Metal Mage 6

by Eric Vall

  Shoshanne was the first to appear in the dim glow of the torchlight, and she dropped two black cushions as her hands flew to her mouth.

  “I want to see,” Aurora insisted, and the iron door was wrenched open another measure.

  The half-elf’s eyes popped, and she let out the silliest giggle as her jaw dropped. “What is it?” she demanded.

  I grinned and shrugged. “It’s a ’67 Mustang. Well, a four door version of it.”

  “I want it,” Aurora said without pause, and she threw three cushions aside to trot over to the car. I raised my brows as the half-elf spread her palms to drag them across the fender, and her smile took on a lusty cast. “This is my favorite part.”

  “Mine too,” I said with a wink.

  Cayla laughed when she came around the door and found Aurora petting the Mustang.

  “Look at this part,” the half-elf said giddily, and the princess came to her side with an amused smirk.

  “Is this a house that moves?” Cayla asked.

  “Not really,” I laughed. “It’s a type of vehicle, like a covered metal wagon. You sit inside and drive it, but it’s a little more accommodating than a motorcycle.”

  Cayla nodded her approval, but as she set three velvety black cushions down to get a better look, I cocked a brow.

  “Hold on, I thought Deya got blue cushions?”

  Shoshanne smirked. “She did. Now, though, she’s pretty angry and happened to find out where Aeris’ bedchamber is so … ”

  “Deya’s raiding Aeris’ room?” I asked incredulously.

  The three women giggled.

  “Deya’s had a rough day,” Shoshanne replied. “She’s feeling a little better now that we’re all heading south, but she said she’d meet us here. Last time I checked, she was digging through a very expensive looking box on the table beside his bed.”

  I let out a low whistle. “That girl is trouble.”

  “You like it,” the healer assured me.

  I couldn’t deny that I did. The black velvet cushions looked comfy as hell, but knowing they’d come from the head of House Aelin’s personal suite made them all the better.

  “Fuck it,” I chuckled, and I pulled a few over to bring them around to the backseat.

  Once I had arranged the cushions to cover the base and back of the seat, I pulled some scraps of steel from the trunk and lengthened them into thin brackets with razor sharp ends. Then I carefully let them pierce the cushions just above their seams and fed them through. With two brackets inserted at both ends of each cushion, I welded the ends into the frame of the seat before I moved on to the front.

  The women wandered all around the Mustang and marveled at the new design, and I was on the final weld when I heard Cayla gasp.

  I looked over to find her gaping at the trunk.

  “Is that … Bobbie?”

  I grimaced and came to her side, and the princess wove her arm around my waist.

  Then I gestured to the mess of metal scraps when I realized it kind of looked like a massacre back there. “Well, that’s just my new supply. But that … ” I sighed, “that’s Bobbie.”

  Cayla looked down sadly at the steel skeleton, and I nodded.

  “I thought … I thought I’d bring her with us. Give her a proper burial,” I admitted. “Not in fucking Nalnora, but maybe back in Serin. There’s a nice glade near the mine … ”

  Cayla pulled me closer. “I think Bobbie would like that,” she offered.

  I sent the princess a smile as we took a brief moment of silence, but the moment was interrupted by Aurora as she suddenly appeared on top of the roof.

  She was on all fours with the same huge grin on her face, and her emerald eyes sparkled down at us. “Do you have any idea how many places there are to have sex on this thing?” she asked.

  I chuckled. “And in it,” I pointed out.

  The half-elf’s brows shot up, and she crouched down to peer into the interior.

  “I love you,” she sighed.

  “I love you, too,” I returned, “but let’s not get too excited before we find out if it actually works.”

  Shoshanne rose from where she was studying the steering wheel.

  “You mean … you haven’t even tested it?” the healer asked.

  “No,” I mumbled. “I wasn’t ready to.”

  Aurora sighed impatiently, but when Cayla cleared her throat and sent her a pointed look, the half-elf climbed off the roof and came to loop her hand in mine.

