Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Two — Move Fast and Break Things
Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Two — Move Fast and Break Things Major Springsong rolled out a map onto the surface of his desk. It was one of those black and white elevation maps with lines all across it and plenty of little notes. “This is the old quarry,” he said, tapping part of the map with his forefinger. “This is the location where the quarry is supposed to be digging next, this part of the mountainside here. The stone there’s the right kind for a specific kind of runework. I’ll admit I’m not exactly sure what they look for in the rocks to know which would be suitable.”“And the mole people’s village?” Bastion asked.“Over here, more or less,” the major said as he gestured off to the side a little. “Their village has been expanding in nearly every direction, so our initial survey of its location is likely wrong. We started digging a new quarry here, nearer to the village, and over that line we agreed upon, but it shouldn’t have been an issue.”“Only because of their expansion it is,” Bastion finished.“Exactly,” the major finished.“But they’re allowed to expand that way, right?” I asked.The major nodded. “Certainly. Sylphfree doesn’t usually care what the mole people do underground, as long as it’s not likely to cause some landslide that might threaten a sylph settlement.”“Alright,” I said. “So where’s the dragon?”“Not actually a dragon,” the major said quickly. “If we had an actual dragon on our hands, you can bet we’d have the entire army here by now, with every airship we can arm and every wizard and paladin worth their salt ready to fight.”“Wow, you really don’t like dragons,” I said.Bastion shifted a little. “Sylphfree has had... multiple issues with dragonkin. Of which this might be one. What are we dealing with here?”“An amphiptere,” Major Springsong said. “Not some little snake with wings, but a matriarch.”“Age?” Bastion asked. He was being very serious, I sensed.The major shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems somewhat dormant. The snake has a small injury along one side. I think it might have injured one of its wings. Perhaps it was hibernating and something fell on it, but that’s just speculation. It’s about sixty metres long, two metres wide.”That was about twice the length of the Beaver Cleaver. That had to be a huge snake.“So it’s an older one. Any idea of the level?”Another shake of the major’s head. “Three marks from my highest level scout. He’s at twenty, so...”“So at least level forty,” Bastion said. “I know some of them can be clever enough to enter a dungeon and eat their way through to the end. Otherwise, it simply aged enough to gain natural classes.”“Sounds like it would be a tough fight,” I said.“A very difficult one,” Bastion replied. “And no, before you ask, you can’t negotiate with dragonkin.”“But I’ve spoken to dragons before,” I said.“What?” the major asked.Bastion waved him down. “She’s an airship captain who isn’t from Sylphfree,” he said. That seemed to placate the major. “Dragonkin, such as amphipteres, drakes, or wyrms, aren’t any more intelligent than a wild dog.”“Oh,” I said.“They occur when a dragon... mates with a non-draconic creature. The offspring will have some traits of each. If you want more details... ask Amaryllis.”I couldn’t help but feel that the last comment there was some sort of joke at Amaryllis’ expense. “Alright,” I said. “So, the amphiptere is a monster-monster. We can’t reason with it, and... is it dangerous?”“It’s a quiet threat for now,” Major Springsong said. “As long as it’s still mostly dormant, it shouldn’t be an issue. The problem comes from when it awakens. The beast will be hungry then. But that could be weeks from now. For the moment, I’m securing the new dungeon, assessing it, and protecting it.”“You haven’t done anything about the creature yet?” Bastion asked.“I sent a request to the office of the Inquisition for assistance. A paladin or two to deal with the monster.”“I don’t know if even two paladins would be enough to deal with a creature in its fourth tier or above,” Bastion said. “We’d need assistance from the local garrison, as well as your group here.”The major seemed entirely onboard with that idea. “That would be wonderful. It’s hidden in a crevice near the old quarry. So hitting it from above won’t be possible. We’ll need to bait it out.”“I wouldn’t want to fight that kind of creature in any sort of crevice or cavern,” Bastion said. “No room for formation fighting.” Bastion shifted, a hand coming up to cup his chin. “This... is a problem. I came here to address the quarry though.”“We can stop digging immediately,” Major Springsong said. “It wouldn’t be hard. The issue then is that we need that stone. There are new fortifications going up across the kingdom that rely on near-daily shipments of stone from here. It’ll create a nationwide bottleneck.”Bastion breathed out a huff. “I see. We can’t continue to move towards the mole people.”“There might be a way to mine some small pockets near the old quarry, but that’ll mean having the workers near that monster, and I don’t know if there’s much left to find there,” the major said. “At the very least it will slow down production by a considerable amount.”Bastion nodded, then he tapped at the map. “This is where the amphiptere is?” he asked.“A group of miners found it a week ago. I swore them to secrecy. It’s in the location where the new quarry should be.”