Bevel and I failed to clean out the Sahevin nest that had entrenched themselves at the top of the cliff.

We managed to kill off hundreds, yet they recovered roughly two-thirds of their corpses and fed them into their Spawners.

It was both fascinating and disgusting, watching them work. Only the worst of the bodies were fed into the central mass. It then cannibalized those corpses to ‘repair’ the rest, tentacles running over flesh like it was clay.

We couldn’t simply eliminate the Spawners either, since the awakened Sahevin were especially protective of them. To the point of sacrificing themselves, repeatedly.

We were currently dodging the attacks of the first awakened Sahevin who’d been reborn. One who’d lost half its head to a scything blade from Bevel.

“Is it just me, or is this fish-face twice as Fraying strong as it was the first time we killed it?” Bevel asked, her question punctuated by a Lightning Bolt exactly like the one I’d used to finish it off ripping through the air between us.

“Not just you,” I called back, certain she’d hear me even as we split apart. “Wanna dice and fry it? Then we’ll pull back for reinforcements.”

Instead of responding, Bevel started climbing higher, gaining altitude. Tracking her trajectory, I swung around to support her on the incoming dive.

A half minute later, she came screaming down at a velocity I was sure would’ve caused a sonic boom if she wasn’t using her magic to warp the air ahead and behind her.

It was the fastest she’d gone since we’d encountered the Sahevin. She didn’t even need to cast a supporting spell to pulp the surrounding Sahevin, as the boom I’d thought she’d avoided suddenly coalesced amongst their lines.

Even from two hundred feet away, it send me flying backwards.

By the time I recovered, Bevel had pulled free, and was sort of floating in my direction. Seemed she was barely keeping herself aloft. “You okay there?” I asked, flying up next to her.

“Yeah, just… yeah… kinda used more mana than I expected, so staying up on my own’s gonna be iffy for a bit,” Bevel said, blinking in my general direction.

After using Restore Form on her, I took the lead, letting her fall into my wake. “Managed to make quite the puree out of them. Should give us enough time to grab Inertia.”

Bevel’s gaze was a little unfocused when she called from behind me. Unlike before, her words didn’t carry. She really was low on juice.

Would have to remind her to keep more mana back. Didn’t want her running out and getting stuck in the horde.

For a second, I considered taking Conflict up on its offer. That armor would likely make dealing with the Sahevin a trivial matter. As would using a regular favor on my single opportunity to guarantee a destroyed target. Such as their home nest under the Everstorm.

The armor might just be enough of an edge to deal with the clans too.

Not an easy choice.

It didn’t take us long before we were gliding down over the airship’s frame. More than just a frame, several sections of the body were already being installed. That my only real contribution to the airship was going to be the enchantments once it was mostly complete filled me with a sort of secondhand pride for what Inertia and the many people under her were accomplishing.

Our very own dreadnought.

And we’d be able to build several, if we wanted. They used so few magical materials Fang held more enchantments, pound for pound.

It wouldn’t even use many Forgehearts, relative to its size. Twelve in its regular configuration.

I wasn’t certain how useful having more dreadnoughts might be, so while we were going to keep the molds they’d used for the process, we wouldn’t be building a second until we’d given the first a thorough shakedown cruise. More thorough than the Howling Defier’s had been.

There was more than enough to keep Inertia’s people busy in the meantime.

Such as the tracks that had been laid down nearby and what sat atop them. The first attempts at a steam engine were underway, each prototype running on parallel lines. None of the tracks went anywhere yet, each leading back on themselves in a wide loop that encircled Tetherfall, but their presence was encouraging.

It was a little disappointing not getting to take part directly, but it was interesting how far the designs had already diverged from what I was used to from Earth.

The largest divergence was the wider base for the tracks, which made for less sleek looking engines. Or maybe that was just the design phase they were in. Aerodynamics weren’t as important when you were still figuring out the basics.

