"Liadanann, remember the plan." I sort of pointlessly told my neighbour as our cages opened up again. It seems like we were expected to perform once again for our captors, something they asked of us often. Yet, oddly enough, they had kept me in that cell next to Liadananns. Perhaps because it saved them precious goldhands?
That seemed like the most obvious answer.
"Yes..." my neighbour then gave as an answer while nodding her head. And like that, she was out of the cage without her thing going off. Unfortunately, however, we would both need it to go off if we wanted to get out of here. They had yet to implant a device like that on me, so this would have to do.
It was one of the only magic sources in this mess of a place, the other being the goldhands she kills so often... She has also so far been uncooperative in regards to letting me touch any of that stuff. I put a claw near her and she freaks out, she freaks out bad. And while the cut she made on my gut had settled down, I have gained a few more because of her.
Those thunder-gold blades were not to be messed around with right now. So, I needed to use what I have learned about her in order to get her to open up. I either needed to overpower her or trap her. I just needed to get those volts to surge into me as well!
"Undwote, stay away, please." I muttered while looking about at those who were watching us. Scientists who were on their breaks or actually working, that is what they were. Clearly, I have done something to grab their attention now. Or, maybe they're just bored, hoping my lopped-off head would entertain them.
And then it began while Liadanann waited before me. She screamed and collapsed while that device went off. Just as quickly, it would turn off again, much to my frustration as I wanted to reach for it! I wanted to feel that magic come into me and make me strong again!
I would need to wait on that magic boost, however, because now she was lashing out. With some restraint, which I was thankful for. But it was still a near-equal giant trying to bisect or decapitate me! Those blades weren't going to shatter on my shell after all!
"SORRY!" she cried awkwardly while trying to impale my gut onto her blades. It was nice that I could teach her some words, but what would have been nicer is... Well, I dunno, maybe not a potential gut with a blade in it? Maybe instead, she could stop trying to kill me?
"Opening. Opening. Opening." I repeated over and over as I frantically shifted my magic about. Freeing up stiff areas of my body so I could get them to budge in the right direction. It was a very risky process as I hurt myself just as often as she did. And, by the gods, was I thankful she was not sending many killing blows my way.
"Hey! Hey! Watch this!" I then heard someone from up above laugh out just before Liadanann collapsed again. And she was in pain, I could hear as her voice just snapped into choking. I was watching as she spasmed and convulsed while digging at the ground for mercy. She cried and cried but that machine kept on going.
"Thank you human cruelty." I said with utter seriousness as I leapt at her. Tightly gripping the collapsed creature I have come to know as a ddrai'och. And as I grabbed her, she began to lash out at me despite the pain she felt. She was in enough pain and must have feared what I might do.
She slammed those arm-mounted chunks of metal against me. Taking out chunks of my sides while I roared in pain whilst holding her. This lightning did indeed hurt but I could also feel it settling into my body. As such, her blades did less and less damage over time until I could not bare it any longer.
"SHIT!" I roared as I stumbled away from her with a loose and limber body. Clutching these bloody sides of mine tightly as she began to get up. The machine had turned off just after I let go. And while I was at her mercy, I watched with fear as she approached me.
Her tail was carving a canyon into the ground and her arms were going up and down. Those bloody blades drew ever closer to my crippled form. Until something I did not expect happened. She knelt down near me and began to attack the machine.
Setting it off once more but this time she screamed against me. Letting as much of it as she could surge into me until she just went limp. If she had just killed herself in the attempt to help me, then I did not know what to do. If she was alive, then I'd be happily taking her out of here.
"Come on you stupid bug! Take her spot as our champion!" one of the men from up top complained as he threw something down at me. And as it shattered against my head, I smiled. I did not even feel that and my body was only mildly throbbing now. Like how the dry throat was briefly happy with that initial chugging of water.
With this new confidence in me, I started to move my body a bit. Some stretching here and there until a snap echoed throughout the room. I had snapped the chain on these cuffs and was quick to take them off. Each one broke apart further until those magic restraints were off.
"No, I don't think so." I answered before I leapt up at them, much to their shock and terror. And just like that, they all began to run and panic, beating on the locked door that kept them in here. I did nothing to them, however, and I just made way for the exit. Letting the animal in whatever cage I knocked them over into kill them while I reached the door.
And with a slight bit of effort, I slammed that locked door into the wall it was mounted on. Crumpling it down nice and flat and forcing it out through the concrete. A choice that had bullets go against me time and time again with seemingly unending ferocity. At least, until the ammo drums and clips had to be changed...
"My turn..." I would say to them before I began to lash out at them. Craving their blood despite their status as my countrymen until I was left panting in an alarm-filled corridor. Yet, before I could turn back for Liadanann, goldhands would come. They would come and tackle me after shooting me up with more dangerous bullets.
Each one dug partially into my body while their punches made it tremble and shake. They went at it and at it until I mustered the effort to retaliate against them. And with one claw on the neck or head, I began to crush them in my grip. Slapping the last one down into the ground before I brushed myself off.
Dozens of pings sounded out around me as the golden bullets hit the floor. Once I was done dealing with them, I tried to find a new source of magic as well. Until I heard Liadanann's screams again, so I would instead charge back down to her. Going past her at first until I got back to her.
"YOU AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE!" one of the scientists screamed spitefully as something chewed on his insides. And in his bloody hand was the device used to control the machine on Liadanann. I would at first try crushing it to turn it off, but it only made it worse.
