“For the last time, I’m not telling you my secret.”

-Magus Xila, after his tower was surrounded by a group of admirers

*=====*

“Over there?” Mori asked, pointing at the base of a mountain over Desire’s shoulder.

“Hmm…” Aetra drawled, “Maybe… The ideal location would be the thinnest location on the mountain range.”

“They would expect something like that,” Mori said, “I don’t know how the Clockworks think, but if they had any inkling that we could dig under the mountains, they would be the most wary of the area around that thinnest point. We shouldn’t go too far from the Pass either.”

“I disagree, but we’ll go with your idea,” Aetra replied. She then turned to Mori, “Do you know why everyone agreed to your plan?” she asked out of the blue.

“Why?”

Aetra twisted her upper body and thrust a hand into her carry-on bag. She soon pulled out a small, rolled up piece of paper, handing it to Mori, “Look at that,” she said. Opening the paper, Mori found a list, titled ‘Unnamed Project Personnel list,’ with a list of roughly forty people. Beside each name was a small list of credentials that, Mori guessed, likely spoke to their experience. After a moment of deciphering, she realized that it was a roughly equal mix of mechanics, generic engineers, architects, and rune mages. “That is a list of the forty people Mount Averus is willing to devote to the project under the guise of digging this tunne. Nikolan offered roughly eighty people, though with a vast majority of fortification mages to actually dig this tunnel.

“In total, there is one lich, one sociologist, a few humans, several dozen undead, and about one hundred and twenty non-combat personnel being positioned here. No one was really allowed to determine where you went,” she explained, “They could only offer suggestions. Though the loss of the only lich on our side to a side project was a blow, it was minuscule.”

“I still don’t get what you’re getting at here,” Mori said, “They’re losing a few dozen combat-capable undead and a lich. They have thousands on the front line, so…”

Aetra nodded, pointing to a place near the base of the next mountain, “Can you bring us over there?” she asked, Desire nodding lightly; there had been an awkward moment where Desire sought Mori’s judgment on Aetra’s commands, but Mori allowed it. Nonetheless, Desire would listen to Mori over Aetra, “And you’re right. They have thousands of mages, tens of thousands of soldiers, and hundreds of high level Hunters. The loss of a few undead is not important. And that’s why they’re alright with this happening. They get free reign to do whatever they want on the front lines while having a backup plan in place.”

“So we got played for fools?” Mori huffed, “Or was it just me?”

“A bit, yeah. But honestly, there is pretty much no reason for you to figure that power play out,” Aetra assured, “You’re a wildcard, one that not even we, your allies, knew how you would act. I don’t want to be rude, but most of the room was happy when you declared your intention to go off and do something else, but something nonetheless helpful to the general cause.”

Mori tilted her head a bit, “I still don’t get it. Either way, it’s not that important. As long as they don’t throw away the lives of the nearly hundred thousand people under them, we can have this tunnel dug in a week or so.”

“Now you’re losing me,” Aetra said, “I had come along under the assumption that this would be in the timeframe of months, not days. If you wouldn’t mind, what kind of undead did you have under your control that can chew through that much stone in such little time?”

“You’ll see!” Mori laughed. They fell into silence as the Kharon, as well as the two smaller skiff escorts, came closer to the particular mountain Aetra had pointed to, “So, what do you think of this spot? We would only need to dig a mile or so to get to the Aekan Valley.”

“You remember the- Wait, what am I saying? Of course you can remember the map,” Aetra groaned, “What I wouldn’t give for a power like that.”

Shrugging, Mori leaned against the side wall in the crowded control room of the Kharon, “It can be a curse. Imagine being able to remember, in perfect detail, the moment of your loved ones’ deaths, for all of eternity.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Aetra seemed to tense, giving her a concerned look, “I’m sorry,” she said, “I didn't know…”

“Didn’t know what?” Mori asked, “Wait, did you think I went through something similar?”

“You didn’t!?” Aetra asked, nearly crying out, “You sounded like you went through something like that!”

Mori laughed, patting her on the shoulder, “I never had to go through something like that. If I did, I would just go to the gods and demand their soul back to put in their body! I’d do something like that for Fara, at the very least. And my death knights,” she said, hugging Desire, who gave an amused smile.

Aetra mumbled something about her antics, shifting her focus back to the base of the mountain, “Getting back to the point,” she said, her wolf tail swaying a bit, “I think this is a good place for the entrance of the tunnel.” The site they chose was a relatively featureless area, with nothing but a mini-valley between three cliff faces. “It is mostly defendable, and is quite close to the Pass.”

