FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was soon after sunset that the flyer set down in a forest clearing, situated in the valley that passed between two great mountains, far to the northeast of the city of Sylen. It was some distance from their actual destination, but it was the closest they could get in the craft, due to its position on the slopes of one of those mountains. The rest of the distance would have to be traveled on foot.

As to where that destination was, the group of four stepped out of the craft onto the green grass, illuminated by the glow spheres they held like lanterns as they inspected their surroundings, soon enough, Mordak glanced up to that destination, a dark, ominous shadow on the side of the mountain marked the precipice of what was once a fortress, now, the only thing the orc could see that imposing shape holding was shadows.

"Are you sure we'll find a companion there?" his asked, looking to his companions "I can't imagine anyone who could help us would live there."

"My vision told me to look here, and the one we seek is not really alive, at least not in the usual sense, I doubt he'll even be active when we find him. He is an automaton, a mystic-mechanical construct, most likely, he has not been active since this place was abandoned."

"I've seen automatons before, but I wonder why we'd need to come all this way to get one?" Gaza asked "Surely, any combat type would serve for our needs?"

"You didn't just settle for 'any assassin' when you came looking for me." Sharon pointed out "and from what I've been able to see so far, you two also seem to both be pretty skilled in your areas of expertise." She looked to the Tylanim, and then to Mordak.

"Sharon is correct." The Speaker agreed "From what I understand, the particular automaton we seek was created as the prototype of a design that was intended to surpass all combat types before it. Others would likely have been created, had there been time, but the War of the Spheres put an end to that when the facility they were to be built was taken, the plans were also lost then, and now, only one unit of that model remains, in this isolated ruin, but my visions tell me that the time has come for him to see the light of day again."

"That may be so, but we're going to have to wait until said light actually shows," Mordak pointed out "I don't think trying to climb that after dark is a good idea."

"You're right." Gaza agreed "So, shall we have a bite to eat now? We can get to work in the morning."

"Sounds like a smart plan to me." Mordak answered "Let's do that."

The group went indoors to have a meal, and after that, they spend most of the evening talking, continuing into the later hours of the night, when they all decided to retire to their rooms, but unlike the last time the group had slept within the flyer, Mordak and Gaza went to the same room, and there, they made love once more. The physical display of their passions that night proved just as pleasurable as the last, and once it was done, Mordak lay beside his beloved, and wrapped in the afterglow of their intimate act and the warmth of Gaza's body, he soon fell asleep.

In the morning, the group gathered to discuss what was soon to come "My first question is, what kind of dangers can we expect to face?" Mordak asked, the group was sitting outside the flyer on the grass, still slightly wet with dew, the sun still low in the sky was shining brightly off the craft's surface.

"I can't say for certain." The Speaker confessed "Though given the age of the fortress, one thing we should be careful of is potential structural instabilities. Another possibility is that in the time it was abandoned, certain creatures could have taken refuge in its halls, some of which may be dangerous. I wish I could tell you more, but you must understand, I can't control how much information my visions reveal, and I can only work with what I know."

"Well, as much as I'd like to know more, so far, what you know seems to have been enough for us to get by." Sharon commented with a reassuring smile "So I guess I'll have to trust you in this. In any case, we'll just have to keep an eye out for any potential danger. I doubt it we'll see anything worse than that monster we fought in the temple, but it never hurts to be careful."

"I think the assassin makes a good point." Gaza said "We'll just have to be careful. Now, do we have any idea where the automaton we're looking for is?"

"I can't say for certain, but considering that he was not found when the fortress fell, I would suspect that he was hidden somewhere, and most likely, it will be in the eastern wing, as that was where the lab that handled to arcane machines was located."

"Well, that narrows it down a little bit, but still, we should be prepared for what might be a long search." Mordak said "Do we leave now, or is there more that needs to be said?"

"I think we're ready to leave." The Speaker answered "Go gather your equipment, and we'll be ready to go."

The orc nodded, and watched as the others left, Gaza was about to leave behind Sharon and the Speaker, but Mordak motioned towards him, indicating he should stay in the room a little longer.

The orc smiled to the Tylanim, and kissed him quickly "You be careful out there, okay?"

