It was tedious to follow the machine as it crawled along the path, and many times did Alex think they could hitch a ride on top of the stacks. Yet he restrained himself, pacing a few metres behind, not knowing if its creator had a way to sense changes in its cargo. Meaning he was forced to err on the side of caution. It did allow his mind to think about the possibilities the day could bring, as the two crossed two more islands that formed the chain of the archipelago. However, instead of focusing on ways to combat the megalomaniac that undoubtedly had birthed such a uniquely complicated and unneeded construct, it chose to criticise everything he had ever spoken to his partner.

  Why must you do this to me? I thought we both had agreed to not think about it.

  _Excuse you! I’ve been delightful these past few days., to be fair, that is because I have been too focused on plotting the next nightmare to pop into your head._

  I’m talking to myself, you sadistic succubus.

  _Oh, I know, it's absolutely marvellous, I don’t even have to do anything to make you miserable._

  He could hear the joy in his head. Which almost made his entire brain switch over to make fun of her, but interacting with the empress always resulted in diminishing returns. So, he decided to just sigh out his annoyance, staring at the specs of blue that peered back at him behind the cover of the leaves above. Another forest that he was forced to cross at a pace just slow enough to annoy him, his muscles and mind eager for something interesting to stimulate it. It didn't help that the surrounding aspens were no doubt being used as ears for a spirit with the power of a minor god to keep track of them.

  “What’s the Empress of Shadows saying now?” His partner’s voice snapped his attention back to a more comforting reality, glancing to make sure the platform hadn’t suddenly sprouted wings and left them both in the dust.

  He also took the moment to process that Elyza had noticed he’d been talking to his own curse without him realising. Struggling to get his brain to not marvel at the fact he’d grown so close to someone without trying to, a thought to be an impossible phenomenon by him. It hadn’t even been six years since the day that he could only call his second curse had occurred, the memories of fire and rain immediately rushing to smother any other thought in his head. The sheer mention of the day in his youth had been a mistake. His mind was reminded of the fact how long ago it was, and before his thoughts could turn on him, the freeloader came to his aid.

  _I hope you’re not taking the coward’s way of destroying all your relationships._

  Shaking his head, Alex tried to give her the usual grin, but only managed a smile as he replied, “Sorry to worry you, just the usual bickering. She’s trying to think of ways to annoy me, I’m pointing out discrepancies in her logic, chaos ensues as always.”

  As their eyes met, and as he stared into her deep ponds of emerald, he could sense disappointment within them, but the feeling wasn’t directed at him, which was unusual, just before they flicked to the path ahead, “The platform stopped moving.”

  His head snapped back to the machine, the whir of its gears that had become background noise to him now absent. The sound of the wind and the rustle of the leaves attempted to take its place. Yet, they was unable to fill the void that strangely lingered as the mechanic’s of the monstrosity fell silent. It was frozen, more than it had been before, nothing to even indicate it was anything but a mass of bronze and steel, utterly lifeless. He waited for the crabs to pop out from the legs, to slip under the boxes and carry them to their base.

  However, as the first disk popped out and landed on its limbs, the rest didn’t follow the lone creature's lead. Instead of waiting for the others, it crawled to a nearby tree, climbing up the bark before stopping arbitrarily, mirroring its mother. Suddenly, his partner grabbed hold of his shoulder, and barely moments passed before the soles of his feet felt the ground begin rumbling. He braced for the earth to throw a tantrum, but it never came. Plumes of dust bellowed into the air ahead of them, surrounding the platform as lines etched themselves around it, the entire machine descending into the ground.

  Alex felt the twitch through his partner’s touch, his hand flicking up to interrupt her gaze, holding her from jumping behind the monstrosity. As the standing platform was lowered by another, his eyes were locked onto the crab. It did not retreat back into its home, jumping down from the bark only to delve into the green of the trees that flanked them. The two glanced at each other, and a silent argument followed. Before he could revel in his victory, Elyza sprinted into the trees to keep up with the creature.

  _Do you think that maybe she’s become too much like you?_

  There can never be too much of me.

