Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 41 (Patreon)

“I don’t recognize the lock!” Cowl yelled. “It might be reinforced. I can’t break it.”

“Damn it. Let me pick it,” Angel said, stepping forward to push him out of the way.

“We don’t have time,” Cowl growled, pulling his sword free and spinning to face the giant. “I can’t fight this thing on my own. You need to help.”

“Then how do we get the door open?”

“Let me try,” Vanessa said.

“You know how to lockpick?” Angel asked.

“It doesn’t matter!” Cowl yelled. “The girl picks the door. Move, Seeker!”

Angel grabbed his lockpicks and tossed them at Vanessa before spinning towards the lumbering construct rapidly closing the distance. Cowl slammed the disk onto his sword as they ran and it expanded in his hands.

“How do we fight this thing? It’s massive and I don’t know if we can even break its armor!”

“Just distract it. The girl just needs time to open the door. We can’t beat something like this, but it’s slow enough that we’ve got a chance of surviving so long as we don’t get too stupid.”

The construct reared back as they grew closer. Its glowing eyes locked on Angel and a keening whirr emerged from its mouth. The giant swung a hand down towards him. Angel shot his grappling barb at the nearby wall, launching himself out of the way and into the air.

Dust flew into the air and the ground cracked as the giant’s hand crashed through the floor, leaving a crumbling hole behind it. It turned, tracking Angel as he sailed through the air and swinging its other hand to swat him like a fly.

Angel swung out of the way once again, but the wind from the strike as it passed him by was so strong that it spun him in a circle. He tumbled through the air, hitting the ground in a roll and hopping up to his feet.

Cowl launched into the air, his wings lifting him up as he swung the massive sword into the back of the giant’s knees. Metal rang out against metal, but the construct didn’t even seem to notice the Hunter. It turned, forcing Cowl to fly back to avoid getting crushed as the hulking construct lumbered towards Angel.

“What’s your problem?” Angel yelled, hopping onto his board and speeding towards the other side of the room. “Go bother Cowl!”

The giant responded by ripping a section of the wall free and hurling it at Angel. It exploded against the ground, sending fragments of stone ricocheting throughout the hall like dozens of fist sized bullets.

One of them scored across Angel’s arm, nearly knocking him off the board. He cursed, gathering his balance again. The giant reached down to grab another projectile and Cowl flew up behind its back, thrusting his blade into a damaged section in between the plates of armor.

Circuitry sparked and hissed. Cowl twisted the blade deeper and the construct spun, launching the Hunter and his sword across the room like a cannonball. He managed to spin midair, righting himself and landing on the wall feet first.

Cowl shot off at the giant again. It finally acknowledged his presence, swatting at him with both hands. The Hunter jerked back to avoid the powerful wave of air that followed in the trail of the attack.

The giant’s eyes started to grow brighter. Both Cowl and Angel let out a curse at the same time, darting out of the way as fast as they could as two beams of searing red light tore out of the monster’s eyes.

They scorched across the floor, melting clean through stone and metal. The temperature in the room rose several degree and the beams followed after Angel and Cowl, destroying everything in their path.

After a few moments, the beams faded away. The giant shuddered, the light in its eyes dimming and flickering. Electricity arced over its body and the smell of hot copper filled the room. Its eyes lit up again, but they were slightly dimmer than last time.

“It’s too damaged to do that attack much!” Angel yelled. “Damn thing must be running on fumes. Screw its circuits up more and we might kill it!”

The giant’s metal flesh started to glow. The color intensified until it was a brilliant cherry red. Electricity crackled and popped all over it, and the plating beneath its feet started to sag. It took a lumbering step towards Angel, burning steam rising up from it.

“Okay, maybe don’t get close to the crazy robot,” Angel said as it grabbed another clump of the wall and lobbed it at him. Shot out of the way, ducking to the side to avoid the burning wake of the projectile.

“I’ve got it!” Vanessa yelled. “The door’s open!”

Angel spun around to face her. The molten giant stood between him and the door. It seemed to sense his intention, lowering to the ground and letting out a grating roar. Cowl was already on the other side, so the Hunter just flew over and joined Vanessa by the door.

“Come on, then!” Angel yelled, leaning forwards and accelerating towards the gap between the giant’s legs. It roared, raising its hands and bringing them crashing down before it. Angel accelerated, leaning forward as far as he could.

The air near the giant was so hot that it was almost impossible to breath. He barely slipped underneath its burning hands, shooting out from behind it just moments before they crashed into the ground behind him.

The room rumbled as the damaged floor finally started to give way. Angel pulled back and leapt off his board, nearly plowing into Cowl and Vanessa by the door. Cracks followed him and large fragments of metal and stone tore away, falling into the growing abyss behind them.

They all dashed into the door. The giant let out a roar of fury as it toppled into the darkness. It scrabbled to grab hold of the ground, but only succeeded in tearing more of it away. With a final shriek, it launched the chunk of masonry at them. Angel slammed the door and Cowl grabbed him and Vanessa, yanking them away from it.

The door rumbled, bulging outwards with the shriek of warping metal, but didn’t break. All three of them sat in dark room they’d burst into, breathing heavily and staring at the warped entrance.

“That went well,” Angel said, slowly climbing to his feet and brushing the dirt off himself. He glanced into his pack and grimaced. “I messed up a few of my empty cannisters. I’m going to have to fix them.”

“I think that’s a fair trade for not dying,” Vanessa said, her voice shaking slightly. She handed him back his set of lockpicks. “Here. I messed one of them up. Sorry.”