As the gates opened up before me, I wasn't met with a vast expanse of wilderness that I expected but with a fortified outpost made out of multiple watchtowers, walls, cottages, tents and hundreds of warriors standing guard or talking amongst each other.
A cool breeze rushed past Astrid and I into the depths of the mountain behind us, making us shudder from the cold.
Further away, a tall woman looking at us with a smirk stood out from the other Primal warriors and approached us when she knew we saw her. She's wearing fur under-armor that covered relatively little of her scar ridden and bulging muscles from the cold mountain air.
"Welcome to the Albion fortress bordering the frozen lands, this is where our holy land ends and the machine filled wilderness begins… It's been a while since I last saw new blood like you, the previous group was shredded by a flock of Glinthawks. Ha! I'm Grettel by the way."
Luckily neither Astrid nor I were afraid, we knew about Glinthawks and a lot of the other machines out there alas we had never seen real ones before.
"We came to stop the devil's den, I think there might be a way to crack those doors open without brute strength." I said looking for a reaction in Grettel's eyes.
She scoffed at me "I know why you are here, playing the young savior and all that. You may be an adult but listen here, boy. You won't last a day out there so get back to your cozy little house and let me do my job."
"Direct order from the elders. Without offense, let us pass, general." I said a little louder gaining the attention of surrounding clansmen
"Tsh. Let's continue our talk inside." she clearly wasn't happy her authority was questioned in front of her men.
Following her into the biggest rudimentary cabin, we saw the multiple maps, letters and other documents spread on wooden tables. The writing was very neat and the drawings made with impeccable precision.
"You don't have to be so surprised that I can be meticulous. So tell me, why should I let someone that only just left the dome for an expedition that has killed hundreds of my warriors." Grettel growled.
"We trained and learned about those machines, we can easily destroy them into scrap if we need to." Astrid sounded out beside me.
"The machines? Yes they are threatening but the danger I am talking about is an army of corrupted machines! They are smart. They attack, flee and defend in an organized and thought out way. It's as if they could see what we planned and acted as one." Grettel said menacingly
"The elders have warned us about it. Don't worry, we do not plan to defeat the devil's army head on, we want to take out the commander that is controlling them." I said
"I have also thought about the possibility of a commander, the problem is that this commander is probably hiding inside the den." she commented
"That's why we will get inside without fighting, as you said before the machine army is acting as one. The reason why you might have never reached inside is because by killing one you are alerting the entire army. They are connected by this…corruption." I explained my theory to the commander
"This…it actually makes sense. During the last expedition one of my men was at risk of being found so he chose to neutralize the machine before it could see him. That's when the entire army came out of the first door…" she said quietly
"Commander, we know that this is a risky mission and this is why we need your knowledge and experience against the devil's forces." Astrid said
Looking into Grettel's eyes I could see that she wasn't very supportive of our suicide mission. There were many uncertainties in our plan after all and most of our information about the enemy were tales from the warriors that came back after losing their comrades and conjectures about the corrupted machines.
Grettel was doing the same, looking us straight in the eyes and examining our expressions, she understood that we wouldn't back down.
"*Sigh* I wish there was a law that prevented reckless maggots like you to go kill yourself in enemy territory. Alas hot headed idiots like you are one of our last resorts against the fiend." Grettel said
"Is that a yes?" I asked smuggly
"Take that fucking grin off your face or I swear I'll bury it under the snow for an entire night !" she responded angrily, "But yes… I'll tell you all I know and let you exit the fort."
I turned my head to look at Astrid and was met with her relieved smile.
"Than-" Astrid tried to thank Grettel but was cut off by the latter
"Don't thank me, I'm basically sending two new warriors to their deaths… To make sure both of you come back, preferably in one piece, you'll have to listen to everything I say. "
"Yes ma'am!" we both answered
"Now sit down and listen…"
…
Walking through the thick snow, two teenagers clad in a fur coat hiding primitive armor advanced towards a mountain peak visible in the distance.
"We should try to get into the den before nightfall, from what Grettel told us we know that watchers are more active at night." Matt said, exhaling his condensed breath at every word.
"Are you sure this is a good idea ? We have been walking for over ten hours, don't you think it's best if we rest before going in ? You are freezing." Astrid asked, seeming to be mostly fine with the cold.
"We cannot waste any time, it tells you that it would kill you if we are too slow… I don't want you to be gone… So we will hurry, we can rest after getting rid of that bastard." Matt said, trembling at every word.
Astrid remained silent, she knew that Matt was acting recklessly ever since he heard about her situation. She wanted him to stay calm headed but also felt vulnerable against the one that called himself wendigo.
"Matt. There is no need to be this anxious. We will win, but I don't want you to be desperate and act recklessly." Astrid stepped before her boyfriend and asserted.
"... Desperate ? Yes I'm fucking desperate ! Someone has a sword of damocles above your neck so we have no time to lose." he stopped talking, "But reckless ? I don't act recklessly and you should know that. I will get rid of the problem and I don't plan to put us at risk. I think I have a way to solve this, and I am making the most efficient choices here."
