Mechanomancers

Location: Serenia's Domain / Secret Tunnel Network

Time: Y0000 / 29th day of the Fire Moon

POV: Warden Mi'Kai'Ra

My mind agree with Mal'Jar reasoning. In order for some to survive, we must use the rest as bait. Distraction. Dragons are all powerful. It's the only way for us to endure.

And yet my heart disagree. I feel like a traitor for abandoning my people. I wish to stay behind and face death together with my kind. Dragon be damned!

Still, my mind prevailed. I'm walking down the secret tunnel network. Heading for salvation.

I feel the worst. Is there nothing else I can do?

"You look conflicted Warden. You want to stay behind." (Mechanomancer Tel'Na'Miri)

*nod* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"Don't. Bury your feelings and help us fight. This is what those that inhabit the Hidden City do. Every day." (Tel'Na'Miri)

"I always suspected we had a presence deep beneath the earth, but a city? How many of our Kin live there?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"The answer is more complex than you think, warden. You'll see soon enough." (Tel'Na'Miri)

--------------------------------

Location: Serenia's Domain / Hidden City / Underground Garden

We have been walking for almost half an hour. I lost my sense of position a while back. I have no idea how deep we are.

Light! At last!

The tunnel in front of us must lead to a bigger lighted room.

*enter* *awe* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

I... had no idea we were capable of such wonders! I mean, our builders are capable to raise great monuments to satisfy the greed and vanity of Them. But this?

"Warden, welcome to one of the underground gardens of the Hidden City!" (Tel'Na'Miri)

This is a very large cavern, maybe two hundreds meter wide. We are walking on a corridor. A corridor made of metal!

There are floors. Platforms made of metal as well. They are stacked upon each others and reach the top of the cavern, at least fifty meters in height.

They are sustained by ropes. Ropes made of metal as well? What?!? But how??? How can one twist metal and make a metal rope??? What kind of magic has my Kin been employing, and how did this elude the sight of the Dragons???

On the metal platforms there are... plants? I don't know. They are glowing, I don't know what they are. This place is straight out of a dream! Am I dead? Is this a dream?

"The Hidden City feeds on this mushroom. It clean the air, and provides us with light on top of that. We just need water and waste for it to flourish. It was found long ago in a place far from here." (Tel'Na'Miri)

*gaping* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"You are asking yourself why the metal? It's because of Them. Whenever we use too much magic, they come down and destroy our hidden cities. This is our answer. Not to use magic at all! This is what we mechanomancers do." (Tel'Na'Miri)

"Forging metal ropes without magic? You are not making any sense. Also, there are other cities?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"Necessity is the mother of inventions, warden. We are weak and powerless, but we have been bidding for time. And we had help." (Tel'Na'Miri)

Help... I feel there is a deeper meaning to this word.

The metal passage forks many times, with ladders that lead to opening in the walls of the cave. Tel'Na'Mir leads me in one of them.

--------------------------------

Location: Serenia's Domain / Hidden City / Hope Metal-Ways

We pass more rooms. Metal cylinders. Pipes leaking... hot white smoke? Many of my Kin hurrying, collecting mushrooms or doing things I don't understand with their metal tools. To be honest I don't understand any of this.

My Kin has been doing wonders while hidden underground!

The end of the tunnel. And beyond it...

*gaping* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"Impressive, isn't it? The living blocks are just as impressive, but we don't have time to show you. Those are the Hope Metal-Ways! I'll leave you a few seconds to take this in. I'll be back soon." *leave* (Tel'Na'Miri)

It boggles my mind how my Kin was able to keep such wonders safe from Them!

This is the largest cave I have seen yet. It's maybe half a kilometre in size. We are standing on a platform high up near the ceiling. It's a two hundred meters fall to the bottom!

Around me there are metal towers surrounded by spiral metal stairways. The roof of the grotto is covered in luminous mushrooms. A web of platforms connect the towers together. Puffs of white smoke come from pipes everywhere, making whistling noises. A thin white fog make it hard to see in the distance.

