The smell was the first thing that hit Elijah, and he was reminded of the few times he’d visited a local landfill back home. Thankfully, those trips had been infrequent – just when he’d had to help his parents clean out their storage shed or garage – but the memories had stuck with him. And they came flooding back into his mind as he beheld the challenge of Mortalum.

“Is this what the system thinks of civilization?” he muttered, staring at mountains of discarded trash. Even from a distance, he could recognize bits and pieces – like what appeared to be a fully intact ship built in an unfamiliar style – but for the most part, the composition of those trash mountains trended more towards stray parts, each one rusted or rotting. He saw giant gears, wooden beams that were as big around as redwoods, and millions of other items he couldn’t even begin to recognize.

The message was clear, though. The first challenge had represented Aesira, the realm of air. The second had similarly been tied to Pruina, the realm of ice. And the mountains of trash were meant to symbolize Mortalum. The implication was a slap in the face for anyone who called that realm home.

But once Elijah got past the shock of it, he couldn’t help but acknowledge its accuracy. He had no experience with other worlds, but on Earth, humanity had destroyed its environment, wasting countless resources in the pursuit of progress. Theirs was a legacy of detritus, a trail of trash they’d left behind as they reached for ever higher peaks.

Elijah was no environmental warrior. Despite his status as a Druid – and as a biologist before that – he’d never been blind to the benefits that came from humanity’s constant pursuit of progress. Millions of lives had been saved by technological advances that ruined their environments. However, when he looked at what the system clearly thought of civilization – and not just that of humans, obviously – he was forced to wonder if the universe might have been better off without it.

Maybe that was the point.

Or perhaps there was no point, except the one he created in his own mind. After all, according the corrupted ka’alaki Druid, the system was merely a machine. It hadn’t been created to make points, but to achieve a specific goal.

Elijah wasn’t sure which way he preferred. A system with an accusatory agenda meant that, perhaps, civilization wasn’t so bad as the biased system portrayed them. But a completely neutral system? That would mean the impact of various societies was probably worse than the mountain of trash suggested.

“I don’t know, bro,” Dat said.

“I read the dossier, but I didn’t expect this,” Sadie breathed. “Where do you think it all came from?”

“Every civilization has trash,” Elijah said. “That’s what this is.”

“One dwarf’s trash is another dwarf’s treasure,” Kurik said. “Might we can find somethin’ useful in there. Even apart from the reward, I mean.”

“Maybe,” Sadie agreed with a neutral expression. Clearly, she didn’t savor the notion of digging through mountains of trash. Elijah wholeheartedly agreed.

“Well, the sooner we get to it, the sooner we’re finished,” Ron pointed out.

Everyone echoed his statement, and after double-checking that they were all as prepared as possible, they pushed through the last vestiges of the jungle and into the no-man’s-land surrounding the mountains of trash. Upon approach, Elijah saw that the majority of it was inorganic and often metallic. He couldn’t begin to guess where most of it had come from, but he likened it to seeing piles of old and discarded refrigerators and washing machines.

Or maybe that was due to his memories of visiting landfills back on Earth.

Regardless, they soon passed the ephemeral line that quarantined the challenge, resulting in a notification that flashed before Elijah’s eyes. Presumably, the others saw a similar message:

You have reached the Citadel of Innovation. To conquer the Challenge of Mortalum, destroy the Engineer.

Reward: Ingot of Celestial Truegold

Kurik gasped, mouthing the name of the reward.

“Celestial Truegold?” Elijah asked his dwarven friend. “Is that good?”

“It…it…good doesn’t begin to describe it,” the Sapper responded. “It is too much. Way too much. Even late-stage Ascendents would be lucky to see such a powerful material, much less own an entire ingot. I am no Miner or Metallurgist, but every dwarf worth his beard knows about Celestial Truegold. It’s practically a myth. I’ve only seen it once, and that was when my clan was banished. The King wields a scepter made of the stuff as a symbol of his authority.”

“What are its properties?” asked Sadie.

“I don’t know,” Kurik answered. “I don’t even know if its an alloy or a pure metal. All I know for sure is that it’s priceless.”

“So, this is a good reward. Probably means the challenge will be even worse than –”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Look!” Dat exclaimed, pointing at the nearest mountain of detritus. That characterization was not an exaggeration. The pile was literally the size of a mountain, which meant that it took Elijah a moment to recognize what Dat had seen.

At first, Elijah thought he was looking at a nest of spiders not unlike the one he’d found in the pass connecting the Ironshore region to the area north of Norcastle. But the glint of metal prompted him to use Eyes of the Eagle, and when he zoomed in, he saw that each of those spider-like creatures was actually a multi-legged machine. Moreover, with his new perspective, he saw that the spider-like robot – if that was the proper characterization – wasn’t the only type. Indeed, there were dozens of other variations crawling across the mountain of trash. Some looked like other insects – the ones that resembled millipedes were particularly disturbing – but there were plenty of others that were nothing like any natural creature Elijah had ever beheld.

“They’re eating the trash,” Dat said.

“No. They’re destroying it,” Elijah argued, recognizing the acrid scent of burning rubber. It wasn’t strong – not as far away as they were – but it was powerful enough that Elijah had no trouble identifying the smell. “I don’t think machines eat.”

“Don’t matter none,” Kurik said. “What’re we gonna do about ‘em? ‘cause I don’t think they’ll let us just stroll up there and kill some Engineer.”

“You’re probably right,” Elijah agreed.

“Do we have much of a choice? We need to get in there.” Sadie said. Then, she looked around, “I don’t think there’s enough room here for traps.”