  _Now you’re just lying to yourself._

  He hadn’t had time to counter her, hopping on the spot to get his body warmed up, jumping on the tip of his toes as he collected a pulse of mana. The wave rippled out, the weak ones bouncing off the trees, but as the one carrying a trace of his partner’s mana returned, he bolted towards it. His pulse beat against his skull, breath barely reaching his ears, and he let the grin come. It felt like hours since they’d landed on the desolate island, and given the setting of a chain of land hidden in a shroud of fog, he’d been hoping for a distraction for them. Yet, his muscles, even without an electrical charge through them, helped him carve his own path through the green with what seemed like boundless energy.

  There was a patch of chopped stumps, a pyramid of logs in the middle of the field, and he spotted a pop of red in between the white stripes in his view. She may have been more vertically gifted than him, but as he vaulted over the stack, even Loki wouldn’t bet against him catching her. Soon as his feet touched the ground, he spotted a chance, a gap betwixt the trunks with the backdrop of more white. For a second, the thought did pop up that it’d cause too much noise. But everything else in his mind told him that while it probably wasn’t the only option, it would be the fastest.

  _Do you think the reason for your incessant need to show off is that your parents didn’t love you enough?_

  Of all the things you could’ve said, why say the one thing you know is wrong?

  His blood buzzed as electricity pulsed through his limbs, his eyes widening to let as much light in as they were able to. There was more excitement within him than usual, and Alex didn’t know if it was due to the overwhelming boredom of the past five minutes, or because he was trying to catch up to Elyza. Suddenly, his mana ran wild. Electricity arced off around him just as he took the first step, but he couldn’t regain control before he burst forward as a bolt of lightning.

  Mana struggled to remember reality, air splitting before it even touched him, the crack that followed him disrupting his form even more. Yet, somehow, he was able to focus enough of the mass of energy to kick-start his rematerialisation, his hands solidifying ahead of him just in time to stop his head from smashing into solid limestone. His sweat shot from the strands of his hair as his momentum made him stick to the wall of what looked like a cliff. It splattered against the grey rocks as his entire body buzzed as it recovered from the whole ordeal, and his brain finally told him the lengths he’d crossed in a moment. Looking back at the sea of green, the sight of a line of scorched bark left in his wake greeted his eyes, about the same length as his mind had said, five hundred or so metres

  However, as soon as the glance beneath him confirmed he wouldn’t break his legs on the bed of grass beneath him, Alex let himself fall. Retreating his hands from the crevices they’d stamped into the rock, blood remained on the cliff face as gravity took hold of him once again. The air cooled the fiery blood that was coursing through his arms, yet his palm still tingled with a mixture of pain and static, the burn in his muscles barely dousing before he called upon their services again. Loosening his knees just before impact, it helped him roll forward, flipping up to his feet just as Elyza emerged from the shade of the forest. He gave her a big dumb grin as the mechanical crab skittered past him, his partner’s gaze flicking from it to something behind him and finally landing on his crimson soaked hands.

  “The crab seems to have entered the cave behind you,” she remarked with a sigh, rummaging around in her other pouch as she added, “The smell of blood does not mix well with the smell of stale air.”

  Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out a clear vial with a light violet liquid sloshing within, just as his partner pulled out a roll of bandage. There was nothing to argue about, knowing that she wouldn’t let him continue if he didn’t let her do what was proper. So he popped open the tiny flask, pouring the contents within upon a hand, wincing as the potion worked to cleanse the surface of his palm from all impurities. Before he’d even properly finished shaking the liquid off, trying not to let its stench flow into his nose, Elyza was already halfway through wrapping his wounds. Her full focus on making sure they allowed him the use of his hand.

  Tilting his head, the vial held between his teeth so that the liquid would pour upon his other injured palm, he spit it out once it was empty, stretching his fingers to make it easier to swathe. The white cloth had already begun spotting with red, and yet, as he surged his mana to his wounds, however erratic it may have become due to his great leap, curling his fingers didn’t set fire to his nerves.

