This Deadly Engine Read online

  The shearing of metal and busting of wood cut my words short. A dust and debris cloud enveloped the large building beside the airship hangar. As the cloud swirled, the ground shook.

  A sinking feeling filled my belly as a mechanical contraption emerged. Only a madman’s nightmares and the imagination of a lady who would never dream again could create such a monstrosity. A mish-mash of mechanical pieces looked somewhat human. On top sat a very human-like head with marble eyes that glowed the same red as the first automaton I encountered so many months ago…the same red as Ravenlea’s eyes.

  The contraption stood twenty feet high. Shoulders as broad as three cyclopes, and arms as thick as a wagon and plated with black metal interlaced with thick veins that pulsed red comprised the upper torso. Below that, a skeletal rib-cage glowed blue from the inside. Large rods met at the waist. A ring similar to the metal bands used to support the forbidden tunnels ran around the rods. Black, thick rods formed the tops of the legs. At the knees were joints of gears, spinning too fast for the eye to make out details. Solid black metal feet appeared capable of crushing anything. Veins covered the lower body like a crazy spider’s web.

  Cavendish pulled on my leg. “Ash! Time for us to leave!”

  The monster paused as a second mechanical nightmare joined it. And behind it appeared a third. My belly settled somewhere in the vicinity of my feet.

  The gnome said, “I think we know what else Duke Schaever built for the orcs.”

  The third monster held its metal tube arm out. The smell of oil and gas poured from it.

  Cavendish did not hesitate to run. I followed, even as the monster belched flames that scorched the ground behind.

  We joined the throngs fleeing the Expo. I glanced at the Ferris wheel looming overhead. The attendant responsible for keeping it moving at a steady pace had either abandoned his position or had died at the hands of the invading army. Either way, twenty gondolas remained at the top, all full of people screaming and crying. Dragons swept around them.

  One of the beasts landed on top. It held its wings out to balance and to keep the wheel from turning. However, when it tried to pluck a couple from the top gondola, the wheel threatened to topple to the side. Gears fell. The dragon flapped its wings and swung its tail to compensate for the motion.

  The wheel paused. It teetered on the edge.

  The dragon gave up and took to the sky. It belched a stream of flames in frustration.

  The wheel rocked as it returned to its original position and dropped more gears. The cries from those trapped took on a new urgency.

  The three metal monsters advanced without regard for what lay in their path. Game booths collapsed beneath their feet, sending splinters flying through the air. Metal creaked and groaned as the large hands twisted frames apart. They tried to push me towards Frengarn’s approaching army.

  Perrin said, “I know what you must do. I suggest we do it quickly.”

  “Come on,” I said to Cavendish and Ravenlea. I headed for the Ferris wheel.

  The gnomes followed, and Cavendish asked, “What do you want us to do? Start the ride again?”

  Would the wheel move fast enough to let everyone off in time? How could we—

  A familiar figure ran for the control booth.

  Goldy! The man I helped with the wrecked carriages.

  I said, “The both of you help get everyone off and clear. The elf and I will distract the automatons.” Before Cavendish protested, I turned to face the monstrous trio.

  I had done many foolish things to rescue innocent people. I fought against, not impossible odds, but odds that certainly never favored me. Yet for all of those times, not a one compared to what I was about to do. I risked everything. But what did the Bishop or Rebecca or Sera or I matter in light of the dozens on the wheel and others fleeing the monsters?

  Perrin said, “We are likely to die.”

  I could not break the black metal of the monsters’ frames. They also possessed strength and speed. Did they have a weakness?

  Think, and think fast! The human-like machines have the two tubes of fluid. Are these any different?

  I could have used any of a dozen different powers – flying, leaping, climbing, speed, hardened skin, invisibility – but only had a large, cumbersome body. While it offered more-than-human strength, it did not compare to the monsters. What could I do?

  “Your best,” Perrin said in a very canon-like fashion. “We don’t have to destroy them or disable them. Only give the gnomes enough time to get the people off the ride.”

