Author's note: Ten chapters again this week, though some of them might come tomorrow.
...Magelord...
Traveling through the night was the sort of advantage you only got when somebody else was driving. Or piloting, as the case was with the Iron Curtain.
Having a capable crew, combined with my increased waking hours meant I was seated in the observation deck as dawn rose over the Forgelands. The timing was perfect as the fog and empty air that blanketed most of the howling wastes gave way to steam and steel. Where once there’d been nothing but barren red waste, now we were flying over the outer edges of the greatest Forge city of the Forgeborn, Ashforge.
For another people, it might’ve been a transition from bad to worse. But this was the home of the Forgeborn. If Inertia was anything to go by, it would be as relaxing as strolling through a well cultivated garden had been for Perth. I’d always been more on the machine side of things myself.
Calbern was beside me as he often was these days. Neither of us spoke as the first of the Forgeborn Artifice came into view. The first resembled a train. It had the rails and a large engine that pulled several cars behind it, all as it should be. But where we laid rails as I’d known them on earth, here they had a pair of rails suspended in the air to either side with the train hanging from them.
“It is more magnificent than I’d dreamed,” Calbern said stepping forward to lay a hand upon the glass. It was a remarkably poignant display from the man.
The train had only been the first of the many that crisscrossed the outer city. There weren’t as many individual vehicles such as Fang as I’d originally expected. Only a handful, at the very limits.
What there were plenty of, were aircraft. They varied in size, from things that I’d call a biplane to mechanical creatures similar to Inertia. One resembling a hawk flew close enough to touch the Iron Curtain before peeling away.
We were hardly unique either. More than one zeppelin shared the sky with us.
It took a bit to discern any sort of order but it was there. Certain heights were marked by towering spires of multicolored metal. Though the metal of the coloring didn't seem to be paint so much as different finishes of oxidized material. I wasn't familiar enough with the Forgeborn to be able to say if what we saw all around us was normal or if the hectic skies were a result of the monsters falling upon everyone.
“A waste,” Starbreaker said from where he was sitting in a meditative poise behind us. “I don't know what you think you can get from the clankers that you couldn't get from Terra Vista.”
"Why did we bring him again?" I asked Calbern.
My old friend raised an eyebrow and gave a subtle shrug. “I do not believe we had much choice, Master Percival.”
To that all I could do was nod. He wasn't wrong.
Instead of engaging Starbreaker in what I was sure would be a frustratingly pointless conversation, I went back to looking out the window to inspect the nearby aircraft.
There was a sort of flying saucer that went past that seemed to be using similar principles to what we did with Howling Defier, though instead of being slightly squished on one side, it was squished all the way around. And it was spinning. Even the thought of flying in such a craft made me slightly dizzy and that was with how rarely such things affected me with before my improved agility and neural dynamics.
Forgeborn were literally built different.
The truth was, as I looked over everything, I was surprised at how few machines seemed to be powered by steam. They were there, steam-powered machines moving back and forth, but just as many machines had no apparent exhaust or escape mechanism for steam push free.
As we passed deeper towards the heart of Ashforge City, I grew confident there was nothing we’d come up with that the Forgeborn hadn't already invented and put to use themselves. They just didn’t want to share. At least, not with their neighbors.
If they were willing to sell their inventions to Terra Vista, I doubted there would be any market for the sorts of airships we were building, as Starbreaker had suggested. The fact they weren't willing to sell felt like it said a lot about how isolationist the Forgeborn were, despite their constant trade. All those airships moving back and forth and all they carried were simpler products. None of the advanced Forgeheart-powered machinery was allowed to pass out of the Forgelands.
It showed me how much Inertia had truly done to help us.
There was one feature that had been visible even when we first entered the city, though at first it’d been simply one more tall building amongst many. But as we grew closer to the Hellbrand Spire, it soon became apparent how much taller it was than its surroundings. It almost seemed to be a structure of living steel, a hive from which the many aircraft ascended from and called home. It wasn't big and round and plump like I imagined a real beehive would be. Instead, it was like dozens of flowers stacked atop each other, each layer blossoming outwards in countless petals, slowly coming together in a narrow spire.
The Hellbrand part of its name came from the continuous streams of molten metal that flowed from its highest point.