  “I’m sorry about Bobbie,” she said earnestly. “She was a good steed. I’m just a little excited.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered. “It’s still a little raw, but I’ll be okay.”

  I dug the gem from my pocket and held it in my palm, but I couldn’t help but notice the eager grin had immediately returned to Aurora’s face.

  I laughed. “Alright, enough moping, let’s get this baby on the road.”

  The half-elf shimmied her legs with excitement and trotted over to graze a slender finger along the front fender once more, and I took a steadying breath as I unsealed the door and slid into the driver’s seat.

  The black cushions were like sitting on a damn cloud, and I raised my brows as I took a look around the interior. The jet-black velvet looked sinister against the steel, and the deep blue rear window made the back seat look like a lush lounge.

  “Not bad,” I mused before I turned to face the front.

  I took a deep breath as I eyed the steering wheel, and then I slowly pressed the channeling gem into the center of the armature.

  At first, nothing happened.

  I sat for a moment and waited, but I quickly realized that every inch of my focus was guarded in apprehension. I sighed and forced myself to relax as I eased myself into a connection with the gem, and when I did, the gem began to flicker with a dull glow.

  My excitement took over, and as my pulse kicked up a notch, the gem suddenly began a steady pulse.

  Then the engine growled to life, and I heard Aurora let out a little moan from her place near the fender.

  The engine sounded a little different and much deeper as it echoed around its steel chamber, but as I listened for a minute, a curious sensation started in my chest.

  I climbed halfway out the door and looked at the hood.

  “Bobbie?”

  The engine revved at the word, and even though my knees went numb, I managed to bring myself around the door and splay my arms across the hood.

  With my ear pressed firm against the steel, I could hear her deep growl resonating all throughout the body of the Mustang, and it was more familiar to me than even my own voice.

  “You came back,” I sighed.

  Cayla snorted behind me, but I didn’t care. I took as much time as I needed, and when Deya and Ruela appeared in the door, I still didn’t abandon my place.

  “He’ll be done in a minute,” Aurora assured the beautiful elf, and I nodded against the hood.

  “This is important,” I added.

  Deya let out a silvery giggle. “Well, when you’re done, I brought gifts.”

  I craned my neck, and then I finally stood up as I eyed the many odd trinkets piled in Deya’s arms.

  She had tied her long pink hair back into a high ponytail, and she struggled to keep from dropping things all over the shop floor.

  “Did you get all of this from Aeris’ room?” I asked.

  Deya shrugged and finally just dumped everything out on the floor. When she stood up, she swiped a stray strand of pink hair away. “Most of it,” she said. “Some of it’s from his library. And the daggers I stole from his idiot sons when I happened to pass them in the hall. Are we ready to go?”

  I raised my eyebrows and nodded. “Just about.”

  “Good,” the elf returned. Then she furrowed her pink brows at the car. “Is this a Bobbie?”

  “It’s a Mustang technically,” I clarified. “But this is Bobbie 3.0.”

  I giant grin spread across my face, and I looked down at the Mus
tang as pride swelled in my chest. The dull pulse of the channeling gem glowed from the steering wheel, and the growl of Bobbie’s engine echoed all around the workshop.

  Deya shook her head in disbelief. “How do you imagine such fantastic things?” she asked me with wide eyes.

  “My dad had one just like it,” I explained, and then Cayla flipped around and I remembered Shoshanne and Deya still didn’t know I was from another realm.

  Deya giggled as if I’d made a joke, and I laughed it off as well.

  “It’s probably because of my metal magic … ” I tried with a shrug. “The pieces just seem to come together in my dreams.”

  Cayla turned away to hide her smirk, and I decided I’d have to come clean eventually, but now wasn’t exactly the most convenient time to get into it.

  “You and Dragir could do great things if you worked together,” Deya sighed as she eyed the Mustang. “You’re both quite innovative, you know.”

  “You should tell him that,” I replied. “Apparently, he knows a lot of things I’d like to learn about.”

  Deya shook her head with a mischievous grin.

