“A-alright little knife,” she whispered, “lead us to a proper weapon.”
“We’d also accept a discarded bag of peanuts,” I said, half serious, but mostly just to ease her embarrassment. Then my stomach loudly seconded my plea.
Lynnria shot me a somewhat confused yet grateful little smile before completing the charm and letting the dagger fall. This time, I saw nothing whatsoever out of the ordinary. It just looked like a knife dropping to the ground and only consequently pointing directly at the second to the left-most passage.
“I think it worked that time,” Lynnria exclaimed, excitedly stretching an arm out to rest on my chest.
Then, she seemed to realize what she had just done and jumped to her feet. She only managed a few paces toward the indicated direction before she realized she had forgotten something and froze. A second later, she took three steps backward and, assuming an aloof manner, squatted down and snatched up the dagger.
As she scurried away, I quickly limped after her. “What’s got you all out of sorts?”
“Out of sorts? Who’s out of sorts? Not me, I’ll tell you that,” she replied primly. “And I’ll thank you to keep that smile to yourself! How is a girl supposed to stay upset when—“
Abruptly, there was a loud creaking sound, as though a boat was straining at its moorings. Then I had just enough time to see a huge and strangely bulbous-looking man step into view directly in front of us before his entire upper torso twirled in place, swinging a heavy arm at Lynnria’s head.
She only just managed to duck out of the way, and it was a good thing, too. The arm impacted the wall with enough force to leave a neat spiderweb of cracks and a near perfect arm-shaped dent in its wake.
Despite being caught so off-guard, she was quick to retaliate, and before I could even process what was going on, she had thrust her dagger right at the man’s exposed armpit. The blade sank home with a dull thuck just below the joint.
And it stuck there.
Lynnria grunted in surprise. “What the—!“
Unable to free her weapon, she was forced to abandon it when the man’s arm reversed direction, again attempting to remove her head with nothing more than sheer inertial force. Whoever this guy was, he was clearly wearing some kind of armor and wielded his arms like they were baseball bats.
The two of us backpedaled hastily as the man approached, and I got a better look at him. His top half looked to be little more than some sort of barrel with holes cut out for his arms which themselves looked encased in ill-fitting cylinders. Atop it, a smaller one was settled over his head with a long groove cut out for his eyes. Meanwhile, his legs were so skinny, they might as well have been dowel rods.
In fact, his legs looked like they were only just barely managing to hold up his bulk, which was startling given how much power he was putting into his blows.
As soon as the man had completely rounded the corner, he assumed a T-pose, leaned forward, and began rotating his torso completely around like some demented fan motor with clubs attached. And so fast, the arms began to thrum through the air.
“Shit!” I yelled. “It’s some kind of robot.”
“A what?”
I did not have time to answer, though. The windmilling automaton was clearly gearing up to charge us.
We only had a split second to make a decision. We could run, likely driven into every trap along the way as the robot chased us down. And worse, getting lost and possibly separated as we fled. Or we could fight. Somehow.
It was Lynnria who made the decision for us.
In the same instant the mechanical horror surged forward, she ran to meet it.
“Lynnria, no!” I yelled, terrified.
But just before she met the oncoming meat-grinder, she slid under it, landing a solid drop-kick at its knee. The robot instantly twirled off-balance, hitting the ground like a crashing airplane propeller, and as if in slow-motion, spun its way up the wall. It then tumbled up and over, clearing my head by a half dozen cubits or so, before crashing to the ground in a heap behind me.
“Hot damn!” I yelled, both a little shocked and quite impressed. “That was awesome.”
Lynnria dusted herself off and swaggered over to me, preening a bit at my enthusiasm. “What did I tell you?” she said then gave her chest a solid thump. “I’m a trained warrior!”
I was about to congratulate her further, but the robot was already starting to show signs of reviving.
“Let’s get moving,” I suggested instead, and quickly began putting actions to words. “I don’t think we have the tools to deal with this yet.”
“But you’re a mage,” she argued, close at my heels. “Can’t you do something? Like blow it up?”
“I’m not that kind of mage,” I replied. But then I hesitated. Technically, I could, but it would take some prep. And we had neither the resources nor the time. The robot had sucked its legs into its torso and begun rolling itself upright again. “I’ll explain later. Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded. “Alright. This way, then.”
Jogging ahead of me, she rounded the corner the robot had initially appeared from. A moment later, I heard a distinct thwick followed by an startled yelp of pain.
“Thrice… blasted… traps!”
