The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the battlefield as the Boar King's bloodied form disappeared into the depths of the jungle.Kael watched its retreat, his heart still pounding in his chest, though the tension that had gripped him throughout the battle was beginning to ease.
They had won. It was their first real victory against the monstrous creature, and though it wasn't dead, it was fleeing.
"Begin recovery!" Kael's voice echoed over the now-quiet clearing.
The Seraphs and Valks moved with purpose, collecting the broken bodies of their fallen comrades, their movements heavy with fatigue yet efficient in the way only machines could be.
The towering Seraphs hoisted damaged counterparts onto their backs, while the Valks tended to their wounded, patching up where they could, their faces streaked with dirt and blood.
The Scorpios were rearmed, fresh bolts loaded into their mechanisms, and a squad of Valks was dispatched to follow the Boar King.
They would trail it carefully, marking its path, harassing it when possible, slowing it down, and aggravating its injuries. Kael needed time—time to regroup, to plan the next step, to ready their weapons for the killing blow.
Kael exhaled deeply, his chest loosening as the weight of command momentarily lifted from his shoulders. They had survived this day, and that was no small thing.
He had charted this course, and though doubt had plagued him in the hours leading up to the battle, now, standing amidst the aftermath of their victory, a strange sense of calm settled over him.
Gwenbelle approached him, her steps light with excitement despite the blood and grime staining her armor. Her eyes were alight, not with fear or uncertainty, but with something far more dangerous—hope.
"We did it,"
she breathed, a grin breaking across her face.
"Kael, we actually did it! For the first time, that creature ran. And now—now we have a chance. A real chance."
Kael turned to face her, offering a weary smile.
"We've won a skirmish, but the Boar King is still out there. We need to stay cautious."
"Caution, yes, of course."
Gwenbelle waved off his concern, her excitement bubbling over.
"But you saw it, Kael! That beast was wounded. It bled. And those exploding bolts… by the gods, the damage they did. We could take it down. I never thought revenge was possible before, not really, but now? We could kill it!"
Kael's gaze flickered toward the scorched earth where the Boar King had taken the brunt of the explosion. The blast had been powerful, almost too much. For a moment, the sound of the detonation had echoed through his bones, louder than anything he had heard in this strange new world.
Kael had stared at the aftermath in silence, as if even he hadn't fully expected such destruction.
Gwenbelle's voice brought him back.
"That bolt—it wasn't like anything I've ever seen. What kind of rune could create such an explosion?" she asked, eyes narrowing slightly as her curiosity took hold.
"You said something about liquid? Is that water magic?"
Kael shifted, keeping his expression neutral. He knew Gwenbelle wouldn't understand the full truth of it, not the way he did. "It's a concentrated liquid material," he said vaguely, "derived from water, but it's... complicated. A form of alchemical reaction, not magic."
"Water?" Gwenbelle's brows furrowed, her mind turning over the possibilities, her dwarven instincts wrestling with the idea of something so explosive coming from something as simple as water.
"That makes no sense," she muttered, half to herself.
"How can water create fire? Explosions?"
Kael smiled faintly, his gaze drifting toward the horizon. He could almost see the gears turning in her head, her fierce intellect battling with the unfamiliar.
"It's not something easily explained," he said, his voice low.
"But think of it as a transformation. A reaction between elements."
Gwenbelle's eyes flashed with curiosity and suspicion, but she let it drop, for now. Her mind was too full of thoughts of revenge, of triumph. The battle had shifted something in her, and Kael could see it—her faith in their cause, in their fight, had grown stronger.
"We'll make sure the next time the Boar King shows its face, we'll be ready," she said, her voice brimming with confidence. "This isn't over."
Kael nodded, watching as the village and its forces continued their recovery below.
"No," he agreed, his eyes narrowing as he thought of the battles yet to come.
"It's only just begun."
The sails unfurled like great wings catching the dying light of the sun, shimmering against the fading sky as the floating village began its slow pursuit of the Boar King.
The wind tugged gently at the propellers, spinning them in lazy arcs, their hum barely audible beneath the steady groan of the village's weight shifting through the air.
Below, the jungle stretched out in a jagged scar of destruction, the Boar King's retreating path marked by blood and broken trees, a testament to the beast's rage.
