It was massive.

It had to be half a mile wide. But it wasn’t round or elegant. It resembled a giant, metallic cube. It was even bigger in life than it had seemed in the memories Revin had gleaned from Narazoth. It had to be ancient. Its metal walls were rain-streaked and weather-worn, as if centuries of decay and dirt had worn it down. It reminded Revin of some of the ancient ruins back home.

Revin’s jaw dropped. In one of the main loading bays sat one of the behemoth round ships, the ones that carried hundreds of thousands of soldiers. It sat inside this walking ship.

The scale hurt his brain to think about.

It marched slowly across the landscape, a porous block defying the laws of nature. It’s hundreds or thousands of metallic legs rolling along in a rippling wave, resembling an insect. Even at this distance, he could hear the roars of saurians inside.

Revin and the others kept to stone outcroppings, nearby valleys and small cliffs. Hiding and sneaking along, they watched, trying to understand it better before they moved in. As time went on, the roaring of saurians decreased. Then, after several hours of marching, the building stopped moving.

The landscape went eerily silent.

Revin jumped and yelped when the back of the walking fortress let off a loud bang. A massive panel at the back of the ship opened and a pile of saurian corpses tumbled out limp. Several large hoses sprayed an amber liquid on the pile, which then caught fire. The mound of corpses transformed into a hill of fire and smoke.

“This is our time to move in,” Omrai said urgently. “We should have moved in earlier. We’re too late.”

Revin frowned at the pile of corpses. Nothing moved. At least they had been killed before getting set on fire. What in the nether is going on?

“Revin!” Omrai said, “We can mourn the dead later.”

Revin nodded and tried to pull himself out of his stupor.

They snuck along. Three automatons stood guard at the small, back entrance to the ship

“The agent’s notes said nothing about any standing guards,” Kaiato said.

“But we assumed Jebuthar would be cautious,” he said.

“Well,” Revin said, “If we let those see us, we’re dead. Jebuthar will know exactly where we are.”

“Then our plan needs a distraction,” Kaiato said.

Omrai looked to the eastern sky and gasped.

Revin followed his gaze. Another behemoth ship was flying in. By some miracle it made no move to attack them. It rotated and landed next to the walking building. Another door at the side opened, and hundreds of automatons piled out. They carried ropes and chains and made a makeshift fence from the fortress’s massive ramp to the front ramp of the round ship.

Once the massive chains were fastened, and the automatons had returned to the building, the ramp of the transport ship lowered.

“I’ve got an idea,” Revin said.

✦✦✦

Kaiato and several of Omrai’s elites got into position behind a large rock just off to the side of the walking fortresses tracks. Thousands of saurians thundered the earth as they exited the ship, pushed by automatons.

Birdy, Revin’s archaeopteryx, waited on Kaiato’s shoulder. The creature looked anxious.

They waited with their rifles aimed at the three automatons guarding the small entrance they wanted to use.

They were just about ready.

Revin waited by the back of the ship with Omrai and a few soldiers, mentally checking his connection with Birdy.

Revin waited until after the saurians had piled out of the behemoth ship but before they had started entering the walking building. Even from here he got a sense of the saurians’ fear.

He reached out to his three ceratops waiting around a large rocky outcropping.

“Now!” he thought to them.

Kaiato watched as three ceratops bellowed from around the large rock and charged down. All the automatons, including those who had been watching the small entrance, turned toward the commotion. The ceratops headed straight for the chains.

Kaiato winced as they plowed several automatons out of the way, scattering their pieces in an explosion of metal shards. Birdy squawked and Kaiato lowered his rifle and shot at the chain fence. He heard several other pops, some hit, some didn’t. His did, and the chains broke.

The ceratops smashed another automaton and headed straight for the fence, terrifying the saurians inside. But they didn’t attack, they went for the weak point in the fence and smashed into it. Stomping and thrashing with their horns.

The chains broke completely.

Kaiato turned away, not waiting to watch the saurians pour out of the once-fenced passageway. He and the others ran to safer ground, protected by a semi-circle of tall rocks, where they would reconvene with Omrai and Revin once they’d broken into and out of the ship.

