Dragonborn Saga

Chapter 689: Clockwork Hero

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The Clockwork City was facing a new nightmare, the Triumph of Mecinar. As the new Clockwork God, the city was rumbling with his malice and the power of the Mechanical Heart.

The population of the Clockwork City was reduced over the years and yet thousands still lived here, many of which were ordinary people and some were the apostles that upheld the laws of Sotha Sil, his last true group of worshipers.

Once Mecinar got the Mechanical Heart, the lives of those people were bound to face a change far beyond what they ever bargained for.

Every piece of machinery in the city turned on the people, even the Factotums that were produced by Jon were now serving Mecinar. It is not their commands that were disturbed but the energy that was powering them now belongs to him, the man sitting on the Throne Aligned.

From outside the city, roars of a Clockwork Dragon were heard and roars of thunder came in response as Jon Dare, the Dragonborn, was fighting alone in an endless fight against a machine that was meant for destruction. After Mecinar got the heart, the Clockwork Dragon started to rapidly recover all the damage Jon managed to inflict on it and its power multiplied greatly.

Now the savior himself needed saving.

But far from the depths of the Clockwork world, the five companions rose from the fall they suffered and took a look at the city.

The machines of the Brass Fortress were now let loose on its people and whenever one was caught, they weren't killed or tortured. No, they faced a fate way worse than death.

Assimilation!

? Assimilation Rate 11% ?

The loudspeakers of the city buzzed with voices whenever the assimilation of the city went up by 1%.

When it reaches 100%, the Era or Mecinar will be the new reality of the Clockwork City.

"We've got to move!" Glymet shouted, "NOW!"

"Into that?" Swims tried to hold Glymet's arm.

"Our escape from this city is narrowing by the second, we can't sit idle more than this. With the Tools or without them, Mecinar must be killed." Laaneth sided with Glymet.

"You two are mad…" Swims looked all around him and for the first time, he was afraid, "We came for a treasure, Glym."

"Yes, Swims. You came for gold and silver." Glymet replied, "My treasure, however…"

Glymet wanted to say something but he only stole a glance at Laaneth and for a second there, the old man looked so much like his younger self.

There wasn't much to say in this dangerous situation, Swims understood Glymet whereas Laaneth was distracted by the danger lurking around them.

"So…" Swims was a little bit at a loss for words.

"Over there, I am seeing someone. A survivor." Laaneth shouted and ran ahead of them.

"So?" Glymet asked.

"Nothing." Swims sighed, "Don't lose your treasure this time around. At least one of us gets to walk away with something… or someone."

Swims ran right after Laaneth and Glymet followed after a second of pause.

As they reached the survivor, Laaneth was blasting away at some Factotums while Swims-at-Night came and started smashing them with a warhammer. Before even Glymet joins, Kota was already into Dragon mode and swept away many Factotums with his oversized body.

"Dragon! Smash!"

As for the survivor who was seen running from the machines.

"Seht! Save us! Protect us! Hear our prayers! Guide and save your people." He started praying as he seemed to have lost all power.

"Galyn." Glymet called the man who was the head of the Clockwork Apostles.

"Seht! Save us, Seht! Take away the darkness." Galyn refused to turn to Glymet and kept holding onto something with both of his hands and prayed with zeal.

"Hey." Glymet shook the man from his shoulder and caused him to lose focus on his prayers.

Just at that moment, an Abomination appeared not too far from them and as it spotted Galyn of all people, it rushed towards him.

"AAAAAAAGH! Mercy!" Only then did Galyn lose focus on his prayer and drop on his arse but with a swift move, Glymet burnt the Abominations to ash.

As the man was recovering from his shock, Laaneth approached the group with an understanding of what was happening.

"The Magicka in this realm is being siphoned by the Heart. The Apostles seemed to have lost their ability to cast their Mechanical Magic. Soon, it will be our turn." She said.

"That's terrible!" Kota (Dragon) said in a dumb voice.

"It is." Laaneth agreed, "On top of that, the people of the city, the machines are… remaking them. We have to stop this or else this Clockwork Dream will turn into Oblivion."

"Thank you, outsiders." Galyn stood up with a haggard appearance, "Mecinar is rebuilding the city in his image. More of our people were taken as well to be induced by his twisted… ideas. Help us stop him, I beg of you. Anything remaining in the city, aside from the Heart, is yours if you manage to do so."

The offer was as generous as it can get but from the looks of it, hope was of short supply at the moment and a man can even offer his own soul for this scarce commodity.

"Including this?" Swims asked, with his left pointing at something held by the nimble fingers of his right hand.

As everyone turned to him, not all of them appreciated the fact that he was gathering riches in this situation as they all saw a shiny crystal on his right.