“Even more magnificent than I had envisioned,” Calbern said, voice tinged with awe. “It is one thing to hear the heart of the Spire bleeds molten steel, and another to witness it.”
“How do you think it does that? Some sort of enchantment that feeds on the ambient mana?”
“I’m afraid you would have a better idea than I.”
“No one knows the secret,” Starbreaker said, coming to stand next to us. “The Forgelords kill anyone who attempts to get close to the heart.”
A hissed, “Fools,” came from Inertia as she joined us on the observation deck, Tresla a step behind.
“Inertia means that there are many people who’ve seen the Hellbrand’s Heart.” A flash of red escaped Tresla’s hood along with her musical laughter. “It isn’t a great secret, but a national point of pride. It’s only the spies of Terra Vista who are killed. Many of its citizens have seen the heart.”
As we grew closer to the Hellbrand Spire, the Abyssal Depths that lay beneath it grew apparent. It was like a dark crack running through the middle of the industrialized megacity, the numerous skyscrapers rosing along its edge only furthering the divide. The aircraft of the Forgeborn seemed to be filling the sky elsewhere avoided flying over the Abyssal Depths.
Nothing moved over those depths. In addition to the Hellbrand Spire and numerous skyscrapers, there were seven active volcanoes along the edge of the depths. It was easy to tell they were active, as they both belched dark clouds of soot into the air and poured forth streams of lava.
Gesturing at the volcanoes, I turned to Inertia. “Is that why the Howling Wastes are always covered in dust?”
Inertia nodded as Tresla pulled out her pipe, puffing softly. After a few seconds, Tresla said, “The seven peaks have never once rested since the Forgeborn learned of them. Nor have their investigations revealed a time when they were idle.”
Inertia shook her head, letting out a series of clanks and whistles, gesturing at the seven peaks. Tresla started speaking even as I worked out her meaning. “Many Forgeborn believe the seven peaks are tied to the prosperity of their people. Inertia doesn’t share that belief, but she considers herself more reasonable than most Forgeborn.”
The lilt of fond amusement in Tresla’s voice somewhat undercut Inertia’s statement.
“Are we headed directly to the Spire?” I asked as I plotted our course forward.
There was only a single other building that remained between us and it.
“Not yet.” Tresla point at that other building, right as we began our descent. “
The surrounding megacity cut off our view of a lot, though we were left with an excellent view of the nearest of the those seven ever spewing volcanoes.
“Breath of destruction,” Tresla whispered while Calbern kept his gaze locked on the volcano.
“Ever pompous, you Forgeborn,” Starbreaker interjected from behind us his eyes still not open.
“You know, just because you don't appreciate it doesn't mean you have to comment on every little part of our excursion.” I shook my head.
“Oh, it’s all quite impressive. Don't get me wrong,” Starbreaker said without moving a single iota. “It's what they do with all of that creative capacity that leaves me uninspired.”
“And what do they do with all the creative capacity that bothers you so much?”
“Nothing. They sit in their city and they make and they create and they forge and they do nothing with it.” At that, Starbreaker finally cracked open his eyes to glare not at me through his thinly veiled eyelid, but at Inertia.
She simply shrugged.
“What do you want them to do? March out there and go to war with everyone?”
He let out a breath, closing his eyes once more. “Nothing so drastic. However, they could at least hunt down the monsters in their own homeland instead of leaving them for us to clean up.”
To my surprise, both Inertia and Tresla nodded their agreement.
“Given the wall between the Howling Wastes and Terra Vista I wouldn't think you'd have too much of a problem with monsters making their way over.”
“Not in the sections where the wall is intact. Yet the wall doesn’t stretch all the way to the Front. Most days it’s as if we are fighting war on two fronts instead of simply our own.”
Once more, Tresla and Inertia both nodded.
I exchanged a glance with Calbern.
Didn't really have much to add to that one I'd seen the Front when I was aboard the Dauntless. Terra Vista had tiered layers of defense. There wasn't much they had at risk out that out towards the Front either. I wasn't sure why he was getting bent out of shape over it.
Either way, since Inertia and Tresla seemed to agree with him, I dropped it.
Besides, the Iron Curtain had almost reached the shorter tower that was our target.