My stomach gurgled in protest before I could say a word.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
“A-alright little knife,” she whispered, “lead us to a proper weapon.”
“We’d also accept a discarded bag of peanuts,” I said, half serious, but mostly just to ease her embarrassment. Then my stomach loudly seconded my plea.
Lynnria shot me a somewhat confused yet grateful little smile before completing the charm and letting the dagger fall. This time, I saw nothing whatsoever out of the ordinary. It just looked like a knife dropping to the ground and only consequently pointing directly at the second to the left-most passage.
“I think it worked that time,” Lynnria exclaimed, excitedly stretching an arm out to rest on my chest.
Then, she seemed to realize what she had just done and jumped to her feet. She only managed a few paces toward the indicated direction before she realized she had forgotten something and froze. A second later, she took three steps backward and, assuming an aloof manner, squatted down and snatched up the dagger.
As she scurried away, I quickly limped after her. “What’s got you all out of sorts?”
“Out of sorts? Who’s out of sorts? Not me, I’ll tell you that,” she replied primly. “And I’ll thank you to keep that smile to yourself! How is a girl supposed to stay upset when—“
Abruptly, there was a loud creaking sound, as though a boat was straining at its moorings. Then I had just enough time to see a huge and strangely bulbous-looking man step into view directly in front of us before his entire upper torso twirled in place, swinging a heavy arm at Lynnria’s head.
She only just managed to duck out of the way, and it was a good thing, too. The arm impacted the wall with enough force to leave a neat spiderweb of cracks and a near perfect arm-shaped dent in its wake.
Despite being caught so off-guard, she was quick to retaliate, and before I could even process what was going on, she had thrust her dagger right at the man’s exposed armpit. The blade sank home with a dull thuck just below the joint.
And it stuck there.
Lynnria grunted in surprise. “What the—!“
Unable to free her weapon, she was forced to abandon it when the man’s arm reversed direction, again attempting to remove her head with nothing more than sheer inertial force. Whoever this guy was, he was clearly wearing some kind of armor and wielded his arms like they were baseball bats.
The two of us backpedaled hastily as the man approached, and I got a better look at him. His top half looked to be little more than some sort of barrel with holes cut out for his arms which themselves looked encased in ill-fitting cylinders. Atop it, a smaller one was settled over his head with a long groove cut out for his eyes. Meanwhile, his legs were so skinny, they might as well have been dowel rods.
In fact, his legs looked like they were only just barely managing to hold up his bulk, which was startling given how much power he was putting into his blows.
As soon as the man had completely rounded the corner, he assumed a T-pose, leaned forward, and began rotating his torso completely around like some demented fan motor with clubs attached. And so fast, the arms began to thrum through the air.
“Shit!” I yelled. “It’s some kind of robot.”
“A what?”
I did not have time to answer, though. The windmilling automaton was clearly gearing up to charge us.
We only had a split second to make a decision. We could run, likely driven into every trap along the way as the robot chased us down. And worse, getting lost and possibly separated as we fled. Or we could fight. Somehow.
It was Lynnria who made the decision for us.
In the same instant the mechanical horror surged forward, she ran to meet it.
“Lynnria, no!” I yelled, terrified.
But just before she met the oncoming meat-grinder, she slid under it, landing a solid drop-kick at its knee. The robot instantly twirled off-balance, hitting the ground like a crashing airplane propeller, and as if in slow-motion, spun its way up the wall. It then tumbled up and over, clearing my head by a half dozen cubits or so, before crashing to the ground in a heap behind me.
“Hot damn!” I yelled, both a little shocked and quite impressed. “That was awesome.”
Lynnria dusted herself off and swaggered over to me, preening a bit at my enthusiasm. “What did I tell you?” she said then gave her chest a solid thump. “I’m a trained warrior!”
I was about to congratulate her further, but the robot was already starting to show signs of reviving.
“Let’s get moving,” I suggested instead, and quickly began putting actions to words. “I don’t think we have the tools to deal with this yet.”
“But you’re a mage,” she argued, close at my heels. “Can’t you do something? Like blow it up?”
“I’m not that kind of mage,” I replied. But then I hesitated. Technically, I could, but it would take some prep. And we had neither the resources nor the time. The robot had sucked its legs into its torso and begun rolling itself upright again. “I’ll explain later. Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded. “Alright. This way, then.”
Jogging ahead of me, she rounded the corner the robot had initially appeared from. A moment later, I heard a distinct thwick followed by an startled yelp of pain.
“Thrice… blasted… traps!”
My stomach gurgled in protest before I could say a word.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