  “Where do you think you’d be right now if you weren’t doing all this… nonsense?” his mind blurted out as she finished bandaging, making her hesitate as she stored the roll away.

  “Other than in the black of death, I have no idea,” She remarked, walking towards the mouth bored into the cliff face, and he followed while his mind refused to find another meaning to her words.

  However, against the will of the cyclone currently battering against his head, Alex kept his mouth shut, about to flick his hand to set it aflame before Elyza smacked it down, “Are you a masochist? Do it using the old way…”

  “Whatever you command of me, Ears,” He bowed as he took out a torch from the shade of his cloak. A spark from the tip of his fingers was child’s play, even as his mana remained unsettled within him, setting the oil soaked cloth ablaze in an instant. The low crackle of the flame echoed off the walls of the cave as warm light flooded ahead of it, revealing nothing of where their guide had gone.

  Stepping ahead, he could hear the clink of metal as his partner pulled out her throwing knives, letting him peer through the darkness to lead as she tried to listen for anything unusual. It didn’t take long, half a minute into delving into the cavern, they stood side by side as they stared down a circular staircase made from nailed together pieces of steel plates. The mere shift in lighting as he moved to allow Elyza to better see in the darkness caused a groan to shudder throughout the structure.

  _I have heard of fables about people dying on these things, well not exactly fables._

  “Ears, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Elina just made a good point,” Alex remarked with a grin, trying to hide the tiny terror that had just creeped into him, “Maybe we should go one at a time.”

  “Agreed,” Elyza remarked, stepping back to let him take the lead, even giving him a small bow as she did, “After you… Since you do pride yourself on your light-footedness.”

  “Such generosity,” he retorted, muttering a slight prayer to Artemis before he took the first step, the metal groaning under his weight. As he continued down, one hand firmly grasping the outside rail that swirled down with the stairs, which seemed to move as he did. However, as much as he thought that hanging off the capricious pipe would be essential to reach the end of the hole, it seemed unusually stable as he continued.

  Yet, tendrils still waited in the shadows to stabilise the structure when it inevitably failed, and as cautious as he possibly could be, he shouted behind him, “Follow me, if you dare!”

  “Please do not be so dramatic…” his ears caught the sigh the preceded the words yet the groan of the staircase suffering against added weight still came. Doubt bloomed on whether too much strain on one part would cause the others to falter, yet Alex continued downwards without waiting for his partner. Still, he raised his torch so that light would steep through the grated steps.

  Fortunately, as they both advanced downwards, somehow able to balance the stress on the metal, nothing broke, though there was a moment when three screws popped out simultaneously from the rail. He emerged into a damp hallway with a single crystal embedded in the ceiling, surrounded by copper pipes that ran its length, flickering erratically to flood the hall with a pale light. Shadows crawled up the wall as soon as the radiance fell, retreating as the glow returned, only allowing him a glimpse of the hunks of rusted metal that lay between him and the door across the hall.

  “Did you open that?” Elyza remarked as she stepped off the stairway, her halberd swirling into materiality as her ears perked up, her eyes tracing the pipes to the wide open door as the light came and went.

  “Seems that we’ve been caught,” he replied with a grin, his xiphos rising from his shadow as he drew his dagger, twirling both blades in his hand to get used to their feel again, adding as he strolled through the hall, “I wonder how that came to be.”

  His partner followed in tow as the shadows that erupted perfectly when the light began to dim to drag the carcasses of what appeared to be failed machines out of their way. The screech of metal on solid rock echoed through the room, when suddenly the door shut one again, the sound of gears whirring as it did. A glance towards each other decided who would do the deed, Elyza taking a step back before she kicked the hinges off the door, shards of stone clattering on the floor after the thud stopped echoing.

  As he entered, peeking from behind his partner, Alex’s gaze swept the room. It was much better cared for than what they had just left. Yet his eyes still spotted the still belts with roughly cut parts gathering dust, the rows of metal arms hanging from the ceiling, totally lifeless, a chill ran up his spine. The prints of hooves or paws or feet of whatever lived within the factory were etched onto the dusty floor. The aroma of dried oil and metal in the air. But as soon as the thought popped in his head that the room may be dead, someone cleared their throat.