I can hear large amount of water flowing in the distance. Is there a waterfall somewhere around? At this point it wouldn't surprises me.

There is a red glow near the bottom. Lava, maybe? It seems right. They must need large amount of heat to work all this metal.

"Warden, this is Uhishiii. She leads the Mining Crew." (Tel'Na'Miri)

"Greet~ (Mi'Kai'Ra)

As I turn my sight from the unbelievable scenery, I'm greeted with an even stranger one!

Before me stands a creature about two meters in length with thick black fur. It's crawling on the floor before me. A Mole. I have heard of their kind before, but what's one doing here? And it has a name? This place keep getting weirder and weirder.

(Uhishiii)

[I am sorry to speak to you this way, but my kind cannot talk the way you do. I am Uhishiii, a Black Gold Mole. I lead the Mining Crew, and I will be joining you on our exodus.] (Uhishiii)

"How... why..." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"Warden, we usually take our time to explain things, but we don't have any, right now. They will not wait. I'll explain what I can as we go. Please, follow us." (Tel'Na'Miri)

*nod* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

Hearing about Them make me snap out of it. I follow after my Kin and the Mole. I have seen so many impossible things that I can accept everything at this point.

We reach what looks like a metal door on one of the towers.

*pull lever* (Tel'Na'Miri)

*puff* *door open*

"Ah! I thought you said you didn't use great spells! They will notice if you do things like that!" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"This is no magic, Warden." (Tel'Na'Miri)

[Magma from the depth heats water. Water turns into white smoke. White smoke move things. This is Dragon proof. I assure you. We wouldn't be here talking, otherwise.] (Uhishiii)

I start to wonder what am I doing here. If they hold such power, how can I be of any help?

We enters the apparently non-magical living metal door.

*puff* *door close*

"No! We are trapped! Metal eats us! Let me out!" *hit door* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"Calm down! It's alright!" (Tel'Na'Miri)

*pull lever* (Tel'Na'Miri)

*puff* *door open*

"See? The door obeys us! None of our machines will harm you. Well, if you are careful around them..." (Tel'Na'Miri)

*pant* "I... am sorry. I don't know what to expect from those... things." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[But you know what to expect from the Dragons. We lived our entire lives here. We could not risk our minds being read by those monsters. All would have been lost. Your experience in Dragon and High Elves will be invaluable for our survival.] (Uhishiii)

"Ushi is right. Don't try to understand machines. Leave metal to us mechanomancers. Let us each deal with the enemy we know best." *pat on the shoulder* (Tel'Na'Miri)

*puff* *door close*

"I will entrust myself to you then, friends." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

*rumble* *go down*

I grab the handles on the metal walls as hard as I can as we are moving inside this thing. I'm so afraid it will spit us out and let us fall to our doom.

*stop* *shake*

"Ahhh!" *pant *pant* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

*puff* *door open*

"You can let go, warden. We reached the bottom. Come with us." (Tel'Na'Miri)

I happily exit this thing. Not even Them scares me this much. I know what my fate would be in their fangs.

We walk for a while in the thin white mist. We reach the end of the cavern. I'm not surprised anymore by the sight.

"Those are the White Smoke Chariots! The pride of us Mechanomancers! They move twice as fast as the fastest horse, and can carry even the heaviest load." (Tel'Na'Miri)

There are three tunnels on the walls, at three different angles. Twin sticks of metal are laid on the ground, and lose themselves in the blackness of the tunnels.

There are long cylinders of metal, about five meters wide. The cylinders are connected to each others by metal ropes, and are suspended from the ground by with metal wheels that rests on the endless metal sticks.

Around the cylinders, things are hectic to say the least. Rat-Kin and Moles working together, moving heavy loads of rocks and mushrooms, entering and exiting the metal cylinders. Many doing things I do not understand.

Are those things really supposed to move? Absurd! There are no horses pulling them!

"Are white smoke metal horses meant to pull them?" (Tel'Na'Miri)

[*giggle*] (Uhishiii)

"Ushi! Ehm... No, warden. The white smoke chariots move on their own." (Tel'Na'Miri)

Was my remark really so absurd? To me the idea of cylinders moving on their own seems even stranger. Did they not really think on making white smoke metal horses?

