Skyclad (Fate's Anvil Book 1) by Scott Browder

Author:Scott Browder [Browder, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-09T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23: Expedition

Terisa Aras stood on the observation deck of the northeast tower of Fort Expedition, sipping a steaming cup of kaffen, and ignoring the murmurs of the small gathering behind her. Calling it a fort was truly an exercise in masterful understatement. It was either an epic wonder of fortified construction, or a mad engineer’s worst nightmare, depending on who you asked. Stone walls over a hundred feet tall formed a curved barricade stretching almost eight leagues to seal off the foothills of Expedition Pass, atop which stood hulking machines and works of arcana spread evenly along its length. Massive ballistae, their limbs relaxed, stood beside trebuchets and catapults. Dwarven cannons and dizzying spell arrays lined the wall’s outer surface. Those who would be manning them milled to and fro, throwing dice and playing cards amongst their fellows, casting the occasional wary eye out over the lowlands or up toward the tower.

Far below within the walls, the sounds of construction and the shouts of foremen and workers alike drifted up to her. Expedition was always in flux, and it seemed one couldn’t take five steps without tripping over some form of work being done. There was no central authority directing the projects, and nothing keeping them from dragging on and on; those who were here were united only by virtue of their purpose: safeguarding Expedition Pass against the fell creatures of the Wildlands.

The tower upon which she stood was the tallest, and dozens more spread out to either side in the distance. She ignored the chill wind that blew down from the sloped valley above, letting the hot kaffen warm her while it cleared the morning’s cobwebs from her mind. What she didn’t ignore was the young Worldwalker approaching her.

“Impressive defenses, even by the standards of most nations back home,” said The Broken as she stepped up to the stone battlement.

The gentle whirring of the armor that allowed her to walk was the only sound that gave away the mechanical nature of its workings. Though she would never admit it, Terisa was quite impressed with the woman’s workmanship and skill. The suit was entirely unlike the heavy and over-engineered practicality of most things of dwarven make, and without all the useless frills and gizmos a Gnomish designer would have included. Instead, everything fit together to give the Worldwalker a striking feminine figure, the armor plates shifting with an organic smoothness. The armor encased the woman past her chest and over her shoulders, leaving her arms and head bare. Having seen a demonstration when they’d first met only days prior, Terisa knew it would reconfigure to cover its passenger completely in less than an instant if necessary.

“They aren’t needed as often as they once were,” she told the inquisitive Worldwalker, “but long ago, these walls were all that stood against rampaging beasts coming down the pass.”

Terisa sipped her warm drink and kept her eyes on the slowly brightening sky above the distant peaks. “Tell me,” she began, “how did you

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.