Yutrad stretched his back as he walked, looking up at the large, foreign clocksteel structure that had been created from the tacked-bottomed fortress over the previous week. “So, did anyone figure out how they did it?” Yutrad asked the small group making their way over to the massive structure.
Of the cities who joined the battle, only Gribnik did not have their original leader, as he was put under house arrest by Mori’s forces, but everyone else was present. Dan West, Ajex, B’yldynl, Germy, and Jermy were all present in addition to Yutrad, Aetra, and Ushkia. All eight of them walked to the moving fortress with their entourages, though some were more excited than others. Ajex was pleased with the power of their ally, Dan did not give many opinions on the matter, B’yldynl showed interest in the designs, and the two clowns from Affex could not look beyond screwing over the other to think about their allies.
“No, we did not,” the rumbling voice of B’yldynl replied, “Though, some of mine determined that the refitting took about half a day. It seemed that most of the work was done prior to the refit itself and it was simply applied during the night.”
Ajex shook her head, gesturing around to the massive temple-like structure, “I don’t know what kind of work could go into doing this without anyone seeing it, but the place pretty much doubled in size. Am I the only one who gets the amount of space they’ve got?”
“Why does it matter?” Germy asked.
“It matters because they can fit armies under that thing,” Jermy replied, “Now come on, I’m sick of meandering out here; we might as well get going.” He marched forward, his small group of advisors following quickly as he reached the base of the artificial hill. The gap between the ground and the bottom of the hill was a foot or so, which meant that they could ascend to the top of the hill from where they stood. Jermy paused a moment to look at the step, then took the unspoken invitation, stepping onto the metal mountain with an uneasy step. After a moment, the man took another step. Then another. Then a third. The rest of them followed, though without as much hesitation as Jermy.
They ascended the mountain quickly, but the sheer number of weapons present was surprising. There were bunkers, skiff turrets, and small huts Immortals sat in. Those Immortals looked at the group with interest, but little floating drones buzzed around them and kept them on their task. Yutrad found their interactions somewhat cute, but he focused back on their destination: the temple at the top of the hill.
The defenses became denser half way up the hill. Walls were placed around the path they walked, squadrons of Immortals patrolling atop them. The turrets and bunkers were put atop those walls. It was likely the most fortified place that side of the Vast Dust, which put Yutrad on edge a bit. He did not know why Mori and her group wanted so much security, but he would not argue about it.
Eventually, they reached the massive temple at the apex of the hill. It was a massive structure, perhaps half the size as the previous track-bottomed fortress. That fact alone made it one of the biggest buildings Yutrad had seen before, only beaten out by other temples and the main halls of power of nations and cities. The door to the temple was left ajar, with a single Immortal standing in the center of the path. It stood a bit straighter as they approached, then nodded to them, “Good timing. I believe that everything is ready for you. Come along, now,” the Immortal said, gesturing to the door. With a small push, the large clocksteel door was opened, and the Immortal walked in, not waiting for them.
The group shared glances, then entered behind the death knight Immortal.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
The main hall of the temple was crowded when they arrived, which meant that there was a surplus of undead around. What surprised Yutrad, however, was the number of liches sitting around at separate tables. Some wore armor, some wore robes, and others wore aprons, but they were all armed. The armored liches had swords and other implements of war. The robed liches had staves. And the arpon-clad undead had hammers and knives. It was an odd mix of gray-skinned people and skeletal undead around as well.
No matter what the liches wore or looked like, the message was clear: Mori had a greater army than the rest of them in that room alone. And she had at least five thousand more Immortals. Yutrad was a bit put off by that, but he marched on, looking at the center table. Sitting at the table, Mori was accompanied by the familiar Fara and a mysterious newcomer. Yutrad looked around for Mori’s original death knights, and found a table with seven odd creatures and people.
The shuffle to seat themselves was a quiet affair, as the liches waited in obvious anticipation and the death knights waited in unobvious anticipation. Once everyone was seated, an orb began to descend from the ceiling and Mori stood, “Hello, everyone! So, let’s get the basics out of the way. This is Fara,” she said, gesturing to Fara, “And this is VII,” she said, gesturing to the mysterious woman, “This war has gone on far too long for the gods’ liking. We are launching an all-out attack tomorrow. I have seven thousand Talonecs ready for a pitched battle, three hundred of them death knights.” There was a collective gasp among them, some even coming from the liches, mostly those who wore the aprons and wielded hammers.
“Do you really have three hundred death knights?” B’yldynl rumbled, “If these Talonecs are your name for the Immortals…”
“Yes, they are the same, and yes, I have three hundred death knight variants. I will explain the proposed plan quickly and concisely, then we can make alterations where we need to.” As Mori explained the plan, Yutrad had the odd sense that there was a real chance to finish the war quickly.
*=====*
Trinati sighed as she watched her yet-unascended siblings mull about on the small skiff lent out to them by the Chaotic disciples. They were all itching for a fight, and Trinati was right there with them. Though that constant drive from before she had become a death knight had vanished, the desire remained. The mistress was kind enough to only send her with another squadron, one headed by Pandoran-- the first death knight of their kind-- with a group of her earlier creations as fire support. There were raised Clockworks and two early prototypes for the Talonec line that were closer to the Necromechs than the Talonecs.
The other skiff beside her own flew under the cover of darkness, then leaned closer to hers, stopping when there was but a foot of space between their skiffs. “Jen!” Pandoran called, “We’re almost there, according to the map! Get ready for resistance!”
“Let ‘em come! The kids haven’t had a good fight in weeks!” Tri called back. Her little buddy, who she named Velcro, floated in front of her and spun around her head. She chuckled, “Yeah, I know, you’re excited. But! Make sure you’re safely protected! I don’t want to lose you, little guy,” she said. Velcro bobbed a bit, then clung to her shoulder and hid under a plate in her armor. “Alright, do you remember what the mistress was talking about when she was telling us about that outpost?”
Pandoran shrugged, holding the map up for Trinati to see, “She said something about her previous outpost being destroyed after a Clockwork attack, along with the tunnel though the mountains. We’re supposed to look for any meddling with the tunnel before we bring skiffs through, though.”
“Meddling? Like what? Sapper charges? Cave-ins? Ambushes?” she asked.
“All of the above,” he replied, “We also need to destroy absolutely every Clockwork we find that the Forgeheart got his grubby mitts into.”
Tri nodded, wishing she could give a smile, “Music to my ears, then. How far from here, then?”
Pandoran pointed to a rising silhouette on the horizon, “Right there. Prep your squad, we’re going in!” he shouted, telling his driver, a Talonec as well, to go faster. Tri followed suit, and even snuck in an order to go faster then their counterparts; she wanted to be part of that battle and no second squad would change that.