Astrid eyed Matt's handsome face and saw none of his usual carefree attitude. He had a determined and serious expression, he was fully conscious of his choices and whether they were smart or not.
"Nhh, I'll trust you." Astrid responded
The two kept on feasting on each other's eyes before continuing their excursion.
They had spotted numerous machines that they had never seen before, they might have been taught about the different robots that existed and that the clan had recorded, but the difference between reading and seeing sketches of the machines and the experience of seeing them in real life was simply extraordinary.
Admiring the peaceful chargers eating grass, the majestic stormbird that flew overhead and the small squirrel robots called nutcrackers gathering seeds amongst the forest.
There were much fewer animals in these snowy forests and rocky cliffs than inside the dome but the couple was still able to take in the wonderful sights of "nature" and the wilds.
It was not until they walked through another pine forest during their lovely trip that Matt pulled Astrid into a bush and gave her the sign to shush.
Heavy but quiet footsteps approached the bush they were hiding in and went right past it.
Glancing out from cover, Matt saw in more detail the machine he heard approaching.
It was a lone watcher partially covered in crimson and black cables scouting the area.
"We are close, this watcher corresponds to the description of a corrupted machine. It also looks similar to the big bug we fought." Matt whispered to Astrid. They were laying in a provocative position and Astrid seemed to not have heard him so he put his head next to hers and whispered into her ear, "We can do what we did last night as many times as you want after this is over."
Astrid went from pink to red very quickly but she didn't let her embarrassment hinder her duty.
"We should move before the watcher turns around and blocks our way forward." The way she tried to change the subject was very cute to Matt but he still complied.
Advancing through under bushes, they made their way to the edge of the forest.
There were more and more watchers roaming around the more they advanced towards their objective.
The mountain was now only a few miles away from them and the only obstacle between them was a vast snow covered plain that gave them a view of what lay ahead.
In front of the mountain stood an army of about a hundred machines neatly aligned and completely still.
A triangular shaped metal gate was inlaid within the cold stone escarpment of the mountain.
Its immense size and atypical shape made for a significant monument that couldn't easily be forgotten.
This is obviously the devil's den that Matt heard about and it perfectly fit the description he had received from the General.
If everything she said was accurate then the real army would be stationed inside, waiting for bloodshed.
The little bit of doubt he could have had about the devil's existence was squished when this gate opened up by sliding in three triangular door panels.
Out came a few machines that were completely new to Matt.
Two bipedal reptiles with short arms and a long snout were the first to come out; they had large tanks containing a blue liquid on their backs connecting to their mouths through thick pipes.
Like the watchers they met on the way, both machines that Matt recognised as Bellowbacks had those black and red wires covering parts of their bodies.
The third and last machine that came out was the real surprise to both Astrid and Matt, it didn't follow the usual appearance of a machine nor was it corrupted like the rest of the surrounding machines.
Walking on four legs and surveying the surroundings with its sole eye this machine didn't resemble anything they had heard about, and while it did look a little bit like a scorpion with its long spiked tail, all of its other features rejected all natural features.
'Scan'
[Unknown, information access of this machine requires a level 9 rank.]
'Aren't you supposed to obey me?'
[I will comply with the host's orders, as long as Host does not overreach his security clearance.]
Sighing in his mind, Matt continued to observe the corrupted machines.
The unknown machine swiped its tail in front of the opened door, making it close shut again.
The three machines then left, disappearing down the mountain.
"Look over there." Astrid whispered to Matt, she pointed to a spot above the den's entrance, "I saw some smoke rise up from there. It can be another entrance."
"Well done, it will be hard to get past all these watchers and scrappers on open terrain." Matt kept on looking around, searching for a way to reach their destination without getting caught.
*Crack*
He was stupefied by the sound and swiftly turned his head towards the noise. What had made the sound was a scrapper walking around on the snowy plain, it detected some movements from the snow ahead and went to look closer.
A little cloud of snow blasted out from in front of it and out came a rabbit running away for its life.
The dog-like machine tried to take a leap by pushing on its hind legs but unlike what it expected, it didn't go up but fell down with a splash instead.
"This… is this plain actually a frozen lake ?" Matt was flabbergasted but suddenly seemed to have an idea, "Do you remember the river we liked to go to when we were little ?"
"The one where you pulled me down and acted like a monster?" Astrid replied in an irked tone
"Yeah… I mostly remember it as all of us challenging ourselves to see who could swim the farthest without breathing…" he said in a guilty tone.
"You don't want us to dive into this lake do you? This is madness !" she was right, diving into a frozen lake was a death wish for many reasons, you could drown, get hypothermia, be stuck under the ice that keeps on growing back…
"Madness? Yes I am mad, but you've always listened to my crazy ideas in the past, have you not ?" Matt whispered
"... What is your plan ?"
2231 words
Hey there, I was able to make some time between learning to get this out today. In case I fail I can always say it was your fault for making me write :p
Hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter and see you next week.