"Make way!" (Rat-Kin Doctor Ara'Ki)

A female Rat-Kin is being carried by two doctors inside one of the metal chariots. A metal door opens for them. I still can't wrap my head around this.

"Oh, right. That was Me'Ra. She survived the weaving of a Dragon at point blank range." (Tel'Na'Miri)

[This happened once before, and the survivor back then became a great Shaman. We hope she can become one as well.] (Uhishiii)

The shaman. She is old, she is sure to stay behind and buy us as much time as she can.

[I am The Shaman. Every able Rat Kin is to search the city for whatever scrap of food or gold they can find and bring it to the Dragon plaza at once. It's Their will. Our survival is at stake. Please, comply and we will endure. As always.] (Shaman)

Speaking of the devil. The shaman must have spoken to the mind of every Rat-Kin!

"Our brethren in the Forbidden City will do everything in their power to appease the dragons. Maybe they will succeed, as they always did." (Tel'Na'Miri)

"No. Not this time, mechanomancer. I saw the content of the Oracle. The Forbidden City will disappear, and us with it. I can't see this place surviving the destruction." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[This makes me sad. We worked so hard to build this place. But thanks to you, we have a fair warning. Our plan has not failed. Not yet.] (Uhishiii)

"What plan? You didn't tell me what your plan is! Is the white smoke powerful enough to defeat Them?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"We have no time for this, warden. The metal chariots will soon depart. There are other underground cities beside this one. Very far from here. Somewhere safe. We'll be heading there." (Tel'Na'Miri)

[And our Queen will come with us. Come, warden. You'll want to see her. And she'll want to see you.] (Uhishiii)

The Crystal Queen

Location: Serenia's Domain / Hidden City / Crystal Queen Wagon

Time: Y0000 / 29th day of the Fire Moon

POV: Mi'Kai'Ra

"Move it!" (Rat-Kin Mechanomancer)

Tel'Na'Miri left to do... mechanomancer stuffs. I'm with the Mole, we are walking alongside the white smoke chariots. We scramble not to hit anyone in this frenzy.

"That cylinder looks different." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[It is. That's our queen's wagon. It's made entirely from black gold.] (Uhishiii)

"Isn't black gold a really rare metal? Where did you find so much of it?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[It's rare near the surface, but we Moles dig deeper inside the earth. And we have been hoarding it for many millennia. I look like this because I fed on black gold, you know?] (Uhishiii)

"How did you manage to keep this place hidden? I myself had no idea you were here." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Complete isolations. Only the Rat-Kin High Chancellor and a selected few know of this place. Protection against Dragon mind reading. Your kind also make sterile those who come here to keep the population in check. We can only feed so many.] (Uhishiii)

Such sacrifice. But extreme evil, extreme remedy. It worked until now. I now wonder what will cause the destruction shown in the Oracle. It can't be the existence of this place.

(Uhishiii)

*lever move* *puff* *door open*

Of course. The moles have no prehensile hands, only claws. It seems they use small spells to move things.

[Moles dig, Rat-Kins build. Our races work well together, warden. We limit use of magic to a minimum. At least outside the Queen's Wagon.] (Uhishiii)

We climb a steep ladder and enter the metal cylinder.

*puff* *door close*

(Uhishiii)

*puff* *lid open*

Wow. The metal wall in front of us opens like petals of a flower, metal plates sliding over each other! If not for the grinding noise, it would be beautiful.

"Ah!" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

The light coming from the opening blinds me for a moment.

Once my eyes adapt, the scene before me is indescribable. And I thought nothing could surprise me anymore, today.

*puff* *lid close*

[Greetings, Crystal Queen. I bring Mi'Kai'Ra. Warden of the High Elf named Peek Through Flowery Dreams and Eternal Nightmares.] *bow* (Uhishiii)

Is that creature really a Mole?

