The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [102] Cut At The Wrist

"We are almost there, I can see the monolith from here." Ambroz said.

"Okay," Isin said with an airy breath. "When we get back, remember I have to be the one that talks to Nuriel. While I do go to recruit more people for a second expedition. No chips, they can't come with us."

"What are we going to do about the miners, the children, they can't go on expeditions, are we just going to abandon them?" Adolf asked.

Isin turned his gaze toward the horizon, where the sky bled a sickly crimson, fractured like shattered glass. The land ahead was nothing but jagged rocks and lifeless, cracked ground. The sparse trees that remained were twisted, gnarled things warped remnants of what they once were, twisted by the oppressive forces that had broken this world apart.

It stirred a memory of his childhood, what felt like a lifetime ago. Grass beneath his feet, soft and green. The distant hum of insects, birds chirping in a warm afternoon haze. Tall trees rustling with the whisper of a breeze. It had felt so real. A peaceful, simple world, but it had all been a lie. A carefully controlled vivarium, a cage built by his father for his experiments, for his Slave Race.

The realization had once filled him with rage. It still did. It was not fair that children were brought into this broken world. Forced into Slavehood by uncaring and cruel Divines. What could he do? He couldn't kill Nuriel, he wasn't strong enough to make her bow. All he could do was buy time and save who he could, that was it.

"You knew coming in that we couldn't get more than twenty people out." Isin said as his eyes drifted back to his group. "We will go for as mixed a group as we can, even number of men and women. We take only expedition members."

Adolf's hands curled into fists. "But—"

"No buts, Adolf."

Isin met his eyes, holding them firm. He knew why Adolf wanted more, why he wanted an exception. His little sister was in the mines. She wasn't an expedition member. If he tried to get her out, Nuriel would notice, and she wasn't a fool. If she sensed something was wrong, it would all be over before it even began.

He wasn't heartless though and he knew that they would one day save all of humanity but for this mission it was more important that they made it back safely. Before all of humanity was free Isin knew he was going to have to make decisions he wasn't going to like. He was going to have to do things that he didn't want to do. He clenched his fists.

"How are the connection nodes through the storm?" Isin questioned.

Martin was lining up a large machine that was essentially a pneumatic punch machine with a spiked rod. The rods were nodes that would tether back to the Alpha Extraction Site and allow them to follow as long as they had the correct frequency. The rods were thin but each was nearly five feet and several hundred pounds, they had to be to withstand the mana storm.

A deafening crack echoed through the wasteland. The impact sent a shockwave through the ground, dust billowing into the air as the machine self-destructed, just as it was designed to. All that remained was the rod, now buried at least twenty feet deep, secure against the shifting terrain.

Martin coughed against the settling dust, waving it away with one hand. "That's the last one," he said, voice rough. "No matter what happens, we'll be able to find our way back."

"Let's move then men," Isin said.

Martin walked up to Isin and stopped him with a hand. "Let's rest a bit first. Everyone's nervous but you look... sick, brother."

"We need to keep moving," Isin said.

"We all know what is at stake here but we aren't going to accomplish anything if you die of stress before we even make it to the facility," Martin said. "Not asking for long but it is an order from your lieutenant otherwise we might have to organize a mutiny."