"Do not take this personally!" I begged of Liadanann as I gripped her again. Clutching onto the machine tightly and crushing it steadily until I could tear it off of her. Seething in pain on her behalf as it left a bloody mess as I took it off. It had all kinds of needles holding it into her breasts and lower parts.
"N-Nin!" she cried out like a baby as she reached out to me before crying some more. Her trembling body stopped me from doing anything else. Those metal blades were quite restricting as well...
"Hold on! Let me get these-" I began to say to her as I reached for the various blades. Only for her to stop me with tearful eyes and rapid shaking of the head. Then, she growled and glared intently at me and it became clear what she wanted. So I nodded slowly before then helping her up slowly.
Noting with peculiarity as she held on to me even after she secured her footing. At least, until she realised that her weapons were impeding my movement. Voices other than the screams of devoured scientists would catch our attention, though. And, just like that, my prey came before us with wide eyes.
"SECURE THE FACILITY! GET FIRE TRAIL'S CONTINGENCY READY IF NEED BE!" Iishar Ho yelled before she suddenly ran off. And the guards she left behind went absolutely nuts with the idea of shooting us dead. Liadanann tried to hide behind her weapons, but there were too many gaps and they hit her mutilated breasts. Each bullet that made it past evoked a pain-filled shiver from her along with whimpers.
And this would continue until I got up there and helped them die or killed them. Once I was done, my former neighbour would look longingly up at me until I helped her up. A rather awkward affair given her injuries and weapons. Then, she began to try and tap a machine of some kind.
I made a few gestures, "Open them all?" I asked alongside those movements. She would nod in answer and I mouthed an 'ok' before touching the machine. Slowly trying to figure out what did what until they were all opened. And like that, those monsters also started coming after us two.
At first, anyhow, once we got through that door again that I smashed open, they would run off. Charging down a hall until more screams and bullets could be heard. Some of these creatures would even collapse dead before they turned the corner. Goldhands quickly being sighted afterwards as they came along with larger weaponry.
"Oh, that's not good." I comment while taking Lidanann by the thunder-gold weapon. Taking explicit note of how their weaker pistols could still hurt me. These guns, though, they weren't pistols, they were most certainly not. Those things were bigger than the guns I have seen before.
And once they were set up, it was as if they actually brought a buzzsaw instead. One creature they had locked up, some kind of long thing with lots of thin flesh just fell apart! Those bullets went straight through it and deep into the wall behind it. A little cloud of dust formed alongside it.
Not as big as the one I made, though, as that one was made from an entire wall collapsing! That hole also helped us avoid the goldhands as it seemed to bring us into an office room of some kind. Perhaps an extension of the computer room I bloodied before I grabbed Liadanann? It was also about now that I wished we had a map...
"Where are we? Where are we!?" I would ask twice in frustration as we moved about the room. My clenched-up fists tested the strength of each wall until it became clear there were no more rooms.
"Fight!" Liadanann then said in Tobaballian of all things as she raised her weapons. Her tail lashed out at the innocent wall behind her whilst she tried to encourage me. But that would have to wait as now guns were firing on us again. Then, the area next to me just suddenly exploded with it burning my open wounds quite nastily.
"Fighting it is!" I harshly whispered for some reason before we charged at them. Tearing each goldhand apart one by one until we were in the clear. At least, briefly in the clear as more were coming. Liadanann, however, to my surprise, would lead the charge out of this place.
Her body may have some decent armour given to it by her weapons. But this was suicidal! Those bullets could hurt me, there was no telling what it might do to her completely torn up front! And as last time showed, those were not good at stopping bullets!
"Or..." I soon found myself trailing out as I looked about at her handiwork as she led us elsewhere. It didn't matter if she was exposed when she wasn't giving them time to respond! And surely we'd run out of goldhands to face soon, right? They were rare in Tobaballe!
And I have already seen her kill dozens in these past few moments alone! But then, we were both blown backwards by a sudden and powerful detonation. One that caused the building before us to collapse in on itself. The debris made it rather clear as well that we were inside a mountain, too.
"Nin?" Liadanann said worriedly as she began to adopt a more timid stance while inspecting her wounds. Wounds that she seemed to ignore briefly before she shuddered and winced.
"Alright, let's see..." I muttered with a blank mind. Not too sure what to do until I looked back at the dead goldhands. And, the echo of further gunfire made it clear more were in here. Perhaps there was also another way out?
In hopes of finding one, I began to guide myself and her towards another part of the facility. Going around in what felt like circles until I found a sign pointing at something useful. And I smirked as we went into the room as it was a ventilation facility of some kind. One with large and obtuse tunnels made to extract and bring in a livable airflow.
I could not get a good grip, however, the material for these tunnels and tubes was too weak. My claws just tore straight through them no matter how I tried to use my magic. It was, however very straight when it went up. So perhaps I could jump up or climb through another means?
In order to test the last idea, I punched a hole into the tunnel. Inspected the other side before shaking my head on the way out. The nearby walls were too far so I would not be able to just break it intentionally. So I needed a new idea and I needed it now...
"You find something?" I asked as Liadanann's curiosity had broken me out of my thoughts. She was looking around and was now fiddling with a toolbox. Somewhat in her hand, a crowbar which she soon dropped. But, maybe that was the idea I was looking for!
So, I began to draw out my knowledge of magic in order to try something. I began to create a very weak and fragile version of the spell I learned with Larishazza. The one that ultimately failed me against Salahma. And I adjusted it using my newfound knowledge of finer magic control which I had learned over these past few days.