Now was the time to hide before any automatons saw them.

Revin smiled as he controlled the ceratops, pushing through the crowd of scared wild saurians and shattering the other side of the fence, letting the captured saurians run free every direction, honking and bleating as they went.

“Revin!” Omrai shouted.

Revin opened his eyes. Omrai and his elites moved towards the back door. The automatons had abandoned it to deal with the saurians. Revin checked his mastersuit, and after he was sure of its security, he followed Omrai and the others.

Revin’s knee, which had been wrapped tightly with some sort of numbing mix, intermittently hurt and throbbed. But he was here for a mission. He gripped his father’s sword and drew it. The dark gray metal looked like the metal of the building, but his sword was in much better shape. The ships walls and floors were uniform, but everything looked so worn.

“This place seems so…” Revin said.

“Old,” Omrai said

Revin looked down the different hallways. He knew the way, had memorized it. But he stole a glance at their map anyway.

“Follow me!” Revin said.

They ran. Up stairs, around corners, to the right, to the left, and to the left again. His knee throbbed even more, and he knew he’d be hating himself soon. They followed the map, guns and weapons ready, not worrying if any automatons saw them now. Speed was their safest bet, not stealth.

But they never ran into a single automaton.

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Revin didn’t know whether to feel excited or worried as they turned a final corner, coming into a long room. To the left and to the right were dozens of cells, metal bars closed off. All had open doors but one.

At their angle, they couldn’t see what was inside. Revin’s chest tensed. They approached it slowly, weapons ready.

“Why aren’t there any more prisoners?” Omrai whispered.

Revin shrugged “I don’t remember any from the vision.”

“Who’s there?” The voice from the cell was scratchy and deep, and it echoed down the hallway.

Revin stepped in front of the cell. A figure sat in the corner, but Revin couldn’t see his face.

“What are you doing here?” the man said hoarsely. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Move out of the way,” Omrai said as he aimed his pistol at the lock.

“It has to be a trap!” the man shouted, “Run!”

Metal stomping on metal echoed down the hallway, and Revin’s heart jumped in his throat. Images of trampled men and bleeding saurians filled his mind. He felt dizzy. Like he was breathing through a tiny straw.

Revin was pulled to the floor just as low. Eerie whistles went off and several elites went down in a flurry of projectiles. Revin looked up, Omrai stood above him, one hand shoving Revin down and the other aimed at the lock. He hesitated no longer. The lock exploded with a metallic bang.

Omrai swung the cell door open and tossed Revin in. Their entire squad rushed into the small room, and once they were out of the hall the firing stopped. They all drew their swords and watched the open door. The footsteps grew louder and louder. Several automatons stepped in. Revin’s ears rang with the sounds of metal scraping and pistols firing, breaking the metal warriors even as they attacked. Omrai moved in, sword and speartip whirling. One was struck in the chest, the loud scrape sending shivers down his spine.

By some miracle, the automatons went down, and no more came. Revin was doused in sweat, and his hand trembled, trying to keep a steady grip on his sword. He hadn’t even fought! Revin looked behind him into the cell just as a hooded man stepped into the light.

“Time for us to leave,” the man said. Revin’s jaw dropped.

He didn’t recognize the man, but he wore the robes of a Hiriv monk. Revin shook his head. This was impossible!

The man knelt and picked up an automaton sword, testing its weight. He then pulled two pistols from broken automatons and slipped them into two large pockets in his robes. He looked at Revin and Omrai, who gawked.

“And what are you stalling for?” he snapped. “Move out!”

He spoke with such command and authority that even Omrai jumped and lead the way. Omrai never reacted that way to anyone.

Kaiato waited with the other elites and heard gunfire inside the giant building. The saurians had scattered, and the ceratops lead the automatons on a chase around the ship.

“There were supposed to be out by now,” Kaiato said, he looked at the Elites. “We’ve got to help them.”

