Chapter 155: Chapter 129- Holding the Walls

The smashed husks of Clockwork armor laid dead on the whipping sands, charred shards of metal scattered around every burning heap. Mae pursed her lips as she watched the Talonecs shimmer-- the working title of their ability to traverse light and the absence of such-- around the husks. Men and women dashed through the gates of the fortress and gathered the husks together with the help of the warcaskets who avoided injury.

Aetra watched, standing by her side, as the salvaging continued, “How long will this go on for?” Aetra muttered, “We’ve been here for months. I’ve never been in one place for so long, you know. Apart from home. What about you?”

Mae shrugged, turning to the lycant, “I wouldn’t know. My home has always been the Kharon, though that has changed lately. And no, I can’t tell you what I mean by that. Let’s just say this: constant battle is not as much of a drain on my psyche as it is likely to yours.”

“So you’re fine with this?” Aetra asked, raising her eyebrow, “Fine with this constant pushing and pulling? Fine with the tedium?”

“It’s better than feeling nothing at all,” Mae replied, staring out into the horizon, “Here comes another wave. More of everything than before. It looks like we’re going to need to bring out more people.”

Aetra shook her head, turning away, “I know what you’re getting at. I’ll go get people ready.” She was about to walk away, then turned back around, “There has been a bit of discontent around camp. People don’t like what you did.”

“I’m sure they don’t. Even if we didn’t kill anyone, my sisters and I are technically despots,” Mae replied, “But if they ask you, remind them that this will not be forever. Once the mistress arrives, we won’t be stuck here, defending.”

Aetra sighed, walking away once more, “It’s cold comfort. Far too cold to stay discontent.” Mae listened as Aetra walked away, thinking to herself. If she thought about it, there was no real way to win without taking the actions she did. She could have simply left, ambushing the Clockworks when she could, but that would barely help the living defenders. She could have submitted to the living command council, risking the death and dissection of not only herself but also of her sisters and their little army.

That did not sit right with her. It was as if there was a primal force that forced her to disregard that option, as if the motion that compelled her to walk the world even after death told her to avoid such a thing. There was also the option to simply run, but that would go against her mistress’ orders, and she felt even worse about that than her very being rejecting the choice that could bring her death.

She shook herself from her stupor. During her deliberations, the last of the husks had been collected, living defenders had arrived at the walls, and the Talonecs shimmered back into the shadows and the evening beams of light.

A new wave of Clockworks reached the outer ranges of the artillery, orchestras of fire and thunder erupting behind her and spitting arrows of light over them. Those arrows were joined by the roars of dragons, three of whom took to the skies. Throughout her week-long stint as a commander, Mae had learned that, one, the dragons did not care who was in charge of the armies, and that two, there were not many of them. In total, there were twelve, each had unique abilities all their own. One could make mana-based copies of itself that all could fight independently of the original. One could spit flames hot enough to turn sand into glass. Another could use that glassy sand to whip up deadly tornadoes.

There were more, but the ones that ascended from the northern part of the fortress was the silver dragon, able to create copies of itself, the pink dragon, able to control some sort of viscous mana that Mae had never seen before, and the black dragon, who was able to rust anything its mana touched.

The dragons ascended into the sky and met the approaching airships, of which there were over a dozen, with jets of flame. Fire licked at the airships, but did little good. From what Mae could see, the Clockworks had invested in fire-resistant runes for their airships, which likely made a large number of spells flung by her side’s mages less effective.

The airships opened up with overwhelming salvos of cannonfire in return, only to be met with the barriers of many mages. The Clockwork armor made their presence known with their own volley of fire, blasting against the shields and doing equally poorly at breaking them as their predecessors. Then, something changed. A five-wheeled carriage, yet another of the odd creations of the Forgeheart, fired right after every other vehicle.

The shell slammed into the shield and, instead of blasting outward against the intensely strong shield, blew inward, poking a thousand holes into the barrier protecting them. Shrapnel tore into the mages and gunmen on the parapet, sending a few over the edge and crashing into huts down below. “Someone get them to a medic!” she shouted before anyone moved. There were a few glances towards her, but none complained about her order. A few strong men and women scrambled to take the mages and gunmen from where they fell while a pair of mages scrambled to patch up the shield wall from where it was broken.

Mae glared at the carriage and raised her rifle, firing a bolt of blue lightning-like mana at it. The mana slammed into the armored vehicle, zapping it to the point of smoking. Another volley of shells clouded her allies' vision for a moment, before she flicked her wrist towards the approaching armor. Light and shade shimmered, as if her gesture brought it to be.