It was Galyn, however, who reacted first. He looked at his own right hand and opened it to see that the item he was just praying with had turned into some common stone from the ground.

"You!" Galyn freaked out immediately, "Return it."

Realizing that Swims switched his Star Crystal with a stone, he rushed at Swims or at least tried to rush at him, however, he was held in place by Glymet.

"That's a Memory Crystal!" Laaneth soon realized what Galyn had.

"Please, I beg of you. It is something personal. Return it." Galyn extended his hand asking for the Crystal.

"Personal?" Swims asked, "Every time we found one of these, we've learned a lot about the history of this feud between Seht and Mecinar as well as this Heart of Lorkhan you people made."

"Please… don't " Galyn seemed desperate somehow.

"I am just wondering if there is another secret that can help us." Swims said.

"Please!" Galyn begged more but it seemed that everyone else was on the same page with Swims.

He fished out Ram's head from his bag and flicked on it with his finger.

"Tinhead. Another Memory Star for you." Swims called.

"Insert… socket." Ram replied as a part of his forehead opened.

"Alright, here we go." Swims put the Memory Crystal in and the group found a hidden place to watch the memory.

***

A man appeared on the screen, he was tall, grey-skinned, wearing a white clean robe and many other pieces of brass such as a belt, a prosthetic arm, and a half-mask covering the right side of his face.

Sotha Sil!

"It seems that the Heart has become unstable again. I think if it was left unchecked, it threatens to destroy the whole city."

Sotha Sil appeared to be working on something with his mind busy. He was coming and going multiple times in the chamber he was in.

"No matter the danger, I must venture into the chamber, and devise a way to contain its power."

The memory started to fast forward on its own and skipped days of working and tinkering.

"I pray to myself that I find a solution to this predicament. The Heart I created is wild and mindless. It is a step that I thought my own heart would fulfill on its own but this newborn Heart doesn't understand just yet. I am not satisfied with anything. While I can't give my heart to it just yet, it needs to be handled like a child first. To think I, who never fathered a child, shall do so now. Vivec would laugh at me if he heard this, Ayem would nag me to no end, however."

Sotha Sil's fleeting thoughts slowed down after this and his voice rang again in his head.

"A child?"

He then turned towards a certain door and looked at it for a few seconds with silent thoughts.

Immediately, Sotha Sil's eyes widened.

"Why didn't I think of that? It's all in there. The answers!"

Sotha Sil darted off his seat and the memories started to accelerate until they reached a certain point where Sotha Sil was roaming around his lab with a Factotum's head in his hand. He then placed a Crystal in the Head.

"Show me what you saw." He said.

The memories accelerated for a long while this time and as they stopped, Sotha Sil's voice was heard in an excited tone.

"SUCCESS!" He held up his fists, "With these tools that I modeled after the Tools of Kagrenac, I can control, shape, and even dismantle the Heart if necessary."

In front of Sotha Sil, there were three familiar objects. A dagger, a hammer, and a gauntlet.

Keening, Sunder, and Wraithguard.

"Although these are Replicas of the real things, I made sure that the energy signature of the Heart doesn't resonate with the original Tools of Kagrenac. These, however, are the only things that can control the Mechanical Heart." Sotha Sil spoke in contentment as he patted the Factotum head he was still holding.

***

"That's it!" Laaneth pointed at the displayed projection and turned to Galyn, "You didn't want us to find the Tools so that we can't destroy the Heart."

"I beg of you! All will be lost." Galyn cried, "If the Heart is gone, everything would die. It is what powers our machines, grows our crops, and maintains our world."

"So it is life itself." Glymet asked.

"You can say that. But you can't destroy the Heart. You mustn't!" Galyn spoke as calmly as he could while it was clear he was freaking out.

"Look around you, man. It's all gone now." Swims said, "Only the living matter."

"It can be saved, all of it." Galyn cried.

"You're mad." Swims replied, "You're really mad. Just take us to the Tools. Whatever it is, it has to come to an end at some point."

Seeing the resolve and sympathy that Swims conveyed, those around were motivated even more to put an end to this madness. Galyn looked up to all of them hoping that at least one could have sided with him.

In the end, he had to give up too.

"You're… right…" Galyn said.

As he stood, steeled his nerves, and strengthened his resolve, Galyn pointed towards where the Tools are.

"We have to go back to Cogitum Centralis, to the Throne Aligned." He said.

"Where Mecinar is." Laaneth said.

"Mecinar is with the Heart at the Inner Curiosity, he can't leave it unchecked during the assimilation." Galyn said, "We can sneak in and reach the Throne Aligned. Once we're there, we can harness the Throne to access its inner mechanism. Sotha Sil used the Throne as a machine to store his notes and memories. It is the only thing that can lead us to the Tools."

