“Interesting. Interesting. Yes. Indeed,” Saunak said, his wild grin turning into maniacal laughter. The demon doubled over, wiping tears from his eyes. “Look, I never intended to harm your little wolf. And the thing earlier? That was just a test! As I said! You two overreacted. The truth is, I would like to work with you, and in fact, I was hoping to give you useful tips on how to improve your combat efficiency, based on the data I’d gathered. But, well… that’s all fallen to pieces, hasn’t it? Perhaps, hmm. Perhaps together… Ah, yes!”
Saunak’s words trailed off, as if he was talking to himself.
“I said I’d be willing, but I’m no fool, Saunak,” Vir said. “That was before you attacked us. You’d have to do something pretty spectacular to regain my trust.”
He’d have liked nothing more than to prove Cirayus wrong. To show that Saunak could be, if not a friend, at least a useful partner for the hardships ahead.
But now? How was he to trust the madman? No, that bridge had been burned. Vir would not make the same mistake twice. There was nothing he could possibly do that would—
“You want that Automaton, yes?” Saunak the Deranged said, pointing up at the towering behemoths. He continued to wave his flag with his other arm, though the exertion was clearly winding him.
“Uh. Yes?” Vir replied, thrown off guard.
“Very well. It’s yours.”
What?
Vir narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You’re just… giving us a creation of the gods…”
“Well, you said it yourself, didn’t you?” Saunak replied. “How better to regain your trust?”
This has to be a trap, Vir thought, exchanging glances with Cirayus, who nodded. But if it buys us some time…
“What’s the catch?” Vir asked.
Saunak held up a finger. “You have to let me watch.”
“Um, sorry?” Vir struggled to find some deeper, hidden motive behind the demon’s words.
“You can take it. But only if you let me watch while you learn to take control.”
“Alright,” Vir agreed, failing to sense any deception in his voice.
Still, he couldn’t be sure. Vir would play along. And then, before Saunak could make his move, they’d jump him. Who knew? Maybe they’d actually manage to steal one of the mythical creations along the way.
70ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
“No, no!” Saunak scolded, waving his hands. “That’ll never work!”
The mad thaumaturge wore a helm that truly lived up to his name. The metal contraption entirely covered his face, bulging like a dome around his head. Tubes and black wires connected the device to a nearby gizmo, which Vir recognized as similar to the ones Ashani used to spend hours in front of—the ones with the floating panels.
Saunak’s device lacked those floating panels, instead projecting moving pictures in front of his eyes when he wore the ridiculous-looking helm.
Vir couldn’t be sure what all it did, though one thing was for certain—it allowed Saunak to see prana like Vir could. At least, a facsimile.
The demon had offered to allow Vir to experience it, but Vir wasn’t about to stick his head into such a suspicious device. He still wasn’t sure when Saunak was being genuine, and when he had ulterior motives.
Like Cirayus, who had Sikandar in hand, Vir kept Prana Current active, in case he needed to escape at a moment’s notice.
What’s the trap this time? he thought, looking furtively around. The three stood atop the high railing, though only a handful of Saunak’s humanoid Automatons had followed them up. The spiders had disappeared back into the walls of his tower, and the ones that remained would pose little threat to the combined might of Vir, Shan, and Cirayus. What’s his angle, then? Vir thought, eyeing the ridiculous-looking demon suspiciously. It was hard not to be suspicious when he wore something that looked so menacing.
Did he want Vir to show him how he manipulated the Automaton directly? If so, what would he gain? Should Vir succeed, he was taking an Automaton, whether Saunak let him or not.
No. He’s expecting me to fail. He just wants to study how I use my prana. He’ll attack us when he’s learned enough.
Though, casting a glance at the mad thaumaturge, Vir wasn’t so sure. The logic felt shaky, even to him. Why take such a risk? If Vir succeeded, Saunak would be in a terrible position. Surely, he wouldn’t risk his prized Imperium creations so carelessly? It was the likelihood of that very prospect keeping Vir from escaping. The prize was simply too great to ignore, despite the danger.
“Well? Try again, try again!” Saunak urged, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Vir returned to his attempts to control the Automaton. He stood too much to gain from this, and while the more prudent part of him considered incapacitating Saunak right then and there, another part wanted to believe in the demon. Not just because of the Automaton. If Saunak honored their bargain, it would go a long way toward undoing his prior transgressions against them. And that meant the possibility of working together in the future.
That was a big if, however, as both Vir and Cirayus were painfully aware.
“The issue is I lose control of my prana the moment it leaves my body,” Vir said. “It’s always been this way.”
“Hmm. Hmmm. Well, give it another go, anyway, will you?”
Vir shook his head in defeat, touching the colossal Automaton Guardian’s shoulder again. Thinking back to how he’d first formed Prana Blade—by shooting his prana out in a jet—Vir attempted to aim the prana to send it to different points in the Automaton’s body.
If it were human-sized, his tactics might’ve actually worked. With Prana Current, he could now shoot a jet—or a dart—of prana far farther than before. It dissipated much quicker within a solid object, but even then, he might’ve managed it.
The trouble, though, was the Guardian stood sixty paces in height. Nothing Vir did could get his prana to the proper areas.
“Okay, forget that,” Saunak said. “Put as much prana as you can into its shoulder, where you’re touching.”
Vir complied, cycling Current loops as fast as he could before shooting a jet of Ash prana directly into the Imperium creation.
He was about to give up when its enormous arm jolted and its fist clenched.
“Astounding!” Saunak shouted in awe.
“What? Getting it to move?” Vir asked, dubious of the thaumaturge’s exaggerated reaction. He’d moved the Automaton, yes, but only barely.
“No, that was quite pathetic,” Saunak said dismissively. “Rather, it’s quite remarkable just how much prana it took to move it even that slight amount!”
Vir stared at Saunak expressionless as he considered how strong to make his punch. Saunak was weak, and he didn’t want to accidentally kill him, lest they bring the tower down upon them.
But before he could go through with his plan, Cirayus spoke up.
“Had quite enough of wasting our time?” the giant asked. “Just give me a reason to remove that head of yours. Don’t even need much of a reason. Just something.”
“Now, now, Cirayus. These are concepts you wouldn’t even begin to understand. Stick to swinging your big swords around. That’s where people of your brutish persuasion belong, after all.”
Cirayus leveled a death glare at Saunak, and, once again, Vir was the one to break them up.
“Saunak, he really will kill you. Stop goading him. Cirayus?”