The Scrap Knight Ch.10

It was pure dumb luck that Nic survived the next five seconds.

The Beast lunged with all the grace of a landslide, throwing every ounce of its considerable strength behind the attack. It moved so fast that Nic couldn’t process what was happening before making uncomfortably close company with a wall of fur. He would have been crushed had the Beast not been just a smidge too large for the chamber, the spines jutting from its shoulders digging into the ceiling as it reared up to attack. It slowed the Beast down just enough to allow the Knight to intervene.

Using their shield, the armored warrior pushed Nic clear as the Beast shrugged free. Loose scrap rained down as two massive paws crashed into the floor, leaving sizable craters where Nic had been standing. He elected to file that fact away for a later freak out and instead focus on more immediate problems.

Scrambling to his feet, Nic was relieved to see the Knight had managed to get clear as well. Without missing a beat, they lashed out with their sword, slashing at the Beast’s exposed flank. A solid blow but it barely scratched the surface, the cut too shallow to even draw blood.

With an enraged roar, the Beast wheeled about, swiping at the Knight with one of its many bone spines. It connected with a sickening crack, the armored form sailing clean across the room to crash against the opposite wall. Snarling, the Beast charged again, bearing down on the Knight where they struggled back to their feet.

Before it connected, the Knight deftly stepped to the side, leaving the Beast to fly past and collide with the wall. In the same smooth motion, the Knight counter-attacked, forgoing the thick furred hide in favor of its many eyes. This saw much better results than the last attempt, the blade sinking deep into the pliable flesh, blood bursting out from the wound.

Nic’s cry of triumph was drowned out by a pained bellow from the Beast. Hurt but not cowed, it swung its head around in a sweeping arc, catching the Knight square in the chest and throwing them back. The Knight tried to respond, wrenching their sword free for another blow, but the Beast had wised up and pushed even harder, pinning them against the wall. Though it struggled heroically, the Knight couldn’t wiggle free, succeeding only in making the Beast press harder. It was a contest of strength, mutated muscle against cobbled steel, one that Nic suspected the Knight would ultimately lose.

With a desperate energy, Nic raised his hand to cast again. Not the magnet charm, that had no hope of shifting enough metal to even tickle the creature, but instead the light cantrip. With a press of a button, he summoned three additional orbs and sent them streaking through the air like flares. Though they lacked the heat or solidity of such, their glare was nonetheless blinding as they flew into the eyes of the Beast.

It roared in pain, loosening its grip just long enough for the Knight to slip free. They clambered up onto the Beast’s snout and leapt clear, landing next to Nic with a thud before giving the stunned techne a nonchalant nod.

“You’re welcome,” Nic said. “We got a plan here?”

If the Knight turned to face their opponent, raising sword and shield to ready stance. Nic fell in behind, watching as the Beast righted itself and turned to face them. It hunched down low against the ground, growling malice through the flash of its needle teeth, its threat both clear and overwhelming.

Yet somehow, Nic’s eyes were drawn not to his imminent demise, but instead to the mound that had started all this. It still smoldered, smoking lightly in the fading light, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. What drew his eye was what lay exposed within the electronic guts: power cells. At least a dozen he could see, somehow spared the fiery destruction from his earlier sabotage.

This sparked a recollection of earlier that morning. Back to the blast he’d caused via miscalculation with his original power cell. A power cell very much like the one he’d salvaged not even half an hour ago.

It wasn’t a great plan, it was barely a plan, but it was better than no plan. At least that was what Nic told himself as groped around in his pockets. Finding what he was after, he pulled it out and took a moment to examine the device. Not looking for damage but instead for where he might most efficiently cause it. Luckily, its design was terrible, and he quickly located a thin section of the casing.

Raising his casting hand, Nic ignored a low power warning and cast the magnet charm one last time. The casing cracked like an eggshell and the metal instantly grew warm in his hand as very bad things started happening inside. Before they reached critical, Nic tossed the cell underhand towards the mound, thanking every lucky star in the sky when it landed among its brethren. The Knight saw it happen, glancing back at Nic in expressionless confusion.

“Bomb!” Nic shouted. “Run!”

The Knight instantly turned to flee, following Nic as they beat feet towards the nearest tunnel. The Beast leapt at the sudden movement, crashing across the chamber in a grand rush of violence. Nic braced himself for the impact, feeling it hit just as a metal form wrapped itself around him and all went white.

*

“Any sign of him?”

Orlin spoke to the drone hovering along next to him. It took a moment for the decrepit old bot to even acknowledge his question, a visible lag flicking across its display before its camera focused on the master techne.

“Hey there, my name’s Eddy, could you please repeat your query?”

“Is. There. Any. Sign. Of. My. Apprentice?” Master Orlin repeated, making no effort to conceal his annoyance. His words at least seemed to compute this time, though the system still struggled to muster whatever answer it had. Orlin had to resist the urge to start throwing spells at it.

“Hey there, my name’s Eddy, could you please repeat your query?”

Orlin gave up with an aggrieved sigh, turning away from the yard drone and towards where his own familiar hovered nearby.

“Zephyr, do you have any kind of fix on him? His tablet maybe?”

“Pretty lights,” the sprite said, his voice distant and dreamy. “Light and colours, colours and lights…”

“…does nothing in this accursed landfill work?”

“Precious little I’d say,” came Elmcroft’s voice. He emerged from the main office, crossing the yard to where Orlin stood.

“How bad?” Orlin asked.

“I’ve seen better organized gravel pits,” Elmcroft gestured to surrounding machinery. “Most of this is running on auto by the look of it. Logs say it’s been years since anyone audited the backend.”

Orlin took a moment, both to consider that information and just to collect himself in general. It had been a rather hectic day all around, between having his garden blown up and Elmcroft choosing that exact moment to make a nuisance of himself. He’d just about gotten things settled down for the afternoon when Nic’s call had come in. Though garbled by static, it had left Orlin with the distinct impression that something was very, very wrong.

It had taken an hour for them to make their way out to Gibson. Elmcroft had insisted on coming along, something about “seeing what kind of mischief was afoot”, whatever that meant. His override clearances had been appreciated at least, useless as this EDDY system had proven to be.

“Can you get some Council drones down here?” Orlin asked.

“Bit overkill don’t you think?”

Orlin scowled, gesturing at the nearby mountain of scrap. “And how do you suggest we search all that?”

“Start by checking the spot Zephyr said he fell?” Elmcroft shot back with a smirk. “You know, just a suggestion?”

“Will you please take this seriously?”

“I am.” He traded the smirk for a softer smile. “Grey, I get it, you’re worried but panicking isn’t going to help.”

“He could be hurt.”

“And if he was, the emergency system would have tripped.” He nodded at Orlin’s questioning look. “It’s still working, I checked.”

Orlin muttered something under his breath but didn’t challenge the point.

“Exactly,” Elmcroft said, letting the smirk back onto his face. “And besides, he’s a smart lad, how much trouble could he have gotten into?”

A dull boom cut off any answer Orlin might have given. Both men turned towards the sound, watching as a plume of metal and smoke erupted into the air some ways out into the yard.     

“…huh,” said Elmcroft.

*

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