We found Inertia working on one of the engines, a wide contraption that resembled a stage more than what I would normally call a train engine.

The flat and mostly square platform had chains running down from the currently attached engine. Some closer inspection revealed that the platform was designed to allow rapid iteration. Even a crew of inexperienced refugees could likely remove the engine and swap in another in less than four hours.

And none of the workers Inertia allowed near the platform were that inexperienced.

The platform was currently lurching forward with uneven movements, Inertia whistle-hissing loudly at a dwarf I didn’t recognize from atop it. One of her new direct assistants, judging by his ability to understand her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The dwarf shook his head and Inertia let out a long sigh of steam. Which is when she noticed Bevel and I circling.

She waved us down as the platform jerked to a stop. Before I could mention the Sahevin, Inertia was pulling me over to a nearby table covered in drawings.

Deciding that I could spare a little time, since we had dealt with the most pressing of the Sahevin, I allowed Inertia to draw me into a discussion on how we might smooth out the power transfer. The chain itself was free of jerking, which she’d proven using Fang’s engine.

Turned out that it was actually a flaw in the production of the engine’s material, not the design. It’d warped and no one had caught it.

Before Inertia could turn her anger towards either the engine or her assistants, I spoke, “You know, there are a lot of Sahevin over by the Golden Halls we needed cleared, if you wanted a break.”

The words were scarcely out of my mouth before she was squatting down. Then she was gone, leaving our hair flapping in her backdraft.

Her new assistant nodded in my direction before calling for an enchanted rod to fix the warping. A Shape Metal spell worked into a rod with a dozen small circles that could be set to just as many settings. The original spell wasn’t useful for volumes greater than a couple cubic inches.

Perfect for small adjustments on something with such tight tolerances. Especially when combined with one of the settings that allowed the targeted area to be even smaller.

The assistant pulled out a non-magical caliper, and started looking between the drawing and the engine before finally using the rod.

Measure twice, shape once.

By the time Inertia returned, the platform was rolling relatively smoothly down the rails. Its speed was still pretty low, but Inertia’s excitement was palpable.

As was her smell, which clung to her like she’d gone bathing in sulfur baths then attempted to wash herself off with diesel.

I left Bevel with her to act as a translator, both because Bevel was effectively immune to the stench and because Tresla was nowhere to be found. They started excitedly talking about the next full engine design and I almost cast Water Breathing and stayed. Unfortunately, I had other responsibilities.

Turned out the first of the Vox Knights were about to land.

A quick hop through the Waygate later, and I arrived at the hanging dock of Verdant Point where Vendil, Egerta and Selvi were already waiting.

All three of them were deep in a discussion of how the Vox Knights were going to impact the training schedule. It was a little embarrassing to overhear that Vendil visited the training grounds more regularly than I did.

Made sense though. I had neither anything to contribute nor gain from a visit unless I was looking for someone who was there at the time.

The ship the Vox Knights had booked was a lithe one, that looked like a swan, including swept wings on each side that folded in place as it drifted beneath the boughs of the hanging dock.

Vexith didn’t bother waiting for his ship to be hoisted up, using a pair of hatchets to grab hold of the tough bark of the trees and launch himself upwards.

Didn’t take him long to land just in front of us, doing a superhero pose, one fist on the wooden planks, the other over his head. He rose slowly. I’d been expecting the Vox Knights to move like Calbern, smooth and refined.

Instead, it came across as more boisterous and pronounced. He stored his axes with a flourish, spinning both in the air such that they arced down to land within a bandoleer that was strapped across his broad chest. Only once they’d landed did he tug the lip of his wide brimmed hat up, looking us over.

Egerta let out a loud snort. “Pretty boys always gotta show off.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Vexith was… well, I would never have used the word pretty to describe him. Not with the scars, rugged clothes and rough cut of his beard.

Then again, Egerta had her own standards for pretty much everything. Including the sky. That had been an interesting, but not particularly productive, conversation.

