Steel and Mana-Chapter 407 – Remains

I was standing on the Camelot's bridge, watching as Kustov navigated us through the Pass, getting the ship past the preliminary, wall-mounted outposts that were being built and connected through multiple zip lines. I watched as we passed by the workers building them, my soldiers helping and also guarding them out here. It was something that I don't think anyone thought was possible, but it was happening right now. Soon, the whole Pass will be under our proper control, from one end to the other. That is why we were flying through the Pass right now.

"There it is." Merlin sighed, standing next to me. After a few more minutes of careful flying, we finally arrived.

Ahead, it was my first time actually seeing the Gods’ Formation floating there, shimmering faintly. Looking at it, the runes that made it up were indeed foreign to what I had learned so far, and more than that, they seemed to change and morph. No matter how much I look right now, I realize that I won't be able to get a grip on it. But I will have time to work it out.

Glancing to my left, I glanced at my twins as both of them were uncharacteristically silent. I didn’t need to examine them for long to realize they were feeling or sensing something I did not. Something that not even Merlin picked up on, especially how he was too focused on mumbling to himself and trying to read the magic before us. But the two... There was something else happening that only they picked up on. I wanted to ask what it was, but the way they stood there, as if in a trance, I decided against it, letting it play out. I can ask my questions later.

"Take us through, slowly." I stepped up to Kustov, saying in a low whisper, watching our airship continue its journey.

"Of course." He nodded, standing still and a bit stiff, probably just as nervous as the rest of the crew. Still, nobody raised any alarms or questions.

When Camelot pushed through the formation, I felt nothing, really. The formation looked passive, but I knew better than to believe it was indeed the case. From what I saw, the moment we got close, some of its circles began spinning, settling into a certain position, as I could recognize that there were exact runes blinking once or twice before changing, reforming, and adapting.

Whatever was happening, I bet it was some kind of scanning mechanism that read us as we approached. I was certain it would let us through, but...

"Slowly..." Kustov repeated to the helm, thinking of the same thing as I, afraid that we might merely hit it and bounce back, hurting the ship in the process.

But no. Without any resistance, it let us through.

"Did you feel that?" Arthur asked, coming out of his own stupor.

"Yeah," Leyla exhaled softly, her voice quieter than I’d ever heard it. "It was... looking at me like it was checking my bones. My blood. I think it was deciding if we belonged to this side or not."

"Same..." Arthur nodded, his fingers flexing unconsciously, a flicker of light passing through between his fingers, looking at me. “Dad, it scanned us, but it didn’t stop us. It didn't speak, but... it did feel as if that formation had some kind of sentience...”

"AI?" I asked myself, making the others blink in confusion, "Nothing. The important part is that it lets us through."

"Hopefully," Kustov added with a half-joke, "It will also let us back."

"If not, Sasha will bust my balls," I grunted, making the people on the bridge chuckle, except Merlin.

"I don't want to know what Elena would say to me if that were the case..."

"I think it will let us pass," Leyla smiled, looking at Merlin, trying to make him relax. "Don't worry about it!"

“Okay, that's enough. Focus, everyone!" I raised my voice, wanting to remind the crew that we were no longer in Avalon, "Keep your eyes open! We are in the beasts' domain now.”

"Do you think there will be one waiting? I am ready to smash some skulls." Yuri's voice came through the inner comms as she and the group I first sent to Markoth were attached to the bottom of the Camelot. Of course, we weren't coming without a proper ground force. That would be silly.

"I hope not." I answered with a half-smile, "Still, keep ready."

"Yes!" Echoed the unified answer of the five Knights through the bridge.

And yet, even after saying that, what lay before us... didn’t feel like enemy land. Exiting the mountains, the other side of the Pass opened into a vast, untouched world.

Green. That was the first thing that struck me about it. Vibrant... almost feeling as if it was oversaturated. A wild, untamed, verdant pasture, thick and rich with tall grass, stretching in every direction from the entrance towards a faraway forest. Plains rolled out under us like an unbroken emerald sea, interrupted only by the azure-blue color of rivers cutting through it. Turning, I saw how their origin came from the mountains, as waterfalls burst from the cliffs behind us. Their source was the melting snow from high above, from beyond the clouds, crashing down in thunderous white rage that fed the rivers below. It was a sight to behold, that is for sure.

“Scan the land,” I ordered the crew, "Check the grounds and the landscape. If we want to establish a base here, we need to be sure it can support it!"

"Already on it." Merlin answered first, "The land slopes gently northward,” he explained. “We have multiple water sources. From the pings, I am reading... Mhm. There has to be a good amount of groundwater hidden below the soil. No tectonic instability is coming back from the waves we are sending out. But we will know more when we begin flattening the entrance, though I don't think we would encounter issues."

The ship’s internal comms buzzed again, and just as he finished, Yuri's voice came through again.

“Knights ready for deployment. Awaiting orders. Do we land?”

“Not yet,” I answered. “Kustov, circle the spot once more. Let’s get a full view from the air first. Then, as we descend, we can drop the mechs. Knights!"

"Yes!"