  “I apologise, I don’t have experience greeting pests,” The voice reverberated through the room, metal clattering as it spoke. Mechanical eyes scattered throughout the room awakening to focus their glowing blue irises upon them, the voice continuing, “Unfortunately for you two, my days of mercy are long gone.”

  A bang echoed from behind, his cloak fluttering as air rushed through the hall behind, carrying with them dust and debris. The smell of an explosion came soon enough, his partner confirming his suspicions, remarking, “The stairs have collapsed.”

  “Fortunately!” The voice began, shuddering the walls of the room as it did, “You have been afforded a great opportunity, few have got to experience the greatness of my machines, even fewer have seen how they are birthed. Though your feeble minds won’t be able to comprehend the extent of my genius, at least you will know the executor of your demise.”

  _How has he managed to sound more arrogant than you?_

  It isn’t arrogance when I can follow up on my words.

  _Sure, if you believe so._

  “Either he has no idea who we are, or he cares not for it,” Elyza muttered under her breath, dusting her pants down as she did.

  His focus was stuck on the closest mechanical eye, peering into its glow to see if something had changed within, remarking, “You must think we’re idiots if we’re going to follow the voice of someone who’s clearly a megalomaniac.”

  It elicited no reaction from whoever was controlling the eye, only a slight adjustment in its focus, yet the voice came again, “I have no time to waste listening to your words, walk to the next room, this one has nothing of value left.”

  “Can he not hear us?” His partner remarked, stepping ahead of him, the red of her radiant hair marred with dust.

  “Don’t think so Ears,” Alex replied, charging a pulse of mana within him as he began to follow, “If we’re correct about how these mechanisms are being controlled, these old specification of eyes usually don’t have the ability to hear as well as to see, but if the voice is capable of creating that platform, it doesn’t mean they couldn’t have adapted to do so.”

  “THOUGH I THINK THIS GUY’S TOO MUCH OF A DUMBASS TO KNOW HOW,” He screamed the words so loud that it could’ve made the metal shrink away, waiting for a response from the voice. Ehen it didn’t come, the pulse within him exploded outwards.

  “Couldn’t help to double-check,” He gave Elyza a grin as the pulse of mana returned after piercing through whatever surrounded him twice-over, the glow of the mechanical eyes focused upon them flickering as it did.

  “What did you do? Did you cast something? What for?” The voice came again, a hint of annoyance hidden behind the words, but before he could shrug, it answered for itself, “I thought I cleared the rats already, need to get something on that.”

  As he crossed beneath the door that had opened ahead of them, into another room that looked like the last one, he whispered to his partner, turning on his heels to walk backwards, “No way to hear, but don’t let him see you speak.”

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  “This is where most of the perishables are made,” The voice remarked, the sound of gears and belts underlying the thuds that came as metal was stamped into shape. The arms that descended from the ceiling feverishly worked to assemble whatever they had been tasked to make, the creaks of their joints stabbing into his ears. As one of the belts ended, tiny metal crabs like the one they had followed dropped into a crate that was on the verge of overflowing, the other lines busy in creating spears and swords.

  There was one belt that caught his interest, a lone sphere placed upon it, which looked similar to the one Red had made for him those many months ago. A crystal was trapped within it instead of some sort of spirit, but before Alex could swipe it, the voice stated, “Just accept that you do not understand the complexities of my machinations and continue forward. I have something to test, and it won’t be long till others join us.”

  “How long do you think their reinforcements will take?” Elyza questioned, her voice muffled through her mask, wisps of darkness unbinding from it as she spoke.

  “No clue,” He remarked, making sure to enunciate each syllable with as much exaggeration as he could muster, glancing towards the eyes that had descended as they had entered, all of which were focused upon his lips.

  “Yes, I’m not surprised at your inability to comprehend the extent of my operations, but do carry along, time is the one resource I can’t reimburse, yet,” The voice remarked, a door past the left flank of bands swinging open, an echo of their guide’s words coming from the hall that was hidden behind it.

