surprised by much of anything these days. Shit’s been getting weirder every day.”

  “The merchants I talked to said the beasts had a lot of smoke coming from them, too,” the kid continued.

  “Then keep an eye on the sky,” I told him as Bobbie swerved at the edge of a steep hillside, and I turned us west before I floored it once more. “We’ll follow the smoke to see if we can spot--”

  I hit the brakes so hard, both me and Pindor nearly smashed into the dashboard, but neither of us cared. We were busy gaping across the hills in horror.

  Even at this distance, the air and terrain surrounding the flaming giants rippled from the heat they were letting off, but there was a striking difference between these guys and the fire scorpion we’d battled outside Rajeen.

  Despite their demonic skulls and hollow eyes, the giants had ash gray sinew for bodies that was chiseled to an alarming degree, and vivid red flames billowed from their frames as they slowly burned a trail over the rolling hills. They carried fiery, coiled whips in their hands, too, and the smoke that plumed at their backs left a dense black cloud over the land.

  Initially, I’d hoped Pindor’s informants oversold the ordeal when they said the giants were taller than the mountains, but my palms began to sweat as I realized they hadn’t. These bastards towered over the trees, the foothills, and the peaks of the distant mountains, and I could already feel the tremors of their footfalls shaking the ground from a mile away.

  “Gods-fucking-damnit,” I groaned. “Where the hell is he even getting this shit from?”

  “They’re heading straight for Serin,” Pindor breathed with his eyes wide in terror. “At this rate, they could be there within a couple hours.”

  I nodded as I watched flames spilling from the giants’ limbs, and brush fires started all over the land wherever they fell. Then I swiftly brought Bobbie back around, and Pindor almost bounced right out the window as we bombed down hillsides and along rocky ravines to get back to Falmount.

  Normally, I drove around the village so I wouldn’t spook the mages’ horses with the Mustang, but this time, I sped right past Mage Hill as everyone dove out of the lanes. Then I came to a screeching stop in front of the barbican, and Pindor and I leapt from the windows to sprint into the market.

  “Find my women at the training fields,” I ordered.

  The kid nodded before he branched off.

  “Everyone, get your weapons and head for the stables,” I hollered as the mages in the clearing stared in alarm, and they promptly obeyed the order while I scanned for a sign of Kurna.

  For once, none of the Defenders were hanging around the pub, though, and I came to a quick stop as I listened carefully. Then I heard Urn and Kurna’s voices coming from one of the shops, and when I stormed in, I found eighteen of my Defenders either shopping for spices or helping set up spice racks.

  All of them looked like guilty teenagers when they saw me, but I didn’t bother addressing the fact they were supposed to be working instead of hitting on a spice lady.

  “Get the mages ready to move out,” I ordered. “Serin’s about to be under attack.”

  Jars and packages hit the ground as the Defenders abruptly cleared out, and Cayla and Aurora were just getting to the clearing with Pindor when we crossed paths.

  “Do you know anything about giants made of fire?” I asked Aurora as she fell into step with me.

  “Do you mean fire titans?” the half-elf asked in confusion. “I’ve read about giants that spew fire, but I’ve never seen--”

  “Huge as fuck with flaming whips,” I cut in, and Aurora’s eyes went wide.

  “That sounds accurate.”

  “Shit,” I cursed as we got back to Bobbie. “Can your magery counter their magic?”

  “I don’t know,” the half-elf admitted. “Mason, what’s going on?”

  “Three of them are heading for Serin right now,” I replied, and I turned to the Defenders at my back. “Get the troops armed and mounted. I’ll meet you at the ridge about a mile southwest of here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Urn said with a nod, and he and the others spread out to bark orders at the mages gathering in the clearing.

  “Pindor,” I said as I caught him by his sleeve. “This is no time to be a shit, you’re a Defender, deal with it.”

  The kid blanched as he nodded, and I shook my head while he ran for the stables.

  “As soon as we’re home, get the trunk stocked,” I told Cayla as Bobbie roared to life. “Aurora, get Shoshanne from the infirmary and tell the healers to prepare the place for the wounded. I want two healers sent back to the Oculus in case this fight gets too close to Serin.”

  “Yes, Mason,” the two women replied in unison, and as soon as we were parked beside the moat, Aurora ran for the infirmary as Cayla and I bolted over our bridge.

  “Bazookas?” the princess suggested.

  “Stock them in case we need them, but I don’t think more flames will help with these guys,” I replied.

  “Then what are we … ”

  The princess trailed off when she looked at the pistol on my belt, and I sent her a deadly grin as we pushed through the front door and headed for my shop.

  “I’ll get Deya and as many magazines as I can,” I told her. “There’s a good chance we’ll be burning through them before we can make an impact.”

