~~~~~~~~~~~

The armies of the Mechanist swept across Azur like a blight. Endless hordes of unthinking machines mowed down villages and armies alike until all hope seemed lost.

Not just content to slaughter the innocent, the Mechanist directed his minions to destroy all signs of Magitech they encountered. If the knowledge was not what he could use to further strengthen his armies, it would be wiped away from memory along with those who held the knowledge.

The keys to our restoration were slipping through our grasp. Despite valiant attempts from our courageous warriors, the cowardly foe lay a step ahead of elite kill squads sent to end this menace to our world. Ambushers were ambushed, never by the living. Instead meeting their doom at the sight of the cold and unfeeling legions of metal men who knew neither mercy nor pity.

Thousands lost their lives to send forth the army which finally cleansed this world of the scourge which had plagued our families for nearly twenty years. Little did we know how deep his tendrils had dug into the heart of our cities. Even from beyond the grave, the Mechanist’s retribution was swift and terrible.

The Night of Tears was the final blow to our already wavering stability. It is unknown how many fell that night across the globe, but two things are agreed upon. Firstly, the men of metal disappeared in the morning light without a trace. Second, any hope of restoring our civilization was lost with the lives taken that night.

-Jasper Clarke, historian. 34AC - 106AC

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Been a few days ain’t it there laddie? And who’s this ’er with ya?” Maugin called out as he came into view.

“Just met Ben, we’re here for the night watch. What are you doing here? I thought you lived on the other side of town,” I said.

“I help with the upkeep ’round the Citadel. What, ye didn’t think all us Dwarfs was smiths and brewers?”

“A mason then?”

“Ha! As if! I’ll be telling the missus bout that one later. Naw, I’m the accountant. Now I’ll be on me way and let you boys get to watchin. The gates’ll hold them in overnight but you’ll be there with em. Someone’ll be by in the mornin.”

Without further explanation, Maugin locked the door behind us and walked on his merry way back home to his wife.

Ben was the first to recover, “So... you two know each other?”

“I met him once, and no it doesn’t make any more sense to me either.”

“Huh, okay then.”

“Yep, that’s my view of it. So, what do you need to do to get set up? I see you packed plenty. Traps I presume?” A knapsack around his waist was bulging out with a mismatch of odd lumps and strange pointy bits.

“Oh yes, I had the old man hook me up with a few of his more exotic experiments,” the grin across Ben’s face reminded me of some overly enthusiastic siege engineers I’d encountered in my previous life.

“Are these experiments going to be dangerous in any way to me?” I asked.

“No, they’re all mostly non damaging. At least they should be,” he shrugged.

“Mostly and should don’t give me a lot of confidence when it comes to experimental weaponry being tested near my personal space. Explanation please?”

“Alright, well this is based on a theory that my dad had. Something he calls ’hard light’. I swear, anything light related he goes nuts over. But the idea is that when triggered,” Ben pulled out a grapefruit sized device, “these pods will emit a two dimensional barrier made of light itself.”

“Wait, are you talking about a containment field?!”

“I mean that’s what the end goal is, you know, to keep things away from me. But the downside is I can’t shoot through it either, deflects my arrows. Was thinking that we could use them to block off side routes, funnel the dead into a pathway that you could hold out against. Keep us from getting overwhelmed.”

“It’s a portable containment field! Let me see! How did you solve the attenuation issues?” I snatched the device from his hand and began pouring over the rune work.

“Hey, careful with that!” The orb was grabbed back and returned to his pouch, “It’s fragile and really difficult to use. Besides, I don’t want to risk a premature activation. It’s a single use item. The ones I tested can last up to twelve hours, but that’s significantly reduced if they come under stress. Like I said, it’s still a prototype my dad’s been working on.”

“I’ll give you my half of the reward if you give me one of these unactivated.”