Liadanann then said something in her own tongue which I did not understand. But, I was going to assume it was something like 'tool' or 'crowbar' as that is what I did. I had changed my magical extension into a giant crowbar. It was, though, still quite weak, so I had no idea about its reliability.
But, I was not in a position to be demanding perfection from my spells. So I stuck my arm up and stabbed it into the upper tunnel. Slowly and steadily dragging myself up while carefully putting my feet through the walls. Each step bordering on either just tearing straight down or being an unsteady step.
"Alright, your turn." I said down to my fellow escapee as I did that spell again from my new position atop a mostly concrete shaft. Urging Lidanann forwards before I then pulled her up, dragging her the rest of the way. And, ending up with her on top of me when her sudden reactions to pain worried me. I don't think I scraped her along the shaft, but she was quite bulky at the front.
She quickly got off, though, so it might have just been a more random kind of pain. Either way, we were now in view of another place. One with what I assume was a lovely view of the outdoors. One I would not particularly mind getting to right now.
Thankfully, the shaft was increasingly made of concrete, mountain stone and thick steel as we went along it. Then, when we finally reached the end, I let Liadanann have the honours of busting it down. She was happy, very happy and it looked like she was struggling not to cry. And I was very fond of that smile of hers, maybe because I got her situation somewhat...
Being trapped by another species not your own, one that was cruel and abusive... Deep inside a mountain surrounded by monsters. Yet, unlike my own experiences, someone was there to see it through. Liadanann would be going home without needing to sacrifice herself as I had to with that insect...
Yet, she did not run for it and enjoy her newfound freedom out here. She just looked at me while I became confused by other things. Was my magic so weak right now it did not trigger the whole explosion thing? Or was there something else at play here...?
"Hold... Hold on, no! Stay!" I said to Liadanann as I moved around the mountain until I could see another building. Staring intently at it as I watched goldhand after goldhand rush about it. They also had some kind of... I had no idea what they were, they were giant metal men or something, very blocky and sluggish...
And then I saw her again, Iishar...
.
.
.
"Are the golems ready!?" I asked the technician impatiently while tapping my boot up and down. Letting its golden bottom clang for all to hear as I hugged my arms close to my chest. This situation was getting worse and worse by the moment. Luckily, we might have something that could ease the problem.
"No, Spire-Lord Ho, they are not, we haven't even gotten these out of the testing phase! This technology is still very new to us!" he told me as he hurriedly stood up. His arms were maniacal as he swung a clipboard about with little care to my proximity.
"Then consider this the field trials phase, we don't have time anymore!" I told him before I put my gloved hand to my face. Breathing into it harshly as I considered what was happening. Project Gladiator had just for all intents and purposes failed and the home city had been attacked again! The goldhands and their weapons have failed and our options were drying up...
The technician looked like he wanted to protest but he relented, "Fin-" he began to say.
"IISHAR!" roared a distant creature that has been on my mind a lot. And as I saw it in the distance moving so freely, I felt my heart stop. How had this thing escaped!? We blew the entrance!
"GOLEMS, ATTACK!" I then ordered with a scream before my personal guard began to escort me out of here. Several of them lingered behind so they could shoot at not one, but two creatures! But once the golems came to life, it seemingly ended with so little effort...
"THESE WON'T SAVE YOU!" the creature roared out while clearly recoiling in pain at the magic blast the golem's shot out. Like all magic we had access to, it was based on thunder-gold. So, unlike the incident preceding this creature's appearance, it was safe to be exposed to. In the right circumstances, of course, which this was not.
"Spire-Lord, go!" one of my guards demanded of me as I was dragged away from the battle and shoved into a vehicle. Watching what I could from the window as more and more began to join the battle. Yet, despite the initial hope, those golems gave me... They were quickly torn apart once those creatures got near them.
One with its claws and the others with weapons we fashioned as it had lasted so long...
"Take me to the main armoury." I then ordered the driver as I glared at the road ahead. Watching as it changed from rough to paved in but a moment as he silently followed my orders. And, as the Civil Mountains filled with the echoes of alarms and battle, I moved towards a large building. One that housed something we had been working on for a while with the utmost care.
"Facility is on lockdown, turnback..." the gate guard began to say before he saw me, at which point he opened up for us. Such was the power I had and the authority that my position held. Even in situations like this, we override everything!
"Is Defender out of maintenance?" I then asked of the closest engineer or technician as I marched towards the thick steel door. Holding my hands behind my back as it began to open to the backdrop of panicked workers.
"I-I don't know!" I was told which left me in a foul mood indeed.
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" I yelled at him as I impatiently slipped through the opening doors. Breathing a sigh of relief once I saw that Defender was, in fact, fine and as ready as it could be. Albeit, the lack of certain parts on it had me worried. This was meant to be the most revolutionary weapon we had next to the Magic-Exposer yet it was incomplete...
It would have to do in this case, though, my home was under threat on multiple fronts. The city-states around us may have been reporting similar problems, but they had their eyes on us. Our city has been gutted by an unknown force and they saw the wounds it left. Even the reputation our forces had may not be enough to keep their weapons holstered...
"Alright... Armour is fine, additional limbs are fine, main rifle is fine... Alt-form cannon is fine, flight systems are a no... You will just have to do, Defender..." I muttered while looking through all the chaotically arrayed technical data. Bouncing between various white and black boards as I quickly gathered all the information up. Then I began to strip naked without a care in the world that I was being watched. Feminine embarrassment had no place in this time.
