Revin listened as Omrai gave instructions to his captains and generals. As soon as they exited the canyon, provided that the exit was clear, they would disperse into different groups, dividing out into the smaller cities and towns of the region. By some miracle, most of the army and the city had made it out alive. Omrai had destroyed the entrance to the canyon, making it nigh impossible to follow through that route. And the canyon’s narrowness not only made it hard to spot in the mountains, but it also was much too narrow for even those medium-sized transports he’d used today.

They were safe. For now.

“Revin,” Omrai said.

Revin looked back to Omrai in surprise, “Yes?”

“Ride with me, we need to talk.” Omrai turned his mount around and rode on.

Revin took a deep breath. He had heard this tone from his father when he’d been in trouble. Regardless, he rode up to Omrai’s side.

“Revin,” Omrai said, slowly, “Why do you insist on me being your master one moment, and in the next, in the heat of battle, you ignore my leadership? Why do you seek a master if you don’t intend to follow him?”

Revin cocked his head, “What are you talking about? I slowed them down! Gave everyone time to get out!”

“I’m talking about when you were trying to master that second metal monster. The one that almost got you killed?”

“I thought we needed one,” Revin said.

“No, what we need is to live. If you had mastered that metal monster, the rest of them would have killed you the moment they climbed over that ridge.” Omrai closed his eyes and took a breath. “You must listen, especially on the battlefield.”

“I was just trying to-”

“Regardless of what you were trying to do, you failed to accept that I was giving you an order. You need to respect my authority, magical connection or not.”

Revin frowned but nodded. “Alright, fine.”

“It was, however, very clever what you did with those saurians, causing those landslides.”

Revin perked up at the praise.

Omrai nodded with a small smile. “Many more men would have died had you not done that. You did buy us time.”

“And General Ebavo bought us the rest,” Kaiato said, riding up from the rear, and to Revin’s side, “Let us not forget his sacrifice.”

Omrai nodded.

They were quiet.

Omrai looked at Revin, “Not only did you buy us time, but you destroyed many metal warriors.”

Revin smiled.

“But Revin, you must be careful. War is my domain. Yours is… Well. I don’t know yet.”

Revin’s smile shrunk away. “War may be your domain, but it’s different now. We’ve fought Jebuthar twice. And we’ve run both times. Maybe it’s time for some different tactics.”

Omrai nodded. “Guerrilla warfare. We hide, strike at our enemies’ weakest points, sabotaging wherever possible. Make Jebuthar feel as if he’s stumbled into a yutaraptor nest.”

Omrai nodded, as if to himself. “In the days of the tribes, our ancestors would take a tyranno, raise it from birth, and suddenly let it loose in an enemy’s village. It was cruel, it was violent, but it was effective. Nowadays, we train our saurians better, march them into battle at our sides, but trained or not, being killed by a tyranno is no enjoyable experience, nor is impalement by a ceratop.”

Revin held on to Birdy, scratching his feathers. Near-overwhelming emotions of pain and anguish enveloped him as he remembered feeling the deaths of the saurians that had just died in the valley, the many mounts that died in the first battle, and even Blackfire. Poor, poor Blackfire…

“I don’t like using saurians for war as if they were…” he remembered the bullets hitting the ceratops instead of him… “a shield.”

“Nor do I,” Omrai said, “I use heavy shieldmen, not saurians.”

“Yet you do use them to kill,” Revin said.

“And you,” Omrai said, looking at Revin with a firm gaze, “will likely have to do the same soon. Can you do that?”

“I’ve killed metal monsters,” Revin said.

“You’ve never killed a person before, I’m guessing?”

Revin shook his head. “I’m not trying to kill men. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, Revin?” Omrai said.

Revin’s brow furrowed in confusion. “To stop Narazoth from conquering before he gets to my people.”

And to stop the horrors I’ve seen from reaching them…

“Have you considered you’ll probably have to kill him to do it? Could you kill him with your own hands? Could you kill him with a saurian? See through their mind’s eye as they unleash their primal fury? I’ve seen saurians in their killing moods, but never through their own minds. Could you handle that? Could you do it yourself if you had to?”

The memories of death returned. Could he do that to another person? He’d seen men screaming as they tried to hold themselves together. Could he be the cause of that? The doer of it?

Revin looked ahead at the tyrannos. Two of them walked together in stride, men sitting on their backs conversing as if out for a common stroll.

“I don’t know,” Revin said, “But it won’t matter if I can’t master a carnivore. Without that, I’ll be useless.”

Omrai shrugged, “Your herbivores fought well.”

“The herbivores aren’t going to be enough!” Revin snapped.

“You can still help us learn how Jebuthar’s powers work. If we can learn that, and how he makes his weapons, you’ll have helped enough. Even now you’ve helped more than you know.”

Revin smiled a little. They went quiet for a time, until Kaiato and Shifra approached from behind on their own gallimais.