"I really ought to be the one saying that." He answered with a good natured smile "After all, I seem to recall you're the one who's needed to get his wounds treated twice on this journey."

They met outside the flyer once they had made the final preparations needed, and set out towards their goal. There was a narrow, winding path leading up the mountain, which should take them to the gates of the ancient fortress, that was the way they were to proceed.

They walked along the steep, rocky path, it was a treacherous climb, and they had to travel single-file, with Sharon in front, and Mordak bringing up the rear, to their right was an almost vertical drop down to the valley floor below.

"Be careful," Sharon warned "Given how long this path has likely gone unused, it may not be very safe."

"Although I thank you for being considerate enough to warn us, I think we could probably figure that part out ourselves." Gaza answered, glancing up the path ahead of them, leading far up towards their destination.

"I think it would be best not to talk unless there's something important to be said." Mordak interjected "We need to keep our concentration here."

No one said anything to that, and they continued on in silence, there was still a long way up the cliff to their left, and the ominous structure that lay above, waiting for their arrival at its gate.

Eventually, they reached a bend in the path, where it turned around to proceed further up in a different direction, there was a small amount of flat ground here, offering enough space for them to spread out a little more. Though wooden rails were built around this area, these looked too worn to support their weight.

"I'd suggest we take a moment to rest here." The Speaker said "I don't know how many more good spots for that we'll find before we reach the top."

None of them complained, for the climb was quite tiring, and they knew they would need to keep their strength with them to finish it.

"We should keep it short, though." Mordak suggested as he sat down on a patch of grassy earth "Unless any of you want to have to spend the night in those ruins, of course." No one seemed to have any complaints to that either, they all knew they would not be able to make the climb back down after dark, and none of them really wanted to wait until the next day to return if they could avoid it.

Soon enough, they were back on their way once more, continuing on to whatever threats the ruins might hold.

The path continued to climb, further and further up, certainly, none of them would survive if, by some chance, they fell down that drop, and yet, they had to continue still higher until finally, they were at their destination, the path widening, and leveling out, bringing them into an expanse of ground paved with cobble stones, and before them, the ancient fortress stood, its secrets waiting to be discovered. Mordak looked out over the cliff, which provided a great view of the valley below, and the mountains on the other side, in the center of the deep gash in the earth, the silver band of a river could be seen, cutting through the sea of trees that filled the valley. From up here, he could not make out the form of their flyer. As pleasant as the view was, though, he had to pull his eyes away from it to look upon the great stone walls before them.

The ancient structure towered high above them. Mordak suspected that once, it may have been an impressive sight to behold, but now, it was eroded with the passing of years, ruined battlements standing guard over what now only held echoes of the past, and in several places the walls surrounding it had collapsed into piles of rubble. The large metal gate that guarded the entrance to the compound was open, and rusted by exposure to the elements. Beyond, many parts of the courtyard within were overgrown with weeds, and some of the buildings within the walls had been reduced to nothing more than ancient stone walls.

Without a word, the grouped walked in, and surveyed what lay before them, from inside the walls, the compound looked much as its exterior suggested. There were three major buildings still standing relatively intact, but only some of the smaller structures still remained recognizable as what they once were.

They continued down the central path that led up to the main building, until they turned towards the easternmost structure. Smaller than the main building, but still among the more major of them, the main entrance had a pair of doors with a rusted metal plaque above it, the text on it long ago rendered unintelligible, to one side of it, there were several large sliding doors in the walls, perhaps leading to storage rooms, but the other side was only plain stone. They approached the door, and Mordak opened the door slowly, what he saw however filled him with a sense of disappointment, for the floor above had collapsed, blocking the path fragments of stone, metal and broken furniture "Looks like we're not going that way." He commented.

"There might be another entrance." Gaza suggested "Let's look around the building and see if we can find a different way in."

The others nodded, and they began to move along the wall, checking for any other possible entrances, the orc stopped at one of the storage room doors, and tried to move it, but shook his head, it was too heavy for any normal humanoid to move "This won't work either."

"There's probably some kind of mechanism that opens it." Sharon said "But I'm not sure where we'd find it, or if it even still works. We'll have to keep looking."