  Then the front tires swiveled ever so slightly, and I noticed Stan climbing all over the steering wheel.

  “Do you approve?” I asked the metal man as I stooped to look inside.

  Stan was swinging like a monkey, and he sent me a vigorous nod.

  Deya’s violet eyes glinted as she crouched to stare. “This is yours as well?” she asked in awe.

  “You haven’t met Stan?” I asked with wide eyes.

  The beautiful elf shook her head and sent the metal man a sweet smile.

  “Well, he likes you,” I informed her. “Don’t you Stan?”

  Stan hopped down to the front seat and made his way toward the beautiful elf, and her smile only widened as he climbed up the door to greet her. He stood on the edge of the steel and sent her a little wave, and Deya giggled as she waved a finger at him.

  “I like you, too,” she told him, but then she caught sight of the tiny rune engraved on his chest. “Wait a minute … ”

  I interrupted before she could get the wrong idea.

  “I know it’s a rune,” I clarified. “Nemris showed it to me in a dream once. I have no idea where it’s from or the extent of what it does, but that’s how Stan became part of the family, actually.”

  Deya furrowed her brow and looked closer. “I’ve never seen this rune before,” she mused. “Dragir may recognize it, though.”

  Stan immediately shook his head and hopped back down to the front seat.

  I sent the elf a shrug.

  “He’s not interested,” I told her. “I guess he doesn’t want to get involved, if you know what I mean.”

  I winked as Deya recognized her own explanation about her brother and rolled her eyes.

  “Fair enough,” she muttered. “You did want mirrors, yes?”

  “Yes! Shit, I almost forgot.” I came around the front of the car and looked on while Deya dug through her pile of wares on the shop floor.

  “I couldn’t decide which ones, so I just took them all,” she explained.

  There were at least a dozen small mirrors in every shape laid out across the hood by the time the elf picked through her stash, and I grinned as I realized this meant I could get creative.

  I called Aurora over. “Do you remember when Mina made that rigging on the front of the train with mirrors and flames?”

  Aurora nodded, and I gestured to the several mirrors.

  “Wanna help me put two on the front of the mustang?” I asked. “They’re called headlights, and they’re gonna be important once we’re in the jungle.”

  “Easy.” The half-elf shrugged.

  I grabbed a few small round hand mirrors, and the two of us crouched at the front of the car. Then I embedded the mirrors so the flames would reflect off all three at once, and Aurora sent a blue flame with a searing white tip to settle at the front.

  “Will it blow out?” I asked her as I angled the mirrors a bit so the flame’s light shone straight ahead.

  “No, I’ll make sure they don’t,” she replied.

  Once we had both headlights rigged with two blue flames, I grabbed a couple more mirrors that had ornately etched silver backings and headed to the trunk to pull a few bits of silver out.

  I mounted two round hand mirrors on both of the front doors, and then I picked a longer one to use as a rearview mirror. With a little adjusting, they all faced where I needed them, and we were finally set to head out in just under an hour after I’d left Aeris and the other heads of Houses waiting in their gilded thrones.

  The women brought their bags and bows around to the trunk, and once Cayla figured out how to fit her glaive, I pulled the last of the body over from the wall to seal the trunk. Then I stepped back and summoned my magic to lift the entire vehicle and turn it so it could drive out into the courtyard.

  “How do we get in?” Shoshanne asked.

  “Right,” I muttered. “So, there’s a few components missing, but I don’t have time to fix that now. I’ll just have to unseal the doors for the time being. Here’s hoping the pedals don’t matter.”

  “What pedals?” Cayla asked as I opened the doors for the women.

  “Well … usually a car has two pedals to control when it drives or stops, but I didn’t get to that part.”

  I ignored their stares as I smirked and dipped into the driver’s seat, and Aurora swiftly bumped Ruela aside to climb into the front beside me. She gave a little bounce as she sent me an eager smile, and then she laid a kiss on my cheek.

  “I love it,” she told me.

  “Good,” I chuckled. “Worth the wait?”