“But Omrai’s orders-”

“Won’t matter if he’s dead! Come on!”

He ran for the still abandoned back entrance. Hoping some of the elites followed behind him.

The world spun and Revin’s knee screamed as they ran again, fighting a handful of automatons at every turn. Revin struck with his father’s blade. It didn’t break like some of the elites’ blades when they struck automaton armor.

They stumbled through a set of double-wide doors, slamming them shut behind them.

“Hurry, barricade the door!” Omrai shouted.

One soldier rammed his rifle through the handles.

Revin put all his weight on his good knee and looked around. It was a large and long room. With strange arches on the front of large… machines. Each one looked like a small hut made of metal. There were dozens of them.

Revin heard the honking of saurians.

“You won’t like what you’re going to see,” the old monk said. Revin turned to him. He looked angry. “But it’s best you see it before we escape.”

Revin looked back at Omrai and the others, who moved metal chairs in the way of the door.

He walked around the large hut-like device and his jaw dropped.

There was a line of saurians behind each machine. Each was wrapped in chains, waiting on moving platforms, their heads near a hole at the back end of the hut-like machine. Automatons pushed the platforms up, moving the saurians restrained heads toward the holes.

Revin heard a loud humming. Gears moved. Light and wind burst out through random vents. Revin felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. Omrai stood there, looking as horrified as Revin felt.

The automatons slid the saurians forward. They honked in terror at the noise and the flashing lights.

Then their heads entered the machine.

The humming turned into a roaring of buzzing and popping sounds, the flashing lights brilliant and painful.

The saurians fell limp.

The machines slowed down, the flashing lights stopped, and the humming went silent. Doors opened in the floor behind the platform which held the saurian. The platforms tilt up, the restraints unclicked, and the lifeless bodies tumbled away into the darkness…

Revin clenched his fists. What was this? Why would Narazoth kill these beasts? Did their souls power the ship? He heard the stomping of metal feet from the other side of the machines and, without thought for his own safety, he moved around the machine to see who was coming. His sword extended.

Metallic skeletons emerged from each machine, strapped to a different platform. Their eyes glowed a faint blue, and so did a sphere in the middle of their chests. Even without their bulky armor, Revin realized what they were. Automatons. They thrashed in their restraints. Flailing like grounded fish.

A man in a dark robe entered from the far side of the room, his face concealed in the shadow of his hood. Automatons flanked him on either side, glancing around suspiciously. Revin didn’t know they were capable of such body language, eyes darting rapidly around the room, weapons in hand.

“Narazoth,” Revin whispered.

Omrai peeked around the corner as well, nodding. He held his weapons so hard his knuckles turned white.

Revin watched Narazoth. He tried to get a better view of his face but couldn’t.

Narazoth approached the first of the chained automatons and grabbed its blue core like an apple. The automaton thrashed but quickly fell still. It stared forward, body losing its resistant movements.

“And now, your mind is bent to my will,” Narazoth said in a near whisper, but the sound carried well, “To do as I command, to bear arms, to fight for Jebuthar the Great.”

The door pounded behind them. Revin turned. The door buckled. Then he turned back to Narazoth. The man was already running out the door at the other end of the room, escorted by every unrestrained automaton.

Omrai screamed a curse and ran for Narazoth.

Revin and the others followed him close behind. A loud crash signaled the breaking of the barricaded door. Revin spared a glance back. Automatons poured in.

Revin look at the restrained and unmastered automatons struggled against their bonds, violent seizures thrashed. Looking like bizarre metal corpses with glowing blue hearts.

Revin finally understood. This was what Jebuthar was using the saurians for…

The automatons were saurians.

Souls bound in industry… Revin thought. It was a phrase he’d read in the remnant of Remiveyn. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight, a shiver running down his spine. He looked again at the thrashing machines. He wondered if they could speak, would they scream?

He looked to Omrai; whose anger confirmed he understood too.

The monk shouted for them to follow, and they did. Running hard.

His knee screamed in pain, and he knew he’d be paying for this decision later. But for now, he ran.

Again.