Their search for another way in eventually paid off when they went around the side of the building and saw a large hole where a section of the wall had collapsed, a quick look within soon confirmed that they could indeed enter this way. The hole led into what looked like some form of laboratory, many tables lay broken, and pieces of equipment were scattered all across the dusty floor, but whatever research was performed here must have been lost to the ages. The door leading further into the structure had fallen from its hinges.

"It looks clear... for now." Sharon commented "Let's head on in."

"I think I should take the lead, if you don't mind." Mordak suggested, moving through the hole, and heading over to the doorway, carefully stepping over the debris on the ground so as not to trip over anything. He arrived at the doorway, and looked through to see what lay beyond. The room they were in seemed to be on the end of a hallway, with doors to other rooms opening off from it, the hall seemed to continue on a ways ahead, and what could be seen of it right now seemed traversable, albeit ravaged by the passage of time.

"Well, it seems safe so far." Mordak commented, seeing no sign of trouble, even so, he could not help but get the ominous feeling that the quiet would not last forever, like trouble was not far off, just that it was waiting to strike.

"Even so, we should keep our wits with us." Sharon answered "Even if there's nothing alive in here that can threaten us, that doesn't mean there might not be other hazards."

"Quite possibly so, other dangers could potentially deter any creatures that might otherwise move in here." Gaza commented.

"Maybe, but we'll just have to be careful, and keep moving." The proceeded through the hallway, not seeing any signs of danger, but neither was there any indication of the location of what they sought , they soon came to the portion of the structure that lay just within the main entrance, much of which was still accessible even if the original way in was blocked. It as a chamber wider than the hallway, and aside from the way they had come, there was a second passage leading in the opposite direction, and stairs that led both up and down.

"Perhaps we should check the basement first." Gaza suggested "It seems like that would be the most secure place to hide something important."

"I'm going to have to agree with Whitey here, if I wanted to keep something hidden, keeping it underground would be my first thought too, and believe me, I've had experience, both with hiding things and people who want to keep things hidden."

"Then let's not waste time, we'll check the basement." Mordak went over to the stairs down, and examined them, they looked sturdy, but it was rather dark below.

"We're going to need a light, Gaza." He said, looking back to his lover, who nodded, summoning a mystic light, much as he had done when a light was needed before "Here you go, Mordak." He said, walking close to the orc.

The light cast long shadows as it created a pool of illumination around them, pushing back the inky blankness that once obscured the way down below. The stairs continued down until reaching the floor below, covered in tiles that had cracked in many places, there were several ways they could go, all of which appeared to be clear, though it was only possible to see as far as the light Gaza projected reached, so it was impossible to say how far they could go down any given passage until they traversed it.

Choosing at random, Mordak decided to lead the group down the one to the left, the group's footsteps echoing as they continued on. The rooms that opened off from the passage could be identified as having a different function from those above by the equipment inside, it seemed that these were where machines were built and maintained, with many tools and devices that must have served these purposes once, and parts scattered about that rusted in the damp air.

Then the group came to a room that seemed different from the rest, the shelves that lined its walls looked like book cases, perhaps it had once been a library when the fortress was still in operation, but now, any collection of knowledge it may have once held was gone with the volumes that would have ones filled the empty shelves.

"This room..." the Speaker said, looking around the chamber "I've seen it... in my vision, that is."

"So, you think this is where we should look?" Sharon asked.

"Most likely, close, at least." The raven answered "But there was also a warning... danger, there must be some sort of threat in here, or in whatever place we'll explore next."

"I can't see anything of the sort." Mordak commented "And if it were an animal, I think it would have attacked us by now."

"Hmm... it could be some sort of trap." Gaza suggested "If an important automaton is hidden nearby, they must have set up some sort of security to keep the secret safe, I'll keep a watch for any traces of magic, if it's of mystical nature, I may be able to detect it."

After perhaps half a dozen minutes of searching the library Gaza stopped before a wall which did not have any bookcases near it, it was only bare stone.

"Did you notice something, dear?" Mordak asked, stopping beside him.

"I think so." The Tylanim answered "it's faint, but I can feel a trace of magic beyond it, I think this may be what we're looking for."