  I would play a cat-and-mouse game.

  I ran towards the first monster, yelling and waving my arms.

  It paused as if surprised at so direct a confrontation. The glowing red eyes grew more intense, more focused. The monster swept its claw across the ground, scattering chairs as it created a wave of dirt. Rather than flee, I ran faster. The creature could not react fast enough to change directions, and I darted between its legs.

  The elf did her part by blasting the creature with her magical bolts. They did little, however, as the metal absorbed the magic. If anything, the monster’s eyes glowed brighter.

  Perrin said, “As I said, you rely too much on magic.”

  “Then maybe this will work.” I dragged our sword across the metal and across the lowest veins.

  I had every intention of trying to slice the area where a human has an Achilles tendon, but the second monster reached for me with its tube-like arm. Flames shot towards me, and I ran to the side of the first monster. When it tried to step on me, I ran towards its other foot.

  The edge of its metal foot sent a rush of air over my back. I reached high onto the still foot and grabbed hold of a vein. While I expected it to pull away under my weight, it held firm, not unlike skin.

  I pulled myself up as the screams of those on the Ferris wheel grew more desperate. The third monster descended on Cavendish, Ravenlea, and Goldy, who worked the lever to turn the giant ride. The gnomes assisted people off.

  Though I wanted to help them, my own monsters prevented me from doing so.

  I swung onto the top of a foot as the second monster blasted us both with its flames. I grabbed more veins along the leg and pulled myself up to its torso, where the spinning gears and wheels allowed it to twist in a complete circle.

  I tried to jam my sword into the mix of gears, but the machine’s vice-like hand knocked me through the air. I slammed into a tent, crashed into a cask, broke the wood, and sent ale spraying through the air.

  The monster gave me no quarter. It advanced for the kill.

  The elf moved between us. She enveloped the monster with her magic.

  The machine slowed for a moment and turned its eyes on her. Then the hue of the Treyo Duthku magic disappeared into the metal. The monster knocked her to the side.

  The canvas and splintered wood tangled and struggled against me. Continued screams from the Ferris wheel encouraged me to move faster.

  What were the gnomes doing? Did they need more help? Was Goldy not enough?

  When the monster reached again, I wedged my sword in its claw. I wiggled my way underneath the hand as the monster squeezed the sword hard enough to break it. A flash of red light shot from the weapon as the spell on it also broke.

  Once clear of the confines of the tent, I drew out a dagger.

  A glance at the Ferris wheel showed Cavendish dancing around the third monster, not unlike a flea jumping on a dog. His distraction allowed passengers in two more gondolas to drop to the ground and run for safety.

  I had to continue my own dance so long as people remained trapped on the ride.

  I grabbed onto the ultimate killing machine and pulled myself to its knee. Before it swatted me, I wedged the dagger in the knee joint. Gears screamed as metal ground against metal. The monster’s leg jerked once, then twice. Its torso strained with the effort of trying to move forward.

  A high-pitched screech filled the air. The handle of the dagger flew away. The creature stumble
d but regained its footing.

  Did I have any hope of damaging it? Or hurting it? Why did Schaever plan to unleash such a monster on the magical realm? What magic could counter its strength?

  I reached higher, pulling myself onto the creature’s torso, and for my efforts a dull thud struck my already wounded back. Once, twice, and pain swept through me.

  I fell to the ground. My body throbbed.

  Between the wound on my side, and the shards in my back, I had to wonder…did death finally call? Did its cold, boney hand reach out to claim one who had eluded it so many times? On every mission The Misters gave, I balanced on the fine edge between living and dying. On every mission I undertook to find Sera, I risked my life. So there was irony in the fact that on the one assignment they did not give, and on the one mission I did not search for my sister, I found myself on the wrong side of that edge.

  The elf crawled to my side. The left side of her face had swollen, and blood soaked her clothing. “Use the Gray Heart. Or give it to me and let me use it.”

  No…not when I had one last item, even if it did frighten me.