“And if we remove it, the mining operations can continue in this area unhampered.”This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.“Effectively, yes. It will mean moving some equipment back, but that’s half a day’s loss, at most.”I leaned over the map myself, then hummed. “So, the solution to everything is to scare off that big beasty.”“There’s no scaring off dragonkin. They’re prideful to a fault. We need to kill it.”“It might mean a great bounty of meat and such as well,” Major Springsong said. “I know alchemists enjoy working with dragonkin scales.”“Don’t count your basilisks before they hatch,” Bastion said. “This will have to be a joint effort. I’ll need pen and paper—I’m sending a letter to Commander Warmwood, as well as General Holey.”“The mole person?” the major asked.Bastion nodded. “They despise amphipteres more than the sylph do, and participating in an action to eliminate one might be a good way to smooth out any ill will between the local settlement and Granite Springs. Commander Warmwood will be informed because he has the troops to assist.”“And Captain Ward,” I added.Bastion nodded. “Good point. The guard may be able to assist as well. Though I’d rather they not be the front line. They might assist with the clean-up afterwards. If the... spoils need to be carved up by civilians, it would be good to have the guard in place already.”“It’s already nearly noon,” I said. “Is everyone going to be ready for this today?”“If we move quickly they will,” Bastion said. “Broccoli, can I entrust you with a pair of letters? To Captain Ward and General Holey?”“I’d love to!” I said.Major Springsong didn’t seem entirely onboard with the idea, but he didn’t stop Bastion. He found paper and pen, and placed them before Bastion, who immediately started composing three letters.“The third is for Commander Warmwood?” I guessed.“That’s right. Major, do you mind letting me use one of your faster men? The commander’s garrison is already on high alert. They should be ready to move within the hour if all goes well.”“I’ll get one of my scouts,” the major said.Bastion set one letter aside after signing it with a flourish. “This is for Captain Ward. I think he’ll trust your word on the matter outright, but reassure him that things should, hopefully, end in an amicable way.”“I’ll do what I can,” I said.Bastion hummed as he composed the next letter. It seemed to take him longer, and he was more careful with his writing. I guessed that there was a lot more stuff involved when writing to a general, let alone one from what was basically another nation. “Here,” he said as he folded the letter. He checked the drawers around the major’s desk until he came up with a bar of wax. A small flame summoned at the tip of his fingers melted it and he pressed a ring into it to seal it. I’d never really paid much attention to the ring he wore. It was just a small black thing that was tucked neatly under his glove.“The captain first?” I asked.“If you run across him,” Bastion said. “The general is of a higher priority. I’m sorry for using you as a courier like this.”“I don’t mind!” I said. “Good luck hug for the road?” I asked.Bastion sighed, but he did allow me to squeeze him as best I could before I darted out of the tent and back into the middle of the camp. I made sure both letters were tucked away in my biggest pouch. They’d be a bit rumpled, but that was better than outright missing.A few of the soldiers looked at me as I bounced past, but I paid them no mind as I started to hop along. My sense of direction wasn’t the best, but it wasn't hard to make it to the quarry, then past that and back onto the main road leading towards the mole people dam.Feet thumping, I raced along, not so fast that I’d burn through all of my stamina, but still going at a good pace. I kept Bastion’s lessons in mind, pushing myself, but only enough that I wouldn’t tire.It didn’t take long for me to run into Captain Ward and the rest of the guards Bastion and I had ridden over with. “Captain!” I called out with a wave.The captain pulled on the reins, slowing the horse drawing the wagon until he came to a full stop. “Captain Bunch,” he said. “What’s the matter?”I guess seeing me rushing over alarmed him. “I have a letter for you,” I said as I moved closer and tugged the letter out. I stopped next to the wagon and reached up for him to take it. “I have another letter to deliver to the mole people.”“I see,” Captain Ward said as he took the letter. “Any news?”“A bunch,” I said. “I think the letter will cover some of that. I don’t know if Bastion wants you to go straight for the quarry or back to Granite Springs though.”“I see,” he said as he popped the letter open and started to read it, his brows bunching together as he scanned the page. “Hmm. So, it all comes down to one monster, doesn’t it?”“Seems like it,” I said.“Don’t know if my guard can manage against a big amphiptere. But with the Inquisition there, and the army as well... not to mention the paladin.”“Hey, I’m no slouch in a fight,” I said.The captain laughed. “Of course. Well then, it’s off to Granite Springs for me. I’ll gather what I think we need and return to the quarry. Will I be meeting you there?”“Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t miss out on an adventure like that!”“Good on you,” the captain said. “We’ll be off again.”“See you in a bit!” I called out as I started to bounce off.“You as well!” he called right back.The sylph might have been stiff, but they weren’t bad people. Now I just had to go say hi to all the mole people again, and then... then I’d see what it was like to fight a big old monster!