"Maybe that would explain why there's no bookcase here, but still, that leaves the question of how we get past it."

"Well, sometimes when people want to keep something hidden, they keep the passage hidden, if you catch my meaning" Sharon pointed out "We should check for any concealed switches that might open it."

"Assuming it still works." The orc said.

"That will probably take too long if we don't know what to look for." The Speaker pointed out "Gaza, do you think one of your spells could take care of this?"

"Most likely." He said "Though I must warn you that if there's any sort of security system here, that may well attract its attention, so if I do that, I want you all to be ready for a fight, my friends."

"Then I think we should chance it." Mordak stated "As the Speaker says, searching for a switch would likely take too long."

The Tylanim nodded, and placed both hands on the wall, the light floating about him as he began to work a spell. Mystical glyphs began to spread over a section of the wall, glowing in the dim light, growing outwards until they covered a circular portion easily large enough for any member of the group to pass through comfortably. Then, the stone began to crack, before collapsing, broken stones falling into a pile of rubble, and kicking up a thick cloud of dust that obscured the new hole. As it began to settle, the group could see that the spell had opened a way through the wall, and sure enough, there was a chamber beyond.

The group entered the room cautiously, their eyes quickly traveling over the underground space, it was a large, circular room, the walls were primarily stone, with metal added in certain places, and strangely, they were in better condition than the rest of the facility. Behind them, it was obvious that the "wall" they had broken through was indeed a hidden door, as they could see the clockwork mechanism attached to the back of it that opened it, though the damage caused by Gaza's spell would likely render it useless if the effects of time had not already done so, and in any case, it made no difference now. Soon, their eyes were drawn to the strange markings that covered the walls, and then to what rested in the far side of the room.

There were several alcoves built into the walls, and these were filled with metal containers that a person could easily fit into, with glass plates around where the head and upper torso of the occupant would be if a normal or somewhat larger than average human were inside, most were empty, arcane symbols visible on their inner walls, however, one was not. Mordak saw a figure inside, clearly made of metal, though closer inspection would be required to determine more than that.

The group had not been able to get any closer to the pod when a voice spoke within the room, seeming to come from all around them "Unauthorized entry detected, activating automated defense systems." At this point, the glyphs on the walls and floor began to glow, bathing the room in a blue green light intense enough that Gaza's illumination spell was no longer needed, and three sections of the wall slid open, revealing cannons mounted on rotary turrets and engraved with arcane signs, all of which turned to point directly at the party.

"Intruders should leave the premises immediately, failing to comply or attempting to resist will result in the use of lethal force."

"Shit!" Mordak heard Sharon exclaim, and he was inclined to echo her statement. The turrets did not seem to be designed to give much time to comply either, for they soon fired upon the group, three blasts of bluish green mystical light erupting from their barrels, and converging on the group.

For a moment, Mordak was sure they would not survive, until a section of stone rose from the ground to form into a sort of dome shape, guarding the group, the blasts struck the barrier, but were blocked by it, it was, of course, apparent that it was Gaza they had to thank for that.

"Good work there Gaza." The orc said, letting out a breath of relief "You saved our lives."

"We're not safe yet." Sharon pointed out "And we're not going to get to that pod as long as those things are shooting at us."

"You're right," Mordak agreed "We'll have to destroy them." He noted that the sounds of the turrets firing could not be heard, presumably because they had no clear shot at the target. The question was, would anyone in the group be able to destroy them without being shot themselves in the process?

The orc decided to test how quickly they could react when someone showed himself, he cautiously reached a hand out from the side of the structure that protected them, almost instantly, a blast of mystic energy was fired, it was only by quickly withdrawing the appendage that he avoided losing it, and even from the safety of Gaza's barrier, he felt the heat of it when it passed by.

"It doesn't seem like we'll be able to fire at them from cover, at least." He stated "They respond too quickly, I'm sure they'd hit any of us before we had a chance to hit them."

"Perhaps there's some way we could distract them." The Speaker said "If they were busy attacking a separate location, you might have a chance to destroy them."

"That sounds like a good plan." Mordak agreed "The question is, how are we going to go about that?"