What was she thinking? I had no idea what Samara’s plans were, aside from trying to create a copy of it for us. The racing of my heart told me that she was even more excited than she had already let on. We needed the money but I had to believe that this little orb was worth more to us than the ample reward already promised. I’d hear her explanation later.

“The... entire half of it? For one of these?” The wolf kin looked at the orb then looked back at me. The wheels were turning feverishly in his mind. “Deal.”

I shook his outstretched paw without a moment’s hesitation. “Assuming that they perform according to your specifications, of course.”

“Naturally, I wouldn’t want to have you feel cheated by our agreement,” the expression on his face was a conflict of not wanting to lose a profitable deal and what looked like guilt over charging so much for a tiny item that could be used just once. Greed won in the end.

“Of course, so where do you want to set them up at?” I asked.

“Let’s scout out the area, these mausoleums would make for a good choke point. The recently buried should be over there,” he pointed off into the distance. With low light around the slowly incoming fog reduced my sight range even further.

We made our way towards the freshly made graves. I wasn’t sure how many people had died in the riot, but the disturbed earth extended as far as I could see. Scores of fresh plaques were laid on the ground.

“Alright, I’m going to light up my torch. You probably should too,” Ben called briefly before a low red light shot out from his location.

Following suit, I pulled up the energy to discharge into the tube. A soft light poured forth and illuminated my surroundings, cutting through the low-lying fog in wisps along the ground.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“There’s a handful of monuments clustered fairly close together here,” I called to Ben.

“One second, on my way,” Ben appeared a moment later and appraised the heavy stone edifices I’d pointed out.

“Well what do you think? Half a dozen of these would slow down even people. Want to set up your little trap gizmos to finish blocking it off, leave us with one avenue to watch and a small escape passage through the back?”

“I like it. Help me get set up? These little blighters are SP hungry. I could do it myself but it’d tap me out for a few hours.”

Taking the pair of devices he handed me, I walked between the front stone monuments our funnel would be made from. Having a moment to set it up, I took the opportunity to examine it in greater detail than before.

Area Denial Orb (Prototype)

Emits a hard light barrier of variable intensity. Requires anchoring to stabilize. Warning- Device may become unstable if subjected to excessive strain.

Class 3 Magitech Device

Activation Effect: 180 SP/ activation (90)

Creates a barrier impassable to physical entities until failure.

Depletion: 0/1

This was definitely something worth investigating when we got out of here. The possibilities were nearly endless! The only thing that lay in the way was that warning about instability and the single use nature of the tool. All things I could probably improve upon, but I needed to disassemble it first.

The first orb set in place, I activated the device with a deep pull from my core. Ben hadn’t lied when he said they were greedy. Were it not for my [Magitech Interface] skill, I’d only be able to activate the one without taking a rest. As it was, I momentarily left lightheaded once it finally quit drawing from me and began to quietly hum.

The humming increased in intensity before nearly reaching an infrasonic squeal. Some hounds in the distance began to howl and my companion winced in pain.

“You’ve got to feed it in slowly! Agghh that rings,” Ben admonished me as he finished setting up his third device.

The sound finally settling down, I moved over to the last location we’d designated. Carefully setting it in place, I began to feed my SP into it at a much more limited rate. Despite the increased strain, I was able to fill it up without incident.

“Alright, my two are set up,” I looked back and called to Ben who had perched atop a flat slab of a monument.

“Not bad, most warriors don’t even have your level of control. Ready for the light show?”

“Oh yes. Let’s see!”

The devices activated one after another. A soft, nearly clear violet light started at the base of the device then snaked along the ground in a straight line until meeting the stone monuments. A loud hiss came as the light etched its way into the stone monuments by a couple centimeters before forming a curtain and moving upwards.

“Is it supposed to be defacing the graves?” I asked.

The line in the stonework continued as the curtain reached ever higher. When it finally reached the top of the monument, it ceased its progression and snapped into place with the sound of sparks.

“Not really, no. But they are stuck there until the power source gives out. Hopefully that’s morning by the time we’re done. I won’t say anything about it if you don’t.”

