Devils Own ( Steampunk and Mystic ) 4.8

4.8

When the battle was over, the Citadel remained at ground level while repairs were carried out. The damaged Beasts were rolled out for repairs while the working ones stood guard. Three third of the Stingers were written off with half the crews, including Lucas. He was given a grand sent off along with the others. The wrecked Dozers and Scorpions were removed and whatever that was salvable was retained.

Merlin entertained the guests in his chamber again. They had their moment of silence for Lucas and finally Merlin spoke on the Ark again.

“The Citadel will be restored but all of you will need to go on your quest.” Merlin looked to the guests. There was Kassius, Irina, and Derreen. “Richard had to be stopped or what you had experienced will come back again. He was thwarted by the dragons then, and he improvised with the sonar weapon. I improvised on his Scorpion but we cannot be doing this forever.”

“You seem to be on the roll with your sling shot from the tower.” Irina smiled.

“It may be true but the war had to end.” Merlin voiced out. “You need to find the Ark.”

“So tell me how can we do that?” Kassius asked. “I heard rumors on my run. Was the Devil’s Own targeted by Richard? The saying was that the United Continents worked with King Richard despite their differences to remove the Devil’s Own.”

“Yes, it’s true.” Merlin spoke out. “King Richard had offered to clear the Devil’s Own for the United Continents. In exchange he will remove Lord Tannen. The later had proven to be a thorn in the United Continents side. He was welcomed earlier, but recent events made him a liability. Like the Devil’s Own, your Masters will not work for them as an ally, but for the one who will pay the dues. Devil’s Own was on their land, and yet you do not respect the land owner. Like Lord Tannen, you were both a liability.”

“Lord Tannen was protected by the United Continents.” Kassius spoke out.

“Protected? No, he was their prisoner then.” Merlin explained. “Richard had you all setup. You kill Lord Tannen, and with that, the United Continents used that excuse to remove all of you. It was a political move. If you had listened well to more of the rumors, then the war against us was not new. The United Continents had also quashed the other Guilds on their land, while Richard did the same, but not his Dark Princes. The two powers had called on a truce to clean their own house.”

“It was an uneasy truce.” Merlin shook his head. “Altib or Richard had some hidden reasons. He found that reason for the prolonged war was lengthen by the Guilds. Those undeclared killings removed a number of the ones who would have turned the tide or stopped the tide. By removing all of the Guilds, Richard held the upper hand with his own Dark Princes. He was playing for time.”

“So what do we get when we remove King Richard? You will then be the all powerful Merlin perhaps?” Irina voiced out to the older figure.

“Perhaps, but you forget one thing. I am dying.” Merlin replied. “The Citadel will cease to exist after I am gone. That was why I evicted the ones who stayed here. The place will be cleared once the real threat ends.”

Derreen rushed to her father but he held out his hands to stop her.

“I may not have long to live, but if you do get the Ark then I may not have to suffer with this body.” Merlin spoke up. “To find the Ark, you need to find the Gatekeeper at the Runes. If he believed you, he will give consent.”

******

The Runes was a set of pillars that was placed in a design of a hexagon with a single larger pillar in the middle. It was rumored to be a nexus to the alternate dimensional planes. The place was barred from public by the King Richard, and had a column of troopers to guard the place with a radius of five miles. At the outer boundary, there were three villages with a unique design; there was a tall tower located within a circle in the middle each of the villages. King Richard could not evict the villagers, nor tear down their homes, but he had the troopers to patrol the boundary of the Runes to prevent anyone going there.

“Father Thaddeus will not speak to me unless I have something he wants. Or something he will bargain for.” Irina dismounted from the Stinger loaned from Merlin. They had parked some distance from the villages.

Derreen who had changed into a more feminine character with her knee length dress and high boots, with a bag slung over her right shoulder to her left hip. She had one a waist belt with some pouches that she claimed stored some essential materials. On her head to cover her short cropped hair, was a coonskin cap with the tail trailing to her left shoulder. Irina was dressed in the same with the same head cover but of a darker shade, with a back pack to hold her weapons. She carried the horn given to her by her father slung across her back. Kassius had swapped his uniform for a plain bluish tunic over the dark pants tucked into a set of walking boots. He had on a back pack where he had stored in some of his weapons, and the sword given to him was packed in a case on his back. He had on a bandanna over his forehead to hold his sweat from drooling down his cheeks. Each of them had a rifle each which was normal for travelers then.

“Irina, we could ask them.” Derreen motioned to the group of riders that was sighted a distance away.