THE BRONZE PLATESEASON 5
The Bronze Aegis remained silent.
Its bronze surface reflected the dim light of the underground chamber.
Sorion stared at it.
The relic was within reach.
But he already understood.
It could not be taken.
Not by force.
Not by request.
Not even by the quest.
Zython remained beside the ancient memory chamber.
His hand rested against the Aegis.
The relic responded to him.
Not because he possessed it.
Because it recognized him.
A guardian.
An owner.
A keeper of something older than the questors themselves.
Dorion lowered his shield.
Dorion: "So we can't take it."
Zython looked at him.
Zython: "No."
Dorion glanced at the relic.
Dorion: "Because it belongs to you?"
Zython nodded.
Zython: "The Aegis has accepted me as its bearer."
He looked toward the ancient memory chamber.
Zython: "But that is only part of the reason."
Sorion understood.
Sorion: "You're still guarding the memory."
Zython looked at him.
Zython: "Yes."
The ancient Guardian turned toward the darkness behind him.
Zython: "There are memories beneath this place that cannot be abandoned."
Lirion stepped forward.
Lirion: "And some of them are connected to Nihyros."
Zython nodded.
Zython: "To my brother."
A silence followed.
Bardin lowered his lute.
Bardin: "Then the Aegis stays here."
Zython looked at him.
Zython: "It must."
Bardin smiled faintly.
Bardin: "Then we don't take it."
He placed his lute across his back.
Bardin: "We remember where it is."
Zython gave him a small smile.
Zython: "That is enough."
THE QUEST CONTINUES
Lirion opened the navigation display.
A blue projection appeared above his hand.
The map of the Ironcrag Waste unfolded.
Several regions appeared.
Most were damaged.
Some were completely erased.
One location remained clearly marked.
AVARRA.
The projection expanded.
Massive mechanical structures appeared.
Towering factories.
Steam conduits.
Elevated railways.
Mechanical districts.
Giant machine towers.
Lirion studied the data.
Lirion: "Avarra."
Dorion looked at the projection.
Dorion: "The machine city."
Lirion nodded.
Lirion: "It is the next confirmed location on our route."
Sorion looked toward Zython.
Sorion: "Do you know Avarra?"
Zython nodded.
Zython: "I know of it."
Sorion: "What should we expect?"
Zython was silent for a moment.
Zython: "Machines."
Bardin raised an eyebrow.
Bardin: "That much we figured out."
Zython looked at him.
Zython: "Machines that remember."
Bardin's smile disappeared.
Lirion's expression became serious.
Lirion: "That changes things."
Zython nodded.
Zython: "Avarra was built during the age when humanity began merging Technomagik with mechanical intelligence."
He looked toward the map.
Zython: "Its people believed memory could be stored inside machines."
Sorion looked at the Aegis.
Sorion: "And did it work?"
Zython's answer was quiet.
Zython: "Sometimes."
A pause.
Zython: "Sometimes the machines remembered things their creators had forgotten."
LEAVING ZYTHON HOLD
The Ironbound Masters opened the upper passage.
Ancient mechanisms began turning.
GRRRRRRRRNNNN...
A massive stone door rose from the floor.
Beyond it—
The daylight of Ironcrag Waste returned.
The questors began walking.
Dorion went first.
Lirion followed with the navigation projection.
Sorion remained behind for a moment.
He looked at Zython.
Sorion: "Will we see you again?"
Zython looked at him.
Zython: "If the memories allow it."
Sorion frowned.
Sorion: "That's not an answer."
Zython smiled faintly.
Zython: "It is the only honest one."
Sorion glanced toward the Aegis.
Sorion: "My ability."
Zython understood.
Zython: "The Aegis will continue blocking your resonance while you remain near the deepest memory chambers."
Sorion nodded.
Sorion: "And after we leave?"
Zython looked toward the rising daylight.
Zython: "You will feel it again."
Sorion turned to leave.
Zython called after him.
Zython: "Sorion."
Sorion stopped.
Zython's expression became serious.
