With a mechanical rasp, a woman lurched upright, her cyan eyes darting across the small room she was in. The small wooden room was accompanied by rocks and earth being moved underfoot and wheel. A worn cloth blanket splayed across her lap, exposing her pale gray skin. Apparently, her awakening had caused a commotion. Voices from outside drew closer to the door on the wall in front of her. Quickly moving the blanket to cover her chest, the woman waited for someone to open the door.
With a creak, the door opened to reveal an aged woman with graying hair and wrinkled skin. “Oh, so you are awake, dear! That's good to see,” she said, closing the door behind her. “Where am I?” she asked the old woman. “Well, you're in our caravan, dear. We found you unconscious in the middle of the plains.” The woman talked calmly while preparing a cup of water, “what's your name?”
“I'm Evelyn, mam, Evelyn Writer.”
“Oh, you don't need to call me mam; my name is Hilda,” she said, patting Evelyn on the shoulder and handing her the cup. “Now, drink this. Taking the cup, Evelyn took a sip, finding the water inside slightly bitter. Then, scrunching her eyes, she looked inside the cup and found a leaf sitting at the bottom. “Ick, what’s in this?”
“It’s grey leaf, dear, good for the waking mind,” she replied, chuckling into her hand.
“I’m assuming there’s no chance you have something to cover up the taste, do you?”
“No, sorry, but you should drink it anyway; it's good for you.”
Bringing it up to her lips, Evelyn took a big sip of the drink, trying not to make another face at the flavor. After digging through a small bag, Hilda pulled out rough-made clothes and handed them to Evelyn. “You would probably put these on, dear; it just wouldn’t do to have you walking around in the nude!” Hilda said, laughing with Evelyn, “No, it probably wouldn’t, would it? Thanks, Hilda.”
“I’ll let you put that on, and then you can join the rest of us outside. We are making camp currently, so you got up at the perfect time.” She said, walking towards the door, “but fair warning, they might ask you lots of questions, but feel free not to talk; a woman’s secrets are hers and hers alone.”
Watching the older woman exit the room, Evelyn examined the clothes in her hands. She held a light brown shirt with some patches scattered across its surface. The pants were much the same but with slight leather padding on the knees.
Tossing them on, Evelyn took a moment to inspect herself, finding nothing out of place, no cuts, scrapes, or bruises.
She opened the door and looked at the camp set up before her. Three small carriages sat in a small circle around a pair of tents and a campfire. Sitting around the fire were Hilda, two younger children, and a muscular older man. As she observed the scene before her, she fully realized how strange her situation was. “What the hell…?” She mumbled. Searching her mind, she tried to recall any regions that still existed in such a primitive way. “Miss!” A deep voice boomed from the campsite, “Join us by the fire!”
Turning her head to look at the fire, the man was waving in her direction. He sat on the ground next to the fire, his long red hair in intricate braids and a short angular beard close to his face.
Slowly stepping out of the wagon, Evelyn walked to the fire and sat down next to Hilda and the children across from the man. “Good to see you awake,” He said, “I’m Asger. And you’ve already met my mother, Hilda. Those little goons over there are my kids, Ingvar and Ylva.”
Ingvar waved excitedly at Evelyn while Ylva hid behind her brother, waving shyly. “Hey, kids,” she waved back, “I'm Evelyn.”
“Why is your hair blue?” Ingvar asked.
Before Evelyn could respond, Hilda glared at the boy; “Young man, I thought I told you to keep your questions to yourself?”
Waving her hand, Evelyn interrupted, “It’s fine, Hilda, I don't mind,” She turned back to the children, “It’s blue because I made it that way.”
“How do you make hair?” Ingvar asked.
“Are you a mage,” Ylva added.
Their words ran through Evelyn's mind before she responded. “No, I'm not a mage; I'm an engineer. Then, holding her arm, two plates raised out of her forearm and opened to reveal her mechanical skeleton.
The small servos, motors, and other mechanics moved slowly as Evelyn held her arm in place. A series of small tubes ran through the arm, filled with a slightly luminescent orange fluid, radiating a soft warmth.
