Aenerth: Gratos Republic

Else let her feet dangle from the edge of the port. This was one of the few places where one could rest on precipice to see the ocean below, and-

“You know, if I catch you sitting on the job one more time, I might just be tempted to push you off.”

She yawned and looked back to find Gregor standing over her.

“So I get to go for a swim and you have to explain why the port is unmanned?” she asked, ”I don’t see the downside.”

He jerked as though to kick her in the back, then slumped down at her side and removed his helmet, replying, “We’d have to actually receive a craft for anyone to notice that you’re gone.”

“Then why not pretend that we’re both hard at work?”

“Fine, fine,” he murmured, allowing himself to roll onto his back; she returned to her daydreaming. The ocean wasn’t quite the same from five hundred meters up. When last she had been sent aground, she had been mesmerized by the rolling blue, the feeling of the sand beneath her feet, and the spray of salt on the wind. From the port, she couldn’t even see the texture of the waves.

But she could see a black dot growing ever larger.

“Gregor,” she said, slapping him in the chest, “look busy.”

He jolted upright, helmet already back on as he took in the approaching craft.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

The craft was close enough by the time he had retaken his position on the dock opposite her, that she could see the men running about the deck. This was not a scheduled supply-craft, and neither had she seen so many people arrive at once before. As they drew closer still, she noticed an officer corralling the bulk of them back below deck, and further, that most of the crowd were civilians; Miners.

Finally, it was near enough that she could hear the great bellows calming. She threw a length of anchoring rope across the gap to Gregor as the craft’s gas envelope began to crest between them. They went back and forth until it could rise no more, and the cabin was safely in view.

Before she could even finish securing the hull, the gangway slammed down beside her, and a portly elf clad in battle-scarred steel mail bustled down. Gregor rounded the corner seconds later, and together, they took a knee before the officer.
“You may rise,” he said, “we haven’t the time for such formalities at the moment. Now then, you,” he pointed to Gregor, “I need you to bring me the Port-Master, and you,” he met Else’s gaze, “I want you to help the crew with the wounded.”

With that, he strode off, Gregor hastily keeping pace behind him.

Else crossed the gangplank to find a fellow knight waiting for her on deck.

“Glad to have you,” the knight said, offering a hand. “Those in the worst condition are on the deck below us.”

“May I ask what happened before we start?” Else asked.

The knight shook her head and sighed, before replying, “Don’t cause a stir by spreading this around, but we’ve had an incursion of Demons in the mines.”

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Else had complained about the lack of activity on the docks before, but-

“I want to go back. I haven’t even had lunch...Er, Gregor?”

The man in question was rigid-backed, and pale as a sheet as he slowly turned to regard her. “H-how do you think I feel? I can’t even use a Lance; I have to make do with this!” Gregor exclaimed, rattling his scabbard at her.

They, along with the all the nearest members of the regiment which could fit on the craft, were plunging through the atmosphere. The cabin rattled as they listed to the side and the tense discussions of the knights were cut off by shouts and exclamations. Then gravity seemed to increase twofold for a moment, before returning to normal, and the door to the lower deck was thrown open by the first-mate.

“The rapid-descent phase of the flight has ended. Any of you who wish to come to the top deck may do so,” he said.

Else and Gregor exchanged expressions.

“Fresh air?”

“Fresh air.”

Emerging onto the deck revealed them arcing low above the shoreline, about 50 meters; the last vestiges of brine being whipped away in the wind. On the horizon were the mountains which the Gratos First Expeditionary Unit had scouted for mining operations. In spite of the situation at hand, Else couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate that she was experiencing a scene usually reserved for the birds. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Then she turned to Gregor, poking him between the shoulder blades with her bayonet and, in a sing-song voice, saying, “Chin up, I won’t let the big scary monsters get you.”

At that he managed a nervous smile, replying, “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that? You can barely even muster enough magic to fire that thing.”

“Still enough to make me worth more than ten Arcadian knights,” she scoffed, running her fingers over the finish of the lance’s stock. Not that she was burning to put it to use; during their time on the docks, she had learned that Gregor shared her hopes to finish her mandatory military service without actually seeing danger. “The sword makes a titan of a man, until he actually has to swing it,” he had told her. Now he was staring blankly at the mountain range, gripping his longsword’s hilt with white knuckles.