Zython: "Do not let the similarity between you and my brother frighten you."
Sorion looked back.
Zython: "You are not Nihyros."
A pause.
Zython: "Whatever happens next, remember that."
Sorion nodded.
Then walked away.
THE ROAD THROUGH IRONCRAG
The flying skiff waited beyond the ruined machinery.
Its engines activated.
WHOOOOOM.
The questors boarded.
Bardin secured his lute.
Dorion checked his shield.
Lirion connected his navigation system.
Sorion stood at the front of the skiff.
For the first time since entering Zython Hold—
His silver-violet resonance slowly returned.
A faint glow appeared around his hand.
He closed his fingers.
The power remained stable.
Lirion noticed.
Lirion: "The Aegis is no longer interfering."
Sorion nodded.
Sorion: "We're far enough away."
The skiff lifted.
Ironcrag Waste spread beneath them.
Ruined factories.
Broken machine roads.
Abandoned towers.
Steam rising from forgotten vents.
Then—
Something enormous appeared on the horizon.
A city.
Not built like Veridian.
Not like Aurion.
Not like any place the questors had seen before.
Avarra.
Its outer walls were made from interlocking metal plates.
Huge mechanical towers rotated slowly above the skyline.
Rail systems crossed between buildings.
Steam columns rose into the sky.
Thousands of machines moved along the lower districts.
Some carried goods.
Some repaired structures.
Others simply stood motionless.
Watching.
Bardin stared.
Bardin: "That is a city?"
Lirion nodded.
Lirion: "A machine city."
Dorion tightened his grip on his shield.
Dorion: "Then let's hope it welcomes visitors."
Sorion looked toward the enormous gates.
Sorion: "It may not."
AVARRA
The skiff approached.
The city's outer defense system immediately activated.
Mechanical towers rotated.
KRRRRRNNNNK.
Red scanning beams crossed the sky.
The skiff stopped.
Lirion checked the controls.
Lirion: "We're being scanned."
Dorion raised his shield.
Dorion: "By whom?"
Lirion looked toward the city.
Lirion: "Everything."
Bardin slowly reached for his lute.
Bardin: "That's comforting."
A mechanical voice echoed across the sky.
"IDENTIFY."
Lirion activated the skiff's communication system.
Lirion: "Exploratory party. We are traveling through the Ironcrag Waste."
The city remained silent.
Then—
"PURPOSE."
Lirion looked at the others.
Sorion answered.
Sorion: "We are searching for the Lost Cities and the Bronze Plate relics."
The machines stopped.
Every moving machine on the outer road froze.
The entire city became unnaturally quiet.
Bardin slowly lowered his hand.
Bardin: "That didn't sound like a good answer."
A massive mechanical gate began opening.
Not outward.
Downward.
The road itself separated.
A giant elevator platform rose from beneath the city.
At its center stood a lone machine.
Humanoid.
Tall.
Covered in dark metal.
Its eyes illuminated.
It looked directly at Sorion.
Then—
"BRONZE PLATE DETECTED."
Lirion's eyes widened.
Lirion: "It detected the relics."
The machine continued.
"MEMORY RESONANCE DETECTED."
Its gaze shifted toward Sorion.
"UNKNOWN MEMORY SIGNATURE."
Sorion stepped forward.
The machine's eyes brightened.
"ACCESS DENIED."
The entire city locked down.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
Thousands of mechanical locks engaged.
Dorion raised his shield.
Dorion: "We're under attack?"
Lirion shook his head.
Lirion: "No."
He stared at the city.
Lirion: "We're being contained."
Sorion looked toward the enormous machine.
Then—
A second mechanical voice emerged from the city.
Older.
Deeper.
Almost human.
"The Guardian of Memory has sent them."
Everyone froze.
Sorion looked back toward the distant Ironcrag Waste.
Zython was nowhere to be seen.
The voice continued.
"Then Avarra will remember."
The city gates opened completely.
Beyond them waited an endless mechanical metropolis.
And somewhere deep inside Avarra—
Something ancient awakened.
TO BE CONTINUED...