All his life, he had heard of Thundervale’s lake. Local villages used the lake as both a meeting place for festivals but also as a shared fishing spot. Until now, however, he had never been, so tales was all he could go on.
Having climbed a tree to get a better vantage point over the lake, he looked over the body of water. They were still a-ways away from the edge of the lake and the many enemies they saw infesting the lakeside. “Hundreds,” he said under his breath.
“Dare we try to split up again?” Zan asked.
“No…” Jiehong said. “Absolutely not. You were right about the direction to the lake. On this matter? I’m setting my foot down. We take them together.”
He had no objections. There were many enemies, after all. If either of them became overwhelmed, then what? Nothing but death. The automotrons would swarm and then -- cut to black.
“Shall we consider our options, then?” he asked his brother. Jie nodded.
Commenting aloud, he said, “If our objective is to lift the siege, then the best way would be to eliminate the siege weaponry, right? But we have no magic. I also don’t see the Slipstream anywhere. What do we have? Those ‘grenades’ the Wardens gave us. They said the grenades are weapons. Do you think they would be enough to take out a siege engine?”
It was Jiehong’s turn to muse. “It would depend on their power. It would also depend on the siege engine. Is it a simple catapult? Or one of those four-legged machines?”
“Good point,” he replied. “We know neither. So, we just go in blind?”
Jiehong gave his brother a look which he didn’t like. He needed no translation. They were to go in blind.
“Let’s get this started, then,” he announced, practically growling his displeasure at the lack of information.
Dropping to the ground, He and Jiehong drew their blades and advanced on the enemy. Confirming his suspicions about the enemy’s limited range of sight, none of the wood golems took up arms until the boys were precariously close. By then, of course, too little, too late.
He extended his arm with blade in hand and brought a broad downward-vertical slash against a golem. To his shock, he felt no resistance as the blade did the work and cleaved the foe in two, instantly ending its function.
Just like that, he had slain the day’s first golem. Proceeding almost automatically to the next batch, running on battle focus, now, he was ready to cut anything which stood in his way to pieces. Automotrons lumbered to him, and he diced them down to size.
While he kept himself occupied with automotrons on one side, to his back, Jiehong battled his own set of golems. Using the blade and his still-functioning brass-knuckles, Jiehong ripped through the lumbering automotrons with a fury. He wondered if Jiehong was taking his frustrations with navigation and planning out on the golems. If so, then good! The enemy was the proper outlet for one’s negative emotions.
Having cut their way through a host of the invaders in what had to be only thirty-minutes or less, he yelled to Jiehong to cease and regroup.
Obeying, they both retreated from their respective warpaths. One reason he ordered them to regroup was because he noticed he and Jiehong each were gradually losing each other as they engaged the enemy. If they weren’t careful, he knew the battle would separate them on the lake’s respective sides.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Which way do we advance?” he asked.
With a huff, his brother said, “Now you want my opinion?”
That was it! He exploded. “What do you want from me, Jiehong?! Are we really doing this now? And for why? YOU were the wrong one, remember? Your knowledge, your experience at having left the village before didn’t help us find the correct path! Just because for once in our lives it is I who is the leader, doesn’t mean you’re any less of a person. Now, can we put this crap behind us and fight the godforsaken invaders -- please?!”
Refusing to make eye-contact, Jiehong said, “Let’s go along the right-hand side of the lake. I think I saw some kind of bridge further that way…”
He refused to press the issue further. He really didn’t want to push it, after all. The only thing happening now was stress. Stress from the war, and the Ranger-Knights being a thing… stress from fear of losing loved ones. Stress from not knowing how many years they would be at it, fighting these golems. Day after day...
“Lead the way,” he said, falling into line behind Jiehong, hoping he did not see his comment as anything other than the team leader giving an order.
Warring together, the two encountered more Automotrons, of course, but not any siege weaponry. Where were they?
“Is that a bridge? Or a dock?” he asked.
“What?” Jiehong said.
“Over there. See? There is a path leading into the center of the lake.”
Jiehong stretched his eyes to see what he saw. “Oh. I see it, now.”
The boys fought their way to the bridge. It was exactly as he believed. A floating pier leading into the heart of the lake.
“There’s an island in the center of the lake? That must be where the siege equipment is, right?” he asked, finding it hard to see with his eyes.
“I would figure… that or at the other end of the lake.Thundervale, I think, is right up on the edge of the lake. So, if the siege engines aren’t on the island, I don’t know where they would be.”
Seeing enemies lumber speedily toward them, he suggested they get a move on.
Not wanting to waste time, the two ran the length of the floating pathway. It was a longer path than expected. But it allowed them to dodge the automotrons which were clambering toward them.
Reaching the island — blissfully, he thought, as their legs were throbbing, and chests on fire — they saw on the island’s tip a host of heavy weaponry. Worse yet, the enemy’s presence there was much denser than the edges of the lake. He wondered to himself if they could cut their way through so many foes.
Jiehong took point this time, however. Reaching into his satchel, his brother withdrew a grenade. He pulled the pin, tossed it with a mighty throw, and waited for the explosion. They did not have long to wait as the loudest noise they ever heard ripped through the densely packed golems.
Once ‘exploded,’ Jiehong rushed into the remaining mob. Zan did not watch for very long, of course, since he had to rush into action himself, but he saw Jiehong’s trouble right away — many of the enemies here were of the golem type with a metallic reinforcement on their body. Which meant they needed more hits than your basic automotron.
Familiar with the red painted golems, which he thought might be of a higher rank than non-painted golems, he leaped into action and helped his mate by slashing away at them. “Jiehong! Use your sword!” he shouted. Jiehong, he knew, enjoyed using his fists, but the sword clearly would be more effective.
Decapitating a couple of golems in a single slice, then bringing his blade down in a wide attack, Zan de-comissioned a couple more in a couple of swings. Following belatedly in suit of Jiehong, he reached for his own grenades hanging on his belt. He pulled the pin, tossed it, and waited for the loudest noise ever.
BOOM! A cascade of earth heaved then fell with a muffled crash.
Then the silence. Strange how in such chaos, the enemy did not scream.
Pressing his advantage, he rushed ahead of Jiehong who, to his dismay, refused to use his blade. “Jiehong. Sword — NOW!” He screamed. “That’s an order!”
Peeling the advantage they had hard won, he dispatched stragglers as he fought his way to the first catapult.
Thrusting his blade through the catapult’s operator, he expected it to die immediately, as the rest of the golems.
But it did not. Somehow, the golem lived.
Turning to him, he saw how, and why it still lived.