Then, with my body exposed to the cold, I shivered before I rashly rushed to the pilot lockers. I used the strength gifted to me by the various thunder-gold laced foods and other things and tore one open. Taking out the black, skin-tight bodysuit before then attaching various parts to it. Each one was covered in various sockets and empty holes, all of them gold while the main body was silverish.
"Do your jobs!" I ordered the technicians around me as I hopped into Defender and let it attach itself to me. What I wore was a suit designed to hook me up to this machine, to treat it as an extension of my body. Far more complex than the golems that were also piloted, but also far more deadly. This thunder-gold was truly something and this machine was largely made of it for both armour and munitions.
It was not a single-colour machine, however. Its darker, blue-steel components contrasted a lot with the varying purities of thunder-gold we had used. Despite my requests, we have not been able to get a very consistent delivery of higher quality stuff. I had tried altering prior logistics, but even that left me with an inconsistent machine.
"This will certainly do." I said to myself as I moved on to testing the machine's link to me. Watching through various screens and small hatches how it was working out. I could feel it too! I could feel how this machine I have tested before reacted to my movements...
It truly was as if I had grown into a metal giant powered by divine ore!
Then, I turned on Defender's speaker systems, "Send out a call, rally all available troops to the signal of Defender." I ordered the few of my personal guard who stuck with me. Letting them get on with their new task while I finished up with getting Defender online. Rolling my shoulders about along with its own once I was done.
And as I bent this machine down to pick up its main rifle, I nearly growled anger. Errors were already cropping up on my displays and now was not the time for them! I needed this machine to function until we had the problem here contained! Thankfully, I was not alone in my efforts so those who would fight with me can fill in for my current faults.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
With this acknowledged, I would march out to face my opponents just as more troops drove by. Then, a damaged golem came rolling down the sloped road. One I stopped with Defender's right foot before I picked the golem up. To me inside Defender, it might as well have been a toy.
It was not, though, so I would aid its return to battle before I did one final check. I made sure I remembered how to work this machine and I charged up the main gun. Feeling its magical power course through the entirety of Defender whilst I tried to line up a shot. Then, when I believed that I might have an opening, I fired the gun.
And the world around us lit up and took on a golden colour as a thick beam of light shot out. Something that caused Defender to dig into the ground and be forced backwards while it also trembled. When the gun went quiet, however, I was left disappointed by what had happened. The gun had left a large searing hole in the mountain, yes, but I had also missed.
"ERROR!?" I would then scream in fury as Defender notified me of the fact the gun had now failed. I was now down a powerful weapon and practically crippled power wise. Had I overcharged the weapon or was the engine for Defender too weak!? Was it not fueled properly!?
"IISHAR!" that creature would roar again as it slammed an arm into the front of a jeep. Ejecting its occupants across the mountain while making the vehicle attempt a flip.
"DIE!" I would simply respond with as I began to fire off Defender's lesser weaponry. Forcing the escaped gladiator into hiding as bursts of thunder-gold machinegun fire scared it. I would need to redirect one arm to the other gladiator, though. Our most prized one was likely more dangerous given its thunder-gold weapons.
I then let out a gasp of shock when I suddenly lost connection to one of Defender's arms. That other creature had somehow carved open its limb as if it were a suicidal teen. Growling at first until I began to charge the creature in order to make sure I gunned it into mincemeat. Something that I was no longer able to do when the ammo drums suddenly burst open.
"NO! NO! NO! GOLDHANDS!" I would call out as I suddenly backed Defender away in order to lose the busted machine guns. And as I tore them off, more and more troops began to pour into the area. With aircraft soon making runs across the area before they began to fire very brief bursts. It was a meagre aid I could not complain about...
The winds these mountains experienced tore our aircraft apart if they went too high! So if these creatures were to be killed then it was a ground-pounders battle. And as I was one of the few with the means to decently harm these creatures, I began to get more reckless. My guns were failing one after another so I needed to be more brutal.
A brutality I emphasised through metallic fists that would send the closest one flying. With our most esteemed gladiator quickly being knocked out of the fight when I took her tail and used it as a sling. Our newest gladiator, however, would prove to be an issue. No matter how much I knocked it about with Defender, it kept getting back up as if nothing had happened.
It was even starting to show signs of heavy magic use as the air around it was set alight. This arcane fire would lash out at Defender like it was a new combatant and it shielded it from lesser munitions. It would roar over and over again until its fist collided with that of Defender. And the destruction was immense as it led to the mountain fracturing under the creature.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE ALREADY!?" I yelled at the creature with my voice being as loud as it could be.
"I WILL NOT DIE AGAIN! YOUR LIES WON'T LEAD TO MY DEATH AGAIN!" it cryptically roared back as it began to climb onto me. With its claws digging into the weaker steel parts of Defender before it would tear them off. But, my actions would save Defender from its mad fury as I was able to toss it off. But the damage was great and I would be forced into the last resort...
"Defender, your alt-form better not fail me..." I said with a panicked tone as I began to flick switches over and over. A mechanical snap was then heard and Defender dropped dead as the cockpit moved about. And when it was done, I gripped the altered controls and started firing what was hopefully a much safer weapon system. Defender shook slightly with each burst and it rumbled with each cannon shot it fired.