The children gathered around Evelyn's arm as Hilda and Asger held back in surprise. Then, taking her arm back, the plates closed fluidly, and she leaned back on her arms, “I designed and built my entire body from metal, not magic.”
“Evelyn…, what are you?” Hilda asked,
“Well, id like to consider myself human still, considering that's what I was born as, but at this point, being more machine than person, I've probably moved beyond that point.”
Looking down at her arms, Evelyn sighed. “I’m pretty sure I'm just… me.”
“Are you going to be a danger to my children?” Asger asked, glaring at her. Looking down at the ground beneath her, “No,” Evelyn responded. “I will not hurt you, your mother, your children, or anyone else so long as I can help. Not again,” she said under her breath.
“Alright, dear, now who’s hungry? We should start on tonight’s meal soon,” asked Hilda. Both of the children jumped and started repeating, “ME, ME.”
“Hilda…, do you need help with anything?” Evelyn asked, standing slowly. “Yes, could you help Asger with the pot and supplies?” Nodding, she followed Asger to the back of one of the wagons. He reached in and pulled out a large cast iron pot, well worn but well taken care of. Taking it from him with ease, Evelyn strolled back to the fire as if she were carrying nothing at all.
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Carefully plopping the pot next to the fire, she saw Asger come back with a large crate of food supplies. “Need me to grab anything else?” She asked him. “Nah, you're good; just sit by the fire.”
Laying back next to the fire, Evelyn observed the stars above. Tracking the brightest ones, she mapped out the constellations.
With a metallic bong, Hilda, hitting the pot with a stirring spoon, called everyone for dinner.
Sitting up, Evelyn accepted one of the bowls that Asher was handing out. Inside was a watery broth with a few vegetables and a small amount of meat. None of the food items looked instantly familiar, being cooked and cut.
With conversation, Evelyn and the family ate the stew as the moon rose higher into the night sky.
With the night winding down, Hilda showed Evelyn back to the carriage room.
“Sleep well, dear,” she whispered, closing the door behind her.
Sleep did not come easy, as thoughts of her situation ran through Evelyn’s mind.
The facilities' emergency alarms screamed their warning call with a blaring undulating wail. People ran from room to room in the halls below, with tools and papers dropping and flying across the floor. Their shouting inaudible against the constant background noise. Against the streaming mass, a woman with long dark hair flowing behind her kicked open a large set of doors labeled Lab 01.
A small white vortex raged above the ground in the large room adorned with rows of desks and machines, sucking in and pushing away the air around it in pulses, almost like the steady breath of someone dreaming. Grabbing hold of the tables bolted to the ground for stability, the woman slowly made her way toward the machine the vortex hovered upon. Then, as the space around her warped and stretched, she reached the device.
The small rectangular box sat unmoving, with its buttons glowing and meters spinning. A torus on the front pulsed with an alien glow as it fed the ever-growing vortex.
Standing next to the mechanism, she grabbed a large lever and yanked it down with all of her might, cutting the power to the device.
With a sudden skchunk, the lights across the box went out, and the woman yanked the power cable out.
"Well," She sighed, exhausted, "Let's never turn that thing on again, eh?"
She collapsed back into a chair and didn't notice the faint sparks in the air.
And with a surge of force and a flash, her whole world went dark.
For the second time, Evelyn woke with a start, Hot air rushing from between open sections of her back, “Shit.”
Standing up, she opened the door to the bright morning sun peaking over the hills around the camp. Asger and Hilda were packing things into one of the other carriages. “Morning, miss!” Asger called as she stepped down. “Morning,” she waved back, “Is there, by chance, a stream or some other water source nearby?”
“There is. YLVA,” Asger shouted, “Show our guest to the stream!” Poking her head from the last carriage, she nodded and ran to Evelyn.
Evelyn wasn't tall, so the young girl came up just a head shorter. Ylva said, walking over a hill. Following quickly behind, Evelyn observed the spires of stone jutting from the ground. Large birds flew around the peaks like vultures.
Moving down the hill, the two came upon the stream, which Evelyn considered almost a small river.
Pointing to the stream, Ylva sat on a nearby rock and pulled out a small worn book. Smiling at the shy girl, Evelyn took off her clothes, her heat vents still releasing a steady flow of hot air.