“What did you see in the metal warriors mind?” Kaiato said.

Revin frowned as he thought.

“A lot. It’s hard to remember, the images are hazy.” He remembered the walking building. “Jebuthar didn’t find these, he made them.”

“We guessed as much,” Omrai said.

“How did he do it, though?” Kaiato said. “How do you give a clock a brain?”

“I…” Revin remembered the bright light, “There was some sort of light, birth of consciousness… and… it sounds crazy but… a walking building?”

Kaiato cocked his head, “a walking building ?”

“Yeah… It’s like the flying ones, but it walks…” An image came to his mind, a room with spinning lights. “it’s got this room … where the automatons are born.”

“What’s an automaton ?” Shifra said.

Revin frowned. Where had he heard that word? “I think… that’s what Narazoth calls them,” Revin said, “Auto… like something that moves itself?”

“So, did you get into Jebuthar’s mind too?” Omrai said, intrigued.

Revin shook his head, “I did get into Narazoth’s briefly. That’s where I got the vision of the walking building… I think. It was so hard to tell which thoughts were the automaton’s and which were Narazoth’s.”

“So, we need to capture this walking building ?” Kaiato said, “Figure out how it works? That’ll be difficult considering how important it is to Jebuthar.”

“Likely impossible at this point,” Omrai said.

Revin remembered a prisoner. A prisoner who knew everything.

“No,” Revin said, smiling, “we don’t need to capture it, we just need to break in…”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Omrai looked at Revin, “Why?”

“Jebuthar has a prisoner there,” Revin said, “someone who knows everything! How the automatons work, how the gravitonium weapons work.”

“ Gravi-what ?” Shifra said, “seems you gleaned a lot from this.”

Revin nodded, in surprise. “You’re right.”

“Did you glean the ship’s location?” Omrai said urgently.

Revin focused inwardly, but the more he tried to pull more from his thoughts the more they got scrambled. He let out an angry grunt. “I can’t.”

“It’s alright,” Kaiato said, “I’ve got some meditation techniques we can try. To clear your head and focus. Next stop we’ll give it a try.”

Revin nodded, “I hope it works. ‘Cause a walking building isn’t much to go off.”

“It’s a start,” Omrai said, “I’ll speak to my spies. They might know where to look.”

Revin looked ahead at the trail, and then at the sun, which was visible above the winding canyon. It was barely mid-day. He let out a pained breath. He just wanted to sleep.

✦✦✦

They finally exited the winding canyon. He looked behind him, to the weary army pouring into the wide valley. So many wounded, and so many dead back at the city itself. Why would Narazoth and Jebuthar refuse to kill some, then kill others without hesitation? Hypocrites. The both of them.

The soldiers and the city’s inhabitants dispersed. Many goodbyes, handshakes, and embraces were offered between friends and family. Omrai had given orders to head to various towns and villages, where they would all hide, disguised as farmers. He said the time to fight would come, and soon, but there was little fighting to do until Omrai had learned more. They could participate in reconnaissance, gathering information wherever they could, but they were ordered to stay out of sight.

“We should be able to see the brachios from here,” Shifra said.

She rode next to Revin.

Revin cocked his head. “What?”

“The brachios,” she said, looking at him. On seeing his confusion, she proceeded to explain. “Long-necked saurians, their herds usually travel through here at this time of year. We should have spotted them by now.”

“Well, Jebuthar has been capturing saurians,” Revin said, his lips tightening into an angry frown.

Shifra clenched her leather reigns, they creaked under the strain. “We can’t let him do this anymore.”

Revin nodded. “We’ll stop him, as soon as we can.”

Shifra said nothing as she looked ahead. She must have been thinking about her friend. They’d heard nothing of her condition. Which wasn’t surprising, since they were so far from the capital and sort of in hiding. He wanted to tell her that her friend would be fine, that she’d recover.

But how could Revin make such declarations of hope, when he had learned that Father God didn’t always say yes to prayers.

In fact, he often said no.

✦✦✦

Shifra stood by a rock which served as her makeshift table. Maps, charts, and reports spread out before her. She was grateful she’d snagged these just before they’d left. These ones outlined the Narrow Valley and many of the areas surrounding it.

Some maps bore small drawings of saurians with lines indicating their migratory patterns. Some were half filled, others were marked in red and ended in question marks. The saurian experts at the city had been baffled. The saurians' migratory patterns were completely out of the norm. Entire herds had disappeared. And, according to Revin, it was Jebuthar’s fault. He threw everything into chaos. What could he be doing with the saurians? He hadn’t used them for war. But what then?

Shifra slammed her fist down on the rock.

And a sharp jolt of pain rattled through her wrist.

“I don’t think the rock deserves your abuse.”

Shifra jumped and looked up. Kaiato stood nearby. He smiled. “Nor does your hand.”