The mountains would light up with fire and shrapnel as more and more troops joined us. The destruction on a single point would keep on growing until a blue light began to stick out. This light was coming from arcane fire and then, all of a sudden, Defender would be overturned as I was suddenly slammed against the walls. I would scream in pain as my head went about and slammed various parts.
And, when it all stopped, I tried to get Defender to move again but it was now dead. Our greatest machine was now inoperable and I was stuck in it. Something would come for me and I think it might have been a golem as I could see thunder-gold in the light. But then, I saw it, I saw the face of Gladiator-12...
"HEL-"
.
.
.
"Told you, Undwote. You were never going to see me again..." I muttered in pain as I got back up after using some magic to set off an explosion. And then, terrified screams filled the air as it became clear a woman was being eaten alive. What I also saw was Liadanann's rear stuck up in the air as she clawed away at that machine. The screams of Iishar Ho coming from within it.
Then it all just stopped and it went quiet with nothing but our breathing disturbing it. At least, until Liadanann started to slam her blades against the machine furiously. I would move forward, however, as she soon collapsed off of the machine with a blood-soaked mouth. She had killed the woman I wanted to take revenge on...
I had been denied the right to avenge my own death by this ddrai'och... And, somehow, I was thankful for it and I was happy. I would smile and then laugh until I was brought back to reality. We may have dealt with some soldiers, but so many still remained.
"Come on woman-eater, let's find somewhere safer." I told her as I picked her up and ran as fast as I could. Crushing stones and ruining roadside objects until I got us into the crags of the mountain.
"Nin..." Liadanann would say in pain as she heaved over and over as I put her down. Her front was completely torn up and stained with both blood and stone dust.
"Okay, let me see what I can do..." I began to mutter as I tried to focus my magic, but, I would also stop. I confused her and I confused myself by backing away from her. It took me a little while to get it, but, my body was slightly moving on its own. My mind said one thing while the body did something else and it scared Liadanann clearly.
"Nin!?" she would cry out as I disappeared over the mountain to return back to the roads. And like a starved animal, I would scrape away at anything in hopes of just finding a stale piece of bread. This digging would find me something too! It was some kind of cable that burnt the ground it touched...
"There's a source of magic!?" I would say as I tried to figure out where it was coming from. Taking what I could from its ambient heat before then suddenly stopping in fear. This magic was hot... And, well, I don't have a good history with magic that burned...
Liadanannn, however, needed my help, and if I was to help her, I needed to help myself. I needed to get magic into my body and this source would help me. I just needed to find it and let it flow into me. To just let it heal myself so I could go on to heal another.
Yet, as I walked, I moved on to running as more bullets would come my way. I may have just battled various metal men, but my patience grew thin. As did the energy I had to expend which was being lost rapidly. That crude spell I performed as well did not help things.
"Come on, come on, get into my sights!" I would pant out in worry whilst taking cover behind a boulder. Frowning as bullets and grenades and other things destroyed the land around me. Another facility was in sight but I could not tell anything about its importance. Barely anyone was near it.
Maybe because me and Liadanann had killed them...? No, that could not have been the case. There were no tracks into this facility. No frequently used ones, that is.
It was a blatant trap if it was indeed one, but I would have to push past that. I would have to ignore the risk to myself and just go for it. So I did, I left my cover and I ran as fast as I could. Barrelling past those who got in my way and getting lodged into a wall at the end.
"Come on now, don't laugh!" I told myself in frustration after initially taking it on the chin. Yet, my attention would quickly be focused on other things as I could now feel the magic clearly. These tubes and cables that ran about this cold place were glowing with magic. And as I followed them, it got stronger and stronger until I found somewhere else.
A chamber that was guarded by thunder-gold covered doors and other forms of thick metal. It required some effort to tear open and the alarms it set off hurt my ears. But the magic flow I felt when I got inside was worth it and it made me so relaxed... I could feel it already working wonders on my body.
I was, at first, moving towards this rumbling device in the middle of the room. But I stopped when I saw the eyes of a wyvern look at me through them. It would roar at me before it just sort of stared at me. I would, however, focus on the cables near it, how so many of them were not plugged in or that.
"Had I interrupted a check-up or parts replacement...?" I asked myself as I tenderly picked a cable up. Carelessly tearing it open and letting the magic blast into my face. It was scorching hot at first, but it slowly and steadily began to feel softer. Like how a hot shower seemed to simmer down as you got soaked by it...
I needed this alright and I was ecstatic about it all. The numbness in my body was gone and I was no longer stiff. I could move normally once again and my wounds were closing up to some extent. But, it also hurt in a more peculiar way, a way I had nearly forgotten.
Because I felt like how I did when I was in the cave with the osibindah. Before I was freed from them by a magical blast that tore it all up... It reminded me of all that, at least, for a moment until I felt nothing. No pain, no nothing, just a soft warmth in my hands.
"Hello!?" a familiar voice then asked as something began to echo through the water tanks...? Then, all of a sudden, Larishazza popped out into one. Her face lit up with joy once she saw me before she broke the tank to rush me down. And I was then on the floor with confusion on my mind while she cried a little while screaming with joy.
"L-Lari!?" I let out once I managed to get my thoughts straight. Yet, while my mind was confused, my body was heartbroken for it knew what would come up soon. The topic of how I facilitated their abandonment in those wastes... But, how did they get here so fast!?
Or was I in that place with Liadanann for longer than I thought?
"Nin! I'm sorry if I have been a bad friend! Please don't run away like that again!" she spewed out to the point it was nearly incoherent. Yet, I still somehow managed to understand it.