* * *
Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Three — Granite Springs Calls For Aid
Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Three — Granite Springs Calls For Aid The dam hadn’t had time to change since I’d last seen it. I guess even the hard-working mole people could only do so much in a few hours. The same guard was standing at the top of the wall, and he squinted at me as I came closer.“Hello!” I called up. “It’s Broccoli Bunch! I have a letter for the general!”The mole person blinked a few times. “Hello again,” he said. “Give us a moment then.”I was quite happy to wait. While I could wick off the sweat with my Cleaning magic, that didn’t change how warm I was feeling, or even how burny my muscles were. It was nice to stand still and let things settle.Actually, getting rid of all my sweat was probably a bad idea. Sweat was meant to help cool a person off, and I was feeling very warm. Something to keep in mind when I didn’t need to be presentable in front of an important general person.The drawbridge gate lowered, and the same guard mole I saw above waddled out to come closer. “Are you alone, miss?” he asked.“Yup,” I said. “It’s just me.”“Ah, I see. Wonderful. The general is a little preoccupied right now, but you may enter. The general will be with you shortly.”I grinned as wide and happy as I could. “Thank you!” I said as I followed the mole person guard back in. A few workers spun a wheel around once we were within the fort, and the gate rose with a clatter of chains. “So, do I need to wait somewhere in particular?” I asked.The guard mole reached up and scratched at his wide neck with his clawed hands. “I don’t know. Just around here, I suppose.”“Oh, okay. Can I stay with you then?”He shrugged. “I don’t mind. I’ve never talked to a bun before.” He stared. “You are a bun?”“Yup! Though I started off as a plain old human.” I nodded. “So, what’s your name? I can’t keep on calling you ‘the guard mole’ in my head.”He chuckled, a raspy sort of sound. “I’m Diggo, of the Undervalley clan. So, you were a human first? Is that how it works for all buns?”“Hmm? No, most buns are born as buns. At least, I think so. There would need to be a lot of people turning into buns, otherwise.”“That’s interesting, I guess,” Diggo said. “We don’t have any buns in town. I’d have heard of them.”“Is it mostly mole people then?” I asked.The mole guard nodded. “Yup. For the most part just normal folk. A few sylph too. Strange ones at that, but nice enough. I know some villages have a human or two as well, but none near here.”“That’s neat,” I said. “I guess it can be harder for some people to adapt to living underground. I know I’d have a hard time. I need some space to move around in.”“Really? I find being out here in the open stressful. Look at all that sky. You can’t know what’s going to come swooping out of it.”I glanced up at the clear blue sky, bright and inviting, with a cheerful sun dancing above. “Sure, I guess,” I said. I wasn’t going to argue against his fears.“Captain Bunch,” a familiar voice called out. I shifted, a smile coming up as I saw General Holey walking my way with a couple of guards at his back. “You’ve come alone?”“Hello, general,” I said. “And yeah, I have. Bastion sent me with a letter for you.” I tugged the letter out and handed it over.The general took it, eyed the seal for a moment, then popped it open and read its contents. “Hmm,” he said as he reached the end. “An amphiptere.”The guards around him shifted, and I heard Diggo take in a sharp breath. Were they so dangerous that even the mention of one made the mole people nervous? I guess they were natural adversaries.“Did you observe the creature yourself, captain?” General Holey asked.I shook my head. “I didn’t. But I did see some of the plans and maps the Inquisition people drew up. I don’t know what Bastion’s letter says, but I think the whole kerfuffle here was caused by that monster’s presence. The miners couldn’t dig where they’d been digging before, so they shifted closer to your village. It was really poorly handled though. They shouldn’t have ignored your letters the way they did.”“I see,” the general said. “And I agree on the latter part. It was a cruel and rude gesture to make. Not to mention politically unwise. But I suppose with an amphiptere around they might not have been thinking straight.”“It might not be around for long. Bastion is gathering soldiers from the base in town, and he’s asking the guard to help too. I think he’s planning on having everyone work together to kill it. I don’t know if they really need all those people for one beastie though.”The general sniffed. “I mean no offence, captain, but you’ve made your ignorance plain with such a comment. I don’t doubt that the garrison, the Inquisition, and the town guard all working together will be able to kill or, at the very least, injure the beast, but it won’t be a task easily done.”I shrugged. I was always willing to admit to being ignorant; it was the best way to become less ignorant after all. “I’ve never seen one. And I’ve never fought one either. I’ve seen dragons though.”“And would you think a fight against a dragon would be easy?”I had to think back. Would fighting Rawrexdee be easy? What about his mom? “No. No, that wouldn’t be an easy fight. They’re big, and smart, and very strong.”“An amphiptere is no dragon. They lack the intelligence and the gift for magic, not to mention the claws. But they can become quite large and powerful, and while they lack the magical finesse of a dragon, they can use it the way a brute uses a hammer.”Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.I didn’t like the thought of so many people risking themselves to fight something like that. A lot could go wrong, and people could get hurt. “This isn’t going to be fun, is it?”“I doubt it,” the general said. He turned to one of the mole people next to him. “Prepare the First Platoon. Volunteers only. Fill in the gaps with volunteers from Second. Heighten the guard at the fort.”“Can I help?” I asked.The general shook his head, then paused and made a “one-moment” gesture before turning to his other guard. “Prepare the burden beetles. We’ll hardly need them if things turn sour and I’d rather have everyone be fresh on arrival.”The soldiers ran off to do the general’s bidding, and within seconds shouted orders filled the air as more mole people were roused into action.The general observed his fort gearing up, then he turned towards me. “Captain Bunch, would you mind accompanying me back to the quarry?”“I don’t mind at all,” I said. “I’d probably just be in the way if I went back now, and I really don’t like not being able to help.”“I understand,” the general said. “Give us all a moment. We’ve trained for rapid deployments often enough that I do hope my troops here can be ready in a reasonable amount of time.”I nodded and stepped back, making sure I wasn’t in the way as soldiers rushed around. There was a lot of clanging and banging as mole people slid into armour and formed up in a square in the middle of the fort, long spears held by their sides.A few mole people with more elaborate hats moved over to the general and asked some questions in low tones. I could always make out the moment when the general told them they’d be fighting an amphiptere. There would be a flash of fear, then their eyes narrowed and they looked almost happy as they ran off to shout more orders and wave their little arms about.I stared as a section of the ground was removed by mole people with crowbars, and a line of huge beetles were led out of the ground, each one longer than I was tall, and big enough that they reached my waist.I thought I’d seen something similar in Deepmarsh, in some farmer’s field, but I’d almost entirely forgotten about them. “What are those?” I asked the general when he didn’t look so occupied.“Never seen a burden beetle? They’re docile enough, though convincing them to stay in the open air requires some training. We use them to pull carts underground.”“Are they smart?”“No smarter than a sylph’s horse,” the general said. “Less, even.”The burden beetles had strange barding that required two mole people to put on. They were brought to one side of the fort where carts with big wheels and posts in their middle were hitched to them, four beetles to each cart.The gate was lowered again, and the carts, some four in all, were led out of the fort by drivers sitting right behind the beetles. “Come on, captain,” General Holey said. “We’re taking the lead cart.”I nodded and followed after the general. A few others followed after him too, staff and people who I figured were officers. We climbed aboard the cart and basically stood at the back. There weren’t any seats, just some poles coming out of the middle to hold onto.A group of soldiers ran up behind us and fitted some spears into little holes on the side of the cart, each one at an angle from the middle so that the cart had a dozen spikes sticking out of it above our heads.“What are those for?” I asked.“It makes it harder for any flying creature to swoop down and grab someone off of the cart,” the general explained.“Oh,” I said. That was a rather terrifying answer. “Does that happen a lot?”“There are a few predators that like to target us,” he explained. “The sylph are targeted as well, but they have better eyes than we do, and can generally see a threat coming in time to react. We have to adapt to things differently when we’re on the surface.”I nodded, then leaned to the side to see the other carts behind us. Soldiers were clinging onto them, maybe a dozen well-armed and armoured mole people on each. They had little swords by their hips and, of course, their long spears sticking out above their cart. All of them wore the same heavy plate armour, big breastplates and metal bands around their legs. They were pretty noisy, especially when they moved their heads to look around.They had neat chainmail hoods on, with wide-brimmed metal hats above those. The only differences I could see in their armour were some that had a crest on their helmet to make room for feathers, and a few that had cloth robes on.“Are the ones with skirts girls?” I asked the general.He stared at me for a moment, then looked back to the carts I was eyeing. “No? The half-robes are traditional garb worn by mages. Can’t you tell a male from a female?”“I... not really, no,” I said. “What’s the difference between a boy mole person and a girl mole person... wait, are you?”“I’m male,” the general said. He didn’t sound amused, but something about the way his whiskers twitched said he was. “The men will be broader in the chest, and a little taller besides.”“Oh,” I said. I guess that helped, though with the armour it would be hard to tell them apart.Probably best to just ask if I wasn’t sure. It was better than sticking my foot in my mouth, even if I had the flexibility to manage that.“Alright!” General Holey called out. “Let’s go kill an amphiptere!”The soldiers cheered, and we were off.
* * *