It was a slow chase. Painfully slow. The village drifted through the sky like a lumbering giant, shadowing the devastation left in the Boar King's wake. Along the way, they found remnants—half-eaten plants, the carcasses of animals torn apart, signs of skirmishes between the Valks and the Boar King's herd.
They recovered what they could from the fallen boars, their tusks and hides carried off for later use, but the deeper they ventured into the jungle, the more apparent it became that they were chasing a ghost. The Boar King was out of sight, retreating into the heart of the land, far from their reach.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the world in hues of orange and violet, the wind that had been their silent ally died.
The village slowed, the propellers turning more sluggishly until the entire structure came to a halt, suspended in the air like a floating fortress caught between night and day.
In the village hall, the dim light from the hearth cast long shadows over the wooden table where Kael and Gwenbelle sat.
Maps were spread out before them, the markings of battle and the path they had followed carefully charted, but their focus was no longer on the chase.
The Boar King had fled beyond their reach for now, and they had more pressing concerns.
Gwenbelle's brow was furrowed, her hands resting on the table as she spoke, her voice low and steady.
"Buinn's condition is improving, but slowly. He's not fit to join us yet, Kael. He'll need more time, and the journey to the mountain is not going to be easy. We're venturing into dangerous territory. If we push too hard—"
Kael waved off her concern, his eyes gleaming with excitement, his mind clearly elsewhere.
"The mountain. You've spoken of the dwarf hold beneath it. The old forges, the tunnels, the metal," he said, his voice rising slightly, betraying the eagerness he tried to suppress.
"Imagine what we could do with it, Gwenbelle. The materials we need are right there. Iron, steel—perhaps even something more valuable. It's all waiting for us."
Gwenbelle's lips tightened, her gaze flickering down to the map as she considered her words carefully. She understood Kael's excitement, but she knew the truth.
"Kael, the mountain is dangerous. More dangerous than you might expect. The Boar King may be the least of our problems if we reach its base. The creatures that lurk there… not all are of flesh and bone."
Kael leaned forward, undeterred. "And the hold? The dwarves? You've said they're still there, buried deep within. If we can reach them—"
"That's the thing," Gwenbelle interrupted, her voice softening, though there was a touch of bitterness there.
"The forge beneath the mountain once fueled the greatest of our works. But that was long ago. Much of the ore has been stripped away, used up in generations past. The fires that once roared in the heart of the mountain have dimmed. What little remains is… not enough to sustain us, not like before."
Kael frowned, his excitement faltering for the first time.
"You're saying there's nothing left?"
"Not nothing," she replied quickly, sensing the disappointment rising in him.
"But it's not what you imagine. The truth is, we've bled the mountain dry over the centuries. What remains is either too deep or too dangerous to reach. But,"
she added, leaning forward slightly,
"with your knowledge, Kael, there might be a way to reignite what we've lost."
Kael's eyes narrowed, his interest piqued again. "What are you suggesting?"
Gwenbelle hesitated, her fingers tracing the edge of the map as she considered her next words. "The forge may be cold, but the dwarves… we are more than just our forges. If there is a way to merge what we know with the technology you possess—perhaps, just perhaps, there's a chance to rebuild. Not just the village, but something greater. A way to restore what was taken from us."
Kael leaned back, crossing his arms, his mind already turning over the possibilities. The dwarven hold, the Boar King, the mountain—everything seemed connected, pieces of a larger puzzle falling into place.
The idea of reigniting the dwarves' lost power intrigued him, but it was the potential for what lay beneath the mountain that excited him the most.
"If the metal is there, we'll find it," Kael said, his voice steady.
"And once we have it, we'll use it. I don't care how deep we have to go."
Gwenbelle gave a small smile, though her eyes remained troubled.
"Just remember, Kael, there are forces older than either of us in that mountain. Some things were buried for a reason."
Kael shrugged, unconcerned. "I'll take my chances. The mountain will give us what we need."
As the village slowed to a halt in the darkening sky, the jungle below silent but ominous, Kael's mind raced with possibilities.
The mountain was ahead, the Boar King somewhere in its shadow. And in the heart of it all, the promise of metal, of power, of something far greater than they had ever imagined. The chase was far from over. It had only just begun.