“You sure your brother made it out?” said Cedric from behind.

“Positive,” said Nick as he crouched through a low opening between two houses. He had a small toolkit scrounged out from a gemstone grinder’s home slung around his back with the spear. The aether-musket was readied and primed in his hands. “I didn’t see any of those sloops chasing after him. He knows the way to the Earl’s manor by heart. All we need to do is slow them down and the Pegasus Knights will be here in no time.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” said Cedric. “So, we distract the buggers while you go in and work your little do-hickey on the big ship.”

“Exactly,” said Nick.

“And where’d you learn to work on those things?” said Cedric. “Don’t give me some spiel on work at the Earl’s manor. That man’s tolerance for Islelander inventions only goes so far.”

“Eh, hobby of mine,” said Nick. It wasn’t a lie, although his interest in the subject went a bit beyond a normal hobby. After all he had spent years building one from scratch. Years of dedicated trial and error, trying to infer vague musings from whatever books he could get his hands on.

In that span of time, he managed to make the somewhat reliable rig docked in the cove.

“You got some interesting hobbies Nick,” said Cedric.

“Speak for yourself,” said Nick. “And you’re sure there is some underground causeway below the training grounds?”

“Hah. You got me there,” said Cedric. “And yes. Old mining causeway to be precise. People don’t know but Sevola used to be a gemstone dig colony long ago. All the old entrances were covered up, which is why we have a piece of flat land in the side of a walled town.”

“So,” said Nick, looking back to Cedric. “Distract, sabotage, then escape underground.”

“Yes,” said Cedric. “I walked around the grounds before, and I know exactly where the old tunnels are. I’d say among the three of us we have a pretty good plan ahead.”

Cedric said three but it was really just him and Nick. Felix said nothing. In fact, he hadn’t spoken much since they started making their way out. His face was pale and it was evident the events earlier had taken its toll.

Nick couldn’t drum up any words of support for him. He felt a mix of sympathy and irritation. Wallowing in misery solved nothing. All those years after Valdric’s death taught him that.

There was only thing left, and it was to go forward. No matter the cost.

The shape of the Longwarder peeking above the roofs of the houses grew as they drew closer. They swerved through alleys and the devastation left behind by the attack. Their entire plan hinged on speed. It would take time for them to empty out and move all the mana bars from the repository, but Nick wasn’t going count on their sluggishness. Especially not when everything started.

They reached the last set of houses before entering the training field. Nick led them into a two-story home with a draped window facing out into the clearing.

The first step before any conflict, either with words or with arms, was to measure up the opposition. As described in near every ancient treatise on the topic, and quoted heavily from Valdric’s journal. If one could do so with an unsuspecting enemy, then the information gathered was worth double.

The home itself was empty. Furniture and goods were broken and torn by the raiders. There were spools of thread scattered across the floor, next to a dead man whose hands splayed against slashed gut.

Nick looked away. As Cedric said, there would be time to mourn later.

Oddly enough, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement, and it wasn’t just the creeping madness within. He could feel the thump of blood across his entire body. The elevated stakes, the thrill of danger, of betting everything on a gambit. It was like he was the hero out of a book, or like even Valdric’s accomplishments during his father’s earlier years.

It was a far cry from everything he had done so far. Undercutting legal trade laws, enabling a drunkard’s addiction, or playing a make-believe tea party with a spoiled girl with a sadistic streak.

In spite of all the wrong, horror, and destruction to bring him to this state. He almost wanted to say he was… happy in the midst of all this.

He pushed the thought deep into the recesses of his mind as he peeked through the window drapes towards the training grounds. How could he be happy at such a moment?

The Longwarder loomed atop the sea of grass with its broadside facing Nick. Below it was the smashed remnants of the ascension altar.

The three decks of the vessel were littered with cannon-ports, although all of them were closed. He recalled the destruction it rained down earlier. Cannons which belched spells used only among the strongest of the Nephilim and Innatum.

Nick saw three of the vessel’s spherical engines. Their silverite plating shining against the dim blue hull. Just like Eric’s Adrestan clipper, this was a seafaring vessel which was converted to go airborne, and the way the engines were bolted into the frame reflected it.

One engine each was mounted close to the stern and another close to the bow. These provided lift and enabled the ship to turn. The larger rearward engines, provided thrust.

The ship however was not left unattended. Raiders patrolled the top and bottom of the ship, teamed up in pairs. Some had gleaming gem-bracers with aether-muskets or more traditional weapons. Northlander Berserks with axes as big as their bodies. A few which resembled neither, but their colored hair indicated them as Innatum.

There was a division among the group here, perhaps indicating disunity in the ranks. A weakness which may be exploited in the coming fight.