  I brought the Statue of Forneil out of my pocket. As I unwrapped it, the cold, soul sucking coldness emanated from it. I refused to look at it…doing so would put me in a trance and allow the war machine to crush me. Instead, I gripped it between my two very large and powerful hands. With my thumbs on the top I tried to separate the counterfeit head from the rest of the body.

  As the head wrenched away, a familiar white light grew along the crack. The same light almost sliced me in half when I placed the counterfeit head on the body, per The Misters’ demand. Had Reckard not taken me to Pienne’s lab, I would have died.

  The monster plunged its hand at me at the same moment the statue’s head gave way.

  A blinding light sliced out, and I closed my eye. I expected the moment where pain overwhelmed my senses and told my body it had been sliced in half. I waited…and heard the groan of metal tearing away from metal.

  The monster staggered, its right arm split away in a line from its shoulder to its waist. Oil and the green liquid sprayed through the air from a hundred different tubes. The red light within its eyes flickered like a candle’s flame gasping for more air. It paused as if it fought to gain its balance and remained still for a moment.

  The light of its eye faded. The monster fell. I thought I heard the groan of a man, a sound of relief after being released from torment. The monster struck the ground with a thud that stirred up a cloud of dust.

  The impact knocked the third monster off-balance. It stumbled backwards as the gears and wheels spun frantically, trying to keep its feet beneath it.

  The few remaining on the Ferris wheel climbed out of the gondolas. Four dropped to the ground, risking a fall of more than fifteen feet. Cavendish ran to help those who injured themselves while motioning for the others to flee.

  A thump sounded as the third monster fell onto its back. It thrashed its arms, smashing a tent and throwing a thousand splinters into the air.

  I opened my hands and looked at the broken statue. Cavendish’s counterfeit head had turned to powder. The body remained intact, and its darkness reached for me, touching a familiar soul. I stuffed it in my pocket before it drew me into its eternal damnation.

  The ground shook anew as the second monster moved around the now-dead first. Its red eyes bore into me. If it knew hatred, scorn, and anger, it surely felt all of those at that moment.

  Unfortunately, the legendary cyclopean strength failed. I sat, exhausted.

  At least in dying I could take comfort in knowing everyone had escaped the Ferris wheel.

  The Treyo Duthku appeared defeated as well. She took deep breaths as she pushed herself to her knees. She held her hand out. “Let me use the Gray Heart. Give it to me before this monster kills you.”

  I noticed that she did she not include herself in the dying part.

  Perrin said, “We cannot trust her. And I am not of a mind to die on this ground.” He helped us to stand in our last act of defiance.

  Hands pulled me back.

  “Hmmm, but this is not a good place to die,” Mister Important said.

  “Yes, but you still have work to do,” his brother said. “Do you have the Statue of Forneil?”

  The elf snarled at us all.

  I gave The Misers what remained of the grotesque figure. What did it mean that I trusted them more than the elf?

  Perrin said, “They still have matters to settle with your Duke. They still care.”

  Mister Mercy spoke strange words, ones that sounded like a mix between elven and orc, with a bit of reptilian mixed in.

  The Statue glowed almost immediately. It absorbed every bit of light surrounding us, casting the grounds into complete darkness.

  The glowing eyes of the mechanical monsters searched for me. Cracks and pops sounded as the closest one smashed everything around in an attempt to blindly crush me.

  Rather than stand around to let it, I hurried in the direction of the Ferris wheel. “Cavendish! Where are you?”

  “This way,” he said.

  I turned to the right and tripped over what felt like a pole from a tent. When I called to the gnome again, he answered by whistling ‘A Lonely Night in Edinburgh’ until I almost stepped on him.

  “Help me, Ash,” he said as he guided my hands to a body. “She’s unconscious. Hit her head when she fell from the chair.”

  Weary though I felt, I would not leave a helpless woman behind. I took her in my arms and stood. “Can anyone see?”

  “I can,” Ravenlea said. “Take my hand, Cavendish, and take the bottom of his trousers.”