“Vexith,” I said, stepping forward to offer him my arm.

The large man clasped it, tugging his hat into a dip with the other. “Magus Protectus Percival.”

“Safe travels?” I asked the man, as I gestured him towards Verdant Point. I knew the Tethered could handle settling his men in their temporary quarters.

“Nothing that could threaten a full chapter,” Vexith replied, his gaze meeting Egerta’s.

They stood silently for a second, sizing each other up.

After a second, he gave her a grudging nod. “Devoted.”

“Pretty boy,” Egerta replied, smiling wide, one of her teeth missing.

That was new.

I could probably heal it but Egerta would’ve asked if she felt she needed it.

The next few minutes were spent discussing the proposed schedule for training as well as what they’d accomplished so far. I was already thinking of my next task when something Vexith said caught my attention.

“I’m sorry, you want me to what?” I asked, looking at the large man.

“Train with the troops. At least once a week. If you’re going to be their commander, they need to see you,” Vexith replied, tugging his hat to the side.

“Uh… no,” I said simply, shaking my head. “Just… no. I’m never going to be a commander. Selvi is.”

He looked towards the woman. She’d remained mostly silent up to that point, allowing the others to carry the discussion, silently judging him. She met his gaze with a glare, her arms crossed.

He seemed somewhat unsure of himself as his hands started reaching towards his hatchets before he caught himself. “Right. Well, still be good for morale for you to come by to see what they’re about.”

“Fair enough,” I said, nodding. “Vendil, make sure I’ve got half an hour for that each week please.”

“Sure thing, Protectus,” Vendil replied, beard waving as he wrote furiously. A lot more words than I felt such a simple addition should’ve required.

“Be good for me to see what exactly you can do, if you’ve a mind for it,” Vexith added, though it was directed at Selvi. “If you’re gonna lead.”

Selvi looked towards me, as if asking permission.

I nodded, and she grunted out the word, “Fine.”

Vexith insisted that my first half hour be spent showing off my most impressive spells as he introduced his people to our existing guards. I’d scheduled a couple hours for greeting the Vox Knights, so it was easy to squeeze in.

It was a learning experience, watching them run through their introductory sparring. I’d expected the Vox Knights to be vastly superior, but between good food, dedicated effort and the training of Calbern, Xelinda and Egerta, the Tethered - who’d originally been good for little more than sentries - had grown incredibly during the last six months.

They were… wild, was the best word I had for it.

Where Calbern preferred an efficiency of motion and tight controlled attacks, and the Vox Knights were loud and direct, the Tethered spun and dashed about with a level of chaos that often left the Vox Knights befuddled.

I imagined you had to be creative when attempting to land a hit against an opponent of Calbern’s caliber.

“This is far superior to the force you told me you had,” Vexith said from beside me as the latest spar ended.

“For these folks, we’re way past combat training. It’s the non-combat stuff they need help with. Proper search and rescue, investigation and policing,” I replied, tracking Selvi as she fought against a male Vox Knight nearly twice her size.

It was an embarrassment in her favor, the larger man unable to pin her down for a second, stumbling every other blow as Selvi pushed him off balance. Soon he was on the ground and Selvi had turned to take on the next challenger.

“These are the experienced guards and we frankly don’t have enough of them. There’s a small horde of new guards with no combat experience. The refugees,” I said, my gaze shifting away from Selvi’s spar to a second group gathered to the side.

The recruited refugees weren’t taking part in the sparring. Mostly they were pointing, laughing or betting on the Tethered or Vox Knights who were.

“Aye, that’ll be a bit more of a challenge,” Vexith said, tugging on his wide-brimmed hat. He gave me an uneven grin. “Best show ‘em what their Protectus can do, no?”

Once more, I regretted not having Calbern here. He’d probably get me out of this by explaining how it wasn’t dignified for the Magus Protectus get into a fight just for the sake of it.