Walking into the water, a steady coat of steam covered Evelyn with a hiss, causing Ylva to look up in surprise. Then, kneeling, the water coming up to her shoulders, flooded her body through the heat vents, cooling her down until the steam stopped rising.
Splashing the cool water over her face, Evelyn stood up, the water rolling off her body. A small slot opened on her back, letting some of the water drain. Then, running a small pulse of heat through her body, Evelyn caused all of the water still on her to evaporate.
Tossing her clothes back on, she waved to Ylva, who was still staring at her wide-eyed, “alright, I'm ready to go back.”
Nodding, Ylva put her book back in her pocket and walked back with Evelyn. Reaching over, Ylva put her hand on Evelyn's arm, finding it warm but not burning like the steam had suggested. She lurched her hand back with Evelyn's response, “I need the water to cool down. Just by existing my… heart, it produces heat, and sometimes it can get too hot, which can be dangerous to those around me.” Stopping, Evelyn moved the collar of her shirt so the center of her chest was exposed. “Put your hand in the center of my chest.” She said, taking Ylvas's hand and guiding it to her skin. When her hand touched Evelyn's chest, Ylvas's eyes widened as she felt the heat of a small fire radiating from the strange woman's chest.
Afterward, they returned to the camp to find everything packed up and the carriages lined up. Chains connected them, with the front cart having a mechanism built into the front that Evelyn hadn’t seen before.
Walking over, she inspected all of the parts she could see, lost deep in thought. “Impressive, ain’t it?” Asger said from behind, startling Evelyn. “Certainly.” She said, moving around to the other side. The contraption almost resembled an old steam engine made of wood. “How does it work?”
“Well,” Asger started, “Sorry, Evelyn, not enough time.” Hilda said, walking up to them. “Asger, we have to get moving, or else we won't make it to town before nightfall.”
Rubbing his head, Asger sighed, “Yea, you're right. Sit up here with me, and I'll explain how it all works,” He offered, turning to Evelyn.
Climbing into the rider's seat behind the engine, Asger pulled a small lever, causing it to put out a low hum. A tingly sensation ran up Evelyn's back, causing her to shiver slightly. As the carriage train moved forward, Asger chuckled at her discomfort, “First time being near a mana funnel?”
“A what now?” She asked, more thoughts of magic running back through her head like the night before. “I don't know how it works, but it takes raw magic from around us and uses it to make the carriage move.” “Intriguing,” Evelyn mumbled.
Evelyn and Asger continued to talk as the carriage train moved along the rough dirt path. Then, slowly over the horizon, A tower pierced the empty blue sky, surpassing the rock spires scattered across the plains. As they approached, the sheer scale of the tower became apparent. The structure sheened with a metallic shine, but the most striking detail to Evelyn was the shape. The tower was less of a tower and more of a giant spike of solid metal.
“Holy shit,” She breathed in awe. “Welcome,” Asger said, chuckling, “to The Adamant Tower.”
Surrounding the tower's base, a town of brick and stone buildings stretched in every direction. People were walking along grey paved roads, with two lanes in the middle to allow for carriage travel; not that it stopped people from walking there.
Wide-eyed, Evelyn looked around curiously. Windows in shops filled with all manner of strange things. Clothing styles she’d never seen. But most of all was the people. So wide varieties of humanoids walked the streets. Elves and Dwarves like from her grandfather's old book collection. Strange lizard men and people with animal features like ears and tails.
Before she knew it, the carriage had pulled into a lot next to what she assumed was a warehouse. Stepping out with Asger, they met up with Hilda, Ylva, And Ingvar.
“Well dear,” Hilda said, “I’m afraid this is where we part ways. We still have a lot of traveling to do, and you should be able to find anything you need here in the city.” Sticking out their hands, Hilda and Evelyn shook before Evelyn turned and shook Asger’s hand.
Looking down at the children, she stuck out both hands for them to shake. “It was nice meeting you all,” She said, stepping back, “And thank you again for all your help.”
Walking towards the road, she stopped and turned back around, “SAFE TRAVELS!” She shouted, waving. “AND TO YOU AS WELL,” Asger waved back.