“I can whip something up,” Kurik said. “Might can build some fortifications, too.”

Before the dwarf could make good on that plan, the entire mountain came alive. More of those metallic creatures skittered out of unseen holes, making the pile of trash look like someone had kicked an anthill. The robots swarmed all around, then charged down the slope. It was only then that Elijah – still with Eyes of the Eagle active – saw the robots’ target.

Three people were running down the valley between two mountains, and they were being pursued by a giant demonic monstrosity. The creature was four-legged, horned, and looked like some edgy teenage artist’s depiction of a centaur from hell. Fire danced across its broad shoulders, and despite how quickly it could obviously cover ground, the trio of humans managed to stay just ahead of the demon.

Sadie let out a low growl before dashing forward, her armor and sword already blazing with power. Dat wasn’t far behind, hefting his crossbow and loosing a bolt that flashed across the mile separating him from the demon. It slammed into the creature’s chest, staggering it for a brief moment.

“I guess we’re saving them,” Elijah muttered. It had never really been a question, but he didn’t like that Sadie had made the decision without consulting the rest of the group. That wasn’t like her. And it was even less like the usually-cautious Dat. Regardless, the die had been cast, and if Elijah wanted to keep his team together, he had no choice but to follow.

The same was true of Kurik and Ron, and even as Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Predator, the others kept pace. He’d already made a habit of bestowing his various enhancements onto his allies, so, courtesy of Essence of the Wolf, they managed to keep up.

Still, Sadie and Dat hadn’t bothered to wait for their allies. Instead, they blazed past the fleeing trio of humans, and Sadie leapt at the demon, her sword blazing with more power than ever before. The blade fell, slicing through the creature’s thick arm, but even as the limb flopped to the ground, it leveled a backhanded blow at the leaping Crusader. Suspended in mid-air, she was entirely incapable of dodging, so she took the hit on the shoulder. It sent her flying through the air until she collided with an overturned object that looked curiously like a discarded dishwasher. She didn’t stop there, but instead, cartwheeled across the landscape for another fifty feet before skidding to a stop.

That was when Dat let loose with a barrage of crossbow bolts. It was a new ability, and though Elijah hadn’t learned its name, he’d seen it in action. The bolts hit with the velocity and rapidity of machine gun fire, thudding into the demon’s thickly muscled frame. The first few were deflected by the creature’s thick scales, but the sheer number of projectiles – each one glowing with ethereal light – took their toll, carving a deep crater into the demon’s chest.

Then, it raised its remaining arm, and a whip of fire blazed into being. Its arm fell, and the whip snapped. An instant later, Dat dove to the side. However, the weapon still took a chunk of flesh out of the Witch Hunter’s shoulder. He shouted in anger and pain, but he turned his dive into a roll, coming up firing once again.

By that point, Elijah had already passed the trio, who kept running without so much as a glance at their saviors. He did see the terror writ large on their faces, though. In any case, Elijah dipped into Guise of the Unseen as he raced past Dat. At the same time, Ron pointed his sparkly star-tipped wand at Dat, loosing a healing spell that mended the man’s wounded shoulder.

For his part, Elijah trusted the Healer to do his job. He knew he had one shot to end the fight, and he didn’t intend on letting himself become distracted. As he stalked toward the monster – moving much faster than he normally would – he saw Sadie picking herself up. She was clearly stunned, but he didn’t think she’d incurred any major injuries.

But the Crusader was too far away to affect the fight – at least for a few more seconds. By the time she recovered and rejoined the battle, the demon would have brought that terrible whip to bear, and Elijah had already seen how powerful it could be.

Without any hesitation, Elijah circled around the creature. It didn’t notice him. Whether that was due to Guise of the Unseen or because it seemed just as enraged by Dat’s and Sadie’s presences as they were by its existence, he didn’t know. But Elijah was more than willing to take advantage of the distraction.

It raised its arm once again, ready to level another attack with that devastating weapon. But before it could snap it forward, Elijah leapt. As he did, he used both Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike, and when he landed, he wasted no time before closing his maw around the creature’s neck. He flexed his jaws, embracing the power of his skills as well as the natural structure of his form. At first, the thing’s scales and dense flesh resisted, but that only lasted for an instant before he tore through. Bone snapped a second later, and the monster went limp.

Just as it did, another barrage of crossbow bolts slammed into its chest, and a glowing white sword hacked into its foreleg. It let out a gurgling but weak scream as its balance was ruined. The demon fell with a loud thud, kicking up mud and stagnant water with the impact.

Sadie buried her blade in its massive head.

And just like that, the monster was slain, and the air was filled with the smell of charred flesh.

However, one look at the surrounding slopes told Elijah that the battle had only begun. Thousands of robotic monsters had taken note of the battle, and they clearly intended to participate. What was worse was that they didn’t have the benefit of a defensive position or Kurik’s traps to protect them. They were exposed, Sadie was injured – even if slightly – and they were still separated from the other three members of their group by a couple hundred feet.

“Dammit,” he growled, angry at his companions for acting without a plan. But the damage had been done, so now they could only play the hand they’d been dealt. “Sadie!”

She stared at the demon’s corpse, her sword dripping black blood that sizzled when it hit the ground. Elijah shouted her name again, and she gave a start. Whipping toward him, she demanded, “What?”

“We need to retreat!” he yelled.

That was when she fully climbed free of her dazed state, and she gave him a nod. It preceded a veritable tidal wave of robotic monsters that fell upon them a moment later.