Swallowing the urge to make another quip at his expense, she instead said, “Gregor, listen, whatever we face in there...Well, er, how about I protect you, and you protect me?”

He stared, and she felt her face begin to heat up a fraction. “Dammit, why couldn’t it have come out better? Did he really think of that titan-thing on the spot back then?” she wondered.

But then he smiled and simply replied, “I’d like that.”

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The gangway slammed down on the plateau and Else, Gregor, and the rest of the knights filed off and organized into ranks before the Captain.

He addressed them with steely calm. “The purpose of this operation is to exterminate all demons. Ordinarily, this would be done from the air by our technomages and air support, however, this demon-incursion has mostly been localized within the mines. It is our current understanding that many of them are ore-feeders, attracted to the open veins our operations here have exposed. This brings me to the next part of the operation. The ore-feeders may be attracted to your steel; we want this. Whenever possible, you are to bring them through tunnels and choke-points to rob them of their numerical advantage.”

Else looked out at the remains of the village; many of the structure were collapsing, stripped of metal or heavily corroded.

The captain continued, “Our comrades are on the way. This operation shall begin at nightfall, and we will return to the surface at sunrise to take advantage of the day’s relative safety for rest. Until sunset, establish encampment as you see fit, and see if anything of use is to be found in the village. You are dismissed.”

With Gregor trailing behind, Else followed the minecart rails down the main street which bisected the village. One could barely call it a village, upon closer inspection. Beyond facilities needed to maintain the mining operation, there were only the barest roots of a functioning community: a few stray houses extending off the barracks, a single general store, a lone tavern. She surmised that the settlers must have been subsisting on rations sent from the Republic. The end of town was hardly a stone’s throw away, and there the tracks entered the master-tunnel at the cliff where the plateau met the face of adjacent mountain.

Scouring the buildings produced little of value, save some stale food. Having made their way to the tavern, Else rummaged around behind the bar while Gregor turned over a makeshift wall of tables.

“Looks like they managed to put up a pretty good fight, no blood or anything.” he said.

“Plenty of spilt wine though,” Else replied, “Looks like someone wanted to use the bottles as weapons.”

Suddenly he stood upright, speaking half to her and half to himself, “That reminds me...back in first aid training, one of the other guys told me that some big-name earth magic researcher at the academy discovered that there’s iron in blood.”

At that, her head popped up over the counter, “I already don’t like where you’re going with this.”

“Bear with me here! Do you think ore feeders attack people to, uh, eat their blood?”

Else’s disgusted gaze was boring into him.

“What? Don’t look at me like that!”

Finally she said, “You know, the fact that that’s not moronic is the scariest part. Keep your good ideas to yourself.”

Scoffing, he finished his investigations and waited at the door.

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While dusk cut the horizon with amber, the knights of Gratos assembled outside the mineshaft. They had been arranged into teams of four, and looking over the floorplan of the mine, each given a quadrant of the spiderwebbing tunnels to clear.

Else checked and rechecked her lance. At her back was the knight who had told her the situation back on the docks, and another she had never seen before; at her side was Gregor. Was she really about to entrust them her life? Even Gregor, she had only met some months ago when they had both been assigned port duty. They had hardly even had a serious conversation before, let alone fought side-by-side.

Final orders delivered, the captain drew his sword and his squad fell in behind him. “For the glory of Gratos!” he called, waiting only a second for the the knights to respond in kind, before he plunged into the mineshaft.

Gregor locked eyes with Else, his jaw tight; his mouth a hard line. “We can do this,” he said, more to himself than her. She reached over, pressing the enchanted stone affixed to his cuirass, causing it to glow brightly, before replying, “We WILL do this.”

She and the rest of their squad activated their own stones and pressed forward. The tunnel swallowed them up.

After not even a moment’s march, the whistling of the wind outside fell away. Then, one after another, the sounds of the other squads did as well. They rounded four corners, then six, and the gray walls blended together, rough and pitted where ore had been mined out, or eaten. Beneath a corroded arch and sagging ceiling, they paused as the female knight pulled out her map.

“The chamber ahead is part of our assignment,” she said, “We’ll be exposed. Move carefully.”

The fourth knight nodded, taking up the front of their formation, shield brandished and shoulders set forward.