"I'm afraid there's only one way." Gaza answered "Turrets like these are usually designed only to target living creatures, now is not a good time to explain the details, so I'll put it simply, they can differentiate between us and any inanimate objects, therefore, the only way would be for one of us to go out there, and draw their fire while you destroy them."

"And who will do that?" Sharon asked "I'd offer myself, but I'm not confident I could move fast enough to avoid their fire."

"I'm afraid it will have to be me." Gaza stated "I should be able to stay safe while using a protection spell, and that should buy you enough time to take them out."

Mordak found himself staring at his lover in surprise "No... don't." he protested "If you..."

The Tylanim shook his head "I know what you're going to say, and you don't need to say it. I told you I'll be protected by a spell, and have you ever seen my magic fail? I'll be just fine."

"Yes, let's trust in Gaza here." The Speaker said "Unless any of you have any better plans, of course." Both the orc and the human shook their heads "Very well, then Mordak, concentrate on destroying the turrets as quickly as possible."

"And use the enchanted bullets." The Tylanim added "Protection spells aren't the only kind of defense they can penetrate, they're properties also make them better at penetrating metal armor. Now, wish me luck, and tell me when you're ready, wait until they start firing at me before you make your attack." He smiled at the orc, regarding him, and for a moment, stepped closer to him, regarding him fondly for a moment, before he turned away.

Mordak quickly switched the standard bullets out for the ones Gaza had enchanted before, and then got into a position where he could easily fire the moment he had a good chance "I'm ready." He said

The Tylanim stretched out a hand, and made a circle motion with it in the air, then thrust it out, and upwards, a light formed on the hand, which soon spread out to surround him like a bubble, the light then faded until only a feint shimmer could be seen of it, then, he stepped out into the open.

Immediately, all three turrets aimed at him, and began firing, each blast followed in quick succession by another, the effectiveness of the barrier was soon demonstrated, as Gaza simply stood there, the energy of the blasts visibly dispersed over the bubble that surrounded him.

Mordak did not hesitate, taking aim at one of the targets, he fired, the enchanted bullet left behind a blue-green trail of light as it passed through the air, and it struck true, penetrating right through the metal of the turret, for a moment, a jet of light shot out from the hole, before the device exploded, sending broken shards of metal flying all around.

The orc moved to take aim at the next one, but his chance to do so was cut short when the turrets suddenly ended their barrage on Gaza, both of them aiming at Mordak instead, he managed to duck back into safety before they fired, but even once he was outside of their range, they still kept their attention on him rather than their initial target, waiting for him to enter their line of fire again..

"Damn it!" he said "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm guessing that this happened because they recognized you as the larger threat after you destroyed one of them." Sharon pointed out.

"I suspect that's true." Gaza said "I could probably work up something to destroy one more of them, but that would mean diverting some energy to an attack spell, I'd have to weaken my current barrier for that."

The orc nodded, he could guess where the problem was with that, if the last one turned its attention to the mage, then he would be much more vulnerable to its attacks "But it could still survive a few shots, I trust?"

"It should, but you'll have to take care of the last one quickly, I'm not sure how long it will hold, and I'd rather not have to find out."

"Right, then go ahead with it." He said "I'll be ready to handle the last one."

The Tylanim raised both hands, and thrust them outwards, tracing them through the air in a wide arc, before pointing towards another turret, a bolt of green light came forth, and it struck its target, breaking through the casing of the turret, before the device began to collapse in upon itself, as though some great force were pulling it in from inside, it was soon crushed into a ball of twisted metal, before the same force reversed, violently exploding outwards, sending shards of it across the room.

The last turret responded quickly, firing rapidly upon the mage, so far, his barrier was still holding. Mordak did not wait to find out how long it would last, quickly taking aim, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he prepared to make the shot that should end this fight.

He held his breath, and squeezed the trigger, instantly, the bullet propelled by mystic energy ripped through the air, traveling towards its target. Then it struck, tearing through metal. The orc quickly lowered his arms, and took a deep breath in relief when he saw the last turret break apart. He then looked to his lover to make sure that he was safe, seeing him standing unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Is it over now?" the Tylanim asked.