However, what Nick didn’t expect was a separate group just below the twin planks leading up to the vessel. Children of varying ages, sitting or kneeling with aether-cuffs binding their wrists. Some still wore the robes of their ascension ceremony while others wore generic clothing. Battered and bruised faces, ruined hair was common among them. Several looked to be crying.

Nick recognized a few. The red-haired lad who fought against Ren. Several among the audience listening to Cedric’s stories. One of the younger ones, barely past the age of suckling a mother’s breast was huddled against an older one with a familiar side-knot of blonde hair. Defiance painted on her face.

Miri.

This was unexpected. He didn’t think there would be captives out here.

“You see what I’m seeing Nick,” said Cedric.

He nodded in response.

“Guess we’ll need to adjust things a bit,” said Cedric.

“I do. What do you think?” said Nick.

Cedric brushed a finger through his beard. “I’m certain I can take the lot. We start as usual, but first… Felix.”

The watchman looked up to Cedric.

“Look boy.” Cedric clapped a hand on Felix’s shoulder. “You’ve seen a whole lot of bad in a short amount of time, but I need you to stay with us. There are real people out here who need our help. Who need your help. You understand me?”

“I-I understand,” said Felix.

“Good,” said Cedric. “When I get those captives free, you are going to lead them down the tunnel and get them as far away from here as you can.”

“Wait,” said Felix. “Won’t you need…”

Cedric raised a hand, although he coughed immediately afterwards. “I can handle myself perfectly fine.”

“Felix is right though,” said Nick. “There is an awful lot of them out there. They also took out-”

“I said I can handle it,” said Cedric. “Listen to your elders for once kids. If anyone here is going to make the sacrifice here it is going to be me.”

Nick didn’t have anything to say to that, and it didn’t look like Felix did either.

“Nothing left but to get into position then,” said Cedric. “Felix I’m going to need however many mana pellets you have left.”

Felix did as was asked, and Cedric started chomping down on them. Before he departed however, Nick stopped him.

“Felix.” Nick handed him the spear. “Could you do me a favor? Take this, and give it to Miri.”

“You sure about this?” said Felix.

“Positive,” said Nick. “I don’t need it for what I’m going to do.”

Felix looked down and accepted the weapon with a sigh. A bit of energy returned to his worn face, and he gave a weak smile. “I guess this is it then. Best of luck to you two.”

The watchman stepped out the doorway and into the street.

Cedric looked at Nick. “You don’t think you’re going to come back?” he said.

“Just…” Nick sighed. “Just preparing for the worst.”

“Fair enough. Not one for senseless death, but there are worse ways to go out.”

The old man went into a coughing spree.

“Ugh,” said Cedric. “Like slowly drowning to death in your own lungs. Besides that, I wanted to say something to you specifically.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve seen a lot of fighting in my time, and I’ve seen what it does to folks who have been through the worst of it. I’ve seen some people turn for the worst, a particular type of people at that. Nothing to do with where they are from, but it is something about them. Whether it be in their eyes or voice.”

Nick said nothing.

“A lot of them churn out as heroes. At least on the face of it. They are calm in the storm and don’t piss their breeches like so many others. However, they are as cold as ice, and even when the fighting ends, it never does for them. I don’t think you have gone that far down the deep end but I see the potential there. It probably has to do with your madness, or maybe not. What I mean to say Nick is, if we make it out of this alive, regardless of what happens, don’t turn into one of those buggers.”

Nick wanted to tell Cedric he was wrong, or at least brush it off saying the old man was just superstitious. However, a part of him felt the truth in those words. There was something about him that terrified him, far beyond the maddening bloodlust just below his consciousness. It was a callousness of sorts he was aware of in himself. He knew it because when he killed his first man. The deed itself wasn’t what horrified him, but the fact that he wasn’t horrified.

He didn’t know whether he had been born with it like everything else or if it had just built up in the last five years. Either way the feeling was still there.

“I do,” said Nick. “And I won’t.”

“Good.” Cedric winked. “Valdric raised you right, so I think you’ll manage. Let’s treat these buggers to some Vislandan hospitality.”

Nick smirked and left the house.

He swerved out the door and down the street opposite Felix’s direction. He shimmied between two houses, stepping over a broken vase, and peeked around the corner to the training grounds.

Cedric stepped out into the field, his hands folded together as if in prayer. A few wandering patrols pointed toward the old man. Nick had a hard time hearing through the crackling firestorm past the marble walls, but he could still make out the murmurs of commotion. Judging by their expressions, none of the raiders viewed Cedric as a threat. A pair of Berserks unhooked their axes and walked towards him.

Cedric spoke, and Nick could hear his voice.