  “What?” Cayla gasped as she began raiding my weaponry, and I wrenched the ammunition cabinet open to unearth the magazines I’d finished earlier. “How could lightning not--”

  “The bullets are copper,” I interrupted. “They’ll start melting around a thousand degrees, so if these guys are hotter than that, our ammunition will burn up before we hit our mark. Hopefully, we can manage to lower their internal temperature. If not, we’re fucked.”

  “Gods,” the princess groaned as she loaded her arms with bazookas, but then Alfred appeared, and she foisted them onto him instead. “Put these in the Mustang.”

  “Certainly, my lady,” Alfred replied before he hustled out the door.

  Cayla and I mad-dashed around the atrium getting everything
we could possibly need, and as I sparked my metal magic to start sending it out to the Mustang, I ran through the halls hollering for Deya.

  I found her nakedly transmuting in our sex jungle while she sat on the moss, and no matter how many times I repeated her name, she remained perfectly still with her eyes closed.

  So, I dropped to my knees and delved my tongue into her mouth, and I kissed her like my life depended on it until I felt her hands trailing up my arms to pull me closer.

  Then I resurfaced to find a lusty cast in her violet eyes.

  “I could feel how turned on I was even in my dragon form,” the beautiful elf purred.

  “That’s awesome,” I panted. “Get dressed and grab your scales, the troops just left.”

  Deya immediately hopped to as I ran back through the jungle and out the door, but then Stan swooped in on Solana like he was ready to join us.

  “No way,” I chuckled as I eyed him flying beside me. “You’re guarding the house, buddy.”

  Stan brought his dragon around to cut me off, though, and I managed to stop before the wings could take my eyes out. The little metal man had his hands propped stubbornly on his hips while he hovered in the air, and he tilted his head forward like he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  “Stan,” I said as I mirrored his stubborn stance. “We’re about to go face off against giant, flaming titans that are about four times taller than this mansion. You really want to get into that?”

  Stan was visibly stunned as he processed this, but eventually, he saluted and steered his dragon out of my way.

  “That’s what I thought,” I mumbled as I bolted for the door, and Deya was close behind me by the time I crossed my bridge and met the other women at the Mustang.

  They were lining their belts with spare magazines, and Alfred offered me a small nod as he stooped behind the trunk. From the look of it, the butler was organizing my arsenal in terms of size from left to right, and I smirked as I came over to reseal the trunk.

  “That’s good enough,” I assured the man.

  “Very well, sir.”

  “Would you mind throwing some femurs around for Ruela while we’re gone?” I asked. “We should be back in a few hours, but she usually goes running with Deya around this time.”

  “Certainly, sir,” Alfred said as he helped Cayla into the Mustang. “Will you be eating in this evening?”

  “Yeah, we should feast,” I decided.

  Cayla smiled and squeezed the butler’s arm. “Thank you, Alfred. I don’t know how we ever got along without you.”

  The old man offered a low bow before he stepped back, and as Bobbie roared to life, my women wished him a pleasant afternoon as they hung out the windows.

  Then we peeled out, and I filled everyone in on what I’d seen with Pindor while Bobbie tore through the woods as fast as she could. She took us along a different route that I realized must be a short cut, and I let her do her thing while Cayla shoved a few more magazines into my belt just in case.

  When we made it to the ridge, my army stood in a heavy silence beside their mounts, and they looked out across the hills at the three titans burning their way toward the capital.

  The air felt dense with fear when I pushed through the crowd to join the generals, and Haragh sent me a resolute nod when I came to his side. The titans were steadily making their way toward the capital, and it looked like they’d be at the gates within the hour if we didn’t intercept them. The wildfires they left behind were spreading rapidly across the farmers’ fields and the dirt roads, and by now, the sky in the west was obscured by smoke.

  “Aurora, see if your powers can control the blaze,” I said as I eyed the fields smoldering behind the titans.

  “It’s no good,” Kurna said before she’d even raised her palms. “I already tried.”

  Then I looked at Shoshanne. “Do they have lungs?”

  The healer raised her palms forward as she summoned her Aer magic, and she furrowed her brows while she focused her attention on the giants in the distance for a minute. Then she paled a little and shook her head.

  “Then we’ll have to get creative with this one,” I muttered. “Starting with finding a means of extinguishing their flames.”

  “They have solid forms, though,” Aurora pointed out. “Dousing their flames won’t be enough to end them.”

  “I know, but if we can’t get close enough to them, then we can’t stop them.”

  The Defenders nodded in agreement as we all eyed the heat lines billowing around the three giants, and Urn nudged me in the side.

  “Burying them won’t be enough, either,” the burly Terra Mage grunted. “You got a plan for how to end this? Because there’s no sense riding all our mages out there otherwise.”