Then the whines began. The low whines of mana beam guns firing rang out, following the sudden appearance of a small group of Talonecs in the center of the formation. Holes were torn into armor and bayonets tore further into the metal. More Talonecs appeared around the armored Clockworks, tearing into the few weak points they had with fist and bayonet.

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Mae spared a glance at the battle above them all, which was going well for them. Airships were torn to shreds, with pink strands of mana circling the aerial battlefield. A trio of silver dragons took swipes at the airships, sending large chunks of clocksteel flying with each pass. The black dragon, on the other hand, was simply flying in front of the pink dragon, spitting clouds of black mist at every shell shot at them.

Seeing the way that the aerial battle was going, Mae looked back down at the ground fight, seeing a number of husks already torn to shreds. She heard the flapping of wings behind her and turned to see Tisi and Ally flying over to her. They landed on the parapet and stepped up beside her, “That’s a lot of ‘em,” Ally remarked, “Think there’ll be more?”

“Obviously, there will be more,” Tisi replied.

Mae shook her head, “I’m just waiting for the sappers to appear. Any minute now…” Mae waited, but there were no signs of the wyrm-like Clockworks. No bumps in the ground created by counter-sappers, no explosions of earth into the air, nor any falling walls to signal the success of the Clockwork sappers. “I guess they aren’t coming…”

They waited another moment, but nothing but the sounds of battle reached them, “The Forgeheart might have focused on the ground and aerial forces instead of the sappers,” Tisi suggested.

They silently agreed with her, and waited for the battle to end. The Talonecs, as they did in previous battles, tore the Clockwork armor apart by simply dodging around the large cannons and ignoring the smaller guns on the vehicles. After another half-hour of the Talonecs tearing the Clockworks apart while the dragons soared overhead and the living defenders spectated, Mae nodded, “Alright, get the scavengers in-'' She paused, squinting at the horizon, “Hey, do you guys see that?” she asked.

Her other sisters squinted as well, staring out at the horizon, “Do you mean that second wave coming in?” Ally asked, “Because I can see that.” The living defenders around them, the ones that could hear the three over the cannonfire and dragon roars, were taken aback, then squinted out into the horizon. Some brought spyglasses out while others seemed perfectly fine with using their eyesight.

“Shit…” one of the women standing nearby said. She lowered her spyglass and inhaled, “Another wave incoming!” she screamed, putting everyone else on edge.

Mae nodded to the preparing soldiers, then turned to the one staring at her, “Ally, do you want to fight them?” she asked. Ally smiled and nodded, “If that’s the case, Tisi and I will join you. We have the same itch too, now, and we want to scratch it.”

“Agreed,” Tisi remarked, “Though, I will act with the dragons and cast spells when needed. The sisters nodded to each other and flapped their wings, flying into the field of broken armored Clockworks. The Talonecs, sensing the coming battle, shimmered away, hiding in the shadows, as the sun was over halfway under the horizon. Mae crouched behind the armored carriage with Ally leaning against a boxy armored car nearby.

As the column of armored vehicles approached, the dragons roared out their own challenges, spitting fireballs at the airships, which had doubled in number compared to the previous wave. The fireballs crashed against the armor, but were blown aside by blasts of mana from the hull of the airships. 

Cannons fire, only to be met with a shield once more. Mae, however, had a feeling that something was different. She was proven correct when the shells poked holes through even the dragons’ shields, sending shrapnel at them and Tisi. Luckily for them, however, dragons were made of sterner stuff than humans or elves were. A single flap of their wings blocked the shards that were about to his the dragons and scattered the ones that were not.

The dragons began their attacks, but Mae and Ally had more pressing concerns. The armored Clockworks were still far away, but she could see that they were larger. Almost twice the size compared to the armored Clockworks they took shelter behind. Beyond even that, an escort of normal Clockwork units, like Soldiers and Scouts, hung onto the sides of the armored Clockworks, meaning that they would not have an easy fight to destroy the armor. Mae took aim, aiming at the leading armored Clockwork, and pulled the trigger.

Instead of the burning hole she expected, a massive explosion ruptured the ground in front of the charge, sending the armored column into disarray. Mae blinked in surprise, then turned towards the horizon to the south. There, glinting in the final rays of sunshine, was a massive fortress. Cannons adorned the four towers and a boat-like protrusion suck out from the top of the middle castle portion.

It kicked up large plumes of dust and sand as it approached, the treads underneath it fighting against the poor traction of the sand. Mae smiled, “Looks like the mistress made it,” she muttered as she aimed at another Clockwork. There was little to worry about once the mistress arrived. From the Clockworks, at any rate. There was going to be a mess to deal with from the living defenders, but that came after the battle.