“Terra Armis Ingurgito Ortus”

Green earthen aether simmered out from his body in whirling wisps. They latched onto his skin, hardening and morphing into stone. More and more wisps sprung out, until they covered the entirety of Cedric’s figure and more. His bulk grew with each step.

The commotion and body language among the raiders shifted in tone from amusement to surprise. The Berserks broke towards him in a sprint, bellowing a battle cry. Several aether-muskets fired upon the growing giant.

Fire brushed against Cedric, but when the smoke cleared, little damage was done. The juggernaut was now as tall as the buildings, clad in rock armor in the shape of ancient plate. A pair of green lights flickered into being at what was the figure’s head. It raised two massive rock arms, readying to fight.

The Berserks charged, thunder and lightning booming in their midst.

Cedric’s left hand swept through the field, catching one of the Berserks. There was a loud clank as metal armor crashed against stone.

As his partner was sent tumbling through the grass, the other Berserk dodged by leaping over the blow. Lightning stuttered off his axe as he fell upon Cedric’s head, raising it high for a strike.

Juggernauts however, were not slow. Cedric took one step back, swerving his head out of range. His right arm came barreling down. There was a flash of yellow light followed by the splatter of blood as the fist squashed the Berserk like a fly.

Without a moment of hesitation, Cedric adjusted his posture and charged.

The raider patrols spun into disorganized action. Berserks from the field ran towards this new foe while others leapt off the ship to join their brethren. All of the captured children had their eyes turned down towards the juggernaut, a few bristling to escape. The Bracers watching over them however, was quick to dissuade any attempts with threatening gestures from their muskets.

The Berserks threw themselves at the juggernaut. Cedric slammed into one and engaged the rest in a disorganized melee. The Berserks attacked like a mob of angry wasps stinging a bear, chipping away at his stone bulk. Many of them were knocked away by Cedric’s arms and legs, although they kept returning to the fight. There were too many of them for Cedric to end them decisively.

Even the one that was struck earlier, was now rushing back to the field from the street.

The Bracers started to organize on the far end of the field, rallying to a tall woman wearing a leather brigandine and braided red hair. To Nick’s surprise they were actually moving into a battle formation.

It was just like the images from old books on battles and oil paintings at the Earl’s manor. In this case it was a defensive line formation. They were even organizing themselves by two of the five fighting specializations. Earth and wind users positioned themselves in front as tankers, erecting stone walls surrounded by wind. A combination which capitalized on the defensive natures of both elements while not being vulnerable to any others.

Behind them, stood fire and lightning users. Blasters who specialized in ranged combat. Although in this case the aether-muskets substituted for the vast majority of the power.

They did it in quick succession, which implied drill and discipline. Nick had a sinking feeling they had underestimated their enemy once again.

The red-haired Bracer bellowed something and the formation started moving forward.

The Bracer formation closed in on the battle. The earth-wind barriers opened and the blasters let loose a volley of musket and spellfire.

The fiery attacks staggered the juggernaut, engulfing it and a few unlucky Berserks in a blaze. When the smoke cleared however, green light flared around Cedric’s chipped bulk, reforming and repairing the damaged areas.

A few Berserks angrily yelled and waved their axes at the Bracers. The Bracer force however ignored them, as their leader yelled for another volley.

Cracks echoed across the field followed by lances of fire which peppered the juggernaut. Their joined attacks forced him several steps back. Cedric slammed his rock fists into the earth, causing stone walls to rise around him right as another volley sheared towards him.

The Berserks moved to Cedric’s flanks where they wouldn’t suffer collateral damage. There they began hacking away at the stone barrier. Nick had no idea how much longer Cedric could hold, even with all the mana pills he swallowed.

However, the desired outcome was met. All their forces in the area to include the ship and the field were engaged against Cedric. All except for a pair of Bracers guarding the captives. However, even their attention was focused on the battle.

The first prong had struck, and now it was time for the second.

A fifth volley erupted through the air as Nick watched Felix’s figure appear on the field at the opposite end of the battle. Directly behind the Bracer formation.

Nick was expecting them to be more disorganized. However, the compact line, while enabling them to fight more effectively against Cedric, also made them unintentionally vulnerable.

Twin fireballs, engorged by concentration and focus, radiated from his palms. He thrust them toward the unsuspecting band of men and women.

Felix’s attacks struck true, slamming into the middle of their formation. The resulting combustion sent men and women flying in all directions. Nick watched green-haired wind users abruptly catch fire while those with other affinities seemed to escape with some mild burns.

The earthen and wind barriers at the front collapsed as the tankers fell to disarray. The red-haired Bracer however, wasted no time in bellowing her people to reform.

Cedric burst out from his rock shell, knocking back a few Berserks. He charged towards the shattered formation.

