A sense of urgency overtook Glax. They were still too far away, but he didn't like what he saw. The nimbus harbored a frightening storm in its dark belly, floating heavily over something large, blurred, and dark. A mountain on an island? Or ... Sillabot?
Still, his mouth said,
"I need to get closer to know."
"Well, that's what we came for, isn't it?"
"At least I feel less dependent on men with big sticks skewering something the size of a mountain..."
The officers also approached to try to get a better look at what was ahead. But the fog that formed just below the great and heavy cloud didn't allow them to see clearly.
"GLAX! Hell, boy, come here!" Laertes shouted, and Glax climbed the castle, finding the captain up there with a spyglass.
Passing the spyglass to Glax with a haunted expression, he pointed to the misty horizon. "I wish they were just pirates, boy!"
Glax picked up the scope, and holding his breath, looked through the tube. His vision took a while to get used to and ignore all the fog, and see that the 'mountain' was moving!
"Sillabot really exists."
"We were lucky to see that. The map says there's a small island there."
"Can we… get closer? It would be nice to see what he looks like."
"As if it hadn't been your plan from the beginning. Sneaking around with Malko to spend your wife's pyrotechnic show on projectiles! As if that ship was not from the empire, but yours!" Laertes gave a laugh that was a little scary.
"Ah, well… You can say no, captain. But Medeia is back on active duty with a good excuse... Don't you like that?" he probed.
"You still have to count on the general's help. We don't have enough men here to deal with a monster of that size," Laertes didn't respond directly, picking up the spyglass again to look at the dark horizon. "I will guide the rowers. The officers are restless and I can't really force them to help. In addition, they are watching you and Malko prepare the onager. "
Glax realized that so far, he firmly believed that he would have no opposition, as if the people on the boat were NPCs in a video game. Swallowing hard, he hurried to say,
"Captain, I was too hasty and overbearing. Forgive me for making decisions without consulting you."
"Uh. As if you could have done it all if I didn't want to, sheesh. But I will blame you, anyway." The gleam in the captain's eyes left Glax in doubt whether it was just a provocation from the senior.
Despite smiling, Glax felt his chest go cold. "Of course, sir!"
"Then stay put with the onager. And don't discuss my decisions. We're going to get closer and see what it's all about, and we're going to leave quickly as arranged. We can return as the general's support, but don't shoot without my order, understood?"
"Certainly sir!" Glax realized that the captain, despite being excited about the situation as if it were Ahab seeing Moby Dick, had many things on his mind. In fact, General Chriseis took precedence. He wanted to ask if Laertes had seen a giant monster before. The captain did not act as if he were terrified at all.
These guys really were tough!
He returned to the bow of the ship, which was sailing fast towards the destination that any sensible soul would prefer to avoid. The officers did not stand still. One of them, who had a nose that looked sunken in his face, approached to ask,
"Glax, we have no more than assault harpoons, 4 crossbows, and a few reserve javelins, besides our personal weapons. Are the projectiles you made for the onager enough? And are they effective?"
"We mustn't get too close. As for the onager, don't worry, it will be on hand to defend Medeia, if necessary. We don't know if the monster will be resistant to our attacks, we will only find out when we fire. If we shoot." Glax couldn't really state the truth 'I don't know, they weren't really tested', could he?
As they got closer, they not only noticed that the waters were more turbulent and darker, but it was also possible to see debris floating in the waves. In addition, the smell of smoke, rot, and oil became more prominent.
He remembered the information that Sillabot was especially dangerous for ships carrying oil. Was there a reason?
SSSSSSSSILLA-BOTTTTTTTTTT ...!
The sound echoed like the resounding hiss of a locomotive, followed by the steady sounds of three-step steam release. Glax felt a shiver run down his spine. The 'mountain' was growing closer, and it drifted. The waves were immediately affected, and Glax saw the sea ripple considerably in a large radius.
"Oh, shit!" As they progressed, the mist turned to a fine drizzle. Glax was literally gaping, and all nerves were on the alert. The warriors were also silent, close to the rail, armed and ready. The rowing men made their continuous murmur that encouraged them to paddle without stopping. Even if helped by Medeia's special mechanisms, it was still a thankless and exhausting task.
"Is Sillabot a machine?!" Malko's question beside him was the same in his mind.
As the ship sailed, adjusting its course to the north, it was now possible to see its silhouette more clearly.
The mountain of metal, wood, algae, and corals rose imposingly from more than ten meters in height, amid various debris floating. The thing seemed to have its back to them, behind a... mountain? Glax could see the exhaust chimneys releasing steam into what would be the spine of the mechanical creature. Sporadic crackles and a high-pitched squeak betrayed the workings of an enormous mechanism. But Glax sensed that there was something more.
"If it's a machine, there is someone behind it." Glax looked with astonishment at the giant figure they were approaching.
Malko said almost to himself, "Our boat has more ballast and stability than an ordinary boat, but I don't know ... the waves cannot be too high ... If it moves violently, we will have difficulties."
"We have to trust our captain," Glax replied, after gaping for a while watching Sillabot.
"It's ... a mecha!" he murmured to himself.
The bottom part of the giant Stygian robot appeared partially submerged. Glax could see part of the torso, the head, and two long articulated arms. Sillabot appeared to have been constructed out of various carcasses, pieces of metal and wood, chains, and cables. It was a patch of newer and older pieces, greasy with oil, oozing steam from its entrails. His head tried to imitate a human head, with two empty holes for the eyes, without a mouth or nose, and a crest imitating a helmet.
Glax could see even from a distance that the internal parts were poorly covered by its modular and patchy housing. Just below the breastplate, there was a huge circular opening. Glax narrowed his eyes, trying to see better. So far he did not understand what it was.
Sillabot moved his long articulated arms, at the same time as the Medeia's sailors adjusted the sails and the boat changed direction once again. The hot rain and the imperious cracks of thunder just above them filled the air with urgency. A dirty and oily foam floated among the objects, roaming the wild waves. Glax's face was wet with rain, but it was hot and uncomfortable.
Sillabot drifted towards them. The waves rose at the same time the monster's arm descended against the water, growing and crashing into Medeia's hull with impact. However, as Malko predicted, Medeia held out.
This time.
Then Glax saw that part of the monster's body was a heap of debris that moved with him in the back. The free arm took a handful of that wreck and threw it into the huge tunnel where his stomach was supposed to be.
Glax and Malko, like everyone else on the boat, watched with fascination and horror when the internal mechanisms began to crush the pieces of wood and skins and metal - in short, everything that Sillabot hoarded to devour.
Their engines made an effort and more steam poured of their joints.
SSSSSILLA-BOTTTTT!
The discharge of steam happened at the same time that a powerful lightning bolt cut across the sky, illuminating the area with a neon glow. Sillabot looked up.
Glax had the realization inside him, at the same time as his conscience dissected the mechanical monster in his mind.
Sillabot was a mechanical monster. But it was an automaton. He had limited intelligence.
Glax was sure the mecha had a soul. And that was the most frightening realization.