Despite being in step with Gregor, neither he nor Else spoke; the tunnel had straightened and even their footsteps began to carry far. Her blood roared in her ears, and she willed it not to expose her.

When the mouth of the chamber came into view, so too did a sound reach them. There was the sound of steel scaping on stone, then a hissing, the splatter of liquid, and a slow suckling. The four of them froze.

Else whispered, “Who’s lightest on their feet?”

Gregor surveyed them, “One of you elves.”

“You’re the only one who can effectively fight at a range,” the female knight rasped, looking at Else.

The fourth member of their squad nodded once more, and after a long moment, she crept to the front of them. As she pulled ahead, an orange glow began to crest through the chamber’s mouth, and at her will, her stone dimmed partially.

Her hands were slick on the lance’s stock, and she rehearsed the magic syllable needed to fire it over and over in her mind. How long was it, she wondered, since she had last trained, and how long since she had last felt her vision tunnel this way? Damn it all, why did she have to be chosen for this mission? She could see her body, rotting in some forgotten nook, her parents, her sister not even having anything to cremate into a crystal.

Her breaths came quick and shallow, and each step seemed to scream at her to turn back. Would her voice catch in her throat when she tried to fire the lance? Would her hands tremble too much to aim?

“I’ve been such a fool…” she thought. It had been foolish to think that she would never have to take up arms, simply because the continent was peaceful for a time. How could she have thought the risk was worth a bloated pension?

The grotesque sounds from the chamber were growing louder, and a new one joined them. She realized it was the grinding of her own teeth and-

“Else!” came Gregor’s terse whisper.

She looked back, a drop of sweat rolling into her eye. He had taken up second position behind her and was offering his hand. She reached back and let their fingertips brush as he said, “We will do this.”

At that, she managed a smile, and breathed deeply, steadying herself and closing the gap to the chamber.

A shape lumbered towards an empty minecart. One could almost mistake it for a man until it drew closer. The scarred, bronze and leaden skin screeched and sparked as it dragged a club-leg across the stone. One arm tapered into a crude blade, while the other split into two misshaped forearms and distorted hands at the elbow. It threw its weight onto the minecart, a retching and hissing issuing from the open throat and partially formed lower-jaw that its neck truncated in. At once, glowing molten stone began to overflow from it, dousing and melting the minecart. It dropped to its knees, gorging itself on the liquid steel.

Else looked back to confirm that her comrades were in position, before taking a knee. “Just like the exercises,” she thought, looking down the length of the barrel, the demon in her sights. For a second, she held her breath, willing her hands to stop trembling as she watched it slurp and gag on the metal.

Then she breathed the syllable, allowing the magic to spark in her lance’s barrel. She could practically feel the powder ignite as its report split the air; the stock kicked in her hands as acrid smoke bellowed forth. At once, the creature reeled back, screeching and choking like a ruptured coal furnace, as a line of molten stone opened on its breast and began to pour down. It scrabbled at the ground, skin sparking, and whirled to face her, seething, its blood melting the earth below.

“Form up!” bellowed the female knight, and the three of them rushed past Else, forming a protective wall as she drew a paper cartridge to reload. They pushed forward and spread out, beginning to encircle the demon as it found its footing and staggered towards Else. She could feel the heat even from her position, and as if on cue, the knight added, “Watch your weapons; the heat can melt steel!”

Gregor had ended up directly before the creature, and danced back as it lunged for him. The male knight surged forward before it could recover its balance and slammed his mace down between its shoulder blades, sending it sprawling. It choked and retched more on impact, flecks of magma flying from its open esophagus, peppering Gregor’s cuirass, warping and discolouring it. His quarry open, he circled around, and Else could see his gritted teeth, the anger that it had dared to try and steal his life. It reached for him with its misshapen arm-

“Take this, bastard!” he shouted, turning and bringing the longsword down across its wrist. The hand hit the ground and unfolded like foil, releasing a deluge of magma as the demon recoiled. Panicked, it scrabbled back into the female knight, who plunged her own longsword into its back, then tore out through its ribs, as easily as gutting a fish. Else, her lance reloaded, drew forward to watch the last of the spectacle.

It screeched and clawed at the ground as the skin peeled back from its wounds, crumpling and tarnishing. The liquid core of it spilled out, and all that remained was bronze foil, sinking slowly in the molten stone.