"W-What? You haven't been a bad... What are you doing here? How did you find me!?" I began to ask her as I was under the impression no one would have been able to follow me while I lacked magic. And there was just no way she just blitzed on over to me in the last handful of minutes...
"I was following the magic of that..." she answered slowly as her voice trailed off once she saw the machine.
"Oh, o-okay, coincidence then..." I said as I nodded my head. Trying to get her off of me and failing as her grip was too strong. And, maybe, her tears were as well. It was clear she was absolutely shattered by what I had done.
And I was hoping so dearly I would not have to see the results of my actions...
"Nin... Why did you do it?" she then asked me as she slowly gave way. Allowing me to move even just a little while her arms stayed wrapped around me.
"I... I..." I tried to answer but nothing was coming to my mind or mouth. So I tried to shift the topic onto another one. I wanted to just get this over with and deal with it however I can.
"Nin! Answer me!" she begged and demanded at the same time as she shook my body. That trembling lip of hers and her eyes being all that I could see. My own eyes refused to budge anywhere else and all I saw was that face she made.
"I'm... I'm... sor... I need to go!" I tried to say before changing the topic onto something else. Desperately moving out of her grip before trying to run back to Liadanann. I don't know why I ran away from the woman I loved. But I did.
I ran away from her and was in turn chased by her tearful form. And I kept looking back at her not because I was concerned over her catching me. But so I could see her face as it warped about with confusion and anger. She had no idea why I was doing this and it only made things worse.
"NIN! PLEASE! YOU'RE MY FRIEND!" she reminded me before she started snivelling as we ran. She would stumble and fall and then get back up to chase me again. Then, she would just drop to her knees and hold her hand out towards me. Her eyes were wide open as she cried and begged for me to come back with her arms.
She just wanted a hug from her friend, a soothing hand in her hair. Yet I had none of that to give her and just kept on running. Nearly breaking down into tears myself until I was able to find Liadanann again. Who, initially, reacted violently with a sweeping swipe from her blade.
And, once it harmlessly bounced away from me after clanging against my shell, she calmed down. She would come up to me slowly and look at me in confusion before she reacted to her injuries again. And as I brought forth a trembling claw to send magic into her. She moved away and growled at someone behind me.
"Lari..." I would mutter as I turned around as well. Staring up quietly at her while she looked back at me. At least, until she was forced to look elsewhere when Liadanann attacked her. I had no idea why she did, but I had to stop her from getting killed!
If my freshly rejuvenated body could survive her weapons, then Larishazza would have no trouble! So I dashed in between them and roared in pain when Larishazza's reactive spell hit me dead-on. All to protect Liadanann who I did not know that well at all. But she had helped me and that was enough.
"Who's this?" Larishazza would then ask me in a surprisingly calm tone as she was quick to figure out why I stopped her blow. And while she did not say anything to me about my new injury, she did flick some water on it. Healing it straight up before she then repeated the process on Liadanann. Who, still treated her with suspicion and aggression.
"This... This is Liadanann, she was my neighbouring cellmate." I told my heartbroken friend as she took on a confused expression.
"Cellmate? She's a criminal? You're a criminal?" she asked with a forced smile as she tried to keep herself in check with humour. Maybe she was thinking I had abandoned her for another friend...? One who I have never mentioned as such it might make things worse...
"N-No, I was captured by my countrymen after I let all my magic out." I nervously explained to Larishazza as she paced around us. And I tried to stay between Liadanann and her, but she was too fast for me.
"You're naked," she would say as she pointed to Liadanann's blood-caked body, "she's naked, you're naked too!"
"Right..." I would let out as I looked back at Liadanann.
"What is this place?" Larishazza then asked as she hopped up onto a rock. Her palm covered her brow and she would survey the area with a tune in her mouth. A very loud tune as well...
"I don't know, some kind of secret base in the Civil Mountains run by my home." I told Larishazza honestly before she hopped down. A hand held out towards the ddrai'och behind me whilst she beamed a smile.
"Hello! I'm Larishazza! I hope we can be good friends!" she would say with her eyes looking at me during the last bit. And as she began to show her sadness, Liadanann would speak up.
"Liadanann, Nin..." Liadanann told Larishazza as she pointed at herself before she pointed at me. This language problem made it so she likely had no idea what was going on.
"I know who he is, silly!" Larishazza giggled out in a forceful manner while Liadanann awkwardly huffed a laugh.
"Alright, you know each other now, can we get going to someplace else? There are people shooting at us." I would tell Larishazza while no one actually shot at us. But, there were the sounds of various vehicles in the air. Some likely higher in the air than others.
"Will I get answers...?" Larishazza would ask me glumly as her body went limp. A depression-like state took her over as she begged me to give her something. Anything at all that might soothe her mind... I had no answer for this question, however.
So I just sighed and turned around, "Let's just get going..."
.
.
.
"WHAT!?" I yelled in shock after hearing what had just been announced. Not only had Defender failed to stop the breakout, but a Spire-Lord had also been killed. And, as if the God of Death wanted to ice our cake of doom, we were now reeling from the fact Fire Trail is under attack. One of the escaped gladiators had broken into the main chamber where that beast was!
"SCREW YOU GUYS! I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!" one of my colleagues shouted in panic as he tried to get out the door. But, everyone was now panicking without restraint because the announcement of Fire Trail's situation only meant one thing... The Magic-Exposer would have to be activated and unless you somehow got away. We'd all be dead...