  “Don’t forget me,” Goldy said from the left. “I have a young lad in my arms.”

  I grabbed his arm. “Let’s leave this forsaken place.”

  Chapter 14

  We emerged from the darkness at the same time as the remainder of the freak army – all twenty of the beaten, battered, and bruised people. The spider lady had lost two of her mechanical arms and a third one hung limp. The man with the metal plates on his torso had a half dozen dents.

  When I did not see the Treyo Duthku I asked Ravenlea, “Have you released the elf from her oath?”

  The gnome peered into the darkness. “The lady is…dead. The giant automaton smashed her beneath its foot as it stomped around.”

  I paused to look in that direction. Despite my dislike of the elf, such an ending was not a glorious way for her to die.

  Perrin grunted. “She deserved better.”

  Goldy placed the boy he carried on the ground, under the remains of a food booth. As he took the lady from me, he said, “Thank you for the help with those people on the wheel. I couldn’t have managed without the gnomes.” He took a long look at the Expo grounds, where orcs and giants and dragons and lizards continued to run rampant. “This will be a bit of a mess to clean up.”

  It would take time to corral the creatures. But we had other matters to attend to first. Specifically, we had to get to the wedding. Schaever would be there. The Donnavans would be attending as well. I had not yet thought of a way to break the magical bond between the humans and their mechanical doppelgangers…short of using the Gray Heart.

  The problem would have to wait until we got to that point.

  If we get there.

  I turned to the freak army. “Thank you for your help in closing the portal. We are now going to put an end to Schaever’s reign of power. What we are about to do is likely more dangerous than what we just accomplished.”

  The spider lady said, “But it will be much more satisfying. Say no more, for we are with you.”

  The way she spoke, with anger and a certain finality, made me take a quick breath. “We need to get to the wedding.”

  Goldy motioned towards the airship building. “We can take one of those. Probably the quickest way, especially with all of these magical creatures running amok.”

  It would also mean less running, which appealed to my t
ired body. “And who among us can fly them?”

  Goldy pulled a cigar from the pocket of his tattered coat. “I have been known to pilot one or two in my younger days. And I owe you for the help you’ve given me.”

  “You know we are going to the wedding to destroy Reginald Schaever.” I motioned to the freaks gathered around. “All of these people have been changed by him. They will not allow him to go free this night.”

  Goldy chewed on the cigar, then shrugged. “I owe the man nothing. And if he is responsible for bringing all of this on the good people of Campden, then I am willing to help.” He started for the hangar.

  Did the people of Campden deserve to be called good? Were they not greedy, selfish, and ignorant?

  Or did I judge them too harshly? Bishop Donnavan would still see something in them worthy of love and devotion…not unlike what he saw in me.

  Perrin grunted, “Give yourself more credit, Alexander Asherton. Though I still say you are strange and naïve and foolish, you are also brave and good and noble. You are much of what our worlds need. But this is not the time for self-reflection. We have work to do. And yes, I feel the aches as much as you.”

  We followed Goldy. When a pair of orcs tried to kill the man, I didn’t hesitate to end both of their lives.

  The fact that I did so without a thought meant that I had truly destroyed the old Ash.

  Perrin said, “Do not be foolish. The only good orc is a dead orc. Would you rather your friend had died?”

  “Of course not. Yet what does it say of our situation that our choices are either kill or be killed?”

  “It means we are in the middle of the trouble. It means we are still alive. And it means that we have a chance of succeeding.”

  The yelling and screaming increased when the magical creatures breached the walls of the Expo and entered Campden proper. Bells rang as the fires continued to eat away at the wood on the grounds.

  Battles raged around the airship hangar as Guardsmen fought the magical creatures. The automatons from the entrance to ‘The Oddities, Insanities, and Uniques,’ the ones with the rounded heads that once waved as they welcomed all the visitors, fought twenty orcs that climbed on them. A giant tried to pull one of the machines’ arms off and roared in frustration when the metal refused to budge.