She is at least seven meters in length and occupy most of the wagon. She rests over a large crystal formation, while eating some.

More incredibly, she is transparent! Her body is crystal like, but is not hard. She is flexible. Even her fur! And I can see her insides moving. Her red blood flowing in pulses, pumped by her heart. Her lungs, breathing!

(Crystal Queen Jashaaari)

[Warden. Welcome.] (Jashaaari)

I want to answer but I need time to sort my thoughts. This is too much to take in.

(Jashaaari)

[It is alright, warden. We have all the time. You can stay in my wagon for the journey. We have much to talk about.] (Jashaaari)

I suddenly calmed down for some reasons. Weird.

"Why are you transparent?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Moles feed on metals. The stronger the metal, the more intelligent and powerful we become. I am the only Mole who ever survived after eating aether crystals. I feed on them, and them only.] (Jashaaari)

"Does this makes you strong?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Careful! You are addressing the Queen!] (Uhishiii)

[It is fine, Uhishiii. Yes. I am the strongest Mole Queen in living memory.] (Jashaaari)

"Are you stronger than a Dragon?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[There is a limit to how rude one can be! Apologize! Immediately!] (Uhishiii)

[I appreciate what you are doing, but now leave, Uhishiii.] (Jashaaari)

*puff* *lid open*

*leave* (Uhishiii)

*puff* *lid close*

[I apologize warden. My subordinates are quite protective of me.] (Jashaaari)

"I apologize as well. I just want to understand what this plan is. Your miner, and the mechanomancer were fuzzy on the details." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[I'm the key part of a plan put in motion millennia ago. I was meant to end the Dragons. Once and for all. Every resource of my kind, and yours has been poured in my development.] (Jashaaari)

*fiiiiiii* *rumble* *rumble* (White smoke chariot)

"We are moving!" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. I have seen the Oracle inside your mind. We must put as much distance from the Forbidden City and us as possible.] (Jashaaari)

"You read my mind??? Just like that???" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. I won't tell you I am sorry. The end justifies the means. Also, make no mistake. The Dragons can read minds as well.] (Jashaaari)

"They why haven't they found this place?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Hubris. They do not believe us to be a threat. They don't bother reading the mind of every Rat Kin. It must take some serious effort even for them to read a mind down here. And it is beneath them. It would have been their downfall.] (Jashaaari)

"You mean to end the Dragons. How? Can you really fight them?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. In a fair fight, I can go toe to toe against a small Dragon. With preparations, the effect of surprise, large amount of aether and time, I can weave a spell big enough to kill them all.] (Jashaaari)

"Is this Oracle your doing???" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[No. Still, even if we all end up disappearing, I applaud at whomever is trying to end the tyranny of the Dragons.] (Jashaaari)

"How long would have taken you to be ready to weave your spell?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Millennia? Tens of millennia? More? What does it matters?] (Jashaaari)

"I see. Since we have no other way of opposing Them, any plan, no matter how slow, how unlikely, how far fetched, or how costly. It is worth pursuing." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. The Dragons been tyrannizing every living creature in this world for as long as living memory goes. They have to disappear. No matter the cost.] (Jashaaari)

"No objections here. Uhm... Something has been bothering me. How did you enter this wagon? Did they build it around you today?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[No. I have been living inside here for the last seven hundred years. The black gold masks my presence. Makes my magical power invisible to the Dragons. I can never leave, least they sense my presence. And all would have been for nothing.] (Jashaaari)

"You have been living in cages for millennia, waiting for the moment you could weave a spell big enough to destroy the Dragons and die in the attempt?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. You have witnessed their cruelty only a few decades. I have sensed my brethren, your kind and every other kind die at their whim. I want the pain to stop.] (Jashaaari)

"Let's hope that the Oracle comes to be, then." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Yes. Let us hope.] (Jashaaari)

*rumble* *rumble* *fiiiiiiii* (White smoke chariot)

Earth Shake

Location: Central Continental Tunnel / White Smoke Chariot

Time: Y0000 / 29th day of the Fire Moon

POV: Mi'Kai'Ra

*rumble* *shake* *rumble* (White smoke chariot)

(Crystal Queen Jashaaari)

[Wake up, warden.] (Jashaaari)

*wake up* "Ah! What is it? How long has it been?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Little more than half a day has past since our departure. The earth has begun to shake.] (Jashaaari)

*puff* *lid open*

The metal petals open behind me. From there, three Moles enter the Queen wagon. One is a two meter long Mole with black fur. I believe she is the one I met earlier today. The other two are only about one meter long. One has silver fur, the other has red fur.