  _I’m surprised that wasn’t followed up with a maniacal laugh._

  It would pale in your greatness, oh Empress of Shadows…

  _Don’t think sweet-talking will save you in the end._

  I’m sure it will.

  “It is impressive, not a lot of people have the understanding to create robots,” He murmured out as he passed the last belt, swiping an unfinished crab as he did, his comment hidden by a blind spot in the eyes view.

  “How so? I have seen machines much more complex than these. Red could recreate most of these in a day,” Elyza remarked as they began walking through the hallway.

  The excitement that ran through his mind as the question was asked almost got away from him, forced to crack his knuckles to slow his thoughts enough for a proper explanation, “True, there are creations that are much more complex than what we’ve seen so far, but most of them are merely machines, even the platform… “

  “This is the storage room,” The voice claimed, two doors opposite each other opening to allow them to see past them, adding, “The one behind you are where the real innovations occur.”

  As he stared into the room with crates upon crates stacked on top of each other, a few remaining without their lids, he spotted one that had what looked like metal fingers poking up from it. Yet, it would have to wait, unable to investigate with prying eyes staring at his back, so he continued, “Robots don’t need any kind of interaction from a living person. So, technically speaking, since those platforms and those crabs were being controlled, in some way or another, they're just really unusual machines. Those arms though, I couldn’t sense any clusters of mana like before, just streams of it…”

  “Either they're being controlled by something hidden so deep that my mana couldn’t pierce it, or the arms are just working off of instructions that been etched into them,” he finished, turning to study whatever the opposite door had revealed.

  “Does that look familiar?” Alex blurted out, staring at a lone concrete table that jutted forward from the wall. Defying gravity through the spell carved upon the rock beneath, was a steel arm split to allow the presence of a bronze cylinder, runes etched into the metal that looked all too familiar. Surrounding it was an octet of mechanical limbs, leagues more complex than the ones on the factory line. Some had tiny tweezers on their ends, one had a drill, a couple of them just sporting screw heads, the rest were too specific for him to guess their function.

  Before his partner had a chance to agree with his words, his gaze flicked into one of the many eyes staring at him from the ceiling of the hall, his words held back so that the voice could understand them, “Do you make these for Hackett?”

  All the eyes blinked in unison, before the walls reverberated with the answer, “Ah, that explains it, Hackett’s rare failures, though, I’m not surprised… The general couldn’t even wipe his own ass without my help, but still he gets to bask in the limelight while I have to stay hidden, but now that I know you’re special guests, I have no need to hide my gloriousness.”

  “Then tell me where you are…” The words were slow to leave his lips, hiding his hands beneath his cloak to signal Elyza what he was thinking of.

  “I do feel bad that you’ll be unable to complete your tour, but somehow I’ll manage, keep going left through the halls while I prepare some things,” The voice barely finished before three of the eyes were pierced by his partner’s knives, hung from the ceiling by their guts. The rest were struck with streams of lightning, the metal exploding as they were rendered ineffective against the heat.

  Rushing through the hall, Elyza’s knives dropping around him, floating as they felt her will through the air in the corridor. The sound of them clattering upon the ground didn’t reach his ears. Only the thumps of his partner’s boots behind him as they sprinted through the flickering lights that illuminated a singular path through the dungeon. He made sure to keep some sparks jumping off the tips of his fingers to aim towards any other extension of the voice that dared to pop up.

  Finally, after his legs screamed for a break, he stood in front of a metal door with its shackles undone. There were layers upon layers of locks upon it, yet it laid completely ajar, allowing no resistance to overcome. As his partner nudged him forward, he was allowed a view of the pipes that ran through the floor and ceilings, dust settling into the crevices between, dew dripping from the tubes above. It stunk of rusted metal and rotting water, and as the drops hit the bronze beneath, and its echo made the reverberating silence all the more unnatural.

  The pipes and a cluster of wires descended from the centre of the room, reaching down to cocoon around something he could not see yet. However, as he crept forward, circling one way as Elyza did the other, he couldn’t help but think of it as the back of a throne.