"I believe it is." the Speaker said "I don't foresee any danger beyond this point, for the time being."

Mordak smiled, and moved over to Gaza, when he drew near, he saw that he was trembling.

"It's okay now." he assured him "You can relax."

The Tylanim dismissed the barrier surrounding him "I know." He said, taking a few deep breaths before his gaze shifted over to the occupied pod.

"I guess we'll have to go wake the automaton up now."

"By the looks of things," Sharon said "But let's still keep our eyes out, even if our leader here says it's safe, I'm not about to risk my life on the assumption that there's no more security in place here."

"A wise choice, I think." The Speaker agreed even as he went towards the pod, the glow of the lines that covered the walls remained to illuminate his form even though the turrets had been destroyed.

The other three followed the oracle's lead, and gathered around the occupied pod. Upon closer inspection, Mordak was able to make out the form of the figure within it, it was a humanoid, made of a silvery metal, its jointed form looked more like a very ornate suit of armor than a machine. Arcane glyphs were engraved into the metallic plates that covered it, the figure's face was carved to resemble a human one, and lenses of a clear material were set into the position where the eyes might have been.

"Do we just open the pod now?" the orc asked as he inspected it, trying to determine how one might do so, but not seeing any obvious mechanism for it.

"Not quite." Gaza answered "Opening it won't automatically awaken the one inside, after all, people would still need a way to get to him without starting him up if they needed to work on him. Usually these have a startup system that can be used to activate them. I've never worked with this exact design before, but the layout for these pods tends to be fairly standard." As he spoke, he began to run his hand over the metal surface of the pod, until he found a small panel with an indentation to insert one's fingers in one end, clearly for the purpose of opening it.

"Ah, this should be it." He said, pulling the panel up, it slid back into the casing, beneath it, there was a green button set into the metal, he placed his finger on it, but did not press it immediately.

"Now, I don't know what he'll do when he wakes up, maybe he'll attack us, maybe not, it's impossible to say without any research on this specific unit, so just be prepared to subdue him, with as little damage as possible, if he causes trouble."

The others nodded, and the Tylanim seemed to take that as the signal to go ahead, he pressed the button, and immediately, the glyphs within the pod lit up, bathing the figure inside in a blue light. Soon enough, the top of it swung open with a hissing sound, and then, the metallic figure within sat up, the formerly dark lenses of the automaton's eyes now glowing green.

The four watched the figure silently, not wanting to make any sudden movements lest he identify these as signs of hostility. The automaton's gaze turned to each of them in turn, before finally, a voice came from the metallic figure.

"You have awakened me." The voice betrayed no emotion, as though it were a simple statement of fact, nothing more "You are my masters, what is the task you need me to perform?"

The Speaker stepped forward, standing directly in front of the mechanical-mystical construct "I am the leader of this group." He said "You may simply call me Speaker, my companions are known as Gaza, Mordak and Sharon." He motioned to each of them respectively "As to your mission, we need your help. We are on a mission that is extremely important, but also dangerous, you will have to join us, and help us overcome any troubles we will face in our quest. You can be counted on for that, I trust?"

"I will fulfill any mission given to me by my master." The machine answered "Just tell me what I need to do, and it will be done."

"Good, I'll explain the details of our mission along the way, we have no more reason to stay here, so you are to follow us."

"Understood," the automaton said, and shifted in the pod to extend his feet over the side, planting them on the ground, before slowly rising to his full height, which Mordak saw dwarfed everyone else in the group.

"So, what should we call you?" the orc asked after a moment "You haven't introduced yourself yet."

"I am designated CAX-62 Alpha." The machine answered simply, motioning with a finger to the name written on one shoulder.

"Well, that's not a good name to call you, my metal friend." Gaza pointed out "What's your actual name?"

"The one I gave you is the only one I was given." The machine stated "If you want to call me by a different name, you will have to choose one that you feel is suitable."

"Anyone have any ideas for that?" the Tylanim asked, looking around at his companions, they shook their heads.

"If so, then I'd suggest we think of one on the way back to the flyer, or once we're there, since I don't want to linger here any longer."

"I agree." Mordak said "If we have no further business here, we should be going."