*puff* *lid close*

(Uhishiii)

[My Queen! Something is happening! Are you aright?!?] (Uhishiii)

*shake* *shake* *shake*

In the few seconds since I have been awake, the shakes have grown in intensity.

[Yes. I'm fine. It is happening, my children. I felt a great shift in the flow of aether. Then, about half hour after that, the shaking begun and has been growing in intensity steadily.] (Jashaaari)

"Uhm... Shouldn't we stop? Moving during an earth shake is ill advised..." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

*skreeeeeeeeeee* *slow down* *stop* (White smoke chariot)

*shake* *shake* *shake*

[Yes. It is as you say, warden. We'll wait out the earth shake.] (Jashaaari)

[We must be at least nine hundred kilometres from the forbidden city by now. Something big must be going on back there for the shake to be felt all the way here.] (Mole Yshtaaar)

The shaking went up another notch. I can hear noises of metal parts moving around.

"This tunnel is safe, right?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[We were careful when we choose which rocks to dig through. As long as the bedrock holds, we will be fine.] (Uhishiii)

**shake** **striding noises** **shake**

The wagon sounds like it's going to fall apart. This is not good.

[Open the wagon.] (Jashaaari)

[My Queen! Don't! The Dragons might feel you! Find out you exist!] (Uhishiii)

[Just protect yourself, my Queen! Don't mind us. Even if we disappear, you'll remain hidden!] (Yshtaaar)

"I must side with your subordinates, Crystal Queen. If you really are the only hope to ever fight back against Them, then you must remain hidden. I don't mind dying for such cause." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[No. I have been hoarding power and pigging on crystals for ages. Now is the time to act. Furthermore, the shift in the aether flow and whatever is happening in the Forbidden City are sure to divert the sight of the Dragons. My time has come. I will not sit idly by and watch my children and allies die for nothing. Open the wagon!] (Jashaaari)

The Moles glance at each others, then move toward the side of the wagon.

(Uhishiii, Yshtaaar, Kmeeeth)

The metal bolts they stare at become undone and fall to the floor. Soon after, an heavy plate of black gold, three centimetres thick and two meter wide come off.

*fall* *ding* ding* (Black Gold Bolts)

*fall* **thump** (Black Gold Plate)

**shake** **striding noises** **cracks spread** **shake**

*thump* *thump* (Debris)

This is not good. From the opening I can see dust and small debris falling from the sides of the tunnel. Cracks are spreading. Terrible noises of the earth giving up. Small debris are falling from the top of the tunnel and hitting the roof of our white smoke chariot.

The shaking of the earth grows and grows. This has been going on for minutes! More than the longest earth shake I have ever felt in the Forbidden City.

(Jashaaari)

[This is bad. I can feel the earth bending, cracking and shattering. Magma deep below is turbulent. The worse is yet to come.] (Jashaaari)

(Jashaaari)

[My children. My allies. Hold on. I will protect you. You will not die. Not today.] (Jashaaari)

As the cracks in the wall of the tunnel grow and join each others as the shake becomes even greater, the wagon start jumping up and down. I hold a hand rail near me as hard as I can. Blisters form on my hands and the shakes hurt.

The Crystal Queen start floating and becomes as bright as a star. I advert my sight and close my eyes.

***shake***

*hit head* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

Darkness.