  _For once, you and I think the same, but mine is because of destiny, and yours is a fear of it._

  I have a good reason to dread it, and you know exactly why.

  _Another fault of the whims of the Fates’ spindle._

  Aren’t they usually depicted as weaving using needles?

  _If it's a crime to twist words, how have you not been executed…_

  The conversation with the Elina almost made him forget the stakes, till his partner’s halberd came into view, pointed at where the head of whoever sat upon the mass of pipes. “It is a shame we couldn’t continue our conversation, you, at least one of you, seems to hold an ember of intelligence compared to me at least,” The voice still came from the walls, and even the ceiling, yet his ears didn’t hear anything from the throne.

  “At least I shall tell you my name before we begin,” the voice remarked, and as his partner slashed clean through whatever kept the throne hanging from the ceiling, he stepped forward to see the one behind the creations, and he was met with an empty throne, “You will rue the day you ever heard of Skyler Arquette!”

  A tremor shook the room, followed by another and another, growing with each time till the room was on the verge of collapsing. Then it stopped, nothing reaching his ears, and as it stretched on, he could do nothing but call upon the shadows around him to prepare for whatever was coming. Umbra coalesced in the corners of the room as they were commanded. His eyes tried to pierce through the darkness of the hall that had brought them there. The tremors still shook in his legs, yet his breaths were measured.

  The silence was shattered with the ceiling, bricks crashing down as the pipes above were wrenched upwards. The steel tips of a giant’s claw jutted from the rocks above, clutching the entirety of the roof to uproot it, allowing the two to gaze upon the mechanical monstrosity it belonged to. Instincts took over, not wanting to become fish in a barrel, Alex leaped into Elyza’s arms as wind whirled beneath her feet. Crushing what remained of the roof, the huge silhouette against the blue sky was joined by a giant fist crashing down upon them.

  “I feel like a princess,” Alex remarked as her arms wrapped around him, causing a smile to shoot across her face as she leapt.

  He’d fought monsters that towered above hills many times before. So when the fist shifted its angle as quick as an owl’s gaze, the shadows beneath barely pushed the two aside before they were hammered by it. The tow had barely peeked over the cover of trees, and yet the machine had turned with them. Its claw was already ready to strike again, meaning he was about to be berated by his partner.

  Lightning coursed through his veins, and once again, it ran amok. Arcs jumped from his skin to her armour, enveloping both as he tried to resonate with her, hanging within the claw’s grasp. Electricity swath her without any resistance. From the energy, at least, he couldn’t see his friend well through the purple glow, but he still flashed a grin as ozone filled his lungs.

  His mind had to work overtime as they burst forward as a bolt of lightning, mass and mana converting into a scream across the sky. Scarring the air as they tore through it, somehow Alex managed to keep his and her consciousness separate in the ordeal, till they finally began to rematerialise. It took him a second to realise he was now holding Elyza in his arms. Her presence sent his mind into overdrive. But first, he adjusted his grip to avoid touching anything that might earn him a smack, and then gravity took hold once more. Darkness erupted from the shade of the boulder that stood alone amongst a plain of craters with the corpses of aspens strewn about, slowing his descent enough for him to let go and focus on landing safely on his own.

  As he rolled onto the soft pile of dirt surrounding the lone rock, he turned just in time to cushion his partner’s fall. Pulling her to her feet, they both stared at the bewildered metal giant scanning for them in the distance. A line of fell trees traced the path of the monster, the hulking mass barely balancing on its two legs. Even at about a kilometre away, Alex could see that the ocean air had worn its steel casing. The sun was not keen to be reflected by the monstrosity, and yet, as it turned towards the two, the coffin in its middle glimmered under its radiance.

  “I haven’t much time to spend with you two,” Skyler’s voice echoed from the bowels of the machine. Pointing with its claw, the hand hung above the blanket of leaves before the trees yielded. The thuds sent tremors through the ground as it surged forward, gaining more and more speed as it did.

  “Fuck right off…” Elyza summarised his feelings incredibly, her halberd jumping into her hands, both marred with bruises and dust.