Juggernauts were so dangerous because they were able to fulfill a dual role. Both as a tanker to absorb damage and secondly as a striker, to assault and seize. Only the most disciplined individuals would stand resolute against the charging boulders.

The majority of these Bracers were not those individuals.

Men and women scrambled to the side as the juggernaut sped towards them. One drew up a rock barrier, which promptly shattered upon contact with the giant’s shoulder.

Cedric stepped on several Bracers. His arms swept through the disorganized crowd. Individuals were tossed asunder in all directions.

The red-haired Bracer drew up a fiery shield. It held, but the force of the blow sent her sailing through the air and away from the others.

Felix ran towards the captive group of children, unimpeded as the entire enemy force was in disarray. Cedric did the same, leaving behind the broken formation.

Nick remained, waiting for the opportunity.

Felix and Cedric dispatched the two guards without much issue. All while the children hurried toward them. Nick watched as Felix started to shatter the aether cuffs. Cedric gently scooted some of the children aside and slammed a giant foot down, opening a hole into the ancient mineshafts below.

By now, the Berserks were rushing towards them, and the red-haired woman rallied the Bracers, attempting to stop their escape.

Cedric raised his hands. Stone and earth tore upwards, forming a dome around the group. Nick watched Felix hand Miri the spear. The last thing he saw before the dome obstructed his vision was Felix leading the children down the mining tunnel.

It was too bad he couldn’t give it in person, but it would just have to wait until later.

For now, however, the attention of every raider had their backs turned on Nick and were focused on the dome. It was time for Nick to move, and drive to achieve the decisive objective.

He ran towards the Longwarder, following the shadow cast by the town walls. The sound of explosions and lightning fettered the air as the raiders attempted to crack through the dome.

He swung to the side of the Longwarder facing away from the battle. Its shadow loomed over him, longer than any building in the town. In the olden days, Northlanders used the seafaring variant to raid the Imperial coastline, killing, looting, and capturing by the measure of their own heathen culture. Now, with modern air-engines they did the same by air.

This one’s days however were numbered.

He turned his attention to the air engines along the ship.

The rear engines were too large for him to sabotage. At least not without drawing too much attention. Instead he went for the side-engines. Busting one would hamper and slow the ship down. Busting two on the same side, would cripple it and prevent it from flying.

He approached the closest one. The engine had three parts. The shield plating which protected it, the beam which attached it to the frame of the ship, and the inner components. The silverite plating was about as impenetrable as the wooden hull. However, not unless one knew how the thing was built.

Nick walked to the side of the engine facing the vessel. There up, and right below the metal beam attaching the engine to the frame, was the outline of a rectangle.

All engines followed the same template from the original design from the Islelanders. He learned that trying to make one himself. It also meant the maintenance flap was built in the same place.

He pulled out a chisel from the craftsman’s bag and nudged the tool into the edge of the rectangle. Then he pulled out a hammer and began to chip away. Bit by bit, the rectangular sheet slowly started to separate.

The flap plucked out, and Nick caught it before it could fall. He placed it gently on the grass, then started working his way through the internal components.

Mageweave cloth threaded into conducting rods rode along the internal shell of the engine. At the center were two massive emeralds the size of his head. They were surrounded by floating quartz rings, whose outer and inner surfaces were engraved with hundreds of ancient inscriptions. Pure aether swirled around the rings and the inscriptions as white wisps, absorbed into the emeralds which with the proper trigger, provided propulsion and lift.

The structure of it was all too familiar to Nick. Especially after all the years of attempts to fashion a few on his own. Years of mimicking the symbols and learning all he could about quartz artificing.

Quartz rings, especially empowered by aether, would require far more than a mere hammer and chisel to destroy. However, the inscriptions were far more malleable and also infinitely harder to repair.

All he could do with the tools was scratch the quartz. However, a scratch was all he needed.

He readied the chisel, slipping it above one of the inscriptions in the outer ring, the one responsible for bridging the emerald to the power source within the ship, and struck with the hammer. A line scraped down the inscription ruining the inscription. The flow of aether halted and the engine sputtered dead.

Nick sighed, dipping his head out. One down and one to go.

He picked up the aether musket and began moving to the second engine.

He was halfway toward the next side-engine when a sudden cold rippled up his left foot. It froze, nearly causing him to tumble over when ice shot up his right leg. Blue-green light swerved up from the ground, the cold creeping up his body in its wake. First his thighs, then his hips. It stopped right above his waist.

Nick tried to ready the aether musket, when two separate pillars of ice rose up from the ground, encasing both of his arms.

A voice with a thick Northlander accent spoke from above. Feminine, sultry, and carrying a sneering and smug tone which drew up unpleasant memories of Tessa Valkempt.

“Well… well… what do we have here?”