Now, I can't say I was overly sentimental about my home or its people, but if any of these creatures escaped... If any got out of these mountains and into the lands below then we'd be doomed. Every city-state would be torn apart by these creatures! And if our best weapons could not stop it then there was no chance our rival cities could survive it!
"Dammit!" I then said before I violently kicked a chair away. Tearing off my nametag and reading it as I took heed of how I was the last one here. Clicking my mouth before I paced out of the building as it quietened down somewhat. Slowly trailing the crowds in their frequently clogged hallways until I just broke a window.
I screamed in pain as the glass cut me but I also did not focus on it. Nor did I focus on the ground that sent strong shocks into my legs. All this pain would have to be ignored and that is what I did. So much adrenaline was going through me and my mind had a singular purpose.
I was not going to survive if I let these creatures out of the Civil Mountains. So I might as well die on my own terms with heroics to match even our founder! I would have the legacy that I so desperately wanted. Even if it was vastly different to my previously planned version of it...
"Hey! I need a car!" I demanded from a nearby straggler as they held on to their tools while following the screams. My injured hand quickly bloodied my coat in the meantime. Glass was crunching under my weight as well.
"Don't we all!" was all I got from them before they finally dropped their tools and moved on.
I would snarl at him at first, but petty grudges would not save Tobaballe, "Ea'enk, I don't care if you nearly die doing it, you will get a car." I told myself in order to hype myself up on it. Moving as quick as I could until I saw one that had fallen off the road. It wasn't destroyed, but it must have been abandoned after being smashed off the road...
Luckily, the keys and all that was still there so I would hop in and start her up again. Carefully turning the car around before slamming down on the acceleration. Smashing the horn over and over in an effort to not run anyone over while I drove past the battlegrounds. Nearly throwing up as I saw all the blood and gore while also gagging at the bumps in the road.
It was all burning, everything... The weapons we made to fight magical beings in case they attacked us... They had all failed. Neither Defender with all its might did anything nor the golems that were spawned from its creation.
Not one of the goldhands succeeded so it wasn't just a tech issue either. We were genuinely doomed at this point if I could not set off the Magic-Exposer. That was one of our strongest weapons, if not the strongest now given Defender's state... If it failed then I did not know what we would do.
My home would burn and it would be the end of everyone within these mountains. Either food for a monster or a bloody stain as our attackers rampaged further on. The last few days had been nothing but calls to action. A new addition to a string of bad events.
Maybe I could cut that string here and now, maybe I could tie it up with a great event. One that signalled to all that we had saved our people even if they did not know... Or maybe it would fail too and I would die worrying about my home. Yet, I wanted to have faith in the creation of my countrymen.
I may have not helped make the Magic-Exposer, but I had seen it work. I had seen it devastate a mountain with a grand ball of bluish-white fire. I knew firsthand how it bent the people of this land to our will, how it scared off our rivals. And now we would see it go off once again.
"GROUND FLOOR!?" I would then swear as the car suddenly smashed straight into a blue-haired woman. And I nearly pissed myself at how she remained chipper despite having a car around her torso. But that was nothing compared to what was behind her... Gladiator-12 and Gladiator-27 were both right there!
I nearly collapsed in terror but they would walk past me without doing anything. At least, while Gladiator-27 was near me. Once he had passed on by, Gladiator-12 tried to hit me with her tail blade. Something that had barely just missed me.
"No, no, no! You can't go that way, monsters!" I would babble out in terror before I got back up and ran as fast as I could. Going on and on despite hearing one of them speak in my tongue. I kept on going until I found a spot to hide. And there I would remain for a few moments before I ran once again.
Slowing down as my prior injuries got the best of me and collapsing before Fire Trail's building. Nearly smiling in relief as I saw the salvation of my people. Within the walls of this slightly damaged building was the Magic-Exposer. Right at ground-zero if the wyvern ever escaped...
But, we would not need it for that creature. We would need it for the ones that were on their way to my home! So I hobbled inside of the building while panting over and over again. Running a bloody hand across the heated walls until I found it.
The room had not been touched and I tried to use my pass to get the door opened. But it was denied! The blood on my hands had set it off in the wrong way and now the alarms were blaring. And, for some reason, a goldhand came running towards me with his gun in the air.
"FREEZE!" he yelled as he nervously held that gun at me.
"ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME!? PROJECT GLADIATOR IS RUNNING AMOK AND YOU ARE TRYING TO STOP ME!?M YOUR FACILITY HAS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN INTO!" I yelled in fearful fury at this man as he twitched under my words.
"Orders... Orders were to only respond to issues regarding the Magic-Exposer..." he would nervously explain as his eyes went back and forth between gore and damage.
"A GLADIATOR HAS KILLED A SPIRE-LORD AND YOU'RE CONCERNED OVER SOMETHING SO PEDANTICALLY STUPID!?" I would yell at him as I moved closer to him.
"Stay back!" he would tell me as the gun trembled some more.
"OR WHAT!? YOU'LL SHOOT ME, UNLIKE THE MONSTER WHO ATTACKED YOUR FELLOW GOLDHANDS!?" I would remind him as it became clear that he was a cowardly man. One who was unfit to have the name or powers of a goldhand if this was his response to danger!
"I..." he began to say with a gulp before he moved the gun to his temple. And when he did that, I punched the gun in rage and heard it bang so close to me. But the goldhand was still alive... And he had a clean card we could use to get in.