  I nodded. “I agree. I’m counting on lightning for this one, but my bullets are copper. Unless we cool these guys off, I can’t use them.”

  “Those new guns of yours?” Urn clarified.

  “That could work,” Haragh said with a nod, and I turned to address the mages at our backs.

  “We need to douse those flames and drop these bastards as quickly as possible,” I told the troops. “Aer Mages, you’re in charge of controlling the temperature while the Flumen Mages counter the flames. Terra Mages, try to stall the titans’ progress until we can take them down. Defenders, keep your troops out of the line of fire, and use circuits to conserve your power. Give them everything we’ve got. We can’t let them reach the capital. As soon as we have an opening, my women and I will take them down.”

  Then I turned to Kurna and Aurora.

  “Is there nothing you can do about the fall out?” I asked as the Defenders began organizing their crews, and the two Ignis Mages thought for a moment before Aurora narrowed her eyes.

  “If we can’t counter their own flames, then we need to gain control over the blaze any way we can,” the half-elf decided.

  Kurna nodded as they exchanged a weighted look.

  “It’s our only chance,” the brawny mage agreed. “Light it up and hope the effect of our magic overpowers theirs.”

  “It’ll be a mess, Mason,” Aurora warned, but I turned away to address the Ignis Mages in the crowd.

  “Ignis Mages, you’re joining Defenders Solana and Kurna to handle the fall out,” I ordered. “Set everything on fire. If your flames can overpower the titans’, then we can try to control the blaze. Divide into two troops and ride west to handle the destruction they’ve already left behind. Then work your way toward the capital. If this all goes south, get to the gates of Serin and protect the people.”

  The horses began stomping anxiously as the mages rushed to ready themselves, and the orders of the Defenders filled the air while they coordinated amongst themselves to get their crews in line.

  A mage came over to offer Aurora their horse since they could ride with a friend of theirs, but I caught the half-elf’s wrist before she could mount up.

  Then I clutched her to me by the roots of her hair as I pulled her in for a fiery kiss, and her powers collided with mine to make my lips burn while static energy coursed through my veins. She had an eager grin on her face when I released her, and I chuckled at the way her emerald eyes glinted with the excitement she always had before a fight.

  “Be careful,” she purred.

  “I knew it!” the Baroness suddenly hissed, and Aurora screeched as she toppled into Cayla.

  I whipped around as Nulena grabbed my arm, and the amount of rage etched all over her face made every mage around us halt in their tracks.

  “The moment I heard of these flaming beasts, I knew you would all be running off to get yourselves killed over it!” the Baroness snapped. “What are you thinking? You can’t really be determined to go into this fiery mess just to protect others!”

  I saw Kurna’s brows shoot up out of the corner of my eye as Haragh let out a heavy sigh, but I tried to answer as calmly as possible, despite the three giant fire monsters in the distance.

  “We are,” I told
the Baroness bluntly, and I gestured to my extensively armed women and the entire army surrounding us. “Obviously.”

  “No!” Nulena gasped. “Don’t do that. Come back home instead.”

  “Nulena,” I sighed, but the woman was clinging to my vest now, and she didn’t seem to care at all that my whole village could see her acting this way either.

  “Mason, you can do anything you want to me if you leave right now,” the Baroness murmured as she pressed herself against me and stroked my neck. “I have nothing on underneath this dress, and I’ll let you tease me, whip me, tie me up, choke me--”

  “Nulena, that isn’t how this works,” I groaned, but it was impossible to say it with any conviction. “We have to go take care of this, or Serin will be destroyed.”

  Panic took over the Baroness’ features as she eyed my women, and she abruptly released me to grab Deya and drag her over.

  “You can’t bring them into this,” Nulena demanded. “Surely, they mean too much to you. I’ll guard them and--”

  “Hell, no,” Aurora snorted. “We always join Mason in the fight, it’s one of our favorite things to do together.”

  “It’s true,” Cayla said with an apologetic shrug.

  “Don’t worry, Nulena,” Shoshanne tried. “We’ll be okay.”

  “And we love you, too,” Deya added with a sweet smile, but the Baroness looked equal parts furious and betrayed as her two-toned eyes brimmed with tears.

  “This is the worst kind of chaos!” Nulena suddenly spat. Then she pushed through the mages to ditch the scene altogether.

  “Mason, go after her,” Deya whimpered, and her violet eyes burned up at me while Kurna cleared his throat.

  “Mason, we should really be moving out,” the Ignis Mage mumbled. “Those titans could take a while to subdue, and we’re running out of time.”

  “But Mason … ” Shoshanne pleaded.

  I rifled my hair as Urn cocked a brow at me, and then I let out a long sigh.

  “Just give me one minute.”