“So we settle here?” Mori asked.

“Yes we do.”

The next few hours passed in a blur for Mori. She and Aetra spent their time settling everyone and getting buildings, made of sandstone again, set up for different purposes. There were a few bunk houses, a few store houses, a combination dining hall and break room, and a massive central workshop the size of two warehouses put together. As she looked over the newly-made cluster of buildings, Mori truly wondered how she had gone from gleefully making undead on her skiff while being yelled at by city guards to building small research outposts where the fate of a war against homicidal robots could be decided.

All she could think of was that she really loved Granulous.

Eventually, Mori found herself standing in front of a featureless mound of sand, Aetra and Fara standing beside her, “I think this is a proper place for the tunnel to begin,” Aetra said, “You have the map memorized, so which direction is the fasted way to the valley?”

“Let me take care of that,” Mori said, “Though, I should probably explain to you a bit about my power.” She held up her hand and sent a harmless signal through the sands. All she had to do was wait and her wyrms would come soon, “In brief, I can reanimate Clockwork husks.”

Aetra turned her head to Mori, slowly, and gave a look. She was not buying it, “I can accept your claims of eleven death knights, Mori, but I cannot accept you saying that you can make Clockworks into undead. If you could, it would, one, raise very difficult questions about the nature of Clockworks, and two, would redefine the very nature of necromancy. Do you have proof?”

Before Mori could answer, the sand in front of them opened up, and her giant earthshaker wyrm rose from the ground. Hanging off of its body were Clockwork husks, each with a magical flame in the center of their bodies, burning brightly, and each with varying levels of damage. Aetra turned her head to the Clockworks, then to Mori, then back to the Clockworks, then back to Mori, “Believe me now?” Mori asked with a grin she knew was infuriating to look at.

Aetra, mouth slightly agape, nodded, “Yes. Yes I do.” The lycant put her head in her hands and massaged her temples for a moment, crossing her arms when she calmed herself down enough, “I am going to drill you on how this is even possible later, I hope you know.”

“I expected as much.”

“For now, though, business needs doing,” she breathed out, “So, your idea was to use wyrms? They can’t dig through stone,” she said, “Unless you found some odd wyrm subspecies during your travels…”

Mori nodded, walking up to pet the wyrm, “That, and I gave them a little boost. Trade secret, though.”

“That is only fair,” Aetra conceded, “For now, we need to get digging.”

“I think the tunnel needs to be a hundred or so feet wide if we want to fit the larger skiffs out there, as well as a few hundred feet tall,” Fara said, “The more I look at this, the less confidence I have in it.”

“It’ll be fine!” Mori assured, “Though that just makes me wonder the logistics of how digging this whole thing out will work. I mean, are the mages working with the wyrms? Or is there some other strategy you have?”

Aetra waved her hand, “Let me worry about that. I know what I’m doing.”

“Actually, I was wondering about that,” Mori said, “You’re a sociologist, but you have the authority to negotiate with other cities in probably the biggest conflict in generations, you don’t have personal attendants or aides of lab assistants or whatever, and you are pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things, not the least of which being necromancy,” she stated, “Do you mind telling us what that is all about, or is it a trade secret?”

Aetra gave a sly smile better suited to a fox than a wolf, “The latter. Though, I could be persuaded to trade with you. Secret for secret. I’d love to learn what-”

“No deal,” Mori cut in, deadpanning, “I don’t mean this in a rude way, but I don’t think my secrets of creating undead are worth knowing how smart you are.”

Aetra gave an uncharacteristic pout, “Fine. Either way, I’ll gather all of the fortification mages and architects to begin construction. We brought a few bodies with us from the main force, as well as a large amount of Clocksteel, so our testing phase can begin immediately. Be sure not to waste any metal; I can only ask for some more as ‘construction materials’ in a few days or so.” Aetra gave them her farewells as she trotted over towards the fortification mages’ and architects' homes.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Fara said, “Let’s go meet with the engineers. You should probably get a death knight or two to manage this mess, though.”

Heaving a mighty sigh, Mori stood a bit straighter, “Aerolat!” she called. Just as the blood mist was condensing, Mori pointed towards the wyrm, “I want you to oversee this project. Maybe you could invite Crave or Avar to help you.”

Aerolat nodded, “I will, Mistress.”

“Thanks,” Mori said, turning to Fara, “Alright, let’s go meet the guys who’ll be working for us.”