  His mind ran with possibilities, his shadow churning as it tried to follow the train of thoughts. Yet, as he stared at the ever-growing visage of the mechanical man, a grin began to crawl across his face, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing is chugging mana at an unprecedented rate, so, technically speaking, the safest bet would be to wait till it falls, and drag out its creator crying and screaming…”

  “There’s an or to your plan…”

  “How badly does the spirit want revenge?”

  Elyza sighed, her halberd returning around her finger, as the other dug into her seed pouch, “Five minutes. Do not do anything too stupid, and do not die on me.”

  She dashed behind the rocks, and his ears caught the begging of a plea that escaped her lips, his eyes locked to her smouldering curls to get one last glimpse of her. There was nothing to do but prepare himself, his claymore rising for him to grasp, umbra brewing in his shadow. He waited, seconds stretching to minutes, for the steel monster to arrive. His mind was preoccupied with calculations, which allowed an opening.

  _I have to admit, your journey has been the most entertaining of all the men I’ve shared a body with._

  There is a thirty-meter hunk of metal rushing at me, so say what you want quickly.

  _If need be, the domain is yours to command._

  As my lovely partner said, fuck right off.

  Lightning run through his blade’s centre, the gem glowing bright enough that it could not be ignored. Raising his claymore, Alex waited till the crimson had fed enough. The black steel hummed as it began to glow a dull orange, his foot tapping on the dirt as the monstrosity’s fist rose to blot the sun. With a flick of his hands, the claymore pointed upwards, heat radiating from the metal, before the darkness beneath him burst like a geyser.

  Carried by the shadows, weightlessly hovering as his momentum died, he allowed for the machine to swing. Its fist stayed still in place, the monstrosity’s metal claw swinging at him. A groan echoed through the air, and a command rippled through the tendrils underneath. The shadows yanked him back to the ground, the hand missing him by barely an inch, the wind that followed deafening him. Pushing his hand into the sky, the umbra bloomed outwards as he was being dragged back to the surface, swathing him completely as he landed.

  The machine waited not for another second, its foot rising, only for the bud of darkness to burst before it could be crushed. A wave of ink cascaded outward, covering the entirety of the scarred earth beneath the monstrosity, and from it emerged a fog darker than the arms of a cyclone. It was barely tall enough for him to slink through it, sparks of electricity spurting from the mist with a soft urge. The machine’s foot flattened the ground where the purple had shown its brilliance, only for more to emerge in the gloom. The shockwave caused the haze to waver as Alex charged a pulse, shouting, “Missed me!”

  A guttural growl emerged from within the bowels of the steel, the metal reverberating a reply, “Why won’t you give up and allow yourself to be crushed like the ROACHES you are?!”

  “And cut our wonderful conversation so soon?” Alex exclaimed as the mana within him readied itself, thuds following his words. The ground shaking as it felt an assault of punches upon it, breath permanently stuck in his lungs as he moved to wherever it did. Yet, his voice came effortlessly, “We barely even got to know each other, come on, I know you have a sob story hidden within you, pricks like you always do.”

  “SILENCE!” Skyler screamed, snaps screeching through the air as the earth shattered under the machine’s relentless assault. His words could barely be heard over the groan of the metal monstrosity, “Unlike that damned general, I DO NOT FAIL HER.”

  Alex held his words, loosening his grasp over the mist, the fog diminishing as the punches still came. They slowed with each moment that passed, before silence filled the plain. Only the fog surrounding him remained, lightning surging through his blood as he waited till the sun’s ray could pierce the mist. “Don’t worry, I’m sure whoever you’re talking about is already quite disappointed with you,” He remarked, crouching in anticipation.

  Both arms swung down at him, faster than he’d expected, but he’d already dashed forward. Rolling back into his feet, he stared up at the middle of the machine’s body, arcs bridging his feet and the ground as he jumped. Scarring the air as he bolted upwards, he rematerialised just in time to lodge his blade straight through the monster’s shell. Metal curdled around his blade, screeching as they fell to his sword’s heat. Carving a line through its armour caused its creator to panic, the mechanical man jerking upwards, carrying Alex with it.