His good attitude softened her bad one. She forced a smile. “I just don’t understand. What is Jebuthar doing? Why? He’s been capturing saurians and taking them who knows where. Even just the flight of his ships throws the herds into disarray.”

He approached and looked at the map, face ponderous. “No one has fought a single saurian under Jebuthar’s command. Which is odd, considering Revin says that Jebuthar has a monk who can master beasts…”

“He’s doing something with them. Something important. Men have witnessed his ships scooping up hundreds of saurians into a single craft and flying off. Spies can’t follow fast enough to see where they go. I just want to know why. ”

Kaiato shrugged. “It seems he relies on machines more than manpower.”

“Like Koyeji?” Shifra said with a smile. “You hardly have any saurians in your armies.”

Kaiato nodded. “The real problem is we don’t have enough crops to feed both saurians of war and of burden. That’s why we’ve had to get better and better with our tools.”

Shifra remembered her history lessons. Koyeji had been only outcast blacksmiths and tinkers five hundred years ago, but now they were one of the strongest nations in the world.

“Did you know, most of the military inventions of this age originated in Koyeji?” Kaiato said.

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I’d always heard they’d originated in Ateya.” She smiled playfully.

“Well, everyone likes to praise their own history. But most ‘inventors’ in other nations merely stole our designs. Though the Mirhadens had some excellent innovations, which we stole from them.” He smiled back.

Shifra nodded. “A back and forth and stealing of ideas. The whole world develops close to the same level.”

“That’s what worries me so much about Jebuthar,” Kaiato said, looking north, “everything he has, his weapons, his ships, his metal warriors… they are unlike any invention I’ve ever seen. He didn’t steal ideas from any nation I know of. When Revin mentioned some nation in the north long gone, I thought he was crazy. But those ships, those weight-increasing weapons …”

Kaiato looked back to Shifra.

“It’s as if he came from another world, another time. Maybe in a thousand years we could learn how these things work, but right now? We aren’t even close.”

Shifra looked at her maps. At all the question marks on the saurian trails.

“We don’t need to know how his power works,” she said, “We just have to figure out how to break it. Or we’ll be slaves to a master we can never hope to understand.”

✦✦✦

Evening was soon approaching, and they had finally stopped for the night. Kaiato prepared Revin to try to remember more. Revin sat, cross-legged, in his small tent. Kaiato sat across from him. Birdy hunted nearby.

Kaiato looked at Revin. “Now, you must relax. Don’t fidget.”

Revin nodded. “This isn’t the first time I’ve meditated.”

“Close your eyes,” Kaiato said, ignoring his comment.

Revin did so.

“Listen to my voice. You will be tempted to move your eyes under your lids. Don’t. Focus on the dark in the center.”

Revin took a quick breath.

“Slower. In through your nose, and out through your mouth.”

Revin complied, the racing in his head making it difficult.

“Focus inward on your center. Feel your life flowing through it. Around it. From it.”

Revin tried.

“Now, focus on only your breathing.”

His mind finally slowed, the cacophonous voices of his mastered saurians going quiet.

“Once you feel calm, concentrate on your memories. You will not be disturbed until noon, so don’t worry about the time. Just continue to breathe, and search within yourself.”

Revin listened for Kaiato’s movement at leaving. He didn’t. At least he didn’t make a sound while doing so.

Revin turned his thoughts to himself. He investigated his memories. Images flashing in his head. The automaton’s birth, the prisoner from the north who knew it all. Revin found and focused on the image of the walking fortress, but the more he focused, the blurrier it seemed.

He stood in the command center of the walking fortress, looking out the front window. He could see, to the east, a large rock formation. It was bulbous at the bottom but spiky at the top. Very distinct.

Revin gasped, opening his eyes.

Kaiato opened his eyes as well, looking confused.

“That was rather fast.”

“I found something!” Revin shouted, “a clue maybe. Quick! Pen and paper!”

Kaiato turned to a pack at the side of the tent and handed it over.

Even now, the vision was fading, but he drew as fast as he could, regretting that he hadn’t practiced more as a child. Omrai and Shifra peeked into the tent as he drew.

“Does this look familiar?” Revin showed it to Kaiato.

“It’s south, further into the Narrow Valley.”

Omrai nodded with a sigh. “Well, it seems as though we have no choice.”

“What, what is it?” Revin said, looking confused.

“The Narrow Valley lies between Ateya and Koyeji,” Kaiato said.

“So what?”

“That’s not the worst part,” Shifra said, “You know the giganoto you ran into?”

“What about it?” Revin said.

“Most of those live in the plains of the Narrow Valley,” Shifra said, “if their migrations patterns aren’t off. You don’t travel there in groups as small as ours.”

Revin smiled. “So, we might meet one again.”

“Let’s pray that doesn’t happen,” Omrai snapped. “A pair of giganotos could slaughter us all.”