"If you want to kill yourself so badly, do it with style..." I belittled him with as I snatched the gun from his loose grip. Thrashing the hand I used to punch it about, seething some of that pain out with a groan before I carried on.
"Alright... Alright..." the goldhand began to say as he opened up the chamber to the Magic-exposer. And what we saw made me feel calm all of a sudden. An odd contraption it was... A glass box with a core that glowed brightly...
It was big, bulky and rectangular on the outside with a shiny metal rim covered in rivets. Inside, there was more glass and a series of mechanical hammers. Some were not in the box, many were on the outside just in case more needed to be smashed. And, the glass that held the magic was ball-ish in shape, more like an egg than anything.
An egg with either two straws attached to it or a single spear that went straight into it. Nothing but the magic was in there, it was a complete vacuum. This device was not going to go off unless we made it do so... And this gun allowed us to skip right past the fancy sequence of activation.
"What's your name, goldhand?" I would then ask the coward as he nervously stared at the device. He would be confused at first, but he would look at me and nod a couple of times.
"Enum, my name is Enum." he would tell me whilst carrying on with the nodding.
"Well, Enum, thank you for your help." I told him before I forced my finger down on the trigger.
.
.
.
"Behind me, now!" Larishazza suddenly told us as something erupted in the distance. A large blast of magic soon followed as Larishazza erected a barrier. One made of something you did not think would stop a blast like this. Yet, it did not strike me as all that much.
Liadanann was terrified of the sight, but I was a little numb to it. I guess I was a little too prideful about the explosion I made before my capture. Something that only became more clear to me when I saw the destruction. Everything had been hit by a blast of magical origins, but, a lot remained.
"What was that?" I would ask whilst I kick about a cooling piece of slag. Sending it off into the distance while my cell neighbour trembled.
"Someone used a spell?" Larishazza tried to answer until something far worse came on by. Something that concerned Larishazza enough to bring her barrier back. And, from within the safety of this water, we could see the world around us melt and boil. A distant, thunderous roar would reach us as well as something shot into the sky.
"The wyvern..." I would say as I watched it hover in the air before it shot down to us. With the mountains near us warping like jelly as it landed.
"You there, osibindah..." the wyvern began to say before it caught onto something. Apparently, I stank of something it was familiar with. Something that caught its attention and changed it. From furious destroyer to desperate pleader...?
"Yes...?" I would ask it as I made my way through the bubble. A display of recklessness that only made Larishazza bring the barrier over to me.
"Mistress Salahma! Where is she!? I can smell her on you!" it would ask with a hopeful glint in its eyes.
"She's dead..." I muttered quietly, hoping it would not hear my satisfied words.
"Dead...? Yes... That would explain the smell, that is her blood I smell!" it began to say slowly before it let its aura flow off of it. The mountains would be deformed further and its strike against the barrier would send visible shockwaves into the sky. Bright and fiery shockwaves that lit up the sky and surged on evermore.
"Yeah, she's dead! And I'd make sure that murderer would die again!" I firmly tell the flaming lizard. Finally letting out some of what I felt when I saw her kill her own son... Just because she thought I might be able to give her a stronger one...
"Why you!" the wyvern said with a growl before it began to tear at the barrier to no avail. Larishazza's magic was both too powerful and too perfect a counter to its fire magic.
"Take the barrier down, Larishazza, we deal with him now."
"No!" was all she would say.
"DAMMIT LARISHAZZA! LET ME DEAL WITH HIM BEFORE HE ENDANGERS MY HOME!" I would yell at her in fury before the wyvern suddenly stopped.
"Your home?" it would say with an evil grin before it disappeared into the sky. And when that happened, I panicked. I panicked like I had never done before and I ran out after it.
"Nin!" Larishazza would call out as I slipped and slid over the molten rock. Ignoring it all as much as I could while trying to get up the almost grease-like mountain. And, like grease, it made it so hard to get a grip and I just kept falling down until it cooled. At which point, I would charge up the mountain and shatter it in an effort to catch the beast.
But even with my magic and the explosions it caused, I could not get high enough and this monster went higher. Yet, it would at first head in the wrong direction, it would head to another city instead. This, at first, made me slow down in my chase, but it also made me realise something else. If I did not make it believe that these cities were my home, then Tobaballe might actually burn!
"NO!" I roared out dishonestly yet still sincerely as I charged carelessly across the grass. Tearing up the forests I was so familiar with growing up and following the shadow left by its wings. The bluish-white of my magic contrasted greatly with his pale flames. I would see embers rain down from above as I ran.
I would put out the fires these impossibly hot bits of glowing air caused. Only to destroy the land around me myself as I tried so desperately to catch up with it. But I could not fly like this monster, I could only run and jump while also flinging my arms about. Begging my body to generate some kind of projectile spell before it did too much damage.
I might be able to put on an act right now, but I do not know if I will be able to maintain it. The city we were approaching meant nothing to me and I knew little of it. I could not sympathise with its inhabitants watching the oncoming danger nor would I work to save them. I wanted only to stop this monster before it found my home.
That is all that mattered right now. Not making sure Liadanann was okay and had recovered slightly. Not giving Larishazza an answer to all of her questions in order to comfort her. Nor was it going back to make sure Vadei's end goals were met.
All I wanted to do was save my home from destruction. My precious, precious home that I have gone through too much to get back to. Only to watch it be destroyed in the blink of an eye... I would not see that happen, I wouldn't!