Promised Land

Location: Central Continental Tunnel / White Smoke Chariot

Time: Y0000 / 30th day of the Fire Moon

POV: Mi'Kai'Ra

~the load off the third wagon!" (Rat-Kin Mechanomancer A)

"Hurry up with those mushrooms!" (Rat-Kin Mechanomancer B)

*wake up* "Owwww~ (Mi'Kai'Ra)

It takes a few seconds to fully regain my wits.

My head hurts... The air feels thin...

Wait! I'm alive!

I take a look around.

I'm laying on a piece of fabric on the floor. Far above me there is a bright star.

The Crystal Queen! She is the centre of this place. A spherical cave maybe four hundred meters wide. The walls are coated in a bright yellow gold membrane. It looks like someone is throwing rocks into a lake with bright ripples of light spreading over the membrane.

A barrier. The queen must have erected it, pushing the collapsing walls of the tunnel away from the white smoke chariot. Such power!

I lay at the curved bottom of this sphere. I look at my sides. I'm not the only wounded.

About two dozens are laying beside me with their bodies covered in bandages. Mostly Rat-Kins. Moving in an hurry all around are dozens of survivors.

I can see the white smoke chariot. It's laying like a broken twig along the curved bottom of the sphere. It's heavily damaged. Some of the wagons collapsed on themselves.

I can feel the shakes on my back, but they are not nearly as bad as before.

"Warden! You are awake! Can you walk? I'm sorry, but we need every available hand." (Rat-Kin Doctor Ara'Ki)

*owwww* *stand up* "What happened?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"The Crystal Queen pushed the earth away and saved us." (Ara'Ki)

"How long can she hold?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

"For as long as she needs. I'm sorry, but you look fine, and I have much to do." *leave* (Ara'Ki)

I walk unsteadily toward the white smoke chariot. As long as I am alive, I have to help.

(Uhishiii)

[Warden, you are up! You took a bad hit.] (Uhishiii)

"I'll manage, Ushi. How can I help?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[You don't look like you can move loads, so direct your people. Have them unload the cargo over there.] (Uhishiii)

I hate to say it, but in my conditions this is probably the only thing I can do. I wonder if I should just stay put. I might be a liability right now.

"I can't see the entrances to the tunnel. And the chariot is in shambles. How are we going to reach the next city?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[We aren't. It took two and a half centuries to dig this tunnel. Amber City is more than a thousand kilometres from here. If anything is left of it, that is. The Black Gold Queen there might not have been powerful enough to protect them from this earth shake.] (Uhishiii)

"So... Wherever we are, is where we are going to stay." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Pretty much. The Queen's barrier is protecting us from the earth shake that has been going for more than two hours already without any signs of stopping. Whatever happened at the Forbidden City, must have been of cataclysmic proportions.] (Uhishiii)

"Good. Hopefully the Dragons have bitten the dust. Serves them right. I'd want to personally thank whomever unleashed this destruction upon them!" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[Likewise, Warden. Someone had the same idea we had, but acted faster.] (Uhishiii)

"So, what now? Do we have a new plan?" (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[We build a new hidden city right here. We have loads of materials, the means to get more, mushrooms to feed us and enough hands to pull it off. We only need to wait the earth shake out and find a water stream. A magma stream too wouldn't hurt.] (Uhishiii)

*pant* "Ushi! A crate of mushrooms is stuck in the seventh wagon!" (Rat-Kin Mechanomancer Ras'Me'Ni)

"Lead me to it, mechanomancer. We have much work to do." (Mi'Kai'Ra)

[I'll leave you to it, then. I have things to do as well. Good luck.] *leave* (Uhishiii)

Almost everything is lost. So many have died. Friends I will never see again. So much destruction. And yet I have never felt happier! Rebuilding after disaster is the norm. But this time the Dragons might be gone! Maybe some survived, maybe not, but this cataclysm ought to have put them in their place!

*look up* (Mi'Kai'Ra)

And the Crystal Queen. A bright star in the sky. Now that I have seen her in action, I really believe she can pull this off. Kill the Dragons.

I can see us winning this struggle! I feel hope. For the first time in my life I can see us putting up a good fight against Them!

Our ancestors must be looking at us with a smile on their face. Vengeance, at last.