I nodded in solidarity. Asking people to fight in a graveyard was begging for some damage to occur. I justified it to myself as being more efficient than if we’d ran around the whole place smashing the individual foes. If it was true or not, I didn’t care to think about too hard.

Walls of light surrounded us, protection against any oncoming threat. Following up after their dramatic reveal, the yard felt even more dull and lifeless than when we first entered. The torches helped keep our night vision intact so long as we didn’t look at the barriers head on. I positioned myself in front of a statue pedestal and scanned the distance ahead of our defensive position. Ben stayed atop the monument he’d found earlier and checked all the directions around us.

A scant two hours later, I heard the first rustling directly ahead of me.

“Think there’s one surfacing ahead of me,” I whispered to the midnight breeze.

I heard no response from above but the scratching and raking noises grew ever more steadily. Finally, they stopped altogether. A low moan like a deflating water skin sounded ahead of me, it was followed by a sharp *THWACK*. The body fell to the ground once again and did not rise again.

“Good shot,” I called up.

“There’s more coming. A lot more. I don’t think I brought enough arrows.”

“Then make them count. If they’re going to swarm thin them out. Otherwise let me take them on one at a time.,” I couldn’t believe that he’d waste an arrow if he was already worried about running out. The folly of youth though. Still, each kill of his was one less for me.

The sounds of the dead rising picked up in fervency as the moon rose higher in the night sky. The fog of the evening was still laying in low pockets but I was still able to see ahead of me. A dozen odd bodies were milling around aimlessly in the night darkness.

Grasping a small pebble, I tossed it into the path of the nearest one. With an eerie silence, it neatly pounced onto the stone. One of the feather folk from the looks of it. Her body looked even more frail and gaunt than they normally did while alive. She turned towards me, expressionless face and eyes, then charged.

I readied my shield and braced for impact. A moment later I felt the hit, uncoordinated and feral. Twisting my torso forward, I led the point of my blade into her midsection. A flush of energy invigorated my body. Quick stepping backwards I avoided the counter blow, uncoordinated and clumsy as it was.

Another strike into the chest and she fell down for good.

“Four of them just noticed your tussle, you want to take them yourself?” Ben said over a raised whisper.

“Take out one of them, I’ll handle the rest.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than an arrow whistled through the night, swiftly followed by another. A quiet curse reached my ears from atop the monument, “... tough old..”

Rather than admonish him, I readied a pilum for the approaching trio. They moved with slow, jerky motions which gave no evidence of their ability to lunge at a moment’s notice.

As of seeking out the source of one of their own dropping, they milled around a bit more, slowly making their way into range. Setting my sights on the biggest one walking, I activated [Piercing Strike] and let fly.

The big one fell to the ground, pilum sticking up from his body. I’d have to retrieve it once these last two were dispatched, not that they’d give me much time to think it over. An ear rending screech shattered the relative silence of the night as the two bounded towards me on all fours like animals.

I caught the first one on my blade before dropping it to the ground, [Siphon] providing the momentary buzz of energy to smash my shield into the face of my second attacker and send it reeling.

Mournful cries rose up from the graveyard as others returned the painful call of agony. The last of the set was regaining its feet, an older male Laroth from the looks of it. Luckily I didn’t recognize the face as I smote him to the ground.

I took a moment to catch my breath, recovering from my recent exertion. I forced my breathing to calm despite the situation around me with the dead rising. At least they stayed down the second time.

“We’ve got more coming, at least a dozen!” All sense of stealth was long gone, Ben opting for more clear and direct communication.

“Thin them out the best you can. No point saving arrows if we get overwhelmed!”

I readied my last pilum and launched it towards the oncoming horde. It grazed the thigh of one, slowing it down but not stopping it.

As the group of undead shambled forward at ever increasing speed, a seed of despair set itself deep into my heart. No matter their individual weakness, a dozen against one was a heroic death in the making.