An elegant spiral that twisted roughly 45 degrees from its base up to its top So that the square shape looked like it was a diamond stack to top. It was relatively short, compared to its neighbors. Compared to the oxidized surfaces of the rest of the city, it boasted the sort of vivid colors that only came from intentional design. It took me a second to realize the entire thing had been painted, like a full windowless tower covered in graffiti. Inertia was pictured heavily, along with a larger figure and another Forgeborn with four wings.
At the apex was a single landing area, implying it dealt with lower traffic than the surrounding buildings that had half a dozen landing areas at a bare minimum.
It was to that landing area we descended, alighting atop it with a perfect grace. Knew we hadn’t needed those tugs back at Central Command.
Picking myself up, I went out with Calburn to Star Breaker trailing behind.
During our descent, Inertia and Tresla had left, and were now waiting next to the exit. Inertia almost looked nervous, her hand shifting forward and back fingers partially covering in metal claws only to retract to show the finger once more.
“Nervous huh?” I asked her as I came up next to her.
“No,” Inertia hissed out in denial even as she nodded her head. A couple seconds later, she hissed again, this time almost turning the word into a sigh. “Yes.”
Then in a near incomprehensible mess of Forgespeak, she rattled off an explanation before looking towards Tresla.
After a short musical laugh, Tresla cleared her throat. “It has been many years since Inertia last saw Calamity. She's worried her sister might've detoriated in that time.”
There was a faint shudder as the Iron Curtain set down. “Whatever happens, I’ll be there for you. Either way, best not to keep your sister waiting.”
Interia hissed out her agreement, stepping forward through the rubbery material that blocked the exit.
Following close behind, I pushed through, emerging into the thick air. Surprising that it hung so thick even as high up as we were. Almost like it was sticking to the skin until I cast a Shield to push it away.
Calamity was waiting for us just on the other side of the exit, apparently having emerged after we’d left the observation deck. She was surrounded by several other Forgeborn. Most of them looked fairly typical to how I expected a Forgeborn to look at this point. Not quite so sophisticated as Inertia but a combination of metallic parts and constantly leaking steam.
That wasn't Calamity though. Calamity was a six-foot-tall femme fatale almost. She looked more human than she did Forgeborn, if not for a pair of metallic shoulder plates and the four wing-like spider-legs that protruded from her back.
It would’ve been easy to mistake her for a human who'd gotten lost.
Though on closer inspection, I realized it wasn't just her legs. Her eyes shifted in a way that reminded me of Inertia, metallic lenses adjusting and reshaping beneath the smooth skin-like structure covering her face. The longer I looked the more I picked out the little differences that delineated her from an elf or human: the skin that, instead of shifting the way I was used to, would click slightly, little plates sliding over each other.
All of this I took in even as Calamity greeted her sister.
“Sister, it's so good to see you,” Calamity said, charging forward and practically tackling Inertia in a hug. Her body was clearly denser than it looked, since despite her mere six foot frame, she caused Inertia to backpedal a half-step. “I get so worried when you go off on your walks all alone. You should at least take one or two of the battle forged with you.” The last was said with a wave in the direction of the other more heavily armored Forgeborn behind Calamity.
Inertia released a long series of hisses, whistles and clanks in response as Tresla stepped up beside her.
“Oh you know I don't like Forgespeak,” Calamity replied to Inertia's rambling. “Not unless we're talking science. And there's so few people worth talking science to these days, especially when you go on your walkabouts.”
Inertia rumbled again, gesturing vaguely in my direction.
“Oh a human who has been able to teach you a thing or two about the Forge? Interesting,” Calamity said, following Inertia's gaze and giving me a quick once-over before returning her attention to her sister. “You'll have to tell me all about them over a forge session. But please tell me you’re back for back for a long time. Or at least a proper visit.
“Bond,” Inertia hissed out, nodding towards Tresla.
“Ah you've come to renew the bond with your lightsinger friend. Excellent.” Despite the words, it sounded to me like Calamity was disappointed. “Do you want a witness or do you intend to do it yourself?”
Inertia looked towards me, pointing. “Friend?”
That seemed to catch Calamity's attention in a way that her previous words hadn't and she turned back to look at me over once more, her eyes audibly whirring as she took me in again, reassessing, re-evaluating.
Then she stepped forward, a surprisingly normal smile spreading across her face as she extended a hand. “So, my sister’s finally made a friend with a mortal, huh? Now that truly is excellent.”