  The half-elf nodded enthusiastically and hitched her knees up to get more comfortable.

  The wolfish beast managed to beat Shoshanne to the seat on her other side and began to sniff around all over the place.

  I leaned back to avoid getting a wet snout to the face.

  “You’re gonna have to pick a spot and stick with it,” I informed the dog.

  Deya giggled in the back seat and spoke to Ruela in Elvish, and the massive dog stepped down to curl up on the steel floor as Shoshanne settled in.

  Stan was back to his acrobatics around the steering wheel, but when I placed him on the dashboard, he hurried to press his hands against the glass and check out the view.

  “Everyone ready?” I asked, and I turned around.

  Cayla was lounging with her legs up along the velvet seat, and Deya’s own slender legs were draped across hers from the other side. They looked like two sultry queens in the dim blue cast from the window, and Cayla blew me a kiss.

  “Always,” she purred.

  Chapter 18

  A crescent moon was just rising over the ocean as we entered the streets of Lyralus, and the few straggling merchants dropped the crates they had packed up when the Mustang slowly rolled by. Elves began to crane their necks out of their top floor windows and from alleyways, and several stumbled in a daze toward the street to get a better look.

  Bobbie’s deep growl echoed against the buildings and reminded me a lot of Ruela, but the dog wasn’t remotely disturbed by it. She stayed in her spot on the floor and seemed unphased by the new mode of transportation.

  I focused my attention on not running over anyone’s toes as some elves drew close enough to feel the metal brush past their fingertips, but it only took a sliver of my attention to control the car itself.

  The channeling gem responded to the slightest inclination, and while we steadily made our way to the entrance of the elven capital, the only issue I could find was really the lack of pedals. My muscle memory kept sending my foot to where an accelerator should be, and I decided I’d add a brake and accelerator as soon as I had some time. It was just too strange only having to steer the Mustang.

  Aurora’s grin got more eager as we went, and by the time we neared the edge of the city, I could tell she was dying to try it out at top speed.


  So, when we finally crossed the outer border of Lyralus with a group of nearly fifty elves standing in the streets behind us, I let Bobbie 3.0 take it from there.

  The engine revved as the studded tires found a hold in the dirt road, and Aurora let out a giddy laugh as she twisted to see the cloud of dust we left behind. I could see the reflection of the ocean in the mirrors as we reached the top of the hill, and the moon turned a deep blue as it slid behind the tinted rear window.

  The darkness of the jungle below was a welcome sight after, and I had a giant grin on my face while we sped down the hill and into dense trees.

  Just as I’d hoped, the steering was unbelievably responsive with the right rigging and the power of the gem, and we took the turns along the cliffs at what felt like sixty miles per hour, but I couldn’t be sure. It’d been a while since I drove a car.

  Ruela propped her massive paws on the edge of the door to hang her head out the window, and she stayed right there for the rest of the drive.

  We were only about ten minutes outside of Lyralus before Aurora nudged me.

  “Let me drive,” she said with a sly grin, and she was already scooting herself into my seat when she said it.

  I chuckled and let the car slow down considerably. “Alright, but take it easy while you get used to handling it, and keep an eye--”

  “Sure,” she cut in, and my arms were bumped off the steering wheel for me.

  I caught Aurora by the silky frills on her hips and lifted her over my lap as I slid over to switch places, and the second she was in the driver’s seat, the car kicked back up to full speed. I braced my arm on the ceiling and kept a close watch for several minutes.

  Maybe when I had more time, I’d look into making seat belts.

  The road gleamed ahead of us while the jungle flew by on either side, but Aurora was a natural behind the wheel, and just as I’d decided she didn’t need my advice on driving, a slender hand slid across my shoulder and down my chest.

  “Sit with us,” Cayla whispered in my ear.

  She tightened her grip and made to pull me right over the seat, and I chuckled as I climbed back to join her and the beautiful elf. I was about to pull Shoshanne with me, but I realized she had already fallen asleep with her head resting on the velvet cushion.