  Cutting the mana off from his claymore’s core had allowed it to cool enough to become stuck. It meant that his palms burned as they struggled to maintain grip on the sword’s hilt, fighting against gravity. Yet, he let his grin bleed into his words as he spoke to the man within the metal monstrosity, “Do me a favour and let me in, it's freezing out here.”

  “I will not yield to a SPINELESS COWARD!” Skyler screamed, and for once, he could hear his voice from within the steel that surrounded him. The clock in his head finally rang, and as a glance behind revealed the fist about to crush him, he let the pulse release. His mana poured outwards, piercing whatever stood in its way, and the metal giant froze completely. Its weight took over, the machine stumbling forward before the mana that powered it restored its flow, allowing it to catch itself.

  “HA, YOU THOUGHT THAT WOULD BEST ME?!” The pride in his voice almost made him chuckle. As the pulse returned, it carried with it a speck of his partner’s essence, standing upon the boulder. A surge of lightning awakened the gem within his claymore. It heated the blade enough to pry it from the steel of the monster, falling into the awaiting shadows beneath.

  The air whipping past him was joined with a river of bark rising past him. Branches sprouted from the white logs as they scrambled to restrain the metal giant above they, wrapping around its limbs, leaves squirming into any space they could find. The mass of foliage overwhelmed the steel, the green jamming the gears within, unable to generate any momentum to fight against the aspen. The groan and crackling of metal and wood echoed through the clearing as the aspen locked into place. Slowly, the monster tipped forwards, dragged down to its knees by the might of the trees.

  Alex’s heard the bell echoing through the air, and darkness enveloped him before he could touch the ground. He floated through a sea of frigid umbra for only a moment before he was pushed back into the radiant core of the domain, emerging beside Elyza with a grin on his face. Waiting till the screech of metal being crushed ended, he stared towards the steel giant being mangled by the forest.

  _That was fun._

  Says the one who did nothing to help.

  _Entertaining to watch, then._

  “You think the spirit will allow us to face Mr. Arqutte?” He asked, leaning against her shoulder, causing her ears to perk up.

  She thought for a moment, her emerald orbs reflecting the gleam that shot off the monster under the sun, before they matched his gaze. There was a glimmer within her voice, her eyes unable to keep the pride at bay, “There may be enough goodwill shared between us.”

  Sliding down the boulder, shadows emerged at the end to cushion their landing. His partner touched the ground, her palm lying flat on the dirt, and the trees shifted again. Those that faced them tilted to reveal the wrenched out heart of the machine being carried by the roots of the aspen. Thrown at the two’s feet, branches crawled upon the top of the coffin, crushing the metal as the flora tore it to expose who was stored within.

  A hand crawled up the walls, its slick skin almost translucent as it hung from the spindly bones, fingernails yellow and jagged as some sort of fluid dripped from them. Alex looked down upon the inventor, suspended in slime. Wisps of red hair floated around the man’s heed, wires and pipes jutting into his body, skin and tissue growing where they met. His ribs convulsed as bubbles spurted out from his mouth, unable to use his arms to escape his own confines.

  He pushed his hand through the liquid, and Skyler could do nothing as his fingers wrapped around his throat. There was no weight to struggle with, lifting him so that their eyes would meet, the man coughing out slime as his hands tried to offer some sort of resistance. Yet, as Alex stared into the inventor’s pale grey eyes, he could feel a familiar essence staring back at him.

  “Any last words? Any revelations you wish to gift us?” his voice may have clashed with the grin on his face.

  “Enjoy yourselves as much as you can, soon enough, she shall avenge me,” Skyler remarked, managing a grin just before his head fell to the floor.

  Elyza’s halberd glistening with blood as Alex let go of the body, “You could’ve sliced my fingers, ya know?”

  “We need to leave before whatever reinforcements he called arrive,” She remarked coldly, though a smile had crawled across her face.

  Alex took in the fresh forest air, marred slightly by the stench of blood, thoughts rushing through his brain before they settled completely, “Let me make some modification for Hackett before we do.”