Gregor laughed, trying not to collapse in relief, “We did it! We actually slayed a demon!”

Else, too, felt herself swept in the high of their victory and began to laugh with him. Their remaining two comrades let their weapons drop, the female knight wiping the sweat from her eyes and the man murmuring, “The first demon.”

And indeed, when their breathing calmed, they could faintly hear the sounds of retching and scraping coming from deeper in the tunnels. They collected themselves after a moment and advanced under the still-fading light of the magma to the chamber's far wall. Two tunnels opened ahead, both part of their assignment. Else shuddered as they wordlessly chose, instincts screaming at her not to move closer to the sounds.

"We killed one. We can take more as long as we keep playing this smart," she told herself.

And they likely wouldn't be leaving until this incursions had been completely exterminated. "Demons beget demons" was a common call-to-arms, and though it wasn’t known how demons actually reproduced, it was still common knowledge that so long as some remained, more would eventually appear.

The tunnel here was wide enough for a square formation, she and Gregor shoulder-to-shoulder in the back.

"If we encounter any," the female knight suddenly spoke up, "let's bring them back this way to take advantage of the lance."

A terrible thought struck Else, "What if some come from the other tunnel and flank us? We need to go back for a minute."

"Can you seal it off with an earth spell until we're ready?" Gregor asked.

"Exactly what I was thinking."

After a few minutes of backpedaling, they were back in the chamber. Else approached the mouth of the second tunnel, reciting the words to the spell with practiced ease. At the final syllable, a slab of stone shot up to seal the demons out. This was an elementary earth spell, extremely useful in conjunction with a lance to create cover, or a vantage point.

The female knight took off her helmet.

"Gods..." she said, "I didn't think of that. We could have been killed. Thank you...?"

"Else."

"Thank you, Else. And you can call me Lina."

"I'm Gregor, since we're apparently doing this right now."

"Oh, come on. Now's as good a time as any," Else said.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit concerned for my life at the moment."

The fourth member of their party cleared his throat, "My name's Anton.” A ghost of a smile passed his hard features as he added, “And introductions are important. After all, would you trust a stranger with your back?”

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

Their plan was fully in place this time. Else (still terrified, but less so) was to lead and strike first to disable their quarry at range, failing that, Anton would attempt to ground or incapacitate it when it came after her, since his mace didn't risk spilling the demon’s molten innards on them. Only then would Lina and Gregor vivisect it.

Stealing into the shadows of the tunnel, they fell silent, and the sounds of the creatures grew ever louder. The walls were scored with claw-marks and indents where the ore had been wrenched. Finally, Else saw the telltale orange glow coming around the bend. Motioning to the others to stop, she peered out as far as she could manage.

Two demons, tearing into an ore vein and gorging themselves.

Gregor looked at her expectantly, and she raised two fingers. Taking one gentle step out, then two, she brought the lance to bear.

Flame pierced the tunnel as the first fell, struck in the throat. The second jerked to face her and began shambling around the corner. Anton surged past her to meet it, sparks flying as he smashed it against the wall with his shield. Lina then glided around him, dancing over the wounded demon, carving it deeply while it thrashed uselessly at her legs.

With a scream, Anton was thrown back against the opposite wall, his opponent's unnatural strength launching him off his feet. It lurched after him, pounding a hastily-raised shield down into his body as Gregor came screaming into the fray. The flat of his blade against its ribs echoed down the tunnel, mingling with the screaming of the combatants and steel. The demon’s open throat spewed embers as it was thrown back beside its compatriot and Lina, who stopped her assault just long enough to sidestep its body. Freshly reloaded and emboldened, Else placed herself at Gregor’s side, protecting Anton. Before it could move again, her shot piercing its chest; Gregor stepped forward and cut down through its shoulder, causing it to collapse onto the other.

Each clawing blindly and melting in the gore of the other, they expired, skins peeling back just as with the first demon the party encountered. With some difficulty, Gregor pulled his sword from the molten mass, frowning at its newly acquired curve.

Lina looked at them from the other side of the expanding molten pool blocking the tunnel, then back to the depths from which the sounds of more demons issued.

“Hold on a moment,” Else said, before murmuring the necessary spell to cover the magma in cool stone.

Shaking her head with a smile, Lina replied, “You had me worried I’d be alone over here until it cooled.”