"And how exactly can we sneak there?" Laaneth asked.

"Currently, we are hiding at the Caminus Pit. There is no machinery in here so we are safe for now. Lucky for us, there is a secret passage to the Cogitum Centralis called the Shaft of Sohleh not too far from here. I suspect it may be crawling with these Abominations but since no one is there, the Assimilation won't be focused on that area and even if we fight them, we can pass them unnoticed by Mecinar."

"Are you sure of this information?" Glymet asked.

"The shaft was opened around 20 years ago when we were trying to do maintenance work. Even Mecinar wouldn't suspect that we were foolish enough to open a backdoor to the Cogitum Centralis and leave it as it is." Galyn said.

"And his monsters wouldn't report to him?" Swims asked.

"They aren't sentient, not yet anyway." Galyn said.

"Then we go to the shaft." Glymet decided, "This will be our best hope to destroy the Heart."

"May Seht forgive us all." Galyn lowered his head and murmured in regret.

***

The path to the shaft was mostly quiet as the group moved stealthily without confronting any monster or even saving any Clockwork citizen. Once Mecinar is defeated, restoration can be possible.

Just like Galyn said, the Cogitum Centralis had some digging work near its back. The best way to not allow anyone to hide in these parts was to spread some Abominations around the dig site and that is what Mecinar seemed to have done.

As for the shaft tunnel, it was visible from where the group hid.

"This seems like a good opportunity." Glymet said, "I am going in first and once everything is clear, I'll give you a signal. Laaneth and Galyn should come first then Swims and Kota."

"Alright." Laaneth nodded.

"Good luck." Swims whispered.

Glymet took in a deep breath and nimbly jumped into the dig site then started to run a few nimble steps before entering the shaft tunnel.

Once he made sure it was clear from danger, he waved out and hid in the tunnel again.

Laaneth cast "Muffle" and "Invisibility" on herself and Galyn then the two walked down the dig site slowly.

They could see a few Abominations that were once people of this city. Those Abominations seemed to have turned into large-headed monstrous beings with metallic limbs and were preying on the dead.

The site almost made them both throw up but they held it in and ran towards the shaft tunnel.

Lastly, it was Kota and Swims-at-Night night. Swims was nimble just as much as Glymet, if not better.

He carried the small-bodied Kota in his arm and jumped on the scaffoldings without making a sound before landing like a Khajiit. He then started to move slowly and carefully before attempting to dart into the shadow of the shaft tunnel.

But just then and there, disaster struck.

Above the entrance of the tunnel was an Abomination that seemed to have watched it all from the beginning. A chameleon-like abomination with a large snake head and skin that can take the appearance of the surface it stands on.

Swims' senses screamed at him just as he was at the range of danger and by pure instinct. He tossed Kota into the tunnel and lounged to the side.

Where he was just now was a pool of acidic spit and the Abomination that was aiming for him made itself visible at last.

"SWIMS!"

Stealth was usually overrated and in this situation, Glymet and Laaneth found no leeway other than to jump out and help their friend.

With a swift cantrip, Laaneth pushed the Abominations far from Swims and made it land awkwardly. With a clean slice, Glymet beheaded the fallen monster.

"Shit!" Swims recovered immediately and looked around him with wide eyes and a dry mouth.

He took his spear and tossed it at the nearest abomination then took out his saber and cut the one after it.

"To the tunnel! Quickly!" Glymet tried to pull Swims from the strap of his belt.

"Once we go in there, they'll flood after us!" Swims said, "I'll buy time, you block the tunnel."

"No! You'll die!" Laaneth shouted at him.

"And you all won't." Swims replied as he spotted two more Abominations rushing at them on their arms and legs.

"I'll hold them off!" Laaneth stepped forward but the moment that she did, Swims hit her head with the pommel of his saber.

"What are you doing?" Glymet's eyes widened.

Without any resistance, Laaneth collapsed to her knees. Swims immediately carried her and tossed her on Glymet's shoulder.

"Go! Now! GO!"

"Wait! We can do this."

"I said GO!" Swims turned and slashed two monsters before pushing Glymet into the tunnel and retreating.

He then took off his large bag, tossed Ram's head to Kota, and then took out something else.

"I always wanted to try this one out!"

In his hand, Swims had the gatling cannon which Ram used before.

"Swims!"

"Hey!" Swims-at-Night turned his back to Glymet and aimed up the gatling cannon, "Never expected to die a Hero." And with a smile, "You lot better make this count!"

Swims-at-Night had come to the Clockwork City seeking its riches. But in the end, he gave his life in the hopes of saving it or at least, of protecting his friends.

With a buzzing hail of gatling fire, shrieks of maddened monsters, and shouts of glory, Swims-at-Night died a Clockwork Hero.

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