Then suddenly, one dropped to the ground, an arrow sprouting from its neck. Another joined it shortly thereafter. Ten remained as they closed the gap between me and them.

“The [Conversion Matrix]! If we’re going to die anyway then let’s give it all we’ve got.”

I was hesitant to sacrifice my own health at the sight of the approaching ramshackle army of the dead, but I saw no other way forward.

[Conversion Matrix]

I nearly fell to the ground as liquid fire coursed through my veins, burning me up from the inside out.

Just like before? But...how is it functioning without a focus?!

I opened my eyes again, pushing aside the memories upwelling and gritting my teeth against the pain sapping my concentration.

An arrow flew overhead, slower than should have been possible. A tufted bird sailing on a calm breeze. I watched it lazily skewer deep into one of the lizard kin undead before passing through and landing in the bloody soil.

Turning into the crowd, I pulled back my gladius and charged forward. The undead mob moved with uncoordinated lurches, knocking into each other in their attempts to reach me.

My feet felt so light that I was nearly worried I might fly away as I reamed a dwarf through. He only had one arm. Health returned to me in a rush. My mind was already moving forward, watching where a clawed paw would strike my shield. Eventually.

Finally, it landed and I countered, nearly severing the arm that had struck at me. I danced around the group, taking strikes at my sluggish foes and dodging out of the way. A distant voice called through the night as I butchered my way forward.

“[Seeeekinnng Shoooot]”

I turned around to see a bear of a man, a literal bear, about to bite down into my neck. As I spun to deflect, an arrow came from the back of his skull and out the right eye socket.

In my euphoria I had lost sight of the battlefield. Another couple slashes and I was back to nearly full health. A series of shallow gouges across my arm slowly healed over as [Siphon] activated yet again.

I battled my way back towards my companion still perched atop his tower of stone, the undead falling one after another under the onslaught.

With a sudden snap like an over tensioned wire, the flow of the world returned to normal.

I hacked into the nearest undead, striking and countering their blows. I swung and lashed out, backpedaling to avoid tripping myself on the bodies.

After what felt like an eternity, the graveyard lay silent once again in the darkness.

You have slain LV4 Lesser Ghoul (x16): 160 XP awarded

You have slain LV6 Ghoul (x5): 150 XP awarded

Ben hopped down from his vantage point.

“Hey, aren’t you concerned about another wave coming up?” I called to him.

“Ha!” He wheezed a laugh my direction, “Did you not see the horde we took down? There’s no more up right now. Besides, I’m out of arrows.”

I looked around and sure enough two of the barriers had fallen. The undead lay peppered with arrows, scorch marks showing on their bodies where they had overloaded the wall of light.

“That skill of yours, [Seeking Shot] was it?” I asked.

“Yeah, saved my last arrow for an occasion like that Ursan. Was planning to show off and steal the last kill, but you kinda forced my hand. That new skill you were telling me about I take it?”

“That was it.”

“So cool! You were blazing right through them. I couldn’t believe how fast you were dodging and weaving through the lot.”

“My muscles are reminding me of that now. Let’s just hope the rest of the night is quiet. Not sure I could do that again in a hurry.”

I walked through the dead, salvaging arrows where I could and recovering both my pila. One advantage of the pila over arrows was that mine were far more reusable. The gruesome business of removing them from the bodies wasn’t an upside though.

Some had been buried in odd jewelry, probably heirlooms. I decided to not loot them, try and give the dead their dignity at least. Given how many other things were turning out to be real, I wasn’t going to tempt a haunting.

Recovery mission completed, I returned to the monument with Ben. Our barricade of light was no longer intact, there was no reason to stay on the ground. Nothing else stirred in the night either as I laid back to let my protesting muscles relax. Even if I was back at full health, the exertion of my skill left my drained and hollow.

As Ben and I sat silently against each other’s backs, the sun slowly began to rise above the horizon.