"Right, I don't know what our next plan is, but I'm guessing it's not to sit around in a dark basement all day." Sharon agreed "Come on."

With no further words, they turned to leave, with the Speaker again taking the lead. Their party now larger, they had what they came for, and would not return to the flyer unsatisfied.

They walked out of the basement, back into the first floor, and Mordak wondered if the automaton was surprised by the disarray of the building, given that he had not been awake to witness what had happened to it, but if that was the case, he did not show it. Indeed, his only words were signs of acknowledgement in response to the Speaker's explanation of their mission, which he seemed to take without any questions.

The light of day greeted them once more as they exited through the same way they had entered, Sharon went over to the corner of the building and looked around to make sure the courtyard was clear, after a moment, she signaled that it was safe.

The group walked across the courtyard, away from the ancient ruined structure, leaving it behind to decay further with the ages. When they reached the gates, Mordak noticed the automaton take one very brief glance back, then quickly turn his gaze forward, before they traveled beyond the high wall, expecting never to set foot there again.

The journey down the mountain went by without event, and soon they arrived at the flyer, Mordak noticed that the automaton seemed to be looking over the craft as they drew closer, though given his lack of any facial expression, he could not tell what he thought of it.

It was not until they were about to enter the craft when Sharon spoke suddenly.

"I think I've thought of a good name for the automaton."

The others all stopped, and looked at her, even the automaton gazed at her intently.

"Good, and what is the name you thought of?" the Speaker asked.

She nodded "I was thinking Arion, don't you think that would be a good name?"

"Arion?" Gaza asked "And why that name in particular?"

The assassin shrugged "I just like the sound of it."

"Fair enough, but shouldn't we consider whether he is fine with it?" Mordak asked, motioning towards the automaton.

"You can call me whatever you like." The construct stated "If you wish that to be my name, then I will identify by it."

"I thought as much, but I'm asking what you personally feel about it." The orc said "We won't call you by that name if you don't want us to."

There was a rather drawn out silence after that, and the automaton looked from side to side, almost as though he was not actually sure what to do when faced with the chance to make such a choice himself. Finally, though, he nodded "I like that name, will that be what you call me, then?"

"In that case, yes, from this point onwards, you will be known as Arion, now, I would suggest we head inside, I have a plan for our next move."

"You do?" Mordak asked "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Since we could not move on to our next destination until we got back here anyway, I saw no reason to." The prophet answered "It would just give you all something else to think about, potentially distracting you from the situation at hand."

"I suppose I can't argue with that." Sharon stated "But let's not waste any more time, we'll head inside and here what this is about, then."

Gaza nodded, and proceeded over to the door to the flyer, opened it, and beckoned for the others to enter.

"So, what's your plan now, Speaker?" Mordak asked once they were inside, and the door was closed.

"First, let's go find somewhere to sit down." He answered "All that exertion earlier is rather tiring, don't you think?" He began walking down the hall, and the others followed. They soon made their way into the lounge, and all sat down, all except for Arion, who simply stood, motionless, to the side.

"I think the time has come to turn our focus from gathering companions to other matters," the raven explained "We have found everyone my visions revealed to me, at least for now, perhaps in time, others will be revealed, or we may meet unexpected allies along the way, but for now, there are other things to think of. Our enemies are surely continuing to work towards their ultimate goal, and we must move to stop them before it is too late, but first, we need information, if we cannot learn more of what we're dealing with, I fear we will not be able to stop it."

"We could try investigating Velarus Farnez." Gaza suggested "If he's involved with our enemies, then might be able to give us more information on them, if we could convince him to share it."

"That could be dangerous, Whitey." Sharon pointed out "A guy like that must have considered that if he let us see him, one of us might recognize him, so he probably would have taken some precautions in case we survived and decided to go after him. If there's any other leads, we might want to try them first."

The Speaker nodded to this "I do know of another option, and I think it is the one we should try now, I believe we should journey to the Halls of Evanan."

"The Halls of Evanan?" Mordak asked "Where is that?"

"It's the ancient home of the Speakers, before we were supposedly exterminated, and I think that we may be able to find information on the threat we're facing there."