"I want the ground checked, and I want markers placed for future teams. Make sure to handle it carefully; we can't be sure if we are alone here. There could be a monster lying asleep underground.”

“Understood.”

After my order, the bridge crew worked in efficient silence. They were, by now, professionals. Watching them work, my navigators adjusting the course, tactical officers scanning for signatures, engineers monitoring the Camelot’s systems, all of it filled me with a quiet sense of pride. Because of them, because of how we are now... that is why I could be right here.

We had come a long way from being the barbarians of Ishillia, heh! Now, we were on an expedition that the old Ishillian Emperors attempted and failed. Speaking of that... I wonder if Old Merlin is watching or not. Maybe. Although my Merlin was already standing before the navigation officer, working with him to designate a landing spot for us.

Moving my eyes away, I glanced at Arthur. He was frowning, his eyes moving across the landscape as he analyzed the terrain. Was he sensing something? Probably because Leyla also stood with her arms crossed, next to her brother, eyes distant, her lips moving silently. As far as I could read it, she was counting, calculating something.

“It’s quiet,” She spoke first, glancing at me. "I expected to feel some monsters or something. But no."

“For now, that is good.” I reached out, rubbing her head, "Arthur?"

"I..." He hesitated once, finally looking away from the distant forest, "I heard nothing."

"Mhm." I nodded, but I knew that meant nothing, really. He had heard calls in the past, so I was curious if those who had called for him would try to reach him again. We will see.

As we talked, the Camelot banked smoothly, beginning its slow loop over the entrance of the Pass. We moved east first, then north, watching as the forest came closer on the Imaginary. The trees here were unlike anything near Avalon. These were straight out of some kind of fable. They were towering and massive, their trunks wide enough to dwarf our mechs, their canopies so dense they darkened the ground below them. The farther we looked, the darker the greens became, the air above the forest shimmering faintly, as if the leaves themselves breathed magic. I wasn't sure if they didn't because there had to be a reason why monsters grew so big in here.

“I want the Thunder deployed first,” I ordered as we finished our circle, getting back to our starting point. “Edrin will be our long-range eyes. Keep a constant watch and find a good perch on the mountain's side. Shoot first, ask questions later!”

“Yes, my lord,” he answered as the Camelot shuddered slightly, dropping him first.

"The rest of you," I continued, "Drop in five-minute intervals and set up a perimeter!"

"Let's do this!" Yuri laughed, being the second to drop from the Camelot as we continued on our second circle, constantly scanning the landscape, expecting an attack... something that, luckily, didn't come.

...

....

......

"Sovereign! Here!"

The call was urgent and almost panicky, making me stand up from the waist-high grass. The soldier who called out was standing about a hundred meters from me, surrounded by four others, always at constant watch while I jogged over.

"Woah..." I exhaled without asking what it was.

"What?" Yelled Merlin, rushing over, too, coming to a halt at the edge where my people cut the grass to clear the way around their finding.

What they found were bodies—human bodies, at that. Kneeling, I brushed away the dirt, revealing a human femur. It was sun-bleached and pitted from years of exposure; the bone was webbed with fine cracks from freeze and thaw. It has had to have been here for multiple decades now.

Next, we followed the trail—a scatter of ribs, a clavicle, the curve of a skull nestled in the roots of a stubborn weed. The skull was intact but also weathered, and the orbits were hollow and staring. A few strands of brittle, hair-like fibers clung to its scalp, but most had been taken by the wind or the earth thanks to its exposure. Lifting it up, the jaw had detached, teeth still set in the bone, yellowed.

As for clothing? Almost nothing was left. A few scraps of fabric rotted into the soil, with no shoes present. It was hard to tell how old they really were, but...

"Sovereign! Look, here!"

Another find was a half-buried metal box. After my soldier dug it out, it was already brittle and easily broken apart, revealing a second metal box. Then... a third.

"What the...?" I exclaimed, thinking this was a joke, or whoever did this tried to do their best to preserve whatever it was in it.

Finally, there was no fourth box but an old and brittle journal. It was yellowed, and when I pulled it out and opened it very carefully, many of its pages were stuck together.

"I can't believe it..." I whispered, making Merlin try to stand on his toes to take a look at it in my hands, while my children were also rushing over to see what we found.

"What is it?" He asked, sounding childishly impatient.

"Does the name Sorbo ring a bell?" I asked, suddenly smiling, glancing at the skeletons around us.

"Oh, the saboteur?" he nodded at once, furrowing his brows. "But he died in the Pass."

"Yeah, I know, but the others did not. Still, there are some sentences here that damn him multiple times." I chuckled again, gently flipping a page and seeing hand-drawn maps inside of it. "We will need to make sure everything in this is recovered. All of it!" I closed it and handed it over to Merlin. "This is a journal from those we sent on the first Walk."

"Oooh..." Merlin finally nodded, holding the brittle little book. "Don't worry, I will make sure no detail is lost!"

"As for the bones," I looked at the soldiers around us, "Collect them. We will bring the remains home. They will be posthumously pardoned and restored as Avalonians. They... have earned it."